"I didn't see the light till I was a man, and by then it was BLINDING!" Lol. Great dialogue. Bane is a gloom stalker rogue that dual classed as a monk.
17:31 "Well then our two Gloom Stalkers are going to fight and we'll see who wins." "I'm going to have more hit points." "And I'm--" ...going to go first, which means your Gloom Stalker won't get a chance to go second. :P
...neither gloomstalker can find the other, they both starve to death knowing that the first to make a munching noise will die. But since the body is so well hidden they cant find proof they outlasted the other.
I was playing a Gloom Stalker in a campaign where myself and one other member had dark vision. I was tasked with leading the party back to camp. At the time we began travel it was daylight. We ended up traveling for so long that it grew to be nighttime and my party members got lost because they couldn't see me.
Gloom stalker 15 / Fighter 2 / Assassin 3 is kinda insane 1st round damage, it's actually disgusting. Realistically tho it's more like Gloom stalker 5 / Fighter 2 / Assassin 3 then whatever really. This is a really good guide and would recommend following it if you play a gloom stalker for the first time. +1
For your second spread maybe place the rest into rogue for that sneak attack damage. Issue with Assassin is even if you go Ranger 5/Rogue 15, you won't get Death Strike. With Fighter, action surge *shouldn't* effect that additional attack on first round.
now i want a 4-man gloom stalker team doing a hunt mission on a tribe of horc something similar. like, doing fast 1/2 round fight to kill everyone, move to the next squad, something like that
I like the idea of a SKT (small kill team) of 4-6 gloomstalkers just out in the wilds (or city) cleansing the lands...maybe my DM will bite on this concept!
@@buzz2978 I think that should be how rangers are represented in campaigns really. Not loners who face the wild alone and hide from social interactions, but circles (conclaves) of extremely close siblings in arms moving silently through the wilderness sensing, surveying and obliterating evil and danger before the lives of the innocent are endangered. When a town or city is attacked people don't ask "where are the guards?!" there first knee jerk reaction is "but the rangers?! How did they get passed them? Where they killed? If they got through them what are the guards going to do!" It seems like a responsibility the rangers where built for with how front loaded there class is. But They were never given the opportunity in lore. They're hyper lethal (in early levels), can heal, track, send messages, stealth, summon reinforcements from thin air, able to travel light and fast, finding what they need wild in pursuit of orcs or whatever. It's like the commandos but instead of someone being navigator or medic, someone is goblin specialist, giant specialist, orc, undead or dragon specialist. Or maybe they have teams who only hunt one type unless they cross other rangers and offer help and they're group is composed of terrain specialists. Seeing a ranger in a bar isn't an awkward weird thing it's excitedly spoken about for days. "Did you see? The brambles swords made it back yesterday day! Shame about the the Thicket Walkers though they lost Alexander and big eye Bobby from what the swords said."
Another race recommendation: deep gnome/svirfneblin. You get a small Dex bonus, advantage on Int/Wis/Cha saves vs. magic, advantage on hiding in rocky terrain, and 150 ft. darkvision when including Umbral Sight. And you have access to the Svirfneblin Magic racial feat which lets you cast that Nondetection spell you love at will with no material components, along with Blindness/Deafness, Blur, and Disguise Self once per long rest.
I'm playing a bugbear Echo Knight/Gloomstalker. At lvl 8, your opening salvo can stack up I think 7-8 attacks? Between Action Surge, Dread Ambusher, Unleash Incarnation and extra attack. Both Dread Ambusher and bugbear's Surprise Attack stack extra damage on there. And with that combo online at lvl 8 you can go further in fighter for more attacks, further in Ranger for some spells and goodies, or multiclass into something like Assassin Rogue for improved crit and first round synergy. Granted, this combo uses up a lot of limited use features, but if you're intent on making that first round a nova then it's hard to beat Echo Knight/Gloomstalker/Assassin.
Dungeon Dudes I love these class guides, especially helpful for someone who only started playing d&d a few months ago. You guys are the reason I play! Thank you.
Dual Wielding GloomStalker could be Riddick. When you spoke of putting out the candles in a room, it reminded me of a scene from Chronicles of Riddick, he was the only one that could see and just tore into the bad guys. Riddick tracks, knows animals and is at home in the wild.
I don't mind there being a smart enemy for Batman, but I don't like that it's bane cause I grew up watching the Batman series where bane is just a mindless brute and the only word he said was his own name, he never said anything else
I love this subclass. I am playing one in an Out of the Abyss campaign, and being able to surprise drow in the dark is amazing. Also, the utility of rope trick cannot be overstated.
Gloom Stalker brings something new to the table, and finally make Ranger kind of appealing. I don't know if the class is really worth going deep into, but a 3 level dip for invisibility in the dark and a boost to every opening round is a serious multiclass option for numerous builds.
When looking at the Gloom Stalker I went with a multiclass Lv. 7 Gloom Stalker/ Lv. 13 Scout (Rouge)/ Criminal Background. First level is Rouge so the total of skills and expertise come early. Variant Human.
My favorite combo is Gloomstalker 17/Assassin 3 with the Urban Bounty Hunter background. Really it's a flavor choice, even with UA, Rogue is just the better damage dealer.
Riddick is an excellent source of inspiration for the Gloom Stalker and I wouldn't be surprised if that's where the idea came from. Check out the movies in order: Pitch Black (2000), The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) and Riddick (2013).
You can skip the Chronicles of Riddick.... Unless you're a fan of movies that under-deliver. Love the Riddick character, but the animated movie was better than that one...
@@theonlymatthew.l naw, CoR had some GREAT scenes in it and was entertaining as all hell. Yes the script was silly (as was the ending) but I found the majority of the film a lot of fun as an action piece. Life's too short to take such films seriously. :)
I think the perfect inspiration for a Gloom Stalker Ranger is Alith Anar from Warhammer Fantasy, who is a High Elf character that ran a guerrilla war in the Dark Elf homeland, imagine how terrifying a Gloom Stalker would be to the Drow?
I'm actually playing a Drow Gloomstalker, he is bat crap crazy on just how hard he hits with his first attack!!!! I'm so glad that I found out about this subclass, and I do feel as a veteran player that this subclass is the saving grace for the Ranger class.
I might be way too late but playing a Gloom Stalker myself for over 30 sessions now I want to mention another very strong Feat besides crossbow expert and sharpshooter. While playing a wood elf I ran into a problem while creating my character with point buy and it ended in an uneven DEX score. So I was looking for a practical feat with a +1 DEX and stumbled upon Elven Accuracy. After many sessions I have to say that this feat is a game changer for the Gloom Stalker especially combining it with sharpshooter. For a gloom stalker getting advantage given his umbral sight is most of the time an easy thing to do and with Elven Accuracy you will get tripple advantage making it nearly impossible to miss an attack. Together with sharpshooter the -5 is no risk at all while rolling three times to hit with a huge pile of damage. Also getting roughly 50% more roll per attack enables more lucky crits, increasing the damage even more. tl;dr Elven Accuracy can be a good alternative to the Gloom Stalker gameplay when you chose an elven race.
Great summery. I just wanted to mention, since you mentioned it in the video...as a DM I loathe Crossbow Expert for the simple reason that it funnels anyone who wants to be the best ranged martial character they can into crossbows. There isn't an equivalent feat for bows or thrown weapons (since sharpshooter stacks with CE).
I have a shadar-kai gloomstalker with the dual wielding fighting style(rapier & whip) and some bracers of archery and gloves of missile snaring. It makes me smile. Great video!
Picking up something like Control Flames does wonders for this guy. Either by feat, race, or the new Druidic Warrior fighting style. It only has somatic components so you can silently put out light sources from a significant range. I went with the latter method on one that I am running and love it.
You guys need to do a video on Kelly’s shirts. Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the dead?! I swear, he has the best shirts I’ve ever seen. Also thank you guys for this video, I love the in-depth analysis you guys bring every time.
Just played one myself and loved it. The whole idea of frightening everything and controling the field was so fun. Armor of Agathys is a vastly underrated spell since its only for warlocks, and the having the spiritual weapon to coencide with your standard attacks and smites was perfect. Certainly a martial class that works to command the field and doll out an insane amount of damage. Though, until level 5 when you get extra attack and more spell slots, paladin itself is kinda hard to run since you run out of resources kinda quickly. But conquest is in my opinion the best paladin subclass. Unfortunately he just died last week.. I'll have to play one again sometime to see how it feels at higher levels.
I love how Wrathful Smite fits perfectly with Aura of Conquest. A level one spell that needs no upcasting, and a perfectly themed spell. The visual of your enemy getting smitten into pissing themselves in fear and being unable to run away, only for yourself (on your next turn) and your friends to lay down the hurt is amazing.
There is this feat, which could synergise very well with the Gloom Stalker, namely the Skulker feat. "You are expert at slinking through shadows. You gain the following benefits: You can try to hide when you are lightly obscured from the creature from which you are hiding. When you are hidden from a creature and miss it with a ranged weapon attack, making the attack doesn't reveal your position. Dim light doesn’t impose disadvantage on your Wisdom (Perception) checks relying on sight."
One thing that you guys didn't mention with ability scores is that the Gloomstalker is supposed to stay hidden in the shadows, so most creatures in a dark environment will have disadvantage on attacks. This means Constitution can be less important for hitpoints or concentration depending on your campaign, and high perception and better spell DC is extremely viable. Especially if you're playing the scout style of play, which the Gloomstalker lends itself extremely well to.
The ranger may be a pretty weak core class (making it sometimes frustrating), but man oh man it’s subclasses are freakin fantastic. Ranger is one of the few classes where I just want to make a character for every subclass it has. Great video as always guys!
Jonathan Böcker you just have to build a beast master properly in order for it to not lag behind damagewise, and even be great. The problem is is that there are a lot of ways to mess up. Edit: added “and even be great.”
This is super helpful. :o I recently started playing DnD for the first time with my friend's group and, being a lover of rangers/archers in MMORPGs and the "dark elf" archetype in general (pointy ears, man), I went with a half-elf Gloomstalker. This is teaching me quite a bit about how I can play her both roleplaying-wise and combat-wise. I never would've thought to actually turn off the lights to take advantage of the invisibility!
I know this I an older video but I am currently playing a gloomstalker 8/ echo knight 4 and it is incredible. Most of the other PC have dark vision so I get my way fairly often when it comes to approaching situations at night. Great video guys! This video is the reason I chose to play a gloomstalker.
I never considered a Gloomstalker for an option to transfer one of my favourite Pathfinder characters. Thanks for the guide, I'll be using it to recreate her asap :D
don't forget about elven accuracy if your an elf. Making sharpshooter super reliable is awesome, especially if you go fighter. If all 6 attacks hit with the bow thats 8d8 + 6 x dex mod + 60 damage. If its your hunters mark add an extra 6d6 to that and potentially if you take battle master, you could add some superiority die to that. All that before level 10, this truly is an amazing subclass!
I played a Gloom Stalker in a campaign for a while and I'm now recreating the character for Adventurers League - and I would strongly advise to *not* go for a Crossbow Expert (+ hand crossbow) build ! Mathematically, it might be a strong build, but the Ranger is already incredibly overloaded on bonus action uses as is, even without multi-classing into Rogue. Going the crossbow route will make for a truely unfun experience where you constantly "fear" that you will "miss out" on another Sharpshooter hit if you ever use any of the strong combat magic that the Ranger class offers. Also keep in mind: Some magical items - like Bracers of Archery - only work with bows and there are far more powerful long bows to be found in most campaigns than hand crossbows. On the "concentrating on Zephyr Strike" concept: While it is a concentration spell (otherwise the "next time you hit a creature"-clause wouldn't work), I don't really see it as anything to really concentrate on for extended periods of time. To me, it's just an "Oh Snap"-button that you press to get out of an ugly melee - and then drop in favor of better concentration spells as soon as possible.
I started playing in my freshman year of covid. I quickly found dungeon dudes. Now I am going thru the archives of videos form before my time. You guys have come far. Keep up the good work!
The only thing I would add to these guides are one liners for each class. Puns are hard, here are a few to get the creative juices flowing, (insert great line here). Oh, tell Jill to tell at something, "I. AM. CATMAN!"
Currently playing my very first campaign and planning on, once I hit 3rd level, choosing the Gloom Stalker subclass so thank you so much for this subclass focused video! Giving me a lot to look forward to!
I've been wanting to play a gloom stalker for a while, and thanks to this video I've decided to create a swiftstride shifter gloom stalker for an upcoming campaign I'm gonna be in
Tremor sense gives the creature that has it the ability to always know your location if you are in contact with the ground. Tremor sense does not actually give the creature the ability to “see” the creature though. Tremorsense A monster with tremorsense can detect and pinpoint the origin of vibrations within a specific radius, provided that the monster and the source of the vibrations are in contact with the same ground or substance. Tremorsense can't be used to detect flying or incorporeal creatures. Many burrowing creatures, such as ankhegs and umber hulks, have this special sense. BLINDSIGHT A monster with blindsight can perceive its surroundings without relying on sight, within a specific radius. Creatures without eyes, such as grimlocks and gray oozes, typically have this special sense, as do creatures with echolocation or heightened senses, such as bats and true dragons. If a monster is naturally blind, it has a parenthetical note to this effect, indicating that the radius of its blindsight defines the maximum range of its perception. Note the distinction made between blind sight. Blindsight says a creature outright perceives its surroundings, while tremor sense is described as pinpointing and detection. At first glance it might seem the same, but many of the games mechanics have pieces of language describing abilities that use the exact same words and even sentences. It would be similar to the ability the rogue gets at level 14 Blindsense Starting at 14th level, if you are able to hear, you are aware of the location of any hidden or invisible creature within 10 feet of you. You know where the creature is, but you are still at disadvantage if you can’t see it. 9 creatures in MM have tremorsense, all also have Darkvision 2 creatures in Volos, all also have Darkvision 5 creatures in Mordenkainens, all also have Darkvision
I'm in my very first D&D campaign, and your vids have been very helpful, thanks! I didn't know anything about D&D a few months back when we started so it was suggested that I try out a revised ranger as a good way to ease in to the game. Went with a wood elf hordebreaker hunter, but was really tempted to try out the gloomstalker because of how cool they seemed. I'm having a blast with the ranger, and since most of our campaign is outside during the day, he's absolutely devastating when he can pick enemies apart at 600ft with sharpshooter lol. If we do an underdark campaign, I'd love to try out the gloomstalker!
I have an 8th level, Tabaxi Gloomstalker in a game setting based on Al-Qadim. I play him as the ‘jungle cat’ ambush predator type, although he’s not in the jungle, who dual wields scimitars. Darkness doesn’t come up nearly enough but when it does I enjoy it a lot and he is flat out the best at stealth. I haven’t worried about pass without trace and some of the other 2nd level spells you mentioned because the party includes a Land Druid (battlefield controller), but I do have Cure wounds and lesser restoration because we have a sorcerer and sometimes the Druid isn’t available to pick him up - our DM also uses things that impose conditions.
This tutorial was really helpful, thank you. I have a Drow Gloomstalker Ranger, and I love her abilities. Using Natural Exploration as well as her Umbral sight has really saved the party so many times. But yes, i have an in-game rivalry with a human who seems to come into the room with a torch or globe of light just as I'm hiding from an enemy :). But for the most part, this has been one of my favorite subclasses to play.
Gloom Stalker is terrifying, especially with the rules from UA to swap features. Turn 1, BA to Hunters Mark without concentration, then attack. Turn 2, Zephyr Strike, then attack. Turn 3, enemies are likely dead by now.
If you know you'r going to fight, juste pick an ant or any small insect.. cast hunter mark on it... kill it... and for the next hour you can attach your mark as you want with your bonus action
Love the vid. The biggest reason I encourage single class builds as a Ranger is magic. I know most people focus on the martial side of the class. But Rangers' spell list is really good, and especially offloading concentration spells to free up your controller, is a huge group benefit.
For flavor, I like anything that gives me access to Thaumaturgy to pair with this... like the feat magic initiate (cleric). Walk into a room and out go the lights! Or. maybe a frost brand sword later in the game?
Really anything besides circle of the moon just gets left in the dust lol. But I totally agree, circle of dreams almost seems like it doesn't even exist because of how little attention it gets.
Thanks for the video! I’m playing a Leonin gloomstalker now, and it’s fun to play the lion stalking it’s prey before lashing out with a heavy assault at melee or range.
I like playing for fluff instead of efficiency so I actually built this sub-par STR based Gloom Stalker you mentioned. We play in an urban environment. Most of the time I can't hide in the darkness (even the underdark of the city is dimly lighted) and we are the ones who get ambushed instead because it seems we are being spied all the time. However I still love my character and the class even though I don't use it in the most optimal way. My character is somewhat a monstrous brute under-dweller (kind of a mutated lizardman) that pray upon the lost and the weak with pure savagery, yet is also cunning and sneaky. I picked the Urban Bounty Hunter as a background. I actually got a very high AC even without a shield (Simic Hybird race perk + defense fighting style) so I'm the party's tank, and since we don't have a healer I'm also covering that edge with spells like goodberries and healing spirit. I also got Silence - which you didn't mention - as my spell against enemy casters. I'm currently at level 5 and going to multiclass to a fighter, like you said, for great weapons fighting, action surge and maybe even Battle Master's Maneuvers to trip-attack my opponents and make all my 6 attacks at the beginning of the battle with an advantage (probably also going to get the Great Weapons Mastery feat in the future). Overall I am very content with the class and the character. It's versatile, it's does stuff outside of battle, it's cool and feels unique to play. Obviously it's made to be better as an archer but I would say it's still very much playable and fun as it is.
I often much prefer having a PC that I can have great fun with in multiple scenarios and being the best killer is far less important to me. My builds rarely exploit the min-max capabilities that are available and often I'll take Feats/Skills/Spells that have others scratching their head but since I've been playing D&D for around 30 years, I've usually got a good reason for what I do, heh heh. My biggest nemesis is WotC themselves, trying to change things so often, not always to our enjoyment (as seen lately) :)
The new Halfling race from Explorer's Guide to Wildemount sounds really great for a Gloomstalker. Lorewise, Lotus Den Halflings are found in the wilderness of a wasteland (So, maybe you can homebrew their existence in a different setting, since their seclusion to civilization fits the Gloomstalker's descent to dangerous places like the Underdark). They get free druid cantrip and spells (Druidcraft, Entangle and Spikegrowth) and tracking against them gives a disadvantage on rolls. They're halflings too, so you can reroll 1's. And for flavor's purposes, you can choose Far Traveller as background, which gives you a pair of good wisdom skills. Or, if you really want to capitalize on the subclass itself, you can tailor it for an Urban Bounty Hunter.
Late to the Party but: Drow Gloomstalker / Warlock build, armed with a longbow. Darkvision out to 150ft, Devilsight to 120ft, Racial Darkness spell, Pact slots for Hunters Mark / Zypher Stike. can have *alot* of fun with that, especially in a Underdark themed module or campaign.
Very interesting, thanks you guys!! My group is running OotA and we are a full drow PC Group. Haven't reached full build yet but ive gone full assassin mode with this. My plan - Arcane Archer 4 / Gloom Stalker 5 / Assassin 4 / Hexblade 7 My DM was nice a let me use improved pact weapon for Hand Crossbow too Opening Round damage in a play test was amazing (12d6 + 84 weapon)+(4d6 sneak attack)+(4d8 gloom stalker bonus)+(4d6 arcane shot)+(12d6 hunter's mark)+(10d8 elritch smite)
Drow Gloomstalker, very well adapted for this subclass. A character that has lived in darkness most of their lives. The pure destructive nature of this race fits nicely together with a gloomstalker.
Hey Dungeon Dudes, thanks for the help! I'm an old school DM/Player, now at the 1/2 century mark, who had gotten back to D&D via PC gaming (primarily with Balder's Gate III+) along with my bro-in-law - whose daughter is a D&D player and 1st time DM, we are 2 of her 1st players. Anyway, thanks for putting out all of the info for characters as I'm about to get my "Zanathar's Guide to Everything D&D" & "Tasha's Cauldron," today, and had not thought to play a Gloom Stalker, till you two brought it up! Beginning a new campaign as a player - Half Wood Elf Gloom Stalker Ranger! Keep up the great work, guys! Btw: My niece even listens to your podcasts! Good job and luck to you!
I just built a UA Hobgoblin Gloomstalker for a Wildemount campaign. Very excited to see how he plays. Picked Medium Armor Master as a free level 1 Feat to make him sturdier without losing the sneak. Fortune from the Many and Fey Gift should make it VERY interesting when he drops the Robin Hood act and goes full Riddick.
Skulker is an oft-overlooked feat that was practically made for the Gloomstalker and-while not as overwhelmingly powerful as some of the other feats you listed-can make you the perfect stalker of the shadows with no penalty to perception from darkness (disadvantage and -5 to passive), not being revealed if your first attack whiffs, and being able to stealth when in something as simple as the shadow cast from a tree give all the right vibes. If you're a Wood Elf then Wood Elf Magic is another great feat that will give you a free daily use of Longstrider and Pass Without Trace as well as a pick of a druid cantrip. My go-to is Druidcraft because not only can you get some navigational utility and some cool flavor out of it... you can also use it to snuff out a light source and set the stage for your hunt. I'd also argue athletics is more valuable than acrobatics for most builds. You're already going to have high dexterity, and can definitely get the skill if you can, but athletics will really help you when it comes time climbing which is a common occurrence in both forests and the Underdark. The skill proficiency will offset the penalty from your lower Strength score and allow you to get into trees or high ledges to start your ambush where the enemy can not efficiently get to you (and where you will have cover). I've actually played a wood elf Gloomstalker Ranger/Rogue Scout build at intermediate levels and it was a ton of fun as my "(mostly) nonmagical ranger" who excelled as a forward scout that saw all and went unseen by the rest. Here's a simplified version of him. Gloomstalker 5/Scout 15 works really well throughout the majority of its life with the bonus of the extra attack, but if you know you will make it to level 20 then Gloomstalker 3/Scout 17 gives you a REALLY good capstone that supplements dread ambusher perfectly: sneak attack twice. Here is a simplified version of my build with a couple magic items thrown in that are reasonable for the level: ddb.ac/characters/14448806/KezEEt
A.J. Bruce I like the Skulker feat suggestion. I allow players to utilize Acrobatics for climbing, if they have a higher Dexterity than Strength. I know plenty of people who are not that strong, but are excellent climbers.
@@alanschaub147 I use acrobatics when something like balance comes into effect or if someone wants to do a flourish, but I like to stress the intended uses of skills. Dex is the power stat in 5e so I prefer to leverage athletics to keep the tables a little more balanced.
A.J. Bruce That’s a really good point. I forget sometimes that we are not necessarily going for realism and game balance is important. There are dragons in D&D, for gods sake...and gods! LOL
12:40 Also IMHO - Devil Sight technically you can just see normally in all darkness even magical darkness. Shocked you did not bring Jill into this one for perspective and also pulls more eyes for the campaign. Just me .
I've been playing a Forest Gnome Gloom Stalker on and off over the past year, and I have to say, having minor illusion right off the bat when you take Gloom Stalker at level 3 provides even more tactical ambush scenarios even when not in the dark. It gives you a head up even when not in darkness by providing cover or creating a distraction to surprise and then get the drop on your enemies with dread ambusher. It's also a good race/class combo for storytelling, as gnomes can use this to better protect their forests, and already have a penchant for staying hidden.
Today I learned the Dishonored franchise protagonists are melee gloomstalkers, and it fits all too well. I hope there'll be more additions to the game like Gloomstalker later on, or in the future edition.
I've been playing a Gloomstalker Ranger/Arcane Archer fighter. I was able to do over 130 damage to an adult dragon with no crits in the first round. It's prrrreeeeeetttttyyyyyy goooooooooood for a level 12. Edit: Also, an Air Genasi is pretty good for Gloomstalker also. +2 Con +1 Dex, levitate (useful for infiltration or staying out of melee range), and being able to hold your breath indefinitely (for hiding in the water).
Hey dungeon dudes, love your videos. Would really like to see an in depth druid wildfire guide. I know you have a tier list discussing the basics, but a guide video just like this one would be amazing. Cheers!
Can people stop hating on the core ranger already?!? They get a D10 HD. 2nd best behind Barbarian. You have access to the 3rd best skill tree in the game. You get 3 skills at level 1 and you pick from a list that includes perception, athletics, stealth, survival, investigate and animal handling. If you multiclass into ranger, you get a bonus skill just like rogue/bard. Spell casting has access to good berry, cure wounds, hunters mark, zephyr strike, absorb elements, pass without trace, spike growth, healing spirit, lightning arrow, conjure animals, swift quiver and more. Even as half casters they're not weak. Medium armor, shield and martial weapon proficiency plus you get a fighting style. Core rangers are 1 of the most well rounded classes even before getting into subclasses. At higher levels they can fall behind on damage per round but we're literally talking about a few points less per round which is no big deal since you can scout and heal. One of my best 5e characters was Sylvester Stallion. A Centaur Gloom Stalker with a great sword. Strength based ranger.
The issue people have with core ranger is the favored terrain/enemy. The level one abilities of a class defines that class, but the ranger's is just too situational even though they are super cool ideas. Plus their level 20 ability, but theres a few classes with bad capstones so it's not just them at least
Lucaccino17 In my opinion the favored terrain/enemy is only underwhelming when viewed on it's own. If you look at everything else rangers get at level 1, the ranger is completely in line with every other classes level 1. There is also the DM/player relationship to consider with favored terrain/enemy. If you tell the dm you're playing a ranger, they should offer some insight or else you're being set up to fail.
Favoured terrain is okay, natural enemy is a waste and primal awareness pointless. Level 6 is underwhelming. The action economy for spells is harsh limiting tactics. Like them otherwise.
The hate on the Ranger is somewhat justified. It's clear that when the ranger was designed, the developers were expecting the game to be played a lot differently than it was allowing the ranger more opportunities to shine than they got. I believe people at WotC have straight up come out and said this. That's not to say the hate can't be exaggerated at times.
Lionel Gettliffe-Rudling I would say they're niche abilities and with support from your DM they can be strong. Favored enemies gets you some bonus languages and advantage on select survival checks. Natural explorer offers double proficiency bonus on perception, survival, investigation, nature, history and arcane checks if you were proficient and the check is related to your favored terrain. In general you want to talk with the DM before making a ranger but even without the niche abilities rangers are decent. With Hunters mark you do 3d6 plus strength with a great sword which is comparable to a 4th level rogue and at 5 it becomes 6d6 plus 2x str mod which stays relevant until 11. So even if you get nothing out of favored enemies/terrain, you're still doing just fine and that's before looking at subclasses, race and ASI/feats.
I just found one of my old 3.5 books. It’s called Enemies and Allies. In it there is a Mind Flayer Assassin. I’m thinking about modifying him to fifth edition but making it a gloomstalker ranger instead of an assassin. 😈
Best GS I could figure out was an archer starting Wood Elf (10 17 14 8 16 8) Champion Fighter to 5, GS 3, then Fighter the rest of the way (or at least to 11). Besides their level 2 spells (ie Healing Spirit) and Wisdom saves (attainable through a feat) the latter Gloomstalker features aren't particularly worthwhile, so it just dips for the archetype features and Hunter's Mark. Starting Fighter solves the concentration issue through CON proficiency, and gives the character a trio of very synergistic abilities: Action Surge, Improved Critical, and Remarkable Athlete. Eventually Extra Attack (2). Beelinig for Extra Attack at 5 means the build doesn't have any glaring weak spots before it "comes online", and isn't forced into any awkward play styles before all the pieces are in place either. Feats/ASIs are Elven Accuracy (DEX 18) at level 4, DEX 20 at level 9 (FTR 6), and Sharpshooter at 11 (FTR 8). DEX 20 and SS can switch places; the damage difference is small. At level 11 the maximum effort combat combo is going first in the round with a +10 initiative, casting Hunter's Mark, pulling back into shadows or beyond enemy sight range, and making 6 attacks with the Action Surge + Dread Ambusher interaction, each enjoying the benefits of Elven Accuracy, expanded crit, HM, and Sharpshooter.
This plus Jill inspired my one off character for an upcoming game. Standard array, DeX-Con-Wis-Str-Int-Cha, variant human, sharphooter... starting at lvl 5... this vid was really helpful in thinking about how to start things out. Thanks a ton!
I’d like to see a multi class into shadow monk especially if in melee having stunning strike or flurry of blows to add onto the end of the opening combat could work well as well as shadowstep could be something to think about. The ability scores in DEX and WIS line up well. With the added benefits on using ki points on a few other things like darkness, pass without trace. Could be an interesting character concept.
Personally, I think Horizon Walker is the weakest ranger subclass, including the ones in phb. Their bonus damage ability is just so clunky, needing to spend bonus action on it every round.
@@Klaital1 Yeah it is kinda clunky but the fact that it's a free unlimited Hunter's Mark that does force damage is pretty good. Plus their later ability to teleport a million times between attacks is neat.
I love my dwarf gloom stalker, who is the clans cave explorer and scout, I did multi class him as a shadow monk. Combining the scout aspect with light weapons and no armor. And then blending umbral sight with shadow step and being able to see in your kitchen cast darkness spell makes you just awesome
Gloom stalker to Rogues: "You merely adopted the darkness; I was born in it, molded by it"
@Herald of dissonance hey why not add in some blood hunter to that edge its already enough to cut yourself on
"I didn't see the light till I was a man, and by then it was BLINDING!" Lol. Great dialogue. Bane is a gloom stalker rogue that dual classed as a monk.
Oops looks like that door is locked. I got it bro.
Ah but a Rogue with at least 3 in Ranger to get Gloomstalker Rogue becomes nasty
So Rogue is your grandpa?
the Darkness checks for Gloomstalker under it´s bed.
Yet despite of it's night vision it can not find the Gloomstalker.
Best comment
Nathan Baca I agree.
omg lol ikr
“You’re not afraid of the dark, are you? The light hurts my eyes”
- Riddick, a gloom stalker
Gloom Stalker Ranger - Assassin Rogue: "Do you think this is a game?"
Riddick selected humans, and more humans as his favored enemies.
He's a very strong Drow
I'm making a gloomstalker rogue riddick charachter
Varient human (skulker) 3lv gloomstalker 17 scout rogue
17:31
"Well then our two Gloom Stalkers are going to fight and we'll see who wins."
"I'm going to have more hit points."
"And I'm--"
...going to go first, which means your Gloom Stalker won't get a chance to go second. :P
OH.... okay I'll take wisdom then
...neither gloomstalker can find the other, they both starve to death knowing that the first to make a munching noise will die. But since the body is so well hidden they cant find proof they outlasted the other.
@@certain_sloth lmao
I was playing a Gloom Stalker in a campaign where myself and one other member had dark vision. I was tasked with leading the party back to camp. At the time we began travel it was daylight. We ended up traveling for so long that it grew to be nighttime and my party members got lost because they couldn't see me.
always bring a torch with you
LoL...
Suffering from success
@@aldoushuxley5953 or light cantrip
Kel, you missed the retort about your Gloomstalkers fighting:
"I'm gonna have more hit points."
"I'm gonna win the initiative roll."
"I'm gonna have more hit points."
"Not for long."
How would either Gloomstalker find the other in the dark though??? 😂
Spentrav See the movie “Enemy at the Gates” with Jude Law.
@@LordBrittish Marco!
@@JangboFett Polo! .....oh hey!
Gloom stalker 15 / Fighter 2 / Assassin 3 is kinda insane 1st round damage, it's actually disgusting. Realistically tho it's more like Gloom stalker 5 / Fighter 2 / Assassin 3 then whatever really. This is a really good guide and would recommend following it if you play a gloom stalker for the first time. +1
For your second spread maybe place the rest into rogue for that sneak attack damage. Issue with Assassin is even if you go Ranger 5/Rogue 15, you won't get Death Strike. With Fighter, action surge *shouldn't* effect that additional attack on first round.
I'm going ranger 5 fighter 3 so I can't take Sharpshooter and use the battle master precision attack to get the plus ten damage and 6 attacks round 1.
now i want a 4-man gloom stalker team doing a hunt mission on a tribe of horc something similar. like, doing fast 1/2 round fight to kill everyone, move to the next squad, something like that
All are also assassin rogues
I like the idea of a SKT (small kill team) of 4-6 gloomstalkers just out in the wilds (or city) cleansing the lands...maybe my DM will bite on this concept!
@@buzz2978 I think that should be how rangers are represented in campaigns really. Not loners who face the wild alone and hide from social interactions, but circles (conclaves) of extremely close siblings in arms moving silently through the wilderness sensing, surveying and obliterating evil and danger before the lives of the innocent are endangered. When a town or city is attacked people don't ask "where are the guards?!" there first knee jerk reaction is "but the rangers?! How did they get passed them? Where they killed? If they got through them what are the guards going to do!"
It seems like a responsibility the rangers where built for with how front loaded there class is. But They were never given the opportunity in lore. They're hyper lethal (in early levels), can heal, track, send messages, stealth, summon reinforcements from thin air, able to travel light and fast, finding what they need wild in pursuit of orcs or whatever.
It's like the commandos but instead of someone being navigator or medic, someone is goblin specialist, giant specialist, orc, undead or dragon specialist. Or maybe they have teams who only hunt one type unless they cross other rangers and offer help and they're group is composed of terrain specialists. Seeing a ranger in a bar isn't an awkward weird thing it's excitedly spoken about for days. "Did you see? The brambles swords made it back yesterday day! Shame about the the Thicket Walkers though they lost Alexander and big eye Bobby from what the swords said."
This comment reminded me part from Dragon age: The Calling when they are infiltrating deep roads.
4 Arya's, basically.
Another race recommendation: deep gnome/svirfneblin. You get a small Dex bonus, advantage on Int/Wis/Cha saves vs. magic, advantage on hiding in rocky terrain, and 150 ft. darkvision when including Umbral Sight. And you have access to the Svirfneblin Magic racial feat which lets you cast that Nondetection spell you love at will with no material components, along with Blindness/Deafness, Blur, and Disguise Self once per long rest.
Bugbear. Bonus to Dex, and gets more bonus damage in the first round.
I'm playing a bugbear Echo Knight/Gloomstalker. At lvl 8, your opening salvo can stack up I think 7-8 attacks? Between Action Surge, Dread Ambusher, Unleash Incarnation and extra attack. Both Dread Ambusher and bugbear's Surprise Attack stack extra damage on there. And with that combo online at lvl 8 you can go further in fighter for more attacks, further in Ranger for some spells and goodies, or multiclass into something like Assassin Rogue for improved crit and first round synergy.
Granted, this combo uses up a lot of limited use features, but if you're intent on making that first round a nova then it's hard to beat Echo Knight/Gloomstalker/Assassin.
Or you could do a 2 lvl dip into twilight cleric and get 300 ft. DV lol
Very interesting thought
Dungeon Dudes I love these class guides, especially helpful for someone who only started playing d&d a few months ago. You guys are the reason I play! Thank you.
And for those who have played for longer, it's an interesting take and a fresh viewpoint.
Dual Wielding GloomStalker could be Riddick. When you spoke of putting out the candles in a room, it reminded me of a scene from Chronicles of Riddick, he was the only one that could see and just tore into the bad guys. Riddick tracks, knows animals and is at home in the wild.
Gloomstalker lv 3 then rogue scout
Goliath, Gloomstalker 8, fighter 4, assassin 8 = awesome Riddick flavoured build. Stats are hard to get unless you roll really well.
This whole video I am just hearing "I AM BATMAN"
"From this moment on gentlemen none of you are safe"
I just hear Bane. You merely adopted the darkness... I was born in it.
that's exactly where I went with my gloomstalker lol even has favored enemy Orcs aka Bane
I don't mind there being a smart enemy for Batman, but I don't like that it's bane cause I grew up watching the Batman series where bane is just a mindless brute and the only word he said was his own name, he never said anything else
@@firstswordcorvus7368 Bane has been the marriage of brain and brawn ever since he was introduced, nothing mindless about him.
I am playing a gloomstalker.....I took alert as a feat level 6 I'm on a plus 13 initiative
It's even more fun with the revised ranger because you would always have advantage on initiative too.
I find +7 sufficient, especially when the next highest in the party is +2. YMMV.
@@scraverX How did you took a feat at lv. 6?
DARKVEEMON1 I didn’t, my Gloom Stalker is all Dex and Wis. no Feats. +7 initiative, +5 from Dex, +2 from wisdom due to gloom
@@scraverX Sorry, I meant to ask to @Aaron Lowdell
Was half expecting for the homie Jill to be guest hosting this
Great video as always!
Emophobe I haven’t actually watched the video yet but I hope it is is basically, be Jill, play Veo kill things and eat salmon.
@CatandBonez Monty: So what's your movement?
Veo: Yes
"Oh sorry Veo I didn't see you there!" The one downside to this class is your always stepping on your Tabaxi's tail.
I love this subclass. I am playing one in an Out of the Abyss campaign, and being able to surprise drow in the dark is amazing. Also, the utility of rope trick cannot be overstated.
Can i ask how do u use ur rope trick? Im having trouble on how to use it except to rest/hide.
@@nezqwe4818 peak in and out of it for cover firing
Throw some assassin rogue in it you got a first round nuke on your hands
Gloom Stalker brings something new to the table, and finally make Ranger kind of appealing. I don't know if the class is really worth going deep into, but a 3 level dip for invisibility in the dark and a boost to every opening round is a serious multiclass option for numerous builds.
I'm enjoying it and I think lvl5 is sweet spot to multiclass out.
When looking at the Gloom Stalker I went with a multiclass Lv. 7 Gloom Stalker/ Lv. 13 Scout (Rouge)/ Criminal Background.
First level is Rouge so the total of skills and expertise come early.
Variant Human.
Absolute best mix, that first round you basically instakill two people, and then two people every turn lol
My favorite combo is Gloomstalker 17/Assassin 3 with the Urban Bounty Hunter background. Really it's a flavor choice, even with UA, Rogue is just the better damage dealer.
Riddick is an excellent source of inspiration for the Gloom Stalker and I wouldn't be surprised if that's where the idea came from. Check out the movies in order: Pitch Black (2000), The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) and Riddick (2013).
You can skip the Chronicles of Riddick.... Unless you're a fan of movies that under-deliver. Love the Riddick character, but the animated movie was better than that one...
@@theonlymatthew.l naw, CoR had some GREAT scenes in it and was entertaining as all hell. Yes the script was silly (as was the ending) but I found the majority of the film a lot of fun as an action piece. Life's too short to take such films seriously. :)
I think the perfect inspiration for a Gloom Stalker Ranger is Alith Anar from Warhammer Fantasy, who is a High Elf character that ran a guerrilla war in the Dark Elf homeland, imagine how terrifying a Gloom Stalker would be to the Drow?
Take it a step farther... imagine a female Drow Gloomstalker. I bet she would give old Drizzt a run for his money!!!!
Wasn't Drizzt technically a gloomstalter? Especially during his psycho episode escaping the underdark.
That's exactly where i went when i first heard about Gloomstalkers! "Finally! i get to play Alith!"
O! Fellow Alith Anar/Celebrimbor fanboys :D
I'm actually playing a Drow Gloomstalker, he is bat crap crazy on just how hard he hits with his first attack!!!! I'm so glad that I found out about this subclass, and I do feel as a veteran player that this subclass is the saving grace for the Ranger class.
Goblin any class is a great fit if your key measure of success is humor.
My Goblin Artificer is going to be EPIC!
I might be way too late but playing a Gloom Stalker myself for over 30 sessions now I want to mention another very strong Feat besides crossbow expert and sharpshooter.
While playing a wood elf I ran into a problem while creating my character with point buy and it ended in an uneven DEX score.
So I was looking for a practical feat with a +1 DEX and stumbled upon Elven Accuracy. After many sessions I have to say that this feat is a game changer for the Gloom Stalker especially combining it with sharpshooter. For a gloom stalker getting advantage given his umbral sight is most of the time an easy thing to do and with Elven Accuracy you will get tripple advantage making it nearly impossible to miss an attack. Together with sharpshooter the -5 is no risk at all while rolling three times to hit with a huge pile of damage. Also getting roughly 50% more roll per attack enables more lucky crits, increasing the damage even more.
tl;dr Elven Accuracy can be a good alternative to the Gloom Stalker gameplay when you chose an elven race.
Advantage doesn't stack
Can you guys do a Horizon Walker video next? I'd love to hear your take on the fun class I feel like it's very under rated
Seconded!
Thirded
4thed
Great summery. I just wanted to mention, since you mentioned it in the video...as a DM I loathe Crossbow Expert for the simple reason that it funnels anyone who wants to be the best ranged martial character they can into crossbows. There isn't an equivalent feat for bows or thrown weapons (since sharpshooter stacks with CE).
I hate polearm master for much the same reason for melee.
I have a shadar-kai gloomstalker with the dual wielding fighting style(rapier & whip) and some bracers of archery and gloves of missile snaring. It makes me smile. Great video!
Picking up something like Control Flames does wonders for this guy. Either by feat, race, or the new Druidic Warrior fighting style. It only has somatic components so you can silently put out light sources from a significant range. I went with the latter method on one that I am running and love it.
Playing a Gloomstalker in Eberron, damned lights everywhere.
You guys need to do a video on Kelly’s shirts. Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the dead?! I swear, he has the best shirts I’ve ever seen.
Also thank you guys for this video, I love the in-depth analysis you guys bring every time.
I was also gonna coment on that rad shirt as well
If you guys are covering subclasses, one of the subclasses I love the mechanics/theme of is the Oath of Conquest Paladin.
Just played one myself and loved it. The whole idea of frightening everything and controling the field was so fun. Armor of Agathys is a vastly underrated spell since its only for warlocks, and the having the spiritual weapon to coencide with your standard attacks and smites was perfect. Certainly a martial class that works to command the field and doll out an insane amount of damage. Though, until level 5 when you get extra attack and more spell slots, paladin itself is kinda hard to run since you run out of resources kinda quickly. But conquest is in my opinion the best paladin subclass. Unfortunately he just died last week.. I'll have to play one again sometime to see how it feels at higher levels.
I like the ethos code being branded on their arm. I have a whole ceremony in my mind. That's enough there to play them, for me.
I love how Wrathful Smite fits perfectly with Aura of Conquest. A level one spell that needs no upcasting, and a perfectly themed spell. The visual of your enemy getting smitten into pissing themselves in fear and being unable to run away, only for yourself (on your next turn) and your friends to lay down the hurt is amazing.
There is this feat, which could synergise very well with the Gloom Stalker, namely the Skulker feat.
"You are expert at slinking through shadows. You gain the following benefits:
You can try to hide when you are lightly obscured from the creature from which you are hiding.
When you are hidden from a creature and miss it with a ranged weapon attack, making the attack doesn't reveal your position.
Dim light doesn’t impose disadvantage on your Wisdom (Perception) checks relying on sight."
Loved the intro to this one! Really gets you excited for this class and captures the essence of what this character can become in the world on DND
Thank you!
Thanks to this video, I just started a sick campaign with a gloomstalker. He's literally Batman and I couldn't be happier!
I'm playing a wood elf gloomstalker ranger who is a bounty hunter, focused on ranged attacks and has a +13 to his attack with his bow
One thing that you guys didn't mention with ability scores is that the Gloomstalker is supposed to stay hidden in the shadows, so most creatures in a dark environment will have disadvantage on attacks. This means Constitution can be less important for hitpoints or concentration depending on your campaign, and high perception and better spell DC is extremely viable. Especially if you're playing the scout style of play, which the Gloomstalker lends itself extremely well to.
The ranger may be a pretty weak core class (making it sometimes frustrating), but man oh man it’s subclasses are freakin fantastic. Ranger is one of the few classes where I just want to make a character for every subclass it has.
Great video as always guys!
beastmasters still are worse than a raging wizard
Jonathan Böcker true, I use revised ranger ruleset for the beastmaster I’m playing in a campaign now, it’s much better
Jonathan Böcker you just have to build a beast master properly in order for it to not lag behind damagewise, and even be great. The problem is is that there are a lot of ways to mess up.
Edit: added “and even be great.”
Cant wait to see the hexblade class guide for my boi warlock
I'm playing a Kenku gloomstalker and loving it, so much fun!
This is super helpful. :o I recently started playing DnD for the first time with my friend's group and, being a lover of rangers/archers in MMORPGs and the "dark elf" archetype in general (pointy ears, man), I went with a half-elf Gloomstalker. This is teaching me quite a bit about how I can play her both roleplaying-wise and combat-wise. I never would've thought to actually turn off the lights to take advantage of the invisibility!
I know this I an older video but I am currently playing a gloomstalker 8/ echo knight 4 and it is incredible. Most of the other PC have dark vision so I get my way fairly often when it comes to approaching situations at night. Great video guys! This video is the reason I chose to play a gloomstalker.
I never considered a Gloomstalker for an option to transfer one of my favourite Pathfinder characters. Thanks for the guide, I'll be using it to recreate her asap :D
don't forget about elven accuracy if your an elf. Making sharpshooter super reliable is awesome, especially if you go fighter. If all 6 attacks hit with the bow thats 8d8 + 6 x dex mod + 60 damage. If its your hunters mark add an extra 6d6 to that and potentially if you take battle master, you could add some superiority die to that. All that before level 10, this truly is an amazing subclass!
I played a Gloom Stalker in a campaign for a while and I'm now recreating the character for Adventurers League - and I would strongly advise to *not* go for a Crossbow Expert (+ hand crossbow) build !
Mathematically, it might be a strong build, but the Ranger is already incredibly overloaded on bonus action uses as is, even without multi-classing into Rogue. Going the crossbow route will make for a truely unfun experience where you constantly "fear" that you will "miss out" on another Sharpshooter hit if you ever use any of the strong combat magic that the Ranger class offers.
Also keep in mind: Some magical items - like Bracers of Archery - only work with bows and there are far more powerful long bows to be found in most campaigns than hand crossbows.
On the "concentrating on Zephyr Strike" concept: While it is a concentration spell (otherwise the "next time you hit a creature"-clause wouldn't work), I don't really see it as anything to really concentrate on for extended periods of time. To me, it's just an "Oh Snap"-button that you press to get out of an ugly melee - and then drop in favor of better concentration spells as soon as possible.
I started playing in my freshman year of covid. I quickly found dungeon dudes. Now I am going thru the archives of videos form before my time. You guys have come far. Keep up the good work!
The only thing I would add to these guides are one liners for each class. Puns are hard, here are a few to get the creative juices flowing, (insert great line here). Oh, tell Jill to tell at something, "I. AM. CATMAN!"
Currently playing my very first campaign and planning on, once I hit 3rd level, choosing the Gloom Stalker subclass so thank you so much for this subclass focused video! Giving me a lot to look forward to!
I've got a Drow (worshipper of Eilistraee) gloom stalker and i just love it!
I've been wanting to play a gloom stalker for a while, and thanks to this video I've decided to create a swiftstride shifter gloom stalker for an upcoming campaign I'm gonna be in
I'm playing a swiftstride hunter, and I love her. I wonder how she would have been as a gloom stalker - but the swiftstride in general is just FUN.
Good shout out to Nerdarchy dudes. I absolutely love Dave and Ted.
I just had the idea of a sibling duo that is two gloom stalkers, one ranged & one dual wielding, that hunt down evil in areas like the underdark
Supernatural... the D&D edition
Oh Mama they‘re in fear for their lives from his sword arm and my bow
@@fenrir6470 Fucking Styx 💀
@@fenrir6470 That's a great idea.
Ive been playing a Svirfneblin gloom stalker and it's amazing.
I wish haflings were never a thing. Honestly, a half a person is not going to be effective.
Tremor sense gives the creature that has it the ability to always know your location if you are in contact with the ground. Tremor sense does not actually give the creature the ability to “see” the creature though.
Tremorsense
A monster with tremorsense can detect and pinpoint the origin of vibrations within a specific radius, provided that the monster and the source of the vibrations are in contact with the same ground or substance. Tremorsense can't be used to detect flying or incorporeal creatures. Many burrowing creatures, such as ankhegs and umber hulks, have this special sense.
BLINDSIGHT
A monster with blindsight can perceive its surroundings without relying on sight, within a specific radius.
Creatures without eyes, such as grimlocks and gray oozes, typically have this special sense, as do creatures with echolocation or heightened senses, such as bats and true dragons.
If a monster is naturally blind, it has a parenthetical note to this effect, indicating that the radius of its blindsight defines the maximum range of its perception.
Note the distinction made between blind sight. Blindsight says a creature outright perceives its surroundings, while tremor sense is described as pinpointing and detection. At first glance it might seem the same, but many of the games mechanics have pieces of language describing abilities that use the exact same words and even sentences.
It would be similar to the ability the rogue gets at level 14
Blindsense
Starting at 14th level, if you are able to hear, you are aware of the location of any hidden or invisible creature within 10 feet of you.
You know where the creature is, but you are still at disadvantage if you can’t see it.
9 creatures in MM have tremorsense, all also have Darkvision
2 creatures in Volos, all also have Darkvision
5 creatures in Mordenkainens, all also have Darkvision
I'm in my very first D&D campaign, and your vids have been very helpful, thanks! I didn't know anything about D&D a few months back when we started so it was suggested that I try out a revised ranger as a good way to ease in to the game. Went with a wood elf hordebreaker hunter, but was really tempted to try out the gloomstalker because of how cool they seemed. I'm having a blast with the ranger, and since most of our campaign is outside during the day, he's absolutely devastating when he can pick enemies apart at 600ft with sharpshooter lol. If we do an underdark campaign, I'd love to try out the gloomstalker!
I have an 8th level, Tabaxi Gloomstalker in a game setting based on Al-Qadim. I play him as the ‘jungle cat’ ambush predator type, although he’s not in the jungle, who dual wields scimitars.
Darkness doesn’t come up nearly enough but when it does I enjoy it a lot and he is flat out the best at stealth.
I haven’t worried about pass without trace and some of the other 2nd level spells you mentioned because the party includes a Land Druid (battlefield controller), but I do have Cure wounds and lesser restoration because we have a sorcerer and sometimes the Druid isn’t available to pick him up - our DM also uses things that impose conditions.
Plz do more DWARF builds. Not enough dwarf builds on youtube. Would like to see one for each class.
Twilight Cleric - They use a bill dwarf *edit hill dwarf
This tutorial was really helpful, thank you. I have a Drow Gloomstalker Ranger, and I love her abilities. Using Natural Exploration as well as her Umbral sight has really saved the party so many times. But yes, i have an in-game rivalry with a human who seems to come into the room with a torch or globe of light just as I'm hiding from an enemy :). But for the most part, this has been one of my favorite subclasses to play.
Love the subclass deep dive. I'm looking forward to your take on ALL the subclasses (in time). Keep up the great work!
Loved seeing you guys supporting other creators in your space. Nerdarchy is a great channel and I hope they really do well in their campaign.
Gloom Stalker is terrifying, especially with the rules from UA to swap features.
Turn 1, BA to Hunters Mark without concentration, then attack.
Turn 2, Zephyr Strike, then attack.
Turn 3, enemies are likely dead by now.
What do you mean by swap features?
I wasn’t aware hunter’s mark can be cast without concentration?
Y.K. New unearthed arcana on variant class features
@@ryanhale6339 which one?
Brian Tjokroadiguno it’s the one called “Variant Class Features “
If you know you'r going to fight, juste pick an ant or any small insect.. cast hunter mark on it... kill it... and for the next hour you can attach your mark as you want with your bonus action
Love the vid. The biggest reason I encourage single class builds as a Ranger is magic. I know most people focus on the martial side of the class. But Rangers' spell list is really good, and especially offloading concentration spells to free up your controller, is a huge group benefit.
For flavor, I like anything that gives me access to Thaumaturgy to pair with this... like the feat magic initiate (cleric). Walk into a room and out go the lights! Or. maybe a frost brand sword later in the game?
Loki Talosson oh shit... a tiefling gloomstalker "I'm Nightmare incarnate"
My friends and I are starting Curse of Strahd and I'm playing a gloomstalker ranger and I couldn't be more hyped
*PLEASE* talk about the Circle of Dreams Druid. Nobody talks abt it. It doesn't get enough love.
True, Ive never played this druid but it looks so fun and original
Really anything besides circle of the moon just gets left in the dust lol. But I totally agree, circle of dreams almost seems like it doesn't even exist because of how little attention it gets.
Thanks for the video! I’m playing a Leonin gloomstalker now, and it’s fun to play the lion stalking it’s prey before lashing out with a heavy assault at melee or range.
Actually wanted to check this out because I am currently playing a Stout Halfling Gloomstalker
I like playing for fluff instead of efficiency so I actually built this sub-par STR based Gloom Stalker you mentioned. We play in an urban environment. Most of the time I can't hide in the darkness (even the underdark of the city is dimly lighted) and we are the ones who get ambushed instead because it seems we are being spied all the time. However I still love my character and the class even though I don't use it in the most optimal way. My character is somewhat a monstrous brute under-dweller (kind of a mutated lizardman) that pray upon the lost and the weak with pure savagery, yet is also cunning and sneaky. I picked the Urban Bounty Hunter as a background. I actually got a very high AC even without a shield (Simic Hybird race perk + defense fighting style) so I'm the party's tank, and since we don't have a healer I'm also covering that edge with spells like goodberries and healing spirit. I also got Silence - which you didn't mention - as my spell against enemy casters. I'm currently at level 5 and going to multiclass to a fighter, like you said, for great weapons fighting, action surge and maybe even Battle Master's Maneuvers to trip-attack my opponents and make all my 6 attacks at the beginning of the battle with an advantage (probably also going to get the Great Weapons Mastery feat in the future). Overall I am very content with the class and the character. It's versatile, it's does stuff outside of battle, it's cool and feels unique to play. Obviously it's made to be better as an archer but I would say it's still very much playable and fun as it is.
I often much prefer having a PC that I can have great fun with in multiple scenarios and being the best killer is far less important to me. My builds rarely exploit the min-max capabilities that are available and often I'll take Feats/Skills/Spells that have others scratching their head but since I've been playing D&D for around 30 years, I've usually got a good reason for what I do, heh heh. My biggest nemesis is WotC themselves, trying to change things so often, not always to our enjoyment (as seen lately) :)
The new Halfling race from Explorer's Guide to Wildemount sounds really great for a Gloomstalker. Lorewise, Lotus Den Halflings are found in the wilderness of a wasteland (So, maybe you can homebrew their existence in a different setting, since their seclusion to civilization fits the Gloomstalker's descent to dangerous places like the Underdark). They get free druid cantrip and spells (Druidcraft, Entangle and Spikegrowth) and tracking against them gives a disadvantage on rolls. They're halflings too, so you can reroll 1's. And for flavor's purposes, you can choose Far Traveller as background, which gives you a pair of good wisdom skills. Or, if you really want to capitalize on the subclass itself, you can tailor it for an Urban Bounty Hunter.
Late to the Party but: Drow Gloomstalker / Warlock build, armed with a longbow. Darkvision out to 150ft, Devilsight to 120ft, Racial Darkness spell, Pact slots for Hunters Mark / Zypher Stike. can have *alot* of fun with that, especially in a Underdark themed module or campaign.
Battle master, rogue assassin, gloom stalker together first round attack with poison arrows equals epic first round damage!
Very interesting, thanks you guys!!
My group is running OotA and we are a full drow PC Group. Haven't reached full build yet but ive gone full assassin mode with this.
My plan - Arcane Archer 4 / Gloom Stalker 5 / Assassin 4 / Hexblade 7
My DM was nice a let me use improved pact weapon for Hand Crossbow too
Opening Round damage in a play test was amazing
(12d6 + 84 weapon)+(4d6 sneak attack)+(4d8 gloom stalker bonus)+(4d6 arcane shot)+(12d6 hunter's mark)+(10d8 elritch smite)
Could be a little bit brighter, but other than that, I'm loving the lighting in this episode!
I recently made a chiropteran assassin/gloom stalker, very excited to use it
I'd love to see you guys do a similar break down for the Hexblade
Love the little discussion about wis/con. Very interesting to see the disagreements as well as the arguments for each.
I’m playing out of the abyss right now as a drow gloomstalker I’ve never had an easier time even though I’m by myself
Drow Gloomstalker, very well adapted for this subclass. A character that has lived in darkness most of their lives. The pure destructive nature of this race fits nicely together with a gloomstalker.
Are you guys going to do a video on any other Ranger subclasses? I’d love to see a video on how to get the most out of a Ranger Beastmaster.
Hey Dungeon Dudes, thanks for the help! I'm an old school DM/Player, now at the 1/2 century mark, who had gotten back to D&D via PC gaming (primarily with Balder's Gate III+) along with my bro-in-law - whose daughter is a D&D player and 1st time DM, we are 2 of her 1st players. Anyway, thanks for putting out all of the info for characters as I'm about to get my "Zanathar's Guide to Everything D&D" & "Tasha's Cauldron," today, and had not thought to play a Gloom Stalker, till you two brought it up! Beginning a new campaign as a player - Half Wood Elf Gloom Stalker Ranger! Keep up the great work, guys!
Btw: My niece even listens to your podcasts! Good job and luck to you!
Pairing the gloom stalker with two levels of warlock for devil's sight would be great.
@@killinischillin2239 that's literally what devils sight gives you
Problem is stats. Ranger is dexterity and wisdom focused. Warlock is charisma focused.
I just built a UA Hobgoblin Gloomstalker for a Wildemount campaign. Very excited to see how he plays. Picked Medium Armor Master as a free level 1 Feat to make him sturdier without losing the sneak. Fortune from the Many and Fey Gift should make it VERY interesting when he drops the Robin Hood act and goes full Riddick.
11:40 Just add Zephyr Strike spell as a bonus action, and you're good to go for round 1. ;)
My favourite sub-class for my favourite class. Rangers need love! Thanks for making the video guys!
A Tiefling or Drow Gloomstalker would be unbeatable with their automatic having of the Darkness spell, I'm thinking.
Yes if you want to walk around blind in your own darkness...
A warlock gloomstalker could do that
tieflings get the thaumaturgy cantrip. which could be used to put out lanterns and candles to ensure they stay invisable to darkvision.
Skulker is an oft-overlooked feat that was practically made for the Gloomstalker and-while not as overwhelmingly powerful as some of the other feats you listed-can make you the perfect stalker of the shadows with no penalty to perception from darkness (disadvantage and -5 to passive), not being revealed if your first attack whiffs, and being able to stealth when in something as simple as the shadow cast from a tree give all the right vibes. If you're a Wood Elf then Wood Elf Magic is another great feat that will give you a free daily use of Longstrider and Pass Without Trace as well as a pick of a druid cantrip. My go-to is Druidcraft because not only can you get some navigational utility and some cool flavor out of it... you can also use it to snuff out a light source and set the stage for your hunt.
I'd also argue athletics is more valuable than acrobatics for most builds. You're already going to have high dexterity, and can definitely get the skill if you can, but athletics will really help you when it comes time climbing which is a common occurrence in both forests and the Underdark. The skill proficiency will offset the penalty from your lower Strength score and allow you to get into trees or high ledges to start your ambush where the enemy can not efficiently get to you (and where you will have cover).
I've actually played a wood elf Gloomstalker Ranger/Rogue Scout build at intermediate levels and it was a ton of fun as my "(mostly) nonmagical ranger" who excelled as a forward scout that saw all and went unseen by the rest. Here's a simplified version of him. Gloomstalker 5/Scout 15 works really well throughout the majority of its life with the bonus of the extra attack, but if you know you will make it to level 20 then Gloomstalker 3/Scout 17 gives you a REALLY good capstone that supplements dread ambusher perfectly: sneak attack twice. Here is a simplified version of my build with a couple magic items thrown in that are reasonable for the level:
ddb.ac/characters/14448806/KezEEt
A.J. Bruce I like the Skulker feat suggestion. I allow players to utilize Acrobatics for climbing, if they have a higher Dexterity than Strength. I know plenty of people who are not that strong, but are excellent climbers.
@@alanschaub147 I use acrobatics when something like balance comes into effect or if someone wants to do a flourish, but I like to stress the intended uses of skills. Dex is the power stat in 5e so I prefer to leverage athletics to keep the tables a little more balanced.
A.J. Bruce That’s a really good point. I forget sometimes that we are not necessarily going for realism and game balance is important. There are dragons in D&D, for gods sake...and gods! LOL
12:40 Also IMHO - Devil Sight technically you can just see normally in all darkness even magical darkness.
Shocked you did not bring Jill into this one for perspective and also pulls more eyes for the campaign. Just me .
I've been playing a Forest Gnome Gloom Stalker on and off over the past year, and I have to say, having minor illusion right off the bat when you take Gloom Stalker at level 3 provides even more tactical ambush scenarios even when not in the dark. It gives you a head up even when not in darkness by providing cover or creating a distraction to surprise and then get the drop on your enemies with dread ambusher. It's also a good race/class combo for storytelling, as gnomes can use this to better protect their forests, and already have a penchant for staying hidden.
Today I learned the Dishonored franchise protagonists are melee gloomstalkers, and it fits all too well.
I hope there'll be more additions to the game like Gloomstalker later on, or in the future edition.
I actually played an all rogue party and one of them found great success in investing some levels into gloom stalker
I've been playing a Gloomstalker Ranger/Arcane Archer fighter. I was able to do over 130 damage to an adult dragon with no crits in the first round. It's prrrreeeeeetttttyyyyyy goooooooooood for a level 12.
Edit: Also, an Air Genasi is pretty good for Gloomstalker also. +2 Con +1 Dex, levitate (useful for infiltration or staying out of melee range), and being able to hold your breath indefinitely (for hiding in the water).
What are the levels in each?
@@malsnipes5807 8 gloomstalker ranger/4 arcane archer
@@gregus9535
You gotta lay out how you did that much damage by only level 12
Hey dungeon dudes, love your videos. Would really like to see an in depth druid wildfire guide. I know you have a tier list discussing the basics, but a guide video just like this one would be amazing. Cheers!
Can people stop hating on the core ranger already?!?
They get a D10 HD. 2nd best behind Barbarian.
You have access to the 3rd best skill tree in the game. You get 3 skills at level 1 and you pick from a list that includes perception, athletics, stealth, survival, investigate and animal handling. If you multiclass into ranger, you get a bonus skill just like rogue/bard.
Spell casting has access to good berry, cure wounds, hunters mark, zephyr strike, absorb elements, pass without trace, spike growth, healing spirit, lightning arrow, conjure animals, swift quiver and more. Even as half casters they're not weak.
Medium armor, shield and martial weapon proficiency plus you get a fighting style.
Core rangers are 1 of the most well rounded classes even before getting into subclasses. At higher levels they can fall behind on damage per round but we're literally talking about a few points less per round which is no big deal since you can scout and heal.
One of my best 5e characters was Sylvester Stallion. A Centaur Gloom Stalker with a great sword. Strength based ranger.
The issue people have with core ranger is the favored terrain/enemy. The level one abilities of a class defines that class, but the ranger's is just too situational even though they are super cool ideas.
Plus their level 20 ability, but theres a few classes with bad capstones so it's not just them at least
Lucaccino17 In my opinion the favored terrain/enemy is only underwhelming when viewed on it's own. If you look at everything else rangers get at level 1, the ranger is completely in line with every other classes level 1. There is also the DM/player relationship to consider with favored terrain/enemy. If you tell the dm you're playing a ranger, they should offer some insight or else you're being set up to fail.
Favoured terrain is okay, natural enemy is a waste and primal awareness pointless. Level 6 is underwhelming. The action economy for spells is harsh limiting tactics. Like them otherwise.
The hate on the Ranger is somewhat justified. It's clear that when the ranger was designed, the developers were expecting the game to be played a lot differently than it was allowing the ranger more opportunities to shine than they got. I believe people at WotC have straight up come out and said this.
That's not to say the hate can't be exaggerated at times.
Lionel Gettliffe-Rudling I would say they're niche abilities and with support from your DM they can be strong. Favored enemies gets you some bonus languages and advantage on select survival checks. Natural explorer offers double proficiency bonus on perception, survival, investigation, nature, history and arcane checks if you were proficient and the check is related to your favored terrain. In general you want to talk with the DM before making a ranger but even without the niche abilities rangers are decent. With Hunters mark you do 3d6 plus strength with a great sword which is comparable to a 4th level rogue and at 5 it becomes 6d6 plus 2x str mod which stays relevant until 11. So even if you get nothing out of favored enemies/terrain, you're still doing just fine and that's before looking at subclasses, race and ASI/feats.
So distracted by Kelly's shirt. Love it. Shawn of the dead, hot fuzz, and worlds end. (correct me if I'm wrong) another great video. Keep it up guys.
I just found one of my old 3.5 books. It’s called Enemies and Allies. In it there is a Mind Flayer Assassin. I’m thinking about modifying him to fifth edition but making it a gloomstalker ranger instead of an assassin. 😈
Best GS I could figure out was an archer starting Wood Elf (10 17 14 8 16 8) Champion Fighter to 5, GS 3, then Fighter the rest of the way (or at least to 11). Besides their level 2 spells (ie Healing Spirit) and Wisdom saves (attainable through a feat) the latter Gloomstalker features aren't particularly worthwhile, so it just dips for the archetype features and Hunter's Mark.
Starting Fighter solves the concentration issue through CON proficiency, and gives the character a trio of very synergistic abilities: Action Surge, Improved Critical, and Remarkable Athlete. Eventually Extra Attack (2). Beelinig for Extra Attack at 5 means the build doesn't have any glaring weak spots before it "comes online", and isn't forced into any awkward play styles before all the pieces are in place either.
Feats/ASIs are Elven Accuracy (DEX 18) at level 4, DEX 20 at level 9 (FTR 6), and Sharpshooter at 11 (FTR 8). DEX 20 and SS can switch places; the damage difference is small.
At level 11 the maximum effort combat combo is going first in the round with a +10 initiative, casting Hunter's Mark, pulling back into shadows or beyond enemy sight range, and making 6 attacks with the Action Surge + Dread Ambusher interaction, each enjoying the benefits of Elven Accuracy, expanded crit, HM, and Sharpshooter.
IDK but I've been thinking about the Sailor background for this character. The survivalist that go to the island first
Lol! Sounds like Oliver Queen
This plus Jill inspired my one off character for an upcoming game. Standard array, DeX-Con-Wis-Str-Int-Cha, variant human, sharphooter... starting at lvl 5... this vid was really helpful in thinking about how to start things out. Thanks a ton!
I’d like to see a multi class into shadow monk especially if in melee having stunning strike or flurry of blows to add onto the end of the opening combat could work well as well as shadowstep could be something to think about. The ability scores in DEX and WIS line up well.
With the added benefits on using ki points on a few other things like darkness, pass without trace.
Could be an interesting character concept.
Keep it up guys. These guides are amazing. I'm doing an arcane assassin right now but my next campaign I'm definitely going to be Gloom Stalking
The Gloomstalker & Horizon Walker make Rangers great again.
Gloom Stalker for the multiclasser in you, Horizon Walker for those dedicated to walking the Ranger plank.
Personally, I think Horizon Walker is the weakest ranger subclass, including the ones in phb. Their bonus damage ability is just so clunky, needing to spend bonus action on it every round.
@@Klaital1 Yeah it is kinda clunky but the fact that it's a free unlimited Hunter's Mark that does force damage is pretty good. Plus their later ability to teleport a million times between attacks is neat.
I love my dwarf gloom stalker, who is the clans cave explorer and scout, I did multi class him as a shadow monk. Combining the scout aspect with light weapons and no armor. And then blending umbral sight with shadow step and being able to see in your kitchen cast darkness spell makes you just awesome
Beard is looking great :)
About a year ago, I played a Tabaxi Gloomstalker Assassin, in a game I joined around level 10, what a crazy opening round.