Remember that Steel-wind strike calls for a melee spell attack. So, not THAT great on a ranger, unless you focus on your Wisdom! ^^Still a good spell - you just need to take the great-tree version of the guardian of nature spell to get advantage...
Yep :). Was going to reply with this as well! It's a big difference, and definitely one of those that requires you to have a high wisdom, which, I'd argue, for a ranger, actually makes it a pretty terrible spell.
@@ericrobinson2611 Not too terrible. We must take into account some things about this spell: 1) Our ranger will use the spell when they have advantage on all the attack roll. E.g if they are a Gloomstalker or if they attack a bunch of surprised enemies or simply when Guardian of Nature is up (on our Archer ranger that uses it to get advantage on all Dex-attacks - it just happen to also boost this spell! - or our Drizzt Ranger who is dual wielding two scimitars... same story) - having 14 Wisdom should be just fine, If we know how to use this spell. * maybe our ranger is even a wood-elf or a half-elf with elven accuracy?. 2) This spell is not a single target DPS tool. It is a controlled "fireball" that can score critical hits! Meaning... Our targets are generally of a lower challenge-rating than we are... they are easier to hit and have fever HP than the big-bad
@@Magnushamann Note: Deleted my previous reply as you are right about advantage with Wisdom. I think this is good for Dexterity-based rangers. Though I'd point out that assuming a Wisdom of 14 and Dexterity of 20 with a +1 weapon, advantage using Wisdom is actually worse than regular attacks using Dexterity (advantage translates into +3.X on the roll approximately). I think it's likely more situational. Obviously good for very large groups of enemies, but it suffers from what all AoE effects suffer from, namely that they don't get a single enemy out of the combat, which you could potentially do by full attacking a single target.
Zephyr is really good for ranged Rangers as well. It's a good "get out of jail" card when an enemy gets in your face. You can move 30' away without provoking, fire a shot at advantage, then move another 30' away (so they can't get to you next turn) and finish your attacks.
I did this in my campaign - single-handedly took out a couple of ogres at lv.3 because of Zephyr Strike - easily my favourite 1st level spell for ranger
A fun, thing about Hunter's Mark is that it also works with improvised weapons. Torches, vials of acid, or holy water are all examples of improvised weapons. If you run into lycanthropes before you can get silvered or magical weapons, then being able to turn a torch from 1 fire damage into 1d6+1 fire damage can be fairly handy.
Spike growth and plant growth are also amazing ranger spells, that work really well together. I’ve seen a ranger use these spells to turn what would otherwise have been a deadly encounter (they were fighting a group of 4 T-rexes) into a game of picking them off from range while the dinosaurs could barely move.
Had to pop in to mention my favorite Ranger spell that takes wisdom, Ensnaring Strike. It's a 1st level spell that is cast on a bonus action. Your next weapon attack, melee or ranged, restrains the target versus their strength. On following rounds, the target or an ally can use their action to contest with strength again. It will use up an enemy action to contest again if they even can get out of it, as opposed to the spell ending on a free save attempt. The restrained condition is a really nasty situation in that they have zero speed, are hit with advantage, hit others with disadvantage, and make dex saves with disadvantage. Add to that, it's a d6 per round and upcasts to add more d6's per. Right away, this is better than Hunter's Mark for an archer because you immobilize your target, gain advantage to shoot them, they suffer disadvantage if they even have a ranged attack, and you confer this advantage to all of your allies as well. Often times, though, a melee-reliant foe will have a competent strength save, even if you do invest in a high wisdom. What I like this spell best for is using it with Monster Slayer Conclave and with the Mage Slayer feat, targeting a caster that is bound to have a terrible strength save to exploit. Get in 5' of them, restrain with the spell, and attack with advantage to challenge any concentration they're holding. If they cast at you, you have a reaction to hit them with advantage, advantage on any save, and they have disadvantage on any spell attack roll. If they try to teleport away, normally a free escape from restraints, you can reaction to stop it with your subclass feature. If they or an ally attempt a strength save versus restraint, they'll probably fail and waste their action for another turn. I find Ensnaring Strike to greatly inform and improve the subclass by itself, and they get a non-conc Hunter's Mark effect to add to it as well. Make a guy who hates magic users and goes out of their way to demoralize them whenever he can. What can be better than neutralizing a wizard? I opted to add Monk levels to get more out of wis, and a few ki points to flurry with to really hammer those disadvantaged conc saves, once my other bonus actions are in place. Since you don't go for high single hits like a rogue to bust concs, you instead go for a barrage of forced rolls to eventually turn up a bad dice.
Steel Wind Strike specifically is really good for Fey Wander, as they're likely to have higher Wisdom, and Dreadful Strikes only requires a weapon being used, which Steel Wind Strike specifically uses, so each of those targets should take Dreadful Strike damage on top of the base damage.
One of my favorite spells for rangery type enemies is wrath of nature. Chasing down a hermit or something only for him to hide and the trees to start attacking you. 9/10 adventurers call him a druid and attack the trees.
Rangers really have one of the most interesting spell lists in the game. Which makes it that much worse when people just ignore them and state that the ranger is weak.
The Ranger has A LOT of weak features. Fortunately, their spells are good enough to still make them an above-average class power-wise. The biggest complaint about Rangers nowadays isn't that they're weak per se, but rather that they just don't have much of an identity at the table. They're supposed to dominate the exploration pillar, but because Favored Enemy, Natural Explorer, Primeval Awareness and Hide in Plain Sight are so poorly designed, they really don't.
@@GoblinUrNuts Literally all the classes/subclasses that don't cast spells at all are lower power-wise. It's not nearly as big a power gap as 3.5, but casters are still stronger than non-casters.
@@sharkforce8147 the monk is tragically bad. They are good at lock down and okay at burst damage however they aren't the best at either. Almost every other class can significantly out do them.
@@GoblinUrNuts Fighter, yes. Monk, no. But that's beside the point, as DPR isn't the sole, or even the most significant, measure of a class' overall power.
Ranger is weak because it's a frustrating class design that lacks good features. Any mechanical success anyone has does nothing to answer the biggest problem
Pass Without Trace is incredibly strong. It's like having another whole d20 added to your stealth. Healing Spirit is pretty nice outside of combat. In combat, however, I consider it a little on the weak side without a life cleric dip (not that Ranger5/ClericX isn't a pretty nice combo). Even Heroism can give more output in a fight.
Thanks for the video. Rangers are the only melee class I like to play. Then everyone started dumping on the class in 5e, so I appreciate these videos giving rangers some love!
Doesn't Zephyr Strike also grant advantage on the weapon attack roll you choose to boost? Also, I must admi I've always underestimated the 2nd level spell list for Rangers, pretty much dismissing anything that wasn't Pass Without Trace. Though this was partially enhanced because I haven't played any spellcasters since Xanathar's release other than a Bard who only got to level 4 before the campaign stopped, so Xanathar's spells never really stuck with me. Also, it's a shame that the Ranger is the only "Divine Caster" (is that still an official distinction?) that has to learn spells rather than preparing them. Perhaps more than any other Divine Caster, Rangers seem like the perfect fit thematically for the ability to adapt to changing circumstances by changing out their spells. With their low amount of spells known it can feel difficult to justify taking more situational spells such as Lesser Restoration or Fog Cloud (looking forward to your video on that one btw).
Thing about Steel Wind Strike, while it looks very cool, is that it gets outperformed by Conjure Volley at the same level in every meaningful way. CV does slightly more damage (8d8 = 36, 6d10 = 33). CV is half damage on save, while SWS is all-or-nothing. CV has no limit on the number of enemies it damages in its radius, while SWS has a hard limit. CV's area of effect is also larger than SWS.
@@TreantmonksTemple, Conjure Volley isn't a cone, though. It's a 40-foot radius, 20-foot high cylinder that can be done from 150 feet away. You must be thinking of the 3rd-level Conjure Barrage, which is a cone.
Something to consider about Hunter's Mark (though certainly not RAW at all): Jeremy Crawford has said that the extra damage from Hunter's Mark is considered magical for the purposes of overcoming resistances. This applies *only* to the additional damage and not to the base damage. www.sageadvice.eu/2015/12/16/does-hunters-mark-damage-magical/
Maybe some people will raise their estimation of Rangers. I feel like their spell list adds a lot more to the class than Paladins, possibly even better than the EK and AT. Edit: gotta say though. Playing a Ranger with a dumped WIS would feel like sacrilege. I know that mechanically it works fine. It would just feel like wearing 2 left shoes at the same time.
@@cmckee42 EK and AT have access to the best list in the game. Period. What they don't get is very MUCH access. I think that's where the Ranger gains ground. The Ranger has a good selection, that's very useful for the class, and builds upon the existing strengths.
@@ChristnThms limited access to the best list is very different from full access. Plus, paladin and ranger spells are designed for the use of front line fighters. Wizard spells are not. Lastly, paladins and rangers get 5th level spells.
@@cmckee42 absolutely agree. You said worse spells, which is very untrue. They get less spells, and less spells optimized for the class. That's very different from your original response, and the difference very nicely illustrates why the Ranger's spells add so much to the class.
Love the video, I'm going to try playing your Beast Master Ranger build now. I made some adjustments though, I'm taking Favored Foe instead of Favored Enemy to get Hunter's Mark 1/day at lvl 1 with no concentration. Also, thoughts on Beast Bond? I think Beast Bond works super well with an animal companion and Hunter's mark without Concentration. All your companion's attacks get advantage, you get Hunter's Mark damage. Everyone wins! Also if you are doing the find familiar trick at lvl 5 you can get advantage on the Ranger's attack from your owl. Thanks again for making this video and your Beast Master video too. Love the Ranger class and glad to see someone talking about them and their spells.
The best thing about the Beastmaster was actually Tanya Roberts. No, wait - it was Rip Torn. Not just because of the name (I mean, srsly? Why aren't we named cool things like "Rip Torn"? Did we lose a war?) Because Rip Torn can chew scenery with the best of them (tho not BRIAN BLESSED as Augustus Caesar). But, still. Back in the day, the scene where the guy from 'V' meets Tanya Roberts was a special moment in any young, aspiring adventurer's life. No longer were you motivated to adventure by the lure of gold and exps. You learned there was more out there.
@@TreantmonksTemple Hm, I don't know... I agree with you that Swift Quiver is frequently overstated, but I think Guardian of Nature might actually be a good (and flavorful) concentration choice for a College of Swords bard specifically - whether the character is built around str or dex, there are some neat possibilities there.
Great video, keep up the good work ! I still think it's worth it to get a decent WIS score for the times when Lightning Arrow, Conjure Volley or Steel Wind Strike can deal with crowds of enemies - this is one of the niches that Rangers have over Fighters, after all.
Another great video! Id like to share my impressions with the ranger spells, based on the experience im having playing a ranger from lvl1. Im currently at lvl8, Horizon Walker conclave and Archery. Hunter Mark: No additional comments! Zephyr Strike: it proved to be really useful to me, as an acher. In many encounters, you get in melee range with enemies, maybe because your party got surprised, or because you are in a small chamber... so zephyr Strike is the way to escape, and still do an attack with advantage and 1d8 force dmg. At lvl5, Misty Step is also an option to escape, but Zephyr Strike will do it better, with a lvl1 spell slot. Probably, with Distant Step at lvl12, it wont be that useful anymore. Hail of Thorns: As an Archer, I wanted to have a good variety of spells to use with the bow, and took Hail of Thorns. The thing is, it wasnt useful. Ill dismiss it next lvl. Its not a very good dmg, and still allows a saving throw. Ensnaring Strike: took it recently. It was useful a couple of times only. I think its stuational, against low str enemies (i have 16 Wis, so its a 14 DC). Took it for the versatility in bow skills. Not sure if im going to keep it in the next lvls. Alarm: took it for a while, but dimissed it after our Bard took Leomonds tiny hut. Absorb Elements: Maybe i should have picked it instead of hail of thorns. After playing some oneshots campaigns with other classes, im certain it Will be useful in many situations. Lesser Restorations: I think its a good spells as you mentioned, but i didnt take it because we have a life cleric in our party. For the same reason, I didnt take any healing spells. Pass Without Trace: wonderful spell, and very flavorful for a ranger. Spike Growth: Definetly going to take it next lvl for some battle control. Its a good spell for that purpose and my party doenst have players with spells like that. Lightning Arrow: For an archer, it sounds a very flavorful spell. I really consideres taking it at lvl9, but the thing is its not that good. Conjure Animal seems much more useful and effective. Guardian of Nature: I will take Shapshooter feat at lvl12. So i can already imagine myself using Guardian of nature with the +10 dmg of SS, also being able to teleport 10ft before each attack and having 15ft of difficult terrain around me!
@Mateus Bueno I disagree with the comments on Hail of Thorns and Lightening Arrow If you're playing an Archer Ranger, those are your ace spells. Take Sharpshooter early on and you'll have this: Hail of Thorns: Cast as a second level is 2d10. Third level is 3d10. Yeah, halved if they succeed the Save. But in total you're doing 1d8 + 2d10 + 10 + Dex Lightning Arrow is insanely good. It stacks with Sharpshooter. So you're doing 4d8 + 10 + Dex. It gets to the point where it doesn't matter if they Save, the +10 is there. Take Colossus slayer for an extra 1d6. Multiclass into Rogue for another d6. Now you're adding 2d6 to everything I mentioned
@@eitanlubowitz520 Multiclass into Warlock for super good eldritch blast, that'll fix your damage! Multiclassing should not be a default for doing damage xD You shouldn't be using spells on the same arrows as sharpshooter imo, as it makes you more likely to miss and completely waste the spell. And the spells are bad because you need to succeed on a hit and a saving throw...
@Ben Coltman Yes, but the chances of hitting are still high. A level 10 ranger should have a Dex mod of +5 and a proficiency bonus of +4 and a +1 longbow at the least. +2 from Archery. That's +11 to hit. +6 to hit with sharpshooter. Yes, it seems a bit low, but that number will go up with proficiency bonuses and magical weapons. So you're deciding to take a sharpshooter shot with Hail of thorns. +6 to hit. Need to roll a 12 or higher for most AC's. Needs a dex save, wisdom should be your second highest stat, so it shouldn't be terrible. DC16. 1d8 + 10 + 5 + 1d10. I would honestly choose to do this over hunter's mark or zephr strike. The only time i wouldn't use the sharpshooter shot with a spell is if i am trying to restrain a target with ensaring strike
@@eitanlubowitz520 Having to roll a 12 or higher is a terrible hit chance, the general consensus of the optimisation community is that you should expect a 60-65% hit chance, so your spells are doing on average 2/3 or less of the damage they would be doing without sharpshooter. Hunter's mark doesn't require a saving throw, applies on every hit, and doesn't require you to "risk a spell slot" when you use sharpshooter, imo it's just an all round better spell and will end up doing far more damage. Not to mention even if your wisdom "isn't terrible", it's not gonna be your primary stat, and in fact you can build a ranger without putting many points in it at all. DC16 is only gonna be once you get to like 14th level or something where things are going to have decent dex saves and are going to reducing any damage you plan to get 50% of the time anyway... The maths just doesn't add up.
Great list! I noticed that when you mentioned Absorb Elements and Guardian of Nature, you didn’t even mention the Share Spells aspect of the beastmaster. It means that if you and your snake are both caught in a fireball, you can both gain resistance to it and come out swinging on your next turn. It also means you can share the power ups of guardian of nature. It’s snazzy.
I really like this set of spells, it seems really useful for my build. I like to play support so this lets me provide options for the group. If the wizard doesn't have to cast pass without trace, that's one more murder spell for tough enemies. Money not spent on food since I would have goodberry is more money for arrows and other helpful items. It may not sound like much, but I'm sure it would make a difference over the course of a campaign. Plus the ranger has acces to other neat spells spells like hail of thorns and conjure barrage. I'd be completely fine trading great damage on a single enemy for ok damage on several.
Treantmonk's Temple I think it’s because of the perceived design spaces of casting, skills, and combat. Paladins have a hand in casting and combat, so they get the opportunity to be stronger in each at the cost of skills. Druids have pretty much a whole hand in casting, so they get prepared spells, again at the cost of skills. Ranger has a hand in all three, so WotC decided that they needed a slight nerf to a gameplay pillar, leading to sucky spell versatility.
Considering they have fewer options but can shape them with sorcery points, do you have any tips on picking spells or roles for sorcerer? I'm sure that can vary dramatically depending on the origin (like higher AC draconic), also I don't understand if they can or cannot change their spells; I think they cannot but have seen some games where players changethem when they level up.
So the thing that I feel is just..off about Rangers is that they are more dependent on their spells, but are half casters. Paladins don’t really need/mind not having spells but it hurts Rangers a ton. Even if Paladins don’t have spells, they have Lay on Hands to be a nice healer. When Rangers don’t have spells, they feel dead in the water
I think Paladins are pretty reliant on spells too (at least the slots). Lay on hands is a nice ability, but isn't a feature you can rest an effective combat role on
Treantmonk's Temple but after awhile they get really good features like Improved Smite, Aura of Protection. Not to mention that it’s way easier to MC with Pally. Ranger-Monk doesn’t give much of anything, Ranger-Druid gives more spell slots and Wild Shape, But you might as well be full Druid then. Cleric-Ranger gives a bit of versatility admittedly. While Pally gets very broken combos in comparison. Pally just has way more overall to it
Why is hunter's mark better than ensnaring strike or hail of thorns? Hail of thorns is more potential damage, but it could affect party members. Ensnaring strike gives the restrained condition if successful. That gives your other party members advantage and the subject disadvantage. I'm trying to decide between these three. I'm an archer, melee isn't very good. The first level spells don't overlap with the druid in the party. My other spell I plan to take is Fog Cloud. Just in case we need to retreat. As an aside, I was tempted to go swarm keeper from Tasha's. Could be interesting. But I opted for hunter.
As far as I'm aware Zephyr Strike also doesn't end if you activate that 'special attack'. Sure you can't make another one, but that no AoO is still in effect until you stop concentrating. Could be wrong though, who knows.
You're right, but all it's doing for you after that is the no AoO - we can usuallly do something more effective with our concentration (assuming you've already completed the movement you require).
@@TreantmonksTemple This is true, I guess I just interpreted your comment about it as a 'One and Done' moment, use the special attack and then its gone. If there's something better to concentrate on sure, but if not you still have a minute of no AoO to play with. But thanks for the reply man, cheers!
The are a couple problems with Lightning Arrow: 1. You need to concentrate on it; so if you had a concentration spell up before, you lose that. 2. The direct attack damage is not great. You get one attack and it does 4d8 damage, which is a little better than a 1st level guiding bolt in terms of damage. 3. The AoE damage is not great. 2d8 damage in a 10' sphere is a little better than a 1st level thunderwave. So basically you use your bonus action, half of your attack action and a 3rd level spell slot to get the same effect as two 1st level damage spells (without the additional effects they have), and you lose concentration on whatever spell you had up before. I don't really like that tradeoff. If the spell let you make a ranged attack as part of the bonus action and didn't drop your concentration, then it would probably be a very good spell.
Lighting arrow replaces attack damage rather than adding to it, expect to do about 15-20 points of damage with it (more if enemies are clustered). The arrow it replaced would have done around 10-15 points of damage. It's a 3rd level spell, increasing damage for one round by that amount, just not a 3rd level effect IMO.
@@Jacob-Day, Lightning Arrow is decent for Hunters who take Volley at Lv. 11, which means the first arrow of their Volley is the Lightning Arrow and the rest of the Volley's arrows are stacking their damage on top of the AoE. For other Rangers, yeah, it's pretty weak.
I DM an eberron campaign and have a Ranger Hunter (archer) in the party. A lot of these spells are situationally useful and/or do fairly mediocre damage. And since a Ranger is limited in spells known, I offer several of these spells as single use magic arrows. I've made the following: Ensnaring Strike arrow, Hail of Thorns arrow, Lightning Arrow, Flaming Arrow (only one arrow not 12), Daylight arrow, and a Fog Cloud arrow. It only takes a single attack to use, rather than a bonus action or full action, no concentration, the item is destroyed upon use, and you cannot use them with sharpshooter feat damage boost. Adds some utility and improves the value of the spells pretty significantly.
@@TreantmonksTemple Actually, I think Lightning Arrow does a little bit more of damage, because you can add the damage modifier to it. For example: 4d8+5 would give us an avg dmg of 23 in one attack, while a normal attack with longbow would be 1d8+5 (avg of 9,5) or 1d8+1d6+5 with HM (avg of 13). If we notice that it does damage even when it misses, and considering a 80% chance of hitting (+11 to attack against 15 AC for example), Lightning Arrow would do a avg dmg of 21,2 against a avg dmg of 10,4 in a HM attack routine. Nonetheless, I still think Lightning Arrow is quite disappointing for a 3rd Lvl DMG Spell.
Where are you getting these spells? I am looking through Player's Handbook, 5e, Tenth Printing October 2018 and Zephyr Strike, Absorb Elements, and Healing Spirit are no where in the book
If you only read the Players Handbook you will not find them yes. These spells were published in Xanathar's Guide To Everything which is a full expansion to D&D 5e. XGTE was published Nov 2017 and has been a near requirement since then. XGTE fix so many faults and make classes like the Ranger a very viable pick. So the book have been out for soon 3 years.
Yes, it got a huge change with errata! Personally, I think they went a bit too far in making the spell weaker, so I'm not even sure I would jump on the spell with a high wis Ranger anymore.
@@TreantmonksTemple agreed! After they made the change I prefer spells that prevent more damage than focus on wasting asi on wisdom for just 1 healing spell a druid or a cleric can provide. I use pass without a trace to avoid combat or get a suprise round. Also spike growth with a multiclass gloom stalker/ level 3 battle master. Place a spike growth behind my enemy and than fire arrows with "push back" manuever for 2d4×3 damage because they get pushed 15 feet on my spikes.
Great video. I'd love to see you do a dive into the Gloomstalker Ranger subclass. Of all the Ranger subclasses it's my favorite. I just love the flavor it gives.
@@TreantmonksTemple I agree. Although if they decide to go live with the Ranger variant that's out on the Unearthed Arcana it could change things for the class as a whole. Even the Beastmaster.
Gloom Stalker is the strongest Ranger class you can get to be honest. I have multiclassed my Scout Ranger into Gloom Stalker ranger only because he is turning more to a hunter and guerilla fighter. Being invisible in darkness is of such extreme benefit to a Rogue I should not even have to point out why.
Why use a point buy? Just take standard array or roll for stats. Anyway. Main stats are Dex (for attacking, should be the highest) Wisdom (for skills and magic. You are not a caster so do not try to max this) Secondary Constitution (for HP, you are a fighter and built to take some beatings) After that you have stats that do not matter to much
So I had a fighter druid hybrid one time and I used the nasty combo of flame blade with 3 attacks per round doing 9d6 fire damage per round or 18d6 fire damage with action surge, and to top it off I had very high AC and this was during a long running campaign so I ended my character at around 16th level with 4 levels in druid and 12 levels in fighter
You say Zephyr Strike is good for melee char. I think it would be good for ranged too. somehow a baddie gets up on you. bonus action cast it step away without AoO, attack without disadvantage and get actual advantage on 1 attack and get that extra 30 movement to try to get away from them.
@@TreantmonksTemple u technically just said that it's a bonus action to cast, then mentioned that it uses your bonus action and rangers have competition for it, but some could misconstrue that as if it always uses your bonus action.
You didn’t explicitly say it, but did mention that it could interfere with builds that use bonus actions to make attacks. I tend to agree with that sentiment, especially if fighting a lot of weaker enemies that go down in one or two turns. If fighting against a single tougher enemy, you could still make use of something like two weapon fighting starting on the second turn fighting that foe, which I think is the concern being brought up here.
Remember, Hunter's Mark becomes a trap at 3rd level if you choose Beast Master sub-class. Also, based on an older Tome Show PODCast that featured Dan Dillon they recommended these spells for Beast Masters which includes a few that Chris mentions in this video. Fog Cloud (some companions have blindsight) , Speak with Animals, Animal Messenger, {Pass w/o Trace}, Spike Growth (fly-by companions are not affected), Plant Growth (grants some battlefield control), {Conjure Animals}.
Completely disagree that Gloomstalker is the best. It is very situationally amazing, monster slayer/horizon walker are just good all the time. With how casters run this game like in 3.5, it only makes Monster Slayer that more enticing for when you do encounter those caster monsters.
hunters mark is over rated, take fey touched and pick up bless, and sharpshooter. that's 18 damage per shot with a +5 to hit with SS. and you get a d4 to hit on top of that. with misty step xbow expert isn't even needed
> You're going to have to narrow your list to eleven Nigel Tuffnel must be a Ranger. He would swell with pride. th-cam.com/video/4xgx4k83zzc/w-d-xo.html
Im watching this from 1D&D Play test 6 where they made all casters ritual casters. I really hope that stays. There are a lot of good spells that dont get picked. Sadly also a wis 10 ranger is.... not viable in the current class form. Wisdom is as important to Rangers now as Cha is to Pallies. BUUUUUUT yeah avoiding saving throws on your spells is important. A lot of them are concentration anyways and compete with better options. Druids will do those spells better, so let them.
Remember that Steel-wind strike calls for a melee spell attack.
So, not THAT great on a ranger, unless you focus on your Wisdom!
^^Still a good spell - you just need to take the great-tree version of the guardian of nature spell to get advantage...
You are correct. My mistake.
Yep :). Was going to reply with this as well! It's a big difference, and definitely one of those that requires you to have a high wisdom, which, I'd argue, for a ranger, actually makes it a pretty terrible spell.
@@ericrobinson2611 Not too terrible. We must take into account some things about this spell:
1) Our ranger will use the spell when they have advantage on all the attack roll. E.g if they are a Gloomstalker or if they attack a bunch of surprised enemies or simply when Guardian of Nature is up (on our Archer ranger that uses it to get advantage on all Dex-attacks - it just happen to also boost this spell! - or our Drizzt Ranger who is dual wielding two scimitars... same story) - having 14 Wisdom should be just fine, If we know how to use this spell.
*
maybe our ranger is even a wood-elf or a half-elf with elven accuracy?.
2) This spell is not a single target DPS tool. It is a controlled "fireball" that can score critical hits! Meaning... Our targets are generally of a lower challenge-rating than we are... they are easier to hit and have fever HP than the big-bad
@@Magnushamann Note: Deleted my previous reply as you are right about advantage with Wisdom. I think this is good for Dexterity-based rangers. Though I'd point out that assuming a Wisdom of 14 and Dexterity of 20 with a +1 weapon, advantage using Wisdom is actually worse than regular attacks using Dexterity (advantage translates into +3.X on the roll approximately).
I think it's likely more situational. Obviously good for very large groups of enemies, but it suffers from what all AoE effects suffer from, namely that they don't get a single enemy out of the combat, which you could potentially do by full attacking a single target.
One way you could get around that is to play a shillelagh ranger who uses a club/quarterstaff and has wisdom as the standard attack stat anyway.
After listening to all of season 1 of Critical Role, I have learned 1 key thing about Hunter's Mark: it works best when you cast it.
Ouch...
What does this mean? I haven't watched it
@@flimpeenflarmpoon1353 Let's just say that their ranger always forgets to cast it xd
As a Beastmaster Ranger... You right 😔
It's a super frustrating class design, every other spell that's an instant effect is Concentra for no reason
What's this madness?! Spike Growth omitted?! Spike Growth is an amazing spell!
Zephyr is really good for ranged Rangers as well. It's a good "get out of jail" card when an enemy gets in your face. You can move 30' away without provoking, fire a shot at advantage, then move another 30' away (so they can't get to you next turn) and finish your attacks.
I did this in my campaign - single-handedly took out a couple of ogres at lv.3 because of Zephyr Strike - easily my favourite 1st level spell for ranger
A fun, thing about Hunter's Mark is that it also works with improvised weapons. Torches, vials of acid, or holy water are all examples of improvised weapons.
If you run into lycanthropes before you can get silvered or magical weapons, then being able to turn a torch from 1 fire damage into 1d6+1 fire damage can be fairly handy.
Spike growth and plant growth are also amazing ranger spells, that work really well together. I’ve seen a ranger use these spells to turn what would otherwise have been a deadly encounter (they were fighting a group of 4 T-rexes) into a game of picking them off from range while the dinosaurs could barely move.
Had to pop in to mention my favorite Ranger spell that takes wisdom, Ensnaring Strike. It's a 1st level spell that is cast on a bonus action. Your next weapon attack, melee or ranged, restrains the target versus their strength. On following rounds, the target or an ally can use their action to contest with strength again.
It will use up an enemy action to contest again if they even can get out of it, as opposed to the spell ending on a free save attempt. The restrained condition is a really nasty situation in that they have zero speed, are hit with advantage, hit others with disadvantage, and make dex saves with disadvantage. Add to that, it's a d6 per round and upcasts to add more d6's per.
Right away, this is better than Hunter's Mark for an archer because you immobilize your target, gain advantage to shoot them, they suffer disadvantage if they even have a ranged attack, and you confer this advantage to all of your allies as well. Often times, though, a melee-reliant foe will have a competent strength save, even if you do invest in a high wisdom.
What I like this spell best for is using it with Monster Slayer Conclave and with the Mage Slayer feat, targeting a caster that is bound to have a terrible strength save to exploit. Get in 5' of them, restrain with the spell, and attack with advantage to challenge any concentration they're holding. If they cast at you, you have a reaction to hit them with advantage, advantage on any save, and they have disadvantage on any spell attack roll. If they try to teleport away, normally a free escape from restraints, you can reaction to stop it with your subclass feature. If they or an ally attempt a strength save versus restraint, they'll probably fail and waste their action for another turn.
I find Ensnaring Strike to greatly inform and improve the subclass by itself, and they get a non-conc Hunter's Mark effect to add to it as well. Make a guy who hates magic users and goes out of their way to demoralize them whenever he can. What can be better than neutralizing a wizard? I opted to add Monk levels to get more out of wis, and a few ki points to flurry with to really hammer those disadvantaged conc saves, once my other bonus actions are in place. Since you don't go for high single hits like a rogue to bust concs, you instead go for a barrage of forced rolls to eventually turn up a bad dice.
Here are some honorable mentions that give rangers a bit of battlefield control:
Fog cloud
Silence
Spike growth
Steel Wind Strike specifically is really good for Fey Wander, as they're likely to have higher Wisdom, and Dreadful Strikes only requires a weapon being used, which Steel Wind Strike specifically uses, so each of those targets should take Dreadful Strike damage on top of the base damage.
One of my favorite spells for rangery type enemies is wrath of nature. Chasing down a hermit or something only for him to hide and the trees to start attacking you. 9/10 adventurers call him a druid and attack the trees.
I really like wrath of nature, I figured it might be a bit too circumstantial (need to have correct terrain) to make this list.
"How many of those spells rely on Wisdom?"
Steel wind strike relies on Wisdom you make a spell attack.
Yes, see the pinned comment
id LOVE a video on conjure animals and conjure woodland being that talks about the strategies or uses you can have with each creature you can summon
Good idea. There's LOTS of possibilities though...
@@TreantmonksTemple well your favs, the best ones, the "worst" ones, the most fun, the silliest maybe? lots could be done
@@TreantmonksTemple If you do a video on Conjure Animals, please include something about using the animals as mounts in combat.
Treantmonk you never fail to teach me something i did not think of. Really wish i started playing earlier so i could play all these classes.
Rangers really have one of the most interesting spell lists in the game.
Which makes it that much worse when people just ignore them and state that the ranger is weak.
The Ranger has A LOT of weak features. Fortunately, their spells are good enough to still make them an above-average class power-wise. The biggest complaint about Rangers nowadays isn't that they're weak per se, but rather that they just don't have much of an identity at the table. They're supposed to dominate the exploration pillar, but because Favored Enemy, Natural Explorer, Primeval Awareness and Hide in Plain Sight are so poorly designed, they really don't.
@@GoblinUrNuts Literally all the classes/subclasses that don't cast spells at all are lower power-wise. It's not nearly as big a power gap as 3.5, but casters are still stronger than non-casters.
@@sharkforce8147 the monk is tragically bad. They are good at lock down and okay at burst damage however they aren't the best at either. Almost every other class can significantly out do them.
@@GoblinUrNuts Fighter, yes. Monk, no. But that's beside the point, as DPR isn't the sole, or even the most significant, measure of a class' overall power.
Ranger is weak because it's a frustrating class design that lacks good features. Any mechanical success anyone has does nothing to answer the biggest problem
Pass Without Trace is incredibly strong. It's like having another whole d20 added to your stealth.
Healing Spirit is pretty nice outside of combat. In combat, however, I consider it a little on the weak side without a life cleric dip (not that Ranger5/ClericX isn't a pretty nice combo). Even Heroism can give more output in a fight.
Thanks for the video. Rangers are the only melee class I like to play. Then everyone started dumping on the class in 5e, so I appreciate these videos giving rangers some love!
I took the dark vision spell on my gloom stalker to cast on others so they where not turning lights on and potentially taking my invisibility away.
Doesn't Zephyr Strike also grant advantage on the weapon attack roll you choose to boost?
Also, I must admi I've always underestimated the 2nd level spell list for Rangers, pretty much dismissing anything that wasn't Pass Without Trace. Though this was partially enhanced because I haven't played any spellcasters since Xanathar's release other than a Bard who only got to level 4 before the campaign stopped, so Xanathar's spells never really stuck with me.
Also, it's a shame that the Ranger is the only "Divine Caster" (is that still an official distinction?) that has to learn spells rather than preparing them. Perhaps more than any other Divine Caster, Rangers seem like the perfect fit thematically for the ability to adapt to changing circumstances by changing out their spells. With their low amount of spells known it can feel difficult to justify taking more situational spells such as Lesser Restoration or Fog Cloud (looking forward to your video on that one btw).
Officially, there is no longer a distinction between arcane and divine spellcasting.
It's blatantly unfair that rangers can't prepare spells while paladins and artificers can
Thing about Steel Wind Strike, while it looks very cool, is that it gets outperformed by Conjure Volley at the same level in every meaningful way. CV does slightly more damage (8d8 = 36, 6d10 = 33). CV is half damage on save, while SWS is all-or-nothing. CV has no limit on the number of enemies it damages in its radius, while SWS has a hard limit. CV's area of effect is also larger than SWS.
I can count on my fingers the amount of times I've caught 6 enemies in a cone spell without friendly fire.
@@TreantmonksTemple, Conjure Volley isn't a cone, though. It's a 40-foot radius, 20-foot high cylinder that can be done from 150 feet away. You must be thinking of the 3rd-level Conjure Barrage, which is a cone.
My Orc Necromancer would ritually cast Water Breathing on the party every morning, just to be on the safe side.
Something to consider about Hunter's Mark (though certainly not RAW at all): Jeremy Crawford has said that the extra damage from Hunter's Mark is considered magical for the purposes of overcoming resistances. This applies *only* to the additional damage and not to the base damage.
www.sageadvice.eu/2015/12/16/does-hunters-mark-damage-magical/
Maybe some people will raise their estimation of Rangers. I feel like their spell list adds a lot more to the class than Paladins, possibly even better than the EK and AT.
Edit: gotta say though. Playing a Ranger with a dumped WIS would feel like sacrilege. I know that mechanically it works fine. It would just feel like wearing 2 left shoes at the same time.
EK and AT have worse spells than paladin and Ranger IMO.
@@cmckee42 EK and AT have access to the best list in the game.
Period.
What they don't get is very MUCH access. I think that's where the Ranger gains ground. The Ranger has a good selection, that's very useful for the class, and builds upon the existing strengths.
@@ChristnThms limited access to the best list is very different from full access. Plus, paladin and ranger spells are designed for the use of front line fighters. Wizard spells are not. Lastly, paladins and rangers get 5th level spells.
@@cmckee42 absolutely agree. You said worse spells, which is very untrue. They get less spells, and less spells optimized for the class. That's very different from your original response, and the difference very nicely illustrates why the Ranger's spells add so much to the class.
@@ChristnThms to me, spells less optimized for the class = worse spells. Plus, i also consider lower level spells as generally worse spells.
spell selection that doesn't rely on the spell casting stat is an interesting approach - i'll have to look at that next time a build a character ;)
Love the video, I'm going to try playing your Beast Master Ranger build now. I made some adjustments though, I'm taking Favored Foe instead of Favored Enemy to get Hunter's Mark 1/day at lvl 1 with no concentration. Also, thoughts on Beast Bond?
I think Beast Bond works super well with an animal companion and Hunter's mark without Concentration. All your companion's attacks get advantage, you get Hunter's Mark damage. Everyone wins! Also if you are doing the find familiar trick at lvl 5 you can get advantage on the Ranger's attack from your owl. Thanks again for making this video and your Beast Master video too. Love the Ranger class and glad to see someone talking about them and their spells.
The best thing about the Beastmaster was actually Tanya Roberts.
No, wait - it was Rip Torn. Not just because of the name (I mean, srsly? Why aren't we named cool things like "Rip Torn"? Did we lose a war?)
Because Rip Torn can chew scenery with the best of them (tho not BRIAN BLESSED as Augustus Caesar).
But, still. Back in the day, the scene where the guy from 'V' meets Tanya Roberts was a special moment in any young, aspiring adventurer's life. No longer were you motivated to adventure by the lure of gold and exps. You learned there was more out there.
I love that movie.
Brian Blessed as Augustus is one of my favorite performances of all time. "Has anyone here NOT slept with my daughter?"
Can't wait for your Rogue/Arcane Trickster spells guide....also Lore Bard guide
great about ranger spells: they are balanced around ranger's spell slot progression and thus a powerful choice for Bards
Terrible choice for Bards, as they tend to favor martial characters and Bards aren't that
@@TreantmonksTemple Hm, I don't know... I agree with you that Swift Quiver is frequently overstated, but I think Guardian of Nature might actually be a good (and flavorful) concentration choice for a College of Swords bard specifically - whether the character is built around str or dex, there are some neat possibilities there.
Great video, keep up the good work ! I still think it's worth it to get a decent WIS score for the times when Lightning Arrow, Conjure Volley or Steel Wind Strike can deal with crowds of enemies - this is one of the niches that Rangers have over Fighters, after all.
My favorite multiclass combo is ranger cleric. It lets you be a high level spell caster a dangerous melee combatant and heal like nobodies business...
Another great video! Id like to share my impressions with the ranger spells, based on the experience im having playing a ranger from lvl1. Im currently at lvl8, Horizon Walker conclave and Archery.
Hunter Mark: No additional comments!
Zephyr Strike: it proved to be really useful to me, as an acher. In many encounters, you get in melee range with enemies, maybe because your party got surprised, or because you are in a small chamber... so zephyr Strike is the way to escape, and still do an attack with advantage and 1d8 force dmg. At lvl5, Misty Step is also an option to escape, but Zephyr Strike will do it better, with a lvl1 spell slot. Probably, with Distant Step at lvl12, it wont be that useful anymore.
Hail of Thorns: As an Archer, I wanted to have a good variety of spells to use with the bow, and took Hail of Thorns. The thing is, it wasnt useful. Ill dismiss it next lvl. Its not a very good dmg, and still allows a saving throw.
Ensnaring Strike: took it recently. It was useful a couple of times only. I think its stuational, against low str enemies (i have 16 Wis, so its a 14 DC). Took it for the versatility in bow skills. Not sure if im going to keep it in the next lvls.
Alarm: took it for a while, but dimissed it after our Bard took Leomonds tiny hut.
Absorb Elements: Maybe i should have picked it instead of hail of thorns. After playing some oneshots campaigns with other classes, im certain it Will be useful in many situations.
Lesser Restorations: I think its a good spells as you mentioned, but i didnt take it because we have a life cleric in our party. For the same reason, I didnt take any healing spells.
Pass Without Trace: wonderful spell, and very flavorful for a ranger.
Spike Growth: Definetly going to take it next lvl for some battle control. Its a good spell for that purpose and my party doenst have players with spells like that.
Lightning Arrow: For an archer, it sounds a very flavorful spell. I really consideres taking it at lvl9, but the thing is its not that good. Conjure Animal seems much more useful and effective.
Guardian of Nature: I will take Shapshooter feat at lvl12. So i can already imagine myself using Guardian of nature with the +10 dmg of SS, also being able to teleport 10ft before each attack and having 15ft of difficult terrain around me!
@Mateus Bueno
I disagree with the comments on Hail of Thorns and Lightening Arrow
If you're playing an Archer Ranger, those are your ace spells. Take Sharpshooter early on and you'll have this:
Hail of Thorns: Cast as a second level is 2d10. Third level is 3d10. Yeah, halved if they succeed the Save. But in total you're doing 1d8 + 2d10 + 10 + Dex
Lightning Arrow is insanely good. It stacks with Sharpshooter. So you're doing 4d8 + 10 + Dex. It gets to the point where it doesn't matter if they Save, the +10 is there.
Take Colossus slayer for an extra 1d6. Multiclass into Rogue for another d6. Now you're adding 2d6 to everything I mentioned
@@eitanlubowitz520 Multiclass into Warlock for super good eldritch blast, that'll fix your damage! Multiclassing should not be a default for doing damage xD
You shouldn't be using spells on the same arrows as sharpshooter imo, as it makes you more likely to miss and completely waste the spell. And the spells are bad because you need to succeed on a hit and a saving throw...
@Ben Coltman
Yes, but the chances of hitting are still high. A level 10 ranger should have a Dex mod of +5 and a proficiency bonus of +4 and a +1 longbow at the least. +2 from Archery. That's +11 to hit. +6 to hit with sharpshooter. Yes, it seems a bit low, but that number will go up with proficiency bonuses and magical weapons.
So you're deciding to take a sharpshooter shot with Hail of thorns. +6 to hit. Need to roll a 12 or higher for most AC's. Needs a dex save, wisdom should be your second highest stat, so it shouldn't be terrible. DC16. 1d8 + 10 + 5 + 1d10. I would honestly choose to do this over hunter's mark or zephr strike.
The only time i wouldn't use the sharpshooter shot with a spell is if i am trying to restrain a target with ensaring strike
@@eitanlubowitz520
Having to roll a 12 or higher is a terrible hit chance, the general consensus of the optimisation community is that you should expect a 60-65% hit chance, so your spells are doing on average 2/3 or less of the damage they would be doing without sharpshooter. Hunter's mark doesn't require a saving throw, applies on every hit, and doesn't require you to "risk a spell slot" when you use sharpshooter, imo it's just an all round better spell and will end up doing far more damage.
Not to mention even if your wisdom "isn't terrible", it's not gonna be your primary stat, and in fact you can build a ranger without putting many points in it at all. DC16 is only gonna be once you get to like 14th level or something where things are going to have decent dex saves and are going to reducing any damage you plan to get 50% of the time anyway... The maths just doesn't add up.
Great list! I noticed that when you mentioned Absorb Elements and Guardian of Nature, you didn’t even mention the Share Spells aspect of the beastmaster. It means that if you and your snake are both caught in a fireball, you can both gain resistance to it and come out swinging on your next turn. It also means you can share the power ups of guardian of nature. It’s snazzy.
Already did that in my Beastmaster guide
That is a good point! Somehow I missed that.
I really like this set of spells, it seems really useful for my build. I like to play support so this lets me provide options for the group. If the wizard doesn't have to cast pass without trace, that's one more murder spell for tough enemies. Money not spent on food since I would have goodberry is more money for arrows and other helpful items. It may not sound like much, but I'm sure it would make a difference over the course of a campaign. Plus the ranger has acces to other neat spells spells like hail of thorns and conjure barrage. I'd be completely fine trading great damage on a single enemy for ok damage on several.
Personal pet peeve on rangers: Why should they be spells known instead of prepared? Paladins and Druids are prepared. I house rule that as a fix.
No idea. I agree that is weird
Treantmonk's Temple I think it’s because of the perceived design spaces of casting, skills, and combat. Paladins have a hand in casting and combat, so they get the opportunity to be stronger in each at the cost of skills. Druids have pretty much a whole hand in casting, so they get prepared spells, again at the cost of skills. Ranger has a hand in all three, so WotC decided that they needed a slight nerf to a gameplay pillar, leading to sucky spell versatility.
It's because it comes from the ranger's understanding of the wilds instead of having it granted Divinely
@@sophiaheinrichs4890 except they're not better at skills :-(
@@OwenOfElliott so druids.. .?
I can most certainly say my ranger will be taking Steel wind strike when he's able too! Horizon walker & Melee based so it sounds perfect
Considering they have fewer options but can shape them with sorcery points, do you have any tips on picking spells or roles for sorcerer? I'm sure that can vary dramatically depending on the origin (like higher AC draconic), also I don't understand if they can or cannot change their spells; I think they cannot but have seen some games where players changethem when they level up.
th-cam.com/video/TlBsefiyVq0/w-d-xo.html
So the thing that I feel is just..off about Rangers is that they are more dependent on their spells, but are half casters. Paladins don’t really need/mind not having spells but it hurts Rangers a ton. Even if Paladins don’t have spells, they have Lay on Hands to be a nice healer. When Rangers don’t have spells, they feel dead in the water
I think Paladins are pretty reliant on spells too (at least the slots). Lay on hands is a nice ability, but isn't a feature you can rest an effective combat role on
Treantmonk's Temple but after awhile they get really good features like Improved Smite, Aura of Protection. Not to mention that it’s way easier to MC with Pally. Ranger-Monk doesn’t give much of anything, Ranger-Druid gives more spell slots and Wild Shape, But you might as well be full Druid then. Cleric-Ranger gives a bit of versatility admittedly. While Pally gets very broken combos in comparison.
Pally just has way more overall to it
@@jakestavinsky3480 not to mention they get to prepare the damn things
Why is hunter's mark better than ensnaring strike or hail of thorns? Hail of thorns is more potential damage, but it could affect party members. Ensnaring strike gives the restrained condition if successful. That gives your other party members advantage and the subject disadvantage.
I'm trying to decide between these three. I'm an archer, melee isn't very good. The first level spells don't overlap with the druid in the party. My other spell I plan to take is Fog Cloud. Just in case we need to retreat.
As an aside, I was tempted to go swarm keeper from Tasha's. Could be interesting. But I opted for hunter.
I have never heard anyone pronounce zephyr like that... anyway, cool video. Thanks!
I assume the correct pronunciation is Zeh-Feer. Don't know how I came up with Zie-fir...
@@TreantmonksTemple I normally pronounce it Zeh - Fir
Keep the content coming man I'll keep watching and liking!
As far as I'm aware Zephyr Strike also doesn't end if you activate that 'special attack'. Sure you can't make another one, but that no AoO is still in effect until you stop concentrating. Could be wrong though, who knows.
You're right, but all it's doing for you after that is the no AoO - we can usuallly do something more effective with our concentration (assuming you've already completed the movement you require).
@@TreantmonksTemple This is true, I guess I just interpreted your comment about it as a 'One and Done' moment, use the special attack and then its gone. If there's something better to concentrate on sure, but if not you still have a minute of no AoO to play with.
But thanks for the reply man, cheers!
I was waiting for this, thanks!
What about the spell Lightning Arrow? I feel like it takes the place of Hunter's Mark when it come to damage output. What am I missing?
The are a couple problems with Lightning Arrow:
1. You need to concentrate on it; so if you had a concentration spell up before, you lose that.
2. The direct attack damage is not great. You get one attack and it does 4d8 damage, which is a little better than a 1st level guiding bolt in terms of damage.
3. The AoE damage is not great. 2d8 damage in a 10' sphere is a little better than a 1st level thunderwave.
So basically you use your bonus action, half of your attack action and a 3rd level spell slot to get the same effect as two 1st level damage spells (without the additional effects they have), and you lose concentration on whatever spell you had up before. I don't really like that tradeoff.
If the spell let you make a ranged attack as part of the bonus action and didn't drop your concentration, then it would probably be a very good spell.
Lighting arrow replaces attack damage rather than adding to it, expect to do about 15-20 points of damage with it (more if enemies are clustered). The arrow it replaced would have done around 10-15 points of damage. It's a 3rd level spell, increasing damage for one round by that amount, just not a 3rd level effect IMO.
@@Jacob-Day, Lightning Arrow is decent for Hunters who take Volley at Lv. 11, which means the first arrow of their Volley is the Lightning Arrow and the rest of the Volley's arrows are stacking their damage on top of the AoE. For other Rangers, yeah, it's pretty weak.
I DM an eberron campaign and have a Ranger Hunter (archer) in the party. A lot of these spells are situationally useful and/or do fairly mediocre damage. And since a Ranger is limited in spells known, I offer several of these spells as single use magic arrows. I've made the following: Ensnaring Strike arrow, Hail of Thorns arrow, Lightning Arrow, Flaming Arrow (only one arrow not 12), Daylight arrow, and a Fog Cloud arrow. It only takes a single attack to use, rather than a bonus action or full action, no concentration, the item is destroyed upon use, and you cannot use them with sharpshooter feat damage boost. Adds some utility and improves the value of the spells pretty significantly.
@@TreantmonksTemple Actually, I think Lightning Arrow does a little bit more of damage, because you can add the damage modifier to it. For example: 4d8+5 would give us an avg dmg of 23 in one attack, while a normal attack with longbow would be 1d8+5 (avg of 9,5) or 1d8+1d6+5 with HM (avg of 13). If we notice that it does damage even when it misses, and considering a 80% chance of hitting (+11 to attack against 15 AC for example), Lightning Arrow would do a avg dmg of 21,2 against a avg dmg of 10,4 in a HM attack routine. Nonetheless, I still think Lightning Arrow is quite disappointing for a 3rd Lvl DMG Spell.
I always build my rangers with dexterity being the prime stat In strength being the secondary stat. I run a longbow and mual.
Plant Growth spell is great stuff. In and out of combat.
Where are you getting these spells? I am looking through Player's Handbook, 5e, Tenth Printing October 2018 and Zephyr Strike, Absorb Elements, and Healing Spirit are no where in the book
If you only read the Players Handbook you will not find them yes. These spells were published in Xanathar's Guide To Everything which is a full expansion to D&D 5e. XGTE was published Nov 2017 and has been a near requirement since then. XGTE fix so many faults and make classes like the Ranger a very viable pick. So the book have been out for soon 3 years.
You missed Spiked growth, for a 2nd level spell it can shut down an area/hallway. Its dmg seems small but it can be huge
Love using spike growth then having a caster use gust of wind to drag people through it
Healing spirit relies now on wisdom
Yes, it got a huge change with errata! Personally, I think they went a bit too far in making the spell weaker, so I'm not even sure I would jump on the spell with a high wis Ranger anymore.
@@TreantmonksTemple agreed! After they made the change I prefer spells that prevent more damage than focus on wasting asi on wisdom for just 1 healing spell a druid or a cleric can provide. I use pass without a trace to avoid combat or get a suprise round. Also spike growth with a multiclass gloom stalker/ level 3 battle master. Place a spike growth behind my enemy and than fire arrows with "push back" manuever for 2d4×3 damage because they get pushed 15 feet on my spikes.
@@georgiygerman2251 Nice combo!
Great video. I'd love to see you do a dive into the Gloomstalker Ranger subclass. Of all the Ranger subclasses it's my favorite. I just love the flavor it gives.
The best Ranger subclass mechanically I would say as well.
@@TreantmonksTemple I agree. Although if they decide to go live with the Ranger variant that's out on the Unearthed Arcana it could change things for the class as a whole. Even the Beastmaster.
Gloom Stalker is the strongest Ranger class you can get to be honest. I have multiclassed my Scout Ranger into Gloom Stalker ranger only because he is turning more to a hunter and guerilla fighter. Being invisible in darkness is of such extreme benefit to a Rogue I should not even have to point out why.
I'm new to all this. How are you all distributing your points for the Ranger? Using the standard 27 point buy.
Why use a point buy? Just take standard array or roll for stats. Anyway.
Main stats are
Dex (for attacking, should be the highest)
Wisdom (for skills and magic. You are not a caster so do not try to max this)
Secondary
Constitution (for HP, you are a fighter and built to take some beatings)
After that you have stats that do not matter to much
This is relevant to my interests
So I had a fighter druid hybrid one time and I used the nasty combo of flame blade with 3 attacks per round doing 9d6 fire damage per round or 18d6 fire damage with action surge, and to top it off I had very high AC and this was during a long running campaign so I ended my character at around 16th level with 4 levels in druid and 12 levels in fighter
I chose the eldritch knight for my fighter subclass, and I chose the circle of dreams for my druid subclass
I won't even mention all of the combo's with spells that I could preform with this that made it even more powerful
you'd do better for damage just using a greatsword though...
Thanks Treantmonk Great Video I am Ranger/Fight
No wisdom? /cry perception :P
You say Zephyr Strike is good for melee char. I think it would be good for ranged too. somehow a baddie gets up on you. bonus action cast it step away without AoO, attack without disadvantage and get actual advantage on 1 attack and get that extra 30 movement to try to get away from them.
Hunters mark only requires a bonus action to cast or to switch targets, not to add to attacks.
I don't remember saying that, can you give me a time in the vid? I'll post a correction if I did.
@@TreantmonksTemple u technically just said that it's a bonus action to cast, then mentioned that it uses your bonus action and rangers have competition for it, but some could misconstrue that as if it always uses your bonus action.
You didn’t explicitly say it, but did mention that it could interfere with builds that use bonus actions to make attacks.
I tend to agree with that sentiment, especially if fighting a lot of weaker enemies that go down in one or two turns. If fighting against a single tougher enemy, you could still make use of something like two weapon fighting starting on the second turn fighting that foe, which I think is the concern being brought up here.
Remember, Hunter's Mark becomes a trap at 3rd level if you choose Beast Master sub-class. Also, based on an older Tome Show PODCast that featured Dan Dillon they recommended these spells for Beast Masters which includes a few that Chris mentions in this video. Fog Cloud (some companions have blindsight)
, Speak with Animals, Animal Messenger, {Pass w/o Trace}, Spike Growth (fly-by companions are not affected), Plant Growth (grants some battlefield control), {Conjure Animals}.
People sleep on spike growth, thats extreme battlefield control.
Completely disagree that Gloomstalker is the best. It is very situationally amazing, monster slayer/horizon walker are just good all the time. With how casters run this game like in 3.5, it only makes Monster Slayer that more enticing for when you do encounter those caster monsters.
How do you use Glyph of Warding and other Glyph
I tend not to, especially with Rangers since it isn't a Ranger spell
No Freedom of Movement?
I considered it.
How about an assassin build?
hunters mark is over rated, take fey touched and pick up bless, and sharpshooter. that's 18 damage per shot with a +5 to hit with SS. and you get a d4 to hit on top of that. with misty step xbow expert isn't even needed
> You're going to have to narrow your list to eleven
Nigel Tuffnel must be a Ranger. He would swell with pride.
th-cam.com/video/4xgx4k83zzc/w-d-xo.html
420... nice
lol seriously though, thanks for the advice man! you helped me make my Ranger a whole lot better
Im watching this from 1D&D Play test 6 where they made all casters ritual casters.
I really hope that stays. There are a lot of good spells that dont get picked.
Sadly also a wis 10 ranger is.... not viable in the current class form. Wisdom is as important to Rangers now as Cha is to Pallies.
BUUUUUUT yeah avoiding saving throws on your spells is important. A lot of them are concentration anyways and compete with better options. Druids will do those spells better, so let them.
Say On,
Now say Off,
Now say Offense,
No, not Ooofense
Sorry if I caused oh-fence.
@@TreantmonksTemple Nah, great video. Keep it up.