Is the Horizon Walker Good?

[Garfunion]

After taking a couple steps back on how to create an arcane archer. I came to the idea that a ranger who picks up the metamagic adapt feat (transmute metamagic; flame arrows spell become lightning arrows or lightning arrow spell becomes frost arrow), could make a decent arcane archer.
So I’m wondering if the horizon Walker archetype is good particularly the first tier feature “Planar Warrior”?

[RogueJK]

So I’m wondering if the horizon Walker archetype is good particularly the first tier feature “Planar Warrior”?

Planar Warrior's downside is that it eats up your Bonus Action every turn. This can conflict with a number of Ranger Bonus Action spells, like Hunter's Mark, Ensnaring Strike, Hail of Thorns, Lightning Arrow, Swift Quiver, etc.

If you want a way to add bonus damage to your bow each turn that doesn't cost your Bonus Action, look at other Ranger subclasses like the Fey Wanderer, Swarmkeeper, or Hunter (Colossus Slayer). They can each add varying amounts of additional damage each turn, without using a Bonus Action.

And then you can stack stuff like Hunter's Mark or Favored Foe on top, for even more added damage.

[MrCharlie]

I like the horizon walker as a sword/board ranger archetype, personally. It's basically wasted on ranged weapons as it's features involve teleportation, and it has tanking abilities at higher levels.

[Garfunion]

Planar Warrior's downside is that it eats up your Bonus Action every turn. This can conflict with a number of Ranger Bonus Action spells, like Hunter's Mark, Ensnaring Strike, Hail of Thorns, Lightning Arrow, Swift Quiver, etc.

If you want a way to add bonus damage to your bow each turn that doesn't cost your Bonus Action, look at other Ranger subclasses like the Fey Wanderer, Swarmkeeper, or Hunter (Colossus Slayer). They can each add varying amounts of additional damage each turn, without using a Bonus Action.

And then you can stack stuff like Hunter's Mark or Favored Foe on top, for even more added damage.

Well the idea is to be able to do something magical each turn. Either it’s to use a spell or the planer warrior ability. Seeing as how the planer warrior ability turns all your damage into force damage.

[Dark.Revenant]

Horizon Walker is okay. It's middle-of-the-pack in terms of Ranger subclasses. The standout ability is actually the bonus action Etherealness you get at 7th level: it's an incredible early sequence-breaking option that lets you phase through walls, cover, or other obstacles that you'd rather not deal with. Use it early and often.

Don't take Hunter's Mark. Favored Foe (Tasha's optional feature) and Planar Warrior will suffice in terms of boosting your basic attack damage. You'll eventually do, for instance using a Longbow, 4d8+5 damage on your first hit and 1d8+5 on your second one. That's not exactly amazing damage, but it's a decent starting point. There are a few things you can do to improve things.

First, Archery style + Sharpshooter is a Ranger classic. Since you have to use your bonus action, you'll want to stick with a longbow and avoid Crossbow Expert. This will of course be 4d8+15 damage on one hit, 1d8+15 on the other (assuming you hit with the -5 penalty and Favored Foe is in use). This works quite well with Distant Strike, since you can quite easily get the 3rd attack with the range a longbow affords you, and 1d8+15 damage (potentially +3d8) is significant enough that you don't have to feel as bad about splitting your targets. Certain Ranger spells like Lightning Arrow, Guardian of Nature, and even your own subclass-granted Haste* spell can give you enough of an edge to be an asset to the team.

Second, Magic Initiate or Spell Sniper can give you access to Booming Blade, allowing you to double-down on single-attack damage. Due to the wording of Planar Warrior, you'll actually be doing pure Force damage with every hit, instead of the standard thunder damage. With a rapier, that's eventually a single attack worth 7d8+5 force damage (assuming Favored Foe is in use), and potentially 4d8 thunder damage if your target triggers the rider. To really make this work, you need a way to get away from your target. Your subclass-granted spell Misty Step is a little more useful than normal here because you can, rather than using Planar Warrior, jump out of melee after your parting attack, which generally forces the victim to activate the rider damage from Booming Blade. Typically this is a net +1d8 or +2d8 damage over just using Planar Warrior—not enough to make it a bread-and-butter tactic, but a nice bonus if you're in need of a Misty Step anyways. The better option is to get the Mobile feat (V.Human especially), or to set yourself up with Fog Cloud**, Zephyr Strike, Ashardalon's Stride, or your subclass-granted Haste* spell; these latter options all cost a slot, require some type of action to set up, and take your concentration (you won't get Favored Foe damage), but have secondary benefits that may be useful to you. Unfortunately, Distant Strike is relegated to a situational option if you're relying on Booming Blade.

Hope this helps!


*normally you shouldn't use Haste, but if you're using the extra mobility to kite the enemy and hide behind cover, you should be okay.
**Blind Fighting style required. Grants advantage to your attacks and inflicts disadvantage on attacks against you, so this is generally optimal if your party won't get mad at you.

[Thunderous Mojo]

Great Post Dark.Revenant!

I've played alongside a Horizon Walker up to level 7, (the player can best be described as a 'Haphazard Player' at best)....despite this, the subclass is surprisingly effective. The Horizon Walker's Etherealness ability is awesome.

A Ranged Ensnaring Strike by the Ranger combos well with a Witch Bolt, and Planar Warrior is a noticeable boost in damage.

On paper the subclass always felt a little 'meh'. I've found the Horizon Walker to be fun to play alongside, in real life. I also like the 'flavor' of the subclass.

[TyGuy]

I played one 2-7. Rolled stats so I had +4 dex mod with sharpshooter. Played it with revised ranger in a module with tons of the favored foe type. For damage, it wrecked.
Misty step on ranger was amazing. Along with zephyr strike those two were my work horses. Because we played on somewhat smaller battle maps and the DM (adversarial) loved dropping hostiles right on top of the party. As an archer, it was easier to stay at range in dungeons as messed up as that is, because of the DM's motive to shut down the ranged guy.
Halfway through the module I realized how finicky staying at 30' was and how good I was with rapier and shield when forced. But I wanted an archer ranger and it still worked with our small arena fights.
Never got to distant strike but that was the crown jewel I was interested in. The arcane sort of fey teleporting archer is something I'm into and still haven't pulled off.

[Witty Username]

I think Fey wanderer works better for a similar feeling subclass. With that said, if you reach 10th level Horizon walker gets really cool stuff. I would say it is ok and can work.

[Kane0]

So I guess the DM didnt go for allowing the Arcane Archer transplanted onto the Ranger?

[Garfunion]

So I guess the DM didnt go for allowing the Arcane Archer transplanted onto the Ranger?
Lol, you mentioned that on another thread (which is an interesting idea). I’m simply asking opinions about the archetype.

[Contrast]

Horizon Walker is good but I've only ever seen melee focused builds as the limit on being within 30 feet to initiate Planar Warrior is going to be very restrictive for an archer build.

[Nitrosaur]

I've DMd a game from 1 to 16 with an horizon walker, and in my mind she was the strongest member of the party at any point. We first played ToA with a GWM Battlemaster, a Wild Magic Sorcerer, a Tempest Cleric, and a conjuration wizard/undead warlock/crown paladin (he died a lot). She was always competitive in terms of damage, because she had the greatest hit ratio of anyone, so even if her attacks were weaker, she almost always hit, unlike her party mates; she was the best one at mobility, utility, exploration and tanking, and she was the only one not to get killed by the final boss because of the added mobility. The second party consisted of Battlesmith Artificer, Conquest Paladin, Moon Druid, Glamour Bard/Arcane Trickster (died halfway), in a homebrew second part of ToA with hell planeshifting, frost giants and red dragons. She was second in damage only to the paladin, but she was much more accurate, versatile and ranged, so she could apply her damage more reliably. Second in stealth to the rogue and in utility to the bard while she lasted, and third in tanking to the artificer and druid. She was the glue that held the team together, and we al felt the lost in power when she couldn't play more than with any other character.

My opinion of the HW then is great. They do good damage and are "free" of XBE because the already get good uses for their BA. This makes them not the best in damage but they compensate that with mobility and versatility, and their damage is still pretty good, just not the greatest. It's also pretty fun to play. My favorite ranger subclass.

[ProsecutorGodot]

It's basically wasted on ranged weapons as it's features involve teleportation, and it has tanking abilities at higher levels.

I consider this a strength for a ranged character, the teleportation is a near guaranteed way to escape from being pinned down, it also happens before the attack which means you can also avoid the cost range attack penalty. Particularly useful for flying characters or in combat in difficult terrain.

[stoutstien]

It's a simple and effective option. Probably a tad underrated due to gloom stalker being next to it but all n all it is a turn-key ranger than works well at ranged, melee, or my favorite switch hitting.
Utility and exploration wise it has enough features to keep them relevant and the extra spells lost is serviceable.

Id give it a solid 7/10.

[Garfunion]

Thank you everyone for your input on the archetype.