While exploring around outside of the Blighted Village, you find the dead body of a man named Gomwick and see a dog nearby.
The dog’s name is Scratch, and he is whimpering about believing that Gomwick will wake up but the pool of blood surrounding his body is evidence enough to confirm he will not.
Believe it or not, you can bring this cute furry dog back to your camp with the right skill check and a few seconds of your time.
Who is Scratch?
Scratch is a dog that can be found outside of the Blighted Village and can be seen wandering near his dead master, Gomwick.
He can later be interacted with once you have a Ball and the two of you can play fetch, while later allows him to be a companion.
This allows Scratch to be summoned in fights and regardless of if he doesn’t do that much damage, he’s still cute and cuddly.
How To Recruit Scratch?
To recruit Scratch, you will need to interact with him to bring up a dialogue, which will allow you to attempt an Animal Handling skill check.
Continue with the dialogue to become friendly with Scratch and select the “Hold out your hand so he can follow your scent to camp” option to recruit him.
The next time you take a Long Rest in Camp, Scratch should appear in the camp, and you may begin to interact with him there.
Scratch Location
Scratch can be found just outside of the Blighted Village, and you can reach him by going north of the entrance.
You will easily see him from afar or on your map and he will be near his dead master, Gomwick, waiting for him to wake up.
How To Play Fetch with Scratch?
As you continue your journey and take rests, don’t forget to interact with Scratch as he can later show up with a Ball in his mouth.
After taking the Ball from Scratch, which should be in your inventory after the event, you can play fetch with him.
To do this, select the Ball from your inventory and throw it to an accessible location and Scratch will bring it back to you.
Scratch As a Companion
After you have played Fetch with Scratch, he will be available later as a companion that can assist you in your upcoming battles.
An option will be available that lets you summon him, allowing him to deal a little bit of extra damage to your enemies in a fight.
Scratch does not deal that much damage as he acts more like a familiar, but every drop counts when it comes to damage, making him cute and useful.
Verdict
It seems that Gomwick had some letters that needed to be given out but apparently, he was ambushed on his way to his next destination.
Now that his master is gone, Scratch is best off staying with you at your camp and may be useful to you now and then.
Speaking to Scratch is possible if you have the Speak with Animals spell or a scroll that lets you use the spell, which provides additional dialogue with him.
You completely left out Scratch’s purpose (other than being adorable). He can sniff out hidden things. Usually, it’s just chests which you’ll find anyway, but sometimes it’s more obscurely hidden stuff. He’s very useful to bring along when you’re exploring.