Fun exercise: How to make a Ranger only using fighter/druid

[Drache64]

I recently saw a comment that said: "A druid and a fighter had a baby, Thus the ranger was born"

This seems like a Fun challenge. Can you make a faithful (dare I even say, better?) Version of the ranger by simply using fighter and druid multiclass?

I'd love to see what you guys got!

[Bobthewizard]

You're probably better off just going druid and roleplaying them as a ranger. Make them a wood elf so they have proficiency in longbows and use that instead of cantrips. Take the outlander background and proficiency in survival and nature.

If you want to multiclass with fighter, I'd probably go fighter 2 then druid. Action surge is great for casters. I'd also consider rogue 2 (or 3 for scout) instead on a druid for cunning action. I'm just not sure it's worth the spell delay for either of those dips. Levels 5 and 6 will be painful and are the best levels for most druids with conjure animals. So maybe druid 5 and then add in your fighter or rogue, although even that is slowing down your spell slots.

[Man_Over_Game]

I recently saw a comment that said: "A druid and a fighter had a baby, Thus the ranger was born"

This seems like a Fun challenge. Can you make a faithful (dare I even say, better?) Version of the ranger by simply using fighter and druid multiclass?

I'd love to see what you guys got!

Depends if we're going Range or Melee.
For Range, I'd probably just do Druid (Land: Coast) 3, and Arcane Archer 17, focus on Intelligence and call it good. Has some extra utility magic for exploring, powerful and magical shots, and has some evasiveness from magical effects.

For Melee, the build is the same except I'm going Battlemaster.


Both feel very Ranger-y.

If I wanted less magic, I'd just do the same builds but swap out the Druid levels for Scout Rogue and do everything else the same.

[MrStabby]

Play a wood elf eldritch knight, grab wood elf magic at level 4, Fey Touched (UA) at level 6, Sharpshooter at level 8. Use the Gruul background from Ravnica for the spell list.

Oh, and add a level of druid a some point if you really want to.

[jojosskul]

So in my mind, a ranger is less a druid and fighter put together, but more of druid, fighter, and rogue put together.

Ranger's get just as many skills as bards, and only one less than rogues. They are one of only three classes where when you multiclass into them you get an extra skill. So any attempt to make a ranger without using ranger, has to make them at least slightly a skill monkey, at least for the skills they're supposed to be good at. Luckily, you can do this without having to multiclass rogue at all.

First, start as variant human level 1 fighter. The feat you're taking in this case is Prodigy. You already have con saves, and you're going dex based so warcaster isn't needed.

You'll be taking expertise in perception, and grabbing proficiency in stealth. Tools wise do whatever feels flavorful for you, same for language (though Sylvan might be nice here.) Your two fighter proficiencies will be Perception (so you can take that expertise in it) and Survival. From backgrounds grab Animal Handling and Acrobatics, and for your free human proficiency take whatever you want between Sleight of Hand, Insight, and Medicine.

This one feat helps round out your skill set so that you're just as skilled as a normal ranger, and are even better then they are in one skill of your choice due to expertise.

Stat spread with point buy after applying the variant human mods will be 8 Str, 16 Dex, 14 Con, 10 Int, 16 Wis, 8 Cha.

You will of course take Archery fighting style.

After this, you can either mainline fight to 5, or take one level of druid to get some of that nature magic flavor and put off extra attack by a level. In the end, your split should end up being either 6 fighter/14 Druid or 11 fighter/9 druid.

As far as subclasses go, the "obvious" choice of arcane archer for fighter is complete garbage since it keys off of our Int. So I'm inclined to go with Battlemaster to get that expert nature archer feel.

For druid subclass, we can eliminate moon druid right off the bat. You want to be fancy nature archer, and bears can't use bows.

In my opinion the best bet is Shepherd druid. Totems key off of a bonus action, which we aren't making heavy use of in this build. It also allows you to rush Dex first, since summoning spells, and many other druid spells, don't depend on your wisdom at all. And commanding the beasts of the forest is a very Rangery thing to do, even if it comes online late.

So there you go, a very rangery multiclass from as low as level 2 if you take that first druid level early. I wouldn't recommend taking more than one level of druid before extra attack though, you don't want to delay it too much

[Pex]

Generic:

Outlander background. Go fighter first to get the fighting style you want - two weapons or archery, and race won't matter for weapon proficiency. Level 2 and 3 go druid to pick up some spells. Create Bonfire is a good Cantrip to take for roleplay and attack if you need it for some reason. Four spell slots is plenty. Ask if you can port in Hunter's Mark. Level 4, 5, 6 is fighter all the way to improve your combat ability. I suggest Battle Master to pick up maneuvers you feel appropriate. You want fighter level 4 for the ASI or feat. You may want to consider Variant Human to already have the feat you really, really want and bump your attacking ability score at fighter level 6. At character level 6 you're 4 Fighter/2 Druid. Level 7 decide what you're desperate for more. Extra Attack from Fighter 5 or 2nd level spells from Druid 3. I lean more to Fighter 5 and get Extra Attack. Then take as many druid levels as you want for spells until you're comfortable. 3rd level spells will probably be it. Level 6 Fighter is waiting whenever you're ready for an ASI/Feat. From there it's up to what you feel like.

If you really want to simulate the Beast Companion you may want a few more Druid levels early to conjure animals, only take 1 level of Fighter first then Druid levels until you can then go to Fighter 5.

Only take one level of Druid as a 2nd level character then get to Fighter 5 before returning to druid if you really want to be more like the hunter.

[sithlordnergal]

I think Jojo is on the right track with this one:


Race: Variant Human


---Ability Scores---

Strength: 8
Dexterity: 16
Constitution: 14
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 16
Charisma: 8




Class: Fighter 8 / Druid: 12


---Background: Customized Outlander---

Thanks to customized backgrounds being a core, non-variant rule in the PHB, we can actually swap out the Athletics that the Outlander usually gets. Instead, you'll want Perception and Survival. You'll also want the Wanderer feature, as it lets you emulate the Ranger's Favored Terrain feature. Wanderer isn't quite as good as Favored Terrain, but it lets you forage enough food for five people and it lets you always remember general terrain, settlements, ect., making it far harder for you to get lost.


---ASIs & Feats---

Bonus Feat: Prodigy, you'll want Expertise in Survival, proficiency in Nature, and I'd probably snag Cartographer's Tools in order to make maps of the places you travel through.
1st ASI: 18 Dex
2nd ASI: Sharpshooter
3rd ASI: 18 Wis
4th ASI: Crossbow Expert
5th ASI: 20 Dex
6th ASI: 20 Wis



---Skills---

Acrobatics, from Fighter
Animal Handling, from Fighter
Nature, from Prodigy
Stealth, from Human Variant
Perception, Modified Outlander
Survival, from Modified Outlander, has Expertise




So, you're going to want to start with 4 levels of Fighter and increase your Dexterity by 2. Take Archery for your Fighting Style, and take Battle Master as your Subclass. Once you get Battle Master, I highly suggest taking Precision Attack and Pushing Attack for two of your Maneuvers, as they'll just make you a better Archer. Use a Longbow as your main weapon for now, but we'll eventually change that out.

You'll want one level of Druid at level 5 in order to get some much needed spell casting. You're not going to do a ton of casting just yet, but then again neither would rangers. After that you'll want two more levels of Fighter to get Extra Attack and your next ASI at 6 Fighter, this time take Sharp Shooter. By now you're level 7, and you can finish this Tier off by taking three levels of Druid for yet another ASI. The Druid subclass will vary depending on what you want to do. I would suggest Shepard Druid or Land Druid. Land Druid's 6th level feature will let you emulate another part of the Ranger's Favored Terrain feature and grant you more spells, Shepard Druid is perfect for emulating the Beastmaster. As for the ASI, get an 18 Wisdom since you're starting to do more spell casting now. Either way you'll be level 10 now with a Fighter 6 / Druid 4 split.

For levels 11 and 12 take two more levels of Fighter to net yet another ASI at level 12. Know your Enemy will let you emulate a few of those knowledge checks that Favored Enemy grants you, and you can take Crossbow Expert in order to upgrade your d8 Longbow to a d10 Heavy Crossbow. From here on in, you'll be going pure Druid. Your main goals will be getting your Wisdom and Charisma to 20 in order to max out your attacks and spells.



This build will basically do everything a Ranger does, but better:

Favored Terrain and Favored Enemies? Expertise in Survival, the Wanderer Background, and Know your Enemy lets you emulate some of the strongest bits of both of these, such as never getting lost, finding extra food, or being really, really good at tracking things. Wanderer in particular does a lot, since it lets you always remember the general terrain and the locations of settlements and other features, as well as letting you find food for 6 people when you forage. Expertise in Survival and Know Your Enemy emulates most of the features of Favored Enemy.

Combat ability? Battlemaster 8 with Precision Attack, Archery Fighting Style, Sharpshooter, and Crossbow Expert basically puts you on par with a Ranger that focuses on archery.

Spells and Stealth? You have proficiency in Stealth, and as a Druid you have access to Pass Without Trace. While you aren't able to hide as a Bonus Action, that won't really matter since you can emulate the +10 to Stealth that Hide in Plain Sight gives you with Pass Without Trace. And while you may not be able to hide as a bonus action, your spell casting as far better than a Ranger's. By 20th level Rangers get up to two 5th level spells, this build will have a 6th level spell, plus your spells will be stronger overall. Not only can you swap them out as needed, but as a Druid you'll have access to spells like Dispel Magic, Call Lightning, Erupting Earth, Blight, Polymorph, Wall of Fire, Maelstrom, Cure Mass Wounds, Wall of Stone, Heal, Hero's Feast, and Sunbeam.

[SLOTHRPG95]

So in my mind, a ranger is less a druid and fighter put together, but more of druid, fighter, and rogue put together.

This. Given free reign, I'd definitely throw some Rogue into the mix, although how much really depends on how (non-)magical I want my not-Ranger to be. Wood Elf Fighter (Battle Master) 5/Rogue (Scout) 15 with Wood Elf Magic and Ritual Caster (Druid) as the only sources of supernatural power would be on one end of the spectrum, while a Fighter 5/Rogue 2/Druid (probably Land) 13 would be on the other end.

However, going purely Fighter/Druid, I think that I'd probably go with an 11/9 split, again going Circle of Land for the thematic Land's Stride, and to get the most out of otherwise limited spell (and slot) progression.

[Tanarii]

Needs rogue too IMO. Or at least Prodigy with Expertise Stealth

Honestly that's probably something the base Ranger should get. Expertise stealth.