Ranger Flavor Warlock

[Nagog]

So I'm looking to build an Arcane Ranger, like a primal magic flavored warrior. Unfortunately, the Ranger class isn't as magically flavorful as I am looking to make. (I'm looking for something like a warrior druid without wild shape and stuff). My friend suggested I use a Chainlock that uses a bow as a spellcasting focus and primarily uses Eldritch Blast. I like the concept of magic arrows (EB) and a Chain familiar, but I don't really know where else to go to get the ranger feel. Any suggestions?

[MagneticKitty]

Speak with animals at will invocation is a must imo
Hex as a hunters mark replacement

I'd take tome over chain. Chain gives a non animal familiar like imp, sprite or pseudo dragon which doesn't really fit imo... And tome gives standard beast type familiar (it's a ritual spell) and lots of nature related rituals like commune with nature ect. Also find steed is nice for a horse buddy (going only on memory since I don't have my book with me)
Ironically tome Warlock with find steed ritual and eb "arrows" makes a better beast master than beast master

[Hytheter]

How permissive is your DM? You might want to consider lobbying for some spell swaps with druids or rangers, or even devising a homebrew nature patron.

Besides that, I think Tome pact is the right idea. Grab yourself three Druid cantrips, then get the book of ancient secrets invocation with find familiar and a ranger/druid rituals and start looking for more to transcribe.

Might as well pick the outlander background too.

[firelistener]

You should probably consider the Outlander background for its Wanderer feature. I'm guessing that's the bulk of what you want out of the Ranger class. If it's the animal companion, then yeah you should probably opt for a Warlock with Pact of the Chain. If it's archery you're after, then I will actually suggest a multiclass (I can hardly believe myself. I almost never suggest for someone to multiclass). Take one level in Fighter or two in Ranger to get the Archery fighting style, then you can just take all your other levels in a caster class like Druid.

At Fighter 1 / Druid 1 (character level 2), you'd have the same number of spell slots as a level 2 ranger, but have waaay more spells available when prepping your list at a long rest as a Druid. If you're wanting to have an animal companion like a Beast Master type Ranger, then I would suggest you add the Magic Initiate feat onto the Fighter/Druid. You could play as a variant human and start off with it, or wait til you get your first ABI (which unfortunately takes longer as a multiclass). With Magic Initiate, you can just pick Find Familiar off the Wizard spell list and whatever cantrips you want with it.

[JellyPooga]

I'd take tome over chain. Chain gives a non animal familiar like imp, sprite or pseudo dragon which doesn't really fit imo...

Chain Pact gives you the option of takinh an "advanced" familiar, but does not require you to. You can still take an animal one if you wish. That said, a "Ranger" Warlock with a Sprite or Pseudodragon familiar is not outside the realms of possibility by any stretch of the imagination, IMO.

That said, I'm not convinced Warlock is the best go-to for a more magical Ranger. Bard could very well be an option; it has many of the nature themed spells on their list and Magical Secrets allows you to access some Ranger-only spells earlier than the Ranger does.

[Sherlockpwns]

Before I drive into the crazier build, ranger UA does have the primeval guardian archetype. It kinds does sound like a good fit, but also... Seriously looks op broken.

Ok here are some the alternatives.

Yes, absolutely you could consider also hexblade and just pick druidy spells. But the question I ponder I what is primeval to you? Nature? Fire? Chaos?

Nature Cleric gets you a druid cantrip and a bunch of good druid spells (and some crappy ones). Magic Stone and a sling + shield + Divine strike won't exactly be a powerhouse, but it will be more flavorful than a bow. Between heavy armor and the ability to resist element as a reaction, plus whatever primeval spells you can pull out of cleric, you should have a durable Frontline. Of course, dwarf is the obvious choice so you can dump str, but it'll work with anything really.

Next up is a more wacky rogue scout / druid(?). The mix of these two gives a lot of flavor and a weird attack in the form of magic stone and a sling. Rogue gives you a lot of skills and expertise, which you can pour into various naturey skills. Sneak keeps your damage relevant, though just like the cleric the more you put into the next class the worse you'll perform your default attack.

I put a ? Next to druid because it may not actually be the best choice here. It goes back to the question of what primeval means to you. It could be a druid, sorcerer, or wizard that fits better here. What are the cornerstone spells you'll be casting? Summoning animals? Creating plants? Or something more chaotic like earth tremor, darkness, or tidal wave. Or just magic weapon... Just keep in mind the balance between raising your magic vs raising damage and utility.

Lastly, if you can't make a primeval guardian because your DM agrees with me that it's broken, lol, a simple Ranger Hunter with magic initiate for magic stone can burst out 3 attacks per round, all using Wis as your attribute. Gloom Stalker also works well with this. Because Ranger is... Ranger, it falls off at level 5 or 7 depending on your subclass, at which point you can go full Druid or Cleric as easy multiclasses. Or even Sorc, Warlock, or Wizard! In particular, at Wizard 3 you can have both magic weapon and magic stone going for beefy +3 to hit (archery focus from ranger). Or be a cleric and bless. Either way, drop in sniper and you have 2-3 +10 dmg attacks with almost no penalty. It should check all your boxes.

So, that is 3-4 possible build ideas for a magic slinger. Of course if you were dead set on using a bow... I have failed you. Lol. Though really a bow would work with most of these too.