What is a Ranger? To me, a Ranger is an explorer and a survivor, capable of adapting to any environment and guide their friends to ensure that everyone is safe from the wrath of the nature surrounding the group.
With that said, I liked the course where the WotC are taking the Ranger, giving more power to stand beside the other classes, but felt a lack of flavor. Despite all the problems, Rangers was second to none in the Exploration department and its sad to see that being taken from him. So, I have some suggestions that could be made.
Opinions on the base class features presented
Fighting Style: Give us some frontline options, like Protection, to encourage some builds that can protect our fellow allies and filling the fantasy of a guardian of the nature.
Foe Slayer: Well, that felt more like a lackluster for a high-level feature. Why not let Hunter’s Mark scale with the spellslot? 2d6 damage for a 3 level spell slot, 3d6 damage for a 5 level spell slot. Or at least a single d6 (total of 2d6).
Opinions on the Hunter subclass
Hunter’s Prey: I understand the change, but options are always great. Please, at least give us Horde Breaker back.
Hunter’s Lore: Amazing for players, maybe a pain for DMs. I suggest giving the players the options of knowing all the Immunities, Resistances or Vulnerabilities, in other words, choosing one of them.
Multiattack: This is bad for two reasons: first, it discourages melee builds; second, Conjure Barrage is a spell with very low damage output (3d8) for its cost (a fireball use the same spell slot and causes 8d6 of damage). The idea of downcasting is pretty good, though.
Superior Hunter’s Defense: Good, but feel a little weak for a 14 level feature to be honest, and does not help ranged builds.
Some extra features that should be added
Extra Languages
At least two languages. Rangers could fill the fantasy of understanding and communicating with creatures in places where they hunt and would be nice that the class would not entirely ignore the Social factor of D&D.
Natural Explorer
Rangers need to be the EXPERTS in Exploration. It’s flavorful and you can add that to the class without taking anything else. I suggest the following changes to the 2014’S PHB:
You are a master in adapting to any environment you find yourself in. As long you stay in one type of terrain, like arctic, coast, desert, forest, grassland, mountain, swamp, or the Underdark, and you aren’t inside a village, city or some form of civilization, you gain the following benefits:
After an hour (or a day) of traveling
Even when you are engaged in another activity while traveling (such as foraging, navigating, or tracking), you remain alert to danger.
If you are traveling alone, you can move stealthily at a normal pace.
After a day (or 3 days) of traveling
Difficult terrain doesn’t slow your group’s travel.
When you forage, you find twice as much food as you normally would.
While tracking other creatures, you also learn their exact number, their sizes, and how long ago they passed through the area.
After 3 days (or 7 days) of traveling
Your group can’t become lost except by magical means.
When you make an Intelligence or Wisdom check, your proficiency bonus is doubled if you are using a skill that you’re proficient in.
If you leave the terrain, you maintain you benefits gained for that terrain.
Survivor’s Will
Rangers are tough and can stay in frontlines, but its base class don’t give too much support for this. I know we have Tireless, but I suggest giving something to improve their survivability against magic and natural threats, like Constitution Saving Throw proficiency. To be honest, I think this saving throw fits more the fantasy of an explorer and survivor, of a Ranger, than any other in the game.
And I know the name its not that good.
Land’s Stride
It adds so much of the nature explorer flavor and I would like to see it coming back. I find very hard to see that making the Ranger too much powerful or skilled.
Vanish
For flavor reasons, we could just have the “you can’t be tracked by nonmagical means, unless you choose to leave a trail” part and I would be very happy.
What do you guys think? Am I wanting too much? Any more ideas that can make these features better?
Actually, each favored terrain should give benefits are excellence for that specific terrain but might be just helpful in other terrains. I came across an English language teacher exchange site that list what might be 48 unique types of terrain that may be useful for this game. You can see for yourself at: terrain types part 1 and terrain types part 2.
IMO, every attempt at making some kind of natural explorer feature crashes over the fact that expertise in survival skill does all that and more. No need to reinvent the bicycle. Bards are supposed to be the kings of social pillar - now, how many social features does the bard have? None, really. Expertise alone is enough. Bard uses his words in other mechanics - bardic inspiration, songs of restoration, cutting words, etc. And just likke that, ranger uses his communion with nature through hunter's mark, roving, nature's veil, their selection of spells. Natural explorer feature must not become an auto-success feature. In survival scenarios, the ranger either ignores the fact that it's a survival scenario, or sucks because it's not favored terrain. Expertise is a simple yet elegant solution. You survive better than the rest, but you still might have trouble.
Although I agree that capstone os weak as hell, and WotC might cut down on spell slot usage, too many features use these. Rangers don't have many spell slots anyway.
I agree the Ranger needs a return of some features that define it's core role and abilities better than Expertise in a couple skills that a Rogue can replicate.
The problems with the 2014 PHB Ranger's Natural Explorer were that it was a crapshoot whether your campaign would use it (same with Favoured Enemy) but if it did, it would completely trivialise Exploration (as did the awful Outlander background), one of the supposed big 3 pillars of the game, from level 1, removing any real engagement with the scenes.
Also, more than any other class, I think the Ranger suffers from too many sources of inspiration that make it difficult for people to agree on what the core features should do. Simple solution: push them to subclass apart from Hunters Mark and Favoured Terrain which can be built upon.
Here are some ideas about how the ranger can be returned its thematic feel for Combat and Exploration:
Combat: Needs a way to fight competently, rather than competitively with martials. Hunter's Mark, Fighting Style, and spells do this. However, using Hunter's Mark as a feature, rather than spell, to allow subclasses to hang damage and effect riders off adds flavour and flexibility. For example: Hunter gives debilitating effects to HM targets; Beast Master can let their companion benefit from it, etc; Fey Wanderer could inflict illusions/enchantments on those afflicted by HM.
Favoured Enemy was nice fluff, if rather weak mechanically in 2014 PHB. I'd personally see it wrapped into the Hunter subclass with something similar to the suggested universal effects of Favoured Terrain below.
Exploration: As suggested, have Ranger's choose a Favoured Terrain that provides a universal character ability and group ability flavoured by that Terrain (e.g. Urban gives the PC advantage on Stealth checks to blend into a crowd and can get the group free food and lodging for one night; Mountain gives climbing speed and reduction in fall damage for the PC, and has advantage on perception checks when travelling to represent climbing up and looking).
I think these would give the Ranger the feel of being exploration experts with universal abilities flavoured by a chosen terrain without trivialising any part of Exploration.
The use of Hunter's Mark as a pure Ranger feature to be built on in subclass would mean it doesn't have to scale or be powerful from the start. Already most subclasses first feature is a damage effect to make them useful which could be hung off this feature. Want to do comparable damage to a martial? Fine, pick the subclass that boosts your Hunter's Mark damage. Want to be a control? Use the subclass that lets your Hunter's Mark blind/restrain/charm a target. Want support? The subclass that gives your party a bonus to hit/damage your marked target.
Issues with Ranger, For me all you would need is a couple more languages, the old Keen mind thing that let you always know which direction north was and the old outlander feature that allowed you to find more food and your explorer stuff would be solved.
This bigger issue for me is still Ranger SCALING. At level 1 you are basically a Druid with Martial weapons and Expertise. This is great, and everything about them is great pretty much through 9th level... but after that OOF. They do not get a lot. 10 subclass feature, for hunter a fairly weak AOE that uses one of your spell slots. Level 11 Tireless, this could honestly be added onto roving and not feel to strong, in my opinion. 13th we are getting 4th level spells and nature's veil..... which now uses a spell slot to use. Can we get PB per long rest back for this one please... and bump it to level 11 which would only be 1 level later maybe. Level 14 being just a slightly stronger uncanny dodge is underwhelming to say the least, 15 Feral Sense is awesome, I love it. And finally Foe Slayer.... why is this level 18. I actually think it is worse than Feral Sense. Make this the 13th level feature and give us something that doesn't suck at level 18.
Foe Slayer: Well, that felt more like a lackluster for a high-level feature. Why not let Hunter’s Mark scale with the spellslot? 2d6 damage for a 3 level spell slot, 3d6 damage for a 5 level spell slot. Or at least a single d6 (total of 2d6).
I think Foe slayer should be 2d6 instead of 1d10.
not only because is it slightly more damage but also for the phycological effect. if you roll the d10 and it comes up 1 to 5 there can be that nagging feeling that you could have done better with your d6. While if you roll 2d6 you always have the feeling that your damage is higher then when you just rolled one of those dice, because your mind goes if I was roiling only 1d6 I would have to take one of these 2 results away.
Combat: Needs a way to fight competently, rather than competitively with martials. Hunter's Mark, Fighting Style, and spells do this. However, using Hunter's Mark as a feature, rather than spell, to allow subclasses to hang damage and effect riders off adds flavour and flexibility. For example: Hunter gives debilitating effects to HM targets; Beast Master can let their companion benefit from it, etc; Fey Wanderer could inflict illusions/enchantments on those afflicted by HM.
I actually like this idea a lot. Hunter's mark expends a spell slot, but it's a feature that's supposed to always be on, as it lasts for an hour and doesn't require concentration. It shouldn't cost a spell slot. But most importantly, it could be a chassis for subclass features to use in various ways. Additional damage to marked target, letting your beast tank (give disadvantage on attacking anyone but beast) the mark, teleport to the mark, disrupt the mark's spellcasting, etc. I like this a lot.
I like the idea of group bennies from Favoured terrain but I do think that the ranger could benefit from a better exploration subsystem to interact with.
Something that would meaningfully allow the party to trade supply status and perhaps Hit Dice and/or Fatigue to get their faster or ahead of the opposition or what ever.
So... I don't disagree with you about lack of flavor, but I think the points about expertise in survival stand.
I can think of three things that might help? Two for rangers and one for DMs.
I'd like to see a feature for rangers that makes them more appealing to the group. I'm thinking something akin to Hearth of Moonlight and Shadow from the circle of dreams druid. It's in theme for flavor and helpful mechanically in a way that isn't only seen once in a blue moon.
Then let it improve, to add temp hp to players resting in the ranger's camp. If you want to be really ambitious, make it so short rests in the ranger's camp reduce exhaustion. These are things that the group would love but aren't so good that every party HAS to have a ranger.
For DMs: fun, dynamic weather mechanics. Daily weather. The ranger suffers for a lack of environmental impact. Just being able to have something meaningful to impact decision making by the party ("let's push through the night, it's going to rain tomorrow and we'll lose the track if we wait" or "the season has been dry, no fires tonight and full up our canteens now. It might be the last we have access to fresh water for awhile."). Rangers wouldn't have a monopoly on that, but it could certainly make them feel more useful. A few basic tables for biomes and their weather could change the game.
Actually, each favored terrain should give benefits are excellence for that specific terrain but might be just helpful in other terrains. I came across an English language teacher exchange site that list what might be 48 unique types of terrain that may be useful for this game. You can see for yourself at: terrain types part 1 and terrain types part 2.
I like the idea of the favored terrain give non-exclusive benefits to the terrain, but give more types of terrain may overwhelm any new player.
IMO, every attempt at making some kind of natural explorer feature crashes over the fact that expertise in survival skill does all that and more. No need to reinvent the bicycle. Bards are supposed to be the kings of social pillar - now, how many social features does the bard have? None, really. Expertise alone is enough. Bard uses his words in other mechanics - bardic inspiration, songs of restoration, cutting words, etc. And just likke that, ranger uses his communion with nature through hunter's mark, roving, nature's veil, their selection of spells. Natural explorer feature must not become an auto-success feature. In survival scenarios, the ranger either ignores the fact that it's a survival scenario, or sucks because it's not favored terrain. Expertise is a simple yet elegant solution. You survive better than the rest, but you still might have trouble.
I agree the Ranger needs a return of some features that define it's core role and abilities better than Expertise in a couple skills that a Rogue can replicate.
The problems with the 2014 PHB Ranger's Natural Explorer were that it was a crapshoot whether your campaign would use it (same with Favoured Enemy) but if it did, it would completely trivialise Exploration (as did the awful Outlander background), one of the supposed big 3 pillars of the game, from level 1, removing any real engagement with the scenes.
Exploration: As suggested, have Ranger's choose a Favoured Terrain that provides a universal character ability and group ability flavoured by that Terrain (e.g. Urban gives the PC advantage on Stealth checks to blend into a crowd and can get the group free food and lodging for one night; Mountain gives climbing speed and reduction in fall damage for the PC, and has advantage on perception checks when travelling to represent climbing up and looking).
I think these would give the Ranger the feel of being exploration experts with universal abilities flavoured by a chosen terrain without trivialising any part of Exploration.
I agree that the Natural Explorer trivializes the Exploration feature, that is why I thought that spreading the effects over travel time would lessen the impact on Exploration while not taking away the Ranger's special role. But, to be honest, I liked a lot the idea of favored terrain giving effects related to it. May be better than my solution, though I think people will always takes the terrain based on the "optimized choices", like many do with Druid's Circle of the Land.
Combat: Needs a way to fight competently, rather than competitively with martials. Hunter's Mark, Fighting Style, and spells do this. However, using Hunter's Mark as a feature, rather than spell, to allow subclasses to hang damage and effect riders off adds flavour and flexibility. For example: Hunter gives debilitating effects to HM targets; Beast Master can let their companion benefit from it, etc; Fey Wanderer could inflict illusions/enchantments on those afflicted by HM.
The use of Hunter's Mark as a pure Ranger feature to be built on in subclass would mean it doesn't have to scale or be powerful from the start. Already most subclasses first feature is a damage effect to make them useful which could be hung off this feature. Want to do comparable damage to a martial? Fine, pick the subclass that boosts your Hunter's Mark damage. Want to be a control? Use the subclass that lets your Hunter's Mark blind/restrain/charm a target. Want support? The subclass that gives your party a bonus to hit/damage your marked target.
I agree with that. Many other martial classes has features that increases their damage without using spell slots (even Paladin, when they get Improved Divine Smite in the 11th level), and making the subclasses captlize on that simplifies a lot of their features that give more damage (like Dreadful Strikes, Dread Ambusher, Planar Warrior, Slayer's Prey, etc.)
The problem with Ranger is that their "flavor" before was situational, the changes have removed the situational issues with Ranger. Ranger does have access to more spells now and is more in-line with other classes for combat, it's no longer an inferior choice to fighter with a bow. So while Ranger did lose some flavor with features and feats, it now has some re-added in the form of spells. The only thing I think Ranger needs flavor wise is some form of "ignore difficult terrain". The rest of flavor can be done via sub classes.
Flavor is not something absolutely necessary, but its fun and crucial to roleplaying. Spells are nice, and I am very, VERY, grateful for the changes done, but spells alone doesn't make the class. I think there is a way of making features that are useful and flavorful while not being situational or broken.
IMO, every attempt at making some kind of natural explorer feature crashes over the fact that expertise in survival skill does all that and more. No need to reinvent the bicycle. Bards are supposed to be the kings of social pillar - now, how many social features does the bard have? None, really. Expertise alone is enough. Bard uses his words in other mechanics - bardic inspiration, songs of restoration, cutting words, etc. And just likke that, ranger uses his communion with nature through hunter's mark, roving, nature's veil, their selection of spells. Natural explorer feature must not become an auto-success feature. In survival scenarios, the ranger either ignores the fact that it's a survival scenario, or sucks because it's not favored terrain. Expertise is a simple yet elegant solution. You survive better than the rest, but you still might have trouble.
Although I agree that capstone os weak as hell, and WotC might cut down on spell slot usage, too many features use these. Rangers don't have many spell slots anyway.
But the bard does have extra expert features jack of all trades and rogue has an extra expert feature reliable talent. Ranger gets no secondary expert features.
Originally ranger had ways to get double prof (expertise) and possibly advantage.
Ranger should get that advantage back. It could be rewritten like "kenku recall" where a ranger can buy advantage a limited amount of skills (possibly with con saves as well)
There's still no difficult terrain ignoring as well. Wotc may be trying to rebalance it though.(slowed condition hints this might be the case)
Also favored terrain clearly let you remain watchful while traveling. Wich is important because technically you can't watch, track, navigate ect at the same time.
To say favored terrain did nothing skill could not is not being fair in evaluating the text.
I think they should just go back to Tasha's Ranger. That version hit exactly on what the Ranger should be IMO. Maybe throw in cantrips so you don't need to use the fighting style on it.
The thing I hate about the new Ranger is they got rid of the free once a day spells and they now make you use a spell slot for natures veil.
I think they should just go back to Tasha's Ranger. That version hit exactly on what the Ranger should be IMO. Maybe throw in cantrips so you don't need to use the fighting style on it.
The thing I hate about the new Ranger is they got rid of the free once a day spells and they now make you use a spell slot for natures veil.
They Actually made the Tasha's Ranger but a little better. And I will miss Primal Awareness too.
I agree that the Natural Explorer trivializes the Exploration feature, that is why I thought that spreading the effects over travel time would lessen the impact on Exploration while not taking away the Ranger's special role. But, to be honest, I liked a lot the idea of favored terrain giving effects related to it. May be better than my solution, though I think people will always takes the terrain based on the "optimized choices", like many do with Druid's Circle of the Land.
One possible solution is spreading various invocation-like benefits across terrains and enemies. Like I suggested in this thread. But it's probably bit too radical for WotC.
The only thing I think Ranger needs flavor wise is some form of "ignore difficult terrain". The rest of flavor can be done via sub classes.
Perhaps, but difficult terrain includes quite a lot of stuff, not all of which is natural. It also upgrades your swimming and climbing speeds (as slippery vertical surfaces and strong currents are difficult terrain, too). Giving that for free... might fit, but it's way stronger than just climbing and swimming speed.
But the bard does have extra expert features jack of all trades and rogue has an extra expert feature reliable talent. Ranger gets no secondary expert features.
Originally ranger had ways to get double prof (expertise) and possibly advantage.
Ranger should get that advantage back. It could be rewritten like "kenku recall" where a ranger can buy advantage a limited amount of skills (possibly with con saves as well)
There's still no difficult terrain ignoring as well. Wotc may be trying to rebalance it though.(slowed condition hints this might be the case)
Also favored terrain clearly let you remain watchful while traveling. Wich is important because technically you can't watch, track, navigate ect at the same time.
To say favored terrain did nothing skill could not is not being fair in evaluating the text.
You have a point in that ranger doesn't get a secondary expert feature. Although, what else can you do with skills? I guess being a half-martial (with access to fighting style and d10 hit die) and half-caster offsets that. Yes, favored terrain did a little more than skill. Only on certain terrains. It still doesn't pull the weight of a full class feature.
It is worth noting that Hunter's Mark has a secondary effect that gives you Advantage when tracking your chosen target, so we do have a feature that directly boosts some of the skills we could take expertise in. There's almost no way someone marked by a ranger is going to evade pursuit without magic. The same is true for a lot of Primal spells ranger has access to.
We can cast Detect Magic, Detect Disease/Poison, Beast Sense, Enhance Ability, Find Traps, Locate Animals/Plants, Locate Objects, Pass Without a Trace, Meld in Stone, Nondetection, Water Walk, Locate Creature, Scrying, and Treestride, all of which greatly improves the ranger's ability to function in the Exploration pillar of the game. A lot of which I am pretty sure we didn't have before.
Between Expertise and the Primal spell list the ranger really is an incredible scout and tracker so long as they've chosen the right spells for the task at hand.
I wouldn't mind more flavorful abilities of course. I am just pointing out that having a greatly expanded spell list coupled with becoming prepared casters went a looong way toward making us a premier exploration pillar class.
It is worth noting that Hunter's Mark has a secondary effect that gives you Advantage when tracking your chosen target, so we do have a feature that directly boosts some of the skills we could take expertise in.
Hunters mark requires you to see a target to track them. Meaning most of the time it's too late(except bbge with dm planed escapes).I have once done it on an npc that I thought was going to run into danger but that's still more situational and unpredictable than phb favored enemy or terrain working.
If they changed Hunters mark to Include all tracking your points might be valid but I do not currently see it.
It is worth noting that Hunter's Mark has a secondary effect that gives you Advantage when tracking your chosen target, so we do have a feature that directly boosts some of the skills we could take expertise in.
Hunters mark requires you to see a target to track them. Meaning most of the time it's too late(except bbge with dm planed escapes).I have once done it on an npc that I thought was going to run into danger but that's still more situational and unpredictable than phb favored enemy or terrain working.
If they changed Hunters mark to Include all tracking your points might be valid but I do not currently see it.
That is something I thought would be interesting to change, have the spell feed into itself by allowing a successful track check to be a method of targeting a creature as long as they are within one mile or something. Then once targeted they now have advantage on tracking them.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
What is a Ranger? To me, a Ranger is an explorer and a survivor, capable of adapting to any environment and guide their friends to ensure that everyone is safe from the wrath of the nature surrounding the group.
With that said, I liked the course where the WotC are taking the Ranger, giving more power to stand beside the other classes, but felt a lack of flavor. Despite all the problems, Rangers was second to none in the Exploration department and its sad to see that being taken from him. So, I have some suggestions that could be made.
Opinions on the base class features presented
Opinions on the Hunter subclass
Some extra features that should be added
Extra Languages
At least two languages. Rangers could fill the fantasy of understanding and communicating with creatures in places where they hunt and would be nice that the class would not entirely ignore the Social factor of D&D.
Natural Explorer
Rangers need to be the EXPERTS in Exploration. It’s flavorful and you can add that to the class without taking anything else. I suggest the following changes to the 2014’S PHB:
You are a master in adapting to any environment you find yourself in. As long you stay in one type of terrain, like arctic, coast, desert, forest, grassland, mountain, swamp, or the Underdark, and you aren’t inside a village, city or some form of civilization, you gain the following benefits:
After an hour (or a day) of traveling
After a day (or 3 days) of traveling
After 3 days (or 7 days) of traveling
If you leave the terrain, you maintain you benefits gained for that terrain.
Survivor’s Will
Rangers are tough and can stay in frontlines, but its base class don’t give too much support for this. I know we have Tireless, but I suggest giving something to improve their survivability against magic and natural threats, like Constitution Saving Throw proficiency. To be honest, I think this saving throw fits more the fantasy of an explorer and survivor, of a Ranger, than any other in the game.
And I know the name its not that good.
Land’s Stride
It adds so much of the nature explorer flavor and I would like to see it coming back. I find very hard to see that making the Ranger too much powerful or skilled.
Vanish
For flavor reasons, we could just have the “you can’t be tracked by nonmagical means, unless you choose to leave a trail” part and I would be very happy.
What do you guys think? Am I wanting too much? Any more ideas that can make these features better?
Actually, each favored terrain should give benefits are excellence for that specific terrain but might be just helpful in other terrains. I came across an English language teacher exchange site that list what might be 48 unique types of terrain that may be useful for this game. You can see for yourself at: terrain types part 1 and terrain types part 2.
IMO, every attempt at making some kind of natural explorer feature crashes over the fact that expertise in survival skill does all that and more. No need to reinvent the bicycle. Bards are supposed to be the kings of social pillar - now, how many social features does the bard have? None, really. Expertise alone is enough. Bard uses his words in other mechanics - bardic inspiration, songs of restoration, cutting words, etc. And just likke that, ranger uses his communion with nature through hunter's mark, roving, nature's veil, their selection of spells. Natural explorer feature must not become an auto-success feature. In survival scenarios, the ranger either ignores the fact that it's a survival scenario, or sucks because it's not favored terrain. Expertise is a simple yet elegant solution. You survive better than the rest, but you still might have trouble.
Although I agree that capstone os weak as hell, and WotC might cut down on spell slot usage, too many features use these. Rangers don't have many spell slots anyway.
I agree the Ranger needs a return of some features that define it's core role and abilities better than Expertise in a couple skills that a Rogue can replicate.
The problems with the 2014 PHB Ranger's Natural Explorer were that it was a crapshoot whether your campaign would use it (same with Favoured Enemy) but if it did, it would completely trivialise Exploration (as did the awful Outlander background), one of the supposed big 3 pillars of the game, from level 1, removing any real engagement with the scenes.
Also, more than any other class, I think the Ranger suffers from too many sources of inspiration that make it difficult for people to agree on what the core features should do. Simple solution: push them to subclass apart from Hunters Mark and Favoured Terrain which can be built upon.
Here are some ideas about how the ranger can be returned its thematic feel for Combat and Exploration:
I think these would give the Ranger the feel of being exploration experts with universal abilities flavoured by a chosen terrain without trivialising any part of Exploration.
The use of Hunter's Mark as a pure Ranger feature to be built on in subclass would mean it doesn't have to scale or be powerful from the start. Already most subclasses first feature is a damage effect to make them useful which could be hung off this feature. Want to do comparable damage to a martial? Fine, pick the subclass that boosts your Hunter's Mark damage. Want to be a control? Use the subclass that lets your Hunter's Mark blind/restrain/charm a target. Want support? The subclass that gives your party a bonus to hit/damage your marked target.
Issues with Ranger, For me all you would need is a couple more languages, the old Keen mind thing that let you always know which direction north was and the old outlander feature that allowed you to find more food and your explorer stuff would be solved.
This bigger issue for me is still Ranger SCALING. At level 1 you are basically a Druid with Martial weapons and Expertise. This is great, and everything about them is great pretty much through 9th level... but after that OOF. They do not get a lot. 10 subclass feature, for hunter a fairly weak AOE that uses one of your spell slots. Level 11 Tireless, this could honestly be added onto roving and not feel to strong, in my opinion. 13th we are getting 4th level spells and nature's veil..... which now uses a spell slot to use. Can we get PB per long rest back for this one please... and bump it to level 11 which would only be 1 level later maybe. Level 14 being just a slightly stronger uncanny dodge is underwhelming to say the least, 15 Feral Sense is awesome, I love it. And finally Foe Slayer.... why is this level 18. I actually think it is worse than Feral Sense. Make this the 13th level feature and give us something that doesn't suck at level 18.
I think Foe slayer should be 2d6 instead of 1d10.
not only because is it slightly more damage but also for the phycological effect.
if you roll the d10 and it comes up 1 to 5 there can be that nagging feeling that you could have done better with your d6.
While if you roll 2d6 you always have the feeling that your damage is higher then when you just rolled one of those dice, because your mind goes if I was roiling only 1d6 I would have to take one of these 2 results away.
I actually like this idea a lot. Hunter's mark expends a spell slot, but it's a feature that's supposed to always be on, as it lasts for an hour and doesn't require concentration. It shouldn't cost a spell slot. But most importantly, it could be a chassis for subclass features to use in various ways. Additional damage to marked target, letting your beast tank (give disadvantage on attacking anyone but beast) the mark, teleport to the mark, disrupt the mark's spellcasting, etc. I like this a lot.
I like the idea of group bennies from Favoured terrain but I do think that the ranger could benefit from a better exploration subsystem to interact with.
Something that would meaningfully allow the party to trade supply status and perhaps Hit Dice and/or Fatigue to get their faster or ahead of the opposition or what ever.
So... I don't disagree with you about lack of flavor, but I think the points about expertise in survival stand.
I can think of three things that might help? Two for rangers and one for DMs.
I'd like to see a feature for rangers that makes them more appealing to the group. I'm thinking something akin to Hearth of Moonlight and Shadow from the circle of dreams druid. It's in theme for flavor and helpful mechanically in a way that isn't only seen once in a blue moon.
Then let it improve, to add temp hp to players resting in the ranger's camp. If you want to be really ambitious, make it so short rests in the ranger's camp reduce exhaustion. These are things that the group would love but aren't so good that every party HAS to have a ranger.
For DMs: fun, dynamic weather mechanics. Daily weather. The ranger suffers for a lack of environmental impact. Just being able to have something meaningful to impact decision making by the party ("let's push through the night, it's going to rain tomorrow and we'll lose the track if we wait" or "the season has been dry, no fires tonight and full up our canteens now. It might be the last we have access to fresh water for awhile."). Rangers wouldn't have a monopoly on that, but it could certainly make them feel more useful. A few basic tables for biomes and their weather could change the game.
Paladin - warforged - orange
I like the idea of the favored terrain give non-exclusive benefits to the terrain, but give more types of terrain may overwhelm any new player.
I agree that the Natural Explorer trivializes the Exploration feature, that is why I thought that spreading the effects over travel time would lessen the impact on Exploration while not taking away the Ranger's special role. But, to be honest, I liked a lot the idea of favored terrain giving effects related to it. May be better than my solution, though I think people will always takes the terrain based on the "optimized choices", like many do with Druid's Circle of the Land.
I agree with that. Many other martial classes has features that increases their damage without using spell slots (even Paladin, when they get Improved Divine Smite in the 11th level), and making the subclasses captlize on that simplifies a lot of their features that give more damage (like Dreadful Strikes, Dread Ambusher, Planar Warrior, Slayer's Prey, etc.)
The problem with Ranger is that their "flavor" before was situational, the changes have removed the situational issues with Ranger. Ranger does have access to more spells now and is more in-line with other classes for combat, it's no longer an inferior choice to fighter with a bow. So while Ranger did lose some flavor with features and feats, it now has some re-added in the form of spells. The only thing I think Ranger needs flavor wise is some form of "ignore difficult terrain". The rest of flavor can be done via sub classes.
Flavor is not something absolutely necessary, but its fun and crucial to roleplaying. Spells are nice, and I am very, VERY, grateful for the changes done, but spells alone doesn't make the class. I think there is a way of making features that are useful and flavorful while not being situational or broken.
But the bard does have extra expert features jack of all trades and rogue has an extra expert feature reliable talent. Ranger gets no secondary expert features.
Originally ranger had ways to get double prof (expertise) and possibly advantage.
Ranger should get that advantage back. It could be rewritten like "kenku recall" where a ranger can buy advantage a limited amount of skills (possibly with con saves as well)
There's still no difficult terrain ignoring as well. Wotc may be trying to rebalance it though.(slowed condition hints this might be the case)
Also favored terrain clearly let you remain watchful while traveling. Wich is important because technically you can't watch, track, navigate ect at the same time.
To say favored terrain did nothing skill could not is not being fair in evaluating the text.
I think they should just go back to Tasha's Ranger. That version hit exactly on what the Ranger should be IMO. Maybe throw in cantrips so you don't need to use the fighting style on it.
The thing I hate about the new Ranger is they got rid of the free once a day spells and they now make you use a spell slot for natures veil.
They Actually made the Tasha's Ranger but a little better. And I will miss Primal Awareness too.
One possible solution is spreading various invocation-like benefits across terrains and enemies. Like I suggested in this thread. But it's probably bit too radical for WotC.
Perhaps, but difficult terrain includes quite a lot of stuff, not all of which is natural. It also upgrades your swimming and climbing speeds (as slippery vertical surfaces and strong currents are difficult terrain, too). Giving that for free... might fit, but it's way stronger than just climbing and swimming speed.
You have a point in that ranger doesn't get a secondary expert feature. Although, what else can you do with skills? I guess being a half-martial (with access to fighting style and d10 hit die) and half-caster offsets that. Yes, favored terrain did a little more than skill. Only on certain terrains. It still doesn't pull the weight of a full class feature.
It is worth noting that Hunter's Mark has a secondary effect that gives you Advantage when tracking your chosen target, so we do have a feature that directly boosts some of the skills we could take expertise in. There's almost no way someone marked by a ranger is going to evade pursuit without magic. The same is true for a lot of Primal spells ranger has access to.
We can cast Detect Magic, Detect Disease/Poison, Beast Sense, Enhance Ability, Find Traps, Locate Animals/Plants, Locate Objects, Pass Without a Trace, Meld in Stone, Nondetection, Water Walk, Locate Creature, Scrying, and Treestride, all of which greatly improves the ranger's ability to function in the Exploration pillar of the game. A lot of which I am pretty sure we didn't have before.
Between Expertise and the Primal spell list the ranger really is an incredible scout and tracker so long as they've chosen the right spells for the task at hand.
I wouldn't mind more flavorful abilities of course. I am just pointing out that having a greatly expanded spell list coupled with becoming prepared casters went a looong way toward making us a premier exploration pillar class.
Hunters mark requires you to see a target to track them. Meaning most of the time it's too late(except bbge with dm planed escapes).I have once done it on an npc that I thought was going to run into danger but that's still more situational and unpredictable than phb favored enemy or terrain working.
If they changed Hunters mark to Include all tracking your points might be valid but I do not currently see it.
That is something I thought would be interesting to change, have the spell feed into itself by allowing a successful track check to be a method of targeting a creature as long as they are within one mile or something. Then once targeted they now have advantage on tracking them.