These “pets” will have at least 95% as many hit points as a wizard and maybe as few as 65%, they can be healed by any spell or ability the same a wizard can, most likely will have an AC rivaling that if the frontline martials, and can use many magic items as well, including passive items like magic barding, a luckstone, and the like. Making them about as beefy as a bladesinger, valor bard, or hexblade warlock. And that’s just in combat. Instead of thinking of the “pet” as weak and not as many hit points as a wizard, think of it adding 44 temporary hit points (at level 11) to all of the party members on the front line that adds another reaction attack, gives the ranger a free bonus action help action, possibly adds to the ranger’s damage (giant poisonous snake, wolf, panther, etc.) or adds special effects to the ranger’s attacks (grapple, knockdown, restrained, poison damage, blindsight, etc.). It can do many things a familiar can do, more with the right spell(s), can be ridden by small creatures, and many of them have perception and stealth abilities that are light years above most of any of the other party members. Another great little thing to note is because the beast’s attack(s) take the ranger’s action and the ranger only gets to make 1 attack with the beast, this makes their big attack spells (other than Hunter’s Mark) much more effective! When a ranger uses ensnaring strike, hail of thorns, lightning arrow, and the like, the loose two triggers of Hunter’s Mark. So they add the other spell’s damage to their attack(s) but (mathematically speaking) should subtract the potential Hunter’s mark damage from that equation. For example, at level 11:
The beast master is great combined with the most purely offense-oriented beasts. Nothing is wrong with it except that people often choose companions that don’t help in combat but help in roleplay. Even if that does happen, it’s still good.
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All hail the great and mighty platypus.
Resisting is simply standing in front of the tide and pushing at it. Even if you endure at first, you will eventually break down. Adapting, by contrast, is turning into a fish.
-me
Rangers are not underpowered. They’re just exploration-oriented.
The beast master seems weak, but that’s just because the ranger isn’t very affected by its subclass. It gains most abilities from the main class.
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All hail the great and mighty platypus.
Resisting is simply standing in front of the tide and pushing at it. Even if you endure at first, you will eventually break down. Adapting, by contrast, is turning into a fish.
-me
Rangers are not underpowered. They’re just exploration-oriented.
The big issue with the Beastmaster is that it gives very open-ended build option, but unless you really know what you're doing it's too easy to screw it up and have a dysfunctional character.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
The beast master seems weak, but that’s just because the ranger isn’t very affected by its subclass. It gains most abilities from the main class.
the ranger actiually derives a lot of its combat strength from their subclass, arguably even moreso than the fighter since their third extra attack is linked to their subclass at 11th level and your 3rd level feature always has an really nice increase to your total damage output per round except for the gloom stalker letting you instead deal a lot more damage in the first round of combat
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i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
30.5 (hunter ranger with longbow, Hunter’s Mark, and colossus slayer)
56 (hunter ranger with longbow, hail of thorns with 3rd level slot hitting two targets and failing their save, and colossus slayer)
35 (beast master ranger with longbow, wolf, and Hunter’s Mark)
64.5 (beast master ranger with wolf, longbow, hail of thorns with a 3rd level slot hitting two targets and failing their save)
The math works out. 11 is just such a long wait to get to feeling like I have a subclass in combat. I wish it was tied up in some scale like wild shape instead of taking so long to come on line and do what is written on the tin.
The PHB ranger subclasses are like a subclass within a subclass.
Hunter? Do you specialize in fighting single large foes or many smaller foes?
Beast Master? Do you focus on fighting and straight damage output? Do you focus on combat effects? Do you focus on infiltration, spying, or search and rescue?
Imagine a fighter subclass that specializes in finesse weapons, bows, short swords, rapiers, etc., and has subclass abilities that give it options for ranged off-hand attacks that have an effect rider, like a repeating shot hand crossbow that has a 30-60% of knocking an opponent prone, restraining them, or grappling them. Imagine this same fighter subclass grantee scaling temporary hit points to the entire group. Imagine your fighter has a movement speed of 40-80 feat if they are a goblin, halfling, or gnome. Imagine this fighter subclass gets an automatic bonus action help action and magical attacks at level 7. Imagine this fighter subclass has the ability to see from the perspective of a hawk a mile up in the air, or can see into the bowels of a castle without actually being there. These are all things the beast master can do. Do it do all of it all the time? No. But even a subclass like the battle master has to pick a path when they start choosing maneuvers. Don’t think of the beast as something that has to be the thing that does all the damage or even damage at all. A fighter does more damage than a ranger a lot of the time. But to grapple or shove an enemy a fighter might have to sacrifice an entire attack! Battle masters can do a lot of neat tricks like pushing a target, but a beast master does it well, repeatedly, and with the added action options, hit points, high armor class, and other enteractions for exploring outside of combat.
The PHB ranger subclasses are like a subclass within a subclass.
Hunter? Do you specialize in fighting single large foes or many smaller foes?
Beast Master? Do you focus on fighting and straight damage output? Do you focus on combat effects? Do you focus on infiltration, spying, or search and rescue?
Imagine a fighter subclass that specializes in finesse weapons, bows, short swords, rapiers, etc., and has subclass abilities that give it options for ranged off-hand attacks that have an effect rider, like a repeating shot hand crossbow that has a 30-60% of knocking an opponent prone, restraining them, or grappling them. Imagine this same fighter subclass grantee scaling temporary hit points to the entire group. Imagine your fighter has a movement speed of 40-80 feat if they are a goblin, halfling, or gnome. Imagine this fighter subclass gets an automatic bonus action help action and magical attacks at level 7. Imagine this fighter subclass has the ability to see from the perspective of a hawk a mile up in the air, or can see into the bowels of a castle without actually being there. These are all things the beast master can do. Do it do all of it all the time? No. But even a subclass like the battle master has to pick a path when they start choosing maneuvers. Don’t think of the beast as something that has to be the thing that does all the damage or even damage at all. A fighter does more damage than a ranger a lot of the time. But to grapple or shove an enemy a fighter might have to sacrifice an entire attack! Battle masters can do a lot of neat tricks like pushing a target, but a beast master does it well, repeatedly, and with the added action options, hit points, high armor class, and other enteractions for exploring outside of combat.
yeah too bad the subclasses in xanatars are both really bad in comparison to the ones in the player's handbook when it comes to raw damage output and flexibillity while also having some tricks like expanded spell lists that the ranger really needs, also typically when an grappling beast hits with an attack, the target receives no saving throw, the target simply is grappled automatically and must waste an action if they want to even try to escape
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i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
The PHB ranger subclasses are like a subclass within a subclass.
Hunter? Do you specialize in fighting single large foes or many smaller foes?
Beast Master? Do you focus on fighting and straight damage output? Do you focus on combat effects? Do you focus on infiltration, spying, or search and rescue?
Imagine a fighter subclass that specializes in finesse weapons, bows, short swords, rapiers, etc., and has subclass abilities that give it options for ranged off-hand attacks that have an effect rider, like a repeating shot hand crossbow that has a 30-60% of knocking an opponent prone, restraining them, or grappling them. Imagine this same fighter subclass grantee scaling temporary hit points to the entire group. Imagine your fighter has a movement speed of 40-80 feat if they are a goblin, halfling, or gnome. Imagine this fighter subclass gets an automatic bonus action help action and magical attacks at level 7. Imagine this fighter subclass has the ability to see from the perspective of a hawk a mile up in the air, or can see into the bowels of a castle without actually being there. These are all things the beast master can do. Do it do all of it all the time? No. But even a subclass like the battle master has to pick a path when they start choosing maneuvers. Don’t think of the beast as something that has to be the thing that does all the damage or even damage at all. A fighter does more damage than a ranger a lot of the time. But to grapple or shove an enemy a fighter might have to sacrifice an entire attack! Battle masters can do a lot of neat tricks like pushing a target, but a beast master does it well, repeatedly, and with the added action options, hit points, high armor class, and other enteractions for exploring outside of combat.
yeah too bad the subclasses in xanatars are both really bad in comparison to the ones in the player's handbook when it comes to raw damage output and flexibillity while also having some tricks like expanded spell lists that the ranger really needs, also typically when an grappling beast hits with an attack, the target receives no saving throw, the target simply is grappled automatically and must waste an action if they want to even try to escape
Really? I would argue that Gloom Stalker in the right setting is better than the hunter, being invisible to something that relies on darkvision is huge
Yes! Hunter’s Mark does not interact with the beast companion. But you “lose” less Hunter’s Mark hits with a beast master when the beast is attacking. Pretty cool!
30.5 (hunter ranger with longbow, Hunter’s Mark, and colossus slayer) = (1d8 + 1d6 + 5)^2 + 1d8
56 (hunter ranger with longbow, hail of thorns with 3rd level slot hitting two targets and failing their save, and colossus slayer = (1d8 + 5)^2 + (3d10)^2 + 1d8
64.5 (beast master ranger with wolf, longbow, hail of thorns with a 3rd level slot hitting two targets and failing their save) = (1d8 + 5) + (3d10)^2 + (2d4 + 2 + 4)^2
Yes! Hunter’s Mark does not interact with the beast companion. But you “lose” less Hunter’s Mark hits with a beast master when the beast is attacking. Pretty cool!
30.5 (hunter ranger with longbow, Hunter’s Mark, and colossus slayer) = (1d8 + 1d6 + 5)^2 + 1d8
56 (hunter ranger with longbow, hail of thorns with 3rd level slot hitting two targets and failing their save, and colossus slayer = (1d8 + 5)^2 + (3d10)^2 + 1d8
64.5 (beast master ranger with wolf, longbow, hail of thorns with a 3rd level slot hitting two targets and failing their save) = (1d8 + 5) + (3d10)^2 + (2d4 + 2 + 4)^2
The PHB ranger subclasses are like a subclass within a subclass.
Hunter? Do you specialize in fighting single large foes or many smaller foes?
Beast Master? Do you focus on fighting and straight damage output? Do you focus on combat effects? Do you focus on infiltration, spying, or search and rescue?
Imagine a fighter subclass that specializes in finesse weapons, bows, short swords, rapiers, etc., and has subclass abilities that give it options for ranged off-hand attacks that have an effect rider, like a repeating shot hand crossbow that has a 30-60% of knocking an opponent prone, restraining them, or grappling them. Imagine this same fighter subclass grantee scaling temporary hit points to the entire group. Imagine your fighter has a movement speed of 40-80 feat if they are a goblin, halfling, or gnome. Imagine this fighter subclass gets an automatic bonus action help action and magical attacks at level 7. Imagine this fighter subclass has the ability to see from the perspective of a hawk a mile up in the air, or can see into the bowels of a castle without actually being there. These are all things the beast master can do. Do it do all of it all the time? No. But even a subclass like the battle master has to pick a path when they start choosing maneuvers. Don’t think of the beast as something that has to be the thing that does all the damage or even damage at all. A fighter does more damage than a ranger a lot of the time. But to grapple or shove an enemy a fighter might have to sacrifice an entire attack! Battle masters can do a lot of neat tricks like pushing a target, but a beast master does it well, repeatedly, and with the added action options, hit points, high armor class, and other enteractions for exploring outside of combat.
yeah too bad the subclasses in xanatars are both really bad in comparison to the ones in the player's handbook when it comes to raw damage output and flexibillity while also having some tricks like expanded spell lists that the ranger really needs, also typically when an grappling beast hits with an attack, the target receives no saving throw, the target simply is grappled automatically and must waste an action if they want to even try to escape
Really? I would argue that Gloom Stalker in the right setting is better than the hunter, being invisible to something that relies on darkvision is huge
Each of the ranger subclasses give it a little boost in damage output in more or less situational ways. I like to look at the math of these bumps over 3, 4, or 5 rounds of combat as they, like many of the ranger's abilities and spells aren't an "on demand" type of thing like a divine smite or fireball. I like three round combats myself as it gives the spikey nova single target builds a chance to compete more with the sustained builds. So over three rounds of combat, then divided by 3 to give us a average per round, at level 10, using a longbow, with a +5 dexterity modifier, assuming all hits (meaning no to-hit calculations) and no critical hit damage, all against a single non-changing target, and using hunter's mark, we have:
Hunter (using colossus slayer): (30.5/round) Easy calculation here as it's the same each round. The trick is you want to hit an already wounded target at at least once. Each round is (((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2) + 1d8).
Beast Master (using a wolf): (29.66/round) I'm a firm believer that the appropriate strategy for the beast master (player's handbook version) ranger up until level 10, and perhaps even beyond that, is to have the beast present in combat but dodging with it's respectable AC (17 for a wolf at this level) instead of using one of the ranger's attacks. You can still use a ranger's attack especially when hunter's mark isn't up (because most of the beast attacks are about equal to a ranger with a longbow) and/or you want the rider effect the beast brings (knockdown, grapple, restrained, poison damage, extra claw attack, etc.). But if you are using zero of your action economy to move the beast into good tactical positions, it dodges automatically, and it makes it's reaction attack of opportunity automatically. I find I can get an opportunity attack out of the beast every 2-4 rounds easily, and surprisingly, that adds up more than you'd think. Turn 1: ((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2).Turn 2: ((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2). Turn 3: ((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2). One AoO from the wolf: (2d4 +2 + 4).
Gloomstalker (using dread ambusher): (31.83/round) This is like a high risk, high reward kind of damage bump, as it does big damage, but only potentially, and you have one shot at it at the beginning of the combat. Also, the longer the combat goes on round by round, the less the damage per round is for this subclass. But, it does have the highest number on this list. Fun too!. Best case scenario is: Turn 1: ((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2) + (1d8 + 5 + 1d6 + 1d8). Turn 2: ((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2). Turn 3: ((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2).
Monster Slayer (using slayer's prey): (28.33/round) Tough because you are either playing defense or stacking up the slayer's prey with hunter's mark over the first two turns, so long as the target stays the same, the best case scenario is: Turn 1: ((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2). Turn 2: (((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2) + 1d6). Turn 3: (((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2) + 1d6).
Horizon Walker (using planar warrior): (29/round) Same as above, in that you need the first two turns to get both hunter's mark and planar warrior up and not have the target die or need to change. Best case scenario is: ((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2). Turn 2: (((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2) + 1d8). Turn 3: (((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2) + 1d8).
Swarm Keeper (using gathered swarm): (29.5/round) Another one that's easy to calculate as it just adds the 1d6 to an attack once per turn. Each round is (((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2) + 1d6).
Fey Wanderer (using dreadful strikes): (28.5/round) Also straight forward to calculate. Just add a 1d4 to an attack once per turn. Each round is (((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2) + 1d4).
Beast Master (using a wolf): (29.66/round) I'm a firm believer that the appropriate strategy for the beast master (player's handbook version) ranger up until level 10, and perhaps even beyond that, is to have the beast present in combat but dodging with it's respectable AC (17 for a wolf at this level) instead of using one of the ranger's attacks. You can still use a ranger's attack especially when hunter's mark isn't up (because most of the beast attacks are about equal to a ranger with a longbow) and/or you want the rider effect the beast brings (knockdown, grapple, restrained, poison damage, extra claw attack, etc.). But if you are using zero of your action economy to move the beast into good tactical positions, it dodges automatically, and it makes it's reaction attack of opportunity automatically. I find I can get an opportunity attack out of the beast every 2-4 rounds easily, and surprisingly, that adds up more than you'd think. Turn 1: ((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2).Turn 2: ((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2). Turn 3: ((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2). One AoO from the wolf: (2d4 +2 + 4).
the wolf is of course the most iconic choice and probably one of the better ones that is listed in the player's handbook but especially if you can afford studded leather barding the giant poisonous snake is much better both in terms of armor class, accuracy and damage, even when a target succeeds on their saving throw against its poison the attack will still deal most damage per hit than the wolf and even most player characters, having it as a doge tank is a neat idea but is kind of tempting fate a bit much, it only has so much health, especially past 11th level you will only be sacroficing one shitty longbow attack with hunter's mark for two additional attacks by your pet
Fey Wanderer (using dreadful strikes): (28.5/round) Also straight forward to calculate. Just add a 1d4 to an attack once per turn. Each round is (((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2) + 1d4).
its +1d4 per turn per enemy, yes if you are using the favorite spell of every ranger hunter's mark that will be the most optimal thing to single down one foe and only target them, but if you are using alternative spells and tactics then you will probably be choosing different targets for each attack, dealing +2d4 damage each turn
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i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
The giant poisonous snake is better against enemies which do not have resistance (or outright immunity) to poison damage. Otherwise, damage goes to the wolf. Additionally, both are capable of the same armor class. The wolf also has better senses and proficiency with Stealth, which the snake lacks. But the snake has a swim speed.
Every beast is a choice; they all have trade-offs. I like the panther because it has a bonus action and a climb speed. To each their own.
Note that all but two Ranger Subclasses get additional offensive boosts at 11th level.
Hunter gets their choice of either melee or ranged crowd control
Beast Master (both versions) have their pets take an additional attack.
Gloom Stalkers get to reroll a miss (to-hit is more important than people often assume)
Horizon Walkers get a third attack if multi-targeting. In addition to a 20-30 free teleport speed and functional immunity to opportunity attacks.
Fey Wanderer's get free Summon Fey and essentially a third or even fourth attack through them.
Hell, Swarm Keepers increase their extra damage die by one. But their focus is less combat and more battlefield control, so they're not as concerned with not getting the dpr boosts the others get.
That leaves Monster Slayer, who chooses to go for an anti-caster approach. It's a very undervalued role to have in the party but you do start seeing more and more casters as you go up in levels, so don't sleep on their mini-counterspell.
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These “pets” will have at least 95% as many hit points as a wizard and maybe as few as 65%, they can be healed by any spell or ability the same a wizard can, most likely will have an AC rivaling that if the frontline martials, and can use many magic items as well, including passive items like magic barding, a luckstone, and the like. Making them about as beefy as a bladesinger, valor bard, or hexblade warlock. And that’s just in combat. Instead of thinking of the “pet” as weak and not as many hit points as a wizard, think of it adding 44 temporary hit points (at level 11) to all of the party members on the front line that adds another reaction attack, gives the ranger a free bonus action help action, possibly adds to the ranger’s damage (giant poisonous snake, wolf, panther, etc.) or adds special effects to the ranger’s attacks (grapple, knockdown, restrained, poison damage, blindsight, etc.). It can do many things a familiar can do, more with the right spell(s), can be ridden by small creatures, and many of them have perception and stealth abilities that are light years above most of any of the other party members. Another great little thing to note is because the beast’s attack(s) take the ranger’s action and the ranger only gets to make 1 attack with the beast, this makes their big attack spells (other than Hunter’s Mark) much more effective! When a ranger uses ensnaring strike, hail of thorns, lightning arrow, and the like, the loose two triggers of Hunter’s Mark. So they add the other spell’s damage to their attack(s) but (mathematically speaking) should subtract the potential Hunter’s mark damage from that equation. For example, at level 11:
30.5 (hunter ranger with longbow, Hunter’s Mark, and colossus slayer)
56 (hunter ranger with longbow, hail of thorns with 3rd level slot hitting two targets and failing their save, and colossus slayer)
35 (beast master ranger with longbow, wolf, and Hunter’s Mark)
64.5 (beast master ranger with wolf, longbow, hail of thorns with a 3rd level slot hitting two targets and failing their save)
The beast master is great combined with the most purely offense-oriented beasts. Nothing is wrong with it except that people often choose companions that don’t help in combat but help in roleplay. Even if that does happen, it’s still good.
All hail the great and mighty platypus.
Resisting is simply standing in front of the tide and pushing at it. Even if you endure at first, you will eventually break down. Adapting, by contrast, is turning into a fish.
-me
Rangers are not underpowered. They’re just exploration-oriented.
My homebrew setting: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/d-d-beyond-general/story-lore/94809-wakai-a-setting-inspired-by-japanese-folklore-and
This account is kinda old and I haven’t used it in a while
The beast master seems weak, but that’s just because the ranger isn’t very affected by its subclass. It gains most abilities from the main class.
All hail the great and mighty platypus.
Resisting is simply standing in front of the tide and pushing at it. Even if you endure at first, you will eventually break down. Adapting, by contrast, is turning into a fish.
-me
Rangers are not underpowered. They’re just exploration-oriented.
My homebrew setting: https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/d-d-beyond-general/story-lore/94809-wakai-a-setting-inspired-by-japanese-folklore-and
This account is kinda old and I haven’t used it in a while
The big issue with the Beastmaster is that it gives very open-ended build option, but unless you really know what you're doing it's too easy to screw it up and have a dysfunctional character.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
the ranger actiually derives a lot of its combat strength from their subclass, arguably even moreso than the fighter since their third extra attack is linked to their subclass at 11th level and your 3rd level feature always has an really nice increase to your total damage output per round except for the gloom stalker letting you instead deal a lot more damage in the first round of combat
i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
The math works out. 11 is just such a long wait to get to feeling like I have a subclass in combat. I wish it was tied up in some scale like wild shape instead of taking so long to come on line and do what is written on the tin.
The PHB ranger subclasses are like a subclass within a subclass.
Hunter? Do you specialize in fighting single large foes or many smaller foes?
Beast Master? Do you focus on fighting and straight damage output? Do you focus on combat effects? Do you focus on infiltration, spying, or search and rescue?
Imagine a fighter subclass that specializes in finesse weapons, bows, short swords, rapiers, etc., and has subclass abilities that give it options for ranged off-hand attacks that have an effect rider, like a repeating shot hand crossbow that has a 30-60% of knocking an opponent prone, restraining them, or grappling them. Imagine this same fighter subclass grantee scaling temporary hit points to the entire group. Imagine your fighter has a movement speed of 40-80 feat if they are a goblin, halfling, or gnome. Imagine this fighter subclass gets an automatic bonus action help action and magical attacks at level 7. Imagine this fighter subclass has the ability to see from the perspective of a hawk a mile up in the air, or can see into the bowels of a castle without actually being there. These are all things the beast master can do. Do it do all of it all the time? No. But even a subclass like the battle master has to pick a path when they start choosing maneuvers. Don’t think of the beast as something that has to be the thing that does all the damage or even damage at all. A fighter does more damage than a ranger a lot of the time. But to grapple or shove an enemy a fighter might have to sacrifice an entire attack! Battle masters can do a lot of neat tricks like pushing a target, but a beast master does it well, repeatedly, and with the added action options, hit points, high armor class, and other enteractions for exploring outside of combat.
yeah too bad the subclasses in xanatars are both really bad in comparison to the ones in the player's handbook when it comes to raw damage output and flexibillity while also having some tricks like expanded spell lists that the ranger really needs, also typically when an grappling beast hits with an attack, the target receives no saving throw, the target simply is grappled automatically and must waste an action if they want to even try to escape
i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
Really? I would argue that Gloom Stalker in the right setting is better than the hunter, being invisible to something that relies on darkvision is huge
Wait... does this take into account that the wolf companion's attacks aren't procing hunter's mark?
Yes! Hunter’s Mark does not interact with the beast companion. But you “lose” less Hunter’s Mark hits with a beast master when the beast is attacking. Pretty cool!
30.5 (hunter ranger with longbow, Hunter’s Mark, and colossus slayer) = (1d8 + 1d6 + 5)^2 + 1d8
56 (hunter ranger with longbow, hail of thorns with 3rd level slot hitting two targets and failing their save, and colossus slayer = (1d8 + 5)^2 + (3d10)^2 + 1d8
35 (beast master ranger with longbow, wolf, and Hunter’s Mark) = (1d8 + 1d6 + 5) + (2d4 + 2 + 4)^2
64.5 (beast master ranger with wolf, longbow, hail of thorns with a 3rd level slot hitting two targets and failing their save) = (1d8 + 5) + (3d10)^2 + (2d4 + 2 + 4)^2
Why are you squaring the math?
They’re not. I’m not sure why they’re using a caret (which would indicate squaring) but they’re multiplying by two, not squaring.
LOL! Correct. Thank you. My intent was to multiply by 2.
Each of the ranger subclasses give it a little boost in damage output in more or less situational ways. I like to look at the math of these bumps over 3, 4, or 5 rounds of combat as they, like many of the ranger's abilities and spells aren't an "on demand" type of thing like a divine smite or fireball. I like three round combats myself as it gives the spikey nova single target builds a chance to compete more with the sustained builds. So over three rounds of combat, then divided by 3 to give us a average per round, at level 10, using a longbow, with a +5 dexterity modifier, assuming all hits (meaning no to-hit calculations) and no critical hit damage, all against a single non-changing target, and using hunter's mark, we have:
Hunter (using colossus slayer): (30.5/round) Easy calculation here as it's the same each round. The trick is you want to hit an already wounded target at at least once. Each round is (((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2) + 1d8).
Beast Master (using a wolf): (29.66/round) I'm a firm believer that the appropriate strategy for the beast master (player's handbook version) ranger up until level 10, and perhaps even beyond that, is to have the beast present in combat but dodging with it's respectable AC (17 for a wolf at this level) instead of using one of the ranger's attacks. You can still use a ranger's attack especially when hunter's mark isn't up (because most of the beast attacks are about equal to a ranger with a longbow) and/or you want the rider effect the beast brings (knockdown, grapple, restrained, poison damage, extra claw attack, etc.). But if you are using zero of your action economy to move the beast into good tactical positions, it dodges automatically, and it makes it's reaction attack of opportunity automatically. I find I can get an opportunity attack out of the beast every 2-4 rounds easily, and surprisingly, that adds up more than you'd think. Turn 1: ((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2).Turn 2: ((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2). Turn 3: ((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2). One AoO from the wolf: (2d4 +2 + 4).
Gloomstalker (using dread ambusher): (31.83/round) This is like a high risk, high reward kind of damage bump, as it does big damage, but only potentially, and you have one shot at it at the beginning of the combat. Also, the longer the combat goes on round by round, the less the damage per round is for this subclass. But, it does have the highest number on this list. Fun too!. Best case scenario is: Turn 1: ((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2) + (1d8 + 5 + 1d6 + 1d8). Turn 2: ((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2). Turn 3: ((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2).
Monster Slayer (using slayer's prey): (28.33/round) Tough because you are either playing defense or stacking up the slayer's prey with hunter's mark over the first two turns, so long as the target stays the same, the best case scenario is: Turn 1: ((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2). Turn 2: (((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2) + 1d6). Turn 3: (((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2) + 1d6).
Horizon Walker (using planar warrior): (29/round) Same as above, in that you need the first two turns to get both hunter's mark and planar warrior up and not have the target die or need to change. Best case scenario is: ((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2). Turn 2: (((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2) + 1d8). Turn 3: (((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2) + 1d8).
Swarm Keeper (using gathered swarm): (29.5/round) Another one that's easy to calculate as it just adds the 1d6 to an attack once per turn. Each round is (((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2) + 1d6).
Fey Wanderer (using dreadful strikes): (28.5/round) Also straight forward to calculate. Just add a 1d4 to an attack once per turn. Each round is (((1d8 + 5 + 1d6)*2) + 1d4).
the wolf is of course the most iconic choice and probably one of the better ones that is listed in the player's handbook but especially if you can afford studded leather barding the giant poisonous snake is much better both in terms of armor class, accuracy and damage, even when a target succeeds on their saving throw against its poison the attack will still deal most damage per hit than the wolf and even most player characters, having it as a doge tank is a neat idea but is kind of tempting fate a bit much, it only has so much health, especially past 11th level you will only be sacroficing one shitty longbow attack with hunter's mark for two additional attacks by your pet
its +1d4 per turn per enemy, yes if you are using the favorite spell of every ranger hunter's mark that will be the most optimal thing to single down one foe and only target them, but if you are using alternative spells and tactics then you will probably be choosing different targets for each attack, dealing +2d4 damage each turn
i am soup, with too many ideas (all of them very spicy) who has made sufficient homebrew material and character to last an thousand human lifetimes
The giant poisonous snake is better against enemies which do not have resistance (or outright immunity) to poison damage. Otherwise, damage goes to the wolf. Additionally, both are capable of the same armor class. The wolf also has better senses and proficiency with Stealth, which the snake lacks. But the snake has a swim speed.
Every beast is a choice; they all have trade-offs. I like the panther because it has a bonus action and a climb speed. To each their own.
Note that all but two Ranger Subclasses get additional offensive boosts at 11th level.
Hunter gets their choice of either melee or ranged crowd control
Beast Master (both versions) have their pets take an additional attack.
Gloom Stalkers get to reroll a miss (to-hit is more important than people often assume)
Horizon Walkers get a third attack if multi-targeting. In addition to a 20-30 free teleport speed and functional immunity to opportunity attacks.
Fey Wanderer's get free Summon Fey and essentially a third or even fourth attack through them.
Hell, Swarm Keepers increase their extra damage die by one. But their focus is less combat and more battlefield control, so they're not as concerned with not getting the dpr boosts the others get.
That leaves Monster Slayer, who chooses to go for an anti-caster approach. It's a very undervalued role to have in the party but you do start seeing more and more casters as you go up in levels, so don't sleep on their mini-counterspell.