Editing Animal Companion (section)

==4E==
Animal companions as they were didn't really exist as a central feature. For the most part, Druids weren't particularly affected about this since they still had their spells and Wildshape shenanigans, but it did impact the aspects of the Ranger (especially now that the class lost its spells). It wasn't until the ''Martial Power 2'' splat that pets were included back on the roster for Rangers, but this option was generally viewed as pretty poor since it forces them to only fight in melee for any powers that relied on the pet and losing the Prime Shot ability for some attack bonuses. Druids would also get pets in a way, with the [[Sentinel (D&D)|Sentinel class]] making it a central aspect. Paladins, in the meanwhile, got nothing aside from a utility power in [[Dragon Magazine]] that lets them call up a divine steed and some feats to make that steed into something more badass.

Alongside those were a couple character themes that also included pets, though the powers that actively made use of them as more than mere advantage-givers are limited to only those given by the theme itself.