Fleshraker dinosaur animal companion -- opinions?

[Olaf the Stout]

How do people think the Fleshraker compares to the Bloodstriker Dinosaur (also from MM3)?

Olaf the Stout

 

[Jack99]

I forgot about the feat, so yeah, same AC if you will. But Animal Companions get STR/DEX as they increase in HD, instead of the usual +1 stat, so no CON increase for the dog. At least, that was my impression from the rules.

Cheers

 

[Nifft]

is a fleshraker more powerful? Yes. But it's also one level higher. You could also get a dire bat, for the same AC, again slightly more hp (30), but large and flying (i.e. a handy mount) and with the potentially useful blindsense.

Dire bats have one attack. They're useful as mounts, but less than mediocre as combatants.

Like many other splat book abilities, it's not broken per se, merely powerful, and it's most problematic when only part of the party is using that kind of stuff. As long as everyone is benefiting from splat-book power-creep, then it's a question of taste; do you like splat books or not?

The poison alone is better than anything any other animal companion can get. The fleshraker combines the AC & special attack of a controller (riding dog) with the Pounce special attack of a striker (panther) and adds in triple the power of a debuff specialist (viper).

If you took away ALL of its poison and removed pouncing trip, it'd be a reasonable comparison. Pounce + Rake is a very nice combo.

Cheers, -- N

 

[kitsune_kune]

One thing easily missed

I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to add my 2 cents

In the descriptor of the Fleshraker, just above the description of Leaping Pounce, it Has an extra line that clearly states the Fleshraker CANNOT sue both bite and tail attack on the same opponent in the same round. This effectively limits its attacks to 3. Once read, why anyone would choose bite over tail is beyond me.

Trust me, I missed the text line many times aswell, just noticed it recently

 

[the Jester]

I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to add my 2 cents

In the descriptor of the Fleshraker, just above the description of Leaping Pounce, it Has an extra line that clearly states the Fleshraker CANNOT sue both bite and tail attack on the same opponent in the same round. This effectively limits its attacks to 3. Once read, why anyone would choose bite over tail is beyond me.

It just means that it's hurting multiple opponents.