D&D 5E Xanathar's Guide to Everything: Gloom Stalker Subclass

[Mercule]

I remember not being that impressed with the Deep Stalker subclass, hopefully the change to Gloom Stalker has made it more interesting.

I kinda remember liking the Deep Stalker, in spite of my baser instincts (not a huge fan of the Underdark). It might be because we use the UA variant, so there may have been some synergy, there. The Ranger in the group is a Hunter, so I can't recall.

I actually rather like the sound of the "darkinvisibility" power, too. Very thematic, which is something the Ranger subclasses could benefit from.

 

[BookBarbarian]

The Deepstalker has been my favorite ranger since I saw it in the Underdark UA. I'm happy to see it hitting the shelves as the Gloom Stalker (was Darkstalker trademarked or something?).

I loved the extra movement and attack it got in the first round of combat. It really set the idea that this is the commando type of character. Assuming it keeps the Darkvision, I'll be able to play a Human Gloomstalker that set's ambushes for his prey, kind of a Geralt of Rivia style. IMHO it's even more Witcher like than the Monster Slayer.

It short, I'm getting this and statting up a Gloom stalker ASAP.

 

[BookBarbarian]

But a whole subclass that only works in the dark? Yay. Sounds like a ton of fun for the rest of the group.

The Deep stalker has never "Only worked in the dark", extra movement and an extra attach in the first round of combat works in the light. Wisdom Save proficiency works in the light. Re-rolling a missed attack works in the light. Imposing disadvantage works in the light. The additional spells they get like disguise self, rope trick, glyph of warding, greater invisibility, and seeming all work in the light too. And most of those spells are useful to the whole party.

I don't know which if any of those abilities made it into the final form, but "Only works in the dark" obviously wasn't a design goal in the previews incarnation.

 

[pukunui]

... and the class features themselves tend to take the form of "here's some things a ranger would be good at... so now you can ignore them completely".

Yes!

They don't actually have any mechanics that support the 'loner' archetype with the sole exception of their 'fast stealthy overland travel' perk.

Hide in Plain Sight is another one. But it's not so much the mechanics really as just the whole package. With a few little exceptions here and there, everything about the ranger *screams* solo play.

 

[Leatherhead]

To summarize.... isn't that "invisibility"?

It's more like thermal masking really. They could still be seen, if you bothered to turn on a light.

 

[Mistwell]

I know it originated with the underdark, but the new form of this class sounds like it's the perfect scout for parties doing an overland march through the wilderness during nighttime hours. They go ahead of the party, spot the trouble without the trouble spotting them, report back to the party, then set an ambush with them on one end and the party on the other, with the Ranger's first attack being the signal.

 

[Gladius Legis]

I liked this subclass a lot when it was the Deep Stalker. Actually got me interested in the Ranger even in PHB form. It do recall it being a bit overpowered from about Lv. 5-8 though.

 

[iamntbatman]

Yeah, I think this subclass is far less solo-play oriented than a beastmaster, for example, which by its nature often causes more headaches than it solves problems when dealing with companion beasts that get in the way or otherwise cause issues. This is a ranger with a useful set of tricks that would help in any situation, plus the added benefit of being an extremely good nighttime scout, especially against foes that are used to being well-protected against attacks in the night. I find it an interesting enough subclass that it will probably be the next character I play.

 

[pukunui]

Yeah, I think this subclass is far less solo-play oriented than a beastmaster ...

Maybe, but the way Jeremy talks about it in the video still makes it sound like the ranger is a loner.

 

[iamntbatman]

Meh. I tend to take all of the flavor/fluff aspects of classes and subclasses with a grain of salt and adapt or completely rewrite them as needed, using the actual mechanics as inspiration for things. Classic example is the barbarian, which WotC seems to think is necessarily a primitive, tribal character but could easily fit into a great many character concepts that have nothing to do with tribal culture or anything. Same for this class - just because Crawford colors it that way doesn't mean it ought to be.

Example, the character I've been working on from back when it was more Underdark-oriented: a human who watched his town get ransacked by an incursion of duergar slavers on a raiding mission through tunnels that connected to the town's quarry. Spent his early adulthood wandering around, trying to figure out how to access the Underdark to search for his lost friends and family and/or exact revenge on their captors, learning some rangering skills along the way as he looked for entry points and clues. Eventually, he came across a city of elves who regularly sent expeditions of elite Deep Stalker units to push back against the forces of evil from the Underdark that threatened their own space. After many trials and great effort to prove his worth as a scout and soldier, they eventually let him join along, earning him the nickname "The Blind" as he was the only one of their number without darkvision. Years later, his darkvision eventually grew to match their own, through some combination of gradual adaptation and magic, and he was as fierce a hunter of vile Underdark creatures as they were. As time passed, he came to realize that his elven companions were interested entirely in the defense of their own city and had little interest in delving deeper to hunt for likely long dead or broken slaves of the duergar, especially ones not of their own kin, so Vorn the Blind left in search of others who'd be more helpful allies.

So sure, lots of ways to make a loner-ish character into a team player.