So I made a PHB Strength based ranger a while ago. I do lack in attack spells, my spells are mostly utility based (cure wounds, hunter's mark, pass without trace, absorb elements). It's not bad, I'm able to dish out some nice damage, but I can see that going archery ranger probably would have been better.
I have a Ranger that's got 14 Str and Dex, so he's both. I use Medium Armor so the +2 Dex is all I'd get anyway. Longsword and Longbow. Kind of the classic Aragorn type of Ranger.
It's far from optimal, but if you're set on a STR Ranger then a late-game Barbarian pick could be an option. What Fighting Style did you go with? Two-Weapon Fighting into the Dual-wielder feat, into two longswords, into Horde Breaker, into Whirlwind - pull that off whilst already Raging with Reckless and you are going to slaughter groups of enemies.
It's not so good against single targets, though. Not good at all.
I personally went with Archery for my Ranger, then picked up a few levels of Fighter and got Dueling from there. It was variant human so I also chose the Sharpshooter feat to start with.
Honestly I'm very happy with the character. The Battle Master maneuvers go well with the Horde Breaker, Multi-Attack Defense, and Whirlwind attack. Whenever I'm in a battle with multiple enemies I wade in with melee and use that stuff, and when it's one or two big enemies I hang back and hit with Sharpshooter.
Miscommunication alert - I meant to address my previous post to the original poster, BBnikfaces. Your own Ranger sounds fun too like that; very flexible between ranged and melee.
Miscommunication alert - I meant to address my previous post to the original poster, BBnikfaces. Your own Ranger sounds fun too like that; very flexible between ranged and melee.
Just a quick description of my character: Greataxe, great weapon fighting feat, spells (absorb elements, cure wounds, pass without trace, hunter's Mark, darkvision).
Archetype choices: Horde Breaker and Multi-attack defense.
He currently has 17 armor (scale mail, +2 Dex and Defense fighting style) and is intended to help "tank" for the group.
Basically what I do is get in the middle of as many enemies as possible and get as many attacks as possible through Great weapon Master and Horde Breaker. Absorb Elements for any AoE elemental spells, cure wounds when necessary, Hunter's mark the one im focusing.
I have a Ranger that's got 14 Str and Dex, so he's both. I use Medium Armor so the +2 Dex is all I'd get anyway. Longsword and Longbow. Kind of the classic Aragorn type of Ranger.
I've found it to be pretty fun.
I have a similar setup, except Str 18 & Dex 14. Dual-Wielder w/longswords (+1 AC), but I ALSO go with dual javelins...so melee & short range. We have a barbarian as melee front line, and a pair of clerics offering range/support, and I'm the middle guy who can do both. I find it works pretty well.
i really like the melee strength ranger. I'm currently playing a ranger 6/fighter X in storm kings thunder and I'm dealing good damage and am able to tank decently even only having a breastplate as armor. (str: 18 dex: 14 con: 14, FS: TWF & Defence, Colossus slayer.
i really like the melee strength ranger. I'm currently playing a ranger 6/fighter X in storm kings thunder and I'm dealing good damage and am able to tank decently even only having a breastplate as armor. (str: 18 dex: 14 con: 14, FS: TWF & Defence, Colossus slayer.
Word to that! I'm doing ALMOST the same thing. Just got to 7th level and picking up fighter (Ranger6/Fighter1), but Beastmaster instead of Hunter. Giant as Greater Favored Enemy...good times! My guy went 1-on-1 against a Frost Giant (with the help of a Potion of Invulnerability, and a couple of Healing Words from our concealed cleric)...and won. That felt nice!
My cousin plays a Dragonborn Ranger STR based, uses primarily thrown weapons. I developed the character concept. It works very well. We are applying the archery feature to thrown weapons too, though I am not sure if it is included.
It is a very funny character, and saves the party, everyone else's dumb stat is STR.
I made a Fighter/Champion and multi-classed into Ranger/Horizon Walker. It's a nice damage boost from planar strike... right now I'm contemplating whether or not I should go Ranger 11/Fighter 9 for distant strike/haste or go Fighter 17/Ranger 3 for two action surges and the superior critical. I'm currently sword and board and I use hunters mark + planar strike for extra damage.
I think depends on what you mean by "Str" and "Dex" based. I think it's a bad idea to drop Dex below 14 as that maxes out Medium Armor. That doesn't mean you need Dex above 14
I have a Shield Master character that I works great as a Ranger because it's one of the only 2 classes (Rogue being the other) that has Dexterity Saves. The Character's is to take Dueling as Fighting Style. Either take Hunter or Gloomstalker subclass. He'll have a high strength and training in Athletics, as a Bonus Action he'll use Shove and as a Action attack with melee weapon.
There character will be trained in Stealth and so start with chain shirt instead of scale mail, 1 less AC but keeps good Stealth checks, eventually upgrades to breasplate.
This ranger won't be AS good at ranged combat, as swapping between a bow and shield takes too much time. Depending on your Wis Bonus taking Magic Initiate Cleric/Druid to get an attack cantrip might be an option, but is probably overboard.
That said I think this character works "better" as 1st lvl Rogue and the rest Fighter or Paladin, but I agree with the general consensus that the base Ranger isn't what it should be.
I play a Half-Orc Strength-Based Horizon Walker ranger. I wanted him to be Half-Orc, and with that strength racial bonus I felt like that would be the best route. I don't regret it. I don't find that I lack anything except the ability to efficiently use a bow... but I'm a Horizon Walker, and I don't really care that much, since I can teleport to multiple targets (level 14 now). I have thrown hand axes if I really need them.
I typically use Longsword + Shield, with the Duelist fighting style. As of now, I'm using +1 half plate, Spellguard Shield, Ring of Protection, Nine Lives Stealer longsword. 19 AC with that, or I can don my +1 shield for a 20. I hit pretty hard and pretty fast (first hit is 3d8+9 force damage, second/third attack 1d8+9 slashing).
I had an Oathbow until I finally managed to trade it to my Rogue. With a +0 dex mod, it wasn't great, but when I need it for a boss, advantage and still +5 proficiency to get 3d8+3d6 (then 1d8+3d6) works. I managed to hit all 8 attacks I made with it against a heavily armored foe, so that was neat.
The classic Ranger is Dex based, and many Ranger abilities are based around Dex. However, the thing about D&D is you can basically do whatever you want, so . . .
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
I am currently playing an Aarakocran Ranger with a foot bow (that I had to adapt from 3.5 - Races of the Wild). I went with Str as well for the damage bonus on the bow.
Indeed, a great weapon or polearm whirlwind ranger can be fun and effective. 12 Dex is probably adequate, especially if you go the quarterstaff and shield route. A normal turn is an attack against everything in 5' (with positioning help from others, consistently 3+ targets), +1 attack (Horde Breaker) +1 attack (Bonus Action), so the damage output can be quite nice, and the AC isn't *that* bad, especially since Rangers have a very healthy D10 hit die. Toss in Sentinel for area lock down and they can be great. Certainly a viable alternative to Fighter or Barbarian for that kind of role, even if it's not the 'standard' role of a Ranger.
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So I made a PHB Strength based ranger a while ago. I do lack in attack spells, my spells are mostly utility based (cure wounds, hunter's mark, pass without trace, absorb elements). It's not bad, I'm able to dish out some nice damage, but I can see that going archery ranger probably would have been better.
Has anyone else made a Str ranger?
It is not advisable because of the armor limitation. So I would say always DEX.
I have a Ranger that's got 14 Str and Dex, so he's both. I use Medium Armor so the +2 Dex is all I'd get anyway. Longsword and Longbow. Kind of the classic Aragorn type of Ranger.
I've found it to be pretty fun.
It's far from optimal, but if you're set on a STR Ranger then a late-game Barbarian pick could be an option. What Fighting Style did you go with? Two-Weapon Fighting into the Dual-wielder feat, into two longswords, into Horde Breaker, into Whirlwind - pull that off whilst already Raging with Reckless and you are going to slaughter groups of enemies.
It's not so good against single targets, though. Not good at all.
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My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
I personally went with Archery for my Ranger, then picked up a few levels of Fighter and got Dueling from there. It was variant human so I also chose the Sharpshooter feat to start with.
Honestly I'm very happy with the character. The Battle Master maneuvers go well with the Horde Breaker, Multi-Attack Defense, and Whirlwind attack. Whenever I'm in a battle with multiple enemies I wade in with melee and use that stuff, and when it's one or two big enemies I hang back and hit with Sharpshooter.
Miscommunication alert - I meant to address my previous post to the original poster, BBnikfaces. Your own Ranger sounds fun too like that; very flexible between ranged and melee.
Site Rules & Guidelines - Please feel free to message a moderator if you have any concerns.
My homebrew: [Subclasses] [Races] [Feats] [Discussion Thread]
Just a quick description of my character: Greataxe, great weapon fighting feat, spells (absorb elements, cure wounds, pass without trace, hunter's Mark, darkvision).
Archetype choices: Horde Breaker and Multi-attack defense.
He currently has 17 armor (scale mail, +2 Dex and Defense fighting style) and is intended to help "tank" for the group.
Basically what I do is get in the middle of as many enemies as possible and get as many attacks as possible through Great weapon Master and Horde Breaker. Absorb Elements for any AoE elemental spells, cure wounds when necessary, Hunter's mark the one im focusing.
I find it quite fun haha.
i really like the melee strength ranger. I'm currently playing a ranger 6/fighter X in storm kings thunder and I'm dealing good damage and am able to tank decently even only having a breastplate as armor. (str: 18 dex: 14 con: 14, FS: TWF & Defence, Colossus slayer.
My cousin plays a Dragonborn Ranger STR based, uses primarily thrown weapons. I developed the character concept. It works very well. We are applying the archery feature to thrown weapons too, though I am not sure if it is included.
It is a very funny character, and saves the party, everyone else's dumb stat is STR.
I feel like dex with a finese weapon is the best option for a Ranger. Granted if you want to leave the finesse category, str. Could be a good option.
I made a Fighter/Champion and multi-classed into Ranger/Horizon Walker. It's a nice damage boost from planar strike... right now I'm contemplating whether or not I should go Ranger 11/Fighter 9 for distant strike/haste or go Fighter 17/Ranger 3 for two action surges and the superior critical. I'm currently sword and board and I use hunters mark + planar strike for extra damage.
I think depends on what you mean by "Str" and "Dex" based.
I think it's a bad idea to drop Dex below 14 as that maxes out Medium Armor. That doesn't mean you need Dex above 14
I have a Shield Master character that I works great as a Ranger because it's one of the only 2 classes (Rogue being the other) that has Dexterity Saves.
The Character's is to take Dueling as Fighting Style. Either take Hunter or Gloomstalker subclass.
He'll have a high strength and training in Athletics, as a Bonus Action he'll use Shove and as a Action attack with melee weapon.
There character will be trained in Stealth and so start with chain shirt instead of scale mail, 1 less AC but keeps good Stealth checks, eventually upgrades to breasplate.
This ranger won't be AS good at ranged combat, as swapping between a bow and shield takes too much time. Depending on your Wis Bonus taking Magic Initiate Cleric/Druid to get an attack cantrip might be an option, but is probably overboard.
That said I think this character works "better" as 1st lvl Rogue and the rest Fighter or Paladin, but I agree with the general consensus that the base Ranger isn't what it should be.
Wouldn't a Strength based Tortle Ranger be *fairly* doable?
I play a Half-Orc Strength-Based Horizon Walker ranger. I wanted him to be Half-Orc, and with that strength racial bonus I felt like that would be the best route. I don't regret it. I don't find that I lack anything except the ability to efficiently use a bow... but I'm a Horizon Walker, and I don't really care that much, since I can teleport to multiple targets (level 14 now). I have thrown hand axes if I really need them.
I typically use Longsword + Shield, with the Duelist fighting style. As of now, I'm using +1 half plate, Spellguard Shield, Ring of Protection, Nine Lives Stealer longsword. 19 AC with that, or I can don my +1 shield for a 20. I hit pretty hard and pretty fast (first hit is 3d8+9 force damage, second/third attack 1d8+9 slashing).
I had an Oathbow until I finally managed to trade it to my Rogue. With a +0 dex mod, it wasn't great, but when I need it for a boss, advantage and still +5 proficiency to get 3d8+3d6 (then 1d8+3d6) works. I managed to hit all 8 attacks I made with it against a heavily armored foe, so that was neat.
The classic Ranger is Dex based, and many Ranger abilities are based around Dex. However, the thing about D&D is you can basically do whatever you want, so . . .
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Class Guides: Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer, Bard General Guides: PvP
Currently playing in: Quest for the Shunned City, Coliseum of Conquest, DragonDenn's Dragonlords, Shipwrecked on Fugue, Tomb of Annihilation, Razor's Lost Mine of Phandelver, The Lost Kenku & One Grung Above
Currently DMing: Princes of the Apocalypse, Out of the Abyss, Coliseum of Conquest—The Arena (Sometimes)
I am currently playing an Aarakocran Ranger with a foot bow (that I had to adapt from 3.5 - Races of the Wild). I went with Str as well for the damage bonus on the bow.
Indeed, a great weapon or polearm whirlwind ranger can be fun and effective. 12 Dex is probably adequate, especially if you go the quarterstaff and shield route. A normal turn is an attack against everything in 5' (with positioning help from others, consistently 3+ targets), +1 attack (Horde Breaker) +1 attack (Bonus Action), so the damage output can be quite nice, and the AC isn't *that* bad, especially since Rangers have a very healthy D10 hit die. Toss in Sentinel for area lock down and they can be great. Certainly a viable alternative to Fighter or Barbarian for that kind of role, even if it's not the 'standard' role of a Ranger.