[RPG] Does the DC for the effect of a Beast Master ranger’s animal companion’s attack ever increase

animal-companionsdifficulty-classdnd-5eranger

A similar question has been asked for Pathfinder, but I could not find any specific rules for 5e.

As an example, we have a Beast Master ranger with a wolf companion. The wolf has an added effect on its Bite attacks.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (2d4 + 2) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 11 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

For player characters, the DC for this type of effects is calculated as follows (example from the Ranger's Spellcasting feature):

Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier

When you select the Beast Master Archetype (PHB, p. 93) at level 3, your companion gains the following benefits of your proficiency:

Add your proficiency bonus to the beast’s AC, attack rolls, and damage rolls, as well as to any saving throws and skills it is proficient in.

Does this mean that the DC 11 Strength saving throw of the wolf's Bite attack increases with the proficiency bonus of the Ranger? Or is the DC of the bite attack for the wolf not actually calculated, but determined as a set value?

Best Answer

No

The text you've quoted pretty much answers your own question.

Add your proficiency bonus to the beast’s AC, attack rolls, and damage rolls, as well as to any saving throws and skills it is proficient in.

A Wolf is proficient in Perception and Stealth, so you add your proficiency bonus to those. You increase the Wolf's AC of 13 by your proficiency, its +4 to attack rolls is increased, and you increase the bite attack's damage by your proficiency as well.

You do not actually increase any of the wolf's raw stats or their own proficiency bonus, so even if the ability was capable of scaling, you didn't actually change any of the properties it'd scale with.

The wolf still has the same ability scores and proficiency bonus as before.

Even if you do increase the Wolf's abilities (through your levelups or a magic item), it won't make any difference:

If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 11 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone.

This is a set DC. Nowhere does it offer any sort of calculation for you to recalculate the creature's DC, so you'd have to homebrew it scaling of a stat if you make your own stronger wolf. I assume it'd scale of strength, working under the assumption that it has a proficiency modifier and a current strength of +1, meaning a DC 11 going by default DC calculations.