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[GUIDE] Into the Woods We Go: The Ranger Guide
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<blockquote data-quote="Gladius Legis" data-source="post: 7281069" data-attributes="member: 68748"><p><strong>Xanathar's Ranger subclasses:</strong></p><p></p><p><span style="color: deepskyblue"><strong>Gloom Stalker</strong></span>: Love that its flavor concept got expanded from the UA articles beyond JUST the Underdark. It's pretty much THE ambush master among Rangers, and arguably among everyone. Its alpha strike features are more reliable, if not necessarily more damaging, than the Assassin. Very, very strong subclass.</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: deepskyblue"><strong>Gloom Stalker Magic</strong></span>: <em>Lv. 3/5/9/13/17</em>. Rope Trick can be handy, and Fear and Greater Invisibility are simply great.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: deepskyblue"><strong>Dread Ambusher</strong></span>: <em>Lv. 3</em>. WIS mod to initiative, good. 10-foot speed buff 1st turn of combat, good. Extra attack with extra damage on said attack, freaking amazing. This Ranger is an alpha-strike master because of this, and it's a lot more reliable and party-friendly than Assassinate. (Although, this plus 3 Rogue levels for Assassinate ... hehe.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: deepskyblue"><strong>Umbral Spirit</strong></span>: <em>Lv. 3</em>. Free darkvision! (Or 30 feet extra darkvision if your race already had it.) And you get to screw over your enemies' darkvision!</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong><span style="color: #0000FF">Iron Mind</span></strong>: <em>Lv. 7</em>. Free WIS save proficiency. (Or INT or CHA if you already had it somehow.) Good.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong><span style="color: #0000FF">Stalker's Flurry</span></strong>: <em>Lv. 11</em>. Of course they weren't just going to give you the Fighter's third full attack, but this is still pretty damn nice. Unless your hit chance in a battle is already above 75%, you're actually fairly likely to get the third attack from this. (e.g. Typical 65% chance to hit = 42% chance to hit with both your attacks per round, so a 58% chance you'll miss at least one attack and thus get the third attack from this.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Shadowy Dodge</strong>: <em>Lv. 15</em>. Impose disadvantage on an attack against you as a reaction. It's alright. not quite Uncanny Dodge. Still, with so much other really awesome stuff from this subclass, you can handle one average-ish feature.</li> </ul><p></p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000FF">Horizon Walker</span></strong>: Enhanced mobility is the name of the game for this subclass. One thing to note is that dual-wielding with this subclass is pretty much fruitless; go Archery or Dueling instead.</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="color: deepskyblue"><strong>Horizon Walker Magic</strong></span>: <em>Lv. 3/5/9/13/17</em>. All of the spells on this list are at the very least solid, including Protection from Evil and Good, Misty Step, Banishment ... and then there's Haste at Lv. 9. Lovely, lovely Haste.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Detect Portal</strong>: <em>Lv. 3</em>. Obviously depends on your campaign as far as how useful this will be. If you're in Planescape, for example, this would obviously be really awesome.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Planar Warrior</strong>: <em>Lv. 3</em>. Sort of an odd duck as far as Ranger damage features go. It's the reason that dual-wielding is pretty much a no-go for this subclass, since you have to use your bonus action every single turn to get the damage boost from this (go Dueling to make up any lost damage). And if you use Hunter's Mark you'll run into the same action economy problems as dual-wielders do. It also doesn't play nice with Crossbow Expert, so you should really stick with the longbow if heading the Archery route and save yourself a feat. That said, the damage boost isn't bad, and it's actually pretty solid at Lv. 11 for what it is.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Ethereal Step</strong>: <em>Lv. 7</em>. A low-grade, short-rest recharge Etherealness is good for walking through walls and other such physical obstacles.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong><span style="color: #0000FF">Distant Strike</span></strong>: <em>Lv. 11</em>. Outright insane mobility boost during your Attack action. You're also better at dealing with hordes, getting a third attack on your action if you attack two separate enemies.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong><span style="color: #0000FF">Spectral Defense</span></strong>: <em>Lv. 15</em>. Basically Uncanny Dodge. Yeah, 10 levels later than the Rogue, but that's one of those better-late-than-never abilities.</li> </ul><p></p><p><strong>Monster Slayer</strong>: A very specialized subclass, working best against spellcasting foes. Nothing really spectacular mobility or damage wise, though.</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong><span style="color: #0000FF">Monster Slayer Magic</span></strong>: Banishment and Hold Monster are good. The other spells are ... OK.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Hunter's Sense</strong>: <em>Lv. 3</em>. Learn what the enemy is and what its immunities, resistances and vulnerabilities are. OK.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Slayer's Prey</strong>: <em>Lv. 3</em>. Only uses a bonus action at the start of battle, 1d6 damage on first hit every turn (including enemy's turns). You can stack Hunter's Mark in the second round after, though that means you wouldn't be using dual-wielding or Crossbow Expert until Round 3.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Supernatural Defense</strong>: <em>Lv. 7</em>. Saving throw and grapple escape boost against your Slayer's Prey. OK.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong><span style="color: darkviolet">Magic-User's Nemesis</span></strong>: <em>Lv. 11</em>. A short-rest recharge Counterspell-type effect (but with a WIS save instead of an ability check) that also cancels enemy teleporting in general. Obviously, pretty situational, though nice when you get to use it.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong><span style="color: #0000FF">Slayer's Counter</span></strong>: <em>Lv. 15</em>. Free attack (ranged or melee) vs. your Slayer's Prey if they make you roll a save for any reason, with auto-success on the save if you hit. Pretty good.</li> </ul></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Gladius Legis, post: 7281069, member: 68748"] [B]Xanathar's Ranger subclasses:[/B] [color=deepskyblue][B]Gloom Stalker[/B][/color]: Love that its flavor concept got expanded from the UA articles beyond JUST the Underdark. It's pretty much THE ambush master among Rangers, and arguably among everyone. Its alpha strike features are more reliable, if not necessarily more damaging, than the Assassin. Very, very strong subclass. [LIST] [*][color=deepskyblue][B]Gloom Stalker Magic[/B][/color]: [I]Lv. 3/5/9/13/17[/I]. Rope Trick can be handy, and Fear and Greater Invisibility are simply great. [*][color=deepskyblue][B]Dread Ambusher[/B][/color]: [I]Lv. 3[/I]. WIS mod to initiative, good. 10-foot speed buff 1st turn of combat, good. Extra attack with extra damage on said attack, freaking amazing. This Ranger is an alpha-strike master because of this, and it's a lot more reliable and party-friendly than Assassinate. (Although, this plus 3 Rogue levels for Assassinate ... hehe.) [*][color=deepskyblue][B]Umbral Spirit[/B][/color]: [I]Lv. 3[/I]. Free darkvision! (Or 30 feet extra darkvision if your race already had it.) And you get to screw over your enemies' darkvision! [*][B][COLOR="#0000FF"]Iron Mind[/COLOR][/B]: [I]Lv. 7[/I]. Free WIS save proficiency. (Or INT or CHA if you already had it somehow.) Good. [*][B][COLOR="#0000FF"]Stalker's Flurry[/COLOR][/B]: [I]Lv. 11[/I]. Of course they weren't just going to give you the Fighter's third full attack, but this is still pretty damn nice. Unless your hit chance in a battle is already above 75%, you're actually fairly likely to get the third attack from this. (e.g. Typical 65% chance to hit = 42% chance to hit with both your attacks per round, so a 58% chance you'll miss at least one attack and thus get the third attack from this.) [*][B]Shadowy Dodge[/B]: [I]Lv. 15[/I]. Impose disadvantage on an attack against you as a reaction. It's alright. not quite Uncanny Dodge. Still, with so much other really awesome stuff from this subclass, you can handle one average-ish feature. [/LIST] [B][COLOR="#0000FF"]Horizon Walker[/COLOR][/B]: Enhanced mobility is the name of the game for this subclass. One thing to note is that dual-wielding with this subclass is pretty much fruitless; go Archery or Dueling instead. [LIST] [*][color=deepskyblue][B]Horizon Walker Magic[/B][/color]: [I]Lv. 3/5/9/13/17[/I]. All of the spells on this list are at the very least solid, including Protection from Evil and Good, Misty Step, Banishment ... and then there's Haste at Lv. 9. Lovely, lovely Haste. [*][B]Detect Portal[/B]: [I]Lv. 3[/I]. Obviously depends on your campaign as far as how useful this will be. If you're in Planescape, for example, this would obviously be really awesome. [*][B]Planar Warrior[/B]: [I]Lv. 3[/I]. Sort of an odd duck as far as Ranger damage features go. It's the reason that dual-wielding is pretty much a no-go for this subclass, since you have to use your bonus action every single turn to get the damage boost from this (go Dueling to make up any lost damage). And if you use Hunter's Mark you'll run into the same action economy problems as dual-wielders do. It also doesn't play nice with Crossbow Expert, so you should really stick with the longbow if heading the Archery route and save yourself a feat. That said, the damage boost isn't bad, and it's actually pretty solid at Lv. 11 for what it is. [*][B]Ethereal Step[/B]: [I]Lv. 7[/I]. A low-grade, short-rest recharge Etherealness is good for walking through walls and other such physical obstacles. [*][B][COLOR="#0000FF"]Distant Strike[/COLOR][/B]: [I]Lv. 11[/I]. Outright insane mobility boost during your Attack action. You're also better at dealing with hordes, getting a third attack on your action if you attack two separate enemies. [*][B][COLOR="#0000FF"]Spectral Defense[/COLOR][/B]: [I]Lv. 15[/I]. Basically Uncanny Dodge. Yeah, 10 levels later than the Rogue, but that's one of those better-late-than-never abilities. [/LIST] [B]Monster Slayer[/B]: A very specialized subclass, working best against spellcasting foes. Nothing really spectacular mobility or damage wise, though. [LIST] [*][B][COLOR="#0000FF"]Monster Slayer Magic[/COLOR][/B]: Banishment and Hold Monster are good. The other spells are ... OK. [*][B]Hunter's Sense[/B]: [I]Lv. 3[/I]. Learn what the enemy is and what its immunities, resistances and vulnerabilities are. OK. [*][B]Slayer's Prey[/B]: [I]Lv. 3[/I]. Only uses a bonus action at the start of battle, 1d6 damage on first hit every turn (including enemy's turns). You can stack Hunter's Mark in the second round after, though that means you wouldn't be using dual-wielding or Crossbow Expert until Round 3. [*][B]Supernatural Defense[/B]: [I]Lv. 7[/I]. Saving throw and grapple escape boost against your Slayer's Prey. OK. [*][B][color=darkviolet]Magic-User's Nemesis[/color][/B]: [I]Lv. 11[/I]. A short-rest recharge Counterspell-type effect (but with a WIS save instead of an ability check) that also cancels enemy teleporting in general. Obviously, pretty situational, though nice when you get to use it. [*][B][COLOR="#0000FF"]Slayer's Counter[/COLOR][/B]: [I]Lv. 15[/I]. Free attack (ranged or melee) vs. your Slayer's Prey if they make you roll a save for any reason, with auto-success on the save if you hit. Pretty good. [/LIST] [/QUOTE]
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