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<blockquote data-quote="FormerlyHemlock" data-source="post: 7680344" data-attributes="member: 6787650">
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Except... they're not weak in the aggregate, and aggregate is what the spell gives you. Conjure Animals is extremely strong. Have you seen what a dozen flying snakes (Conjure Animals V = 16 animals) can do as they fly by? Blindsight and a +6 attack for 3d4+1 damage with flyby. Even the basic 3rd level spell will murderize giants. Sure, a single hit will kill a snake (although Flyby + decent AC + blindsight + darkness can make them quite hard to hit), but meanwhile the spellcaster and his buddies are killing you. 
 
If anyone in my game ever wants to play a beastmaster ranger, I plan to just tell him that there is no restriction on the beast's actions, but he gets the proficiency bonus to attack/damage/AC/saves if and only if the ranger PC is spending his action directing the beast per the PHB. At any other time, it just has regular stats for the kind of beast it is, plus inflated HP. That is somewhat stronger than the PHB ranger but won't cause any balance problems, because the Hunter ranger already gets Conjure Animals and three or more attacks per round (counting Horde Breaker and sometimes Volley). The main benefit is that it prevents the beast from standing around idiotically at inappropriate times.</li>
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[QUOTE="FormerlyHemlock, post: 7680344, member: 6787650"] [LIST] Except... they're not weak in the aggregate, and aggregate is what the spell gives you. Conjure Animals is extremely strong. Have you seen what a dozen flying snakes (Conjure Animals V = 16 animals) can do as they fly by? Blindsight and a +6 attack for 3d4+1 damage with flyby. Even the basic 3rd level spell will murderize giants. Sure, a single hit will kill a snake (although Flyby + decent AC + blindsight + darkness can make them quite hard to hit), but meanwhile the spellcaster and his buddies are killing [I]you[/I]. If anyone in my game ever wants to play a beastmaster ranger, I plan to just tell him that there is no restriction on the beast's actions, but he gets the proficiency bonus to attack/damage/AC/saves if and only if the ranger PC is spending his action directing the beast per the PHB. At any other time, it just has regular stats for the kind of beast it is, plus inflated HP. That is somewhat stronger than the PHB ranger but won't cause any balance problems, because the Hunter ranger [I]already[/I] gets Conjure Animals and three or more attacks per round (counting Horde Breaker and sometimes Volley). The main benefit is that it prevents the beast from standing around idiotically at inappropriate times.[/list] [/QUOTE]

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