Halp! Multi-classing Ranger Archer

[BerryKinetic]

Hi! I' currently a level 3 variant human hunter ranger in my first D&D campaign.
I'm focusing on ranged attacks and I plan to multi-class my level 4 as a rogue to get sneak attack.
I have no interest in melee and would rather be sneaking around, scouting, and sniping people from a distance.

We already have a halfling thief rogue in the party so I don't want to end up with the exact same skills as him either.

I'm wondering if it would be more advantageous to dump future levels into ranger, rogue, or fighter if I'm looking to get more attacks per turn and more damage per hit. Can someone help me break it down?

Thanks!

[strangebloke]

There's two routes.

straight ranger:

ends up more focused on spellcasting, as the class features pretty meh at high levels. Notable spells include Swift quiver, conjure volley, and the summoning spells.

Ranger 5-6/rogue x

The sneak attack progression ensures that your damage stays competitive, while the other features make you a strong, rugged woodsey sort. You get the best ranger spells that you'll see for a long time, and there's a ton of natural synergy here. Definitely would recommend waiting till level five though, since that's the best level in the entire ranger class.

Other multiclasses, like fighter, are imo questionable because of the high number of redundant class features. Fighting style, second wind, and extra attack are all pretty meh.

There's also a goofy build: ranger 6, lore bard x. The primary trick here is that you can get 9th level spells and get really powerful ranger exclusives like Swift quiver... Even earlier than other rangers!

[Grimmnist]

Important to note that you can only apply sneak attack extra damage only once per turn, so Extra Attack from Ranger would give you better odds to score a hit which is good, but wouldn't double your sneak attack uses.

I think it is important to get Ranger up to level 5, since Extra Attack is a big power boost, so I wouldn't dip more than one level of Rogue until after that since each level of rogue slows your Ranger progression. Once you have Ranger 5 you are pretty much free to build in any direction, you can take more levels of Ranger to increase your casting or start going heavily into Rogue. The Scout Rogue from XGtE thematically fits ranger pretty well, though you could take any subclass. I probably wouldn't take fighter levels since you already have enough levels of ranger that dipping further would start to spread you very thin and there is redundancy.

[Shuruke]

I would recemend

4 rogue scout xanathar
12 ranger hunter for the volley multi attack
4 fighter arcane archer, or champion

Order would be 5 ranger
4 rogue
4 fighter
Rest ranger

This would give the once a turn horde breaker or Collosus slayer

Scout reaction move
Expertise on lots of stuff

Fighter action surge and armor style
Studded leather becomes up to 18 a.c.
12+1+mod
Half plate with medium armor master up to 19 a.c. 15+1+up to 3 mod

Action surge would allow u to either make 2 attacks or take held action to make an attack with reaction for sneak attack.

You'd be able to focus expertise in
Stealth
Survival
Nature
So to not step on other rogue toes

Total of 5 asi to use on whatever

Me personally I would go for
Medium armor master
Skulker
Martial adept commanding strike and goading strike (commanding for having the other rogue make a sneak attack not on their turn goading cuz disadvantage on amyone but u when your a distance away is nice. Alternatively if I'm misremebering goading u can take distracting.)

Magic intiate taking cleric for mending guidance (for stealth rolls when not using pass without trace,) and bless.

An asi for getting dex to 18 if its already 18 increase something else.
On archer generally I keep dex at 16 which would make medium armor master still 19 a.c.
+5+ prof to hit. With a +3 damage

And then once per long rest bless would buff you and 2 others by 1d4 to hit and saves.

Not the most optimized dpr but u carry lots of utility
Can hide when lightly obscured ie dim light if enemy is human or darkness if they have darkvision

You'd sit at 2 attacks a turn 3 with horde breaker
1d10+3 damage
Can add 2d6 to one
Can action surge for 2 more 1d10+3
Or hold action for 1d10+3 +2d6

Commanding strike will let rogue make attack with extra d6 damage with u forgoing on attack and using bonus action but this allows u to still get your sneak attack and him get an extra

You'd have expertise in 2 skills from rogue base
And one from scout

Be able to kite by moving with reaction.

[Man_Over_Game]

Sure!

For a strictly ranged character, using Ranger levels, there are four major options you really want to consider:

Ranger + Rogue

Ranger + Crossbow Expert

Ranger + Druid

Ranger + Fighter


Each of these have their own ups and downs based on what you're looking for.

Ranger + Rogue does well by utilizing stealth elements, and generally does a good job at dealing high damage with a few hits per turn. Do not expect to be able to rapid fire attacks, though, and you'll have a lot of competition for abilities to use your Bonus Action (including some of your spells).

Ranger + Crossbow Expert is a long-time favorite for a lot of people. With Crossbow Expert, you can afford to shoot an extra time per turn, which works wonders with something like Hunter's Mark. For straight damage output, it's hard to go wrong here.

Ranger + Druid is more for versatility, designed to utilize the Ranger combat spells (Ensnaring Strike, Hail of Thorns, Hunter's Mark) to be fueled by the Druid's spell slots. By combining it with something like Land Druid (who regenerates Spell Slots faster), you can consistently use your Ranger spells. It does less consistent damage than the other builds, but it makes up for it with a plethora of options.

Ranger + Fighter has a lot of conflicts, but it mostly relies on using Action Surge + Hunter's Mark for a lot of burst ranged damage in your first turn. The main concern is that Ranger 5 and Fighter 5 don't synergize, so you basically have to stop leveling into one of those two classes at level 4.

In any scenario, getting your Extra Attack at Ranger level 5 is an important benchmark. Consider holding off on multiclassing until then.