SilverfireSage
Explorer
So having recently become fairly active on these boards, I realize that this topic has been talked about a lot. However, it is generally in a disparaging way towards the beastmaster class, rather than a productive way. So with that note, I decided to do a little defense for them, and figure out why the designers thought they would be a good fit. Turns out, the beastmaster is much better than people assume it to be at first glance, and I will explain this in detail below. However, there is one other point about "why would anyone take a beastmaster in the first place?" and if you want to read that, it's at the very bottom. Without further ado:
I'm going to break this up into tiers of play, specifically focusing on certain levels: 3, 7, and 14. Now I'm also going under the assumption that at each of those higher level tiers, characters will have a growing bonus on their magic items, i.e. a level 7 character will have a +1 weapon and armor, 14 a +2 weapon and armor. This is based off of the playtest where the majority of items only went up to +3. Seeing as how we're going purely off of combat and dungeon potential, there will also be a +1 ring of protection added to the characters after 3.
Fighter 3: At the first few levels, a fighter doesn't seem terribly impressive, but then again, neither does anyone else. A fighter at that level utilizing a defensive fighting style will have around a 20 armor class (+1 defense, +2 shield, 17 base Splintmail). He will get a +6 to attack (+2 prof, +4 strength) and deal 1d8+4 damage with a hit (a longsword). He also gets criticals on 19-20 with a Champion archetype and gains Action surge.
Ranger 3: This is probably where the Ranger is the weakest, but still not terrible. At 3rd level, the animal companion can't really do much. For a wolf (which is likely the best and most obvious choice), it will only have 12 hit points, an AC of 15, an attack of +6, and deals 2d4+6 points of damage with the potential to trip. But wait a second, that's exactly the same as a fighter! The only difference is the AC, which is a big limiting factor on the Wolf. However, if you give the benefit of the doubt to the Wolf, it is likely that the wolf will not be targeted nearly as much as the fighter, and therefore will be a slightly better choice for a damage dealer. If the wolf does get attacked, it's likely dead, but the same could be said for a 3rd level wizard as well. Keep in mind that this does not take into account the ranger, but since only one of them gets to attack this round, I'm going to focus only the wolf.
The fighter wins round one, purely based on toughness.
Fighter 7: A fighter is starting to become more powerful at this point. They will likely have plate mail at this point, and +1 to boot, giving them an outrageous 22 armor class (+1 magic, +1 defense, +2 shield, 18 base Plate mail). That is pretty impressive, and they are likely going to be standing up to the brunt of anything that can be thrown at them. However on the offensive side, there's not as much of a difference, except they now get two attacks a round. They will have a +9 to hit (+1 magic, +3 prof, +5 str) and deal 1d8 + 6 on both attacks, giving them an average damage of around 20 with both hits. That's pretty good. Barring any feats or anything, that's about the upper limit for them damage wise apart from magic.
Ranger 7: A ranger at this point also gains extra attack, and can use it to command their animal companion to attack. They can also use their bonus action to make the beast dash, disengage, dodge or help, but we'll take a look at the first one. At this point a ranger using martial weapons will have a +9 to hit (+1 magic, +3 prof, +5 dex) and deal 1d8 + 6 (rapier) on his attack, an average of 10 damage, same as the fighter. The wolf also gets an attack, and will have a +7 to hit, slightly less, but deal 2d4 + 5 points of damage, for an average of again, 10 damage. So it seems like they're pretty equal, except at this point, the wolf gains pack tactics, which gives them advantage on all attack rolls when an ally is within 5 ft (the ranger). This gives them an average of a +12 to hit, making it much more likely that they'll do they're good amount of damage. If you also consider the wolf to be somewhat of a damage sponge at this point, it will have 28 hit points, not too shabby in the slightest.
I'd call this a bit of a draw. The Ranger can now deal more damage, due to hitting more often with advantage, but the fighter is still much tougher.
Fighter 14: 23 armor class (+2 magic, +1 defense, +2 shield, 18 base plate mail.), +12 to hit (+2 magic, +5 prof, +5 str), 1d8 + 7 damage with three attacks, average of 34 damage. Again, same as before, fighter is going to be much much tougher due to the armor class, but the damage per attack hasn't increased at all, giving a higher average due to the addition of another attack.
Ranger 14: It's almost not worth talking about armor class at this point, since the fighter is going to severely outclass the ranger and his wolf in every way. Concentrating on offensive prowess then, the ranger would get their attack at +12 to hit (+2 magic, +5 prof, +5 dex), and 1d8 + 7 on their attacks. Its at this point that the wolf begins to shine. Without advantage, the wolf gets a +9 to hit, but with advantage he would get a fantastic +14 to hit. With two attacks each dealing 2d4 + 7 damage, they keep up with the fighter easily with an average of 34 damage, not including the advantage.
Same deal as before. The fighter is able to take more hits and dodge more hits, but the wolf has potentially higher damage output due to the advantage granted by the ranger.
Of course there are many different variables that can go into this, including action surge, spells, different fighting styles, feats, etc. However, I hope that this shows just how well the beast master feature does keep up with the average damage dealer, and that choosing them isn't less viable than choosing anything else.
However, there is one big reason for choosing the beastmaster ranger, and it's the most important of them all: Choosing to play them because you want to. No other class allows you to be a beast master ranger in mechanics or flavor. A druid with an awakened animal is not the same, a warlock with a familiar is not the same. They are their own breed of class and interesting in their own way, and that, in and of itself, is the best reason to choose them.
I'm going to break this up into tiers of play, specifically focusing on certain levels: 3, 7, and 14. Now I'm also going under the assumption that at each of those higher level tiers, characters will have a growing bonus on their magic items, i.e. a level 7 character will have a +1 weapon and armor, 14 a +2 weapon and armor. This is based off of the playtest where the majority of items only went up to +3. Seeing as how we're going purely off of combat and dungeon potential, there will also be a +1 ring of protection added to the characters after 3.
Fighter 3: At the first few levels, a fighter doesn't seem terribly impressive, but then again, neither does anyone else. A fighter at that level utilizing a defensive fighting style will have around a 20 armor class (+1 defense, +2 shield, 17 base Splintmail). He will get a +6 to attack (+2 prof, +4 strength) and deal 1d8+4 damage with a hit (a longsword). He also gets criticals on 19-20 with a Champion archetype and gains Action surge.
Ranger 3: This is probably where the Ranger is the weakest, but still not terrible. At 3rd level, the animal companion can't really do much. For a wolf (which is likely the best and most obvious choice), it will only have 12 hit points, an AC of 15, an attack of +6, and deals 2d4+6 points of damage with the potential to trip. But wait a second, that's exactly the same as a fighter! The only difference is the AC, which is a big limiting factor on the Wolf. However, if you give the benefit of the doubt to the Wolf, it is likely that the wolf will not be targeted nearly as much as the fighter, and therefore will be a slightly better choice for a damage dealer. If the wolf does get attacked, it's likely dead, but the same could be said for a 3rd level wizard as well. Keep in mind that this does not take into account the ranger, but since only one of them gets to attack this round, I'm going to focus only the wolf.
The fighter wins round one, purely based on toughness.
Fighter 7: A fighter is starting to become more powerful at this point. They will likely have plate mail at this point, and +1 to boot, giving them an outrageous 22 armor class (+1 magic, +1 defense, +2 shield, 18 base Plate mail). That is pretty impressive, and they are likely going to be standing up to the brunt of anything that can be thrown at them. However on the offensive side, there's not as much of a difference, except they now get two attacks a round. They will have a +9 to hit (+1 magic, +3 prof, +5 str) and deal 1d8 + 6 on both attacks, giving them an average damage of around 20 with both hits. That's pretty good. Barring any feats or anything, that's about the upper limit for them damage wise apart from magic.
Ranger 7: A ranger at this point also gains extra attack, and can use it to command their animal companion to attack. They can also use their bonus action to make the beast dash, disengage, dodge or help, but we'll take a look at the first one. At this point a ranger using martial weapons will have a +9 to hit (+1 magic, +3 prof, +5 dex) and deal 1d8 + 6 (rapier) on his attack, an average of 10 damage, same as the fighter. The wolf also gets an attack, and will have a +7 to hit, slightly less, but deal 2d4 + 5 points of damage, for an average of again, 10 damage. So it seems like they're pretty equal, except at this point, the wolf gains pack tactics, which gives them advantage on all attack rolls when an ally is within 5 ft (the ranger). This gives them an average of a +12 to hit, making it much more likely that they'll do they're good amount of damage. If you also consider the wolf to be somewhat of a damage sponge at this point, it will have 28 hit points, not too shabby in the slightest.
I'd call this a bit of a draw. The Ranger can now deal more damage, due to hitting more often with advantage, but the fighter is still much tougher.
Fighter 14: 23 armor class (+2 magic, +1 defense, +2 shield, 18 base plate mail.), +12 to hit (+2 magic, +5 prof, +5 str), 1d8 + 7 damage with three attacks, average of 34 damage. Again, same as before, fighter is going to be much much tougher due to the armor class, but the damage per attack hasn't increased at all, giving a higher average due to the addition of another attack.
Ranger 14: It's almost not worth talking about armor class at this point, since the fighter is going to severely outclass the ranger and his wolf in every way. Concentrating on offensive prowess then, the ranger would get their attack at +12 to hit (+2 magic, +5 prof, +5 dex), and 1d8 + 7 on their attacks. Its at this point that the wolf begins to shine. Without advantage, the wolf gets a +9 to hit, but with advantage he would get a fantastic +14 to hit. With two attacks each dealing 2d4 + 7 damage, they keep up with the fighter easily with an average of 34 damage, not including the advantage.
Same deal as before. The fighter is able to take more hits and dodge more hits, but the wolf has potentially higher damage output due to the advantage granted by the ranger.
Of course there are many different variables that can go into this, including action surge, spells, different fighting styles, feats, etc. However, I hope that this shows just how well the beast master feature does keep up with the average damage dealer, and that choosing them isn't less viable than choosing anything else.
However, there is one big reason for choosing the beastmaster ranger, and it's the most important of them all: Choosing to play them because you want to. No other class allows you to be a beast master ranger in mechanics or flavor. A druid with an awakened animal is not the same, a warlock with a familiar is not the same. They are their own breed of class and interesting in their own way, and that, in and of itself, is the best reason to choose them.
