Ranger Spell Choice

[Celcey]

Greetings Playgrounders! I'm playing a Ranger in a Curse of Strahd playthrough. We just hit level 3, and I want your opinion on spell choices. So far I've chosen Hunter's Mark, which people seem to universally regard as good; Goodberry, which I like but feels like it won't scale well with level; and Ensnaring Strike. My DM is flexible with letting me change up a bit if it turns out I've chosen a subpar option.

I'm a dual whip wielding Hunter Ranger (I have the dual wielder feat). I do use my longbow sometimes, but generally I'll whip if I can. My party consists of a Knowledge Cleric, Devotion Paladin, Swashbuckler Rouge, and Conjuration Wizard. In the distant future, we may get a bard of some sort.

What do y'all think? Have any of you played a Ranger before? If so, what spells did you find yourselves using most often? Anything from the official books is allowed, and probably homebrew things if you've got'em.

[Specter]

With two healers in the group, you can easily drop Goodberry.

Absorb Elements is a must to avoid death by fireball, but you must be careful to have a hand free when you use it.

Fog Cloud can be situationally good to create cover, or protect wounded party members.

[uraniumrooster]

Your spell choice looks solid, I don't see anything you need to change. This Guide (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?374666-Not-All-Who-Wander-are-Lost-A-Ranger-s-Guide) has a pretty good section on spells, with complete ratings for every spell level, to help weigh your options for future picks.

I disagree with the Goodberry rating though. I love Goodberry, and my Ranger still uses it frequently at level 11. The trick is to cast it the night before, since the berries last 24 hours. When you settle in for a Long Rest, burn any unused spell slots creating berries to be used for out-of-combat healing the following day. You won't get many at level 3, but it starts to add up once you get more spell slots - I find my Ranger rarely even comes close to using up all his spell slots, so I'm often able to make 60-70 Goodberries at the end of the day. Pretty decent amount of healing for spell slots that would have gone unused otherwise.