Animal Companion footprint

Guide on how much obstruction each Animal Companion causes.

Footprints

(image comparison: footprint Level 7+ Triceratops vs Level 1-6 Wolf)

Note: I measured the [mm] values with a ruler on my screen. The percentage values were estimated from the [mm] values but should almost exactly match the actual footprint.

The Level 1-6 footprint used by most Animal Companions, measured at 50mm, is the reference value / 100% in the table below.

The Area value represents the area that the footprint causes to obstruct. The Horse has the smallest area and this reference gets the value 100%.

Animal Comp.	Level 1-6	Footprint	Level 7+	Footprint	Area
Horse	63mm	125%	63mm	125%	100%
Wolf	45mm	90%	68mm	135%	117%
Bear	50mm	100%	74mm	150%	144%
Boar	50mm	100%	74mm	150%	144%
Dog	50mm	100%	74mm	150%	144%
Elk	50mm	100%	74mm	150%	144%
G. Centipede	50mm	100%	74mm	150%	144%
Leopard	50mm	100%	74mm	150%	144%
Mammoth	50mm	100%	74mm	150%	144%
M. Lizard	50mm	100%	74mm	150%	144%
Smilodon	50mm	100%	74mm	150%	144%
Velociraptor	65mm	130%	97mm	195%	243%
Triceratops	85mm	170%	128mm	255%	416%

Findings

These were my findings ...

A.) Do NOT select either of the Velociraptor or Triceratops Animal Companions. They have an abnormal vast footprint leading to the following problems:
- outside of battle, they get stuck themselves or allies in doors / hallways
- outside of battle, they might not be able to reach all areas, causing the need to arise to unmount them and having to leave them behind
- outside of battle, they cause allies to take longer to reach loot or use something highlighted
- outside of battle, they might not traverse a trapped or otherwise hazardous area without springing the trap or be subject to the hazardous, potentially deadly effects
- in battle, they get stuck themselves or allies in doors / hallways regularly
- in battle, they can be flanked by more enemies due to the larger area they present the enemy
- in battle, they can be attacked by more Reach using enemies, same reason as above
- in battle, they cannot retreat or get other characters stuck when doing so
- in battle, they have a much larger chance to be inside an Area of Effect from hostile spells and are thus subject to hostile effects much more regularly
- in battle, allies incl. summoned monsters cant move past them, getting stuck
- in battle, allies incl. summoned monsters wont be able to reach enemies or will take longer
- in battle, allies incl. summoned monsters using reach weapons wont be able to attack enemies due to the larger footprint needing a longer range

B.) Small Animal Companions do NOT have an advantage here as they have the same or, in case of the Velociraptor, even a larger footprint. Do NOT select a Small Animal Companion if you think you get an advantage for positioning. There simply is none.

C.) Horses have the best footprint available. You can add several horses to your party without your characters getting stuck as much as when using a single Triceratops, which obstructs an area more than 4 times as large as a Horse, or several of the other Animal Companions.

Especially for characters sitting in a back row like spellcasters and archers, where the Animals stats are of a lesser concern, Horses are way to go. You can retreat much more readily with Horses, they are subject to fewer hostile spells due to the smaller area they obstruct and they just dont get stuck as easily.

D.) Wolfs have, for some reason, a smaller inherent footprint than all other Animals and are the clear winners when going for a Trip user. Since they are also one of the best Animals compared to the rest it is adviceable to use Wolfs if Horses are not your preferred Animals.

(image comparison: footprint Level 7+ Leopard vs Level 7+ Wolf)

I hope these findings / infos are of use to you when selecting an Animal Companion.

Sincerely.

.

[Mindeveler]

It's an interesting comparison, but I'm not sure it's that simple.
E.g. look at this screenshot:
https://content.foto.my.mail.ru/mail/leoneck/26/h-467.jpg
First photo - turn-based, second one- rtwp. My Seelah could literally walk through my leopard on the second one and the suggested path on the first one passes right through the "footprint".

...then again, the moment I placed my leopard at a narrow passage, he suddenly became an obstacle (but only in rtwp, not in turn-based).

[glenn3e]

I’m using Triceratops and after a patch they gave it reach. So use a Reach weapon if you plan to mount Triceratops and they can attack together.

[Guy]

Elk and centipede are also missing

[Schutzengel]

The footprints are in need of patching. The Wolf extrudes out of his footprint and is clipping into enemies when attacking while other animals are attacking the thin air inside their vast footprint.

The Boar is so oversized that its head is in the middle of its footprint while his a## extrudes far outside the rear of his footprint.

The raptor has an animation where it moves forward when attacking which is the sad reason his footprint is so large. It could readily be much smaller if he wouldnt jump for- and backward each attack.

[zfedaykin]

but dinosaurs look very cooooool

[Schutzengel]

Added the Smilodon I forgot in the table. Sorry ! Its one of the standard footprint animals.

[Guy]

What about Smilodon?

[The Konrad]

Thank you.
Very interesting and helpful.
Though I'm more interested in a Mastodon stampede of half a dozen animal companions.

[TakeItEes]

this is a very interesting guide, thank you for the research!

[Platinawolf]

Thanks :) I'm gonna stick to my toothy kitten :)