The ranger has some really strong features. The issue with the ranger is that it has some bad subclasses. If you pick something like Gloomstalker, you'll do really well. If you pick something like Beastmaster, you're going to likely get frustrated with those mechanics. I won't go into all the useful feats, those should be obvious (Sharpshooter, GWM, etc). I'm also not going to talk about races because once Tasha's comes out, any race can be good at any class. There will be better ones but you can tailor the stats to be in all the right places so it's not super worth talking about.
Lets dive into it level by level. Great, good, ok, bad, TRAP.
Level 1 - Nothing special here. Most classes have a boring level 1 and the Ranger has only situational abilities at level 1 that are very good in exploration but that might not come into play often.
1d10 Hit dice. Only barbarians are going to have more HP.
Proficiencies
Light, Medium armor, shields. Simple and Martial weapons. Only missing heavy armor.
Strengthand DexteritySaving throws. Dexterity is arguably the best saving throw to get. Strength is arguably the worst. It's pretty standard to get one good one and one not good one.
Skills. The skills aren't great. You do get perception, arguably one of the best. You don't get acrobatics which is weird. Survival and Nature are very good in some campaigns. Other campaigns those won't get a lot of use. Stealth is useful. Investigation is good although your INT is likely a dump stat so that's not ideal.
Favored Enemy.I honestly hate how this makes you get so specific. It might be very useful depending on the campaign assuming you make the right decisions. It also depends on the DM. Giving the player reasons to use this is fun but if the DM doesn't do that it's wasted. That is more an issue with the DM though.
Natural Explorer. I have the same issues with this as favored enemy. It gets an OK rating as opposed to bad because there are less options meaning it will come up more often. You can usually ask the GM what the setting looks like and make your decisions based on that. Mostly a coastal campaign? Easy pick! It is again situational based on the DM though. The bonuses it provides could be useful and fun if the DM gives good opportunities to use them. If not, well that's more on the DM than the feature.
Level 2 - You get 2 good features in spell casting and Fighting style.
Spell Casting. You are half caster just like a paladin. You have some very good spells like Hunter's Mark, Goodberry, Absorb Elements, and Zephyr Strike right at level 1. Fighting Style. No GWF here but that's ok. It's not generally considered all that great anyway. My personal favorite here is Archery but all the options are good.
Level 3 - So mixed here. This is where the problems with Rangers really hit. There are fantastic options and god awful options for the subclass choice. I'll get into this more later.
Subclass. Depends on what you pick.
Primeval awareness. This is another one of those situational abilities that could be good with the right DM or might never ever come up.
Level 4 - Pretty standard ASI.
Level 5 - Pretty solid power spike here.
Extra Attack.
Level 5 gets you some useful 2nd level spells like Pass Without Trace, Healing Spirit (although the new version is less good for a Ranger because they'll typically not bump up Wisdom until later), Darkvision (situationally), and Spike Growth. [Tooltip Not Found] is great if your DM allows UA material or if you reading this after Tasha's came out (and this hopefully has become official material).
Level 6 - Another Favored enemy and another favored terrain.
Level 7 - Subclass feature. Depends on what subclass you took. Might be real bad. You also get another spell slot.
Level 8 - Another ASI
Land Stride. Not a bad ability. Not amazing but it's useful when it's useful.
Level 9 - More spells!
You're getting level 3 spells now and a pretty good power spike. Conjure Animals is a great spell even at level 9. There are some other situationally useful spells here as well.
Level 10 - Oh level 10....
Hide in Plane Sight. There are much easier ways to surprise an enemy or hide. It could be useful I suppose.
Level 11 - Subclass feature.
Level 12 - ASI
Level 13 - 4th level spells! Only a handful of them but there are some very good options.
If you are a ranged Ranger, Vanish has a lot of potential. If you're melee oriented, Vanish it's less useful but still good.
Level 15 - Subclass feature.
Level 16 - ASI
Level 17 - If you made it this far... CONGRATS!
You finally are getting your highest level spells. They are all very good spells. Swift Quiver is a fantastic way to up your damage per round. Steel Wind Strike are both good AOE damage options although it's pretty late in the game for this much damage. Still good stuff though.
Level 18 - Goodbye being annoyed by invisible creatures!
Feral Senses - You can see invisible creatures (pretty much). It's situational but it's a great feature.
Level 19 - ASI
Level 20 - It's... ok.
Foe Slayer... This isn't bad if you've made good (lucky) choices for your Favored enemies. When it works, it's nice to have! When it doesn't, it's the worst capstone ever.
So let's talk about this a little. The starting features are pretty solid. The middle isn't amazing and the features and spells in the highest tier of play is actually quite strong. If you take Sharpshooter you'll be throwing out a good amount of damage. If you don't take that (or GWM), you're going to be doing pretty average damage. Take Sharpshooter. It works so well with Archery fighting style. Your bonus action is free to cast things like Hunter's Mark and eventually Swift Quiver. If this was everything you got out of the class, it wouldn't be all that bad. Damage is good, utility is good (or great with the right DM).
That brings us to the Subclasses. Here is where we are going to find there are bad options and good options.
I'll start with the bad.
Beast Master - So this gets a lot of grief and rightfully so. There are some gimmicky things that I won't get into that make it useful but overall this is messy at best. It's abilities actually take away from the base ranger kit. It's nuts. At level 3 you can either have your pet attack, or yourself! You're likely better off going with yourself which means it just hangs out doing nothing for a while.
Ranger's Companion. This is why you're here and it makes me sad. Its squishy, its limited, and its damage might actually LOWER your average DPR at certain points in the game. When it dies, it's a pain to replace.
Exceptional Training. At least it can use the help action using your bonus action now? You still should not be using it to attack but at least it's attacks count as magical now. I suppose if you don't have a magic weapon, you might be better off having it attack if you're dealing with enemies resistant to nonmagic attacks.
Bestial Fury.This is actually pretty good! The problem is that your beast at level 11 (when you get this) only has 44 hitpoints which is less than a Wizard with 10 Con... It's going to get smashed. Even if it manages to be protected from melee, it'll get hammered by spells or ranged attacks. Hopefully your DM gives it death saves...
Share Spells. Ok... This isn't awful. There are some useful spells. Zephyr Strike comes to mind as a good option. Still, it's not great. You're likely going to be casting protective spells on yourself so your buddy can get them too to try to keep it alive.
Hunter - Hunter is tricky because honestly there are some really good choices and some not so good choices. I like the late game abilities but not enough for me to forgive how mediocre the 3 and 7 abilities are. At worst, these abilities add a little bit to the class. At best, they'll give you some nice bonuses. If the campaign is sure to go later (Read level 11 or beyond) this is actually fairly good. Great AOE abilities of this class make it much much stronger.
Hunter's Prey - My issues are that one of them is just ok and the others are highly situational.
Colossus slayer gives you an extra 1d8 damage per round. Ok. Not awful but it's pretty meh especially as you get higher in levels. It's consistent though.
Giant Killer is fairly good if you're fighting large creatures a lot or if you're small. My issue is that you're basically required to be in melee range so you'll likely want to go GWM. However, to get the most out of this, you'll want to be a small creature and you're not going to be going GWM. If you're not small, there are a ton of times this won't come into play, especially in the earlier levels. If you are small and go crossbow expert and sharpshooter, I actually think this is quite good. Trouble with Crossbow expert is you are a bit bonus action starved. This is oddly enough my favorite but it requires a very specific build to be useful. Later game enemies are more often large or larger so this becomes better no matter what the build is.
Horde Breaker is crazy situational. It requires you to be fighting multiple enemies at once (not bad) AND the targets have to be right next to each other. When those things are true, it's great. But how often is that going to be true? A lot? Than this is very good. Rarely? Than this is very bad.
Defensive Tactics - These are not great either!
Escape the horde continues this subclasses issues with situational abilities. So if you're a ranged ranger and went colossus slayer or horde breaker, this is alright I guess but why aren't you just using Zephyr Strike? By this point you have plenty of level 1 spell slots. If you're melee, this is rarely going to be useful.
Multi-Attack Defense is good for those melee types and situationally good for the archer types. It does get better later in the game because you're more likely to be fighting creatures with more attacks.
Steel Will is fine but when you consider if you had gone gloomstalker you'd have proficiency in wisdom saves by this level you'll realize this is actually not very good.
Multi-Attack - Kudos to you, this is a good ability. No matter what one you take, you'll be doing good area damage which is generally not a strength of the Ranger (until later spells give good options). Doesn't help much vs that BBG but it's super useful in most other fights. Volley is probably better but they're both very good.
Superior hunters defense lets the hunter stag good abilities from other classes. It's a little late in the game for things Evasion or Uncanny dodge, but they are good abilities. Stand against the tide is theoretically alright too.
Monster Slayer - I like it. It's probably the weakest of the subclasses from Xanathar's, but it's still good. As it gets higher in levels it becomes very strong at handling enemy spellcasters.
Extra Spells! I... think these are ok. Banishment is a nice spell. Magic circle is a great spell, although not as good as it is for other classes that can pair it with things like Glyph of Warding. The others are nice situational spells.
Hunter's Sense will be one of those rarely used abilities. It requires an action and for you to be within 60 feet. If it was longer it'd be better. 60 feet is within range of dragons blindsight and just generally not far to do from a hidden position. If you use it, neat.
Slayers Preyis a worse version of Colossus Slayer from the Hunter and it takes your bonus action. The level 15 ability makes it very useful though.
Supernatural Defense Is a very nice defensive ability. On average, it's a +3 to your saves or athletics check to escape grapple. Even more interesting, it also helps maintain concentration!
Magic-user's Nemesisis more or less a free counterspell. Always great! It's a little better than counterspell though because it isn't a spell so it can't be counterspelled!
Slayer's Counter is very nice. It further beefs up the Monster Slayers ability to take down casters, but basically requires you to be an archer type ranger otherwise you're unlikely to be in range of the caster. You get a free attack and if it hits you automatically pass the saving throw.
Horizon Walker - Love it!
Extra Spells! So many good additions to your spell list. SO MANY. You also get Banishment and [Tooltip Not Found] just like the Monster Slayer, but the rest of your shiny new spells are fantastic. The best of which is... Haste!
Detect Portalis another one of those abilities you'll rarely use. You probably won't use it at all until the later parts of the game.
Planar Warrior is... ok most of the time, occasionally amazing. It's nice for free damage on your bonus action. My main concern is there is already a lot of good things to do with ranger bonus actions. Having it require your bonus action every turn really hurts it as well because that keeps you from casting Hunter's Mark or Zephyr Strike. The Horizon Walker is best played as a melee ranger and that means taking the GWM feat. What's unfortunate is that if you critically hit with that feat, you don't get the free bonus action attack because you've already used this ability. It also can't be used in conjunction with Swift Quiver if you do decide to go with an archer type. However, it does change all damage to force damage which is situationally fantastic. If something is resistant or immune to your weapons normal damage type, having the option to change it to force is great! Otherwise there might be better things to use your bonus action on.
Ethereal Step is situationally useful but for the most part I'm unimpressed with it.
Distant Strike is why I think the Horizon Walker is best as a melee ranger. It also lets you attack 3 different creatures which is nice. It's also very good for ranged rangers though because it lets you create space without using movement or other resources. All around, this is great.
Spectral Defenseis one of the best defensive abilities from the ranger subclasses. The ability to give yourself resistance to an attack once per round is very good.
Gloomstalker - This is without question my favorite.
Extra Spells! Haste is probably better than Greater Invisibility, but they're both very very good. Overall I'm a fan of the spell list although I like the Horizon Walkers spells more.
Dread Ambusher is very very good on its own. On the first round of every combat, you get an extra attack that deals a little extra damage. You also get a bonus to your Initiative equal to your wisdom modifier. Fun fact, if you have 2 levels in fighter and have the extra attack feature from somewhere, you get a total of 6 attacks in that first round if you action surge. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT? This is so strong with action surge. Because none of those use your bonus action, you can start that round off with hunter's mark. If all this hits the same target and you're using a bow with sharpshooter, you're looking at 6d8(longbow) + 30(Dex) + 60(sharpshooter) + 6d6(hunter's mark) damage on that first round. You can do that as soon as level 7. If you take 2 levels in fighter, this is obviously amazing and lets you 1 shot a lot of scary creatures. You could come close to 1 shotting an adult dragon with this type of setup. It's amazing. But by itself, it's still very strong.
Umbral Sightis so good. If you went a race without darkvision, you have it now! If you already had it, you have it even stronger now! And if you're fighting an enemy that is relying on darkvision to see you.. you're invisible to them! You get advantage on those attacks because they can't see you and they have disadvantage on attacks against you!
Iron Mind is amazing. You now have proficiency in the 2 most important saving throws in Dex and Wis.
Stalkers Flurry is another ability that very nice. If you miss on an attack, you can just go ahead and make another attack. If you don't miss in a round, it obviously does nothing. But turning a miss into a hit is huge. It says something about how highly I rank this subclass when this is the lowest rated one.
Shadowy Dodge is another fantastic defensive option. The Gloomstalker isn't doing a ton with the reaction so this is very strong. If you took sentinel or otherwise have some reason to use your reaction regularly, this isn't as good. But as is, it's great.
It really comes down to how bad the Beast Master is. It's awful. It literally makes the hunter worse for having chosen it. The other ones are at least ok. Things like favored enemy or favored terrain are often criticized. Honestly though, a game where those aren't useful is somewhat similar to a game where a bards skill based abilities aren't useful. When a DM makes them useful, they're very useful and fun abilities. In terms of combat, the base ranger is strong. Most of the subclasses are good and add some interesting things to the base ranger. The only problem is the beast master. The ranger is otherwise in a good spot.
I feel...the opposite...about a lot of what you presented about the ranger and beast master subclass. Would you mind if I offered some counter perspectives?
“The beast obeys your commands as best it can.” PHB
The beast can do a lot of things but most players interpret the beast master as only being able to command a few things. Should the word “commands” be interpreted in the general meaning of the word or does “commands” have a very limited meaning restricted to the things explicitly mentioned in the beast master description.
If you interpret “commands” in a broader sense then commanding anything the beast can do is possible. The ranger can command the beast to pick up a stick. It can be commanded to Search. And it can be commanded to take the Ready action.
Ready action is not one of the actions that requires the ranger’s action to command. Therefore it requires no action from the ranger but uses the beast’s action and reaction.
The rules don't explicitly say that you can do that. It seems like a very gimmicky and unintended thing to allow the ranger to use its action to attack/extra attack and have the pet ready an action to attack. As much as I'd like to buff the beast master, I don't think that's the answer.
At level 3 you can either have your pet attack, or yourself! You're likely better off going with yourself which means it just hangs out doing nothing for a while.
I think saying the pet does nothing a level 3 is a bit of exaggeration, the pet can still take its reaction to opportunity attack and automatically takes the dodge action, so it provides some battlefield control that other rangers subclasses simply do not get at this level.
The ranger has some really strong features. The issue with the ranger is that it has some bad subclasses. If you pick something like Gloomstalker, you'll do really well. If you pick something like Beastmaster, you're going to likely get frustrated with those mechanics. I won't go into all the useful feats, those should be obvious (Sharpshooter, GWM, etc). I'm also not going to talk about races because once Tasha's comes out, any race can be good at any class. There will be better ones but you can tailor the stats to be in all the right places so it's not super worth talking about. [Right out of the gate you tell people that the beast master sucks. I wish you’d edit that and let people, at least, get through your article so they can hear your wrap up thoughts after the information has been presented.]
Lets dive into it level by level. Great, good, ok, bad, TRAP.
Level 1 - Nothing special here. Most classes have a boring level 1 and the Ranger has only situational abilities at level 1 that are very good in exploration but that might not come into play often.
1d10 Hit dice. Only barbarians are going to have more HP.
Proficiencies
Light, Medium armor, shields. Simple and Martial weapons. Only missing heavy armor.
Strengthand DexteritySaving throws. Dexterity is arguably the best saving throw to get. Strength is arguably the worst. It's pretty standard to get one good one and one not good one.
Skills. The skills aren't great. You do get perception, arguably one of the best. You don't get acrobatics which is weird. Survival and Nature are very good in some campaigns. Other campaigns those won't get a lot of use. Stealth is useful. Investigation is good although your INT is likely a dump stat so that's not ideal. [I guess that strength saving throws don’t come up as often or are as “lifesaving” as some of the others, but fighters and barbarians are the only others that get it, and it’s really good for grapple escapes and such.]
Favored Enemy.I honestly hate how this makes you get so specific. It might be very useful depending on the campaign assuming you make the right decisions. It also depends on the DM. Giving the player reasons to use this is fun but if the DM doesn't do that it's wasted. That is more an issue with the DM though. [I don’t disagree here. Any ability or skill is DM dependent, really. When used this is a great set of abilities that expands as the story expands. If this is thought of, not as a combat buff as it has been in the past, but more of a travel guide ability, it is wonderful. You are being kind. Most people just scream at me that this is completely reliant on the DM to make useful. It is, but if these types of things aren’t useful in a game then the game being played wouldn’t need a ranger at all, or knowledge cleric, or scout rogue, or many things involving either knowledge type skills and abilities or travel. An MMO type game wouldn’t need anything more than damage, hit points, and saving throws. If time, distance, knowledge, investigation, planning, NPC interaction, and survival are part of a game than this is a great ability.]
Natural Explorer. I have the same issues with this as favored enemy. It gets an OK rating as opposed to bad because there are less options meaning it will come up more often. You can usually ask the GM what the setting looks like and make your decisions based on that. Mostly a coastal campaign? Easy pick! It is again situational based on the DM though. The bonuses it provides could be useful and fun if the DM gives good opportunities to use them. If not, well that's more on the DM than the feature.[I agree. Same type of thing as above. People love the scout rogue replacement, but that is just survival expertise. Many characters can have survival proficiency (including the ranger), and anyone (if using multicasting) can have expertise with a one level dip in rogue. Natural explorer is so much more than the lone survival skill. A non-ranger trying to get all the ranger stuff needs to be a scout rogue/archer fighter with the outlander background, and then that’s just tracking, finding food, and shooting arrows. The ranger is more than that, even if you only count spellcasting.]
Level 2- You get 2 good features in spell casting and Fighting style.
Spell Casting. You are half caster just like a paladin. You have some very good spells like Hunter's Mark, Goodberry, Absorb Elements, and Zephyr Strikeright at level 1. Fighting Style. No GWF here but that's ok. It's not generally considered all that great anyway. My personal favorite here is Archery but all the options are good. [Spellcasting is an area where many folks don’t look at when balancing or comparing the ranger to other classes. That is a shame as the spells available can do a lot for the ranger and the group as a whole. Paladins get “more spells”, but most of those spells fall under three categories: healing, damaging, and removing conditions. The ranger spell list is much more varied. They get less and can’t swap them out, but that might be for a good reason. A paladin’s flexibility with the ranger spell list would be bonkers.]
Level 3- So mixed here. This is where the problems with Rangers really hit. There are fantastic options and god awful options for the subclass choice. I'll get into this more later. [The beast master is not that bad. At least, I don’t think it is.]
SubDepends on what you pick.
Primeval awareness. This is another one of those situational abilities that could be good with the right DM or might never ever come up. [This ability, and a couple others coming up, are sleepers. They are better than we think when first reading them or even using them. A mile isn’t that big an area. Getting this information in a mile can easily be used by even a single ranger. A ranger with a beast is even better. And a whole party is amazing! If the ranger is in their favored terrain, I interpret (just like SO MANY other spells and abilities in the PHB) that the words “up to” means the ranger can chose the range they want to extend their awareness of their surroundings, either as small as a mile, 2.5 miles, etc. The great part is if in the favored terrain the last part of that ability kicks in and you get crazy amounts of information. If any of the favored enemy choices are “pinged” then you get that buff too. If both apply, well, that is like an automatic success. (Dragon favored enemy and in favored terrain. Primeval awareness set off for 2 miles.) Ranger: “Dragons are nearby.” (Makes an expertise survival check at advantage to find out how many, where, when, and to find them.) This can be used in a city. Should there be aberrations in a small city? Likely not. Crack this off and find out if there are. The last game I was a player in, the DM and I talked and I gave him control of this ability. I know I know, “player agency”, “DM dependent”, yeah yeah. We used this like “I sense a disturbance in the force.” And it was fantastic! It became a plot device for the DM and, when used, made my ranger feel like a Jedi Knight.]
Level 4 - Pretty standard ASI.
Level 5- Pretty solid power spike here.
Extra Attack.
Level 5 gets you some useful 2nd level spells like Pass Without Trace, Healing Spirit(although the new version is less good for a Ranger because they'll typically not bump up Wisdom until later), Darkvision (situationally), and Spike Growth. [Tooltip Not Found] is great if your DM allows UA material or if you reading this after Tasha's came out (and this hopefully has become official material).
Level 6- Another Favored enemy and another favored terrain.
Level 7- Subclass feature. Depends on what subclass you took. Might be real bad. You also get another spell slot.
Level 8 - Another ASI
Land Stride. Not a bad ability. Not amazing but it's useful when it's useful.[This ability really bothers me, in how it isn’t used. Difficult terrain should be everywhere. Downed creatures, climbing, ice, wet surfaces, steep stairs, a forest, heavy snow, sludge in a sewer, moving through other creatures, etc. These things are rarely used by tables, I assume, because it “isn’t fun” or “too much to keep track of”. (sigh) These are some of the things that make the game, and especially combat, really interesting. Another note is this ability with the spell (which you get at level 9) plant growth. This combination can shut down a small army. Again “if these elements of the game are used in the game” the ranger is amazing. But SO MANY games are Talk. Fight. Cast spell. Reward. Rest.]
Level 9- More spells!
You're getting level 3 spells now and a pretty good power spike. Conjure Animals is a great spell even at level 9. There are some other situationally useful spells here as well.[Yeah! Conjure animals is how I think the base ranger class really keeps up with the martials. A 3 level smite does 4d8 damage. 8 wolves do…more than that. Even if your DM is, on purpose or not, cutting off the legs of this spell for the ranger (or druid), at the very least and most ineffective this spell gives the party 8 help actions. Plant growth is amazing. Lightning arrow is great, but the third level slot is great for hail of thorns too. Hail of thorns is a small area, but that is its strength, if you ask me. Hitting two targets with hail of thorns is like a ranged smite. Hitting a large target makes for an even bigger “splash area” too.]
Level 10- Oh level 10....
Hide in Plane Sight.There are much easier ways to surprise an enemy or hide. It could be useful I suppose. [I guess this is an interpretation thing, but I see this ability as a wonderful two-part ability. 1. Spend one minute applying camouflage. 2. You can try to hide simply by pressing yourself against a flat surface (even the floor!). This expands the rules for hiding just like the wood elf and light foot halfling racial abilities. I 100% play this as time can take place between step one and step two of this ability. (The party is in a dungeon.) Fighter: “Why is the ranger covered in soot, and manure?” (Then the ranger hides against a wall when a beholder comes around the corner.) Fighter: “Oh.” At this point the ranger ignores difficult terrain so they can apply this and still keep up with the group. The ranger can also travel and remain on alert (on watch) to danger and perform another activity at the same time, so this is an always on feature, or can be. Many tables “pause the game” to allow PCs to cast ritual spells, or to do something like cast false life over and over again. Why can’t a ranger always have this “on”?]
Level 11- Subclass feature.
Level 12- ASI
Level 13 - 4th level spells! Only a handful of them but there are some very good options.
A few standouts on your 4th level spells would include Conjure Woodland Beings, Guardian of Nature, and Freedom of Movement. [Again, upcasting low level spells is a big way in how the ranger makes up for so few spells known compared to the paladin (it’s not really that many less). Fog cloud gets bigger, Damage spells do more damage. Healing spells heal more. Rangers make more use of few spells by design.]
Level 14 - VANISH
If you are a ranged Ranger, Vanishhas a lot of potential. If you're melee oriented, Vanish it's less useful but still good. [Rogues get this early. Yes. So to can you with two levels in rogue. What does a fighter get at levels 13 and 14? An extra use of indomitable and an ASI. Rangers new spells, spell slots, and can now hide as a bonus action. Comparing this specific ability to the rogues, meh. Comparing this ability to a fighter, great! After level 11 the ranger and other martial classes really start to show their differences. Rangers being super mobile, hiding, conjuring animals, and doing big AoE damage is their thing.]
Level 15 - Subclass feature.
Level 16- ASI
Level 17- If you made it this far... CONGRATS!
You finally are getting your highest level spells. They are all very good spells. Swift Quiveris a fantastic way to up your damage per round. Steel Wind Strike are both good AOE damage options although it's pretty late in the game for this much damage. Still good stuff though. [People love high level ranger spells! I do see a lot of folks complain about ranger and paladin spell damage at high levels compared to other spell casters…how is that a thing? A ranger casting spells at this level should be compared (if at all) to a fighter, barbarian, or rogue, and not a wizard or sorcerer. That being said, this is juicy stuff. Huge fog clouds! 16 wolves! Massive AoE damage!]
Level 18- Goodbye being annoyed by invisible creatures!
Feral Senses- You can see invisible creatures (pretty much). It's situational but it's a great feature. [This is an interesting ability. The “if not hidden from you” bit confuses folks. I interpret this as not the hidden condition but being behind something, like a wall, bolder, or door. It’s less clear than the rogue, but a larger area of effect, and I believe more powerful.]
Level 19- ASI
Level 20- It's... ok.
Foe Slayer... This isn't bad if you've made good (lucky) choices for your Favored enemies. When it works, it's nice to have! When it doesn't, it's the worst capstone ever. [If you are looking at this as just a damage boost than it is ok. If you are looking at to-hit probabilities then the bonus to-hit is mathematically amazing! It’s not as flashy or exciting as a paladin’s 20 abilities, but it’s very flexible and effective in a boring “crunchy” kind of way. I would think number crunchers would love this ability.]
So let's talk about this a little. The starting features are pretty solid. The middle isn't amazing and the features and spells in the highest tier of play is actually quite strong. If you take Sharpshooter you'll be throwing out a good amount of damage. If you don't take that (or GWM), you're going to be doing pretty average damage. Take Sharpshooter. It works so well with Archery fighting style. Your bonus action is free to cast things like Hunter's Mark and eventually Swift Quiver. If this was everything you got out of the class, it wouldn't be all that bad. Damage is good, utility is good (or great with the right DM).
That brings us to the Subclasses. Here is where we are going to find there are bad options and good options.
I'll start with the bad.
Beast Master- So this gets a lot of grief and rightfully so. There are some gimmicky things that I won't get into that make it useful but overall this is messy at best. It's abilities actually take away from the base ranger kit. It's nuts. At level 3 you can either have your pet attack, or yourself! You're likely better off going with yourself which means it just hangs out doing nothing for a while.
Ranger's Companion. This is why you're here and it makes me sad. Its squishy, its limited, and its damage might actually LOWER your average DPR at certain points in the game. When it dies, it's a pain to replace. [Until levels 11 and higher the attacks of the beast are not meant to replace those of the ranger. The beast is an added option to the ranger’s toolkit. Some beasts can do more damage than the ranger (snakes and panther) at levels 1 through 4, but other beats have “effects” with their attacks that are the main feature. The grapple or knockdown effect are great and akin to some of the battle master maneuvers. A ranged ranger can have a melee component, for guarding and defending, and AoO, something the ranger loses when focusing on ranged combat. A Melee ranger can have a nice ranged option, something they lose with the melee focus. All of this is repeatable. The beast can die, sure. But the battle master only has a few uses each battle. The beast (unless your DM hates you) should be making death saving throws. Also, if you do nothing with the beast it is adding hit points, attacks of opportunity, and dodging, which could put its armor class in the same range as the fighter or paladin at any given point in the game, easy. In the DMG, beasts (any stat block) can be tinkered with by the DM (with the player if the DM allows) by RAW to make them a little more what they (the player) are looking for. Want a police style dog that restrains a target instead of knocking it down Take a wolf, replace the pack tactics and knock down effect with an auto retraining bite (just like the giant frog). It will still be a medium or smaller, CR 1/4 or lower, “beast”. Give the blood hawk a bonus action perception check (just like the dragons’ legendary actions). Give your beast proficiency in the athletics skill (no effect on CR) so they can be better at moving enemies into your AoE spell range. 0-2 saving throw proficiencies have no effect on the CR of a creature, so give them a couple! Constitution and wisdom would supplement the ranger’s saving throws nicely! Most beasts (the “better” ones, d6 damage die or +3 attack mod) actually do have damage output the same as the ranger when the ranger is NOT using hunter’s mark, and there are all kinds of mathematical advantages that can be squeezed out of that, especially after level 10. One last thing, the beast master ranger and the beast companion take their turns at the same time. They each have a turn, but just like conjured animals, groups of the same type of monsters, controlled mounts, and groups of animals pulling a chariot or wagon, the two turns of the ranger and beast happen interweaved. This is VERY important to the subclass as this is what sets it apart form a find steed, steel defender, familiar, “pet”, or anything else. Working in unison, having the options to time the actions of each, is what makes the beast master so powerful. Other spells and abilities tell you the thing rolls its own initiative, not so with the beast companion. The companion IS THE RANGER’S SUBCLASS. It is part of the ranger. Part of the ranger’s turn. If you think I’m stupid, please try playing the BMR with this interpretation of the turn overlapping and try for yourself.]
Exceptional Training. At least it can use the help action using your bonus action now? You still should not be using it to attack but at least it's attacks count as magical now. I suppose if you don't have a magic weapon, you might be better off having it attack if you're dealing with enemies resistant to nonmagic attacks. [This is great. Expanded action economy. Magic attacks. People will say the familiar can do the help action better. Sure. They have 1 hit point and an armor class of like 11. A ranger can have a familiar just as anyone can get one. The companion has a PC level AC and hit points. The companion is a threat on the battlefield as well, not JUST a flying help action. Options, options, and more options.]
Bestial Fury.This is actually pretty good! The problem is that your beast at level 11 (when you get this) only has 44 hitpoints which is less than a Wizard with 10 Con... It's going to get smashed. Even if it manages to be protected from melee, it'll get hammered by spells or ranged attacks. Hopefully your DM gives it death saves...[This is big. Consistent damage output with the beast and ranger combined is now on par with the fighter, paladin, hunter, rogue, and barbarian. “Enough” hit points. An armor class or 18 to 22. One big thing here is hunter’s mark is both half as effective for the BM ranger (only one attack) but it is also only half as debilitating when the ranger is NOT using hunter’s mark, so other spells like hail of thorns and lightning arrow end up doing MORE damage for the BM versus the hunter.]
Share Spells. .. This isn't awful. There are some useful spells. Zephyr Strikecomes to mind as a good option. Still, it's not great. You're likely going to be casting protective spells on yourself so your buddy can get them too to try to keep it alive. [This is how the beast stays alive at epic game play levels. Zephyr strike, absorb elements, cure wounds, all of this will keep your beast alive and well. Then there is the attack potential. Only a handful of spells work with this, but more spells work with this that with the paladin find steed. Lots of stuff to unpack here, but just know that this is a big buff.]
It really comes down to how bad the Beast Master is. It's awful. It literally makes the hunter worse for having chosen it. The other ones are at least ok. Things like favored enemy or favored terrain are often criticized. Honestly though, a game where those aren't useful is somewhat similar to a game where a bards skill based abilities aren't useful. When a DM makes them useful, they're very useful and fun abilities. In terms of combat, the base ranger is strong. Most of the subclasses are good and add some interesting things to the base ranger. The only problem is the beast master. The ranger is otherwise in a good spot. [I really don't think the beats master is bad or awful. I don't even think it's the worst subclass in the game. The ranger base, and the BM subclass, have rules that are written poorly. Several of the abilities work together in ways that other classes don't have to think about. People think and feel bad things about the beast master ranger, but mathematically its not bad, its good. Used as a subclass feature and a resource, it is quite good! Quite strong! Not just for a ranger, but as a subclass. What I think when I'm having discussions with folks about this class and subclass is that people aren't playing games that use many of these parts of the game anyway, people are interpreting the abilities in a way that works against the class and subclass, and the subclass plays differently then people's expectations of the mechanics.
Another thing (small, but great) about the beast companion is it acts on its own when the ranger is absent or unconscious. This is really neat! If (when) the ranger is knocked out, the beast can come protect them or drag them away to safety (if it's big enough). A panther or wolf could drag a ranger. A blood hawk or eagle could just fly and attack the enemy. What happens if the ranger uses speak with animals command the beast companion to stay with the wizard and guard them while the ranger goes off to do something else?! What happens if the ranger is multiclassed into druid and is now a crab?! What if other members of the party can cast speak with animals?! It is just an animal, but it isn't a familiar or magical summoned thing, so all of the normal fun things that interact with a beast would work with the ranger's companion.
Also let's not forget that the companion can also attune items, meaning beastmaster ranger is the only character besides the artificer that can make use of 6 attunement items.
Also let's not forget that the companion can also attune items, meaning beastmaster ranger is the only character besides the artificer that can make use of 6 attunement items.
Nice!
We should start a thread about all the magic items a companion can use!
Luckstone, ring of protection, magic barding, cloak of displacement, etc.
Also let's not forget that the companion can also attune items, meaning beastmaster ranger is the only character besides the artificer that can make use of 6 attunement items.
This is a massive stretch, no offense. Aside from some items having a specific requirement, attunement requires focusing on the item in an appropriate way for it's type for the duration of a short rest. I'm all for broad interpretation of mechanics, but beasts focusing on magical items in order to awaken their properties is a bit much for me.
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It is not a stretch RAW every creature regarless of INT can attune to Items.
Attuning to an item requires a creature to spend a short rest focused on only that item while being in physical contact with it (this can't be the same short rest used to learn the item's properties). This focus can take the form of weapon practice (for a weapon), meditation (for a wondrous item), or some other appropriate activity. If the short rest is interrupted, the attunement attempt fails. Otherwise, at the end of the short rest, the creature gains an intuitive understandingof how to activate any magical properties of the item, including any necessary command words.
Since the focus can take any form one want there is nothing stopping beasts from doing it. Also since the understanding is intuitive. If a PC with 3 Int can focus on an item so can a Beast with 3 int. The only requirement is that is done during a short rest.
Attuning to an item requires a creature to spend a short rest focused on only that item while being in physical contact with it (this can't be the same short rest used to learn the item's properties). This focus can take the form of weapon practice (for a weapon), meditation (for a wondrous item), or some other appropriate activity. If the short rest is interrupted, the attunement attempt fails. Otherwise, at the end of the short rest, the creature gains an intuitive understanding of how to activate any magical properties of the item, including any necessary command words.
This might technically be within the rules as written but it definitely falls under gimmicky. I can't see any beasts being able to attune to an item. Maybe one that is intelligent like the Giant Owl... Either way this is clearly unintended.
The ranger has some really strong features. The issue with the ranger is that it has some bad subclasses. If you pick something like Gloomstalker, you'll do really well. If you pick something like Beastmaster, you're going to likely get frustrated with those mechanics. I won't go into all the useful feats, those should be obvious (Sharpshooter, GWM, etc). I'm also not going to talk about races because once Tasha's comes out, any race can be good at any class. There will be better ones but you can tailor the stats to be in all the right places so it's not super worth talking about.
Lets dive into it level by level. Great, good, ok, bad, TRAP.
So let's talk about this a little. The starting features are pretty solid. The middle isn't amazing and the features and spells in the highest tier of play is actually quite strong. If you take Sharpshooter you'll be throwing out a good amount of damage. If you don't take that (or GWM), you're going to be doing pretty average damage. Take Sharpshooter. It works so well with Archery fighting style. Your bonus action is free to cast things like Hunter's Mark and eventually Swift Quiver. If this was everything you got out of the class, it wouldn't be all that bad. Damage is good, utility is good (or great with the right DM).
That brings us to the Subclasses. Here is where we are going to find there are bad options and good options.
I'll start with the bad.
It really comes down to how bad the Beast Master is. It's awful. It literally makes the hunter worse for having chosen it. The other ones are at least ok. Things like favored enemy or favored terrain are often criticized. Honestly though, a game where those aren't useful is somewhat similar to a game where a bards skill based abilities aren't useful. When a DM makes them useful, they're very useful and fun abilities. In terms of combat, the base ranger is strong. Most of the subclasses are good and add some interesting things to the base ranger. The only problem is the beast master. The ranger is otherwise in a good spot.
Why are you doing this?
Fun
I feel...the opposite...about a lot of what you presented about the ranger and beast master subclass. Would you mind if I offered some counter perspectives?
certainly.
“The beast obeys your commands as best it can.” PHB
The beast can do a lot of things but most players interpret the beast master as only being able to command a few things. Should the word “commands” be interpreted in the general meaning of the word or does “commands” have a very limited meaning restricted to the things explicitly mentioned in the beast master description.
If you interpret “commands” in a broader sense then commanding anything the beast can do is possible. The ranger can command the beast to pick up a stick. It can be commanded to Search. And it can be commanded to take the Ready action.
Ready action is not one of the actions that requires the ranger’s action to command. Therefore it requires no action from the ranger but uses the beast’s action and reaction.
The rules don't explicitly say that you can do that. It seems like a very gimmicky and unintended thing to allow the ranger to use its action to attack/extra attack and have the pet ready an action to attack. As much as I'd like to buff the beast master, I don't think that's the answer.
I think saying the pet does nothing a level 3 is a bit of exaggeration, the pet can still take its reaction to opportunity attack and automatically takes the dodge action, so it provides some battlefield control that other rangers subclasses simply do not get at this level.
Why is everyone responding in Bold?
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No idea when I posted my post wasn't bold
EDIT: this thread is bugged all posts after the reply are being automatically bolded lmao
The ranger has some really strong features. The issue with the ranger is that it has some bad subclasses. If you pick something like Gloomstalker, you'll do really well. If you pick something like Beastmaster, you're going to likely get frustrated with those mechanics. I won't go into all the useful feats, those should be obvious (Sharpshooter, GWM, etc). I'm also not going to talk about races because once Tasha's comes out, any race can be good at any class. There will be better ones but you can tailor the stats to be in all the right places so it's not super worth talking about. [Right out of the gate you tell people that the beast master sucks. I wish you’d edit that and let people, at least, get through your article so they can hear your wrap up thoughts after the information has been presented.]
Lets dive into it level by level. Great, good, ok, bad, TRAP.
So let's talk about this a little. The starting features are pretty solid. The middle isn't amazing and the features and spells in the highest tier of play is actually quite strong. If you take Sharpshooter you'll be throwing out a good amount of damage. If you don't take that (or GWM), you're going to be doing pretty average damage. Take Sharpshooter. It works so well with Archery fighting style. Your bonus action is free to cast things like Hunter's Mark and eventually Swift Quiver. If this was everything you got out of the class, it wouldn't be all that bad. Damage is good, utility is good (or great with the right DM).
That brings us to the Subclasses. Here is where we are going to find there are bad options and good options.
I'll start with the bad.
It really comes down to how bad the Beast Master is. It's awful. It literally makes the hunter worse for having chosen it. The other ones are at least ok. Things like favored enemy or favored terrain are often criticized. Honestly though, a game where those aren't useful is somewhat similar to a game where a bards skill based abilities aren't useful. When a DM makes them useful, they're very useful and fun abilities. In terms of combat, the base ranger is strong. Most of the subclasses are good and add some interesting things to the base ranger. The only problem is the beast master. The ranger is otherwise in a good spot. [I really don't think the beats master is bad or awful. I don't even think it's the worst subclass in the game. The ranger base, and the BM subclass, have rules that are written poorly. Several of the abilities work together in ways that other classes don't have to think about. People think and feel bad things about the beast master ranger, but mathematically its not bad, its good. Used as a subclass feature and a resource, it is quite good! Quite strong! Not just for a ranger, but as a subclass. What I think when I'm having discussions with folks about this class and subclass is that people aren't playing games that use many of these parts of the game anyway, people are interpreting the abilities in a way that works against the class and subclass, and the subclass plays differently then people's expectations of the mechanics.
01011000Lehrer, thanks for tolerating my responses. I'm not trying to be confrontational. Just some friendly exchange of ideas.
Another thing (small, but great) about the beast companion is it acts on its own when the ranger is absent or unconscious. This is really neat! If (when) the ranger is knocked out, the beast can come protect them or drag them away to safety (if it's big enough). A panther or wolf could drag a ranger. A blood hawk or eagle could just fly and attack the enemy. What happens if the ranger uses speak with animals command the beast companion to stay with the wizard and guard them while the ranger goes off to do something else?! What happens if the ranger is multiclassed into druid and is now a crab?! What if other members of the party can cast speak with animals?! It is just an animal, but it isn't a familiar or magical summoned thing, so all of the normal fun things that interact with a beast would work with the ranger's companion.
Also let's not forget that the companion can also attune items, meaning beastmaster ranger is the only character besides the artificer that can make use of 6 attunement items.
Nice!
We should start a thread about all the magic items a companion can use!
Luckstone, ring of protection, magic barding, cloak of displacement, etc.
This is a massive stretch, no offense. Aside from some items having a specific requirement, attunement requires focusing on the item in an appropriate way for it's type for the duration of a short rest. I'm all for broad interpretation of mechanics, but beasts focusing on magical items in order to awaken their properties is a bit much for me.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
It is not a stretch RAW every creature regarless of INT can attune to Items.
Since the focus can take any form one want there is nothing stopping beasts from doing it. Also since the understanding is intuitive. If a PC with 3 Int can focus on an item so can a Beast with 3 int. The only requirement is that is done during a short rest.
Agreed.
This might technically be within the rules as written but it definitely falls under gimmicky. I can't see any beasts being able to attune to an item. Maybe one that is intelligent like the Giant Owl... Either way this is clearly unintended.
Hey! The weird auto-bolding thing stopped!
How about non-atrunement items?