Bear importance

For a brute to be succesfull is it crucial to have a bear of at least a wolf?

no

Only Crucial at the low level...
If you meet opponent with anti-pet (Hypnosis is the worst) at that level, you're dead...

If you want to success until level 20 maximum I think...
Then it is...

Actually when I have hypnosis I would prefer not to have a bear at all. It cuts too much HP away. I would rather overtake opponents pets, which does happen quite frequently.

Helpful more often than not up to about lv30 I would say.

After level 30 it's more useful for distracting your opponent than anything else.

After level 60 or so opponents can usually kill them with a couple of hits .....

I see ...
Unfortunately, the hypnosis is so rare

i also noticed, that pets are good at distraction One of my brutes have two dogs and it is fun to watch how Bumps+Fierce brute hits are wasted on those poor creatures :)

When i was new to this game i thought that bears was the best you could have. And sure, if you want to rank higher then pawdan at level 10-15 a bear or a wolf is a must ( well, almost ). Nowadays, i don't even want a bear/wolf. At levels higher then 15-20 opponents most likely have anti pet abilities which will make my pets useless, or even turn them against me. In addition to that, you need to sacrifice HP when you recive the bear or wolf.
Conclution:
< level 15 - A bear/wolf will hel you alot
> level 15 - Kind of useless in my opinion..

no its not especially at high lvls
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Yea, getting a bear or wolf doesn't come into calculation when looking for potential brutes at the higher levels. But like Bob said, I do want a lot of pets, just for the distraction. Still hitting their pets, while they go fierce on you is a big disadvantage. And even if opponent has hypnosis, good chance that they don't use it or later with only one pet left...unless fighting Illmove or something.