I just started a campaign as a Strength-based ranger, and I'm wondering what subclass I should take to ensure my damage output stays viable compared to the rest of my party. I took heavy armour proficiency as a bonus feat at level one. My stats are:
Str 17
Dex 14
Con 13
Int 6
Wis 14
Cha 5
The problem with rangers for this kind of build is that they don't get the fighting style for great weapons. I was thinking Swarmkeeper because I like the idea thematically, but I'm not sure how viable it will be on a melee character. Especially because I didn't plan on investing much more into wisdom, I don't think my Swarms will be very effective as I get later into the game.
I'm not against the idea of multi-classing but, I like the idea of being a druidic warrior, mixing my spells into close combat to give me the edge. Maybe I'll take Blind fighting and cast fog clouds. Or use my swarms to disorient and control the battle whilst I hit things with me big ol' hammer.
Druidic warrior is rather wasted on a strength-based ranger. If you want to go that route, put your highest ability score in Wisdom. For fighting styles, Defence is always good since it allows you to use a two-handed weapon for damage without suffering too much from not being able to use a shield. If you''re going strength based I also suggest putting that 14 into Con. You'll be up close quite a bit.
As for subclass, Horizon Walker has a nice use of their bonus action. Hunter is also quite nice.
For strength based Rangers my current preference is to build with a view to getting Polearm Master and a polearm (glaive, halberd or pike) as this lets you deal a load of melee damage and thanks to reach you can move away, plus the feat gets you a bonus action attack plus a reliable reaction attack.
With that in mind I opted for the Druidic Warrior fighting style to grab thorn whip with the idea being that I could potentially pull a distant enemy into my reach to use my reaction attack; though your DM may or may not allow this as it's a little unclear if it's supposed to work (rules seem okay, but sage advice seems to imply not, though in the most vague and unhelpful ways possible). You also have another pick for a utility cantrip like druidcraft if you want to lean into the druidic theme, or guidance for the boost to skill checks.
If you're not bothered about the cantrips then you could just take Defense for the +1 AC.
I've built two characters using this idea, one Swarmkeeper (for the extra damage/move/push option) and a Gloom Stalker (for the extra deadly first round, but forgive the dumb placeholder name, it's a build for an incomplete character 😝). I used point build and like you I opted for Intelligence and Charisma as dump stats as it makes it easier to still have a decent Dexterity on top of the Strength, Constitution and Wisdom you want for a strength melee Ranger.
I think going for the polearm mastery keeps the melee solid and varied, plus with Ranger's access to spells it should be a lot of fun. Slap on hunter's mark and you're stacking onto two or three basic attacks, plus a third/fourth when you can use your reaction attack.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
I played through Frostmaiden with a Str based spear and shield Gloom Stalker Ranger with PAM. If you go PAM, you definitely want to avoid the bonus action heavy subclasses. Swarmkeeper, Fey Wanderer, and Gloom Stalker are all good choices. One of the nicer features of gloom stalker is at level 11 when you get the feature that allows you to take another attack once per your turn if you miss on an attack. Its almost as good as Fighter's level 11 extra attack on a GWM its functionally the same because you will almost certainly be missing on an attack with the -5 to hit penalty.
One of the trickier parts of the str ranger build is that you don't have constitution saves and since you are in melee you will get hit. I recommend going with the Favored Foe option, and carefully eyeing the non-concentration spells. You are likely not going to have hunter's mark lasting multiple encounters. Now if you get resilient con then maybe you can.
As was mentioned by one of the others above I would not recommend Heavy Armor prof. For your damage dealing warcaster/resilient con are going to be more important to maintain concentration. One sneaky good feat is fey touched and take bless. Bless provides a boost to damage nearly equal to Hunter's Mark, helps your party, and helps you make the concentration save if you get hit.
It has to be gloom stalker, no doubt about it. As a front liner, one of the things you really want is WIS save proficiency and gloom stalker gets that for free. It also has neat features specifically for DPR, and that's going to make your damage viable as far as being compared to fighters, paladins, and barbarians who come to mind when you think "melee frontliner."
Also, what race is this? Do these stats include your racial bonus? Gloom stalker then becomes an even more attractive choice if you pick a race that lacks dark vision. If your statline includes your race, then my recommendation is to add +1 to your STR and CON at 4th level. Otherwise, add your racial +2 to STR and +1 to CON, then at 4th level pick up skill expert with +1 to STR to round off to 20. Part of what makes a ranger stand out compared to other martials is their spell list and their skill usage, and so skill expert will help you build on that with more skills and expertise. Then at 8th, pick up GWM. Now, if you talk to your DM and he's willing to toss you a magical halberd/glaive down the road, then you could just replace skill expert with PAM.
Since you don't get great weapon fighting style as part of the ranger chassis, my recommendation is to start off with dueling until lvl 8 when you access GWM, then switch to defensive fighting style since you'll be ditching a shield by then.
My Race is Half-Orc these stats include my racial bonuses. The DM gave us all one bonus feat at level one, I chose heavy armour proficiency. I can't switch my con and dex around because my Con is only 13 after the bonus from half-orc, and I wanted to keep the ranger multi-classing door open.
the DM won't let you switch the dex and con stats? That really sucks, not gonna lie. But oh well, my point still stands, go with a +1 STR and +1 CON at 4th lvl, then GWM at 8th.
I am currently playing a sword and board, heavy armor strength based ranger.
My subclass is beast master, because I think that works quit nice. A beast of the land, charge and knock prone your enemies, that come in and attack the prone dude with advantage :D
If you use the 2024 core class for Ranger they can get the Great Weapon Fighting feat. I personally like the idea of strength based rangers for thematic reasons and have found sticking to the more martial subclasses available seem to work best with this type of build. I do find it has a very high stat demand though and it unfortunately means a lot of your feats will just go to ASI's.
When I do these builds they definitely don't quite reach the same potential of Dex based Ranger build and are a bit more difficult to make them function well. Careful planning and character choices can make them very interesting to play still. I wouldn't recommend a Str Ranger build to beginners.
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I just started a campaign as a Strength-based ranger, and I'm wondering what subclass I should take to ensure my damage output stays viable compared to the rest of my party. I took heavy armour proficiency as a bonus feat at level one. My stats are:
Druidic warrior is rather wasted on a strength-based ranger. If you want to go that route, put your highest ability score in Wisdom. For fighting styles, Defence is always good since it allows you to use a two-handed weapon for damage without suffering too much from not being able to use a shield. If you''re going strength based I also suggest putting that 14 into Con. You'll be up close quite a bit.
As for subclass, Horizon Walker has a nice use of their bonus action. Hunter is also quite nice.
For strength based Rangers my current preference is to build with a view to getting Polearm Master and a polearm (glaive, halberd or pike) as this lets you deal a load of melee damage and thanks to reach you can move away, plus the feat gets you a bonus action attack plus a reliable reaction attack.
With that in mind I opted for the Druidic Warrior fighting style to grab thorn whip with the idea being that I could potentially pull a distant enemy into my reach to use my reaction attack; though your DM may or may not allow this as it's a little unclear if it's supposed to work (rules seem okay, but sage advice seems to imply not, though in the most vague and unhelpful ways possible). You also have another pick for a utility cantrip like druidcraft if you want to lean into the druidic theme, or guidance for the boost to skill checks.
If you're not bothered about the cantrips then you could just take Defense for the +1 AC.
I've built two characters using this idea, one Swarmkeeper (for the extra damage/move/push option) and a Gloom Stalker (for the extra deadly first round, but forgive the dumb placeholder name, it's a build for an incomplete character 😝). I used point build and like you I opted for Intelligence and Charisma as dump stats as it makes it easier to still have a decent Dexterity on top of the Strength, Constitution and Wisdom you want for a strength melee Ranger.
I think going for the polearm mastery keeps the melee solid and varied, plus with Ranger's access to spells it should be a lot of fun. Slap on hunter's mark and you're stacking onto two or three basic attacks, plus a third/fourth when you can use your reaction attack.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
I played through Frostmaiden with a Str based spear and shield Gloom Stalker Ranger with PAM. If you go PAM, you definitely want to avoid the bonus action heavy subclasses. Swarmkeeper, Fey Wanderer, and Gloom Stalker are all good choices. One of the nicer features of gloom stalker is at level 11 when you get the feature that allows you to take another attack once per your turn if you miss on an attack. Its almost as good as Fighter's level 11 extra attack on a GWM its functionally the same because you will almost certainly be missing on an attack with the -5 to hit penalty.
One of the trickier parts of the str ranger build is that you don't have constitution saves and since you are in melee you will get hit. I recommend going with the Favored Foe option, and carefully eyeing the non-concentration spells. You are likely not going to have hunter's mark lasting multiple encounters. Now if you get resilient con then maybe you can.
As was mentioned by one of the others above I would not recommend Heavy Armor prof. For your damage dealing warcaster/resilient con are going to be more important to maintain concentration. One sneaky good feat is fey touched and take bless. Bless provides a boost to damage nearly equal to Hunter's Mark, helps your party, and helps you make the concentration save if you get hit.
It has to be gloom stalker, no doubt about it. As a front liner, one of the things you really want is WIS save proficiency and gloom stalker gets that for free. It also has neat features specifically for DPR, and that's going to make your damage viable as far as being compared to fighters, paladins, and barbarians who come to mind when you think "melee frontliner."
Also, what race is this? Do these stats include your racial bonus? Gloom stalker then becomes an even more attractive choice if you pick a race that lacks dark vision. If your statline includes your race, then my recommendation is to add +1 to your STR and CON at 4th level. Otherwise, add your racial +2 to STR and +1 to CON, then at 4th level pick up skill expert with +1 to STR to round off to 20. Part of what makes a ranger stand out compared to other martials is their spell list and their skill usage, and so skill expert will help you build on that with more skills and expertise. Then at 8th, pick up GWM. Now, if you talk to your DM and he's willing to toss you a magical halberd/glaive down the road, then you could just replace skill expert with PAM.
Since you don't get great weapon fighting style as part of the ranger chassis, my recommendation is to start off with dueling until lvl 8 when you access GWM, then switch to defensive fighting style since you'll be ditching a shield by then.
My Race is Half-Orc these stats include my racial bonuses. The DM gave us all one bonus feat at level one, I chose heavy armour proficiency. I can't switch my con and dex around because my Con is only 13 after the bonus from half-orc, and I wanted to keep the ranger multi-classing door open.
the DM won't let you switch the dex and con stats? That really sucks, not gonna lie. But oh well, my point still stands, go with a +1 STR and +1 CON at 4th lvl, then GWM at 8th.
I am currently playing a sword and board, heavy armor strength based ranger.
My subclass is beast master, because I think that works quit nice.
A beast of the land, charge and knock prone your enemies, that come in and attack the prone dude with advantage :D
If you use the 2024 core class for Ranger they can get the Great Weapon Fighting feat. I personally like the idea of strength based rangers for thematic reasons and have found sticking to the more martial subclasses available seem to work best with this type of build. I do find it has a very high stat demand though and it unfortunately means a lot of your feats will just go to ASI's.
When I do these builds they definitely don't quite reach the same potential of Dex based Ranger build and are a bit more difficult to make them function well. Careful planning and character choices can make them very interesting to play still. I wouldn't recommend a Str Ranger build to beginners.