D&D 5E Ranger Halfling

[Mistwell]

Citing for indisputable authority, someone who has already been shown to be full of what @Coroc just mentioned...

No, he hasn't. And see, this is how BS starts. A discussion happen, people take positions, and then after the discussion ends people create a fiction about what went down. And they repeat that fiction as if it's fact, until others just assume it must be true.

That isn't what happened. First I didn't cite him as "indisputable authority". Second he was not "shown to be full of bollucks" some you guys just disagreed with his opinion on one topic which was not this topic, and others agreed with him, and it was one among literally hundreds and hundreds of topics he's addressed over decades. Third, if you disagree with his math I'd love for you to do the work of showing how your math is better rather than just hand-waiving it away.

Wolf isn't one of the better animal companions. And I am not the one that made the claim it was "the only actual possible real choice as anything else would be comparatively worthless and a disadvantage." Now THAT opinion is bollucks.

 

[Todd Roybark]

A Giant Poisonous Snake is a fine animal companion, many of the snake Animal Companion options essentially have Finesse Bite Attacks and 18 DEX.

This might give Mistwell an aneurism but I watched the video....it is a bad presentation.

Note I'm not saying Treantmonk is evil, wrong, or anything else other than: the video is too long, has no graphs or charts, meanders, and is derivative of many other beast master build writes up that are already exsistant, in text on the web.

As TM references, he read Reddit. You can read many a Reddit thread about the Giant Poisonous Snake as a Animal Companion, in much less then 50 minutes.

TM states that "very quickly the Animal Companions DPR drops to 8 and stays there to 20th level"....seems a perfect time to have a visually compelling graph of his data..nope not in the video.

Instead he states you can go to his website for the data.
Why watch the presentation then? Might as well cut out the middleman and skip the video.

Also one of his DPR calculations is based off reading this clause of the subclass quite literally:
Add your proficiency bonus to the beast's..... damage rolls,

TM has a DPR calculation that adds the Ranger's proficiency bonus twice to the stat line below, once for the physical damage dice, once for the poison damage on a failed CON save. I am presuming he also would argue that the proficiency bonus to damage could be added again to a shared Hunter's Mark spell damage die.

I don't think this is a universally accepted interpretation of the subclass ability. A disclaimer that this method was used should be presented early in the presentation, not at the end.
Actions

• Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: (1d4 + 4) piercing damage plus (3d6)poison damage. The target must make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw, taking the poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
• My opinion of the presentation:
  

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I guess it depends on a character's concept. I have a 12th level Forest Gnome Beastmaster/Ranger with a Giant Frog as a companion/mount.

I just realised....

Grung Ranger

with Giant Frog companion/mount

it's like nekokoneko for frogs!

 

[Paul Farquhar]

That isn't what happened. First I didn't cite him as "indisputable authority".

Yes you did. You said "wolf is not the best the snake is". Categoric. "Here is my link that proves it". No "I don't think wolf is the best", or "an authority I think is reliable thinks the snake is the best".

And both claims are bollocks, since they fail to take into account the infinite number of potential beastmaster companions that are not in the Monster Manual.

Wolf isn't one of the better animal companions.

If you ignore wolf's ability to give advantage to the whole team, since white room analysis can't take into account what a party does, only an individual. As for the snake, it's all well and good (even if you apply the rules as intended) unless the thing you are fighting is immune to poison, like the majority of D&D monsters in a typical adventure. Then there is the synergy between the wolf spider and a party member capable of filling a room with webs, etc. All of this whiteroom stuff is for the unwise who need to spend more time playing a real game rather than crunching numbers in unrealistic hypothetical situations.

 

[Coroc]

..

And both claims are bollocks, since they fail to take into account the infinite number of potential beastmaster companions that are not in the Monster Manual.
...

Just for me: Did you understand my pun with the "bollocks" in reference of the rather jumpy movement a frog mount would have, with devastating effects to the male riders privates?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Just for me: Did you understand my pun with the "bollocks" in reference of the rather jumpy movement a frog mount would have, with devastating effects to the male riders privates?

I'm using it as a synonym for bovine faeces rather than testicles, but I'm quite happy to use a different word if the moderators prefer less colourful language.

I'm reasonably sure grung don't have testicles though, so they would be fine on frogback.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

NB, how about a swarm of bats as an animal companion? RAW it's eligible. It's strength is only 5 though, so you can't ride it if you weigh more than 37.5lb.

 

[Coroc]

NB, how about a swarm of bats as an animal companion? RAW it's eligible. It's strength is only 5 though, so you can't ride it if you weigh more than 37.5lb.

Now you are splitting things up

 

[Mistwell]

Yes you did. You said "wolf is not the best the snake is". Categoric. "Here is my link that proves it". No "I don't think wolf is the best", or "an authority I think is reliable thinks the snake is the best".

That's a false inference. You had my opinion, and no claims to indisputable authority. No reason to infer that and then accuse me of making that argument. That's a pretty classic strawman. Please knock it off Paul, we were having a polite conversation.

And both claims are bollocks, since they fail to take into account the infinite number of potential beastmaster companions that are not in the Monster Manual.

Well obviously I was not accounting for house ruled companions. That was another disingenuous response. What's the deal Paul?

If you ignore wolf's ability to give advantage to the whole team, since white room analysis can't take into account what a party does, only an individual. As for the snake, it's all well and good (even if you apply the rules as intended) unless the thing you are fighting is immune to poison, like the majority of D&D monsters in a typical adventure. Then there is the synergy between the wolf spider and a party member capable of filling a room with webs, etc. All of this whiteroom stuff is for the unwise who need to spend more time playing a real game rather than crunching numbers in unrealistic hypothetical situations.

The claim that "the majority of D&D monsters in a typical adventure are immune to poison" isn't even hyperbole, it's just a fib. And the argument that the people you disagree with don't play with real games with this stuff is a personal attack and nonsense. I guess you really didn't want a conversation. You looking for an "I win" button here Paul? OK, you win whatever game you were trying to play. Want to talk now?

 

[Mistwell]

A Giant Poisonous Snake is a fine animal companion, many of the snake Animal Companion options essentially have Finesse Bite Attacks and 18 DEX.

This might give Mistwell an aneurism but I watched the video....it is a bad presentation.

Note I'm not saying Treantmonk is evil, wrong, or anything else other than: the video is too long, has no graphs or charts, meanders, and is derivative of many other beast master build writes up that are already exsistant, in text on the web.

As TM references, he read Reddit. You can read many a Reddit thread about the Giant Poisonous Snake as a Animal Companion, in much less then 50 minutes.

TM states that "very quickly the Animal Companions DPR drops to 8 and stays there to 20th level"....seems a perfect time to have a visually compelling graph of his data..nope not in the video.

Instead he states you can go to his website for the data.
Why watch the presentation then? Might as well cut out the middleman and skip the video.

Hey Todd, your review of the video's stylistic choices is fine for a review. You should probably go somewhere and post a review. But it's irrelevant and kinda weird to post it here. And the claim that I am going to have an aneurism because you posted a video review here is weird. You claim to have no issues with Treantmonk, but you clearly do after posting a review in a thread where someone cites a vid of his for a single point. Maybe jealousy because the dude is now making money off his hobby? I dunno, but that post of yours screams "issues".

Also one of his DPR calculations is based off reading this clause of the subclass quite literally:
Add your proficiency bonus to the beast's..... damage rolls,

TM has a DPR calculation that adds the Ranger's proficiency bonus twice to the stat line below, once for the physical damage dice, once for the poison damage on a failed CON save. I am presuming he also would argue that the proficiency bonus to damage could be added again to a shared Hunter's Mark spell damage die.

I don't think this is a universally accepted interpretation of the subclass ability. A disclaimer that this method was used should be presented early in the presentation, not at the end.

He explains where it comes from, and it's from the official interpretation of the rules as posted by Jeremy Crawford, and he directly addresses the issue you raised talking about how different DMs might look at it. He took the official ruling, which for a video like that seems the right choice. If your problem is where in the video he put the discussion? OK, again, a weird issue you have with the guy and not about this topic. Go take it up with him maybe?