Ranger Class Guide DnD 2024 (2024)

Introduction

The Ranger is an interesting mix of Druid-style spellcasting, Fighter-stylecombat capabilities, and Rogue-style skills, creating a versatile and capableclass which can thrive in a variety of situations. Themed around nature andexploration, the Ranger is a welcome asset in parties exploring untamed landsabove or below ground.

The Ranger can fill the role of either a Fighter-equivalent or aRogue-equivalent (sometimes both), and works well as a Scout and Striker, buttrades the Fighter’s durability for better skills and improved damage output.While they do have the ability to cast spells, and can therefore providehealing and utility options, the Ranger doesn’t have nearly enough magic toserve as a Healer or a Utility caster.

Rangers are a cool concept that has long captured players’ imaginations, but they’ve been plagued by mechanical issues since they were first introduced, literally decades before the original release of 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons. The features which make them unique and interesting often go unused because they force rangers to specialize in solving problems and fighting enemies which players can’t guarantee that they’ll face. The Ranger’s Favored Enemy and Natural Explorer features ask players to choose creatures and places which the Ranger specializes in fighting, and if those things don’t appear in the game the features are essentially wasted.

To further torment ranger players, the Beast Master subclass as it was published in the Player’s Handbook was so frustratingly bad that it poisoned the community’s opinion of rangers to the point that years later the Ranger is still the character optimization community’s favorite punching bag.

But 5+ years into 5e’s life span, the Ranger has come into its own. Theintroduction of numerous exciting subclasses like the Gloom Stalker and theSwarm Keeper, rules fixes like new ways to handle the Beast Master’scompanion, and Optional Class Features which replace the Ranger’s least-usefulfeatures have all made great strides to make the Ranger both fun andeffective.

This article is for the 2024 DnD rules. For the 2014 rules, see our 2014 DnD 5e Ranger Class Guide.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Disclaimer
• Ranger Class Features
• 2024 Ranger Changes from 2014 Rules
• Ranger Backgrounds
• Ranger Species
• Ranger Ability Scores
  • Dexterity-Based Rangers
  • Wisdom-Based Rangers
• Ranger Skills
• Ranger Feats
  • Origin Feats
  • General Feats
  • Fighting Styles
  • Epic Boons
• Ranger Weapons
  • Two-Weapon Fighting
  • Archery
• Ranger Armor
• Ranger Multiclassing

Disclaimer

RPGBOT uses the color coding scheme which has become common among Pathfinder build handbooks, which is simple to understand and easy to read at a glance.

• Red: Bad, useless options, or options whichare extremely situational. Nearly never useful.
• Orange: OK options, or useful optionsthat only apply in rare circ*mstances. Useful sometimes.
• Green: Good options. Useful often.
• Blue: Fantastic options, often essentialto the function of your character. Useful very frequently.

We will not include 3rd-party content, including content from DMs Guild, in handbooks for official content because we can’t assume that your game will allow 3rd-party content or homebrew. We also won’t cover Unearthed Arcana content because it’s not finalized, and we can’t guarantee that it will be available to you in your games.

The advice offered below is based on the current State of the Character Optimization Meta as of when the article was last updated. Keep in mind that the state of the meta periodically changes as new source materials are released, and the article will be updated accordingly as time allows.

Ranger Class Features

Optional Class Features are detailed below under Optional Class Features.

Hit Points: Standard for front-line martialcharacters, d10 hit points gives you plenty of hp to get through the day.

Saves: Dexterity saves almost exclusivelyprevent partial damage from AOE effects, and Strength saves are relativelyrare.

Proficiencies: Medium armor, shields, andmartial weapons are great, but without heavy armor almost every Ranger will gofor a Dexterity-based build. Rangers also get three skills, which is unusuallyhigh, but since Rangers fall somewhere between a Fighter-equivalent andRogue-equivalent, it makes sense that they get an extra skill.

1. Spellcasting: Rangers are half casters, which means that their spellcasting advances half as quickly as full spellcasters like the Druid. They get numerous exclusive spells, such as Hunter’s Mark and Haul of Thorns.

1. Favored Enemy: Hunter’s Mark is a central feature of the class. Several class features and some class features all tie into Hunter’s Mark, so in many cases it’s assumed that you have Hunter’s Mark running. This presents a persistent resource tax, but Favored Enemy provides some free castings each day, which lightens the load.

1. Weapon Mastery: Excellent on any martial character.

2. Deft Explorer: Expertise is great, but you only get one, so choose wisely. I recommend either Perception or Stealth. The languages will rarely matter in most games, and you’re certainly not your party’s Face.

2. Fighting Style: See Fighting Styled under Feats, below.

3. Subclass: Ranger subclasses are briefly summarized below. See our Ranger Subclasses Breakdown for help selecting your subclass.

• Beast Master: Befriend a powerful beast andfight alongside it in battle.
• Fey Wanderer: Use fey power to do tricky thingslike teleporting.
• Gloom Stalker: Thrive in darkness.
• Hunter: Emphasize your martial capabilities,and adapt your features to suit the needs of the day.

5. Extra Attack: Excellent.

6. Roving: Additional speed and the ability to go nearly anywhere. A climb speed is the next best thing to a fly speed.

9. Expertise: Excellent.

10. Tireless: The Temporary Hit Points are basically an additional Ranger level worth of hit points. Most Rangers will have Wisdom modifiers around +2 or +3 at this point, which is enough to use this after most rests. You never want to use this in combat, but coming out of a rest with full hp and a pad of THP works great. The ability to recover Exhaustion quickly is nice, but not super impactful. It does allow you to use rests to recover from the Exhaustion caused by lack of food and water, which is weird to think about, but not really impactful.

13. Relentless Hunter: Hunter’s Mark is central to the Ranger’s tactics, especially if your subclass interacts with it, and with no proficiency in Constitution saves you’ve been sturggling to maintain Concentration since level 1. This will make your life much easier.

14. Nature’s Veil: Invisibility for two turns a few times per day. Since this is the Invisible condition rather than the spell Invisibility, you’re free to attack and do whatever else you like without breaking Invisibility.

17. Precise Hunter: This is a massive improvement to your damage output. If you were using a Vex weapon, consider switching to something else since Vex will stop being impactful.

18. Feral Senses: 30 feet is a ton of Blindsight. This will make hidden and invisible enemies a non-issue.

20. Foe Slayer: A pitifully small damage increase. Considering how great the Ranger’s other high-level features are, this feels really disappointing.

2024 Ranger Changes from 2014 Rules

This section is from our 2024 DnD Rules Transition Guide.

• 1. Spellcasting. Moved from level 2 to level 1. You can now change one prepared spell per long rest. Rangers are no longer locked into their spell choices until they gain another Ranger level, making their spellcasting much less restrictive.
• 1. Favored Enemy. Hunter’s Mark always prepared for free, and 2 free castings per Long Rest. Scales up to 6, matching Proficiency Bonus progression for a single-class Ranger. Many of the Ranger’s class and subclass features work based on using Hunter’s Mark, which means that we are once again defaulting to ranger concentrating on Hunter’s Mark at all times. Ugh. We had a few years post-Tasha’s where there were other interesting choices, and apparently WotC didn’t like that.

  Fortunately, Concentration has been removed from Magic Weapon. Doing DPR calculations for 2014 builds revealed that alternating between Magic Weapon and Elemental Weapon was actually more effective than using Hunter’s Mark. Now you can combine Magic Weapon with Hunter’s Mark to get even more damage output. Unfortunately, Elemental Weapon still requires Concentration.

• 1. Weapon Mastery. New.
• 2. Natural Explorer. Gone. Replaced by Deft Explorer, Roving, and Tireless.
• 2. Deft Explorer. Mostly matches the “Canny” Optional Class Feature, but you get 2 languages instead of 1.
• 2. Fighting Style. Same changes as the Fighter; Fighting Styles are feats now. Rangers can now pick from any Fighting Style (2014 rangers have a restricted list). Alternatively, you can choose Druidic Warrior to get two druid cantrips.
• 6. Roving. Nearly identical to the Optional Class Feature, but the speed increase is raised to +10 feet and this now doesn’t function in heavy armor.
• 9. Expertise. New. Rangers previously only got Expertise in one skill from Canny, and they now get a total of 3.
• 10. Tireless. Mostly identical to the Optional Class Feature of the same name, but the uses of the Temporary Hit Points action are now based on your Wisdom modifier instead of your Proficiency Bonus.
• 13. Relentless Hunter. New.
• 14. Nature’s Veil. Mostly identical to the Optional Class Feature of the same name, but the uses are now based on your Wisdom modifier instead of your Proficiency Bonus.
• 17. Precise Hunter. New.
• 18. Feral Senses. No longer a weird invisibility detector; now it’s just Blindsight.
• 20. Foe Slayer. Hunter’s Mark improves from 1d6 damage to 1d10. That is… disappointing.

Ranger Backgrounds

An increase to Dexterity is too crucial to forego, so any Background whichdoesn’t include Dexterity is immediately out. Dexterity-based and Wisdom-basedskills are ideal. You may also want proficiency in Thieves’ Tools.

For information and advice regarding Origin Feats, including those granted byyour Background, see the Ranger Feats section, below.

• Artisan^(PHB) : You canget the crucial Dexterity increase, but that’s the only appeal here.
• Charlatan^(PHB) : Dexterity,Constitution, and Skilled is a great combination for the Ranger, especiallyif you’re filling in for a Rogue in the party. However, you don’t getproficiency in Thieves’ Tools.
• Criminal^(PHB) : Perfectfor a stealthy character.
• Farmer^(PHB) : SinceStrength-based Ranger builds don’t really work, this is best for DruidicWarrior builds. The skills are fine for the Ranger, and Tough is always aneasy choice if you don’t want more complexity.
• Guard^(PHB) : Fine forStrength-based Ranger builds, but Strength-based Ranger builds are bad.
• Guide^(PHB) : Thedefault for rangers. Perfect ability scores, good skills, and Druidspellcasting without giving up your Fighting Style.
• Hermit^(PHB) : Okay for aDruidic Warrior build, but the skills are middling. The Ranger’s ability tomagically heal is very limited, so Healer may be worthwhile if your party isshort on healing options.
• Sage^(PHB) : A temptingoption for Druidic Warrior builds, but the skills are difficult on theRanger.
• Sailor^(PHB) : Decentability scores for a melee build plus one good skill. Tavern Brawler isn’t agreat choice, but the ability to push an enemy 5 feet while also dealingdamage with an Unarmed Strike may be useful if you’re not using weapons withthe Push mastery.
• Scribe^(PHB) : Goodability scores, good skills, and Skilled can close the proficiency gapbetween the Ranger and the Rogue.
• Soldier^(PHB) : Goodability scores, Savage Attacker is decent since you’ll never have more than2 attacks, but the skills are bad
• Wayfarer^(PHB) : Goodability scores, the skills and Thieves’ Tools are perfect for a stealthyRanger replacing a Rogue in the party.

Ranger Species

Melee builds will want more durability, especially since you’re probably using two-weapon fighting and won’t get the AC boost from a shield. Ranged builds have much more flexibility, so you can look for additional skills, innate spellcasting, or other unique features.

• Aasimar^(PHB): Two damageresistances, Darkvision, a once per day heal, and a once per day combattransformation. While the Ranger does sometimes need their Bonus Action freefor Hunter’s Mark, that’s not so frequently that it make CelestialRevelation hard to use. It’s a great combat buff, granting flight for rangedbuilds or a way to handle crowds for melee builds.
• Dragonborn^(PHB): A damageresistance, likely to a common damage type like poison or fire, a decent wayto handle crowds of small enemies, Darkvision, and flight once per day.Excellent for melee builds.
• Dwarf^(PHB): Darkvision,resistance to the most common non-weapon damage type, and more hit points.Tremorsense may be your only way to locate invisible enemies. Great formelee builds, but likely wasted on ranged builds.
• Elf^(PHB): Darkvisionand an extra skill are both great, plus you can get access to some spellsfrom outside of the Ranger’s spell list. The Drow’s Faerie Fire gives you agreat offensive support option, and the High Elf’s cantrip can get you agreat offensive cantrips from the Wizard’s spell list. The Wood Elf makessense thematically, but you can already get both Longstrider and PassWithout Trace, though getting two more spells prepared for free isn’t a badthing. This is all even more useful for Druidic Warrior builds since theHigh Elf’s cantrip gives you more room to select non-damage cantrips likeGuidance.
• Gnome^(PHB): Darkvisionand Gnomish Cunning are both great, and the added cantrips from GnomishLineage offer some interesting utility options.
• Goliath^(PHB): GiantHeritage offers numerous excellent options. I like Cloud’s Jaunt, Hill’sTopple, and Stone’s Endurance. Rangers typically don’t have the durabilityto use Large Form and turn themselves into a target, but Giant Heritage maybe enough on its own.
• Halfling^(PHB): Brave willbe very helpful with the Ranger’s moderately high Wisdom. Lucky is alwaysdecent, though not hugely impactful. Halfling Nimbleness and NaturallyStealthy won’t be consistently useful.
• Human^(PHB): Anadditional skill and origin feat are an easy choice on any build.
• Orc^(PHB): AdrenalineRush provides a taste of the Rogue’s mobility which rangers can’t typicallymatch, and the Temporary Hit Points are always great. Relentless Enduranceprovides some insurance, especially on melee builds which typically drawmore attacks.
• Tiefling^(PHB): Darkvision,a damage resistance, and some innate spellcasting. Possibly a good choicefor Druidic Warrior builds, but otherwise you won’t use the spellcastingreliably.

Ranger Ability Scores

For the vast majority of rangers, Dexterity dominates the Ranger’s abilitiesbecause rangers are most effective in light armor using finesse weapons orranged weapons. Constitution is always helpful, and rangers should invest alittle bit in Wisdom to support their spellcasting and crucial skills likePerception. While this does make the ranger somewhat MAD (Multiple AbilityDependent), they don’t need to spread themselves thin as the Monk or thePaladin.

Strength-based builds are technically possible, but face additionaldifficulties not faced by Dexterity-based builds. Half plate (the best mediumarmor) imposes Disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks but still requiresyou to invest in Dexterity, making you even more MAD than the Monk and thePaladin. You’ll be able to use two-handed melee weapons, but there’s verylittle reason to do so when so much of the Ranger’s damage can come fromFavored Foe and Hunter’s Mark. To summarize: Strength-based builds sufferimmediate setbacks, and gain essentially no benefit. Do not build aStrength-based Ranger unless you are very certain that you know what you’redoing.

Finally, Druidic Warrior allows for Wisdom-based builds. Take the Shillelaghcantrip and a ranged attack cantrip like Produce Flame, and you can fight bothin melee and at range using Wisdom instead of Strength or Dexterity.Furthermore, your spellcasting will be more effective. However, you’ll likelyresort to medium armor and suffer the same challenges with Dexterity (Stealth)checks faced by Strength-based builds. The improved spellcasting andWisdom-based skills can be worth the trade, but it doesn’t solve the Ranger’sMAD issue.

The PHB recommended ability scores assume a Dexterity-based build.

Dexterity-Based Rangers

Str: Dump.

Dex: Your primary ability score.

Con: Hit points and Constitution saves,including Concentration.

Int: Maybe a little bit for skills, butnot essential.

Wis: Spellcasting, saves, and skills.

Cha: Dump.

Wisdom-Based Rangers

Str: Dump.

Dex: 14 to fill out your armor.

Con: Hit points and Constitution saves,including Concentration.

Int: Maybe a little bit for skills, butnot essential.

Wis: Your primary ability score.

Cha: Dump.

Ranger Skills

• Animal Handling (Wis): Even for a BeastMaster Ranger this is still worthless.
• Athletics (Str): Functionally useless.
• Insight (Wis): Rangers need a bit ofWisdom, so pick this up to back up your party’s Face.
• Investigation (Int): Very useful,especially if you’re serving as your party’s Scout, but Intelligence isn’t agreat ability for Rangers, so you might leave this to other folks in theparty.
• Nature (Int): Your only knowledge skill.It’s a good skill, but Intelligence is hard for Rangers.
• Perception (Wis): With high Wisdom thereis no reason not to take this.
• Stealth (Dex): Rangers don’t strictly needto be stealthy, but with high Dexterity it certainly doesn’t hurt.
• Survival (Wis): Very situational, but ifanyone was going to take this it should be a Ranger.

Ranger Feats

Thissectiondoesnotaddresseverypublishedfeat,asdoingsowouldresultinanever-growinglistofoptionswhichdon’tcatertotheclass.Instead,thissectionwillcoverfeatswhichwethinkworkespeciallywellfortheclassorwhichmightbetemptingbutpoorchoices.

Origin Feats

These feats typically come from your Background, but you can also select anOrigin Feat any time that you could select a General Feat, and you may getmore from sources like the Human’s species traits.

• Alert^(PHB): Never a badchoice, but less impactful for martial characters than for full casters.
• Crafter^(PHB): Neat, butnot especially impactful. Crafting mundane gear stops being impactful earlyin the game as players quickly accumulate enough to afford nearly anythingin the Player’s Handbook. This notably omits the Herbalist Kit as a choice,so you can’t even use this to craft Potions of Healing.
• Lucky^(PHB): An easychoice on any character. It won’t directly impact your build, but it’s agreat default if you don’t need anything else.
• Magic Initiate^(PHB): Druidspells might remove the need for Druidic Warrior, or you can get morecantrips (either from the Druid or elsewhere) so that you feel closer to afull spellcaster.
• Musician^(PHB): A great wayto contribute to any party.
• Savage Attacker^(PHB): Rangersrarely use weapons with big damage dice, so this won’t have a significantimpact. If you somehow make muskets effective, this might be worthwhile.
• Skilled^(PHB): Great forpicking up skills and Thieves’ Tools proficiencies so that you can easilyreplace a Rogue in your party.
• Tavern Brawler^(PHB): There isvery little reason to use this. Grab a weapon with the Push mastery.<
• Tough^(PHB): Alwayshelpful for front-line melee builds, but not essential.

General Feats

• Athlete^(PHB): A decentchoice for many martial characters. A climb speed is the next best thing toa fly speed. The ability to stand up quickly makes falling or being knockedprone less of a problem. The ability to jump with less of a runnin start maylet you easily jump over difficult terrain and other obstacles whichotherwise might slow your movement in combat.
• Charger^(PHB): The pusheffect is decent, especially when combined with a Push mastery, but withoutother stacking sources of push distance you’ll have trouble getting past the30-foot threshold where most creatures won’t have enough speed toimmediately run back into melee.
• Chef^(PHB): Anexcellent source of additional healing and of Temporary Hit Points. Good forany melee build.
• Crossbow Expert^(PHB): Normally agood choice for ranged weapon builds, but the importance of Hunter’s Markmakes this difficult to use.
• Crusher^(PHB): A simpleand easy way to control enemies’ positions in combat, especially whencombined with the Push mastery. Unfortunately, there are no Finesse weaponsthat deal bludgeoning damage, so very few Rangers can actually use this.Druidic Warrior builds using Shillelagh are your best bet.
• Defensive Duelist^(PHB): Aconsistent and effective way to boost your AC in melee if you’re usingFinesse weapons like rapiers or short swords, which most melee Rangers will.Boosting your AC by this much may prevent you from getting hit, which willdo a lot to protect your Concentration on Hunter’s Mark.
• Dual Wielder^(PHB): Anadditional attack while two-weapon fighting can be a big damage boost, butyour Bonus Action may be overtaxed by subclass features and by Hunter’sMark, so this isn’t always a good idea even for two-weapon fightingbuilds.
• Durable^(PHB): Not as goodas you would hope. The Bonus Action to spend a Hit Point Die notably doesnot add your Constitution modifier, which makes it an expensive andfrustrating way to burn through your Hit Point Dice very quickly withminimal impact. Unless your party has some other deep, inexpensive healingresource, you need those dice for Short Rests to refill your massive pool ofhit points. Take Chef instead.
• Fey Touched^(PHB): Misty Stepis excellent, and the additional spells per day can be very helpful.
• Grappler^(PHB):Strength-based Rangers don’t work well.
• Great Weapon Master^(PHB):Strength-based Rangers don’t work well, so qualifying weapons are a badidea
• Heavily Armored^(PHB): Heavy armoris the missing piece to make Strength-based Rangers work, but if you’rerunning around with 8 Dexterity you’re probably not going to survive tolevel 4 in order to take this. Start with a level of Fighter instead.
• Inspiring Leader^(PHB): A big pileof durability for your whole party. Best on Druidic Warrior builds.
• Mage Slayer^(PHB): Greatinsurance against difficult mental saves.
• Martial Weapon Training^(PHB): A 1-levelclass dip into Fighter is almost always a better idea unless you’reexpecting to reach 20th level.
• Medium Armor Master^(PHB): Borderlineworthless. Put +2 into Dexterity and wear light armor.
• Moderately Armored^(PHB): A 1-levelclass dip into Fighter is almost always a better idea unless you’reexpecting to reach 20th level.
• Mounted Combatant^(PHB): Therearen’t rules for the Beast Master to ride their companion, and regularmounts are too frail to last long.
• Observant^(PHB): Useful ifyour GM likes to use sneaky creatures.
• Piercer^(PHB): The vastmajority of the Ranger’s best weapons deal piercing damage.
• Poisoner^(PHB): Notespecially impactful. You’ll get more value out of something likePiercer.
• Polearm Master^(PHB): A great wayto get additional attacks and apply Hunter’s Mark, but it’s only viable forDruidic Warrior builds using Shillelagh.
• Resilient^(PHB): Proficiencyin Constitution saves really helps with Concentration, not to mention howcommon Constitution saves are. Concentrating on Hunter’s Mark is crucialfor the Ranger, and it’s especially difficult for melee builds. DruidicWarrior builds may prefer War Caster since you can increase your Wisdom whenyou take the feat. Relentless Hunter makes this less important once you reachlevel 13, but a lot of campaigns never get that far.
• Sentinel^(PHB): Absolutelyfantastic on the Beast Master since you’ll routinely have an ally fightingright alongside you.
• Shadow-Touched^(PHB):Invisibility is great on the Ranger, but the level 1 spell options aren’t asgood as Fey Touched.
• Sharpshooter^(PHB): Helpful forranged builds, but not essential unless your DM really enjoys using cover.Thrown weapon builds might enjoy this to offset their poor range relative toweapons like bows and muskets.
• Shield Master^(PHB): Rangersdon’t have the Strength to make this work.
• Skill Expert^(PHB): A good wayto close the skill gap with the Rogue.
• Skulker^(PHB): Hard tojustify without Cunning Action.
• Slasher^(PHB): Decent formelee builds.
• Speedy^(PHB): The abilityfor melee builds to move in and out of melee with relative safety makesh*t-and-run tactics much more viable, making it much easier to maintainConcentration on Hunter’s Mark since you’re not standing around in meleewaiting to be attacked.
• Spell Sniper^(PHB): Maybe forDruiding Warrior since Produce Flame, Starry Wisp, and Thorn Whip arelikely your go-to ranged attack options.
• Telekinetic^(PHB): Potentiallyuseful for Druidic Warrior builds, provided that your Bonus Action isn’tbeing monopolized by your class and by Hunter’s Mark.
• War Caster^(PHB): Great forDruidic Warrior builds, but most Rangers will get more out of Resilient(Constitution).
• Weapon Master^(PHB): You alreadyget Weapon Mastery. If you need more, strongly consider a 1-level dip intoFighter.

Fighting Styles

• Archery^(PHB):Mathematically spectacular
• Blind Fighting^(PHB): Fantastic,but only situationally useful. Unless you have party members that like torely on magical darkness or fog or similar effects, you’ll get moreconsistent benefit from other options.

  If it’s an option, take the Skulker feat instead.

• Defense^(PHB):Consistently useful, and doesn’t discourage you from switching weapons.
• Dueling^(PHB): 2 damagecloses the damage gap between a longsword and a two-handed weapon like agreataxe or greatsword (4.5->6.5 vs. 6.5/7), so you can have the damageof a two-handed weapon with the AC of sword-and-board. Note that this workswhile using a shield.
• Great Weapon Fighting^(PHB): This raisesthe minimum damage for the Greatsword to 6, which feels nice but doesn’timprove your average damage roll very much. It has almost no impact on otherweapons, which makes the appeal very narrow.
• Interception^(PHB):Conceptually similar to Protection, but there’s some nuance in how the twostyles protect your target. Protection imposes Disadvantage, so if there’s agood chance that the attack would miss, it’s the better choice. Interceptionreduces the damage and always works, but for big attacks it won’t negate thewhole attack.
• Protection^(PHB): Temptingfor Defender builds, but allies need to remain adjacent to you for this towork. Being adjacent to the front line tank is generally a bad place to beunless you can do so safely without someone defending you. This also appealsto mounted combat builds because you can use it to compensate for yourmount’s relative fragility, but if you’re going that route you really needthe Mounted Combatant feat which lets you retarget attacks at yourselfinstead.
• Thrown Weapon Fighting^(PHB): With theability to use two-weapon fighting and throw Nick weapons, the math behindthree attacks gets complicated. If you use a handaxe as your primary weaponand either a dagger or a light hammer as your secondary weapon for the Nickmastery, the Advantage from your handaxe’s Vex mastery can push the DPR justslightly past that of a musket making two attacks. Later adding DualWielder, Fighting Style (Archery), and Fighting Style (Two-Weapon Fighting)can add additional boosts to your damage output.
• Two-Weapon Fighting^(PHB): Two-weaponfighting is a major damage boost for melee builds thanks to Hunter’sMark.
• Unarmed Fighting^(PHB): Take TavernBrawler.

Epic Boons

• Boon of Combat Prowess^(PHB): Simple andconsistently useful.
• Boon of Dimensional Travel^(PHB): Maybe forDruidic Warrior builds.
• Boon of Energy Resistance^(PHB): A powerfuldefense on any character.
• Boon of Fate^(PHB): More usefulto support your allies’ save-or-suck spells than for anything that you’redoing.
• Boon of Fortitude^(PHB): You willbenefit more from Resilient (Constitution).
• Boon of Irresistible Offense^(PHB): Helpful,but Paladins don’t make enough attacks to make the damage boost meaningful,and you can get past damage resistances with Hunter’s Mark’s Forcedamage.
• Boon of Recovery^(PHB): The LastStand feature is great insurance, but definitely not enough to justify yourfirst Epic Boon. Try to get someone to cast Death Ward on you.
• Boon of Skill^(PHB): Potentiallyuseful in a small party with poor skill coverage.
• Boon of Speed^(PHB): A hugeboost in mobility.
• Boon of Spell Recall^(PHB): Potentiallyuseful, but remember that it only has a 25% chance to work.
• Boon of the Night Spirit^(PHB): Excellenton a stealthy character like the Ranger. However, remember that a lot ofthings are an Action, so it’s very easy to break this invisibility. Notableexamples that people easily overlook include Hide, Search, and Study.
• Boon of Truesight^(PHB): Probablyyour only option for handling invisible enemies, but the ability scores arehard unless you’re building around Druidic Warrior. If you’ve made it thisfar, your party is covering for you or you’ve found a creative solution.

Ranger Weapons

The Paladin is proficient in simple and martial weapons, and they get 2 Weapon Mastery slots. I generally recommend one melee weapon and one ranged weapon for ranged builds, but melee builds will want two melee weapons so that you can get one weapon with both Light and the Nick mastery and one other Light weapon.

Two-Weapon Fighting

Melee Rangers nearly always go for two-weapon fighting to maximize their damage output from Hunter’s Mark. Choosing two weapons with the same damage type makes Crusher, Piercer, or Slasher a viable option. Of course, the Ranger’s specific needs mean that you’ll use a shortsword and scimitar until you take Piercer, then you’ll trade the scimitar for a dagger.

• Club: Light. Just use light hammers.
• Dagger: Finesse, Light, Thrown, and Nickmastery. Pair with a shortsword and take Piercer.
• Light Hammer: Light, Thrown, and Nickmastery. There isn’t a better bludgeoning option for two-weapon fighting,so, if you want to use Crusher, you’ll probably use two of these.Unfortunately, this doesn’t have Finesse, so it’s only viable forStrength-based builds.
• Handaxe: A go-to choice for your primaryweapon when using two-weapon fighting. It also has the Thrown property,allowing you to more easily pivot to ranged combat. Unfortunately, thisdoesn’t have Finesse, so it’s only viable for Strength-based builds.
• Sickle: Use a scimitar.
• Scimitar: The go-to secondary weapon fortwo-weapon fighting since it has the largest damage die of any weapon withthe Nick property, but if you’re taking Piercer you’ll want to use a daggerinstead.
• Shortsword: Finesse, Light, Vex mastery,and works with piercer. Pair with a dagger.

Archery

• Blowgun: Not a viable weapon.
• Hand Crossbow: Two-weapon fighting viaCrossbow Expert, but without the Nick property the additional attack eatsyour Bonus Action, so you won’t be able to use it every turn. You may havebetter results throwing daggers or hand axes.
• Heavy Crossbow: Briefly useful at lowlevels because of its large damage die, but obsolete once you get ExtraAttack. Crossbow Expert negates the Loading property, but you’re going totake a feat, take Gunner and grab a pistol or a musket.
• Longbow: The go-to weapon for rangedbuilds.
• Musket: With the Gunner feat, this is alinear upgrade from the Longbow, at least in terms of damage. Range might bean issue occasionally, but if that worries you, take Sharpshooter. This hasthe Loading property, which will present a problem as soon as you get ExtraAttack.
• Pistol: Good damage for a one-handedweapon, and the Vex mastery. Advantage from Vex will make your DPR with apistol better than DPR with a musket so long as you’re repeatedly attackingthe same target. If you have enough gold, you can bring a whole bunch ofloaded pistols and repeatedly draw and fire them instead of reloading. Oryou could take the Gunner feat.

Ranger Armor

The Ranger is proficient in light armor, medium armor, and shields.

• Studded Leather: Dexterity-based buildsshould grab studded leather as soon as they hit 18 Dexterity.
• Half Plate: Druidic Warrior builds don’tneed as much Dexterity as typical rangers, so medium armor is a goodchoice.
• Shield: +2 AC is huge in this game.Typical Rangers nearly always go for two-weapon fighting or ranged weapons,but Druidic Warrior builds can easily accommodate a shield.

Ranger Multiclassing

This section briefly details some obvious and enticing multiclass options, but doesn’t fully explore the broad range of multiclassing combinations. For more on multiclassing, see our Practical Guide to Multiclassing.

• Cleric: A single level of Clericcan get you heavy armor proficiency and a bunch of Wisdom-based spellcasting. Plus, you can do this at anylevel rather than being forced to do it at 1st level to get heavy armor likeyou must with martial classes. This is a great replacement for DruidicWarrior.
• Druid: You need to take at least 3 levels before you get anything worthwhile that you can’t match with either a level of Cleric or Druidic Warrior.
• Fighter: Starting with 1 level in Fighter to get proficiency in Constitution saves and heavy armor proficient is fantastic.
• Monk: If you have 14 Wisdom, the Monk’s Unarmored Defense will match Studded Leather. Martial Arts offers a good way to get additional attacks, though it will compete for your Bonus Action with applying Hunter’s Mark, which might become an issue.
• Rogue: 1 level for Expertise. 2 levels for Cunning Action.