Ranger beast master mow is it at mid to high level

[huginn]

Hello
I am joining a group where everyone is 8th or 9th level. I looked at the beast master and I am not sure how viable it is. I have a fondness for badgers and would like to get the giant badger.
If this matters the group has a druid,bard,barbarian, rouge and another play who as far as I know will be a bard

I like input from people who tried the beast master at 9th level or higher, how was the experience? Were you melee of range? How did you use your pet?

[sithlordnergal]

It depends on if you are using the revised Ranger, errataed Ranger, or the unchanged PHB Ranger. If you are PHB, then go for Druid and either be a Shepard Druid or a Moon Druid. The standard PHB Beastmaster is garbage, for a multitude of reasons ranging from Action Economy issues, to your Beast's HP, to your Beast's lack of a magical bite.

If it is the errata Ranger, then its a bit better. Not great, but I could see it working out decently. You won't be the best, but you won't be effectively useless like with the PHB.

As for the Revised Ranger from UA, I don't actually know much about it...I think its similar to the Errata we got but I am unsure.

[NNescio]

It depends on if you are using the revised Ranger, errataed Ranger, or the unchanged PHB Ranger. If you are PHB, then go for Druid and either be a Shepard Druid or a Moon Druid. The standard PHB Beastmaster is garbage, for a multitude of reasons ranging from Action Economy issues, to your Beast's HP, to your Beast's lack of a magical bite.

If it is the errata Ranger, then its a bit better. Not great, but I could see it working out decently. You won't be the best, but you won't be effectively useless like with the PHB.

As for the Revised Ranger from UA, I don't actually know much about it...I think its similar to the Errata we got but I am unsure.

Revised Ranger is a bit on the strong end, but not likely to break the game unless multiclassed. The DM will feel like choking you though each time you use (the revised) Primeval Awareness.

[CTurbo]

The Revised Ranger base class is a little OP but nothing too outrageous. It's incredibly front loaded though. I would jump at the chance to play a Revised Beastmaster, but I wouldn't bother with the phb unless maybe in a one shot. It's not that the phb version is unplayable.... it just looks unfun.

The Giant Badger is one of the better companion options for sure so you're good there. Revised gets no multiattack(ask DM anyway), but it does get ASI increases every 4th Ranger level. I would +1 Str and Con once and either +2 Str for better attacks/damage or +2 Dex for a armor bump. Ask your DM about barding for it as Hide or Chain shirt armor would increase it's AC by 2-3.

[Sherlockpwns]

You guys are no fun. Phb beastmaster is fine, but very restrictive in how you play it and has MANY items and questions you need to clear with your DM before you start.

As noted you need to figure out if you are ranged or melee.

The only viable melee option is mounted, using mounted combatant feat or your beast will be replaced after 8 hours of rest. This restricts you to being a small race on a medium mount.

Ranged the beast is probably still best as a mount just to give you mobility, but may have other uses, like providing something to hide behind as a halfling or just giving some zone of control. The beastmaster mostly shines out of combat. While I don't consider the badger a great choice in general, there are a lot of clever things you can do with burrow. A wolf gives a massive perception bonus on hearing and smell. A panther has insane speed and climb. For combat, A frog can auto ensnare on hit, raw on any size (Rai, probably max large, but that's still rather good). And Snake of course is your pure damage dealer, best for using a Lance since you both have 10 ft reach. And so on...

The items you must clear up with your DM are:

Does the companion get death saves?
How will replacement companions be selected?
What restrictions are there on my first companion?
Are you permitted to treat your companion as a mount, or does it actually require your action to move... (If so, don't play phb bm)
And are you house ruling anything or going purely raw?

Lastly to clarify what folks wrote first. Phb beastmaster beasts now have magical attacks after level 7. Not the huge buff people hoped for from the last eratta, but it's something.

The class from a pure combat role is fine, the problem with it is to make it fine you have to play it a very specific way. It's the least flexible in the game.

Oh, and frankly I strongly am for multiclassing out of it at level 5. With mounted combatant your beast will be fine, despite having 20hp, and it allows you to setup some interesting combos. I wrote a long post about it, but the short version is cleric or rogue both add a lot to a level 5 bm. It's also one of the few setups where a net works, but that requires a feat. There just aren't a lot of reasons to stay a ranger imo.

Anyway, I'm not saying don't play a BM, but if you are new or your DM is going to punish you for it... Well, it may be more frustrating than another setup.

[MagneticKitty]

Honestly, I'd ask if you can play a naturey paladin instead. Just swap casting stat to wisdom, take ancients oath and use find steed and find greater steed. All around better ranger, imo. And it is sad that this is the case.... But it is.

Alternatively a scout rogue with magic initiate find familiar for a standard badger familiar (just use cat stats, give burrow 10 or something) Is probably better.
Or arcane trickster with wisdom stat instead of int. Same for eldritch knight.
Oooh
Or a shadow sorcerer but flavor your shadow hound as a badger

[Petrocorus]

We're sorry to reply in this way and to maybe spoil your fun and disappoint you, but the fact is that the PHB Ranger is commonly considered as the less well written class and the Beastmaster is the worst subclass mechanically. Especially at the kind of level you will play.
They just fail to achieve their basic design intentTM.

The revised Ranger and Beastmaster from UA are better. There are still issues, some feature are lacking or even missing, and a few are overpowered for their level, but it is functional in a game.

So, you should first tell us what kind of character you want to play? What do you expect to be able to do?
Hence we could maybe advise you on an alternative build that would suit your need.


You guys are no fun. Phb beastmaster is fine, but very restrictive in how you play it and has MANY items and questions you need to clear with your DM before you start.

.......

Anyway, I'm not saying don't play a BM, but if you are new or your DM is going to punish you for it... Well, it may be more frustrating than another setup.

Emphasis mine.
You do notice that everything you said in your post is disproving that Beastmasters are fine.

[Yunru]

A simple fix for the Beast Master specifically is to just rip out the UA revised version and stick it in the PHB ranger.
Just... don't expect a lot from the Ranger features.