Ranger Cleric or Ranger Druid?

[PatriotCinco]

So the last time I came to GiantITP for development tips, you guys did me a real solid. So I figured, I'd cast a line out again and see what the wisdom of the masses has for me.

We are a 6 man party, operating in a blended Eberron/Curse of Strahd setting with a little homebrew sprinkled in. We are a rather large group of 6. We had a seventh, but one backed out due to personal reasons. As luck would have it, he was our healer. Our current party is as follows:

Bard (College unknown), Horizon Walker Ranger, Conquest Paladin, Battle Smith Artificer, Swashbuckler Rogue (side note - this guy is a bugbear, and he's the worst roguey rogue ever, but his play is absolutely hilarious), and myself: Revised Beast Master Ranger.

The thought occurred to me that between the healer bowing out, and the pummeling that we received from animated armor and his trusty broom, perhaps we could use a bit of diversity as well as some more spell support.

As of right now I am a Hill Dwarf, and here are my stats:

16 Dex, 17 Wis (+1 racial), 14 Con (+2 racial), 12 int, 11 cha, 10 str

So far I'm thinking that I'll take Resilient Constitution feat at 4, and take on proficiency in Wis saves while bumping that wisdom up to 18 - we don't have anyone in the squad proficient in wisdom. if anyone watches critical role, we'd all be devoured by the floor of mouths in the dungeon where they first fought the laughing hand.

I am pretty set on the BM ranger, inspired by how I talk to my dog on walks like he's a human being. Also, I already painted minis to look like him. They're adorable.

Our DM is pretty lenient about development. He is allowing us to retcon anything we want up until we are about to hit level 4. Once we hit 4, we're locked in whatever we have - this will go 10 levels minimum.

So, I'm wondering what you guys would do with my stat spread and what subclass you would go with beginning with level 5 forward. I'm open to any opinions or suggestions if you'd change race or the order in which you would take levels and multiclassing.

Thanks! I look forward to your suggestions.

[CTurbo]

Well.... you have a Bard, a Paladin, and two Rangers. That is a lot of healing to go around. I wouldn't multiclass just because I felt like you needed more healing. Only the Life Cleric is going to be able to heal better than the Bard anyway.


If you want to multiclass anyway, it would be a lot of fun to be a Druid Beast Master and be able to turn into what your companion is.

[nickl_2000]

I’d agree with the above, you really don’t need to multicolored with what you have on the party. There is more than enough healing already.

Beyond that, as a beast master you want to keep your beast progression going so a multiclass really hurts.


I will throw one thing out there, if your DM rules that the life cleric healing bonus applies to each good berry a single level in life cleric would be awesome

[Keravath]

Your party has quite a bit of healing already but if you want to double down on it then one level of life cleric combined with taking the goodberry and healing spirit spells becomes a healing powerhouse between encounters.

The life cleric bonus to healing means that goodberry healing scales with the level used to cast the spell. A level one goodberry spell will heal 4 hit points/goodberry. Cast it with a level 3 slot, if you have one left at the end of the day or take a day off and it is 6 hit points/berry. Healing spirit normally does 10d6 healing but with a life cleric this goes to 10d6+40 to as many creatures as can enter the spirit's location on a round. Essentially, you can usually heal the entire party in a minute or less with the one spell between combats and it has some in combat utility too in emergencies.

(I have a level 9 character - 8 gloomstalker ranger/1 life cleric and this aspect works really well for healing up the party ... at least until spell slots are gone).

[RogueJK]

Dipping a level or so in Druid doesn't get you much. It would only really be worth considering if your party needed more melee, and you wanted 1 level of Druid to pick up the Shillelagh cantrip to use WIS for melee attacks. But you could accomplish the same thing, in an arguably more optimal manner, with a 1 level dip into Nature Cleric or by taking the Magic Initiate Druid feat. Besides, that doesn't seem to be your intent, and you can just use your decent DEX with a rapier/scimitar/shortsword when melee is needed.

Dipping a level in Life Cleric, as mentioned, is a decent option for some extra straight HP healing, but it doesn't get you the higher level condition/death-removal "healing" spells that a true Cleric gets, so it won't ever be as good of an overall "healer" as a Cleric.

Besides, I agree that your party seems to have sufficient HP healing options already. The Bard can stand in as a quasi-Cleric in many situations if they are careful with their spell selections and/or go Lore Bard for some choice cross-class healing spells. As can the Rangers and Paladin in some more limited cases, since they all have some healing options, plus can remove some conditions with Lesser Restoration and Lay on Hands, and the Paladin will eventually pick up Revivify at 9th level.

I think your best bet is to stay straight Ranger, and your party will be just fine.


A Ranger/Cleric multiclass is most optimal as a primary Cleric with a 3/5 level dip into Ranger anyway, usually going Hunter or Gloomstalker Ranger. This gives some specific Cleric builds a nice boost in melee/ranged damage output from things like a Fighting Style, some of these Ranger subclass features, and Extra Attack if you go the full Ranger 5. Plus a few useful lower level Ranger spells that Clerics won't usually get otherwise, and a few other handy riders from Ranger abilities. But with Beastmaster Ranger being more heavily dependent on Ranger levels to boost your animal companion's capabilities, it's a poor choice for such a 3/5 level Ranger dip.

[Walmcoli]

A single level dip into Nature Cleric really improves your versatility. You gain 4 cantrips (3 cleric and 1 druid), Animal Friendship and Speak with Animals always prepared as well as 4+ cleric spells, and an additional skill proficiency.

I have a classic Beast Master Ranger that has done this. All you lose out on is delaying extra attack by one level and a slight reduction to the companion's HP.

[djreynolds]

As of right now I am a Hill Dwarf, and here are my stats:

16 Dex, 17 Wis (+1 racial), 14 Con (+2 racial), 12 int, 11 cha, 10 str

So far I'm thinking that I'll take Resilient Constitution feat at 4, and take on proficiency in Wis saves while bumping that wisdom up to 18 - we don't have anyone in the squad proficient in wisdom. if anyone watches critical role, we'd all be devoured by the floor of mouths in the dungeon where they first fought the laughing hand.

I am pretty set on the BM ranger, inspired by how I talk to my dog on walks like he's a human being. Also, I already painted minis to look like him. They're adorable.


Thanks! I look forward to your suggestions.

Well most likely you have a choice between wisdom saves or con save proficiency.

Also I'm unsure if the beast in revised beastmaster gets ASI on your ranger or character level.

So I might just stay ranger. That said 1 level of cleric will give you the bless spell, which will help out in the save department

Find out about beast leveling with your DM.

[HiveStriker]

So the last time I came to GiantITP for development tips, you guys did me a real solid. So I figured, I'd cast a line out again and see what the wisdom of the masses has for me.

We are a 6 man party, operating in a blended Eberron/Curse of Strahd setting with a little homebrew sprinkled in. We are a rather large group of 6. We had a seventh, but one backed out due to personal reasons. As luck would have it, he was our healer. Our current party is as follows:

Bard (College unknown), Horizon Walker Ranger, Conquest Paladin, Battle Smith Artificer, Swashbuckler Rogue (side note - this guy is a bugbear, and he's the worst roguey rogue ever, but his play is absolutely hilarious), and myself: Revised Beast Master Ranger.

The thought occurred to me that between the healer bowing out, and the pummeling that we received from animated armor and his trusty broom, perhaps we could use a bit of diversity as well as some more spell support.

As of right now I am a Hill Dwarf, and here are my stats:

16 Dex, 17 Wis (+1 racial), 14 Con (+2 racial), 12 int, 11 cha, 10 str

So far I'm thinking that I'll take Resilient Constitution feat at 4, and take on proficiency in Wis saves while bumping that wisdom up to 18 - we don't have anyone in the squad proficient in wisdom. if anyone watches critical role, we'd all be devoured by the floor of mouths in the dungeon where they first fought the laughing hand.

I am pretty set on the BM ranger, inspired by how I talk to my dog on walks like he's a human being. Also, I already painted minis to look like him. They're adorable.

Our DM is pretty lenient about development. He is allowing us to retcon anything we want up until we are about to hit level 4. Once we hit 4, we're locked in whatever we have - this will go 10 levels minimum.

So, I'm wondering what you guys would do with my stat spread and what subclass you would go with beginning with level 5 forward. I'm open to any opinions or suggestions if you'd change race or the order in which you would take levels and multiclassing.

Thanks! I look forward to your suggestions.
Hi!

First, quick note

Well.... you have a Bard, a Paladin, and two Rangers. That is a lot of healing to go around. I wouldn't multiclass just because I felt like you needed more healing. Only the Life Cleric is going to be able to heal better than the Bard anyway.


If you want to multiclass anyway, it would be a lot of fun to be a Druid Beast Master and be able to turn into what your companion is.
Errr. Wrong I'd say, unless Bard picks Healing Spirit as Magic Secrets (but why would he really?)
Life Cleric plus Ranger's Goodberry at 1 and HS at level 5 will take care of everything as someone said.


A single level dip into Nature Cleric really improves your versatility. You gain 4 cantrips (3 cleric and 1 druid), Animal Friendship and Speak with Animals always prepared as well as 4+ cleric spells, and an additional skill proficiency.

I have a classic Beast Master Ranger that has done this. All you lose out on is delaying extra attack by one level and a slight reduction to the companion's HP.
This is another solid choice, which I feel would be perfect for you. As others said, you don't want to hurt your animal companion too much. At least if you want to tag with him in combat. Otherwise of course... ^^

Besides that though, honestly for a "true" multiclass both are great.
I'd tend to suggest Druid wins by a slight margin in the long run, because Plant Growth can be neatly combined in your party if only the Conquest Paladin is melee. And you otherwise bring a versatility in "spell for situation" that nobody can match. And Shepherd Druid will help you keep your companion alive, as well as bringing Conjure Animals at the same time as usually at worst.
If you were looking for ways to buff your companion, Cleric has more options.

-> My first intuition would be to get just a single level of Nature Cleric as suggested: seems to me that it fits your character concept best both in mechanics and fluff.