Give Me Your Ranger Beast Master Builds!

[DM7581]

Hey all, big fan of the Ranger class and the Beast Master, at least thematically. As we all know it is a tough sub-class to build, but wanted to get some of you all's 2 CP on a complete 1-20 build.

The build can be for damage, support, but generally something more or less viable, but not necessarily overly optimized.

I'm interested in how some spell selections may factor in (I have a hard time working in Beast Bond/Sense) as well as melee (yes, including two-weapon fighting) and ranged.

Of course, race, skills, feats, and even general tactics are welcome too.

Open to some new Tasha's content, but not UA Revised Ranger.

I'm a 90% DM, 10% player (currently playing a Beast Master), so wanted to fish for some ideas, both for my character but also some NPCs in my current game.

Thanks in advance. Let's have at it.

[Asisreo1]

When I create a Beastmaster, I make sure to lean into the fact that I am a beastmaster, and not a hunter.

For example, I had a beastmaster whose companion was a Giant Poisonous Snake (most damaging build). At 5th level my favored terrain was Forest, my favored enemy were beasts, my fighting style was dueling and I equipped a rapier and shield.

Dex was highest score, followed by constitution.

My 4 spells were Cure Wounds, Animal Friendship, Beast Sense, and Locate Animals and Plants.

Being in melee alongside your companion forces the enemy to have a difficult decision: Attack your lesser HP companion and reduce the party's damage by a little or attack the higher HP companion and reduce the party's damage by alot.

At this point, you're more likely to be targeted and the companion won't be so in danger. If they do get low, you have Cure Wounds to help them up.

Your companion will die, though. Its a fact. Which is why I have my favored enemy as beast and I have Locate Animals and Plants.

You may be concerned about the spell list because there isn't anything specifically damaging in there. But as long as you have a semi-decent beast by your side, they usually make up for the damage yourself.

Plus, you get more spell slots for things that aren't just combat.

I'd expect people to be apprehensive to this build, but it was quite effective in the lvl 3-15 campaign she featured in.

[DM7581]

Mine is as follows:

Half-Elf
Urban Bounty Hunter (no Rogue in Group)
Fighting Style: Defense (didn't want to commit to a fighting style)
Feat: Sentinel

Companion: Flying Snake (captured in game, thought it would be fun to keep, but it died), next one a Panther (haven't played it yet)

Spells: Absorb Elements, Hunter's Mark, Beast Bond, Pass Without Trace

Not much spell synchronization with the beast.

Used scimitar shield, or dual wield with Hunter's Mark to stack damage, rarely kept at range, but the bow was there. Also have a whip, but haven't used it much (high Dex build).

EDIT: sort of skipped the beast part lol. Well, it hung back usually, especially if we'd fight anything that might have poison resistance/damage. There were some times where it would fly in take a bite, and swoop back. If I had Hunter's Mark up, the beast did nothing, since I had a damage edge over him. Can't say it was a great build on damage, and didn't know how to scout with the beast since I couldn't communicate with it, or if using Beast Sense, had to stay close to it.

Felt a bit clunky for me. Wished there was better Ranger/beast attack synchronization, but recently came across a Scimitar of Speed which completely resolves that issue. Still, an issue with the core of the class to me.

[Naanomi]

I prefer the models that ride your beast... Kobold or perhaps Halfling... Pteranadon as the first choice; but giant crab, giant badger, giant wolf spider, or even just wolf are all viable. Focus on defense (and the riding feat), use nets to aid Beast attacks, etc

[Draz74]

I've posted this elsewhere, but I really like a build that uses Tasha's options to become a Wisdom-SAD Beast Master Ranger.

I went with a Warforged to break stereotypes; it worked pretty well as a racial choice, but so would many other races including VHuman. I dumped Dexterity but got Expertise in Stealth to make up for it. (And bought a Sentinel Shield when I could, for advantage on initiative.)

Take all the Tasha's variant class features except Nature's Veil (you'll never have a spare bonus action to use on it, might as well have the ridiculous 10-minute super-camouflage ability), particularly Druidic Warrior to pick up Shillelagh and Thorn Whip. Take a Beast of the Sky as your companion (mine was a tawny owl, for the cuteness).

Besides ASIs to get 20 Wisdom, feats can include things like Alert (much less urgent if you have a Sentinel Shield), Polearm Master since you'll be wielding a staff mainly, and War Caster (much less necessary if you use a Ruby of the War Mage).

Don't bother with Hunter's Mark; you'll always be using your bonus action on directing your companion except when you need to cast Shillelagh, so just make do with the Favored Foe damage bonus instead of Hunter's Mark. Fortunately your companion will deal decent amounts of damage anyway. By the same logic you probably shouldn't pick up Ensnaring Strike or Searing Smite or Zephyr Strike, but I couldn't resist the flavor of Ensnaring Strike myself. Hardly used it, though, due to low level play and competition over bonus actions.

[CTurbo]

I really like the UA Revised Beastmaster, but couldn't see myself playing any of the other variants that I'm aware of. I'm not overly familiar with Tasha's yet. If there is a new NEW version, I haven't read about it.

[Kane0]

Use all the Tashas options. Favored Foe doesn’t use your bonus action, Share Spells works with Primal Savagery via Druidic Warrior, the new Beasts can be revived with spell slots that you will have more of thanks to Primal Awareness and Favored Foe, Relentless doubles up with Aid, not to mention the ol fashioned ride-your-beast trick

[Rakoa]

A Kobold riding atop a Beast of the Earth gets pretty much permanent advantage. Use a lance, clean house! Good candidate for the new Piercer feat, as well, I think.

[Witty Username]

A variant human with a greatsword, a pet owl via magic initiate, a giant snake.

for a slightly extra legal build, I have wanted to make a beastmaster with a riding horse (damm size thing), beast of the land may work for it nope rip , use a longbow, be a full horse archer. Probably, an elf of half-orc.

[Kane0]

Can Tasha’s custom race (TCR) be small size?

[stoutstien]

Can Tasha’s custom race (TCR) be small size?

Yes and you get 30 ft movement with that for what it's worth.

[Draz74]

Can Tasha’s custom race (TCR) be small size?

Yes, it lets you freely choose between Small and Medium.

[bendking]

Variant Human: Sharpshooter. Archery Fighting Style. Beast of Air. Boost DEX. Done.

[Quietus]

I'm leaning into the hunter angle, with the Beastmaster I just built for AL. Taking all the Tasha's options, so I have a non-bonus-action occasional damage bump in place of favored enemy, expertise (perception) and two languages in place of favored terrain, and will have a Beast of the <landscape>, depending on what is appropriate for my party. Prefer sky for narrative, but last time we played we were a very ranged heavy group, so I would go land in that case.

The mechanical idea is that I will be raising both dex and wis, roughly equally. I'm not worrying about Sharpshooter, as my character himself is there to drop support style spells via bow, primarily Ensnaring Strike, to help enable the rest of the team. Accuracy will be king, so archery style is an easy pick. Will be using my Primal Beast to support the damage dealt. The biggest change to Beastmasters with Tasha's is that the Primal Beast can be commanded to attack either via a bonus action, OR by giving up one of your own attacks. Their attack mod runs off your spellcasting mod (wisdom), and their damage scales via your proficiency. Beast of Land is 1d8+2+proficiency, and has a rider of 1d6 damage plus str save vs. prone if they charge 20 feet. Beast of the sky does 1d4+3+prof, and has flyby attack. Both quite solid, IMO.

Through tier 1, I can open a combat with Ensnaring Strike, hopefully land it as my spell save DC is the same as a full caster. From round 2 forward, I am firing my longbow as my action, commanding my primal beast as a bonus, and getting a free 1d6 if my target is still Restrained by the ensnaring strike. At level 5, I can give up my second attack in round 1, to allow my primal beast to attack - but I am not forced to do so, if I haven't landed an Ensnaring Strike then I can always fire my bow again.

Basically it boils down to this :
Tier 1 : 1 bow attack + ensnaring strike. Or 1 bow attack + 1 pet attack
Tier 2 : 1 bow attack, 1 flex attack, +ensnaring strike. Or 2 bow attacks + 1 pet attack
Tier 3 : 1 bow attack, 2 pet attacks, +esnaring strike. Or 2 bow attacks + 2 pet attacks (pet gets 2 attacks every time they trigger at this level)
TIer 4 : As above, except if I choose to cast Swift Quiver, I can get 1 bow attack, 2 pet attacks, 2 more bow attacks



Now, this does want both dex and wis, which will hurt. But you could do a more melee-centric build under the same layout. A kobold riding their Beast of the Land, getting advantage on every attack, using the new fighting style for Shillelagh might work. However, you'd have to deal with the bonus action competition surrounding Shillelagh in this case, and your ability to apply Ensnaring Strike might suffer for it.

[bendking]

A Kobold riding atop a Beast of the Earth gets pretty much permanent advantage. Use a lance, clean house! Good candidate for the new Piercer feat, as well, I think.
OK, so I just had a great idea inspired by this post.

1. Take Kobold. Adjust +2 DEX to +2 STR using new race rules.
2. Take Blind Fighting, negating Sunlight Sensitivity for melee combat.
3. Ride your Beast of the Land for always-on advantage through Pack Tactics.
4. Take GWM at level 4. You are now a semi-Barbarian.

Note: you have to two-hand a Longsword, but you can fluff it as a Greatsword.

This build is actually kinda good (46 DPR vs 15 AC at level 11).

[Quietus]

@bendking do note that you cannot -5/+10 with a longsword, GWM requires a heavy weapon for this. And being a small race, you have disadvantage to attacks with heavy weapons. Meaning you could use pack tactics to cancel that out, and still get use of GWM, but you can never have advantage on your attacks.

On the plus side, you'd never have disadvantage either.

[bendking]

@bendking do note that you cannot -5/+10 with a longsword, GWM requires a heavy weapon for this. And being a small race, you have disadvantage to attacks with heavy weapons. Meaning you could use pack tactics to cancel that out, and still get use of GWM, but you can never have advantage on your attacks.

On the plus side, you'd never have disadvantage either.

I thought you only needed to two-hand a weapon for GWM. My bad.
Welp. Build ruined.

[Quietus]

I just threw together a spreadsheet to calculate the damage over three turns against CR-appropriate average AC of the build I posted above (pure Beastmaster, using bow as your weapon, leading combat with Ensnaring Strike and then maximizing animal attacks afterward). Have come to the conclusion that stat wise, it is best to raise your dexterity to 20 before raising your wisdom. However, the difference in damage is literally about 1.3 DPR. I think an argument could absolutely be made that wisdom for the spell saves would go a long way.

Overall findings :
- It is better to raise your attacking stat before Wisdom (did not adjust for Ensnaring strike damage/likelihood to land, too complicated)
- Shillelagh does less damage than the ensnaring strike bow arrangement, if you are Defense fighting style. With Dueling, it pulls ahead at levels 5 and 11
- Skipping the use of spells entirely maximizes your damage, and there is hardly any difference between archery and dueling style damage until level 11 in this case
- I created a sheet for Hunter's Mark archery, and it performs well, but does not account for moving your mark over the course of 3 turns


If anyone wants to poke at the sheet, you can find it below.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fmZOPzowTm5mU2fkshhdqiQVX5oJ3Kl1wTfZH-fpWP0/edit?usp=sharing

Note that I have separated columns for accuracy and damage, these only apply to your weapon. This way these columns can be used to replicate +x weapons, as well as the Archery and Dueling fighting styles.

[DM7581]

Any thoughts/concerns on the new Tasha's beast having a much lower (2-3 point) attack bonus earlier on, at least until you can max out Wis?

My flying snake had a +9 to hit at 5th level (I think the highest attack bonus given an 18 base stat, giant poisonous snake is included here too). The new Beast of Sky would have like a +5 (14 Wis). Obviously, I built my character on the existing rules, but even with a Wis of 18, I'm at +7.

My new panther (current beast) would be a +7 attack bonus, plus additional pounce damage (ability score plus prof bonus modifier on damage). The new (Tasha's) Beast of Land would again be a +5 to hit plus the "pounce" (charge) damage doesn't add any ability or proficiency bonus damage.

Of course, AC, skills, HP, and saves are much better with Tasha's, so maybe the reduced to hit/dam is not much an issue. Or is it?

[JackalTornMoons]

A Kobold riding atop a Beast of the Earth gets pretty much permanent advantage. Use a lance, clean house! Good candidate for the new Piercer feat, as well, I think.

Or have your Beast of the Sky carry you around 😀 Kobolds weigh 25 to 35 pounds.

[Quietus]

The big advantage of the Primal Beasts is that it's easier, earlier on, to trigger their attacks. It becomes less relevant at level 7, but before then, you can command a Primal Beast with a bonus action, which you cannot do with the regular companions. This also allows the flexibility to do things like use a bonus action spell, and give up one of your attacks for one of your companion's, if they are preferable in your current situation.

The downside is that yes, they create MAD-ness with the Ranger. However, there are things you can do such as use Shillelagh to be Wis-SAD, or use the companion as a mount (if you are small size), or rely on it for Help actions and the like.

[Sherlockpwns]

I've put an ungodly amount of thought into beast masters before Tasha's and am firmly in the camp that they were fine without the "buff."

If having a strong battlefield presence is part of your goal (Not everyone wants to play a power game, a player in our current campaign is playing a priest that won't ever harm a living creature in any way and it's just fine) then you have to understand that the original beast master practically must play as a mounted combatant.

The reason for this is partially because it gives a huge amount of utility, but mostly because it's the only way to really shield your mount from harm, as they have even fewer HP than the Tashas variant (which is already pretty lousy) and they are potentially a lot harder to replace.

This leaves you with small races and a handful of "good" mount options to select from. These are

Giant Crab: Can grapple two targets, has fantastic AC, kinda sucks at everything else but free grapples let you do all kinds of weird things.
Giant Frog: Depends entirely on your DM, but its stat block auto-restrains on hit. No save, no size limit. Get approval on the rules first.
Panther: Insane move speed and climb ability. Keen senses and Pounce are both excellent to have (some DMs do not allow Pounce. Ask first). This is the best mobility mount.
Wolf: Keen senses, solid damage, low DC trip on every attack, permanent advantage when mounted. This is the best mount for versatility.
Giant Poisonous Snake: Insane damage to enemies that can be affected by poison, 10ft reach, blind fighting. This is the best mount for pure DPS. Bring a lance for extra fun.

As for Race, the two most common to me are Kobold and Goblin. Both are thematic mount riders (Especially Goblins on wolves). Kobold obviously for the pack tactics. Goblin has an ideal stat block and Fury of the Small is always handy. Plus bonus actions when not mounted (While medium mounts tend to be fine in Dungeons, they may not be so fine in Taverns and such...). No matter what race you select, maximizing your defense is key, since you'll be redirecting any attack at your mount (except for small ones) to yourself.

As far as spells go, finally you don't have to just be "the guy that casts hunters mark" - Consider the value of Long Strider on your mount. Hold a spell slot for Absorb Elements. Consider the value of Fog Cloud if your mount (and/or you) have Blind Fighting. Ask your DM if you can steal the Tasha's beast ability to use a level 1 spell to res your companion.

Beastmaster Ranger is one of the few classes that can make use of nets. Do it. The original Beast Master lets your beast attack (eventually twice) and then you can throw a net. Any other class will lose all its attacks.

Finally, it's also one of the few classes that really lends its self well to multi-class. Because original BM has no bonus-actions, it's not a bad idea to find a bonus action class source. An example that I was just talking about in my Warlock Sprite thread is in Tasha's Pack of the Chain can now have a Sprite firing off a poison arrow every turn as a bonus action. Won't add much damage (1 per hit!) but a moderate DC poison as a BA is nothing to sneeze at, plus it works thematically well enough.

If you want to build for Tasha, its a lot easier. I think you can really get to decide if you want to be mounted or not. The already spoken about "Get Shillelagh" is the obvious choice, since then you can leave dex to 14 and max Wisdom for all combat related stuff, which will also make your spells more potent. If you go mounted, the logic is the same: Kobold is still handy for perma-advantage (And yes, bonus points for cheesing blind fight?). If you don't go mounted, Beast of the Sky is a solid choice for versatility, otherwise I still think the beast of earth is best used while mounted... and Beast of Sea is of course... when you need to go swimming.

Basically the Tasha version of this is as simple as "I am a ranger with a pet that has a bonus-action attack" - to me that is kinda lame compared to some of the weird things you can do while riding your long-strider panther with 60ft move or hopping along on your Giant Frog eating small creatures (or Medium creatures if you can get access to Enlarge!).

[DM7581]

Beastmaster Ranger is one of the few classes that can make use of nets. Do it. The original Beast Master lets your beast attack (eventually twice) and then you can throw a net. Any other class will lose all its attacks.


Maybe I am missing the net usage. How can BMs make better use of nets?

[stoutstien]

Maybe I am missing the net usage. How can BMs make better use of nets?

They can transfer the extra attack to their beast so they can net> beast attack 2x.

[Quietus]

Maybe I am missing the net usage. How can BMs make better use of nets?

I think the line of thought there is that nets restrict you to only making one attack. However, a beastmaster can give up one of their attacks, to give their companion one (and eventually two) attacks. So you would, as of level 5, be replacing Extra Attack (two weapon attacks) with Extra Attack (pet attack, net).

This may raise eyebrows from some DMs, definitely bring it up before you try to use this.

[Naanomi]

This leaves you with small races and a handful of "good" mount options to select from.
Pteranadon, especially if flying races are not an option

[DM7581]

They can transfer the extra attack to their beast so they can net> beast attack 2x.

Ah, was hoping for a creative way (not-feat intensive) to negate the disadvantage.

[Sherlockpwns]

Pteranadon, especially if flying races are not an option
I don’t believe in dinosaurs ;)

[Sherlockpwns]

Ah, was hoping for a creative way (not-feat intensive) to negate the disadvantage.

A mounted kobold is the answer. They will always attack without advantage or disadvantage with a net while mounted.

Edit: Apparently this isn't true, so bonus!The only downside is the beast must attack first RAW. If your dm is nice they may let you net first.

Still, at level 5 you get one beast attack followed by a net. At 11, two. And you can always sub in a regular ol face stab if the net isn’t needed.

What’s extra nice about this is it gives you something tactical to think about. Not only weighing the pro and con of damage vs cc, but also if the opponent has a slashing weapon and multiple attacks. See, nets are only vulnerable to slash. If the enemy has a sword and two attacks, using the net is likely only to use up one attack and then he is on you. If he has a club he must use his whole action to attempt to break free.

Just be sure to bring the mending spell! ;)

[Quietus]

A mounted kobold is the answer. They will always attack without advantage or disadvantage with a net while mounted.

The only downside is the beast must attack first RAW. If your dm is nice they may let you net first.

Not quite completely accurate, and probably stems from weirdness in the rules. You have to give up your first attack to command your beast. Your beast won't take any action until its turn, which immediately follows yours. Therefore it will gain the benefit of the net.

[Lolzyking]

My ranger beast master was a kobold on a crab.

it was AL so I took it as a challenge of optimizing the worst thing in a semi competitive environment of munchkins at the local store (We even had our very own hexblade assassin roguelock with an oathbow)


Build was Fighter 4/Ranger 16

My Crab was equipped with a Insignia of claws, Saddle of the cavalier, Plate barding of the vind rune, A storm giant's belt, and depending on the party composition a ring of spell storing.

I would sometimes get a few enlarges/hastes/elemental weapons/smite spells cast into the ring so the crab could do a self buff. (since volo's is no longer +1 I've moved to xgte) I cast guardians of nature on us further buffing crabbo. Back in season 8 I still had a few potions of giant size laying around from against the giants that I would use whenever we were fighting something really cool and giant.

At his strongest mr crabbo was hitting at a +19 to hit for 3d6+1d4+17 magical bludgeoning damage +1d6 force damage at advantage, that automatically grappled with an escape dc of 25.



I am currently doing the math on the tatoos from tasha's, wondering if any of them would be a viable trade on the crab vs the Plate barding and Ring.

[Naanomi]

I don’t believe in dinosaurs ;) Vulture then

[Sherlockpwns]

Vulture then

Yeah Vultures are viable if mounted flight is allowed. No tables I play at allow it and I think it is harder to justify in a “dungeon”- but perfectly viable.

[Gyor]

I prefer the models that ride your beast... Kobold or perhaps Halfling... Pteranadon as the first choice; but giant crab, giant badger, giant wolf spider, or even just wolf are all viable. Focus on defense (and the riding feat), use nets to aid Beast attacks, etc

Kobold on a Wolf/Mastiff, both the Companion and the Kobold have pack tactics.

[Necromas]

Can you break down your damage sources?
I didn’t realize pets could attune?

I think in AL they can, but it takes up one of the player characters attunement slots.

[Quietus]

I think in AL they can, but it takes up one of the player characters attunement slots.

Can confirm, this is the case.

[Droppeddead]

Hey all, big fan of the Ranger class and the Beast Master, at least thematically. As we all know it is a tough sub-class to build, but wanted to get some of you all's 2 CP on a complete 1-20 build.

So, are you stone set on playing an actual ranger or are you more interested in the whole "woodsman with their animal companion" deal? Because if it's more the second I have a somewhat unorthodox but very viable option for you. I give you the perhaps not so humble but very interesting Battle Smith Artificer. Since you can pretty much flavour all of the artificer's abilties however you want, you could easily make a nature-themed battle smith. Maybe your infusions comes from mixing the right berries and herbs or trapping tiny woodland creatures in your contraptions? Your steel defender doesn't have to be a mechanical monstrosity, it could just as easily be a creature built from clay and wood, held toghether by vines, infused with the spirit of a woodland being.

Ruleswise, pick spells like Thornwhip, Faerie Fire and Invisibility. For Infusion you could go for repeating shot, and cloak and boots of elvenkind. For feats you can always pick Prodigy (if you have the race for it, otherwise, pick the similar one from Tasha's) to gain expertise in Stealth. Skilled is of course always good for any character.

All in all, it's a fun twist on the concept.

[Lolzyking]

Can you break down your damage sources?
I didn’t realize pets could attune?
So As of current AL my crabbo is rocking this lifestyle

64 hp (16 ranger levels) AC 26, disadvantage to attack him while I'm riding.

29 strength from giants belt formerly 19-18's in other stats from a day of bean escapades (no ruling has been made from pets and stat bonuses but its safe to assume ALs limit applies to pets to)

Currently his claw is benefitting from +9 from strength +1 from insignia of claws + 7 from proficiency (ioun stone) His hit benefits from +2 to that.

In combat he will have advantage from guardians of nature to and the +1d6 force damage. I will occasionally use beastbond/zephyr strike instead.

Also have anyone fill up the ring of spell storing full of goodies for the crab.

Current item list.
+2 rapier
+1 plate barding
Saddle of the cavalier
Insignia of claws
Belt of storm giant strength (attunement)
Ring of spell storing (attunement)
Ioun stone of mastery (attunement)
+1 shield (will trade out at best oppurtunity)
+2 studded leather armor
+1 crossbow (looking for better ranged options atm)



My second beast master is on a much less impressive frog.

My third beast master is going a lot less ranger and is just using the Pteranodon as a flying mount for their lances.

[DM7581]

So, are you stone set on playing an actual ranger or are you more interested in the whole "woodsman with their animal companion" deal? Because if it's more the second I have a somewhat unorthodox but very viable option for you. I give you the perhaps not so humble but very interesting Battle Smith Artificer. Since you can pretty much flavour all of the artificer's abilties however you want, you could easily make a nature-themed battle smith. Maybe your infusions comes from mixing the right berries and herbs or trapping tiny woodland creatures in your contraptions? Your steel defender doesn't have to be a mechanical monstrosity, it could just as easily be a creature built from clay and wood, held toghether by vines, infused with the spirit of a woodland being.

Ruleswise, pick spells like Thornwhip, Faerie Fire and Invisibility. For Infusion you could go for repeating shot, and cloak and boots of elvenkind. For feats you can always pick Prodigy (if you have the race for it, otherwise, pick the similar one from Tasha's) to gain expertise in Stealth. Skilled is of course always good for any character.

All in all, it's a fun twist on the concept.

This was for a character I'm playing and we are 5-6 levels in. Just wanted some insight on others. Tasha's basically have the BM the same companion, so there is that option, but it comes at the expense of some of the base BM option quirks such as tiny beasts, poison, reach, mounted flying, and others.