D&D 5E I need help

[Deanal]

Hey, I'd like to ask for help with the question:which subclass should I pick ? I want to play a ranger in my next game. I'd like to design him as a vampire/ demon hunter so my question is :which subclass would work best, both from flavor and mechanical perspective? My favorites are hunter and gloomstalker. Ps: I don't like monster slayer because of his abilities

 

[Horwath]

Gloomstalker would be best for that.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Yep, Gloomstalker sounds like a winner to me.

 

[Eltab]

I played a Monster Slayer Ranger for the experience, with an eye to 'tweaking' Monster Hunter into Demonslayer (for a future written adventure). I was happy with the 'dry run' results. Let us know what you decide to do and how it plays out.

 

[Mistwell]

Gloomstalker. Sounds fun!

 

[OB1]

@Deanal you may also want to consider the Horizon Walker subclass. Planar Warrior to turn your weapon attacks to Force damage against an enemy gets around damage resistance of Vamps and Demons, and the Detect Portals ability can also be very useful when hunting Demons, both of which you get at 3rd level.

Spell wise, Protection from Evil and Good will inoculate you from their powerful fear and charm effects (anyone who's been forced to attack their allies by a Vamp knows how clutch this can be), Misty Step is great for escaping a tough situation, and Banishment can be an encounter ender for Demons.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[Bacon Bits]

Mechanically, I don't care for Gloomstalker. The Ranger class by itself does very little to stand out as a martial character. It relies on the subclass for that. IMO, the class very much needs a 3rd level ability like Hunter's Hunter's Prey (Colossus Slayer) or Horizon Warrior's Planar Warrior or Monster Slayer's Slayer's Prey that give you a direct damage boost every round.

IMO, Gloomstalker's Dread Ambusher isn't remotely good enough. It's also important to note that the ability does nothing if you're surprised under 5e's RAW surprise rules.

 

[Arvok]

Mechanically, I don't care for Gloomstalker. The Ranger class by itself does very little to stand out as a martial character. It relies on the subclass for that. IMO, the class very much needs a 3rd level ability like Hunter's Hunter's Prey (Colossus Slayer) or Horizon Warrior's Planar Warrior or Monster Slayer's Slayer's Prey that give you a direct damage boost every round.

IMO, Gloomstalker's Dread Ambusher isn't remotely good enough. It's also important to note that the ability does nothing if you're surprised under 5e's RAW surprise rules.

I would respectfully disagree. Being invisible to darkvision is a HUGE tactical advantage--so big in fact, I've know DMs who consider it overpowered. This is especially true when you consider how many powers depend on being able to see the target. As far as being surprised, if you can get your hands on a weapon of warning (an uncommon magic item) that negates the chance of being surprised and makes it highly likely you'll win initiative rolls (what with having advantage on the roll and adding your Wis modifier to the roll). As long as the target can't see you, you have advantage on attack rolls. In my experience, it's almost always best to go with a ranged ranger, so you can stand 90 feet away from your target (assuming you chose a race with darkvision starting at 60 feet) and launch arrows with advantage on every attack roll.

If you take a level of rogue, you can gain experience in Stealth, making it even harder for the enemy to detect you. If you take 3 levels of rogue and choose the assassin subclass, all your attacks in the first round (assuming you win initiative) are critical hits. That's probably a 10th level character, but that sounds about right if you're fighting vampires & demons.

 

[Bacon Bits]

I would respectfully disagree. Being invisible to darkvision is a HUGE tactical advantage--so big in fact, I've know DMs who consider it overpowered. This is especially true when you consider how many powers depend on being able to see the target. As far as being surprised, if you can get your hands on a weapon of warning (an uncommon magic item) that negates the chance of being surprised and makes it highly likely you'll win initiative rolls (what with having advantage on the roll and adding your Wis modifier to the roll). As long as the target can't see you, you have advantage on attack rolls. In my experience, it's almost always best to go with a ranged ranger, so you can stand 90 feet away from your target (assuming you chose a race with darkvision starting at 60 feet) and launch arrows with advantage on every attack roll.

If you take a level of rogue, you can gain experience in Stealth, making it even harder for the enemy to detect you. If you take 3 levels of rogue and choose the assassin subclass, all your attacks in the first round (assuming you win initiative) are critical hits. That's probably a 10th level character, but that sounds about right if you're fighting vampires & demons.

You must play in a very different style of campaign than I do. We treat darkvision in total darkness as being pretty awful light quality, which, IMO, is exactly how the game describes lightly obscured. It's bad enough that you have blanket disadvantage to see things, and you have no color perception. Reading is much more difficult if it's possible at all, and most tasks requiring skill or knowledge on top of the ability to see what you're doing likely are difficult or impossible, too. It's worse than being a human in a room with a single lit candle, because a candle casts a small amount of bright light and you can still perceive color. A single burning torch throws 20' of bright light, how dark must dim light actually be? If you personally would be uncomfortable doing something 10' from a candle as your only light and you can see color, then these fantasy creatures feel the same way about total darkness. Most things carry light unless there's an imminent ambush.

That's why even Drow have luminescent moss in their cities. The only creatures that routinely rely on darkvision alone are those incapable of creating light. Most of those creatures have hearing and scent to make up for the deficit, or otherwise are only concerned about hitting you.

 

[Khelon Testudo]

Heck, if you just want Stealth, take a background that has Stealth or could plausibly swap another skill for Stealth. (AFPHB, can't recall if there's a background with stealth. But it's RAW you can swap skills out.)