D&D (2024) 2024 Player's Handbook reveal: "New Ranger"

"More than any other class, the ranger is a new class."

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It has been a year (less a day) since we last saw the Ranger in UA Playtest 6. There still could be a lot of change. My sense is that they are more or less happy with three of the subclasses (Fey Wanderer, Beastmaster, and Gloom Stalker), but many questions remain: Will anyone be happy with the favored enemy/relation to the land abilities? Will Hunter's Mark be foregrounded in multiple abilities? Will rangers at least get a free casting of the Barrage/Volley spells? For the Hunter, will the "Superior" abilties at levels 11 and 15 continue to be things you didn't choose at lower levels? For the Gloom Stalker, will they pull out 3rd level invisibility from "Umbral Sight"? Any chance for a surprise substitution of the Horizon Walker? Let's find out.

OVERVIEW

• "widely played, but ... one of the lowest rated"
• Spellcasting and Weapon Mastery at 1 (as with Paladin). Spellcasting can change spells after long rest (not every level)
• NEW: Favored Enemy: Hunters Mark always prepared, and X castings per day. (was level 2 in PT6, where it was WIS times/day)
• NEW: Fighting Style at 2 (no limits on choice). or you may choose two cantrips (again, like Paladin).
• NEW: Deft Explorer at 3: expertise in a proficient skill, +2 languages. NO INTERACTION WITH LAND TYPES. This is a nerf from PT6, where at least you got a bonus to Intelligence (Nature) checks.
• Extra attack at 5, Roving at 6 (+10' move, Climb Speed, Swim speed).
• Two more expertise options, at 9, presumably. Compared to the playtest, this is a nerf: PT6 gave 1 expertise, the spell Conjure Barrage always prepared, and +2 land types for Explorer. These had problems, but it's a lot to lose for one additional expertise.
• At 10, Tireless (as in PT6) -- THP and reduced Exhaustion.
• NEW: At 13, Damage no longer breaks concentration with Hunter's Mark.
• At 14, Nature's Veil -- invisibility. At 18, Blindsight.
• NEW: At 17, advantage vs person marked with Hunter's Mark.
• NEW: Damage of Hunter's mark increases to d10, not d6. (This too is a nerf from the playtest, which gave +WIS to hit, and +WIS to damage.)

The clear expectation is you are using Hunter's Mark, occupying your concentration and taking your first Bonus action every combat, from levels 1-20.

SUBCLASSES
Beastmaster

• command Primal Beast as a bonus action, and higher level abilities as in PT6, apparently.
• stat blocks level up with you (as in Tasha's and PT6). Beast gets Hunter's Mark benefits at 11.

Fey Wanderer

• vague on specifics; apparently just as in Tasha's.

Gloom Stalker

• as in PT6, Psychic damage bonus a limited number of times per day. +WIS to initiative (cf. Assassin and Barbarian)
• Umbral Sight, darkvision bonus, and invisible in the dark.
• NEW: psychic damage goes up at level 11. Mass fear option of Sudden Strike mentioned, nothing about Sudden Strike.

Hunter.

• Hunter's Lore at 3: know if there are immunities/resistances of creature marked by Hunter's Mark.
• NEW: Hunter's Prey at 3: you have a choice and can change your choice every short/long rest.
• NEW: Defensive Tactics at 7: you have a choice, and again can choose after a rest. The choices are Escape the Horde, Multiattack defense (not Evasion, Uncanny Dodge, and Hunter's Leap, as in PT6).
• NEW: At 11, Hunter's mark now "splashes" damage onto another target.
• NEW: you can choose to take resistance to damage, until the end of your turn.

 

[Weiley31]

Well, at least Everyday Heroes allows the option of playing "non-magical" options for characters.

Although, with their stupidity/wackiness going on lately, YMMV on whether that's a route you go through. Could always go the Lord of The Rings 5E route and use that for low magic. Or be mad and combine em both together.

 

[Horwath]

From level's 2 thru 10, what Class features are tied to Hunter's mark?

it does not matter. It's from level 1.
No mandatory feature should be tagged with concentration as it limits your playstyle and if you do not use it you are losing you class resources as they are not utilized.

having bonus HM without Conc is good, no matter what we thing about the spell, it's some bonus damage for you if you hit with attack(s).

Having bonus HM with Conc is bad as it is a limiting factor in your character design.

 

[Minigiant]

And for Paladin's they highlighted a spell that... isn't exclusive to them. In fact, I sort of struggle to remember if there has been a single "exclusive and tailored" spell for Paladin's since 2014. Find Greater Steed maybe? Which was just an upgrade to their existing spell?

Just like I'm not really upset if Paladins and Clerics share spells, why should I be upset if Druids and Rangers share spells? And why is it that I should consider all of the ranger abilities from level 2 thru level 10, plus their unique invisibility feature to vanish in a puff of smoke, just because they haven't debuted a new spell exclusive to Rangers yet?

Paladin has the same problem but most paladin fans just like being smite monkeys.

Some people just care about damage and stealth buffs, I just want more.

I'm waiting for..
Scent magic
Echolocation magic
Tracker magic
Animal augmentation into weapons
Plant augmentation into weapons
Earth/Rock augmentation into weapons
Language magic
Resistance and Adaption magic

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Some people (fairly IMO) don't want every class throwing around magic.

That is totally ok. But the ranger has always been a magic using class in D&D.

 

[Incenjucar]

That is totally ok. But the ranger has always been a magic using class in D&D.

It was a much less magic-centric class, however, if history actually matters.

 

[ECMO3]

Because the rules are forced in that direction, not necessarily because everyone wants spells on their characters. I mean, look at fantasy media. How many actual spell-casters are there? Some, certainly, and more of that sort of thing in anime (don't @ me, I know the details are different), but not nearly everyone like default WotC 5e.

Perhaps, or perhaps the players forced the game in that direction.

I remember playing 1E Barbarians and Dwarves with their restrictions and limits on magic and it was not very fun. I don't know anyone who liked it.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

it does not matter. It's from level 1.
No mandatory feature should be tagged with concentration as it limits your playstyle and if you do not use it you are losing you class resources as they are not utilized.

having bonus HM without Conc is good, no matter what we thing about the spell, it's some bonus damage for you if you hit with attack(s).

Having bonus HM with Conc is bad as it is a limiting factor in your character design.

Other characters also have some limits in character building. If every class was the same, why have classes at all?

I am still in the wait and see phase.

 

[Horwath]

Other characters also have some limits in character building. If every class was the same, why have classes at all?

I am still in the wait and see phase.

yeah, I know. Some others should also go.

Like mandatory Heavy armor proficiency is other thing that I have with fighter and paladin.
I would be nice to be able to switch that with +2 skills or +1 skill and some tools/languages.

 

[Juomari Veren]

I gave them the keys to success in the survey feedback; Don't just give them Hunter's Mark as a replacement for Favored Enemy, make it so their weapon attacks against Favored Enemies deal an additional die of damage, scaling up over time, and let them reselect Favored Enemies with some amount of prep time. Make Foe Slayer do something different than "+x to y stat". I get the responses they get are so abbreviated that they can't necessarily read every comment on every survey in full, but it seems like someone said "what if they get one free spell that they have to concentrate on for the first 2/3s of their life instead?" and then patched the vessel around it to the point where it gives a definitive answer to the Ship of Theseus; It is in fact the same, and that's bad because the old material was unusable when it was new.

 

[Incenjucar]

yeah, I know. Some others should also go.

Like mandatory Heavy armor proficiency is other thing that I have with fighter and paladin.
I would be nice to be able to switch that with +2 skills or +1 skill and some tools/languages.

Yeah, this would help. Unused resources feels baaad.