You have become adept at firing a bow while riding atop a powerful beast. The tribes of large grassland areas use mounted archery for hunting, protecting their herds, and warfare. Mounted archery is seen by many as a basic survival skill, and additionally makes each able-bodied member of a tribe, a highly-mobile warrior.

In battle, mounted archers are typically skirmishers, lightly armed missile troops capable of moving swiftly to avoid close combat or to deliver a rapid blow to the flanks or rear of their foe.

Animal Bond

Your experiences living and working so closely with animals provides you with the ability to quickly establish a relationship with domesticated beasts you encounter. When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you gain proficiency Animal Handling. If you already had proficiency in Animal Handling this has no effect.

Born to the Saddle

Starting at 3rd level, your mastery as a rider becomes apparent. You have advantage on saving throws made to avoid falling off your mount. If you fall off your mount and descend no more than 10 feet, you can land on your feet if you’re not incapacitated.

Mounting or dismounting a creature costs you only 5 feet of movement, rather than half your speed.

Additionally, your mount is trained to respond to you in battle. Add your proficiency bonus to your mount’s AC. You may also add your proficiency bonus to any saving throws your mount is required to perform. Its hit point maximum equals the hit point number in its stat block or four times your ranger level, whichever is higher. Like any creature, it can spend Hit Dice during a short rest to regain hit points.

While you are its rider, your mount obeys your commands as best as it can. It takes its turn on your initiative. On your turn, you can verbally command your mount where to move (no action required by you). You can use your bonus action to verbally command it to take the Dash or Disengage action. If you don't issue a command, your mount takes the Dodge action.

If you are incapacitated or absent, the mount acts on its own, focusing on protecting you and itself. The mount never requires your command to use its reaction, such as when making an opportunity attack.

While traveling through your favored terrain while mounted, you may move stealthily at a normal pace.

If your mount dies, you can obtain a new mount by spending 8 hours magically bonding with a beast that is a suitable mount and isn’t hostile to you.

Aimed Shot

At 3rd level, you have become so accustomed to firing a bow you rarely miss a shot. Once per turn when you fire an arrow from a shortbow or longbow as part of the Attack action you don’t make an attack roll for the attack. Instead, the arrow shoots forward in a line, which is 30 feet long. The arrow ignores cover and the first target creature in that line must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, a creature takes damage as if it were hit by the arrow, plus an extra 1d6 piercing damage. On a successful save, a target takes half as much damage.

The piercing damage increases to 2d6 when you reach 11th level in this class.

You may perform this attack a number of times equal to your Dexterity modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest.

Evasive Manuvers

At 7th level, when an attacker that your mount can see hits it with an attack, it can use it’s reaction to halve the attack’s damage against it.

Additionally, your mount can now nimbly dodge out of the way of certain area effects, such as an ancient red dragon’s fiery breath or an ice storm spell. When your mount is subjected to an effect that allows it to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, it instead takes no damage if it succeeded on the saving throw, and only half damage if it failed.

Exceptional Archer

At 11th level, your tenacity can wear down the most potent foes. When you hit a creature with an arrow from a shortbow or a longbow as part of the Attack action, you may roll one additional weapon damage die when determining the damage.

Mount and Rider

At 15th level, you and your mount have learned to move together as one. While you are riding your mount, you also gain the benefits of Evasive Maneuvers.