Optimizing BM ranger

[intregus]

I will be playing a BM ranger through Frostmaiden.

I can use the PHB or Revised Ranger along with the class variant UA. Starting leg will be 3 or 5, lets assume 3 and stats will be point buy.

I haven't decided which race to go with yet. I'm thinking human or elf but I'm open to others.

The core concept is having a wolf for my companion, and I'm going to use a longbow most of the time with a finesse weapon and shield as backup.

So what are some traps I should avoid and in what ways can I optimize this character?

[HappyDaze]

I will be playing a BM ranger through Frostmaiden.

I can use the PHB or Revised Ranger along with the class variant UA. Starting leg will be 3 or 5, lets assume 3 and stats will be point buy.

I haven't decided which race to go with yet. I'm thinking human or elf but I'm open to others.

The core concept is having a wolf for my companion, and I'm going to use a longbow most of the time with a finesse weapon and shield as backup.

So what are some traps I should avoid and in what ways can I optimize this character?

If you're trying to optimize your BM, then start with eating high-fiber foods, drinking plenty of fluids, and making sure to do a lot of walking. A strong cup of coffee can really help too.

[heavyfuel]

Pick every variant possible. Revised Ranger is strictly better than PHB Ranger, and the Class feature variant are all pretty much a straight power up.

Since you're going to be ranged, then Con is probably on par or below Wis in priority. 12 Con 14 Wis is okay, although 14 on both is ideal.

[Neorealist]

Single most advantageous optimization option for a PHB beastmaster would be to use the mounted rules for your animal companion.

Starting off as a small race and selecting a medium-sized animal that could realistically serve as a mount lets you 'command' the mount: in many cases using the 'better' mount control rules rather than the more punitive beastmaster ones.

at minimum even if all you do is ride it; it'll increase your movement rate and allow for an excellent skirmisher/lancer with the ranger weapon proficencies and spell list.

[NaughtyTiger]

weapon: net actually works well here

spells: longstrider, jump
ask for help from your party: Aid, warding bond are great

magic items: ring of evasion

[cutlery]

Can you pick any other ranger? Like - any other ranger?

Colossus slayer and mark (with two-weapon fighting) can make short work of high HP targets early, but it doesn't scale well; it peaks at 5th. If you go ranged you can be back in the game with swift quiver, but that's a 5th level spell

You can, generally, scout better as a rogue (and eventually lay down better damage in melee or range), do better no-setup damage in melee or range as a fighter (who can still get proficiency in stealth and survival)

I'd think hard about what you want to do, and whether or not favored enemy and primeval awareness will ever matter.

I'd strongly suggest you look at the 2019 class feature variants for ranger options instead of the 2016 revised ranger. The latter sort of still sucks. The former, gets some rather cool things.

[NaughtyTiger]

Can you pick any other ranger? Like - any other ranger?

can he? yes
should he? no way, BM is good fun.

[CTurbo]

Be carefully going ranged with a Wolf companion that's going to wan to be in melee. The wolf is always going to be a bit on the squishy and works best next to a melee partner.

If I were to personally build a Beastmaster, and I will one of these days, I would setup a melee Ranger and fight right along side my beast friend. I would 100% use the Revised Beastmaster Conclave too. I'd probably want to grab Sentinel to help keep my companion safe. The Revised version doesn't eat your Bonus action each round so TWF is not a bad choice.

As far as your wolf goes, They get an ASI every time you do. Apparently the bite attack keys off of Dex and not Str so I would boost Dex. Boosting Dex increases the "to-hit", the damage, and the Wolf's AC. Boosting Str helps the bite's knockdown DC save which is a pretty poor 11. Boosting Con helps with hit points obviously.

[intregus]

Thanks,for,all the replies.

I think I'll go melee ranger and fight alongside my wolf. So should I go,dex fighter or twohanded str fighter?

[Chugger]

I don't think you'll want to do this, but here's how I optimized my BM Ranger.

He's Kobold, and his pet is a Pteranodon (it's medium size and flies - my kobold is light enough for the thing to carry it plus more gear and loot). So I get to fly the moment I become a BM.

I use a Mighty Dragonlance (which is really a whip colored to look like a toothpick sized lance) to melee attack at 10' range - we come diving in out of the sun - I do Mark - I attack at 10' range - and we fly past and end turn where they can't reach us. Well, since this is in AL I have Gauntlets of Ogre Power and use a real lance - but a recolored whip will work. I almost never miss because of Pack Tactics - I often have advantage to hit.

If there is sun, I cast fog cloud up in the sky to blot it out to negate sunlight sensitivity.

Since this is AL I can redo the char - and I might - I might pick Sharpshooter for a lvl 4 feat and do short bow. Advantage from Pack Tactics will mitigate most of the SS -5 penalty, and I can fly around shooting arrows. But dive bombing with a lance is so much fun I might stick with that.

It's an absurd character, but it's RAW and legal.

[stoutstien]

I don't think you'll want to do this, but here's how I optimized my BM Ranger.

He's Kobold, and his pet is a (it's medium size and flies - my kobold is light enough for the thing to carry it plus more gear and loot). So I get to fly the moment I become a BM.

I use a Mighty Dragonlance (which is really a whip colored to look like a toothpick sized lance) to melee attack at 10' range - we come diving in out of the sun - I do Mark - I attack at 10' range - and we fly past and end turn where they can't reach us. Well, since this is in AL I have Gauntlets of Ogre Power and use a real lance - but a recolored whip will work. I almost never miss because of Pack Tactics - I often have advantage to hit.

If there is sun, I cast fog cloud up in the sky to blot it out to negate sunlight sensitivity.

Since this is AL I can redo the char - and I might - I might pick Sharpshooter for a lvl 4 feat and do short bow. Advantage from Pack Tactics will mitigate most of the SS -5 penalty, and I can fly around shooting arrows. But dive bombing with a lance is so much fun I might stick with that.

It's an absurd character, but it's RAW and legal.

you are also a single force movement effect from eating it.

[CTurbo]

I created a TWF Kobold Revised Beastmaster(Wolf) with the Dual Wielder and Mounted Combat feats. You ride your wolf and both of you always attack with advantage. You use two lances as soon as you get your hands on a Belt of Giant Strength of Gauntlets of Ogre Power. Looked fun on paper, but I never got to play it.


As for the OP, I'd probably go Dex Sword and Board, but I could see a Str GWM and/or Polearm Master Ranger being decent. GWM is a solid feat even if you never use the -5/+10 part of it. Remember the Revised Beastmaster does not get a 2nd attack so Polear Master would be a great pick. Also, if you were to add 5 levels of Fighter or Monk, you WOULD get a second attack to go alongside your beast's 2nd attack if you have at least 5 Ranger levels. Either way, you want a high AC, and I still say Sentinel is a great pick so you can punish enemies for attacking your companion.

[Asisreo1]

Thanks,for,all the replies.

I think I'll go melee ranger and fight alongside my wolf. So should I go,sex fighter or twohanded str fighter?
Sex fighter can get you in trouble in many groups. I'd advise against it unless your group is extremely comfortable with that amount of play.

Besides, if you really want a sex fighter, you should go Bard.

[Chugger]

you are also a single force movement effect from eating it.

Oh any flying mount riding character can suffer that. So I get a ring of spell storing and have people cast feather fall in it - or I buy seatbelts! You're just jealous you don't have a kamikaze style BM Ranger who actually pumps out pretty good damage screaming "TORA TORA TORA!" at the top of his lungs as he dive bombs enemies from out of the sun!

[Lvl 2 Expert]

Thanks,for,all the replies.

I think I'll go melee ranger and fight alongside my wolf. So should I go,sex fighter or twohanded str fighter?

Sex fighter, definitely.

More seriously: there is a point to be made about adding variety between the ranger and the beast. They both get skills for instance, so if you give them skills that go with different strong stats you can get more successes out of that. Since the beast will be using strength attacks, it gets the high strength stat and the athletics skill, and the ranger itself can be dex based. (Although a wolf would probably not be the optimal beast for this division of labor.) Specializing in dex is advantageous for rangers in general, because without heavy armor (prevented both by the lack of proficiency and by the fact that most rangers like sneaking) you always need quite a bit of dex to be a strength based combatant, but you don't need any strength to be a dex based warrior, and for a beast master this goes double.

I don't know what the standards of this game are, how optimized everyone else is, but a DM might get antsy about a player using both the revised ranger and the alternate class features UA. Both are a significant power boost compared to the PHB ranger and either of those options can raise the ranger up to being probably overall one of the better half of the classes rather than being one of the bottom 2 or 3. If you want or have to use only one of those improvements I'd recommend going with the revised ranger, because their rework of the beast master simply makes the beast a lot more fun to use. The second attack at level 5 for instance has been moved to the beast. If you are allowed/allow yourself to mix and match freely the class options UA is definitely worth taking a look at, with all sorts of powerful and interesting options like free hunter's mark several times per day and druid cantrips as a fighting style. (That last one will usually be used for utility stuff like Guidance, but on a beast master attack cantrips could actually be really good, because they're not competing with a double attack.) Some of these features also make wisdom more important. An optimized ranger without these features can usually kind of dump wisdom, because most of their good spells are concentration based or don't use any stat anyway. (And as a beast master you might have even dumped a skill like perception on your animal, making wisdom even less useful.) But since a dexterity build doesn't need strength anyway they have the room to up both con and wis a bit, so you can use these features effectively, and that in turn makes the few good wisdom based spells rangers do get more viable, like Steel Wind Strike.

[Joe the Rat]

Lean Dex.
Lvl 2 Expert hits the salient points. From there you still have the option to oversized-metal-toothpick-and-board, or get the Drizzt Special. Dex two-weapon gives you more attacks, since you will burn one attack to command your beastie. Although if you can finagle the protection fighting style...


Sex fighter can get you in trouble in many groups. I'd advise against it unless your group is extremely comfortable with that amount of play.

Besides, if you really want a sex fighter, you should go Bard.
Those singy bois? nah, if you want a sex fighter, the gold standard is Sexblade Warlock.

[heavyfuel]

I think I'll go melee ranger and fight alongside my wolf. So should I go,dex fighter or twohanded str fighter?

Dex.

Rangers don't benefit too much from Str. You don't natively have Heavy Armor, so you still need Dex for AC, and hitting for 2d6 isn't that different than hitting for 1d8+2 (average 0.5 difference). You could go Heavy Weapon and Defense fighting style for +0.5 damage and +1 AC, but dueling style gives you +2 AC from your shield.

Don't go TWF, though. You have much much better things to do with your bonus action than trying to hit for 1d6+Dex.

If you're going melee, I'd prioritize Con over Wis, although I'd still try for Wis 13 in case you wish to multiclass out of Ranger in the future.

[Fnissalot]

If you go PHB ranger or Class Feature Variant, a good beast is one that you would rather attack with than attacking yourself. You don't need to spend ASI's in your main stat as your beast only grows in damage by your proficiency bonus so you can use them to buff your wisdom for your spells and saves or to pick utility feats (ritual caster etc?). So you can leave your Dex at a 14 (enough to max medium armor, or 16 if you take medium armor master) and spend all your ASIs on con or feats instead. If your DM regularly targets your pet over you, talk with them, they are punishing you as a player unfairly. It is more detrimental to the enjoyment of the subclass than it is motivated from a tactical perspective. The beast is not beefy enough to tank for you, so you should rather try to tank for it. Also, try to get an insignia of claws, it buffs the beasts a lot.

If you go PHB, Fastieth (from ERLW), flying snake, and giant poisonous snake are three of the highest damage dealing beasts you can get. The giant poisonous snake also adds the proficiency bonus to both the roll of the attacks damage and the roll of the poisons damage as those are separate values. It doesn't matter that the saving throw has a low DC as the poison does half damage on a save. (I wouldn't pick a snake if you know that the campaign will have lots of undead and such that are immune to poison). Otherwise, a fastieth, from level 17 and on, has a +12 to hit and 1d8+10 in damage which is still really good. Beast bond is your go to spell in the earlier levels as it gives the beast higher chance to hit.

Beasts with pact tactics (wolfs etc) removes the need for Beast Bond but they still are less effective than a stronger beast with the spell on.

The pteranodon is nice as a mount but has to low base stats to be better than at dealing damage it self. Flyby is nice though.

Baboons and similar monkeys can be cheesed with gauntlets of ogre strength or with the magic stone cantrip (they get to add your proficiency the spell attack modifier and damage) but is still not great.

The Class Feature variant can attack twice (1 with attack and 1 with bonus action) at levels 3-4 and then at 5-10 you get one attack yourself with it. At level 11 and on, you will want to get 3 attacks out of your beast and only 1 from yourself every turn. The proficiency in saves and easier way to revive it helps it survive. The once in the UA are to smart to use Beast Bond on which is unfortunate though. The beast of the Air is better than the beast of the earth. The chance to knock prone is ok but worse than flyby and the higher stats.

Haven't played the revised version so cannot add anything about it.

The PHB beastmaster does not by RAW allow dual wielding or the PWM bonus action as you are not taking the attack action, your beast is. So while a great weapon is tempting, I would probably just go with a sword and shield to soak some more damage.

Edit:
I am currently playing a PHB beastmaster with a beast of the Air. My ranger has just a 14 in dex but 16 in cha, and inspiring leader to give the beast and the party more health. The bird hits consistently like a truck while I switch between being ranged and melee depending on the situation. Gotten to level 5 so far without any noticeable mishaps. I never expected my character to be the main damage dealer of the duo and so far I haven't been disappointed by it. I also have gotten a refluffed Gruul Signet Ring (cast compelled duel a few times a day) to force people of from attacking my bird, but a lack of ranged foes and the birds flyby has kept it from going down once so far.