Ghost Heart: Best Animal Companion for Offtanking + Damage

[hansvedic]

So, I'm planning to roll up a Ghost Heart multi-class soon that will have some CC, some DoTs available to it, and maybe some slow healing available to it, depending on the 2nd class.

 

I'm trying to decide which animal companion would work best for the Ghost Heart. I've done some research already and playtested a bit with the wolf (it dies quickly).

 

On the one hand, the two main damage dealers are the Wolf and the Lion. The Wolf is squishy (but Ghost Heart = no Bonded Grief) but stronger than the other companions, while the Lion has more health and has an attack speed bonus.

 

On the other hand, the Bear and the Boar are semi-decent off-tanks, from what I've read. The Bear has a bit more armor and does decent damage, while the Boar has the most health and has a health regeneration effect, but is slow and doesn't deal a lot of damage.

 

I've read that animal companions generally don't deal a lot of damage, even with all of their buffs (Predator's Sense, Merciless Companion, Vicious Companion); if this is still the case, is it even worth going something other than Boar? I mean, I could go Bear for a little extra armor, but will that really make a difference?

 

As added information, I am planning to be a Hearth Orlan for extra crits and I am going to be running with the official companions.

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Edited November 19, 2018 by hansvedic

[thelee]

If you have a ghost heart, tbh it doesn't seem like it matters if they are tanky or not. You should be using the pet to charge directly at squishy enemies and take them down asap, with support from Marked Prey and other things. If you want a tanky pet, then you shouldn't be using a subclass basically built around the idea that your pet is ephemeral (needs to be actively summoned and can't be healed) and designed to be a dive-bomb (no engagement).

 

Animal Companions "don't deal a lot of damage" is true if you consider them in isolation; animal companions do about as much damage as a stiletto (without the PEN bonus), though a wolf and lion do about the same level of increased damage (on par with a dagger), without the benefits of e.g. dual-wielding or single-weapon style. But, they are a huge component of the ranger's total damage capability: neglect the animal companion at your own loss, TBH. Without good investment or micro of your pet, a ranged ranger is only kinda better (if at all) than any other class with a ranged weapon.

 

Also "not a lot of damage"; using a wolf or lion as a base, they eventually scale to legendary weapons, so they would be attacking with the rough equivalent of a legendary dagger with a further +95% in damage bonuses, which actually doesn't compare that badly to a rogue (rogue caps out at +80% sneak attack naturally with Prestige). A non lion/wolf will do a bit worse. True, a rogue has a bunch of other abilities including the ability to dual-wield for more damage, but so do you, as a ranger. That's why you and your pet are a combined team and why your pet isn't taking up a separate party slot.

 

edit: background, i rolled an itinerant on my second play through (ghost heart + priest of berath for dots/buffs). worked pretty well for me (PotD upscaling). like i said, yes, pets are squishy on PotD+upscaling (except for maybe a Bear + Resilient Companion) and need lots of love and support to stay alive, but for a ghost heart if your pet gets knocked out it's more like a shrug followed by re-summoning your pet.

Edited November 19, 2018 by thelee

[guildwriter]

As far as PoTD upscaled is concerned, I think the armor bonus outweighs the extra health and regen significantly.  Enemies have significant penetration bonuses and anyone without enough armor will get over penned with each hit.  The difference between a overpen, normal hit, and a hit that under penetrates is massive.  This is one of the reasons why Goldpact Knights are favored so much in solo builds as Gilded Eminity and Stoic Steel stack.

 

Though this also depends on how much armor the pets have and how much of an increase they will get overall.  Lack of engagement also makes it a bit moot.

Edited November 19, 2018 by guildwriter

[thelee]

Though this also depends on how much armor the pets have and how much of an increase they will get overall.  Lack of engagement also makes it a bit moot.

 

Pets start with 5 AR, and they autoscale from Fine at level 1, to Exceptional at level 9, Superb level 13, and then legendary at level 17 (for +4 at last). Bear gets an additional +1 AR to start. They basically have the equivalent of medium armor which tbh for tanking purposes is not enough on PotD+upscaling (will be decent on lower difficulties, especially without upscaling). With Resilient Companion they get the equivalent of heavy armor, which is better, but you still probably need a paladin aura or a Hardy buff from a priest to really make them soak up any significant enemy hate without dying super fast. Bears do pretty well with Resilient Companion.

 

But yeah, with lack of engagement, it doesn't really matter. Just go charge at a squishy and run away if you can't handle the heat. If you really wanted to be tricky, the lack of engagement means you could keep running your pet out of melee range just as the enemy starts an attack, which will then automatically miss (with "(out of range)" in combat log).

[hansvedic]

 

Though this also depends on how much armor the pets have and how much of an increase they will get overall.  Lack of engagement also makes it a bit moot.

 

Pets start with 5 AR, and they autoscale from Fine at level 1, to Exceptional at level 9, Superb level 13, and then legendary at level 17 (for +4 at last). Bear gets an additional +1 AR to start. They basically have the equivalent of medium armor which tbh for tanking purposes is not enough on PotD+upscaling (will be decent on lower difficulties, especially without upscaling). With Resilient Companion they get the equivalent of heavy armor, which is better, but you still probably need a paladin aura or a Hardy buff from a priest to really make them soak up any significant enemy hate without dying super fast. Bears do pretty well with Resilient Companion.

 

But yeah, with lack of engagement, it doesn't really matter. Just go charge at a squishy and run away if you can't handle the heat. If you really wanted to be tricky, the lack of engagement means you could keep running your pet out of melee range just as the enemy starts an attack, which will then automatically miss (with "(out of range)" in combat log).

 

 

Thanks for the feedback. Out of Wolf & Lion, which would you recommend? Wolf, for greater base damage, or Lion for bonus to attack speed, or would you say that it really doesn't make that much of a difference, all things considered?

[thelee]

 

 

Though this also depends on how much armor the pets have and how much of an increase they will get overall.  Lack of engagement also makes it a bit moot.

 

Pets start with 5 AR, and they autoscale from Fine at level 1, to Exceptional at level 9, Superb level 13, and then legendary at level 17 (for +4 at last). Bear gets an additional +1 AR to start. They basically have the equivalent of medium armor which tbh for tanking purposes is not enough on PotD+upscaling (will be decent on lower difficulties, especially without upscaling). With Resilient Companion they get the equivalent of heavy armor, which is better, but you still probably need a paladin aura or a Hardy buff from a priest to really make them soak up any significant enemy hate without dying super fast. Bears do pretty well with Resilient Companion.

 

But yeah, with lack of engagement, it doesn't really matter. Just go charge at a squishy and run away if you can't handle the heat. If you really wanted to be tricky, the lack of engagement means you could keep running your pet out of melee range just as the enemy starts an attack, which will then automatically miss (with "(out of range)" in combat log).

 

 

Thanks for the feedback. Out of Wolf & Lion, which would you recommend? Wolf, for greater base damage, or Lion for bonus to attack speed, or would you say that it really doesn't make that much of a difference, all things considered?

 

 

Plugging my gamefaqs guide here briefly https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/227477-pillars-of-eternity-ii-deadfire/faqs/76599/-ranger-

 

Wolf basically has +25% damage, Lion has +22% damage, so purely from a damage perspective you should get a wolf. But lion attacks faster, which means this has the effect that they are more responsive in combat (shorter recovery time), which has significant non-quantifiable benefits. I think you should go with whatever playstyle you prefer (or whether you are a dog or cat person), or flip a coin

Edited November 19, 2018 by thelee

[Enoch]

 

 

Plugging my gamefaqs guide here briefly https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/227477-pillars-of-eternity-ii-deadfire/faqs/76599/-ranger

That is some really nice work. 

[Ensign]

Thanks for the feedback. Out of Wolf & Lion, which would you recommend? Wolf, for greater base damage, or Lion for bonus to attack speed, or would you say that it really doesn't make that much of a difference, all things considered?

 

While the differences are minor, the pets have different base stats which makes a difference - Lion has 3 might and 3 con over the wolf, while the wolf has 1 dex, 4 per, and 1 resolve over the lion.

 

Rolling those in, wolf has another 5% damage on the lion from the extra offensive stats, but the lion has an extra 15% health.

 

I personally prefer the lion - faster reactivity matters, and the extra 15% health matters when you are 'tanking' (casting it over the enemy's front line to soak up arrow fire) - Ghost Heart pets aren't going to and shouldn't hold the line, but they sure can soak up damage and after the first couple deaths a lot of the enemy's initial resource barrage has been blown.  However the difference really is small, you're not going to feel a big difference between the two.

[Graschwar]

I might add that the Lion has a larger frame, which can be an advantage or disadvantage. In some cases you can better block the enemy, on the other hand you might not get through in certain situations. Might be worth keeping that in mind.

[Boeroer]

Does it have a bigger selection circle? Because afaik that determines the space it blocks.

[thelee]

Does it have a bigger selection circle? Because afaik that determines the space it blocks.

IIRC, lion does in fact have a bigger selection circle.