Animal companion
From Guild Wars 2 Wiki
An animal companion is a type of pet available to the ranger profession. Rangers have four slots available for holding animal companions: Two of these slots are reserved for terrestrial companions while the other two slots are reserved for aquatic companions. Amphibious companions may be placed in any of the four slots. Players can swap slots by utilizing the F4 key. Once an animal companion is switched to, a recharge time is implemented on the companion that was removed from play.
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[edit] Acquisition and customization
A juvenile animal can be approached by the ranger which makes a skill available to charm it.[1] Charming an animal unlocks it so that it can be placed in one of the pet slots.
The pawprint icon above the first skill opens the Pet Management screen which allows the player to rename and view statistics of the current animal companion (AC) and select from tamed AC the ones that are immediately available. At this time there are no means of customizing the appearance of an animal companion.
[edit] Pet Leveling
All your pets level up at the same time you level up. Your pet will level down when you enter a lower level area
[edit] Families and species
There are a total of twelve different families of animal companions (such as bears) each with multiple species (such as brown bear and polar bear). Each animal companion has certain environments it can operate in, and thus is given an environmental categorization: terrestrial, aquatic or amphibious. A terrestrial animal companion can only operate on land, aquatic only in water, and amphibious in both.
A (likely non-final) list of animal companions is listed below; this list may or may not be accurate in terms of families and species and specific designations.
| Charmable animal companions | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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[edit] Abilities
An animal companion's base health, armor, and damage are based on that of the ranger that has bonded with it. This means that its basic abilities always match the ranger's level.
Unlike Guild Wars 1, animal companions do not evolve. Their set skills and abilities are based upon their species. Each companion belongs to a species and each species belongs to a family. Charming a species unlocks that species for your ranger, allowing you to equip that species into any pet slot whenever you are out of combat.
Each family has three basic skills that define that family. These skills are automatically used by the pet. In addition to these family-based skills, each species within a family has a species-specific skill. This is the composition of the companion's four skill slots. Family skills are automatically used by each companion, whereas the species skill can be triggered by the ranger by utilizing the F2 key.
See the list of animal companion skills.
[edit] Animal companion interaction
The ranger has access to an interface which provides basic information and management of companion selection. Companion control during play is governed by the use of the function keys:
- F1 commands the active pet to attack the current target.
- F2 activates the species-specific skill of the active pet.
- F3 determines the current behavior of the pet.
- Active — Attack what I am attacking.
- Passive — Don't attack.
- F4 calls the alternate animal companion to become the active pet.
These options give the ranger some relative control of the companion, but the pets generally act according to AI determined by the chosen mode of behavior.
[edit] Combat mechanics
Animal companions cannot be downed, only defeated. Aside from a companion no longer contributing to battle, defeated companions do not result in any adverse effects for the owner.[2] When an animal companion is defeated, they will enter a defeated state and return to their master, usually limping, and will continue to follow until they are revived. An animal companion can be revived like a player from the defeated state, normally at the animal companion's location, but also at range via certain skills.[2] When a player is defeated and revives at a waypoint, their animal companion will automatically revive there as well.[2] If a ranger is in a downed state and their animal companion kills an enemy, the player will rally.
While an animal companion is in a defeated state, a ranger still has the ability to switch to another companion to continue the fight. This allows for quick adaptation during fights. If the animal companion is in a defeated state, the recharge time to bring it back out will be longer than normal. A defeated pet that was swapped out will be at full health when it is swapped back in. If the pet isn't injured, the recharge is about 20 seconds.
[edit] References
- ^ Interview: meet Guild Wars 2’s acrobatic Ranger, PC Gamer
- ^ a b c Post by Emily Diehl, Guild Wars 2 Guru
| Pets | |
|---|---|
 Animal companions •  Elementals •  Illusions •  Minions •  Spirit weapons •  Turrets
| |
| Skill types | ||
|---|---|---|
| Modifiers | AoE • Chain • Channel • Charge • Sequence • Toggle | |
| Shared | Shout • Signet • Trap • Transform |
|
| Virtues | Meditation • Spirit weapon • Symbol • Tome • Ward |
| Burst skills | Banner • Physical • Stance |
|
| Tool belt | Device kit • Elixir • Gadget • Turret • Weapon kit |
|
| Pets | Pet skills • Spirit • Survival |
| Steal | Deception • Dual wield • Stealth • Trick • Venom |
|
| Attunements | Arcane • Aura • Cantrip • Conjure • Glyph |
|
| Shattering | Clone • Glamour • Manipulation • Mantra • Phantasm |
|
| Death Shroud | Corruption • Mark • Minion • Spectral • Well |
