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.

 

[Corinnguard]

Can I say how amused all this hand wringing about hunters mark is when Hex is sitting there laughing.

I find it amusing that there is hand wringing about Hunter's Mark when the 5e Ranger can also make use of the Favored Foe option.

 

[Rocker26a]

I find it amusing that there is hand wringing about Hunter's Mark when the 5e Ranger can also make use of the Favored Foe option.

Y'mean that feature that isn't even as good as Paladin's Improved Divine Smite even with it's final scaling coming 3 levels later? That one?

 

[Minigiant]

Can I say how amused all this hand wringing about hunters mark is when Hex is sitting there laughing.

Yea.

Don't care.

Give me Sharkskin, Explosive Arrow, and Teleportation Mark.

 

[ECMO3]

Y'mean that feature that isn't even as good as Paladin's Improved Divine Smite even with it's final scaling coming 3 levels later? That one?

Hunter's Mark is awful. Favored Foe is ok because it does not use a spell slot or an action of any type. It is a base 1d4/6/8 you can just add to an attack at will until you run out of uses.

 

[ECMO3]

Can I say how amused all this hand wringing about hunters mark is when Hex is sitting there laughing.

Hex is a great spell. Hunter's Mark is an awful spell.

The disadvantage mechanic on Hex makes it extremely useful, both in and out of combat. The wisdom bonus to HM is almost unuaable.

Hex is the first spell I try to get on a grappler build and one of the first spells I try to get on a face build.

On top of that the actual damage on Hex is more useful because it works on all attacks, not just weapon attacks.

Under 5E, the Wisdom-based Ranger that gets HM can't even use it with the Magic Stone Cantrip he used his fighting style to get.

 

[Rocker26a]

Hunter's Mark is awful. Favored Foe is ok because it does not use a spell slot or an action of any type. It is a base 1d4/6/8 you can just add to an attack at will until you run out of uses.

Yeah I know what it does, and it's awful as well. Absolutely anemic. They cut it down to 1D4 at the baseline and couldn't even make it for all attacks, just the first one that hits and only on your turn.

 

[ECMO3]

Yeah I know what it does, and it's awful as well. Absolutely anemic. They cut it down to 1D4 at the baseline and couldn't even make it for all attacks, just the first one that hits and only on your turn.

Usually when I use it, I use it on a critical or for all attacks on one turn. There is nothing that prevents you from invoking it more than once a turn (assuming you have more than one use remaining).

Hit an enemy, use FF and activate concentration. Hit the enemy again, drop concentration on the first use, invoke it again and do damage again, hit with TWF invoke it a 3rd time.

IMO this is the best use of it, although it gives it more of a one use a day feel.

In any case a Ranger is not a high damage class and plays best when players don't want to make it into that. The Rangers I see excel lean into Wisdom and spells. If you do this it is better at all 3 phases than any other class with extra attack at most levels.

 

[Gammadoodler]

Can I say how amused all this hand wringing about hunters mark is when Hex is sitting there laughing.

You know, I was thinking about Hex as well and wondering why it doesn't bother me as much.

I came up with a couple/few reasons..

1. It may just be aesthetics, but the Hex spell is associated with a primarily spellcasting class, so having an additional magic tool doesn't feel quite as galling.
2. It is not a primary source of additional damage. Warlocks have plenty of options.
3. It actually does inflict a meaningful effect on the target.
4. AFAIK, there hasn't been a significant effort to integrate that specific spell into other class mechanics.
5. And this one is kinda silly..semantics..it's pretty easy to grok why a hex would be a spell., what with that being a witch thing in literature since forever. HM has no such linguistic history to fall back on.

To your point though, they are similar.

 

[Rocker26a]

There is nothing that prevents you from invoking it more than once a turn

The language is "The first time on each of your turns that you hit the favored enemy and deal damage to it, including when you mark it, you can increase that damage by 1d4". Which suggests the first time, and not subsequent times. So, once per turn.

(assuming you have more than one use remaining)

The fact that you can technically piss away a handful of your uses over one turn seems more like a crack in the design than a reason why it's not so bad actually.

In any case a Ranger is not a high damage class and plays best when players don't want to make it into that.

I'm not compelled by this line of reasoning, they could be a high damage class, a lot of the fantasy associated with them may suggest they ought to be even, WOTC have just made a habit of releasing weak revisions.

 

[Gammadoodler]

So are you going to answer the question of what explanation for the damage is good enough for you? Or is this a case of "I will never be satisfied until Hunter's Mark is removed from the class entirely?"

When you answer why you feel Hunter's Mark needs to be a spell, I'll answer what version of a Hunter's Mark spell I'd be satisfied with..

After all..I asked my question first.
(And seems like a reasonable prerequisite question to answer to begin the discussion anyway).