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<blockquote data-quote="Bacon Bits" data-source="post: 6899108" data-attributes="member: 6777737">Natural Explorer is very good now.&nbsp; I agree with others that the advantage on initiative and advantage on attack rolls for the first round of combat are both a bit too good for first level abilities simply due to multiclassing concerns.&nbsp; I would delay that until 3rd level or so.&nbsp; Originally, the ability was useless outside of unique situations.&nbsp; Now it's quite good. It always bothered me that an adventuring Ranger was like, &quot;Yeah, I only know forests.&nbsp; That's why I go adventuring into giant cities and into the underdark.&quot;&nbsp; The original Natural Explorer felt like an NPC's ability.[Greater] Favored Enemy is much better, IMO.&nbsp; I'm not sure if I like &quot;always have advantage&quot; instead of &quot;double proficiency&quot;.&nbsp; I'd rather have the latter, since it means that the DM can still apply situational mods with advantage.&nbsp; By themselves, they're mathematically about the same.&nbsp; Getting all humanoids seems amazing, and it is one of the better selections through mid and late game, but I think a fair number of players will choose undead.&nbsp; It will depend on the campaign.&nbsp; I like that you can pick the &quot;default&quot; selection of humanoid/giant.The issue with both the original Natural Explorer and original Favored Enemy is that the game designers have to assume that the abilities actually do something.&nbsp; That's why Rangers felt weak.&nbsp; The dev team had to make Rangers not super powerful with the bonuses, but then they restricted them so much that they never came up.&nbsp; The way they are now you can expect both of these abilities to contribute on most adventuring days.Not a huge fan of HiPS or Vanish, but that's mainly because I still find the Halfling and Wood Elf abilities stupid and irritating.The capstone ability is pretty lackluster.&nbsp; &quot;Once&nbsp; &nbsp; on&nbsp; &nbsp; each&nbsp; &nbsp; of&nbsp; &nbsp; your&nbsp; &nbsp; turns,&nbsp; &nbsp; you&nbsp; &nbsp; can&nbsp; &nbsp; add&nbsp; &nbsp; your&nbsp; &nbsp; Wisdom&nbsp; &nbsp; modifier&nbsp; &nbsp; to&nbsp; &nbsp; the&nbsp; &nbsp; attack&nbsp; &nbsp; roll&nbsp; &nbsp; or&nbsp; &nbsp; the&nbsp; &nbsp; damage&nbsp; &nbsp; roll&nbsp; &nbsp; of&nbsp; &nbsp; an&nbsp; &nbsp; attack&nbsp; &nbsp; you&nbsp; &nbsp; make.&quot;&nbsp; Really?&nbsp; Just once?&nbsp; I mean, the Barbarian essentially gets +2 to all attacks and all damage and +40 hp.&nbsp; I'd rather it be more compelling, like pick attack or damage, and then your Wis applies to all attack and damage rolls you make until your next turn. Granted, I really don't care at all about capstones because they never come up outside of theorycrafting, but I've always felt like they should be pretty busted.The only thing about Beast Conclave that I don't like is the inability to to have a bird as a beast companion.&nbsp; My DMs are typically canicidal/felicidal/ursincidal to my animal companions.&nbsp; I like my companions to be scouts.&nbsp; I'll probably just grab Magic Initiate: Wizard: find familiar for that, though.&nbsp; I'm not super pleased with Coordinated Attack -- it makes the class reliant on the companion -- but at least they did significantly buff animal companions in exchange.&nbsp; Since the companion appears to be able to act on it's own, it's very likely that the majority of your attacks will be from the companion.&nbsp; I'd like to see it be Extra Attack or Coordinated Attack, but that's probably asking too much.This phrasing is pretty confusing:I mean, shouldn't it say, &quot;an&nbsp; &nbsp; animal&nbsp; &nbsp; companion&nbsp; &nbsp; also&nbsp; &nbsp; adds your proficiency&nbsp; &nbsp; bonus to&nbsp; &nbsp; its&nbsp; &nbsp; AC&nbsp; &nbsp; and&nbsp; &nbsp; to&nbsp; &nbsp; its&nbsp; &nbsp; damage&nbsp; &nbsp; rolls?&quot;&nbsp; You can't possibly mean &quot;don't use the creature's proficiency bonus, except here where you use the creature's proficiency bonus,&quot; but that's exactly what it sounds like.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Bacon Bits, post: 6899108, member: 6777737"] Natural Explorer is very good now. I agree with others that the advantage on initiative and advantage on attack rolls for the first round of combat are both a bit too good for first level abilities simply due to multiclassing concerns. I would delay that until 3rd level or so. Originally, the ability was useless outside of unique situations. Now it's quite good. It always bothered me that an adventuring Ranger was like, "Yeah, I only know forests. That's why I go adventuring into giant cities and into the underdark." The original Natural Explorer felt like an NPC's ability. [Greater] Favored Enemy is much better, IMO. I'm not sure if I like "always have advantage" instead of "double proficiency". I'd rather have the latter, since it means that the DM can still apply situational mods with advantage. By themselves, they're mathematically about the same. Getting all humanoids seems amazing, and it is one of the better selections through mid and late game, but I think a fair number of players will choose undead. It will depend on the campaign. I like that you can pick the "default" selection of humanoid/giant. The issue with both the original Natural Explorer and original Favored Enemy is that the game designers have to assume that the abilities actually do something. That's why Rangers felt weak. The dev team had to make Rangers [I]not[/I] super powerful with the bonuses, but then they restricted them so much that they never came up. The way they are now you can expect both of these abilities to contribute on most adventuring days. Not a huge fan of HiPS or Vanish, but that's mainly because I still find the Halfling and Wood Elf abilities stupid and irritating. The capstone ability is pretty lackluster. "Once on each of your turns, you can add your Wisdom modifier to the attack roll or the damage roll of an attack you make." Really? Just once? I mean, the Barbarian essentially gets +2 to all attacks and all damage [I]and[/I] +40 hp. I'd rather it be more compelling, like pick attack or damage, and then your Wis applies to all attack and damage rolls you make until your next turn. Granted, I really don't care at all about capstones because they never come up outside of theorycrafting, but I've always felt like they should be pretty busted. The only thing about Beast Conclave that I don't like is the inability to to have a bird as a beast companion. My DMs are typically canicidal/felicidal/ursincidal to my animal companions. I like my companions to be scouts. I'll probably just grab Magic Initiate: Wizard: find familiar for that, though. I'm not super pleased with Coordinated Attack -- it makes the class reliant on the companion -- but at least they did significantly buff animal companions in exchange. Since the companion appears to be able to act on it's own, it's very likely that the majority of your attacks will be from the companion. I'd like to see it be Extra Attack or Coordinated Attack, but that's probably asking too much. This phrasing is pretty confusing: I mean, shouldn't it say, "an animal companion also adds [I]your[/I] proficiency bonus to its AC and to its damage rolls?" You can't possibly mean "don't use the creature's proficiency bonus, except here where you use the creature's proficiency bonus," but that's exactly what it sounds like. [/QUOTE]

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