D&D (2024) Ranger 2024 is a bigger joke than Ranger 2014:

[ECMO3]

It's way worse mechanically.

1dx once a turn vs 1d6 on every hit

There are situations where Favored Foe is mechanically better and there are situations when Hunters Mark is mechanically better and in some situations you would not want to use either. In general, I think Favored Foe is better in more situations than HM.

On 2 attacks with HM you are talking about 5 points of damage average. Your bonus action is often worth more than that damage even without measuring it against FF. Not always but often. If you are concentrating on HM you are going to be using your bonus to cast/assign it most rounds. Not every round, but most rounds it is going to gobble up that bonus action.

Favored foe at 1st level is 1d4 per hit, every single hit you use it on, with no bonus action use and no restriction on splitting the damage between multiple enemies if one enemy goes down or you hit on a reaction attack or something else. 1d4 is on average about 4 damage on 2 attacks. More often than not, saving your bonus action is worth the 1 point of extra damage you would do that round with Hunters Mark.

This is especially true since Favored Foe damage can be stacked with other Ranger bonus action stuff like Zephyr Strike or Ashardalon's stride as long as you use them sequentially.

The fact that HM requires a bonus action to move or mark a specific foe also works against team play. HM is best when you can leave it on one enemy for an extended period. From a team perspective focused fire is generally best and it is generally best specifically BECAUSE enemies die quicker, making the Ranger move HM and wasting your bonus action on more turns.

I've used Hunter's Mark in play back before I realized how awful it was and VERY often you are concentrating on it and getting no damage at all out of it because of the bonus action cost.

 

[DragonBelow]

because ranger does not get subtle spell metamagic without spending a feat, which means their spellcasting just like everyone else who also doesn't have subtle spell, isn't subtle.

I see no problem with this

 

[Minigiant]

There are situations where Favored Foe is better and there are situations when Hunters Mark is better and in some situations you would not want to use either. In general, I think Favored Foe is better in more situations than HM.

In general that is not worth using your bonus action on. On 2 attacks you are talking about 5 points of damage average. Your bonus action is usually worth more than that damage. Not always but usually.

Favored foe at 1st level is 1d4 per hit at 1st level, every single hit you use it on, with no bonus action use and no restriction on splitting the damage between multiple enemies if one enemy goes down or you hit on a reaction attack. 1d4 is on average about 4 damage on 2 attacks. More often than not, saving your bonus action is worth the 1 point of extra damage you would do that round with Hunters Mark.

Also Favored Foe damage can be stacked with damage from things like Zephyr Strike or Ashardalon's stride. If your bonus action doesn't matter then cast one of those spells as your bonus action to start your turn, pick up some extra damage from that spell, then enact favored foe when you hit an enemy, canceling the first spell and getting even more damage. You can do this with HM too, but HM will be less damage than those (assuming you can get to at least 2 people with AS).

The fact that HM requires a bonus action to move or mark a specific foe also works against team play. HM is best when you can leave it on one enemy for an extended period. From a team perspective focused fire is generally best and it is generally best specifically BECAUSE enemies die quicker, meaning the Ranger has to move Hunter's more often, wasting your bonus action on more turns.

I've used Hunter's Mark in play back before I realized how awful it was and VERY often you are concentrating on it and getting no damage at all out of it because of the bonus action cost.

Favored Foe is only on the first hit of every turn.

5e monsters are so HP fat that bonus action swapping is not that common past mid level.

 

[Corinnguard]

It is better than Hunters Mark as a class feature IMO, better both mechanically and thematically.

IMO, it is better than the 2014 Hunter's Mark. It costs you no action to use, has a more reasonable duration, it doesn't have a range limitation (which is perfect for Rangers who have the Archery fighting style), the amount of damage it can do scales up at 6th and at 14th level, and the number of times you can use it is tied to your PB.

The duration of Hunter's Mark doesn't make much sense to me because most fights last only a couple of minutes. Plus, as a spell that requires concentration, no one is capable of holding their concentration for an hour in the absence of a target.

 

[Chaosmancer]

while the food/water tracking could be discarded with little harm to them i think the real killing blow to exploration ranger is the lack of like, overland hexcrawl navigation, being able to ensure the party is not veering off course and thinking they're in a different hex to where they actually are, finding safe havens to be able to long rest in in the wilds and scavenging herbs to whip up healing potions in the interim, passing nature and survival checks to know how to deal with or avoid environmental hazards to conserve resources.

But that is having a map and making a single roll.

Honestly, how would you resolve "are you lost" OTHER than making it a skill check using survival? How would you resolve "finding a camping spot" OTHER than making a skill check?

Who needs to bother making healing potions mid-journey? A level 12 Cleric, Druid, Bard, Paladin, Artificer, Mercy Monk, Celestial Warlock, Divine Soul Sorcerer ect ect can keep a party healed just fine over a month of travel where the nastiest thing they fight is an Owlbear or some particularly aggressive vines. Additionally, anyone with an Herbalist Kit should be able to find plants and make healing potions in the wild. That isn't a Ranger specific task that needs special abilities. I've had that as part of baseline crafting for five years now.

I mean, seriously, you end your entire point with "someone needs to pass Nature and Survival checks". Okay.... what are we lacking from Expertise and being a wisdom based class that prevents the ranger from passing those checks? And how are you going to ensure that ONLY the Ranger could POSSIBLY pass those checks, because if Rogues, Bards, Druids and Wizards (Who can get expertise in Nature now) can do it... then what is the point of declaring that ranger exclusive territory?

 

[Chaosmancer]

wow it's almost like if there was better overland mechanics and challenges you'd be able to make more ranger skills matter and give them more abilities.

But if you are giving them more abilities... they have to lose abilities, right?

Do you think anyone would be truly jazzed about giving up their Fighting Style to instead roll twice on the "wilderness threats" table? Or giving up 5th level spells in exchange for always being able to find clean water, even when in a polluted zone?

 

[ECMO3]

Favored Foe is only on the first hit of every turn.

That is not true RAW. It is only true on each use, but because it uses no action you can use it every single time you hit, the upper limit is your proficiency bonus or the number of hits you make.

If my 5th level Ranger is fighting 3 Orcs I can attack one of them use Favored Foe, do an extra 1d4, then attack a second it and use favored foe on it and do 1d4 to it, then attack a 3rd and mark it and do 1d4 to it. I can do this against a single Orc too as long as I remark it every single hit.

Doing this uses all three of my FF uses for the day. I can also as an alternative Crit fish with it.

5e monsters are so HP fat that bonus action swapping is not that common past mid level.

This is objectively not true in games I play (and I play up to level 20 often) and it is not true in games I see online.

The average fight lasts 3-4 rounds and has about 3-5 enemies. That is more than one enemy dropping each round and if you are using Focus Fire then that enemy is going to usually be the one you have marked. Aside from switching Marks after death, you have to add in losing concentration as well, which also costs a Bonus action to restart it.

There are boss fights that last longer than this where you can hold the Mark on a single enemy, and in those fights it is better than FF, but in those fights after mid level you probably want to concentrate on something better than Hunter's Mark or Favored Foe.

 

[Chaosmancer]

What skill check? What does a success mean? What does a failure mean? Can you get lost in the wilds? How much food do you get when you hunt? How difficult would these checks be?

Survival the majority of the time.

DMG pg 111 - Foraging
Characters can gather food and water as the party travels at a normal or slow pace. A foraging character makes a Wisdom (Survival) check whenever you call for it, with the DC determined by the abundance of food and water in the region.

Foraging DCs

Food and Water Availability	DC
Abundant food and water sources	10
Limited food and water sources	15
Very little, if any, food and water sources	20

If multiple characters forage, each character makes a separate check. A foraging character finds nothing on a failed check. On a successful check, roll 1d6 + the character's Wisdom modifier to determine how much food (in pounds) the character finds, then repeat the roll for water (in gallons).

The food and water requirements noted in the Player's Handbook are for characters. Horses and other creatures require different quantities of food and water per day based on their size. Water needs are doubled if the weather is hot.

DMG pg 111 - Becoming Lost
Unless they are following a path, or something like it, adventurers traveling in the wilderness run the risk of becoming lost. The party's navigator makes a Wisdom (Survival) check when you decide it's appropriate, against a DC determined by the prevailing terrain, as shown on the Wilderness Navigation table. If the party is moving at a slow pace, the navigator gains a +5 bonus to the check, and a fast pace imposes a -5 penalty. If the party has an accurate map of the region or can see the sun or stars, the navigator has advantage on the check.

If the Wisdom (Survival) check succeeds, the party travels in the desired direction without becoming lost. If the check fails, the party inadvertently travels in the wrong direction and becomes lost. The party's navigator can repeat the check after the party spends 1d6 hours trying to get back on course.

Wilderness Navigation

Terrain	DC
Forest, jungle, swamp, mountains, or open sea with overcast skies and no land in sight	15
Arctic, desert, hills, or open sea with clear skies and no land in sight	10
Grassland, meadow, farmland	5

So, that answers what the check is, what success means, what failure means, whether or not you can get lost, how much food you get when you hunt, and how difficult the checks are.

Literally every question you had was already answered by the game.

 

[CreamCloud0]

I see no problem with this

Well if we’re just going to start handing out class features based on narration I guess that means my cleric can Rage if I describe them getting angry enough, or the monk will start sneak attacking when they describe their attacks coming from unexpected directions.

 

[Minigiant]

That is not true RAW. It is only true on each use, but because it uses no action you can use it every single time you hit, the upper limit is your proficiency bonus or the number of hits you make.

RAW it is "The First time you hit" not "each time you hit"

So you have to hit a different target each time to get another damage bonus.