D&D (2024) Ranged Builds Thread

[FrogReaver]

This thread is to post cool 2024 D&D Ranged Builds. I probably won't post my own till level 20 but feel free to do yours that way.

Holy Crossbowman

Essentially you are a Paladin/Rogue that uses a Heavy Crossbow and focuses on Dexterity and Charisma.
Ultimately this makes you a high damage dealing ranged character, that can operate just as effectively in melee, along with tremendous accuracy, tactical flexibility and mobility.

You use Sacred Weapon and Archery Style for super high accuracy.
You use Cunning Action (dash) primarily for mobility, great for avoiding enemies or repositioning your Aura of Protection for allies or to heal them with Lay on Hands.
Steady Aim helps to land Sneak Attack before enemies reach melee range with the party.
You take the Crossbow Expertise feat to use a Heavy Crossbow and the Push Mastery.

• Enemy next to you gets pushed 10 to 20 feet back and then you move back 30ft in hopes they cannot move 50ft without the dash action next turn.
• The same thing can happen if an enemy is engaged with an ally.
• You can slow an enemies advance toward the party so they don't all reach the party at the same time.
• You can push enemies back into damage zones.

Smite Spells typically require a melee or unarmed strike. This is found in the Casting Time line of them. As such your primary option is

And ultimately Cunning Strike adds even more mobility, prone and disadvantage options.

• Particularly useful is to Poison enemies for disadvantage on their attacks, especially ones too large for forced movement.

It's also highly recommended to go Arcane Trickster as your Rogue subclass for more spells and slots, though certainly not required.
*Note all the options talked about here come online by level 11.

For ideas beyond level 11, it's mostly going to be around Arcane Trickster Spells and feats (though you won't have high int so pick mostly buff spells). Higher level you might want to pick up Great Weapon Master. At some point mutliclassing into Fighter for Action Surge and Battlemaster Manuevers might make sense as well.

Also Starting Point Buy would look something like 13/15/12/8/8/15 -> 13/17/12/8/8/16 after background modifiers of +2 Dex and +1 Cha. IMO, the entertainer background looks the most promising as a book option and inspiring your allies also fits the characters theme well, but if your DM let's you mix and match then other options might be better.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

How do you use warthful smite with a ranged weapon?

 

[FrogReaver]

How do you use warthful smite with a ranged weapon?

Nevermind. Missed the line in the Casting Time that restricts most Smite Spells to melee weapons and unarmed strikes (why the heck of all places is it there???). I've adjusted my OP to reflect this.

 

[mellored]

Nevermind. Missed the line in the Casting Time that restricts most Smite Spells to melee weapons and unarmed strikes (why the heck of all places is it there???). I've adjusted my OP to reflect this.

Divine Favor works for ranged.

 

[FrogReaver]

Divine Favor works for ranged.

Indeed. Though a battle master or ranger version might be more interesting with that restriction.

 

[FrogReaver]

I'm also a big fan of Druids using Moonbeam + Circle of Stars as highly effective Ranged damage characters. It's a non-traditional take though.

The cool thing about moonbeam is that there are some fairly easy party tactics that can cause it to deal double damage. It also can hit many enemies at once.

• Moving it onto an enemy deals damage, if the enemy doesn't move due to threats of allied OA's then it's double damage, also if the enemy is retrained, or otherwise has 0 movement then it's double damage again.
• Similarly allies can push enemies into the moonbeam, this version just requires you to leave it right behind them.

And of course as a full caster Druid you aren't always locked into this, which is very nice. Though you get limited control while dealing damage.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Nevermind. Missed the line in the Casting Time that restricts most Smite Spells to melee weapons and unarmed strikes (why the heck of all places is it there???). I've adjusted my OP to reflect this.

Because class identity.

 

[FrogReaver]

Because class identity.

No, i mean why is the text under the Casting Time section. Makes no sense. It's fine for the text to exist, just the location chosen makes 0 sense.

 

[mellored]

Barbarian's can throw with advantage.
Sharpshooter and javelin is 120'.
Or Nick with a dagger for more throws.
Beserker for the +2d6 damage or Wild Heart (Wolf) for mobility.

 

[FrogReaver]

I'm really liking the look of a single class Battlemaster Crossbow Expert. (At level 9 you can use Push on any weapon, but going from level 4 to 9 without one of your iconic abilities feels kind of bad IMO).

In any event, your damage seems comparable enough to Devotion Paladin/Rogue Archer and Ranger/Rogue for most of the game. You start to pull ahead at level 11. Perhaps a little below for the rest of the game but you have alot of control abilities and strong Nova capabilities, both of which should really compensate for the slightly lower damage.

For Race I like Orc. The added mobility and 120ft Darkvision to go with your ~100ft Range are a great match. Gnomes and Drow also deserve honorable mention.

You have your pick of PHB backgrounds, so really almost any of the good origin feats you want can be yours. Lucky, Alert, Entertainer, Savage Attacker, Skilled. I'm not as sold on savage attacker or skilled.

The basic tactics are to push enemies around with your higher accuracy and Push Mastery. Use the Menacing Manuever to keep melee enemies from approaching you and your allies. The can even push them off and try for a menacing with a single attack. If menacing fails you can always try again on the next attack. If you miss with all your attacks, there's always action surge.

At some point you might consider a single level Ranger dip, the combination of Ensnaring Strike, Hunters Mark and Jump as options seems really strong for a single level dip. I find it hard to really find a level to justify doing this though. Maybe much later.

Compared to the Paladin/Rogue, I have having the control options come online so much earlier and they don't ultimately cost me damage later.. I miss having the mobilityprovided by the rogues cunning action. There's also a high risk the Paladin/Rogue doesn't always have Sacred Weapon available, and in the pre level 5 game there's also a good chance he doesn't have divine favor always available. Overall, I think this will be a more fun character to play from level 1+.