D&D 5E Is favored enemy and natural explorer really that bad?

[Seramus]

Favored Enemy should give a +Proficiency Bonus to damage against the chosen foe type. At this point, it's such a common house rule that even video games are using it. Once per turn, or primary hand only, might be a conservative compromise.

Natural Explorer is honestly really good, but it's invisible. When it works, nobody sees it working, just that you traveled from A to B and things we're uneventful. A good DM can go a long way to highlight the Ranger saving the party from hazards, though.

 

[GlassJaw]

Yes, the PHB ranger is bad. It's the only class that requires specific conditions to be met in order for some of its abilities to work. On top of that, the abilities aren't even that great.

 

[Shadowedeyes]

Both Favored Enemy and Natural Explorer have the problem of needing to guess what is going to be useful. In some games, that might be easy (Rime of the Frostmaiden, Red Hand of Doom, Tomb of Annihilation, etc) but other times you choose wrong and basically don't have any 1st level abilities unless the GM takes pity on you. That's not great to start.

Secondly, Favored Enemy's name doesn't match up with what people's expectations. Favored Enemy makes you think guy(or gal) who specializes in fighting your chosen enemy, but in reality it doesn't do that. Natural Explorer on the other hand, does what you think a master of exploring that terrain could do like not getting lost, finding lots of food, traveling quickly and silently, etc. But most of that stuff is just a couple of dice rolls, so when it comes up you don't feel awesome, you just ignore a few rolls. And you can't use the moving silently quickly with the rest of your party anyway.

 

[Flamestrike]

I guess I'll see if that is the case as my campaign develops. So far, haven't seen ranger do more damage than anyone else on average - but the party is only 4th verging on 5th.

Even with no feats, and just spamming a longbow a Hunter Ranger is dealing 2d8+1d6+5 at that level, which is a lot of at will damage in a feat-less game.

Sharpshooter ramps that up considerably.

 

[NotAYakk]

They are both bad design.

On the part of the player, they are your class defining features that you never get to pick if you can use them, unless you go "I am leaving and going off into the woods to hunt X"

On the part of the DM, they require you to customize the adventure to make them useful but not game breaking.

When they donapply, they either negate mechanics so much you barely know the mechanics existed, or they mean you are the 2nd best at knowledge checks in your narrow area but still behind the high int wizard or experise rogue.

 

[el-remmen]

Even with no feats, and just spamming a longbow a Hunter Ranger is dealing 2d8+1d6+5 at that level, which is a lot of at will damage in a feat-less game.

Sharpshooter ramps that up considerably.

Not sure how that's the case damage wise and not sure I'd use the term "spamming" for any of the combat that takes place in the games I run. I mean, sure the hunter ranger in my group (she's multi-classed ranger/sorcerer actually) does really well when ranged combat is possible and strategically the best choice for her - but that is not always possible in every encounter or for its entirety. Also, you have to hit - so it is not like that damage is guaranteed.

 

[auburn2]

Both Favored Enemy and Natural Explorer have the problem of needing to guess what is going to be useful. In some games, that might be easy (Rime of the Frostmaiden, Red Hand of Doom, Tomb of Annihilation, etc) but other times you choose wrong and basically don't have any 1st level abilities unless the GM takes pity on you. That's not great to start.

Secondly, Favored Enemy's name doesn't match up with what people's expectations. Favored Enemy makes you think guy(or gal) who specializes in fighting your chosen enemy, but in reality it doesn't do that. Natural Explorer on the other hand, does what you think a master of exploring that terrain could do like not getting lost, finding lots of food, traveling quickly and silently, etc. But most of that stuff is just a couple of dice rolls, so when it comes up you don't feel awesome, you just ignore a few rolls. And you can't use the moving silently quickly with the rest of your party anyway.

Agree. I will say though after going for a level without it, my party in TOA definitely noticed after I took the Ranger multiclass. But you are right, if I had been a 1st level Ranger they would have never known how much I was saving them from.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

I don't think they are bad, they're just basically ribbon abilities. My issue is that both of the Ranger level 1 abilities are abilities that may or may not come up in the course of level 1 play even if the DM is actively steering you to a place where they would be useful. The other martial characters get level 1 abilities that are almost definitely going to be useful at some point before they hit level 2, and the full casters have spells already. Level 1 Rangers basically feel like strictly worse versions of Fighters.

If Rangers got their Fighting Style at level 1 with one of these abilities and the other came at level 2 or 3, I don't think there would be so much hate for the abilities.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

Favored Enemy should give a +Proficiency Bonus to damage against the chosen foe type. At this point, it's such a common house rule that even video games are using it. Once per turn, or primary hand only, might be a conservative compromise.

Natural Explorer is honestly really good, but it's invisible. When it works, nobody sees it working, just that you traveled from A to B and things we're uneventful. A good DM can go a long way to highlight the Ranger saving the party from hazards, though.

And big YES to this bolded part AND part of DM highlighting the Ranger saving the party is to get the Ranger player to give a few narrative nuggets themself on how their character awesomed their way through said the hazards of their favored terrain.

 

[Seramus]

And big YES to this bolded part AND part of DM highlighting the Ranger saving the party is to get the Ranger player to give a few narrative nuggets themself on how their character awesomed their way through said the hazards of their favored terrain.

I love letting players Awesome things. I do a thing where I include 'Skirmish' fights against weak foes, where the players literally get to describe how they beat the ever-loving snugs out of their foes. It's probably also why "How Do You Want To Do This?" is such a great idea.