DnD 5e Ranger Subclass Breakdown – RPGBOT (2024)

Introduction

Few classes have benefited more from the evolution in subclass design thanthe Ranger. In the core rules, the Ranger was widely considered the weakestclass, especially due to the eye-catching yet ineffective Beast Master. Overtime, new supplements have introduced new ranger subclasses which have madethe Ranger an iconic, diverse, and interesting class that can hold is a lot offun to play.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Disclaimer
• Ranger Subclasses – Ranger Archetypes
  • Beast Master (PHB)
  • Drakewarden (FToD)
  • Fey Wanderer (TCoE)
  • Gloom Stalker (XGtE)
  • Horizon Walker (XGtE)
  • Hunter (PHB)
  • Monster Slayer (XGtE)
  • Swarmkeeper (TCoE)

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 Subclasses – Ranger Archetypes

Beast Master ^(PHB)

The Beast Master redefines the ranger by giving them a cool pet who fightsalongside them in combat. The image of a rough-hewn explorer braving adangerous world with a loyal beast at their side is a classic fantasy trope,and the Beast Master executes on that trope very well.

One word of caution: If you think a drow ranger who fights with two swordsand has a panther as their beast companion, it has been done. By somebizzarre feat of group think, every new player at one point in their careerwill arrive at this character concept independently. The idea may haveoriginated fromDrizzt Do’Urden,literally the most iconic ranger in DnD’s history, but I’m not confident inthat assertion because I’ve met numerous new players experiencing thisphenomena who have never heard of Drizzt, the Forgotten Realms, or any otherestablished proper nouns, real or imagined. I’m starting to believe that R. A.Salvatore may have been an early victim of this phenomenon rather than theoriginator of the idea. But none of that will help you mechanically optimizeyour character, so let’s move on.

The Player’s Handbook presents the Ranger’s Companion feature, and Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything presents a replacement feature called Primal Companion. Primal Companion is both easier and more effective than Ranger’s Companion, and I recommend using it instead of Ranger’s Companion in every case, but I’m not you and I try to encourage people to make their own decisions, so advice for both version of the subclass is presented below.

Beast Master Ranger Handbook

Beast Master with Primal Companion

While not officially a “version 2” of the subclass, thePrimal Companionreplacement feature completely alters the way the the beast Master functions.The simple correction to the action economy around managing your beast freesthe Ranger to do other things with their Action, and while that will typicallymean attacking for most rangers don’t feel the need to limit yourself tomartial attacks.

Casting spells which take an Action feel like much less of a commitment thanfor most rangers, and you should strongly consider Fighting Style (DruidicWarrior) and pursue cantrips as your go-to combat option since your companionuses your Spellcasting Attack Modifier for its attack bonus.

Since you’re not attacking using your Bonus Action (TWF and Crossbow Expertbuilds are staple ranger options), Hunter’s Mark and Favored Foe become lessof a crucial part of your tactics so you can explore other combat options.

3. Primal Companion: Your defining feature,your companion is equal parts pet and weapon. Unlike summoned pets whichother classes might use (Dancing Item, Wildfire Spirit, etc.), your petsticks around all the time. You don’t need to summon it or whatever.However, like any other member of your party it needs food, healing,etc.
7. Exceptional Training: Making yourcompanion’s attacks magical is the only thing you actually benefit fromhere, but it’s crucial. Resistance to non-magic weapon attacks is common andbecomes more common as you gain levels.
11. Bestial Fury: Your beast gets two attacksand it still only costs you a Bonus Action (or half of an Attack action) to command them.
15. Share Spells: This is a fantastic way toshare buff spells, especially those which require Concentration.

Beast Master with Ranger’s Companion

The original version of the Beast Master faces several mechanical issues, thelargest of which are the lack of viable companion options and the franklyawful action economy. Commanding your companion to attack consumes one of yourattacks when you take the Attack action, so rather than pointing yourcompanion at an enemy then doing your own thing you spend your Action everyturn commanding your companion while you run around in the background largelyuseless except as a target for ranged attacks. Staple options like Hunter’sMark and Favored Foe are largely worthless for the Beast Master, so you giveup staple class options and get back what amounts to a disappointing set ofremote control teeth.

If you do choose to play the original Beast Master, the biggest decision tomake is your type of companion, and while there is an abundance of options thevast majority of them are absolute garbage. Assuming you’re fine with one ofthe handful of truly effective options, your companion can be an effectiveaddition to the party. However, remember that your companion gets just 4 hitpoints per ranger level and will have a fairly low AC compared to yours, soyour companion will require frequent healing and protection which can make ita frustrating tax on your party’s limited resources.

3. Ranger’s Companion: Your choice ofcompanion is as defining as your choice of Fighting Style. When selectingyour companion, consider what you want it to do: Do you want a Scout, aStriker, or a Mount? Different options work better for different roles.Mounts are somewhat difficult since you’re limited to Medium size beasts.Since your companion is a buffed version of the base creature, you maynotice that the better options tend to be CR 1/4, and CR 0 creatures arerarely worth of consideration despite the conceptually small gap between 0and 1/4.

   Companion options are discussed below.

7. Exceptional Training: Sometimes it willbe better for you to attack twice than to have you companion attack. Onthose occasions, giving your companion some extra movement might set them upto attack on the following round, or you can always have them Dodge whilethey draw fire.

   Also note that errata updated this ability to make your companion’sattacks magical so that they can bypass resistances to non-magical weapondamage types.

11. Bestial Fury: This doesn’t invalidate yourability to make a single weapon attack, so your beast gets two and you getone. If your beast has multiattack, they can now use multiattack instead ofmaking two attacks, effectively doubling their damage output.
15. Share Spells: This is a fantastic way toshare buff spells, especially those which require Concentration.

Ranger’s Companion Options

Using the default companion ruleas means that you’re typically shoppingthrough the Monster Manual to find a decent companion, and while CR is used tolimit your selections to companions which won’t be too powerful, CR isn’t aperfect indicator of how good a companion will be. However, creatures with CR0 are so weak that they can typically be disregarded on that point alone.

Your choice of companion is as defining as your choice of Fighting Style.When selecting your companion, consider what you want it to do: Do you want aScout, a Striker, or a Mount? Different options work better for differentroles. Mounts are somewhat difficult since you’re limited to Medium size.Since your companion is a buffed version of the base creature, you may noticethat the better options tend to be CR 1/4.

It’s also important to note that many options are outright wasted because theRanger’s proficiency bonus doesn’t add to the DC of the companion’s abilities.This considerably limits the number of viable options, and excludes iconic andpopular choices like the Mastiff and the Wolf. If your DM is nice, you may beable to convince them to let you add your proficiency bonus to ability DC’s inaddition to the other stats.

There are some rulings on how ranger companions work addressed in the Beast Master FAQ, below. Be sure to check the FAQ before selecting a companion.

• Baboon^MM: CR 0. Baboons notably have human-like hands, and could in theory usetools and possibly even magic items. However, with 4 Intelligence and noability to understand language, it may be difficult to convince your baboonto do so. Even if you use magic, your DM likely won’t allow your baboon todo anything which is beyond its limited intellectual capacity.
• Badger^MM: CR 0.
• Bat^MM: CR 0.
• Blood Hawk^MM: The damage isn’t great, but good flight, Keen Sight, and Pack Tactics allmake the Blood Hawk a viable option. Proficiency in Perception makes theBlood Hawk a fantastic aerial Scout.
• Boar^MM: Passable at low levels, especially thanks to Charge, but won’t scalewell.
• Cat^MM: CR 0.
• Crab^MM: CR 0.
• Cranium Rat^VGtM: CR 0.
• Deer^MM: CR 0.
• Dimetrodon^VGtM: Great bite damage and a swim speed, but that’s all.
• Eagle^MM: Blood Hawk and Pteranodon are strictly better.
• Flying Snake^MM: Multiple movement types including good flight, Flyby, Blindsight, andimpressive poison damage which doesn’t allow a save. Continues to be amazingonce you get Bestial Fury at 11th level.
• Frog^MM: CR 0.
• Giant Badger^MM: Burrow speed, Darkvision, Keen Smell. According to the errata, giantbadgers don’t get multiattack until you get Bestial Fury at 11th level,which unfortunately means that the giant badger is limited to a singleattack. They’re still a decent option and they’ll probably do more damageone a single attack than you will.
• Giant Centipede^MM: Blindsight, a Climb speed, and poison with very solid damage, but thepoison allows a save and the DC won’t scale so you’ll be less effectiveagainst creatures with good Constitution saves.
• Giant Crab^MM: The Giant Crab’s big scary mechanic is grappling with its claws, butsince it doesn’t have proficiency in Athletics and your companion’s abilityscores never increase the DC to resist the grapple never scales. Still,grappling a target on a hit means that you can reliably restrict the targetsmovement at least until they escape. While this won’t matter for a greatmany creatures who are fine standing still and murdering your pet crab, itcan be problematic for highly mobile creatures or creatures who don’t liketo be in melee. It still costs the target their action to escape thegrapple, so if they want to get away from your crab you’re still gettingsome of the benefits of your crab grappling. The Crab’s AC is alsoimpressively high, starting at a base of 15 before you add your ProficiencyBonus, so if you leave your crab to Dodge while it has a creature grappled,the grappled creature may find itself flailing against the Giant Crab’sfrustratingly high AC with little effect.
• Giant Fire Beetle^MM: CR 0.
• Giant Frog^MM: This is an easy option to overlook. Bite not only grapples butrestrains the target. Grappled is a great way to restrict enemies’movements, but Restrained also provides advantage on melee attacks againstthe target. Swallow adds an additional way to inhibit (and often kill) smallcreatures, many of which are bad at escaping grapples. Despite the low DC toescape the frog’s grapple, it still costs the target their action to do so,which means that the target is wasting the bulk of their turn justoffsetting the effects of your pet. In many encounters, that could be afight-winning advantage. Once you get Bestial Fury at 11th level, rememberthat Swallow is a specific action, not a type of attack, so your frog can’tbite something and swallow it on the same turn.
• Giant Poisonous Snake^MM: Blindsight (though the range is tiny), poison with very solid damage, anda swim speed, but the poison allows a save and the DC won’t scale so you’llbe less effective against creatures with good Constitution saves.
• Giant Rat^MM: Darkvision, Keen Smell, and Pack Tactics. Unfortunately the Giant Rat hasno special movement types and its damage is bad.
• Giant Weasel^MM: Fast, Darkvision, and Keen Hearing and Smell. No special movement typesand bad damage.
• Giant Wolf Spider^MM: Very similar to the giant poisonous snake, but the giant wolf spidergains better speed and Spider Climb in exchange for 1d6 poison damage. Ithink it’s a good trade, but it further compounds the issue of unreliablepoison damage due to the saving throw.
• Goat^MM: CR 0.
• Hawk^MM: Blood Hawk and Pteranodon are strictly better.
• Hyena^MM: CR 0, but pretty good for its CR thanks to Pack Tactics.
• Jackal^MM: CR 0. Very similar to the Hyena, but it trades damage for Keen Hearingand Smell.
• Lizard^MM: CR 0.
• Mastiff^MM: Perception, Keen Hearing and Smell, and decent damage with a knockdowneffect. Unfortunately the DC of the knockdown effect won’t scale. It’s adecent option on its own, but Wolf gets all of the same things with betternumbers. If you really want a dog instead of a wolf, use the wolf stat blockand call it a “wolf hound” or something.
• Mule^MM: The Pony is better unless you want your companion to pull a wagon.
• Octopus^MM: CR 0.
• Owl^MM: Cr 0. The abilities are tempting, especially since it’s one of few flyingoptions with Stealth proficiency, but Blood Hawk and Pteranodon are both somuch more effective in combat that it will be hard to justify the Owl.
• Panther^MM: Perception, Stealth, a Climb speed, and Keen Smell. The Panther’s damageis decent, but Pounce’s knockdown DC won’t scale.
• Poisonous Snake^MM: The giant version is strictly better.
• Pony^MM: The best option for a mount, but at medium size it only works forHalflings.
• Pteranodon^MM: Flight with good flight speed, 2d4+1 damage, and flyby allows yourpteranodon to hit and run, allowing it to stay at a safe distance whilestill dealing considerable damage.
• Quipper^MM: CR 0.
• Raven^MM: CR 0. Ravens have the ability to repeat sounds that they’ve heard, butyour beast companion is no more intelligent than a normal animal, so unlessyou can give it specific instructions using magic of some sort it’sdifficult to bring this ability to bear. It’s also hard to justify comittingyour signature subclass feature to amounts to a poorly-designed flying audiorecorder.
• Scorpion^MM: CR 0.
• Sea Horse^MM: CR 0.
• Spider^MM: CR 0.
• Stirge^MM: Darkvision and flight, and surprisingly good AC. Blood Drain looks verytempting, but since the Stirge detaches after dealing 10 damage it willbecome less and less effective as your proficiency bonus increases.
• Velociraptor^VGtM: Tiny with decent damage and Pack Tactics. Unless you need a companionwhich will fit into small spaces, Wolf is considerably better.
• Vulture^MM: Surprisingly good for CR 0, the Vulture offers Perception, Keen Sight andSmell, and Pack Tactics. Its damage won’t match that of the Blood Hawk orPteranodon, but it’s not completely awful.
• Weasel^MM: CR 0.
• Wolf^MM: Perception, Stealth, Keen Hearing and Smell, Pack Tactics, and reallydecent damage. Even though the knockdown effect won’t scale, the Wolf isstill a decent Scout and Striker, and once you get Bestial Fury at 11thlevel it can bite twice and hope to get lucky with the knockdown effect.

Beast Master FAQ

Can the Beast Master Ranger’s Companion use Multiattack?

Only once they get Bestial Fury. That means that companions like the GiantBadger don’t get multiattack until 11th level.

Does the Beast Master Ranger’s Companion add the ranger’s proficiency bonusto poison damage?

The damage bonus applies to the initial damage dealt by the attack and ealsthe same type of damage. If your companion deals poison damage which requiresa saving throw, that’s treated as a separate source of damage and doesn’t gainthe bonus. If the poison damage is dealt immediately upon the attack hitting,you could choose to make the damage bonus be poison damage since that’s partof the attack’s damage.

Drakewarden ^(FToD)

The Drakewarden pairs the Ranger with a draconic spirit which they can summon into physical form as a Drake Companion. This companion is a durable fighting companion with some minor supportive abilities, and over time the drake grows in size and gains the ability to fly and serve as a mount. With the ability to serve as an essentially disposable front-line martial character, the drake is a powerful and effective pet welcome in practically any party.

The Drakewarden and the Beast Master share many similarities, so see “Beast Master vs. Drakewarden”, below.

3. Draconic Gift:
   • Thaumaturgy: Fun flavor, but rarelyuseful.
   • Tongue of the Dragons: Not especiallyuseful for the Ranger since they’re not a good Face, but your drakespeaks draconic so it’s nice to be able to talk to it.
3. Drake Companion: The central feature ofthe Drakewarden. Drake Companion is modeled very similarly to the PrimalCompanions introduced in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, and follows verysimilar rules for commanding it, summoning it, what happens if it “dies”(it’s a spirit that you summon back into physical form).

   The drake is a decent tank with a starting AC of 16 and a decent pool ofhit points, and since you can replace with for the cost a spell slot ofany spell level, you can afford to throw your drake in front of you todefend you while you do things like archery.

   While the drake is already a decent combat pet, it also improves as yougain levels, adding additional damage, the ability to fly, and the abilityto be used as a mount.

   Infused Stikes notably uses the phrase “extra damage”, which means thatthe additional die is multiplied on a critical hit.

7. Bond of Fang and Scale:
   • Drake Mount: This is the first classfeature we’ve gotten which provides a mount with scaling hit points. 5thedition has been out for 6+ years.

     While this is obviously an amazing benefit, it has some seriouschallenges if you’re eyeing a mounted combat build. The drake isintelligent, which means that it’s an uncontrolled mount. That meansthat it acts on its own turn, which the Drake Companion featurespecifies is immediately after yours. Taking your full turn (or takingthe Ready action) then waiting for your drake to move somewhereconvenient for you isn’t helpful for melee builds, and even for rangedbuilds it’s often frustating because you can’t reposition to deal withcover or enemies who are slightly out of range. If you can make itwork it’s great, but expect to spend many turns in a bad location toattack.

     Because your can ride your drake, try to find a Saddle of theCavalier. It will dramatically improve your drake’s durability.Mounted Combatant is also an option, but I wouldn’t bother gettingboth since it’s so easy to re-summon your drake.

   • Magic Fang: Confusingly, this doesn’t makeyour drake’s attacks magical. Instead, you add a d6 damage of thetype chosen when you summon the drake. That d6 will get aroundresistance and immunity to non-magical weapon damage types, butthe flat damage bonus is still piercing damage so anything withresistance/immunity is a huge problem for your drake.
   • Resistance: Persistent damageresistance for you, and since you can resummon your drake for the costof a spell slot you can change the damage type whenever necessary.
11. Drake’s Breath: The damage matchesFireball. It’s a good AOE damage option, but it doesn’t magically make you ablaster. Still, the Ranger is generally ill-equipped to handle crowds, sothis is a welcome addition.
15. Perfected Bond:
    • Empowered Bite: Another d6 damage,bringing the total to 3d6+5 at this level (3d6+6 very soon). That’snot a ton on a single attack, but it’s much more than most characterscan do with a Bonus Action.
    • Large Drake: Aside from making it hardto fit your drake through doors, this is excellent. The ability to rideyour drake while flying makes flight easily accessible and puts archerybuilds safely out of enemy reach.
    • Reflexive Resistance: This is greatif you or your dragon take a big hit from a single source of damage likea spell or a critical hit. Don’t burn your limited uses on every randomattack; you’ll only get 5 or 6 per long rest.

Beast Master vs. Drakewarden

Because the Drake Companion feature and the Primal Companion features are so similar, it’s natural to compare the Beast Master (with the Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything updates, of course) to the Drakewarden. There is a lot of overlap, but Drakewarden isn’t just “Beast Master but better”; there are actually some interesting trades to consider.

The first notable difference is when they take their turns: primal companions take their turn at the same time as the player, so you can interweave actions so that you and your companion can very precisely coordinate your attacks. The Drake Companion is simpler, but less flexible: it takes its turn immediately after yours and acts on whatever orders you gave it.

The Beast of the Land is the closest to the Drake Companion when you firstreach level 3, so we’ll start by comparing the two. The base stats between theDrake Companion and the Beast of the Land are fairly similar, but there aresome noteworthy differences. The drake has +1 better AC than the beast and hasd10 hit dice (which only matters when you spend hit dice to heal). Both sharea 40 ft. land speed, but the beast also has a 40 ft. climb speed. The drake isstronger, but the beast has better Dexterity and Charisma. The drake adds yourProficiency Bonus in Dexterity and Wisdom saves, while the beast adds it toall saves. The Drake can speak Draconic, but the beast can onlyunderstand languages. The beast and the drake get additional features(Draconic Essence and Infused Strikes vs. Charge), but it’s hard to make adirect comparison between the two. They’re both good, but they’re obviouslyvery different.

The attacks for Primal Companions and the Drake Companion are notablydifferent in several ways. Primal Companions use your Spellcasting attackbonus for their attack bonus, compelling you to build your ranger aroundWisdom and potentially to look for magic items which improve your spell attackmodifier (and spell DC if you want to use Beast of the Land’s Charge ability).The Drake Companion uses its own Strength bonus for attack rolls, but addsyour Proficiency Bonus. This allows more flexibility in your choice ofFighting Style, but also means that your drake’s attack bonus is likely lowerthan that of a comparable Primal Companion.

The damage progression on attacks is also different. The drake’s bite damageis 1d6 + Proficiency Bonus, while the beast’s is 1d8 + 2 Proficiency bonus,giving the Beast of the Land +3 damage on average (other Primal Companions areonly +2 ahead on average). Both companions get magical attacks at level 7, butthe drake also improves their damage by 1d6, closing the gap in their attackdamage. At level 11, Primal Companions get to make two attacks, effectivelydoubling their damage and putting them well ahead of the Drake Companion. Thedrake adds another d6 at 17th level, but that won’t match the 1d8+8 dealt bythe Beast of the Land at that level by their second attack.

But the Drake Companion isn’t just a scaly bite attack, so a one-to-onecomparison isn’t a perfect comparison. If you’re just comparing the two fordamage output on their attacks, Beast Master comes out ahead. But theDrakewarden still has some important selling points.

The Drake Companion advances beyond just damage, which is perhaps both themost fun and most impactful part of the companion. You can explicitly use itas a mount, an option which is frustratingly omitted from the rules for PrimalCompanions. The Drake Companion gains the ability to fly, and you caneventually ride it while flying, a capability not matched by the Beast of theAir.

Drakewarden also allows you to build your character differently since yourcompanion’s attacks aren’t dependent on your spellcasting ability. You alsoget Drake’s Breath, rather than just adding more features to your companionlike the Beast Master does. The Beast Master is still good, but there is oneclearly optimal way to build them, so diverging from a Druidic Warrior buildtrades raw mechanical effectiveness for what might be a more interesting anddiverse build.

To summarize all of the above quickly: The Drakewarden is a ranger who has a drake companion who fights alongside them in combat, but the companion is a complement to their own capabilities. The Beast Master is a ranger whose fighting style revolves around their companion. In many ways, the companion is their fighting style.

Fey Wanderer ^(TCoE)

Tricky and challenging, yet very effective, the Fey Wanderer is an excellent subclass with a lot to offer to players who know how to use it to its fullest. You can play this subclass like a typical ranger like you would play a Hunter or a Monster Slayer, but you’re going to miss out on a lot of what really makes the Fey Wanderer shine. Instead, it’s built to lean into a Wisdom-based ranger with more emphasis on spellcasting and Face skills than your typical bow-wielding damage monster.

Fey Wanderer Ranger Handbook

3. Dreadful Strikes: This roughly matchesHunter’s Mark, but with a lot of advantages. The most obvious benefit isthat it’s free, but it doesn’t stop there. There’s no action costs. Itstacks with Hunter’s Mark’s damage bonus. The damage is psychic, which israrely resisted. It only applies once per target per turn, but if you canhit multiple targets they’ll all take the bonus damage. It also applies onOpportunity Attacks (Hunter’s Mark does, too, but it’s still really nice).The one drawback is that it doesn’t work quite as well as Hunter’s Mark doeswhen focusing on a single target, so Hunter’s Mark may still be worth thespell slot.

   Because this applies once per target per turn, you’re motivated to attackmultiple targets if that’s an option. Ranged weapons work best for this,though they may be difficult for the high-Wisdom build expected of the FeyWanderer. More likely you’ll want to use spells like Zephyr Strike toquickly move between and attack multiple targets.

3. Fey Wanderer Magic: The vast majority ofthe options are only situationally useful, but you do get Misty Step, whichis good on exactly 100% of characters.
   • 3rd-Level: A strange choicemechanically, but the theme makes sense. Your save DC won’t match a fullspellcaster unless you’re using Druidic Warrior to build around Wisdom,and Charm Person doesn’t give you any indication that it worked, so youneed to be extremely cautious when using it. You don’t get enough spellslots to cast it repeatedly just to be absolutely sure that itworked.
   • 5th-Level: The best teleportationoption in combat.
   • 9th-Level: Essential in any party. Atypical ranger should not be the one casting this, but the Fey Wandereris an exception. You don’t get the high-level spell slots to make thisautomatically dispel stuff, and most rangers don’t have the Wisdom toback up the ability check, but the Fey Wanderer is all about Wisdom, soyou have a passable chance to succeed on the abilty check.Still, look for buffs like Enhance Ability if you can getthem to maximize your odds of success.
   • 13th-Level: Less of a go-to combatteleportation option than Misty Step, but it has better range anddoesn’t require line of sight, so it’s more powerful outside of combator if you need to completely escape an encounter. You’ll still get morefrequent use out of Misty Step thanks to its Bonus Action casting timeand lower-level spell slot requirement, but Dimension Door can get youthrough walls and locked doors.
   • 17th-Level: Situational. Not a greatoption in combat, but out of combat this provides a passably safe way toscout an area or to trick other creatures if mundane stealth won’t dothe trick for some reason.
3. Otherworldly Glamour: One Face skill andyou add your Wisdom modifier to all Charisma checks on top of any Charismamodifier. This is enough to make you an effective Face without highCharisma, but a little bit is still a great idea. You don’t want 8 Charismadragging you down.
7. Beguiling Twist: Hilarious and veryeffective, but likely difficult to use to its greatest potential.

   The obvious use case is to take charm/fear effects from your enemies andessentially redirect them back at your enemies. That works great, and canlead to scenarios like dragons being frightened by their own FrightfulPresence. To make this as effective as possible, you want allies in yourparty who can reliably pass saving throws against charm/fear effects.These are nearly always Wisdom or Charisma saves, so high scores in thoseability scores and proficiency in the saves both help, but also look forracial traits like Brave and class features which help like Aura ofProtection.

   The less-obvious use case is using this offensively. If you have allieswho can produce charm/fear effects (often spellcasters, but there arenon-spell options too), you can capitalize on any creatures who pass savesagainst your allies’ abilities and force another creature to save againstBeguiling Twist.

11. Fey Reinforcements: Summon Fey once perday for free without the 300gp material component. The spirit’s attack bonusis based on your Spellcasting Modifier and the spell is heavily dependent onspell level, both of which are hard prospects for many rangers. But even ifit’s not quite as effective offensively as something summoned by a fullspellcaster, it’s still an effective pet for up to an hour per casting.

    The second benefit allows you to cast a shorter version of the spellwithout the Concentration requirement, but that’s a really hard prospectwith the Ranger’s limited pool of spell slots.

15. Misty Wanderer: Misty Step for freeseveral times per day, and you can even bring a friend along! This makes iteasy to rescue your friends from grapples or restraints, and you become veryhard to keep in one place during combat.

Gloom Stalker ^(XGtE)

Gloom Stalker is considerably more powerful than many other ranger archetypes if they’re played in campaigns which frequently enter dungeons, caves, the Underdark, or other dark places. Umbral Sight alone makes the Gloom Stalker a terrifying threat in a game where most of the Monster Manual is utterly incapable of combating invisibility.

Gloom Stalker Handbook

3. Gloom Stalker Magic: 4 of these spells are pretty good and one of those is a wiz/artificer exclusive. Now you too can decide that you need an extra-dimensional pocket to short rest in. This only isn’t rated higher because Disguise Self and Fear care about your spell save DC which won’t be as good as a dedicated caster.
   • 3rd-Level: Situational.
   • 5th-Level: A fantastic way to restsafely, and normally exclusive to artificers and wizards. But rangers get very fewspell slots, and spending one to take a Short Rest safely is a high costfor the Ranger. Do your best to avoid needing this.
   • 9th-Level: It’s unlikely that youhave sufficient Wisdom to make any spell which allows a saving throwreliable, so you’ll want to save this for encounters with numerous weakfoes.
   • 13th-Level: Amazing on any stealthycharacter. Ideally you’ll never need this because you can rely on UmbralSight, but if your enemies pull out a torch you can cast GreaterInvisibility and remain unseen.
   • 17th-Level: Situational, but veryhelpful when your party needs to go somewhere where the locals areunfriendly.
3. Dread Ambusher: The first round of combatis the most important. As a reminder, combat is only expected to last 3 rounds on average. This means that, roughly 1/3rd of the time, you get extra extra attack and an additional d8 damage on top. That’s already very good, but you also get a substantial bonus to initiative to try and take that bonus damage and remove something from the fight before it gets to act.

   The bonus speed will help you get into position,especially if you’re built for melee, but the real bonus is the extraattack. If you can get Hunter’s Mark running before initiative is rolled,you absolutely should so that your first turn can be a big pile ofdamage.

3. Umbral Sight: Getting free Darkvision isfantastic on its own, but invisibility to Darkvision is absolutely crazy.Most creatures that will ambush you using Darkvision won’t have a lightsource in their possession, so you functionally have Improved Invisibility.Even if an enemy finds a light source, if you extinguish it you’re rightback to invisibly murdering them.

   Invisibility at this level normally comes at great cost: a highest-level spell slot, Concentration, and a prohibition against doing nearly anything aggressive with it. This has none of those costs, it just only applies when something is only able to see you because of its Darkvision. This means that we should be trying to be in darkness in combat as much as is physically possible. Work to make sure that everyone else in your party can function without light as well so that enemies are relying on Darkvision wherever possible.

   While it is incredible, it does have its limitations. The feature specifies that it only works in darkness. That means that it doesn’t work if there’s dim light (candles, etc.). It must be actual darkness. It also doesn’t work on things that can perceive you because of truesight, tremorsense, blindsight, etc. Only Darkvision. With that said, in the right conditions, this is one of the best class features in the game.

7. Iron Mind: Additional saving throwproficiencies are always welcome, especially when they’re for a commonly targeted save.
11. Stalker’s Flurry: Not quite as powerful asan additional attack, but still extremely helpful. The fundamental math of5e assumes that a player following the attack vs. AC progression will hitwith attacks roughly 65% of the time against CR-appropriate foes. If you’remaking two attacks per turn, you have a roughly 58% chance to miss with atleast one attack, so you’ll benefit from Stalker’s Flurry consistently.

    Unfortunately, the wording on Dread Ambusher means that, if the extra attack from the feature misses you do miss out on the d8 damage bump even if the attack Flurry grants you off of it connects, but even so we’re not going to sneeze at free attacks.

15. Shadowy Dodge: It only works once perround because it consumes your Reaction, but that’s often plenty. TheGloom Stalker thrives on being unseen, so this is powerful insurance if yourenemies manage to attack while you’re not in total darkness and also notrunning Improved Invisibility.

Horizon Walker ^(XGtE)

Not quite so stealthy as the Gloom Stalker, but no less effective. The Horizon walker gets a handful of abilities which help them travel between planes, but their main gimmick is teleporting around in combat and hitting stuff.

Horizon Walker Ranger Handbook

does provide other benefits that you might want.

3. Horizon Walker Magic: Almost all excellentoptions.
   • 3rd-Level: An absolutely fantasticbuff.
   • 5th-Level: Fantastic, especially ifyou’re built for melee.
   • 9th-Level: One of the best buffs inthe game, and it gets better the more allies you have. The extra attackalso gives you another chance to apply the bonus damage from PlanarWarrior. You might look at Haste’s additional action alongside DistantStrike and think that you can trigger Distant Strike’s additional attack twice. You do get the teleportation,but since you only make one attack there’s no way to attack two creatures to get the extra attack.It’s often more efficient to cast Elemental Weapon if all you care about is damage output, but Haste also provides movement and defensive buffs which you might want.
   • 13th-Level: A wonderful spell, butyou likely don’t have the Wisdom to back it up with a decent spell DCunless you’re built around Druidic Warrior, which is a poor choice for the Horizon Walker.
   • 17th-Level: One of the safest andeasiest ways to transport your entire party long distances, but full castershave been casting this since level 9.
3. Detect Portal: Situational. In mostgames this won’t matter much, but in a plane-hopping campaign it could beextremely useful.
3. Planar Warrior: Since this consumes yourBonus Action, two-weapon fighting and other sources of bonus action attackslike Crossbow Expert generally won’t work well for you, and the damage boost from Hunter’s Mark is rarely worth the spell slot and action cost to cast or re-target it. Despite shaking up much of the typical ranger build strategy, the benefits are excellent.Bonus damage, and weapon damage on the affected attack all becomes forcedamage (which is resisted by almost nothing). It only works once per turn,so you may be able to do more total damage by investing heavily in two-weapon fighting ortaking Crossbow Expert, but this is free, it scales on its own at level 11,and without the need for two-weapon fighting, melee rangers can easilyjustify using a shield.
7. Ethereal Step: One round is frequently allyou need. Walk through walls or doors or slip past enemies (including thosewhich have Blindsight or can see invisibility). Etherealness even lets youmove upward or downward, allowing you to move through floors and ceilings(albeit at half the rate as moving horizontally).
11. Distant Strike: The teleportation is ontop of your normal movement. If you have two enemies to attack in a smallenough area, you could teleport back and forth between the two whileattacking in order to trigger the additional attack from Distant Strike. Youdon’t need to hit both targets, so think of the additional attack from DistantStrike as a free attack against a different nearby enemy while you’re busyfocusing on your primary target.

    Consider casting Haste before you jump into combat. The additional attackprovided by Haste is an Attack action, so it qualifies for triggering DistantStrike’s teleportation (though not another free attack since the Haste actiononly gets you one attack), allowing you to teleport and attack four times (2 from ExtraAttack, one from Haste, one from Distant Strike) in a turn without usingyour bonus action. You can still use your Bonus Action to engage intwo-weapon fighting, but it won’t trigger the teleportation because it’snot part of the Attack action.

15. Spectral Defense: You don’t need to usethis until you get hit, so if your AC is decent and you manage to avoiddrawing too many attacks, this can prevent a ton of damage. Spectral Defenseworks against all forms of attacks, including spell attacks, but since itgives you resistance to the damage it won’t stack with any otherresistances. This isn’t quite as good as Uncanny Dodge (which halves thedamage rather than granting Resistance to it), but it’s close.

Hunter ^(PHB)

Simple, unpretentious, and lacking any of the fancy magic nonsense common tomany ranger subclasses, the Hunter is a simple yet effective martial option.The Hunter also notably has the most decision points of any ranger subclass,allowing you to tailor your build to your play style and your role in theparty.

Despite mostly focusing on offensive options, the Hunter is arguably the mostdurable ranger archetype, as it has the most options to directly prevent theRanger from taking damage.

While still perfectly viable, Hunters can’t compete with the capabilities of the new subclasses presented in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything. Unfortunately it can’t compete with the Gloom Stalker’s capacity for stealth, or with the Horizon Walker’s damage output.

Hunter Ranger Handbook

3. Hunter’s Prey: Much like your choice ofFighting Style, this is a definitive part of how your Ranger fights.Targeting foes which optimize your choice of Hunter’s Prey will is a centralpart of the Hunter’s tactics, so choose targets carefully rather thanrushing the closest enemy.
   • Colossus Slayer: Always reliable andalways effective, 1d8 damage for free each round is a nice boost thatroughly matches similar damage from other ranger subclasses. Mostcreatures will take some amount of damage early in a fight, so it’s easyto trigger this damage bonus and you don’t need to spend a Bonus Actionto activate it like some other subclass damage boosts, so options likeTwo-Weapon Fighting and Crossbow Expert are still viable.

     Generally this is the best Hunter’s Prey option for melee buildsbecause melee builds are usually forced to focus on a single enemy ata time since switching targets typically involves getting hit with anOpportunity Attack.

   • Giant Killer: A lot of enemies areLarge or larger, especially big martial enemies like beasts, dragons,fiends, etc. This requires that the subject attack you, but if your ACis decent and you can handle being attacked a few times this can be anexcellent source of damage output. Unfortunately, since this doesn’tapply to every enemy, you may find that numerous encounters don’tbenefit from Giant Killer. If you know that your campaign will involvenumerous oversized enemies (Storm King’s Thunder is a great example ifyou’re looking at published campaigns), this is a good choice.Otherwise, you might just decide to be happy only using this some of thetime.
   • Horde Breaker: In encounters withnumerous foes, this is a significant damage boost, but the extra attackhas strict requirements and doesn’t cooperate with staple ranger optionslike Hunter’s Mark/Favored Foe which encourage you to focus on bringingdown one target at a time rather than spreading damage to multiple foes.Consider instead buffs that boost your weapon on all attacks like Elemental Weapon or Guardian of Nature.

     Melee builds will have trouble using this unless you have reach,especially if enemies are attacking your allies rather than swarmingyou. Ranged builds will have less trouble because you can easilyswitch targets to any enemies who happen to be close enoughtogether.

7. Defensive Tactics: All of the optionsare technically situational, but I would pick Multiattack Defense nine timesout of ten.
   • Escape the Horde: Rangers are moredurable than Rogues, so running away from enemies isn’t something youtypically need to do. If you do need to run away, consider taking theDisengage action. If you need to run away a lot, consider the Mobilefeat.
   • Multiattack Defense: Large singleenemies frequently have multiple attacks, especially as you gain levels,so this boost to AC will occur frequently and will prevent a lot ofdamage.
   • Steel Will: Fear effects are common,but generally won’t get you killed. You can also get this resistancefrom numerous sources, such as the Halfling’s Brave trait.
11. Multiattack: Both options are fantastic. To get the most out of this feature, look for effects that add damage to every attack, such as Magic Weapon or Great Weapon Master.
    • Volley: The obvious choice for rangedbuilds. This won’t benefit much from Hunter’s Mark/Favored Foe, buthitting three or more foes will typically deal more damage than focusingon a single marked target.
    • Whirlwind Attack: Melee builds notbuilt around two-weapon fighting will get the most out of this abilitysince their normal attacks deal higher damage than TWF builds, and sinceyou’re not taking the Attack action you can’t spend your Bonus Action tomake an additional attack. Unfortunately, it’s limited to creatureswithin 5 feet of you, so you can’t abuse reach to get additionaltargets.

      However, even TWF builds may find this ability helpful since they maystill get the same number of attacks without consuming their BonusAction, allowing you to use it for something like casting a spell.

15. Superior Hunter’s Defense: Uncanny Dodgeis clearly the best option here, but Evasion is good, too.
    • Evasion: With high Dexterity andproficiency in Dexterity saves, this makes you practically immune to AOEdamage effects like Fireball and breath weapons.
    • Stand Against the Tide: Thepositioning to make this work is very difficult in most situations, andas soon as enemies see you do this they’re reasonably going to spacethemselves out to prevent you from doing it again.
    • Uncanny Dodge: The majority of damageyou will take in the game will come from attacks. Combined withMultiattack Defense, you can reduce the damage of the first hit, thendramatically reduce the likelihood of suffering further hits.

Monster Slayer ^(XGtE)

In many ways the Monster Slayer is a simplified version of the Hunter. Itfunctions very similarly, though it lacks the customization options, and dueto the subclass features there’s much less build flexibility. That said, it’sstill a very functional and effective subclass, striking a good balancebetween damage output and durability without the stress of additional decisionpoints. If you’re looking for a relatively simple ranger, the Monster Slayeris a great choice.

The Monster Slayer works best with a high-Dexterity build with Fighting Style (Archery), and generally it doesn’t even require feats like Crossbow Expert or Sharpshooter, which are normally common go-to options for archery builds. Slayer’s Prey, Hunter’s Mark, and Favored Foe all provide plenty of damage output, and since Slayer’s Prey and Hunter’s Mark monopolize your Bonus Action it’s hard to make room for Crossbow Expert. The damage boosts from Slayer’s Prey, etc., only work if you hit, so Sharpshooter is usually a bad gamble. If you max out Dexterity and want to explore feats, consider options like Skill Expert.

Technically the only thing that locks the Monster Slayer into ranged weaponsis Slayer’s Counter, so if you know for certain that your campaign will end bylevel 14 you may be perfectly happy with a melee build.

3. Monster Slayer Magic: Most of theoptions are situational or difficult for you to use.
   • 3rd-Level: An excellent defensivebuff.
   • 5th-Level: Situational, and yoursave DC likely won’t be good enough to make this work well.
   • 9th-Level: Situational.
   • 13th-Level: A wonderful spell, butyou likely don’t have the Wisdom to back it up with a decent spellDC.
   • 17th-Level: Great, but your spell DCis probably still mediocre.
3. Hunter’s Sense: Great if you have time toobserve the creature from hiding, but I would rarely spend an Action to dothis during combat.
3. Slayer’s Prey: As far as I can tell thisstacks with Hunter’s Mark/Favored Foe. Both Hunter’s Mark and Slayer’s Preyrequire Bonus Actions, so use this first since it’s free, but against toughfoes definitely consider using both.

   While Slayer’s Prey provides a damage bonus as large as Hunter’s Mark, itonly works once per turn. This means that tactics like Two-Weapon Fightingand Crossbow Expert are less important, and the Bonus Action cost toactivate Slayer’s Prey and cast or re-target Hunter’s Mark means that yourBonus Action on most turns is already committed, so Two-Weapon Fightingand Crossbow Expert are hard choices.

7. Supernatural Defense: A bit unreliablesince multiple foes might force you to make saving throws in quicksuccession, but this is still fantastic. Be sure to keep Slayer’s Preyrunning and keep it focused on the foe most likely to force you to make asaving throw. Remember that you can use Slayer’s Prey an unlimited number oftimes, so you can easily change targets whenever you need.
11. Magic-User’s Nemesis: Not quite as goodas being able to cast Counterspell, but it still might prevent an enemy fromescaping or prevent them from casting a spell which would really ruin yourday.
15. Slayer’s Counter: This is absurdly good.There’s no limitation on its usage, so if you’re fighting a spellcaster(most spells force saving throws) you might be able to get free attacksagainst them every round. However, you’ll need to be able to reach thecreature that created the effect, so stick to ranged weapons.

    You can repeatedly trigger this by running a Concentration spell likeHunter’s Mark. The save to maintain Concentration qualifies, and if youhave good enough Constitution saves (consider the Resilient feat) you canreliably maintain Concentration while fishing for free attacks withSlayer’s Counter.

Swarmkeeper ^(TCoE)

The Swarmkeeper is most obviously associated with bugs, since those are what you generally think of when someone says “swarm”. But don’t let that limit your thinking. The subclass entry suggests a swarm of pixies as an example, and I’ve seen some very imaginative of swarmkeeper rangers with swarms of opossums and raccoons. You might have a swarm of birds, fish, lizards, or any number of other miniscule critters. Their appearance is purely cosmetic and has about as much mechanical impact as your character’s hair color, but it’s a fantastic character detail.

The Swarmkeeper is simple to play, but a lot of fun. Gathered Swarm adds a small but meaningful tactical consideration to every turn, encouraging the player to apply their attacks strategically rather than simply piling damage onto the first things in need of stabbing. The subclass has no decision points, so it’s an easy option for new players but also has enough mechanical hooks that veterans will some room to push the subclass beyond its expected capabilities. It’s a welcome addition in a party that can effectively capitalize upon area control effects like Wall of Fire provided by allies, but even without those options the Swarmkeeper still works well.

Swarmkeeper Ranger Handbook

3. Gathered Swarm: Using this will add sometactical complexity to every one of your turns. Keep in mind that this onlyworks once per turn so it’s no replacement for something like Hunter’sMark/Favored Foe in terms of sheer damage output, and you’ll want to have aplan at the start of your turn before you start attacking. This will be morereliable if you’re making multiple attacks, so consider two-weapon fightinguntil you get Extra Attack. One more subtle note: The trigger is any attack, so it’s not restricted to weapon attacks and can include spell attacks.

   While each of the options below are rated asorange to indicate that they are onlysituationally useful, their combined capabilities are excellent. It’s likehaving a toolbox with three tools in it: any one tool can only do a couplethings, but between the three of them you can do a lot.

   • Damage: Your go-to option in mostcases, but also your option of last resort. Use the other options ifthey’re going to have any significant impact. Otherwise, the 1d6 damageis a small but satisfying bonus. Unfortunately, since this is from aseparate source rather than “extra damage” added to your attack, thedamage isn’t multiplied on a critical hit. Creatures which resist piercing damage typically have resistance to piercing damagefrom non-magical attacks. This isn’t an attack, so thoseresistances don’t apply.
   • Move Target: Moving enemies canforce them to break grapples with your allies, and can put them into badplaces like ongoing area damage, open pits, etc.
   • Move Self: This is the option youare least likely to use, but it’s still helpful. Moving yourself 5 feetcan get you out of melee reach, out of grapples, out of area effects,and generally out of trouble.
3. Swarmkeeper Magic: Some really goodutility options, but the offensive options will be hard to rely upon.
   • 3rd-Level: Mage hand is a goodcantrip, and rangers generally don’t get cantrips. Even if you takeDruidic Warrior, Mage Hand isn’t an option. Faerie Fire is a greatcombat option, but your save DC will likely be low, so save it for whenyou’re facing a crowd (statistically some of your enemies will stillfail their save) or when you’re facing enemies which have poor Dexteritylike ogres or the Tarrasque.
   • 5th-Level: Web is one of the best area shutdown spells in the game.a hard choice. It’s like a persistent version of Entangle, where creatures can be subjected to the spell over and over just for being in the area. Thrown over a group of foes, statistically some of them will fail their saves and even if they all make the strength check, not save, to escape, we’ve made them all lose an action. And we have a great forced movement ability so we can just shove people back inside when they escape. Now, they might burn their way out of the webs if they happen to have a way to do fire damage but then just don’t web the Red Dragon and you can avoid that one issue.
   • 9th-Level: A great way to infiltrateplaces, to escape, to scout, and generally to go somewhere without othercreatures causing you trouble. The move speed is very limited, socombine this with buffs like Longstrider to boost your speed and getmore done in the 1-hour duration.
   • 13th-Level: Even though you get itmuch later than dedicated spellcasters, Arcane Eye is still one of myabsolute favorite divination options for scouting from a safedistance.
   • 17th-Level: Constitution saves tendto be high and ranger’s save DCs tend to be low, which is a hardcombination. But with a 10-minute duration and half damage on asuccessful save, with a particularly good damage type, if you can trap enemies in an enclosed space orrepeatedly knock them into the area with Gathered Swarm, you can stilldeal huge amounts of damage even if enemies consistently pass the savingthrow. If nothing else, you can plug a choke point while the full casters concentrate on other impressive effects.
7. Writhing Tide: Flight of any kind isgreat, but 10 ft. speed definitely isn’t much. You can get off the groundand over small obstacles, but don’t expect to travel like this. Rememberthat you can Dash if necessary, so if you have nothing else to do you canfly up to 200 feet on one usage. You can also boost your speed with buffslike Longstrider and Haste, which will go a long way to make this moreuseful both in and out of combat.
11. Mighty Swarm: Huge improvements to themovement options. The damage option improves so little I’m confused why theybother to improve it at all.
    • Damage: 1d6 to 1d8 is not a meaningfuldifference.
    • Move Target: Knocking the target proneis great if you have melee allies who will benefit from them being proneor if you need to cut the target’s movement. However, if you’reattacking at range you’ll make your own life harder by knocking yourtarget prone.
    • Move Self: +2 AC for one round. Ifyou’re fighting in melee that’s a huge benefit and you should considerusing this every turn.
15. Swarming Dispersal: By this level youhave plenty of daily uses for this. Use it to gain Resistance againsthigh-damage attacks like critical hits or high-level spells, and also to getyourself out of melee combat if you don’t want to be there. You cantechnically use this by willingly taking damage in order to trigger theteleportation, but it’s probably not a significant abuse case because theuses per day are limited and the range is so short. Still, if you need toget out of somewhere nasty (a grapple, a pool of acid, an ongoing spelleffect, etc.) you can always slap yourself for 1+Str damage to trigger theteleportation.