A Pirate101 Guide to
Cool Ranch’s Lesser Companions
(Part 1)

Summary

Despite never promoting, Thunder Hoof proves himself to be a versatile and effective Buccaneer companion who only gets better with time.  His Epic pool is good – even if his starting Epic is situational – and he sports an Epic Strike power right from the beginning, giving him a guaranteed critical hit to start (or end) fights with.

Suggested Builds

Summary

Of the three outlaws you can recruit/unlock through this quest, the Mustang Gaucho is the least impressive.  His starting Epic is situational at best, he never promotes, and he’s unlocked by the class he has the least synergy with.

That being said, he is saved from a one-star ranking by his Epic pool, which is respectable.  He often struggles to get his chains started, but when he does, he is far from useless.

Suggested Builds

Summary

Alas, Lost Ranger, I knew him well – and I knew from the beginning that he was dead weight.  There is nothing redeeming about this scrappy skeleton, and I doubt I would ever choose to bring him into battle.

Suggested Builds

Summary

Billy the Kid suffers from a slew of small problems that reduce his impact in battle.  Buccaneer buffs don’t really help him, and a lack of direct healing/support options hamper his survivability, especially if he’s built as your primary counter-Musketeer.

That being said, his Epic pool is OK, and he does fill in some niches that Buccaneers generally lack: high ranged damage and the ability to counter enemy Musketeers at range.

Ultimately, he is a specialist – good in some situations, and not in others.  Use him wisely, and he’ll cause plenty of trouble for your opponents.

Suggested Builds

Summary

You know you’re in trouble when Nurse Quinn does your job better.

Good news: Nadya can heal people, soft-counter Witchdoctors, and her Privateer status means that she might win a fight with a single, weak Buccaneer or Swashbuckler.  The fact that her melee attacks inexplicably deal magic/energy damage helps with the latter, but makes fighting Witchdoctors even harder.

Bad news: she struggles to do anything else.  Do not recommend.

Suggested Builds

Summary

Much like his Black Storm counterpart, the Bison Scout starts off slow and gets better over time… though, as a Musketeer, you will definitely have better options for putting out damage and controlling the battlefield at range by the time you unlock him.

The regular Bison Scout also starts with a worse Epic than his traitorous kin – and with a shoddy Epic pool, he barely ekes out a three star rating.

Suggested Builds

Summary

With solid Epics and a mid-game promotion that boosts him even further, this versatile chicken is only held back by his short range.

He can deal decent damage, he can provide Overwatch fire, and he can even duel other Musketeers with a fair amount of success.  The only thing he can’t do is all of them at once – you’ll need to decide what you want from him, and build accordingly.

Suggested Builds

Summary

Out of the three Shamans you can recruit as you travel through Cool Ranch, this guy is definitely the weirdest.  Swapping the minor healing power the other two get for Jobu’s Breath is interesting, making him less of a support/healer and more of an offensive caster with decent melee punch.

His Epics are also much more damage-focused, which makes him even better than the others at smacking Buccaneers around.

Overall, I would say he’s slightly better than the other two Shamans; a decent Privateer with niche usefulness.

Suggested Builds

Summary

The champ is here!  Tyson is a top-tier companion with a solid list of Epics and a pair of relatively low-level promotions, making him a solid choice throughout Mooshu and Marleybone.

He also picks up an Epic Strike after his first promotion (though it sadly does not improve to a Mega Strike later on), and Turn the Tide 2 after his second.  The only trouble with Tyson is that he doesn’t really fit with the typical Musketeer strategy of long-range defense, instead acting as a melee bruiser to tie up approaching enemies and chip down their health.

Alternatively, he can be used as an aggressive backline bully – using Relentless and Blade Storm to quickly knock out low-Strength enemies.

Suggested Builds

Summary

This scratchy-voiced scoundrel is an impressive gunfighter.

While he shares his starting Epic with Billy the Kid, his Epic Pool is a massive improvement.  Mr. Holliday can be specialized in a variety of ways, though he’ll always have a slight lean toward counter-Musketeer shoot-outs.

If you need a capable, versatile Musketeer with style to spare, Duck Holliday can be your huckleberry.

Suggested Builds

Summary

Even with a promotion and access to multiple rank 3 Epics, Corporal Sanders is thoroughly mediocre.  His starting Epic is rough, and later options aren’t very exciting either.

Suggested Builds

Summary

Of the three Bison Shamans you can potentially unlock, Ghost Singer is the only one with a non-randomized name.

In terms of combat effectiveness, Ghost Singer is nearly identical to the regular Bison Shaman, save for one important difference: his attacks deal energy/magic damage, which makes him stronger against enemy Buccaneers (and Swashbucklers too, but I wouldn’t risk it), at the cost of being even less effective against Musketeers and Witchdoctors.

Any of the builds I suggested for the Bison Shaman can also be used by Ghost Singer, and vice versa.  That being said, the builds I chose are designed to complement the strengths of each character, so your mileage may vary.

Suggested Builds

Summary

Despite starting with more Epics than most companions, Scorpius – like most of the Beast companions – quickly loses steam over time.

That’s not to say that this little arachnid doesn’t have some good moves; it has a solid Epic pool, and its Beast-exclusive Ravenous Strike Power gives it more staying power than you’d expect from a Swashbuckler.

The main problem with Scorpius is its starting Epic; Cheap Shot can lead to it picking fights you don’t want, and probably coming out the worse for it.  But if you can work around that, Scorpius can act as a respectable “understudy” to your stronger Swashbucklers.

Suggested Builds

Summary

There aren’t many companions who can replicate the power of our dear Bonnie Anne, but this plucky former bounty hunter comes close.

With a great starting Epic and fantastic late-game options, Lefty excels at putting damage downwind, providing solid backline damage along with, potentially, some stat debuffs.  His promotion gives him some extra punch, ensuring that Lefty stays consistently useful.

(Also, a fun fact: in the earliest days of Pirate101 PVP, Lefty was considered to be a Meta pick for Witchdoctors – though that might say more about the quality of the Witchdoctor’s other companions at the time.)

Suggested Builds

Summary

Almost identical to the Bison Scout, Skyfire differentiates himself in a couple of ways.

First, he deals energy/magic damage as opposed to physical, meaning that he can do more damage against foes with heavy armour (like Buccaneers), but will do slightly less damage against Musketeers and Witchdoctors.

Second, he is one of the very few Musketeers who can learn Witch Hunter.  Should you give Skyfire Witch Hunter?  Probably not, but it’s a fun gimmick.

Otherwise, Skyfire remains a decent Musketeer, but nothing to go crazy about.

Suggested Builds

Summary

Sky Snake has the opposite problem from Scorpius: a good starting Epic, but few ways to capitalize on it.  Enjoy the first few levels after you unlock this slithery sidekick, but don’t be surprised if it gets outclassed pretty quickly.

Suggested Builds

Summary

This sneaky son-of-a-gun is sadly limited in usefulness.  While he has a decent pool of Epics, the low number he unlocks means that he will often find himself outmatched.

Suggested Builds

Summary

Oh boy, Bat Masterson.

Bat has the dubious honor of being the only non-Musketeer member of the Magnificent Seven, instead opting to fight in melee.  This, combined with the fact that he is a Privateer (and therefore weak against Musketeers), puts him at a considerable disadvantage from the moment you recruit him in Cool Ranch.

In the interest of fairness, he does have a couple of cool tricks:

• He can use Jobu’s Breath to deal limited damage at range and heal himself at the same time.
• He can Fly.
• His melee attacks deal energy/magic damage, which helps him fight Buccaneers and Swashbucklers.

If he had a decent Epic pool to choose from, he could be a contender – but he doesn’t.  His strongest build involves too much random chance, and everything else is either very situational or too low-damage.

Despite having a cool look and skill-set, Bat Masterson is a master of none.

Suggested Builds