My ranger is a mixture; when I made her I didn't use any of the Tasha's stuff (because I didn't know it was available) but my DM let me swap out some stuff later on.
Yes pass without trace is a powerful spell and at L10 you have a max of 5 uses of it but Pw/oT and HIPS serve very different purposes. Pwot is all about moving your party without been seen or disturbed. Hips is all about surveillance and scouting. Further while pwot can last for 5 hours it is still a limited resource, hips is only limited by how long you can hold still, even then you can move and rest as many times as you need/want in that sense it’s an unlimited resource. The proper comparison is not PWOT It’s Nature’s veil - 4 rounds/day of invisibility. For that I think Hips is superior. Similarly while we have to compare FE and FF because they replace each other the real comparison is FF to hunter’s Mark. FF’s big advantage there is that you get it at L1 while HM comes online at L2 (300 EXP later-whoopee). FF does 1D4 damage on 1 hit each round for up to 2 minutes a day and it can be activated on a hit. That is a DPR increase of roughly 1 for those 2 minutes - useful but not extremely so. HM gives you a DPR increase of 3-5 ( depending on how often you hit using TWF) for upto 2 hours (3 hrs at L3) on multiple targets. Yes there is bonus action roadblock with your drake but it’s significant enough. My typical spell selection is HM & goodberry at L2 then adding zephyr strike at L3 and PWOT at L5.
If that works you. I have never liked Hunter's Mark as a spell. For the way I play a Ranger other spells just seem a lot better. Favored Foe is ok and when I am attacking and not concentrating it is nice to have a moderate (if limited) damage without using a spell slot.
For me the tradeoff with hunters Mark is 10 goodberries, while I don't have to do that to use favored foe. You also have to attack a lot over multiple rounds to make HM worth spending the slot. Since FF doesn't use a slot you can use it with little regard for opportunity cost. At level 5+ You can use FF three times in a single round because there is no action to mark - hit and use favored foe, hit a second time use FF again (ending concentration on the first), hit a 3rd time with a bonus action attack and use it a third time (and keep concentrating on the 3rd hit).
You also have to attack a lot over multiple rounds to make HM worth spending the slot. Since FF doesn't use a slot you can use it with little regard for opportunity cost. At level 5+ You can use FF three times in a single round because there is no action to mark - hit and use favored foe, hit a second time use FF again (ending concentration on the first), hit a 3rd time with a bonus action attack and use it a third time (and keep concentrating on the 3rd hit).
That would be exorbitantly expensive, but you could do it, sure. Then you wouldn't have it for the rest of your adventuring day. But goodberry is radically better on a druid due to having extra slots for it - a Ranger's slots are scarce enough that it's weird to end a day with slots left over, and the best use of goodberry is yesterday's spare slots.
And lest we forget, the topic of this thread is a Drakewarden, whose best spell is usually "DRAGON!", which isn't concentration, which means they have extra incentive to use both HM and FF as a way to conserve slots and use their slots on their dragon and occasionally other spells like Aid.
You also have to attack a lot over multiple rounds to make HM worth spending the slot. Since FF doesn't use a slot you can use it with little regard for opportunity cost. At level 5+ You can use FF three times in a single round because there is no action to mark - hit and use favored foe, hit a second time use FF again (ending concentration on the first), hit a 3rd time with a bonus action attack and use it a third time (and keep concentrating on the 3rd hit).
That would be exorbitantly expensive, but you could do it, sure.Then you wouldn't have it for the rest of your adventuring day. But goodberry is radically better on a druid due to having extra slots for it - a Ranger's slots are scarce enough that it's weird to end a day with slots left over, and the best use of goodberry is yesterday's spare slots.
And lest we forget, the topic of this thread is a Drakewarden, whose best spell is usually "DRAGON!", which isn't concentration, which means they have extra incentive to use both HM and FF as a way to conserve slots and use their slots on their dragon and occasionally other spells like Aid.
It is not really as expensive as you think. At level 9+ more often than not I go to bed without all my FF used because I am usually concentrating on something else and can't use it. Add in the rounds when I don't attack and can't use it and there is not really a lot of opportunity. So at high level when I get the chance I generally spam it. At low level not as much, but I still do when trying to maximize damage.
Once you hit 9th level and can cast Summon Fey it is pretty hard to argue that HM or FF will be a good use of your concentration..
Summoning your dragon is a 1st level slot unless you run out of the free use and 1st level slots.
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That's a good way to do it.
If that works you. I have never liked Hunter's Mark as a spell. For the way I play a Ranger other spells just seem a lot better. Favored Foe is ok and when I am attacking and not concentrating it is nice to have a moderate (if limited) damage without using a spell slot.
For me the tradeoff with hunters Mark is 10 goodberries, while I don't have to do that to use favored foe. You also have to attack a lot over multiple rounds to make HM worth spending the slot. Since FF doesn't use a slot you can use it with little regard for opportunity cost. At level 5+ You can use FF three times in a single round because there is no action to mark - hit and use favored foe, hit a second time use FF again (ending concentration on the first), hit a 3rd time with a bonus action attack and use it a third time (and keep concentrating on the 3rd hit).
That would be exorbitantly expensive, but you could do it, sure. Then you wouldn't have it for the rest of your adventuring day. But goodberry is radically better on a druid due to having extra slots for it - a Ranger's slots are scarce enough that it's weird to end a day with slots left over, and the best use of goodberry is yesterday's spare slots.
And lest we forget, the topic of this thread is a Drakewarden, whose best spell is usually "DRAGON!", which isn't concentration, which means they have extra incentive to use both HM and FF as a way to conserve slots and use their slots on their dragon and occasionally other spells like Aid.
It is not really as expensive as you think. At level 9+ more often than not I go to bed without all my FF used because I am usually concentrating on something else and can't use it. Add in the rounds when I don't attack and can't use it and there is not really a lot of opportunity. So at high level when I get the chance I generally spam it. At low level not as much, but I still do when trying to maximize damage.
Once you hit 9th level and can cast Summon Fey it is pretty hard to argue that HM or FF will be a good use of your concentration..
Summoning your dragon is a 1st level slot unless you run out of the free use and 1st level slots.