Ok first of all not sure if this belongs in this section or the main 5e forum but we're going with this.
At my table after having had a ranger in consistently in every party in some cases two we've found them to be largely in a good spot especially the Hunter archetype and generally flavorful enough that a massive re fluff isn't necessary but we are looking to make some tweaks so this is going to be kind of a spitball thread for the changes being considered. The basic goal is to keep as much of the current chassis as possible while making it just a little bit better.
First off for a class that has things fighting for use of the bonus action already pigeonholing them into dual wield for melee seems odd especially given he original; genesis of the class is an Aragorn rip off and he used longsword generally with both hands. So giving access to all fighting styles a fighter gets seems reasonable. Frankly no reason not to do the same for Paladins.
On to core class abilities.
Given how vital hunters mark is for the vast majority of rangers making it considered always known and not counting against selected spells seems reasonable. Also possibly removing concentration from it so it doesn't screw over melee rangers as bad might be appropriate. Especially as given the current version it can simply be canceled out by the marked target running away and never actually being killed so you have to recast next fight.
Primeval Awareness for no more than it does should really not be burning the rangers very limited spell slots so knock it to one use per wisdom mod with a minimum of 1 use and coming back on a long rest.
Favored enemy is one we've come up with a few ideas on as the idea of Rangers being truly fearsome to their chosen prey appeals to us and buffing it a this point doesn't make them any less effective than they already are against everything else. So the extreme end being considered is adding proficiency damage to each attack against a favored enemy at the start and then at each point where you pick an additional enemy it increases your crit range against them with the capstone being advantage on attacks against them. Probably not balanced but then it does you no good if you're fighting the wrong things and at level 20 you should be ridiculous.
For a balanced take probably either the crit range or the proficiency damage would be appropriate but not both.
For spells we'd like to see a little more support for melee rangers so the current solution has been to take the big ranged damage spells they get and make close range equivalents or in Conjure Barrages case just straight up make it usable with your melee weapon instead of throwing or shooting something. The current alternates being Windfury Weapon as a swift quiver close range analog and Lightning Rod being lightning arrow except dropped right on top of the enemy you hit up close and the ranger being immune to their own lightning.
On to the beastmaster.
This ones looking fairly simple. Adding the ability for the beast to attack as a bonus action and either ranger times 5 or times 6 HP to it. Also possibly a revival ritual specific to the pet that the ranger can do over a long rest as opposed to outright replacement. Really just keeping your faithful beast alive seems to be the real rub here. Also maybe allowing a few large creatures so it's not just halflings and gnomes that get to play the cavalry ranger. Right off the top of my head I don't know what CR 1/4 large creatures there are.
Also considering throwing Cities in as a favored terrain type but that might be better suited to some sort of full on urban ranger archetype.
Any feedback on that mess would be awesome.
At my table after having had a ranger in consistently in every party in some cases two we've found them to be largely in a good spot especially the Hunter archetype and generally flavorful enough that a massive re fluff isn't necessary but we are looking to make some tweaks so this is going to be kind of a spitball thread for the changes being considered. The basic goal is to keep as much of the current chassis as possible while making it just a little bit better.
First off for a class that has things fighting for use of the bonus action already pigeonholing them into dual wield for melee seems odd especially given he original; genesis of the class is an Aragorn rip off and he used longsword generally with both hands. So giving access to all fighting styles a fighter gets seems reasonable. Frankly no reason not to do the same for Paladins.
On to core class abilities.
Given how vital hunters mark is for the vast majority of rangers making it considered always known and not counting against selected spells seems reasonable. Also possibly removing concentration from it so it doesn't screw over melee rangers as bad might be appropriate. Especially as given the current version it can simply be canceled out by the marked target running away and never actually being killed so you have to recast next fight.
Primeval Awareness for no more than it does should really not be burning the rangers very limited spell slots so knock it to one use per wisdom mod with a minimum of 1 use and coming back on a long rest.
Favored enemy is one we've come up with a few ideas on as the idea of Rangers being truly fearsome to their chosen prey appeals to us and buffing it a this point doesn't make them any less effective than they already are against everything else. So the extreme end being considered is adding proficiency damage to each attack against a favored enemy at the start and then at each point where you pick an additional enemy it increases your crit range against them with the capstone being advantage on attacks against them. Probably not balanced but then it does you no good if you're fighting the wrong things and at level 20 you should be ridiculous.
For a balanced take probably either the crit range or the proficiency damage would be appropriate but not both.
For spells we'd like to see a little more support for melee rangers so the current solution has been to take the big ranged damage spells they get and make close range equivalents or in Conjure Barrages case just straight up make it usable with your melee weapon instead of throwing or shooting something. The current alternates being Windfury Weapon as a swift quiver close range analog and Lightning Rod being lightning arrow except dropped right on top of the enemy you hit up close and the ranger being immune to their own lightning.
On to the beastmaster.
This ones looking fairly simple. Adding the ability for the beast to attack as a bonus action and either ranger times 5 or times 6 HP to it. Also possibly a revival ritual specific to the pet that the ranger can do over a long rest as opposed to outright replacement. Really just keeping your faithful beast alive seems to be the real rub here. Also maybe allowing a few large creatures so it's not just halflings and gnomes that get to play the cavalry ranger. Right off the top of my head I don't know what CR 1/4 large creatures there are.
Also considering throwing Cities in as a favored terrain type but that might be better suited to some sort of full on urban ranger archetype.
Any feedback on that mess would be awesome.
