Monster Vault Animal Allies and Summons Guide

Introduction

Monster Vault 2 expands the animal side of Tales of the Valiant in a useful way. It adds appendix creatures for familiars, summons, mounts, and battlefield utility, plus several trained or trainable creatures in the main bestiary. Player's Guide 2 then turns several of those options into easier table-facing references: Beast Forms, Potent Forms, familiars, Pact of the Chain familiars, steeds, combat animals, creature training, and Mystic Steed options. This guide also includes applicable animal-ally creatures from the appendix of The Old Margreve, mounted-play support from Book of Blades, and maze-travel allies, familiars, and summons from Labyrinth Worldbook. It sorts those options by what players usually need at the table: mounts, companions, summonable beasts, familiars, mounted character support, travel summons, and utility creatures.

Every creature data point in this guide is labeled by source. (Monster Vault 2) means the creature, trait, or access note comes from Monster Vault 2. (Player's Guide 2) means the option is confirmed, expanded, or made easier to use by Player's Guide 2. (The Old Margreve) means it comes from the appendix of The Old Margreve. (Book of Blades) means the option comes from Book of Blades, usually as mounted-play support rather than a new summonable Beast. (Labyrinth Worldbook) means the option comes from Labyrinth Worldbook, usually as a maze-travel creature, familiar sidebar, or non-Beast summon.

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Ratings

• ● Fantastic - Build around this.
• ● Good - Strong in the right party or campaign.
• ● Situational - Useful, but access or terrain matters.
• ● Avoid - Usually not worth building around.

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Quick Picks

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Access Tiers

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Optional Familiars

For full familiar rankings, class-by-class familiar access, Pact of the Chain special forms, and tactical advice, see the Best Familiars Guide. This section covers the source-labeled expansion options in brief.

Monster Vault 2 explicitly says the GM can add giant honey bee, opossum, and skunk to the animal forms available through create familiar or find familiar (Monster Vault 2). Giant honey bee is the standout for combat familiar play - it flies, poisons, and has a defensive reaction. Opossum is the cleanest all-purpose pick with climb speed, darkvision, smell, and Feign Death. Skunk is useful for tracking and disruption.

Monster Vault 2 also includes explicit familiar sidebars for pelagic dragonette, eldritch sable, fire cat, flitkith (cloth, metal, and wood variants), gluckshund, musculi, and searsprite - as well as glass, sludge, and storm mephit concepts (Monster Vault 2). Treat these as campaign-permission familiars or Pact of the Chain expansions rather than default ritual options. Labyrinth Worldbook adds light drake and widross as familiar leads, both covered in the Labyrinth section below.

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Player's Guide 2 Animal Ally Rules

Player's Guide 2 is useful here because it gives GMs and players a cleaner permission layer for animal-adjacent play. It does not make every Monster Vault 2 creature a casual purchase or automatic summon target, but it does collect the legal-looking reference tables and downtime systems that animal-heavy characters keep asking for (Player's Guide 2).

Use the Best Familiars Guide, Best Wild Shape Forms, Druid Spells Guide, and Paladin Guide when you need class-specific rankings.

PG2 Reference Tables ●

Source: Player's Guide 2 Role: Legality reference for forms, familiars, and steeds Stats that matter: Beast Forms, Potent Forms, standard familiars, Pact of the Chain familiars, and steed stat blocks.

The strongest PG2 contribution is boring in the best way: it tells you what belongs in which bucket. The Beast Forms table confirms several Monster Vault 2 creatures as Wild Shape options, including opossum, skunk, war pig, cavalry camel, giant honey bee, hammerbill goose, giant opossum, rattus eel, giant skunk, feymount raccoon, and nightwing (Player's Guide 2).

The Potent Forms table then separates higher-impact or nonstandard picks for Shifter-style access, including hellworm, owlbear hatchling, manax, eldritch sable, juvenile owlbear, rampede, voltaic newt, hippalektryon, giant axolotl, giant millipede, mudcrawler, wooly hippopotamus, tress lizard, brachysnatch, oliphaunt warbeast, and sidhe ox (Player's Guide 2).

The hot take: PG2 makes the optimizer conversation less annoying. Instead of arguing whether every weird MV2 stat block "should" count, start with the table, then ask the GM only about campaign exceptions.

Standard and Chain Familiars ●

Source: Player's Guide 2 Role: Familiar access confirmation Stats that matter: Giant honey bee, opossum, and skunk are standard familiar options; multiple MV2 creatures appear in the Pact of the Chain familiar table.

PG2 reinforces the Monster Vault 2 animal familiar trio: giant honey bee, opossum, and skunk are listed with the standard familiar options (Player's Guide 2). That makes them easier to recommend for create familiar, find familiar, Wildlife Bard, Witch, Wizard, and ritual-heavy characters.

For Pact of the Chain style play, PG2 lists several Monster Vault 2 options: pelagic dragonette, eldritch sable, fire cat, flitkith variants, gluckshund, glass mephit, sludge mephit, storm mephit, musculi, and searsprite (Player's Guide 2). Some still have special requirements in their monster entries, so the table is a permission lead, not a blank check.

Steeds and Mystic Steed ●

Source: Player's Guide 2 Role: Paladin mount expansion and steed eligibility Stats that matter: PG2 steed table includes camel, cavalry camel, elk, war horse, mastiff, pony, and war pig; Mystic Steed expands Paladin find steed forms.

The PG2 steed table is modest but important. It makes cavalry camel and war pig easy to point at when a player asks what counts as a common steed option (Player's Guide 2). War pig is the standout for Small riders; cavalry camel is the practical Large mount with a defensive reaction and desert package.

The bigger Paladin hook is Mystic Steed, a 10th-level heroic boon that teaches a stronger find steed ritual, lets the Paladin cast it as an action without material components, and adds special forms such as dire wolf, griffon, hippogriff, pegasus, rhinoceros, saber-toothed tiger, hippalektryon, and rampede. With GM approval, it can also choose another Medium or Large Beast or Animal-tag creature of CR 2 or lower (Player's Guide 2).

The hot take: Mystic Steed is the cleanest way to make a Paladin mount feel like a class feature instead of a disposable horse. It also makes the Paladin Guide and this guide overlap more than they used to.

Creature Training ●

Source: Player's Guide 2 Role: Downtime upgrade system for mounts, pets, scouts, and combat animals Stats that matter: One-week increments, WIS (Animal Handling), stable/facility requirement, care costs, and training benefits.

Creature Training gives animal-heavy campaigns a rules-backed downtime route. A creature in your care can be trained over weeks if you have access to a proper stable or similar facility. The activity is built first for Beasts and creatures with the Animal tag, while other creature types require GM discretion and may need special facilities (Player's Guide 2).

The benefits are the important part:

The cost math is the part most players miss. Beast upkeep is cheap, while Animal-tag creatures are expensive enough to become a campaign decision (Player's Guide 2).

The training DC starts at 10 + the creature's highest ability score modifier, then the GM can adjust it for type, CR, and intelligence. A creature can learn a number of training benefits up to its PB, with a minimum of two benefits (Player's Guide 2).

The hot take: Obedience and Conditioning are the real table-smoothers. Extra speed is fun, but the mount that does not panic and does not die to one area effect is the mount the campaign will actually keep using.

Combat Animals ●

Source: Player's Guide 2 Role: Battlefield-ready trained animals Stats that matter: A handler commands a combat-trained animal with an action and a DC 10 WIS (Animal Handling) check; combat-trained animals can learn up to four handlers.

PG2 formalizes combat animals as Beasts trained for war. Unlike ordinary animals, they know who is friendly in battle and do not simply flee because fighting starts. A handler can command a trained animal to Attack, Dash, Disengage, Dodge, Help, Hide, or Use an Object with an action and a DC 10 WIS (Animal Handling) check (Player's Guide 2).

Homing Pigeon ●

Source: Player's Guide 2 Role: Courier animal, faction logistics, low-cost mission tool Stats that matter: Tiny Beast, CR 0, fly 50 ft., remembers up to three humanoids or locations, resistant to exhaustion while carrying a message tube.

Homing pigeon is not a combat pick. It is a campaign tool for parties that care about bases, retainers, army movement, faction networks, and split objectives (Player's Guide 2). It is cheap enough to matter at low levels and practical enough to keep mattering when the party starts operating across larger territory.

Hunting Hound ●

Source: Player's Guide 2 Role: Tracker companion, low-level combat animal, scout support Stats that matter: Small Beast, CR 1/4, speed 40 ft., advantage on Survival checks to track, heightened hearing and smell, grapple bite, Flushing Bark.

Hunting hound is the cleanest new PG2 "normal adventuring animal." It tracks, flushes hidden or covered enemies, and can grapple Medium or smaller targets with its bite (Player's Guide 2). It is not as flashy as a magical familiar or monster mount, but it fits the campaigns where Rangers, guards, bounty hunters, and wilderness parties actually need a dog that works.

Oliphaunt Warbeast ●

Source: Player's Guide 2 Role: Siege animal, army asset, high-impact story mount Stats that matter: Huge Beast, CR 6, 133 HP, speed 40 ft., resistant to bludgeoning, frightened, and prone; Siege Monster; Trampling Charge; Trunk Sweep.

Oliphaunt warbeast is not a practical dungeon companion. It is a siege unit with a price tag and footprint to match (Player's Guide 2). When the campaign is about armies, fortifications, battlefield logistics, or defending a keep, it becomes relevant. In an ordinary cave crawl, it is a problem wearing tusks.

The hot take: oliphaunt warbeast is a GM-facing reward or war asset, not a player-facing pet. Letting a party own one is less like buying a mount and more like adding a mobile siege engine to the campaign economy.

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Book of Blades Mounted Support

Book of Blades does not function like a new animal appendix. Its animal-ally value is concentrated in mounted character support: an Equine Soul Monk bonded horse, Horse Lord heritage tools, the Fell Rider heroic endowment, specialized mount gear, and magic items for riders and mounts (Book of Blades).

That distinction matters. A bonded horse is not a generic animal purchase, Fell Rider is not a creature option, and a Saddle of Flying does not make a mount a summon target. Use this section when the party is already building around mounts or when the GM wants mounted characters to matter for more than travel.

Bonded Horse ●

Source: Book of Blades Role: Equine Soul Monk class-feature mount Stats that matter: Large Beast, AC 11 + PB, HP equal to 5 times monk level, speed 60 ft., d10 Hit Dice equal to monk level, telepathic bond within 1 mile, Trampling Charge, Hooves, Trained Shift.

Bonded horse is the cleanest Book of Blades animal ally because it is an actual companion stat block. The Equine Soul Monk bonds with a horse through a 1-hour ritual, shares telepathic thoughts with it within 1 mile, and commands it in combat without spending an action. It shares the monk's initiative and acts immediately after the monk (Book of Blades).

The horse scales better than a normal bought mount: its HP is tied to monk level, it has Hit Dice for short rests, and it recovers all HP on a long rest. Its Trampling Charge can knock a target prone after a 20-foot straight-line move and set up a bonus-action Hooves attack. Trained Shift helps the rider resist being knocked prone or dismounted (Book of Blades).

This is Fantastic for Equine Soul Monks and mostly irrelevant for everyone else. Several subclass benefits care about the bonded horse not wearing barding, so do not assume that heavier armor is always the right upgrade.

Horse Lord Heritage ●

Source: Book of Blades Role: Horse-focused heritage support Stats that matter: Expert Trainer, Clansman, Master of Horse.

Horse Lord heritage is not an animal ally by itself, but it makes a horse-dependent character more reliable. Expert Trainer lets you choose one horse after 1 hour as part of a long rest. Until your next long rest or until you train another horse, that horse adds your PB to its HP maximum and DEX saves (Book of Blades).

Clansman adds Animal Handling plus either Perform or Survival, and gives advantage on Animal Handling checks to calm horses. Master of Horse adds trapper tools and land vehicles. This is strongest for Paladins, Rangers, Equine Soul Monks, and any campaign where horses are a real resource instead of background dressing (Book of Blades).

Fell Rider ●

Source: Book of Blades Role: Mounted heroic endowment Stats that matter: Requires Animal Handling proficiency; functions while mounted and not incapacitated.

Fell Rider is a mounted build accelerator if your table uses heroic endowments. While mounted, you can ride your mount through the space of a creature smaller than the mount and force a DC 15 STR save or knock it prone. When you hit with a weapon attack, each creature within 5 feet of the target takes damage equal to your STR modifier, minimum 1. You can also use a bonus action to move your mount up to half its speed (Book of Blades).

This is not a creature option, but it dramatically changes how valuable a mount feels in combat. It is especially strong with Large mounts, reach weapons, charge creatures, and characters who want to keep moving instead of standing in a static front line.

Best Book of Blades Mount Gear

Best Book of Blades Mount Magic Items

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Labyrinth Worldbook Travel Allies and Summons

Labyrinth Worldbook is not another animal appendix. Its strongest contributions to this guide are maze-specific: a trained trail snail can change how a party moves through barriers, light drake and widross sidebars add unusual familiar options, and the new conjuration spells are travel or extraplanar summon tools rather than Beast calls (Labyrinth Worldbook).

Trail Snail ●

Source: Labyrinth Worldbook Role: Labyrinth story mount, siege support, barrier-breaker Stats that matter: Medium Monstrosity, CR 2, 54 HP, speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft., force immunity, keensense 60 ft., exhaustion and frightened resistance, Rainbow Ward, Path Maker, Dispelling Slime, Energy Absorption.

Trail snail is the Labyrinth Worldbook standout for animal-ally play. It is explicitly described as difficult to handle, but trained trail snails are valuable enough that some smallfolk families make fortunes from them (Labyrinth Worldbook). That tells you the access model: this is a trained specialist mount or expedition asset, not a normal stable purchase.

Mechanically, its value is not speed. It is route control. Path Maker lets it chew through objects and structures, ignore damage thresholds for that chewing damage, and move through magical barriers like difficult terrain (Labyrinth Worldbook). Dispelling Slime can end magical effects it hits and can temporarily suppress non-artifact magic items after sustained contact (Labyrinth Worldbook).

Use trail snail when the campaign cares about sieges, sealed doors, magical wards, living mazes, or desperate retreats. Do not sell it to the party as a combat mount unless the player understands that 20-foot speed and difficult handling are part of the package.

Light Drake ●

Source: Labyrinth Worldbook Role: Unusual familiar, flying light scout, anti-darkness support Stats that matter: Tiny Dragon, CR 1/2, fly 60 ft., darkvision 60 ft., radiant resistance, necrotic vulnerability, light magic, radiant breath, familiar sidebar.

Light drake is the cleanest Labyrinth Worldbook familiar lead. Some light drakes serve good-hearted spellcasters, form a telepathic familiar bond, share senses within 1 mile, and grant the companion sacred flame while nearby (Labyrinth Worldbook).

This is not an animal familiar and not a Beast summon. It is a campaign-permission familiar for characters who want scouting, light control, and radiant flavor instead of a mundane animal. It fits good-aligned arcane casters, Wyrd casters, Celestial-flavored builds, and parties that spend a lot of time in darkness.

Widross ●

Source: Labyrinth Worldbook Role: Trickster familiar, mimicry scout, mayhem tool Stats that matter: Tiny Fiend, CR 1/2, darkvision 120 ft., Magic Resistance, flawless sound mimicry, short message copying, Tiny CR 0 Beast shape, familiar sidebar.

Widross is a much riskier familiar lead. It can serve a willing companion, share senses within 1 mile, and share Magic Resistance while within 10 feet of the companion (Labyrinth Worldbook). It can also end the bond whenever it wants, and the book frames widross familiars as especially attractive to spellcasters who enjoy causing mayhem (Labyrinth Worldbook).

That makes widross powerful but socially radioactive. It is best for intrigue, deception, infernal or chaotic campaigns, and players who are comfortable with a familiar that is not just a loyal owl in a stranger costume.

Conjure Ferryman ●

Source: Labyrinth Worldbook Role: Travel summon, water crossing, planar route tool Stats that matter: 3rd-circle Arcane and Wyrd conjuration, 1 action, 90-foot range, concentration up to 1 hour, summons a ferry spirit and boat; upcasting can connect to River Styx travel.

Conjure Ferryman is a summon, but it is not an animal-ally spell. It calls a ferry spirit and boat to carry the party across water (Labyrinth Worldbook). At higher circles, it becomes a stranger planar-travel tool tied to the River Styx, with real consequences if control is lost (Labyrinth Worldbook).

Treat it like a route spell. It solves access, pursuit, evacuation, and weird-world travel. If a player tries to compare it to Conjure Animals for DPR, they are asking the wrong question.

Conjure Minor Voidborn ●

Source: Labyrinth Worldbook Role: Combat summon, dangerous extraplanar call Stats that matter: 5th-circle Arcane and Wyrd conjuration, summons Aberrations or Fiends, requires active command risk, can become hostile if concentration breaks.

Conjure Minor Voidborn belongs in a broader summon guide, but it is worth flagging here because it is the Labyrinth Worldbook's combat-summon option (Labyrinth Worldbook). It does not help Beast builds, Wildlife Bard animal calls, or Conjure Animals math.

The hot take: if your party wants reliable animal helpers, this is the wrong tool. If your party wants volatile Void pressure and accepts the risk of a summon turning hostile, it becomes a very different conversation.

Referenced Flying Mounts and Familiars

Labyrinth Worldbook also references a few setting options whose stat blocks live in other books. In Sunhome, buraqs and moonkites are used as flying mounts by important individuals, elves use pegasi for sky chariots, and star elf wizards visit Mellifluence to befriend aviere songbirds as familiars (Labyrinth Worldbook).

Use those as campaign leads, not automatic player options. If your table does not also allow the referenced source books, these are worldbuilding signals rather than build picks.

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Mounts

Mounts are where Monster Vault 2 gets especially interesting. Some are ordinary trained animals. Others are setting-specific allies that should be earned through story, downtime, or class features.

Cavalry Camel ●

Source: Monster Vault 2 Role: Desert mount, battlefield mount, overland travel mount Stats that matter: Large Beast, CR 1/2, AC 12 with studded leather barding, 25 HP, speed 40 ft., resistant to blinded and exhaustion, Desert Walk, Spit, Defensive Kick.

The cavalry camel is the most practical Monster Vault 2 mount. It is not just a camel with more HP. Desert Walk removes nonmagical sand difficult terrain, Spit can blind a nearby target, and Defensive Kick can push and knock prone an attacker that damages the camel or its rider (Monster Vault 2).

Use it for desert campaigns, caravan games, mounted Paladins, and Ranger parties that want a real overland animal rather than a fragile travel prop.

War Pig ●

Source: Monster Vault 2 Role: Small-rider combat mount, disruption animal, low-level charge threat Stats that matter: Medium Beast, CR 1/2, 27 HP, speed 30 ft., resistant to grappled, Charge, heightened smell, Frightful Squeal.

War pig is the best compact mount in the book. Medium size means it works for Small riders and fits places a Large mount may not. Charge adds damage and can knock a target prone, while Frightful Squeal can frighten nearby Beasts and Humanoids (Monster Vault 2).

This is excellent for Smallfolk, Kobolds, Wildlife Bards, and any table that treats animal handling as a meaningful pillar.

Feymount Raccoon ●

Source: Monster Vault 2 Role: Fey woodland mount, climber, fear-based skirmisher Stats that matter: Large Beast, CR 2, 60 HP, speed 30 ft., climb 15 ft., Fey Blessed, heightened hearing and smell, Woodland Walk, Intimidating Display.

Feymount raccoon is a campaign mount, not a stable purchase. It is too magical and too strong to hand out casually. If the party earns one, it gives woodland mobility, smell/hearing scouting, resistance to charmed, illusion resilience, and a fear burst that helps it disengage from frightened creatures (Monster Vault 2).

Best for fey campaigns, Wildlife Bards, Grove Wardens, and forest-first parties.

Mudcrawler ●

Source: Monster Vault 2 Role: Swamp mount, amphibious transport, grapple mount Stats that matter: Large Monstrosity with the Animal tag, CR 3, speed 40 ft., swim 60 ft., amphibious, water walking, charge, grappling pincers.

Mudcrawlers are trained by lizardfolk and other swamp-dwelling humanoids as mounts and beasts of burden (Monster Vault 2). Mechanically, they are excellent in wetlands: swim 60 ft., water walking, charge pressure, and grapples that restrain targets.

The catch is access. This is a Monstrosity, not a normal Beast mount. Use it when the campaign is built around swamps, river travel, or local factions that can train them.

Rampede ●

Source: Monster Vault 2 Role: Stable Small-rider desert mount, burrow/climb utility Stats that matter: Medium Monstrosity with the Animal tag, CR 1, speed 30 ft., burrow 10 ft., climb 10 ft., immune prone, tremorsense 60 ft.

Rampedes are partially domesticated by smaller humanoids and described as unusually stable mounts when well-fed and allowed to join the hunt (Monster Vault 2). Immune prone plus tremorsense is the mechanical hook: this is a weird but very reliable mount for difficult ground and subterranean scenes.

It is situational because it is Medium and a Monstrosity. For Small riders in desert or underground campaigns, it is much better than it looks.

Scaled War Weasel ●

Source: Monster Vault 2 Role: Elite story mount, burrowing battle companion, rider protector Stats that matter: Medium Monstrosity, CR 5, AC 17, 102 HP, speed 40 ft., burrow 20 ft., Stealth 17, acid resistance, poisoned resistance, Monstrosity Resilience, Pounce, Dedicated Tunneler, Protect Rider.

Scaled war weasel is the strongest mount package in this guide, but it is not a casual player purchase. Monster Vault 2 describes them as trained companions, beasts of burden, mounts, and warriors in formicbane communities (Monster Vault 2).

Protect Rider is the headline: when a creature attacks its rider, the weasel can become the target instead (Monster Vault 2). Add tunneling, acid, pounce, and high durability, and this becomes an elite campaign reward.

Pyroclasm ●

Source: Monster Vault 2 Role: Volcanic mount, elemental guard creature Stats that matter: Large Ooze, CR 2, climb 20 ft., fire immunity, spider climb, ooze defenses, grappling fiery pseudopod.

Pyroclasms are used by lava sprites as pets, mounts, and guards in lava-tube homes (Monster Vault 2). That makes them useful as a worldbuilding mount, not a general party option. They are excellent in volcanic or elemental-fire campaigns and awkward everywhere else.

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Conjure Animals Picks

The cleanest summon picks from Monster Vault 2 are Beasts at or below the spell's CR ceiling. Always confirm with your GM how specific creature selection works at your table.

Best Summon Patterns

Prone swarm: War Pig or Hammerbill Goose summons create advantage for melee allies by knocking enemies prone (Monster Vault 2).

Poison control: Giant Honey Bee, Swarm of Bees, and Giant Skunk pressure CON saves and can disrupt weaker enemies (Monster Vault 2).

Body-blocking: Giant Hedgehog and War Pig are good at occupying space because enemies do not want to casually stand next to them (Monster Vault 2).

Scouting: Opossum, Skunk, and Giant Honey Bee are better before initiative than after it. Use climb, burrow, fly, smell, and darkvision to solve information problems (Monster Vault 2).

Forest control: Grove Bear, Great Gray Owl, Margreve Hound, and Strossen Bat give Old Margreve parties low-CR ways to scout, frighten, grapple, or restrain enemies (The Old Margreve).

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The Old Margreve Appendix Picks

The Old Margreve appendix is strongest for forest, wetland, and folklore-heavy campaigns. Most applicable creatures are Beasts, which makes them cleaner for Conjure Animals, Wildlife Bard calls, Beast communication, and GM-granted companions than the stranger Monstrosities and villain creatures at the end of the book (The Old Margreve).

Bramble Beast Options

The bramble beast template can be applied to Beasts or Monstrosities, but the resulting creature becomes a Plant (The Old Margreve). That matters because it usually stops the creature from being a clean Conjure Animals target. Treat bramble beasts as story allies, GM-selected summons, or Bag of Bramble Beasts-style options rather than ordinary Beast picks.

Giant frilled lizard is also a useful Old Margreve animal ally candidate for high-level story play: it is a Large CR 5 Beast with climb speed, poison pressure, prone control, Intimidating Dash, and a detachable tail escape trick (The Old Margreve).

High-Utility Animal Allies

These creatures are not always easy summon picks, but they are useful as GM-granted allies, class feature companions, bramble beast targets, or story rewards.

Giant Axolotl ●

Source: Monster Vault 2 Role: Aquatic control ally Stats that matter: Large Beast, CR 3, 80 HP, swim 30 ft., amphibious, limited regeneration, underwater camouflage, grapple, swallow, suction pull.

Giant axolotl is an excellent water encounter ally. It grapples, restrains, swallows, pulls creatures in a cone, and regenerates while alive (Monster Vault 2). It is too high for the basic Conjure Animals examples, but as a story companion or aquatic encounter ally it does real work.

Giant Millipede ●

Source: Monster Vault 2 Role: Huge climbing bruiser Stats that matter: Huge Beast, CR 3, 76 HP, speed 40 ft., climb 20 ft., acid immunity, prone resistance, keensense.

Giant millipede is mostly a terrain solution with combat stats attached (Monster Vault 2). Huge size plus climb speed can change how a party approaches cliffs, caverns, ruins, and vertical dungeons.

Nightwing ●

Source: Monster Vault 2 Role: Flying control creature Stats that matter: Large Beast, flight, Flyby, heightened smell, acid damage, Pinning Claws.

Nightwing is a flying control ally. Flyby keeps it moving, and Pinning Claws can knock a Medium or smaller creature prone and restrain it beneath the nightwing (Monster Vault 2). Its land vulnerabilities make it much worse if grounded.

Oliphaunt ●

Source: Monster Vault 2 Role: Siege-scale mount or war beast Stats that matter: Huge Beast, high-STR trampler, Trampling Charge, Trunk Sweep, fear effect against nearby enemies.

Oliphaunt is not a normal adventuring pet. It is a battlefield set piece: a huge trampling war beast with knockdown, fear, and area control (Monster Vault 2). Use it for mass combat, fortification assaults, and enemy warbands.

Tress Lizard ●

Source: Monster Vault 2 Role: Grassland ambusher, mobility ally Stats that matter: Large Beast, CR 5, 108 HP, speed 40 ft., climb 20 ft., Stealth 17, Evasion, grassland camouflage, Standing Leap, Shoving Rush.

Tress lizard is powerful but terrain-biased. In grasslands, its stealth becomes exceptional, and Shoving Rush lets it dash into a creature and knock it prone without provoking from that target on a failed save (Monster Vault 2).

Wooly Hippopotamus ●

Source: Monster Vault 2 Role: Party transport, protector, battlefield bruiser Stats that matter: Huge Beast, CR 4, 100 HP, resistant to blinded, exhaustion, and prone, carries up to four Medium or smaller creatures safely in its mouth, Protective Scoop.

This is one of the strangest and best utility creatures in Monster Vault 2. It can safely carry up to four Medium or smaller creatures in its mouth, and Protective Scoop lets it move a nearby friendly creature into that mouth and become the attack target instead (Monster Vault 2).

As a summon it is too much for ordinary tables. As a GM reward, escort creature, or one-session wilderness ally, it is memorable and mechanically meaningful.

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Best Class Hooks

Cleric

Nature Cleric is the Player's Guide 2 class hook that most changes how this guide reads. The domain spell list brings speak with animals, conjure animals, and conjure woodland beings, so the subclass has direct access to animal communication and creature-summon play without pretending to be a Ranger (Player's Guide 2).

The bigger deal is support. Nature's Protection can improve a Beast or Plant with an AC boost, resistance, or doubled speed while Nature's Vigor holds, and Guide the Untamed can command low-INT Beasts, Elementals, Fey, Plants, and Animal-tag creatures in the right encounter (Player's Guide 2). The hot take: Nature Cleric is not a pet class. It is a field commander for campaigns where the map already has animals, plants, and monster allies to turn into assets.

Use the Cleric Guide and Cleric Spells Guide when deciding whether the support package is worth building around.

Druid

Druids care about this guide because Conjure Animals turns Beast stat blocks into battlefield choices. Monster Vault 2 gives Druids more ways to choose between damage, control, scouting, flight, burrowing, and mounts (Monster Vault 2). The Old Margreve adds especially strong forest and wetland picks for scouting, grappling, and low-CR control (The Old Margreve).

Player's Guide 2 matters because its Beast Forms and Potent Forms tables are the cleanest reference for which Monster Vault 2 options belong in ordinary Wild Shape versus Shifter-style Potent Forms (Player's Guide 2). That is especially useful for edge cases like feymount raccoon, nightwing, mudcrawler, wooly hippopotamus, tress lizard, and oliphaunt warbeast.

Fey Druid adds a different kind of summon support. Its Seelie Spirit is not a creature or object, so do not rank it like a Beast ally, but it can hand out attack and save help, movement support, charm pressure, restraint pressure, and retaliation damage around the creatures you already summoned or trained (Player's Guide 2). That makes it especially good in parties using conjure animals, conjure woodland beings, or recurring trained creatures.

Use Best Druid Spells for spell rankings and Best Wild Shape Forms for personal Beast form choices.

Ranger

Pack Master Rangers already build around a Beast Spirit, while Griffon Scout Rangers build around mounted mobility. Monster Vault 2 adds more trained-animal language and more Beast examples for tables that make Animal Handling, mounts, and summons matter (Monster Vault 2). The Old Margreve adds forest hounds, stags, owls, and control beasts that fit Ranger campaigns cleanly (The Old Margreve).

Trailblazer Ranger is the PG2 support pick, not the pet pick. Expert Guide, Skirmisher's Mobility, water breathing, freedom of movement, and feathered flock all improve expedition play where mounts, scouts, hounds, pigeons, and summoned creatures help the party move through hostile terrain (Player's Guide 2). If Pack Master is the animal-companion Ranger, Trailblazer is the Ranger who keeps the whole creature-heavy party moving.

Use the Ranger Guide, Ranger Techniques Guide, and Best Ranger Spells for class-specific decisions.

Monk

Equine Soul Monk is the main Book of Blades class hook for this guide. It brings its own bonded horse, turns shortbows into monk weapons, and eventually improves mounted movement, defensive riding, and mounted archery. The bonded horse is not a summon or purchased animal. It is a subclass companion with scaling HP, telepathic command, and combat actions tied to the monk's features (Book of Blades).

If your campaign allows Book of Blades, this is the cleanest way to make a horse part of the character's actual combat loop instead of a fragile travel accessory.

Bard

College of Wildlife Bards are the clearest animal-ally subclass outside Ranger. Lasting Familiar, Nature's Call, Nature's Song, Shared Inspiration, and Inspiring Familiar all reward having Beasts, familiars, called animals, or conjured animals on the field.

Monster Vault 2 optional familiars and CR 1/4 or lower Beast options are especially relevant to Wildlife's early play pattern (Monster Vault 2). Grove Bear, Margreve Hound, Giant Mongoose, Giant Bombardier Beetle, Strossen Bat, and similar Old Margreve Beasts also fit Nature's Call if your GM allows that source (The Old Margreve).

Labyrinth Worldbook is less about Wildlife Bard animal calls and more about weird familiar permissions. Light drake is the cleanest Bard-facing option because it adds flight, light support, and sacred flame without pretending to be a Beast (Labyrinth Worldbook).

Paladin

Paladins mostly care about mounts because of lance play and overland campaign structure. Cavalry camel is the most practical Monster Vault 2 option for a durable, defensive mount, while War Pig is the compact Small-rider option (Monster Vault 2).

Player's Guide 2 adds the Mystic Steed heroic boon, which makes find steed faster, removes the material-component friction, and expands special forms to include stronger travel and combat options like griffon, pegasus, hippalektryon, and rampede (Player's Guide 2). That makes animal-ally planning more relevant to Paladins who want their mount to survive contact with real encounters.

Book of Blades adds the best non-creature support for this playstyle. Fell Rider rewards aggressive mounted movement, Horse Lord heritage improves horse handling and durability, and items like Armor of the Paired Heart, Bridle of Calling, Bridle of Handling, Blanket of the War Steed, and Saddle of Flying make a mount easier to protect and use across more encounters (Book of Blades).

Use the Paladin Guide for lance and frontline build context.

Wizard

Summoner Wizard is the big Player's Guide 2 class hook for this guide. Conjuration Specialist can add creature-creating conjuration spells to the spellbook, Unbreakable Focus protects concentration, Master Summoner buffs created or summoned creatures, and Twinned Conjuration eventually doubles eligible creature summons or removes concentration once per rest (Player's Guide 2).

This does not turn every animal into a Wizard pet, but it makes summon access and familiar planning much more important. The PG2 sidebar that a Summoner can have one create familiar familiar and one find familiar familiar is the kind of small rule that changes how a cautious Wizard scouts, delivers touch spells, and manages action economy (Player's Guide 2).

Use the Wizard Spell Guide when deciding which summon-style spells are worth preparing.

Small Lineages

Smallfolk and Small Kobolds benefit from Medium mounts more than Medium characters do. War Pig and Rampede are the most relevant Monster Vault 2 options because they give Small riders combat mounts that fit in tighter spaces (Monster Vault 2).

Right-Sizing Saddle can also make a larger mount more dungeon-friendly by shrinking it one size category while preserving speed and carrying capacity (Book of Blades).

Use the Lineage Guide when deciding whether your character's size should push you toward Medium mounts.

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Suggested Follow-Up Articles

These are the strongest article ideas that fall naturally out of the source-labeled creature, familiar, mount, and summon data:

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Hot Takes

Player's Guide 2 is the best permission layer this guide has. Monster Vault 2 gives you the toys; Player's Guide 2 tells you which toys are Beast Forms, Potent Forms, familiars, Chain familiars, steeds, and combat animals. That is less exciting than a new monster, but it prevents arguments at the table (Player's Guide 2).

Nature Cleric is better with animal allies than it looks. It does not hand you a permanent pet, but it turns Beast, Plant, and Animal-tag creatures into better battlefield pieces when the campaign already contains them (Player's Guide 2).

Fey Druid's Seelie Spirit is not a pet, and that is the point. It supports the animals and summons you already have without adding another fragile creature body that the GM has to target, heal, and track (Player's Guide 2).

Animal-tag Monstrosities are where PG2 training gets expensive. A Medium or Large Beast costs 1 gp per week to care for, while a Large-or-smaller Animal-tag creature costs 15 gp per week. Mudcrawlers, rampedes, and other weird mounts are campaign assets, not cheap side purchases (Player's Guide 2 / Monster Vault 2).

Creature Training is stronger for campaign continuity than for combat math. Conditioning and Obedience are not flashy, but they solve the two problems that kill recurring animal allies: fragility and command friction (Player's Guide 2).

Mystic Steed is what mounted Paladins wanted all along. A mount that arrives quickly, costs no materials, and can be a griffon, pegasus, hippalektryon, rampede, or another GM-approved CR 2-or-lower Beast or Animal-tag creature is finally worth building around (Player's Guide 2).

Oliphaunt warbeast is not a pet. It is a siege asset. If the campaign gives the party one, the story should now care about stables, roads, food, bridges, enemy scouts, and what happens when a Huge war animal walks into politics (Player's Guide 2).

Trail snail is not a slow horse. It is a mobile siege tool with a saddle problem. If the campaign has wards, walls, sealed portals, and Labyrinth routes, it is Good to Fantastic. If the campaign is open-field cavalry, it is mostly a funny liability (Labyrinth Worldbook).

Light drake is the real Labyrinth familiar prize. Widross has stronger mischief and shared Magic Resistance, but light drake is easier to justify at a normal table and gives cleaner party utility (Labyrinth Worldbook).

Conjure Ferryman is better than it looks because it changes the map. It will not win the damage race, but it can decide whether the party can escape, bypass a water route, or reach a Styx-linked destination at all (Labyrinth Worldbook).

Conjure Minor Voidborn is not for animal-ally builds. It belongs to the risky-summon lane. Do not recommend it to a player who wants a dependable pet, mount, or Beast swarm (Labyrinth Worldbook).

Labyrinth Worldbook rewards GMs more than optimizer spreadsheets. Its best animal-adjacent options are access tools, faction signals, and campaign permissions. That is valuable, but only if the adventure actually uses the Labyrinth's routes, portals, and weird travel economy (Labyrinth Worldbook).

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Final Recommendations

For ordinary play, start with the clean options: giant honey bee, opossum, and skunk as optional familiars; war pig, giant honey bee, hammerbill goose, and giant hedgehog as summon candidates; and cavalry camel or war pig as mounts (Monster Vault 2).

Use Player's Guide 2 as the source-checking layer. Its reference tables confirm the most important Monster Vault 2 animal-adjacent buckets: Wild Shape Beast Forms, Shifter-style Potent Forms, standard familiars, Pact of the Chain familiars, and common steeds. Its creature training rules are the best way to make a recurring animal ally more reliable without pretending it is a subclass feature (Player's Guide 2).

For PG2 class builds, start with Nature Cleric if you want Beast/Plant battlefield support, Fey Druid if you want a Seelie Spirit supporting summoned creatures, Trailblazer Ranger if creature-heavy travel is the point, Mystic Steed Paladin if your mount should be a real feature, and Summoner Wizard if creature-creating conjuration is the build's center (Player's Guide 2).

For campaign-defining animal allies, ask the GM about feymount raccoon, mudcrawler, rampede, scaled war weasel, giant axolotl, and wooly hippopotamus (Monster Vault 2). These creatures are stronger and stranger, but they need story permission rather than a casual shopping trip.

For Old Margreve campaigns, prioritize great gray owl, grove bear, Margreve hound, giant mongoose, strossen bat, and Margreve stag for source-labeled forest play (The Old Margreve). Use bramble beasts when the campaign specifically supports Plant allies or the GM grants bramble-focused magic.

For Book of Blades mounted play, prioritize bonded horse if you are an Equine Soul Monk, Horse Lord heritage if your origin can carry a horse-focused concept, and Fell Rider if heroic endowments are available (Book of Blades). For gear and items, start with practical tack for the environment, then look at Armor of the Paired Heart, Bridle of Handling, Bridle of Calling, Blanket of the War Steed, Right-Sizing Saddle, and Saddle of Flying when the campaign treats mounts as recurring allies instead of disposable transport (Book of Blades).

For Labyrinth Worldbook play, prioritize trail snail when the party needs a trained barrier-breaker or maze-expedition mount, light drake when the GM allows unusual good-hearted familiars, and Conjure Ferryman when travel access matters more than combat output (Labyrinth Worldbook). Treat widross and Conjure Minor Voidborn as higher-risk options that need clear table buy-in before they become part of a character plan (Labyrinth Worldbook).