Improved Wild Empathy

Cooldown: 60 seconds
Usage: Active
Prerequisite: Ranger 7, Druid 7

Description

This feat allows a ranger to charm an animal (similar to the Charm monster spell) for 5 minutes. It can be used 3 times / rest period with a 60 second cool down.

Target: Animal, Magical Beast
Save: Will

Notes

The ranger's improved wild empathy check result is equal to 1d20 + ranger level + Charisma bonus. A successful will save (DC equal to Improved Wild Empathy check result) negates it. To use Improved Wild Empathy, the ranger and the animal must be within 30 feet of one another under normal visibility conditions. In gameplay terms the range of the ability is quite short, and is less than the aggro radius of the animal.

The ranger can also use this ability to influence a Magical Beast. According to PnP rules this is limited to those with an Intelligence score of 1 or 2 and is done with a –4 penalty on the check, but whether this penalty is applied in the game is unverified. As applied in DDO, all enemies categorized as a Magical Beast can be affected by the ability, including the Crimson Foot Spiders in the Vale of Twilight.

Despite the feat's glaring flaws, on success, this ability dominates the subject for 5 minutes, with no recurring saves. In order to maximise chances of landing successfully, targeting a mob with aggro on someone else helps to prevent it from getting behind you and disrupting the cast. Further testing must be done to figure out if it can be dispelled or not.

Unlike the description states, rather than a charm effect, it appears to be a domination effect: The charmed animal will follow you throughout the dungeon. Unlike a domination effect or charm effect, even if a ranger or druid possesses dismiss charm from a multiclass, it will fail to remove this effect.

Improved Wild Empathy