I really like how this one essentially fills a "like a paladin, but for multiple opponents" role that some other rangers have been going for. And it does it well.
Extra "twist" for beguiling twist, if you have a Sorcerer with Careful Spell in your party, note that careful spells says "automatically succeds on it'S save", meaning, with coordination the twist can be reliably triggered. ADDITIONALLY it triggers of ITSELF. Beguiling twist does not specify it has to be of a spell or magic, and it grants saving throws against the inflcited condition every turn, meaning, when the affected creature succeeds on a later turn, you can use your reaction to beguile another creature. The only limits here are your reactions and your Spell Save DC
I'd think that its probably more that its drawing on the same folk tale inspirations that Peter Pan did, of fairy changelings and visitors to the fae. You'll find a lot of anxiety about the connection to one's shadow in a lot of folk tales as well.
Rangers have really come onto it's own with the new subclasses sicne XGE, although i do not like the "philosphy" of ficing a clas with stronger subclasses. First level ranger are still basically bad fighters, especcially if you want to play a Wisom ranger. Favore Foe somewhat fixed that, but does not scale very well into late game in my opnion, except for the beastmaster.
Getting free Misty Steps - aswell as access to the spell at all as a Ranger - can actually be a lifesaver and a huge indirect damage buff at high level play. The amount of attacks that straight-up grapple and restrain you just by hitting you feels really high in tier 3 and tier 4 play - you can get out of those very easily. And obviously, it also adds a ton of maneuverability and can save teammates.
Thank you for saying what needs to be said TM. So often the high-level abilities a martial kit gets are: A) Equal in power to the stuff they received at 3rd-level B) A modest improvement on earlier abilities C) Weak crap that isn't even as good as the 3rd-level ability(ies) If Elminster is getting True Polymorph and Wish, I want to be able to do something equally impressive that is barbarianish/man-at-armish/paladinish/ or rangerish! Especially because there isn't a difference in XP thresholds any longer. I had to earn just as much XP as my buddy the wizard did to level up. You're right that the the fey wanderer actually feels more and more impressive as it gets into the late teens and endgame of level progression.
Yep, I really agree with you on this subclass. Seems very solid and well designed. Really appreciated the video, thank you for your amazing work, as always :D I am really looking forward to the next video.
I didn't know what to expect when I first rolled this subclass - I completely misread the rules around Charisma checks. Rangers have a legitimate way to play party Face now, and finally get access to reliable extra damage outside of Hunter or Monster Hunter.
I really enjoy your latest videos - partly I think because you seem to like the latest additions to these classes and you're able to transport this positive energy. After each video, I want to try out what you discussed. Love it.
Beguiling Twist, like the Enchanter's Hypnotic Gaze, has unlimited uses. That sounds like double the attempts as long as your Enchanter keeps failing, and (on different turns) a second attempt on things the Enchanter failed on. Plus piggybacking on their eventual free twinned Enchantment spell. Friendship, y'all.
Eladrin Race for 8str 13dex 12con 8int 15+2wis & 15+1cha Autumn: Immediately after your Fey Step, two creatures you see within 10 feet of you must Wisdom save or be charmed Strixhaven Silverquill Background for Persuasion & intimidation, 2 languages, 2 cantrips & a 1st level spell 'SANCTUARY' (or silvery barbs or maybe animal friendship) Deft Explorer Expertise in Persuasion +2 more languages Druidic Warrior= Guidance & shilelagh to reliably add dreadful strikes + favored foe Otherworldly Glamour adds your wisdom mod to charisma checks lvl 4 SHADOW TOUCHED +1 wis=18now invisibility+cause fear(coz not all can be charmed) or Telepathic +1wis detect thoughts (& telepathy helps to persuade charmed targets without alerting its allies) lvl 7 Beguiling Twist so if anyone saves, use your reaction to fear/charm another (affects non-humanoids, unlike charm person) lvl 8 ASI +2 WIS=20now lvl 11 Cast Summon Fey spell concentration free 'maybe twice' (u been using it since 9th lvl for Myrthful fey) Your both flitting about charming 3 people per round with just your bonus fey-steps (under sanctuary or invisible effect) & persuading the (now friendly) charmed to fight for you. -In DMG chapter 8: Social Checks: it says 20 is the DC to convince a friendly creature to risk itself on your behalf. You are rolling expert persuasion & adding +5 Wisdom from 'otherworldly glamour' minimum roll is a 17, even a roll of 4 would persuade them to fight for you (Add +1d4 'Guidance' to that check, if u got the free time) -Add 3 levels of Fighter Battlemaster for superior technique for 5 superiority dice for menacing attack Round 1 Extra Attack to hit & fear 2 targets, Action Surge to hit & fear 2 more and bonus fey step charm 2 more + your reaction to Beguiling Twist & turn a save (on a one turn fear effect) in to a one minute fear or charm
I'm a DM trying to advise a new player about choosing a subclass for his ranger character and this was a really great vid to help guide me! Will defo be checking out some of your other ranger subclass guides too 😁
Great analysis as usual! You point out various nuances that I had overlooked on my initial reading of this subclass. You provide a great resource not only for optimizers, but for people like myself who just want to understand how things are supposed to work by the rules.
Could see a Custom Origin Bugbear (+2 Dex +1 Wis) Assassin/Fey Wanderer being a quite powerful and interesting combo build. Lots of bonus dice that can multiply hard, has a few tricky spells, and plenty of skill options. Very interesting
So hyped for Swarmkeeper video bc I agree favorite sc out of Tashas! (from someone that loves Artificer even) But yeah Fey Wanderer here was very well balanced and scaled. And gives super interesting options for versatile rangers
The Spring Eladrin is a great fit for this if you want to be able to teleport even more and more flexibly. Their innate Misty Step is a great feature and being able to teleport an ally starting at third level means you're able to teleport yourself or an ally. It's also extremely fitting for the most fae of the elves to be the most in tune with the feywild.
the way dreadful strikes is introduced, it made it look like that will be the bread and butter of the subclass, and I was irrationally angry at its bad scaling.
I do love the Fey Wanderer subclass. My only wish would be to take inspiration from other media instead of just Peter Pan, specifically Alice in Wonderland. All the flavor is there. It would just need a couple extra spells that you wouldn't normally get like Enlarge/Reduce, Feather Fall, Spray of Cards/House of Cards/Animate Objects something to have cards that do damage or protect, Hypnotic Pattern, Reverse Gravity, and Heroes' Feast all could give a sense of Wonderland along with what's already there, but sadly we don't get any of it.
I believe with Tasha's they made a great job with most martial subclasses. I'm pretty excited for the fighter subclasses: both flavourful and mechanically engaging. Hope you can cover them soon.
I can see a build for this subclass utilising the druid cantrip fighting style for shillelagh quaterstaff+shield, with pole-arm master and sentinel to maximise the psychic damage ability. That along with the effective use of summon fey, the charm/frighten reaction, and a high wisdom manages to cram together all the new Tasha's material for Rangers.
Maybe you mentioned this and I missed it, but there's a nice synergy with Summon Fey: Mirthful and the Beguiling Twist feature. Every turn, your summon can attempt to charm a target, and it is almost *better* if it succeeds, as you can use your reaction to attempt to frighten any target within 120 ft. Also: the Piercer feat is carefully worded to allow one re-roll per turn of any damage die from an attack, provided that attack dealt any amount of piercing damage. That appears to be both RAW and RAI - it seems intended to apply to (e.g.) sneak attack dice. On my reading, that means piercer would apply to the extra damage dice from hunter's mark, favored foe, and dreadful strikes. Not a huge bonus, but all those damage dice do add up. I'm tempted to make a longbow-using fey wanderer who avoids sharpshooter in favor of piercer and increasing their Wisdom stat. Damage output may be lower, on average, but still well above baseline, and extremely consistent (less spikey than sharpshooter builds, and not as reliant on getting advantage).
Beguiling Twist pairs well with the Eladrin race thematically and as well as mechanically. You can turn one successful save from Autumn and Winter Fey Steps into a potential failed save, and alter it to be either charm or frighten. Even though Fey Step uses Charisma which you won't be investing in as much, the follow-up effects from Beguiling Twist would proc using your Wisdom. They are short rest abilities too, so you can probably use this combo once every combat.
The theme is really easy to have with a classic Ranger imagery, but also very flexible to reskin/reflavor. I'm about to play one next week that's Oblex themed and relies on the psionics to explain its psychic damage as well as some amount of mental influence over others.
After seeing Fey Wanderer I thought of a build where you basically fully invest in only wisdom. Wear medium armor, pick up Druidic Warrior as your fighting style and pick shillelagh (of course), with a staff/club and shield. And focus entirely on Wisdom, this boosts your DCs, your attack rolls and damage rolls (with shillelagh applied), and your charisma checks. I'm thinking half-elf, picking up two more skills maybe even taking expertise in a charisma skill you know (probably persuasion or deception), with canny. This effectively makes Ranger a possible party face, which is really nice. And without a super heavy investment into charisma. (Probably a 12 at least, ideally). The math works out to be, (12 charisma + 18 wisdom + expertise in persuasion, at level 5 = +11). The build also functions with elven accuracy (It uses wisdom instead of strength), and you could probably ward off from using hunter's mark or favored foe for a turn or two by casting Ensnaring Strike for easy advantage, or Zephyr strike, pretty sure Summon Beast lets your summon use help with flyby (if they're an air creature), but at that point you'd just want to find a way to cast find familiar normally.
please please make a video about the best grappling build if possible. I really like your revised feats and planning to use them in my campaign. You're awesome
I just realized that fey reinforcements combines beautifully with beguiling twist: the mirtful fey can try to charm a creature every turn as a bonus action. If it succeeds, good. If it fails, you get another shot with beguiling twist. So essentially, contentration free charm every turn, and enemy gets disadvantage. Costs: reaction and a spell slot. This seems quite a bargain, as it happens on the top of your usual combat actions. You can still be concentrating on a control spell and attacking twice per round (+ your summon is also attacking). This seems like a very cool class to play!
I've got a tasha's multiclass build you might be interested in - 1st level dip into aberrant mind sorcerer (taking booming blade) and then nature cleric taking (shillelagh). When you have warcaster you can in one turn shillelagh and then cast dissonant whispers and if they fail hit them on a booming blade as they flee for an ever increasing number D8s as you level up. I did half elf varient 35ft 8,8,16,10,16,16. Shield spell + heavy armour is pretty good AC; con proficiency + warcaster is very strong concentration. I haven't played it yet, but I reckon the damage output will also be very strong. (the 8,8 physical stats was part of a challenge to make an elderly character for roleplay)
Quite a jack of all trades subclass with bonuses to social, combat and support roles. I'd like to think it'd be good to multiclass with conquest paladin but that would be MADness!
I just realized: if you cast charm person on an enemy in combat and they succeed, you can then use beguiling twist to make a different enemy make a save without advantage. That's actually really useful. It basically makes charm person (in combat) a second level spell with the restriction that it can only effect 1 person. Definitely an interesting option. Not super useful, but I could see it coming up. Especially when you just need to ease up the number of enemies attacking you.
Woot!!! Playing a FeyRanger in one of my campaigns. Level 8, 5ranger 3fighter, going dual wield melee. Didnt catch the extra d4 is target specific.... nice!
@Treantmonk's Temple, besides Peter Pan, I think this subclass draws inspiration from Elbryan and other rangers in Demon wars saga by R.A. Salvatore. Rangers raised by faeries.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the Horizon Walker with the changes in Tasha's - the Planar Warrior feature is generally better alongside Favored Foe than Hunter's Mark, especially when adding in the -5 to hit from the Sharpshooter feat. Add in the mobility from the subclass that seems custom-tailored to exactly this playstyle, and it could be interesting how it shakes out.
@@TreantmonksTemple You're probably right. I think the damage output from HW may be better even against Summon Fey, particularly against groups (Haste at level 9 and up to three attacks on the first attack action really do stack up). Still, the out-of-combat advantages from Fey Wanderer just brings it over the top.
Beguiling twist also let's you pick another creature even if they succeed against your feature. If you have mtiple enemies this is literally infinite charm/frightened conditions Assuming they succeed every other turn.
Eladrin ALLL the way :D Lev 17- 20 Misty Wanderer (20 Wis) + Eladrin Race (*Prof Bonus Fey Step ) 5 + 6 > 11 "free" Teleports BONUS ! Eladrin Autumn Immediately after you use your Fey Step, up to two creatures of your choice that you can see within 10 feet of you must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be charmed by you for 1 minute, or until you or your companions deal any damage to it. Eladrin Winter When you use your Fey Step, one creature of your choice that you can see within 5 feet of you before you teleport must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be frightened of you until the end of your next turn. hm,.. -> Beguiling Twist whenever you or a creature you can see within 120 feet of you succeeds on a saving throw against being charmed or frightened Eladrin Spring When you use your Fey Step, you can touch one willing creature within 5 feet of you. That creature then teleports instead of you, appearing in an unoccupied space of your choice that you can see within 30 feet of you. The worst part is to decide but you can change every long rest :D
Well done, not gonna lie, it makes me want to play a Fey Wanderer Ranger. Also, all of the abilities flow well together, however the mini smite that the class had in UA (was the 7th level feature) was quite nice, and more than a few people were disappointed that it was removed. Anyway, take care, and I'm very interested on your take on the Swarmkeeper.
I second this. I think the free psychic damage can offset not being able to use a bonus action for hunter's mark with Shillelagh. Really the biggest problem is that there's not a feat or class feature that lets the ranger add their wisdom to cantrip damage. If they had that they could just use thorn whip from range and such.
@@fortello7219 also get additional first level spells with that feat too, not just cantrips! I think with the Fey Wanderer it’s a nice option, especially if playing variant with a feat at first level. Just something to consider for higher damage especially early in the game.
FINALLY. FINALLY a competent 5e 'talkabouter' (davvychappy's words not mine) that gives some IN-DEPTH thought on Fey Wanderer. Been waiting on this from you TMonk ever since Tasha's dropped!! Thanks for the vid!!!!
I've been in love with this subclass since the second I saw it. It's a real shame seeing other somewhat reasonable 5e content creators labeling the subclass as just "ok" and dismissing it because they "don't like Fey stuff". Charisma checks that can scale off Wisdom *PLUS* taking Shillelagh with the Druidic Warrior is huge in my opinion.
I think a lot dismissed it or wasnt impressed because of 2 things: 1. Alot including myself, hold gloomstalker as the comparison point. Even chris points out, gloomstalker is better. 2. the class gives the ranger a new feel, theme, playstyle but isnt the non-situational, OP in combat ranger we've been waiting for (think like a ranger on wizard power levels or what the college of eloquence did for bard).
I have a level 11 rogue inquisitive that may go 9 levels in ranger. From the beginning Batman and Sherlock has been my inspiration with Gloom Stalker being my idea of finishing off the character. But now with Fey and Swarm in Tasha's I have been going back and forth in which to pick. Your videos on these have been helpful but just further grow my dilemma (trilemma?)
Ran a fey wanderer in a level 10 one-shot recently. One strike booming blade build. Rune knight 4, fey wanderer 4, grave domain 2. Did pretty ok. Not as damaging as a gloomstalker but did better in social interactions. I'd still multiclass out though either at 3/4 or 11. The capstone doesnt do much for dpr (the real dpr boost will come from spells like guardian of nature).
@@texteel str build. Got to 20. custom lineage. orcish fury 1d8. 1st asi was str +2, the other was magic initiate for booming blade and find familiar. rune knight=2d6 fire rune, superior technique fighting style 1d6 trip attack, action surge Fey wanderer=1d4 dreadful strike, upcasted searing smite to level 2 (if familiar is ahead in initiative) or zephyr strike (if i'm ahead for the 1st round), duelling fighting style grave domain=path to the grave (double all dmg of 1 atk) so how it would go is familier=help, action=path to the grave, bonus action=searing smite, action surge=booming blade 1d8 + longsword + str + magic weapon bonus + duelling + 1d8 orcish fury + 1d4 dreadful strike + 2d6 fire rune + 1d6 trip attack + 2d6 searing smite then multiplu everything by 2. (i smiled when i rolled a crit). This forces multiple saves too btw. and yes i always go after the boss 1st. Our DM rarely sends us minions to fight as the party mops those up easily so when building heroes we always prioritize single target dpr as the DM has the habit of sending multiple boss encounters instesd of the typical boss with a bunch of minions.
Also, the fact that they have access to charm person means they can try to charm an opponent and, if the opponent succed, they can than frighten an other ennemie, without concentration, for 1 minute. Like the Cause Fear spell, but better!
Fantastic video, as usual, great description, innovative ideas, I'm looking forward to your Fey wanderer build - I have no idea, what gamestyle would fit this subclass the best (Swarm keeper excells as PAM character, Horizon walker as pike/lance user, Hunter is the best with heavy Xbow or GWM, but fey wanderer is a mistery to me, I don't see many synergies hier).
@@TheRobversion1 I have no idea, why you did this. This works extremely well with Swarm keeper ranger 3 levels dip, because after you hit enemy, with BB, you move yourself 5ft away with a swarm (no action needed) and then force enemy either to waste action or take booming dmg. How does this synergize with fey wanderer?
@@JuckiCZ oh because i dont really care about the booming blade rider dmg (its a bonus and not the point of the build). Heres the build i played in a level 10 one-shot (that turned into a short campaign): Custom lineage: orcish fury 1d8 Weapon: longsword rune knight 4, fey wanderer 4, grave domain 2 rune knight: action surge, superior technique fighting style: pushing atrack 1d6 (this is how i could possibly trigger booming blade rider dmg if i wanted to), asi (+2 str), fire rune 2d6 fey wanderer: duelling fighting style, dreadful strike 1d4, asi (magic initiate: find familiar + booming blade 1d8), searing smite/zephy strike 2d6/1d8. grave domain: path to the grave=double all.dmg of single attack. If familiar is ahead in initiative i have it use help.action and i use upcasted searing smite 2d6, otherwise i use zephyr strike 1d8 as my bonus action. Then: action=path to the grave the priority target, action surge=booming blade 1d8+searing smite 2d6+dreadful strike 1d4+orcish fury 1d8+fire rune 2d6+pushing attack 1d6+longsword 1d8+2 from duelling+5 from str+any magical bonuses the longsword has. Then multiply everything by 2. This also forces a few saves (rune knight, maneuver, searing smite) just in case the target isnt dead. And thats possibly also.when the booming blade rider dmg happens. If needed this build can actuallu come together at lower levels (levdl 4) as the integral pieces of the build is action surge and path to the grave. Magic initiate can be taken earlier instead of orcish fury. If you are low on spell slots, theres no need to use searing smite/zephyr strike. You can simply use favored foe 1d4 + giants might 1d6 as your bonus action. Edit: just thought i"d add this, the above sequence leads to 85 dmg on average (not considering any subsequent fire dmg from fire rune/searing smite or booming blade dmg). I had a simple +2 longsword. The dmg.couldve been better if lets say i was carrying a sunblade/flame tongue. My attack bonus was 5 (str) + 4 (prof) + 2 (wpn) = +11 with advantage (familiar or zephyr strike).
You cast Charm Person on yourself, you succeed, then you make a NPC roll, they fail, they are charmed and when the effect ends they don't know you tried to charm them
@@dragonhearthx8369 Anytime you cast a charming spell you force another creature to make a saving throw. Look at Geas, it forces a creature but there is no mention of it knowing you attempted to charm it. In my mind, creatures do not know you try to charm them if it's not explicitly written (like Charm Person or Fast Friend)
Do you think these new ranger subclasses, along with the alternate features from Tasha's, increase the viability of the ranger as whole moving it up from the lower tiers?
I mean, with Gloomstalker the Ranger was already perfectly viable, but with the new subclasses, you can now play Rangers that aren't Gloomstalker. I haven't re-assessed tiers since Tasha's, a lot of things got more powerful.
@@TreantmonksTemple Yea, I was sort of thinking the same thing. I'd love to see where classes stand now with the new features, spells, and subclass options.
I'm starting a new campaign as a half-elf fey wanderer this week, reflavored as a grandma. She is a retired adventurer, but starting the campaign at level 3 because her Alzheimer's made her forget how to fight.
Trying to decide if I would build this as a two weapon fighter to take advantage of fewer bonus actions being utilized or Druidic warrior because I am focusing on wisdom. A str based ranger is too MAD and I don’t want to do another archery build. Blindfighting seems cool as well but doesn’t seem right here.
I went str. How is it fewer bonus actions used? Its not like you lost access to the good bonus action spells the ranger had access to. Rangers will always have a crowded bonus action because of 2 things: 1. They are a martial class so polearm master, crossbow expert, 2 wpn fighting will always be options. 2. Alot of their good spells are bonus actions: misty step, hunters mark, searing smite, healing spirt, guardian of nature, etc. My fey wanderer was a multiclass, one strike booming blade build.
@@TheRobversion1 It's a lot less bonus actions heavy than the new beast master or horizon walker, and I can easily build around the summoning spells that don't require bonus actions. The big competition here is with misty step, which is a key class feature I obviously want to take advantage of.
@@bluesman2050 so you just said it. You wanted to use misty step. Thats going to eat bonus action. Hunters mark/zephyr strike/searing smite will all eat bonus actions. Polearm master, 2pn fighting, crossbow expert will all eat bonus actions if you choose those. Either way you look at it, the ranger will always be a bonus action hungry class. Personally, this is why i've stayed away from horizon walker, monster slayer and beastmaster as they are the more bonus action hungry subclasses. For me, thankfully, i dont need to use misty step. Its a bit more situational for me. Our DM rarely likes putting alot of blockades to high priority targets that simply moving doesnt get you there. Its more of i misty step because the opponent is too far away in the 1st round of combat. not because theres a chasm i cant jump over with a good athletics check, or there are too many minions i have to move around to get to the bbeg or there are multiple walls/locked doors/traps i have to get past to get to the spellcaster. Misty step is mostly an out of combat use for me for the situations above or any puzzles to solve. Still a great spell though.
If you do make a Halfing Fey Wanderer and something forces you to make a save vs frighten at disadvantage, then wouldn't Brave make it a normal save and Beguiling Twist then gives you advantage back?
I reflavored this subclass to be a vampire. I changed my spellcasting stat to int and replaced the 7th and 11th level abilities with more vampire themed ones.
Does Beguiling Twist have the ability to chain with itself? AKA when a target succeeds against your Beguiling Twist, assuming you have your reaction, can you use it on them again?
@@TreantmonksTemple they fail their initial save but succeed on their turn after yours so you would have your reaction, however i believe you are forced to target a second creature so you cant spam it in a solo fight
To me, this feels like it really should have been a Bard subclass. It wouldn't take too much effort to port the subclass over to the Bard though, the only slight concern is the bard's don't get subclass feature at 11th level, or anywhere around that level either. The 7th and 15th level features can just be moved down a level.
In my mind this subclass (with the Tasha's optional rules) just replaced the Rogue as the best option for new players who want to play a sneaky scoundrel. It's easier to play and optimize than messing around with Sneak Attack, and lets you fill all the party roles you want without issue.
How can this be the Peter Pan ranger if he can’t fly? Missed opportunity IMO. If Swarmkeeper can get it at lvl7, this class should have gotten some kind of flight eventually.
