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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jefe Bergenstein" data-source="post: 7662407" data-attributes="member: 31506">Hunter matters because that's the opportunity cost to getting the pet. So the pet should be on par with the benefits of being a hunter ranger. All subclasses of the same class should be roughly balanced against each other.  Compared to a hunter ranger making an attack himself, the pet doesnt get colossus slayer so deals d8 less vs wounded targets (or loses out on hordebreaker if that's what you'd pick)  and doesn't benefit from hunter's mark (d6) which will be up many fights. That's an average of 8 less per hit, which is pretty big drop in damage for the sole benefit of attacking from a different spot. Factor in something like sharpshooter, and its even worse. The beastmaster is more or less a trap option in combat. You get a little more utility, but not enough over what the hunter ranger who just buys some wardogs gets to warrant the significant loss of combat power. Given that the beast's stats don't increase, its attack bonus falls behind yours (even moreso when you start getting magic weapons). It has no saving throw  proficiencies, so is always at straight stats for saves, which is just terrible. Its attack is roughly balanced against a ranger with no spells, subclass abilities, magic weapons or feats. Why should that consume your entire subclass benefit package to obtain?</blockquote>