Beastmaster Ranger help

[Killmatronix]

Hello there, longtime reader, just now registered.

I've a question about advancing my character, which is a goblin beastmaster ranger. I'm by no means new, starting to play DnD with 5e and retroactively playing some ADnD and Pathfinder, and I never made posts like this before either, but I'm really interested in how to better this unique spin on beastmaster.

I went flying for the specific interest in flying combat, taking the pteranodon pet, since access to such travel and range is not something martial classes usually have access to and I figured that it would make for an interesting character concept; an ex soldier goblin caravan master.

He's currently lv 6 with the following stat spread (using point buy):

8
18
14
12
16
8

The goal is clearly to make a ranged ranger that tries to get out of dodge, but given that this isn't a very common build, or uncommon enough for me to not find any help about it, I do have some questions, which could be stupid for all I know. I think the added mobility could make its damage relevant enough for it to compete against other dps options, but I could be wrong.

First is the general advancement. I have got my hands on the saddle of the cavalier, and my mount's gotten to 16 AC so far due to my proficiency, with me also thinking about eventually (after 20 dex and sharpshooter) getting mounted combat for extra protection, but then what? There aren't many spells that make the mount relevant at this point, especially for what I'm planning with it. Any advice would be welcome. I'm not looking to break the game, but some pointers from more experienced rangers would be pretty neat. I also couldn't find many Share Spells options, which is far away at lv 15, but it doesn't hurt to bring it up. I also considered going full ranger, or at least to level 19, due to this being a bit of a homebrew spin on the class and it gets the third attack at that level, even if the subclass (beastmaster) remains completely the same.

Second is my confusion regarding the split action nature of the mount and the mountee. Finding some Jeremy Crawford answers online via Sage Advice made me realize that this was changed after RAW into the ranger going before the beast and the beast following the ranger's command after that, but I couldn't do stuff like my attack, my mount's movement, my movement due to our turns being intertwined.

Third would be flyby and controlled movement in general. I was under the impression that flyby is what doesn't trigger opportunity attacks, fact supported by mr. Crawford's Sage Advice, but it also got brought up to my attention that controlled movement apparently doesn't trigger them anyway? If there's some clarification about that I would be incredibly thankful.

Lastly, I'd like to know about certain wording issue. PHB says that, if the companion isn't taking commands, it instead takes a dodge action. Does it do that even if I do my action, like an attack, and not issue any new command to it? Adding onto that, is companion movement issuing a command?

I'd like to thank everyone for their input. Since this is my first time making a post like this, perhaps I missed adding some crucial information, so go ahead and ask me anything you'd like. I'd also like for others to mention their own experiences with the style.

[Man_Over_Game]

Sorry for your post not getting any responses until this late. Kinda sucks that your first post was met with nothing but silence on such a difficult topic.

Honestly, there's a number of concerns with your build that, as you've noticed, has a lot of weaknesses working against it, and I doubt most DMs would care. In regards to Ranger/Mount movement, the only advice I could suggest is talking to your DM. I could explain how all the turn/split BS works for normal mounts, but those don't even apply in your circumstance unless your DM allows it to be ruled as a mount (which is, again, your DM's decision).

But to explain what it is you're asking about the controlled mount question, the idea is that the Mount can Disengage, Dodge, and Dash as normal with its action during its turn, which the rider is just kinda..there for. If the Mount would provoke an OA, the Mount is the offender and so would be attacked. It's considered "forced movement" on the Rider, so he doesn't provoke the OA, and so he'd be only attacked if the mount neither Disengaged and the Rider had Mounted Combatant to redirect the attack onto him.

And, unfortunately, the companion itself is hard to leverage as anything other than a second body on the field, which you negate by riding it. You can take some excellent potshots with Sharpshooter, and maybe you could pick up some defensive boons for your pet, but there isn't a lot going for the Beastmaster Ranger in the best of circumstances. A flying mount seems like it'd be the best of circumstances, and you're running into that problem first-hand.

As crappy as it is, the solution is probably limited to "Talk with your boss".

[Killmatronix]

Sorry for your post not getting any responses until this late. Kinda sucks that your first post was met with nothing but silence on such a difficult topic.

Honestly, there's a number of concerns with your build that, as you've noticed, has a lot of weaknesses working against it, and I doubt most DMs would care. In regards to Ranger/Mount movement, the only advice I could suggest is talking to your DM. I could explain how all the turn/split BS works for normal mounts, but those don't even apply in your circumstance unless your DM allows it to be ruled as a mount (which is, again, your DM's decision).

But to explain what it is you're asking about the controlled mount question, the idea is that the Mount can Disengage, Dodge, and Dash as normal with its action during its turn, which the rider is just kinda..there for. If the Mount would provoke an OA, the Mount is the offender and so would be attacked. It's considered "forced movement" on the Rider, so he doesn't provoke the OA, and so he'd be only attacked if the mount neither Disengaged and the Rider had Mounted Combatant to redirect the attack onto him.

And, unfortunately, the companion itself is hard to leverage as anything other than a second body on the field, which you negate by riding it. You can take some excellent potshots with Sharpshooter, and maybe you could pick up some defensive boons for your pet, but there isn't a lot going for the Beastmaster Ranger in the best of circumstances. A flying mount seems like it'd be the best of circumstances, and you're running into that problem first-hand.

As crappy as it is, the solution is probably limited to "Talk with your boss".
I don't know about weaknesses. I just had some ruling questions is all. I don't think beastmaster's as bad as people make it out to be.

I think there was a misunderstanding. How flyby works is that the mount doesn't trigger opportunity attacks.

And about pet actions, I asked what exactly does the mount do if I don't order it to do anything and do my action/bonus action. Does it still get its dodge? Does it get it if I move it?

I know for a fact that animal companions can also count as mounts as well.

All in all, I think there was a misunderstanding. None of my questions were asking questions that I'd have to ask DMs about for their verdict. It was about RAW or RAI or sage advice. I don't think any of these questions would be stepping in the "Talk with your boss." territory, whatever that means. I'm sure that I could talk with individual DMs to buff beastmaster ranger or whatever, but that wasn't my goal or intent here. I'm looking to play by official/AL rules.

If anyone's got any assistance, it'd be highly appreciated.

[Man_Over_Game]

Sorry, I'll try to be a bit more clear on these:

Normally the mount would have its own initiative like any other creature. Even if it was a Controlled mount, it'd have an initiative identical to yours that you could choose to be immediately before or after yours. It doesn't obey those rules, since its turn is actually your turn, so it acts as it would during your turn the same whether you're riding it or not. So you can move-attack-move-attack-move if you wanted.

Flyby does not trigger OAs against the mount, you are correct. Normal Mount Movement does not trigger OAs against the rider (because it's consisdered Forced Movement upon the rider), but it can trigger on the mount. A mount can avoid OAs inherently just by taking the Disengage Action for its Action. Flyby effectively is a free Disengage Action for the mount.

On the next question, the Beastmaster's writing states: "You can use your action to verbally command it to take the Attack, Dash, Disengage, or Help action." Note that it doesn't mention the always-available Dodge Action, because that's what happens when you don't pick one of those options. When it's saying "verbally command", it's actually saying "If your companion has an Action left at the end of its turn...".

On the whole Mount issue, it's generally better to have your mount be "Uncontrolled" if it already is going to listen to you (as companions do), as a Controlled Mount is only beneficial if that is HOW you make it listen to you (as being Controlled limits what actions it's allowed to take). For that reason, a Paladin with an Uncontrolled summoned Mount is a notorious power-gaming abuse (as the mount maintains its own turn and freedoms to do exactly what the Paladin wants).