I'm playing a Tabaxi Revised Ranger/Gloom Stalker and we're approaching Level 4 so I'm debating between the Sharpshooter feat or the ASI. My ability scores are currently... STR: 8, DEX: 17, CON: 14, INT: 10, WIS: 15, CHA: 9.
Since it's Revised Ranger, I always get advantage on the first turn of combat, which makes SS more effective. We also have a bard in our party that uses Faerie Fire quite effectively, so I'd get advantage from that too.
On the flip, if I took the ASI, I'd bump my DEX to 18 and my WIS to 16. Since I'm purely ranged, getting my Dex to 18 would be nice for the to hit and the damage bump. Plus, Gloom Stalker adds my WIS mod to initiative so if I took ASI, my Initiative would then be +7.
As far as the cover portion of SS goes, it's nice but our DM does count cover for targets in melee so it may be less useful and the max range perk is nifty but I'm not sure how often it'll come up. The nicest part is that since I may get advantage so much, it really helps negate the -5 to hit from SS power attack.
I know this is a lot but any help would be greatly appreciated!
Increasing my initiative is nice too, but I'm already at a +5. Taking ASI would get me to a +7. It seems overkill considering I also get advantage on all initiative rolls already.
I guess that depends on whether you expect to have problems getting through your enemy's AC in the near future or not. It'll be a while until your next ASI. Your 3rd level feature bonus damage only applies once per fight so it would be shame to miss that hit as well.
Also keep in mind improving your DEX and WIS would also give you another +1 on several skill checks and the two most important saving throws.
So as far as AC goes, we just had our 6th session on Saturday and fought our highest AC enemy yet. He was about AC 18 we gathered, and I think that's about he threshold for the effectiveness of SS.
I love playing the Gloomstalker, but I regretted not taking the ASI at level 4, as once into levels 5 & 6 I felt underpowered compared to my party.
So much so that I multiclassed into fighter in order to boost my damage. I now have a level 5 Gloomstalker/ level 6 Echo-Knight*** who is immensely fun to play.
However, if I had taken the DEX boost at level 4 I would of probably played the ranger through to level 20*.
*although a 2 level dip into fighter, or rogue are probably worth losing the capstones of the Ranger**
Yeah so far I'm loving the ranger and I'm very excited to play more sessions as Gloomstalker. We aren't doing multi-classing so I won't have that temptation. The biggest thing making me want to take SS was that it was nice flavor for a ranged character. Especially Gloomstalker, where I could take the +10 damage and essentially snipe people from the shadows. But I understand the utility of taking the ASI and how it'll boost tons of other things.
What else is in the party? Are there other tanks or strikers that are putting out damage, or are you the main direct damage dealer? At these (1-8) levels SS might be doing more damage than many enemy's hp total, which will essentially "waste" all that damage above that needed to kill the target. Unless you are really bent on taking out an enemy in the first round (which I assume you are by playing the revised UA ranger and the gloom stalker subclass) let the others pull their weight in the fight. The above advice is sound. Dexterity will help with quite a lot in the game beyond damage, and wisdom will help with your spellcasting (assuming you are focusing on that). Also, is there a PC in the party that has AoE damage? If not, that might be you. Rangers are the "fireball" of the martial classes (not as much gloom stalker though). If there is another PC that does good single target damage (barbarian, paladin, rogue, or fighter) I would vote for you to take the ASI. If you are the main martial damage dealer then I'd vote to take SS and know that you'll miss a lot at these levels but when you hit you'll annihilate the target. With the revised ranger and gloom stalker you'll put out more damage on the first round no matter what, but in a "normal" round you'll be looking at about the same damage output when figuring in to-hit rate. Average damage without SS = 17.6. Average damage with SS = 17.6.
What else is in the party? Are there other tanks or strikers that are putting out damage, or are you the main direct damage dealer? At these (1-8) levels SS might be doing more damage than many enemy's hp total, which will essentially "waste" all that damage above that needed to kill the target. Unless you are really bent on taking out an enemy in the first round (which I assume you are by playing the revised UA ranger and the gloom stalker subclass) let the others pull their weight in the fight. The above advice is sound. Dexterity will help with quite a lot in the game beyond damage, and wisdom will help with your spellcasting (assuming you are focusing on that). Also, is there a PC in the party that has AoE damage? If not, that might be you. Rangers are the "fireball" of the martial classes (not as much gloom stalker though). If there is another PC that does good single target damage (barbarian, paladin, rogue, or fighter) I would vote for you to take the ASI. If you are the main martial damage dealer then I'd vote to take SS and know that you'll miss a lot at these levels but when you hit you'll annihilate the target. With the revised ranger and gloom stalker you'll put out more damage on the first round no matter what, but in a "normal" round you'll be looking at about the same damage output when figuring in to-hit rate. Average damage without SS = 17.6. Average damage with SS = 17.6.
Our party has a fighter, cleric, rogue, bard, and monk. So I wouldn't say I'm the primary damage dealer. In combat, I generally take more of a battlefield control role, while still doing decent damage.
Oh! You’re in great shape it seems! I’d say play what you want. If the DM is using cover correctly (I’ve found many DMs don’t use it at all for some disappointing reason) then having the SS as an option might be a good choice. Even half cover is increasing the armor class of the target by 2, so SS without the -5/+10 option is going to get you out ahead. So you’d be “loosing” 2 points of damage each round for a much better chance to hit when cover, even half cover, is in play. That only gets better and better if the cover is more than half or if the fight is taking place over long distances. Are the fighter or rogue mostly melee? If so you are adding a LOT just by providing an really good ranged option. Your hail of thorns spell or spike growth spell can cover AoE, bit hopefully your cleric and/or bard has that covered.
Edit: I’d say go with the SS feat. It will give you lots of options. Your party as a whole looks like damage won’t be an issue, so the options SS gives you will be more fun I think. -5/+10 for the big boss slow monsters, accuracy for fighting well armored monsters or hiding monsters, and all of your ranger stuff for big turn 1 nova damage, AoE damage, and control stuff.
I generally value hitting over damage, so my vote would be ASI. I hate hate hate missing with a passion.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Oh! You’re in great shape it seems! I’d say play what you want. If the DM is using cover correctly (I’ve found many DMs don’t use it at all for some disappointing reason) then having the SS as an option might be a good choice. Even half cover is increasing the armor class of the target by 2, so SS without the -5/+10 option is going to get you out ahead. So you’d be “loosing” 2 points of damage each round for a much better chance to hit when cover, even half cover, is in play. That only gets better and better if the cover is more than half or if the fight is taking place over long distances. Are the fighter or rogue mostly melee? If so you are adding a LOT just by providing an really good ranged option. Your hail of thorns spell or spike growth spell can cover AoE, bit hopefully your cleric and/or bard has that covered.
Edit: I’d say go with the SS feat. It will give you lots of options. Your party as a whole looks like damage won’t be an issue, so the options SS gives you will be more fun I think. -5/+10 for the big boss slow monsters, accuracy for fighting well armored monsters or hiding monsters, and all of your ranger stuff for big turn 1 nova damage, AoE damage, and control stuff.
I also wish our DM counted cover for targets in melee but sadly he doesn't so it does make SS a little less useful.
Anyone playing a ranger will benefit more from a DM that uses stuff like cover, difficult terrain, travel, encumbrance, food and water, and intelligence checks than most other classes. Cover is pretty easy and fun to use, even for melee, and things like SS, rod of the pact keeper, and other abilities are designed to play off it.
I'm playing a Tabaxi Revised Ranger/Gloom Stalker and we're approaching Level 4 so I'm debating between the Sharpshooter feat or the ASI. My ability scores are currently... STR: 8, DEX: 17, CON: 14, INT: 10, WIS: 15, CHA: 9.
Since it's Revised Ranger, I always get advantage on the first turn of combat, which makes SS more effective. We also have a bard in our party that uses Faerie Fire quite effectively, so I'd get advantage from that too.
On the flip, if I took the ASI, I'd bump my DEX to 18 and my WIS to 16. Since I'm purely ranged, getting my Dex to 18 would be nice for the to hit and the damage bump. Plus, Gloom Stalker adds my WIS mod to initiative so if I took ASI, my Initiative would then be +7.
As far as the cover portion of SS goes, it's nice but our DM does count cover for targets in melee so it may be less useful and the max range perk is nifty but I'm not sure how often it'll come up. The nicest part is that since I may get advantage so much, it really helps negate the -5 to hit from SS power attack.
I know this is a lot but any help would be greatly appreciated!
I'd take DEX and WIS, and save SS for later.
Dex will increase your chances to hit, your damage and your skills, plus your dex save.
Wis will increase your spell dc, your skills and your wis save (and your Gloomstalker initiative boost)
Increasing my initiative is nice too, but I'm already at a +5. Taking ASI would get me to a +7. It seems overkill considering I also get advantage on all initiative rolls already.
So as far as AC goes, we just had our 6th session on Saturday and fought our highest AC enemy yet. He was about AC 18 we gathered, and I think that's about he threshold for the effectiveness of SS.
As a ranger you don't get another ASI for another 4 levels. You will regret not pushing your DEX up.
Or rather, I'll be very surprised if you don't regret it. A guaranteed 1 extra damage on every hit for 4 levels, plus all the other benefits.
Your initiative may be good enough at level 3, but even with advantage, by the time you get to level 8 the extra boost will be appreciated.
The saving throws become harder too, so the extra plus 1 on dex and wis saves will pay off, as well
I play a Gloomstalker and regretted taking the feat at level 4, rather than maxing my dex.
I'm curious since you play a Gloomstalker and I haven't talked to many, why did you regret taking the feat?
I love playing the Gloomstalker, but I regretted not taking the ASI at level 4, as once into levels 5 & 6 I felt underpowered compared to my party.
So much so that I multiclassed into fighter in order to boost my damage. I now have a level 5 Gloomstalker/ level 6 Echo-Knight*** who is immensely fun to play.
However, if I had taken the DEX boost at level 4 I would of probably played the ranger through to level 20*.
*although a 2 level dip into fighter, or rogue are probably worth losing the capstones of the Ranger**
**although Tasha might change that
*** https://www.dndbeyond.com/profile/imalius/characters/24788381
Yeah so far I'm loving the ranger and I'm very excited to play more sessions as Gloomstalker. We aren't doing multi-classing so I won't have that temptation. The biggest thing making me want to take SS was that it was nice flavor for a ranged character. Especially Gloomstalker, where I could take the +10 damage and essentially snipe people from the shadows. But I understand the utility of taking the ASI and how it'll boost tons of other things.
What else is in the party? Are there other tanks or strikers that are putting out damage, or are you the main direct damage dealer? At these (1-8) levels SS might be doing more damage than many enemy's hp total, which will essentially "waste" all that damage above that needed to kill the target. Unless you are really bent on taking out an enemy in the first round (which I assume you are by playing the revised UA ranger and the gloom stalker subclass) let the others pull their weight in the fight. The above advice is sound. Dexterity will help with quite a lot in the game beyond damage, and wisdom will help with your spellcasting (assuming you are focusing on that). Also, is there a PC in the party that has AoE damage? If not, that might be you. Rangers are the "fireball" of the martial classes (not as much gloom stalker though). If there is another PC that does good single target damage (barbarian, paladin, rogue, or fighter) I would vote for you to take the ASI. If you are the main martial damage dealer then I'd vote to take SS and know that you'll miss a lot at these levels but when you hit you'll annihilate the target. With the revised ranger and gloom stalker you'll put out more damage on the first round no matter what, but in a "normal" round you'll be looking at about the same damage output when figuring in to-hit rate. Average damage without SS = 17.6. Average damage with SS = 17.6.
Our party has a fighter, cleric, rogue, bard, and monk. So I wouldn't say I'm the primary damage dealer. In combat, I generally take more of a battlefield control role, while still doing decent damage.
Oh! You’re in great shape it seems! I’d say play what you want. If the DM is using cover correctly (I’ve found many DMs don’t use it at all for some disappointing reason) then having the SS as an option might be a good choice. Even half cover is increasing the armor class of the target by 2, so SS without the -5/+10 option is going to get you out ahead. So you’d be “loosing” 2 points of damage each round for a much better chance to hit when cover, even half cover, is in play. That only gets better and better if the cover is more than half or if the fight is taking place over long distances. Are the fighter or rogue mostly melee? If so you are adding a LOT just by providing an really good ranged option. Your hail of thorns spell or spike growth spell can cover AoE, bit hopefully your cleric and/or bard has that covered.
Edit: I’d say go with the SS feat. It will give you lots of options. Your party as a whole looks like damage won’t be an issue, so the options SS gives you will be more fun I think. -5/+10 for the big boss slow monsters, accuracy for fighting well armored monsters or hiding monsters, and all of your ranger stuff for big turn 1 nova damage, AoE damage, and control stuff.
I generally value hitting over damage, so my vote would be ASI. I hate hate hate missing with a passion.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
I also wish our DM counted cover for targets in melee but sadly he doesn't so it does make SS a little less useful.
Anyone playing a ranger will benefit more from a DM that uses stuff like cover, difficult terrain, travel, encumbrance, food and water, and intelligence checks than most other classes. Cover is pretty easy and fun to use, even for melee, and things like SS, rod of the pact keeper, and other abilities are designed to play off it.
If you really want to run the numbers on Sharpshooter. Here is an excellent article.
https://thinkdm.org/2018/03/17/how-strong-is-sharpshooter/