Many rangers are more at home in the wilds than in civilization, to the point where animals consider them kin. Rangers of the Beast Conclave develop a close bond with a beast, then further strengthen that bond through the use of magic.

If you use this ability to return a former animal companion to life while you have a current animal companion, your current companion leaves you and is replaced by the restored companion.

If your animal companion is ever slain, the magical bond you share allows you to return it to life. With 8 hours of work and the expenditure of 25 gp worth of rare herbs and fine food, you call forth your companion's spirit and use your magic to create a new body for it. You can return an animal companion to life in this manner even if you do not possess any part of its body.

At the end of the 8 hours, your animal companion appears and gains all the benefits of your Companion's Bond ability. You can have only one animal companion at a time.

With 8 hours of work and the expenditure of 50 gp worth of rare herbs and fine food, you call forth an animal from the wilderness to serve as your faithful companion. You normally select your companion from among the following animals: an ape, a black bear, a boar, a giant badger, a giant weasel, a mule, a panther, or a wolf. However, your DM might pick one of these animals for you, based on the surrounding terrain and on what types of creatures would logically be present in the area.

At 3rd level, you learn to use your magic to create a powerful bond with a creature of the natural world.

Companion's Bond

Your animal companion gains a variety of benefits while it is linked to you.

The animal companion loses its Multiattack action, if it has one.

While your companion is within 5 miles of you, your bond lets you know its direction and distance from you as well as its current hit points.

The companion obeys your commands as best it can. It rolls for initiative like any other creature, but you determine its actions, decisions, attitudes, and so on. Your companion can't use its action to make attacks until you command it to, but it can move and take other actions and opportunity attacks as normal.

You can use a bonus action on your turn to command your companion to attack a target that you can see. Your companion can use its action to attack that target until it or your companion dies, you call off your companion (no action required), or use a bonus action in your turn to command your companion to attack a different target. If you are incapacitated or absent, your companion acts on its own.

Your animal companion has abilities and game statistics determined in part by your level. Your companion uses your proficiency bonus rather than its own. In addition to the areas where it normally uses its proficiency bonus, an animal companion also adds its proficiency bonus to its AC.

Your animal companion gains proficiency in two skills of your choice between Acrobatics, Animal Handling, Athletics, Insight, Intimidation, Nature, Perception, Stealth, and Survival. It also becomes proficient with two ability saving throws of your choice.

For each ranger level you gain after 3rd, your animal companion gains an additional hit die, and increases its hit points by an amount equal to half of the maximum roll of its hit die + 1 + its Constitution modifier. For example, an ape companion that uses d8 hit dice with a +2 Constitution modifier increases its hit points by 7 each time you gain a ranger level after 3rd.

Your companion can increase its ability scores the same number of times as you have gained the Ability Score Improvement class feature from the ranger level progression. When your companion increases its ability scores, you can increase one of its ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two of its ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, your companion can't increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

If an ability, attack, or feature of your companion involves forcing a target to make a saving throw, the saving throw DC is equal to the one listed in its stat block or 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier (your choice).

Your companion shares your alignment, and has a personality trait and a flaw that you can roll for or select from the tables below.

Your companion shares your ideal, and its bond is always, "The ranger who travels with me is a beloved companion for whom I would gladly give my life."

Your animal companion gains the benefits of your Favored Enemy feature (using the favored enemies you have gained from the feature), your Feral Senses feature at 18th level, and your Foe Slayer feature at 20th level (using your Wisdom for the feature).