Does a druid who chose a cleric domain get an animal companion eventually?

Question

I created an elf druid who took the Plant domain as the starting Nature Bond. I'm currently advancing my character to level 8, and I'm staying a pure druid (no multiclassing). Reading the character advancement rules, it mentions that a level 7 druid gets an animal companion.

I didn't start with an animal companion since I opted to take the cleric Plant domain instead, but do I still get this new animal companion at level 7? If so, what are the differences between this animal companion and one that I might have started with at level 1 due to the Nature Bond?

Answer 1

No.

The rules you're looking at are under "Variant Multiclassing", which is an optional system allowing characters to gain features from two classes by giving up every second feat. Since you're not taking druid as a secondary class, they don't apply to you.