Prime shot vs. Beast companion

[Dezarith]

Question guys im playing a archer ranger in a 4e campaign and i was wondering if its worth taking a hawk beast companion as an archer because even though you lose prime shot and defensive mobility you gain a greater ability to quarry many targets. wondering if this is a valid option or if prime shot and defensive mobility are better?

 

[DonAdam]

I would go with the hawk.

All of those abilities are on the low enough end of the power scale that the tradeoff makes virtually no difference to your character's competence.*

So go with the hawk. Because it's cooler and character-defining.

*And besides, the relevant tradeoff is actually two-weapon fighting vs. hawk.

 

[Shadus]

It really depends on what you prefer. A Hawk is cool, doesn't require arrows, and can be used for a lot more than combat. The other builds are more combat focused. But depending on how you build your character, a Beastmaster can be just as about as good as an Archer/Melee Ranger, but have more tricks in their bag.

I vote Hawk.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

I third the hawk. Animal sidekicks are awesome!

 

[Dezarith]

Hooray ive now got a hawk!

 

[fba827]

I third the hawk.

I don't know why, but that just sounds very very painful (for the hawk)...

 

[ppaladin123]

Hooray ive now got a hawk!

If you go this route, I highly suggest picking up the Beast Protector feat (you can make an opportunity attack when an enemy attacks your companion) and then go with the sharp-shooter paragon path (you can make a ranged basic attack as an opportunity attack). This will let you place your hawk next to enemies and punish the heck out of them for messing with it. It's especially good against enemies that like to employ close burst and blast powers to avoid your defender's mark punishment. You put them in a lose-lose situation.

Also, don't take "beast" powers...they tend to be much weaker than regular ranged weapon attacks given the beast's much lower accuracy and damage numbers.

 

[Dezarith]

Aren't O.A.'s only melee?

 

[Ferghis]

Aren't O.A.'s only melee?

The standard Opportunity Attack is a basic melee attack. But there's no rule requiring Opportunity Actions to be melee attacks.

A fighter with Opportunistic Archer can make his or her Combat Challenge attack with a basic ranged attack. Also, Thousand Arrow Awareness lets you make ranged attacks as opportunity actions.

 

[Dezarith]

But is there a way to use the O.A's gotten from Beast Protector?