Moving the shaman's spirit companion

[Piratecat]

The excellent new article on shamans in Dragon says...

Sometimes 6 or so squares isn’t enough to get your
spirit companion into position. You can always dismiss
the spirit companion as a minor action, and then
drop your move action to gain another minor action
and use it to conjure the spirit companion again. This
should be your standard procedure whenever you
need to move your spirit companion more squares
than your speed.

Wasn't there recent errata saying that dismissing a spirit companion is a free action, though? Or am I misremembering?

 

[circadianwolf]

It's still a minor action to dismiss the spirit, you just don't have to dismiss it before resummoning it anymore. But yes, the article is wrong. There are other mistakes as well.

 

[Piratecat]

It's still a minor action to dismiss the spirit, you just don't have to dismiss it before resummoning it anymore. But yes, the article is wrong. There are other mistakes as well.

Like what? And why in the world would you dismiss it if you can just resummon it?

EDIT: Sorry if I sound annoyed; I'm certainly not irritated at you, and I appreciate the answer. This is just something that could have been caught before publication.

 

[EP]

We ran into this issue in our previous game when I played the shaman for a missing player. Wanted to pop the spirit companion to the other side of the battle and help out the severely wounded warforged and was told I had to burn two actions to do it. Then another player said it changed but we couldn't find the actual errata for it. Good to know WotC hasn't figured it out yet either - now the rest of us don't feel so bad.

 

[cdrcjsn]

I wonder if this speaks more about the communication gap between Dragon and R&D, Dragon's editing, or Dragon's lead time on articles...

 

[chitzk0i]

This is the update archive for PHB2. With the new wording the old companion is definitely dismissed as part of calling a new one.

 

[Piratecat]

I wonder if this speaks more about the communication gap between Dragon and R&D, Dragon's editing, or Dragon's lead time on articles...

The first and third, I believe. Now, if I wanted to be pedantic (and I don't), I could argue that the latest rule takes precedence. That PHB2 update is fairly unequivocal, though.

 

[Echohawk]

Like what? And why in the world would you dismiss it if you can just resummon it?

Perhaps there is a sudden need for stealth, and the spirit needs to be gotten rid of completely, rather than moved to a different location. (Not very likely, I admit, but...)

 

[ctlockey]

With the new wording the old companion is definitely dismissed as part of calling a new one.

Just to clarify. The article you linked to above must have been updated since you posted this, as it mentions to "revert the power to its original text." The language used clearly states that it has been updated "to prevent [a player] from dismissing and re-calling a spirit companion with the same minor action."

The spirit companion must not be present in order for the player to use "Call Spirit Companion."