I don’t think WIS has the same importance to Rangers the way CHA has to Paladins. Gloomstalkers and maybe Beastmasters could focus on WIS, but DEX is always important.
I don’t think WIS has the same importance to Rangers the way CHA has to Paladins. Gloomstalkers and maybe Beastmasters could focus on WIS, but DEX is always important.
It depends on your build entirely. I think a low-charisma Paladin is losing as much as a low-wisdom ranger though. If you are going to play mostly as a controller-Gish Wisdom is pretty darn important, more important than Dex I think.
Swarmkeepers are using wisdom almost every turn in combat with the save on Gathering Swarm/Mighty Swarm. Wisdom is super important for Fey Wanderers due to the Beguiling Twist save and the bonus to charisma skills.
If you take Drudic Warrior and Shellagh, there is not much reason to get Dex above 14. If does little for you because your AC bonus caps out at 2 anyway, while pushing Wisdom helps both your melee attacks and your spell save.
The tricky thing is, though, not all Humanoids speak the same language.
I mean normally they don't, but in DnD it's different. Common isn't just what english is in the real world. It's literally common. Everyone speaks it. In DnD the differences of real world countries are replaced by the differences of the various races. There might be dialects and such within the people of the same race but everyone is speaking the same language unless you're using some homebrew setting.
I guess that's a campaign-dependent assumption you are free to make. Mileage will vary based on the DM.
The thing is, though, beasts are generally one of the least dangerous creature types. If I wanted to make sure my Suggestion spell lands, I'd much rather just pick a species/race that has telepathy/pick up the Telepathic feat from Tasha's, or multiclass with GOO Warlock.
I don't think it is primarily for spells. I think it is for charisma checks either to keep them from attacking you or to get them to help you do something (scout, create a distraction
I played Tomb of Annihilation with a Ranger and I used my SWA to talk to dinosaurs all the time. Managed to talk a triceratops into helping us assault an enemy stronhold (they were using him as a pack animal). Used persuasion and offered him his freedom if we won. Then after the battle I again convinced him to help us break down a door offered him a handful of goodberries (each goodberry feeds a human for a day).
Managed to convice a T-Rex that was about to devour us that the Flaming Fist guards were much tastier than we were (that was a DC 25 deception check).
Used animals to scout numerous times, asked a parrot familiar where the wizard was.
Most of a ranger’s languages come from favored foe/enemy so the choice has to be one that suits the character and the campaign. There are 14 options of which you get only 3 so the selection has to be done carefully to get the greatest benefit. We had a thread about that around a year ago if you want to go back and try and find it. My personal choices are:
You also get one from your race and up to 2 from a background.
Moreover, while they get the most languages, most of their ability to converse comes from speak with animals which they always have prepared with Primal Awareness and have one free casting a day.
The always prepared is a big deal in this, because while other casters get communication spells like Tongues and speak with animals, they are not very popular to prepare.
The thing is, though, beasts are generally one of the least dangerous creature types. If I wanted to make sure my Suggestion spell lands, I'd much rather just pick a species/race that has telepathy/pick up the Telepathic feat from Tasha's, or multiclass with GOO Warlock.
I don't think it is primarily for spells. I think it is for charisma checks either to keep them from attacking you or to get them to help you do something (scout, create a distraction
I played Tomb of Annihilation with a Ranger and I used my SOA to talk to dinosaurs all the time. Managed to talk a triceratops into helping us assault an enemy stronhold (they were using him as a pack animal). Used persuasion and offered him his freedom if we won. Then after the battle I again convinced him to help us break down a door offered him a handful of goodberries (each goodberry feeds a human for a day).
Managed to convice a T-Rex that was about to devour us that the Flaming Fist guards were much tastier than we were (that was a DC 25 deception check).
Used animals to scout numerous times, asked a parrot familiar where the wizard was.
The possibilities are endless.
You also had a more flexible DM than I often get. Some DMs would've said that a Triceratops wouldn't have the INT to understand that kind of deal.
Anyway, my money's on Telepathic for its reliability, even if it's just one way speech.
Not everyone selects the Tasha’s options for every ranger, so yes it’s very nice to get speak with animals when you do but it’s not automatic. Racial languages balance out as everyone gets that and while some backgrounds do get 2 languages, most get 1 at best. So the languages from Favored foe/enemy are he big extras that rangers get in that department.
Oh wow… these are all very nice perks. Tbh CHA for me is the first stat that I dumb in most of my characters, specially Rangers. I’ll try a Fey Wanderer next time.
Because of the way the ranger class is built in 5e it’s never good to ignore the wisdom stat. By design as you move from t1 to t4 spells become more and more important to the class while melee/missile combat becomes somewhat less important. Do you need Dex? Yes - but if you are going a STR/melee heavy route initially then ( as pointed out above) you may not need more than a 14. If your goin white Dex based weapons ( as many do) then yes you need to max Dex. But in either case as go up in levels you need to max wisdom just to stay even with the foe’s increasing saves vs your spells. Yes, many ranger spells either affect the ranger or summon something so no save or hit is needed but enough don’t that you need a higher wisdom than you started with unless you rolled and got really lucky.
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Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
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I don’t think WIS has the same importance to Rangers the way CHA has to Paladins. Gloomstalkers and maybe Beastmasters could focus on WIS, but DEX is always important.
It depends on your build entirely. I think a low-charisma Paladin is losing as much as a low-wisdom ranger though. If you are going to play mostly as a controller-Gish Wisdom is pretty darn important, more important than Dex I think.
Swarmkeepers are using wisdom almost every turn in combat with the save on Gathering Swarm/Mighty Swarm. Wisdom is super important for Fey Wanderers due to the Beguiling Twist save and the bonus to charisma skills.
If you take Drudic Warrior and Shellagh, there is not much reason to get Dex above 14. If does little for you because your AC bonus caps out at 2 anyway, while pushing Wisdom helps both your melee attacks and your spell save.
I guess that's a campaign-dependent assumption you are free to make. Mileage will vary based on the DM.
I don't think it is primarily for spells. I think it is for charisma checks either to keep them from attacking you or to get them to help you do something (scout, create a distraction
I played Tomb of Annihilation with a Ranger and I used my SWA to talk to dinosaurs all the time. Managed to talk a triceratops into helping us assault an enemy stronhold (they were using him as a pack animal). Used persuasion and offered him his freedom if we won. Then after the battle I again convinced him to help us break down a door offered him a handful of goodberries (each goodberry feeds a human for a day).
Managed to convice a T-Rex that was about to devour us that the Flaming Fist guards were much tastier than we were (that was a DC 25 deception check).
Used animals to scout numerous times, asked a parrot familiar where the wizard was.
The possibilities are endless.
You also get one from your race and up to 2 from a background.
Moreover, while they get the most languages, most of their ability to converse comes from speak with animals which they always have prepared with Primal Awareness and have one free casting a day.
The always prepared is a big deal in this, because while other casters get communication spells like Tongues and speak with animals, they are not very popular to prepare.
You also had a more flexible DM than I often get. Some DMs would've said that a Triceratops wouldn't have the INT to understand that kind of deal.
Anyway, my money's on Telepathic for its reliability, even if it's just one way speech.
Not everyone selects the Tasha’s options for every ranger, so yes it’s very nice to get speak with animals when you do but it’s not automatic. Racial languages balance out as everyone gets that and while some backgrounds do get 2 languages, most get 1 at best. So the languages from Favored foe/enemy are he big extras that rangers get in that department.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
Oh wow… these are all very nice perks. Tbh CHA for me is the first stat that I dumb in most of my characters, specially Rangers. I’ll try a Fey Wanderer next time.
Because of the way the ranger class is built in 5e it’s never good to ignore the wisdom stat. By design as you move from t1 to t4 spells become more and more important to the class while melee/missile combat becomes somewhat less important. Do you need Dex? Yes - but if you are going a STR/melee heavy route initially then ( as pointed out above) you may not need more than a 14. If your goin white Dex based weapons ( as many do) then yes you need to max Dex. But in either case as go up in levels you need to max wisdom just to stay even with the foe’s increasing saves vs your spells. Yes, many ranger spells either affect the ranger or summon something so no save or hit is needed but enough don’t that you need a higher wisdom than you started with unless you rolled and got really lucky.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.