War animals any good?

[Vaati]

I'v tried a couple (Wolves and Boars) and they died quite easily against deserters (level two), i had got my archer to have beast mastery so i could position them, they weren't alpha wolves or dominant sows just the basic animals. Are animals worth going after for combat units (i get you dont need to pay them but they take extra food)

[Andrey]

Any animal weaker than a merc, but they are cute.

[araxdebold]

I have 5, 2 Wolves and 3 Alphas, They have not died yet.

[starbuck310]

Max min, the ruin of games? They’re fun why not?

[Dreadstone]

Three Bears, Three Wolves here.

[Summanus]

I've tried them all and the only ones I'd bother sticking with are bears now. They're the only one that comes close to being as useful as a merc.

[AION]

why i cannot catch bear, how to catch it?

[CCK]

Common wolves and boars have much lower hp than their superior Alpha and Dominant Sow, if you check their character sheet.

[Teralitha]

Pack of 3+ alpha wolves is fun but they do have their downsides.

1. They eat tons of food, which I think is a bug...
2. They dont have armor so they often need to be medicated after battle.
3. They seem to do reduced damage to enemies wearing armor.
4. When they bleed, they take alot of bleeding damage and need immediate first aid or for the battle to end quickly before they die.
2. They have a bigger combat square so sometimes they can get bottlenecked and cant reach a target.

But they do oh so much damage with the pack bonus... Just feels good to see them crit all the time and eat enemies in one bite. I focus on raising their constitution always because they need alot of health to survive. All the animals have that weakness. They should add battle armor for animals besides just the pony.

[Vaati]

Originally posted by Teralitha:

Pack of 3+ alpha wolves is fun but they do have their downsides.

1. They eat tons of food, which I think is a bug...
2. They dont have armor so they often need to be medicated after battle.
3. They seem to do reduced damage to enemies wearing armor.
4. When they bleed, they take alot of bleeding damage and need immediate first aid or for the battle to end quickly before they die.
2. They have a bigger combat square so sometimes they can get bottlenecked and cant reach a target.

But they do oh so much damage with the pack bonus... Just feels good to see them crit all the time and eat enemies in one bite. I focus on raising their constitution always because they need alot of health to survive. All the animals have that weakness. They should add battle armor for animals besides just the pony.

Just tried 3 alpha pack and yeah i am seeing the issues you've raised, right now i'v got them primarily as archer removal and cover with my dedicated melee fighters so they cant get blindsided. Hound armour would be sick to have since i have a distinct impression that once i get to higher level encounters my hounds will end up being hard to work with without a armour/guard bar. Super cool though to have war hounds.

[1stOnTheWall]

I have 3 pigs and 2 wolves and 1 alpha I use them as support. I have a archer with beast master and upgraded abilites. I use them for the campfire happiness and as distractions and I notice enemy's target animals more because they are lower HP = easier to kill ?? idk . but that makes them do foolish things for the kill and my other team members (2 spear men 1 Axe beserker 1 Tank warrior) collapse and its easy pickings. just make sure you have a way to heal them in battle( my two spear men have heal) because they often get bleed and poison and are quick to bleed out in prolonged battles, but the upgraded beast master skills and heals make it all work.

[Robin of Spiritwood]

Originally posted by Teralitha:

Pack of 3+ alpha wolves is fun but they do have their downsides.
3. They seem to do reduced damage to enemies wearing armor.

All attackers do reduced damage to enemies wearing armor because of the effect of Guard.
Light armor has little or no Guard, which is a % reduction to incoming damage. Shield users and heavy armour wearers have a lot of resistance to attacks.

Animals are very effective vs lightly equipped archers or rangers. Though they have no armor, Boars/Crockswine can take a perk that functionally gives them 30% Guard, and wolves can transmit Protection ( same 30%) with the right Perk. The Wolf Carnivore perk permits them to heal on kill, which is very effective vs rats or mosquitoes.

Beastmaster can auto heal all animals with upgraded skills. Try running 2 Beastmasters for better healing if you like a big animal force? Also the animals can learn First Aid from skilbooks, and heal each other.

[Schnorble Schnacker]

Wolves are good, require a lot of food. But you need 3 of them (i always get alphas, dunno if there is a difference) and with 3 you can get the skill "increase crit chance by 50% with 3 or more wolves in the party" then at level 5 they can recover 50% health when getting a kill. So before level 5 they are a bit weak and fragile, after that you can use them really nicely. just be prepared for an extra 25-30 food consumption for it

[Kerensky]

High level Bears are incredible. I really don't think much of any other animals. Though the War Pony is very smart at using its Inspiration talent. It runs to a group of party members before using it, which is very helpful.

[CommandDork]

I like using a couple of war ponies. They have a skill you can use every round for free which doubles any chars movement in the radius. Good for hunting rats nests.

[starbuck310]

Got buddy the Wolf - killer pet!