Ranger Guide: D&D 5e Levels 1-10 

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I made a houserule for favored terrain, that it’s like an attunement, you can switch as long as you're willing to spend time learning the terrain, if you want it to go quicker you can do a skill challange.

Finally I find a video where the creator actually legitimately understands the core of the ranger class and why it's so cool. Awesome work dude, you earned this sub

Aragorn does several things that I think count as spells: When he calms the horse in Edoras, when he whispers words while healing Frodo after Weathertop, and when he heals Éowyn in the houses of healing after the battle of Pelennor Fields. While these things may or may not be spells lore-wise, in terms of PnP RPG mechanics they function as if they are spells.

Another type of Ranger is the Army Rangers. My musket-wielding Ranger-Fighter was basically a spec ops sniper, using Menacing Attack and Knight of the Sword constantly to control the enemy. If you apply Frightened at a distance you are severely locking down an enemy, effectively turning a massive radius around you into a space they can’t enter:

I adore these guides man they’re so educational and entertaining. Keep it up and you’ll get the recognition you deserve.

7:00 my heart hurts when you didn’t mention the shileligh cantrip when talking about Druidic warrior but otherwise love the guide 👍

I always appriciate good ranger rep. This was such a fun informative guide. I have played 3 rangers across 3 camapigns and they all played very differently and filled in different roles. One was a swarmkeeper sharpshooter ranged menace who was the partys main damage dealer with the extra damage dice form her swarm and hunters mark/favored foe. Another is a melee focused fey wanderer ranger who is very hit and run and assists in social situations. And my favorite to play is a monster slayer ranger in our arena campaign where the ranger aspect is that he studies the other teams, he goes to their matches, watches, learns and writes down tactics and utilises it in the teams own matches and this ranger is HARD to stop, he is built around mobility, can both hit ranged well but also run in to put pressure on enemy casters with melee attacks, we gave him a healers kit to as he cant be stopped by most terrain to get through the arena to stabilise downed party members or get them up with cure wounds. I get to do a little of everything and do it well and it is very fun and satisfying.

Thanks for creating these ultra specific videos that Very long form. they are not gonna do well on the RU-vid algorithm, but it is so helpful to the community! Thank you for your tireless work❤

Very versatile and honestly a fun use class. I find them pretty good overall

As someone who loves playing a Ranger I love this video. I think I’ve watched/listened to it ten times in the last 2 months.

The editing is so clean and the vocals are clear. This quality and complete coverage of exactly what is stated in the title is why I always come back to Enter the Dungeon. Inspirational at the worst and changing the way I DM at best. Incredible stuff. 10/10

I like Ranger, but I almost never take Favored Foe. It is pretty good on Low Levels, but thr fact that is is only on thr first attack falls of really quickly, not even tslking about concentration. Hunter's Mark works on every damage instance, as well as giving you advantage on tracking at finding the marked target.

So glad to see more long-form content from you. Looking forward to seeing what's up next.

I am extremely excited to see your "Why you should play" the ranger subclass videos. Excellent video. I am a veteran DM and player and I agree with most of what you've said here. I am a long time Ranger player, and it was the first thing I chose to play when I started playing 5e. Its only gotten better since and I sincerely hope more players give it a shot and have DMs who want to empower them to get the most out of the class.

Awesome video as usual! Love the section calling out Bad DMing as a core issue with some of the Rangers shortcomings. Excellent guide. 👌

Watched this video when I first started playing and learned a lot. Coming back to it now after I’ve been playing a Ranger for a while and I’m still picking things up. Thanks for the guide man.

I personally love the Swarmkeeper subclass. I agree it does kind of fall off a bit in the higher levels, but the roleplaying potential is so good. They did a good job with the swarmkeeper spells as well, really making it easy to lean into the flavor. Simply explaining what all your spells or abilities look like is probably one of the best parts of playing a swarmkeeper.

I love swarmkeeper. Its very thematic as a front line ranger that can bang, and flit away to go rescue a downed ally. I had crossbow expert and stood on the front line using it to nail enemies while backing away without disengaging to hold the line. Soo much fun.

Thank you so much for creating this. Rangers are my favorite class in dungeons and dragons. They are so underrated. Now when my players say they are bad, instead of going on a massive rant, I can send them this video that you created.

I played my first ranger back in 2017, and I instantly fell in love with the class for its versatility. Even before TCoE ranger was pretty good at DPR and Support, despite its terrible class features. Thanks for talking about my favorite class and debunking it as "the worst class in 5e." Also, I agree that Conjure Animals is a cool spell, but God do I hate it. It bogs down combat, which can take a while, and it depends on whether your GM lets you pick the CR and statblocks or just the CR.

I think you're one of the few people who recommended the Firbolg as a race for rangers. I agree and been saying it for years. In fact after reading Bigsby: Glory of the Giants, I was reimagining the Fey Wanderer (arguably my favorite ranger subclass) as a Primeval Warden or or a learned scholar of the saga of Diancastra. The theme I believe fits so well with each other. One day I hope to play it. Lastly the feats that you cooked up with were really good. You definitely know what you're talking about in keeping it good without getting to broken territory. Thanks for those.

Great content thank you. My first time playing DnD and have gone a Bugbear ranger, he is so much fun.

I play rangers as a strong preference so I play them pretty often. Depending on the party composition, my first two spells are usually Zephyr Strike and Entangle (from the expanded spell list for this one). Zephyr strike being to hit better and harder, and Entangle to use tactically. Even if someone manages to escape the saving throw, they are still wading through difficult terrain over a decent sized area. In choke points, this can be amazing at battlefield control. What’s more, it’s a strength based saving throw, so it’s good against a few troublesome early dex enemies which are the best to narrow down and keep the numbers down for. That’s why I prefer to choose these two spells for my first ones, though the rest chosen for first level will depend a huge deal on which subclass I’m playing and what the party battle and rp style are. This will be the moment I may or may not choose cure wounds and/or goodberry. Absorb elements may also see some moments at this point, again, campaign dependent. However, the first second level spell I choose is consistently pass without a trace. Don’t leave home without it if you play a ranger and have access to it. It is exceptionally valuable, especially for the less stealthy in your party, and will shine with dex builds. So take it. Now if one takes Druidic warriors, sure, take guidance, it’s very valuable, but me personally? I like also taking either primal savagery or shillelagh to cover close quarter combat. But let me get into fighting style, since I have switched to that. Druidic warrior can be valuable, though I find myself more using that with only certain subclasses. Archery is always one of the most valuable of the styles, but I will say it’s no small thing to take two weapon. It isn’t the most valuable of the lot, but I have certainly found value in it when I am in a small party where no one is the frontliner. Because of their hit die, rangers are among the few who can take a hit for a dex class and can be valuable at temporary taking on the role of frontlining in the early levels (it is not a good long term option). For this, I find two weapon fighting can be valuable. I have had to use this tactic to compensate for the close quarters and maximizing damage at those early levels. Like I said though, not a good long term solution. Ranger is still better played as an archer still, picking off high value targets and/or bearing down and whittling down their hp. All in all, rangers are highly customizable and I deeply appreciate that. It does take knowing what you are doing with them, but they are great for tactical minded players who like setting up battlefield control methods to the advantage of their party. I also love playing these classes as, what I call, battlefield medics. They are usually pretty good getting across a field and bouncing around, finding valuable places to tuck themselves into tactically, keep distance until they need to close in, but also, they can heal. What’s more, skills like medicine, nature, and survival are accessible to them which can make them good healing potion makers and stabilizers of those who go down. To play this way, focus on prep outside battle situations, like making potions and antitoxins in your spare time. But, another method I use, especially with the feywanderer subclass, is one I call “the diplomat.” Basically the access to many languages, more than most classes and backgrounds, without feats or certain races, means being able to speak with more races and become a middleman between them. With the feywanderer ability, this aspect of the class can shine in a rare way by being a translator and negotiator and arbitrating between groups. This, combined with access to the insight skill, means being able to be difficult to keep secrets from. Of course, this part is highly dependent on how your table and dm has the games run. And of course, how good you might be at double talking and wheedling information out of an npc or group of npcs. But yeah, this is how I have played rangers so far and I don’t think of myself as remotely done with my exploration of what can be done with the mechanics of this class just yet. It’s been a lot of fun figuring it out though.

Honestly this is my go to class for alot of the reasons tou mentioned. The jack of all trades + the more roleplay and exploration elements is something i vibe with in fantasy. And i had to chuckle when you said run from a DM who is scared to make the ranger to strong. If thats someone's fear id hate to see their thoughts on full casters. One race i would also add to the ranger list is lizardfolk. Both thematically but also through mechanics it's built for that survivor rule. Edit: two multiclass builds I've found as a ranger that worked well were: Life cleric fey wanderer. You add some face skills, some damage, some charm, and you boost your healing support. Ive found it works very well if you want to not be a front liner. In the opposite direction rune knight horizon Walker backs a massive hit behind it, especially if you're buzzing around the field.

happy holidays my guy

Thank you for the guide!

Ma boi really hit us with the DRIST

Another reason to take hide in plain sight is if in your campaign there is alot of enemies that see invisibility

Love the video, love the class. They need more love. And what a great way to end 2023.

you're videos are always great

I also suggest War Domain Cleric as a decent multiclass option for Ranger. With gloomstalker, on turn 1, you can get 4 attacks and create an amazing ambush style of combat as early as level 6 with Sharpshooter.

Im playing in a campaign as a ranger and i love it, the ability to handle any situation, healing, trap disarming, lockpicks, stealth, survival the only time i need my party is during combat other than that i usually take the lead

Congrats for your amazing content and your attention to detail and realistic conception that makes fantasy the purest form of art! Just subbed to your channel, just at the mere mention of Logen. A stupid excuse for someone to sub at your fabulous channel, but subbed, nonetheless!

Another Banger Video. Thanks DM.

Great vid mate, as always ! Quick note tho, regarding that dip into Trickery domain, afaik, Blessing of the trickster doesn't work on yourself !

Great review very insightful the only thing I would mention is using druidic warrior to gain shillelagh this allows you too focus of wisdom making subclasses with spell attack much more viable as well as summon spells that rely on it also pairs really nicely with polarm master.

With Deft Explorer I took expertise in Athletics. It seemed a logical choice as Roving makes me the party's designated climber/swimmer.

Thank you for the video!

Love this videos man

Here is a little bonus after the video: Swarmkeeper says that it can have swarm of basically anything you can think of. So with the correct "lineage" you can have any character you want for your roleplaying! The sky is the limit!

Thanks a lot for this guide, you made a great job! I play the Ranger since forever in every edition, and I think It needs some love and respect... A small note: Shillelagh and Thorn Whip are interesting options for Druidic Warrior (Even Control Flames to shut down little fires if you are a Gloom Stalker). You forgot Ashardalon's Stride for 3rd lv spells: when It comes to Ranger, mobility Is king!

Blind fighting is a good choice for a ranger finding themselves underground a lot. (dungeons/underdark)

Fun fact, Ranger has almost nothing to do with archery in its original definition. Ranger translates to someone who strides over great distances. A wanderer

I played a Hunter Ranger a while back with the Colossus Slayer, Amazing fun. DM had some updates to do for encounters. Very strong damage in longer fights.

Love your videos

So nice to see the Ranger get the love they deserve. Are they the damage powerhouse of a party? Probably not, but the fact that they are so versatile is a strength, not a weakness. I started playing in my first campaign a few months ago, in a party of mostly newbies - and I chose a Ranger because they could fill any gaps the party needed. But all I could find online in terms of advice for how to play one effectively was basically like "be a Gloom Stalker with sharpshooter". As though all that matters in the game is damage output. (For the record, I went Fey Wanderer instead and am playing as a spoiled city noble instead of a loner).

what an amazing video... made me try ranger

swarm keeper ranger is actually one of my favorites and pairs best with the circle of the stars druid. you can use the swarm to move enemies into moonbeam or through spike growth. you gain flight. just a great pairing

House rule in my games since 5e launched: Rangers are spells memorized, not spells known/selected. I immediately tossed out spells known - it makes zero sense for someone who basically uses druidic/divine/natural magic to help handle whatever challenges they face that day to be unable to swap spells on a long rest as needed, especially when many spells that are more utility would never be taken otherwise. It really fits the theme of a ranger better. I have no idea why WotC or anyone else would think ranger spells should be limited to only KNOWN spells, with possible changes only happening once per level.

I have played two Wisdom based Rangers so far, and I used Druidic Warrior for both, specifically for Shillelagh. It's so much better on a Ranger than it ever was on a Druid.

Well thanks. Now I've gone from thinking Randers were pretty cool to really wanting to play one.

Hope you'll make a guide like this for monks

I also like shifter race for the ranger

Love the idea of the ranger not casting but using nature tricks as a concept.

Guidance blows mega chunks since it uses your action for a tiny boost to a single action on your next turn. If it were a BA, it'd have value. Better to just take Archery for the constant +2 to your chance to hit with ranged weapons if you're going to play ranged. Better constant DPR overall. Wisdom is also a critical Ability score for Gloom Stalker Rangers. It's important to point out the aspects of Nature's Veil with Rules as Written as well. It functions like Greater Invisibility in that attacks made while temporarily invisible via Nature's Veil will NOT cancel the invisibility. It's a great way to use a bonus action to guarantee some attacks with advantage for those must-hit moments against a BBEG or in order to escape a crappy situation where you're surrounded and need to get away from multiple enemies without losing your attacks for the round. In that regard, Nature's Veil nearly always out-performs HIPS. Hunter's Mark is great until better concentration spells come into play. Favored Foe cannot be moved between targets and has limited uses. Hunter's Mark (if you're not rocking crossbow expert as a variant human/custom lineage goofball) has validity as a spell in situations where you're crawling a dungeon with a LOT of enemies between rests. Once you unlock CBE Bonus attacks, Hunter's mark loses a little bit of its edge. Once you've got other concentration spells at your disposal, HM loses almost all value as it can't be stacked with those great spells like Conjure Animals and Spike Growth. Lightning Arrow should be noted that ALL creatures take splash damage, so be careful about shooting the dude your party tank and rogue are both attacking. Flame Arrow stacks an extra 1d6 damage on 12 attacks, allowing for more accurate delivery of damage versus a single strike with splash damage that potentially hits allies as well. 100% situational, and heavily dependent on play style.

Lets get some monster rankings and lore vidoes. Tbh I have no friends, so I don't play DnD, but I really enjoy the world and listening to the lore while working or going to bed, lol... I know, kinda creepy that a grown man falls asleep to your voice, but hey, it works.

Rearely do we remember about one of the most amazing of Rangers, mostly because he is strength based- its Minsc from Baldur's Gate series.

My first Ranger PC. We thought Primeval Awareness really showed the number and location of the creatures. It was an awesome campaign because our party always knew where to find the bad guys.

Rope Trick is nice also. BTW this is a good series to show what a Ranger can be. Ranger’s Apprentice: The Royal Ranger Series, John Flanagan

Hey this guide really help me make a great character for my. I have been struggling with a warlock character and wanted to know if you could do a guide for that class too?

Aloy is dead on a ranger. As far as multi class goes, I tend to go for Rogue Scout. So damn good. Edit: Absolutely fantastic video!

To me the ranger is the parties jack of all trades, they are the professional adventurer with knowledge of the world and the horrors that inhabit and they specialise then in hunting or taming those horrors

Love rangers have always played them. Never once have I taken the archery combat feature. Always took dual fighting. Maybe I should play an archery based ranger once

ב"ה In my party there is a hunter ranger that after 5 ranger level started going swashbuckler rogue (he use two weapon fighting). In addition to the high damage they deal, their spell slots go mostly on cure wounds and aid as a secondary healer in the party when party members go down. He also know the spell enhance ability, that really help in important skill checks.

The campaign i played glossed over, or cured with magic everything i set my ranger up to do. I even made lists of edible and poisonous plants and fungi that are found in comparable places in the real world before the campaign started, never got to use them.

If you want the best example for a ranger in dungeons& dragons, read the novels they produced for grayhawk the character called the justicar hands down best example of a ranger you will ever see his animal companions a little cool too. Not what you would expect

Thoughts on the Greenmage wizard/ranger from Solasta? It kind of got me thinking of making a wizard/ranger or ranger/wizard see how effective that would be just for the lols of it.

Druidic warrior ranger (5) using sharpshooter, with a 2 lv druid (stars) dip and a 2 lv fighter dip is so good. 5 cantrips (you get guidance for free and the get 2 from DW and 2 from being a Druid), from fighter you can take archery, get action surge and 2nd wind. Esp if you're a gloom stalker ranger, you're going to give your DM nightmares with an average of 130 damage per opening turn, and 42 on average for every other turn. Plus you can be an extremely competant medic through those druid spells, and even make ome ranged magic attacks through Starry form: Archer and Guiding Bolt if the target has resistances to nonmagical attacks

You may not like the swarmkeeper.. but its arguably the strongest subclass with Gloomstalker as its only real competitor.

Ranger is my favorite of the Half-casters. And pretty far up there. I just really like their spell list and some of their features. Ranger has always been pretty good with some rather bad features. I'll probably play one again at some point. I didn't know that about landstrider. So I'll absolutely be abusing that!

Didn't consider the Ranger class until my Kensei Monk seemed fated to multiclass into one. I look forward to seeing if I pull this off. For context: I already have 5 levels in Monk and the character's childhood friend was kidnapped by a Night Hag that's been constantly toying with and deceiving the party. Suffice to say, everyone's tired of it and my character is determined to put an efficient end to it.

Favored Foe is probably my only real issue with the Ranger at this point. Everything else from the new features I'm okay with, but Favored Foe is still incredibly underwhelming because of its reliance on concentration, and the fact it only deals extra damage on one attack per turn. My solution is to either remove the need for concentration, or allow Favored Foe to work on each attack. Personally, I've played in a game where the DM allowed it to no longer require concentration, and while it did make for a decently high DPR when stacked together with Hunter's Mark, it overall wasn't anything too ridiculous or broken.

I think you missed what I (and highlight I) think Is the best multiclass with a ranger. The sorcerer pairs insanely well with the ranger toolkit with 5 or more ranger levels any sorcerer level boosts you to another whole level, the funny thing any subclass of both works Just fine. With 5 ranger level you get 2nd level spells that are really good and coupled with metamagic you are really hard to stop. Subtle and quick spell are insane, you can cast any spell from sorcerer and ranger as a bonus action and than Attack twice or cast spells while bound, hidden or during a social encounter. Really After 5 levels of ranger, Gloomstalker Fey Speaker and Swarmkeeper are the best options and 4 sorcerer levels (any subclass but clock work and divine soul seems best)you are a force to be reckoned with. Yeah you are much more MAD but with a 13 wis and 14 char and a wise spell selection you don't really lose too much from your spells since shield, mirror image, Shadow Blade, Spike growth do not depend on High spellcasting. Quicken and subtle spells paired with the ranger class are a match made in heaven

Im running a strength ranger build for my next char. Hes a half orc hunter ranger who uses a longsword, and his main used spell is searing smite. With all the little damage bonuses you get from stuff like hunters mark, favored foe, and the smite, you can damage THE FUCK out of single targets.

27:15 list of (Additional) Rangers: Aragorn, Rambo, Robin Hood, Walker Texas Ranger, Lone Wolf Mcquade, Sly Marbo WH40k, (btw it's spelled Jon Snow).

If your ranger focus on spells multiclassing with land druid is great

I'm surprised there was no mention of the Shillelagh cantrip as a good choice for Druidic Warrior. It's great if you wanna focus primarily on your Wisdom for better spellcasting ability. It's great for making you more Single-Ability-Dependent. If you wanna be a spellcasting focused Ranger, pick up Guidance and Shillelagh with Druidic Warrior. Focus on Wisdom as your primary ability, Constitution as your secondary ability, and Dexterity as your tertiary with at least a 14 to maximize your medium armor AC.

First! Lets see how you tackle the guide!

The ranger only had issues early on and required bandages because players AND DMs both ignore the exploration pillar. Its not just the DMs fault. Players hate encumberance. Players hate tracking rations and water, or arrows and spell components. They see it as too hardcore And worse yet, WotC themselves hates exploration! They create class features and even backgrounds that turn off the exploration pillar. You can choose a background and basically never become lost. You can take Goodberry and never have to worry about food. The Rangers survival traits don't make it fun for them, they just turn off that aspect of the game. Modern D&D really hates travel and survival, it does everything it can to avoid making rules for it.

Pretty decent vid. Cheers! ❤

I am currently playing through an Eberron Campaign as a Drakewarden, and my party composition is nearly all offensive casters. So, my role in the group is a bit of mixed bag of everything, any tips?

I have been playing Rangers forever. A two level dip in fighter is always good, but if you don’t use CHA as a dump stat…. 3 levels in warlock pact of the chain…. If your DM is cool, reskin the imp or pseudo dragon into something else interesting. When I run ranger I take skilled feat as a freebie if offered so I can skill monkey because I almost exclusively use deft explorer and the character is kind of like Indiana Jones. Another good spell is sleep. It’s one I take with Fey Touched.

Nope :) Logan is a barbarian that, when he he starts the rage, turns into Bloody Nine (who is not a person but a manifestation of the rage)

I take acception to conjure barrage being a 3rd level spell i can't use while only rangers can and only when they are 9th level. Doesn't that make it a 9th level spell?

Does land's stride really work with plant growth? RAW, it isn't difficult terrain at all but maybe Sage Advice has cleared this up? It does feel like RAI it could work, but then again plant growth is "double difficult terrain" so land's stride maybe shouldn't cover it? Could go either way

The only part of the rangers that I think could be better is the choice of melee weapons. I'd like my ranger to use a Longsword with DEX or something like that. But sadly if you're going to use a melee ranger Rapier is your best choice...

I have a question to the more experienced players and/or DMs - what do you think about giving the rangers both original and Tasha’s traits? Since all of the original traits are niche, they won’t be used all that often and make them a beast whilst in the favored terrain (AS THEY SHOULD BE) or while fighting their favored foe (AS THEY SHOULD). All the while they have their Tasha’s trait to fall back on, so that they are not handicapped if the story is not tilted towards Ranger’s favored foes/terrains at the moment.

I think a majority of fantasy rpg players I've met assume "Ranger" to be named as such because they use ranged weapons. So we get the archer trope. Its archaic English. They *range* far and wide. Aragorn is a Ranger afterall, Tolkein got it. Legolas is not, he just happens to use a bow. He tracks, and does a lot of stuff we now associate with Rangers, but he never wandered much prior to the stories and those abilities are more to do with his race. To my mind hes a bow Warrior Think Park Ranger

Hooraynger!

A ranger is home on the range

Didn't Gimli also keep up with Legolas to a similar extent as Aragorn?

I'm playing a ranger and the talk about how to portray spellcasting has me so inspired.

Can confirm. Rangers raise the quality of life in any party. The D&D community made a lot of fuss about the failures of this class or the lack of damage, and I’m not entirely in disagreement, but in my experience, rangers are every bit the problem (in a good way now) ppl say other classes are

isnt entangle and spike growth magical difficult terrain.. since they are created with magic? and so land's stride wouldnt work. it would work with plant growth probably tho

Does anyone know what anime the clips in this video are from?

what about the ranger architypes?

5:26 ranger would be very strong in tomb of ahnilation

I don’t buy the nonmagical ranger idea based on the poor mechanical design of the rangers overly limited spells known mechanic. To clarify, I do enjoy the idea of a “spell-less” ranger though. Base class Paladin has 35 spells available between level 1 and level 3 spells, with 6 oath spells. Able to have 4 to 10 prepared with 2-6 oath spells available. Base class ranger has 47 spells available between level 1 and 3 spells. 2-6 spells known. Even the arcane trickster and eldritch knight, 1/3 casters, have cantrips AND more spells known. A blatant design flaw shouldn’t be considered an acceptable feature.

Think Ranger as in "Forest Ranger"