Looking at spinning up a new character for our next campaign and I'm excited about trying out some sort of ranged attacker. At the moment, I'm heavily leaning towards a ranger build. We'll be starting at level 1 and leveling as we play through the campaign, to get a feel for what I'm building I've 'fast-forward' to level 8 to see what I might be getting from the build. So;
My general idea at the moment is a Wood elf, Gloom stalker build, allowing me to open combat with +Dex&Wis for Initiative, Movement of 45ft, BA Hunters Mark, Dread Ambusher Action Attack + 1d8, then the attack action for x2 attacks, using sharpshooter as appropriate.
At later levels, the idea of being able to turn a miss into another attack (Stalkers Fury) sounds particularly powerful with Sharpshooter.
Any feedback on this build, any obvious errors on my part, any downsides to Gloomstalkers? Please let me know.
- 3 levels into rogue, for some expertise, sneak attack and assasinate.
- 2 levels into wizard war magic for bonus initiative / bladesong, for bonus AC, and an extra 10 ft of movement
2 Wear studded leather armor, so you have 16 AC. Also you could buy a couple rapiers/shortswords, to be able to fight in close quarters. Also, during the first couple levels two weapon fighting will deal much more damage than shooting arrows, since you will be able to attack twice (using your BA) Then you can switch to bow and hunter's mark (since you will have acces to spells and a +2 to ranged attacks)
3 If you want to focus even more on dagame try to talk to your DM and get proficiency with Poisoner's kit (instead of thieve's tools). That way you will be able to deal some more damage with posion (basic posion you craft), but for that you will probably need proficiency on nature or survival (instead of deception, animal handling or sleight of hand)
4 If all races are allowed take Aereni Wood Elf intead of the regular wood elf.You will lose Elf Weapon training, which gives you proficiency withthe longsword, shortsword, shortbow, and longbow, (which you alredy have due to Ranger class) but you will gain "Aereni Elf", which doubles your proficiency bonus for one skill of your choice (like expertise)
5 Don't know how to see the background you choose, but I would go for outlander that way you can provide food for almost everybody in your campaign. This choice though is dependant on the campaign setting. Talk to your DM to know where the campaign will be set, and with that information you will be able to choose the background trait, favourite terrain and favourite enemy that most suits the campaign.
Multi-classing is allowed! I toyed with dipping into Rogue but couldn't really find a way to do it without 'hampering' how I quickly my characters power increases (by this I mainly mean my ability access 2nd attack, ASI's and Feats) especially as we're starting at level 1. - Open to it if anyone has a good plan for leveling. In terms of War Wiz, this is a pretty cool suggestion, but honestly, I'm happy with the movement initiative and AC at the moment. I think prefer to plow the levels into something else.
Not something I'd thought of at all, I'd need to buy the equipment (We're only getting the basic starting equipment) but that should be easy enough. - Could you clarify how Two weapon fighting works? Do you mean I could dual wield some rapiers and attack twice (Once with Action, once with BA?) What are the mods for the BA attack?
Have a feeling he's going to say no to this... (Generally as a group we try to steer away from too many alterations like this!) I love the idea though, I'll talk to him.
Done, and done. - Thank you (This actually gave me an extra proficiency, it doesn't 'add' expertise to an already proficient skill, it offered me expertise in anything.)
1 Dipping into rogue would definetly have to be at lvl 5. So go with ranger for 5 levels, get your second attack and then get the 3 levels in rogue to get assasination. Consider that if you do this your ranger will be more of the sneaky guy type (which is something that fits with a gloom stalker).
2.1 At first level you can go with the leather armor, but later on you should have enough gold to buy a studded leather armor (which i think it's 50gp).
2.2 Two weapon fighting clarification: When you take the Attack action and attack with a light melee weapon that you're holding in one hand, you can use a bonus action to attack with a different light melee weapon that you're holding in the other hand. You don't add your ability modifier to the damage of the bonus attack, unless that modifier is negative. If either weapon has the thrown property, you can throw the weapon, instead of making a melee attack with it.
So if you are wielding a shortsword/rapier in each hand you can attack once as normal and then use your BA to attack a second time, but this time you don't add the ability modifier (+4 in this case) to the damage roll.
3 That's a shame, the rules are pretty vague on this, but you can always homebrew
4 Yes, since you have ranger class going with aereni wood elf helps a lot (one extra proficicnecy with ecpertise without loosing anything)
5 Criminal is fine, it always depends on how you want your character to be (persoanlity talking). If you don't like the proficicencies that the background gives you you can alwayas persohnalize the background (and choose the criminal traits)
Yep, first round will basically destroy everybody. Also, if you take an extra level of rogue (to lvl 5) your sneak attack will deal a bit more damage.
>EDIT: Just remember, this build works amaisingly for sneaking up on enemies and surprising them, so you will do a lot of dammage early on, but not as much in the late fight (just try to kill the foes quickly)
Would I be able to cast a Hunters Mark as a BA and still gain the benefits of this feature?
I'm assuming the 'At the start of your first run of each combat...' applies to the second sentence around having an additional attack. (It would seem odd to have this benefit each round, but the way it's written seems to leave it a little open...)
Dread AmbusherXGtE, pg. 42
You add your WIS modifier (+3) to initiative rolls. At the start of your first turn of each combat, your walking speed increases by 10 ft., which lasts until the end of that turn. If you take the Attack action, you can make one additional weapon attack that deals an extra 1d8 damage of the weapon’s damage type on hit.
2.2 Two weapon fighting clarification: When you take the Attack action and attack with a light melee weapon that you're holding in one hand, you can use a bonus action to attack with a different light melee weapon that you're holding in the other hand. You don't add your ability modifier to the damage of the bonus attack, unless that modifier is negative. If either weapon has the thrown property, you can throw the weapon, instead of making a melee attack with it.
So if you are wielding a shortsword/rapier in each hand you can attack once as normal and then use your BA to attack a second time, but this time you don't add the ability modifier (+4 in this case) to the damage roll.
Keep in mind that a rapier is not a light weapon. You'll be limited to shortswords for two weapon fighting unless you want to take the dual wielder feat for-
You gain a +1 bonus to AC while you are wielding a separate melee weapon in each hand.
You can use two-weapon fighting even when the one-handed melee weapons you are wielding aren't light.
You can draw or stow two one-handed weapons when you would normally be able to draw or stow only one.
With this in mind, you would probably be better off sticking with the shortswords and focusing on your ranged build when addressing feats.
I think Sharpshooter is going to be a must have, probably going to take it at my 2nd ASI (Maybe even first). Other than that I'm going to see how the campaign plays out but Alert with the +5 Initiative is looking attractive. (With Dex+Wis getting added to my Initiative I could see myself getting as high as a +15...)
Another feat that could be useful would be mobile or something else that has movement increase in some way. You'll have that covered somewhat with Wood Elf (tabaxi has a great racial for this) and gloom stalker gives the bonus for your first turn and that might be all that you need. However, keep track of the times that you wish you had some more movement available (for quicker positioning, to use for "kiting", as a straight defensive option, etc.) to help you determine if something like that would be beneficial.
Do bear in mind that rogue 2's cunning action does give you a bonus action dash, which will accomplish this quite well at only the cost of the bonus action. If you find that you are needing your bonus action all the time, then cunning action won't be a surefire solution for the extra movement. Otherwise, the need for using a feat to bump the movement is taken care of through a build option you are already considering.
Afternoon Folks,
Looking at spinning up a new character for our next campaign and I'm excited about trying out some sort of ranged attacker. At the moment, I'm heavily leaning towards a ranger build. We'll be starting at level 1 and leveling as we play through the campaign, to get a feel for what I'm building I've 'fast-forward' to level 8 to see what I might be getting from the build. So;
Any feedback on this build, any obvious errors on my part, any downsides to Gloomstalkers? Please let me know.
https://ddb.ac/characters/14278621/CzFr1y
Edit; If you hadn't noticed from the sole focus for the description of the build... I tend to favorthe combat aspect, with Exploration 2nd and RP 3rd.
1 Is multiclassing allowed? If so, you can dip:
- 3 levels into rogue, for some expertise, sneak attack and assasinate.
- 2 levels into wizard war magic for bonus initiative / bladesong, for bonus AC, and an extra 10 ft of movement
2 Wear studded leather armor, so you have 16 AC. Also you could buy a couple rapiers/shortswords, to be able to fight in close quarters. Also, during the first couple levels two weapon fighting will deal much more damage than shooting arrows, since you will be able to attack twice (using your BA) Then you can switch to bow and hunter's mark (since you will have acces to spells and a +2 to ranged attacks)
3 If you want to focus even more on dagame try to talk to your DM and get proficiency with Poisoner's kit (instead of thieve's tools). That way you will be able to deal some more damage with posion (basic posion you craft), but for that you will probably need proficiency on nature or survival (instead of deception, animal handling or sleight of hand)
4 If all races are allowed take Aereni Wood Elf intead of the regular wood elf.You will lose Elf Weapon training, which gives you proficiency withthe longsword, shortsword, shortbow, and longbow, (which you alredy have due to Ranger class) but you will gain "Aereni Elf", which doubles your proficiency bonus for one skill of your choice (like expertise)
5 Don't know how to see the background you choose, but I would go for outlander that way you can provide food for almost everybody in your campaign. This choice though is dependant on the campaign setting. Talk to your DM to know where the campaign will be set, and with that information you will be able to choose the background trait, favourite terrain and favourite enemy that most suits the campaign.
:)
Thanks for the suggestions!
Thanks for these suggestions!! - Updated link; https://ddb.ac/characters/14278621/EPivhZ
1 Dipping into rogue would definetly have to be at lvl 5. So go with ranger for 5 levels, get your second attack and then get the 3 levels in rogue to get assasination. Consider that if you do this your ranger will be more of the sneaky guy type (which is something that fits with a gloom stalker).
2.1 At first level you can go with the leather armor, but later on you should have enough gold to buy a studded leather armor (which i think it's 50gp).
2.2 Two weapon fighting clarification: When you take the Attack action and attack with a light melee weapon that you're holding in one hand, you can use a bonus action to attack with a different light melee weapon that you're holding in the other hand. You don't add your ability modifier to the damage of the bonus attack, unless that modifier is negative. If either weapon has the thrown property, you can throw the weapon, instead of making a melee attack with it.
So if you are wielding a shortsword/rapier in each hand you can attack once as normal and then use your BA to attack a second time, but this time you don't add the ability modifier (+4 in this case) to the damage roll.
3 That's a shame, the rules are pretty vague on this, but you can always homebrew
4 Yes, since you have ranger class going with aereni wood elf helps a lot (one extra proficicnecy with ecpertise without loosing anything)
5 Criminal is fine, it always depends on how you want your character to be (persoanlity talking). If you don't like the proficicencies that the background gives you you can alwayas persohnalize the background (and choose the criminal traits)
:)
I've just added 5 levels of Assassin rogue onto this to go from level 5 to 9.... and wow - The first round is going to be brutal. Love it.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/14278621/EPivhZ
Yep, first round will basically destroy everybody. Also, if you take an extra level of rogue (to lvl 5) your sneak attack will deal a bit more damage.
>EDIT: Just remember, this build works amaisingly for sneaking up on enemies and surprising them, so you will do a lot of dammage early on, but not as much in the late fight (just try to kill the foes quickly)
:)
You add your WIS modifier (+3) to initiative rolls. At the start of your first turn of each combat, your walking speed increases by 10 ft., which lasts until the end of that turn. If you take the Attack action, you can make one additional weapon attack that deals an extra 1d8 damage of the weapon’s damage type on hit.
You can use Hunters Mark and still benefit from Dread Ambusher.
Both the 10ft movement increase and extra attack with +1d8 damage are only during the first round of combat.
Keep in mind that a rapier is not a light weapon. You'll be limited to shortswords for two weapon fighting unless you want to take the dual wielder feat for-
You gain a +1 bonus to AC while you are wielding a separate melee weapon in each hand.
You can use two-weapon fighting even when the one-handed melee weapons you are wielding aren't light.
You can draw or stow two one-handed weapons when you would normally be able to draw or stow only one.
With this in mind, you would probably be better off sticking with the shortswords and focusing on your ranged build when addressing feats.
Thanks Jhfffan - Shortswords it is!
I think Sharpshooter is going to be a must have, probably going to take it at my 2nd ASI (Maybe even first). Other than that I'm going to see how the campaign plays out but Alert with the +5 Initiative is looking attractive. (With Dex+Wis getting added to my Initiative I could see myself getting as high as a +15...)
Another feat that could be useful would be mobile or something else that has movement increase in some way. You'll have that covered somewhat with Wood Elf (tabaxi has a great racial for this) and gloom stalker gives the bonus for your first turn and that might be all that you need. However, keep track of the times that you wish you had some more movement available (for quicker positioning, to use for "kiting", as a straight defensive option, etc.) to help you determine if something like that would be beneficial.
Do bear in mind that rogue 2's cunning action does give you a bonus action dash, which will accomplish this quite well at only the cost of the bonus action. If you find that you are needing your bonus action all the time, then cunning action won't be a surefire solution for the extra movement. Otherwise, the need for using a feat to bump the movement is taken care of through a build option you are already considering.
Incredibly recent Youtube clip talking about possible build/spell/decisions for the Gloomstalker Ranger; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AivbFd6YXv4
Pretty much repeated / covered everything you folks raised with some extra stuff about spell choice.