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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Gladius Legis" data-source="post: 7991772" data-attributes="member: 68748">The various playtest Rangers were, on the whole, MUCH better than the final product both mechanics-wise and flavor-wise.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Rangers were prepared spellcasters all the way up through the final public playtest (September 2013). So their arbitrary switch-over to a spells-known caster came only after the public playtest process was done. Pretty much everyone agrees at this point the Ranger should've stayed a prepared caster - like they were every single other edition they had spells.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">At various points, Rangers had Expertise, which they really should've kept all along. I think pretty much everyone agrees on this one, too, by now.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Rangers really were the best at tracking stuff in the August 2013 version. That Track ability worked in all terrains, too.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">In that same August 2013 playtest, Natural Explorer also worked in all terrains.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Master Stalker (August 2013) was MUCH, MUCH, MUCH better than Vanish. Rangers could just hide straight-up, didn't need an action or even a bonus action. They also stayed hidden through tremorsense and magical detection.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Rangers had a MUCH better capstone in the last two playtests than their current one. Advantage on all attack rolls and saves in all natural environments beats the hell out of the extremely limited and weak regardless Foe Slayer.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The August 2013 version had a triple-damage attack vs. a surprised creature at Lv. 18. A little late to be getting such a feature, to be sure, but it could've been expanded on and made a staple of the class with Rangers getting a scaling version of it beginning at lower levels.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Certain features came a lot earlier in the June 2013 playtest, such as Feral Senses at Lv. 10 instead of 18. That is a decent feature to gain at 10, but is too little too late for 18, giving the impression that WOTC really was throwing crap at the wall and seeing what stuck, then moving the stains around when designing the Ranger.</li> </ul>Indeed, the elements for a much more satisfying Ranger than what we got were there. And none of this would've been out of line against the rest of the PHB content, either.</blockquote>

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