PAM is the polearm master feat. It allows you to do a lot of things with certain polearms. The first is that it allows you to make an Opportunity Attack on something when it enters your reach. the second is that it allows you to make a bonus action attack with the back side of the polearm for d4+str mod damage.
halberd is a d10 pole weapon with a reach of 10ft, so you will be able to make an OA on any creature that comes within 10 ft of you. If I were building the PAM ranger, I'd start as a variant human, so I could take PAM at level 1. I don't think that rangers can /start/ with a halberd (using starter gear), but they can get a spear to use until they can afford to buy a halberd.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
In my opinion, yes. if you use a spear, you lose out on reach, and will only have d8 damage for the primary attack rather than d10.
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Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
A strength based hunter is a great sword or polearm is no joke. The ranger's AoE spells work with a thrown weapon as well as from ammunition fired from a bow, so a hand axe will work nicely. In lieu of the fighting style for big weapons the defensive fighting style works nicely and with just a dexterity of 14 gives them the same AC as any heavy armor wearer. If you get into feats great weapon master is good and really fun with horde breaker when wading into a sea of "little baddies", that's like 4 attacks a turn! Come level 11 with whirlwind attack you're basically a walking blender. Absorb elements is extra great with a melee ranger as well. And as always, playing a strength focused character allows for great grappling fun!
For Str-based Rangers, Heavily Armored Feat is also a great Feat option. Adds an ASI, dump Dex entirely, and improve Con/Wis so your spells become more potent as well. Hunter, Horizon Walker and Beastmaster are great with these options.
I should have tbh. The class variant features let you easily make one and It would've been something new for our table.
Horizon walker is probably the best choice for a melee Strenger IMO.
With a longsword, duelling, the new fav foe and Planar warrior you can deal 2d8+1d4+5 at level 2 which is quite decent tbh.
I think Swarmkeeper is a great option for a strength ranger. You can move enemies around and keep them off allies. Eventually you can knock them prone. Taking two levels in fighter will give you one additional fighting style for some great potential options. I would go for Great weapon Fighting style and use a heavy weapon. And action surge after knocking the enemy prone will allow you to really target down an enemy. Ranger gets access to some great spells for melee. Zephyr Strike for mobility and a little extra damage.
My half-orc Horizon Walker is STR based, took heavily armoured & Resilient (CON) feats. So he predominantly uses a +1 maul w/ Planar Warrior + haste to just keep me rolling all the dice.
Next combat with him I'll swap out haste for guardian of nature (primal beast) and see how that plays for me.
I'm enjoying it much more than I thought I would (when I first started D&D I had a list of "nevers" - I know - and ranger was on it... I'm working my way through the "nevers" now though and some of them are fun!)
My half-orc Horizon Walker is STR based, took heavily armoured & Resilient (CON) feats. So he predominantly uses a +1 maul w/ Planar Warrior + haste to just keep me rolling all the dice.
Next combat with him I'll swap out haste for guardian of nature (primal beast) and see how that plays for me.
I'm enjoying it much more than I thought I would (when I first started D&D I had a list of "nevers" - I know - and ranger was on it... I'm working my way through the "nevers" now though and some of them are fun!)
You mean swapping figuratively right? Because you literally cant swap haste out on a HW.
Yeah, just in terms of my usual approach to combat is haste + planar warrior + all the attacks (I've been mostly against numerous enemies rather than one big'un which is great for me). I want to try something else out and still effectively be the damage dealing tanky one (gotta protect the squishy rogue!)
A couple sessions back I decided to take my extremely weird Forest Gnome Gloom Stalker 4/ Arcana Cleric 1 who uses a shield the Strength route. Last night's session the module spit out a gnome sized breastplate. The universe has rewarded my little weirdo.
(The Arcana Cleric level was done to 1.Help the party with healing word, so the druid wasn't locked into only healing spells. 2. Have Chill Touch replace the bow and simplify ranged attacks)
A couple sessions back I decided to take my extremely weird Forest Gnome Gloom Stalker 4/ Arcana Cleric 1 who uses a shield the Strength route. Last night's session the module spit out a gnome sized breastplate. The universe has rewarded my little weirdo.
(The Arcana Cleric level was done to 1.Help the party with healing word, so the druid wasn't locked into only healing spells. 2. Have Chill Touch replace the bow and simplify ranged attacks)
I meaqn i will take the twilight cleric MC as soon as i get extra attack to be a better frontliner. And gauntlets of ogre power will await us at the end of the dungeon so i will definetly grab that.
Yep. That is why Bards, Paladins, Druids, and Rangers all get healing. Our bard has a different build in mind, and I know the problems with doing a build and having known spells. Plan is to take 3-9 levels of the cleric eventually to add some basic spell tools to the party. With the changes in Tasha's I am steering closer to 3 than to the 9 I originally planned.
STRENGTH Rangers are fine. If you go that route though know you are going to suffer from a lack of defence. Typically Rangers are forced to choose Dexterity as both their Primary Defensive and Primary Offensive ability (making it their highest stat). If you spec into Strength instead of dexterity you are pulling points away from your Primary Defensive ability and you will need to compensate for it somehow because as a Strength Ranger you are probably going to be in melee a lot. (Unless you are going for a thrown weapon fighting concept)
There is nothing wrong with lacking defence, you just need to be aware of it going in. And its simple enough to compensate for. You can make up for the loss of defence by increasing your Constitution (for more hit points to absorb damage), by increasing your armour class (via things like race, feats, magic item, spells, multi-classing and using a shield), or roll for your stats and hope that you get at least 3 high numbers.
If you go for the Polearm Master Feat (PAM) route you can use tactical positioning to make up for your defence. You can use the reach on the polearm to your advantage and do an in-&-out style of combat so that you are not easily attacked and not suffering opportunity attacks.
*** An easy out is pick a tortle as your race for a Strength Ranger. They get bonuses to STR and Wisdom (your spell casting ability) and their Natural armour helps make up for their lack of defence. Just an option***
Check out my Disabled & Dragons Youtube Channel for 5e Monster and Player Tactics. Helping the Disabled Community and Players and DM’s (both new and experienced) get into D&D. Plus there is a talking Dragon named Quill.
Most Dex Rangers steer toward the no shield option for the archery or two weapon front.
If you want to compare to a fighter they max at Plate of +8 with no dex bonus. Maybe they go with shield to get +2 = 10.
All of these approaches work similarly for defense. The bigger issues with the Strength Ranger are managing your hands if you go with a shield, and how to manage ranged attacks since a bow/crossbow and a shield don't work with regards to number of hands/reloading.
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sorry being a noob, whats a PAM ranger? and when would it be best to start using a halberd
PAM is the polearm master feat. It allows you to do a lot of things with certain polearms. The first is that it allows you to make an Opportunity Attack on something when it enters your reach. the second is that it allows you to make a bonus action attack with the back side of the polearm for d4+str mod damage.
halberd is a d10 pole weapon with a reach of 10ft, so you will be able to make an OA on any creature that comes within 10 ft of you. If I were building the PAM ranger, I'd start as a variant human, so I could take PAM at level 1. I don't think that rangers can /start/ with a halberd (using starter gear), but they can get a spear to use until they can afford to buy a halberd.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
i can just about afford it, is it worth it as a starter weapon?
ddb.ac/characters/30844584/AWB7ek
In my opinion, yes. if you use a spear, you lose out on reach, and will only have d8 damage for the primary attack rather than d10.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
I play a loxodon str ranger hunter with a dip in war domain cleric weilding a maul with grappler feat it works so damn good
A strength based hunter is a great sword or polearm is no joke. The ranger's AoE spells work with a thrown weapon as well as from ammunition fired from a bow, so a hand axe will work nicely. In lieu of the fighting style for big weapons the defensive fighting style works nicely and with just a dexterity of 14 gives them the same AC as any heavy armor wearer. If you get into feats great weapon master is good and really fun with horde breaker when wading into a sea of "little baddies", that's like 4 attacks a turn! Come level 11 with whirlwind attack you're basically a walking blender. Absorb elements is extra great with a melee ranger as well. And as always, playing a strength focused character allows for great grappling fun!
For Str-based Rangers, Heavily Armored Feat is also a great Feat option. Adds an ASI, dump Dex entirely, and improve Con/Wis so your spells become more potent as well. Hunter, Horizon Walker and Beastmaster are great with these options.
I should have tbh. The class variant features let you easily make one and It would've been something new for our table.
Horizon walker is probably the best choice for a melee Strenger IMO.
With a longsword, duelling, the new fav foe and Planar warrior you can deal 2d8+1d4+5 at level 2 which is quite decent tbh.
I think Swarmkeeper is a great option for a strength ranger. You can move enemies around and keep them off allies. Eventually you can knock them prone. Taking two levels in fighter will give you one additional fighting style for some great potential options. I would go for Great weapon Fighting style and use a heavy weapon. And action surge after knocking the enemy prone will allow you to really target down an enemy. Ranger gets access to some great spells for melee. Zephyr Strike for mobility and a little extra damage.
Your secret is safe with my indifference - Percy
My half-orc Horizon Walker is STR based, took heavily armoured & Resilient (CON) feats. So he predominantly uses a +1 maul w/ Planar Warrior + haste to just keep me rolling all the dice.
Next combat with him I'll swap out haste for guardian of nature (primal beast) and see how that plays for me.
I'm enjoying it much more than I thought I would (when I first started D&D I had a list of "nevers" - I know - and ranger was on it... I'm working my way through the "nevers" now though and some of them are fun!)
You mean swapping figuratively right? Because you literally cant swap haste out on a HW.
Yeah, just in terms of my usual approach to combat is haste + planar warrior + all the attacks (I've been mostly against numerous enemies rather than one big'un which is great for me). I want to try something else out and still effectively be the damage dealing tanky one (gotta protect the squishy rogue!)
A couple sessions back I decided to take my extremely weird Forest Gnome Gloom Stalker 4/ Arcana Cleric 1 who uses a shield the Strength route. Last night's session the module spit out a gnome sized breastplate. The universe has rewarded my little weirdo.
(The Arcana Cleric level was done to 1.Help the party with healing word, so the druid wasn't locked into only healing spells. 2. Have Chill Touch replace the bow and simplify ranged attacks)
I meaqn i will take the twilight cleric MC as soon as i get extra attack to be a better frontliner. And gauntlets of ogre power will await us at the end of the dungeon so i will definetly grab that.
Yep. That is why Bards, Paladins, Druids, and Rangers all get healing. Our bard has a different build in mind, and I know the problems with doing a build and having known spells. Plan is to take 3-9 levels of the cleric eventually to add some basic spell tools to the party. With the changes in Tasha's I am steering closer to 3 than to the 9 I originally planned.
STRENGTH Rangers are fine. If you go that route though know you are going to suffer from a lack of defence. Typically Rangers are forced to choose Dexterity as both their Primary Defensive and Primary Offensive ability (making it their highest stat). If you spec into Strength instead of dexterity you are pulling points away from your Primary Defensive ability and you will need to compensate for it somehow because as a Strength Ranger you are probably going to be in melee a lot. (Unless you are going for a thrown weapon fighting concept)
There is nothing wrong with lacking defence, you just need to be aware of it going in. And its simple enough to compensate for. You can make up for the loss of defence by increasing your Constitution (for more hit points to absorb damage), by increasing your armour class (via things like race, feats, magic item, spells, multi-classing and using a shield), or roll for your stats and hope that you get at least 3 high numbers.
If you go for the Polearm Master Feat (PAM) route you can use tactical positioning to make up for your defence. You can use the reach on the polearm to your advantage and do an in-&-out style of combat so that you are not easily attacked and not suffering opportunity attacks.
*** An easy out is pick a tortle as your race for a Strength Ranger. They get bonuses to STR and Wisdom (your spell casting ability) and their Natural armour helps make up for their lack of defence. Just an option***
Check out my Disabled & Dragons Youtube Channel for 5e Monster and Player Tactics. Helping the Disabled Community and Players and DM’s (both new and experienced) get into D&D. Plus there is a talking Dragon named Quill.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPPmyTI0tZ6nM-bzY0IG3ww
Strength Rangers are just fine for defense.
They naturally top out at 2 (Dex) + 2 (Shield) + 4 (Breastplate) = +8
The Dex Ranger +5 (Dex) + 2 (Studded) = +7, or +5 (Dex) + 2 (Shield) + 2 (Studded) = +9
Most Dex Rangers steer toward the no shield option for the archery or two weapon front.
If you want to compare to a fighter they max at Plate of +8 with no dex bonus. Maybe they go with shield to get +2 = 10.
All of these approaches work similarly for defense. The bigger issues with the Strength Ranger are managing your hands if you go with a shield, and how to manage ranged attacks since a bow/crossbow and a shield don't work with regards to number of hands/reloading.