Standard Beastmaster Fix?

[Grod_The_Giant]

Is there a commonly accepted fix for the Beastmaster's notoriously poor performance?

[JumboWheat01]

Halfling / Gnome with Mounted Combat feat.

[SMac8988]

I've found there are a few. The current i'm testing testing with my group is:

1.) Pet can attack the target of Hunters Mark as a free action, basically commanding them to attack.
2.) Pets move to allies and master, basic thought is trying to direct a wolf to walk 10ft towards a tree then like 5 to the left doesn't make sense.
3.) Besides that i've kept the pet the same.

[mephnick]

Is there a commonly accepted fix for the Beastmaster's notoriously poor performance?

Do the numbers back up this poor performance? I feel like the ones Kryx and others ran showed that Beastmaster is fine, people just don't like how the mechanics flow.

[mgshamster]

I will be testing out my fix soon. Basically, just let the pet act a little intelligently. If you command it to attack, it keeps attacking that same target until it dies or you tell it to stop. If you command it to run, it keeps running until it decides to stop or you command it to stop. Things like that.

[mgshamster]

Do the numbers back up this poor performance? I feel like the ones Kryx and others ran showed that Beastmaster is fine, people just don't like how the mechanics flow.

Got a link?

[Talamare]

Yea, it has been proven that a very limited amount of pets actually are able to perform very well and provide solid numbers...
However its very few and requires very specific builds

Overall, the class is lacking. One of my favorite minor buffs is that Beasts get their normal HP + 4 * Ranger Level, that provides them 1~20 more hp. Slightly keeping them away from being 1 shotted.

I've found there are a few. The current i'm testing testing with my group is:

1.) Pet can attack the target of Hunters Mark as a free action, basically commanding them to attack.

I would make it a bonus action, but this is agreeable

[pwykersotz]

Got a link?


Yea, it has been proven that a very limited amount of pets actually are able to perform very well and provide solid numbers...
However its very few and requires very specific builds

Overall, the class is lacking. One of my favorite minor buffs is that Beasts get their normal HP + 4 * Ranger Level, that provides them 1~20 more hp. Slightly keeping them away from being 1 shotted.


I would make it a bonus action, but this is agreeable

Here's a post by Kryx:

Bonus action to command the companion is quite broken in terms of DPR. I would definitely not recommend it from a mathematical standpoint. Several posts around here discuss the math.

And his DPR chart from his sig. (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1d-9xDdath8kX_v7Rpts9JFIJwIG3X0-dDUtfax14NT0)

[SMac8988]

Yea, it has been proven that a very limited amount of pets actually are able to perform very well and provide solid numbers...
However its very few and requires very specific builds

Overall, the class is lacking. One of my favorite minor buffs is that Beasts get their normal HP + 4 * Ranger Level, that provides them 1~20 more hp. Slightly keeping them away from being 1 shotted.


I would make it a bonus action, but this is agreeable

Bonus wouldn't be bad, I may try that at higher levels. Right now my group is low enough in level i'm not seeing a huge problem.

My other thought is the pet really doesn't do much for damage. I look at them more as a strategy tool fir advantage, flanking, as a mount, ect. The minor damage it does even as it's currently set is more icing on the cake.

[Kane0]

Command pet as bonus action seems somewhat common. You get to keep your regular attacks but you give up dual wielding as a source of bonus damage (replaced by beast), and hunters mark/swift quiver have more competition (again damage related, becoming a tradeoff).

The numbers work fine, its the feel of the mechanics in play that people dont like. Thats why you see a lot of robot companion remarks.

[Jeebs]

I'm just saving my first Beast Master for a game with a Paladin. The Auras, especially the Oath of the Ancients, make the beast more likely to survive.

I'm not as bothered by the limit on your actions or suspending disbelief there.

[Giant2005]

Halfling / Gnome with Mounted Combat feat.


I'm just saving my first Beast Master for a game with a Paladin. The Auras, especially the Oath of the Ancients, make the beast more likely to survive.

These are the best fixes if you want to keep things as RAW as possible. The only mechanical issue with the companion is its squishiness - giving it evasion and the inability to be targeted by attacks, coupled with decent saves from a Paladin aura would virtually erase that issue completely. Also, use a snake. Snakes are great.

If you want some fixes that don't rely on the player's choices in order to mitigate the issues, you could check out my fix in my signature although it might not be completely ideal for your purposes due to being a more all-encompassing Ranger fix rather than dealing solely on the BM angle. It does have some new companion options that are viable alternatives to the Snakes though which could prove helpful.

[MaxWilson]

Is there a commonly accepted fix for the Beastmaster's notoriously poor performance?

Not exactly, because there's no broad agreement on what the Beastmaster's problem (if any) is.

From my perspective, Beastmasters are just fine mechanically, especially at low levels before monster start getting weapon immunities. There are plenty of great animals from constrictor snakes to wolves which provide good benefits as pets. The offensive part is the roleplaying fluff: the way the pet just stands there and drools when you're not actively guiding it. A simple solution: the animal can act independently (like any other animal) but it gains +proficiency to its AC/attacks/saves/damage only when you are spending your action to direct it. If you're busy shooting arrows at goblins, it's just a normal wolf/snake, except for the inflated HP (which are retained only because it would be too complicated to do anything else).

After all, twelve hours of training is too short to fundamentally transform a wolf into a superwolf. The only supportable interpretation is that it's only a superwolf only because of the ranger who's teaming up with it.

At higher levels, the Beastmaster probably needs some kind of magic item to allow the beast to attack magically, or failing that a spell. (E.g. an equivalent of Magic Weapon that can be cast on a beast's natural attack instead of a weapon.)

[RickAllison]

For a home-game, one of the first things I might consider is an attunement magic item that acts as a +1 to attack for the companion. Solves one problem, though the other is a much harder fix...

[Lines]

For a home-game, one of the first things I might consider is an attunement magic item that acts as a +1 to attack for the companion. Solves one problem, though the other is a much harder fix...

Why not just have it gain whatever properties the ranger's magical weapon has on its attacks? It already gets shared spells, that fits thematically.

[Belac93]

Well, I like the one that I made here. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?481541-Beastmaster-Tweak)

[Shaofoo]

I would say to take that UA Sorcerer pet build AI and place that same AI on the pet, basically you use an action to designate a target and the pet will keep on attacking said target until the target is dead (which will return to your side) or you use your action to choose another target or do something else.

[djreynolds]

Try out sentinel and polearm master, select defensive style, and get feed on AoO. Every DM is out to kill your wolf or snake, make them pay. I snagged a level of cleric for heavy armor. Its a neat build, and you could go even go with dwarf and get shillelagh as well to go along with sentinel and polearm master. Obviously not Drizzt, but more like that guy in the first book with the hunting dogs. Think K9 policeman.

Not a fix sorry.