I really think some of this stuff is great, but damn, guidance is getting destroyed... should have just made it a lvl 1 spell if you were going this route, y'all just turned a "must have" into an "I'll take something more useable" why would I waste one of my few cantrip slots for something that has a once a day feature in it... oh but u can still spam it (only technically if you had a line of ppl failing checks), so let's just say practically no u cant, you'd get whatever your party size is number of times a day and then u wouldn't b able to use it till after a long rest... This is just my knee jerk reaction and just my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt...
Lucy, you better not pull the football away just before I try to kick it. 😤 Yall got my hopes up with the non-concentration hunters mark in the UA before tashas came out - then replaced it with a God awful Favored Foe ability Please don't take this away from us again
pretty sad that multi attack defense isn't part of the hunter kit anymore... also why the GWM nerf? you had all this talk with the last ua about getting martial classes more in line with spell casters and you take away one of the best martial feats and completely nuter it??? what is wotc's fear of giving bonus damage to every attack... the wizard can incinerate a whole town with a few spells but those martials with the -5/+10 feats nah they got to go (INSERT CONFUSION HERE)...
Any chance of getting swimming and climbing earlier instead? Still feels kinda bad that a thief can climb sooner than you and a big part of your whole thematic deal is traversing nature
IIRC (I might be wrong), it only became a spell in the first place at the last minute, thus creating a huge bottleneck with so many other good Ranger spells.
@@soldierbreed Eldritch blast is already a cantrip so what is the difference? You want the ability to cast Eldritch blast without consuming any resources? I can see moving Hunter's Mark to cantrip instead of a 1st level spell but just an inherent ability that requires no resource management is a bit OP.
@@XanderHarris1023 they want to make them class locked. In 5e you could only get eldritch blast by taking warlock, and a lot of the eldritch invocations are linked to the spell. So that means most warlocks will take eldritch blast, because it’s the warlock spell. But then that also takes up one of the few known cantrips a warlock can learn. But if a warlock decides to not take eldritch blast? Well now they’re underpowered. So making eldritch blast a class feature would elevate all of these problems. This same logic can be applied to hunter’s mark, since it’s a thing rangers should just have
@@XanderHarris1023 i mean leaving it as a cantrip allows it to be picked up thru feats or something for non warlocks so i get. I just feel like it should be an inate ability and therefore not stoped by anti magical means.
Updates: Ranger: Spellcasting comes at level 1 (Instead of level 2) Rangers get Cantrips (Didn't have before), namely Guidance and Thorn Whip The spell list is expanded - the Primal Spell list, like a druid Rangers can prepare spells! The Fighting Style Rangers get at level 2 (like today), was changed to be a type of feats (implied to be for all fighting styles) Roving's speed boost is now 10 instead of 5 (Part of Ranger's optional Deft Explorer, they get at level 6) Tireless (level 10) and Nature's Veil (level 10)were also updated Ranger: Hunter - New feature - Hunter's Lore (level 6) as long as you have Hunter's Mark on someone, the hunter knows all of the creature's resistances, immunities and vulnerabilities Multi Attack (level 10) update - always have Conjure Barrage prepared, don't count against the number of spells you know, you can now "downcast" it as 1st and 2nd level spells, removing damage die for each downed level Spell update: Barkskin - Instead of setting AC to a minimum of 16, it gives temp HP (regenerating temp HP?) Guidance - Instead of action, it's used as a reaction to someone failing a roll, and can't be benefited from until the target takes a long rest Favored Enemy update: Always have Hunter's Mark prepared, doesn't count against the number of prepared spells and can be used WITHOUT concentration (not clear if the spell is changed or if it's a part of the feature). Light weapon property/Two Weapon fighting update: If you make an attack with a light weapon, and have another light weapon in your other hand, you get a free attack with that second weapon (instead of requiring a bonus action to attack), but you can't add your attack modifier to that attack (same as today)
I like the changes to the Dual Wield Bonus Attack of 5e. Now, it's just an attack instead of a BA. TWF + Dual Wielder (5e) will be much better off. Especially the Fighter/Eldritch Knight. So... (If the UA rule doesn't change) As an lv20 Eldritch Knight. I can make Reaction: Opportunity Attack before my turn begins + 4 Attacks + 4 Dual Wield Attacks + Action Surge: Extra 8 Attacks + Bonus Action: Spell or Magic Item + Reaction: OA after by turn begins = up to 19 Attacks in one round of combat and 16 Attacks with only the Attack Action + Action Surge. And this new UA rule will also apply to any Melee Attack since (what's stated in this video). The Light Weapon Property does not require the Attack Action but that it must be an attack with a light weapon. In 5e, this wouldn't be possible because it was tied to the BA. Now, it's an extra Attack without needing a Hit Check, as this rule is applied within the same Attack. (Although, the Hit Check would most likely apply.)
two weapon fighting no longer needs a bonus action and I think one of the shield feats dropped the bonus action requirement for shield bashing, only place still seeing bonus action requirement is PAM.
Even if they don't get the love they need, there are still some good homebrew varients to spice things up. Seth Fowler's version is a more recent one you can find on TH-cam and HOLY BALLS it's nuts.
What I’m wondering is what’s the point of bonus actions when so many of the features and spells that once require a bonus action are just being turned into reactions
@@lukefrederiks5906 Many spells and actions will still be bonus actions, Rogue can now do their two dagger attacks AND disengage as a bonus action. Ranger gets to move their hunter's mark and also Dual Wield, Bards can use bardic inspiration and healing word. So there will still be plenty of things using a bonus action.
Since Hunter's Mark is baked directly into Ranger, please let Eldritch Blast be baked into Warlock by default. It's a must pick for Warlocks, might as well make it a class feature (know the Eldritch Blast cantrip and doesnt count against number of cantrips known).
Seems like it's very likely to happen, these Ranger changes & changes to feats/fighting styles all look like changes that I've seen directly mentioned for years within the community, and the same goes for EB.
I know that EB is so iconic for warlocks but I would love the approach to give them invocations that buff other cantrips. So you could be a chilltouch or firebolt spamming warlock.
im hoping eldritch blast + agonizing blast are just baked into the class. cause you dont really get a choice for invocations till level 5 cause it's either ab and repelling or arms of hadar or eldritch mind. anything else isn't really worth taking.
@@TheLegendaryLegacy think he's referring to phb rangers being nowhere near the other classes (I have a ranger player and he created a new character as he felt useless). Not everyone has the expansion books nor should you have them to feel balanced to the other classes.
I think it's funny that they're straight up saying that this new playtest ranger is probably overtuned, but honestly? it sounds like the power level most non-full spellcasters and martials should be at in my opinion.
They may say it is overtuned, but honestly I still feel it is a little lacking (just a little though.) I would like to see some kind of "pass without trace/ignore difficult terrain" baked in the core Ranger, and for Nature's Veil to have a benefit if you use higher level spell slots to activate it (maybe have it last 1 round per level of the spell you used? So no change from current if you use a 1st level spell, but up to 5 rounds if you burn your best spell to activate it.)
Any ranger that depends on the longbow is going to see a major decrease in power. Sharpshooter was the best way for them to keep up with the other classes, in regards to damage output, as they got higher in level. But in this test they have basically killed the sharpshooter feat. Ignoring cover has nonwhere near the impact as +10 damage does.
@@kristianperez4108 I don't see how that makes up for the loss of +10 damage for longbow focused characters. Rangers had trouble keeping up with most of the other classes at higher levels. Yes the changes they made would have helped level the playing field for rangers vs other classes but not if they are losing the option to increase their damage per attack by +10. The changes to Crossbow expert are not going to help longbow using characters that much at all so yes the change to Sharpshooter will severely hurt the most iconic troupe for rangers.
@@mammonclarke SS is not a +10 damage increase, because it lowers your to hit. You're only accounting for when every attack hits, which isn't reality. You are right that longbow users won't fair as well, but that was the case before, no? Crossbow Expert was always the A-grade option, and now it's a half feat built upon an improved TWF. Now a Ranger can use HM, and fire off three shots with their crossbow within the same turn all at level 5, and they don't fall behind on ASI progression. And to top it off they can apply some other buff spell if they so wish later on. So yes, if we're talking solely Rangers that use longbows, then yes you are correct that they would be weaker, but Rangers as a whole have never been stronger.
I love that they looked at how good feats are in getting players excited about lateral progression, and just went "what if the whole game was feats?" A great choice imho. Simplifying the 7 systems that are basically different sets of feats into just feats makes so much sense.
Its what pathfinders been doing for years and how older editions of dnd worked the feats did become abut nuch at times so they tried mive away feon feats but it wasbt as good
@@IconicDuckling489 I don’t think it’s great until they get prof in all saving throws. The speed and stunning strike is their main strength, but that was a shadow monk. Most of the subclasses are not good. I’m hoping 4 elements is revamped finally. It’s so cool!
God the Tasha's favored foe was so infuriating after you guys made the UA that made basically this change to hunter's mark, VERY glad to see you go back to it as their biggest issue in 5e was all their good spells were concentration which was a huge problem
I am loving these changes, as a critical Ranger lover and seeing the benefit for all classes too. The emphasis on feats these playtests have been great to allow customization to any class. This gives me hope for the Monk rework, which I hope is part of the warrior classes next playtest
I just started playing D&D again a few weeks ago, and I'm really excited to see how involved the developers are. I love the Beyond app, it makes things really easy to get others involved. I also really like the passion they seem to put into it. Can't wait to see how things go from here!
Outstanding changes for the Ranger class. Hunter's Mark not using concentration, not taking up a prepared spell, and giving all immunities and vulnerabilities makes it so good now. Love these changes!
I have a lot of good to say about the new ranger, but the new Hunter seems streamlined to a fault. The customizable aspect of the PHB Hunter gave it a lot of its charm. Even when there was an obviously better option in each group, you weren't forced into them and it gave you some room to adapt to your DM's encounter style. I admit that a lot of this is personal bias. I tend to like the more grab-bag subclasses like Swarmkeeper and Psi Warrior that give you a lot of smaller features. The new stuff is good, though. Hunter's Lore is dripping with flavor and the new multiattack is interesting (I have some reservations about using spells in place of unique features, but that's different conversation).
Same. Ranger has been my favourite class since the days of AD&D. When I saw the 5e ranger, my heart sank. When Tasha's playtest came out, I was really hopeful, but then the official print came out and I was still somewhat disappointed. Hopefully the official version of this will be just as epic.
Two things that got my attention. Two weapon fighting finally is getting an improvement it's not what I wanted but it's a right step to the right direction. Also the option to down cast a spell is super useful. The only thing that for damage dealing and healing spell is easy to work around since you reduce the amount that you can normally do but what about other spells that have non combat focus. That's an interesting things to see how it develops
Not every spell can be Upcasted in 5e. But it's mainly Damage, Duration, and Range that Upcasting affects on Spells. As for Dual Wielding rules... The base rule is an improvement but the Dual Wielder Feat is nerfed by losing it's +1 AC bonus and that you must have at least one Light Weapon in your hand. So, this Feat might no longer lift the Light Weapon property for that extra attack. (I think it's Melee Attack only, but it could also include Ranged Attacks, not Spells of course.) TWF is the same as it is in 5e.
@@absolstoryoffiction6615 i mean you're right about the feat basically not giving you a +1 to AC is a nerf. However, I would say that changing your attack from your offhand to be part of the attack action instead of a bonus action is great because it doesn't compete against your bonus actions abilities. As for the Dual wielder feat not allowing you to engage in two weapon fighting with one handed weapons, than I will have to make sure to provide that point on the feedback.
I love the idea of the Hunter getting an extra benefit from Hunter's Mark, in fact I'd love to see more Ranger subclasses get their own Hunter's Mark buff. An obvious one would be that subclasses with companions like the Beastmaster or Drakewarden would allow their companion's attacks to apply Hunter's Mark damage as well.
I truly cannot contain my excitement for how much love the Ranger is getting. These class and sub-class changes are game changing for it on so many levels.
Thank you for making hunter's mark not require concentration. I feel like my ranger can now finally be a dps like he's supposed to be and not take 4 turns to get there at which point combat is usually over. And expertise is huge. I hated how many times I'd do a survival check and have someone get better survival checks despite them not having proficiency, I started taking skill expert just so it wouldn't happen. I'm loving these changes so far
Did I miss something or did they forget to make _conjure barrage_ a good spell? I've had it on my Battle Smith for ages and it's never been a good choice for me to use.
I hope ranger gets a little more flavor in their abilities. It's quite far along, but it's missing that final bit of identity, mechanics unique to them. I'd suggest giving them the following (as well as flavor text): * A simple group traveling (any environment) bonus. Slow speed ignores difficult terrain, normal speed gets group stealth but with disadvantage, and fast doesn't suffer the perception penalty. * Identifying weaknesses as part of the base class, not just for Hunter, as a tier 2 feature. * Another thing is the damage scaling. Favored enemy is good, but the damage die should scale at regular intervals. Maybe a d8 at 7, d10 at 13, d12 at 17.
I LOVE the change to the Barkskin spell, it's finally a spell I'd actually cast for once!! It's not a huge amount of Temporary HP, but it does scale very well, it regenerates each round, and it's a benefit for a character of any Armor Class. I have never been satisfied with 2nd Level Ranger spell selection, but now I have a great one (especially since it no longer competes for concentration with Hunter's Mark!!) 💘 Guidance... oof, only being able to grant the benefits to a given character once per day, that hurts... but maybe this is the bitter medicine we needed. I can't say I disagree that it got spammed to a rather silly degree, even in situations where you should ask "Uh, you didn't know they were going to attempt this spontaneous ability check, when did you have time to cast this..??" This change gives that free spontaneity as a reaction, as well as a good range, so I feel like that is a significant increase in mechanical versatility while still reeling it in with the daily limitation. What I would change is: a character can only benefit once per day, PER CASTER of the spell. That way, if multiple players have Guidance, they don't cancel each other out. Also, let us apply Guidance to Attack Rolls as well. It may not be an optimal strategy, but in a pinch when an attack JUST MISSES that we NEED to land, this could be a clutch triumph and a super feel good moment. One last thing: can we please see this treatment for the Resistance cantrip? A d4 per day to each party member's failed saving throws as a reaction, at range, would be amazing -- whereas I never take this spell as it currently is.
The Guidance nerf makes sense, BUT perhaps it could scale as PCs level. Ie at 5th level, you get the bonus proficiency times per day, at 10th level it resets on short rest, etc
@@pencilbender A 4th edition mechanic that was really good for speeding up combat. Enemies that have only 1 HP, and saving throws are binary "live or die" rather than save for half HP. Any enemy can be a minion, as appropriate to the player's level for the dungeon. If the players are strong enough that on average the would 1 shot a goblin, you can make goblins minions for that dungeon, to designate them as cannon fodder to be mowed down quickly and speed up combat.
@@TheCrimsonElite666 Bloodied is already kind of a part of 5e, but not really. Champion Fighters get to regenerate until they stop being Bloodied, and Mythic Monsters are obviously inspired by how 4e Monsters would get certain benefits while Bloodied.
FR!!!! Spells are already kinda clunky the devs seem to have taken improving a class to mean making them more magical. At least with ranger and bard. Give be rangers that chew on herbs and spit them on people's wounds or know how to set dope traps, and utilize terrain in creative ways.
I was literally just telling my players this past week "You have to stop trying to use Guidance like it's a Reaction spell." It's how everyone I've seen use it uses it, so limiting it as a resource but making it the kind of effect it is being used as sounds great.
@@saber5694 sure, but it has to be curtailed to some extent. At this point they might as well change Guidance into a Feat that allows any class which currently learn Guidance as a spell to automatically add 1d4 to the roll of any ally ability check including yourself.
@@Vilis_Farthuk but turning it onto a reaction dose curtail it. You now have to be next to the person when they make the check it also only procs if they fail. The long rest limit is an overreaction. Unless you have a large group why would you even take this spell?
Conjure barrage is a rough spell to cast. If I read it right, it will hit party members. Allot of ranger spells are like that. It can be difficult to find good situations to cast them. Hail of thorns will hit those barbarians who rush into battle (but do they care?) Ensnaring strike I have had only land once. It is a cool concept but I haven't figured out how to make it work sometimes. WArder in 4e was allot of fun and thorn whip helps preserve that class. It will be fun to playtest.
Ranger fixes let's go! Cantrips for Rangers is huge. Especially for something like guidance. Guidance plus expertise means that Rangers may now properly be one of the best for hitting a specific skill check consistently.
Ok, just got to the part about guidance being nerfed heavily. Seems like a crazy nerf, but guidance spam was a little annoying in some parties. I don't know how I feel about this cantrip is going to feel as a cantrip option, especially in a party where two people have guidance and both are competing to use it on a person once per day.
Personally, I'd change it to a "once guidance turns a failure to a success, you can't benefit from this again until you finish a long rest" and "each skill check may only benefit from one guidance at a time" type of thing. Maybe even experiment with using it to add a d4 to any d20 skill check (clutch saving throws for example) if the desire is to make it more dynamic and impactful than an always on bonus like it is now. Might step on the toes of other abilities though that grant bonuses to saving throws and it is a cantrip.
I like the Buff you applied to Ranger, however I feel like Hunters Mark as a class ability should not be a spell, sense you’ve taken all the limitations of the spell. It should simply be a class ability and maybe nix’ing hunters mark as a spell that anyone can take.
When I heard Hunter's Mark doesn't need concentration anymore, I almost cried of happiness. All the changes on Ranger looks amazing and I'm so excited to try them out
I think is pretty much all exactly what needed to happen. Some of these ranger buffs are home rules we've already been using at my table and they are excellent for balancing the class.
My first impression is actually really negative. The Hunter's Mark buff is nice, as is "round up" for spellcasting rather than "round down", but that's about it. The Hunter subclass in particular seems like it was gutted. No more choices in how it works, just fewer options, a level 6 ability that probably doesn't really matter, a level 10 ability which forces you to spend spell slots to do something you used to be able to do for free, as well as leaving melee options high and dry. Hunters used to have interesting decision points which could have been made more interesting and rewarding by allowing them to switch features on a Long Rest. They used to have unique defensive capacities. Those are all gone. Last but not least, no Thrown Weapon Fighting Style? With Dueling removed from their choices too, I don't like the further shoehorning of a Ranger into specific styles of combat. That's really easy to fix with homebrewing, just taking a different fighting style if it fits better with the character concept, but still.
Rangers have always been my favorite archetype and I'm loving the changes. Honestly I wish hunter's mark was removed as a spell and just made into a class feature that takes a spell slot like divine smite.
I really like the new favored enemy feature. However, for bonus action heavy rangers (Beast Master, Drakewarden, Horizon Walker), the way hunters mark functions is really bad. Of course these could be revised with the new phb, but I doubt that will be the case for the Drakewarden, since it is the most recently released subclass. So here is a suggestion: In addition to how the new feature works with hunters mark, add to it, that once you have cast it, you can change its target on-hit, basically like the favored foe feature from tashas.
I feel like Hunter’s Mark should simply become a Ranger-only class feature. I like the changes as they’ve manifested, but I don’t like that the core feature of the class is just a spell.
My biggest gripe is the huge nerfing of exhaustion. The mechanic was an excellent tool that supported the importance of the exploration pillar. A rule that made the players view that pillar as important. Now? It's barely even noticeable.
Is there anyway to implement the playtest material into character creation on dndbeyond? Im assuming they're just gonna wait for the official book release in a few years but it would make things much easier to test out if i didnt have to make manual character sheets for everything.
Hunter's mark should be a class feature like Rage. Not a spell if you want to give the class some identity. Also, the Foe Slayer capstone is truly underwhelming. The damage scaling is extremely poor, especially for a character of that level. Especially given that full casters can end everything with a Meteor Swarm or Wish.
Rangers have always been my favorite martial class since first edition and they've been nerfed a couple of times in the past. The 5E nerf really hurt the class though, to the point that no one wants to play them anymore other than Gloomstalkers. These changes should make the ranger class, especially the Hunter subclass, feel and play as the more specialized combatants that they were intended to be. I'll be playtesting this right away! Thank you for putting these changes out there. I think a LOT of people are going to be excited to play rangers now.
With the change of Hunter’s Mark, Dual Wielding, and being able to get more Expertise the class is sitting pretty. It has so many good options on top of a d10 hit die.
They should just give classes staple abilities that they can just use as many time as needed. They could call them at will abilities, or something like that. Then things like hunter's mark wouldn't have to be shoehorned into being spells.
The light weapon extra attack is huge. This is amazing, finally "weak" weapons have more value for "numbers" people like me. Also, I love the changes to the Ranger. One thing I want from you guys, make the enemies STRONGER and with more options (most enemies should have at least one bonus action and one reaction to use). The community has some really amazing ideas for enemies and stat blocks, take from all that and incorporate them.
So glad that two weapon fighting is being addressed. Basically becomes a total of 2d6 +x if both attacks hit. And 2d6 for hunter's mark. Very strong. Actually contends with paladins a bit now.
2d6 is a Greatsword's damage dice. So it's in line, since every weapon in 5e have similar damage values. But Dual Wielder got nerfed... From what I hear... +1 AC is gone and "one of your weapons must be light" is the new change. So I guess Dual Wielder no longer lifts the Light Weapon Property restriction. I'll just reskin the weapons and keep the stat blocks...
@@absolstoryoffiction6615 I think the improved action economy is worth the trade-off; especially if you have a bonus action that lets you make another attack or deal extra damage somehow.
@@ilovethelegend Sadly... The Dual Wielding BA Attack in 5e was never a good thing. It's DPR drops off harshly at later levels and the BA is better used on other things. But this UA rule is much better. Despite Dual Wielder Feat's nerf.
@@ilovethelegend allows Rangers to actually use there companions and dual wield effectively. The damage remains consistent and doesn't get the burst that paladins can do. But it's definitely really nice. I imagine they are going to try to change hunter's mark to become "once per turn" with the change to two weapon fighting. It does make the Ranger significantly better from level 1. Granted, all other characters can use light weapon free attacks as well.
I like the changes to the Light property. Especially putting the offhand rules in the text of that weapon property instead of off in a random corner of the combat section of the PHB. Was confused for the longest time why people kept saying my rogue got a bonus action attack when nothing in that class says you can and the actions section says you can only bonus attack if something says you can. I just assumed it was some older edition rule everyone was carrying over until I happened on the random Offhand Weapon block of text the other day. So very happy about this change that makes this clearer. And more useful. Interested to see how/if Two Weapon fighting style gets any alteration to how it’s written so it actually sounds like it does something for you.
From the play test material, two-weapon fighting style is exactly the same as before; you can add your ability modifier to your extra attack made with a light weapon. As for the Dual Wielder feat, it’s a slight downgrade; you still get the draw and stow improvement, and you get a nice +1 str or dex (most feats in the play test give a +1), but you no longer gain the +1 AC while dual wielding, and at least one of the weapons still has to have the light property.
@@shaleverlias For the Dual Wielder Feat in this UA... Yeah... That's a big nerf. Mainly that one of your weapons must have the Light Property. Oh well... Light Sword + Versatile Long Sword it is then. Instead of Dual Long Swords in 5e.
@@absolstoryoffiction6615 There's also the weird requirement of a martial weapon proficiency. Which means by default, rogues can't take this feat without a multiclass or another feat, since they now only have simple weapon proficiency. Though it's entirely possible one of their other subclasses will provide martial weapon training, could be a good addition to Assassin.
@@absolstoryoffiction6615 Yeah, they'll still definitely have access to all weapons, so you'll be fine there. I'm actually very interested to see what they change about Fighters, and especially Eldritch Knight, because EK is quite an interesting subclass.
When I started playing 5E last year I thought that, without a doubt, I would love playing a Ranger Hunter especially since I was enamored with the class growing up. Week after week though, I was enjoying it less and less and after months of play I started doing everything I could to "fix it". Luckily I had a fantastic DM that helped me through all of it, but when we started a new campaign early this year I jumped on trying out a Rogue Scout. I loved it, instantly, and I still love it. I am so happy to see these changes though, I might actually give playing a Ranger a second try.
@@Xorrin scout with woodelf magic and magic Initiate for good berry and fey touched for mark is my idea of a ranger. No it doesnt hit like a hammer, but it almost never misses and has a tool for everything needed in the wilderness.
These changes sound net positive in general. Not just the point that it’s more powerful - they’re net positive player and fun. Having more options and better tools also lets you do this for the monsters making the game even more dynamic. Edit: After looking at class progression things like Jack of all Trades come online 3 levels later. Is this a move to nerfing multiclassing? This seems to be a theme and I think I’d like to hear the developers talk about multiclassing in general and their strategy towards it. Also, the spell lists aren’t complete and I’m wondering if this is intentional? Where is Silvery Barbs / Maelstrom or the whole Dunamancy list etc. I’m hoping all the spells make it into DnD One.
Silvery barbs isn’t traditional DnD lore/spells. That’s from Magic the Gathering and the sourcebook to play in one of the Magic the Gathering worlds, Strixhaven. Hopefully it’s never a spell though-hate that source book. Also Dunamancy is Matt Mercer/critical role which isn’t officially DnD still….if you were to buy a players handbook-Xanathar’s Guide to Everything or Tasha’s Cauldron-you wouldn’t find Dunamancy or Silvery Barbs anywhere.
@@thomaskiser3886 The Dunamancy spells ARE official, they're in published WotC material. (Explorer's Guide to Wildemount) They won't be reprinted though, as they're already "backwards compatible" into One D&D.
@@AwesomeWookiee It is not core stuff to DnD- You can not open up any of the free rules/guides, 4th edition, 3rd or 3.5 edition, 2nd edition, 1st edition, B/X, or OD&D rules and ever find Dunamancy anywhere. It is Critical Role Content. On DnD beyond you have to turn that content, (Critical Role Content) on when creating a character even. Sure they are official Critical Role content PUBLISHED by WoTC for use with the Dungeons and Dragons game system and license. But they are not DnD Official Content from the years or pertain to the IP or trademarks of the Dungeons and Dragons property which is why when they say they are doing Players Handbook Content and Dungeons and Dragons Core content that these spells and such have been omitted. Does that make sense to you? MtG Mythical Guide to Theros is DnD content published by WoTC for use using Dungeons and Dragons, all that stuff,such as Supernatural Gifts, while cool and published, does not mean it is in the core game. It is why it is a bad move to pick Izzet Engineer as your background when coming to the table with your wizard...because then all the sudden you have a bunch of extra spells on your spell list without ever putting them in your spellbook...sure it is published by WoTC in Ravnica...doesn't mean that is officially a part of the core content.
Love this version of Ranger! A few concerns though. Sorry for the length in advance! (Also, in parenthesis, I will put my suggestions of how I would personally fix them): 1) Favored Enemy's lack of concentration for Hunter's Mark is the opening of a can of worms. It's probably too powerful now. Especially compounded with the buffs to Light weapons/TWF, and the potential to multiclass with Warlock for a Hex + Hunter's Mark combo, since only one of them now requires concentration through a single dip in Ranger. (Have Favored Enemy retain Hunter's Mark's required concentration, but have it now allow you to cast it without expending spell slots 1/2 PB times per Long Rest. This scales Hunter's Mark's power back down to other spells of its own level, while still having it maintain a special interaction with the Ranger. Also, the less spell slots I have to spend as a half caster, the better. Also, also, the spell is getting stronger at level 18 anyway. Removing concentration is just overkill imo) 2) Tireless is great in and of itself! However, I think its underwhelming as an 11th level feature. Lets be real here. Is a minor amount of THP per rest + faster exhaution recovery REALLY as major a power boost as, say, Extra Attack 2 for the Fighter? or Reliable Talent for the Rogue? or 6th level spells for a full caster class? That answer is "No" for me... (Swap Tireless with Nature's Veil, Make Tireless's THP amount be 1d10 + Double PB to scale it better as a 13th level ability, and have Nature's Veil be the Tasha's version that runs off of PB instead of spell slots. Again, the less spell slots I have to spend as a half caster, the better. Alternatively, if you REALLY want to maintain the idea of removing concentration for Hunter's Mark, do this: Get rid of Tireless altogether, and grant Hunter's Mark concentration removal at level 11 + bump up its damage die to be a d8. That way, at 18th level, Hunter's Mark's bump up to a d10 through Foe Slayer feels organic and less arbitrary) 3) Barkskin is strong now! Arguably TOO strong. The way it is presented in this UA, it is now as compitent as, if not more so than, Twilight Sanctuary in regards to granting THP. And I don't need to tell you how much of a power creep Twilight Sacntuary is... (Remove PB from the THP amount granted by the spell per round, and have the THP amount per round be equal to your spellcasting ability modifier only. Also, reduce the duration down to 1 minute. If its now too weak for your tastes, you could remove concetration) 4) Guidance is GARBAGE now. (Keep it as a Reaction and keep it concentration-less, but remove the once per long rest usage limit per creature. Alternatively, if you REALLY want a usage limit per creature, have the usage limit scale as you level up, like with other cantrips. However, this may cause it to be harder to keep track of, which means having no limit at all is still the most ideal for both maintaining its staying power and streamlining the cantrip as a whole. Why fix what is not broken? Regardless, an example of this scaling usage limit would look like this: Two uses per creature at level 1, four uses per creature at level 5, six uses per creature at level 11, and eight uses per creature at level 17) 5) The Hunter Conclave is kind of meh now. - We are stuck with Colossus slayer for Hunter's Prey, which is admittedly one of the better options for this feature. Although Pact Tactic's video on the Hunter subclass makes a good arguement for why Horde Breaker is the best option here, but anyway. I LIKE having the ability to choose. To customize my Ranger FURTHER. That was the fun part of these features for me, and now its all gone... And regardless, the UA version of Superior Hunter's Defense is a combo of two of its original options. that's a neat idea! If you're going to remove choice from each of these features, then each one should just combine some or all of the original options. - Hunter's Lore is so flavorful, but isn't that great as a 6th level feature imo. It could be stronger. OR moved up to 3rd Level perhaps? - Multiattack as it is in this UA is alright I guess? Though I don't like that you have to spend a spell slot for it now, when it just cost an action originally. Even with the "downcasting" mechanic, spending spell slots as a half caster is less appealing than it will ever be rewarding. As stated ad nauseam, the less spell slots I have to spend as a half caster, the better. - Superior Hunter's Defense combines its "Uncanny Dodge" option with its "Stand Against the Tide" option, which is a neat idea! But it comes too little too late, unfortunately... (Ways to fix the subclass: - GIVE THIS SUBCLASS, AND ALL RANGER SUBCLASSES FOR THAT MATTER, CONCLAVE SPELLS. - Hunter's Prey. Combine Colossus Slayer and Giant Killer into one feature. - Hunter's Lore. Make it a secondary 3rd level feature, and reintroduce Defensive Tactics at 6th Level. - Defensive Tactics. Reintroduce it as a 6th level feature and make it a combination of the Multiattack Defense option and one of the other options. - Multiattack. Make it an effect similar to Conjure Barrage, so that it is technically not spell casting, and therefor costs no spell slots. Make the usage limit PB times per Long Rest to compensate. - Superior Hunter's Defense. Leave it the way it is written in the UA.) Thank you for coming to my TEDtalk.
I'll of course take the survey, but I agree with others that, like it seems Eldritch Blast is going to be, just have Hunters Mark be a class ability that requires a spell slot to activate, just like the 14th level invisibility power. The ability can be described just like a spell in the ability description (bonus action, target within x range, mark for x minutes or until end as bonus actuon, adds damage plus auto track, etc). Then maybe people wouldn't be up in arms about stacking normally concentration spells or anything else. Also, despite its area, Conjure Barrage is way too weak. Maybe make it 4d8, but have it lose 2d8 if downcast at 2nd (so it is weaker than Shatter). Or change the damage die to 6d6 (so less than Fireball), but have it drop 2d6 per level downcast. The increased area over lower spells can be due to having to be a higher level to know that spell in the first place. Plus, the downcast ability is Ranger-specific, so everyone else who isn't a 10+ level ranger would only use it normally. Finally, that "capstone" is way too weak. At least double it from 1d6 to 2d6; after all, that ranger has been using it the last 17 levels...
Very clever wording of the Light weapon property (and capitalization is significant). The total number of attacks doesn't change, you just don't need to burn your Bonus Action to get the off-hand attack.
Some things I can comment on from previous testing (from my own forays): removing bonus action "tax" from two-weapon fighting is effective and helps bring parity with features like Action Surge. Allowing concentration-free hunter's mark does increase the range of spells a tier 1 ranger considers using. Tier 2+ rangers generally benefit from a Tasha's summon, however, this may change with hunter's mark + a more versatile spell. We'll see.
5e' Two Weapon Fighting was always not great. You were better off with the Fighter's Extra Attack. But in this UA... TWF (not the Style) can apply to any Weapon Attack. Since it doesn't require the Attack Action but a Weapon Attack of the Light Property. Or in Dual Wielder's case... A weapon attack regardless of the Light Property. (Even though this feat got nerfed.) For lv20 Fighters... That's 16 attacks on average and 19 (20 with Haste) attacks at max, in one round of combat.
@@pedrogarcia8706 Now that I reread the TWF UA. That's true... Lv20 Fighters: Attack Action + 3 Extra Attacks + Dual Wield Extra Attack... So it's 5 + 5 = 10 Attacks at base. Then add 4 Attacks from two Reactions (in one round, like Polarm Master), Bonus Action, and Haste... Total of 14 Attacks.
So we're getting 3 attacks with light weapons (nice) but are losing sharpshooter as a significant damage boost (ugh). But at the same time we also gain the ability to concentrate on a spell other than hunter's mark (great!). I don't think this will hit the level of overtuned, especially if you still compare rangers to most casters in combat (who can still do significantly more damage than us while having extra defensive and utility spells). It might move us a couple steps closer to being on par though, and with some of the better subclasses, perhaps even a match for them, especially with the added expertise and invisibility functions. I am concerned what will happen to bow builds with this, as one of their biggest benefits seems significantly weaker without sharpshooter, and they don't get the extra attack that a pair of crossbows will.
can we talk about how martials got a decrease in output across the board while the output of casters was unchanged? also the long/short rest balance seems untouched, which was a key complaint! DnD team, COMMUNICATE YOUR DESIGN GOALS
Guidance : I imagine most will say the same thing... Benefiting from it only once per Long Rest is too restrictive, in the sense that some adventures/DMs can have the characters do tons of things in a single day. Some other limitation system is needed I think.
as someone who always loved the ranger's fantasy, I really appreciate the changes, and they really sound awesome to me, the only thing I think needs work is the lv 20 skill, rangers don't need something crazy on 20 lv, especially with the buff to the damage die to hunter's mark on later lvs, but it really needs a cap skill that makes then feel like this ultimate hunter and tracker that they are and the idea of having the lv 6 of the subclasses altering hunter's mark in a minor way, IS SUCH A COOL IDEA, and it doubles down on hunter's mark being the "RANGER'S THING", and I think making it the staple of every subclass would be a good call.
The hunter's ability for knowing resistances and so on reminds me of Matt Mercer's monk subclass that Marisha Ray played. Very useful in any fight. And nice because it makes for more tactical play and usually also speeds things up if the players don't waste damage by using stuff that is ineffective.
Guidance probably needed a nerf, but not quite such a big one... It basically means the cantrip can be used only 4-6 times every in-game day, which, as good as it is, drops it fast behind most other cantrips that can still be used all day long. Maybe a midway point could be recharging it on a short rest, or, alternatively, the caster should be able to apply the spell to the same character a number of times per day equal to their proficiency level
Yeah it was probably a little too good but I’ve never been in a game where it was spammed just used sparingly probably twice per PC. So this is a big nerf in that context.
Overall I like the changes to the Ranger. As opposed to being "too strong" it actually feels just right to me. Land's Stride will be missed though. Just an observation about the spellcasting; according to the current Ranger spellcasting rules (in this UA), they can cast Call Lightning but not Daylight. Seems like that should be switched around to me but maybe that's working as intended? Also - the awareness of the "Bonus Action Tax" and how they can trip up things like class features or core class concepts has me encouraged for another one of my fave oddball classes from PHB 2014 - the Monk.
I've always liked homebrewing favored enemy/terrain as favored mana. At the levels you get to choose a favored enemy creature type you instead choose one of the five colors or mana from Magic the Gathering, or colorless for automatons and great old ones. You get advantage of expertise on whatever on dex, int, and wis ability checks related to creature types, environments, backgrounds, and classes related to your favored mana, and you deal one extra damage die on weapon attacks against creatures tied to your favored mana. Six over broad categories that reflect cohesive areas of expertise more accurately than cherry picking one terrain type, one creature type, or one individual in any given fight. And you get to pick up to 3 or 4 of them as you level.
17:06 Here's the thing: Guidance is a cantrip, and the whole point of a cantrip is being a spell you can always cast (the fact you're limiting it to 1 target/long rest means you'll only be able to cast it 4 times/day - assuming the usual 4-character party -, which seems too limiting). If you don't like how impactful it is, just change the die to a d2 instead of a d4. If you don't like how often it's being cast (this seems to be the main problem), then limit it in a way that doesn't involve the amount of times you can cast it (for example, only let Guidance be cast if the caster has proficiency on the Skill relevant to the Ability Check being boosted, maybe letting them roll a d8 - or 2d4 - instead if they have Expertise on the Skill). Even better: tie the effect of Guidance to the character's Proficiency Bonus (it would be an interesting way to scale/balance the cantrip, making it like a "mini Bardic Inspiration").
I really hope they also in the same way Ranger's have hunter's mark now make the Eldritch blast for warlocks ether specifically a class feature or an automatically gained cantrip.
Sure, this update embraces most changes that the community wanted, like free access to Hunter's Mark, Prepared Spells, changes to two-weapon combat, etc, but this was a missed opportunity to have a deeper discussion about the identity of the Ranger and about the unique gameplay twist it could give to adventures. The Hunter's Conjure barrage also have a danger of overcentralization of spell slots into it, which will become linear and boring. JC, you've missed the forest for the trees, and I'm sorely disappointed.
Glad we're going back to that previous version of Concentration free Hunter's Mark. The fact that is a permanently prepared spell is a nice touch to open 1 slot, which in itself is of even greater value through preperation mechanics. I do imagine this partially mandates some Wisdom investment... but let's be honest, most of us Rangers had Wisdom as our secondary stat anyway for our thematic skills. I do hope there is some rework on Foe Slayer though as it was notoriously weak, but maybe with it stacking with Hunter's Mark it has hopes of going somewhere.
Suggestion: since I know you read these and yes I've put it in a survey. Favored foe: do away with the hunters mark spell completely and just make it this feature. But to Detour one level ranger dips do this Favored foe : as a bonus action you mark a single creature that you can see within 90 feet for 1 hour. Until the duration is up you deal an additional 1d4 damage with any weapon attack or unarmed strike. You also have advantage on any wisdom (perception) or wisdom (survival) check made to find the creature. If the creature drops to zero hit points you can use a bonus action to move your mark. This damage improves to a d6 at 5th level, d8 at 10th level and d10 at 15th level. You can do this up to your proficiency bonus per long rest. Once all uses are used you may use spell slots to use this feature. You may use higher spell slots to extend the duration. 3rd or 4th for 8 hours 5th level for 24hrs.
now that Capstone Features are received @ Lv.18, it makes sense to start an "18 level" game with 2 Lvs of the Survivor class from VRGtR. Experts start as Sneaks; Warriors start as Squires; Priests start as Disciples; & Mages start as Apprentices.
I wonder how the Eldritch Knight will be designed since the Champion Fighter is the Base Fighter. I hope the EK isn't tied to two specific Schools of Magic again. I hope it has access to the Arcane Magic and has its own unique mechanics. As well as, the EK should also affect Second Wind. It's the only core Fighter ability that was left at base form with no scaling in 5e.
Playtest today dndbeyond.link/yt_OneDnD_UAExpertRangers and help shape the future of the next generation of Dungeons & Dragons.
I really think some of this stuff is great, but damn, guidance is getting destroyed... should have just made it a lvl 1 spell if you were going this route, y'all just turned a "must have" into an "I'll take something more useable" why would I waste one of my few cantrip slots for something that has a once a day feature in it... oh but u can still spam it (only technically if you had a line of ppl failing checks), so let's just say practically no u cant, you'd get whatever your party size is number of times a day and then u wouldn't b able to use it till after a long rest...
This is just my knee jerk reaction and just my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt...
Lucy, you better not pull the football away just before I try to kick it. 😤
Yall got my hopes up with the non-concentration hunters mark in the UA before tashas came out - then replaced it with a God awful Favored Foe ability
Please don't take this away from us again
pretty sad that multi attack defense isn't part of the hunter kit anymore... also why the GWM nerf? you had all this talk with the last ua about getting martial classes more in line with spell casters and you take away one of the best martial feats and completely nuter it??? what is wotc's fear of giving bonus damage to every attack... the wizard can incinerate a whole town with a few spells but those martials with the -5/+10 feats nah they got to go (INSERT CONFUSION HERE)...
Any chance of getting swimming and climbing earlier instead? Still feels kinda bad that a thief can climb sooner than you and a big part of your whole thematic deal is traversing nature
I hope there will be an update for the Beast master as well
Hunter's Mark being a spell that Rangers always have, and the fact that it doesn't require concentration for them is a massive improvement.
Id prefer they just make it a class ability and not a spell. Sam with eldritch blast
IIRC (I might be wrong), it only became a spell in the first place at the last minute, thus creating a huge bottleneck with so many other good Ranger spells.
@@soldierbreed Eldritch blast is already a cantrip so what is the difference? You want the ability to cast Eldritch blast without consuming any resources? I can see moving Hunter's Mark to cantrip instead of a 1st level spell but just an inherent ability that requires no resource management is a bit OP.
@@XanderHarris1023 they want to make them class locked. In 5e you could only get eldritch blast by taking warlock, and a lot of the eldritch invocations are linked to the spell.
So that means most warlocks will take eldritch blast, because it’s the warlock spell. But then that also takes up one of the few known cantrips a warlock can learn. But if a warlock decides to not take eldritch blast? Well now they’re underpowered.
So making eldritch blast a class feature would elevate all of these problems. This same logic can be applied to hunter’s mark, since it’s a thing rangers should just have
@@XanderHarris1023 i mean leaving it as a cantrip allows it to be picked up thru feats or something for non warlocks so i get. I just feel like it should be an inate ability and therefore not stoped by anti magical means.
Updates:
Ranger:
Spellcasting comes at level 1 (Instead of level 2)
Rangers get Cantrips (Didn't have before), namely Guidance and Thorn Whip
The spell list is expanded - the Primal Spell list, like a druid
Rangers can prepare spells!
The Fighting Style Rangers get at level 2 (like today), was changed to be a type of feats (implied to be for all fighting styles)
Roving's speed boost is now 10 instead of 5 (Part of Ranger's optional Deft Explorer, they get at level 6)
Tireless (level 10) and Nature's Veil (level 10)were also updated
Ranger: Hunter -
New feature - Hunter's Lore (level 6) as long as you have Hunter's Mark on someone, the hunter knows all of the creature's resistances, immunities and vulnerabilities
Multi Attack (level 10) update - always have Conjure Barrage prepared, don't count against the number of spells you know, you can now "downcast" it as 1st and 2nd level spells, removing damage die for each downed level
Spell update:
Barkskin - Instead of setting AC to a minimum of 16, it gives temp HP (regenerating temp HP?)
Guidance - Instead of action, it's used as a reaction to someone failing a roll, and can't be benefited from until the target takes a long rest
Favored Enemy update:
Always have Hunter's Mark prepared, doesn't count against the number of prepared spells and can be used WITHOUT concentration (not clear if the spell is changed or if it's a part of the feature).
Light weapon property/Two Weapon fighting update:
If you make an attack with a light weapon, and have another light weapon in your other hand, you get a free attack with that second weapon (instead of requiring a bonus action to attack), but you can't add your attack modifier to that attack (same as today)
**Looks at guidance** : "Look how they massacred my boy"
Thank you for this!
You're amazing for this, thanks
Bless you thank you!
I like the changes to the Dual Wield Bonus Attack of 5e. Now, it's just an attack instead of a BA.
TWF + Dual Wielder (5e) will be much better off. Especially the Fighter/Eldritch Knight.
So... (If the UA rule doesn't change) As an lv20 Eldritch Knight. I can make Reaction: Opportunity Attack before my turn begins + 4 Attacks + 4 Dual Wield Attacks + Action Surge: Extra 8 Attacks + Bonus Action: Spell or Magic Item + Reaction: OA after by turn begins = up to 19 Attacks in one round of combat and 16 Attacks with only the Attack Action + Action Surge.
And this new UA rule will also apply to any Melee Attack since (what's stated in this video). The Light Weapon Property does not require the Attack Action but that it must be an attack with a light weapon. In 5e, this wouldn't be possible because it was tied to the BA. Now, it's an extra Attack without needing a Hit Check, as this rule is applied within the same Attack. (Although, the Hit Check would most likely apply.)
The discussion of the “bonus action tax” gives me hope for Monk reforms.
100%
two weapon fighting no longer needs a bonus action and I think one of the shield feats dropped the bonus action requirement for shield bashing, only place still seeing bonus action requirement is PAM.
Even if they don't get the love they need, there are still some good homebrew varients to spice things up. Seth Fowler's version is a more recent one you can find on TH-cam and HOLY BALLS it's nuts.
What I’m wondering is what’s the point of bonus actions when so many of the features and spells that once require a bonus action are just being turned into reactions
@@lukefrederiks5906 Many spells and actions will still be bonus actions, Rogue can now do their two dagger attacks AND disengage as a bonus action. Ranger gets to move their hunter's mark and also Dual Wield, Bards can use bardic inspiration and healing word.
So there will still be plenty of things using a bonus action.
Since Hunter's Mark is baked directly into Ranger, please let Eldritch Blast be baked into Warlock by default. It's a must pick for Warlocks, might as well make it a class feature (know the Eldritch Blast cantrip and doesnt count against number of cantrips known).
Seems like it's very likely to happen, these Ranger changes & changes to feats/fighting styles all look like changes that I've seen directly mentioned for years within the community, and the same goes for EB.
Eldritch Blast hasn't appears in the spell list of either playtest thus far, so presumably it is getting a dramatic overhaul.
I know that EB is so iconic for warlocks but I would love the approach to give them invocations that buff other cantrips. So you could be a chilltouch or firebolt spamming warlock.
im hoping eldritch blast + agonizing blast are just baked into the class. cause you dont really get a choice for invocations till level 5 cause it's either ab and repelling or arms of hadar or eldritch mind. anything else isn't really worth taking.
@@crunchevo8974 unless you're a hexblade, true.
Glad to see rangers getting the buff they so desperately needed
I wouldn’t say desperately since Tasha’s helped a lot, but very welcome
@@TheLegendaryLegacy think he's referring to phb rangers being nowhere near the other classes (I have a ranger player and he created a new character as he felt useless). Not everyone has the expansion books nor should you have them to feel balanced to the other classes.
this new ranger sucks.
The Ranger class was great as it was, a physical and practical character. It's a backup fighter, rogue and cleric or druid now
@@9xkysR how so?
I think it's funny that they're straight up saying that this new playtest ranger is probably overtuned, but honestly? it sounds like the power level most non-full spellcasters and martials should be at in my opinion.
They may say it is overtuned, but honestly I still feel it is a little lacking (just a little though.) I would like to see some kind of "pass without trace/ignore difficult terrain" baked in the core Ranger, and for Nature's Veil to have a benefit if you use higher level spell slots to activate it (maybe have it last 1 round per level of the spell you used? So no change from current if you use a 1st level spell, but up to 5 rounds if you burn your best spell to activate it.)
Any ranger that depends on the longbow is going to see a major decrease in power. Sharpshooter was the best way for them to keep up with the other classes, in regards to damage output, as they got higher in level. But in this test they have basically killed the sharpshooter feat. Ignoring cover has nonwhere near the impact as +10 damage does.
@@mammonclarke It won't be a major decrease. In fact the new Crossbow Expert and Hunter's Mark will more than make up for it.
@@kristianperez4108 I don't see how that makes up for the loss of +10 damage for longbow focused characters. Rangers had trouble keeping up with most of the other classes at higher levels. Yes the changes they made would have helped level the playing field for rangers vs other classes but not if they are losing the option to increase their damage per attack by +10. The changes to Crossbow expert are not going to help longbow using characters that much at all so yes the change to Sharpshooter will severely hurt the most iconic troupe for rangers.
@@mammonclarke SS is not a +10 damage increase, because it lowers your to hit. You're only accounting for when every attack hits, which isn't reality.
You are right that longbow users won't fair as well, but that was the case before, no? Crossbow Expert was always the A-grade option, and now it's a half feat built upon an improved TWF.
Now a Ranger can use HM, and fire off three shots with their crossbow within the same turn all at level 5, and they don't fall behind on ASI progression. And to top it off they can apply some other buff spell if they so wish later on.
So yes, if we're talking solely Rangers that use longbows, then yes you are correct that they would be weaker, but Rangers as a whole have never been stronger.
I love that they looked at how good feats are in getting players excited about lateral progression, and just went "what if the whole game was feats?"
A great choice imho. Simplifying the 7 systems that are basically different sets of feats into just feats makes so much sense.
Its what pathfinders been doing for years and how older editions of dnd worked the feats did become abut nuch at times so they tried mive away feon feats but it wasbt as good
I hope the Monk gets a lot of much needed upgrades.
New monk: you get ki points equal to your proficiency bonus.
*no other changes* D:
agreed, although the monk is pretty good late level I think early level it can be a bit challenging to be effective
@@IconicDuckling489 I don’t think it’s great until they get prof in all saving throws. The speed and stunning strike is their main strength, but that was a shadow monk. Most of the subclasses are not good. I’m hoping 4 elements is revamped finally. It’s so cool!
I am almost betting flurry of flows will get the light weapon glow up.
@@justinschmelzel8806 that would make a lot of sense! I think step of the wind should only cost ki if you use the dodge action
God the Tasha's favored foe was so infuriating after you guys made the UA that made basically this change to hunter's mark, VERY glad to see you go back to it as their biggest issue in 5e was all their good spells were concentration which was a huge problem
I am loving these changes, as a critical Ranger lover and seeing the benefit for all classes too. The emphasis on feats these playtests have been great to allow customization to any class.
This gives me hope for the Monk rework, which I hope is part of the warrior classes next playtest
Warrior class?
@@Mr.HotDogShirtGuy Warrior group
Fighter, Barbarian, Monk
@@flickerr.6775 Ahh ok makes sense.
I just started playing D&D again a few weeks ago, and I'm really excited to see how involved the developers are. I love the Beyond app, it makes things really easy to get others involved. I also really like the passion they seem to put into it. Can't wait to see how things go from here!
Outstanding changes for the Ranger class. Hunter's Mark not using concentration, not taking up a prepared spell, and giving all immunities and vulnerabilities makes it so good now. Love these changes!
Only as a hunter!
I have a lot of good to say about the new ranger, but the new Hunter seems streamlined to a fault. The customizable aspect of the PHB Hunter gave it a lot of its charm. Even when there was an obviously better option in each group, you weren't forced into them and it gave you some room to adapt to your DM's encounter style.
I admit that a lot of this is personal bias. I tend to like the more grab-bag subclasses like Swarmkeeper and Psi Warrior that give you a lot of smaller features. The new stuff is good, though. Hunter's Lore is dripping with flavor and the new multiattack is interesting (I have some reservations about using spells in place of unique features, but that's different conversation).
I am absolutely _thrilled_ by these changes, my favorite class is getting what they deserve!
Same. Ranger has been my favourite class since the days of AD&D. When I saw the 5e ranger, my heart sank. When Tasha's playtest came out, I was really hopeful, but then the official print came out and I was still somewhat disappointed. Hopefully the official version of this will be just as epic.
Two things that got my attention.
Two weapon fighting finally is getting an improvement it's not what I wanted but it's a right step to the right direction.
Also the option to down cast a spell is super useful. The only thing that for damage dealing and healing spell is easy to work around since you reduce the amount that you can normally do but what about other spells that have non combat focus. That's an interesting things to see how it develops
Not every spell can be Upcasted in 5e. But it's mainly Damage, Duration, and Range that Upcasting affects on Spells.
As for Dual Wielding rules... The base rule is an improvement but the Dual Wielder Feat is nerfed by losing it's +1 AC bonus and that you must have at least one Light Weapon in your hand. So, this Feat might no longer lift the Light Weapon property for that extra attack.
(I think it's Melee Attack only, but it could also include Ranged Attacks, not Spells of course.)
TWF is the same as it is in 5e.
@@absolstoryoffiction6615 i mean you're right about the feat basically not giving you a +1 to AC is a nerf.
However, I would say that changing your attack from your offhand to be part of the attack action instead of a bonus action is great because it doesn't compete against your bonus actions abilities.
As for the Dual wielder feat not allowing you to engage in two weapon fighting with one handed weapons, than I will have to make sure to provide that point on the feedback.
Being my table’s proverbial “sneaky DEX guy”, I love what they’ve done for Rangers and Rogues!!!
I love the idea of the Hunter getting an extra benefit from Hunter's Mark, in fact I'd love to see more Ranger subclasses get their own Hunter's Mark buff. An obvious one would be that subclasses with companions like the Beastmaster or Drakewarden would allow their companion's attacks to apply Hunter's Mark damage as well.
with it becoming a core part of ranger I can see every sub class playing off it
The ranger changes sound incredible, but I also LOVE that guidance change and I hope you make the same change for resistance.
I truly cannot contain my excitement for how much love the Ranger is getting. These class and sub-class changes are game changing for it on so many levels.
Thank you for making hunter's mark not require concentration. I feel like my ranger can now finally be a dps like he's supposed to be and not take 4 turns to get there at which point combat is usually over. And expertise is huge. I hated how many times I'd do a survival check and have someone get better survival checks despite them not having proficiency, I started taking skill expert just so it wouldn't happen. I'm loving these changes so far
Did I miss something or did they forget to make _conjure barrage_ a good spell? I've had it on my Battle Smith for ages and it's never been a good choice for me to use.
All of this is freaking amazing! I am so excited not only all about these UA choices but also I just love how excited these interviews always are.
I hope ranger gets a little more flavor in their abilities. It's quite far along, but it's missing that final bit of identity, mechanics unique to them.
I'd suggest giving them the following (as well as flavor text):
* A simple group traveling (any environment) bonus. Slow speed ignores difficult terrain, normal speed gets group stealth but with disadvantage, and fast doesn't suffer the perception penalty.
* Identifying weaknesses as part of the base class, not just for Hunter, as a tier 2 feature.
* Another thing is the damage scaling. Favored enemy is good, but the damage die should scale at regular intervals. Maybe a d8 at 7, d10 at 13, d12 at 17.
That guidance change is music to my ears. YES! Thank you.
I love giving Hunters details about their foe. That's awesome and please keep it unique to them
WOW! I want to play that ranger! This looks really solid! So solid that I actually might play it and not regret not going full caster! Great work!
I LOVE the change to the Barkskin spell, it's finally a spell I'd actually cast for once!! It's not a huge amount of Temporary HP, but it does scale very well, it regenerates each round, and it's a benefit for a character of any Armor Class. I have never been satisfied with 2nd Level Ranger spell selection, but now I have a great one (especially since it no longer competes for concentration with Hunter's Mark!!) 💘
Guidance... oof, only being able to grant the benefits to a given character once per day, that hurts... but maybe this is the bitter medicine we needed. I can't say I disagree that it got spammed to a rather silly degree, even in situations where you should ask "Uh, you didn't know they were going to attempt this spontaneous ability check, when did you have time to cast this..??" This change gives that free spontaneity as a reaction, as well as a good range, so I feel like that is a significant increase in mechanical versatility while still reeling it in with the daily limitation. What I would change is: a character can only benefit once per day, PER CASTER of the spell. That way, if multiple players have Guidance, they don't cancel each other out. Also, let us apply Guidance to Attack Rolls as well. It may not be an optimal strategy, but in a pinch when an attack JUST MISSES that we NEED to land, this could be a clutch triumph and a super feel good moment.
One last thing: can we please see this treatment for the Resistance cantrip? A d4 per day to each party member's failed saving throws as a reaction, at range, would be amazing -- whereas I never take this spell as it currently is.
I am so pumped. I homebrewed a fix for rangers a while back. And this is basically 100% that fix! I am praying this all gets through playtesting!
Wow! Love the favored foe/hunter's mark change.
I love all of these changes. Thank you and please keep them when it is in its final form.
The Guidance nerf makes sense, BUT perhaps it could scale as PCs level. Ie at 5th level, you get the bonus proficiency times per day, at 10th level it resets on short rest, etc
I think just making it on a short rest would be fine. No need to complicate things.
Down casting to do less damage seems to imply minions are coming back.
Minions?
@@pencilbender A 4th edition mechanic that was really good for speeding up combat. Enemies that have only 1 HP, and saving throws are binary "live or die" rather than save for half HP. Any enemy can be a minion, as appropriate to the player's level for the dungeon. If the players are strong enough that on average the would 1 shot a goblin, you can make goblins minions for that dungeon, to designate them as cannon fodder to be mowed down quickly and speed up combat.
A lot of 4e mechanics seem to be returning in One D&D. Pray we get the Bloodied mechanic back.
@@TheCrimsonElite666 Bloodied is already kind of a part of 5e, but not really. Champion Fighters get to regenerate until they stop being Bloodied, and Mythic Monsters are obviously inspired by how 4e Monsters would get certain benefits while Bloodied.
Isn't that what the Tasha's Sidekicks are?
I can hear the shouting from across the hills: "What about spell-less Rangers?!"
And the occasional voice in the background: "What about Urban Rangers?"
Yep. I cant believe that they thought adding cantrips to the ranger class was a good idea
FR!!!! Spells are already kinda clunky the devs seem to have taken improving a class to mean making them more magical. At least with ranger and bard. Give be rangers that chew on herbs and spit them on people's wounds or know how to set dope traps, and utilize terrain in creative ways.
spells that attack multiple enemies should be able to downcast as a general rule
conjure barrage, steel wind strike etc is a fun concept
I was literally just telling my players this past week "You have to stop trying to use Guidance like it's a Reaction spell." It's how everyone I've seen use it uses it, so limiting it as a resource but making it the kind of effect it is being used as sounds great.
the reaction is great the only once per long rest not so much.
@@saber5694 sure, but it has to be curtailed to some extent. At this point they might as well change Guidance into a Feat that allows any class which currently learn Guidance as a spell to automatically add 1d4 to the roll of any ally ability check including yourself.
@@Vilis_Farthuk but turning it onto a reaction dose curtail it. You now have to be next to the person when they make the check it also only procs if they fail. The long rest limit is an overreaction. Unless you have a large group why would you even take this spell?
Conjure barrage is a rough spell to cast. If I read it right, it will hit party members. Allot of ranger spells are like that. It can be difficult to find good situations to cast them. Hail of thorns will hit those barbarians who rush into battle (but do they care?) Ensnaring strike I have had only land once. It is a cool concept but I haven't figured out how to make it work sometimes. WArder in 4e was allot of fun and thorn whip helps preserve that class. It will be fun to playtest.
Love the changes but now I'm excited to see what they do with warlocks and monks 🙌🏽
Ranger fixes let's go! Cantrips for Rangers is huge. Especially for something like guidance. Guidance plus expertise means that Rangers may now properly be one of the best for hitting a specific skill check consistently.
Ok, just got to the part about guidance being nerfed heavily. Seems like a crazy nerf, but guidance spam was a little annoying in some parties. I don't know how I feel about this cantrip is going to feel as a cantrip option, especially in a party where two people have guidance and both are competing to use it on a person once per day.
Personally, I'd change it to a "once guidance turns a failure to a success, you can't benefit from this again until you finish a long rest" and "each skill check may only benefit from one guidance at a time" type of thing. Maybe even experiment with using it to add a d4 to any d20 skill check (clutch saving throws for example) if the desire is to make it more dynamic and impactful than an always on bonus like it is now. Might step on the toes of other abilities though that grant bonuses to saving throws and it is a cantrip.
@@lukegonzalez4893 That is definitely an improvement.
I am pleased with these changes and appreciate that you have looked at and addressed these issues
I like the Buff you applied to Ranger, however I feel like Hunters Mark as a class ability should not be a spell, sense you’ve taken all the limitations of the spell. It should simply be a class ability and maybe nix’ing hunters mark as a spell that anyone can take.
When I heard Hunter's Mark doesn't need concentration anymore, I almost cried of happiness. All the changes on Ranger looks amazing and I'm so excited to try them out
I think is pretty much all exactly what needed to happen. Some of these ranger buffs are home rules we've already been using at my table and they are excellent for balancing the class.
Big improvements all around for the Ranger. Really excited to see how it all works.
I love the changes to guidance!
My first impression is actually really negative. The Hunter's Mark buff is nice, as is "round up" for spellcasting rather than "round down", but that's about it. The Hunter subclass in particular seems like it was gutted. No more choices in how it works, just fewer options, a level 6 ability that probably doesn't really matter, a level 10 ability which forces you to spend spell slots to do something you used to be able to do for free, as well as leaving melee options high and dry. Hunters used to have interesting decision points which could have been made more interesting and rewarding by allowing them to switch features on a Long Rest. They used to have unique defensive capacities. Those are all gone.
Last but not least, no Thrown Weapon Fighting Style? With Dueling removed from their choices too, I don't like the further shoehorning of a Ranger into specific styles of combat. That's really easy to fix with homebrewing, just taking a different fighting style if it fits better with the character concept, but still.
Rangers have always been my favorite archetype and I'm loving the changes. Honestly I wish hunter's mark was removed as a spell and just made into a class feature that takes a spell slot like divine smite.
I really like the new favored enemy feature. However, for bonus action heavy rangers (Beast Master, Drakewarden, Horizon Walker), the way hunters mark functions is really bad. Of course these could be revised with the new phb, but I doubt that will be the case for the Drakewarden, since it is the most recently released subclass.
So here is a suggestion:
In addition to how the new feature works with hunters mark, add to it, that once you have cast it, you can change its target on-hit, basically like the favored foe feature from tashas.
I feel like Hunter’s Mark should simply become a Ranger-only class feature. I like the changes as they’ve manifested, but I don’t like that the core feature of the class is just a spell.
My biggest gripe is the huge nerfing of exhaustion. The mechanic was an excellent tool that supported the importance of the exploration pillar. A rule that made the players view that pillar as important. Now? It's barely even noticeable.
These are long-needed buffs to my beloved Ranger class. Thank you
They buffed rangers to the moon and I am HERE FOR IT!!!!!!
These are amazing changes! I could compliment the design but I would rather just say thank you for listening to feedback and doing a good job.
Is there anyway to implement the playtest material into character creation on dndbeyond? Im assuming they're just gonna wait for the official book release in a few years but it would make things much easier to test out if i didnt have to make manual character sheets for everything.
Hunter's mark should be a class feature like Rage. Not a spell if you want to give the class some identity.
Also, the Foe Slayer capstone is truly underwhelming. The damage scaling is extremely poor, especially for a character of that level.
Especially given that full casters can end everything with a Meteor Swarm or Wish.
Rangers have always been my favorite martial class since first edition and they've been nerfed a couple of times in the past. The 5E nerf really hurt the class though, to the point that no one wants to play them anymore other than Gloomstalkers. These changes should make the ranger class, especially the Hunter subclass, feel and play as the more specialized combatants that they were intended to be. I'll be playtesting this right away! Thank you for putting these changes out there. I think a LOT of people are going to be excited to play rangers now.
as a long time ranger - i am very excited about all these changes!!
With the change of Hunter’s Mark, Dual Wielding, and being able to get more Expertise the class is sitting pretty. It has so many good options on top of a d10 hit die.
They should just give classes staple abilities that they can just use as many time as needed. They could call them at will abilities, or something like that. Then things like hunter's mark wouldn't have to be shoehorned into being spells.
The light weapon extra attack is huge. This is amazing, finally "weak" weapons have more value for "numbers" people like me. Also, I love the changes to the Ranger.
One thing I want from you guys, make the enemies STRONGER and with more options (most enemies should have at least one bonus action and one reaction to use). The community has some really amazing ideas for enemies and stat blocks, take from all that and incorporate them.
So glad that two weapon fighting is being addressed.
Basically becomes a total of 2d6 +x if both attacks hit. And 2d6 for hunter's mark.
Very strong. Actually contends with paladins a bit now.
2d6 is a Greatsword's damage dice. So it's in line, since every weapon in 5e have similar damage values.
But Dual Wielder got nerfed... From what I hear... +1 AC is gone and "one of your weapons must be light" is the new change. So I guess Dual Wielder no longer lifts the Light Weapon Property restriction.
I'll just reskin the weapons and keep the stat blocks...
@@absolstoryoffiction6615 I think the improved action economy is worth the trade-off; especially if you have a bonus action that lets you make another attack or deal extra damage somehow.
@@ilovethelegend
Sadly... The Dual Wielding BA Attack in 5e was never a good thing. It's DPR drops off harshly at later levels and the BA is better used on other things.
But this UA rule is much better. Despite Dual Wielder Feat's nerf.
Take magic initiative to get hex and you can do 6d6+dex per round at level 1 (round 2 and onward)
@@ilovethelegend allows Rangers to actually use there companions and dual wield effectively.
The damage remains consistent and doesn't get the burst that paladins can do. But it's definitely really nice.
I imagine they are going to try to change hunter's mark to become "once per turn" with the change to two weapon fighting. It does make the Ranger significantly better from level 1. Granted, all other characters can use light weapon free attacks as well.
I like the changes to the Light property. Especially putting the offhand rules in the text of that weapon property instead of off in a random corner of the combat section of the PHB. Was confused for the longest time why people kept saying my rogue got a bonus action attack when nothing in that class says you can and the actions section says you can only bonus attack if something says you can. I just assumed it was some older edition rule everyone was carrying over until I happened on the random Offhand Weapon block of text the other day. So very happy about this change that makes this clearer. And more useful. Interested to see how/if Two Weapon fighting style gets any alteration to how it’s written so it actually sounds like it does something for you.
From the play test material, two-weapon fighting style is exactly the same as before; you can add your ability modifier to your extra attack made with a light weapon.
As for the Dual Wielder feat, it’s a slight downgrade; you still get the draw and stow improvement, and you get a nice +1 str or dex (most feats in the play test give a +1), but you no longer gain the +1 AC while dual wielding, and at least one of the weapons still has to have the light property.
@@shaleverlias
For the Dual Wielder Feat in this UA... Yeah... That's a big nerf. Mainly that one of your weapons must have the Light Property.
Oh well... Light Sword + Versatile Long Sword it is then. Instead of Dual Long Swords in 5e.
@@absolstoryoffiction6615 There's also the weird requirement of a martial weapon proficiency. Which means by default, rogues can't take this feat without a multiclass or another feat, since they now only have simple weapon proficiency. Though it's entirely possible one of their other subclasses will provide martial weapon training, could be a good addition to Assassin.
@@shaleverlias
I play as the Eldritch Knight, so Fighters get all Proficiencies in all weapons, in 5e.
I don't know if that's changed in OneDnD.
@@absolstoryoffiction6615 Yeah, they'll still definitely have access to all weapons, so you'll be fine there. I'm actually very interested to see what they change about Fighters, and especially Eldritch Knight, because EK is quite an interesting subclass.
Rangers , Monks, Barbarians need
love through buffs and they are getting that love. I’m hype.
Barbarians?
@@Flymerick Barbarians are good levels 1-6. After that they become very weak in terms of dps and there perk tree is pretty bad as well past that
@@DUES_EX ohh I only played one of them until level six lol
@@Flymerick lol funny
When I started playing 5E last year I thought that, without a doubt, I would love playing a Ranger Hunter especially since I was enamored with the class growing up. Week after week though, I was enjoying it less and less and after months of play I started doing everything I could to "fix it". Luckily I had a fantastic DM that helped me through all of it, but when we started a new campaign early this year I jumped on trying out a Rogue Scout. I loved it, instantly, and I still love it. I am so happy to see these changes though, I might actually give playing a Ranger a second try.
@@Xorrin scout with woodelf magic and magic Initiate for good berry and fey touched for mark is my idea of a ranger. No it doesnt hit like a hammer, but it almost never misses and has a tool for everything needed in the wilderness.
Muy buenos los cambios al explorador, le dan un lavado de cara que necesitaba la clase para alejarse un poco más de los guerreros.
These changes sound net positive in general. Not just the point that it’s more powerful - they’re net positive player and fun.
Having more options and better tools also lets you do this for the monsters making the game even more dynamic.
Edit: After looking at class progression things like Jack of all Trades come online 3 levels later. Is this a move to nerfing multiclassing? This seems to be a theme and I think I’d like to hear the developers talk about multiclassing in general and their strategy towards it.
Also, the spell lists aren’t complete and I’m wondering if this is intentional? Where is Silvery Barbs / Maelstrom or the whole Dunamancy list etc. I’m hoping all the spells make it into DnD One.
Those spells will probably be in oned&d, but in a separate sourcebook instead of the phb
Silvery barbs isn’t traditional DnD lore/spells. That’s from Magic the Gathering and the sourcebook to play in one of the Magic the Gathering worlds, Strixhaven. Hopefully it’s never a spell though-hate that source book.
Also Dunamancy is Matt Mercer/critical role which isn’t officially DnD still….if you were to buy a players handbook-Xanathar’s Guide to Everything or Tasha’s Cauldron-you wouldn’t find Dunamancy or Silvery Barbs anywhere.
these are just the phb spells. You can obviously still use spells from whatever sourcebook your dm allows.
@@thomaskiser3886 The Dunamancy spells ARE official, they're in published WotC material. (Explorer's Guide to Wildemount) They won't be reprinted though, as they're already "backwards compatible" into One D&D.
@@AwesomeWookiee It is not core stuff to DnD- You can not open up any of the free rules/guides, 4th edition, 3rd or 3.5 edition, 2nd edition, 1st edition, B/X, or OD&D rules and ever find Dunamancy anywhere. It is Critical Role Content. On DnD beyond you have to turn that content, (Critical Role Content) on when creating a character even. Sure they are official Critical Role content PUBLISHED by WoTC for use with the Dungeons and Dragons game system and license. But they are not DnD Official Content from the years or pertain to the IP or trademarks of the Dungeons and Dragons property which is why when they say they are doing Players Handbook Content and Dungeons and Dragons Core content that these spells and such have been omitted. Does that make sense to you? MtG Mythical Guide to Theros is DnD content published by WoTC for use using Dungeons and Dragons, all that stuff,such as Supernatural Gifts, while cool and published, does not mean it is in the core game. It is why it is a bad move to pick Izzet Engineer as your background when coming to the table with your wizard...because then all the sudden you have a bunch of extra spells on your spell list without ever putting them in your spellbook...sure it is published by WoTC in Ravnica...doesn't mean that is officially a part of the core content.
Love this version of Ranger! A few concerns though. Sorry for the length in advance! (Also, in parenthesis, I will put my suggestions of how I would personally fix them):
1) Favored Enemy's lack of concentration for Hunter's Mark is the opening of a can of worms. It's probably too powerful now. Especially compounded with the buffs to Light weapons/TWF, and the potential to multiclass with Warlock for a Hex + Hunter's Mark combo, since only one of them now requires concentration through a single dip in Ranger.
(Have Favored Enemy retain Hunter's Mark's required concentration, but have it now allow you to cast it without expending spell slots 1/2 PB times per Long Rest. This scales Hunter's Mark's power back down to other spells of its own level, while still having it maintain a special interaction with the Ranger. Also, the less spell slots I have to spend as a half caster, the better.
Also, also, the spell is getting stronger at level 18 anyway. Removing concentration is just overkill imo)
2) Tireless is great in and of itself! However, I think its underwhelming as an 11th level feature. Lets be real here. Is a minor amount of THP per rest + faster exhaution recovery REALLY as major a power boost as, say, Extra Attack 2 for the Fighter? or Reliable Talent for the Rogue? or 6th level spells for a full caster class? That answer is "No" for me...
(Swap Tireless with Nature's Veil, Make Tireless's THP amount be 1d10 + Double PB to scale it better as a 13th level ability, and have Nature's Veil be the Tasha's version that runs off of PB instead of spell slots. Again, the less spell slots I have to spend as a half caster, the better.
Alternatively, if you REALLY want to maintain the idea of removing concentration for Hunter's Mark, do this: Get rid of Tireless altogether, and grant Hunter's Mark concentration removal at level 11 + bump up its damage die to be a d8. That way, at 18th level, Hunter's Mark's bump up to a d10 through Foe Slayer feels organic and less arbitrary)
3) Barkskin is strong now! Arguably TOO strong. The way it is presented in this UA, it is now as compitent as, if not more so than, Twilight Sanctuary in regards to granting THP. And I don't need to tell you how much of a power creep Twilight Sacntuary is...
(Remove PB from the THP amount granted by the spell per round, and have the THP amount per round be equal to your spellcasting ability modifier only. Also, reduce the duration down to 1 minute.
If its now too weak for your tastes, you could remove concetration)
4) Guidance is GARBAGE now.
(Keep it as a Reaction and keep it concentration-less, but remove the once per long rest usage limit per creature.
Alternatively, if you REALLY want a usage limit per creature, have the usage limit scale as you level up, like with other cantrips. However, this may cause it to be harder to keep track of, which means having no limit at all is still the most ideal for both maintaining its staying power and streamlining the cantrip as a whole. Why fix what is not broken? Regardless, an example of this scaling usage limit would look like this:
Two uses per creature at level 1, four uses per creature at level 5, six uses per creature at level 11, and eight uses per creature at level 17)
5) The Hunter Conclave is kind of meh now.
- We are stuck with Colossus slayer for Hunter's Prey, which is admittedly one of the better options for this feature. Although Pact Tactic's video on the Hunter subclass makes a good arguement for why Horde Breaker is the best option here, but anyway. I LIKE having the ability to choose. To customize my Ranger FURTHER. That was the fun part of these features for me, and now its all gone... And regardless, the UA version of Superior Hunter's Defense is a combo of two of its original options. that's a neat idea! If you're going to remove choice from each of these features, then each one should just combine some or all of the original options.
- Hunter's Lore is so flavorful, but isn't that great as a 6th level feature imo. It could be stronger. OR moved up to 3rd Level perhaps?
- Multiattack as it is in this UA is alright I guess? Though I don't like that you have to spend a spell slot for it now, when it just cost an action originally. Even with the "downcasting" mechanic, spending spell slots as a half caster is less appealing than it will ever be rewarding. As stated ad nauseam, the less spell slots I have to spend as a half caster, the better.
- Superior Hunter's Defense combines its "Uncanny Dodge" option with its "Stand Against the Tide" option, which is a neat idea! But it comes too little too late, unfortunately...
(Ways to fix the subclass:
- GIVE THIS SUBCLASS, AND ALL RANGER SUBCLASSES FOR THAT MATTER, CONCLAVE SPELLS.
- Hunter's Prey. Combine Colossus Slayer and Giant Killer into one feature.
- Hunter's Lore. Make it a secondary 3rd level feature, and reintroduce Defensive Tactics at 6th Level.
- Defensive Tactics. Reintroduce it as a 6th level feature and make it a combination of the Multiattack Defense option and one of the other options.
- Multiattack. Make it an effect similar to Conjure Barrage, so that it is technically not spell casting, and therefor costs no spell slots. Make the usage limit PB times per Long Rest to compensate.
- Superior Hunter's Defense. Leave it the way it is written in the UA.)
Thank you for coming to my TEDtalk.
I feel like this really fixes the Ranger. They needed so much love.
It’s super broken if using crossbow expert though. But definitely on the right track.
I'll of course take the survey, but I agree with others that, like it seems Eldritch Blast is going to be, just have Hunters Mark be a class ability that requires a spell slot to activate, just like the 14th level invisibility power. The ability can be described just like a spell in the ability description (bonus action, target within x range, mark for x minutes or until end as bonus actuon, adds damage plus auto track, etc). Then maybe people wouldn't be up in arms about stacking normally concentration spells or anything else.
Also, despite its area, Conjure Barrage is way too weak. Maybe make it 4d8, but have it lose 2d8 if downcast at 2nd (so it is weaker than Shatter). Or change the damage die to 6d6 (so less than Fireball), but have it drop 2d6 per level downcast. The increased area over lower spells can be due to having to be a higher level to know that spell in the first place. Plus, the downcast ability is Ranger-specific, so everyone else who isn't a 10+ level ranger would only use it normally.
Finally, that "capstone" is way too weak. At least double it from 1d6 to 2d6; after all, that ranger has been using it the last 17 levels...
Pdf is out now!
Wow HUGE upgrade for Hunter’s Mark! Let’s gooooooo! Love the light weapon upgrade as well!
Very clever wording of the Light weapon property (and capitalization is significant). The total number of attacks doesn't change, you just don't need to burn your Bonus Action to get the off-hand attack.
Bruh, the Bard video was good but the Rangers improvements are FANTASTIC 👏
Some things I can comment on from previous testing (from my own forays): removing bonus action "tax" from two-weapon fighting is effective and helps bring parity with features like Action Surge. Allowing concentration-free hunter's mark does increase the range of spells a tier 1 ranger considers using. Tier 2+ rangers generally benefit from a Tasha's summon, however, this may change with hunter's mark + a more versatile spell. We'll see.
5e' Two Weapon Fighting was always not great. You were better off with the Fighter's Extra Attack.
But in this UA... TWF (not the Style) can apply to any Weapon Attack. Since it doesn't require the Attack Action but a Weapon Attack of the Light Property.
Or in Dual Wielder's case... A weapon attack regardless of the Light Property. (Even though this feat got nerfed.)
For lv20 Fighters... That's 16 attacks on average and 19 (20 with Haste) attacks at max, in one round of combat.
@@absolstoryoffiction6615 It still only gives you 1 extra attack per attack action. Extra attack doesn't double all of your attacks.
@@pedrogarcia8706
Now that I reread the TWF UA. That's true... Lv20 Fighters: Attack Action + 3 Extra Attacks + Dual Wield Extra Attack... So it's 5 + 5 = 10 Attacks at base. Then add 4 Attacks from two Reactions (in one round, like Polarm Master), Bonus Action, and Haste... Total of 14 Attacks.
So we're getting 3 attacks with light weapons (nice) but are losing sharpshooter as a significant damage boost (ugh). But at the same time we also gain the ability to concentrate on a spell other than hunter's mark (great!). I don't think this will hit the level of overtuned, especially if you still compare rangers to most casters in combat (who can still do significantly more damage than us while having extra defensive and utility spells). It might move us a couple steps closer to being on par though, and with some of the better subclasses, perhaps even a match for them, especially with the added expertise and invisibility functions.
I am concerned what will happen to bow builds with this, as one of their biggest benefits seems significantly weaker without sharpshooter, and they don't get the extra attack that a pair of crossbows will.
can we talk about how martials got a decrease in output across the board while the output of casters was unchanged? also the long/short rest balance seems untouched, which was a key complaint!
DnD team, COMMUNICATE YOUR DESIGN GOALS
Down casting makes me so happy, I’ve wanted that as an official mechanic for a long time!
Prepared spells is HUGE
Can the Ranger be better at the "Exploration" rather than just allowing the group to bypass the whole thing completely?
Guidance : I imagine most will say the same thing... Benefiting from it only once per Long Rest is too restrictive, in the sense that some adventures/DMs can have the characters do tons of things in a single day. Some other limitation system is needed I think.
as someone who always loved the ranger's fantasy, I really appreciate the changes, and they really sound awesome to me, the only thing I think needs work is the lv 20 skill, rangers don't need something crazy on 20 lv, especially with the buff to the damage die to hunter's mark on later lvs, but it really needs a cap skill that makes then feel like this ultimate hunter and tracker that they are
and the idea of having the lv 6 of the subclasses altering hunter's mark in a minor way, IS SUCH A COOL IDEA, and it doubles down on hunter's mark being the "RANGER'S THING", and I think making it the staple of every subclass would be a good call.
The Guidance fix is the best news I heard all day.
The hunter's ability for knowing resistances and so on reminds me of Matt Mercer's monk subclass that Marisha Ray played. Very useful in any fight. And nice because it makes for more tactical play and usually also speeds things up if the players don't waste damage by using stuff that is ineffective.
I think he may have taken the idea from pathfinder
Guidance probably needed a nerf, but not quite such a big one... It basically means the cantrip can be used only 4-6 times every in-game day, which, as good as it is, drops it fast behind most other cantrips that can still be used all day long.
Maybe a midway point could be recharging it on a short rest, or, alternatively, the caster should be able to apply the spell to the same character a number of times per day equal to their proficiency level
Yeah it was probably a little too good but I’ve never been in a game where it was spammed just used sparingly probably twice per PC. So this is a big nerf in that context.
Overall I like the changes to the Ranger. As opposed to being "too strong" it actually feels just right to me. Land's Stride will be missed though. Just an observation about the spellcasting; according to the current Ranger spellcasting rules (in this UA), they can cast Call Lightning but not Daylight. Seems like that should be switched around to me but maybe that's working as intended? Also - the awareness of the "Bonus Action Tax" and how they can trip up things like class features or core class concepts has me encouraged for another one of my fave oddball classes from PHB 2014 - the Monk.
My very first character was a Leonin Ranger. I absolutely love the class and I’m excited to try these out.
I've always liked homebrewing favored enemy/terrain as favored mana.
At the levels you get to choose a favored enemy creature type you instead choose one of the five colors or mana from Magic the Gathering, or colorless for automatons and great old ones.
You get advantage of expertise on whatever on dex, int, and wis ability checks related to creature types, environments, backgrounds, and classes related to your favored mana, and you deal one extra damage die on weapon attacks against creatures tied to your favored mana.
Six over broad categories that reflect cohesive areas of expertise more accurately than cherry picking one terrain type, one creature type, or one individual in any given fight. And you get to pick up to 3 or 4 of them as you level.
Thank you for fixing Guidance, it was a problem. Might be short rest bound instead of long, if we still have short rests that is.
17:06 Here's the thing: Guidance is a cantrip, and the whole point of a cantrip is being a spell you can always cast (the fact you're limiting it to 1 target/long rest means you'll only be able to cast it 4 times/day - assuming the usual 4-character party -, which seems too limiting). If you don't like how impactful it is, just change the die to a d2 instead of a d4. If you don't like how often it's being cast (this seems to be the main problem), then limit it in a way that doesn't involve the amount of times you can cast it (for example, only let Guidance be cast if the caster has proficiency on the Skill relevant to the Ability Check being boosted, maybe letting them roll a d8 - or 2d4 - instead if they have Expertise on the Skill). Even better: tie the effect of Guidance to the character's Proficiency Bonus (it would be an interesting way to scale/balance the cantrip, making it like a "mini Bardic Inspiration").
I really hope they also in the same way Ranger's have hunter's mark now make the Eldritch blast for warlocks ether specifically a class feature or an automatically gained cantrip.
The light weapon/TWF change is great and sorely needed.
JUST MAKE HUNTER'S MARK A CLASS ABILITY SPECIFIC TO RANGERS, WHY DOES IT EVEN NEED TO BE A SPELL ANYMORE?
Thank you for no concentration hunters mark thank you 🙏👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿
Sure, this update embraces most changes that the community wanted, like free access to Hunter's Mark, Prepared Spells, changes to two-weapon combat, etc, but this was a missed opportunity to have a deeper discussion about the identity of the Ranger and about the unique gameplay twist it could give to adventures. The Hunter's Conjure barrage also have a danger of overcentralization of spell slots into it, which will become linear and boring.
JC, you've missed the forest for the trees, and I'm sorely disappointed.
Glad we're going back to that previous version of Concentration free Hunter's Mark. The fact that is a permanently prepared spell is a nice touch to open 1 slot, which in itself is of even greater value through preperation mechanics. I do imagine this partially mandates some Wisdom investment... but let's be honest, most of us Rangers had Wisdom as our secondary stat anyway for our thematic skills.
I do hope there is some rework on Foe Slayer though as it was notoriously weak, but maybe with it stacking with Hunter's Mark it has hopes of going somewhere.
This gives me hope for the monks. Also, it is cool to be a Ranger again! Huzzah!
Suggestion: since I know you read these and yes I've put it in a survey.
Favored foe: do away with the hunters mark spell completely and just make it this feature. But to Detour one level ranger dips do this
Favored foe : as a bonus action you mark a single creature that you can see within 90 feet for 1 hour. Until the duration is up you deal an additional 1d4 damage with any weapon attack or unarmed strike. You also have advantage on any wisdom (perception) or wisdom (survival) check made to find the creature. If the creature drops to zero hit points you can use a bonus action to move your mark.
This damage improves to a d6 at 5th level, d8 at 10th level and d10 at 15th level. You can do this up to your proficiency bonus per long rest. Once all uses are used you may use spell slots to use this feature.
You may use higher spell slots to extend the duration. 3rd or 4th for 8 hours 5th level for 24hrs.
everything here is such a magnificent improvement
Two weapon fighting with a huge buff, now actually worth using
now that Capstone Features are received @ Lv.18, it makes sense to start an "18 level" game with 2 Lvs of the Survivor class from VRGtR.
Experts start as Sneaks; Warriors start as Squires; Priests start as Disciples; & Mages start as Apprentices.
I wonder how the Eldritch Knight will be designed since the Champion Fighter is the Base Fighter.
I hope the EK isn't tied to two specific Schools of Magic again. I hope it has access to the Arcane Magic and has its own unique mechanics.
As well as, the EK should also affect Second Wind. It's the only core Fighter ability that was left at base form with no scaling in 5e.
Love seeing Rangers getting some love. They’re my favorite class to play