Yet another Ranger build help thread

[Sobeit]

Hello world!

I am playing a 6th level NG Dex based half elf Revised Ranger (UA) with the Hunter Conclave and Colossus Slayer ability.

At the moment I have the role of main ranged DPS and I'm doing it well but since we just leveled up lvl7 I was looking at the progression of the Ranger and was not very impressed, plus the current damage output does not scale well...or at all. So I'm considering a dip at this point.

Plan A: Stay at Ranger 6 and take 3 levels of Fighter with the Arcane Archer (UA) archetype. Second wind, action surge good hp, second martial archetype. That fits the fluff and the character really well but I'm not particularly impressed by the archetype's abilities. Still waiting to see if Xanathar will include any changes to AA.

Plan B go to Ranger 6/Rogue 3 with the Assassin archetype with expertise in Stealth. That gives me cunning action (good), insane damage when opponents are surprised but less hit points (bad) and how often are opponents surprised anyway? Even with stealth + Pass without trace combo. In addition the character is not really the ruthless killer type so I'm not sure it's a good idea from a role-playing point of view.

Plan C continue with Ranger all the way.

Perhaps I haven't given you enough info but rather than pure optimization and a numbers exercise I was looking for tips, ideas or inspiration.

I'm fairly new to 5e so any suggestions are more than welcome.

(English is not my first language so apologize for any mistakes)

[wilhelmdubdub]

You could also take battlemaster fighter for precise strike. Pair with sharpshooter and make sure you hit every time that would be plus ten damage and hunter's mark on top of the regular damage on what would be a miss.

[8wGremlin]

I'm currently in a similar vein but higher level.
I was darkstalker ranger, and then went EK knight to 6th.
with Crossbow mastery, sharpshooter, and a single crossbow, I've been blowing away opponents before they even get a turn.
I also took Ritual Caster (wizard) for find familiar and leomund's tiny hut it's been great.

With action surge and the dark stalkers extra attack on 1st round, i'm a machinegun!

I have spells to help and hinder, and enough spell slots to use for either ranger spells, or ek spells.
so versatile, yet putting out a great deal of damage.

[djreynolds]

2 rogue is good, cunning action now gives you a bonus action every round to hide or disengage

1 War cleric gives you divine favor, though only 1 minute its a source of radiant damage, and wisdom modifier bonus action attack a day. But some great spells also

EK is actually very good as well

And battlemaster for precision, trip is good on your last shot, and disarm

I would consider grabbing at least 9 levels of ranger for lightning arrow.

It will drop your hunter's mark but it can be devastating and can be used in conjunction with volley at 11th.

You shoot your lightning arrow at one target, you only have 1 lightning arrow, and then normal arrows at whoever is within 10ft.


J.R. Leon @JR_el_Leon
@mikemearls Does a ranger's volley combo w/ HailOfThorns/LightningArrow, i.e., ea arrow's imbued w/ spell OR choose 1 target? #DnD5e Thanks!

Mike Mearls ‎@mikemearls
only 1 arrow #wotcstaff


The main target will take 4d8, but everyone in 10ft will get an arrow from volley and the 2d8 splash of lightning damage.

And then imagine all this if you dipped 2 of tempest cleric

[AttilatheYeon]

War Cleric is a good 1 or 2 level dip. Especially with Sharpshooter and/or an Oathbow.

[Sobeit]

Thanks all, much appreciated! :smallsmile:

Many interesting ideas, I was not even aware of the existence of the Battle master tbh

And Cleric sounds good too, I do have the Wisdom for it...

Sharpshooter feat seems almost a given, although I'll have to sacrifice next ability score increase.

Oh well, back to the drawing board!

[Easy_Lee]

Have you considered rogue - thief? You can use your bonus action for a variety of things, including disengaging in melee, dashing while shooting (running and gunning), dropping caltrops or oil behind you as you back up, locking a door behind you (or unlocking it while trying to escape), and so on. It's a versatile build and bonus action disengage is particularly good on an archer.

Plus the climb speed paired with Longstrider, cunning action, and expertise: acrobatics can turn you into Legolas.

[Specter]

You're correct, after level 9 Ranger has a lot of dead levels (even revised). But until level 9 you're good to go. Defensive Tactics is good (pick Escape the Horde), an ASI is good no matter what, and 3rd-level spells bring good stuff like Lightning Arrow and Protection from Energy.

After that, both Fighter and Rogue are good. If you're going Fighter, I would personally leave Arcane Archer, because at level 3 it's not very cool. Champion, Battlemaster and Eldritch Knight should be better. If going Rogue, Assassin is also very DM dependant, and thus I'd aim for a different one.

[Sobeit]

@Easy_Lee

Good shout! I didn't consider rogue-thief because having mainly played 2nd/3rd in my mind Thief was mainly associated with pickpocket and stuff like that which are not my cup of tea. ( I was wrong)

I'm starting to warm up to a bit more to the thought of rogue with the added versatility.

@Specter

That's still a very valid option, although if I stick to this road with our current pace (~2,3 levels per calendar year) it might be a while before I can deviate from the main path again.

[EvilAnagram]

I'm going to second both sticking with Ranger through nine and dipping into Thief. Bonus action versatility and skill boosts, plus damage? There's nothing not to like here.

[Desteplo]

Revised ranger already gets some of the cunning action bonuses through leveling. Later spells get good if you keep at ranger.
-a lot of players only look at class features but don’t look at the spells, it’s a half caster after all
-volley and flame arrows is a fun combo

[Jexis]

I'm actually the same Ranger as you, except CG and VarHum. Personally I've been leaning towards fighter to try and increase the damage output. I'd use the fighting style 2 weapon fighting since I've found myself needing to run in to heal my allies and needing shortswords to hold my own. Also, 2 attacks + an offhand attack with sword combined with an existing hunter's mark and colossus slayer does a ton of focused damage. Dueling would also work if you're not about duel wielding.
You can go eldritch knight for no reason other than to continue to gain spell slots (albeit slower than at ranger pace since ranger is 1/2 caster while EK is 1/3 caster) Better if Int wasn't your dump stat.
The 1-4 Fighter abilities are all nuts. Get them all. If you don't want to, at least go to 2.

I'd also recommend getting one of the 7th level Conclave features since Escape the Horde and Multiattack defense are both pretty good. If you go to 7, you may as well go to 8 for the ASI, and Fleet of Foot isn't bad for when you need to run from a dashing enemy but still do damage (combines well with Escape the Horde, allows you to use movement and Dash 2x to get a solid lead).

Rogue works if you're able to hide frequently from range to consistently gain advantage on attack rolls (note this is also amazeballs with ranger's advantage on initiative and subsequent advantage on characters that have yet to act.) If you have a Barb/melee fighter on your team this also works well. Throw them in front of the BBEG while you stack your 1d6 (Hunter's Mark), Xd6 (Sneak Attack), *extra attack* 1d8(Colossus Slayer), 1d6(Hunter's Mark again).
Oh yea, add your weapon dice and mods to that too.

Cleric's only fun IMO if you desperately need a healer or really like casting. No real advice here; I only consider it because my own party is a fighter, ranger (me), sorcerer, sorcerer, and maybe yours looks just as bad.

[Sobeit]

Thanks again all! :smallsmile::smallsmile:

It seems that the ranger gets a pseudo/kind off cunning action with the escape the horde+fleet of foot combo. (+the spells which tbh I'm not very impressed with so far. Only using hunter's mark 95% of the time anyway)

I think you convinced me to wait a bit at least until lvl9 and then it will probably depend on the party composition (it varies due to character deaths-3 so far) . With the current land druid/warlock/gunsmith artificer/rogue swashbuckler/necromancer wiz combo I should probably go for fighter.