What are the best Ranger spells?

[sflame56]

Like what are the best ranger spells by lvl and by subclass in the books? Just wondering.

[Specter]

Depends on what you want. Ideally, you want a damage spell and some utility at every level.

At level 2, Hunter's Mark is the standard damaging spell, but Hail of Thorns is also good (especially later on, since it can be upcast). I try to make room for Ensnaring Strike just to annoy enemy casters.

Level 5 brings Pass Without Trace, Healing Spirit (which I wouldn't pick because broken, but whatever), and Spike Growth, all good choices.

Level 9 brings Lightning Arrow for boss fights, and Conjure Barrage for mob fights. Protection from Energy is great if you know what you're gonna face.

At level 13, the best you can get is Guardian of Nature, or Stoneskin if (again) you know what you're gonna face.

Level 17 gives you the sweet Swift Quiver and Steel Wind Strike, one of which is mandatory depending on your fighting style. Conjure Volley is also the ultimate mob spell.

These are what I'd choose as a Hunter:
1: hunter's mark, ensnaring strike, goodberry
2: pass without trace, spike growth, silence
3: lightning arrow, protection from energy
4: stoneskin
5: conjure volley, swift quiver

[MrStabby]

Not really a comprehensive answer, but ensnaring strike is one of my favourite spells ever.

Damage and control in a simple low level package. Great offensive and defensive spells. Great for buffing friends effects.

[rbstr]

absorb elements at level 1 is really good too.

[Specter]

absorb elements at level 1 is really good too.

Man, totally forgot about this one. Absutely a must.

[ImproperJustice]

Zephyr strike at level 1 is very good too.
If you are an archer, it gives you a nice escape option.

If you melee, it can help you get deep into enemy territory to alpha strike a vulnerable target.

Some honorable mentions include wind wall, guardian of nature, and nature’s wrath could be killer in the right environment:)

[MxKit]

1st level PHB spells: Alarm is useless for you. Animal Friendship is flavorful and lasts 24 hours with no concentration requirement, so it could easily have a place in your build even if it's not always the most useful. Cure Wounds is nice if you need it but if you have a Cleric I wouldn't bother unless I had a spell available and nothing in mind to spend it on. You're not the person who should be casting Detect Magic. Detect Poison and Disease is useless in most campaigns, but might be amazing if you DM messes with that sort of thing a lot, rare as that is. Ensnaring Strike is pretty great, especially for an archer (use it against those spellcasting enemies!), but it does compete for your concentration slot. Fog Cloud can be helpful. Goodberry is nice to have, especially in a wilderness-heavy campaign where no one has the Survival skill all that high, but otherwise meh. Hail of Thorns is great for archers and scales really well, but again takes your concentration. Hunter's Mark is of course the Ranger spell and is what other concentration spells will be competing with. Jump is pretty useless unless you're a grappler, and you're not. Longstrider can be very nice both in and out of combat. Speak with Animals is again flavorful and does not take concentration, doesn't last as long as Animal Friendship but would work well with it.

1st level Xanathar's spells: Absorb Elements is absolutely amazing, especially if you're a melee fighter but even if you're just an archer, really. Beast Bond is great for a Beast Master, and better than Speak with Animals as a companion to Animal Friendship. Snare isn't good 99% of the time, only under very specific circumstances you're probably not going to want to waste a spell slot on. Zephyr Strike is surprisingly good for 1st level if you're a melee combatant, and still pretty good if you're an archer.

2nd level PHB spells: Animal Messenger is rarely useful. Barkskin can be nice at early levels, but it stops being good quickly IME. Beast Sense isn't very useful, and if someone really wants it, it's a ritual and there are other ways than spending one of your spell slots. Cordon of Arrows isn't very useful unless you're really having trouble with people ambushing your campsite. Darkvision is super useful if you or anyone in your party doesn't naturally have darkvision and you're in places where you'd need it reasonably often; it's useless otherwise. Find Traps isn't useful unless your DM uses traps reasonably often. Lesser Restoration isn't bad, because if one of your party is affected by one of those things, they're very much going to want them to go away ASAP, but it might see very little use. Locate Animals or Plants is flavorful but usually useless. Locate Object is often useless and rarely just what you need, I wouldn't normally recommend it. Pass Without Trace is GREAT if your party or any members of your party rely on sneaking to any degree. Protection from Poison is usually useless. Silence can be amazing against enemy spellcasters. Spike Growth is really good, and incredible if anyone in your party has a way to force an enemy to take a ton of damage in it (any spell, invocation, or weapon that pulls an enemy closer or pushes them back; the telekineses spell; grapplers especially).

2nd level Xanathar's spells: Healing Spirit is basically broken and if your DM lets you have it, take it over Cure Wounds every single time; hell, even if you have a dedicated healing Cleric you might wanna take this spell.

3rd level PHB spells: Conjure Animals is great if you don't have a Shepherd Druid or lv10+ Conjuration Wizard in your party, and still good even if you do. Conjure Barrage is pretty damn great for facing a lot of enemies at once. Daylight isn't very good unless you're facing a lot of vampires/other undead that get hurt by bright light. Lightning Arrow is great. Nondetection will be exactly what you need on very rare occasions and useless the rest of the time. Plant Growth is flavorful and actually decently useful, but you have a lot of other options. Protection from Energy is great when, say, you know you're going to be storming a specific type of dragon's lair, but not as good most other times. Speak with Plants is worse than Speak with Animals since it takes higher spell slots and doesn't stack, but the fact that you can make difficult terrain not difficult for a while, and free someone from an entangle spell, does mean it could have its uses. Water Breathing is, obviously, only useful if you're going to be underwater a lot. Water Walk is more useful than it sounds since it lets you walk on way more than just water, it lasts an hour without concentration, and you can effect up to 10 creatures with one spell slot. Wind Wall isn't great but has its uses, especially if you're often facing enemy archers.

3rd level Xanathar's spells: Flame Arrows if it was just concentration for an hour it'd be about on par with Hunter's Mark (at least Hunter's Mark as cast as a level 3 spell), but it's not, so it's vastly inferior.

4th level PHB spells: Conjure Woodland Beings is potentially even better than Conjure Animals, given that you can summon fey that can cast spells for you, but that's if your DM lets you pick what fey you conjure; it certainly isn't worse. Freedom of Movement is more useful than it seems, but whether it's worth the spell slot is debateable. Grasping Vine isn't very good. Locate Creature isn't very good most of the time, either. Stoneskin gives some very nice general resistances.

4th level Xanathar's spells: Guardian of Nature is great whether you're going Strength-based melee, Dex-based melee, archer, or a mix of Dex-melee and archer... actually, it's especially great if you're doing that last one, because it's two spells in one for you!

5th level PHB spells: Commune With Nature can be quite useful in wilderness campaigns, but isn't going to come up often or at all otherwise. Conjure Volley is Conjure Barrage on steroids, so see above. Swift Quiver is amazing if you're an archer, giving you four attacks for a full minute (with concentration). Tree Stride isn't great compared with too many of your other options.

5th level Xanathar's spells: Steel Wind Strike is absolutely amazing if you're a melee combatant, giving you an incredibly alternative to Swift Quiver. Wrath of Nature causes a whole lot of **** to happen for full minute, and seems pretty great at first glance, and can be very flavorful and fun, buuuut it's a concentration spell and none of the individual things it does are very impressive; if you fight primarily in cities or caves/the Underdark it's also not going to do much of anything for you.

I think by Level 20, as primarily an archer but with Dex-based melee capabilities, I'd want my spell list to look like this:

1st level: Ensnaring Strike, Hunter's Mark, Absorb Elements
2nd level: Pass Without Trace, Spike Growth, Healing Spirit
3rd level: Lightning Arrow
4th level: Conjure Woodland Beings, Guardian of Nature
5th level: Conjure Volley, Swift Quiver

Of course, this can easily be adjusted if you like the fluff of some spells or if certain spells would benefit your party more than others. Maybe you guys really don't need Spike Growth and you want Longstrider, or maybe you like the flavor of Animal Friendship and are willing to give up Ensnaring Strike for it. Or maybe you're mostly melee and don't care about healing or conjuring or animals at all and want to go with Hunter's Mark, Absorb Elements, Zephyr Strike, Darkvision, Spike Growth, Protection from Energy, Water Walk, Freedom of Movement, Stoneskin, Guardian of Nature, and Steel Wind Strike. Maybe you mostly want your spells to be flavorful non-battle ones and want to go with Animal Friendship, Goodberry, Longstrider, Beast Bond, Locate Animals or Plants, Healing Spirit, Plant Growth, Speak With Plants, Freedom of Movement, Commune With Nature, and Tree Stride! Though that list isn't exactly a "best Ranger spells" list anymore. :P