Wasteland 3 Animal Companions: perks, bonuses and the best companions from the animal whisperer skill

Any good role-playing game has its solid share of companions and party members, but you know what's even better than a few of these? Some companions that are animals, of course! Wasteland 3 mercifully has a bunch of Animal Companions, all of which carry unique bonuses and can be recruited with the Animal Whisperer skill.

Animal Whisperer is a general skill that requires skill points to level up, and it basically allows you to tame friendly wild animals, as well as tame hostile animals in combat - but only temporarily. 

How to use the Animal Whisperer Skill to tame Animals

The Animal Whisperer Skill in Wasteland 3 functions like other skills, with a level system where each level offers significantly better perks. Each level up in the Animal Whisperer skill boosts the amount of damage animal companions deal by 5% - starting at 5% for level 1 and capping out at 50% for level 10. Beyond that, a few perks unlock at different levels:

• Level 3 unlocks the Animal Training perk, which gives animal companions bonus constitution and damage.
• Level 5 unlocks the Spirit Animal perk, a party perk that improves the bonuses given by Animal Companions.
• Finally, Level 7 unlocks the Vengeful Bond perk. This one gives a huge boost to critical chance and +2 AP for any animal companions with 25% constitution.

As far as the animals in the game go, all you need to do is dump enough points into the Animal Whisperer perk in order to tame your animal of choice. Remember, you can get a few bonus skill points through the Intelligence stat if need be - but not as many as in Wasteland 2. As for the animals themselves? Allow us to list out the ones we've discovered so far:

Animals aren't the only thing we have the location of in Wasteland 3 - check out our guide on how to find the Gears of War Lancer assault rifle.

Wasteland 3 Animal Companions list: best animal companions, bonuses and where to find them

With the above in mind, here's all the Wasteland 3 Animal Companions, their locations, key stats and what level Animal Whisperer you'll need to be in order to make them your buddy.

• Major Tomcat: a unique animal companion, a cat in a cowboy hat. He has a unique appearance and a much higher constitution than other cats.
  • Bonus: +6% Crit Damage
  • Location: Appears at the Ambush Site in the prologue
  • Recruitment: Requires rank 1 of Animal Whisperer - or you can just give him Cigarettes
• Billy & Jean: a unique 2-headed goat. It has bonus constitution compared to normal goats.
  • Bonus: +0.1% Crit Damage
  • Location: Appears at the Hoon Homestead
  • Recruitment: Rank 1
• Chicken
  • Bonus: +3% EXP
  • Location: Common in places like Colorado Springs
  • Recruitment: Rank 1
• Cyborg Chicken: a unique animal with multiple locations, each with a different rank required to recruit. Get all 5 for the special companion.
  • Location 1: In a coop near the courtyard at Ranger HQ (Rank 1)
  • Location 2: At Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs (Rank 4)
  • Location 3: San Luxe Apartments, Apartment 1 - you first have to fix the generator to open the door (Rank 3)
  • Location 4: Broadmoor Heights Church - in a side room. (Rank 2)
  • Location 5: Inside the Patriarch's Bunker, beneath Broadmoor Heights. You'll need a Sneak Skill of 6 to reach the room on the second floor where it is. (Rank 5)
• Rabbit
  • Bonus: +10% Initiative
  • Location: Common
  • Recruitment: Rank 1
• Fox
  • Bonus: +3 Leadership
  • Location: Aspen
  • Recruitment: Rank 1
• Cat
  • Bonus: +6 Critical Chance
  • Location: Colorado Springs
  • Recruitment: Rank 2
• Dog
  • Bonus: +0.1 Combat Speed
  • Location: Ranger HQ, Colorado Springs, Aspen
  • Recruitment: Rank 3
• Goat
  • Bonus: +0.1% Critical Damage
  • Location: Gett Family Homestead
  • Recruitment: Rank 4
• Pig
  • Bonus: +15 Constitution
  • Location: The Warrens
  • Recruitment: Rank 4
• Doe
  • Bonus: +0.5s Sneak Time
  • Location: Santa's Workshop / Denver (Machine Commune)
  • Recruitment: Rank 4
• Waste Wolf
  • Bonus: +5 Sneak Attack Damage, Terrfies Enemies in AOE, decreasing AP
  • Location: The Warrens (The Bizarre)
  • Recruitment: Rank 5
• Razorback
  • Bonus: +2 Penetration
  • Location: Department of Energy
  • Recruitment: Rank 5
• Stag
  • Bonus: +10% Melee Damage
  • Location: Aspen, Denver
  • Recruitment: Rank 6
• Polly the Parrot: a unique animal that can also be purchased.
  • Bonus: +5% Evasion
  • Location: The Warrens (The Bizarre)
  • Recruitment: Rank 7 or Money Payment
• Growler Cub
  • Bonus: +2 Armor, Terrifies Enemies in AOE, decreasing AP
  • Location: Aspen, inside holding cells
  • Recruitment: Rank 7
• Bison
  • Bonus: +5% Crit Resistance
  • Location: Knox Bison Ranch
  • Recruitment: Rank 9
• Badger
  • Bonus: +1 Downed Time
  • Location: Massacre Site
  • Recruitment: Rank 10