Since when has bonus action bloat bothered you Colby? (I jest) To be fair, we haven’t seen hunters mark yet. We have confirmation about it having concentration, but not about the casting time or damage.
I just came here to say the same thing. I figured they'd remove the bonus action from Hunter's Mark or the Beast. Hearing they hadn't was disappointing. Of course, the Paladin has to choose between Lay on Hands or Smiting, so I guess this is just going to be par for the course. I feel like these should have been identified during playtests.
My prediction that in the next tasha-like book we will have 5th level feature that would let you replace damage of hunters mark with some control effect once a turn. Basically Cunning Strike, but more nature-magical. And it will scale at 20th. That is honestly the only fix possible without scraping basic class again.
@@МаратГабдуллин-б5ф honestly, good call. that or at least improve the scaling a whole lot, like "is always upcasted to the highest slot you have available" [probably reworded slightly to dissuade multiclass dips, or maybe pushed to 5 for that reason]
If they want to focus so hard on hunters mark they should just replace the spell with feature version of it. They also could definitely remove concentration at lvl 13 thats high enough that a d6 of damage isnt gonna matter anymore. The subclass enhancements do help a lot to at least not make it feel like a ribbon feature tho.
Based on the view counts for these videos versus the official videos, assuming nobody here is watching the official ones, Chris has essentially scraped around 1/5 to 1/4 of the 2024 Handbook's audience. It's a pretty big deal that so many of these people, myself included, are priotising your reaction and observations over the actual reveal itself.
Mmmmm I wouldn't go that far; not trying to dunk on Chris, but there's a pretty decent subset of the D&D crowd that doesn't use TH-cam, particularly the older crowd who grew up playing pre-WOTC D&D. (Lurk the Giant in the Playground forum and you'll see a few.)
I watch both. WotC so I get the news asap. Chris to help me process what they just said... And to drop hints if there's more changes than have been discussed
A free concentration spell to prevent you from casting any concentration spells. Free Hunter's mark but still cannot use Pass without trance at the same time.
Which has always been the rangers weakness. Nearly everything you want to cast is a bonus action concentration spell. Hopefully, they added more valuable non concentration spells to their list, that will be will be the real mark of how much the class improves.
As someone that was Ok with Hunter’s Mark being the big feature, I am quite disappointed. They could have at least made it so you could use it on tracks so that the latter part of the spell does something.
You can base the class around marking it fits the flavor but it has to cost less. Right now it costs a 1st level spell untold number of bonus actions and uses your concentration it's so clumsy.
@@Nerd704 my playtest suggestion was to return Favored Enemy to get some flavor back but with the versatility of changing it per Long Rest, using it for free uses of Hunter's Mark if your quarry is your favorite enemy, with some scaling and/or becoming concentration-less at higher levels. I am ok with the Bonus Action uses, as a lot of classes core-shtick require Bonus Actions and I think it's healthy for the game and multiclassing. But if you get to set it up before combat when you track a creature it would allow you to not need to use the Bonus Action again on the first round/if the creature is still alive.
When any of my players use this, we're transferring Hunter's Mark as part of an attack instead. And we're ignoring concentration. Can't believe they screwed this one up this much.
I could accept the bonus action cost to make a ranger decide whether the enemy is worth using mark on or going with something else, but the concentration is so limiting I agree it needs to go so rangers can be free to actually use their spell toolkit.
Ranger is my favorite class, and this reveal really hurts. I don't want to be forced to cast hunter's mark. I want to have options and make varied and interesting characters with it. Now it feels bad to try that. They did so much for other classes, and this just makes me sad. And to incorporate the tasha's changes and call it a new class feels disingenuous. There are not really that many meaningful changes.
@@ferencfeher2647 that would be one way. Rogue doesn’t t have to concentrate for sneak attack, why do rangers need it for hunter’s mark. Alternatively you could revise some spells like ensnaring strike and swift quiver to not be concentration based.
@ferencfeher2647 that's exactly what I would do personally. Maybe just make a house rule that says "hunters mark is concentration unless you are a ranger", this way anyone trying to dip into the spell has to deal with the concentration or multiclass. Imo it'd help a ton. Not sure why they don't add that to the level 1 feature when you get hunters mark like they did in the first playtest...😅
So Paladins get an extra 1d8 radiant damage at level 11, and fighters get a third attack. Barbarians get Brutal strikes. Where is the Ranger’s Mid to high tier combat boost???
@@verdurite ranger has also done that for years and I've never really had a problem with it. It makes their base class seem even less powerful but that's just because part of their power budget is distributed differently
I knew it was coming from the last playtest but I still can't believe they screwed it up. Oh look at all your new great spells rangers, we will build the entire class around hunters mark.
I will say though… it kinda feels like the 13th level Hunter’s Mark improvement should’ve been closer to 6th level. Then all the other Hunter’s Mark improvements should’ve been moved down to fill it. And it should’ve become a d8 at some point
I will never understand why they just don't scale things effectively - it's like the Paladin's aura jumping from 10 ft to 30 suddenly. Drives me crazy.
Fr. They could have condensed the level 17 and 20 features into level 13, and it still would've been mid. Concentration on your core feature as a Ranger sucks, most Martial classes are getting a damage Spike at level 13, and Advantage is super easy to come by.
Honestly hunters mark could be concentration free for rangers from level 1 and it wouldn’t overpowering. Because rangers are half casters they much prefer concentration spells anyway because the persistence is way more valuable than replacing a whole attack action with some spell that’s damage is relatively weak compared to your level considering you’re only a half caster. The fact that its concentration effectively makes it like barbarian rage where it locks you out of casting spells, and it needs to be balanced as such or lose the concentration.
Oh boy, they over-centralized the Ranger’s features around Hunter’s Mark. The one that makes you do a little more damage in a hit. Such an exciting spell, such a class identity.
Zephyr Strike is so much cooler to me, I just wish it didn't have to compete with Hunter's Mark. Luckily I don't usually play in games where I need to be *that* optimized, but man it's still a bummer.
@@Quixotic4 if hunters mark is gonna be the iconic ranger thing (unfortunately it's the closest thing they have to a shtick,) I want more features like the hunter where when you cast hunters mark, you gain a bunch of extra effects based on your subclass. I think it would unite the class in terms of having a core mechanic and if they played it right you could have some really nice effects that make you want to cast the spell more. More effects + it plays into your theme more
I just don't understand why they don't just make Hunter's Mark a feature like Wild Shape. It never should have been a spell. Imagine if instead of a spell it was "As a bonus action you point at a creature you can see. For one hour, you have advantage on any Survival rolls made to track the creature, and it cannot benefit from the invisible condition against you. You have two uses of this feature per short rest, not requiring concentration." Different subclasses could modify it in different ways. Maybe the Hunter gets the ability to add bonus damage to attacks made against the marked target, the Fey Wanderer could maybe share the benefits with the rest of the party as a sort of "faerie fire lite."Maybe the Gloomstalker invokes disadvantage on saves throws the marked creature makes against spells cast by the Gloomstalker, and the Beastmaster could maybe become a super Tanky option and make it so that the target had disadvantage on attacks against anyone but the Ranger or their beast.
That would be an interesting expansion on what laserllama's Ranger does. It's a limited number of uses per day, uses no concentration, but you can't move it to a different target and have to expend another use. It also scales with Ranger level. The subclass interactions sound fun.
The worst part for me, is that even if Hunter's Mark is good, and always being used, there's other higher level concentration spells that are essentially either, USELESS, or Hunter's Mark stops being used. The first playtest with no concentration Mark was so good, wish that was still real.
@pheralanpathfinder4897 truly I emplore you to look at the Ranger spell list. Almost all of their spells require concentration. Sure in the playtest they had a lot better options, but that was with the 4 spell groups which no longer exist. Now they did promise an expanded spell list in the video, which makes me hopeful, but we don't have all the information on what that entails just yet.
@@TheRealMang0Man0fMystery I don't have a spell list from the play test. But even in 5e they do have some instant effect spells. Not having to burn so many spells to use Hunters mark every battle or to need to cast smite every round is a big deal. While many DMs run just a couple rounds of combat per long rest that's not the way 5e was designed.
@@pheralanpathfinder4897 problem is that all good spell on rangers spell list require concentration. And all of them are better than hunters mark- at 5th level- Healing Spirit, Pass without Trace, Summon Beast, Spike Growth at 9th- Conjure Animals (even nerfed new one) well that it, 3rd level on ranger always been "conjure animals charges". Maybe Ashardalon's Stride at 13th- Conjure Woodland Beings (even nerfed new one) at 17th- those slots also alawys worked as "even more animals", but still concentration. Problem in non-concentration spells- you never in a million years would cast Conjure Barrage, while concentrating on a Hunters mark, over any spells from the list above.
Even better, hunter's mark and commanding your beast are both bonus actions. Why doesn't the ranger get the ability to ignore one of those bonus actions like the new paladin, which can do things as PART of an action or bonus action? Doesn't seem right.
I don't think it is disingenuous. They are comparing the 2014 and 2024 books. Everything in the book has to be self-contained and not include references to other books. So, it is new to the phb. Plus, not everybody has Tashas, especially new players they are particularly targeting to buy the book.
What's terrifying to me is that this is supposedly what the wider D&D community wanted. We HAD a survey on the version of Ranger with an unhealthy attachment to Hunter's Mark. They said they change something if the approval is less than 70%, meaning that either the vast majority of people who took the survey voted the Hunter's Mark features highly or the design team completely ignored the feedback which I thought would have panned it. I personally think this Ranger is completely rotten through with how bad it is to glue a class to a concentration spell that really is just "okay" at best, it's not like Warlock with Eldritch Blast where you just have the OPTION to rely on it if you want, they are physically bottlenecking you into a Hunter's Mark playstyle by basing class features on it.
It was hard to be nuanced about features. For example when divine spark was introduced for cleric it scaled better had more uses and healed more/did more damage. What it looks like they will go with is way more disappointing. People said it potentially had a multiclassing problem being tied to proficiency bonus and wizards took that as nerf it into the ground.
@@AtelierGod honestly I think a large part of the community that doesn't know what it wants is to blame. People reacted way too harshly to so many good changes just because they weren't perfect
They also said they'd do playtests for monsters and spells.... Look at the Hasbro/WotC track record - they don't seem to care much what people say, it's what people pay. Odds are the people who were compiling the feedback on the ranger and rewriting the class were some of the ones they laid off last December, so they just asked ChaptGPT to rewrite it.
I don't know who unironically thought that 1st level 4.5 dpr concentration spell is a good class identity for a class where majority of it spells are with concentration... but here we are. And is it the only class so far that don't get anything at 5th level? I think tashas+2014 version is a bit better class overall.
It's a very flavorful spell, so the community requesting it makes sense. The problem is that the designers are deeply terrified of such a tiny boost stacking with other concentration spells - that also shouldn't be concentration - or Ranger being a 1-level dip for Fighters and Monks.
They could have made Hunter's Mark like the Barbarian Rage. Flat extra damage that scales, no concentration, works for 10 mins, get a few uses per day. I can't believe they couldn't work that out, or something else.
Hunter's Mark requiring concentration is very disappointing. Can you comment at all if concentration requirements for other Ranger spells has changed at all in the 2024 PHB?
I bet that Hunter’s Mark upcasts stronger in the new version. The free castings are to free up slots at lower levels, and for usage in exploration at higher levels.
Tripling and quadrupling on a spell that many rangers might decide isn't worth casting using their Bonus Action AND their Concentration is a bummer. I've played lots of rangers, and I've generally felt that Hunter's Mark just isn't worth it in most cases. Either monsters are dying too quickly and it's eating up all my Bonus Actions or it's preventing me from laying down Spike Growth or another potent Concentration spell.
With the video on x2 speed, I literally sometimes get confused because he sounds like a normal person at that speed, and I think something's wrong with the video
Well you use nick weapon mastery you can get up to 3 attacks for your action, then you beast companion attacks. So that 4 attack at level 5 nit bad. But then again pet classes always seem more of add on rather that a intergrared part of a class or subclass sadly. Artificer being the exception from what i have seen.
Lol right? There's SO much to work with in regards to fey, and they always tend to pick the most boring thing possible, even if it's powerful. I want cool charm, illusion, and domination abilities!
@@BoPeep_42 Totally! It's also frustrating how they have been doing the same "different flavor of Misty step" thing for the primary species benefit on every elf species as well.
@@BoPeep_42 For some reasons WotC is hell bent on making charm effects EXTREMELY bad. Most charm spells are not worth preparing, let alone casting, when they literally let your target know you charmed them after it wears off. Even in-combat charm effects are bad with either the effect still letting the enemy attack your allies or the charm ends as soon as anyone attacks the charmed enemy.
@@floofzykitty5072 Lol true, maybe I should be careful what I ask for. I really don't see why they have such a hard time with charm. Even a simple, limited ability for the Fey Wanderer that forces an enemy to expend its reaction and attack a nearby creature would be super cool and tame, and definitely in theme with beguilement.
Its such overused and generic power at this point. Default mid-level feature fore casters and high-level feature for martails. Eldritch knight? Teleport. Paladins horse? Teleport. Psionics? Teleport. World tree? Teleport. Fey? Teleport. Moon? Teleport. Shadows? Teleport. literally any theme? Teleport. Only wizard somehow evaded "generic teleportation subclass".
Hunters markc becaming concentration free in level 10 would be almoust like Paladins Divine Strike. Would be good and not overpower. Thats the way to fix Ranger
@@TheBakerdoc Thats my thought process. Before the release I had an idea of making HM a bonus action cantrip that lasts one round (2d4 or 1d10 scaling). Class wouldnt be purely focused on making HM stronger but rather as an opportunity to slap it whenever you can and have BA free.
14:13 Holy cow! I suggested this change in the UA feedback. I can't believe they actually took the recommendation to allow swapping out one spell per long rest instead of making players wait literal months of play time to change off from a mistake .
OMG- ok so the capstone = take a level in Rogue. Sneak attack and expertise in two more skills plus two languages. Or for that matter a level of fighter. Who signed off on that piece of dung capstone.?
The earlier version was that you get a plus bonus to attack and damage rolls equal to your wisdom modifier. That was absurdly powerful, but if you just made at least one of those bonuses a once per turn ability, I don’t think it would be that bad.
I love how they call stuff "brand new" that was released years ago in one of their books. Granted they were optional rules, but I don't know many people that do not use them as default.
The vast majority of features for ranger rely on hunter's mark? Truly wouldn't it be a shame if there were monsters immune to any effects of low level spells.
There are like 5 monsters that do that, atleast one being a very specific campaign end boss Rangers being overly reliant on a first level spell requiring concentration is one of the worst design choices in the new books and there are a ton of reasons why. Those monsters really isn't one of them, in 99.99% of campaigns it will never come up And that's assuming they aren't changed in the monster manual
It is interesting to me how many things they did for this that so easily could have been done for other classes. They were worried about the gloomstalker just being a base ranger after round one and they didn't worry about that with the assassin rogue, they added templates for the beastmaster ramger and not for circle of the moon druid. I'm glad ranger got these enhancements, it definitely needed it, it is just interesting to me that they didn't do similar fixes for similar pain points in other places.
Beast master templates seems a lot more manageable than a moon Druid template because one is an addition to your base and the other takes over your base, the scaling would need to be so drastically different that I wouldn’t trust them not to screw up the moon Druid with templates.
@@GlacialScion I actually think that it's kind of intentional design to have different mechanics to appeal different groups. I mean, Wild Shape show that no option appeals to everyone. Why not then have different options in classes with overlapping flavor? Now you kind of able to appeal to both groups.
Druid templates were a bit TOO much like the ranger version when they tried to give them to druid. Three very bland templates great for a second companion you control less great when that's your whole character sheet when in that form.
@@Carpetman77777 they got so many complaints about wildshape being turned into templates from existing druid players who just love having a cat statblock and being tiny at level 2
It would have been nice by about level 9-10 if instead of concentration free, you had a feature that allowed you to concentrate on hunter's mark plus one other ranger spell at the same time. Would make them feel unique.
@@pheralanpathfinder4897Sounds like a reasonable way to prevent someone from concentrating on hunter’s mark & hex to me. Though at that point you could also just make it not use concentration at a certain level. 10 seems reasonable.
Is it seriously that hard to make Hunters Mark a god damn Ranger only cantrip and have it scale appropriately. No concentration, bonus action, lasts for 3 rounds, keep the D-6 and just add one every 4 to 5 levels.
Atleast we can cast it for free when our fight winning concentration spells are reserved to more important battles... Such a class defining spell... :P
What i dont like is that being a ranger now means that you are the hunyer mark guy. It doesn't give you a fair option to do different things. Warlocks can choose not to pick the eldeitch blast evocations if they dont want to be the eldeitch blast character. I wiash that there was a subclass, or optional features like evocations to support hunters mark, rather than it being forced.
1: Hunter subclass becomes base class features 2: Hunter’s specialty lvl 1 spell; Zephyr Strike, Hunter’s Mark or Entangling Strike has free castings with non concentration 3: Generic traveling spells always prepared (goodberry, Leo’s hut, etc.) 4: Give them the cantrips for free or an option with the Hunter picks as apart of base 5: let them pick a any school of magic to add to there list when picking spells 6: if it’s too much pick any 3 options of the 5 to add to Ranger. 7: boom! A better Ranger!
Sometimes. He is unquestionably (for me) the best source for D&D analysis. I’m glad he had time to prep these videos, but under normal circumstances I prefer when he spends 2-3 days to think and reflect instead of live reactions.
Frankly I think at absolute bare minimum they should lower Protective Concentration to Hunter's mark to a lower level and put a feature in it's current place that removes concentration on hunter's mark. If they are really so freaking scared of giving it to ranger's at low level just make it something they get eventually. I mean for goodness sake wizards and clerics will literally be casting wish while rangers are getting minimal improvements to ONE target in damage. Dear god.
The rogue has now more in-combat options, more ways to give itself Sneak Attack, and an earlier Reliable Talent, making it just good at everything it should, i understand that it's underwhealming to see such few changes, but since they deliver a good immersion as to what a rogue is, i personally don't think the rogue is at the bottom, i think it's very versatile and honestly better than just "i hit, do sneak attack and leave until my next turn to repeat the same action again"
With new Bastion rules, and Thief changes- you get Ring of Spell Storing at level 9. Every combat thief can cast strongest party caster spell up to level 5, as a bonus action on the first turn. Probably coolest combo in the game right now. You are basically mini-warlock on top or rogues benefits.
They should have built ranger around the one thing more synonymous with them than hunter's mark: a companion. Make all rangers get a companion with their subclass with unique abilities. Let gloomstalker's companion be a stealthy beast, hunter's be a grappler, fey wanderer's be a charm machine, and beast master the most variety as a beast. That would be far more unique than the current ranger, which is just a fighter multiclassing with the scout rogue.
Oh boy… I… am getting everyone else’s disappointment rubbed off on me. But I don’t want to be! If you compare the 2014 PHB and the 2024 PHB, the Ranger is way better! Yes a lot of it is Tasha’s stuff, but hey, Tasha’s isn’t the PHB. I can still make Batman and I can still have a character with a wolf companion.
It's just disappointing. I think it's really likely this is the only class people are disappointed with, and I cam already see a homebrew version being super popular just like in 2014 It's a shame Ranger keeps getting the short end of the stick
But they did not give it anything. Me and many others paid full price for tashas, just to be marketed the same stuff, still most people play with those rules without the books
@@EpicRandomness555oh i didnt notice that, but still I think the issue was the design itself, as well the claiming everything was “new” when they were just tweaked preexisting features
@@EpicRandomness555not really? Extra 5 movement is the only real buff here, Favored Enemy 2024 is a nerf over Favored Foe despite the higher damage of HM, we lost Primal Awareness, and Nature's Veil getting pushed back to 14 for the sake of an extra use or two. The biggest boons the 2024 Ranger got over the 2014 Tasha's variant are ironically qol changes like Weapon Mastery and the ability to switch a spell per long rest. Features wise it's not only dropped every 2014 Ranger feature (including an objectively better capstone), but nerfed some of the better Tasha's features and even removed one entirely. But sure, call it improvements if you want.
So now, not only am i still not casting hunters mark at high level, but im also not getting any class features because they are all based around casting a 1st level spell that i wont use ... This is is where my disappointment with 5e.24 peaks
I'm personally quite disappointed that despite hunter's mark being pushed as one of the defining features of ranger, it requires concentration, actions, and does 1d6 until 20th level, compared to the always-on Radiant Strikes from Paladin. Being ranged is nice but that doesn't compensate for it seeming quite underwhelming next to Radiant Strikes, despite getting multiple upgrades throughout several levels (and being all that you get on those levels, other than hitpoints and spell slots). Otherwise it's a definite step up from the old ranger, thanks for your coverage!
Definitely disagree that the gloom stalker's ability to hide in darkness is all that great. I've been in a campaigns where that benefitted the PC a handful of times, at best. Unless you're casting the darkness spell, are underground, or fighting at night, it's very circumstantial. Can't say I'm thrilled that the beast master needs three bonus actions to be useful each combat (beast, hunter's mark, nature's veil).
I have a good feeling that when moving your HM your beast will still be able to attack. Kind of like how the creation bard can use its bardic inspiration and the dancing item can still attack. Although I might be giving them too much credit.
I hope in the spells update they are going to change a lot of rangers spells from needing concentration if they are going to make it such an essential part of the class because most of the things rangers wanna do cant be done because we are "concentrating" on a spell. If they fix that, i think we will be in a really good spot.
If swift quiver is no longer concentration , then the capstone may not be terrible. Still not great, but if you can get 4-6 (beastmaster) attacks, 4-6d10 a round isn't the worst thing (again still not great).
Simple solution for ranger let them concentrate on hunter's mark and any other spell at once and if they need to make a save have disadvantage until they get the feature to not lose concentration upon damage
@@brilobox2Careful now, you're getting a little too 4e in here. Can't have that. (Seriously though, 4e introduced Hunter's Mark, it was good and cool enough to carry over, and yet has been a divisive wet fart and executed increasingly worse, even when the 4e ability blueprint is right there lol)
They should rename the ranger to "Hunter's Mark User", because apparently that the entire class identity. Also those artwork are atrocious, what the fuck happened to fantasy art.
@KevinVideo and just move all the benefits down levels or put them together, Advantage and does more damage plus honestly who's rightfully playing to level 20? Like 1-15 should be the main focus everything after should be afterthoughts bc you can fight gods and such? Another thing just make a Hexblades curse for ranger and get rid of hunter's mark in it's entirety from the class
I’m really hoping that the other ranger signature spells are not going to be concentration bc it’s really quite sad to see how much they’ve put into hunters mark. I’m also nervous about beastmaster hunters mark with commanding the companion traditionally being a bonus action. Once we get the text it may be moderately better but I’m really nervous here. I love Ranger so much so I’m holding out hope
The issue for me is not if it better then Tasha but is it better or a competitive option vs other classes in the book. I say no. It is slightly better in some ways than Tasha (not all) but that capstone is INSULTING.
I just now thought of this but Hunter’s Mark shouldn’t be a spell but instead should be a mini Sneak Attack, once per turn, have some requirements like a BA cost, and I think that would make it far better. 1d6 2d6 3d6, 4d6, then at level 20 it becomes 4d10 making it much more impactful. This would be far better that way than this current implementation.
so the "Hunter's Lore" feature is basically just the Lvl 3 Monster Slayer Conclave feature right? so the Monster Slayer Conclave, if it ever gets re-released, will be completely reworked too.
Unless the Hunter's Mark is fundamentally changed where it can be used per attack instead of per turn (the change in Playtest) and the damage scales per spell level somewhat, the only use I can see for a ranger is if they are a Centaur which pulls a cart in which the Warlock and Fighter do short rests so they can dish out proper damage for the fighting encounters. Maybe at low levels you can be competitive, but past level 10 the ranger can be used as a glorified horse
So excited to play tier 4 where wizards become gods and rangers...(checks notes)...increase their damage die to d10. How can experienced game designers not see these fundamental issues and think they're doing a good job?
This is the first 2024 class with which I am deeply disappointed. I suspect that Ranger will still be the class for which dozens of homebrew and 3PP versions will be circulating.
I was hoping the Beast Master could cast _Hunter's Mark_ and the companion would just stick to that guy. Like, "Sic 'em, Spot!" And then you don't have to keep spending a Bonus Action to command the beast. Otherwise your beast just sits out on round 1... or whenever you want to move your mark.
It's amazing that there are still people interested in Dungeons & Dragons who haven't subscribed to Treantmonk's Temple. But it is gratifying that new people are now being added every day through these videos. The way to Patreon is not far - have a look! I'm already looking forward to the many more videos about the new PHB. Thank you, Chris.
If they had kept the -5/+10 feature of Sharpshooter, then I could imagine wanting to keep Hunter's Mark up all the time, once it provides advantage. Alas, they didn't.
Sure, but 1. the -5/+10 needed to either go or become universal because SS/GWM were way too good 2. while it's not AS good as losing the 10 damage, there's other stuff you can stack onto your attack, mainly weapon mastery effects (hard to be specific about that because not sure offhand which ones Ranger will have easy access to specifically, but consistent 10ft pushes in particular are super nice sometimes--ask my Warlock about his Repelling Blast haha).
@@life-destiny1196 Don't get me wrong; I don't disagree with the removal of the -5/+10, or its replacement with other features. But I don't think that there are any features at all anymore that give a to-hit penalty in return for some benefit. This means reduced opportunities for synergies with features that can offset such to-hit penalties. Incidentally, I think it is known that Ranger will have access to all the Weapon Mastery effects that were in the playtest, minus Flex, which has been removed altogether. Since Rangers have martial weapon proficiency, they have access to all weapons, and thus all weapon masteries.
@@life-destiny1196 I thought the new exhaustion was still in play. I heard of only positive feedback on it. If wotc didn't update exhaustion they really didn't listen at all.
Why are Rangers the only class that didn't get another feature at level 5! Every single class with extra attack get something else, even the paladin the other half caster. Relentless Hunter the one that protects concentration would have been perfect at level 5, and Precise Hunter is just Studied Attacks (Fighter 13) redressed for Hunters Mark. You have to wait so long for these upgrades, and it was kind of disappointing to see
I don’t understand why the ranger’s Roving doesn’t work with heavy armor. Heavily armored rangers are exactly the ones who need higher speed! I guess my STRanger still needs 14 Dex and will need to pick a different Origin feat.
Because a forest warden who is supposed to climb trees and swim across rivers would look Hella goofy doing so wearing 100lb armor. Makes zero sense thematically.
@thebitterfig9903 not really. You're more than welcome to wear heavy armor, nothing about the game says you can't. Just be prepared to suffer mechanical consequences for ignoring the rules of the game.
I'm disappointed on the nerfs to gloom stalker. Trading dread ambusher extra attack for a very small amount (according to playtest) of uses of the 1d8 extra damage and short duration frighten seems pretty weak. Then on level 11, you lose the other "extra attack" feature (not really an extra attack, more like a second chance) to get one of two meh effects when you use the (still small amount of times per day) extra damage and frighten from dread ambusher. Seems like too big a nerf if it is like the playtest, just Wisdom modifier times per day that you can use the extra damage and frighten
It was too powerful and with the rework to the surprise rules, it needed a redesign. There were other ways to do it, but this what their internal playtests landed on. I'll have to play it to see how good it is.
A lot of people are upset about Ranger's but in actuality, they gave them buffs. Trying to wash their hands of 2014, this is essentially Tasha's Ranger. The only remnants of 2014 is the name "Favored Enemy", preparing and providing FREE Hunter's Mark and provides boons you NEVER had, in the "empty" levels at 9th, 13th, & 17th level where you gained no new features except for your Spellcasting improved into the next level. 2014: 9th level - 3rd level Spells 2024: Now featuring two additional Expertise. 2014: 13th level - 4th level Spells 2024: Now featuring HM's Concentration not broken by damage. 2014: 17th level - 5th level Spells 2024: Now featuring HM's Advantage. If you don't use it, you never had anything to lose. People really be getting mad at getting free stuff. Tasha's "Favored Foe" is here in spirit because it required Concentration to use, which is now translated into the HM's Spell. They've been trying to fine tune the capstone and the reliance of Hunter's Mark made "sense" but this is a bad capstone when standing side-by-side to others and that's okay. It provides the opportunity to multiclass.
I wish that they’d make the concentration feature something closer to, “you can concentrate on Hunters mark and an additional Ranger spell at the same time” that way you could be more versatile but still use some of the arrow spells
WotC: Hey! We've got new candy for you! (Holds out piece of garbage.) Community: Um. No. That's garbage. WotC: Oh yeah. I guess it is. (Turns around, then turns back, holding same piece of garbage.) So now HERE'S a new piece of candy! Community: Umm, no. That's just the same piece of garbage. WorC: Look at how shiny & delicious it looks. 🤦♂️😔
Honestly, between Rogue and Ranger I don't know which is more disappointing. I think Ranger, but it is close. And neither of these were broken classes before, so I'm at a loss as to why they didn't give them more interesting boosts. And I can't believe they left the Gloomstalker's weird darvision interaction, that was the busted thing about them. Felt the same about illusionist wizard but at least that's high level. Feeling much worse about the 2024 handbook now than I was at the start of the week.
I think the new focus are awesome. Not as much dpr, but you have many more options that synergize well with other abilities. And I like the two new subclasses.
I never liked Hunter's mark is the first place, and Ranger is my favourite class. This ranger is pitifully designed, and I have no idea why the good designers at WotC would make these decisions. I _still_ prefer the 2014 Ranger and Beast Master to the Tasha's versions.
What is the point of Precise Hunter at 17, when I got Nature's Veil at 14. I am invisible and attacking doesn't break it - so I likely already have advantage on any attack roll I make...
Here is what I did for Hunter’s Mark: “1ST LEVEL: FAVORED ENEMY (Playtest 2) You are adept at focusing your ire on a single foe. You always have the Hunter’s Mark Spell prepared, and it doesn’t count against the number of Spells you can prepare. Moreover, you don’t have to concentrate on the Spell once you cast it; it lasts for its full duration, until you end it as a Bonus Action, or until you are Incapacitated.” “HUNTER’S MARK 1st-Level Divination Spell (Ranger) Casting Time: Bonus Action Range: 90 feet Components: V Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour You choose one creature you can see within range and magically mark it as your quarry. Until the spell ends, you deal an extra 1d6 Force damage to the target the first time you hit it with an attack roll on any turn. You also have Advantage on any Wisdom (Perception or Survival) check you make to find it. If the target drops to 0 Hit Points before this spell ends, you can use a Bonus Action to mark a new creature. At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the spell’s damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 1st, to a maximum of 5d6 at level 5. Additionally, when you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd or 4th level, you can maintain your concentration on the spell for up to 8 hours, and when you use a spell slot of 5th level or higher, you can maintain your concentration on the spell for up to 24 hours.”
Thanks for the context and voice-over, Chris! Love this channel. I'm very interested as to why Jeremy stopped going level-by-level through abilities gained. Especially for the sub classes, he said a lot without saying much at all.
I fundamentally understand the disappointment that the ranger still needs to depend on Hunter's Mark for damage (and the prerequisite Concentration), however! If we're just gonna go ahead and still need to use it, *_I am glad_* that this version of ranger is the one to have it be more thoroughly improved through both the base class *_*and_** the subclass features. The 2024 Ranger seems to be, more than other classes so far, greater than the sum of it's parts. If you look at it piecemeal it may appear weak, but it's really not. I will say - the capstone is reeeeeeeeaally bad. Not that it would save it, but why not make it d12s at that point? But the Capstone is the laziest thing I've seen in a damn sight.
I'm immediately going to homebrew starting from lvl7, Hunter's Mark can't have it's concentration broken by damage. Then at lvl13, Hunter's Mark no longer requires concentration. I'll probably have it do 2d6 + WIS at 20th but that's just a bandaid fix.
Hunters mark needs to be concentration free if cast as a level 1 spell. I get it when upcasting but an extra d6 per attacks isnt terrible. Look at rogues and paladins....oh wait 🤔
Converts prevents you grin attaching various Hex spells with hm. Their internal playtests find that to be a problem. I am playing a Tashas beast master ranger at 8th level and have not run into the hm problem yet, but I probably have to choose between it and the spike spell soon.
Okay, so this is the first class reveal i'm really disapointed of... I really liked the Tasha's Ranger. And i never liked Hunter's Mark. And i really hoped, they would take away the dumb "concentration-free improved invisibility" at level 3 from the Gloomstalker... Now it looks to me, like all my Rangers will be Fey Wanderers or Beast Masters, who multiclass out of Ranger before Level 13. 🤷🏼♂️ Maybe into Druid, who gets new weapon damage enhancements 😉
Hunter's Mark improvements feel like features from other classes but on a way higher level. Level 13 - d6 to all attacks that only breaks when you fall unconscious
Hunter's Mark should have been castable as a reaction when you hit with a weapon attack. Making it a bonus action just makes it conflict with using your beast companion and other features. Tying your wisdom modifier to your beast AC is also bad and very MAD.
I disagree about Wis mod, Ranger has always been a dual stat class and this makes sense for them Not sure about hunters mark as reaction, especially since it powers up as you increase in levels and it shares with companion
I’m getting the impression that the 2024 players hand book is truly a mixed bag of stuff I like and stuff I don’t like. It somehow feels “better” than 2014 but still half baked. Not really sure I want to pay full price from something that could have used another year or so of playtesting and tweaking.
I'm still frustrated with Hunter's Mark. 😢
Since when has bonus action bloat bothered you Colby? (I jest)
To be fair, we haven’t seen hunters mark yet. We have confirmation about it having concentration, but not about the casting time or damage.
Why didn't they do what they did with vengeance paladin and just make it part of the attack action?
@@logancuster8035 we do know the damage die goes up to d10 at level 20, because that's definitely a worthwhile capstone
I just came here to say the same thing. I figured they'd remove the bonus action from Hunter's Mark or the Beast. Hearing they hadn't was disappointing. Of course, the Paladin has to choose between Lay on Hands or Smiting, so I guess this is just going to be par for the course. I feel like these should have been identified during playtests.
Should’ve been a divine favor like spell and both of them shouldn’t be concentration.
"Remember Ranger means someone who" casts a 1st level spell to get a level 20 feature
My prediction that in the next tasha-like book we will have 5th level feature that would let you replace damage of hunters mark with some control effect once a turn. Basically Cunning Strike, but more nature-magical. And it will scale at 20th. That is honestly the only fix possible without scraping basic class again.
@@МаратГабдуллин-б5ф honestly, good call. that or at least improve the scaling a whole lot, like "is always upcasted to the highest slot you have available" [probably reworded slightly to dissuade multiclass dips, or maybe pushed to 5 for that reason]
@@МаратГабдуллин-б5ф Rangers and having to get reworked constantly a tail as old as 5th edition.
They'll fix that in 5.75 in D&D 2034
If they want to focus so hard on hunters mark they should just replace the spell with feature version of it. They also could definitely remove concentration at lvl 13 thats high enough that a d6 of damage isnt gonna matter anymore. The subclass enhancements do help a lot to at least not make it feel like a ribbon feature tho.
Based on the view counts for these videos versus the official videos, assuming nobody here is watching the official ones, Chris has essentially scraped around 1/5 to 1/4 of the 2024 Handbook's audience. It's a pretty big deal that so many of these people, myself included, are priotising your reaction and observations over the actual reveal itself.
For me, the wizards employees are kind of insufferable. Chris isn’t a salesman. He’s just comparing what we’ve had vs what’s coming.
Congrats Chris!
I prefer the commentary from Chris and I’d rather only watch the overall video once, not once without and once with commentary 😂
Mmmmm I wouldn't go that far; not trying to dunk on Chris, but there's a pretty decent subset of the D&D crowd that doesn't use TH-cam, particularly the older crowd who grew up playing pre-WOTC D&D. (Lurk the Giant in the Playground forum and you'll see a few.)
I watch both. WotC so I get the news asap. Chris to help me process what they just said... And to drop hints if there's more changes than have been discussed
A free concentration spell to prevent you from casting any concentration spells.
Free Hunter's mark but still cannot use Pass without trance at the same time.
😂😂😂
That about sums up my frustration.
Of which rangers have MANY
Which has always been the rangers weakness. Nearly everything you want to cast is a bonus action concentration spell. Hopefully, they added more valuable non concentration spells to their list, that will be will be the real mark of how much the class improves.
Don't know if it's been changed, but technically the hail of thorns type spells are concentration so those aren't compatible
Wotc: "We don't want to restrict your playstyles! Give every class flexibility!"
Also wotc: "teehee hunter's mark"
Yeah, I actually think that giving every class complete flexibility is stupid.
It must be why I like the change!
@@broomemike1 you WILL cast this shitty level 1 spell and you will like it!
Mid-power spell go brr
Balance is a must or we get total anarchy and dilluting the identity of the classes. Or just as bad total inflexible authoritarian rule sets
@@odinulveson9101 nobody wants them to make the class overpowered, they just want a real touch up like the other classes are getting
As someone that was Ok with Hunter’s Mark being the big feature, I am quite disappointed. They could have at least made it so you could use it on tracks so that the latter part of the spell does something.
You can base the class around marking it fits the flavor but it has to cost less. Right now it costs a 1st level spell untold number of bonus actions and uses your concentration it's so clumsy.
@@Nerd704 my playtest suggestion was to return Favored Enemy to get some flavor back but with the versatility of changing it per Long Rest, using it for free uses of Hunter's Mark if your quarry is your favorite enemy, with some scaling and/or becoming concentration-less at higher levels.
I am ok with the Bonus Action uses, as a lot of classes core-shtick require Bonus Actions and I think it's healthy for the game and multiclassing. But if you get to set it up before combat when you track a creature it would allow you to not need to use the Bonus Action again on the first round/if the creature is still alive.
When any of my players use this, we're transferring Hunter's Mark as part of an attack instead. And we're ignoring concentration.
Can't believe they screwed this one up this much.
I could accept the bonus action cost to make a ranger decide whether the enemy is worth using mark on or going with something else, but the concentration is so limiting I agree it needs to go so rangers can be free to actually use their spell toolkit.
Ranger is my favorite class, and this reveal really hurts. I don't want to be forced to cast hunter's mark. I want to have options and make varied and interesting characters with it. Now it feels bad to try that. They did so much for other classes, and this just makes me sad. And to incorporate the tasha's changes and call it a new class feels disingenuous. There are not really that many meaningful changes.
Question as a DM: If it was homebrewed to be non-concentration, would that work for you? Trying to brainstorm up stuff for my table
@@ferencfeher2647 that would be one way. Rogue doesn’t t have to concentrate for sneak attack, why do rangers need it for hunter’s mark. Alternatively you could revise some spells like ensnaring strike and swift quiver to not be concentration based.
@ferencfeher2647 that's exactly what I would do personally. Maybe just make a house rule that says "hunters mark is concentration unless you are a ranger", this way anyone trying to dip into the spell has to deal with the concentration or multiclass.
Imo it'd help a ton. Not sure why they don't add that to the level 1 feature when you get hunters mark like they did in the first playtest...😅
As a Swarmkeeper main. I don't look forward to so much dead levels
To follow up, make it concentration less at like lvl 5 or 7. So it's not something you can get with a simple dip. Also makes it feel more earned
So Paladins get an extra 1d8 radiant damage at level 11, and fighters get a third attack. Barbarians get Brutal strikes. Where is the Ranger’s Mid to high tier combat boost???
Rangers get their level 11 boost through their subclass
@@Wannybooi that is awful, monk had to do that for years and it is not fun
@@verdurite ranger has also done that for years and I've never really had a problem with it. It makes their base class seem even less powerful but that's just because part of their power budget is distributed differently
I knew it was coming from the last playtest but I still can't believe they screwed it up. Oh look at all your new great spells rangers, we will build the entire class around hunters mark.
And we didn't change Hunter's mark at all to make it a spell worth building the class around!
I will say though… it kinda feels like the 13th level Hunter’s Mark improvement should’ve been closer to 6th level. Then all the other Hunter’s Mark improvements should’ve been moved down to fill it. And it should’ve become a d8 at some point
I will never understand why they just don't scale things effectively - it's like the Paladin's aura jumping from 10 ft to 30 suddenly. Drives me crazy.
Cantrip scaling, D8 at 5th, D10 at 11th etc.
Fr. They could have condensed the level 17 and 20 features into level 13, and it still would've been mid. Concentration on your core feature as a Ranger sucks, most Martial classes are getting a damage Spike at level 13, and Advantage is super easy to come by.
Honestly hunters mark could be concentration free for rangers from level 1 and it wouldn’t overpowering. Because rangers are half casters they much prefer concentration spells anyway because the persistence is way more valuable than replacing a whole attack action with some spell that’s damage is relatively weak compared to your level considering you’re only a half caster. The fact that its concentration effectively makes it like barbarian rage where it locks you out of casting spells, and it needs to be balanced as such or lose the concentration.
Literally halve the levels for Hunters Mark progress and make it a free action. There, I fixed it.
Oh boy, they over-centralized the Ranger’s features around Hunter’s Mark. The one that makes you do a little more damage in a hit. Such an exciting spell, such a class identity.
Zephyr Strike is so much cooler to me, I just wish it didn't have to compete with Hunter's Mark.
Luckily I don't usually play in games where I need to be *that* optimized, but man it's still a bummer.
I wish ranger was allowed to cast the spells on its list, rather than removing the entire game if you dont use HM lmfao
It's a really thematic spell, but I don't know why the designers are terrified by its existence meanwhile Hexblade's Curse existed.
I'd tolerate it if they made the subclasses add extra abilities and synergies with the spell
@@Quixotic4 if hunters mark is gonna be the iconic ranger thing (unfortunately it's the closest thing they have to a shtick,) I want more features like the hunter where when you cast hunters mark, you gain a bunch of extra effects based on your subclass. I think it would unite the class in terms of having a core mechanic and if they played it right you could have some really nice effects that make you want to cast the spell more. More effects + it plays into your theme more
I just don't understand why they don't just make Hunter's Mark a feature like Wild Shape. It never should have been a spell.
Imagine if instead of a spell it was "As a bonus action you point at a creature you can see. For one hour, you have advantage on any Survival rolls made to track the creature, and it cannot benefit from the invisible condition against you. You have two uses of this feature per short rest, not requiring concentration."
Different subclasses could modify it in different ways. Maybe the Hunter gets the ability to add bonus damage to attacks made against the marked target, the Fey Wanderer could maybe share the benefits with the rest of the party as a sort of "faerie fire lite."Maybe the Gloomstalker invokes disadvantage on saves throws the marked creature makes against spells cast by the Gloomstalker, and the Beastmaster could maybe become a super Tanky option and make it so that the target had disadvantage on attacks against anyone but the Ranger or their beast.
That would be an interesting expansion on what laserllama's Ranger does. It's a limited number of uses per day, uses no concentration, but you can't move it to a different target and have to expend another use. It also scales with Ranger level. The subclass interactions sound fun.
I hate spells as class features.
Now I wish this is what they did lol
The worst part for me, is that even if Hunter's Mark is good, and always being used, there's other higher level concentration spells that are essentially either, USELESS, or Hunter's Mark stops being used. The first playtest with no concentration Mark was so good, wish that was still real.
Rangers don't have many high level spells. Using ones that don't require concentration or are vital in rare circumstances will be enjoyable.
Well you can just homebrew it to not take concentration. But that hardly fixes things
@pheralanpathfinder4897 truly I emplore you to look at the Ranger spell list. Almost all of their spells require concentration. Sure in the playtest they had a lot better options, but that was with the 4 spell groups which no longer exist. Now they did promise an expanded spell list in the video, which makes me hopeful, but we don't have all the information on what that entails just yet.
@@TheRealMang0Man0fMystery I don't have a spell list from the play test. But even in 5e they do have some instant effect spells.
Not having to burn so many spells to use Hunters mark every battle or to need to cast smite every round is a big deal.
While many DMs run just a couple rounds of combat per long rest that's not the way 5e was designed.
@@pheralanpathfinder4897 problem is that all good spell on rangers spell list require concentration. And all of them are better than hunters mark- at 5th level- Healing Spirit, Pass without Trace, Summon Beast, Spike Growth
at 9th- Conjure Animals (even nerfed new one) well that it, 3rd level on ranger always been "conjure animals charges". Maybe Ashardalon's Stride
at 13th- Conjure Woodland Beings (even nerfed new one)
at 17th- those slots also alawys worked as "even more animals", but still concentration.
Problem in non-concentration spells- you never in a million years would cast Conjure Barrage, while concentrating on a Hunters mark, over any spells from the list above.
Ugh. Gating a bunch of class's features behind a concentration spell??? What were they thinking!?!
Even better, hunter's mark and commanding your beast are both bonus actions. Why doesn't the ranger get the ability to ignore one of those bonus actions like the new paladin, which can do things as PART of an action or bonus action? Doesn't seem right.
@@KevinVideo like moving huntersmark as part of your attack action
@@s3lbstm8or casting hunters mark as part of your attack action
@@shadow-faye making hunter a nice dinner and give him time to to do make it because wotc is going to fucked it upp
I'm glad they are doing these videos, but I'm starting to get really annoyed at Jeremy Crawford calling stuff from Tasha's brand new.
It is new if you aren't using Tasha's, and it is not in the core phb.
its insulting and very disingenuous
I don't think it is disingenuous. They are comparing the 2014 and 2024 books. Everything in the book has to be self-contained and not include references to other books. So, it is new to the phb. Plus, not everybody has Tashas, especially new players they are particularly targeting to buy the book.
What's terrifying to me is that this is supposedly what the wider D&D community wanted. We HAD a survey on the version of Ranger with an unhealthy attachment to Hunter's Mark. They said they change something if the approval is less than 70%, meaning that either the vast majority of people who took the survey voted the Hunter's Mark features highly or the design team completely ignored the feedback which I thought would have panned it. I personally think this Ranger is completely rotten through with how bad it is to glue a class to a concentration spell that really is just "okay" at best, it's not like Warlock with Eldritch Blast where you just have the OPTION to rely on it if you want, they are physically bottlenecking you into a Hunter's Mark playstyle by basing class features on it.
Obviously they ignored it otherwise they’d be talking about how widely well received the class was.
It was hard to be nuanced about features. For example when divine spark was introduced for cleric it scaled better had more uses and healed more/did more damage. What it looks like they will go with is way more disappointing. People said it potentially had a multiclassing problem being tied to proficiency bonus and wizards took that as nerf it into the ground.
They said they read each comment in the survey right? Obviously they care about it right?
@@AtelierGod honestly I think a large part of the community that doesn't know what it wants is to blame. People reacted way too harshly to so many good changes just because they weren't perfect
They also said they'd do playtests for monsters and spells....
Look at the Hasbro/WotC track record - they don't seem to care much what people say, it's what people pay.
Odds are the people who were compiling the feedback on the ranger and rewriting the class were some of the ones they laid off last December, so they just asked ChaptGPT to rewrite it.
I don't know who unironically thought that 1st level 4.5 dpr concentration spell is a good class identity for a class where majority of it spells are with concentration... but here we are. And is it the only class so far that don't get anything at 5th level? I think tashas+2014 version is a bit better class overall.
Extra Attack as before?
3.5, its only 1d6
It's a very flavorful spell, so the community requesting it makes sense.
The problem is that the designers are deeply terrified of such a tiny boost stacking with other concentration spells - that also shouldn't be concentration - or Ranger being a 1-level dip for Fighters and Monks.
@@shadow-faye 3.5 is just damage for dpr you should multiply it by hit chance and by 2 attacks, so it is 3.5*0.65*2=4.55 so ~4.5dpr
@@МаратГабдуллин-б5ф oh you meant with extra attack...yikes
So nice of WotC to give you a couple days off next week!
I was happy to see that!
Yeah, good guys out there :D
They could have made Hunter's Mark like the Barbarian Rage. Flat extra damage that scales, no concentration, works for 10 mins, get a few uses per day. I can't believe they couldn't work that out, or something else.
Honestly, you're fucking right...
Hunter's Mark requiring concentration is very disappointing. Can you comment at all if concentration requirements for other Ranger spells has changed at all in the 2024 PHB?
I can't reveal anything in the new PHB yet.
I bet that Hunter’s Mark upcasts stronger in the new version. The free castings are to free up slots at lower levels, and for usage in exploration at higher levels.
@@carsonrush3352in the 2014 PHB hunters mark dealt damage on every hit, based on how the play test went it’s been nerfed into being once per turn.
Tripling and quadrupling on a spell that many rangers might decide isn't worth casting using their Bonus Action AND their Concentration is a bummer. I've played lots of rangers, and I've generally felt that Hunter's Mark just isn't worth it in most cases. Either monsters are dying too quickly and it's eating up all my Bonus Actions or it's preventing me from laying down Spike Growth or another potent Concentration spell.
If you can’t find it with Google, he’s probably not allowed to say it.
Here I was thinking "man, I hope Chris does the Ranger video soon.", and thus it appeared.
Love what you do Treantmonk, keep it up!
My goodness Crawford talks so slow... thank goodness for playback speed controls.
With the video on x2 speed, I literally sometimes get confused because he sounds like a normal person at that speed, and I think something's wrong with the video
I think he talks just fine. Talking slow means we won't have to rewind or miss anything.
“We fixed Beast Master! Now, each turn, you can either have a class OR a subclass! See? Fixed!”
Well you use nick weapon mastery you can get up to 3 attacks for your action, then you beast companion attacks. So that 4 attack at level 5 nit bad. But then again pet classes always seem more of add on rather that a intergrared part of a class or subclass sadly. Artificer being the exception from what i have seen.
They should’ve just given the beast back to the Druid. It feels awkward on the Ranger, and thematically, it fits the Druid better.
Wizards of the Coast- what are some cool fey themed abilities? Teleporting. Always teleporting...
Lol right? There's SO much to work with in regards to fey, and they always tend to pick the most boring thing possible, even if it's powerful. I want cool charm, illusion, and domination abilities!
@@BoPeep_42 Totally! It's also frustrating how they have been doing the same "different flavor of Misty step" thing for the primary species benefit on every elf species as well.
@@BoPeep_42 For some reasons WotC is hell bent on making charm effects EXTREMELY bad. Most charm spells are not worth preparing, let alone casting, when they literally let your target know you charmed them after it wears off. Even in-combat charm effects are bad with either the effect still letting the enemy attack your allies or the charm ends as soon as anyone attacks the charmed enemy.
@@floofzykitty5072 Lol true, maybe I should be careful what I ask for. I really don't see why they have such a hard time with charm. Even a simple, limited ability for the Fey Wanderer that forces an enemy to expend its reaction and attack a nearby creature would be super cool and tame, and definitely in theme with beguilement.
Its such overused and generic power at this point. Default mid-level feature fore casters and high-level feature for martails. Eldritch knight? Teleport. Paladins horse? Teleport. Psionics? Teleport. World tree? Teleport. Fey? Teleport. Moon? Teleport. Shadows? Teleport. literally any theme? Teleport. Only wizard somehow evaded "generic teleportation subclass".
Every time todd says "thats amazing" take a shot
"Oh, perfect."
"Yeah" **slight nod**
Don't be too hard on the guy, he has bills to pay
You'd be wasted half way through :-)
Todd's job description must include sycophantic mock interviewing and ego polishing.
@@verdurite haha yeah that's true
Hunter's mark sounds like it should have been rather a perk instead of a spell.
Oh you mean like divine strike used to be lol
Hunters markc becaming concentration free in level 10 would be almoust like Paladins Divine Strike. Would be good and not overpower. Thats the way to fix Ranger
Hunters Mark becoming concentration free at lvl 5 would not be overpowered
@@nightingale8178I think the same, and that would solve any concerns the designers have about ranger level dips only for HM.
@@TheBakerdoc Thats my thought process. Before the release I had an idea of making HM a bonus action cantrip that lasts one round (2d4 or 1d10 scaling). Class wouldnt be purely focused on making HM stronger but rather as an opportunity to slap it whenever you can and have BA free.
I hate this so much! I want hunters mark to end!! This is worse than 2014 at least not 5 of your class features are devoted to a crappy spell.
14:13 Holy cow! I suggested this change in the UA feedback. I can't believe they actually took the recommendation to allow swapping out one spell per long rest instead of making players wait literal months of play time to change off from a mistake .
The capstone is hilarious
"Wow, a whole d10?!? For meeeee?"
OMG- ok so the capstone = take a level in Rogue. Sneak attack and expertise in two more skills plus two languages. Or for that matter a level of fighter. Who signed off on that piece of dung capstone.?
@@gcashby1871Ranger is about to be the ultimate reverse* dip class because who cares about getting to 20 with them? 😂
WotC is just too afraid of allowing martial style play to do anything really. lol
The earlier version was that you get a plus bonus to attack and damage rolls equal to your wisdom modifier. That was absurdly powerful, but if you just made at least one of those bonuses a once per turn ability, I don’t think it would be that bad.
“This is really a new class”
Making the Tasha’s features mandatory is not the same as making something new.
I love how they call stuff "brand new" that was released years ago in one of their books. Granted they were optional rules, but I don't know many people that do not use them as default.
It is as if Jeremy thinks Tasha’s is widely unknown across the play community
The vast majority of features for ranger rely on hunter's mark? Truly wouldn't it be a shame if there were monsters immune to any effects of low level spells.
If you up cast the spell tgat woukd help but oops no full spell progession
There are like 5 monsters that do that, atleast one being a very specific campaign end boss
Rangers being overly reliant on a first level spell requiring concentration is one of the worst design choices in the new books and there are a ton of reasons why.
Those monsters really isn't one of them, in 99.99% of campaigns it will never come up
And that's assuming they aren't changed in the monster manual
Busy week for you, but I really appreciate it!
Kinda sad. I think Hunters mark is kind of a boring spell. It feels like instead of the ranger gaining levels, Hunters mark gains levels😕
It is interesting to me how many things they did for this that so easily could have been done for other classes.
They were worried about the gloomstalker just being a base ranger after round one and they didn't worry about that with the assassin rogue, they added templates for the beastmaster ramger and not for circle of the moon druid. I'm glad ranger got these enhancements, it definitely needed it, it is just interesting to me that they didn't do similar fixes for similar pain points in other places.
It seems like the design process was extremely modular and didn't have much in the way of cross-referencing between designers/design teams.
Beast master templates seems a lot more manageable than a moon Druid template because one is an addition to your base and the other takes over your base, the scaling would need to be so drastically different that I wouldn’t trust them not to screw up the moon Druid with templates.
@@GlacialScion I actually think that it's kind of intentional design to have different mechanics to appeal different groups. I mean, Wild Shape show that no option appeals to everyone. Why not then have different options in classes with overlapping flavor? Now you kind of able to appeal to both groups.
Druid templates were a bit TOO much like the ranger version when they tried to give them to druid. Three very bland templates great for a second companion you control less great when that's your whole character sheet when in that form.
@@Carpetman77777 they got so many complaints about wildshape being turned into templates from existing druid players who just love having a cat statblock and being tiny at level 2
It would have been nice by about level 9-10 if instead of concentration free, you had a feature that allowed you to concentrate on hunter's mark plus one other ranger spell at the same time. Would make them feel unique.
That would be less powerful and set a bad precedent for concentrating on multiple spells.
@@pheralanpathfinder4897Sounds like a reasonable way to prevent someone from concentrating on hunter’s mark & hex to me.
Though at that point you could also just make it not use concentration at a certain level. 10 seems reasonable.
Is it seriously that hard to make Hunters Mark a god damn Ranger only cantrip and have it scale appropriately. No concentration, bonus action, lasts for 3 rounds, keep the D-6 and just add one every 4 to 5 levels.
I'm not a fan of most my class abilities being reliant on Hunters Mark. I normally stop using it around level 5
Atleast we can cast it for free when our fight winning concentration spells are reserved to more important battles... Such a class defining spell... :P
I laughed so hard we they revealed the 20 lvl ability.
What i dont like is that being a ranger now means that you are the hunyer mark guy. It doesn't give you a fair option to do different things.
Warlocks can choose not to pick the eldeitch blast evocations if they dont want to be the eldeitch blast character.
I wiash that there was a subclass, or optional features like evocations to support hunters mark, rather than it being forced.
1: Hunter subclass becomes base class features
2: Hunter’s specialty lvl 1 spell; Zephyr Strike, Hunter’s Mark or Entangling Strike has free castings with non concentration
3: Generic traveling spells always prepared (goodberry, Leo’s hut, etc.)
4: Give them the cantrips for free or an option with the Hunter picks as apart of base
5: let them pick a any school of magic to add to there list when picking spells
6: if it’s too much pick any 3 options of the 5 to add to Ranger.
7: boom! A better Ranger!
Chris, you are the best source for D&D information
Sometimes. He is unquestionably (for me) the best source for D&D analysis. I’m glad he had time to prep these videos, but under normal circumstances I prefer when he spends 2-3 days to think and reflect instead of live reactions.
It seems like most of the other TH-cam bloggers cite Chris for a lot of things
Frankly I think at absolute bare minimum they should lower Protective Concentration to Hunter's mark to a lower level and put a feature in it's current place that removes concentration on hunter's mark. If they are really so freaking scared of giving it to ranger's at low level just make it something they get eventually. I mean for goodness sake wizards and clerics will literally be casting wish while rangers are getting minimal improvements to ONE target in damage. Dear god.
Rogues and Rangers at the bottom. Assuming the rest of the playtest is close to the UAs Monks will exit the basement.
Hopefully we won't have any more negative surprises.
The rogue has now more in-combat options, more ways to give itself Sneak Attack, and an earlier Reliable Talent, making it just good at everything it should, i understand that it's underwhealming to see such few changes, but since they deliver a good immersion as to what a rogue is, i personally don't think the rogue is at the bottom, i think it's very versatile and honestly better than just "i hit, do sneak attack and leave until my next turn to repeat the same action again"
@@i.am_berserk Okay who's below it then?
@@Kitusser the bonus action smite spitting horse speaking paladin who got kinda nerfed
With new Bastion rules, and Thief changes- you get Ring of Spell Storing at level 9. Every combat thief can cast strongest party caster spell up to level 5, as a bonus action on the first turn. Probably coolest combo in the game right now. You are basically mini-warlock on top or rogues benefits.
They should have built ranger around the one thing more synonymous with them than hunter's mark: a companion. Make all rangers get a companion with their subclass with unique abilities. Let gloomstalker's companion be a stealthy beast, hunter's be a grappler, fey wanderer's be a charm machine, and beast master the most variety as a beast. That would be far more unique than the current ranger, which is just a fighter multiclassing with the scout rogue.
Yes, that makes a lot more sense.
Forcing one concentration spell playstyle is ludicrous.
Oh boy… I… am getting everyone else’s disappointment rubbed off on me. But I don’t want to be! If you compare the 2014 PHB and the 2024 PHB, the Ranger is way better! Yes a lot of it is Tasha’s stuff, but hey, Tasha’s isn’t the PHB. I can still make Batman and I can still have a character with a wolf companion.
It's just disappointing. I think it's really likely this is the only class people are disappointed with, and I cam already see a homebrew version being super popular just like in 2014
It's a shame Ranger keeps getting the short end of the stick
But they did not give it anything. Me and many others paid full price for tashas, just to be marketed the same stuff, still most people play with those rules without the books
@@williamhargreaves7046 Yeah but even some of the Tasha’s rules were improved
@@EpicRandomness555oh i didnt notice that, but still I think the issue was the design itself, as well the claiming everything was “new” when they were just tweaked preexisting features
@@EpicRandomness555not really? Extra 5 movement is the only real buff here, Favored Enemy 2024 is a nerf over Favored Foe despite the higher damage of HM, we lost Primal Awareness, and Nature's Veil getting pushed back to 14 for the sake of an extra use or two. The biggest boons the 2024 Ranger got over the 2014 Tasha's variant are ironically qol changes like Weapon Mastery and the ability to switch a spell per long rest. Features wise it's not only dropped every 2014 Ranger feature (including an objectively better capstone), but nerfed some of the better Tasha's features and even removed one entirely. But sure, call it improvements if you want.
Just seems better to add 1 level of Ranger to Fighter than play Ranger unless I’m missing something
Absolutely. Sounds like a fun build too!
8 seconds ago?! If you release a “crappy” reaction video to crafting or dragon art… I will still watch it 😅
Saw the official video was posted, ignored it and distracted myself with other videos until yours came out.
So now, not only am i still not casting hunters mark at high level, but im also not getting any class features because they are all based around casting a 1st level spell that i wont use ... This is is where my disappointment with 5e.24 peaks
I'm personally quite disappointed that despite hunter's mark being pushed as one of the defining features of ranger, it requires concentration, actions, and does 1d6 until 20th level, compared to the always-on Radiant Strikes from Paladin. Being ranged is nice but that doesn't compensate for it seeming quite underwhelming next to Radiant Strikes, despite getting multiple upgrades throughout several levels (and being all that you get on those levels, other than hitpoints and spell slots). Otherwise it's a definite step up from the old ranger, thanks for your coverage!
Definitely disagree that the gloom stalker's ability to hide in darkness is all that great. I've been in a campaigns where that benefitted the PC a handful of times, at best. Unless you're casting the darkness spell, are underground, or fighting at night, it's very circumstantial.
Can't say I'm thrilled that the beast master needs three bonus actions to be useful each combat (beast, hunter's mark, nature's veil).
I have a good feeling that when moving your HM your beast will still be able to attack. Kind of like how the creation bard can use its bardic inspiration and the dancing item can still attack. Although I might be giving them too much credit.
Was actively refreshing to see if you’d done a reaction to this yet. Good timing!
Glad I'm not the only one
I hope in the spells update they are going to change a lot of rangers spells from needing concentration if they are going to make it such an essential part of the class because most of the things rangers wanna do cant be done because we are "concentrating" on a spell. If they fix that, i think we will be in a really good spot.
If swift quiver is no longer concentration , then the capstone may not be terrible. Still not great, but if you can get 4-6 (beastmaster) attacks, 4-6d10 a round isn't the worst thing (again still not great).
Simple solution for ranger let them concentrate on hunter's mark and any other spell at once and if they need to make a save have disadvantage until they get the feature to not lose concentration upon damage
@@Quixotic4 because Hunter's Mark being both a spell and require concentration is stupid. Just integrate the spell effects into the class somehow.
@@brilobox2Careful now, you're getting a little too 4e in here. Can't have that.
(Seriously though, 4e introduced Hunter's Mark, it was good and cool enough to carry over, and yet has been a divisive wet fart and executed increasingly worse, even when the 4e ability blueprint is right there lol)
They should rename the ranger to "Hunter's Mark User", because apparently that the entire class identity.
Also those artwork are atrocious, what the fuck happened to fantasy art.
My main take away is just change Hunter's Mark to not use concentration and give it the d10 earlier and make a new capstone 😂
Even if you bumped the 2014 version so it's 1d12 plus your Wis modifier, that'd be better than the current 2024 one.
@KevinVideo and just move all the benefits down levels or put them together, Advantage and does more damage plus honestly who's rightfully playing to level 20? Like 1-15 should be the main focus everything after should be afterthoughts bc you can fight gods and such? Another thing just make a Hexblades curse for ranger and get rid of hunter's mark in it's entirety from the class
That capstone ability is borderline insulting. A conditional +2 to damage? At 20th level?
Once you get advantage with hunters mark, multiclass into rogue. 1 level dip for sneak attack is a better damage increase than the capstone.
Holy whip, always having Advantage, ALWAYS SNEAK ATTACK??
I’m really hoping that the other ranger signature spells are not going to be concentration bc it’s really quite sad to see how much they’ve put into hunters mark. I’m also nervous about beastmaster hunters mark with commanding the companion traditionally being a bonus action. Once we get the text it may be moderately better but I’m really nervous here. I love Ranger so much so I’m holding out hope
The issue for me is not if it better then Tasha but is it better or a competitive option vs other classes in the book. I say no. It is slightly better in some ways than Tasha (not all) but that capstone is INSULTING.
That capstone is the worst part of the updated class. Very disappointing.
I just now thought of this but Hunter’s Mark shouldn’t be a spell but instead should be a mini Sneak Attack, once per turn, have some requirements like a BA cost, and I think that would make it far better. 1d6 2d6 3d6, 4d6, then at level 20 it becomes 4d10 making it much more impactful. This would be far better that way than this current implementation.
Sounds awfully familiar...almost as if 4e had it right all along...
so the "Hunter's Lore" feature is basically just the Lvl 3 Monster Slayer Conclave feature right? so the Monster Slayer Conclave, if it ever gets re-released, will be completely reworked too.
Essentially. It's also the new revised feature of the champion fighter.
Lv 1: Hunters Mark no need concentration
Lv 13: Hunters Mark deals 2d6 damage
Lv 20: Hunters Mark deals 3d6 damage
Fixed. 👍
Unless the Hunter's Mark is fundamentally changed where it can be used per attack instead of per turn (the change in Playtest) and the damage scales per spell level somewhat, the only use I can see for a ranger is if they are a Centaur which pulls a cart in which the Warlock and Fighter do short rests so they can dish out proper damage for the fighting encounters. Maybe at low levels you can be competitive, but past level 10 the ranger can be used as a glorified horse
So excited to play tier 4 where wizards become gods and rangers...(checks notes)...increase their damage die to d10.
How can experienced game designers not see these fundamental issues and think they're doing a good job?
This is the first 2024 class with which I am deeply disappointed. I suspect that Ranger will still be the class for which dozens of homebrew and 3PP versions will be circulating.
Thats a hell of a one level dip
Thats what I'm thinking. Monk with a few hunters marks and the nick weapon mastery.
I was hoping the Beast Master could cast _Hunter's Mark_ and the companion would just stick to that guy. Like, "Sic 'em, Spot!" And then you don't have to keep spending a Bonus Action to command the beast. Otherwise your beast just sits out on round 1... or whenever you want to move your mark.
It's amazing that there are still people interested in Dungeons & Dragons who haven't subscribed to Treantmonk's Temple. But it is gratifying that new people are now being added every day through these videos. The way to Patreon is not far - have a look! I'm already looking forward to the many more videos about the new PHB. Thank you, Chris.
If they had kept the -5/+10 feature of Sharpshooter, then I could imagine wanting to keep Hunter's Mark up all the time, once it provides advantage. Alas, they didn't.
Sure, but
1. the -5/+10 needed to either go or become universal because SS/GWM were way too good
2. while it's not AS good as losing the 10 damage, there's other stuff you can stack onto your attack, mainly weapon mastery effects (hard to be specific about that because not sure offhand which ones Ranger will have easy access to specifically, but consistent 10ft pushes in particular are super nice sometimes--ask my Warlock about his Repelling Blast haha).
@@life-destiny1196 Don't get me wrong; I don't disagree with the removal of the -5/+10, or its replacement with other features. But I don't think that there are any features at all anymore that give a to-hit penalty in return for some benefit. This means reduced opportunities for synergies with features that can offset such to-hit penalties.
Incidentally, I think it is known that Ranger will have access to all the Weapon Mastery effects that were in the playtest, minus Flex, which has been removed altogether. Since Rangers have martial weapon proficiency, they have access to all weapons, and thus all weapon masteries.
I just realized the new exhaustion rules nerf the new bonus exhaustion removal.
You mean the ones I was really excited about that got revoked the next UA?
@@life-destiny1196 I thought the new exhaustion was still in play. I heard of only positive feedback on it. If wotc didn't update exhaustion they really didn't listen at all.
I think Rangers are the only class that removes 1 level of exhaustion on a short rest. Everyone else has to wait for a long rest.
Wait the capstone just changes the d6 to d10? Isn’t that a +2 average per turn damage? Interesting.
All the just talking makes me realize why they struggle so much with the Ranger. I just don't think they understand it.
Can't wait to see your opinion on those changes...
Why are Rangers the only class that didn't get another feature at level 5! Every single class with extra attack get something else, even the paladin the other half caster. Relentless Hunter the one that protects concentration would have been perfect at level 5, and Precise Hunter is just Studied Attacks (Fighter 13) redressed for Hunters Mark. You have to wait so long for these upgrades, and it was kind of disappointing to see
I don’t understand why the ranger’s Roving doesn’t work with heavy armor. Heavily armored rangers are exactly the ones who need higher speed! I guess my STRanger still needs 14 Dex and will need to pick a different Origin feat.
Did I miss this in the video? There's no such language in Tasha's. A weird nerf if so.
Because a forest warden who is supposed to climb trees and swim across rivers would look Hella goofy doing so wearing 100lb armor. Makes zero sense thematically.
Yup. Here and there, D&D really shoehorns you into one style of character.
@thebitterfig9903 not really. You're more than welcome to wear heavy armor, nothing about the game says you can't. Just be prepared to suffer mechanical consequences for ignoring the rules of the game.
@@lholliday198 In other words, the shoes don't fit right. Oh wait.
Hate Huntets Mark as a spell. Horrible decision!!! 😢😢😢
Thanks for the series, your time is valuable to us.
While not unplayable it's all big a disappointment to me and once again, from what we've seen, I'm very unlikely to ever want to play one.
I'm disappointed on the nerfs to gloom stalker.
Trading dread ambusher extra attack for a very small amount (according to playtest) of uses of the 1d8 extra damage and short duration frighten seems pretty weak.
Then on level 11, you lose the other "extra attack" feature (not really an extra attack, more like a second chance) to get one of two meh effects when you use the (still small amount of times per day) extra damage and frighten from dread ambusher.
Seems like too big a nerf if it is like the playtest, just Wisdom modifier times per day that you can use the extra damage and frighten
It was too powerful and with the rework to the surprise rules, it needed a redesign. There were other ways to do it, but this what their internal playtests landed on. I'll have to play it to see how good it is.
A lot of people are upset about Ranger's but in actuality, they gave them buffs. Trying to wash their hands of 2014, this is essentially Tasha's Ranger. The only remnants of 2014 is the name "Favored Enemy", preparing and providing FREE Hunter's Mark and provides boons you NEVER had, in the "empty" levels at 9th, 13th, & 17th level where you gained no new features except for your Spellcasting improved into the next level.
2014: 9th level - 3rd level Spells
2024: Now featuring two additional Expertise.
2014: 13th level - 4th level Spells
2024: Now featuring HM's Concentration not broken by damage.
2014: 17th level - 5th level Spells
2024: Now featuring HM's Advantage.
If you don't use it, you never had anything to lose.
People really be getting mad at getting free stuff. Tasha's "Favored Foe" is here in spirit because it required Concentration to use, which is now translated into the HM's Spell.
They've been trying to fine tune the capstone and the reliance of Hunter's Mark made "sense" but this is a bad capstone when standing side-by-side to others and that's okay. It provides the opportunity to multiclass.
I wish that they’d make the concentration feature something closer to, “you can concentrate on Hunters mark and an additional Ranger spell at the same time” that way you could be more versatile but still use some of the arrow spells
Plus that would still give limits on what you could concentrate on rather than letting you take a ranger dip for HM.
WotC: Hey! We've got new candy for you! (Holds out piece of garbage.)
Community: Um. No. That's garbage.
WotC: Oh yeah. I guess it is. (Turns around, then turns back, holding same piece of garbage.) So now HERE'S a new piece of candy!
Community: Umm, no. That's just the same piece of garbage.
WorC: Look at how shiny & delicious it looks.
🤦♂️😔
Honestly, between Rogue and Ranger I don't know which is more disappointing. I think Ranger, but it is close. And neither of these were broken classes before, so I'm at a loss as to why they didn't give them more interesting boosts. And I can't believe they left the Gloomstalker's weird darvision interaction, that was the busted thing about them. Felt the same about illusionist wizard but at least that's high level. Feeling much worse about the 2024 handbook now than I was at the start of the week.
I think the new focus are awesome. Not as much dpr, but you have many more options that synergize well with other abilities. And I like the two new subclasses.
I never liked Hunter's mark is the first place, and Ranger is my favourite class.
This ranger is pitifully designed, and I have no idea why the good designers at WotC would make these decisions.
I _still_ prefer the 2014 Ranger and Beast Master to the Tasha's versions.
What is the point of Precise Hunter at 17, when I got Nature's Veil at 14. I am invisible and attacking doesn't break it - so I likely already have advantage on any attack roll I make...
You have limited uses for Nature's Veil
@@TreantmonksTemple ahhhh okay. Thanks TM :)
Here is what I did for Hunter’s Mark:
“1ST LEVEL: FAVORED ENEMY (Playtest 2)
You are adept at focusing your ire on a single foe. You always have the Hunter’s Mark Spell prepared, and it doesn’t count against the number of Spells you can prepare. Moreover, you don’t have to concentrate on the Spell once you cast it; it lasts for its full duration, until you end it as a Bonus Action, or until you are Incapacitated.”
“HUNTER’S MARK
1st-Level Divination Spell (Ranger)
Casting Time: Bonus Action
Range: 90 feet
Components: V
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour
You choose one creature you can see within range and magically mark it as your quarry. Until the spell ends, you deal an extra 1d6 Force damage to the target the first time you hit it with an attack roll on any turn. You also have Advantage on any Wisdom (Perception or Survival) check you make to find it.
If the target drops to 0 Hit Points before this spell ends, you can use a Bonus Action to mark a new creature.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the spell’s damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 1st, to a maximum of 5d6 at level 5. Additionally, when you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd or 4th level, you can maintain your concentration on the spell for up to 8 hours, and when you use a spell slot of 5th level or higher, you can maintain your concentration on the spell for up to 24 hours.”
Thanks for the context and voice-over, Chris! Love this channel. I'm very interested as to why Jeremy stopped going level-by-level through abilities gained. Especially for the sub classes, he said a lot without saying much at all.
When most of your "new" features are just Tasha's/Xanathar's ports, not much to say.
@MrBoredinthedorm right?!
A lot of work went into just reflavoring Tasha's
I fundamentally understand the disappointment that the ranger still needs to depend on Hunter's Mark for damage (and the prerequisite Concentration), however! If we're just gonna go ahead and still need to use it, *_I am glad_* that this version of ranger is the one to have it be more thoroughly improved through both the base class *_*and_** the subclass features. The 2024 Ranger seems to be, more than other classes so far, greater than the sum of it's parts. If you look at it piecemeal it may appear weak, but it's really not.
I will say - the capstone is reeeeeeeeaally bad. Not that it would save it, but why not make it d12s at that point? But the Capstone is the laziest thing I've seen in a damn sight.
This is - to me - the most disappointing class they’ve revealed.
The issue is there wasn't anything all that exciting.
I'm immediately going to homebrew starting from lvl7, Hunter's Mark can't have it's concentration broken by damage. Then at lvl13, Hunter's Mark no longer requires concentration. I'll probably have it do 2d6 + WIS at 20th but that's just a bandaid fix.
Hunters mark needs to be concentration free if cast as a level 1 spell. I get it when upcasting but an extra d6 per attacks isnt terrible. Look at rogues and paladins....oh wait 🤔
I'm really surprised that AT LEAST part of the Level 20 buff wasn't for HM to _finally_ be concentration free! 😅
What a terrible capstone... 🤣
Converts prevents you grin attaching various Hex spells with hm. Their internal playtests find that to be a problem. I am playing a Tashas beast master ranger at 8th level and have not run into the hm problem yet, but I probably have to choose between it and the spike spell soon.
Okay, so this is the first class reveal i'm really disapointed of...
I really liked the Tasha's Ranger. And i never liked Hunter's Mark.
And i really hoped, they would take away the dumb "concentration-free improved invisibility" at level 3 from the Gloomstalker...
Now it looks to me, like all my Rangers will be Fey Wanderers or Beast Masters, who multiclass out of Ranger before Level 13. 🤷🏼♂️
Maybe into Druid, who gets new weapon damage enhancements 😉
No way they make Ranger dependent on Hunter's Mark, and then make Hunter's Mark a "once a turn" damage dealing spell right? ...Right?
Hunter's Mark improvements feel like features from other classes but on a way higher level.
Level 13 - d6 to all attacks that only breaks when you fall unconscious
Hunter's Mark should have been castable as a reaction when you hit with a weapon attack. Making it a bonus action just makes it conflict with using your beast companion and other features. Tying your wisdom modifier to your beast AC is also bad and very MAD.
I disagree about Wis mod, Ranger has always been a dual stat class and this makes sense for them
Not sure about hunters mark as reaction, especially since it powers up as you increase in levels and it shares with companion
I’m getting the impression that the 2024 players hand book is truly a mixed bag of stuff I like and stuff I don’t like. It somehow feels “better” than 2014 but still half baked. Not really sure I want to pay full price from something that could have used another year or so of playtesting and tweaking.