Best Animal Companion for an Animal Domain Cleric

[Radiac]

Any suggestions? This is one of those animal companions that is permanently 3 levels behind due to the nerf that the owner is a Cleric not a Druid. I don't know how that might factor into things, and I also don't know what any of the special abilities do, like Rend and Trample, etc. Trip I have pretty much sorted. Opinions and facts welcome. My main character is a dagger specialist Rogue, and I made a Merc Cleric of Erastil with the Animal and Community domains, and a Merc Wizard Universalist that I'm using in addition to Amiri, Valerie, and Linzi at the moment. I don't know whether I should go for tankiness or damage output and would welcome any thoughts on that from well-informed people in the know. Thanks.

[asame_akio]

First off, the feat Boon Companion will raise an Animal Companion up to four levels (up to a maximum of your character level), so you’ll probably want to take that. Second, the two most recommended choices are a smilodon (5 attacks and pounce) or a leopard (3 attacks, trip attempt on a bite, and the highest of any animal companion). You can’t go too terribly wrong with most of the choices, but those are probably the most optimal.

From what I understand, a properly supported (ie with spells) animal companion will generally be pretty tanky due to the way scaling works in this game.

As for special abilities:
Rend adds an extra pseudo attack if you hit with two claw attacks. Not a great choice because it’s not all that much damage and it relies on two successful attacks to happen at all.
Trample... I’m not entirely sure how it works in Kingmaker. In the PnP, the trampler literally runs over the target, dealing its attack damage in the process.
Trip is literally tripping the enemy. This knocks them prone, which lowers their AC vs melee attacks, and they need to take a standard action (or 3 seconds in real time?) to stand up, an action which provokes attacks of opportunity from nearby characters. It’s definitely one of the more powerful abilities.
Pounce is a charge action (move in a straight line up to twice your speed and attack at the end of it), except the creature can full attack at the end of it. This is also a powerful ability.

[Baldurs_Gate_2]

Leopard or Smilodon. First has 3 attacks and more AC. Second has 5 attacks and more damage.

If you go let's say, with a Alchemist that can buff personal spells to others, the animals can become pretty useful, esp. in the beginning.

[jsaving]

All animal companions are OP in Kingmaker but I agree on leopard or smilodon, also dog or wolf. I generally prefer leopard since it trips and remains medium size throughout, which means it's less likely to get in the way of other party members as they move through narrow hallways.

[Mork]

#1 Leopard
- Dex base
- Good attack and defense
- Pounce (get a full attack when charging)
- His small size is his biggest advantage

#2 Dog / Wolf
- Highest attack bonus and CMB / CMD
- Trip with his first attack (CMB)
- Best defense?

#3 Smilodon
- Highest numbers of attacks
- Pounce

#4 Bear
- High STR
- Very fun and strong with scimitar build


Elk is good at everything but the best at nothing

I have never try the boar, centipede, mastodon and lizard.