It does not matter what masteries they know, the only masteries that work with light dex weapons are Vex and Nick. Here are all the light weapons that use dexterity:
Dagger (Nick)
Scimitar (Nick)
Shortsword (Vex)
Hand Crossbow (vex)
Those are the only weapons they can use with the light property and dexterity.
All your damage calculations above include extra attacks from a light 1d6 weapon .... well then you are using these weapons and you are not getting a mastery on 3 of your 4 attacks with it (or 2 of 3 attacks on rounds you cast or move HM).
Yeah, I've been doing the nick property. Funny thing, I don't think it is a problem that at level 17 I no longer need the vex property. Again, every character I've built in the 2024 rules to date (about six or seven? Lot of one-shot material) have used one mastery for melee one mastery for range.
In which case they are not getting the advantage from hunters mark.
Yes, if they do not use Hunter's Mark, they do not benefit from Hunter's Mark. I thought we all understood that.
There are only 2 masteries to choose from for dual wielding dex weapons. One of them only does something on 1 attack a round, the other is redundant with the 17th level feature.
Yes you can give up Vex and get something else and then 3 of your 4 attacks are getting nothing from weapon mastery .... or you can keep Vex and 3 of your 4 attacks are getting nothing from weapon mastery when concentrating on Hunter's Mark.
If you are using two weapon fighting and dual wielding Hand Crossbow is the only option for long range and that uses Vex.
Moreover if you are using anything else for ranged attacks then the damage is way different than what you posted earlier because you are only doing 2 attacks a round.
I didn't think that this was difficult to understand, but okay.
Yes, if I am dual-wielding I have only two options. If I am obsessed with absolutely having the most number of weapon masteries in melee then I will have Nick and Vex. I have never been that obsessed with that. Because, sometimes.... you can't get into melee range. This may be shocking to you, but it does happen. So, in those cases, I would use a different weapon. And, personally, I like having a ranged mastery for that purpose.
So, if at 17th level I am ripping my bodice and wailing at the uncaring sky that Vex is now utterly useless to me... then I can just take Slow on the Longbow for those times that I wasn't able to get into melee range. Which, for me personally, is what I'd been doing since level 1 anyways. Now, does that change my math? Yes, fighting at range would look different than dual-wielding. I thought that was, again, obvious.
You seem to think this is some sort of "gotcha!". Like, "AHA! You cannot use all of your abilities on the same turn at the same time! Your position is invalid!!" But... I never claimed you could?
3 of the 4 abilities that make it a bad class design are at high level. It is an ok class design at low level (the potential concern on expertise notwithstanding).
So for the majority of tables this will be completely fine.
It depends on your subclass, feats, species abilities and spells.
If I am a Drakewarden or a Beastmaster I can have my pet attack. If I am a Swarmkeeper I can use writhing tide.
The two Rangers I discussed previously were Fey Wnderers. They have no Ranger bonus actions, but using the 2024 rules here are the real world examples for those characters (note not including Nature's Viel since that is now at a higher level):
Lena: Disengage, Hide, Misty Step, Hex
Chromescale: Misty Step
Okay.... what if your beast isn't in range to attack anyone? What if there is nowhere you particularly want to teleport to? Also, Hex? Soo.... exactly the same as casting Hunter's Mark?
Sure, if you assume that you are playing a specific ranger, with specific abilities, in a specific situation where a specific ability is better than Hunter's Mark... then Hunter's Mark won't be a good choice. But that doesn't mean it will NEVER be the right choice. Maybe Chromescale already used their 1 free Misty step and can't use it again today. Maybe there is no where to teleport to and they want to save that teleportation for a more impactful moment. These things DO happen.
Like I said, I have done it before (although not while using another spell). It is not going to be successful often and it will use up one of those 2 slot-free castings.
I did not say you can't do it or won;t ever do it. I said it is unlikely to be beneficial.
If you really have nothing else to use your bonus action on that turn though it might make sense.
And for a level 1 ability, at level 10? That is good enough for me. It doesn't need to be better than "it might make sense in the right circumstances" at that level.
Yes they do. Short Sword and Hand Crossbow work fine with crossbow expert. So does every other light weapon. Do you need me to list out all the light weapons for you to illustrate this?
I may not understand what you mean, but I understand what you are writing and it is wrong.
No, you don't. Because Short Sword and Hand Crossbow doesn't have the Short Sword using the text of Crossbow Expert. Again, you keep misunderstanding what I am saying, and repeating the situation back at me as though I was incorrect, and insisting that I'm factually wrong, when I am factually correct and you just are not understanding me.
No it is a weak spell, even when you are attacking with weapons.
Disagree
No it would need to be more than just entangle to be a good design. Having 4 abilities that keyed on entangle would be as bad as having 4 abilities that key off of HM.
If we are limiting it to one spell and limiting use to Ranger spells, Cure Wounds is the only one I think they could use and not have it be a bad class design. There are a few other spells on other lists that would be good thematically as well.
So, if you thought Hunter's Mark was a good spell, then this would be a good class design.
Yes, it is also very few.
Although I do not agree with everything he says, this screenshot and many of Kobold's comments near the end of his video kind of sum it up. His position is they should have gotten Find Familiar with all these buffs instead. IMO that would be better than HM because of the thematics, but would still not be good IMO:
View attachment 377623
I disagree with him about his conclusions. He focused on Hand Crossbow Crossbow Expert. When I mentioned this he responded to say that he values dealing damage while not being in danger of taking damage. I disagree with that position on two fronts.
1) If that were my position, then I would focus on Longbows to have the furthest possible range. Hand Crossbow range is still effectively in melee and therefore you are not much safer in general.
2) If I wanted damage, I am going to be looking into melee, and there is a VERY good build I feel with Dual-Wielding and Defensive Duelist. Who will have a high enough AC to be very tough and deal very, very good damage with Hunter's Mark active.
And while Find Familiar is nice, too many other classes focus on it with different buffs. I'd rather have something not featured by a bunch of other classes.
