What is Major Tomcat doing?
Major Tomcat will join your party as an animal companion if you allow it. You'll meet him after completing the initial encounter with the Dorseys when you first arrive in Colorado. There are two ways to recruit Major Tomcat. The first is to offer him a cigarette. A Ranger you meet earlier tells you he likes cigarettes, so waving one in front of his face will cause him to jump and follow you. The second method is to use the Animal Whisperer skill to convince him to join you. You only need Animal Whisperer level 1 to be successful, so everyone in your party with the skill should be able to do it.
If you recruit Major Tomcat to your party, he will fight alongside you in battle. Its razor-sharp claws deal a surprising amount of damage, and they even have a chance to inflict bleeding. It acts on the Ally's turn during combat, moving and attacking after all six Rangers have taken their turn. He may take a few hits, but his health is overall low. Make sure to heal him after the fight to keep him in great shape.
Can Major Tomcat die?
Unfortunately, Major Tomcat can die. His health is very low, and strong enemies have a chance to take him down with one or two attacks. At the start of the game, don't worry about its safety. As long as you don't do anything rash like throwing a grenade near him, he's perfectly capable of surviving combat. Major Tomcat is a surprisingly capable fighter, and his claws can seriously spoil enemies early in the game.
If you'd rather not have Major Tomcat's death on your conscience, you can send him away and leave him in a safe place. To fire Major Tomcat, click on him to launch the dialog and choose the option to fire him. On PS4 and Xbox One, you'll need to press L3 / LS to switch to targeting mode and select Major Tomcat to talk to him and fire him. It's best to leave it in a safe place like Ranger HQ so you don't lose sight of where it is.
Animal companions explained
You can have multiple animal companions in Wasteland 3. Recruiting most animals requires the use of the Animal Whisperer perk, but there are a few selected companions that can be tamed in other ways. Major Tomcat is an example of an animal that does not need an Animal Whisperer, as you can simply offer it a cigarette in exchange for its services in combat. Most other animals, like dogs and other wildlife, will require you to have at least a few points in Animal Whisperer. The stronger the animal, the more points you will need in the skill.
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