Do Animal Companions Level Up in Wasteland 3?
As an avid Wasteland 3 player and content creator focused on RPG strategies, one of the most common questions I see is whether the animal companions you acquire will level up as you progress. So let‘s dive deep into the mechanics behind their progression system!
Yes, your furry friends become more powerful battle pets!
The short answer is yes, absolutely! Your animal companion‘s level is directly tied to the level of the character that tamed them via the Animal Whisperer skill. They gain experience and level up automatically alongside that Ranger.
So if your main beastmaster character reaches level 15, your wasteland wolf or other pet will also hit level 15, complete with increased health pools, damage output, new abilities and perks! Their power scales in tandem with yours.
Animal Companion Leveling System In Depth
Now let‘s analyze exactly how animal companions progress:
The maximum level for animal buddies is 20, the same cap as human characters and companions. So they can become extremely powerful by endgame!
With each level gained, your furry battle partner earns bonuses to health, damage, armor penetration chance, critical hit chance, and more.
Level Health Bonus Damage Bonus 1 +5 HP +1 DMG 5 +10 HP +3 DMG 10 +15 HP +5 DMG 15 +25 HP +7 DMG 20 +50 HP +10 DMG Certain levels also unlock new passive abilities, Tricks, Feats, and resistances that synergize with their attacks and playstyle.
For example, my level 12 Razorback "Boar Buddy" hits extremely hard in melee with his goring rush. He also gained the Pugilist feat recently, so many attacks trigger a follow-up strike!
- Rarer animal followers like Major Tomcat have unique perks. Leveling him boosts his Distraction Bell radius for increased crowd control capabilities.
So in summary, your animal allies grow into hardened badass fighters at your side – they are absolutely worth the investment for their damage, utility, and roleplaying value!
Top Picks for Animal Followers
Now let‘s analyze a few of my personal favorite animal companions to leverage during your playthrough:
Wasteland Wolf
This rugged doggo is a popular choice due to one reason – its Pack Flanking passive ability. Unlocking it requires 6 points spent into Animal Whisperer so it can learn advanced Tricks.
Once obtained, Pack Flanking grants +15% Armor Penetration chance to your entire squad whenever a target is adjacent to your wolf and another ally.
Since your wolf is constantly charging in, that bonus penetration quickly stacks up on priority enemies. Making your whole team shred armor faster is insanely valuable on higher difficulties!
Their healing bile Trick is also handy for keeping your Rangers going strong.
Major Tomcat
This unique cat sporting a sweater and bell can be found imprisoned at Victory‘s Watch in Colorado Springs.
What makes Major Tomcat special is that he starts with the Distraction Bell Trick (normally requires 5 Animal Whisperer).
Activating it forces all enemies in a large 25m radius to immediately waste 2 AP points repositioning themselves! This gives you a major tactical upper hand to focus them down.
And since the Major levels up, his crowd control capabilities only become wider and more influential as the game progresses. Plus, he‘s adorable!
Razorback
If you‘re lacking melee damage, the Razorback mutation pig is a fantastic choice. Their tusks and hide make them nearly unkillable tanks perfect for tying down enemies.
Each turn they can execute a Goring Rush strike inflicting bleeding while knocking down foes. The bonus critical damage quickly stacks up.
Later on when your Razorback unlocks Improved Criticals, most attacks will inflict punishing injuries for combined damage, hemorrhaging DOTs, and action point losses. Enemies waste turns recovering while you mop them up!
Now let‘s discuss how to empower animal companions further via skills and gear:
Animal Handling Skills & Pro Tips
To fully realize an animal ally‘s potential, every party should invest in handling skills. Here are the best abilities I recommend:
Animal Whisperer
This is mandatory for taming beasts initially. But at higher levels (6+), Animal Whisperer unlocks gamechanging Tricks for your companion like Pack Flanking, group Damage Link, Wide Flank, Revive abilities and more.
It essentially evolves them into more advanced roles – spending points here is never wasted.
Spirit Animal
Spirit Animal boosts all animal companion attributes passively the more you rank it up. That‘s +5% crit chance, +30% max HP, huge evasion boosts and more at 10 points.
Keep your furry tanks healthy and dishing damage with this must-have passive!
Custom Companion Gear
Don‘t forget to optimize your animal ally‘s weapons and accessories too! Craft unique equipment with +HP or +Penetration Chance for example.
You can create entire builds around buffing companion DPS like a Razorback Bleed Tank or a Speedy Flanking Wolf with +Evasion gear. Customization is limitless!
Here are some additional pro tips for utilizing animal buddies effectively:
Use Leadership‘s Guarded Stance ability frequently to reduce incoming damage on weakened companions.
Grab the Spatial Awareness perk so your pet avoids dangerous AoE attacks/hazards.
Prioritize healing/reviving animal allies quickly. They don‘t get back up automatically like squad members.
The Veteran perk reduces ALL companion deaths by 20-100% – great insurance for keeping them alive longer!
With my advice you‘ll have battle-tested animal followers capable of withstanding anything the post-apocalypse throws at them. Now go unleash those wasteland warriors!
In Summary
I hope this guide gives you total clarity on the animal companion leveling system. To recap:
Yes, animal buddies 100% level up automatically alongside the Ranger who tamed them!
They grow into hardened badass fighters at your side with boosted stats and new feats.
Tailor beastmaster skills like Animal Whisperer and gear to customize their combat capabilities.
Top picks like Wasteland Wolf, Major Tomcat and Razorback bring unique and powerful perks to the team.
Now get out there, tame some gnarly creatures and show Colorado who‘s boss!
Let me know in the comments if you have any other Wasteland 3 companion questions I can address in future articles. This is Valdez, signing off!
