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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jaelommiss" data-source="post: 6692310" data-attributes="member: 6775925">I've been playing a str based ranger for a few months now and it's been incredibly powerful. Spell-less human ranger, with polearm master and mounted combatant. We use point buy with 29 instead of 27 points. We started at level 5, and are now approaching 8. My stats are 16/12/14/10/14/10. Let me explain some of my choices and how they interact.Spell-less ranger gives me healing poultices. I can make 2 (Wis mod) per day, each healing for 4d6 (half ranger level, rounded up). They take a minute to apply, but are great when we don't have an entire hour. I also get a handful of maneuvers and superiority dice. I chose trip attack, menacing attack (allows me to stop enemies coming for me), and maneuvering attack (used with mounted combatant for incredible movement rates). Recharging on a short rest is nice, too.Without spells, I no longer need to use my bonus action to cast/move Hunter's Mark. This allows polearm master to grant an extra attack every turn. Getting an AoO when someone comes within ten feet of me is powerful. Adding trip attack to that to stop them reaching me altogether is just cruel. Since I have not boosted my str to 20 yet I find the extra attack is worth far more than the -5/+10 from GWM.Mounted combatant gives me a ton of mobility and almost entirely removes the need for armour. I can command my horse to dash (no action by me, PHB 198) for 120 feet per round. Attacking with reach means I almost never provoke AoO as I ride by enemies. I can reliably retreat far enough that I am at far range to my enemies' ranged attacks. When I add a maneuvering attack I can get even further away. On top of that I have advantage on attacks against medium or smaller creatures that aren't mounted. If necessary I can throw javelins as I ride by and avoid danger altogether.Human - Polearm master2nd level - Defense fighting style, +1 AC3rd level - Hunter archetype, Horde Breaker. At level 5 I was able to make three, often four, attacks on my turn for 3d10+1d4+12. I get an AoO against on approaching foe roughly every other turn. Being able to drop several weak enemies is great in a party with limited healing. Being able to burn all my superiority dice to frighten a powerful enemy or use up Legendary Resistance charges is excellent when I can get them back on a short rest.4th level - Mounted combatant feat.5th level - Started play here. Extra attack.6th level - More favoured enemy and natural explorer. Always nice.7th level - Escape the Horde. This made me the ultimate skirmisher. Let's say that I want to hit the back rank wizard but will take attacks to reach there (we'll assume that I can move enough on a dashing horse). The fastest way to stop me is to take down my mount. Horse triggers AoO, mounted combatant redirects it at me, and escape the horde imposes disadvantage. It has also come in handy when fighting enemies that the DM gave polearm master. I can approach in relative safety since they will have disadvantage.When I level up I am considering either boosting wisdom for an extra poultice each day and to enhance my tracking capabilities, or taking the healer feat. The part consists of a two weapon fighter, a barbarian, and a wizard. My DM gave me a belt of stone giant strength (despite my insistence that I would become too powerful), otherwise I would be boosting Str instead. Surprisingly the belt hasn't been as devastating as I had anticipated. In play it has been impossibly powerful. I found found it effective to charge the enemy, grapple two enemies, ride a long distance away, and dump them. It takes two enemies out of the fight for a couple of rounds. Inside caves and dungeons I use a shield and quarterstaff when I need to fight on the front line. If someone else, such as a raging barbarian, wants to soak damage then I fight from the second rank using my polearm. In the open mounted combatant is great for drawing enemy fire while the party approaches. Being able to close with the enemy a turn before my party and run away is almost like getting a surprise round at the start of the fight. Being able to strike anywhere and apply status effects on priority targets is great. If someone charges the wizard and while he is nearby to me I can strike the enemy and add a menacing attack. The enemy now has disadvantage on his attack and can't get any closer. I realize that this doesn't directly help you with your GWM ranger. I just wanted to say that it is possible to have a str ranger that is competitive. I would highly recommend looking at the spell-less ranger though. During fights I function like a battlemaster fighter with slightly lower AC (scale give me 16 instead of the 19 I would get from plate). Outside of fights I can heal the party and contribute significantly to exploration or environmental challenges. From what I've found after playing a few rangers is that their real strength is in sheer flexibility. My ranger heals, navigates the wilderness, and scouts ahead. In fights I create weaknesses in the opponents' positions, limit enemy movement, and soften up targets for the barbarian and fighter to finish off. If I relied entirely on just dealing HP damage I would never reach my full potential.</blockquote>

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