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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Marandahir" data-source="post: 9058640" data-attributes="member: 6803643">Skills are not the be-all and end-all of the Exploration Pillar.First off, the Ranger has 3 Skill proficiencies, same as the Bard. They have Expertise in 1 skill at first level and another at 9th level, while yes the Bard gets 2 at 2nd level and another 2 at 9th level, plus half-proficiency at 2nd level in all non-proficient skills. But the Ranger also gets at level 1 advantage on nearly all relevant nature and survival checks for wherever they are, barring instantaneous travel to an unexpected biome without a long rest inbetween (the ability to prep 2 at 1st and 4 at 9th per long rest means as long as you know what biomes you might cross over into, you're in good shape). That's a heck of a lot stronger than expertise. You almost can skip proficiency in those skills! Yes, the Bard has full spell casting which greatly expands their repertoire of spell-supported exploration, but Rangers make up for all of this with both half-casting and a host of other exploration tier-supportive features:2nd level Bonus Action Hunter's Mark, Wis mod/LR, no spell slots needed, though you can also pump it with higher spell slots to crank up the targeted DPS. But this is also an exploration feature as you have Advantage on Perception/Survival checks to find the target as well, so you're a master of both understanding the landscape you're in and knowing how to catch a particular foe you have in mind.6th level +10 Walk Speed, plus gain equivalent Swim and Climb Speeds. No more need to make skill checks to swim or climb, and you're moving far faster than the valour bard across the battlefield and landscape.10th level Action to gain THP = 1d8+Wis mod, Wis mod/LR, and SR recovery from exhaustion levels instead of LR.14th level Bonus Action invisibility, Wis mod/LR.18th level BlindsightAnd of course, Rangers have the relevant martial weapon training and armour training from the get-go - Valour Bard has to wait for 3rd level here, not to mention weapon mastery and fighting styles, which the Bard never gets. Oh, and Extra Attack at 5th instead of 6th. And Conjure Volley, Conjure Barrage, and Foe Slayer improving your damage output at the relevant levels, too.And THEN you add the subclass features for the Ranger.Yes, the Bard gets a lot of great goodies. Yes, there's now a primal flavoured bard that can do rangery fighting things while also being a full caster. There's also the martially focused Warden Druid, who can do Rangery things too, but again, doesn't have the sheer mastery of the exploration tier that the Ranger has.This really comes down to how much your game features or allows the players to play in the sandbox of the Exploration Pillar. Sure, if your table fast travels from safe zone inn/shop/town to boss fight and back, then your only way of comparing the Ranger to related character builds is via spell variety and levels and DPS. The Ranger still has higher DPS than the Bard and Druid, but they're always going to lose out on spell variety to a full caster like the Bard or Druid. And that may make them seem weak and relatively useless when you could have a Bard and a Rogue in your party instead. But the Ranger does things that other classes can't in the Exploration Tier, and its other things they can opt into earlier and faster with fewer trade offs. It's main trade off is spellcasting, which is always going to be a tough thing to balance, but I think they've done an exceptional job with the Ranger here, even while opening Bards up to play with related Primal spell toys -- which I'm all for!</blockquote>

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