D&D 5E what version of the Ranger do you use?

[Asgorath]

The UA Ranger's power level is actually fine at Lv. 10+. Where it's considered "overpowered" is at Lv. 1 because of that version of Natural Explorer giving you all those different powerful benefits all at the beginning, when those benefits could stand to be partitioned out one at a time at higher levels.

Anyway, when I DM, I replace Natural Explorer with this homebrew I came up with. It addresses the flaws of both PHB and UA versions of Natural Explorer, I feel.

If I'm a player and someone else is DM, I just use whatever Ranger is available. In my current game I'm playing, it's PHB + Xanathar's.

I really hope the alternate class features Mike Mearls was working on become official, and look something very much like that, yeah.

 

[Charlaquin]

Someone had to do it...

 

[Azzy]

Mostly because PHB's Natural Explorer and Favored Enemy are two of the worst designed class features in 5e. Many campaigns can go without those features ever coming into play. They're not even good as ribbon features. Hide in Plain Sight isn't much better, Vanish is 1/3 of the Rogue's Cunning Action 12 levels too late, and to say nothing of that god-awful capstone.

Power-wise the PHB version of the class is within the bell curve thanks to Extra Attack and half-spellcaster status, though the base class is on the weaker side of it. Beast Master is an extremely weak subclass on top of a weak-ish base class, which is why it constantly rates in the gutter. On the other side of the power curve, Gloom Stalker (Xanathar's) is such a strong subclass that, despite the PHB Ranger base class being on the weak side, a character with that subclass is overall quite strong. Playing an archery-focused Gloom Stalker (PHB Ranger base) right now, currently at Lv. 7, and having a lot more fun than I thought I would.

It's almost like people are reading what I said as "I don't see what other people think is wrong with the ranger" rather than what I actually said ("I don't see much wrong with the ranger"), and are somehow trying to tell me why they think is wrong. Yes, I've seen the arguments, people, I just don't agree with most of them—I'm not here to debate the issue (that'd be flogging a dead horse), just to answer the OP's question and give my reasoning.

 

[SkidAce]

To quote everquest....

"Ranger down!"

 

[Burnside]

I have DMed for groups that included these rangers:

- XGtE Gloom Stalker and Monster Hunter - both worked perfectly fine out of the box; players liked them

- UA Beastmaster. Had to nerf the Favored Enemy ability. Player selected "humanoids" as her favorite enemy, which would have gotten her heavy bonuses in many, many encounters. I tweaked it to be humanoids MINUS the PHB races. On the other hand, animal companion was totally fine using the UA rules and didn't feel OP at all.

 

[GlassJaw]

So after reading through various versions, I will say that I like the Revised Ranger (Revised) and the YARV both better than the PHB or the UA versions. I would probably some minor tweaks to both but I'm 90-95% satisfied with them as-is, which is significantly more than the PHB version.

Overall, I like the RRR better because it maps more closely to the PHB version but I would allow either. The YARV has some cool ideas but is closer to an entirely new class compared to the core Ranger. I would let a player play either though.

 

[CleverNickName]

We've only ever used the PHB version. I think its underpowered personally, but I haven't heard any complaints. (Yet.)

 

[Lord Twig]

I am currently playing a Hunter Ranger and as of 4th level have never used Favored Enemy or Natural Explorer. At this point it is the same as getting no abilities at all at 1st level. I have 3 spells that are fixed, while the Paladin has six spells (Plus Divine Smite) and can change 4 of them everyday.

I also played a 13th level Beast Master Ranger for a one-shot. The animal companion added no damage boost and just sucked up healing resources. At the end I had to leave it hiding in the corner while the rest of the party was fighting so it wouldn't die from AoEs, which completely negated the Ranger's subclass. I honestly believe it was never tested at high levels. How it got all the way into the PHB in its current form is beyond me.

Oh, I almost forgot the Ranger gets Primeval Awareness. I mean, that's how bad it is, I forgot I even had it. I looked it up again and, nope, still useless. So that is 1st and 3rd level abilities I might as well not even have.

The spells I do have are good (Goodberry, Hunter's Mark and Longstrider). And the Fighting Style and Colossus Slayer allows him to be effective in combat, but that doesn't fix the fact that the rest of his abilities suck.

And now I made the mistake of looking ahead a few levels. 5th level both the Ranger and Paladin get Extra Attack, cool. Then at 6th... ugh. I get an extra Favored Enemy and Terrain, which will probably still not be used. The Paladin gets Aura of Protection. So +3 to every Saving Throw (including Death Saves) for himself and everyone within 10' of him.

So, to answer the question of this thread, I use the PHB Ranger, but that is only because I like the concept of the Ranger and the DM doesn't allow me to home brew him or used the UA Ranger. Personally I would use the UA Ranger, but even then I would home brew it to give the Hunter and Beast Master extra spells (like the Paladin) and make Hunter's Mark a class feature (and take it off the spell list of all other classes).

 

[Bitbrain]

Currently playing a level 6 Beastmaster Ranger.

Ranger is PHB version, Beastmaster is UA Revised Ranger.

It works rather well so far.

 

[Gladius Legis]

Oh, I almost forgot the Ranger gets Primeval Awareness. I mean, that's how bad it is, I forgot I even had it. I looked it up again and, nope, still useless. So that is 1st and 3rd level abilities I might as well not even have.

Primeval Awareness is basically that thing I use if I have an unused spell slot before taking a long rest, because I might as well at that point.

I do find it quite hilarious(ly bad design), though, that it's much less precise in your favored terrain.

The Paladin gets Aura of Protection. So +3 to every Saving Throw (including Death Saves) for himself and everyone within 10' of him.

Just a nitpick: Aura of Protection won't help the Paladin with their own death saves, because the aura deactivates when the Paladin is unconscious, which they will be if they're making death saves.