Seems like a pretty cool combo, but it's kind of hard to figure out if it's even worth dipping into one or the other. I also can't decide which one to "main" and which one to only dip into for a few levels.
Which do you guys think is better over all, and which order would I even level them if I decided to do it? 5 Gloom Stalker / the rest in Shadow Sorc could get some interesting stuff, but then you'd have janky stats early game if you wanted to do anything as a Ranger, or you'd gimp your Sorc stats if you wanted the Wisdom to be functional as Ranger early game.
Advice wanted! Not sure what levels would be good switch off points, or how many levels to invest in general
I would only go to 3rd or 5th level in Gloom, it depends on whether you want the extra attack from 5th level Ranger... if it was me I would go 3rd level Gloom and then the rest as Shadow Sorcerer.
Another option is to go pure Shadow Sorcerer, so that you can get the 18th level ability... all of them are pretty good.
My issue is they aren't designed to synergize well. You need 3 or 5 lvls of Ranger to benefit from Gloomstaker, and either 1, 2, or 6 to benefit from Sorcerer.
First, I'd say pick a race that doesn't get natural Darkvision, or you're paying for it too many times. At 1st lvl Shadow Sorcerer gets you Eyes of the Dark which gives you 120' of Darkvision. At 3rd lvl Gloom Stalker gets you Umbral Sight which is 60' of Darkvision or +30' of Darkvision. (now 150' of Darkvision)
At 1st lvl Sorcerer gives you Strength of the Grave which is a great ability for any Martial class to not fall down. At 3rd lvl Ranger gives you Dread Ambusher which only works on Weapon Attacks, not Cantrips so your character is going to need a strong weapon attack (I assume bow or rapier)
This is where you have to decide if you want to be a Ranger with a dip in Sorcerer or a Sorcerer with a dip in Ranger. I don't think it's worth a Sorcerer dipping in Ranger, because 3 casting lvls is WAY to much power to give up to be better at weapon attacks! If you're looking at adding some Sorcerer to Ranger that has a lot more possibility. At this I'd recommend for progress the below
1: 1 Ranger. 10 hp, Strength & Dexterity Saves, light & medium armor, shields, simple & martial weapons, 3 skills. 2: 1 Ranger/1 Sorcerer: Caster lvl 1. Eyes of the Dark, Strength of the Grave, 4 Cantrips, 2 Spells known, 2 Spell Slots. (Shield & Adsorb Elements) 3: 2 Ranger/1 Sorcerer: Caster lvl 2. Fighting Style, 2 Ranger Spells known. (Hunter's Mark & one other Adsorb Elements if you wanted a different Sorcerer spell) 4: 3 Ranger/1 Sorcerer: Gloom Stalker: Dread Ambusher, Umbral Sight, Disguise Self as Spell Known, and Primeval Awareness 5: 4 Ranger/1 Sorcerer: Caster lvl 3. ASI/Feat 6: 5 Ranger/1 Sorcerer: Extra Attack 7: 5 Ranger/2 Sorcerer: Caster lvl 4, Font of Magic: 2
This starts you off with good weapons and armor, access to shields, all your Ranger ability. You're a combat class. It then gets you Eyes of the Dark and Strength of the Grave with as little interruption to you progress toward Extra Attack as possible. Then you get your Font of Magic to boost your casting ability. From there Shadow Magic's return on investment is pretty poor as you're not a primary caster and Hound of Ill Omen is a lot of level to pay for. At best take a 3rd lvl of Sorcerer for Metamagic and 2nd lvl spells, maybe a 4th lvl for the ASI/Feat... but after that I'd recommend Ranger.
The next thing is to decide what kind of Ranger you want to be, I'm assuming a high dex: longbow, hand crossbow, weapon + shield, or two-weapon fighting. I think Rapier & Shield is the worst option. You'll need Warcaster to beable to cast correct, and you'd probably wand Shield Master to do cool things. This is going to be a huge investment and it won't work unless you have high Strength and because you need decent Wisdom and Charisma you just won't have the ability points for it. Half Elf is the only reasonable way to get it with Point Buy, but then you don't have the Feats you want. Two Weapon Fighting also requires Warcaster to be effective, and then you'll want Duel Wielding to give you the AC and weapon die bump. It doesn't distract as much, but it's a big investment. You will be an effective Skirmisher.
Recommended spread is: Dex 15 (+1 from human), Con: 12, Wisdom: 13 (+1 Human), Charisma 14. If you want a hand crossbow take Crossbow Expert at 1st lvl human and Sharp Shooter at 5th lvl. You'll be doing an unholy amount of attacks. If you can see them and they can't see you, you have Advantage to negate the -5 to attacks for +10 damage. If you want to go longbow start out with Sharpshooter and take +2 Dex at 5th lvl.
What features are you wanting from each? As mentioned they don’t really synergize well. Plus you need High Dex, Con, Wis and Charisma, so it is hard to balance ability scores.
There are better ways to get spells as a Ranger and better ways to get combat as a caster. A little more about what you want would help guide the advice.
A bit late to it, but just by looking if you main gloom stalker but just take 3 levels shadow Sorcerer to get darkness with ability to see, you can now be invisible even in the middle of the day.
Your going to lose the 18th level ability, but it seems to be a decent tradeoff.
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Seems like a pretty cool combo, but it's kind of hard to figure out if it's even worth dipping into one or the other. I also can't decide which one to "main" and which one to only dip into for a few levels.
Which do you guys think is better over all, and which order would I even level them if I decided to do it? 5 Gloom Stalker / the rest in Shadow Sorc could get some interesting stuff, but then you'd have janky stats early game if you wanted to do anything as a Ranger, or you'd gimp your Sorc stats if you wanted the Wisdom to be functional as Ranger early game.
Advice wanted! Not sure what levels would be good switch off points, or how many levels to invest in general
I would only go to 3rd or 5th level in Gloom, it depends on whether you want the extra attack from 5th level Ranger... if it was me I would go 3rd level Gloom and then the rest as Shadow Sorcerer.
Another option is to go pure Shadow Sorcerer, so that you can get the 18th level ability... all of them are pretty good.
My issue is they aren't designed to synergize well.
You need 3 or 5 lvls of Ranger to benefit from Gloomstaker, and either 1, 2, or 6 to benefit from Sorcerer.
First, I'd say pick a race that doesn't get natural Darkvision, or you're paying for it too many times.
At 1st lvl Shadow Sorcerer gets you Eyes of the Dark which gives you 120' of Darkvision.
At 3rd lvl Gloom Stalker gets you Umbral Sight which is 60' of Darkvision or +30' of Darkvision. (now 150' of Darkvision)
At 1st lvl Sorcerer gives you Strength of the Grave which is a great ability for any Martial class to not fall down.
At 3rd lvl Ranger gives you Dread Ambusher which only works on Weapon Attacks, not Cantrips so your character is going to need a strong weapon attack (I assume bow or rapier)
This is where you have to decide if you want to be a Ranger with a dip in Sorcerer or a Sorcerer with a dip in Ranger.
I don't think it's worth a Sorcerer dipping in Ranger, because 3 casting lvls is WAY to much power to give up to be better at weapon attacks!
If you're looking at adding some Sorcerer to Ranger that has a lot more possibility.
At this I'd recommend for progress the below
1: 1 Ranger. 10 hp, Strength & Dexterity Saves, light & medium armor, shields, simple & martial weapons, 3 skills.
2: 1 Ranger/1 Sorcerer: Caster lvl 1. Eyes of the Dark, Strength of the Grave, 4 Cantrips, 2 Spells known, 2 Spell Slots. (Shield & Adsorb Elements)
3: 2 Ranger/1 Sorcerer: Caster lvl 2. Fighting Style, 2 Ranger Spells known. (Hunter's Mark & one other Adsorb Elements if you wanted a different Sorcerer spell)
4: 3 Ranger/1 Sorcerer: Gloom Stalker: Dread Ambusher, Umbral Sight, Disguise Self as Spell Known, and Primeval Awareness
5: 4 Ranger/1 Sorcerer: Caster lvl 3. ASI/Feat
6: 5 Ranger/1 Sorcerer: Extra Attack
7: 5 Ranger/2 Sorcerer: Caster lvl 4, Font of Magic: 2
This starts you off with good weapons and armor, access to shields, all your Ranger ability. You're a combat class. It then gets you Eyes of the Dark and Strength of the Grave with as little interruption to you progress toward Extra Attack as possible. Then you get your Font of Magic to boost your casting ability. From there Shadow Magic's return on investment is pretty poor as you're not a primary caster and Hound of Ill Omen is a lot of level to pay for. At best take a 3rd lvl of Sorcerer for Metamagic and 2nd lvl spells, maybe a 4th lvl for the ASI/Feat... but after that I'd recommend Ranger.
The next thing is to decide what kind of Ranger you want to be, I'm assuming a high dex: longbow, hand crossbow, weapon + shield, or two-weapon fighting.
I think Rapier & Shield is the worst option. You'll need Warcaster to beable to cast correct, and you'd probably wand Shield Master to do cool things. This is going to be a huge investment and it won't work unless you have high Strength and because you need decent Wisdom and Charisma you just won't have the ability points for it. Half Elf is the only reasonable way to get it with Point Buy, but then you don't have the Feats you want.
Two Weapon Fighting also requires Warcaster to be effective, and then you'll want Duel Wielding to give you the AC and weapon die bump. It doesn't distract as much, but it's a big investment. You will be an effective Skirmisher.
Recommended spread is: Dex 15 (+1 from human), Con: 12, Wisdom: 13 (+1 Human), Charisma 14.
If you want a hand crossbow take Crossbow Expert at 1st lvl human and Sharp Shooter at 5th lvl. You'll be doing an unholy amount of attacks. If you can see them and they can't see you, you have Advantage to negate the -5 to attacks for +10 damage.
If you want to go longbow start out with Sharpshooter and take +2 Dex at 5th lvl.
What features are you wanting from each? As mentioned they don’t really synergize well. Plus you need High Dex, Con, Wis and Charisma, so it is hard to balance ability scores.
There are better ways to get spells as a Ranger and better ways to get combat as a caster. A little more about what you want would help guide the advice.
A bit late to it, but just by looking if you main gloom stalker but just take 3 levels shadow Sorcerer to get darkness with ability to see, you can now be invisible even in the middle of the day.
Your going to lose the 18th level ability, but it seems to be a decent tradeoff.