Ranger 5e – DnD 5th Edition Class Guide – RPGBOT (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, butthey’ve been plagued by mechanical issues since they were first introduced,literally decades before the original release of 5th edition Dungeons andDragons. The features which make them unique and interesting often go unusedbecause they force rangers to specialize in solving problems and fightingenemies which players can’t guarantee that they’ll face. The Ranger’s FavoredEnemy and Natural Explorer features ask players to choose creatures and placeswhich the Ranger specializes in fighting, and if those things don’t appear inthe game the features are essentially wasted.

To further torment ranger players, the Beast Master subclass as it waspublished in the Player’s Handbook was so frustratingly bad that it poisonedthe community’s opinion of rangers to the point that years later the Ranger isstill 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.

After reading this handbook, I encourage you to read our other supporting articles:

• Ranger Races Breakdown
• Ranger Subclasses Breakdown
• Ranger Spells Breakdown.
• Walking the Wild Paths: How to RP your Ranger’s Archetype

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Disclaimer
• Ranger Class Features
  • Optional Class Features
• Ability Scores
• Ranger Races
• Ranger Skills
• Ranger Backgrounds
• Ranger Feats
• Ranger Weapons
• Ranger Armor
• Multiclassing
• Ranger Magic Items
  • Common Magic Items
  • Uncommon Magic Items
  • Rare Magic Items
  • Very Rare Magic Items
  • Legendary Magic Items
• Example Ranger Build – Human Ranger (Hunter)
  • Abilities
  • Race
  • Skills and Tools
  • Background
  • Feats
  • Levels

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 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.

Favored Enemy: Situational by nature, andthe bonuses you gain against the subject are somewhat small.

Favored Enemy is perhaps more indicative of the problems with the Ranger thanany other part of the class: it requires the player to make a decision whichis unchangeable and which is often made with little or no information guidingthat decision, and if the player makes the wrong decision they may neverbenefit from the feature even if they’re fortunate enough to play thatcharacter all the way to level 20. And even in those cases where the playerhas the right Favored Enemy, the effects are so minor and fleeting that itfeels like there’s no benefit.

• Aberrations: One of the more numerouscreature types, but very few have a CR above 10.
• Beasts: Beasts are common at low levels,but very few beasts have a CR above 5 so you’ll stop facing them early inyour career.
• Celestiais: Like Fiends, but only selectthis in an evil campaign.
• Constructs: There aren’t a lot ofconstructs in the Monster Manual, and they don’t appear frequently becausethey’re hard to shoe-horn into many adventures. Plus, how often do you needto track a golem which was created to guard a room?
• Dragons: Dragons are a tempting optionbecause they’re so iconic and scary, but they’re also a bad option becausethere are so few of them.
• Elementals: There are very few elementalcreatures which frequent appearances as enemies.
• Fey: There are almost no Fey in the MonsterManual, and their CRs are all very low.
• Fiends: A great option, especially in anall-good campaign. Fiends are numerous, and run the whole CR range.
• Giants: There aren’t a ton of giants,and their highest CR is 13.
• Monstrosities: There are a lot of greatmonsters which qualify as “Monstrosities”, but very few of them have a CRabove 11.
• Oozes: There are almost no oozes in theMonster Manual.
• Plants: There are very few plant monstersin the game.
• Undead: Iconic, numerous, and consistingof a long list of enemies running the whole CR range. Undead pop up in manycampaigns, even those where undead aren’t a major them, so they’re a good,reliable option.
• Humanoid: Humanoids are hard to pindown. Depending on your campaign, you may face a huge number of humanoids oryou may face absolutely none. Only select humanoids if you know that you’regoing to face them. Since you get to pick two types of humanoids, Irecommend Humans and another race which is prominent in the campaign’ssetting.

If your group is using Optional Class Features, consider trading Favored Enemy for Favored Foe (yes, I know those are synonyms). See below, under “Optional Class Features”, for more information.

Natural Explorer: You get three choicesover the course of your career, so hopefully your campaign doesn’t involve ahuge amount of traveling. The bonuses are fairly small, but fit the flavor theclass.

If your group is using Optional Class Features, consider trading Natural Explorer for Deft Explorer. See below, under “Optional Class Features”, for more information.

Fighting Style: Rangers get a subset of theFighting Styles available to Fighters, but the ones they get offer plenty ofoptions. Unlike Fighters, Rangers only get one Fighting Style so it’simportant to pick one that fits your build since you won’t get to pick asupplemental style.

The options below include the optional fighting styles introduced in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. Check with your DM before assuming that those styles are allowed.

For more detailed advice on Fighting Styles, see our Practical Guide to Fighting Styles.

• Archery^PHB: The obvious choice for ranged builds. +2 to hit is a big deal in a gamewhere a 20th-level character can expect a maximum of +11 to hit.
• Blind Fighting^TCoE (Optional): This one ishard. Blindsight, even at just 10-foot range, is extremely useful. It solvesissues of invisible enemies, it helps make up for lack of magical optionsfor Darkvision, and it addresses effects which block line of sight like fog,magical darkness, or other stuff. But those effects don’t appear in mostencounters, so this is only situationally useful. When it works it’s great,but the rest of the time it’s useless. Unless you have allies in the partywho plan to frequently use magical darkness or other options to obscurevision I would skip this.

  Races which suffer from Sunlight Sensitivity might consider this as asolution to their sunlight issues. If you don a blindfold (or close youreyes), your DM may allow you to overcome the effects of SunlightSensitivity by willingly blinding yourself. The text of SunlightSensitivity isn’t perfectly clear if it only applies to attacks which relyon sight, so this may not work RAW, but the idea makes sense.

• Defense^PHB: AC boosts are great, but Rangers are Strikers at heart and you need aFighting Style which boosts your damage output. Of course, Beast MasterRangers may prefer to rely more heavily on their companion for offense, so aboost to AC can allow you to protect yourself while your companion does thework.
• Druidic Warrior^TCoE: Access to cantrips allows the Ranger to build around spellcasting astheir primary combat option. Shillelagh is your go-to choice for meleecombat, and Produce Flame is your go-to ranged option. If you can do withoutone or both of those options, Guidance is a great utility, and Thunderclapcan help handle crowds.

  While Druidic Warrior allows the Ranger to be built around Wisdom insteadof Strength or Dexterity, it comes with its own complications.Wisdom-based builds will need medium armor, which means that you need 14Dexterity and you’ll suffer Disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checksjust like Strength-based builds. Rangers also have very littlespellcasting and few directly offensive spells, so your Wisdom scoredoesn’t do as much for the Ranger as it does for the Druid.

  If you look at the pros and cons of Druidic Warrior and you still want touse it on a ranger, the last question you need to ask yourself is “whatwill this character do that a druid couldn’t do better?” If you have ananswer to that question which satisfies you (and there are some goodanswers), Druidic Warrior will work fine. Beast Master is a great go-toexample; since you can rely on your beast in combat, focusing on Wisdomand spellcasting is often much easier. But for many other subclasses,sticking to weapons is often a better choice.

  See Also

  DnD 5e Ranger Subclass Breakdown – RPGBOTHorizon Walker Ranger Handbook: DnD 5e Subclass Guide – RPGBOTFull Ranger Class Guide for 5e [With 2 Example Builds]Gloom Stalker Ranger Handbook: DnD 5e Subclass Guide – RPGBOT

• Dueling^PHB: Note that this works while using a shield. 2 damage closes the damage gapbetween a longsword and a two-handed weapon (4.5->6.5 vs. 6.5/7). Formany subclasses, this is the go-to melee option because your Bonus Actionmay be monopolized by other things like commanding a beast companion orusing features like Planar Warrior.
• Thrown Weapon Fighting^TCoE (Optional) Finally a wayto make thrown weapons workable in 5e! Unlike a bow or crossbow, you can usethrown weapons one-handed and some even work effectively with two-weaponfighting since thrown weapons are usually melee weapons with the Thrownproperty. If you’re using magic weapons you may have some trouble sinceyou’re repeatedly throwing your weapons away, but you’ll be able to recoverthem after combat.

  Thrown Weapon Fighting has some unique interactions with other fightingstyles. If you use a melee weapon with the light and thrown property likehandaxes, you can benefit from the Two-Weapon Fighter style. If you takethe Dual Wielder feat, you can upgrade to Javelins. If you instead useranged weapons with the thrown property like darts, you can benefit fromthe Archery style, adding +2 to both attacks and damage. Thatallows you to match the average damage of a longbow while still holding ashield.

  To summarize: This is probably the most complex Fighting Style becauseyou need to combine it with other options (feats and/or another Fighting Style)to make it truly effective, but those complex interactions also allowsome really fun combinations. I don’t recommend this for new players, butan experienced player could build a very interesting character aroundthis.

• Two-Weapon Fighting^PHB: One of the biggest issues with two-weapon fighting is that you don’t getto add your ability modifier to your off-hand attack without this fightingstyle, and taking this style makes it considerably more viable. Unlike aFighter, TWF is a perfectly viable option for many Rangers. Hunter’s Markadds a small but notable damage boost which closes the damage gap betweengreatswords and short swords, making TWF highly effective for Rangers sincethe extra attack offers an additional opportunity to deliver Hunter’s Mark’sdamage boost.

  However, two-weapon fighting struggles with the action economy. Hunter’sMark requires a Bonus Action to cast or re-assign, so in the heat ofcombat you often need to decide between using Hunter’s Mark or making youradditional attack. Many subclasses also have features like Planar Warrioror Slayer’s Prey which also consume your Bonus Action, as do many otherranger spells so for many subclasses you’ll find that your Bonus Action isin use too often to make use of two-weapon fighting. TWF can still workvery well for the Hunter, but many other subclasses should avoid it.Before you commit to this, take a good look at your subclass and see ifyou’ll need your Bonus Action to activate subclass features.

Spellcasting: Rangers have a reallyinteresting spell list with a lot of unique options exclusive to the Ranger.However, nearly every spell on the list uses Concentration, so it’s reallyhard to use more than one spell at a time.

For help selecting spells, see myRanger Spell List Breakdown.

Ranger Archetype: Ranger subclasses are briefly summarizedbelow. See myRanger Subclasses Breakdownfor help selecting your subclass.

• Beast Master: Fight alongside a powerful beast companion, training them as a livingweapon to aid you in battle.
• Drakewarden: Similar to the Beast Master, except that your companion is a draconicspirit.
• Fey Wanderer: Gain fey power and use it to beguile, charm, and outwit othercreatures.
• Gloom Stalker: Hunt your foes in the dark, gaining the ability to see and fight in thedark, and to ambush your foes.
• Horizon Walker: Walk the planes, gaining the ability to teleport in battle and to travelbetween planes without relying on spells like Plane Shift.
• Hunter: A capable warrior, the Hunter is the most customizable ranger subclass, capable of succeeding in a variety of fighting styles.
• Monster Slayer: Focus on slaying single foes, gaining the ability to discern theirstrengths and weaknesses, to deal extra damage to your studied prey, and toresist and foil their spells and abilities.
• Swarm Keeper: Use a swarm of fey spirits to empower your attacks, to defend you incombat, and even to carry you through the air.

Primeval Awareness: Too expensive, toolimited, too situational. The fact that this costs spell slots to activate isfrankly insulting. Primeval Awareness is so laughably useless that if yousimply removed it from the Ranger no one would notice. I once had a ranger inmy party use it while we were trying to search for some undead enemies. Theyread the effect, the DM told us “Yes”, and the entire group paused in stunnedsilence to reflect on how truly worthless Primeval Awareness is even in asituatio perfectly suited for Primeval Awareness to succeed.

If your DM allows it, trade Primeval Awareness for the Primal AwarenessOptional Class Feature. See below, under “Optional Class Features”, for moreinformation.

Extra Attack: You’re no Fighter, but twoattacks is still a considerable boost to your damage output.

Land’s Stride: Difficult terrain is veryfrustrating for melee characters, so this will give you a big advantage insome fights.

Hide in Plain Sight: You don’t get to movewhile using this, but it’s very effective.

Vanish: Very helpful for sniping, but notas important for Rangers as Cunning Action is for Rogues since you don’t getSneak Attack. Also note that it doesn’t work with Hide in Plain Sight.

Feral Sense: Invisible creatures are hugelyproblematic, and even knowing what square they are in is a big advantage.Being able to locate and attack them without penalty is a massive bonus.

Foe Slayer: This is at most a +5, but a +5to an attack roll can be a huge bonus in a game where +11 is the normalmaximum.

Optional Class Features

Introduced in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, Optional Class Features offer ways to add additional features or replace existing ones. These rules are optional, and you should not assume that your DM will allow these features without consulting them first.

Assessments and suggestions for specific Optional Class Features are presented here, but for more information on handling Optional Class Features in general, see my Practical Guide to Optional Class Features.

Rangers have received more Optional Class Features than any other class. Of every “replacement” feature published, only one of them isn’t a Ranger feature. Wizards of the Coast saw the problems and they gave us a ton of tools to fix them. Because there are so many Optional Class Features for the ranger, you may need to be more cautious when consider the new features than you would with other classes.

Deft Explorer (Replacement): Deft Explorerreplaces each of the three favored terrains which the Ranger gains as theygain levels.

1. Canny: Expertise in one skill and two freelanguages. Expertise in a skill helps close the skill gap between the Rangerand the Rogue. The languages seem like a weird choice since rangers maketerrible Faces (the Fey Wanderer is an exception). Personally I’d like theability to trade the languages for tool or vehicle proficiencies, but youcan always get those from your background if you need to. Normally if youwant Expertise I recommend a level in rogue, but this makes that class dipless important.
6. Roving: Climb speeds are the next bestthings to fly speeds. Swim speeds are only occasionally useful, and if youwant the swim speed for an aquatic campaign it won’t solve the issue ofbreathing.
10. Tireless: Activate the temporary hitpoints after every fight. It’s a free hit die worth of hit points. TheExhaustion removal is only situationally useful, but it has the hilariousbenefit of allowing you to negate the effects of starvation and dehydrationby taking a nap.

I hate the Natural Explorer feature to a degree that I can’t adequatelyjustify, and which I definitely can’t justify explaining twice in one article(see the assessment above, under Ranger Class Features). Replacing NaturalExplorer with Deft Explorer is a dramatic improvement on the Ranger in everysense: more effective mechanically, simpler and more satisfying to play, andmore interesting.

I recommend allowing Deft Explorer on all single-class rangers. It allowsthem to more easily fill a role as the party’s Rogue-equivalent, and it fitsthe theme of the Ranger as a capable and hardy explorer very well. It’s alinear buff to the class and the Ranger gives up basically nothing to get DeftExplorer, but in the case of the Ranger I really don’t think that’s aproblem.

Favored Foe (Replacement): A small damageboost once per turn. This has two interesting benefits to the function of theRanger which go far beyond “deal extra” damage. First, builds which don’tattack as a Bonus Action feel less weak compared to two-weapon fighting andcrossbow expert builds, and subclasses like the Horizon Walker which havereliable Bonus Action features don’t need to choose between ignoring subclassfeatures and getting more damage out of Hunter’s Mark.

Second, Hunter’s Mark becomes less of a crucial damage option and thereforeless of a tax on the Ranger’s limited pools of spell slots and spells known.Hunters Mark is still good, and it’s is still better for rangers who can makenumerous attacks than Favored Foe is, but Favored Foe can frequently coversituations where you can’t manage Hunter’s Mark, and it’s close enough ineffectiveness that you could use your spell slots (and your Bonus Action) forsomething more exciting.

I recommend allowing Favored Foe on all single-class rangers. Favored Foeisn’t a fantastic ability, but it doesn’t need to be. It’s always useful, andthough the damage bonus is small it’s reliable and doesn’t require guessworkfor the player to make it effective. It also reduces the need to take Hunter’sMark, removing a frustrating tax on the Ranger’s extremely limited pool ofspells known.

Additional Ranger Spells (Addition): TheRanger’s spell list is small, weird, and limited. It’s best known forsignature spells like Hunter’s Mark and Zephyr Strike, but since the Rangerdraws most of its spells from the Druid’s spell list while being so much worseas spell casting, most of the Ranger’s spell list isn’t worth exploring. Thenew spells add a lot of really interesting options which give the Rangersomething worthy of their Concentration that’s not Hunter’s Mark or Guardianof Nature.

There are some odd options here. Searing Smite is a weird choice, and Aid,Revivify, and Greater Restoration feel somewhat out of place. But consideringthat Revivify was added to the Druid, and that the Ranger gets those spellsconsiderably later than other spellcasters, I think they’re interestingadditions that introduce some very important new capabilities to the Rangerwithout making them outshine other classes like the Druid.

I recommend allowing the additional spells on all rangers. The Ranger’s spelllist has long been a pain point, and expanding those options means that we mayfinally see some diversity in spells known since there are more than a handfulof worthwhile spells on the spell list.

Fighting Style Options (Addition): Excitingnew options. Druidic Warrior is notably exclusive to the ranger, allowingplayers to explore a more casting-focused ranger and potentially build aroundWisdom rather than Strength or Dexterity. The new options are all interesting newbuild concepts, though they’re no more powerful than those which are alreadyavailable.

I recommend allowing the new Fighting Style options on all rangers. I don’texpect the new options to supplant Archery or Two-Weapon Fighting as the bestoptions for the Ranger, but the new options introduce exciting new buildpossibilities. Plus, rangers still only get one unless they spend a feat ormulticlass.

Spellcasting Focus (Addition): The flavormakes sense, but for the vast majority of character using a spellcasting focusinstead of a spell component pouch is a purely cosmetic change. The oneexception is using a staff, which can also double as a quarterstaff, makingthe staff an effective choice if you want to combine Shillelagh, aquarterstaff, a shield, and potentially the Polearm Master feat.

I recommend allowing Spellcasting Focus on all rangers. The impact isextremely minor, but the flavor is fun.

Primal Awareness (Replacement): Five freespells known isn’t a huge benefit, and all of the spells are situational, butgetting them for free means that rangers (who must permanently learn spellsrather than preparing them) actually have a chance of casting these spellsfrom time to time. Giving up Primeval Awareness for even something as modestas Primal Awareness is a good trade.

I recommend allowing Primal Awareness on all rangers. It allows some verysituational spells to see some use without a druid needing to take a LongRest, and rangers get so few spell slots that it’s not going to upset yourgame.

Martial Versatility (Addition): Being lockedinto your choice of Fighting Style at level 2 gives you very little time todecide on how your ranger is going to fight. The ability to change stylesoccasionally makes that decision less permanent, and allows you to changestyles if something happens like you find a cool weapon or you need to switchroles within the party.

I recommend allowing Martial Versatility on all rangers. Like with otherretraining mechanics, players still can’t have more options at the same timethan they could get if they didn’t retrain, so players will be more satisfiedwith their character but won’t actually be any stronger than they could be.

Nature’s Veil (Replacement): The uses forthis are impressively numerous, and getting as many as 6 uses per day meansthat you can make this a g-oto tactical option. Turn invisible to run out ofmelee or to quickly sneak between cover. Turn invisible to dart into meleeunnoticed before ambushing someone. Turn invisible to get Advantage on yournext attack. Get creative.

I recommend allowing Nature’s Veil on all rangers using subclasses which I’verated green or lower. This is a powerfulfeature that can allow the ranger to do a lot of stuff which normally requiresmagic, and the more powerful subclasses don’t need the additional tacticaloption to be competitive with other classes.

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.

Strength-based builds are possible, but face additional difficulties notfaced by Dexterity-based builds. Half plate (the best medium armor) imposesDisadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks, and thrown weapons have muchshorter range than bows. Rangers are most likely to stick to one-handed meleeweapons, and the rapier is just as good as any one-handed weapon which youwould use with Strength. You’ll be able to use two-handed melee weapons, butthere’s very little reason to do so when so much of the Ranger’s damage cancome from Favored Foe and Hunter’s Mark. To summarize: Strength-based buildssuffer immediate setbacks, and gain essentially no benefit.

Finally, Fighting Style (Druidic Warrior) allows for Wisdom-based builds.Take the Shillelagh cantrip and a ranged attack cantrip like Produce Flame,and you can fight both in melee and at range using Wisdom instead of Strengthor Dexterity. Furthermore, your spellcasting will be more effective. However,you’ll likely resort to medium armor and suffer the same challenges Dexterity(Stealth) checks faced by Strength-based builds. The improved spellcasting andWisdom-based skills may be worth the trade, but this is an unusual build.

Str: With light/medium armor you needDexterity for AC. Since you have Dexterity for AC, you may as well use it forweapons. Since you’re using Dexterity for weapons, you can dump Strength. Theonly exception is if you decide to use a polearm for some reason.

Dex: Dexterity fuels the majority of whatthe Ranger does. Even for builds that aren’t Dexterity-based, you need atleast 14 to fill out the Dexterity cap on Half Plate.

Con: As a martial character rangers shouldexpect to draw a lot of fire, so you need the hit points to handle it.

Int: A bit for Investigation and Naturemight be nice, but you don’t really need it.

Wis: Adds to spells and eventually to FoeSlayer.

Cha: Dump.

Ranger Races

Rangers are a MAD class, but not so much as the Paladin or the Monk. Theystill desperately need ability score increases, but rangers can be builtaround Strength, Dexterity, or Wisdom, allowing for a great deal of buildversatility even if you’re not using the custom origin rules. Beyond thoseneeds, rangers can also benefit from things that benefit front-line characterslike the Fighter (damage resistances, etc.) and things that benefit Scoutcharacters like the Rogue (Darkvision, skills, etc.).

For help selecting a race, see ourRanger Races Breakdown.

For a classic ranger feel, consider the Variant Human or the Wood Elf. For a highly-skilled ranger, consider the custom origin Half-Elf or the Tabaxi. For a Strength-based build, consider the Tortle. For a Wisdom-based build, consider the Lizardfolk, the Loxodon, or the Tortle. For a ranged build, consider the Owlin for flight or the Variant Human for a feat.

Ranger Skills

• Animal Handling (Wis): Even for aBeastmaster Ranger this is still worthless.
• Athletics (Str): Rangers areDexterity-based and don’t have a good way to make use of Shove orGrapple.
• 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 Rogue-equivalent, butIntelligence isn’t a great ability for Rangers.
• 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 hight Dexterity it certainly doesn’t hurt.
• Survival (Wis): Situational, but ifanyone was going to take this it should be a Ranger.

Ranger Backgrounds

This section does not address every published background, as doing so would result in an ever-growing list of options which don’t cater to the class. Instead, this section will cover the options which I think work especially well for the class, or which might be tempting but poor choices. Racial feats are discussed in the Races section, above.

Rangers can get every skill that they need with their three class skillchoices. If you’re acting as your party’s Rogue-equivalent, pick up Thieves’Tools proficiency. Otherwise, pick up whatever you want. Many backgrounds willgive you bonus languages, but with no social skills the Ranger has no way tomake use of them.

If you’re having trouble deciding, here are some suggestions:

• Charlatan^PHB: Interesting for a Rogue-like build, but without Thieves’ Tools you can’tfully replace a Rogue.
• City Watch^SCAG: Athletics and Insight are both passable options, but the languages aretotally wasted.
• Criminal^PHB: Deception won’t get much use, but the rest will allow you play yourparty’s Rogue-equivalent.
• Far Traveler^SCAG: Insight is passable and Perception is fantastic. The instrument/gamingset proficiency might actually be more useful for you than the language.
• Folk Hero^PHB: Several passable options, but nothing that you absolutely need tohave.
• Mercenary Veteran^SCAG: Persuasion is wasted on the Ranger, but the rest is usable.
• Outlander^PHB: Several passable options, but nothing that you absolutely need tohave.
• Sailor^PHB: Good skills, but nautical stuff isn’t useful in most campaigns.
• Soldier^PHB: Everything is good except Intimidation.
• Urban Bounty Hunter^SCAG: A good list of options which allow you to take the place of aRogue-equivalent.
• Urchin^PHB: Allows you to easily play your party’s Rogue-equivalent.
• Uthgardt Tribe Member^SCAG: A few passable options, but on the whole nothing exciting.

Ranger Feats

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

• Alert^PHB: Going first isn’t terribly important for the Ranger.
• Cartomancer^BoMT: The card spell effectively lets you choose one spell from your spell list (not from your known spells) and quicken it ahead of time. You do still need to spend a spell slot, so that part isn’t any better than quickening a spell with Metamagic Adept; the appeal is that you have access to one spell per day that you don’t already know.
• Charger^PHB: Rangers have plenty of ways to use their bonus action, so this presents aconsiderable loss of action economy. Even if you’re built for melee, youshould use the space to buff yourself or soften your enemies at range beforegradually closing to melee.
• Chef^TCoE: With the choice of a Constitution or Wisdom increase, it’s easy for manyrangers to fit this into their build. The difficulty is fitting this intoyour action economy. Rangers who use two-weapon fighting are already relyingon their Bonus Action, as are subclasses with Bonus Action damage boostslike the Horizon Walker. Rangers who fight at range without using theirBonus Action seem like the best Chef users, but they also need it the least.If you plan to share the treats, Inspiring Leader will be more efficienteven if you dump Charisma.
• Crossbow Expert^PHB: All the action economy of TWF with the range of Archery, and you can doit in melee combat.
• Crusher^TCoE: Without a way to improve your chance of scoring a critical hit, there’slittle reason to take this.
• Defensive Duelist^PHB: A tempting way to boost your defenses, but the Hunter already getsoptions to protect themselves, and the Beastmaster should have enough healthbetween themselves and their companion that they can survive a few hits.
• Dual Wielder^PHB: Not necessary by any means, but if anyone were to take this feat itshould be a melee Ranger.
• Dungeon Delver^PHB: In a dungeon-heavy campaign, this can be a great option for you.
• Durable^PHB: Rangers can cast Healing Spirit, which solves the issue of healing out ofcombat.
• Eldritch Adept^TCoE: If you don’t have Darkvision from your racial traits, the Devil’s Sightinvocation is a great way to get it. If you want to consider otherinvocations, see myWarlock Eldritch Invocation Breakdown.
• Elemental Adept^PHB: Rangers don’t get enough elemental damage spells to justify this.
• Fey Touched^TCoE: Misty Step is great and isn’t available to most rangers, but the leveledspells may be difficult. The best options available all requireConcentration, and most rangers are already heavily reliant on Concentrationfor staple options like Hunter’s Mark.

  For more advice on Fey Touched, see mySpellcasting Feats Breakdown.

• Fighting Initiate^TCoE: There’s little for the Ranger to gain from additional fighting styles,but the additional options bring you a bit closer to the Fighter if you’retrying to stand in as your party’s primary Defender.
• Gift of the Chromatic Dragon^FToD: The damage buff is decent, especially once you have Extra Attack. Meleerangers will draw a lot of fire, and Reactive Resistance will provide ahelpful defense.
• Gift of the Gem Dragon^FToD: Telekinetic Reprisal is good for melee ranger builds, but it may be hardto make the ability score increase helpful. Druidic Warrior builds usingShillelagh are your best bet.
• Gift of the Metallic Dragon^FToD: Rangers know a very limited number of spells, so getting Cure Wounds isdecent. Protective Wings can make up the difference in durability betweenthe Ranger and other front-line martial classes like the Fighter.
• Grappler^PHB: Just a terrible feat in general. You don’t need it to grapplesuccessfully.
• Great Weapon Master^PHB: Rangers are all about Dexterity, and two-handed weapons require Strength.Even if you build around Strength-based weapons, Hunter’s Mark will providea more reliable boost to damage output than gambling with your attacks.
• Gunner^TCoE: If your game uses firearms and you’re desperate to grab a gun, this isfine, but in most cases you’ll do better sticking to bows.
• Healer^PHB: Learn Cure Wounds.
• Heavily Armored^PHB: If you’re going for a Strength build, you probably want this but youcould also get it from a level dip into cleric or fighter. If you takeproficiency in Stealth and cast Pass Without Trace, you might even manage tobe stealthy despite Disadvantage imposed by your armor.
• Lucky^PHB: Good on anyone.
• Mage Slayer^PHB: Too situational.
• Magic Initiate^PHB: There really isn’t anything that the Ranger needs from other spellcastingclasses to be functional. If you want to use cantrips, consider FightingStyle (Druidic Warrior)

  For more advice on Magic Initiate, see mySpellcasting Feats Breakdown.

• Martial Adept^PHB: Not useful enough with only one superiority die.
• Medium Armor Master^PHB: A feat for a net of +1 to AC over light armor and 20 Dexterity. Spend thefeat on Defensive Duelist instead.
• Metamagic Adept^TCoE: Powerful, but the Ranger doesn’t get enough spellcasting to make this aneasy choice. For advice on Metamagic Adept, see mySorcerer Metamagic Breakdown.
• Mobile^PHB: Rangers already get ways to handle a lot of difficult terrain, and ifyou want to avoid opportunity attacks, pick up Escape the Horde or ZephyrStrike.
• Mounted Combat^PHB: Beast Master Rangers are one of the only characters in the game where Iwould consider this feat a decent option, and even then it has seriousproblems. If your character is small you have several excellent options formounts, but since most monsters are medium or larger you’ll give up thefirst benefit of the feat almost all of the time since your mount will neverbe bigger than they are. Still, the extra protection afforded to your animalcompanion may be enough to justify the feat.
• Observant^PHB: If you are the only character in the party with decent observationskills, this might be a good idea.
• Polearm Master^PHB: Rangers are built on Dexterity, so they typically don’t have the Strengthto back up a polearm. If you’re going for a Strength-based build anyway,Polearm Master can work very well with Hunter’s Mark, effectively allowingyou to attack as effectively as a two-weapon fighting build but still use ashield.
• Piercer^TCoE: Easy to fit into your build, and the ability to reroll a damage die worksvery well since rangers depend on multiple dice for damage (Hunter’s Mark,subclass features like the Horizon Walker’s Planar Warrior, etc.). Piercingdamage is also an unusually common damage for rangers since daggers andshort swords are go-to melee options and bows are the go-to rangedoptions.
• Resilient^PHB: Resilient (Constitution) will help you maintain Concentration on crucialspells like Hunter’s Mark, but you don’t get a lot of spells so unless youalso want proficiency in Constitution saves more generally this feat mayfeel disappointing.
• Ritual Caster^PHB: Leave this for the full casters if you can.
• Savage Attacker^PHB: This is a bad feat. The largest damage die (d12), yields an average of 2extra damage per turn.
• Sentinel^PHB: The third part of the feat is tempting for Beastmaster Rangers. Since youhave a pet that you can drag into melee with you who will likely have lowerAC (and therefore will draw a lot of attacks), it’s easy to capitalize onSentinel to get free attacks.
• Shadow Touched^TCoE: Invisibility is great for a class which is often stealthy, but few of the1st-level spell options appeal to the Ranger.

  For more advice on Shadow Touched, see mySpellcasting Feats Breakdown.

• Sharpshooter^PHB: Archery builds will frequently enjoy this, though remember that you may have other damage boosts from spells like Hunter’s Mark or Elemental Weapon, so the attack penalty can actually reduce your damage output in some cases. Hunter Rangers who pick up Volley willparticularly enjoy the ability to attack at longer range without Disadvantageso that you can handle large groups of enemies at a comfortabledistance.
• Shield Master^PHB: The only thing making this hard for Rangers is that you need highStrength to make good use of Athletics, which you need to make good use ofthe ability to Shove foes as a Bonus Action.
• Skill Expert^TCoE: Helpful to close the skill gap between the Ranger and the Rogue.
• Skilled^PHB: Rangers already get more skills than average, but unless you got Thieves’Tools proficiency from your background you may want to pick it up.
• Skulker^PHB: Sniping is for Rogues.
• Slasher^TCoE: The speed reduction is a great way to keep enemies from escaping you, butrangers aren’t built to be Defenders like the Fighter or the Paladin so thismay be a hard choice.
• Tough^PHB: You shouldn’t need hit points this badly. Rangers are not build to be afront-line Defender. If you still want this, reconsider your tactics.
• War Caster^PHB: Rangers don’t have cantrips which work with the Reaction mechanic. Youcan get them from Druidic Warrior or another source like your race (HighElf, etc.), but that’s a lot of investment for a gimmick. Advantage onConcentration checks is probably the reason you’re here, but mathematicallyResilient (Constitution) yields better results.

Ranger Weapons

This section covers weapons which specifically appeal to the Ranger. For more advice on choosing weapons, including those not addressed here, see our Practical Guide to Weapons.

• Longbow: The Archery Ranger’s go-toweapon.
• Quarterstaff: If you use the SpellcastingFocus Optional Class Feature, a staff can serve as both your focus and yourweapon, and it works with Shillelagh (available via Fighting Style (DruidicWarrior)) and Polearm Master.
• Rapier: Defensive and Dueling Rangers willwant the biggest Finesse weapon they can get.
• Shortsword: The TWF Ranger’s go-toweapon.
• Whip: The only finesse weapon withreach. If you go for a melee Horde Breaker build, a whip is a good choice sothat you can reach multiple foes without running back and forth betweenthem.

Ranger Armor

• Leather Armor: Scale Mail will givebetter AC, but will also impose disadvantage on Stealth.
• Scale Mail: Better AC than Leather, butimposes Disadvantage on Stealth.
• Studded Leather: Your best betlong-term.

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 Nature Clericgets you a skill proficiency, heavy armor proficiency, a Druid Cantrip, plusall of the spellcasting of a 1st-level Cleric. 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. Other cleric options can offer other helpful things, likeWisdom-based wizard cantrips from Arcana. Life Domain’s Disciple of Lifeworks with Goodberry, offering inexpensive and powerful healing out ofcombat.
• Druid: Two levels to pick up somecantrips and a subclass offers a lot of interesting options, but delayingExtra Attack can be hard at low levels and there are few Druid+Rangercombination builds that work well long-term.
• Fighter: Another Fighting Style istempting, though you can get it from the Fighting Initiate feat if that’sall that you want. If you start with Fighter you get access to a similarskill list plus heavy armor proficiency. With heavy armor, you can go for aStrength-based build instead of depending on Dexterity like every otherRanger in the game.
• Monk: Unarmored Defense is a decentoption, and Martial Arts removes the need for TWF, but you’ll need to forgoarmor, which means that you need much more Wisdom than a typical ranger.
• Rogue: Cunning Action, Expertise, andmore skill proficiencies. If you’re going to grab a level of Rogue it shouldbe your first level because you get more skills and the differences in armorand weapon proficiencies aren’t impactful unless you’re building aroundStrength instead of Dexterity. If you just need Expertise in one skill, askyour DM if you can use the Deft Explorer alternate class feature.

Ranger Magic Items

Common Magic Items

• Horn of Silent Alarm^XGtE: A helpful tool for any Scout, the effect allows you to communicate withyour allies (albeit in very simple fashion) at a distance without givingaway your position and without relying on more complicated and expensiveoptions like telepathy. Use one blare to alert your party that you’re indanger, and establish a meaning for two or more blares before you go offscouting. Example: Two blares means come to me, but be cautious. Threeblares means come get me, but the way is safe.
• Moon-Touched Sword^XGtE: This solves two problems for martial characters. First, the sword glowsalmost as brightly as a torch, allowing you to see in dark places withoutdevoting a hand to a torch and without asking your allies to cast light orsomething. Second, and more important, it allows you to overcome damageresistance to non-magic attacks. Resistances like this are common as yougain levels, and the Moon-Touched Sword is an inexpensive way to overcomethem until a better weapon comes along.
• Unbreakable Arrow^DMG: Great for archers to overcome resistance to damage from non-magicalattacks, but it’s only one arrow so you really want to get a magicbow. Since the arrow can’t be broken, it’s weirdly useful for wedging doorsand windows closed or open.
• Walloping Arrow^DMG: Great for archers to overcome resistance to damage from non-magicalattacks, but the DC of 10 won’t be reliable and knocking foes prone makes ithard to hit them with ranged attacks which may hamper you and yourallies.

Uncommon Magic Items

• Ammunition, +1^DMG: Single-use and expensive. Get a +X weapon instead, if you can.
• Amulet of Proof against Detection and Location^DMG: Permanent Nondetection, similar to the spell. Combine this withInvisibility, and you can’t be detected by common countermeasures like SeeInvisibility.
• Boomerang, +1^DMG: Helpful for thrown weapon builds or for Strength-based builds that needan occasional ranged option, but if you hit you’re still out a weapon so itdoesn’t perfectly address your need for magic weapons to overcome damageresistances.
• Boomerang Shield^BoMT: An interesting solution to range weaponry, providing the benefits of a returning weapon while also providing the benefit of a shield. You don’t get a bonus to attack and damage, so this only better than a non-magic javelin in that you don’t need to juggle items and that it’s magical. It’s not a perfectsolution for a thrown weapon build, but those are few and far between without an artificer in the party.

  If you’re eyeing a throw weapon build, you’ll run into issues with this. Fighting Style (Thrown Weapon Fighting) only works with weapons with the Thrown property, and while the shield allows you to make a weapon attack, it does not have the Thrown property. Similarly, this won’t work with Fighting Style (Archery) because it’s not a ranged weapon. Your best bet is to have an artificer put Returning Weapon on a javelin or something.

• Boots of Elvenkind^DMG: Helpful on any stealthy character, though not effective as a Cloak ofElvenkind. Combine with a Cloak of Elvenkind for maximum effect.
• Bracers of Archery^DMG: An easy choice for archer builds. Unfortunately, they don’t work withcrossbows so Crossbow Expert builds won’t benefit.
• Broom of Flying^DMG: Easily overlooked, but one of the best ways to get flight for anycharacter. It doesn’t require attunement, and has a fly speed of 50 feet,though many medium characters will exceed the 200 pound limit to reduce thespeed to 30 feet, but even then 30 feet fly speed with no duration cap andrequiring no action after speaking the command word is absolutelyincredible. The only drawback is that you’re using the item’s speed ratherthan giving yourself a fly speed, so things that improve your speed won’tmake the broom move faster, and you can’t Dash with the broom. Even so, Ihonestly can’t justify why this is only Uncommon considering howexceptionally good it is.
• Cloak of Elvenkind^DMG: Essential on any stealthy character. Creatures attempting to detect yousuffer Disadvantage, and you gain Advantage on Stealth checks to avoid beingseen, so you get two layers of protection against creatures detecting you.For maximum effect, combine with Boots of Elvenkind.
• Cloak of Protection^DMG: Good on any character, but it requires Attunement and it’s not veryinteresting.
• Eyes of the Eagle^DMG: Perception is the most frequently rolled skill in the game, and you arelikely the person in the party who is best at it. Advantage provides a greatdeal of insurance and protection against ambushes and other surprises.
• Gauntlets of Ogre power^DMG: Maybe helpful for Dexterity-based builds. If you dumped Strength to 8,going straight to 19 can be helpful. But at that point you’re mostly usingit for saves and for Athletics checks.
• Gloves of Thievery^DMG: Easily replaced by the Enhance Ability spell, but still helpful forstealthy characters.
• Goggles of Night^DMG: Crucial for races which don’t get Darkvision, especially if your partycan’t cast the Darkvision spell for you.
• Moon Sickle^TCoE: +1 to spell attacks, save DC’s, attack rolls, and damage rolls, and youcan use the sickle as a spellcasting focus which reduces the need to juggleyour weapon when casting spells. The ranger will benefit little from theimprovements to spellcasting, so in the vast majority of cases this is justa +1 sickle.
• Nature’s Mantle^TCoE: This isn’t quite Cunning Action, but it’s still good. Lightly Obscuredincludes things like areas of dim light, smoke, and potentially thickfoliage, so there are numerous ways to make yourself lightly obscured inorder to hide.
• Sentinel Shield^DMG: Most rangers go for either archery or two-weapon fighting, but for thehandful of rangers using shields this is a spectacular option.
• Shield, +1^DMG: +1 AC, no attunement. Nothing fancy, but very effective.
• Slippers of Spider Climbing^DMG: The next-best thing to flight. Walking up a wall has all the benefits offlying out of reach, making this an excellent option for ranged builds.
• Stone of Good Luck^DMG: Excellent on literally any character, but if you just want better defensea Cloak of Protection may be more effective. Stone of Good Luck shines ifyou’re heavily reliant on skills and ability checks.
• Weapon, +1^DMG: A numeric bonus to attack and damage is hard to beat. As you gain levelsweapons more interesting than a +X bonus to attack/damage may be moreinteresting and more effective, but at the Uncommon rarity nothing cancompete with a +1 Weapon for your offensive needs. Perhaps the biggestproblem for the ranger is that melee builds often rely on two-weaponfighting, so you likely need two of them.
• Winged Boots^DMG: Excellent on its own, but Winged Boots are more limited in use than abroom of flying, and they require Attunement.

Rare Magic Items

• Ammunition, +2^DMG: Single-use and expensive. Get a +X weapon instead, if you can.
• Amulet of Health^DMG: Setting your Constitution to 19 means that you don’t need to put AbilityScore Increases into it unless you’re really certain that you want 20Constitution. Less ASI’s into Constitution means more room for feats.
• Armor of Resistance^DMG: Excellent, but unpredictable in most games since you can’t perfectlypredict what sort of damage you’ll face. Fire and poison are safechoices.
• Armor, +1^DMG: +1 AC, no attunement. Nothing fancy, but very effective.
• Barrier Tattoo (Rare)^TCoE: +1 breastplate will provide the same without requiring attunement andstill doesn’t impose Disadvantage on Stealth checks, so +X armor is a betterchoice.
• Belt of Giant Strength (Hill)^DMG: Strength-based builds are typically very hard for the Ranger, but a magicitem raising your Strength above 20 certainly makes that much simpler.
• Bow of Conflagration^BoMT: The damage bonus is fun, but this can’t compete mathematically with a +2 weapon.
• Cloak of Displacement^DMG: Among the best defensive items in the game. Taking damage from any source(spells, etc.) suppresses the effect temporarily, so make a point to killanything that can damage you without an attack roll.
• Cloak of the Bat^DMG: A Cloak of Elvenkind may be more effective for Stealth because it alsoimposes Disadvantage on Perception checks to detect you, but Cloak of theBat isn’t limited to vision-based checks so it may be more broadly effectiveif your enemies can also hear or smell you (yes, that’s a thing). You canalso use it to fly in dim light and darkness, though your hands are occupied(you need to hold the edges of the cloak) so flying in combat may bedifficult.
• Flametongue^DMG: Mathematically the +2 bonus to attack rolls from a +2 weapon will be amore consistent improvement to your damage output,especially with the damagebonuses from Hunter’s Mark and other on-hit damage boosts.
• Glimmering Moonbow^BoMT: Finally a weapon that can out-DPR a +2 weapon! The DPR gain is minor, but radiant damage is rarely resisted and since it’s extra damage it’s multiplied on critical hits. Altogether, this is a fantastic weapon for ranged builds.
• Mantle of Spell Resistance^DMG: Many martial characters struggle when targeted by spells, and the Rangeris no exception. A Cloak of Protection is probably easier to find andprovides more general defense, but Mantle of Spell Resistance focuses onprotecting you from your biggest weakness.
• Moon Sickle^TCoE: +2 to spell attacks, save DC’s, attack rolls, and damage rolls. See MoonSickle under Uncommon Magic Items for more.
• Periapt of Proof Against Poison^DMG: Poison damage is very common across the full level range, so immunity toit is a significant improvement in your durability.
• Ring of Evasion^DMG: A great way to mitigate damage from AOE spells and things like breathweapons which can often be problems from front-line martial characters,especially if you’re not build around Dexterity.
• Ring of Protection^DMG: Cloak of Protection is lower rarity and has the same effect.
• Ring of Resistance^DMG: A fine item in a vaccuum, but a Ring of Spell Storing full of AbsorbElements will be much more effective.
• Ring of Spell Storing^DMG: Fill it with Absorb Elements and Shield, and recharge it wheneverpossible and this is a spectacular defensive asset.
• Rogue’s Mantle^BoMT: This is the best parts of multiclassing into Way of Shadow Monk.
• Shadowfell Brand Tattoo^DMG: A Cloak of Elvenkind will technically be better at keeping you hiddenbecause it also imposes Disadvantage on Perception checks to notice you, butthis is still great. Shadowy Defense provides an effect similar to theRogue’s Uncanny Dodge, allowing you mitigate a big pile of damage (a spell,a critical hit, etc.) once per day.
• Shield, +2^DMG: +2 AC, no attunement. Nothing fancy, but very effective.
• Sword of Wounding^DMG: Persistent damage that stacks with itself. It’s only 1d4 and only onceper turn, but it stacks with itself and “once per turn” means that if youcan attack again outside of your own turn (Opportunity Attacks, etc.) youcan get additional dice very quickly.
• Warrior’s Passkey^BoMT: +1 sword, does force damage, casts Knock at will. Arguably better than a +2 weapon,though it can’t be every type of weapon and the action economy to draw it could cause you trouble.
• Weapon, +2^DMG: Mathematically spectacular. It’s difficult to beat the math here.
• Wings of Flying^DMG: Broom of Flying is much better, lower rarity, and doesn’t requireattunement.

Very Rare Magic Items

• Absorbing Tattoo^TCoE: Good, but too high rarity to devote to a single damage type. Get a Ringof Spell Storing and fill it with Absorb Elements.
• Ammunition, +3^DMG: Single-use and expensive. Get a +X weapon instead, if you can.
• Animated Shield^DMG: Tempting for anyone not fighting with a one-handed weapon, but a Cloak ofProtection is two rarities lower, works persistently, and arguably providesa better numeric bonus.
• Armor, +2^DMG: +2 AC, no attunement. Nothing fancy, but very effective.
• Belt of Giant Strength (Frost, Stone, Fire)^DMG: Much like a +X weapon, it’s hard to beat the math here. For aStrength-based character, raising your Strength above 20 is a massivebenefit, and going up as high as 25 is spectacular. Add a +X weapon on topof that, and you hit so reliably that you almost can’t miss with yourattacks.
• Frost Brand^DMG: Less damage than the Flame Tongue, but higher rarity and it requiresattunement. Yes, you get resistance to fore damage, but you can get thatfrom dozens of other sources by this level.
• Manual of Bodily Health^DMG: Permanent Constitution bonus and raises your cap by 2. Unless you’reusing a magic item that fixes your Constitution as a specific score, this isexcellent.
• Manual of Quickness of Action^DMG: Spectacular for Dexterity-based builds.
• Moon Sickle^TCoE: +2 to spell attacks, save DC’s, attack rolls, and damage rolls. See MoonSickle under Uncommon Magic Items for more.
• Oathbow^DMG: So cool, but so weak. Unless you’re attacking your sworn enemy, it’s justa magic bow with no benefit other than being chatty. Imagine using ActionSurge and Haste and making 9 attacks in one turn and having the bow struggleto whisper “Swift defeat to my enemies” 9 times in six seconds.
• Scimitar of Speed^DMG: Among the best weapons to use with the Dueling style, you get two-weaponfighting action economy on a single weapon.
• Shield, +3^DMG: +3 AC, no attunement. Nothing fancy, but very effective.
• Spellguard Shield^DMG: A minor upgrade from the Mantle of Spell Resistance, the SpellguardShield protects you not just from spells, but from all magical effects.
• Sun Blade^DMG: Basically a +2 rapier that deals radiant damage and does a bit moredamage to undead. It’s not significantly better than a +2 rapier in themajority of cases. Radiant damage is great, but most creatures withresistance to weapon damage types are affected normally by magic weapons sothe benefits of radiant damage compared to piercing or slashing damage froma magical weapon are minor. It works, but I’m not certain that it’s worthAttunement compared to a +2 weapon unless you can expect to face fiends andundead with some regularity.
• Weapon, +3^DMG: Mathematically spectacular. It’s difficult to beat the math here.

Legendary Magic Items

• Armor, +3^DMG: +3 AC, no attunement. Nothing fancy, but very effective. It feelsunderwhelming at this rarity, but the math if good.
• Belt of Giant Strength (Cloud, Storm)^DMG: As good as a +4 weapon for Strength-based character, and that doesn’teven consider Athletics checks or saves.
• Blood Fury Tattoo^TCoE: The first ability provides a great damage boost which also heals you, andsince it’s “extra damage” the damage is multiplied on a critical hit. Thesecond ability provides a way to counterattack using your Reaction, and withAdvantage on that attack it’s an easy and reliable boost to your damageoutput.
• Cloak of Invisibility^DMG: Invisibility is extremely powerful in 5e. Note that this is just theinvisible condition, not the spell spell Invisibility, so you can stillattack or whatever while invisible. Unless you’re playing a Defender andactively trying to draw attacks away from your allies, this is absolutelyamazing.
• Ioun Stone (Mastery)^DMG: Proficiency Bonuses apply to a lot of things and a +1 bonus goes a longway. Attacks, saves, skills, etc. all benefit.
• Longbow of the Healing Hearth^GotG: A +3 bow with some spells that you can cast and you can use one of yourattacks to shoot an ally to heal them, effectively replacing Healing Word asthe go-to option for hit point ping-pong.
• Luck Blade^DMG: Bonuses to attacks and saves, a once per day reroll, and it can cast Wisha few times (maybe. 1d4-1 could be zero).Green if it can’t cast Wish.
• Ring of Invisibility^DMG: Cloak of Invisibility and Ring of Invisibility are very similar, butthere is some important nuance to understand. Ring of Invisibility can makeyou indefinitely invisible, allowing you to do anything except attack andcast spells without breaking your invisibility. Use a breath weapon,activate items (as long as doing so doesn’t make you cast a spell), stealthings, use the Help action, pick locks, disarm traps, take long rests, etc.can all be done while totally invisible without limit. However, the secondyou roll initiative the Cloak of Invisibility becomes more powerful becauseits invisibility isn’t broken by you attacking or casting spells.
• Ring of Spell Turning^DMG: Given the choice, I would much rather have a Mantle of Spell Resistancesimply because the Ring of Spell Turning doesn’t provide any protectionagainst area effect spells. Otherwise, this is a really fun item, and if itprovided Advantage on saves against area of effect spells it would shootstraight up to blue.
• Ring of Three Wishes^DMG: Use this to do one of the things that risks permanently removing theability to cast Wish, such as granting 10 creatures permanent resistance toonce damage type. If you lose the ability to cast Wish, pass this off toanother ally who will never be able to cast Wish by any other means. Repeatuntil the last charge is used.

  For more help with Wish, see myPractical Guide to Wish.

• Scarab of Protection^DMG: An upgrade from the Mantle of Spell Resistance, the Scarab of Protectionadds a limited benefit against necromancy and undead creatures, and doesn’ttake up your cloak slot, leaving you free to take items like a Cloak ofProtection or Cloak of Invisibility instead.

Example Ranger Build – Human Ranger (Hunter)

Sinclair Fleet-Foot the Human Hunter

Scarcely a sound betrays the approach of the dusky-hued man standing beforeyou. Indeed, not a single broken twig or trampled leaf marks his passage.Though he stands in a relaxed position, his copper eyes are in a permanenthalf-squint, keenly looking for signs of danger, senses sharpened bycountless seasons spent hunting in his favorite terrain. His thumbs aretucked into his wide leather belt, of a piece with the leather armor wornsurreptitiously under his earth-toned cloak, hands placed for a fast draw ofhis well-worn but carefully maintained fighting daggers. The longbow on hisback has seen some use, certainly, but a practiced eye reveals that thisranger prefers to get into the thick of things when trouble starts.

— Boxed text provided by dScryb^{(affiliate link)}

Thisisa“StapleBuild”.Thisbuildissimple,andreliesonoptionsfromtheSRDandtheBasicRuleswhereverpossible.Ifyouneedafunctionalbuildwithnothingfancyorcomplicated,thisisagreatplacetostart.

Of the two Ranger Archetypes in the Player’s Handbook, Hunter is clearly thebetter choice, and I’m glad that it was chosen for the SRD. The Hunter is anexcellent scout and striker, and it has enough decision points that you cantailor it to your tastes.

Perhaps the most defining build choice we make is our choice of FightingStyle. Rangers get just two options, so it’s really a choice between melee andranged. Melee will have higher damage output, especially with Crossbow Expertoff limits due to our SRD-only limitations for staple builds, but melee isalso much more risky. I’ll present suggestions for both choices.

Abilities

We will make some adjustments to the point-buy abilities recommended above tocapitalize on the human ability score increases. Depending on which skills andbackground you select, you might switch Intelligence and Charisma.

Race

Human. In the SRD, the Human is the only way to get bonuses to both Dexterityand Wisdom. You could shuffle around the ability scores and select Halfling oreven High Elf if you’d prefer, but we’ll go with Human to keep thingssimple.

Skills and Tools

Ignore Animal Handling and Athletics, and we’ve got 6 skills that we careabout. We get three from the Ranger’s proficiencies and two from ourbackground, so we’ll need to skip one.

Background

Criminal is the best option available in the Basic Rules or the SRD.Deception isn’t great, but we want Stealth and Thieves’ Tools will let youstand in for a rogue. Folk Hero would also work, but I think Thieves’ Toolsare important enough that proficiency makes Criminal the better choice.

It’s a little concerning how many of my “Staple Builds” use the criminalbackground. It’s purely for character optimization reasons, but it still feelsodd.

Feats

Rangers get far more ability increases than they can reasonably use, makingfeats an excellent option. Once you’re comfortable with the game and you’vehit 20 Dexterity, consider exploring feats. Skilled will expand yourproficiencies, and there are a number of excellent options to boost yourcombat abilities like Dual Wielder and Sharpshooter.

Levels