Druid Animal Companions and Wildshape questions

[Zergrusheddie]

My nasty, evil DM has shot down one of my character concepts, so I figured a Druid would be easier and possibly quite fun; I like the idea. It's a level 5 Druid, so I figured Wildshape into Fleshraker and Fleshraker Companion would be decent enough. However, I've run into a few problems; I'm not exactly a master with Wildshape and I've never seen anyone use an Animal Companion.

I know that the Fleshraker would get more powerful as the Druid gains levels. Extra HD, +1 STR/DEX, 2 NA, and the DC for Poison would go up. However, would the companion gain feats as well?

Does the Base Attack Bonus for an Animal Companion ever go up? I know for a WS Druid it's based on their BAB, but are Companions just stuck with their BAB from the Monster Manual?

Wizards pay if their Familiar gets blown to smithereens. Any disadvantage aside from waiting 24 hours for Druids?

The Fleshraker seems like it's going to be a combat allstar for several levels. What would replace it at higher levels?

I'm a rather embarrassingly large newbie, so any advice would be highly appreciated.

Y'all are awesome. Best of luck
-Eddie

[TempusCCK]

It's always sad to see the young ones hop right into the "twink" pool after their experiences here.

Make sure you clear the Fleshraker by your DM before you invest in it so heavily, not all campaigns use overpowered sourcebook material.

[Reinboom]

-Eddie

Most of the beginning is answered in the animal companion section of the druid.

Bonus HD

Extra eight-sided (d8) Hit Dice, each of which gains a Constitution modifier, as normal. Remember that extra Hit Dice improve the animal companion’s base attack and base save bonuses. An animal companion’s base attack bonus is the same as that of a druid of a level equal to the animal’s HD. An animal companion has good Fortitude and Reflex saves (treat it as a character whose level equals the animal’s HD). An animal companion gains additional skill points and feats for bonus HD as normal for advancing a monster’s Hit Dice.

So, yes.


The disadvantages of an animal companion getting blown to smithereens:
1. You don't have an animal companion until you summon another.
2. It requires a day to summon.
3. Depending on how you lost the animal companion, the DM can make you lose druid abilities. That is, forcing an animal companion off a bridge in to a pit of lava for no reason other than to see it burn is quite the opposite of revering animals. (Who in blazes builds those silly bridges anyways?)

Other than that... nothing really. Even the last one can mean a "temporary hiccup" after a certain level.


For higher level play, it would depend on the campaign and what you are fighting by that point. There are some great generic choices, such as the Dire Tiger. There are also other ways to optimize the build for more silly (a dragon companion with more than 10 hit die higher than you, for example), however, I do not recommend doing such given your class unless everyone is doing such silly. It can distract the game.

[Zergrusheddie]

I fail; I've been reading through the DMG, PHB, and MM and I completely missed that bit. Damn, I can't see the forest for the trees...

Thank you.

[Stephen_E]

A general note for higher level campaigns. The -3 and -6 Druid companions are pretty optimal unless you're looking for a specific ability that simply doesn't exist in these creatures. A Tiger with 13 Druid levels of advancement is mechanically better than a Dire Tiger. An advanced Fleshraker better than a Megaraptor.

If you're playing with Comp Advent then Natural Bond is an excellent feat choice (not to be compared with natural spell, but then what is. :-) )

Stephen E