Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
Sign in- Marketplace
Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
Sign in
I feel like the genie paladin is a flavor that makes more sense on a ranger. they get elemental strikes, but a ranger does not . invades the space of the ranger being the primal gish .odd paladins get to be better support, damage and tank then ranger.
They have the Drake Warden which allows for you to choose a damage type when you summon them. I like the mechanic and links it well to the Ranger's other themes. It doesn't really allow strikes but links the drake's damage to an energy type. I am still a little puzzled about how the genie paladin works with an oath. It just feels more like they slapped the genie warlock's flavor on a paladin.
As for Drake Warden not being in 2024 yet, I have chosen to believe the designers that things not republished are able to be played with. There are tables where the Genie Paladin won't be available because its not in the PHB. Any of the pre 2024 material is no different.
As for Paladin being better support, damage, and tank. Ranger is better ranged, exploration, and multi target. That design makes sense with the lore. Now I wish the ranged damage were a little better but that was clearly a point of design for 2024.
It more like hybrid it with the Sorcerer kit. You used to have to pick one, since the Oath used to be bound to a certain type of Djinn. But they made it open all to make the upfront rules more flexible as a player's choice, to go with character. A similar thematic issue opened up with base Warlock when they moved to standardized 3rd level class, implying the patrons are either fighting over the warlock, or won't get access to real power until they commit to one.
As for elemental...... I think they are purposely avoiding certain things because of problems with 2014 Ranger. They are the only core class that are highly dependent on biomes, and usually have features tied to it. Not even Druid has this many issues, despite both it and Ranger having similar nature themes.
So an "elemental" themed Ranger poses a lot of issues, as why would a Dessert Ranger have access to cold and thunder damage in their designs, when both are largely absent from their environment. I would actually make the argument that they should have more routine access to Poison, Fire and Acid damage, as those are commonly accessible in natural environments. The Ranger's identity crisis is kind of aggravating, as more of its feature set is side lined by modern play habits, and the rule adjustments just wash it out even further without giving it something back.
I've more than once suggested they need to rethink hunter's mark to base line make it Big Game and Hoard Breaker oriented, so the Ranger can use it generically in and out of combat. They do two things, Survive in an environment and Hunt things. So make their core kit a platform that lets it build off into specifics, and better use the subclass to define their method of hunting. Fighter and Barbarian are in close warriors, Rouge is hit and run, so Ranger should be made for combat versatility.