Talk: Animal Friend

Animal Friend will keep Raider Guard Dogs from attacking.

This perk seems less-then-useful late game, when fighting enclave soldiers, deathclaws, or super-mutants the best ally that it can summon is a Yao Guai which isn't that often. -Accountless Avenger

This is less a 'useful' perk than a 'fun' or 'convenience' perk. --76.64.54.60 17:53, 4 December 2008 (UTC)

The side-effects after cheating with console never-ever qualify as bug.

- For everyone out there, the second rank of the perk is not the superhero type of animal calling, so animals won't come out of nowhere to aid you when you're in trouble. I am sorry if this sounds terribly obvious but it has to be specified; the animals AROUND you will come to your aid. Such a simple point yet the perk couldn't speak clealy on this one. --190.201.80.185 04:10, November 11, 2009 (UTC)

Flavor Perk

I decided to take this perk twice in Fallout 3 and by the time I got it I realized I really didn't need it. By level 10 I was capable of taking on all creatures qualified as "animals" and considering how much time you'll spend in the city ruins and subways makes the perk requirements (Level 10/Charisma 6) even more questionable since the worst animal you'll find in the subways are mole rats. The chances of encountering larger animals who may help you while being attacked is also rare. There are a few caves in the Wastelands where one level of this perk would allow exploration/looting with no interruptions but that is still only a minor convenience. The only way I could ever see this perk as being fun and useful is if it created an extra companion slot specifically for animals, allowing them to join you as disposable fodder. I would suggest avoiding this perk unless you're heavy into role playing and like the flavor it adds to your character.

The first rank is useful, I've found, so you don't waste ammo and constantly get ganked when you're stomping the wilderness.CagedinSanity 22:46, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

I find this perk REALLY USEFUL between Old Olney and Canterburry....Its a hotspot for Yao's and Deathclaws which means RUMBLE TIME!!!!

...except the perk doesn't work on Deathclaws. Are you actually playing the game?

I think he means that its fun to watch the Guai's killing the Claws! ThePog 23:28, February 26, 2010 (UTC)

Companions?

Does this perk also effect for companions so they don't get attacked by some pissed of Yaoi Guai couple?

Yes, it does.Mr.goodtrips 22:39, 24 April 2009 (UTC)

How do I remove this perk?

I already tried the 'removeperk', but these aniamls still don't attack me.

If you want to make an animal hostile, see if they like playing Pinata with Fawkes Super Sledge! ThePog 11:04, February 25, 2010 (UTC)

This perk is usefull!

This perk IS usefull, contrary to certain people. In vanilla FO3 don't forget that the game rush you until level 10/11, so you still encounter a lot of Yao Guais, Mole Rats and Dogs if you decide to explore the world. Also, why waste ammmo and health with a Mole Rat or Vicious Dog?

Only after level 13 most of this animals are replaced by Giant Radscorpions and Deathclaws, but only if they are killed. So, there is one trick not to face this type of enemies in the Wasteland, apart the specific locations, like Deathclaw Sanctuary: pick the perk but don't kill Guais/Moles/Dogs. The level two of this perk is indeed highly questionable, but no doubt funny: I was in a fight with 5 Talon Mercs and I had the two levels of AF. From nowhere a Guai apear and start to make baked beef of the Talons! LOL

It really works, for those who asks. Brfritos 14:19, October 9, 2009 (UTC)

ARE MIRELURKS AFFECTED AT ALL BY IT?

Nope. Yuri Kaslov 00:11, September 27, 2010 (UTC)

Glitch(?): Yao Guai attacks Brahmin...at level 1 of perk.

Ok, the animal friend perk says that animals will not attack other animals. yet, I just encountered a couple of friendly Yao Guai attacking some Brahmin after I bumped a Yao. I only have level 1 of animal friend, by the way. Not sure if this is a glitch or just the way Yaos are programmed.

Yes, quite often when a Guai is near Brahmin it'll go for a quick hunt, also seeing as Brahmin are naturally friendly I don't think that they'd be affected by the Animal Friend perk, remembering that animals affected by this perk will only attack animals that aren't affected until you take the second rank. ThePog 15:10, January 11, 2010 (UTC)

I've seen "Mad Brahmin", which I assume is a joke about Mad Cow Disease. I don't know if they attack the PC, since I've only seen them after taking the perk. The Guai and other creatures are going to attack Brahmin regardless. 97.73.64.150 11:58, March 26, 2010 (UTC)

Mad Brahmin will attack the PC, if you're spotted and don't have the perk. --Kris 00:25, September 27, 2010 (UTC)

Bug?

Bugs

With the first rank of this perk Yao Guai will attack characters that are hostile to the PC. This is supposed to happen at the second level of this perk. (confirmed PC 1.5,PS3,360).

How is this a bug, at level one or lower if a Yao guai sees a raider it's going to attack it, it dosn't care how freindly you are. - RASIC^Talk 04:56, January 1, 2010 (UTC)

Raiders sure are beastly but they're not animals...yet! ThePog 15:21, January 11, 2010 (UTC)

I got rank 1 on both of my playthroughs to stop wasting ammo on animals, and I see Yao Guai attack Talon mercs who are after me quite often. I think what happens is that the shooting gets their attention, and when they get there, they naturally attack the Talon mercs in the same way they attack anyone else. They aren't coming to help because of the perk; but the perk does protect the player from a similar fate. What you won't see at rank 1 is, say, Brahmin attack hostiles. This seems to make rank 2 even more useless than it already is... Damnfool 09:30, July 19, 2010 (UTC)

Same here. I was just playing with Level 1 Animal Friend and two raiders on a bridge began to shoot at me. A Yao Guai came galloping up from the distance, over the crest of a hill (so it couldn't have seen the raiders), along the side of the bridge, and up and around to kill the raiders. Couldn't have done better if I had had it radio-controlled. I've also had them dash up from a distance to make unprovoked attacks on Sentry Bots that I was engaged with, when the bot had not shot anywhere near the Yao Guai. That's entirely on the player's behalf -- a sentry bot can't be very good eating. Wunengzi 09:59, August 19, 2010 (UTC)

Has level 2 stopped working for anyone else? Guard dogs remain neutral and wont attack their masters for me and I lead a radscorpion and a mirelurk past a mole rat who ignored all of us. I did get a pair of Yao Guai to kill a Sentry Bot for me but it seems randomly not to work. 98.157.145.128 18:18, April 7, 2010 (UTC)JC360

Reference to Donnie Darko

The Picture of this perk could be a reference to donnie darko but as it is the same picture as in fallout 1 which was probably released before donnie darko it may not be!

Answered your own question there, didn't you? No reference.--Gothemasticator 09:31, January 11, 2010 (UTC)

More likely a reference to 'Harvey' if you ask me. ThePog 15:11, January 11, 2010 (UTC)

Quick Complaint

This perk affects 'all' animals according to the in-game data, this affects, Mole Rats, Vicious Dogs and Yao Guai, this only leaves behind Bloatfly, Deathclaw, Giant Ant Worker, Giant Ant Soldier, Giant Ant Queen, Fire Ant Worker, Fire Ant Soldier, Fire Ant Queen, Radroaches, Radscorpions, Giant Radscorpions, Albino Radscorpions, Mirelurks, Mirelurk Hunters, Mirelurk Kings and NukaLurks, so we nearly grab all of them! The only upside is that those affected by this perk will attack all others on sight but will not attack each other unless you have the second rank. ThePog 15:16, January 11, 2010 (UTC) P.S: I'm not trolling, note the correct spelling, punctuation and grammar!

Charisma requirement

Can I consume Ant Queen Pheromones or wear Tenpenny's suit + Three Dog's Head Wrap to reach the charisma requirement? -- Sentry Telos 09:27, April 3, 2010 (UTC)

No98.240.210.20 01:59, April 7, 2010 (UTC)

Theory on Lvl 2 Perk

Alright, so assume you are within detection range of the animal but the person attacking you isn't. Would level 2 of this perk allow the animal to respond to you being attacked even though the enemy is outside of it's perception range (instead of having to lure the attacker near the friendly animal)? Mictlantecuhtli 12:24, September 7, 2010 (UTC)

Yeah I would like to know that too. Other wise the second rank seems pretty much pointless considering they already attack enemies. But it seems to me their Perception range is increased by alot when finding YOUR enemies from what I'm reading. I'll look into it later as I don't have the second rank.

Geckos not hostile?

So the Fallout: New Vegas section mentions Brahmin, dogs, Legion Mongrels, bighorners, coyotes, wolves, rats... but what about geckos? Or am I experiencing some weird glitch? I mean, I didn't expect them to be filed under this perk's affected anymore than I would expect Deathclaws to start nuzzling up to me. But sure enough, I was roaming around and came across a group of friendly markers that weren't ravens. And it happened again. And again. Big geckos, little geckos, golden geckos, you name it. They just sat there, scratching their foreheads and licking their eyeballs. So is this normal? Anyone else seen it before? Observed on PS3, obviously without patches. TheGruslen 02:49, October 27, 2010 (UTC)

Happens to me all the time without the perk (360), even occasionally occurs with radscorpions/bark scorpions (not giant radscorpions unfortunately). Geckos are reptilian, but seem more prone to being non-hostile than the scorpions. My observations usually are not wrong when it comes to game mechanics, but I am not above the possibility it could happen. If they are always friendly (something which never occurs with the glitch), or if fire geckos are affected as well (never had it happen with them) and more people can verify this I don't see any reason not to add it as a bug (I mean obsidian couldn't even get Survival to work with endurance).Mictlantecuhtli 02:53, October 27, 2010 (UTC)

Really? I wish I could run into non-hostile radscorpions. I honestly thought it was just a feature of the perk, albeit a strange one. I mean, it's happened consistently since I got it. Haven't had any run-ins with hostile geckos. However, I also haven't run into fire geckos yet. So far I haven't seen this with any other supposed-to-be-hostile creatures, though now that it looks more like a bug, I'll definitely keep a lookout. TheGruslen 03:24, October 27, 2010 (UTC)

There are some fire geckos near Bonnie Springs to test it on, and the radscorpions around railroad tracks most often are not hostile to me (don't know if the two are related, but they also fall under the tracks often and if killed (by using ironsights to hit the tip of their tail sticking out of the ground) the cinematic will display their corpse falling through the gameworld underneath the tracks (making their corpses hard to loot unless you dismembered the tail, as it stays near the surface). Mictlantecuhtli 03:32, October 27, 2010 (UTC)

I hunted around Bonnie Springs for a while, but I was only lucky enough to be attacked by Vipers and Cazadors. Then again, I'm pathetic at finding things. However, I can definitely say that I've never run across a friendly radscorpion, railroad tracks or no. But I have seen the little buggers fall through the gameworld before. And it's only ever been them, never any other enemy. I guess radscorps are just naturally glitchy. Anyway, I'm gonna test this more tomorrow, see if I can hunt down some fire geckos and hopefully not get murdered. Until then, and as of now, all I can say is that every other type of gecko still won't attack. TheGruslen 07:20, October 27, 2010 (UTC)

Geckos

Are considered animals, both for this perk as well as challenges such as "Animal Control". Mictlantecuhtli 14:39, October 28, 2010 (UTC)

I got the first rank of Animal Friend and the first Fire Gecko I encountered attacked me. It might be that he had already spawned before I took the perk or it might just be a bug. --99.34.193.27 10:07, November 18, 2010 (UTC)

Fire Geckos are not considered animals for this perk; all other geckos are. They're still considered animals for the challenges. --Kris 11:58, November 18, 2010 (UTC)

What about Green Geckos from Zion? --LordVukodlak 02:13, May 30, 2011 (UTC)

Green Geckos are effected by the animal friend perk-- User:Nightshifter777 09:18, May 29, 2011

Nightstalkers

They do not count toward Animal Control, they count towards Abominable so I doubt they are affected by this perk. Mictlantecuhtli 10:47, November 4, 2010 (UTC)

For those who didn't see my edit on your talk page: they indeed are affected by Animal Friend. Surprised me when I found that 'cause I thought the same, they wouldn't be affected because they're considered abominations. --Kris 12:05, November 12, 2010 (UTC)

Lakelurks

They count towards Animal Control but aren't affected by Animal Friend due to not being in the Animal Friend faction. --Kris 11:45, November 12, 2010 (UTC)

FNV Rank 2 caution

Players should exercise extreme caution with this perk when fighting around populated areas or settlements with rank 2. In the area around Camp Searchlight if you are attacked by too many Ghouls at one time the Golden Geckos will aid you, but they will be hostile for everyone else excepting you and your companions. So if you are doing the Wheel of Fortune quest they will attack Logan and if you were too close to Astor and the NCR patrol, they will attack them. The animals that usually appears to your aid are the ones that populate the area, so if you are around Primm, Geckos will come, in Goodspring it will be the Bighorners and so on. When doing the quest Booted with Boone and having a reputation with the legion the whole thing is quite interesting, because Nightstalkers will come to your aid, so you free the hostages, the Legionaries will become hostile and a pack of Nightstalkers will finish them! :D The perk is also much more effective than FO3 and behave a little different, since the animals don't need to be close to the enemies, if you start combat they will appear by your side out of nowhere. But they are hostile to everyone in the area except you and your companions, bear this in mind. Brfritos 16:49, February 15, 2011 (UTC)

console

if using the console to add the perk, do you get both ranks? just one? if you repeat the code do you get both ranks then? 76.198.70.129 03:55, July 4, 2011 (UTC)