DnD 2024 Ranger Class Guide

Introduction

The Ranger is an interesting mix of Druid-style spellcasting, Fighter-style combat capabilities, and Rogue-style skills, creating a versatile and capable class which can thrive in a variety of situations. Themed around nature and exploration, the Ranger is a welcome asset in parties exploring untamed lands above or below ground.

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

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

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

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

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

Table of Contents

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

Disclaimer

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

• Red: Bad, useless options, or options which are extremely situational. Nearly never useful.
• Orange: OK options, or useful options that only apply in rare circumstances. Useful sometimes.
• Green: Good options. Useful often.
• Blue: Fantastic options, often essential to the function of your character. Useful very frequently.

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

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

Ranger Class Features

Optional Class Features are detailed below under Optional Class Features.

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

Saves: Dexterity saves almost exclusively prevent partial damage from AOE effects, and Strength saves are relatively rare.

Proficiencies: Medium armor, shields, and martial weapons are great, but without heavy armor almost every Ranger will go for a Dexterity-based build. Rangers also get three skills, which is unusually high, but since Rangers fall somewhere between a Fighter-equivalent and Rogue-equivalent, it makes sense that they get an extra skill.

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

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

Hunter’s Mark, and therefore the Favored Enemy feature, can be one of the most frustrating parts of playing the Ranger. Monopolizing your Concentration and your Bonus Action can limit your other options in ways that can make the class frustrating to play, especially when consider that the Ranger’s class features at levels 13, 17, and 20 only work while using Hunter’s Mark. But remember that because Favored Enemy makes Hunter’s Mark inexpensive, it’s easier to cast it, drop it, then cast it again later if you need to Concentrate on a different spell. You can only use Favored Enemy for Hunter’s Mark, so you might as well use it like the cheap resource that it is.

The Bonus Action casting/reapplying time for Hunter’s Mark needs some special attention when planning your build. Combat typically lasts 3 rounds. Expect to apply Hunter’s Mark on turn 1 in a typical encounter, leaving 2 more Bonus Actions for the rest of the encounter. If you’re facing multiple enemies, you might need to move Hunter’s Mark again, costing another Bonus Action. You also have several spells which consume your Bonus Acton on hit like Ensnaring Strike, Hail of Thorns, and Lightning Arrow.

With these restrictions on your action economy, options which consume your Bonus Action can be less appealing. Crossbow Expert, Dual Wielder, and Polearm Master are less reliable for the Ranger than for other martial classes like the Fighter. You might still get use out of those options in encounters where you choose not to cast Hunter’s Mark, but the feats may not be worth their cost if you’re not consistently getting their full benefits.

Concentration can also be an issue, but the Ranger has surprisingly few combat spells which require Concentration. Ensnaring Strike is among the only options in the 2024 Player’s Handbook which compete for your Concentration.

1. Weapon Mastery: Excellent on any martial character.

For more on Weapon Mastery, see our Weapon Mastery Guide.

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

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

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

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

5. Extra Attack: Excellent.

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

9. Expertise: Excellent.

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

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

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

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

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

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

2024 Ranger Changes from 2014 Rules

This section is from our 2024 DnD Rules Transition Guide.

• 1. Spellcasting. Moved from level 2 to level 1. You can now change one prepared spell per long rest. Rangers are no longer locked into their spell choices until they gain another Ranger level, making their spellcasting much less restrictive.
• 1. Favored Enemy. Hunter’s Mark always prepared for free, and 2 free castings per Long Rest. Scales up to 6, matching Proficiency Bonus progression for a single-class Ranger. Many of the Ranger’s class and subclass features work based on using Hunter’s Mark, which means that we are once again defaulting to ranger concentrating on Hunter’s Mark at all times. Ugh. We had a few years post-Tasha’s where there were other interesting choices, and apparently WotC didn’t like that.
  
  Fortunately, Concentration has been removed from Magic Weapon. Doing DPR calculations for 2014 builds revealed that alternating between Magic Weapon and Elemental Weapon was actually more effective than using Hunter’s Mark. Now you can combine Magic Weapon with Hunter’s Mark to get even more damage output. Unfortunately, Elemental Weapon still requires Concentration.
• 1. Weapon Mastery. New.
• 2. Natural Explorer. Gone. Replaced by Deft Explorer, Roving, and Tireless.
• 2. Deft Explorer. Mostly matches the “Canny” Optional Class Feature, but you get 2 languages instead of 1.
• 2. Fighting Style. Same changes as the Fighter; Fighting Styles are feats now. Rangers can now pick from any Fighting Style (2014 rangers have a restricted list). Alternatively, you can choose Druidic Warrior to get two druid cantrips.
• 6. Roving. Nearly identical to the Optional Class Feature, but the speed increase is raised to +10 feet and this now doesn’t function in heavy armor.
• 9. Expertise. New. Rangers previously only got Expertise in one skill from Canny, and they now get a total of 3.
• 10. Tireless. Mostly identical to the Optional Class Feature of the same name, but the uses of the Temporary Hit Points action are now based on your Wisdom modifier instead of your Proficiency Bonus.
• 13. Relentless Hunter. New.
• 14. Nature’s Veil. Mostly identical to the Optional Class Feature of the same name, but the uses are now based on your Wisdom modifier instead of your Proficiency Bonus.
• 17. Precise Hunter. New.
• 18. Feral Senses. No longer a weird invisibility detector; now it’s just Blindsight.
• 20. Foe Slayer. Hunter’s Mark improves from 1d6 damage to 1d10. That is… disappointing.

Ranger Backgrounds

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

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

• Artisan ^(PHB) : You can get the crucial Dexterity increase, but that’s the only appeal here.
• Charlatan ^(PHB) : Dexterity, Constitution, and Skilled is a great combination for the Ranger, especially if you’re filling in for a Rogue in the party. However, you don’t get proficiency in Thieves’ Tools.
• Criminal ^(PHB) : Perfect for a stealthy character.
• Farmer ^(PHB) : Since Strength-based Ranger builds don’t really work, this is best for Druidic Warrior builds. The skills are fine for the Ranger, and Tough is always an easy choice if you don’t want more complexity.
• Guard ^(PHB) : Fine for Strength-based Ranger builds, but Strength-based Ranger builds are bad.
• Guide ^(PHB) : The default for rangers. Perfect ability scores, good skills, and Druid spellcasting without giving up your Fighting Style.
• Hermit ^(PHB) : Okay for a Druidic Warrior build, but the skills are middling. The Ranger’s ability to magically heal is very limited, so Healer may be worthwhile if your party is short on healing options.
• Sage ^(PHB) : A tempting option for Druidic Warrior builds, but the skills are difficult on the Ranger.
• Sailor ^(PHB) : Decent ability scores for a melee build plus one good skill. Tavern Brawler isn’t a great choice, but the ability to push an enemy 5 feet while also dealing damage with an Unarmed Strike may be useful if you’re not using weapons with the Push mastery.
• Scribe ^(PHB) : Good ability scores, good skills, and Skilled can close the proficiency gap between the Ranger and the Rogue.
• Soldier ^(PHB) : Good ability scores, Savage Attacker is decent since you’ll never have more than 2 attacks, but the skills are bad.
• Wayfarer ^(PHB) : Good ability scores, the skills and Thieves’ Tools are perfect for a stealthy Ranger replacing a Rogue in the party.

Ranger Species

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

• Aasimar ^(PHB): Two damage resistances, Darkvision, a once per day heal, and a once per day combat transformation. While the Ranger does sometimes need their Bonus Action free for Hunter’s Mark, that’s not so frequently that it makes Celestial Revelation hard to use. It’s a great combat buff, granting flight for ranged builds or a way to handle crowds for melee builds.
• Dragonborn ^(PHB): A damage resistance, likely to a common damage type like poison or fire, a decent way to handle crowds of small enemies, Darkvision, and flight once per day. Excellent for melee builds.
• Dwarf ^(PHB): Darkvision, resistance to the most common non-weapon damage type, and more hit points. Tremorsense may be your only way to locate invisible enemies. Great for melee builds, but likely wasted on ranged builds.
• Elf ^(PHB): Darkvision and an extra skill are both great, plus you can get access to some spells from outside of the Ranger’s spell list. The Drow’s Faerie Fire gives you a great offensive support option, and the High Elf’s cantrip can get you a great offensive cantrips from the Wizard’s spell list. The Wood Elf makes sense thematically, but you can already get both Longstrider and Pass Without Trace, though getting two more spells prepared for free isn’t a bad thing. This is all even more useful for Druidic Warrior builds since the High Elf’s cantrip gives you more room to select non-damage cantrips like Guidance.
• Gnome ^(PHB): Darkvision and Gnomish Cunning are both great, and the added cantrips from Gnomish Lineage offer some interesting utility options.
• Goliath ^(PHB): Giant Heritage offers numerous excellent options. I like Cloud’s Jaunt, Hill’s Topple, and Stone’s Endurance. Rangers typically don’t have the durability to use Large Form and turn themselves into a target, but Giant Heritage may be enough on its own.
• Halfling ^(PHB): Brave will be very helpful with the Ranger’s moderately high Wisdom. Lucky is always decent, though not hugely impactful. Halfling Nimbleness and Naturally Stealthy won’t be consistently useful.
• Human ^(PHB): An additional skill and origin feat are an easy choice on any build.
• Orc ^(PHB): Adrenaline Rush provides a taste of the Rogue’s mobility which rangers can’t typically match, and the Temporary Hit Points are always great. Relentless Endurance provides some insurance, especially on melee builds which typically draw more attacks.
• Tiefling ^(PHB): Darkvision, a damage resistance, and some innate spellcasting. Possibly a good choice for Druidic Warrior builds, but otherwise you won’t use the spellcasting reliably.

Ranger Ability Scores

For the vast majority of rangers, Dexterity dominates the Ranger’s abilities because rangers are most effective in light armor using finesse weapons or ranged weapons. Constitution is always helpful, and rangers should invest a little bit in Wisdom to support their spellcasting and crucial skills like Perception. While this does make the ranger somewhat MAD (Multiple Ability Dependent), they don’t need to spread themselves thin as the Monk or the Paladin.

Strength-based builds are technically possible, but face additional difficulties not faced by Dexterity-based builds. Half plate (the best medium armor) imposes Disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks but still requires you to invest in Dexterity, making you even more MAD than the Monk and the Paladin. You’ll be able to use two-handed melee weapons, but there’s very little reason to do so when so much of the Ranger’s damage can come from Hunter’s Mark. To summarize: Strength-based builds suffer immediate setbacks, and gain essentially no benefit. Do not build a Strength-based Ranger unless you are very certain that you know what you’re doing.

Finally, 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 Strength or Dexterity. Furthermore, your spellcasting will be more effective. However, you’ll likely resort to medium armor and suffer the same challenges with Dexterity (Stealth) checks faced by Strength-based builds. The improved spellcasting and Wisdom-based skills can be worth the trade, but it doesn’t solve the Ranger’s MAD issue.

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

Dexterity-Based Rangers

Str: Dump.

Dex: Your primary ability score.

Con: Hit points and Constitution saves, including Concentration.

Int: Maybe a little bit for skills, but not essential.

Wis: Spellcasting, saves, and skills.

Cha: Dump.

Wisdom-Based Rangers

Str: Dump.

Dex: 14 to fill out your armor.

Con: Hit points and Constitution saves, including Concentration.

Int: Maybe a little bit for skills, but not essential.

Wis: Your primary ability score.

Cha: Dump.

Ranger Skills

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

Ranger Feats

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

Origin Feats

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

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

General Feats

• Athlete ^(PHB): A decent choice for many martial characters. A climb speed is the next best thing to a fly speed. The ability to stand up quickly makes falling or being knocked prone less of a problem. The ability to jump with less of a running start may let you easily jump over difficult terrain and other obstacles which otherwise might slow your movement in combat.
• Charger ^(PHB): The push effect is decent, especially when combined with a Push mastery, but without other stacking sources of push distance you’ll have trouble getting past the 30-foot threshold where most creatures won’t have enough speed to immediately run back into melee.
• Chef ^(PHB): An excellent source of additional healing and of Temporary Hit Points. Good for any melee build.
• Crossbow Expert ^(PHB): Normally a good choice for ranged weapon builds, but the importance of Hunter’s Mark can make it difficult to use two hand crossbows to take advantage of the Bonus Action attack. You may be better served by using two-weapon fighting to throw daggers.
• Crusher ^(PHB): A simple and easy way to control enemies’ positions in combat, especially when combined with the Push mastery. Unfortunately, there are no Finesse weapons that deal bludgeoning damage, so very few Rangers can actually use this. Druidic Warrior builds using Shillelagh are your best bet.
• Defensive Duelist ^(PHB): A consistent and effective way to boost your AC in melee if you’re using Finesse weapons like rapiers or short swords, which most melee Rangers will. Boosting your AC by this much may prevent you from getting hit, which will do a lot to protect your Concentration on Hunter’s Mark.
• Dual Wielder ^(PHB): An additional attack while two-weapon fighting can be a big damage boost, but your Bonus Action may be overtaxed by subclass features and by Hunter’s Mark, so this isn’t always a good idea even for two-weapon fighting builds.
• Durable ^(PHB): Not as good as you would hope. The Bonus Action to spend a Hit Point Die notably does not add your Constitution modifier, which makes it an expensive and frustrating way to burn through your Hit Point Dice very quickly with minimal impact. Unless your party has some other deep, inexpensive healing resource, you need those dice for Short Rests to refill your massive pool of hit points. Take Chef instead.
• Fey Touched ^(PHB): Misty Step is excellent, and the additional spells per day can be very helpful.
• Grappler ^(PHB): Strength-based Rangers don’t work well.
• Great Weapon Master ^(PHB): Strength-based Rangers don’t work well, so qualifying weapons are a bad idea
• Heavily Armored ^(PHB): Heavy armor is the missing piece to make Strength-based Rangers work, but if you’re running around with 8 Dexterity you’re probably not going to survive to level 4 in order to take this. Start with a level of Fighter instead.
• Inspiring Leader ^(PHB): A big pile of durability for your whole party. Best on Druidic Warrior builds.
• Mage Slayer ^(PHB): Great insurance against difficult mental saves.
• Martial Weapon Training ^(PHB): A 1-level class dip into Fighter is almost always a better idea unless you’re expecting to reach 20th level.
• Medium Armor Master ^(PHB): Borderline worthless. Put +2 into Dexterity and wear light armor.
• Moderately Armored ^(PHB): A 1-level class dip into Fighter is almost always a better idea unless you’re expecting to reach 20th level.
• Mounted Combatant ^(PHB): There aren’t rules for the Beast Master to ride their companion, and regular mounts are too frail to last long.
• Observant ^(PHB): Useful if your GM likes to use sneaky creatures.
• Piercer ^(PHB): The vast majority of the Ranger’s best weapons deal piercing damage.
• Poisoner ^(PHB): Not especially impactful. You’ll get more value out of something like Piercer.
• Polearm Master ^(PHB): Reactive Strike is a great way to get additional attacks and apply Hunter’s Mark damage, but it’s only viable for Druidic Warrior builds using Shillelagh since Strength-based builds don’t work well for the Ranger. The Bonus Action attack is also very powerful, but competes in the action economy with applying Hunter’s Mark.
• Resilient ^(PHB): Proficiency in Constitution saves really helps with Concentration, not to mention how common Constitution saves are. Concentrating on Hunter’s Mark is crucial for the Ranger, and it’s especially difficult for melee builds. Druidic Warrior builds may prefer War Caster since you can increase your Wisdom when you take the feat. Relentless Hunter makes this less important once you reach level 13, but a lot of campaigns never get that far.
• Sentinel ^(PHB): Absolutely fantastic on the Beast Master since you’ll routinely have an ally fighting right alongside you.
• Shadow-Touched ^(PHB): Invisibility is great on the Ranger, but the level 1 spell options aren’t as good as Fey Touched.
• Sharpshooter ^(PHB): Helpful for ranged builds, but not essential unless your DM really enjoys using cover. Thrown weapon builds might enjoy this to offset their poor range relative to weapons like bows and muskets.
• Shield Master ^(PHB): Rangers don’t have the Strength to make this work.
• Skill Expert ^(PHB): A good way to close the skill gap with the Rogue.
• Skulker ^(PHB): Hard to justify without Cunning Action.
• Slasher ^(PHB): Decent for melee builds.
• Speedy ^(PHB): The ability for melee builds to move in and out of melee with relative safety makes hit-and-run tactics much more viable, making it much easier to maintain Concentration on Hunter’s Mark since you’re not standing around in melee waiting to be attacked.
• Spell Sniper ^(PHB): Maybe for Druidic Warrior since Produce Flame, Starry Wisp, and Thorn Whip are likely your go-to ranged attack options.
• Telekinetic ^(PHB): Potentially useful for Druidic Warrior builds, provided that your Bonus Action isn’t being monopolized by your class and by Hunter’s Mark.
• War Caster ^(PHB): Great for Druidic Warrior builds, but most Rangers will get more out of Resilient (Constitution).
• Weapon Master ^(PHB): You already get Weapon Mastery. If you need more, strongly consider a 1-level dip into Fighter.

Fighting Styles

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

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

• Defense ^(PHB): Consistently useful, and doesn’t discourage you from switching weapons.
• Dueling ^(PHB): 2 damage closes the damage gap between a longsword and a two-handed weapon like a greataxe or greatsword (4.5->6.5 vs. 6.5/7), so you can have the damage of a two-handed weapon with the AC of sword-and-board. Note that this works while using a shield.
• Great Weapon Fighting ^(PHB): This raises the minimum damage for the Greatsword to 6, which feels nice but doesn’t improve your average damage roll very much. It has almost no impact on other weapons, which makes the appeal very narrow.
• Interception ^(PHB): Conceptually similar to Protection, but there’s some nuance in how the two styles protect your target. Protection imposes Disadvantage, so if there’s a good chance that the attack would miss, it’s the better choice. Interception reduces the damage and always works, but for big attacks it won’t negate the whole attack.
• Protection ^(PHB): Tempting for Defender builds, but allies need to remain adjacent to you for this to work. Being adjacent to the front line tank is generally a bad place to be unless you can do so safely without someone defending you. This also appeals to mounted combat builds because you can use it to compensate for your mount’s relative fragility, but if you’re going that route you really need the Mounted Combatant feat which lets you retarget attacks at yourself instead.
• Thrown Weapon Fighting ^(PHB): With the ability to use two-weapon fighting and throw Nick weapons, the math behind three attacks gets complicated. If you use a handaxe as your primary weapon and either a dagger or a light hammer as your secondary weapon for the Nick mastery, the Advantage from your handaxe’s Vex mastery can push the DPR just slightly past that of a musket making two attacks. Later adding Dual Wielder, Fighting Style (Archery), and Fighting Style (Two-Weapon Fighting) can add additional boosts to your damage output.
• Two-Weapon Fighting ^(PHB): Two-weapon fighting is a major damage boost for melee builds thanks to Hunter’s Mark.
• Unarmed Fighting ^(PHB): Take Tavern Brawler.

Epic Boons

• Boon of Combat Prowess ^(PHB): Simple and consistently useful.
• Boon of Dimensional Travel ^(PHB): Maybe for Druidic Warrior builds.
• Boon of Energy Resistance ^(PHB): A powerful defense on any character.
• Boon of Fate ^(PHB): More useful to support your allies’ save-or-suck spells than for anything that you’re doing.
• Boon of Fortitude ^(PHB): You will benefit more from Resilient (Constitution).
• Boon of Irresistible Offense ^(PHB): Fantastic for two-weapon fighting builds since you’ll be making up to 4 attacks. Archery builds might get less value, but it’s still a fine option.
• Boon of Recovery ^(PHB): The Last Stand feature is great insurance, but definitely not enough to justify your first Epic Boon. Try to get someone to cast Death Ward on you.
• Boon of Skill ^(PHB): Potentially useful in a small party with poor skill coverage.
• Boon of Speed ^(PHB): A huge boost in mobility.
• Boon of Spell Recall ^(PHB): Potentially useful, but remember that it only has a 25% chance to work.
• Boon of the Night Spirit ^(PHB): Excellent on a stealthy character like the Ranger. However, remember that a lot of things are an Action, so it’s very easy to break this invisibility. Notable examples that people easily overlook include Hide, Search, and Study.
• Boon of Truesight ^(PHB): Probably your only option for handling invisible enemies, but the ability scores are hard unless you’re building around Druidic Warrior. If you’ve made it this far, your party is covering for you or you’ve found a creative solution.

Ranger Weapons

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

For more on Weapon Mastery, see our Weapon Mastery Guide.

Two-Weapon Fighting

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

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

Archery

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

Ranger Armor

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

• Studded Leather: Dexterity-based builds should grab studded leather as soon as they hit 18 Dexterity.
• Half Plate: Druidic Warrior builds don’t need as much Dexterity as typical rangers, so medium armor is a good choice.
• Shield: +2 AC is huge in this game. Typical Rangers nearly always go for two-weapon fighting or ranged weapons, but Druidic Warrior builds can easily accommodate a shield.

Ranger Multiclassing

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

• Cleric: A single level of Cleric can get you heavy armor proficiency and a bunch of Wisdom-based spellcasting. Plus, you can do this at any level rather than being forced to do it at 1st level to get heavy armor like you must with martial classes. This is a great replacement for Druidic Warrior.
• Druid: You need to take at least 3 levels before you get anything worthwhile that you can’t match with either a level of Cleric or Druidic Warrior.
• Fighter: Starting with 1 level in Fighter to get proficiency in Constitution saves and heavy armor proficient is fantastic. You also get more Weapon Master and another Fighting Style.
• Monk: If you have 14 Wisdom, the Monk’s Unarmored Defense will match Studded Leather, making it a fantastic defense for most Ranger builds. Martial Arts offers a good way to get additional attacks, though it will compete for your Bonus Action with applying Hunter’s Mark and casting other combat spells, which might be frustrating. Martial Arts also lets you use Dexterity for many non-Finesse melee weapons, dramatically expanding your weapon options.
• Rogue: 1 level for Expertise and more Weapon Mastery. 2 levels for Cunning Action. Sneak Attack won’t be a significant improvement to your damage otuput, but don’t let that deter you.