The Ranger of the 2024 Player’s Handbook is our beloved sword of the wilds, now with more magic, greater martial prowess, and new opportunities to gain Expertise. They can prepare more spells, cast Hunter’s Mark for free several times per day, and receive bonuses to the iconic Ranger spell at higher levels. Several other new features, such as Roving, Tireless, and Nature’s Veil, will look familiar from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.
Read below as we cover what’s new with the 2024 Ranger. If we don’t cover a feature, such as your Ability Score Improvements or Extra Attack, that’s because it remains unchanged from 2014.
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2024 Ranger Class Features Overview
The 2024 Ranger can prepare more spells than the 2014 Ranger could learn. For example, the 2014 Ranger learned their 6th spell at level 9, and the 2024 Ranger can prepare their 6th spell at level 5.
Spellcasting looks a little different in the 2024 Player’s Handbook. All spellcasting classes prepare their spells now, although some classes still change their spells when they level up, just like you’re used to. Spellcasting classes are no longer distinguished by who prepares spells and who learns them, but rather how often a class can change their prepared spells and how many they can change at a time. For example, now the 2024 Ranger prepares its spells when they complete a Long Rest, just like the Druid, but can only swap out one spell per day.
You can also now use a Druidic Focus, an optional class feature from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything that has been made a part of the new Ranger’s Spellcasting feature.
The 2024 Ranger and Hunter’s Mark
The 2024 Player’s Handbook strengthens the Ranger class’s relationship with its trademark spell, Hunter’s Mark. Several of the 2024 Ranger’s base class features—Relentless Hunter, Precise Hunter, and Foe Slayer—all power up your Ranger while Hunter’s Mark is active. Also, the spell now deals Force damage on a hit.
Favored Enemy has seen some significant changes. This feature no longer focuses on tracking and recalling information about certain creature types, or learning their language (though you can learn two new languages with the Deft Explorer feature below). Instead, you can now cast Hunter’s Mark twice per Long Rest without expending a spell slot, and you always have it prepared. This will make it much easier to keep up with the Barbarians, Fighters, and Paladins in damage output without having to spend your precious spell slots to do it.
With the new Spellcasting feature, you could already prepare more spells than before; with the new Favored Enemy, you also prepare the Ranger’s trademark spell for free. You’ll get more free castings of Hunter’s Mark as you level up.
At level 1, you’ll get access to the Weapon Mastery feature, which allows you to use the mastery property of two weapons, which you can swap out during a Long Rest. Mastery properties make combat as a martial character more exciting, more tactically interesting, and—if you take them as an opportunity to get creative with your battle scenes—more cinematic.
Let’s look at the mastery properties for two of the most common Ranger weapons, the Longbow, the Scimitar, and because I want to show Strength-based Rangers some love, the Battleaxe:
- Battleaxe (Topple): I’m a simple guy—the only thing I like better than rolling to attack an enemy is doing it with Advantage. With Topple, you can force enemies to make a Constitution saving throw or be knocked Prone. This can also help protect your allies if you Topple an enemy who was intending to chase after them.
- Longbow (Slow): Use Slow to buy your party some time before the second wave of enemies arrives. Aim for the leg or wing with your Longbow and reduce the target’s Speed by 10 feet. A creature can only suffer from one Speed reduction via the Slow ability at a time.
- Scimitar (Nick): Nick allows you to use the Light property’s extra attack as part of your Attack action instead of your Bonus Action. This keeps your Bonus Action available for spells like Ensnaring Strike and Hunter’s Mark, or for subclass features like the Beast Master commanding their Primal Companion.
Natural Explorer is not a feature of the 2024 Ranger. Instead, if you’d like to be an expert navigator through the woods, the Ranger now gains access to spells that could help with travel (such as Alarm, Goodberry, and Speak With Animals) at level 1 and you can select Expertise in Survival with Deft Explorer at level 2.
Deft Explorer and its benefits from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything have been broken out into their own features for the 2024 Ranger. Now, a level 2 feature, the new Ranger’s Deft Explorer grants you Expertise in one skill plus proficiency in two languages. Overhear the softest twig snap during watch with expertise in Perception, or help the tricksters of the group on their next scheme by picking up Deception.
Fighting Styles function largely the same as before. They are now a type of feat, however, so when you get access to the Fighting Style feature, you can select a feat with the Fighting Style feature as a prerequisite.
The biggest change here is that the optional class feature Druidic Warrior from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything is now available to all Rangers. If your Ranger is more magically focused, you can choose Druidic Warrior to learn two Druid cantrips instead of selecting a Fighting Style feat. (Consider the new Starry Wisp spell!)
You also are no longer limited to Archery, Defense, Dueling, and Two-Weapon Fighting. So, now your Ranger can grab a Shield and focus on protecting their allies in the frontlines if they want.
- Beast Master: The Beast Master’s signature feature, Primal Companion, looks very similar to the optional feature from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. However, most of its stats (AC and Beast's Strike damage) now scale with your Wisdom modifier instead of your Proficiency Bonus. With Exceptional Training, whenever you command your companion, it can take the Dash, Disengage, Dodge, or Help action using its Bonus Action. Lastly, Bestial Fury shares some of the benefits of Hunter’s Mark with your Primal Companion once per turn.
- Fey Wanderer: The Fey Wanderer is almost entirely unchanged from its appearance in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. At level 9, Summon Fey is always prepared instead of Dispel Magic. But Dispel Magic now appears on the Ranger spell list, meaning any Ranger can prepare it.
- Gloom Stalker: The Gloom Stalker saw some moderate tweaks. Instead of an extra attack on the first round that deals additional damage, the Gloom Stalkers’s Dread Ambusher now allows them to add extra damage to a hit a few times per day. Stalker's Flurry at level 11 was also tweaked slightly to build off of this change, increasing the damage of Dread Ambusher and allowing you to apply an additional effect when you use it: You can make an extra attack on a nearby enemy or Frighten your target and creatures within 10 feet of it. In addition to imposing Disadvantage on another creature's attack roll, Shadowy Dodge now takes your Reaction and lets you teleport up to 30 feet.
- Hunter: The Hunter has become more streamlined, with Hunter’s Prey and Defensive Tactics granting you two options instead of three. However, you can change those selections every time you take a Short or Long Rest, making you much more adaptable. My favorite change is the new Hunter’s Lore at level 3: You automatically know the Immunities, Resistances, and Vulnerabilities of creatures marked by your Hunter’s Mark spell!
Primeval Awareness is not a feature of the 2024 Ranger. You can still gain greater awareness of the world around you by picking up Expertise in Perception at level 2 with Deft Explorer. You also have more spells now and can swap them more often, so you can access magic like Beast Sense and Locate Animals or Plants more easily.
Formerly a part of the Deft Explorer feature in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, Roving has been split off into its own class feature with a slight buff. It now grants an additional 10 feet of movement instead of 5. But it does require you not to wear Heavy armor. It still grants the Climb speed and Swim speed as before.
This situational feature is no longer present in the 2024 Ranger. The increased Speed now found in Roving effectively replaces Land's Stride's avoidance of Difficult Terrain—and does so at an earlier level.
The Ranger gains Expertise in two additional skills! Now you have Expertise in three skills, and can better keep up with Bards and Rogues, who have four.
With Tireless, you can use an action to grant yourself Temporary Hit Points. I love using this feature as soon as literally anything seems "off," because you get several uses per day, and the Temporary Hit Points don’t fade until you complete a Long Rest. As soon as I hear a weird noise, I’m drawing my Scimitar and using Tireless.
This feature is nearly identical to its appearance in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, except now the number of uses is tied to your Wisdom modifier, not your Proficiency Bonus. (As an aside, I like this tweak. The power represents your connection to primal forces, and so does your spellcasting ability modifier.) Just as in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, Tireless also allows you to reduce your Exhaustion by one level when you take a Short Rest.
This feature replaces 2014's Hide in Plain Sight (though Rangers who want extra sneakiness can now gain Expertise in Stealth at level 9).
Taking damage can no longer break your Concentration on Hunter’s Mark. If you want to focus on dealing damage, nothing so pedestrian as a Fireball can stop you. You can now only lose Concentration on Hunter’s Mark if you become Incapacitated, you die, or you cast another spell or activate another effect that requires Concentration.
Replacing 2014's Vanish, Nature's Veil lets you turn Invisible as a Bonus Action! This invisibility lasts until the end of your next turn, granting you Advantage on any attack rolls you make during that time.
This feature is nearly unchanged from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, but the number of uses now equals your Wisdom modifier instead of your Proficiency Bonus. Just as with Tireless, I personally like this tweak; turning Invisible is presumably an act of magic, and the Ranger uses Wisdom for their spellcasting.
If a creature is marked by Hunter’s Mark, you have Advantage on attacks against them. By this level, you have six free castings of the Hunter’s Mark spell, so if you want to focus on dealing damage, Precise Hunter will help you slay your enemies.
You now have Blindsight out to 30 feet. Enemy mages slinging spells from behind the cover of Invisibility aren’t safe from you any longer. This isn’t new per se—the 2014 Ranger could also perceive Invisible creatures within 30 feet—but the 2014 Player’s Handbook’s language wasn’t quite as streamlined or easy to understand. These types of tweaks are designed to make players’ lives easier.
Gain an Epic Boon feat! Epic Boons are feats that require you to be at least level 19. You will have twelve to choose from. You can select any Epic Boon you like, but the 2024 Player’s Handbook recommends:
- Boon of Dimensional Travel: Increase one ability score by 1 (up to a maximum of 30), and immediately after you take the Attack or Magic action, you can teleport up to 30 feet.
Hunter’s Mark now deals 1d10 Force damage on a hit instead of 1d6. Between Favored Enemy giving you free castings of this spell, Relentless Hunter protecting your Concentration from being broken, and Precise Hunter giving you Advantage on marked targets, the level 20 Ranger is now a master combatant.
Dominate the Battlefield with Primal Magic
The 2024 Player’s Handbook is now available on the D&D Beyond marketplace, which means it's time to set out on new adventures with fresh or familiar characters!
The 2024 Player’s Handbook makes it easier for your Ranger to feel like a primal warrior, a guardian of the wild places, and a deadly hunter. You’ll have Expertise in more skills, more prepared spells, new tactical options in martial combat, and your Hunter’s Mark will benefit from additional bonuses. The 2024 Ranger is versatile, skilled in exploration, utility, melee and ranged combat, and primal magic.
We’re delighted to share with you the changes to fifth edition D&D that appear in the 2024 Player’s Handbook. Make sure to keep an eye out on D&D Beyond for more useful guides on using the wealth of new options, rules, and mechanics found in the 2024 Player's Handbook!
Damen Cook (@damen_joseph) is a lifelong fantasy reader, writer, and gamer. If he woke up tomorrow in Faerûn, he would bolt through the nearest fey crossing and drink from every stream and eat fruit from every tree in the Feywild until he found that sweet, sweet wild magic.
This article was updated on August 13, 2024 and August 28, 2024 to issue corrections or expand coverage for the following features and subclasses:
- Deft Explorer: Fixed typos and clarified that Natural Explorer's primary benefit of doubling your Proficiency Bonus for certain checks has been absorbed in Deft Explorer's Expertise benefit.
- Ranger Subclass (Beast Master): Clarifed scope of changes between Tasha's Cauldron of Everything's Primal Companion and the new Primal Companion.
- Ranger Subclass (Gloom Stalker): Fixed typo. Also added that Shadowy Dodge allows you to teleport up to 30 feet after the attack hits or misses.
- Roving: Clarified that Land's Stride avoidance of Difficult Terrain is effectively replaced by Roving's increased Speed.
- Hide in Plain Sight: Clarified that this was replaced by Tireless, and the extra stealthiness can be granted by Expertise in Stealth and level 9.
- Relentless Hunter: Clarified that you can still lose Concentration on Hunter's Mark if you cast another spell that requires Concentration.
- Nature's Veil: Clarified that this absorbed the primary benefit of 2014's Vanish.
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Posted Jul 8, 2024I have heard for a long time, Hunters Mark is “THE” rangers spell. However, right now, when you get to a higher level, you have far better spells to use that require concentration. and Hunters Mark falls away. Now, you are telling me, to be a viable competent character for my team, I need to continue to use Hunters Mark? Gee…thanks. If you want us to be heavy reliant on Hunters Mark, I have a few suggestions. Like make me be able to target several creatures at once when I cast this at higher levels. Then the extra attack has more relevancy. Or, let party members gain my advantages on marked creatures at higher levels. Or, let the damage increase as it levels (not just 20). Or just make it NOT REQUIRE CONCENTRATION when cast, at least at higher levels. Or at least tie it into subclasses somehow. Like make my Beast able to have advantage on attacks against marked creature. Maybe let Archery fire 3 shots at marked creature. Something! I will still prefer casting summon companions or other spells and concentrate on that than Hunters Mark. Casting for free doesn’t means shit when you still have to concentrate on doing a possible 1D6 extra damage. Hell, give me all new cantrips specifically for Rangers that deal 1D6 damage. I’ll take that over concentration for a spell that falls to the way side at higher levels.
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Posted Jul 8, 2024I think you're misreading what's being said here. You can command the Beast in two different ways
1. By using a Bonus Action
2. By sacrificing one of your attacks
#1 can be used if your Bonus Action is free, #2 can be used if you had to use your Bonus Action for something else and still want the Beast to attack.
You don't have to use your Bonus Action and sacrifice one of your attacks.
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Posted Jul 8, 2024Here's my homebrew improvements for the disaster of hunter's mark:
From level 5, can cast hunters mark without concentration, still cast as a bonus action, but can retarget after killing creature as part of an attack action.
At level 20, the ranger increases their dexterity and wisdom by 4, and increases their maximum to 24
Damage scaling:
1: 1d6
13: 1d8
17: 1d10
20: 1d12
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Posted Jul 9, 2024It is so weird seeing the hosts excitedly talk about something that is hot garbage. Like the 11th level Hunter Ranger ability is insultingly bad. Volley and Whirlwind Strike were incredibly cool and now they've been replaced with doing some chip damage to an extra enemy. ******* garbage.
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Posted Jul 9, 2024Please fix this. Hunter's mark as a spell has never been worth casting, and without either making it a free action to cast or significantly scaling it's damage it still isn't. I cannot begin to understand the choice to make such a bad spell so central to the class without giving sed spell any improvements.
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Posted Jul 9, 2024Maybe. At a minimum, you still need to use an attack to get your companion to attack. You can use your Bonus Action to command your companion to do anything...but attack. If you want your companion to attack, you have to sacrifice one of your attacks..
From Tasha's: In combat, the beast acts during your turn. It can move and use its reaction on its own, but the only action it takes is the Dodge action, unless you take a bonus action on your turn to command it to take another action. That action can be one in its stat block or some other action. You can also sacrifice one of your attacks when you take the Attack action to command the beast to take the Attack action. If you are incapacitated, the beast can take any action of its choice, not just Dodge.
Underlined text clearly states you need to use your bonus action to command the beast to take an action from its stat block or some other action. It neither explicitly includes nor excludes the Attack action from that. However...
Bold text clearly states as an ALSO (in other words, in addition too) sacrifice an attack if you take the Attack action to command your beast companion to attack. Taken together, the two sections clearly say to me if you want your beast to attack, you have to give up one of your own.
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Posted Jul 9, 2024Not that I disagree with most of this. I don't. But as I read this, anything not discussed here remains as it currently is. Volley and Whirlwind Strike are no mentioned so, presumably, they are unchanged.
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Posted Jul 9, 2024As far as I understand Tasha's you could "Command the beast to take the attack action" with a Bonus action or through an attack when you take the attack action.
It's more versitile then what they put in this 2024 ranger, with a Bonus Action to attack. However it's leagues above the 2014 ranger that took up an entire action.
I just don't understand why the Beast in Beast Master subclass can't just be good. In the current base rules for mounted combat the ranger beastmaster is literally worse then having a mount. Because a mount doesn't take up your action economy unles you choose to do so, while still being an active combatant (DM willing)
It'd be great if you could choose to control the beast directly, or let it act independently. While acting independently it would act as an intelligent creature with its own turn order and actually be capable of attacking on its own (under DM control, technically). You could then have hunter's mark double as a focus point where your independant beast could prefer to attack the marked target.
Heck, since it's an entire (sub)class fantasy, let the Beast Master just be strong by having more action economy with the beast, where you just get 2 turns in the turn order... zero to hero story when?
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Posted Jul 9, 2024Spellcasting
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Posted Jul 9, 2024Single fix that makes this class better is for Rangers only, Hunter's Mark does not require concentration. Keep the PB/day casts to balance, but two free casts without concentration is still strong.
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Posted Jul 9, 2024There should not be any ability that need a level up to change. its bad feel to be stuck n a long time in the same level with a feature you dont like. every feature should be changed at a long rest or at least over downtime .
I have seen actual plays 12 sessions and more without a single level up and it was painful to see some players not happy with their choices.
Rangers should have been able to change all their spells and even one spell at a short rest.
They should also had more Mark spells (Hunter's mark, Pack's Mark, Predator's mark, Searing mark or so on so on)
and losing the Primal Awareness spells of Tasha really REALLY hurts the ranger and it might be the main reason why if I ever play a ranger I would choose 2014 over 2024 and just add the weapon masteries. heck even without them it will be alright.
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Posted Jul 9, 2024What's the point of doing a play test if you're not going to listen to the feedback?
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Posted Jul 9, 2024I would hazard a guess, marketing.
Both the initial playtest surveys for the 2024 Ranger and Paladin were boasted as having a 97% satisfaction rating, and when the subsequent playtest materials were released, their satisfaction ratings collapsed, they didn't even tell us what they were before rushing them off to the 2024 PHB, lol.
There was clearly some effort to balance both around the optional multiclass rule, with an emphasis on what some people (or just the one guy) envisioned Hunter's Mark's role in Ranger class, and why some features needed to become spells, or why some spells had to stay spells.
Not to focus fire too much on Crawford (I imagine his hate mail is immense) but when you're the face of the 2024 phb, and you're making arguments about why X or Y feature has to be a spell, or why a spell has to remain a spell, and the reasons given aren't consistently applied to Warlock's Eldritch Smite, to Paladin's Divine Smite, to Ranger's Hunter's Mark, or to Druid's Wildshape (which doesn't recquire concentration and can use spell slots, lol) you've kinda whacked the wasp nest with a bat in a way that was both expected and disastrous.
Alas, not like any of this is changing anytime soon. This is the 2024 PHB, so everyone hating anything specific is either going to have homebrew solutions or just continue using the 2014 book (which despite its flaws, is the vehicle that 2024 wants to emulate for its own success).
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Posted Jul 9, 2024This class continues to be an overwhelming disappointment. The Tasha's changes gave us hope when they were released but this just goes to show that they still have no idea what they're doing with ranger. It doesn't need to be the highest damage dealer but focusing all of its combat prowess around Hunter's Mark, a very weak and low level spell that requires concentration, misunderstands its place in the rest of the classes in 2024. Give it Hunter's Mark not as a spell, but as a class ability demonstrating their skill as a supernatural hunter who can read their opponent's weakness, and REMOVE concentration.
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Posted Jul 10, 2024I think I'm going to be doing some cut and paste between the 2014 & 2024 versions.
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Posted Jul 10, 2024ok really which Dev HATE ranger? after seeing monk and sorcerer this look like they want to keep ranger the worst
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Posted Jul 10, 2024I agree with you. 1d10 extra dmg at lvl 20, wow. 1d12 too much? Why can't it be at level 10 or around there? Too powerful? I don't think so when other classes are dealing much more damage than Ranger.
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Posted Jul 10, 2024Yep.
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Posted Jul 10, 2024I think the new Ranger is fine... until about level 11. Then it falls off hard power wise compared to other classes. Being able to go invisible is cool but everything else you get after 10 being built around a level 1 spell that doesn't scale is just sad.
I don't know how you thought this would be acceptable. Why wasn't this ranger shown in UA8?
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Posted Jul 10, 2024I'm still trying to understand this "design". Original ranger was an Aragorn type explorer but the features were situational, not bad, but situational, so they concluded that the players do not want to play "Aragorn" they want to play druid with a weapon so they made a half druid with a weapon in Tasha's. It was ok but lost flavour and identity.
Now the way the rest of the classes are designed, they all have that one thing that makes them unique and clear as to what they are and how they function. Rogues are sneak attacking and lockpickig, fighters get action surge signifing their combat expertise, barbarians rage, druids wildshape, clerics chanel divinity etc. They have features that show what they are. Ranger is a half caster, this is not a Ranger specific feature, some classes are halfcasters. Ranger also gets a skill expertise, this is also not a ranger specific feature, it is a feature of the "experts" class group that a ranger is a part of. Ranger gets extra attack, this is not a ranger feature, it is a feature of a martial classes that ranger is a part of.
This ranger's feature is that he does not need to "prepare" this one specific spell. WHAT! They said here in the article that you should choose an expertise in a "ranger type" skill so that you can play (pretend that you are playing) a ranger. Is that what makes a class be a ranger. If I'm playing a rogue or fighter with expertise in survival does that changes their class name to ranger somehow if that is what "Ranger" is. Or should I play a druid and pick up fighting style with a feat and be a ranger that is better at everything that this new ranger is trying to do. This "design" is so terrible it hurts to read. The only ranger feture it gets is swimming and climbing speed at level 6. So now the ranger is "That class that can climb once they reach level 6), AMAZING. You can become invisible at level 14, you know, the level at which everyone at that level can probably do that. Removing Exhaustion on a short rest is nice because it does seem "Rangery" at least. In general I am repulsed by this, it isn't even a class. GROSS