Time Stop - on a Ranger. Uses?

[Amnestic]

I'm tippity typing up a Swiftblade subclass for ranger, and I got it into my head to replace their fairly lackluster capstone of Foe Slayer with something that allows you to gain the effect of Time Stop once per long rest. Thematic, but potentially not actually that impressive. The spell has been nerfed since previous editions. Wizards can still use some tricky tricks to gain advantages, but rangers are of course somewhat more limited. I am concerned that I might be missing something though.

So, to the collective wisdom of others: Is there a way to break this for Rangers? If you did have this ability, what would you be doing as a 20th level ranger with your 1d4+1 turns of free actions?

Relevant spell information to save people looking it up:


You briefly stop the flow of time for everyone but yourself. No time passes for other creatures, while you take 1d4 + 1 turns in a row, during which you can use actions and move as normal.
This spell ends if one of the actions you use during this period, or any effects that you create during this period, affects a creature other than you or an object being worn or carried by someone other than you. In addition, the spell ends if you move to a place more than 1,000 feet from the location where you cast it.

As far as I can figure, because the turns you take are sequential, you can't use it for any Ready Action shenanigans, so the best I've come up with so far is summon spells (of which the ranger has a few) and caltrops. Guessing there's some magical items that might be nice too but I can't name them off the top of my head, nor are they a reliable option.

[solidork]

This could be Cordon of Arrows' time to shine! ;P

[Catullus64]

My main Time Stop tactic as a Wizard was to conjure/telekinetically move large, heavy objects over people's heads. The DM agreed that the objects remained stationary in midair until the end of the spell. Browsing the Ranger's spell list in the PHB at least, they don't have any spells that can do that, though they could always just pick up large rocks. Hardly game-breaking stuff.

[nickl_2000]

You could set up some brutal terrain barriers and battlefield control with Plant Growth and Fog Cloud instantly. That would change then entire battle to be completely different.

[Damon_Tor]

There are a ton of mundane uses for this sort of thing. Poison someone's drink, cut the rope of a chandelier, close and lock a door. But all of that depends on a DM who wants to play along and specifically tailors things to your charters abilities. And none of that feels worthy of an epic-tier character.

[sithlordnergal]

Time Stop is generally used for buffs and battlefield control. For example, as a Wizard I tend to use Time Stop to cast things like Crown of Stars, Mirror Image, Grease, Forecage, ect.

For a Ranger, you can cast things like Plant Growth and Freedom of Movement, followed by a Concentration spell like Spike Growth, Summon Fey, or Wrath of Nature.

[Amnestic]

I hadn't considered Plant Growth but that actually more convinces me this is a fair capstone. Thanks for the insight all!

[animorte]

Time Stop - on a Ranger. Uses?

Time Stop? Yes.

My favorite 9th-level spell. Glad I could be of help. :tongue: