The ranger has learned to summon stronger companion animals. Animals summoned by a Master Ranger are significantly more powerful in combat than their normal counterparts.
Unlocking
You can purchase the Manual: Ranger from Bodahn Feddic at the Party Camp for 15 0 0. Like with all specialization manuals, once you buy it in any playthrough, the specialization will be unlocked for all current and future playthroughs and the manual will be permanently gone from the vendor's inventory.
Pet comparison
There has been great debate on which pet is best, when to use a certain pet and the pros and cons of each one's abilities. The following list may help to determine which pet a player would prefer.
First and foremost, a tank. It will take a sizable amount of damage before going down. Very useful at lower levels when an NPC tank cannot control all enemies or survive encounters.
Rage at Master Ranger level can increase damage done by decent amount for a short period of time.
Cons:
Seems slower, if only slightly than the other summons.
On consoles, due to lack of third person overhead view, can block line of sight at times, making it difficult to target an enemy.
Large, which causes trouble to the movement of the party in tight spaces. It can also get stuck in doorways.
Web can be used instantly for interrupting attacks or just keeping an enemy busy.
Poison Spit deals mild damage over time. Has a 12 second cool down.
Cons:
Weaker melee damage compared to the other two animals.
Pet stats
There is no difference for the improved master ranger version at the same pet level. Pets are summoned at 75% of the ranger level, with master ranger at 90%. At the same pet level, the master ranger versions differ from the basic versions only in having an additional talent and 2.5 points combat health regeneration (the basic pets don't have combat health regeneration).
Neither the ranger's level nor the ranger's stats make any difference for the summoned pet (assuming the same pet level).
The pets have the following stats at pet level 10:
On the pc, each ranger in the party can summon a pet. On ps3 and xbox360, only one animal can be summoned in your party at a time. Having a second ranger summon a creature while there is an active one in your party will kill or un-summon the first.
Animals count as allies and can be used for a Blood Sacrifice in place of your party members.
On ps3 and xbox360 pet kills do not yield experience points. However as of patch v1.02, this is no longer an issue on the pc.
Note: Patch v1.04 fixes this problem in the consoles.
Traveling to a new screen causes your pet to be unsummoned. This can be especially annoying due to the long cooldown of the summons.
Exploits
Multiple Summons Exploit
Note that none of these methods work on the console versions.
It is possible to summon multiple pets provided you have enough stamina. To do this start summoning and instantly click on the next summon. It is only possible to have 2 summons out at a time using this method. As the game engine does not properly support more than 1 summon per character, multiple summons do not retain full functionality. Firstly, you will be unable to manually use skills from them (when you select them, the skills are greyed out, and say "Only main character is active while in camp"). Secondly NONE of their portraits will be shown on the top left hand side of the screen. If you want to select them, you must do so manually by left clicking on them. However, the "Select Entire Party" button still selects them as per normal. This also makes it more difficult to monitor their health and stamina status.
It is possible to utilize all of the pet's abilities as though they were a party member via tactics - the only way to do this is by clicking the "1 tactics slot added" notification upon summoning. The wolf has Dread Howl, Overwhelm, Shred, and Howl, and will use them via the tactics, effectively giving you another Mabari. The Bear and Spider have many extra skills available in the tactics screen as well, including overwhelm (Note: As of Patch 1.03 only the Wolf/Blight Wolf pets have extra abilities available in the tactics menu, while Bears and Spiders only have access to the 2 abilities of the respective master ranger versions). The tactics cannot be saved or accessed at any other time other than when first summoned though! This makes it rather tedious (especially since the summons disappear with every area transition without a special mod) but extremely useful in more difficult situations. The biggest disadvantages are that, unless you have a mod opening max tactics slots, only one tactic will be available****NEW NOTE**** As of 1/1/2014(using date, as not sure of the patch or build) you will have 6 tactic slots for all animals without the tactics mod. Further, the tactics page for the summon can ONLY be accessed upon summoning it. You cannot access it any way other than clicking on the "1 tactics slot added" notification. Don't miss your opportunity!
Prior to patch 1.02a, it was also possible (using Revival) to have all 3 summoned at once. Summon all 3 in sequence, and the previous animal will die as the next is summoned. Use Revival on the spot they died, and they will return to life, giving you 3 pets.
It is possible to have a computer-controlled party member automatically summon multiple active pets at a time, including more than one of the same type. However, there is no way to get rid of them after summoning (even if you kill them), and removing companions from your party afterwards results in the animals taking over companion slots. Proper companions like Alistair and Leliana cannot be added back as well. Simply place these three lines in their tactics:
Self:Any → Summon Spider
Self:Any → Summon Bear
Self:Any → Summon Wolf
Reference
Dragon Age: Origins - PRIMA Official Strategy Guide
Summon Wolf
Summon Bear
Summon Spider
Master Ranger
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