Concern for the Ranger

[Falka]

Am I the only person who feels like the Ranger in 5 seems to be quite dissapointing? Unless you play a campaign that is quite focused on exploration and taking advantage of his traits, the class feels bland and lackluster to me.

Opinions?

[akaddk]

I'd be glad to add my opinion once I get a copy of the PHB.

Feel like sending me one?

[Yorrin]

I will say that of all the classes it's the one I'm least looking forward to. I don't think it's a bad class, per se, just not terribly inspiring.

[EternalHobbyist]

I haven't gotten too deep into the mechanics, but just skimming it, Ranger seems like a less effective Fighter/Rogue combo with a few spells added in. The Beastmaster archtype looks fun, but mostly just for flavor, since you can only get a companion of "CR 1/4 or lower" - checking the appendix I find Bat, Boar, Cat, Constrictor, Frog, Falcon, Mastiff, Mule, Owl, Panther, Viper, Rat, Raven, and Wolf all fall into the right size/CR requirements.

Doesn't look like Ranger gets super powerful, his 20th level trait lets him add +Wis to an attack OR damage against favored enemy once per turn. Not exactly mind blowing, but could be a fun character to play, and has a lot of utility while travelling overland.

[Falka]

I'd be glad to add my opinion once I get a copy of the PHB.

Feel like sending me one?

I'm waiting for my copy to arrive, though there's a scan already circling through some places already. Can't say much more to not break forum rules. :)

And yeah, I agree that it feels like a flavored Fighter. Honestly, the Favoured Enemy mechanics are a bit dissapointing. You get a bonus to track an enemy and some extra information.

Considering that most martial classes have some features to make their combat contribution relevant, I'm surprised that the Ranger is so utility focused. Perhaps way too much. I expected something more in tone with guerrilla tactics if they played in certain environments, something like that. But even the Bane feature that you get with one of the archetypes... 1d8, only? Seriously?

I for one am not the kind of player that demands for all classes to be very combat focused, or that everyone should deal a huge DPS in order to "have fun". Actually, I'm more of a gritty player and I like mundane characters. But the Ranger, especially when compared to other classes with fighting prowesses, just feels overly tuned down and bland.

If I want to play something like a woodland archer who is at the same time an expert tracker, I think I could fill this archetype way better with a specialised Fighter than with a Ranger. And that's sad.

Maybe I'm too biased, but I don't know. This feels like 3.0 Ranger all over again.