I think I may have messed up picking my Ranger spells at the start Absorb Elements(1st) Goodberry(1st) Hunter's Mark(1st) Pass without Trace(2nd) Silence(2nd) Conjure Barrage(3rd)
Looking at the following as possible spells to learn and Elven Accuracy feat Lightning Arrow (3rd) Hail of Thorns (1st) Conjure Volley (5th) Steel Wind Strike (5th) Longstrider (1st) Absorb Elements (1st) XGtE Guardian of Nature (4th) Zephyr Strike (1st)
ranger spells kind of depend on the campaign and build. however, your going for your starting list is a decent general approach. different subclasses like different spells.
I prefer fogcloud over silence but this is opinion. alot of the time it shuts down spells(via sight) and has other uses as well. fog cloud works better if you need people to hear for abilities to work.(beastmaster, healing word, bardic inspiration ect) and you might be able to do some "pass without a trace" function. potentially saving one known spell instead of two.
there is no big utility in that list. Id recommend at least one conjure [creature] spell because it has utility and damage together.
I, personally, LOVE Zephyr Strike. I use it like a class feature just to remain mobile on the battlefield. And it comes into play with Elven Accuracy once per casting.
I'd also agree with Fog Cloud, it's a lot more versatile.
Just to check, what level is your ranger? Seeing as you wouldn't get 5th level spells until 17th level. Also, what's your WIS? The better it is, the more chance there is of actually doing full damage with spells that require a saving throw, like Conjure Volley. Otherwise, if it's medium to low, and the creatures you're fighting at level 17 are more likely to be only taking half damage from your highest-level spell slot.
9th level Hunter Ranger with a special ability to gain advantage if he can attack before opponent acts on the first round. Dex: 20 Wis: 15 Dual-Wield Finesse Weapons Thinking at 12th level Elven Accuracy Feat 16th Sharpshooter Feat
Yeah, with only a +2 to WIS I wouldn't bother with most spells that require a saving throw. You'll most likely only be doing half damage vs 2 weapon attacks (each with a chance to crit, and 1-2 with a possibility of a Hunter's Mark/Favored Foe rider), 2/3 of the Hunter's Prey level 3 options don't work because you haven't used a weapon attack, and your 11th-level option is basically a free AOE anyway. Definitely add Absorb Elements, Zephyr Strike, and Guardian of Nature to your list, Longstrider can't hurt but I've never had to use it.
Thinking at 12th level Elven Accuracy Feat and using the Stat increase for +1 Wisdom. Like the idea of attacking with advantage and a reroll.
A lot of people like EA. If you are a gloomstalker it is awesome. On other subclasses it is ok. Personally though I would prefer something like shadow touched or fey touched for a half feat with wisdom.
As for the spells, I would try to find room for Summon Fey.
I was thinking what can you do with Conjure Barrage or Conjure Volley, could you throw a silvered dagger or some other non-steel weapon for extra effect? Are there any odd occurrences that anyone can think of? Conjure Barrage You throw a nonmagical weapon or fire a piece of nonmagical ammunition into the air to create a cone of identical weapons that shoot forward and then disappear.
Drop Hunters Mark and pick up either Speak with Animals (Assuming your GM will actually indulge this or the environment has reasonable targets) or Fog Cloud (Shuts down swarm tactics quite effectively). Zephyr strike is also ok if you have issues with enemies getting that close to you (This feels like a failure of teamwork and tactics but eh).
PWT Is a good pick, You could maybe think about dropping silence for Spike Growth if you have party members to really leverage it with knock backs for pretty crazy damage.
Conjure Barrage is kind of just garbage, it's not much better damage than a 1st level burning hands, just leave that aoe stuff to dedicated casters dropping fireballs. Conjure Animals is by far the most optimal choice but talk to your DM first about it since lots of minions might not be liked at your table. Plant Growth is a good back up option assuming you are somewhere with plants, since super difficult terrain that actually stacks with difficult terrain makes non flying enemies basically have 0 movement speed in the area. Lightning Arrow is kind of meh, I saw a bard taking it as a magical secret and it seems pretty underwhelming, better to take a utility or control option over a spell that does significantly less than a basic fireball.
Critters have been few and far between have been using goodberry and survival to forage for food. Silence was picked so as to drop on a caster then Fighter can deal with that. Chances of knock back against giants and huge demons not reliable.
Lightning arrow can be added to Volley as a bonus action or just to up the damage on normal attacks.
The GM is not super tactically aware sometimes and often crowds his targets in on us. Conjure Animals I can see being useful maybe 2 Dire Wolves.
the spell lightning arrow cannot be used on the same turn as conjure volley. because if you cast a bonus action spell your action has to be a cantrip or non-spell.
secondly conjure volley is set damage so you don't usually get to add damage on top unless an ability specifically would work with it. lightning arrow requires a ranged weapon attack. conjure volley or barrage is not an attack. Hail of thorns would work except for concentration.
Not Conjure Volley the Ranger ability Volley Volley. You can use your action to make a ranged attack against any number of creatures within 10 feet of a point you can see within your weapon's range. You must have ammunition for each target, as normal, and you make a separate attack roll for each target.
Considering post 11 was the most recent context I wanted to be sure.
The second half of post 14 still applies to your question about special ammo. I do not believe silvered or adamantine is a "damage type" so those properties won't transfer. Poison would allow a alternative damage but its not usually necessary to switch to it and it definitely won't get you extra damage.
Lightning arrow won't stack with the volley ability as you get the lightning arrow on only 1 of the attacks - granted all the targets are in range so they all have to save and then the others also get the arrow damage if they are hit. I love Zephyr strike and steel wind strike but they are both basically for melee rangers not ranged although there are ways to use them ranged. at the higher levels your best bets are almost always a summoning/conjuring of others spell even working within the limitations on numbers that many DMs apply. Hunter's mark's great add is that it applies its extra damage to every hit on the marked foe, its downfall is that its only effective on the one foe. If you are regularly taking on single high HP foes it can be great, if you're typically taking on hordes it's time for it to go. fog cloud has the problem that it blocks your party's line of sight as well as the foe's if they are ok with that it can be very useful., Silence has a similar problem, but generally your spellcasters can stay at range and out of the silenced zone while you can often keep the opposing spellcasters in it.
Absorb Energy, Goodberry and Pass without Trace are all excellent and should be on your list,
COnjure Volley (L5) is actually almost a waste - its basically an 80'by 80' by 20' high "fireball" of piercing damage (or other type from the weapon/ammo used) 8D8 damage is great but how often do you actualy face groups of foes that fill an 80x80 circle? Swift Quiver is probably better as Technically it gives you 2 extra attacks as part of the bonus action to go along with your 2-3 regular attacks.
No, but lightning arrow doesn’t do the damage of fireball and conjure volley’s area is so large that the vast majority of it is just empty space. Both have their uses and places but the best place for either is on the line of battle between armies with hundreds if not thousands of close packed warriors - not the small numbers ( relatively) that a party typically faces. Other spells are generally more effective and useful in the typical situations a party faces.
I'm playing a 7th level Gloomstalker now, I have 1st Goodberry, Absorb Elements, 2nd Pass Without Trace, Summon Beast and Spike Growth, my next pick at level 9 will be Conjure Animals probably multiclass into Cleric after that.
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I think I may have messed up picking my Ranger spells at the start
Absorb Elements(1st)
Goodberry(1st)
Hunter's Mark(1st)
Pass without Trace(2nd)
Silence(2nd)
Conjure Barrage(3rd)
Looking at the following as possible spells to learn and Elven Accuracy feat
Lightning Arrow (3rd)
Hail of Thorns (1st)
Conjure Volley (5th)
Steel Wind Strike (5th)
Longstrider (1st)
Absorb Elements (1st) XGtE
Guardian of Nature (4th)
Zephyr Strike (1st)
ranger spells kind of depend on the campaign and build. however, your going for your starting list is a decent general approach. different subclasses like different spells.
I prefer fogcloud over silence but this is opinion. alot of the time it shuts down spells(via sight) and has other uses as well. fog cloud works better if you need people to hear for abilities to work.(beastmaster, healing word, bardic inspiration ect) and you might be able to do some "pass without a trace" function. potentially saving one known spell instead of two.
there is no big utility in that list. Id recommend at least one conjure [creature] spell because it has utility and damage together.
I, personally, LOVE Zephyr Strike. I use it like a class feature just to remain mobile on the battlefield. And it comes into play with Elven Accuracy once per casting.
I'd also agree with Fog Cloud, it's a lot more versatile.
Just to check, what level is your ranger? Seeing as you wouldn't get 5th level spells until 17th level. Also, what's your WIS? The better it is, the more chance there is of actually doing full damage with spells that require a saving throw, like Conjure Volley. Otherwise, if it's medium to low, and the creatures you're fighting at level 17 are more likely to be only taking half damage from your highest-level spell slot.
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
Enhance ability is too good not to take. If no-one else in your party has it, you should get it.
To add to this the spells look fine...but a few will depend on how high your WIS is or will be as spell save DCs that are low will be pretty useless.
I would also go sharpshooter over EA. It wins out mathematically over EA. Would also go 20 Dex before EA.
EA seems to be only worthwhile if you have a means of always having advantage (IE, dipping into Rogue for Cunning Action/Steady Aim).
9th level Hunter Ranger with a special ability to gain advantage if he can attack before opponent acts on the first round.
Dex: 20 Wis: 15
Dual-Wield Finesse Weapons
Thinking at 12th level Elven Accuracy Feat
16th Sharpshooter Feat
Yeah, with only a +2 to WIS I wouldn't bother with most spells that require a saving throw. You'll most likely only be doing half damage vs 2 weapon attacks (each with a chance to crit, and 1-2 with a possibility of a Hunter's Mark/Favored Foe rider), 2/3 of the Hunter's Prey level 3 options don't work because you haven't used a weapon attack, and your 11th-level option is basically a free AOE anyway. Definitely add Absorb Elements, Zephyr Strike, and Guardian of Nature to your list, Longstrider can't hurt but I've never had to use it.
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
Thinking at 12th level Elven Accuracy Feat and using the Stat increase for +1 Wisdom.
Like the idea of attacking with advantage and a reroll.
A lot of people like EA. If you are a gloomstalker it is awesome. On other subclasses it is ok. Personally though I would prefer something like shadow touched or fey touched for a half feat with wisdom.
As for the spells, I would try to find room for Summon Fey.
I was thinking what can you do with Conjure Barrage or Conjure Volley, could you throw a silvered dagger or some other non-steel weapon for extra effect?
Are there any odd occurrences that anyone can think of?
Conjure Barrage
You throw a nonmagical weapon or fire a piece of nonmagical ammunition into the air to create a cone of identical weapons that shoot forward and then disappear.
Drop Hunters Mark and pick up either Speak with Animals (Assuming your GM will actually indulge this or the environment has reasonable targets) or Fog Cloud (Shuts down swarm tactics quite effectively). Zephyr strike is also ok if you have issues with enemies getting that close to you (This feels like a failure of teamwork and tactics but eh).
PWT Is a good pick, You could maybe think about dropping silence for Spike Growth if you have party members to really leverage it with knock backs for pretty crazy damage.
Conjure Barrage is kind of just garbage, it's not much better damage than a 1st level burning hands, just leave that aoe stuff to dedicated casters dropping fireballs. Conjure Animals is by far the most optimal choice but talk to your DM first about it since lots of minions might not be liked at your table. Plant Growth is a good back up option assuming you are somewhere with plants, since super difficult terrain that actually stacks with difficult terrain makes non flying enemies basically have 0 movement speed in the area. Lightning Arrow is kind of meh, I saw a bard taking it as a magical secret and it seems pretty underwhelming, better to take a utility or control option over a spell that does significantly less than a basic fireball.
Critters have been few and far between have been using goodberry and survival to forage for food.
Silence was picked so as to drop on a caster then Fighter can deal with that.
Chances of knock back against giants and huge demons not reliable.
Lightning arrow can be added to Volley as a bonus action or just to up the damage on normal attacks.
The GM is not super tactically aware sometimes and often crowds his targets in on us.
Conjure Animals I can see being useful maybe 2 Dire Wolves.
A couple of things ....
the spell lightning arrow cannot be used on the same turn as conjure volley. because if you cast a bonus action spell your action has to be a cantrip or non-spell.
secondly conjure volley is set damage so you don't usually get to add damage on top unless an ability specifically would work with it. lightning arrow requires a ranged weapon attack. conjure volley or barrage is not an attack. Hail of thorns would work except for concentration.
Not Conjure Volley the Ranger ability Volley
Volley. You can use your action to make a ranged attack against any number of creatures within 10 feet of a point you can see within your weapon's range. You must have ammunition for each target, as normal, and you make a separate attack roll for each target.
Considering post 11 was the most recent context I wanted to be sure.
The second half of post 14 still applies to your question about special ammo. I do not believe silvered or adamantine is a "damage type" so those properties won't transfer. Poison would allow a alternative damage but its not usually necessary to switch to it and it definitely won't get you extra damage.
Lightning arrow won't stack with the volley ability as you get the lightning arrow on only 1 of the attacks - granted all the targets are in range so they all have to save and then the others also get the arrow damage if they are hit.
I love Zephyr strike and steel wind strike but they are both basically for melee rangers not ranged although there are ways to use them ranged.
at the higher levels your best bets are almost always a summoning/conjuring of others spell even working within the limitations on numbers that many DMs apply.
Hunter's mark's great add is that it applies its extra damage to every hit on the marked foe, its downfall is that its only effective on the one foe. If you are regularly taking on single high HP foes it can be great, if you're typically taking on hordes it's time for it to go.
fog cloud has the problem that it blocks your party's line of sight as well as the foe's if they are ok with that it can be very useful., Silence has a similar problem, but generally your spellcasters can stay at range and out of the silenced zone while you can often keep the opposing spellcasters in it.
Absorb Energy, Goodberry and Pass without Trace are all excellent and should be on your list,
COnjure Volley (L5) is actually almost a waste - its basically an 80'by 80' by 20' high "fireball" of piercing damage (or other type from the weapon/ammo used) 8D8 damage is great but how often do you actualy face groups of foes that fill an 80x80 circle? Swift Quiver is probably better as Technically it gives you 2 extra attacks as part of the bonus action to go along with your 2-3 regular attacks.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
So based on your theory Fireball is a waste?
No, but lightning arrow doesn’t do the damage of fireball and conjure volley’s area is so large that the vast majority of it is just empty space. Both have their uses and places but the best place for either is on the line of battle between armies with hundreds if not thousands of close packed warriors - not the small numbers ( relatively) that a party typically faces. Other spells are generally more effective and useful in the typical situations a party faces.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
I'm playing a 7th level Gloomstalker now, I have 1st Goodberry, Absorb Elements, 2nd Pass Without Trace, Summon Beast and Spike Growth, my next pick at level 9 will be Conjure Animals probably multiclass into Cleric after that.