D&D 5E (2024) Hollow Warden (Ravenloft)

[Kobold Stew]

Details dropped today about the Hollow Warden subclass for the Ranger, forthcoming in the Ravenloft book. My knowledge of the subclass comes from this video, by Insight Check. I won't reproduce all the details here, but here are some take-aways:

• Solid spell list. Some spells (Alter Self) unlikely to be used, but available I guess to breathe water when needed.
• Central ability is Wrath of The Wild, at level 3, which gives a new use for Favoured Enemy. That break from Hunter's mark is the highlight of the subclass. It gives you (a) an AC bonus, (b) opportunity attacks when hit in melee, and (c) a fear emanation. A solid suite of benefits, in lieu of one-target damage.
• At 7, you get a bonus to CON saves (concentration) and a healing effect if you hit someone and are bloodied.
• At 11, Wrath of the Wild gets stronger: creatures you've frightened can't recover HP or take reactions, and when you hit, you get a bonus weapon mastery effect, either Sap or Slow (on top of whatever you are already doing).
• At 15, you get +WIS damage on creatures you've frightened, immunity to Exhaustion, and a rebound effect if you hit 0 HP.

All of this is solid, and works well with each other. I'll add my initial thoughts in the next post.

 

[Kobold Stew]

Initial thoughts:

• Phantom Steed at 9 is a standout spell to be added.
• I like the way that Wrath of the Wild uses your "free" Hunter's Marks, and gives control effects. You can still cast Hunter's Mark, of course, starting round 2, and get the damage bonus, but that won't always be desirable.
• This means some core Ranger levels effectively lose their benefits, especially when there's a better use for the free castings.: I'm thinking particularly of levels 13, 17, and 20, where the benefits only affect Hunter's Mark. It's not quite the cast that these become dead levels, though, since you gain access to a new level of spells at 13 and 17. (20 is still effectively a dead level).
• The bonus weapon mastery effect at 11 is interesting. There's two options, so you never need to choose, whatever weapon you are using. I guess in theory you could apply Slow twice (-20' movement) -- I don't think there's rules against that? -- but I suspect the disadvantage from Sap is more impactful in any case, and the Slow option is there for when you happen to be using a weapon that already has Sap.
• This and the Winter Walker ranger are both really solid options: the current designers have recognized the challenges faced by Rangers, and seem to be working thoughtfuly to keep the class interesting.

This is certainly a subclass I'd have fun playing, I think, and though it isn't a dmaage-machine it will be very impactful on the front lines of combat with all the various effects in introduces.

 

[Selas]

Seems solid, though there are already folks complaining that it got nerfed from the UA (no longer a high flat bonus to AC), ergo it's useless like the main class.

 

[Kobold Stew]

Seems solid, though there are already folks complaining that it got nerfed from the UA (no longer a high flat bonus to AC), ergo it's useless like the main class.

People will always complain, especially when overpowered abilities that can be exploited by multiclassing get nerfed. Other effects in the subclass are stronger than they were; I wasn't comparing it to the draft, just looking at what we now have.

 

[Selas]

Yep. It's the same outcry as the Paladin changes: curbed nova smite = useless, even if everything else was buffed.

 

[Remathilis]

Yep. It's the same outcry as the Paladin changes: curbed nova smite = useless, even if everything else was buffed.

Or how sorcerer twin spell not allowing two concentration spells killed the sorcerer.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Seems solid, though there are already folks complaining that it got nerfed from the UA (no longer a high flat bonus to AC), ergo it's useless like the main class.

Yeah, I noted this when the level 3 changes were revealed in the live play. In the original version AC bonus was effectively always on, and could be used to get your AC up to around 30 with certain builds. It’s notable that very high ACs crop up in the “game breaking builds” thread.

It can still get very high AC, but for a much shorter time.

And yes, there is a tendency for some people to confuse “no longer broken” with “sucks”.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

exploited by multiclassing

Helloo monk-dip!

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I guess in theory you could apply Slow twice (-20' movement) -- I don't think there's rules against that?

FYI

If the creature is hit more than once by weapons that have this property, the Speed reduction doesn’t exceed 10 feet.

-PHB (2024)​

 

[bedir than]

This subclass is an example of why I want ala carte back.

It seems to be the only thing from this book that fits the world we play in, and it does it very well