Best tricks for animal companions(pathfinder)

[ShadowsGrnEyes]

so. i have a mount with a 6 int. . . there are ALOT more tricks than there used to be. . . what are the best 13 tricks that will limit the potential overlap of functionality and maximize versatility. .

[Keneth]

It's kinda hard to answer that question if you don't share with us what kind of character build you're playing and which animal companion you're using.

[ShadowsGrnEyes]

It's kinda hard to answer that question if you don't share with us what kind of character build you're playing and which animal companion you're using.

I meant in general . . . my particular animal will be a horse, for a mounted caster. i'll be buffing the horse alot and occasionally healing the party.

But i was intrigued in a general sense on what people consider the best tricks. Doesnt really matter the animal in most cases.

[Keneth]

Doesnt really matter the animal in most cases.

Of course it matters. A riding animal on a caster druid is gonna want to have a much different set of tricks than a combat animal on a bruiser druid. :smallconfused:

Aside from your basic combat training (attack x2, come, defend, down, guard, and heel), there's no "best" set of tricks.

[stack]

With 6 INT, do you need tricks? I thought over 2 you could just give verbal instructions.

[Keneth]

The animal is still an animal. While it may understand what you want it to do, assuming you've spent the time to teach it a language, that doesn't mean it's gonna magically know how to do it. You still have to "push" it to perform tricks it doesn't know.

[Der_DWSage]

Even disregarding the RAW that an animal with an intelligence over 2 becomes a magical beast, at Int 6...that's equivalent to a person with an 80 IQ. There's a reason that it stops showing how many tricks an animal can learn at 2 INT.

It might be an animal still, but it's become as smart as a human child. And last I checked, you didn't need to teach Billy how to sit down unless he was hopped up on 50 pixie sticks.

[Keneth]

This is a pathfinder thread, as noted by that fancy (pathfinder) tag in the title, which means animals do not become magical beasts if you simply increase their Int, and they gain 3 tricks per intelligence point as normal.

Pathfinder developers were quite clear on the matter, animals are still animals, even if they're smart. They might be able to understand you and even perform more complex actions than simple tricks, but they're not the equivalent of a humanoid with 6 Int.