What is a high level ranger like?

[Rfkannen]

I made a thread about what high level monks are like that got some interesting responses! Thoughht I might as well make a thread about one of 5e's classes, the ranger!

So what IS a high level ranger like? What fictional character best fits them? How do they feel in combat? How do they generally do? What is the ranger role at that level? How do diffrent ranger subclasses do at high level? How much do tasha's features change them? Any other thoughts on high level rangers?

[ImproperJustice]

Sadly the highest level Ranger I have seen went Druid after level 6 (Revised UA version).

But, at level 13, he was an extremely versatile Archer / Caster who seemed able to contribute like a Rogue (Took Prodigy w/ Expertise in Thieves Tools), and kinda did a little bit of everything from battlefield control, to scouting, to shooting.

We also had a level 13 Monster Slayer at one point. Had a Simon Belmont thing going with a whip and favored enemy vs. Undead.
Banish was cool, and they seemed like a defensive fighter using Prot. From Evil a bunch and using reach. I also remember them spamming Zone of Truth a lot. It seemed like a variant EK was in the party.

[HPisBS]

So what IS a high level ranger like? What fictional character best fits them? How do they feel in combat? How do they generally do? What is the ranger role at that level? How do diffrent ranger subclasses do at high level? How much do tasha's features change them? Any other thoughts on high level rangers?

Nobody really knows; nobody's ever bothered to play them that long.

I like The Ranger's Apprentice for a good representation of what a skilled (spell-less) Ranger should be. In that book series, rangers even train to passively have some abilities that dnd represents with spells. For example, when they sleep, any odd sound, or even a change in the background noise, will wake them. And they each get a horse that's specially bred and trained, essentially giving them each a Found Steed: Warhorse. They all have expertise in stealth and survival. And at least proficiency in perception, investigation, insight, intimidation, athletics, and acrobatics.


But basically, a Ranger is a Rogue, just with greater emphasis on archery, tracking, and everything else outdoors.

[Naanomi]

They are a lot like low level rangers, which is part of the problem

[5eNeedsDarksun]

The silence on this thread is deafening.

[Rfkannen]

Alright heres my experience with ranger, level 1-5 phb monster hunter, level 5-8 variant feature ua gloomstalker, 9-11 tasha's optional class feature gloomstalker

My character has consistently been the most powerful member of the party, this has nothing to do with the actual ranger class features. Sharpshooter, archery fighting style, and a longbow does 99% of the work. Seriously if a character has those three things they are going to do FINE at least until level 11 (don't know about higher levels)

Gloomstalker is fantastic, the ranger class itself is kind of.... not a big part of my character weirdly. The spells are nice, my favorite is spikegrowth, but it does feel like paladin gets just flat out better spellcasting for no particular reason.


the deft explorerer rule makes ranger SO MUCH MORE FUN! seriously, having expertise in stealth, 35 movement speed, and a climbing speed is half of the fun of the mechanical part of the character now lol.





So I am doing pretty good so far, but I feel like other classes (especially the druid and fighter in my group) are going to outpace me pretty quick at higher levels.

[MrStabby]

Ok,so limited experience to a 3 session adventure at level 16 where a friend had a PHB hunter ranger...

It was underwhelming.

It was worse than that. It kind of felt like it was made of dead levels. Volley at level 11 was maybe used once, hide in plain sight never used... and much of the low level stuff wasnt much better.

The ranger did OK damage and that was about all. Minimal extra utility and was generally outshone by the fighter.

[ImproperJustice]

Nobody really knows; nobody's ever bothered to play them that long.

I like The Ranger's Apprentice for a good representation of what a skilled (spell-less) Ranger should be. In that book series, rangers even train to passively have some abilities that dnd represents with spells. For example, when they sleep, any odd sound, or even a change in the background noise, will wake them. And they each get a horse that's specially bred and trained, essentially giving them each a Found Steed: Warhorse. They all have expertise in stealth and survival. And at least proficiency in perception, investigation, insight, intimidation, athletics, and acrobatics.


But basically, a Ranger is a Rogue, just with greater emphasis on archery, tracking, and everything else outdoors.

Ranger’s apprentice is SUCH a fun series of books.

[redsonja]

I’m a level 11 hunter ranger. I’ve got a +1 bow, a serpentine owl, and a cloak of displacement. I also have an instant fortress that I primarily use as a battering ram.

I’ve got the archer fighting style and a magic weapon so I’m +11 to hit from afar. I typically deal between 30 and 40 damage per round between hunters Mark, colossus slayer, and being able to go invisible 4 times and attack (new Tasha’s rule).

I’m going to 12 for the ASI and will probably take sharp shooter and from there am going to multiclass into either fighter or rogue.

I like the spells okay- conjure animals is the one I use the most (well, hunters Mark). But nothing stands out dramatically to me.

[Battlebooze]

In my current game I'm playing a level 9 V. Human character who is a level eight Gloomstalker and just picked up one level of Arcana Cleric. At this point I don't know if I'm going to pick up any more Cleric levels, but I might if the game ever reaches the levels 13+.

There is a bit of a story here, so let me tell it before I talk about my experience with a Ranger.

I started this character as a Samurai with my racial bonus feat in Sharpshooting and took Crossbow expert at level 4. As a Samurai I was kick ass in combat but fairly useless outside of it. Yes, the curse of minimal out of combat utility, though I did my best to give him some personality. It helped that my character had proficiency with water vessels and we are playing in the Ghosts of Saltmarsh campaign.

After I hit mid point level 5, I started to get a bit bored of the whole Samurai/Fighting Spirit then Action Surge business. Yes, my character could do mad amounts of damage with Sharpshooter at level 5, but I could tell it was kind of making the game less fun for the other players and more difficult for the GM to balance. So, while we were exploring a mage tower, I asked my DM if I could change my character into a Gloomstalker Ranger. I thought the class change would give me more utility and would make me work for his rounds of advantage attacks. My damage would be more dependent of finding shadows and getting surprise, not something I could just trigger. That sounded like it would be more fun to me. My DM was happy to oblige.

So while the party was somewhat foolishly sleeping in the tower, the universe twitched and my fighter got switched with his goatee wearing ranger version from an alternate universe.
Yes, we role-played it like this. It was very funny. My new version of the character remembered everything the party had done in the past slightly differently, but mostly the same. The other party members eventually accepted my character again, though they still randomly joke that he is an evil clone. Yes, he kept his goatee.

So I've played this character to 9th level, from 5th, as a Ranger. I'm not sure that counts as being high level, but I'll talk about my experiences so far.

I am not massively impressed with the pre-Tasha Ranger. Being a known spell caster is debilitating to the class. Rangers have some very nice spells but not having the ability to change them over night is rather depressing. It is not like you have a big number of spells you can know at any one time. Hunters Mark is very effective, but the game gets repetitive having to rely on that one damn spell because it can trap you with it's concentration cost.

Now did I feel weak with my Pre-Tasha Ranger? No.
Gloomstalker is a very effective and fun subclass and Sharpshooter + Crossbow Expert feats make for a very powerful combination. My character had more utility now, mostly due to my subclass. His non-spell Ranger abilities did prove useful once in a while, but they were mostly fluff. I could still do really good damage but I had to work for it, which made combat much more interesting. My Ranger plays more like a Rogue than a fighter, but I don't mind that at all.

My character rolled over to 8th level just as Tasha's came out. Our DM let us take the alternate class abilities and I gave them a shot. I have been very happy with them so far. I picked up expertise in Stealth, making my character even more of a sneaky bastard. Nothing like having a 32 casual stealth at level 9 with expertise and Pass without Trace.

I enjoy the new ranger abilities. Primal Awareness has been a massive improvement over the terrible Primeval Awareness. Deft Explorer is something that comes in play all the time, I don't miss Natural Explorer at all. Now I can see the use of Natural Explorer, but if I wanted a character like that I'd rather put the Deft Explorer/Canny expertise in Survival than have Natural Explorer.

Now if you wonder why I picked up Arcana Cleric 1, it was because I wanted even more roleplay options. After his experience in the tower, my character became curious about magic and magical lore. Being of average smarts and above average wits. (10 Int, 14 Wis) my Ranger borrowed a book of basic wizardry from a NPC wizard and then talked to some Clerics of Odin. They helped guide my Ranger into become an acolyte Cleric of Odin.

I'm happy with the one level of Cleric. Besides getting the Arcana skill, my Ranger gained a good bit of out of combat versatility because I can now switch his Cleric spells around every night.

Also my Ranger has Cantrips now. :D I chose my Cantrips for fun and utility. I took Guidance.(Of course), Minor Illusion, Prestidigitation, Thaumaturgy, and just one combat Cantrip, Sacred Flame. This set might be less than min-max, but they have proven fun and useful.

I think you can have fun with the original Ranger, but I do believe the abilities from Tasha's help make Rangers more interesting and fun to play. I can't really offer much opinion on the other subclasses. I will say that Gloomstalker is really fun.

I hope this is useful to you in some small way.