Ranger is Broken | Dungeons and Dragons 5e Guide
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ค. 2024
- Ranger 5e Guide for Dungeons and Dragons! Today I explore all the current options for creating a broken ranger character of your own!
Thanks to changes from Xanathar's Guide to Everything and Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, we have a much better Ranger in 5e. Great subclasses like the Gloom Stalker, Swarmkeeper, Drakewarden, and Fey Wanderer Ranger have gone a long way too!
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Love to see the Ranger getting more attention from content creators, but I think you misread something with the revised beastmaster. You mention getting 5 or 6 attacks total and the beast of the air Companion attacking 4 times. While the primal companion feature says you can use your bonus action to give any command, and you can also sacrifice one of your own attacks to command your companion to take the attack action, your animal companion is still limited by the same action economy as everyone else. They only have one action to spend on their turn. If they have a bonus action of their own through a spell or magic item, you can trigger both using your bonus action and an attack, but your companion can’t take the attack action twice.
Haha man! Y’all keep me on my toes in the comments!! Yes, I did misspeak! I meant to say that you get a total of 4 attacks between you and the companion while they attack with advantage (11th level ability allows them to attack twice with your bonus action command). I typically make notes in a bullet point list and convert that into a script so I assume something got wonky with my wording there haha.
As for the 5 attacks per turn I mentioned…. I’ll have to make a video for that 😜
(Hint: it involves reactions which the beast does have)
No, nothing stops your beast companion from doing the attack action twice, with your bonus action and with your action. Exceptions always supercede general rules, just like how you can take two attack actions per turn if affected by the Haste spell, or when using the Action Surge class ability. If they had intended it to not be able to use both the bonus action and action options on same turn, they would have specified that in the ability description.
@@Klaital1 hmmmm I actually think that the original commenter is correct here but I’ll have to look more into it because it does leave some question in the matter…
@@ConstructedChaos After re-reading the ability, I truly thinkg that @Klaital1 is right here. The EXACT wording is "You can also sacrifice" and also is a very important word choice here. For those that dont know also literally means "in addition; too." (Oxford)
@@Razdasoldier I think that “in addition to” is referring to the additional option for commanding your beast instead of always having to use your bonus action. The beast should only be getting one action per turn regardless.
WOTC hasn’t really clarified the debate but the majority of people have taken the side of the OC’s logic and I’m inclined to do the same. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised to see WOTC go the other way with it.
"I am a Ranger! We walk in dark places where others fear to walk. We stand on the bridge, and none may pass. We live for the one, we die for the one"
Marcus Cole, Babylon 5
"Delight, respect, compassion. That for your actions to be pure they must proceed from direction, determination, patience and strength. I'm afraid I'm still working on patience. They taught me how to live, how to breathe, how to fight and how to die. And they taught me terror. How to use it. And how to face it." Mmm yes, Marcus was a fun character
@@carbonbeaker409 "I think id like to hear more about that...."
"no you wouldn't"
I modified the Babylon 5 Ranger oath for my Gloom Stalker. I replaced the last line with "For we have seen what happens when the monsters come out from the dark," lifted from Xanthar's Guide to Everything.
My first character in D&D was a 5e hunter ranger. A wood elf named Ilan. It's true that I wasn't the biggest damage dealer, or the best healer or even the most stealthiest. However I realized that I could help fill in the gaps when needed. One of my most memorable moments was the rogue and I stealthily following someone in a crowded city. At one point we almost lost him, so I decided to cast hunter's mark on him to gain advantage on perception checks on him.
The Hunter really does have some good options. The additional D8 from Colossus Slayer is in addition to the D6 from Hunter's Mark. Horde Breaker works for ranged as well as melee attacks so that's a bonus shot on another target. So the former is beast against big bosses and the latter is perfect for the minion horde.
Nice name
Ranger do is the most stealthiest, just cast pass without trace and everyone in your party is the most stealthiest. Ranger can be the biggest damage dealer, tank, and controller if you cast summon animals. The spells ranger gets are amazing
@@d_camara imagine a halfling ranger💀💀💀
The hunter is definitely underrated. It’s a straightforward martial subclass on its own and pairs well with the ranger spells as tools for combat/exploration.
The Ranger definitely wouldn't have stepped on the toes of the Rogue if the Rogue had ever been close to a traditional RPG Thief, rather than a nimble fighter with a different type of number for how they spam damage. They basically made Rogue the primary bow fighter class and annihilated one of the four pillars of the genre. You have to play OSR to get Thief back.
Yeah I definitely feel ya on this!
"Dexterity is the most important stat for a ranger next to wisdom."
Me, standing over here with my battle axe swinging ranger with 18 strength and a +10 Athletics check. "Am I joke to you?"
Hahaha, look, this is what the PHB recommends as well. And to even multiclass into or out of ranger, you need a 13 or above in both dex and wis.
So, while a build like that is totally viable, I’d say dex and wis are usually more important.
STRanger builds for the win! Right up there with dex paladins, surprisingly good while going against the grain
@@J.sh_CDN Running a Dexidin right now. Level seven and can do 60 damage on a good day and near 100 on a great day!
Ha ha yeah, I'm playing a half-orc strength gloomstalker ranger with expertise in athletics and he consistently out performs the fighter in fights. Zephyr strike with a greataxe let's him zip in to deliver huge hits. So much fun and a lot of functionality outside of combat. I just wish they had done a better job with flavored foe. It's just garbage. 2.5 points of damage once per round all the way up to 4.5 at 14th level for concentration? No thanks. Should've started at d6 and added another d6 for each jump.
@@zeterzero4356 how, can you tell me the gear and everything? I wanted to do something like that for a while, it's just I always feel like I'll be lacking behind in terms of things. Mostly due to that fact that I already like to used my spell slots on things other than smites since I'm usually the only "support"
Man, I’m two minutes in and hooked already. The art alone is drool worthy - not enough content creators take advantage of the insane fantasy art out there (with credit or permissions of course), and the music is such a rare inclusion in these types of videos. Sets the mood for sure, already made me think of Rangers as badass subconsciously before I realized it lol. Killer audio levels and production quality all around, keep it up for sure. Subbed!
Thanks so much!!! And yes, HUGE appreciation for all the artists that commissioned by WOTC! I’m always very careful to only use art found in DND sourcebooks so that it falls under educational content and those artists get the credit they deserve for such amazing work!
Really agree but what credited artists?
I made several changed to my groups ranger in the last campaign. They were playing a beastmaster so most of the changes were to the pet. It worked out very well and made the pet viable in the group.
Homebrew changes to an animal are a great idea to give beast master a little boost and to make it feel like they have more of a personal connection with them! I dig it!
I allowed my beast master to give ASI to the beast as well as their character when they reached 4th,8th and so on level. Furthermore I allowed them to have the beast continue attacking the same target by itself automatically when the beast was commanded to attack. I find it strange that the rules as written beast is so mindless it doesn't know what to do each turn.
@@Boardslam27 I like those changes-especially the second one. That makes sense to me.
Drakewarden was also a great addition. Can't forget our dragon riding pals.
Rangers are not broken but they are usable. I can aurgur that one can even cut out of Gloomstalker and really power up with a caster or a Rogue multi as opposed to staying I class. If anything that is the biggest issue (in general) with the Ranger is it was a pit stop for long doing a multi class. Tasha made it way more a destination.
The Ranger tends to be the Samwise of D&D. Trying to help everyone so no one is alone in what they are trying to do. Rogue has to sneak in to the camp - Ranger is right behind them. Paladin at full gallop to take on the BBEG - Ranger gives covering fire and dispatches adds that are trying to get in the way. Fighter getting swamped - Ranger pulls in a few creature to even the odds.
Ranger can’t do it all or even do things better then all others…but they can help everyone. But if they have to go and get the BBEG alone, you can pull out your panther friend and a couple swords and go to town with a chance of getting there. They can be what ever the team needs with the right choices. And that makes them Clutch not broken to me.
(I personally think most our out them as middle of the pack)
Excellent points as always!! I’m not sure if it’s become apparent to you yet but this video is part of a series that I’m making for every class wherein I highlight the best parts of each while providing a guide for playing said class.
The goal, at least for me, is to illustrate that ANY class/character can be “broken” and no one should feel like certain choices are off limits for them simply due to how weak or strong their character would be as a result.
So, while I do still think Rangers can be broken (the good kind), I agree the mostly they are on par with other classes in the game!
So far I’ve only made guides for monk, wizard, and ranger but many more are on the way!
You be surprised how versatile Rangers are, and how they can actually outpace some people in many areas if they choose to specialize. For example...
Rangers are actually, bar none, the best humanoids for stealthing and doing scouting (druids being the only ones that outfox them if they use wildshape). Rogues can't compete with them. Rangers have canny now, and can expertise stealth while also having access to pass without a trace and bonus action invisibillity. (We aren't even looking at the whole existence that is gloomstalker either).
Or let's take a more surprising route of... fey wanderer. They also, If they specialize and build towards it, can be the highest charisma skill based characters in the game. With feats like skill expert,and spells that bard also has, like charm person or enhance abillity, fey wanderers literally have the abillity to outpace both rogues and bards in the charisma skill check departments. And still be highly viable to boot!
Skill checks and such aside,
The features from Tashas makes staying being a ranger fantastic as you get extra on hand temp hit points, invisibillity, higher dice with favored foe, and really stellar spells (not just the ones that are stated in this video either! Overtime, Rangers have gotten amazing spells from more recent books that make them on par with paladins if built and used right (Tashas, and especially fazban show some easily identifiable spells that are just delicious)
So I would argue, once you take a really close inspeaction, they are upper middle pact at this point! They can specialize and kill it nearly anywhere, wether it's damage or outside combat abillities!
@@DaWishard Very well said and I completely agree!
I agree with some of your take. Its great to have a character who can support the group, be the "Samwise". Rangers can take that role. However, bards can be built to do everything the ranger does, except they have more expertise and are full spellcasters. Rangers aren't even the best generalist character.
Consider this. Aragorn totally comes off as a badass loner type, but steps it up to lead the group, several times. Geralt of Rivia from the witcher games goes in by himself to fight all kinds of monsters and BBEGs, its his thing, but still has a tight group of allies. There's a fictional character named..... the Lone Ranger.... (with his side kick tonto). I'm not suggesting dnd rangers should be one man wrecking crews or anything crazy. I am saying the fantasy of Rangers is a character, like Aragorn or Geralt, who excels like no other when working alone or with a small group, but is still capable and willing to lead or support when needed.
@@Kosmic_Aes At the core Rangers are martial strikers so weapons is name of the game with survival. Bards are Support casters. And Lone Ranger is based on the Texas Rangers which was law enforcement. Aragorn is a well known Ranger but that was not the main point of the Samwise thing because it was pointing out the ability of Samwise to be a friend and partner (though considering how much Hobbits eat he likely had to be a hunter to keep them feed - lol). The one thing that DND never got perfect about rangers is that they tend to be leader types (or at least A type personalities).
Funny that you bring up small groups. In 1E, fighters got a full unit of troops and a keep at named level, Paladins got lesser Paladins
But rangers got small group of sub heros including a chance for gryphons, Pegasus and a young dragon. Thought you may enjoy that if you did not know.
Dude, your videos have been IMPECCABLE in production and time spent, you're a delight to listen to and learn from, and as a new player, your content has been invaluable. Thank you!
Thank you so much!! I’m glad you’ve been enjoying them as much as I enjoy making them!! 😊
I've been looking for a breakdown like this for a while. Very informative, my man, and well delivered. Happy to like, comment, and subscribe for more of that.
Thank you so much!! I’m so glad you found it helpful! 😊
Excellent graphics. And great look and sound quality that easily outpaces many larger channels. Excellent work. Subbed and glad to get in before you blow up. Keep up this level of work and you'll get there.
Thanks you so much!! Comments like these always make my day! Welcome to the Chaos Crew!!
I come back to this video every now and again. I love Rangers, and they are one of my favorite classes in the game. I just finished up playing a Ranger/Rogue multiclass who was a beast in scouting and combat scenarios. Pairing Gloomstalker with 7 levels of Phantom Rogue was amazing fun. Expertise in Stealth gave me a massive boost to my hiding abilities, and paired with Pass Without a Trace, I was near impossible to ever see, getting advantage almost every attack.
Hell yeah! That’s quite the potent combo you’ve got there!
@@ConstructedChaos he felt much more like an assassin that the assassin subclass does, I think. I loved Gloomstalker from the moment it was released. Even without the Tasha's optional rules, it was an amazing subclass to play, whether it be straight Ranger or paired with something else, like Rogue.
Sadly, my Phantom Gloomstalker took a nasty run of criticals together (I even saw the dice rolls from the DM to confirm they were all natural 20s), and I had a poor stealth roll (natural 1) that turn, so he was unalived, and took one failed death save from falling off the roof I was perched on to snipe from. Two more low rolls, and he was gone.
Awesome video! The Drakewarden was exciting to hear about, my Eragon fantasies will reach new heights
Then you’ll really like the video that I should be posting tomorrow 😎😜
eragon from the book or from the movie?
@@firstnamelastname7298 If you have to ask you must not have seen the movie, jk lol.
@@gudgud yea i read the book before i watched the movie and i have to tell you eragon was some sort of god in the books, one spell and an entire army was dead. but in the movie it was meh
@@firstnamelastname7298 There's one remake I actually wouldn't mind seeing!
Great presentation and production values. I agree with the other people on here: you’re gonna have lots of subscribers soon, myself among them.
Thank you so much!! I’m happy to have ya!!
Dynamite Guide, bro!
I'm playing with a Goliath Beastmaster with some alterations that my DM allowed. You've gave me a lot of options to negociate with the Master. Thanks for this!
Glad to hear you found this helpful! Happy adventuring!
This is great! I created a ranger for my first time playing today and this was super helpful going in! Gives me a lot of neat ideas going forward with my characters backstory knowing how he can be built going up 😎
Stoked to hear that you found all of this useful! Happy adventuring!
This video is SO good! After Tasha's book was published I became a huge defender of the ranger in my group of friends because the class still has a little bit of a bad reputation (although two of them have played rangers quite flawlessly, to be fair)
Your point about the high level abilities couldn't be more accurate! If the only thing I'll get there is a bonus, I'll rather level up in druid or cleric to get some magical goodness, or in rogue, for sneak attacks 👏🏻
Thanks so much!! I’m glad you enjoyed it!!
@@ConstructedChaos You're welcome! 😁
These are the homebrew dual wielding rules I use. They might not be perfect as I'm still play testing them.
Inorder to use these features you must have the Two Weapon Fighting style. Each melee weapon in the game can be broken down into a few categories, and mismatching weapons from each category gives an additional feature.
Fell Handed (Axe&Axe): If you hit the same creature with your main hand axe and your off hand axe in the same turn, it must make a Constitution saving throws equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your strength/dexterity modifier, or have attacks against it be made with advantage until the start of your next turn.
Anvil of Thunder (Axe&Hammer): If you hit the same creature with both your axe and your hammer in the same turn, it must make a Strength saving throws equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your strength/dexterity modifier, or be fall prone.
Bear Fang (Axe&Sword): If you hit the same creature with both your axe and your sword in the same turn, it must make a Strength saving throws equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your strength/dexterity modifier, or become grappled.
Sanguine Flow (Axe&Polearm): If you hit the same creature with both your axe and your polearm in the same turn, it must make a Constitution saving throws equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your strength/dexterity modifier, or at the start of each of the creature's turns, it takes 1d4 necrotic damage for each time you hit it with both weapons. It repeats the save at the end of each of it's turns, ending the effect of all such wounds on itself on a success.
Serpent's Lure (Axe&Chained): If you hit the same creature with both your Hammer and your Sword in the same turn, it must make a Dexterity saving throws equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your strength/dexterity modifier, or be unable to willingly attack any other creature besides you until the start of your next turn.
Brutalizing Firepower (Axe&Gun): If you hit a creature with your axe on your turn, then the next attack you take with your handgun, has an additional weapon die of damage.
Wrath of Thor (Hammer&Hammer): If you hit the same creature with your main hand hammer and your off hand hammer in the same turn, then you can make an additional weapon attack against that same creature.
Hammer's Edge (Hammer&Sword): If you hit the same creature with both your hammer and your sword in the same turn, it must make a Constitution saving throws equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your strength/dexterity modifier, or have disadvantage on attack rolls until the start of your next turn.
Thundering Strike (Hammer&Polearm): If you hit the same creature with both your hammer and your polearm in the same turn, it must make a Constitution saving throws equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your strength/dexterity modifier, or be pushed 10ft in any direction.
Dead Leg Blow (Hammer&Chained): If you hit the same creature with both your hammer and your chained weapon in the same turn, it must make a Dexterity saving throws equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your strength/dexterity modifier, or have it's speed reduced by 15ft until the start of your next turn.
Reloading Ricochet (Hammer&Gun): If you hit the same creature with both your hammer and your handgun in the same turn, then your handgun is automatically reloaded. As long as you have ammo on your person to do so.
Crescent Sweep (Sword&Sword): If you hit the same creature with your main hand sword and your off hand sword in the same turn, it must make a Strength saving throws equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your strength/dexterity modifier, or drop one item they're holding and have that item be thrown up to 20ft away.
Guardian Stance (Sword&Polearm): If a creature triggers an attack of opportunity against you, then you can attack twice, once with your sword and another time with your polearm.
Weakening Wounds (Sword&Chained): If you hit the same creature with both your sword and your chained weapon in the same turn, it must make a Constitution saving throws equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your strength/dexterity modifier, or be unable to regain hit points until the start of your next turn.
Assassin's Whisper (Sword&Gun): If you hit a creature with your sword on your turn, then the next attack you take with your handgun in this turn, is completely silent.
Drilling Barrage (Polearm&Polearm): If you hit the same creature with your main hand polearm and your off hand polearm in the same turn, the next attack made against that creature ignores the effects of its armor or shield.
Follow Through (Polearm&Chained): If you hit the same creature with both your Polearm and your chained weapon in the same turn, then you can make an additional weapon attack against a different creature that's within 5tf of it, that you can reach.
Stabled Shot (Polearm&Gun): If you hit a creature with your polearm on your turn, then the next attack you take with your handgun in this turn, has it's close range and long range are increased by by 1.5x.
Lunging Rumba (Chained&Chained): If you hit the same creature with your main hand chained weapon and your off hand chained weapon in the same turn, then you're reach for your chained weapons is extended by 5ft until the end of your next turn.
Conservative Flourish (Chained&Gun): If you hit a creature with your chained weapon on your turn, then the next attack you take with your handgun, doesn't consume any ammo. You must have ammo in your gun in order to use this feature.
Akimbo (Gun&Gun): When you're wield a handgun in each hand, you can choose to have all of your attacks that turn to be made with disadvantage, but you can attack twice as much on your turn.
Akimbo
Did you mean: *spray and pray?*
This is honestly really damn cool
@@thatguymatt5816 Thank you.
Keep up the great work. This was a really good video
Glad you enjoyed it!
I love how much you put images of Drizzt in the video! He's by far my favorite ranger. I feel like if gloomstalker was a thing back then, that's what he would have been. Except his dual wielding might as well have been just extra attack actions lmao
Drizzt is a total badass haha! I couldn’t help myself! 😂🤘🏼
@@ConstructedChaos Heck yeah he is dude! That man took out a bassalisk with his eyes closed and fought off the apex predators of his own kind like they were flies 🤟😂
@@chacepassmore6474 His archetype is one of my biggest reasons for loving ranger so much, honestly!
@@ConstructedChaos Same man! My favorite character I've built to date is the one I'm playing now that is supposed to be his great great grandchild. She is Gloomstalker 5, Twilight Cleric 1, Assassin rogue 3, Battlemaster 4. It's so fun! Insane initiative! I even have a figurine of wondrous power! It's the golden canary. She's a longbow Archer though
Drizzt is a Ranger in name only, He was a Fighter primarily, small dips into beserker and Ranger at later levels.
The quality of your video is amazing, you’re gonna blow up in no time!
Wow!! Thank you so much!! I’ve been working hard haha. Always nice to see comments like this!
I agree! Finally a channel with higher production level!
I miss read that I though it said 800k subs not 800
Keep up the good work
@@drawnhercules89-80 hahaha thanks so much!! Maybe one day!!
Im currently playing an 18 charisma ranger. Been pretty fun
Nice! Certainly charisma can be a great problem solving tool for most situations. It's not typical for rangers to have high charisma but I love working against the grain too!
Definitely going to keep following you. Good videos
Thank you so much!! Happy to have ya!
Wow! I just randomly found your channel looking up ranger stuff. I immediately recognized you as the singer from Amoretta back in the day! Great band and great channel!
Hahaha that is incredible!! Small world!! Hope you enjoyed the video AND the music!
This dude put a great intro immediately followed by a hard sell, I’m hyped to see where this goes
Hahaha thanks!! Glad you enjoyed it!
Doesn’t talk about anything broken. Title was click bait
@@jerichoroberts2497 I did actually! You must’ve not watched the whole video.
My dm decided to homebrew some abilities, like in one piece, and my ranger got ability that allows to find the weakspot of an enemy, and if you land a hit, your damage multiplies by 5 in exchange for exaustion points. So my gloom stalker ranger did 400 damage in one hit. I think my dm should think how to balance that out.
yeah i think 5 is too much. a more balanced option would be is your dmg is multiplied by your exhaustion levels. after dealing that dmg, you gain 1 level of exhaustion. so x5 is still possible but this will lead to your death.
Thanks for posting. You bring up a lot of good points. When I saw Tasha's upgrades, I was drawn most to the Def Explore features, such as the tireless one. It's great for something like a bounty hunter, like the Mandalorian says, "I can bring you in warm or I can bring you in cold." Because you are not escaping this ranger.
Happy to share this one! And, I'm glad you enjoyed it!! Happy Ranger-ing!
Just based on the first minute, I'm subbed! Expect me to be binging and commenting often!
Well awesome!! Thanks for subbing and glad to have ya along!! 😊
I like the idea of a Gloomstalker with Druidic Warrior fighting style for Control Flame or Druidcraft to make dim light or darkness for themselfs to hide in. Might not be min-maxed but it's nifty
control flames for sure though for the 2nd cantrip i'd pick guidance. and tbh i doubt you'll need that alot as long as you have a large enough shadow somewhere to accommodate you, then umbral sight works. for example, hiding under the bed in a lit room, hugging the walls of an alleyway between 2 buildings in broad daylight, standing in the shadow of a large statue at noon, etc. the only time i've found control flames to be useful for what you mentioned is for a melee gloomstalker as they need shadows for the approach. a ranged gloomstalker doesn't have that problem as they can be auto-invisible in a shadow far away.
This is a great video and really informative - I'm trying to decide between a ranger or a soul knife rogue for my next character...it's a tough decision.
Oooo that is tough! I do love the soul knife too! Although, it’s hard to pass up Ranger since all the changes!
Thanks for watching and I’m glad you enjoyed it!! 😊
Do both. Lol dual class soul knife rogue with ranger, I'd say gloomstalker.
Play a Soul Knife Rogue, if you are optimizing. I'm also a strong supporter of playing what you enjoy so if that is Monk or Ranger, go for it :p
Played an "Army Rangers" game where everyone was a ranger in an elite hit team set to infiltrate and eliminate an enemy nations king. Used a sniper (custom gun to the game with a 300ft range and good damge), Hunter, and Find familar (with the blightfighting style) used the owl as a drone scope and blindsight to guard my position. Silence was my concentration spell so no one could hear my shots.
Damn! That's a pretty slick operation you've got going there!
I'm sure you used the pro tip of dropping a silence spell on top of the sniper with a firearm. DMs love when you do that.
@coyoboyo you got it. I took some levels in Phantom Rogue for the sneak attack against two targets.
So round 1 was shoot (sneak attack + wails on target 2) if 2nd within 5ft, then horde breaker.
So at level 8 it was up to 3 shots and 1.5 sneak attacks before they ever saw it coming.
Dm thought to stop me by having some underground enemies that would pop up and attack. (Could hit them underground only if you were within 5ft) He learned real fast gunner feat at level 1 made my sniper a cqc weapon.
Great video! Extremely quality
Thanks so much!!
2:10
You could do an urban bounty hunter background ranger if you wanted something more charisma based, but it would likely be better for a rouge or bard tbf
Sounds like a really interesting multiclass! The bard ranger!
I myself have always enjoyed playing rangers, even when they were arguably pretty terrible as a class. There was always room there for a creative player to make them work. The problem was always the DM's that would outright ban the class. Not because it was bad. Not because it was good. They'd ban the class because they "just want everyone to have fun, and nobody playing a ranger can be enjoying themselves".
I would always counter with, "Clearly then, you just don't know how to play a ranger."
I'd get straight up kicked from tables, just because I'd dare suggest that if you knew what you were doing, you could actually have fun with the class.
And THAT is the whole reason I’m making this series of videos. Everyone should be able to play what they want without any judgement or gate keeping!
I'm currently playing my first ever module campaign with a WE ranger, and have been for a year in total or just shy of. Being new and with a limited budget I only grabbed PHB on DnD Beyond so my choices were slim in terms of variation of subclasses. Having picked the Hunter even if people are saying "it's not great" or the likes I'm having a blast. Being able to track foes through communicating through plants or animals, the latter usually working when bribing them with food, as well as adapting to hoard like enemies with volley uses, or sharpshooter feat on pack leaders or bosses, combined with flame arrows and hunters mark can prove useful and fun for me.
@@arrow2555 that’s awesome!! It sounds like you’ve got a good DM too! I love practically every playable option in 5e. I do just like to give disclaimers when something is a little harder to make work just in case. Hunter can honestly be really good and the original ranger could be too! It was just very situational and dependent on your DM’s willingness to tell you what you were up against or put your favored enemy type in front of you.
Since I was 14 with 2nd Edition. Ranger will always be my sense of class. (Always lost anywhere I go of course)
I played a ranger just prior to Tasha's coming out. Ended up multiclassing; Ranger (GS) 5, Rogue (Scout) 10. At that level and combination I had a bunch of tricks up my sleeve and did immense damage from afar and up close--and had 18 AC with a shield. It started out bland, but once it came online, probably around level 9-10, it started to really kick ass.
Great production here, btw. I can tell a lot of time was put into your videos in post. Well done.
Thanks so much!! And I love multiclassing ranger and rogue together-sometimes even with some fighter mixed in. It’s a fantastic combination!
I am always weary about builds that come online a bit late but I’d imagine you were still doing just fine before level 9.
Anyways, glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for watching! 😊
I've nvr had a prob with playing the ranger I love that class
I’d always been dissuaded from playing one until until xanathars was released and the new subclasses came available. I can see why but I hate that mentality.
That’s why I say every class is broken now 😜
The downside of Goodberry vs. Cure Wounds is that it doesnt level with you whereas cw does. Plus, cw can be cast at a higher level slot to do more healing rather than a flat 10 points.
Totally, I just felt like goodberry was worth a mention since I think a lot of people sleep on its versatility.
Because goodberry can be split up, makes is every so slightly useful. Keep some incase folks drop. As a ranger being able to bring 10 people back to 1HP is better than bringing back(or increasing) 1 player's HP by 10.
Yall are forgetting that you can blow through any unused spell slots on goodberry just before a long rest and have a sack of berries to heal outside of combat the next day
@@dustinschumann301 bingo
@@dustinschumann301ZENSU BEAN!
Are you only allowed to have 1 form of concentration active at a time, or can they be separated? Favoured Foe mentions that it acts "as if" concentrating on a spell, which means that it isn't "actually" concentrating on a spell. This sounds to me like you have have Favoured Foe active while also maintaining concentration on an actual spell.
only 1. however, it doesn't mean you can have only 1 concentration spell as a player. there's some ways to offload concentration to familiars with certain casters.
Great video! Currently playing a V Human Gloomstalker Ranger. LOVE IT! Sharpshooter Feat at Level 1 and Crossbow Expert at Level 4. PLEASE make a video about the Broken Awesomeness of the Gloomstalker Ranger.
Haha I definitely need to make a gloom stalker build soon!
Just discovered your channel and subscribed. Looking forward to checking out your other videos. I'm running a level 11 gloom stalker/level 1 rogue with sharpshooter and skulker - she even scares the other party members!😄
Oh NICE! That sounds like a good time to me! Any plans to take more levels in rogue for the assassin subclass?
@@ConstructedChaos Probably not. I only multi-classed because we lost our arcane trickster and I don't want to fall too far behind the rest of the party in my main class. Can't wait for the next level - hello Elven Accuracy!
@@andrewshaughnessy5828 fair enough! Elven accuracy is going to be bonkers good for ya!
My ranger literally got every kill in the first 8 nights my group played. It was seriously becoming "It STILL COUNTS" meme. Now I am playing a Warforged Cleric Twilight Domain/Artificer. My group doesn't really have a solid front line and we didn't have a healer. AND we are playing in a Ravenloft style setting. So I decided to make my Cleric the groups healer/Tank. Twilight Domain Clerics get martial weapons and armor. So Long Sword and Shield with Chain mail. And now with Artificer I will take Armorer for stealth armor and +1 AC bonus with +1 weapons bonus. And I no longer have disadvantage on stealth checks due to Stealth armor! Oh and Warforged racial +1 AC. Integrated Protection. Once lvl 3 Artificer I am putting all my points into Cleric. Which is currently lvl 2 so I get my domain abilities and can put up a shield that gives myself and my party temp hit points every round for 1 minute. Which honestly saved me the last combat we had. So while its not the BEST ever tank build. It is filling the gap in our party right now. I am the one stop shop for tanking/healing lol. I currently sit at 19 AC at level 3 and 21 AC with shield of faith active. Not bad for lvl 3. Once the Artificer armor is made I will sit at 20 AC in Chain at least. And 22 AC with Shield of faith. Just milking Artificer for the Armorer stuff and then focusing on Cleric after. God help my DM if I get my hands on Plate armor! Muhahahahahaha Ahem I mean Huzah!
Hahaha THIS sounds like a build I need to take on a test drive!
I have a Warforged Forge Domain cleric with Articifer Armorer. Lvl 1 with a shield, I already have 20 AC before 2nd lvl
In my home game, I've combined Favored Enemy and Favored Foe. Simply put: You deal the Favored Foe die to your Favored Enemy, plus all the other goodies.
I actually played a ranger in a game last night and I was pleased with what I was able to do with favored foe alone. I feel like more than that goes a bit too far in course correcting the ranger but that does sound like a good time!
This was really helpful
Happy to hear it!!
Playing a Drakewarden soon. Can't wait!
Hell yeah!! You’re going to absolutely love it!
I too have a deep love for rangers and druids though I try to play all classes. Im really glad they improved it. I like the gloom stalker and Beastmaster best more for flavor than power. Im more about the story. If I were trying to be all powerful, Id play a Chronurgy wizard!
I’m right there with ya! Story and RP over optimization any day!
i love the gloomstalker too but i'm there for both the mechanics (it's the poster boy for the playstyle i prefer-alpha striking) and flavor (i'm drawn to agile, lurking in shadows, assassin type, multi-skilled characters). beastmaster is another fave ranger subclasses as i enjoy playing with pets and getting to RP multiple characters once in a while. it's a bonus too that i consider these 2 to be the top 2 ranger subclasses mechanically as well. i enjoy optimization in any game i play and these 2 are some of the best examples of getting a subclass rich in flavor but are executed well mechanically. it's always fun for me to envision my character doing something bad ass with a character theme and actually being backed up mechanically and by the numbers when i actually execute it. it's deflating lets say when i envision playing a monk who's like killing/incapacitating an enemy in 1-hit (like in kung-fu movies or one-punch man) then seeing every other party member including the bard hit harder than me.
@@ConstructedChaos i absolutely disagree with this and dont advocate this kind of thought process within the dnd community as it creates a divide between optimizers and RPers. yes everyone leans either or and that's fine but imo these 2 arent mutually exclusive and shouldn't be pushed as such. You can be a hardcore optimizer who's a great RPer and concerned with story as much as combat. these 2 pillars of dnd shouldn't be divided and should be accepted by each side. DND is supposed to be an inclusive community and everyone has a right to have fun in their own way. An RPer should feel welcomed in an optimizer table and vice versa. of course if the social dynamics don't work out, no harm in looking for another table.
i personally try to be both and enjoy both aspects. anyway apologies if that sounded like a rant. i was just triggered by that comment.
I think that Favoured Foe is only superior to Favoured Enemy if you're considering combat, and Favoured Enemy is superior almost everywhere else
Sure-I can agree with you there. But I feel as though you’re comparing apples to oranges in a sense that one is more of an exploration ability and one is built for combat.
I think taking favored enemy over favored foe makes sense with some builds but, most of the time, that choice requires you to know what you’ll be up against (which is hard to justify in RP) and it’s unlikely that you’ll be facing those enemies so often through a given campaign unless the DM throws you a bone.
Still, this is only my personal experience and that’s why I call it situational in my video.
even in combat skills .......can save the day. people crap on poison but a simple nature check can allow you to save damage for later. this is almost as good as a free spell scroll every time you kill a Poisonous creature. but like base ranger poisons are mis-understood.
I’m starting with my Tabaxi Horizon walker with the urban bounty hunter background tomorrow.
I’m excited.
Fantastic!!! I'm excited for you! Happy adventuring!
Loved the video!!
I just really wanted to point out that majority of tables ban the woodland beings pixies combo and the DM chooses anyway according to sage advice. Also, Nature's Veil doesn't reveal you when you take an action, attack, cast a spell, or whatever. So it is more than just a little better than the invisibility spell. :D It may be the one ability that is actually broken here.
Ranger is my favorite class in D&D and I have to agree with Leodous Kyron that it is strong, but not broken. I think that the biggest issue that has stayed with the ranger even after changes is that an optimized build is really strong on ranger (especially if you multiclass), but the optimized builds usually revolve around a sharpshooter, hunters mark, and some way to get advantage or another. 5 to 7 levels than switch to a better class, and I don't think that the new rules have changed that though they have helped.
I am not a power builder though and wish that other ways of playing a ranger were also a little more useful and flavorful. If you are not a power builder then the ranger is still missing a little something, but that also has to do with DMs and modules lacking in the wilderness exploration part of the game. Even still I don't think it is good that niche builds can pump out broken damage while a straight lace build is somewhat lacking. I should mention that you do address this when your talking about fighting styles.
I think they need to stop laying on more damage in these fixes (especially at low levels) and just add some utility to the ranger. You may notice that ranger have some utility, but that a wizard's, druids, and rogue's will do the ranger's utility job better. Rogues can have expertise in survival and undercut the core of the ranger class as a wilderness guide. Wizards can secure a perimeter with alarm and tiny hut as a ritual, they can't navigate but they can take navigator's tools as apart of your background. Druid's have a right to be somewhat good in this field, but the spells alone make ranger obsolete in this regard.
Well said! And I'm glad you enjoyed the video! As I've stated before, this is the third in a series of videos that I'm making for every class so I don't actually believe that Rangers are inherently broken--only that they can be broken in the best possible sense of the term.
The idea is to give new players an overview of the class and all it has to offer mixed with a little excitement at the possibilities. Personally, I see a lot of my own Ranger builds dipping Rogue or Fighter at some point as well but that's all part of the fun.
Perfect balance will never exist but the key is to have fun with what does and try not to only see the bad in any given character option. You should see the Monk video I did haha. I think it upset a lot of people. 😅
I’m Actually really excited to play a ranger, I’ve only ever played a ranger once before but it was only one session. But I got to try gloom stalker and it was cool. I’m really wanting to play a fae wanderer/ war cleric combo though I think it would mix really well.
I love me some fey wander but I never thought to combine it with war cleric! Sounds like a really interesting combination!
while i personally wouldn't play this multiclass combo, it sounds viable if you want to focus on dreadful strikes though i'd say grave or death domain cleric work better. if you wanted to focus on beguiling twist, order cleric works better with order's demand synergizing well with beguiling twist. voice of authority also works great with summons which is a fey wanderer's main schtick at tier 11.
Dexterity>Constitution>Wisdom should be your priority insofar as stats are concerned. Conjure Animals is their best spell, and doesn't rely on Wisdom at all.
I could definitely see that being the case depending on the build! However, I do think that many ranger builds would benefit from higher wisdom for saving throws on spells that do require them as well as for ability checks within that umbrella.
I also don’t think conjure animals is their best spell as it doesn’t scale as much as I’d like. But maybe there’s something I’m missing here?
@@ConstructedChaos My group is planning on running Strixhaven next and in an effort to play a more "mage-like" ranger I actually chose druidic warrior fighting style with the shillelagh cantrip for my Fey Wanderer, that way I can almost dump dexterity and focus more on wisdom and constitution. That way I can get a big boost to my charisma skill checks and still have decent melee attacks with a quarterstaff. To be honest, I like where ranger is at right now as a class.
@@TurunSamurai ooooh!! What a cool idea! Sounds effective and fun for a setting like that!
This is very helpful for many reasons specifically that I've just started playing a ranger in a game with you haha
good luck! rangers are awesome now.
And a badass ranger you are!! Yosvyn is happy to have you as part of the crew!
Hey, great video, I'm really enjoying it! You mention a live video of a gloom stalker and a bandit at about 12:45 , and it may be because I'm on mobile, but I don't see a link anywhere. Can you link it to me?
Sure thing!! Yeah I think those links don’t always work on mobile but here it is! Ink on the Frozen Page: The Wrath of Zheles - Episode 40.1
th-cam.com/video/8xiQoMbX83k/w-d-xo.html
Crank Gloomstalker to the max. 2 levels of Fighter for Action Surge (6 attacks on opening turn) and plenty of Assassin Rogue for sneak attack and bonuses going first.
Sharp Shooter is obvious, but Skulker is also super handy as you can hide while lightly obscured (hello dim light!)
100% I often dip fighter and rogue in my ranger builds in general for those reasons exactly!
I feel like the best way to capture just how busted gloom stalker is , is that Batman is definitely a gloom stalker multiclass
@@personman8734 hahaha I think that is a pretty good comparison, yeah! Plus he’s super rich like most of the PCs in my campaigns 😂
I came here to say that gloom stalker isnt that strong, but holy fuck that combo is broken...
@@gabrielbaieel8073 my son is playing it in the DRW campaign right now. Opening round of combat a couple of levels ago he took a beholder from full to 4 hit points in a single activation. If my grave cleric could get ahead of him in initiative order and use path to the grave, his numbers were absolutely insane.
I do, I keep track of arrows.
You, sir. Are a saint 🙏
But in all seriousness, I’ve considered it as well. I’ve just found that it over complicated my games a bit in the past.
@@ConstructedChaos
Yeah, I agree. It can get complicated specially in paper. I am a player BTW.
Using electronic tools helps a ton. I used it to even go and calculate how many backpacks and pouches I needed to carry the stuff I have. As each backpack has a weight limit aside from your own weight limit
@@ODDnanref I’ve definitely started working in some of that now that DNDBeyond has some encumbrance rules in place! It makes things a lot easier to keep track of!
Currently playing a Hill Dwarf Gloom Stalker. Took the Druidic Warrior style and made it a Wisdom based melee fighter. My Cantrips are Shillelagh and Magic Rock.
What is the website you're showing screenshots of throughout the video, like at 8:54 for example?
Those screenshots are from DNDBeyond! Specifically, they're from the character creation section. I've started using the actual rules in my newer videos, though.
With Tasha's, Rangers became a middle-of-the-road class. They're not nearly as great as Wizards, Paladins or Bards.
I think with Tasha’s alone, you may be right. But with Tasha’s AND the subclasses from Xanathar’s (most notably Gloomstalker) I’d say Ranger gets its “broken” status in my book!
Though, it’s worth pointing out that “broken” in this context really just means very very good. I don’t believe that they’re game breaking or anything haha.
@@ConstructedChaos The Gloom Stalker is amazing to be sure, but I'm not sure ranking an entire class based on its most powerful subclass is a good idea. A lot of players - probably the vast majority of players - will forgo that subclass and choose a subclass that best fits their character concept.
@@ConstructedChaos Also, even though the Gloom Stalker is extremely strong, it's not really broken. Twilight Clerics, Hexblade 2/Charisma Caster, Artificer 1/Chronomancer, Paladin 6/Hexblade 1/Sorcerer...all these are far more potent than the Gloomstalker.
@@PlanetOfTheApes999 Sure thing! I totally agree! So, I’m not sure if you’ve seen my other class guides but the idea is that any class CAN be broken. It’s not that the class is inherently-you’ll have to forgive the thumbnail for being a little overzealous there haha.
The goal of the series is to encourage players to play what they want regardless of balance and game mechanics!
@@ConstructedChaos Every class except the pitiful Monk can be broken :).
Favored Foe is amazing with the free damage with Swarm Keeper. Zephyr Strike is useful for small lineage ranger choices. Movement speed helps with being a backup healer.
I’ve house ruled Favored Foe to not require concentration at my table, and that it refreshes on short instead of long rest. The only caveat is that you can’t use both Favored Foe and Hunter’s Mark at the same time
I tried it as written, but it was way too weak and my Ranger player felt like she was lagging behind everyone else. Now she feels a bit better.
They played it way too conservatively with Favored Foe
@@bryancharles8035 I'm using it now and it feels fine. Especially with Swarm Keeper. I'm not using Hunter's Mark at all.
My wife made a halfling gloomstalker and is loving it.
That’s a great combination!! Halfling/Gloomstalker as well as Wife/DND! I know from experience 😊❤️
Rangers are still great with a more strength based build too. They still get some ranged options with throwing weapons like javelins or hand axes, as well as much better melee weapons to choose from, the biggest downside is not having heavy armor, but there are plenty of ways around that such as certain races having AC bonuses, taking the heavily armored feat, or starting as a class with heavy armor prof and then multiclassing into ranger (because lets be honest there isn't much point in going for level 20 in ranger).
Another great option that is available to us thanks to the new options in Tashas is a completely Wisdom based ranger who takes the Druidic Warrior fighting style at 2nd level and takes the cantrip Shillelagh which allows you to basically turn a stick into a melee weapon that deals 1d8 damage and uses your spellcasting ability, Wisdom, instead of Strength.
I personally love Ranger-War Cleric build. Getting 1 more attack as a bonus action with your longbow, +10 to hit die, and +2d8 per attack to damage from level 5 spell holy weapon is an absolutely solid choice
Archery fighting style is hilarious. The +2 to hit breaks the game imo. You could leave your Dex at 16, use medium armor, and max out your wisdom instead. Really make use of your half caster abilities while still having a high chance to hit in tier 1 & 2 of play.
Between Goodberry, Entangle, Zephyr Strike, Absorb Elements, PASS WITHOUT TRACE, Spike Growth. Base Ranger has pretty bomb options for spell casting.
Mix in taking fey touched for the free misty step and a first level enchantment spell like Bless. You can have a very potent character that can be a massive asset to the party.
I tend to build rangers now centered around their spell casting and really leveraging Archery. Swarmkeeper is especially potent when built this way, along with Fey Wanderer & Beast Master.
110% agreed!! It’s always hard to pick something other than archery fighting style haha
Bless on a Gloomstalker that can’t be seen by the majority of enemies so never loses concentration…gold. Provided he’s willing to give up hunters mark lol
@@danielcolvin1611 not to mention advantage on attacks 😶🌫️
@@danielcolvin1611 hunter’s mark is a trap. Waste of concentration most of the time. You’re better off concentrating on something way more potent than an extra 1d6 or 2d6 damage.
A plus 2 is easy to achieve from multiple sources without taking a fighting style
Ranger has beena favorite of mine for a while, and I was really bummed how it turned out in 5e. Until I found the Revised Ranger. Link here: dnd5e.wikidot.com/ranger-revised
This fixed the problems that the PHB5E ranger had. I do not feel like this was properly integrated in the Of Everything books.
A lot of people like to cite this version of the ranger but I’ve found that the changes made with Tasha’s work out just fine for me.
Thank you so much for this video. Just started dungeoning dragons with some friends who also never have done this before, and I choose ranger as my class. But understanding how to do a good build has felt really oveerwhelming. So thank you for the breakdown.
A question though, I have seen Tashas and Xanathar's guides referred to in several vids in how they "changed" the game, but what is it and what does it mean? It is people making up alternative rules? So far I have heard a lot of spells, which I have not seen in the players handbook. =)
yeah tasha's has done 3 major things:
1. added spells and abilities to the base class that aren't in the PHB. like rogues get steady aim at 3rd level.
2. allowed players to customize where racial ability score bonuses can be assigned. for example a half-orc normally add +2 str and +1 con. with tasha;s new rules, it becomes +2 to any ability score and +1 to any ability score.
3. added a new base class (artificer) and a new race similar to the variant human (custom lineage).
feel free to ask questions when it comes to how to build good builds in general or rangers.
Thank YOU for watching! It makes me so happy to see that these guides are proving useful to new players! Tasha's and Xanathar's are supplementary books released by Wizards of the Coast (the owners of D&D). So they aren't mandatory but they are official!
Another great video! Do you have any videos on paladins??
Thanks for watching, Shawn! I don't have a class guide for Paladins yet and Clerics were voted next in line. But after that point I just have Barbarians, Bards, Druids, Fighters and Paladins left so I'm sure I'll get there very soon!
@@ConstructedChaos please take your time, I’ll be ready to watch! I honestly think your channel is the best for this content. It’s very informative and comforting with splashes of humor. Thanks again.
@@shawnberry760 Wow thanks so much for the accolades! It means a lot to hear you say that!
You can build a good wisdom focused Ranger by using the druidic warrior fighting style to get the Shillelagh cantrip for melee builds with a quarterstaff or the Magic Stone cantrip for ranged builds with a sling.
This allows your spells to land more often and some subclass features become more potent.
Swift Quiver is a bad spell. You don't get the attacks on the turn you use it, and since most rangers want to pick up the Crossbow Expert feat early, it only gives you one additional attack.
Conjure Woodland Beings' choice of creature is up to the DM, and most won't allow for such a broken combo with pixies. It's still a busted spell, but not every character is meant to be a summoner.
All excellent points! I love your suggestion on Druidic warrior ranger!
I do disagree about Swift Quiver, however. Investing in future turns is certainly a viable strategy for effective combat and not even close to everyone is going to be using an ammunition weapon. Most of my ranger builds just run the classic longbow.
And the conjure woodland beings spell example was just an example! Still, definitely worth picking up!
Swift quiver can help non hand crossbow catch up at very high levels, but it comes on too late for me. But not every ranger wants to use hand crossbows and it takes a feat and as treantmonk would say, feats are not free. Hand crossbow users either have to be human to come online early or they come online at level 8 whereas longbow users can take sharpshooter at level 4 and be great while keeping their bonus action for other things such as spells or other abilities. Yes hand crossbows may be the most optimal over time but it takes time and sometimes damage is not the most optimal thing you can do. I would say the only reason most choose hand crossbows is they are only hearing that as a viable option.
@@ConstructedChaos Swift Quiver is certainly a nice and thematic and flavorful spell, but in terms of numbers it falls behind other concentration spells. Conjure Woodland Beings is strong on its own (even without the "8 t-rex party" usage). Conjure Animals beats Swift Quiver in almost all cases, whether you summon stampeding elks, or in more extreme cases 8 velociraptors with pack tactics AND multiattack.
@@marianpetera8436 Hmmm I don’t think it works out quite that cleanly. Swift Quiver is going to use your stats and “to hit” to land extra attacks. The spells you mentioned are great-especially in tier 1 and 2. But, by the time we have access to Swift Quiver. Most creatures will easily save against a DC 13 throws and +5 to hit-no matter how many creatures we summon.
Again, not saying that conjure animals and conjure woodland beings aren’t great spells-they def are. But Swift Quiver is going to result in more success for most ranged ranger builds by the time we get access to it.
@@ConstructedChaos I think there was this youtuber who did the math on Swift Quiver (a kobold themed tuber) who said that it was very lack luster (same with Hunter's Mark), while they are decent spells, I personally think Ranger Spellcasting shoudl be viewed in a similar way to a Witcher from the CD Projekt RED games, they're support spells that you use mainly out of combat and then go to town in-combat, still useful, but you have other stuff to use your action economy with that can do more
You didn't really go in depth about brokenness,you just went over the ranger class with a vagueness of pros and cons of their abilities/spell
It’s a class guide but I did also mention a few broken features/subclasses in it!
I’m not sure if you’ve seen my other class guides but the idea is to encourage players to use what they want in their builds-regardless of game mechanics and balance. Any class CAN be broken!
@@ConstructedChaos maybe change your title then to "ranger quick class guide"
@@buttermilkbiscut5477 more than half the title says that it’s a guide! Sorry for wasting your time!
Also the gloom stalker isn't broken the longer the battle the more useless/waste of space they become especially if they're all out of useful spellslots from the 4-8 encounters that the dms/zanethors guide recommend
@@buttermilkbiscut5477 so they’re not broken because they suffer from the same things that every other class in the game suffers from?
I’ve been working on a ranger build for weeks and finally settled on two that I really like. I should preface by saying that I had no intention of building a “Van Helsing” character; I’ve been in love with bonus action attacks with two weapon fighting and just wanted to try something based on the crossbow expert feat. I knew I wanted it to be a ranger build. My original concept was a “shooter” who primarily uses a hand crossbow and a heavy, and a design that was a mix between a western cowboy and Indiana Jones. And the subclass I decided on was the monster slayer. For the design I gave him a leather bomber jacket with boots and a Stetson. Then I watched your video and realized I had just made Walker: Texas Van Helsing by accident 😂 that aside, the synergy between the two crossbows is amazing; I keep my bonus action free when using the hand crossbow, and took only one attack based spell on this build: hail of thorns for the heavy crossbow, and it’s honestly an underrated spell with its efficient upcast potential throughout the game. I won’t pick up another attack spell till swift quiver at lv17. The other spells are mostly support/utility, with some control peppered in (spike/plant growth)
The second ranger is a “Frog Sage” Grung Fey Wanderer. I made this a wisdom heavy build and took Druidic warrior for shillelagh on a club, paired with either a shield or a shortsword for two weapon fighting. The second cantrip is thorn whip flavored as a tongue lash attack. At lv4 I round the wisdom from 17 to 18 with telepathic feat and took a lot of support/utility spells that are frog themed (air bubble, longstrider, etc.) also proud to say I intentionally omitted hunters mark from either build😅
I feel like a lot of people don’t fully appreciate how the ranger is played. Once I started treating them as a martial first and foremost, the builds made much more sense.
I like these! But the Frog Sage has a special feeling about it haha. I think I'd probably play that myself :)
@@ConstructedChaos Absolutely, the frog is my favorite of the two; I definitely recommend testing it out. I modeled him after Glenn from Chrono Trigger and Fukasaku from Naruto, and the build is legit awesome to play. I ran him in a high level one-shot where one of the final bosses was a Kraken, and I was the only party member that had access to the freedom of movement spell. I could swim up in the face of this massive sea monster and smack it around, then use nature’s veil to go invisible, while my party would try to hit and run or snipe with spells. Each time it tried to eat me I would just slip out and proceed to be a menace to this thing for like 5 whole rounds. At one point I used the thorn whip to pull an ally out of the Kraken’s grasp, to keep them from getting swallowed. I barely survived somehow, and it was amazing 😂
@@Elohist2009 Oh nice!! That use of thorn whip sounds like it was super clutch and flavorful!
I am playing a Ranger currently in my D&D game. A gloom stacker and I love my little baby drow ranger. She can do so much for the group. I plan on multi-classing her to deal massive damage to be on the same level as the two barbarians. But even outside combat, my ranger does so much.
with the proper build and yes multiclassing, the barbarians won't even be on the same level as you.
gloomstalkers are definitely one of the most fun classes in the game in and out of combat. alot of people downplay the gloomstalker's contributions to the exploration pillar with their rituals and scout abilities.
what website or app were you using to show all the ranger abilities?
DNDBeyond! I used to mention it in the videos but I stopped at some point haha
Hey Alex, you could have mentioned the Gloom Stalker's level 7 ability Iron Mind, which gives you proficiency in Wisdom saving throws(or if you already have it, then you choose either Intelligence or Charisma saving throws)!!
Absolutely! In the next set of guides I'll be able to go more in depth with each subclass since there will only be four of them. But on these 5e guides I chose to just give a surface level overlook and didn't mention every feature.
About hanter's mark.Can i add an Extra d6 two times when i attack with main hand and off hand?
Yep! So long as you land both attacks!
How does zephyr strike stack with favored foe? Both require concentration…
It *sortof* does. Start by activating zephyr strike. Then, when you land the attack, you drop zephyr strike concentration and mark with favored foe. They way it’s worded, you’ll still get the benefits and extra damage of zephyr strike as favored foe comes online.
Hi Chaos can I ask whats the name of the music that plays during the monster slayer segment? 15:00
also I guess now I have to treat the ranger class a bit more seriously XD
Sure thing!! It's "Findings" by August Wilhelmsson! I use their stuff a ton on the channel and the licensing for it can be found on Epidemic Sound!
@@ConstructedChaos
Thank you very much
@@marcoboscarol2420 no problem!
I wish that Rangers got something similar to the Arcane Archer's "Arcane Shot" feature, but were able to use it more often and do some different things with it.
Yeah I think that’d definitely make some sense. Heck, I kinda feel like that whole subclass is better suited for ranger than fighter but I don’t know haha
Wow, Beast Master is not weak. I tested it out. Give a giant snake as a pet and you are now have the best chance of hitting anything with an attack. Add in that it has 10ft reach and blind sight.
Did I say beast master was weak? I don’t remember being so low on it but it has been a while since I made this.
Green Reaper Ranger from player's guide to grim hollows.
Starting at 3rd level all your attacks gain +1d4 poison damage.
You get expertise in a poisoner's kit and you can now make poisoner's kits.
You gain access to a list of 13 toxins. These are broken up into different spell slot requirements ranging from 1st level spell slots to 5th level spell slots.
Toxins are activated once per turn on any weapon attack at the cost of the relevant spell slot. There is no save. If the attack hits the toxin takes affect unless the enemy has some form of resistance.
All toxins give +1d6 poison damage, apply the poisoned condition, and last until the end of your next turn.
Among the toxins there are the following absolutely silly affects.
Reduce movement speed to 0 and disadvantage on dex saves.
Blind and deaf.
Can't regain hit points for the next minute.
Loses resistance to poison damage.
Loses poisoned condition immunity and is poisoned for a minute. Con save to end the effect early against your Ranger spell save dc.
Again I need to stress that all 13 toxins are available at level 3, you just don't have access to the spell slots required.
Play this subclass sometime. Multiclass. Enjoy.
(There's some more stuff at higher levels as well as giving you spell slots for access to the higher level toxins)
Ohh I see!! Well thank you for the clarification! Hopefully they do better with the new edition as well haha
Oh good someone who recognizes the potential of my favorite class
Oh always!! I'm not sure if they're my own favorite but they're top 3 for sure!
@@ConstructedChaos nice
just use the UA version of the "Variant class features" and the ranger becomes super good, for some reason tasha decided to nerf it by level locking it... as if rangers needed a nerf...
I was upset that the UA didn’t make it in as it was, honestly.
@@ConstructedChaos I still cannot understand why they decided to nerf it for tasha's release, sure the level 1 exhaustion removal wasa bit strong but thats only IF you are multiclassing into berserker barbarian which is the worst barbarian subclass and it is already such a specific build that I dont see a reason to punish players for trying it
I'm making a wood elf ranger with a horizon walker subclass. It looked pretty dope going through walls and stuff lol, anyone got any tips?
Honestly, it sounds like you've got a pretty good grasp on it already haha. The thing horizon walker really has going for it is flavor! Mechanically, it'll function a lot like other rangers but make sure to describe your movements and attacks in fun illustrative ways--like arrows that seem to move so fast that they just "appear" in the flesh of your enemies!
I’m playing a Wood Elf - Gloom Stalker - Shadow Monk - Assassin combo; with the Mobile and Alert (soon) feats, and Blind Fighting fighting style. I hope to take the Elven Accuracy and Athlete feats later on.
Damn that sounds fun! On the surface, Ranger and monk seem like they might not work great together but then you realize that unarmed strikes are considered weapon attacks and that they share the need for good Dex and Wis scores. Very very nice!
To me, it's important for a ranger to be doing two things. Outside of combat, rangers need to be consistant with finding stuff. Inside of combat, rangers need to be consistantly laying down a minimum 20-30 damage a turn on any target within sight. You might not be doing these huge bursts, but when you turn around and add up all of your numbers, it should surprise everyone just how high it is because you were making the most of your movement, action, and bonus action each turn. The thing that I wish rangers had the most was more reaction options, because being a ranged half caster makes it pretty rare to trigger any sort of reaction, and I feel like a ranger more than any other class should be fully maxing out their action economy.
I think that's a pretty fair assessment!
Rangers can be fun. I have a Drow Swarmkeeper Ranger social saboteur, using Favored Enemy Humanoids in tandem with Canny Expertise in Investigation to accrue rumors and info on her marks. Janda'lin Noqut'tar ruthlessly manipulates the social ladder with rumormongering, forged documents, planted evidence, and the occasional "accident." And on the off chance combat breaks out, she can fall back on Gathering Swarm, AOE control spells, and Elven Accuracy.
Hell yeah!! That sounds like a really interesting way to play a swarm keeper! is the swarm a bunch of spiders?
Yep, and she sees herself as a favored child of Lolth because of it, though that has yet to be explicitly confirmed.
Shadar Kai battle master 12, Gloomstalker ranger 4 and Shadow sorcerer 4. Elven accuracy. Sharpshooter, Dual Wielder feats. Two weapon fighting and Archery fighting styles. 2 ASI increases. Bring down the darkness and you have advantage to hit, and your enemies have disadvantage to hit you. You can fight with a bow or melee weapon.
Super cool build! But I am typically weary of darkness builds that can hinder your allies as well.
@@ConstructedChaos I am currently only at 3 levels of each. It is how I plan to go though.
I have a lot of options. I can use Darkness if I need to, but I can use actual shadows as a GS Ranger. I have to take 4 levels in each for 3 ASI's in a row.
I'm actually thinking about taking Lucky instead of Dual Wielder, so I can bonus attack at disadvantage.
A criminaly underrated youtube channel makes the video on a criminaly underrated 5e class, NICE!!!
Thanks so much for the kind words!! I’m glad you enjoyed it! 😊
agreed on both counts. Chaos is great at managing this community, makes great vids and the ranger is quite underrated with people still catching up to the improvements the class has been getting since xanathars. imo the ranger now is the best non-full caster class in the game, surpassing the paladin.
@@TheRobversion1 Thanks very much! That means a ton coming from you!
@@ConstructedChaos its well deserved imo. the production value rivals or is better than other dnd content out there (plus i love the terrain vids haha). you do a good job of responding to the comments in a very organized and diplomatic manner even when people attack you ( i saw that other guy who attacked you in like 3 separate vids with the same comment? lol). and lastly i want to point out, among all the dnd channels i frequent i spend the most time here. it's not because you're on the cutting edge of optimization that every topic you discuss is an "a-ha" moment for me. i find myself often here because of you as a person and the atmosphere you've created.
@@TheRobversion1 😭😭😭😭 you’re seriously too kind! (PS I promise more terrain videos will be coming soon! Probably before or directly after our next main live stream on May 11th)
I keep track of Arrows. It surprises me how many DMs think it's strange that their players would like to make their own arrows for their archers.
i as a dm and a player dont bother keeping track of arrows. i think its unnecessary bookkeeping. i just pick up/require the players to pick up woodcarvers tools proficiency and assume they craft 25-30 arrows daily and pick up misfired arrows post combat. that should be enough that i don't have to worry about it.
That’s totally fair! Honestly, kudos to you for keeping track! It tends to be a bit too tedious for me and I think a majority of DMs don’t do it but it’s all about whatever brings enjoyment to you!
Like many said the artwork, delivery and video quality are great. Can easily see your channel growing fast.
I'm not a media professional however I will throw out a suggestion:
You are talking (I assume) a lot with your hands. This is part of natural body language. However we cannot see your hands so it just looks like you're fidgeting a lot (or something less family friendly). Recommendation, either zoom out so we can see your hands or try to reduce the extra movements.
Going to checkout some of your other content.
Thanks for the tip!! I may try to change around my green screen setup to facilitate but there’s only so much room in my office where I film these haha
Any advice on a eldritch knight ranger combo?
My DM was gracious enough to allow me to use my wisdom for my eldritch knight (for varietues sake, we had all int casters).
I'm debating going straight eldritcg knight, or picking up a few levels in ranger to boost my spell slot progression and gaining a second fighting style.
That combined with hunters mark/favored foe seems like it might be worth it.
That sounds like a really fun build! Multiclassing into Ranger will help you boost your slots a bit, as you say, and if that’s your intention, taking Druidic warrior as your fighting style would offer some interesting results for your E. Knight abilities via war magic at level 7!
That said, favored foe could be an okay pickup from ranger too but I’m not sure it’s worth missing out on extra attacks you get via the fighter base class or getting access to those features later.
@@ConstructedChaos I didn't even think about the druidic fighting combing with warmagic.
I'm sure there are some potent combos, but imagining hitting something and then casting druidcraft for some dramatic effect seems humorous to me. Lol
@@benjaminholcomb9478 hahahaha that would certainly make for some of the most unique flavor for an eldritch knight I’ve ever come across!
@@ConstructedChaos he also is allowing me to keep my multi-attack progression relatively unaffected if I were to go 5 levels with it. (Some minor technicalities there to keep it fair for others PCs.)
If it weren't for that I had some thoughts about hitting up cleric. But then it's a guaranteed loss of at least 1 extra attack.
(Although very tasty whem combined with my Aasimar race. Hmmmm.)
when in doubt with martial classes, the correct answer is always to multiclass.
nice of your DM to let you choose wis for EK. fighter/ranger is always a good combo. in fact the best martial nova in the game is a fighter/gloomstalker.
i'd go ranger main with this one and just stick with EK 3-4 for access to familiar, shield and maybe an asi then go ranger or triple-class if allowed. EK doesn't really have good abilities outside of spellcasting and arcane charge which is gotten super-late at 15th.
With the ranger capstone being rather... meh... I find that a single-level dip into Twilight Cleric as early as possible is a fantastic option for Gloom Stalker. 300ft Darkvision and some cantrips and extra spells that you might find handy are certainly worth it lol. This might be more of an RP thing, but if you play a lycanthrope character, this is an even better mix, as one of the diety options for Twilight Cleric is Selune, patron of travelers and lycanthropes.
Almost anything is better with a dip into twilight cleric haha. But it is especially useful and flavorful for a gloom stalker!
I've played 3 rangers so far and in 2 of the 3 stories i was pivotal in our parties travel. I frankly don't care that i wasn't the highest damager. I could set allies up bybentanglingbenemoes, or giving the party pass w/o trace.
Hell yeah!! I love the Ranger and I’m stoked that the class helped fulfill the flavor fantasy you were looking for!
I am trying to build a wildhunt shifter ranger, and im not seeing the conjure woodland creatures spell available, or swift quiver,steel wind,growth spells either.. am i missing something here? Lol
Nm... it's a 4th level spell.. and we're starting at level 1..so it'll be quite awhile until I get conjure woodland beings..answered my own question..lol ty
Sorry! I just saw this but I'm glad you were able to figure it out! Conjure Woodland Beings would be AWESOME at level 1 hahaha
Tasha's Beast Master is now in the top 3 ranger's subclass. Gloom Stalker is the best, but then there's Fey Wanderer or Beast Master in second place.
There's a fun build for the Fey Wanderer in which you max Wisdom and Charism. Then you choose the Druidic Fighting Style to get Shillelagh.
And now, you can be a solid combatent, landing all enchantment spells and social interaction while dealing good damage.
Love this idea for the Fey Wanderer! And I'm excited to see that they're likely including that subclass in the base rules for the next D&D release!
@@ConstructedChaos do you know when they will release this new edition?
@@andremedaglia350 I know only that it’s supposed to be sometime next year. They’re nearly done play testing!
I played a tabaxi horizon walker ranger in avernus it was really fun to teleport around fighting enemies during the war arc and with tiamats help and dm gave me tiamats dual hand dimension crossbow specifically what dm gave me it as a servant freeing Tiamat it made the game much more fun.
Exactly! Even if it isn't the most powerful subclass mechanically, the flavor is so worth it in my opinion!
It is my third campaign as a Ranger. My first was with a beastmaster, I had a flying snake as my beast in LMoF. The second was Ranger Hunter 6 War Cleric 9. It was so strong that it killed a dragon in one turn following a critical strike. This one I'm playing is an Owlfolk Gloomstalker level 3. It massacared 2 level 4 characters in an arena one after another when it was only level 2 before they could kill him and it was really brutal! (I did take 6 venomed shortswords to the Arena though but they had their own magic items and shenanigans too)
Oh hell yeah!! This is one of the first Owlin builds I’ve heard about as well! Sounds badass!
Where is the link to the gloomstalker battle you mentioned
I think someone pointed out that there was a problem with the card yesterday! Check again, it should show up for you now! If not, here's the direct link! th-cam.com/video/8xiQoMbX83k/w-d-xo.html
Level one cleric dip is lovely on ranger. War cleric is my preference, I get to shoot with my bonus action a few times per long rest. And being able to bless from the backlines is a great use of concentration, so long as you don't have to break it on an emergency zephyr strike.
Honestly, a 1 level dip into cleric is great on a ton of spellcasters haha. Guidance and Bless alone are often worth it if you don't already have them!
I do feel that using our concentration on Bless could stifle the effectiveness of our Ranger itself, though. We use it for so many other things that help to supplement our damage dealing!
@@ConstructedChaos it's true, it depends on the party, but bless is extremely powerful for a level one spell. if you have sharpshooter, an extra 1d4 is going to help you land your SS shots like nothing else can, and you get to buff a couple other martials too if you have them. at least until you reach the higher levels and want to cast swift quiver or some such
@@PantherFox i think bless's effectiveness offensively depends on the party. if you're partying with a bunch of other casters forcing saves and you're the only one making attacks, i'd agree with chaos and use something from the ranger spell list instead (not swift quiver though as that's meh) like lightning arrow, hunter's mark, zephyr strike, conjure animals or guardian of nature. in fact, guardian of nature will do more for your SS than bless while nothing adds more dmg in the game unlike conjure animals as long as your DM lets you choose the animals.
certain ranger subclasses might also not like to waste their 1st action on bless like gloomstalkers.
i do agree though that eventually a cleric is a good dip for a ranger, especially twilight and especially on the more caster type of rangers like beastmasters, fey wanderers and swarmkeepers. i particularly enjoy command with the beastmaster/fey wanderer's army of summons or on a cheese-grating swarmkeeper.
Probably me being blind, but could you please direct me to the part of Tasha's that you're discussing at 9:40?
I’m not sure of the page number but I’m referring to the primal companion feature in the ranger section of the book. Should be one of the last things in that section!
@@ConstructedChaos Thank you, I'll give it another read through
@@RequiemWraith no problem!!
Is there a link to the bandit camp clear mentioned in the gloom stalker break down?
The card should pop up where I mentioned it but here’s the direct link if not!! th-cam.com/video/8xiQoMbX83k/w-d-xo.html
@@ConstructedChaos thanks dude. Yeah I figured there should have been an in video link but I wasn't getting it
@@galler1987 no problem! This isn’t the first time that’s happened but everything looks like it should on my end! Weird.
@@ConstructedChaos don't worry about it, probably just because I'm using the mobile app
Gloomstalker is great, if you don’t have a DM like mine who made sure there was always dim or bright light in every environment so as to cancel out basically every bonus I got as a GSR.
Dangit!! What a jerk!
The problem with ranger is not the features persé, but that those are situational a codependendat to each other. If natural explorer where a passive all-terrain feature it would be really good. Same for favorite enemy if you combine it with favored foe..as for the lv20 foe slayer, i would say that if you hit a creature, you can declare it as slayed and autocrit, number of times x wisdommod per longrest