Is it worth upgrading the intelligence of an animal companion?

[amills1]

One of the loading screen tooltips suggests increasing the intelligence of an animal companion to 3 in order to gain access to certain feats. Is this actually worthwhile or not? What feats are they talking about?

[アンジェル]

Definitely worth it. Some teamwork feats have those kind of special requirements, but especially as a huntress you want them.

[Elnidfse]

Yes. Animal companions need at least 3 intelligence to use teamwork feats. Though to note, if you're taking the boon companion mythic feat, that should be able to make them qualify. So it's ultimately up to you.

[Balekai]

Yep you need 3 Intel for Outflank which is free +4 attack bonus essentially. That's what at a bare minimum you want and all you really need teamwork feat wise for pets.

[GunStarX]

Plus you get the free aoo when someone crits with out flank. It's mandatory for all melee characters

[Runic Tunic]

Yes, absolutely. Without it you pretty much lose a lot of the utility that an animal can have that makes them worthwhile. You can go for the companion mythic boon, but just keep in mind that can lock you out of other options that could be better suited to your build/setup

[Koveras]

Originally posted by Balekai:

Yep you need 3 Intel for Outflank which is free +4 attack bonus essentially. That's what at a bare minimum you want and all you really need teamwork feat wise for pets.

Seeking clarification. I thought outflank adds +2 in addition to the base +2 you get from flanking. Does outflank actually give you +4? if so, I'mma not hold off on getting it.

[stars2heaven]

Can't you just equip an int item when you level up to get those feats? I've read they still work even if the int goes back down, but I've never done it.

[Runic Tunic]

Originally posted by stars2heaven:

Can't you just equip an int item when you level up to get those feats? I've read they still work even if the int goes back down, but I've never done it.

Pretty sure finding an item for a pet that increases intelligence won't happen for quite awhile in game. And though idk if you keep the abilities after removing the item, the game is already buggy as is. Do you really want to invite bugs when even minor things like respecs can ruin an entire save?

Way I look at it, if abilities are actually working as intended, I would want to try and maintain that, rather than risk making other abilities unplayable just to get out of a useful intelligence boost.

[Ghost]

all animal companions and front liners "should" have Outflank

[amills1]

OK, thanks. I'll make Mr Bitey a bit smarter then.

[LoneEagle]

Animals can wear those circlets on the head. Just give them a +2 int circlet. You can buy one at a store pretty easily if you don't have one already

[amills1]

Huh, I always assumed you couldn't use items to qualify for feats since that was the rule in 3rd edition D&D IIRC. I'll see what I can do about giving my dog some bling then. Hmm, I should check what else I can equip them with then. I know you can give them barding armour if they have the right feat, can I equip them with those amulets intended for monks?

[LoneEagle]

Originally posted by amills1:

Huh, I always assumed you couldn't use items to qualify for feats since that was the rule in 3rd edition D&D IIRC. I'll see what I can do about giving my dog some bling then.

I don't know if that will qualify them for feats or not. I just know that it will raise their intelligence. I saw that same message about raising the int to 3 during a loading screen and I was wondering the same thing as the OP. The game is so bugged that I doubt it works anyway. I already quit this game, but I still like to come here and discuss things sometimes. I never use teamwork feats with my characters. I was steamrolling most monsters so it wasn't really necessary to do too much optimization for me.

[GunStarX]

You will qualify for feats with a stat boost item right now in this game. You can have a character with 15 dex, add a +4 dex belt and get all the 2 weapon feats. HOWEVER if you respec it wont let you and you're stuck with your base stats. This even applies to Legend stat boost, they dont qualify if you respec.

[Grakor]

Originally posted by amills1:

Huh, I always assumed you couldn't use items to qualify for feats since that was the rule in 3rd edition D&D IIRC. I'll see what I can do about giving my dog some bling then. Hmm, I should check what else I can equip them with then. I know you can give them barding armour if they have the right feat, can I equip them with those amulets intended for monks?

If it's anything like Kingmaker, you can learn the feat via items, but you immediately lose the benefits of the feat if you take the item off and no longer qualify for it.