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.

 

[Chaosmancer]

More a demonstration of the fact that it doesn't fit any of the criteria of being a spell, it's just fuelled by spell slots. I get why you say it, but I don't think it's accurate. There is the Smite ability, and there are Smite spells, they are meaningfully distinct.

Um... no? Divine Smite is a spell now. I just don't think it will qualify for Magic Initiate, so the only other classes that can cast it without multi-classing paladin would be the Bard if they used Magical Secrets. I don't think there is a feat that would allow someone to gain a 1st level evocation spell without going through the main spell lists.

So, would it be better if Hunter's Mark wasn't a divination spell so that you couldn't get it with Fey-Touched? Because that's about the only difference between Divine Smite and Hunter's Mark right now.

Tell me what it does if I don't care about Hunter's Mark and don't want to use it!
(But actually don't because I'm thoroughly bored of talking about why I don't like Hunter's Mark and don't care about any notion of it being Ranger's only shtick. I'm really super happy for you if you think it's good or makes perfect sense, WOTC absolutely adheres to your perspective and will continue to do so, but I can't jive with it.)

If you never wanted to cast Hunter's Mark, the ability to cast it for free does nothing for you, it also doesn't hurt you really. You still got a buff at level 1 getting all of your spellcasting early and Weapon Masteries. But you continually going on about how the Ranger needs a special ability like Divine Smite which got turned into a spell, but not the spell that they have, really highlights to me that the problem is simply "I don't like it" not a lack of identity like people keep trying to say.

 

[Corinnguard]

Talking to animals doesn't require spellcasting?

I think he's referring to all of the Perception and Insight checks pet-owners do on a daily basis. We talk to animals, and then try to guess what they are trying to tell us. That doesn't require magic.

 

[Minigiant]

I think he's referring to all of the Perception and Insight checks pet-owners do on a daily basis. We talk to animals, and then try to guess what they are trying to tell us. That doesn't require magic.

But that's not the Ranger trope

The ranger trope is the ranger whistling, a bird or squirrel coming down, the ranger and critter speak, the critter darts off into the distance, and then a while late the bird or squirrel comes back and says "I didn't see orcs but the chipmunks did. That way"

The trope is the druid wildshaping into a mouse and scouting the castle

The trope of the ranger is sneaking into the castle garden and asking the mice who already live there.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

All this talk about fighter in a green cloak reminded me of my vision of my iconic ranger: Link.

Im now okay with spellcasting rangers.

Funny how the mind works sometimes.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Fighter in Green Cloak is an obscure D&D term for a ranger player who plays the ranger strictly like a fighter and only picked ranger for the combat bonuses.

They are often anti-spells, complain the ranger's weakness to fighters, and ignore all ranger features except stealth.

They also would likely be better served playing a fighter/rogue multiclass but they refuse to.

Ok. That's not what the Level Up ranger is. Feel free to actually read the full class on the A5e SRD I linked above.

 

[Micah Sweet]

The Level Up Ranger doesn't scale in Rangering.

It scales purely in combat ability.

It's level 16 noncombat ability is to create fire.

Level 16.

The level 16 5e ranger can summon.an elemental, scry their target over the plane, and give themselves fiery rocket boots.

The level 16 A5e ranger can summon a torch.

They can do a lot of other things by then too.

 

[Micah Sweet]

But that's no excuse to be weaker in exploration.

The A5e Ranger is worse at rangering than the 5e and the 5.5e Ranger.

Why?

Because no major publisher will rewrite 3-4 pages of spells as "not spells"

That's the point I keep making

Rangering is like 30-50 little rules. Or more.

D&D eases this by making them all individual spell and letting rangers choose which rule/spell they will break.

Level Up doesn't make the exploration pillar irrelevant via spells like WotC 5e does, no. One of the many reasons I see it as a better game.

 

[WanderingMystic]

Um... no? Divine Smite is a spell now. I just don't think it will qualify for Magic Initiate, so the only other classes that can cast it without multi-classing paladin would be the Bard if they used Magical Secrets. I don't think there is a feat that would allow someone to gain a 1st level evocation spell without going through the main spell lists.

So, would it be better if Hunter's Mark wasn't a divination spell so that you couldn't get it with Fey-Touched? Because that's about the only difference between Divine Smite and Hunter's Mark right now

So something they could do and they talked about doing is not putting those spells in the characters class list. Imagine if Divine Smite, Hunters Mark Find Steed and the like weren't on any list and you only received them via the class feature. This would prevent even a bard from getting them and make them feel more unique to that class.

 

[Micah Sweet]

But that's not the Ranger trope

The ranger trope is the ranger whistling, a bird or squirrel coming down, the ranger and critter speak, the critter darts off into the distance, and then a while late the bird or squirrel comes back and says "I didn't see orcs but the chipmunks did. That way"

The trope is the druid wildshaping into a mouse and scouting the castle

The trope of the ranger is sneaking into the castle garden and asking the mice who already live there.

That's not my idea of the Ranger trope. Where are you getting that from?

 

[James Gasik]

That's not my idea of the Ranger trope. Where are you getting that from?

Tolkien, probably. That's if we assume Bard of Lake-Town is a Ranger, though.