Two-Handed Weapon wielding Ranger.

[Vox Silentii]

So my plan was to play a lizardfolk ranger that goes to the world to collect dragon scales and bones to create his armor and weapons.
He comes from a tribe of lizardfolk that specialize themselves to hunt and dragons, since they pose the most threat out of every creature the know of.
Most of them use bows and some shields. But the bravest and most respected of them use big weapons, these are your chieftains and generals. So as the son of the current chieftain, he must venture into the world to prove himself, create his armor and challenge his father for throne.
(I know the lizardfolk are more "alien" in naturw but i liked this idea)

So my thought was
Ranger with a favored enemy "Dragon"
But im not sure if i should start with 2 levels in fighter and then take ranger for the action surge, two handed proficiency and fighting style, and then go ranger; or just simply go with ranger.

But what subclass would you recommend?
Or even some other path i didnt see

[Man_Over_Game]

For a melee Ranger, I always recommend Horizon Walker. Most of the abilities synergize well with a melee combatant who doesn't use their Bonus Actions (so no Two-Weapon Fighting).

To further utilize your Strength, you can use Darts and still utilize your BA feature to enhance their damage.

However, to match flavor AND mechanics, I'd go with Hunter.

Hunter gets options to create more attacks (good for 2-hand weapons) against large creatures (like Dragons), gets the option to mitigate multiple attacks against them (good for melee combatants), and you can redirect attacks from enemies at other adjacent enemies.

Additionally, since your tribe has multiple methods of dragon slaying, that can easily fit with how the Hunter Ranger can be diverse in how they play. Literally everyone from your tribe can be a different style of Hunter.

[Blood of Gaea]

I'd take one level of fighter primarily for heavy armor and the defense fighting style. You can set Action Surge off till after 5 levels of ranger when it will be more useful to you.

I'd Hunter Ranger, it's a strong subclass and fits thematically.

[Vox Silentii]

But lets take into consideration that revised ranger might be on the table.
Isnt that a better choice?

[Man_Over_Game]

But lets take into consideration that revised ranger might be on the table.
Isnt that a better choice?

Sure. There's no difference between the Hunter subclass for the original ranger and the Hunter conclave in the revised version. The only differences are in the base vs. revised Rangers, and really, the revised ranger starts too strong and peters out when the original Ranger starts "meh" and ends "meh". Personally, I think that dividing the Conclave Ranger's terrain to be favored (like the original Ranger) with some abilities that work in all terrains in combat is the way to go.

If your DM lets you go Conclave, go Conclave. It doesn't change what subclass you can go to, though (even the Xanathar's Rangers are compatible with Conclave, just give them Extra Attack at 5).

[CTurbo]

Yes the Revised Ranger is a strong choice. I'd go Hunter. Defense Style. The GWF style is not good enough to warrant a Fighter dip as I'd take Defense even on a GWM Fighter. Humanoids as regular Favored Enemy.

So you want Dragons to be your Greater favored enemy? That is cool as long as you'll actually be facing Dragons. Are you certain the DM is even going to be throwing a Dragon at you ever? With Hunter, you could build an awesome Dragon slayer with Giant Killer at level 3 and Multiattack Defense at level 7.

[Vox Silentii]

Yes the Revised Ranger is a strong choice. I'd go Hunter. Defense Style. The GWF style is not good enough to warrant a Fighter dip as I'd take Defense even on a GWM Fighter. Humanoids as regular Favored Enemy.

So you want Dragons to be your Greater favored enemy? That is cool as long as you'll actually be facing Dragons. Are you certain the DM is even going to be throwing a Dragon at you ever? With Hunter, you could build an awesome Dragon slayer with Giant Killer at level 3 and Multiattack Defense at level 7.
Yeah i told him that if i am going to be playing as this character, then there needs to be some dragons for me to kill.
Story related or not, i dont care.
My dm is very open to stuff like this so it wont be a problem

[CTurbo]

Yeah i told him that if i am going to be playing as this character, then there needs to be some dragons for me to kill.
Story related or not, i dont care.
My dm is very open to stuff like this so it wont be a problem


Yeah then I like Revised Hunter Ranger with the above mentioned features. Lizardfolk is going to be behind the curve in Str though since at best you'll start with 15. I'd take GWM, but bump Str with all other ASIs. Consider a single level of War Cleric for some great cantrips, some really good 1st level spells, and a reliable but limited bonus action attack.

I'd probably start 14 Str, 12 Dex, 16 Con, 8 Int, 16 Wis, 8 Cha unless there is a specific +1 Str half feat you like. Otherwise starting 15 Str is no better than starting 14 Str. Heavy Armor Master is the best +1 Str half feat, and War Cleric would give you heavy armor proficiency, but as a Lizardfolk, I doubt you'd be interested in heavy armor.

[djreynolds]

Chainmail is A.C. 16, same as scale mail with a dex of 14, or your natural A.C. and 16 dex.

And you want to stealth as a ranger, a dragon might have good hearing.

The concept is very cool, your A.C. with breast plate, 14 dex, and defensive style is 17. You can live with that.

I would go straight ranger. If I was to dip, forge cleric could add to your concept. The bless spell helps with GWM and saves.

[Blood of Gaea]

Chainmail is A.C. 16, same as scale mail with a dex of 14, or your natural A.C. and 16 dex.

And you want to stealth as a ranger, a dragon might have good hearing.

The concept is very cool, your A.C. with breast plate, 14 dex, and defensive style is 17. You can live with that.

I would go straight ranger. If I was to dip, forge cleric could add to your concept. The bless spell helps with GWM and saves.
You can actually still get by on stealth in heavy armor by casting pass without trace.

[djreynolds]

You can actually still get by on stealth in heavy armor by casting pass without trace.

Very true, but if he wants to multiclass he needs a 13 dex and with halfplate and 14 dex, it is 17 A.C., 1 less A.C. than plate armor. But no need to multiclass.

His natural armor for early play, is the best play. 15ac with 14 dex, 17ac with a shield.

I can only recommend heavy armor if your dexterity is like 12 or below. The OP needs a 13, may as well have a 14.

Nothing wrong with plate, and a high stealth and pass without a trace, will fix disadvantage.

But half plate, with 14 dexterity, is one less than plate. And with defensive style, equal.

[Blood of Gaea]

Very true, but if he wants to multiclass he needs a 13 dex and with halfplate and 14 dex, it is 17 A.C., 1 less A.C. than plate armor. But no need to multiclass.

His natural armor for early play, is the best play. 15ac with 14 dex, 17ac with a shield.

I can only recommend heavy armor if your dexterity is like 12 or below. The OP needs a 13, may as well have a 14.

Nothing wrong with plate, and a high stealth and pass without a trace, will fix disadvantage.

But half plate, with 14 dexterity, is one less than plate. And with defensive style, equal.
True, in general not having disadvantage in stealth is worth -1 AC.

That said, even with the defensive style it's still -1, you could have had that anyway.

[Crgaston]

I'll agree with everyone suggesting 14 Dex and medium armor. If you choose this route, at some point, a 1-2 level Fighter dip might be worth it for Archery fighting style and Actin Surge. You come from a tribe of archers, so your 14 Dex with Archery makes sense, gives you the to-hit bonus equivalent of an 18 Dex, and besides, dragons are known to take to the air from time to time, so you will probably want to be able to hit them far away.

[Vox Silentii]

I'll agree with everyone suggesting 14 Dex and medium armor. If you choose this route, at some point, a 1-2 level Fighter dip might be worth it for Archery fighting style and Actin Surge. You come from a tribe of archers, so your 14 Dex with Archery makes sense, gives you the to-hit bonus equivalent of an 18 Dex, and besides, dragons are known to take to the air from time to time, so you will probably want to be able to hit them far away.

That actually makes sense, but i think im gonna start with just ranger and see how it goes from there.
But yeah 14 dex with medium armor should work best, with the defence fighting style.

[Vexacia]

The Fighter dip is absolutely a waste and you should not do it.

Seconding 14 dex medium armor with defense style.

Hunter with a Greatsword/Maul is certainly a good horde killer. The thematics also work out.

Horizon Walker's thematics are a little harder to line up, but its features (and spells) are amazing for a melee Ranger.

Monster Slayer's... not horrible.

Revised Ranger is both unnecessary and undesirable. It's poorly designed, poorly balanced, and you don't need it.

[Biggstick]

One of the other things to think about is a level (or three) of Barbarian. Getting Rage really does quite a bit for making your HP stretch further. You lose out on being able to use spells while Raging, but you're not using Ranger spells to reduce incoming damage usually.

I'd recommend Gloom Stalker personally, as it goes super well with a GWM imo (as well as getting free Wisdom saves).

Either way though, stick with medium armor and 14 Dexterity.

[djreynolds]

Cleric of the forge and your lizard man abilities could be a cool combo thematically.

[strangebloke]

So my plan was to play a lizardfolk ranger that goes to the world to collect dragon scales and bones to create his armor and weapons.
He comes from a tribe of lizardfolk that specialize themselves to hunt and dragons, since they pose the most threat out of every creature the know of.
Most of them use bows and some shields. But the bravest and most respected of them use big weapons, these are your chieftains and generals. So as the son of the current chieftain, he must venture into the world to prove himself, create his armor and challenge his father for throne.
(I know the lizardfolk are more "alien" in naturw but i liked this idea)

So my thought was
Ranger with a favored enemy "Dragon"
But im not sure if i should start with 2 levels in fighter and then take ranger for the action surge, two handed proficiency and fighting style, and then go ranger; or just simply go with ranger.

But what subclass would you recommend?
Or even some other path i didnt see
Lizardfolk is fine. They aren't great for a STRanger, really, but they're fine. See if you can convince your DM to let you buy up to 16 STR to start with.

Straight ranger is better. In general, multiclassing before level 5 is questionable. After level 5, things change, and you could easily go into barbarian or fighter or druid or monk or whatever else suits your fancy, but until you get extra attack and 2nd level spells, stick with ranger.

For subclass, I would say Hunter, Horizon Walker, or Slayer. They've all got pros and cons. Hunter is probably the weakest unless you're using the revised hunter or you convince your DM to let the Hunter have bonus spells known like the newer ranger subclasses do.

But nonethless, I'd vote for hunter. Why? Horde Breaker. In combat, you cast zephyr strike on the first turn to move freely around the battlefield. Maybe you get longstrider going ahead of time too. Then, you move into a position where you can use hordebreaker, and hit twice with GWM for massive damage. If you have GWM, you can oftentimes get a bonus action attack as well, so that's 4 Two-handed attacks somewhat consistently at Level 5.

Then for that one tough target, you're still perfectly efficient with Hunter's Mark and other debuffs. At range, you should have something like a +2 to dex, so you can still use bows just fine if you have to, or javelins if they're within range.

I would also advise that you don't try to give yourself a crazy high WIS score. Nothing in the ranger's kit actually uses WIS other than perception checks.


For a melee Ranger, I always recommend Horizon Walker. Most of the abilities synergize well with a melee combatant who doesn't use their Bonus Actions (so no Two-Weapon Fighting).
I'm really not a fan of the Horizon Walker. The features just feel kind of bland until you get all the way up to 11th level. It is strong, of course, but the bonus action feature usage is kind of a drag, since even non-TWF rangers jealously guard their bonus actions, due to hunter's mark, GWM, etc.

But lets take into consideration that revised ranger might be on the table.
Isnt that a better choice?
Well, yeah. Its fricking overpowered.

[Mortis_Elrod]

Straight ranger is the better way to do this at least for the first 5 levels, regardless of revised or phb.

Almost all of the subclasses could fit thematically and mechanically for this. I would choose based off how long i think the campaign will last. If i get to level 11+ im gonna choose horizon walker for the sweet sweet ability to bamf around hitting things. Besides that your call.


Revised ranger is more or less unnecessary. If its on the table though take it. I've had more fun with it than without. Unless you're on of those players that hates to be powerful.