D&D 5E Ranger Companion question

[Karmashock]

I am confused about how these scale.

The rules in so far as I understand them:
1. No larger than medium.
2. No more than 1/4th CR.
3. P Bonus added to AC
4. P bonus added to Attack
5. P bonus added to damage
6. P bonus added to Skills it is proficient in
7. P bonus added to saves it is proficient in
8. HP Equal to ranger level times 4

P bonus is 2 at level 3 and 6 at level 17-20. So the creature's AC, Attack, Damage, skills, etc scale by 2~6 over the life of the character... and its HP goes from roughly 12 to 80 between Level 3 and Level 20.

Question 1. Does the proficiency bonus that applies to companions apply to special abilities... for example the DC of wolves attempting trip attempts? By high level, it would seem the ability wouldn't work anymore. Does it stay at DC11 forever or can I add my proficiency bonus to it? A DC of 17 at level 17 doesn't seem that OP. If this truly doesn't scale, then I might as well just switch to an animal with multiattack late game because at least that always scales.

Question 2. The rules state that I can add my proficiency bonus to saves the creature is proficient in... From what I can tell, no creature is proficient in any save what so ever... rendering this an odd thing to offer me. How would this work?


Assuming any of this stuff can get my P bonus, can you help me with citations or explanations or something because the DM will probably want something firm to rest the stance on.

Thank you for your time.


Literal quote from the book...

Ranger’s Companion
At 3rd level, you gain a beast companion that
accompanies you on your adventures and is trained to
fight alongside you. Choose a beast that is no larger than
Medium and that has a challenge rating o f 1/4 or lower
(appendix D presents statistics for the hawk, mastiff,
and panther as examples). Add your proficiency bonus
to the beast’s AC, attack rolls, and damage rolls, as well
as to any saving throws and skills it is proficient in. Its
hit point maximum equals its normal maximum or four
times your ranger level, whichever is higher.
The beast obeys your commands as best as it can. It
takes its turn on your initiative, though it doesn’t take an
action unless you command it to. On your turn, you can
verbally command the beast where to move (no action
required by you). You can use your action to verbally
command it to take the Attack, Dash, Disengage, Dodge,
or Help action. Once you have the Extra Attack feature,
you can make one w eapon attack yourself when you
command the beast to take the Attack action.
While traveling through your favored terrain with only
the beast, you can move stealthily at a normal pace.
If the beast dies, you can obtain another one by
spending 8 hours magically bonding with another beast
that isn’t hostile to you, either the same type o f beast as
before or a different one.

 

[empireofchaos]

This is from on high:

I'd say no

http://www.sageadvice.eu/2015/05/28/beastmasters-beast-attack/

I'm guessing the reasoning is probably this (though note that people seem to houserule it the other way, too):

However, a high level Wolf companion with +6 Proficiency would be forcing opponents to make a DC17 STR save twice per round. A single failure, and the target is knocked prone... In my opinion, this would be unreasonably powerful.

https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/3dz9zw/do_ranger_beast_master_pets_dcs_get_proficiency/

As for the second question, as near as I can tell, the only way to add a proficiency bonus to a save is to belong to a character class, so the statement should read:

"Add your proficiency bonus to: a) the beast’s AC, b) attack rolls, c) and damage rolls, as well
as to d) any saving throws and f) skills it is proficient in."

(i.e. the "proficient in" refers only to skills, and not to saving throws).

 

[Merchant of Shadows]

It's up to your DM really. The Animal Companion is admitedly we least well though part of the PHB core so some flexibility there is more than neccessary.
Adding proficiency-2 to the DC (and the damage) of any special attacks seems the most logical step and giving the animal proficiency in one save at lvl 6 and another at lvl 13 is also much needed, but is not part of the rules as written.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

Question 1. Does the proficiency bonus that applies to companions apply to special abilities... for example the DC of wolves attempting trip attempts? By high level, it would seem the ability wouldn't work anymore. Does it stay at DC11 forever or can I add my proficiency bonus to it?

The save DC doesn't scale with your level, but neither does the save bonus of most enemies. A level 20 NPC spellcaster is going to have between -1 and +1 to Strength saves, the same as a level 1 NPC spellcaster.

By default, the only thing that scales in this game is Hit Points; everything else is an exception rather than the rule.