D&D 5E It's official, WOTC hates Rangers (Tasha's version of Favored Foe is GARBAGE)

[Don Durito]

Swashbuckler Rogue 3 is also a very good option for Rangers, and while the name doesn't fit, the abilities very much do fit the playstyle of the melee ranger (especially the 4e one).

 

[Asisreo]

I feel as though the PHB doesn't give enough guidance on how the player is supposed to use Favored Enemy and Natural Explorer. Which is upsetting because, based on what I've read, many players don't quite understand how to leverage them in the way they're meant to be played.

Leaning into them, they're hardly situational, but if you don't quite know what you're doing, they'll leave you scratching your head. Combat boosts are much more readily understood by a player.

 

[Flamestrike]

I feel as though the PHB doesn't give enough guidance on how the player is supposed to use Favored Enemy and Natural Explorer. Which is upsetting because, based on what I've read, many players don't quite understand how to leverage them in the way they're meant to be played.

Leaning into them, they're hardly situational, but if you don't quite know what you're doing, they'll leave you scratching your head. Combat boosts are much more readily understood by a player.

Natural explorer can be amazing in many campaigns (think Favoured Terrain: Arctic in Rime, or Favoured Terrain: Jungle in ToA, or FT: Underdark in OotA).

For most of the campaign you get:

When you make an Intelligence or Wisdom check related to your Favored terrain, your Proficiency Bonus is doubled if you are using a skill that you're proficient in.

Expertise in all skills you're proficient in that rely on Int or Wisdom (Perception, Insight, Arcana, Nature, Survival, Religion, Medicine etc), which is a fantastic benefit (although be prepared to justify to the DM how the skill is 'related' to your terrain).

And:

While traveling for an hour or more:

• Difficult Terrain doesn't slow your group's Travel.
• Your group can't become lost except by magical means.
• Even when you are engaged in another Activity While Traveling (such as foraging, navigating, or tracking), you remain alert to danger.
• If you are traveling alone, you can move stealthily at a normal pace.
• When you Forage, you find twice as much food as you normally would.
• While tracking other creatures, you also learn their exact number, their sizes, and how long ago they passed through the area.

Simply not becoming lost (ever), ignoring difficult terrain (Snow and Ice count as difficult terrain by the way, so you can effectively double your groups movement speeds in Rime), always able to make Perception checks (likely with expertise as it's a Wisdom skill) to detect hazards and ambushes, even when doing other things are pretty great benefits.

The problem is most of those benefits are often handwaved away (most long periods of overland travel is handled as a montage by the DM taking a sentence or two, and maybe broken up by an encounter or two), or you're in a dungeon where you cant use them, or (at high level) the parties wizard is just Teleporting you there and the Cleric is making food and water with magic.

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I was part of a game (ToA) where the DM had fleshed out the Hexploration, jungle survival, getting lost and foraging/ finding water rules, with rules for getting lost, finding drinkable water and food, difficult terrain slowing everyone down etc etc

You can imagine his rage when a PC rocked up with a Ranger (FT: Jungle) with the Outlander background. For the entire campaign those rules were never actually used (because the Ranger just does all that stuff without fail, automatically, no roll required, and at will).

He did (of course) try to make the Ranger roll Survival checks anyway, but a player revolt stopped that dead in its tracks.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

The feature looks overall unimpressive to me. Two-Weapon Fighting rangers can activate it without giving up an attack (unlike hunter’s mark), but it only applies to one attack per turn, rather than the 2-4 that hunter’s mark will.

The only real use I can see for it is to extend spell slots by using it during fights that are difficult enough to be worth spending a resource, but not difficult enough to spend a 1st level spell slot on; and saving hunter’s mark for tougher ones (pretty darn niche and difficult to assess). You lose less if you don’t two-weapon fight because you aren‘t gaining as much damage from hunter’s mark, but at that point you probably also aren’t benefitting from saving your bonus action, so it’s unclear exactly who this feature is designed for. Given that hunter’s mark exists and isn’t overpowered, I’m not entirely certain why this similar feature is limited to once per turn, which is what really hurts it.

 

[Flamestrike]

The feature looks overall unimpressive to me. Two-Weapon Fighting rangers can activate it without giving up an attack (unlike hunter’s mark), but it only applies to one attack per turn, rather than the 2-4 that hunter’s mark will.

The only real use I can see for it is to extend spell slots by using it during fights that are difficult enough to be worth spending a resource, but not difficult enough to spend a 1st level spell slot on; and saving hunter’s mark for tougher ones. You lose less if you don’t two-weapon fight because you aren‘t gaining as much damage from hunter’s mark, but at that point you probably also aren’t benefitting from saving your bonus action, so it’s unclear exactly who this feature is designed for. Given that hunter’s mark exists and isn’t overpowered, I’m not entirely certain why this similar feature is limited to once per turn, which is what really hurts it.

Any Ranger that is Bonus action starved is going to find a use for it (Beastmasters lead the charge here, but Horizon walkers, Monster Slayers, Rogue or Monk M/Cs, TWF Rangers etc also).

A Monster Slayer will be wanting to use Slayers eye on round 1 (which chews up his bonus action). Now on round 1 he can use Favored Foe AND use his Slayers eye (dropping FF for HM if he wants after Round 1). Ditto with Beastmasters, who likely want to command the Beast to do something on round 1 other than simply Dodge.

It's situational, although it (hilariously) makes the Ranger Capstone worse (because you have to use FF to get your Capstone +Wis effects working, ruling out other concentration effects!).

 

[Asisreo]

I was part of a game (ToA) where the DM had fleshed out the Hexploration, jungle survival, getting lost and foraging/ finding water rules, with rules for getting lost, finding drinkable water and food, difficult terrain slowing everyone down etc etc

You can imagine his rage when a PC rocked up with a Ranger with the Outlander background. For the entire campaign those rules were never actually used (because the Ranger just does all that stuff without fail, automatically).

Thinking about these things objectively, do these things that had been "skipped" sound like fun? Were you really excited for your character to be lost, starved, and slowed?

Most of these things don't matter, they should be skipped regardless, but that's DM-dependent. Either way, I don't think this constitutes, necessarily, an "effective use of your features."

Where are all the hazards and struggles? If you were in a jungle, the threat of spider webs, mold, and heavy rain should be constantly looming. Rangers, when facing these things, become less "instawin" while remaining incredibly helpful.

Rangers can have expertise identifying the molds and seeing they're hazardous. Rangers get expertise perceiving the Quicksand underneath the canopy of trees. Rangers get advantage when recalling where Parrots are likely to hide and advantage when tracking the monkey so he can interrogate it.



Even when it comes to getting lost and foraging, the ranger doesn't instawin. Just because you know where you are doesn't mean you know where your destination is. You still have to get that info from somewhere, and it shouldn't always be from the patron of your adventure from the start. Just because you forage twice as much food doesn't mean that you automatically succeed in obtaining it. You may have expertise, but you still must roll.

The outlander background has more to do with foraging than the Ranger's features do. Even still, it assumes that there's anything edible nearby which there doesn't have to be for several hundred miles in a jungle. Not all berries or animals are edible.

 

[Xeviat]

Considering a level 1 ranger with new FF has damage that matches or is less than the damage output of a rogue at first level, there's immediately a problem with it being a limited resources.

 

[Flamestrike]

Personally I would have much preferred a rule that simply lets you know Hunters Mark, lets you cast it Wis mod times per day.

Then scale it thus:

At 6th level you cast or shift Hunters Mark to a new target as a reaction when you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack.

At 11th level, it no longer requires Concentration, and damage increases to 1d8 (in line with Paladin improved divine smite).

At 17th level you get (advantage to saves?) from effects generated by your Favoured foe.

 

[Flamestrike]

Even when it comes to getting lost and foraging, the ranger doesn't instawin. Just because you know where you are doesn't mean you know where your destination is. You still have to get that info from somewhere, and it shouldn't always be from the patron of your adventure from the start. Just because you forage twice as much food doesn't mean that you automatically succeed in obtaining it. You may have expertise, but you still must roll.

The outlander background has more to do with foraging than the Ranger's features do. Even still, it assumes that there's anything edible nearby which there doesn't have to be for several hundred miles in a jungle. Not all berries or animals are edible.

Dude, there is food (and water) everywhere in the jungle. They're teeming with life. We're not talking about the Arctic or Desert here.

And no, you dont have to roll. You're never (ever) lost aside from magical means, difficult terrain (jungle, swamps, snow) never slows down your travel, and you always can find food and water for yourself and10 people (assuming Outlander background as well) provided that the land offers berries, small game, water, and so forth.

I know of no jungle in the world that does not offer boundless small game, water, and edible plants.

 

[Flamestrike]

Considering a level 1 ranger with new FF has damage that matches or is less than the damage output of a rogue at first level

Rogue - Rapier + SA 1d8+1d6+ability mod.
Ranger - Longsword (Two handed or heavy crossbow) 1d10+1d4+ ability mod. Could use a greatsword for more.