Xeviat
Dungeon Mistress, she/her
Hi everyone, Xeviat here, fresh over from the WotC boards. My sn here is a little old, but hardly used except for lurking until more recently. So, I, like pretty much everyone else, has feelings about the Ranger. I'm largely a traditionalist, so I don't want to change very much about it. I don't agree that the ranger has lost sight of what it is; I think we (and by we I mean mostly the designers) have lost sight of how to make the ranger be what it is.
Favored Enemy was always the ranger's unique thing. Sure, they had stealth from the rogue, fighting from the fighter, and spells from the druid, but no one else had favored enemy. 4E recognized that favored enemy's flaw was in that it required the DM to choose whether or not to use it. This is bad. No class should dictate this much to the DM. Either Favored Enemy is worthless because it never comes up, it's too good because it comes up all the time, or it's somewhere in between. We aren't given a baseline to work off of, even if that baseline were to be ignored by the majority of DMs.
So, 5E made Favored Enemy largely a ribbon ability (an ability that doesn't add to combat, but flavors a class and helps it out in exploration or social challenges), except for the capstone level 20 ability (which I'll touch on later). This leaves the Ranger with a host of other abilities that are largely shared with other classes, and thus clouds its identity.
Another issue with the 5E ranger is how much of their potency is hidden in their spells. Now, this is true of all the 1-9th level spellcasters, but we know what they're getting out of them, it's rather obvious when you read their class entry. The paladin, on the other hand, has their Divine Smite ability staring you in the face, letting you know exactly what their spell slots do for them. The ranger, on the other hand, has some awesome spells like Hunter's Mark, Hail of Thorns, Lightning Arrow, and Swift Quiver ... but that isn't stated in the class entry. It's easy to assume their spells are going to be largely utility, then look at the class entry and feel like they aren't given enough offensive oomph for when they need it.
The beast master suffers similarly through presentation. Their pets actually deal comparable damage to single attacks from the Hunter with colossus slayer, or they deal less damage but have riders like prone. But, since the stat blocks are hidden away from you when you read the class entry, you don't really see what they are capable of (and they suggest you choose a mastif and not a wolf ... what's up with that?).
The last flaw of the ranger is their capstone ability. IF you use all your ASIs to boost your Str/Dex and Wis, you could end up with +5 modifiers in both. Foe slayer becomes a potent ability, and I argue that it's comparable to a fighter's 4th attack. Either they can add +5 damage if both attacks hit, reasonably comparable to the fighter's 1d8+7ish damage (remembering that the fighter can miss with this), or they can turn a miss into a hit and get their full 1d8+5ish damage. But it doesn't feel like that. It also only works on 3 creature types to 6 humanoid types, not really everything, not as reliable as the fighter's 4th attack. It's not cool like the Paladin's auras, or even the assassin's level 17 death strike.
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So how would I "fix" the Ranger?
Natural Exporer: Retain all the bonuses, but rather than choosing a terrain at certain levels, the ranger acclimates to the terrain they are in during a long rest. At 6th level, they acclimate on a short rest, and at 10th level they can acclimate automatically.
Fighting Style: Move this to 1st level.
Favored Enemy: Move this to 2nd level. You do not choose an enemy. Instead, this absorbs the Hunter's Mark spell, adding the advantage on Intelligence checks about the creature to it. It becomes a magical ability to learn about a foe and to track and sense it, as well as to kill it. Additionally, allow it to be cast upon tracks, to allow the ranger to heighten their tracking ability.
Spellcasting: I think the ranger should switch to a spells prepared class instead of a spells known class. This will utilize their wisdom score more, and also improve their versatility. I also think they maybe should get "domain" spells for the terrain they are acclimated to, though not exactly the same spells the Druid of the Land has.
Primeval Awareness: Make this a 1st level spell.
Land's Stride: Move this to 6th level, since 6th level is kind of blank now.
Hide in Plain Sight: Drop this weird camouflage stuff; anyone should be able to do that with stealth and survival skills. Instead, make it its 3E ability, allowing the ranger to hide while under direct observation as long as they could otherwise hide (meaning elven rangers can hide in light concealment, halfling rangers can hide behind medium creatures, and everyone else still needs total cover or concealment). The Shadow Monk can become invisible at will, let the Ranger vanish before your eyes.
Foe Slayer: Ugh ... I have no idea what to do with this. The ability isn't terrible as it is, it just doesn't feel good.
ARCHETYPES
There are two problematic things in the archetypes. First off, the Hunter's Multiattack ability at level 11 replaces the fighter's 3rd attack and the paladin's +1d8 radiant damage on each attack. Both are balanced against each other rather well. Multiattack only balances against it IF the ranger targets 3 or more foes every round with it. I don't think this is a problem, per-say, but you'll lag if you aren't going for the multi-attacks. I think there should be a 3rd ability to choose from, especially for the giant/dragon hunters, who are trained to take down one foe at a time. Some kind of flurry would be good.
Second is the beast master. Again, it is one of presentation. If the pets options were right there, you could see what they have to offer. Also, there's some issues with actions until 7th level. So, I think the 7th level ability should be dropped and the companion be treated like a familiar. The companion gets its own action, but it cannot attack unless the ranger gives up an attack (like the chain warlock). This means the companion can attack (which is very comparable to the hunter's attack), or the companion can aid the ranger attack (which ends up being comparable to the hunter's attack). Exceptional Training can be replaced with a choice between a size increase for the pet for more HP or something like more AC if it stays its size (the level 7 hunter ability is defensive in nature).
I also think the pets should largely use their own stats, and that their HP should be based on their Con so low AC pets get more HP. I'd present the stats for the pets right in the book, and adjust them so they have reasonable trade offs.
Favored Enemy was always the ranger's unique thing. Sure, they had stealth from the rogue, fighting from the fighter, and spells from the druid, but no one else had favored enemy. 4E recognized that favored enemy's flaw was in that it required the DM to choose whether or not to use it. This is bad. No class should dictate this much to the DM. Either Favored Enemy is worthless because it never comes up, it's too good because it comes up all the time, or it's somewhere in between. We aren't given a baseline to work off of, even if that baseline were to be ignored by the majority of DMs.
So, 5E made Favored Enemy largely a ribbon ability (an ability that doesn't add to combat, but flavors a class and helps it out in exploration or social challenges), except for the capstone level 20 ability (which I'll touch on later). This leaves the Ranger with a host of other abilities that are largely shared with other classes, and thus clouds its identity.
Another issue with the 5E ranger is how much of their potency is hidden in their spells. Now, this is true of all the 1-9th level spellcasters, but we know what they're getting out of them, it's rather obvious when you read their class entry. The paladin, on the other hand, has their Divine Smite ability staring you in the face, letting you know exactly what their spell slots do for them. The ranger, on the other hand, has some awesome spells like Hunter's Mark, Hail of Thorns, Lightning Arrow, and Swift Quiver ... but that isn't stated in the class entry. It's easy to assume their spells are going to be largely utility, then look at the class entry and feel like they aren't given enough offensive oomph for when they need it.
The beast master suffers similarly through presentation. Their pets actually deal comparable damage to single attacks from the Hunter with colossus slayer, or they deal less damage but have riders like prone. But, since the stat blocks are hidden away from you when you read the class entry, you don't really see what they are capable of (and they suggest you choose a mastif and not a wolf ... what's up with that?).
The last flaw of the ranger is their capstone ability. IF you use all your ASIs to boost your Str/Dex and Wis, you could end up with +5 modifiers in both. Foe slayer becomes a potent ability, and I argue that it's comparable to a fighter's 4th attack. Either they can add +5 damage if both attacks hit, reasonably comparable to the fighter's 1d8+7ish damage (remembering that the fighter can miss with this), or they can turn a miss into a hit and get their full 1d8+5ish damage. But it doesn't feel like that. It also only works on 3 creature types to 6 humanoid types, not really everything, not as reliable as the fighter's 4th attack. It's not cool like the Paladin's auras, or even the assassin's level 17 death strike.
----------------
So how would I "fix" the Ranger?
Natural Exporer: Retain all the bonuses, but rather than choosing a terrain at certain levels, the ranger acclimates to the terrain they are in during a long rest. At 6th level, they acclimate on a short rest, and at 10th level they can acclimate automatically.
Fighting Style: Move this to 1st level.
Favored Enemy: Move this to 2nd level. You do not choose an enemy. Instead, this absorbs the Hunter's Mark spell, adding the advantage on Intelligence checks about the creature to it. It becomes a magical ability to learn about a foe and to track and sense it, as well as to kill it. Additionally, allow it to be cast upon tracks, to allow the ranger to heighten their tracking ability.
Spellcasting: I think the ranger should switch to a spells prepared class instead of a spells known class. This will utilize their wisdom score more, and also improve their versatility. I also think they maybe should get "domain" spells for the terrain they are acclimated to, though not exactly the same spells the Druid of the Land has.
Primeval Awareness: Make this a 1st level spell.
Land's Stride: Move this to 6th level, since 6th level is kind of blank now.
Hide in Plain Sight: Drop this weird camouflage stuff; anyone should be able to do that with stealth and survival skills. Instead, make it its 3E ability, allowing the ranger to hide while under direct observation as long as they could otherwise hide (meaning elven rangers can hide in light concealment, halfling rangers can hide behind medium creatures, and everyone else still needs total cover or concealment). The Shadow Monk can become invisible at will, let the Ranger vanish before your eyes.
Foe Slayer: Ugh ... I have no idea what to do with this. The ability isn't terrible as it is, it just doesn't feel good.
ARCHETYPES
There are two problematic things in the archetypes. First off, the Hunter's Multiattack ability at level 11 replaces the fighter's 3rd attack and the paladin's +1d8 radiant damage on each attack. Both are balanced against each other rather well. Multiattack only balances against it IF the ranger targets 3 or more foes every round with it. I don't think this is a problem, per-say, but you'll lag if you aren't going for the multi-attacks. I think there should be a 3rd ability to choose from, especially for the giant/dragon hunters, who are trained to take down one foe at a time. Some kind of flurry would be good.
Second is the beast master. Again, it is one of presentation. If the pets options were right there, you could see what they have to offer. Also, there's some issues with actions until 7th level. So, I think the 7th level ability should be dropped and the companion be treated like a familiar. The companion gets its own action, but it cannot attack unless the ranger gives up an attack (like the chain warlock). This means the companion can attack (which is very comparable to the hunter's attack), or the companion can aid the ranger attack (which ends up being comparable to the hunter's attack). Exceptional Training can be replaced with a choice between a size increase for the pet for more HP or something like more AC if it stays its size (the level 7 hunter ability is defensive in nature).
I also think the pets should largely use their own stats, and that their HP should be based on their Con so low AC pets get more HP. I'd present the stats for the pets right in the book, and adjust them so they have reasonable trade offs.
