One feat that I'll add if you're playing a Tiefling or a Dark Elf is Eldritch Adept for Devils Sight. That essentially lets you have always-on advantage while you have your Darkness spell up. Pair that with CE and SS, and that's a lot of attacks that are hitting a lot more reliably. (Though admittedly, this does work better on a Fighter, because they get more ASI's).
Hi Flutes, I just wrapped up a short arc playing a Monster Slayer Ranger last night. I was using the Tasha's version of the Ranger. I was blown away by the class, I was a skirmisher build as opposed to a sniper build. I would have to argue that ranger is one of the most overlooked classes on 5e. The amount of variability that is at your disposal is absurd. Much recommend, would play again.
Hi Mike! I hope Rangers cease to be frowned upon by D&D players! Early memes and flavor rejection really soured it, but it has never been a weak class. I'm glad you enjoy playing one even when not playing a sniper. Rangers are versatile and they can get the job done even if they're not using a crossbow.
@@FlutesLoot I don't think it was a weak class, it was just notably situational, and in the situations where they were good simply made those moments go faster, with Tasha's, it sort of became a "this person is great at exploration but they can also shift some of those travel skills to other things", idk how to explain it exactly
@@GoblinLord I don't think the Ranger has fundamentally changed. It always had good spells, good attacks, etc. It had features that were situational, but those didn't mess with what the Ranger was otherwise good at. I believe Rangers just didn't meet many players' expectations early on, and they labeled it as being bad.
I think sometimes people think of rangers as fighters with a bow and they are not. They are a martial support class that has various means of supporting a party. These are my suggestions for Rangers. Some are agreements with you but they are marked with a * and have some other notes. Ritual caster Wizard - As a half caster, more spells are useful and the ones that come with Wizard augment the Ranger from spell one. You can start off with two spells and why not start off with Find Familiar. Find Familiar is an very on brand spell as even the Ranger class pages has an owl on it. Second (more for flavor then not) get Alarm. Alarm is great for securing the rest areas, preventing thieves from easily borrowing stuff or even just knowing that the bad guy that you tied up is out and about. Other good spells in the first level are good, a couple of creative second level spells and you can get them all; but once you get to the level 3 spells this pick really shines. Tiny hut (it is a magic tent), Phantom Steed, water breathing and then Telepathic Bond. All on Brand and all really useful and you can get even more. Just takes - time and cash. Since you can’t get plate so you have some cash to spare right. Fey Touched* - This feat could have been custom made for the Ranger. The odds on pick is Silvery Barbs. If not just because you likely did not add to much to your Wisdom and this helps deal with that guy that made the save just crit you to not - and then advantage back at them. Also, (if your DM allows) Gift of Alacrity because of you can get to “win” Initiative you can set the battle field or make it impossible for your Gloom Stalker to ever fail to have his/her pick of who to remove from the battle. And if you get surrounded or need a better place to snipe from you are just one Misty Step away from being where you want to be. Mobile* - Thanks to Tasha a Ranger gets a bit more movement (Roving) but also climbing and swimming speed. Get the most out of it by adding 10’ speed to those new movements you have and you get the benefit of magnifying Zephyr strike, Gloomstalker’s burst range and any Ranger can reposition drop dead easily. You are almost unstoppable. Skulker - Most people just give a look to the second part of the feat were you don’t loose advantage but for rangers it is Better then that. Yes Rangers sometime are all about perception. This skill makes it so that even the insanely common dim light will not stop you seeing them. Before you think “ but Darkvision” listen up, darkvision only makes darkness in to “dim light” and that means disadvantage in your perception rolls and -5 in your passive perception. Also, this is helpful (even for wood elven) this gives you that ability to hide in more situations so you can get the most out of your likely choice of Stealth skill. (And if you multi into Rogue you are welcome) Gift of the metallic Dragon - This is for Beastmaster and Drakewarden rangers for the most part with honorable mention for other rangers. First, most Rangers given a choice of Goodberry and Cure Wounds are getting berry and this giver them the more powerful healing option when they need it. This feat can help with that; but that is not why we are here. When you are Drake warden or a beastmaster it is likely hard to get ways to help them for AC boosts . Thanks to this your Companion creature have a small taste of the shield spell to help it they are just barely hit. Of course this could come up multiple times a day and as a half caster even if you got shield spell, using it will drain your slots. Sometimes you just need to add more a couple of points to ac do save yourself recasting your friend. So it is for these subclasses that this makes my list. Chef - This is always a very theme centric feat and a low level helpful one too. The idea of the person that works with animal feeding them or a rescuer giving food to a lost person they have found is iconic. Also, I think most DM will let you make that Animal handling check a lot more often if you give them food - helped us domesticate dog so there is that. Also, you already are going to be able to get the meal in the wild so may as well give everyone more hit points then they recover there hit dice in a short rest when you don’t have a bard to help with that. (This half feat also helps event out stats so I would be criminal not to include it.) Inspiring Leader - This is a reach but a useful one if you can fit in that 13 Charisma. With a party full of friends, companion animals, summoned animals and familiars, the ability to give the a small buff of temp hit points will come in handy. Just remember that the summons creatures that can last an hour but don’t heal and a ranger can be understand by them. So after they take some damage in a fight and the next one may happen soon- give them a pep talk and get them ready for the next fight. Also, don’t forget you don’t have to stop moving to do this. Apply liberally. Prodigy, Skill Expert and skilled - of all the martial classes, the Ranger is the king 👑 of skills -starting with 3. If you don’t have a rogue or you want to be the party face or just want to be the most Rangerist Ranger that ever took to the Range these options are for you. You can even get persuasion, that way when you have to talk to your fellowship and urge them into fighting hopeless odds, they may like it. Gift of the Gem Dragon (low level conditional) this is my lowest pick because it is mostly useful in a Tier 1-2 campaign which is a survival campaign and where you as an archer may be unable to completely control distance. It is not guaranteed. Even if they come back if you do that damage it will really help you end that fight (t1-2) but it is a half feat and lowest on my list.
Those are well-explained notes for some fine concepts! Fey Touched and Ritual Caster are fantastic on so many characters. I think every party deserves someone who can use rituals. And you're right about Skulker vs darkvision. Skulker is almost like the Observant feat if you're in dim light with normal vision or darkness with darkvision.
My current character is a Thri-Kreen (big spider) Swarm Keeper (thousands more spiders). He has 2 hand crossbows for dual wielding, so there is no need for CE, and he has an 18 AC with a Shield and Chameleon Carapace. On average, 20 DPR at 3rd level and 30 at 5th (both with Hunter’s Mark thrown in before battle).
Fey wanderer ranger Crusher feat and choosing the druidic warrior style to get shillelagh and magic stone, so both make bludgeoning damage, if shoot the stone with the sling is less range but can combine with sharpshooter Good on this is those attacks use only wisdom, and the fey wanderer get to add your wisdom mod to charisma checks, so is basically an wisdom-only build, can add constitution as second stat and use medium or heavy armor, with a club or quarterstarff both make same damage since shillelagh so you can use a shield and can be bulky ranger outlander who push people away, even from afar with magic stone, since is an attack and is affected by Crusher to move targets hitted, good to knockdown watchtowers-enemies
I'm a fan of Medium Armor Master. This means Ranger's moderately high DEX (16-17) can take a backseat for either STR or WIS builds & while building towards Stealth & high AC. Ranger's Tasha's-kit: Deft Explorer's features can help bring that Stealth front & center starting with Expertise (Stealth) & Roving. Then, hopefully, getting to wear Dragon Scale Mail.
3 Things: (1) I think that the importance of Wisdom is dependent on the subclass you choose. Gloomstalkers, for example, want a good Wisdom cause it benefits their initiative. It also depends on if you're playing in a campaign that plans on going all the way to level 20 (and where you don't want to multiclass). That level 20 ability is reliant on Wisdom. (2) I'd argue that it's a poor choice to go Crossbow Expert with a Gloomstalker because the range of the hand crossbow is so limited. Close range means you're easily going to be in Lit areas and you lose the massive benefit of Umbral Sight (advantage to attack/disadvantage to be attacked). You want to be in darkness - at night, in dungeons, or caves, in the underdark - which means distance. And that favors the Longbow. That also frees up your bonus action for other things and saves you a feat. (3) You should probably have a set of feats that will be good for every class and not include those in the top 10 unless it has something specific to offer the class you're talking about - Lucky, Fey Touched, Alert, and Tough for example.
Hi Brian F, thanks for sharing your thoughts! (1) The Gloomstalker's damage output will be greater if it doesn't try to pump its Wisdom for another +1 to Initiative. I would also never recommend pumping Wisdom for the Ranger's level 20 feature because it's notoriously horrible. Even Ranger subclasses that put Wisdom to more use would probably be more effective with Dexterity feats than Wisdom investment. (2) I believe the range of a crossbow is fine, and a longbow can be used for longer range if needed. Getting another attack as a bonus action has math on its side in the majority of scenarios. I'm not sure where your assumption comes from regarding darkness requiring distance. Can you explain that? (3) I'm fine with the suggestion to segment feat suggestions by generalized and specialized. It would probably be more useful and explorative, but sometimes the generalized are better than the specialized, unfortunately.
I agree, Mayhan S, feats can complement whatever kind of character you're building. My multiclassing article for Rangers is a better fit to that end than a list of feat suggestions.
@@FlutesLoot Umbral Sight requires that the opponents are using darkvision. They're not using their Darkvision if they and you are in a brightly or dimly lit area - torches, a bonfire, the Light or daylight spells - which means you lose the benefit of Invisibility. Hand Crossbows are 30/120. You need Sharpshooter to change that. For most Lineages, you will have to take Crossbow Expert at level 4 and then wait till level 8 for Sharpshooter. Most games end around level 10. That's 7 levels that you have to be within 30 ft to avoid disadvantage. You can maintain the needed distance out to 120 but then adv and disadv cancel each other out. That doesn't use Gloomstalker to its maximum. You can go Human Variant or Custom Lineage to change that to level 1 and then 4. But that's a big limitation on character creation. (I personally don't use Custom Lineages in my games but that's DM specific). -You're right that the math favors hand crossbow but does the math take all these issues into account? It just assumes perfect capabilities for both. A longbow Gloomstalker is more likely to maintain advantage on attacks and hit using the Sharpshooter feat for +10 damage 4 levels earlier than most Hand crossbow using Rangers (no half or 3/4s cover benefit to boot). Also, since you don't need Crossbow Expert, you can take Piercer or straight +2 to Dex for +1 to hit and damage at level 8. Lastly, take a look at Wotc modules, you're much more likely to find a magical Longbow than a magical Hand Crossbow. -If you can get yourself to a 16 Wisdom by putting an 8 in CHA and a 10 in Int, that can be worth it depending on the campaign and subclass. Some might decide to go 16 in Con and 14 Wis but that's up to the individual. I think its easy for a ranger to avoid damage the longer distance it can be away from enemies and so go for 16 Wis personally (another thing that favors longbow over crossbow).
@@fortunatus1 Thanks for expounding on your points! I find these are exceptional instances rather than the common circumstances, so I'd probably stick to my recommendations. If you don't want to use Custom Lineage or Variant Human for a level-one feat, you can use whatever weapon suits you until you can take those feats later on. If you want to play a Ranger with abilities that use your bonus action, it's natural to opt out of Crossbow Expert and do something else. I think I'd be in error to not point out the conflict for consideration, however.
I will also add a counter, just to promote discussion. I personally think that the conflict between Crossbow Expert and Ranger's Bonus Action options is less of a flaw in subclass design, and more of a flaw in the design of the two major feats in question: Sharpshooter and Crossbow Expert. Those two feats essentially nullify most benefits a subclass can give you by simply being too powerful. It makes variety in builds difficult, because it's almost required to take them both. Not only does that limit your style options, but it also costs you 2 valuable ASI's, which Rangers don't have many of, especially for a MAD class. An option (or two) that is so much better than everything else is worse for the game than several options that are relatively equal in power, but force you to choose what is the best for the situation at hand. There's my hot take. If you're interested in how I would personally fix this problem, Treantmonk has a video that describes an excellent option. It's about three house rules that he intends to use in his games going forward, and I highly recommend checking it out.
Ah, you're right. I have an article that goes over my thoughts on all the feats, and my scores for game design are lower for CE/SS feats. Even then, it seems like a design flaw with the bonus action system that WotC hasn't accounted for in most cases. I'm a fan of Treantmonk, so I'm familiar with his 3 house rules video. Not everyone is a fan (some optimizers are very opinionated in certain Discord servers), but I found Chris' ideas fascinating.
Yeah, I like it because it comes with a stat boost that can lead to a +1 to damage and accuracy. Its other features are nice but nothing crazy powerful, which I think makes it a well-designed feat. I know Piercer won't make a lot of optimizer lists, but it's a community favorite.
I've used Gloomstalker but I've honestly had the most fun as a BeastMaster(Tasha's) and Fey Wanderer. The Swarmkeeper is fun as well but the campaign died. The only one i used a crossbow with is the gloomstalker. strength for the BM as well as longbow. Longbow for the FW. But also it allows we to play the face and still dump my charisma
Those who say rangers are weak are stuck in the old meta and haven't really checked what xanathars and especially tasha's brought to the table for rangers. rangers now are arguably the best non-full caster class in the game which puts them at #6-7 among all the classes in the game which is good for the middle rank. here's the top 5 feats i use on my optimized ranger builds: 1. feytouched- great for rounding out an odd wis score for caster-type rangers like beastmasters. it's especially useful for beastmasters/drakewardens as they can use this to pick up dissonant whispers/command to generate opportunity attacks for themselves, their pet and their summon. 2. piercer/gunner/elven accuracy- great way to round out an odd dex score. piercer is of particular note for those gloomstalker/assassin builds while elven accuracy is of particular note for gloomstalker/hexblade crit-fisher builds. 3. ritual caster- great way to diversify the ranger's spellcasting plus giving them access to the useful find familiar, phantom steed and unseen servant for combat. 4. crusher- great way to round out a STRangers odd str score. forced movement is so useful in 5e currently. 5. sharpshooter- this is a staple of how to improve martial dmg. of course it'll be here.
i just have to throw in polearm master and sentinel in here, specially if your dm allows you the UA Tunnel Fighter fighting style. A Str Ranger is really Unique as a melee since u have a lot of AoE potential with the Hunter Subclass. u can just fight of Hordes of Monsters on your own.
A strength-based Ranger with a Polearm is certainly viable and useful. Rangers are versatile, so they can get a lot done. The Hunter has unique tools for battling multiple enemies, though I wouldn't say it's enough to solo them if they have substantial hitpoints. Tunnel Fighter is crazy powerful. :P
well you definitely can keep them of your distance with unlimited attacks of opportunity. maybe u don‘t kill them in a round but u can most certain stall them for a lot of time.
I envision a Lizardfolk Hunter with a heavy reach weapon here. since spears or reach weapons were there much much earlier than bows in history, this makes a really interesting theme for a more crude civilization.
@@Kerinnon19 the closest thing to Tunnel Fighter that made it to actual print is the Cavalier Fighter. I don't think Tunnel Fighter will ever be official, but the Cavalier has similar abilities.
How about some dual wield options. I know two-weapon fighting is nerfed to crap in 5e but I'd love to build on a 5 attack per round beast master ranger at level 11
@@FlutesLoot I mean paladins have it better. Devine favor while wearing full plate with the defense stance and dualwield gives them AC 20...and they can be strength based or dex based as welll
Sharpshooter is the best feat for a ranged ranger. Crossbow Expert is poor without it (no range), and in my view an unnecessary choice in general for most Rangers, who have such great options for their bonus actions with their class features, spells (11 bonus action spells to choose from!) and often subclass features too.
Hi Shard! Thanks for weighing in. I've had player after player hate their Rangers because they tried to use the bonus action spells and found that they weren't very reliable or good. I've taught this game to many dozens of friends, and everyone who plays a Ranger has been disappointed when trying to use spells they *thought* would be cool and impactful in combat. To be fair, I'm speaking mostly from the pre-Xanathar's age of 5e. New players love to play Rangers, and they were often disappointed in this way, and I think that's a big reason the common meme has been that Rangers are bad (even if I completely disagree). Maybe that has changed? The hand crossbow is fine without Sharpshooter unless you're constantly in scenarios where range needs to be distanced. Most dungeons don't require much range. Looking at the modules that WotC releases, most combat encounters I recall do not place me far from the monsters in an enclosed space, anyway. Even if they do, it has been easy to move into position. For subclass features, we can look at the Horizon Walker as an example. It can gain an additional average damage per turn of 4.5 (1d8) compared to the average damage of a bonus action attack stacked with Sharpshooter for *probably* a minimum of 13 damage before rolls. It's fine to pass up the Sharpshooter/Crossbow Expert combo if it's not what you want (pretty much anything in the game is viable and can be fun), but it's objectively more impactful to take the option that deals more damage. This is why I say Ranger subclass design is tricky since they rely on their bonus action for their features, spells, and they compete with the damage output of just making another attack. I'd personally not go with Crossbow Expert if I played a Ranger who relied too much on bonus actions (because I can't stand redundancies and crowded action economies), but I'd be missing the mark to not put the highest damage combo at the top of my list, in my opinion (especially because the alternatives don't typically add much beyond their damage increases). Again, I'm not saying there is one way to build a Ranger and have fun; I'm saying I believe is the best choice or combination of choices to consider and weigh decisions against for character creation and progression. Knowing the value of combinations like Sharpshooter and Crossbow Expert, or Polearm Master and Great Weapon Master is important for players to understand when playing martial classes so they can make informed decisions.
@@FlutesLoot My issue is that you don't get the extra attack AND the bonus damage until you're 2 feats in. Unless you are Custom Lineage or Variant Human that will be level 8 at the earliest, and you won't get any ASI's until level 12. There's loads of 'white room' analyses out there that contrast Crossbow Expert with Hunter's Mark for the Ranger bonus action, but that's not an apples to apples comparison. What you should be comparing is Crossbow Expert (hand crossbow) vs Sharpshooter + Hunter's Mark (longbow) - and that's a completely different kettle of fish. Like I say, Crossbow Expert only edges ahead when it's *combined* with Sharpshooter, and for most races that's only at level 8. I like Hunter's Mark, Zephyr Strike and Ensnaring Strike, all offer interesting options that a Crossbow Expert probably won't be considering
Good points, so I want to explore the idea. I just created an Excel table to analyze a fourth-level Ranger's DPR with CE alone vs the combination of SS+HM as you suggested. I assumed a Dexterity of 16 and the Archery Fighting Style. I accounted for critical hit chances and chances to hit AC. When Sharpshooter is used, I assume each shot is using the -5 to hit as that's the main point of the comparison. Against AC 12 monsters, CE has DPR of 10.01, and SS+HM has DPR of 10.18 (almost the same but CE doesn't use a spell slot). Against AC 18 monsters, CE has DPR of 6.01, and SS+HM has DPR of 4.07. (CE is better and doesn't use a spell slot, once again). My conclusion is that I can match HM+SS damage output with CE alone, so it's better to take CE for damage and concentrate on non-HM spells that don't require bonus actions. I'd also note that Hunter's Mark isn't much better than the new Favored Foe from Tasha's when making only one attack at levels 1-4. I didn't include Favored Foe in my calculations, but it boosts the damage of attacking when not concentrating on a spell as HM and it doesn't burn a spell slot. I know there are nuances like knowing when to not take the -5 to attack rolls due to enemies having high ACs, but the math is still in favor of my hypothesis. I know this is a lab-room analysis, so there are variables that DPR doesn't account for. Anything I'm missing?
@@FlutesLoot Range and cover :) Your longbow's damage is the same from 10 to 600ft, ignoring half and 3/4 cover (although you will not be able to apply Hunter's Mark at more than 90ft - time for favored foe). Damage of hand crossbow drops off at 35 ft and/or there is any cover (until you also get Sharpshooter) and is nil beyond 120ft. Even combat at 30ft or less will often see your front liners providing half cover to the enemies they are engaged with.
@@ShardPF2e I don't have a way to meter how often a character will face a creature 600 feet away in a forest vs 5 feet away in a cramped dungeon, so it comes down to player preference/need. My recommendation is still to get both CE and SS. A Ranger can carry both a crossbow and a longbow, especially with a beast of burden or wagon that the party may have.
Unpopular opinion: Not a fan of Crossbow Expert or Sharpshooter for pigeonholing the Ranger. I'm glad they're neutering them in the new 2024 update. Hopefully it goes through publishing.
Doesn't judge Sharpshooter for being a feat not everyone would take because they don't use a bow but deducts Elven Accuracy for being racial dependant. 10/10 brain function.
If every Ranger character were an Elf, I'd still not place Elven Accuracy above #6. I base that on the math of how good it is to add a third d20 to advantage, which is well-documented. Have a good day.
Ooof right off to a terrible start. "Elven Accuracy, I don't place it higher because, you are not always going to be an elf for one thing" What. the. F*** is that kind of an argument? You also aren't a great weapon user so should Great Weapon Master get points deductions because not everyone is swinging a Maul? A car should get a lower review because not everyone drives a car? Please rate each feat as if it is actually applicable, in which case, Elven Accuracy is S-tier.
I have another video about Elven Accuracy (it's a Short) and an article about it. It's a good feat, but it's not typically an early-game pick (sometimes Rogues like it early). It boosts accuracy by 10-15% when you have advantage (depending on enemy AC), and I demonstrate that math in another video from last week. I think an honorable mention at #9 is fine for this Ranger feats video (I recently updated the accompanying article to place it at #8). Rangers at level ten with Nature's Veil (new feature from Tasha's) can reliably get advantage on attacks after using a bonus action, so some Ranger builds might choose to focus on a longbow with Elven Accuracy and Sharpshooter since advantage can be reliably gained. Rangers are versatile. :) I'm not sure what the argument is with Great Weapon Master since this is a Ranger video; feel free to clarify if you would like to discuss it. Have a nice day!
My guy… you gotta be an elf. Unless theres a rule im not aware if. Is there? For real, is there a way for a non elf to use a feat that has elf in the title?
Article here: www.flutesloot.com/best-ranger-feats-dnd-5e/?
One feat that I'll add if you're playing a Tiefling or a Dark Elf is Eldritch Adept for Devils Sight. That essentially lets you have always-on advantage while you have your Darkness spell up. Pair that with CE and SS, and that's a lot of attacks that are hitting a lot more reliably. (Though admittedly, this does work better on a Fighter, because they get more ASI's).
Great idea!
Hi Flutes, I just wrapped up a short arc playing a Monster Slayer Ranger last night. I was using the Tasha's version of the Ranger. I was blown away by the class, I was a skirmisher build as opposed to a sniper build.
I would have to argue that ranger is one of the most overlooked classes on 5e. The amount of variability that is at your disposal is absurd. Much recommend, would play again.
Hi Mike!
I hope Rangers cease to be frowned upon by D&D players! Early memes and flavor rejection really soured it, but it has never been a weak class. I'm glad you enjoy playing one even when not playing a sniper. Rangers are versatile and they can get the job done even if they're not using a crossbow.
@@FlutesLoot I don't think it was a weak class, it was just notably situational, and in the situations where they were good simply made those moments go faster, with Tasha's, it sort of became a "this person is great at exploration but they can also shift some of those travel skills to other things", idk how to explain it exactly
@@GoblinLord I don't think the Ranger has fundamentally changed. It always had good spells, good attacks, etc.
It had features that were situational, but those didn't mess with what the Ranger was otherwise good at. I believe Rangers just didn't meet many players' expectations early on, and they labeled it as being bad.
I think sometimes people think of rangers as fighters with a bow and they are not. They are a martial support class that has various means of supporting a party. These are my suggestions for Rangers. Some are agreements with you but they are marked with a * and have some other notes.
Ritual caster Wizard - As a half caster, more spells are useful and the ones that come with Wizard augment the Ranger from spell one. You can start off with two spells and why not start off with Find Familiar. Find Familiar is an very on brand spell as even the Ranger class pages has an owl on it. Second (more for flavor then not) get Alarm. Alarm is great for securing the rest areas, preventing thieves from easily borrowing stuff or even just knowing that the bad guy that you tied up is out and about. Other good spells in the first level are good, a couple of creative second level spells and you can get them all; but once you get to the level 3 spells this pick really shines. Tiny hut (it is a magic tent), Phantom Steed, water breathing and then Telepathic Bond. All on Brand and all really useful and you can get even more. Just takes - time and cash. Since you can’t get plate so you have some cash to spare right.
Fey Touched* - This feat could have been custom made for the Ranger. The odds on pick is Silvery Barbs. If not just because you likely did not add to much to your Wisdom and this helps deal with that guy that made the save just crit you to not - and then advantage back at them. Also, (if your DM allows) Gift of Alacrity because of you can get to “win” Initiative you can set the battle field or make it impossible for your Gloom Stalker to ever fail to have his/her pick of who to remove from the battle. And if you get surrounded or need a better place to snipe from you are just one Misty Step away from being where you want to be.
Mobile* - Thanks to Tasha a Ranger gets a bit more movement (Roving) but also climbing and swimming speed. Get the most out of it by adding 10’ speed to those new movements you have and you get the benefit of magnifying Zephyr strike, Gloomstalker’s burst range and any Ranger can reposition drop dead easily. You are almost unstoppable.
Skulker - Most people just give a look to the second part of the feat were you don’t loose advantage but for rangers it is Better then that. Yes Rangers sometime are all about perception. This skill makes it so that even the insanely common dim light will not stop you seeing them. Before you think “ but Darkvision” listen up, darkvision only makes darkness in to “dim light” and that means disadvantage in your perception rolls and -5 in your passive perception. Also, this is helpful (even for wood elven) this gives you that ability to hide in more situations so you can get the most out of your likely choice of Stealth skill. (And if you multi into Rogue you are welcome)
Gift of the metallic Dragon - This is for Beastmaster and Drakewarden rangers for the most part with honorable mention for other rangers. First, most Rangers given a choice of Goodberry and Cure Wounds are getting berry and this giver them the more powerful healing option when they need it. This feat can help with that; but that is not why we are here. When you are Drake warden or a beastmaster it is likely hard to get ways to help them for AC boosts . Thanks to this your Companion creature have a small taste of the shield spell to help it they are just barely hit. Of course this could come up multiple times a day and as a half caster even if you got shield spell, using it will drain your slots. Sometimes you just need to add more a couple of points to ac do save yourself recasting your friend. So it is for these subclasses that this makes my list.
Chef - This is always a very theme centric feat and a low level helpful one too. The idea of the person that works with animal feeding them or a rescuer giving food to a lost person they have found is iconic. Also, I think most DM will let you make that Animal handling check a lot more often if you give them food - helped us domesticate dog so there is that. Also, you already are going to be able to get the meal in the wild so may as well give everyone more hit points then they recover there hit dice in a short rest when you don’t have a bard to help with that. (This half feat also helps event out stats so I would be criminal not to include it.)
Inspiring Leader - This is a reach but a useful one if you can fit in that 13 Charisma. With a party full of friends, companion animals, summoned animals and familiars, the ability to give the a small buff of temp hit points will come in handy. Just remember that the summons creatures that can last an hour but don’t heal and a ranger can be understand by them. So after they take some damage in a fight and the next one may happen soon- give them a pep talk and get them ready for the next fight. Also, don’t forget you don’t have to stop moving to do this. Apply liberally.
Prodigy, Skill Expert and skilled - of all the martial classes, the Ranger is the king 👑 of skills -starting with 3. If you don’t have a rogue or you want to be the party face or just want to be the most Rangerist Ranger that ever took to the Range these options are for you. You can even get persuasion, that way when you have to talk to your fellowship and urge them into fighting hopeless odds, they may like it.
Gift of the Gem Dragon (low level conditional) this is my lowest pick because it is mostly useful in a Tier 1-2 campaign which is a survival campaign and where you as an archer may be unable to completely control distance. It is not guaranteed. Even if they come back if you do that damage it will really help you end that fight (t1-2) but it is a half feat and lowest on my list.
Those are well-explained notes for some fine concepts! Fey Touched and Ritual Caster are fantastic on so many characters. I think every party deserves someone who can use rituals.
And you're right about Skulker vs darkvision. Skulker is almost like the Observant feat if you're in dim light with normal vision or darkness with darkvision.
My current character is a Thri-Kreen (big spider) Swarm Keeper (thousands more spiders).
He has 2 hand crossbows for dual wielding, so there is no need for CE, and he has an 18 AC with a Shield and Chameleon Carapace.
On average, 20 DPR at 3rd level and 30 at 5th (both with Hunter’s Mark thrown in before battle).
I love the spider angle and the crossbows!
Fey wanderer ranger
Crusher feat and choosing the druidic warrior style to get shillelagh and magic stone, so both make bludgeoning damage, if shoot the stone with the sling is less range but can combine with sharpshooter
Good on this is those attacks use only wisdom, and the fey wanderer get to add your wisdom mod to charisma checks, so is basically an wisdom-only build, can add constitution as second stat and use medium or heavy armor, with a club or quarterstarff both make same damage since shillelagh so you can use a shield and can be bulky ranger outlander who push people away, even from afar with magic stone, since is an attack and is affected by Crusher to move targets hitted, good to knockdown watchtowers-enemies
I love this idea! That's a creative way to utiltize Crusher as a Ranger. I'd also enjoy it with the Swarmkeeper Ranger for extra pushing.
I'm a fan of Medium Armor Master. This means Ranger's moderately high DEX (16-17) can take a backseat for either STR or WIS builds & while building towards Stealth & high AC. Ranger's Tasha's-kit: Deft Explorer's features can help bring that Stealth front & center starting with Expertise (Stealth) & Roving. Then, hopefully, getting to wear Dragon Scale Mail.
3 Things: (1) I think that the importance of Wisdom is dependent on the subclass you choose. Gloomstalkers, for example, want a good Wisdom cause it benefits their initiative. It also depends on if you're playing in a campaign that plans on going all the way to level 20 (and where you don't want to multiclass). That level 20 ability is reliant on Wisdom.
(2) I'd argue that it's a poor choice to go Crossbow Expert with a Gloomstalker because the range of the hand crossbow is so limited. Close range means you're easily going to be in Lit areas and you lose the massive benefit of Umbral Sight (advantage to attack/disadvantage to be attacked). You want to be in darkness - at night, in dungeons, or caves, in the underdark - which means distance. And that favors the Longbow. That also frees up your bonus action for other things and saves you a feat.
(3) You should probably have a set of feats that will be good for every class and not include those in the top 10 unless it has something specific to offer the class you're talking about - Lucky, Fey Touched, Alert, and Tough for example.
besides the ranger subclasses make the theme of your character really unique and feats can really compliment that.
Hi Brian F, thanks for sharing your thoughts!
(1) The Gloomstalker's damage output will be greater if it doesn't try to pump its Wisdom for another +1 to Initiative. I would also never recommend pumping Wisdom for the Ranger's level 20 feature because it's notoriously horrible. Even Ranger subclasses that put Wisdom to more use would probably be more effective with Dexterity feats than Wisdom investment.
(2) I believe the range of a crossbow is fine, and a longbow can be used for longer range if needed. Getting another attack as a bonus action has math on its side in the majority of scenarios. I'm not sure where your assumption comes from regarding darkness requiring distance. Can you explain that?
(3) I'm fine with the suggestion to segment feat suggestions by generalized and specialized. It would probably be more useful and explorative, but sometimes the generalized are better than the specialized, unfortunately.
I agree, Mayhan S, feats can complement whatever kind of character you're building. My multiclassing article for Rangers is a better fit to that end than a list of feat suggestions.
@@FlutesLoot Umbral Sight requires that the opponents are using darkvision. They're not using their Darkvision if they and you are in a brightly or dimly lit area - torches, a bonfire, the Light or daylight spells - which means you lose the benefit of Invisibility. Hand Crossbows are 30/120. You need Sharpshooter to change that. For most Lineages, you will have to take Crossbow Expert at level 4 and then wait till level 8 for Sharpshooter. Most games end around level 10. That's 7 levels that you have to be within 30 ft to avoid disadvantage. You can maintain the needed distance out to 120 but then adv and disadv cancel each other out. That doesn't use Gloomstalker to its maximum. You can go Human Variant or Custom Lineage to change that to level 1 and then 4. But that's a big limitation on character creation. (I personally don't use Custom Lineages in my games but that's DM specific).
-You're right that the math favors hand crossbow but does the math take all these issues into account? It just assumes perfect capabilities for both. A longbow Gloomstalker is more likely to maintain advantage on attacks and hit using the Sharpshooter feat for +10 damage 4 levels earlier than most Hand crossbow using Rangers (no half or 3/4s cover benefit to boot). Also, since you don't need Crossbow Expert, you can take Piercer or straight +2 to Dex for +1 to hit and damage at level 8. Lastly, take a look at Wotc modules, you're much more likely to find a magical Longbow than a magical Hand Crossbow.
-If you can get yourself to a 16 Wisdom by putting an 8 in CHA and a 10 in Int, that can be worth it depending on the campaign and subclass. Some might decide to go 16 in Con and 14 Wis but that's up to the individual. I think its easy for a ranger to avoid damage the longer distance it can be away from enemies and so go for 16 Wis personally (another thing that favors longbow over crossbow).
@@fortunatus1 Thanks for expounding on your points! I find these are exceptional instances rather than the common circumstances, so I'd probably stick to my recommendations. If you don't want to use Custom Lineage or Variant Human for a level-one feat, you can use whatever weapon suits you until you can take those feats later on. If you want to play a Ranger with abilities that use your bonus action, it's natural to opt out of Crossbow Expert and do something else. I think I'd be in error to not point out the conflict for consideration, however.
I will also add a counter, just to promote discussion. I personally think that the conflict between Crossbow Expert and Ranger's Bonus Action options is less of a flaw in subclass design, and more of a flaw in the design of the two major feats in question: Sharpshooter and Crossbow Expert. Those two feats essentially nullify most benefits a subclass can give you by simply being too powerful. It makes variety in builds difficult, because it's almost required to take them both. Not only does that limit your style options, but it also costs you 2 valuable ASI's, which Rangers don't have many of, especially for a MAD class. An option (or two) that is so much better than everything else is worse for the game than several options that are relatively equal in power, but force you to choose what is the best for the situation at hand.
There's my hot take. If you're interested in how I would personally fix this problem, Treantmonk has a video that describes an excellent option. It's about three house rules that he intends to use in his games going forward, and I highly recommend checking it out.
Ah, you're right. I have an article that goes over my thoughts on all the feats, and my scores for game design are lower for CE/SS feats. Even then, it seems like a design flaw with the bonus action system that WotC hasn't accounted for in most cases.
I'm a fan of Treantmonk, so I'm familiar with his 3 house rules video. Not everyone is a fan (some optimizers are very opinionated in certain Discord servers), but I found Chris' ideas fascinating.
Piercer feat is amazing
Yeah, I like it because it comes with a stat boost that can lead to a +1 to damage and accuracy. Its other features are nice but nothing crazy powerful, which I think makes it a well-designed feat. I know Piercer won't make a lot of optimizer lists, but it's a community favorite.
I've used Gloomstalker but I've honestly had the most fun as a BeastMaster(Tasha's) and Fey Wanderer. The Swarmkeeper is fun as well but the campaign died. The only one i used a crossbow with is the gloomstalker. strength for the BM as well as longbow. Longbow for the FW. But also it allows we to play the face and still dump my charisma
Those all sound like the most fun, fresh ways to play Rangers to me.
Those who say rangers are weak are stuck in the old meta and haven't really checked what xanathars and especially tasha's brought to the table for rangers. rangers now are arguably the best non-full caster class in the game which puts them at #6-7 among all the classes in the game which is good for the middle rank. here's the top 5 feats i use on my optimized ranger builds:
1. feytouched- great for rounding out an odd wis score for caster-type rangers like beastmasters. it's especially useful for beastmasters/drakewardens as they can use this to pick up dissonant whispers/command to generate opportunity attacks for themselves, their pet and their summon.
2. piercer/gunner/elven accuracy- great way to round out an odd dex score. piercer is of particular note for those gloomstalker/assassin builds while elven accuracy is of particular note for gloomstalker/hexblade crit-fisher builds.
3. ritual caster- great way to diversify the ranger's spellcasting plus giving them access to the useful find familiar, phantom steed and unseen servant for combat.
4. crusher- great way to round out a STRangers odd str score. forced movement is so useful in 5e currently.
5. sharpshooter- this is a staple of how to improve martial dmg. of course it'll be here.
STRanger, haha I like that.
As gloomstalker ranger alert sounds so tempting. But I need to increase my wisdom
Right on. What Gloomstalker/Ranger features are you focusing on with Wisdom?
@@FlutesLoot I just wanna better survival, perception etc. because dex is my highest stat
i just have to throw in polearm master and sentinel in here, specially if your dm allows you the UA Tunnel Fighter fighting style. A Str Ranger is really Unique as a melee since u have a lot of AoE potential with the Hunter Subclass. u can just fight of Hordes of Monsters on your own.
A strength-based Ranger with a Polearm is certainly viable and useful. Rangers are versatile, so they can get a lot done. The Hunter has unique tools for battling multiple enemies, though I wouldn't say it's enough to solo them if they have substantial hitpoints.
Tunnel Fighter is crazy powerful. :P
well you definitely can keep them of your distance with unlimited attacks of opportunity. maybe u don‘t kill them in a round but u can most certain stall them for a lot of time.
I envision a Lizardfolk Hunter with a heavy reach weapon here. since spears or reach weapons were there much much earlier than bows in history, this makes a really interesting theme for a more crude civilization.
@@Kerinnon19 the closest thing to Tunnel Fighter that made it to actual print is the Cavalier Fighter. I don't think Tunnel Fighter will ever be official, but the Cavalier has similar abilities.
@@Kerinnon19 that's a fun way to consider weapon of choice
How about some dual wield options. I know two-weapon fighting is nerfed to crap in 5e but I'd love to build on a 5 attack per round beast master ranger at level 11
I wish dual-wielding were more viable for increasing damage in 5e.
@@FlutesLoot I mean paladins have it better. Devine favor while wearing full plate with the defense stance and dualwield gives them AC 20...and they can be strength based or dex based as welll
Sharpshooter is the best feat for a ranged ranger. Crossbow Expert is poor without it (no range), and in my view an unnecessary choice in general for most Rangers, who have such great options for their bonus actions with their class features, spells (11 bonus action spells to choose from!) and often subclass features too.
Hi Shard! Thanks for weighing in.
I've had player after player hate their Rangers because they tried to use the bonus action spells and found that they weren't very reliable or good. I've taught this game to many dozens of friends, and everyone who plays a Ranger has been disappointed when trying to use spells they *thought* would be cool and impactful in combat. To be fair, I'm speaking mostly from the pre-Xanathar's age of 5e. New players love to play Rangers, and they were often disappointed in this way, and I think that's a big reason the common meme has been that Rangers are bad (even if I completely disagree). Maybe that has changed?
The hand crossbow is fine without Sharpshooter unless you're constantly in scenarios where range needs to be distanced. Most dungeons don't require much range. Looking at the modules that WotC releases, most combat encounters I recall do not place me far from the monsters in an enclosed space, anyway. Even if they do, it has been easy to move into position.
For subclass features, we can look at the Horizon Walker as an example. It can gain an additional average damage per turn of 4.5 (1d8) compared to the average damage of a bonus action attack stacked with Sharpshooter for *probably* a minimum of 13 damage before rolls. It's fine to pass up the Sharpshooter/Crossbow Expert combo if it's not what you want (pretty much anything in the game is viable and can be fun), but it's objectively more impactful to take the option that deals more damage. This is why I say Ranger subclass design is tricky since they rely on their bonus action for their features, spells, and they compete with the damage output of just making another attack. I'd personally not go with Crossbow Expert if I played a Ranger who relied too much on bonus actions (because I can't stand redundancies and crowded action economies), but I'd be missing the mark to not put the highest damage combo at the top of my list, in my opinion (especially because the alternatives don't typically add much beyond their damage increases).
Again, I'm not saying there is one way to build a Ranger and have fun; I'm saying I believe is the best choice or combination of choices to consider and weigh decisions against for character creation and progression.
Knowing the value of combinations like Sharpshooter and Crossbow Expert, or Polearm Master and Great Weapon Master is important for players to understand when playing martial classes so they can make informed decisions.
@@FlutesLoot My issue is that you don't get the extra attack AND the bonus damage until you're 2 feats in. Unless you are Custom Lineage or Variant Human that will be level 8 at the earliest, and you won't get any ASI's until level 12.
There's loads of 'white room' analyses out there that contrast Crossbow Expert with Hunter's Mark for the Ranger bonus action, but that's not an apples to apples comparison. What you should be comparing is Crossbow Expert (hand crossbow) vs Sharpshooter + Hunter's Mark (longbow) - and that's a completely different kettle of fish.
Like I say, Crossbow Expert only edges ahead when it's *combined* with Sharpshooter, and for most races that's only at level 8.
I like Hunter's Mark, Zephyr Strike and Ensnaring Strike, all offer interesting options that a Crossbow Expert probably won't be considering
Good points, so I want to explore the idea.
I just created an Excel table to analyze a fourth-level Ranger's DPR with CE alone vs the combination of SS+HM as you suggested. I assumed a Dexterity of 16 and the Archery Fighting Style. I accounted for critical hit chances and chances to hit AC. When Sharpshooter is used, I assume each shot is using the -5 to hit as that's the main point of the comparison.
Against AC 12 monsters, CE has DPR of 10.01, and SS+HM has DPR of 10.18 (almost the same but CE doesn't use a spell slot).
Against AC 18 monsters, CE has DPR of 6.01, and SS+HM has DPR of 4.07. (CE is better and doesn't use a spell slot, once again).
My conclusion is that I can match HM+SS damage output with CE alone, so it's better to take CE for damage and concentrate on non-HM spells that don't require bonus actions. I'd also note that Hunter's Mark isn't much better than the new Favored Foe from Tasha's when making only one attack at levels 1-4. I didn't include Favored Foe in my calculations, but it boosts the damage of attacking when not concentrating on a spell as HM and it doesn't burn a spell slot.
I know there are nuances like knowing when to not take the -5 to attack rolls due to enemies having high ACs, but the math is still in favor of my hypothesis. I know this is a lab-room analysis, so there are variables that DPR doesn't account for.
Anything I'm missing?
@@FlutesLoot Range and cover :) Your longbow's damage is the same from 10 to 600ft, ignoring half and 3/4 cover (although you will not be able to apply Hunter's Mark at more than 90ft - time for favored foe). Damage of hand crossbow drops off at 35 ft and/or there is any cover (until you also get Sharpshooter) and is nil beyond 120ft. Even combat at 30ft or less will often see your front liners providing half cover to the enemies they are engaged with.
@@ShardPF2e I don't have a way to meter how often a character will face a creature 600 feet away in a forest vs 5 feet away in a cramped dungeon, so it comes down to player preference/need. My recommendation is still to get both CE and SS. A Ranger can carry both a crossbow and a longbow, especially with a beast of burden or wagon that the party may have.
Unpopular opinion: Not a fan of Crossbow Expert or Sharpshooter for pigeonholing the Ranger. I'm glad they're neutering them in the new 2024 update. Hopefully it goes through publishing.
Doesn't judge Sharpshooter for being a feat not everyone would take because they don't use a bow but deducts Elven Accuracy for being racial dependant. 10/10 brain function.
If every Ranger character were an Elf, I'd still not place Elven Accuracy above #6. I base that on the math of how good it is to add a third d20 to advantage, which is well-documented. Have a good day.
Ooof right off to a terrible start.
"Elven Accuracy, I don't place it higher because, you are not always going to be an elf for one thing"
What. the. F*** is that kind of an argument? You also aren't a great weapon user so should Great Weapon Master get points deductions because not everyone is swinging a Maul?
A car should get a lower review because not everyone drives a car?
Please rate each feat as if it is actually applicable, in which case, Elven Accuracy is S-tier.
I have another video about Elven Accuracy (it's a Short) and an article about it. It's a good feat, but it's not typically an early-game pick (sometimes Rogues like it early). It boosts accuracy by 10-15% when you have advantage (depending on enemy AC), and I demonstrate that math in another video from last week. I think an honorable mention at #9 is fine for this Ranger feats video (I recently updated the accompanying article to place it at #8). Rangers at level ten with Nature's Veil (new feature from Tasha's) can reliably get advantage on attacks after using a bonus action, so some Ranger builds might choose to focus on a longbow with Elven Accuracy and Sharpshooter since advantage can be reliably gained. Rangers are versatile. :)
I'm not sure what the argument is with Great Weapon Master since this is a Ranger video; feel free to clarify if you would like to discuss it.
Have a nice day!
My guy… you gotta be an elf. Unless theres a rule im not aware if. Is there? For real, is there a way for a non elf to use a feat that has elf in the title?
@@mattlevine5662 perhaps by enchantment or blessing?