How to MC the Hunter After Level 11?

[Jeebs]

I hear a lot of people say its not worth sticking with Ranger past a certain point.

If we assume Volley IS worth it (I think an AOE that's only really limited by ammunition is pretty cool) what would you plug into the other 9 levels of your build?

I like Cleric 1 for Bless, Healing Word, and a domain. Fighter 2 for Action Surge (2 Volleys?) and maybe Rogue 2 for Cunning Action as well.

Beyond that, I don't know where to go, or if the build would be competitive and fun from 1-20.

[TheFlyingCleric]

Those ideas are very good, but I would also suggest:

Cleric 3: You get access to some cool 3rd level spells, such as Spiritual weapon, Prayer of Healing, and Enhance Ability

For Cleric Domain, I would suggest War. Gives some useful abilities that let you land and/or make more attacks. It also gives Divine Favour as a domain spell. Extra 1d4 damage to every volley target you hit sound good?

[MaxWilson]

I hear a lot of people say its not worth sticking with Ranger past a certain point.

If we assume Volley IS worth it (I think an AOE that's only really limited by ammunition is pretty cool) what would you plug into the other 9 levels of your build?

I like Cleric 1 for Bless, Healing Word, and a domain. Fighter 2 for Action Surge (2 Volleys?) and maybe Rogue 2 for Cunning Action as well.

Beyond that, I don't know where to go, or if the build would be competitive and fun from 1-20.

I'd go Hunter 11/Rogue 2/Necromancer 7.

Use skeletons for extra ranged support when necessary; wizard levels provide more spell points for ranger spells including Spike Growth/Pass Without Trace/Conjure Animals/Ensnaring Strike; Rogue's Cunning Action combos very well with wizard's Fog Cloud/Darkness and/or Greater Invisibility.

Would be a very fun solo character to play. I'd probably do Ranger 1-5, Rogue 1-2, Necromancer 1-7, Ranger 6-11.

[djreynolds]

War cleric gets one weapon attack as a bonus action, and channel divinity guided strike.

Also, if your wisdom is high enough, say a 16, and dex is 20 you have an AC of 18, not bad for one level of monk

I like fighter for action surge.

Please check out the UA fighter archetype scout, really good stuff

Rogue, fighter, cleric, monk... all good choices, even druid

[PeteNutButter]

I'd say there are two main ways to go: either focus on the ranged damage, or the spell casting.

Casting: Going 9 levels in cleric (or druid, but cleric is better) gets you only 5th level spells which you would get if you just stayed in ranger, so it doesn't feel like there is much to gain. Plus you miss out on the ever so stolen swift quiver which for a couple mins a day can let you attack as much as a 20th level fighter. This strategy would probably be better if you left ranger sooner, maybe after level 5. You pick up more utility than raw power with this approach, which your party usually has covered with the primary spell casters.

Shooting: Fighter is an obvious addition, any type really. Action surge is amazing of course, and champion might even be viable if you target enough people with your volley.
Rogue is another choice as you grab another skill and expertise, plus cunning action making ever so better at kiting. If you're the party scout take it to 3rd level and pick up assassin. Getting the drop on a group of foes would be quite entertaining as you can auto-crit volley.
Monk is even viable especially later if you have been bumping your wisdom. Could give a sizable boost to AC. More movement speed makes you better at kiting, and deflect arrows will see much more use on an archer than a traditional melee monk.

Any combination of those would be viable, but I like to stick to multiples of 4 levels such as Ranger 12/Fighter 4/Rogue 4 so that you still get all your ASI/Feats.

I'd consider long and hard before committing to 11 levels of ranger. There are a lot of subpar or even dead levels between 5-11. If your DM loves to use hordes of foes than volley is for sure worth it. In my experience most encounters you will be either using regular attacks or volley attack on 3-4, which is a couple more attacks at the cost of spreading damage around. It's funny that Horde Breaker sees much more usage being a lower level ability, as its free action cost and ability to be used with or without volley.

[coredump]

Anything that gives Greater Invis would be nice, but doesn't happen until at least lvl 18.

Assassin 3 gives you Cunning Action for kiting and getting away from melee folks.
Likely gives your opening Volley advantage on all of those attacks, and if you manage to surprise.... that is a *lot* of auto critical. Good Combo with Fighter 2....

[Gtdead]

You have a few options.

One is 9 rogue. Now this is obviously a dpr build. Makes the playstyle a bit more fluid, using the bonus action to hide and then hit for 2x(1d8+5+10)+5d6+1d8 with advantage. As far as DPR goes, this by itself isn't that great, but the good thing is that this build doesn't require any concentration spell to deal it's damage, and it doesn't mesh well with hunter's mark anyway, so we can use Conjure Animals instead.

With that build, against an AC of 20, you are expected to deal 90~ dpr as long as you can keep your wolves safe. Not bad! And even if you can't, you still made the monster waste his actions. As long as it can't deal effective aoe to kill all of them in one round, the spell is worth the slot.

Bonus points for not needing Crossbow Expert and using Longbows instead, both increasing the coolness of the character (seriously screw hand crossbows), and decreasing the feat tax.
It's better if you grab 2 levels of Rogue earlier than 11 though so you will have something to do with your bonus action. It can't work with a melee build though, or well.. it can, but you can't use GWM with Sneak Attack so it's kind of pointless.

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Another is to find a way to get permanent advantage. I'm not really a fan of this style because you essentially become a worse bladelock. But it's kinda easy to do, especially if UA is allowed. There are a few ways to do this. One is through the Darkness spell. I think dipping Shadow Sorcerer is the best way to do this, but it can be done with warlock too.

Then you finish with either Ranger, or dip Rogue for sneak attack.

This will deal more damage than Swift Quiver (the Rogue version at least) and has great Action economy but personally I'd rather play a Warlock than a Ranger if I wanted to do this.

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For melee rangers, dipping cleric 5 for spirit guardians is a great choice, and can work pretty well with Whirlwind although it's kind of risky. You may want to do it through favored soul and a fighter dip for heavy armor if UA is allowed, so you can grab the spell Shield too.

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If you don't care about dpr much, you can MC into Lore Bard. You will get expertise, jack of all trades, bard spells, magic secrets (you can pick haste, which is better than quiver imo).

[Specter]

That is a very good question.

In my last ranger run I only got to level 7, but I was planning on taking Hunter 12/Assassin 4/Battlemaster 4, mixing levels after 12. My guy was kinda like a fast, sneaky combatant who had a birth connection with the land, so I got everything I wanted: Stealth Expertise + Pass Without Trace, Volley + Action Surge, Maneuvers, two fighting styles, Cunning Action for hiding/dashing... it's really worth it.

[MaxWilson]

It's better if you grab 2 levels of Rogue earlier than 11 though so you will have something to do with your bonus action.

Before you grab Rogue, you can spend your bonus action on Hunter's Mark or Ensnaring Strike. Not compatible with Conjure Animals, but that only kicks in at level 9 anyway whereas Ensnaring Strike comes online at level 2.