Editing Companions

A '''Companion''' is a tamed [[Creatures|creature]] you assign to work for you. Companions are the payoff of [[Taming]]: each one grants a passive bonus to the skill it is suited to.

== How companions work ==
* You can assign one active companion '''per skill''' — the creature applies its bonus only to that skill while assigned.
* Companion bonuses come in types such as faster action speed or a chance for extra yield, depending on the species. See the roster on the [[Creatures]] page for each creature's bonus.
* Companions must be kept fed; a hungry companion stops providing its bonus until fed. Diet foods come from [[Cooking]] and [[Farming]] (see [[Diets]]).
* Equipping [[Dino Gear]] (a saddle or barding) can further boost a companion.

== Getting companions ==
# Level [[Taming]] and tame a creature (it joins your [[Stable]]).
# Assign it to the skill it benefits.
# Feed it to keep the bonus active.

Stronger companions come from deeper [[Biomes]] and from [[Breeding]] and [[Imprinting]] for improved stats.

== Fighting alongside you (your pack) ==
A creature can either '''work''' a skill or '''fight in your pack''' — not both at once (putting a worker into the pack pulls it off its job, and vice versa). Your pack unlocks at '''[[Taming]] 10''' and grows to '''5 slots'''; assign members on the [[Player]] page, where your roster is sorted into {{Icon|glyph-paw}} Pack, {{Icon|glyph-people}} Working, {{Icon|glyph-moon}} Idle, and {{Icon|expeditions}} Away.

Pack members carry their own '''{{Icon|ui-hp}} Health''': in a fight their pool soaks part of every hit for you, and a member drained to 0 is injured (adding no strength and unable to work) until it heals — health only refills while a dino is '''resting''' (neither working nor fighting). Every fight also earns the pack '''[[Stable#Veteran levels|veteran levels]]''', which raise these contributions over time.

'''Pack Power''' is the strip that spells out exactly how much your pack adds:
* '''{{Icon|ui-attack}} [[Hunting]]''' — bonus attack and how much faster you bring quarry down.
* '''{{Icon|glyph-banner}} [[Expeditions]]''' and '''{{Icon|ui-pickaxe}} [[Delving]]''' — bonus strength on every run; dinos suited to caves add a ×1.25 edge underground.

On [[Expeditions]] you can also give each pack member a '''role''' — Attack, Guard, or Scout — to shape how runs resolve (see [[Expeditions#Party roles|Party roles]]).

== Hired hands (background gathering) ==
From '''[[Taming]] 25''', a working companion can be given a '''task''': one gathering action it keeps running '''in the background''', even while you personally do something else — or are offline.

* '''Which skills''' — only [[Foraging]], [[Logging]], [[Mining]], and [[Fishing]] can be tasked. Processing, combat, [[Farming]], and [[Delving]] cannot.
* '''Only what you could gather yourself''' — a dino can be tasked to gather a resource only from a [[Biomes|biome]] or tier you have already unlocked. Locked options stay listed in the picker, greyed out with what's needed (e.g. "{{Icon|ui-lock}} Harvest Sulfur — clear the Scorched Badlands"); clear that biome and the task lights up.
* '''What you get''' — the action's '''guaranteed drops only''', at roughly a third of hands-on speed (a stronger companion buff works a little faster). Background work earns '''no XP, no rare drops, no pets or mastery''' — playing the skill yourself is always better; hired hands just keep the basket full.
* '''Task slots''' — one slot at Taming 25; the '''Foreman's Whistle''' [[Shop]] upgrade adds up to two more (three total).
* '''Upkeep''' — a hungry worker's task pauses until you restock its [[Diets|diet]] food, and the "while you were away" summary reports what your hired hands hauled in.
* '''Recent gathers''' — a working dino shows a {{Icon|glyph-crate}} recent-gathers line on its skill page (and its latest hauls appear in the [[Stable]]'s hired-hands strip), so you can see at a glance what each worker is bringing in.

Reaching high lifetime background gathers unlocks the '''Delegator''' [[Achievements|achievement]] track.

== Best companion for each skill ==

Every species buffs exactly one skill, so there's a clear "best" companion for each. '''Double''' buffs give extra output (more materials); '''speed''' buffs finish actions faster (more XP per hour). Pick double when you want the resource, speed when you're chasing levels. The "earlier pick" column is a solid stand-in you can tame long before the top choice.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Skill !! Best companion !! Buff !! Earlier pick
|-
| [[Foraging]] || [[Therizinosaurus]] ([[Taming]] 86) || 20% double || [[Iguanodon]] (12) — 15% double
|-
| [[Logging]] || [[Stegosaurus]] (46) || 25% double || [[Triceratops]] (40) — 20% double
|-
| [[Mining]] || [[Doedicurus]] (64) || 25% double || [[Glyptodon]] (1) — 15% double
|-
| [[Fishing]] || [[Plesiosaurus]] (71) || 20% double || [[Fisher Bird]] (20) — 15% double
|-
| [[Cooking]] || [[Gastornis]] (35) || 15% double || [[Oviraptor]] (53) — 15% speed
|-
| [[Crafting]] || [[Argentavis]] (84) || 20% double || [[Woolly Mammoth]] (78) — 15% double
|-
| [[Smithing]] || [[Dunkleosteus]] (72) || 15% double || [[Elasmotherium]] (76) — 12% speed
|-
| [[Alchemy]] || [[Ceratosaurus]] (79) || 20% speed || [[Dimetrodon]] (56) — 15% double
|-
| [[Hunting]] || [[Tyrannosaurus]] (81) || 25% double || [[Allosaurus]] (52) — 20% double
|-
| [[Taming]] || [[Yutyrannus]] (99) || 25% speed || [[Hatzegopteryx]] (85) — 20% speed
|-
| [[Expeditions]] || [[Giganotosaurus]] (95) || 15% double || [[Sarcosuchus]] (59) — 12% speed
|-
| [[Delving]] || [[Basilosaurus]] (93) || 15% double || [[Yi]] (48) — 15% speed
|-
| [[Farming]] || [[Megatherium]] (74) || 25% speed || [[Diplodocus]] (38) — 18% speed
|}

A saddle ([[Dino Gear]]) can raise a companion's buff further, and a companion only works while it's '''assigned''' to its skill's slot and '''fed''' — a hungry companion stops buffing until you restock its [[Diets|food]].

== See also ==
* [[Creatures]] · [[Taming]] · [[Stable]] · [[Breeding]] · [[Dino Gear]]

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