Bard Vs Ranger

[Praystation]

Good Morning Playground,

I wanted to pose a question to you about 2 different (possibly) ranged characters.
The Bard (lore) and the Ranger (hunter) (no multiclassing)
And low - mid level (around 10 and below)
What i wanted to ask was, including combat (i know the bow side of things is covered in another post) which character can contribute the most. Not just the amount of damage they can contribute.

I am not sure how good a Bard is in contributing as a ranged character (magic or otherwise) at those low-mid levels.
I know with a bow they get much more competitive at level 10 or so but with spells included who is the most useful in and out of combat.

I am tempted just to look at the obvious and say Bard - all day long. They are strong spell casters, can contribute to damage with spells and around 10 they can contribute even more so with a bow (swift quiver etc)
Skillwise they choose any 3 they want (and more i think from Lore college) - Ranger get 3 from a list.
They get Jack of All Trades to cover everything else.

Is Bard just better all around at low levels or can a Ranger hold their own with confidence?

[MaxWilson]

Lore Bards are worse with a bow than Valor Bards are: 1d6 vs 1d8 damage (no longbow proficiency) and one fewer attack (only 3 even with Swift Quiver). I probably wouldn't even bother getting Sharpshooter/Swift Quiver on a Lore Bard.

Ranger meanwhile can have 3 attacks per round at level 5 (including the bonus attack from Horde Breaker) and is a good candidate therefore for Sharpshooter.

The net result is that Ranger is excellent for weapon damage, especially at low levels, whereas the Lore Bard is good for skills and buffing party members. Which one is "better" depends on your party composition, play style, and adventure scenarios.

Oh: and Rangers are more SAD than Valor Bards are. Valor Bards kind of need both CHA and DEX to be high in order to be fun, whereas rangers only really need DEX (WIS is okay but less central than CHA is for bards because of Bardic Inspiration and being a full caster).

[Eslin]

At low levels, ranger is a better combatant. At pretty much every level the bard has better in and out of combat utility, and at mid levels they pull ahead of ranger in combat too.

Early levels a bard won't be doing damage in combat, they'll be disabling, healing or buffing. If you're more about the early game and you want to be hitting things, go ranger. Just be aware that the bard shoots past the ranger at 17 and spends the rest of the game better at everything.

While you'd think rangers getting swift quiver at 17 would even things out, that's the same level a bard gets foresight - and advantage on all attack rolls, ability checks and saves and against enemy attacks beats out anything the ranger gets.

[Person_Man]

Low level Rangers (longbow + Hunter's Mark) and Warlocks (Eldtirch Blast + invocations + Hex) typically have the best at-will ranged damage. Rogues are up there as well, but Sneak Attack/Assassinate have special triggers. Dragonblood Sorcerer is also comparable starting at level 6. Everyone else's at-will damage is typically 3-5ish points per attack behind. (Not huge, but significant enough that its noticeable).

Rangers are generally considered the weakest mid-high level class in the game, because their spells do not progress nearly as fast as full casters, and they lack any big/signature mid-level class abilities that are truly worthwhile (Uncanny Dodge, Cha to Saves Aura, Aura of Magic Resistance, etc) to compensates for it. Though this assertion is hotly debated.

Mid-high level Bards are generally considered the more versatile and perhaps the most powerful class, because they can cherry pick the high level Ranger and Paladin spells that those classes don't get until much higher levels.

[numerek]

At first level there is little difference between a bard and ranger, yes weapon selection and light armor vs medium + shield but your not going to be using a shield with ranged unless maybe hand crossbow? which a bard can use. at 2nd level ranger gets hunters mark and archery fighting style and at 3 he gets some other abilities that help improve combat where as a bard at those same levels is getting skills party help and different uses for bardic inspiration. At fifth level ranger gets extra attack which the bard can get at 6th if he goes valor. Lore bard won't be able to do as well as valor with doing ranged weapon damage, the valor bard will have enough magic secrets to get any weapon enhancing spells he needs but will get martial weapon proficiency and extra attack.
There is a thread that talks about different characters ranged damage power and even though there was an issue with double applying proficient bonus to attack it does still talk a lot about this sort of stuff.

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?375185-Class-Comparisons-for-Ranged-Damage

I won't repeat to much from the thread but I will point out that there is a number of scenarios that elemental weapon beats swift quiver. Of course it will lose its edge quick if you find magic weapons.