D&D 5E Revised beastmaster ranger damage...

[slumgum]

I have a player running the revised BM ranger, and it's pretty ridiculous. Easily pumping out 30-50 damage per round, on average, at level 6. 3 total attacks, 2 from the animal with boosted stats, plus a mark and *usually* sharpshooter. He's making the GWF Champion look pathetic. In another 5 levels, that animal is going to be doing an AoE attack against everything in reach...

The animal honestly feels like another player character, with all the stat boosts and overall combat effectiveness it has. There are definitely some balance issues, but we're too late to change that unless I manage to kill the character.

Sorry for quoting such an old post, I tried to PM you but I can't until I post 5 times. I was curious, how does the ranger in your game approach Hunter's Mark? It seems like it would be about half as effective without Extra Attack, but could free up the ranger to use concentration on other important things (like Controlling enemies with Ensnaring Strike).

 

[discosoc]

Sorry for quoting such an old post, I tried to PM you but I can't until I post 5 times. I was curious, how does the ranger in your game approach Hunter's Mark? It seems like it would be about half as effective without Extra Attack, but could free up the ranger to use concentration on other important things (like Controlling enemies with Ensnaring Strike).

No worries.

Our ranger still used Hunter's Mark as his main concentration spell for combat, unless there were times where more utility was needed. It's true that he's losing out as a result of not having the "extra attack," but he's also gaining his beast's primary and reaction attack. So basically a normal combat round for him was for his animal to move into melee and attack, then the hunter attacks (moving or applying the Mark if needed), and then his animal gets a reaction attack as long as it could see the ranger.

Also keep in mind that his animal got stat boosts as he leveled, so the thing had a maxed dex by 8 or so, if I remember right. And with the proficiency and AC being derived from the Hunter, the animal was pretty effective.

 

[Flamestrike]

There is a magic item in HoTDQ that makes natural attacks magical (+1).