The first time I cast Conjure Animals, I got cows and was disappointed, until they started murdering every single enemy in the encounter like there was no tomorrow. The whole party watched in disgust as the cows outdamaged all of us every single round...

@asheronwindspear552

3 жыл бұрын

Quick question. Were they cows with guns? And were the steaks high?

@Wlerin7

3 жыл бұрын

Having played Kenshi... I can see it.

@jadenlustre4612

3 жыл бұрын

@@asheronwindspear552 “were the steaks high?” HAHA I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE

@wildwombatarmy

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah... That spell is completely broken. Pretty, early in our campaign (lvl5ish) we had an encounter with 2 young dragons and our druid used this spell for the first time and got 8 boars. The dragon was up next and used his breath weapon and we all thought that's if for the boar... But then the all stood up again(they have an ability similar to half orcs) and charged one dragon and basically one shot him...and that's whe. Our DM realized he is in trouble...

@matejvodrazka7847

3 жыл бұрын

@@wildwombatarmy boars have to take 7 or less damage to be able to use the ability and breath weapons usually deal 20 ish on successful save... there is something wrong

Zephyr Strike, a spell so fast you only have time to see the first letter before it's gone. 😁

@FarothFuin

3 жыл бұрын

zoom...

@PyroGobbo

3 жыл бұрын

The best spell a rogue can dream of.

@GameHunterMaster

3 жыл бұрын

@@PyroGobbo Shadow Blade begs to differ.

@PyroGobbo

3 жыл бұрын

@@GameHunterMaster What if you are a longbow kind of rogue ? But yeah shadow blade is very strong in melee range. But hey if you go Gloomstalker/Arcane trickster: you don't have to choose between the two.

@Bondonb

3 жыл бұрын

@@GameHunterMaster Ehhhh, that depends. Tasha's redux on GFB/BB requires the weapon used to have a gold value, which SB does not have. So you can't GFB/BB with SB.

A ranger's main bane: bonus action to cast and concentration

@BeaglzRok1

3 жыл бұрын

This is why I think the final thing Ranger needs between all of the good ideas from Revised and Class Feature Variant/Tasha's Ranger is an extra Bonus Action at 11th and 20th level, so they can actually do half of their stuff instead of one of their stuff. Running off the idea of Artificer getting extra attunement slots.

@Wanderingsage7

3 жыл бұрын

@@BeaglzRok1 main issue would be two weapon fighting

@aganaom1712

3 жыл бұрын

Forget bonus action. Just concentration

@robertjohnpecayo8642

3 жыл бұрын

Alternatively: Giving rangers the ability to concentrate on more than one spell will be cool and unique tho. On higher level, probs when you unlock 3rd or 4th level slots. Imagine the possibilities, interesting spell combinations or just buff spell+battlefield control. Pretty neat

@xicarus8141

3 жыл бұрын

They should just remove concentration for hunters mark and/or favored foe

I'm playing a Horizon Walker in a campaign now. Absorb Elements is so good for a HW, as a lot of enemies who are elemental usually resist their element. Being able to get resistance, the extra damage, and then change it to force damage which is barely resisted is really useful.

4:06 Honorable mention to Zorro's favorite spell, 'Z'.

An interesting addition to Conjure Woodland Beings from Tasha’s is that you can now summon four Reflections which drain a target’s strength score on a hit like shadows, killing the target of its strength is reduced to zero. I’d say this is a powerful new choice for this spell.

I'm surprised that rangers are not prepared spellcasters like the paladin and artificer. They're the only half caster that has spells known, which doesn't really make sense because the cleric and paladin, wizard and artificer, and the druid are prepared casters, meaning that they get their entire spell list to choose from every long rest, minus the wizard, which can get all the wizard spells if they get them into their book.

@HibikoDaishi

3 жыл бұрын

They were prepared casters back in 3.5 WotC really dropped the ball with rangers in 5e in a lot of ways, and this is definitely one of them

@TheTdroid

2 жыл бұрын

@@HibikoDaishi With the spells they've gotten over the years and Xanathar archetypes, Rangers are pretty damn good. That being said, Rangers should indeed have been prepared casters from the start if they wanted it to be a half-caster gish type thing. Or they should've leaned harder into the martial side

@Hazel-xl8in

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheTdroid one fun solution i found was rolling some of their high level features together and giving them war magic at 14th level. it takes the edge off of spending your action to cast those really fun high level spells

You could also cast pass without trace if you have muddy shoes and don’t wanna track it into the house

Steel Wind Strike would be more comparable to Swift Quiver, if it weren't a SPELL attack roll just so the Wizard can use it seven levels earlier. 6d10 force damage on up to 5 targets in a 30ft range is nothing to sneeze at, and also you can teleport to within 5ft of one of the targets, so it's almost got a built-in Misty Step.

@toshomni9478

3 жыл бұрын

I like it anyway since it's not concentration and so you can combine it other useful spells better than you can Swift Quiver.

@Kurotekken

3 жыл бұрын

You're forgetting the most important part: it lets you sheathe your sword before your targets hit the ground and deliver a sick one-liner.

@Spiceodog

3 жыл бұрын

Also, it’s objectively the most badass looking spell in the game change my mind

@JuckiCZ

3 жыл бұрын

Don't forget, that ranger has also Guardian of nature spell. If you first cast GoN and then folow with Steel wind strike, you have advantage to all these magic attacks, so up to 30d10 force dmg through advantage - high chance to land all this dmg. And you can still follow with your BA, so if you have some option with it (shifter, rogue,...), you can still do extra stuff on top of it.

@finalfantasy50

6 ай бұрын

if you combine this with fey wanderer ranger, they add 1d6 psychic damage when they attack a target for the first time that turn, advantage is probably better but you could blow through all of your favored foe uses to add another 1d8 to every hit as well

Spike growth? Oh god you’ve reminded me of Merilwen’s Meat Grinder 😂

@jamesfreeman3617

3 жыл бұрын

Quick cast grease

@Sirfinchyyy

3 жыл бұрын

That was classic. One of my favorite oxventures.

@sandrols7

3 жыл бұрын

I see you are a man of culture as well!

@zaclittlejohn2701

3 жыл бұрын

Rip random guards. You will not be forgotten.

@jamesfreeman3617

3 жыл бұрын

@@zaclittlejohn2701 at least it wasn't moon beam looking back besides the dual subclass that actually was a good party and merrowen was op

Hear me oout, fully wisdom build, tasha beastmaster, druidic warrior with thorn whip and entangle. Entangle your enemies, let the beast of the air attack them with advantage, move enemies that are outside the difficult terrain into the difficult terrain so they cant move as effectively and control the battlefield with only one spell slot consumed.

@robertjohnpecayo8642

3 жыл бұрын

Dont forget shillelagh, you can still melee damage, full wisdom. Btw how do you move enemies back to the difficult terrain? *ahh thornwhip, you must have good positioning tho coz it is only pull, but I can see it working

@jamesfreeman3617

3 жыл бұрын

I really wouldn't want to DM that

@Ismail-kv3ex

3 жыл бұрын

@@jamesfreeman3617 I'd love a player with this level of creativity Forces me to think of environments more and how enemies think and why

@justanotherglorpsdaymornin5097

3 жыл бұрын

If you are also a small race like a halfling, a kenku, a gnome, a kobold or a goblin you can ride the flying beast which makes thornwhip deal 1d6 fall damage to your enemies & makes positioning for pulling them back into the entanglement really easy. Edit: ooh, a kobold flying a wolf sized dragon (aesthetically, not an actual dragon) pulling this nonsense at level 3 would be fun.

@jamesfreeman3617

3 жыл бұрын

@@Ismail-kv3ex it's more of the fact that six of my sister's i DM for would be a nightmare if they had that build because I know all of the others would make it so their character's matched perfectly.

When using Hunters Mark w a longbow keep in mind the spell has a range of 90’ whereas the bow has 150’ normal range

@saintpoli6800

2 жыл бұрын

Or 600 with Sharpshooter; I hate that it’s not a “activates on a hit” thing because who wants to be close to a target when you can be hella far away?

@kragon2777

2 жыл бұрын

​@@saintpoli6800 Entirely because of sharpshooter, I'd rather not deal with hunter's mark as a concentration spell, I'd rather go with lightning arrow and get some decent AoE from far enough away that even spell casters would have trouble disrupting my concentration

@evilsquirrel0573

2 жыл бұрын

@@kragon2777 what kinda games are you playing where you can see someone coming from 600 feet away every time?

@kragon2777

2 жыл бұрын

@@evilsquirrel0573 The kinda games where I don't see them coming, I see them running in fear

@evilsquirrel0573

2 жыл бұрын

@@kragon2777 do you guys exclusively play in open fields or somethin

"Pass Without Trace is NOT Invisibility." Lmao please try to explaining that to my fellow players. Skyrim style stealth is so deeply ingrained in some of their brains... Rogue: "I stab the monster, shift behind him and Bonus Action Hide." Me: "...how are you hidden??" Rogue: "I did a 5ft step and rolled a 24 Stealth." DM: "I'm tired of fighting with you over this. Fine you're hidden....." My poor DM 😂 Stealth was a point of contention for way too many sessions.

@RandomGuyCDN

3 жыл бұрын

Easiest answer. "You have nothing to hide behind and the monster still sees you so too bad your not hidden" and after doing some googling "The DM decides when circumstances are appropriate for hiding. When you try to hide, make a Dexterity (Stealth) check. Until you are discovered or stop hiding, that check’s total is contested by the Wisdom (Perception) check of any creature that actively searches for signs of your presence. You can’t hide from a creature that can see you clearly. " PHB 177. Player is clearly trying to cheat the rules that are written in the PHB

@willwalsh7591

3 жыл бұрын

@@RandomGuyCDN You understand that people do miss things they can clearly see right?

@jadenlustre4612

3 жыл бұрын

@@willwalsh7591 this is DnD tho and there are rules to this game, I know they’re not “required” per say but DnD doesn’t follow real life logic

@willwalsh7591

3 жыл бұрын

@@jadenlustre4612 But you can't just say that they're trying to cheat the rules. The stealth rules aren't the clearest aspect of the game

@jadenlustre4612

3 жыл бұрын

@@willwalsh7591 well yes but you also can’t allow the players to get away with stuff like this and make combat a walk in the park for them. From what I can see from the OP, the players keep thinking DnD is some kind of video game and use video game logic and strategy. The DM is obviously very annoyed with this but let’s them do it anyways. Idk how your table is run but you have to see it from the DM’s perspective. It is aggravating and not fun for the DM if the players are just doing there own thing and making combat so easy they just do stuff like hide in plain sight after killing an enemy

I was playing a ranger, at level 5, I took the spell, Healing Spirit, and suddenly became everyone's favorite party member.

@fredericklapointe2524

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, even if it was nerfed, it is still a very good healing spell

@mal2ksc

3 жыл бұрын

@@fredericklapointe2524 I tried nerfing it at my table, and yeah it was still pretty good. I decided, after we went out of our way to try and exploit it, that I wasn't really giving up that much as a DM if I just let it play exactly as written. It's crap in combat, unless upcast (which rangers aren't really in a position to do), and there are other ways to build a party with the ability to recharge the bulk of their hit points in a minute or so. This just happens to be one that doesn't involve a typical "healer class". It _is_ exploitable if used in combination with a zerg rush, and if those zerg can absorb one hit without dying. Then you can shuttle them in and out of the front line as they freshen up. But there's a fairly narrow range of encounters where it will work well.

@pacman7654

3 жыл бұрын

@@mal2ksc No it was actually nerfed in errata, it's now garbage with low wisdom.

@mal2ksc

3 жыл бұрын

@@pacman7654 Errata, or Sage Advice? Because the Sage Advice nerf of "you get two heals per spellcasting modifier" was not an errata but a suggestion -- one I tried and ultimately rejected.

@MarianoPingitore

3 жыл бұрын

@@mal2ksc No, it was officially nerfed in an XGtE Errata: Healing Spirit (p. 157). The following text has been appended to the second paragraph: “The spirit can heal a number of times equal to 1 + your spellcasting ability modifier (minimum of twice). After healing that number of times, the spirit disappears.” media.wizards.com/2020/dnd/downloads/XGtE-Errata.pdf As it stands with this errata, it is virtually unusable for Rangers (who generally have lower Wisdom Scores than Druids). Even for a 20 WIS Druid it is kind of meh now. I applied a different fix in my table, limiting the number of uses to 1 per round, which caps it out at 10d6 at 2nd level and not tied to the caster's Spelcasting Ability. This makes it less problematic out of combat, although it still nerfs the in-combat use that definitely didn't need the nerf, but I found it very difficult to maintain its in-combat power level without allowing the unintended exploits out of combat. If anyone has a better fix, I'd be glad to hear it!

Spike Growth or also known as Merilwen's meat grinder ^^

I love using up all of my remaining spell slots to cast goodberry before a long rest. A great way to heal 80 hit points out of combat spread out across a party

@torkair72torino

3 жыл бұрын

Dip 1 level into life cleric and Goodberry becomes an extremely strong healing spell

@CrownofMischief

2 жыл бұрын

definitely one of my favorite things to do considering how long they last

@captianbacon

2 жыл бұрын

I frequently don't use any of my first or second lvl spell slots throughout the day as I'm pretty preoccupied shooting my bow and commanding a dragon, but starting each day with 60+ good berries with 15hrs on them is pretty swick outside of combat just topping the whole party off if we have a few minutes. One we litterly had the fighter hold a table up to the door in combat so we could just spend our turns monching berries for 10 turns it really turned the battle in our favor for Essentially no cost well besides the mahogany table...

That non-edit at the end. 😂

Cordon of Arrows is one of my favorite Ranger spells. You do need a good WIS score for your DEX save, and limited damage but it's a good ambush spell. Also for role-playing purposes, a bunch of arrows flying out of the ground to shoot a monster is just funny! Another one of my favorites is Conjure Barrage. Shooting one arrow into the air that morphs into hundreds raining down death in 30ft radius is amazing! It's great for taking out like low-level minions in mass combat who are really just there to be annoying.

I want to call out level 1s Fog Cloud, just for tasha's new blind fighting style. Rangers are now the only class who can get this without multiclassing or extra feats. (Though moon druids can do something similsr with fog cloud + becoming a giant spider). They have it online by level 2, and is almost a good as devil's sight+darkness. I wouldnt recommend the spell of those mentioned for regular rangers, but this build is worth considering in my mind.

@XoRandomGuyoX

3 жыл бұрын

Fog Cloud is one of those humble-but-useful spells that, to me, should always be on tap for a Druid. Even at level 20 the ability to block line of sight remains useful to prevent ranged targeting.

@___i3ambi126

3 жыл бұрын

@@XoRandomGuyoX Another useful thing is denying opponents any sight, even when you cant see either. Have a group you need to run by? Attacks of opportunity only trigger against opponents you see. Worried about a wizard misty stepping away the moment they are in danger? Misty step requires you to see where youre going. Scared of a targeting ability or charming spell? Most require you to see the target. Quite the handy tool.

@Clepto_and_Co

3 жыл бұрын

Glad to hear someone else came up with this

@SableTwilight

3 жыл бұрын

​@@___i3ambi126 And hope the wizard does not have a familiar stationed near by? (action: see through familiar's eyes, bonus: misty step)

I still remember my favorite moment using spike growth, we had accidentally encountered one of the generals we weren't supposed to fight because the rogue wanted to scout at the barracks. The general was a paladin probably about 5 levels higher than us, so we made a run for it, and I cast spike growth between us, which then killed the summoned drake steed it was riding while still hurting him a bit too, and we managed to get away

@kcribari

2 жыл бұрын

+"nice"

Ah, yes, my favorite spell..."Z".

@mal2ksc

3 жыл бұрын

That's probably all they ever type to get it to pop up as the top option. Kinda like typing "y" into your location bar will probably land you back here at KZread. And then someone failed to notice when the name didn't autofill like they expected.

@erikoftheinternet

3 жыл бұрын

actually, this is a Canadian channel, so it's pronounced "Z"

@mal2ksc

3 жыл бұрын

@@erikoftheinternet Sorry, it's Zephyr, not Zed-fyr.

@comradewarners

3 жыл бұрын

@@erikoftheinternet This a a God tier comment and it hasn’t gotten enough attention.

You mention druidic warrior + shillelagh, I wanna mix that with monk to get an ascetic ranger who meditates (and kicks ass) in the wilderness

@mentalrebllion1270

Жыл бұрын

You gave me the idea to make a monk character that has the magic initiate feat for druid. I added shillelagh and faire fire and primal savagery. Thanks for the idea!

Kelly: Casually forgets what video they're recording.

@punkassbamboo

2 жыл бұрын

love 'im

I always enjoy your videos. Watching them is not only informative, interesting and fun, but it also makes me feel connected to the D&D community. Thanks so much for putting in all the effort!

More of the Ranger? YES!

@jamesfreeman3617

3 жыл бұрын

Finally the ranger gets some love. It's always been my favorite class to play and it's great to multiclass.

@GunnerM60

3 жыл бұрын

@@jamesfreeman3617 I multi-classed My Level 11 Hunter into 9 levels of Assassin. Oh dear God the damage he could deal was ridiculous!

@willwalsh7591

3 жыл бұрын

@@GunnerM60 Oh gods, surprise volley at 600ft and 20 crits...

@GunnerM60

3 жыл бұрын

@@willwalsh7591 + my Sharpshooter, Elven Accuracy, & Archery Fighting Style. Rogue Assassinate and Sneak Attack only work once per turn though. My Stealth Skill was +19. Add Pass With Trace for a +10 bonus. So even a Nat 1 on the D20, i'd still have a 30 Stealth! 😁 The few times I managed to crit became a 49 Stealth!

The "your movement does not provoke opportunity attacks" on Zephyr Strike is just so good. I use it almost as often as I use Hunter's Mark.

@greghamilton9505

Жыл бұрын

I honestly don’t use hunters mark. Zephyr and ensnaring are better use of my concentration imo

@PiroMunkie

Жыл бұрын

@@greghamilton9505 It's really situational. Sometimes you know you're just never going to need the freedom of movement Zephyr Strike offers. Other times you get ambushed and it's a lifesaver. Ensaring is really good, too, but it lives and dies by its saving throw. It's difficult for Rangers to have good WIS without rolling well or making big sacrifices using point buy or standard array.

No love for Guardian of Nature? I believe you've recommended it as a ranger spell in the past.

@a.z.pantera5577

3 жыл бұрын

I love Guardian of Nature. One of my players has it on her Circle of Stars Druid. Combining Giant Tree and Archer form, she nearly always hits with her attacks.

@toshomni9478

3 жыл бұрын

It is very good but for me Summon Elemental is now better but that might be mostly for flavor reasons with my Genasi Horizon Walker.

@Spiceodog

3 жыл бұрын

It’s really good on moon Druid’s

@JuckiCZ

3 жыл бұрын

I agree. Especialy as Beastmaster and shared spells, this is massive spell! Also with my STR based GWM ranger, advantage on all attacks, bonus movement and 1d6 dmg to each attack is unmatched. And you can also cast Guardian of nature and then cast steel wind strike to attack with advantage all those 5 targets. I am sure, they forgot about it...

@jesterjake36

3 жыл бұрын

I've always thought guardian of nature was really strong for a ranger, especially an archer. Some additional hp, advantage on all your shots, which is difficult to achieve often without other spells, it makes it so you concentrate on the spell better, and so that enemies can't rush up on you. It does everything an archer wants.

By the time rangers get 3rd levels spells for plant growth they already have the 8th level ability Land's Stride to ignore the movement penalties of plants and damage from spikes if you're combining with spike growth. This means you don't need freedom of movement to run around in your own plants. Just an ammendment to a couple of the points you made when talking about the freedom of movement spell. It is still a surprisingly useful spell in certain situations and will help you where the difficult terrain is magical as with the web spell as you said. EDIT: Someone has already mentioned this, now I feel like an idiot.

@NotYourAverageNothing

3 жыл бұрын

1. Land’s Stride only works with nonmagical difficult terrain and plants. 2. Freedom of Movement doesn’t work with Plant Growth.

@chestermightbeafrog

3 жыл бұрын

@@NotYourAverageNothing I thought the plant growth plants were non magical and just got really bushy thanks to magic, so the plants themselves are still nonmagical. So I presumed land's stride would still work here. I might still be wrong here though. Well now I know that freedom of movement won't work in plant growth, so thanks.

@NotYourAverageNothing

3 жыл бұрын

@@chestermightbeafrog I just reread it. Land’s Stride works.

@chestermightbeafrog

3 жыл бұрын

@@NotYourAverageNothing I'm glad that I wasn't completely mistaken then. I guess freedom of movement only says difficult terrain so your point was right there. So, rangers don't need freedom of movement for running through fields of plant growth enhanced wheat as suggested in the video. Moreover, freedom of movement wouldn't free your movement in an area of plant growth anyway. That's more correct now I think, thanks to your input.

Ooh can we have one of these for the Druid pretty please, I find myself really enjoying your videos and I'm always suggesting you guys.

@Shnauften

3 жыл бұрын

They already did, but only for high level spells!

Best intro yet guys. Kinda miss the sword wipe though.

@madhurdhingra4525

3 жыл бұрын

Same bro.

@newtondood

3 жыл бұрын

I don't. It was so damn loud.

@TheHareedo

3 жыл бұрын

Saaaame

Interesting thing to note, is that Rangers naturally get Land's Stride at 8th level, meaning Plant Growth has no effect on their movement, period end of story. You don't need Freedom of Movement to avoid for non magical terrain.

Monty looking a lot different from the old days, but still rocking that roots gear XD

One big point a lot of people seem to miss about Zephyr Strike is that when you use the Force damage/Advantage/Speed boost effect, the Concentration does not end.

@flcon16

2 жыл бұрын

1st level spell and 1BA for 10 rounds of disengage, 1 round of dash, and advantage on an attack that deals extra force damge.

Your guys' timing is always spot on! Wife switched to the new Beastmaster subclass, and this will help her spell selection.

Finally giving us all the ranger content we’ve been waiting for!!

Great video as always! As someone who loves spell-casters having these videos are super helpful!!

Ranger and paladin have some great spells. But most of them work much better on another class.

@connergeisler4095

3 жыл бұрын

Hohoho, I know what you mean exactly. 5th level eldritch smite 5th level lightning arrow. And if your dm is nice, at 11th level 5th level moonbow smite. Doin 1d8+6d8+6d8+6d8+5+5+10. On a build I'm doing. +10 is from sharpshooter. The two 5s are from dex and lifedrinker

@PyroGobbo

3 жыл бұрын

@@connergeisler4095 Lore bard/blade warlock multiclass ?

@timkramar9729

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, we have a druid. I don't feel a need to overlap.

This is such a wonderfully timed video, after my current campaign ends one of my players is gonna run an exploration heavy game and I'm making a Ranger

Zephyr Strike is honestly one of my favorite spells ever.

@greghamilton9505

Жыл бұрын

Agreed. I can get to where I want and get advantage plus extra damage. Since I’m a scout/gloomstalker with elven accuracy it gives me another chance for a crit and for sneak.

In the epilogue of my Rime of the Frostmaiden campaign the Druid and his Druid uncle, along with some of the frost druids who changed their minds, used Plant Growth to help keep Ten Towns alive for months, maybe years to come. There’s debatably nothing more impactful than a spell that can totally shift the epilogue of a campaign.

Another great 4th level spell is Guardian of Nature (from Xanathar's, available to all Rangers). If you're an archer (which most Rangers are) you get some temp. HP, permanent advantage for your attacks and advantage on your CON saves - which greatly helps with keeping your concentration on the spell - aswell as difficult terrain around you, protecting you from enemies that want to melee you.

I do like Goodberry as a pool of out of combat healing as well as ration provider. Casting it before a long rest using all your left over spell slots allows you to have some free healing. As a GM I also allow players with the Herbalist Kit to make Goodberry Smoothies.

You gotta love that conclusion edit you got there lol

You all put out good quality content. Thank you!

Another thing to remember with the Drudic Warrior + Shillelagh combo is that a quarterstaff is a polearm, and thus can be used with the Polearm Master feat. It's not a reach weapon, so you won't be able to combo the OA part of Polearm Master with Sentinel for cheese tactics, but those OAs and bonus action attacks still add up.

@antongrigoryev6381

3 жыл бұрын

Rangers already are too heavy on bonus actions, so it may not worth it.

@PedroHISilva

3 жыл бұрын

@@antongrigoryev6381 I agree, often when people finally have the chance to test their theorycrafts they realize that the perfect rounds happen not frequently. Treantmonk comments exactly about it when he chose shillelagh instead of thorn whip for his nature cleric and regretted.

It's good to hear some love for Rangers' spells. I hear so many people talk about how "bad" Rangers are, and there's really little respect given to how much their spells can benefit the group. The common perception is that since they can't smite with their slots, that their spellcasting is irrelevant. I think that Entangle and Ensnaring Strike to be top shelf first level spells, and Spike Growth never loses value.

"A lot of people forget that they are half casters" Genuinely, them being half casters is the only thing that kept the original baseline Ranger from being utter trash, as many of their base class features are either extremely niche or just useless.

@HibikoDaishi

3 жыл бұрын

Welcome to a martial class where your only combat class features are you get a fighting style at level 1 and at level 5 you get a second attack

@illoney5663

3 жыл бұрын

@@HibikoDaishi Oh yes, I forgot that Fighters don't get Action Surge, Second Wind, Indomitable or ASI with extra opportunities allowing for more feats. You're right, none of those help in combat at all.

@HibikoDaishi

3 жыл бұрын

Oh look a martial class with combat features as part of their class. The whole point was rangers are a martial class but WotC decided to drop the martial, not that the other martial classes are useless.

@illoney5663

3 жыл бұрын

@@HibikoDaishi Oh, well that is true, they basically decided the Ranger shouldn't really get any useful features outside baseline Martial features and being half-casters. However, the way you wrote the first comment implied that no Martial character has any features outside the baseline that improve their combat abilities.

@HibikoDaishi

3 жыл бұрын

@@illoney5663 yeah sorry my grammar totally dropped on that one, edited for clarity of what I meant

guesses for the spells: hunters mark, zepher strike, pass without trace, healing spirit, revivify, conjure barrage, conjure woodland beings, stoneskin, swift quiver, tree stride

@codenameera3709

3 жыл бұрын

no healing spirit???

Gloomstalker: invisible when the opponent uses darkvision; pass without trace: "A veil of shadows and silence radiates from you" so that takes care of silence-silence spell not needed.

Love you guys, keep up the incredible work!

also a good 4th level spell is guardian of nature great tree mode. is a bonus action to cast and gives 10 temporary hp, con saves with advantage, dex and wisdom based attack rolls are with advantages (so a longbow for instance) and while on the ground the ground is in a radius of 15 is difficult terrain for your enemies. it is concentration but giving yourself advantage on all your longbow shots for a minute is very good

@kelvinvoorneveld7265

3 жыл бұрын

advantages on con saves also makes concentration checks easier

About to play my first ranger(swarmkeeper) today, crazy this came out today

Guardian of Nature! Advantage on Attacks and Con Saves, Temp HP, Difficult terrain for your enemies, 1d6 Force Damage per hit, Darkvision 120 ft.

I can imagine using plant growth in a dinosaur setting and have a Jurassic Park: Lost World moment with raptors.

This was super helpful, thank you

Guardian of Nature became the spell I cast every combat with my hunter archery Ranger with Sharpshooter and Colossus Slayer. Against lower AC targets, I got Sharpshooter damage and advantage to make up for the to-hit penalty. Against high AC enemies, I had advantage with my normal attack bonus. I ended up with a bunch of other concentration spells I never used.

Glad i saw this! Recently joined a game as a melee based ranger, and some of these movement based spell will seriously help my Horizon walker!

3 ranger videos in 2 weeks, I love it

Great video! My favorite spell is awaken (5th level) so you can make an army of permanent treants.

Helpful list, especially in following your recent videos about the Ranger subclasses - - thank you for sharing good advice here and in examples by Veo (Drakkenheim season 1) about how to manage those difficult choices about how to use bonus action, concentration, and limited spell slot

@GunnerM60

3 жыл бұрын

I'm still mad at they only gave the Hunter subclass a "C". It's incredibly versatile & you won't be disappointed with it. It needs to be at least a "B". It's not amazing, but it doesn't suck.

@zaclittlejohn2701

3 жыл бұрын

@@GunnerM60 I think the problem is that alot of hunter ranger just feels like something base ranger should get. Evasion, improved multi attack, extra damage from the class that comes online right after hunters mark. It just adds more ranger to your ranger. The other subclasses add something else to your ranger that it didn't have before.

@GunnerM60

3 жыл бұрын

@@zaclittlejohn2701 and I do agree with that. But I think you should be bumped to a "B because the Monster Slayer subclass is too specialized. So that's why I believe it deserves at least B because it has a lot more versatility, even w/ it's issues.

@zaclittlejohn2701

3 жыл бұрын

@@GunnerM60 uuuuuh monster slayer(xgte) got a b. It was hunter ranger(PHB) that got the c. And yeah. They both are b tier subclasses. They aren't bad. In the right campaign they could be amazing. Especially a module like Icewind Dale where the whole module is in 1 terrain type so you 100% always have your favored terrain bonuses.

@GunnerM60

3 жыл бұрын

@@zaclittlejohn2701 Nope I just went back and watch the clip. Monster Slayer got C.

The spells are one of the main reasons why I love to play the ranger in the first place

If you took the Elven Accuracy Feat, the Guardian of Nature spell with the Great Tree option is awesome. It automatically turns on your Elven Accuracy triple advantage for all your attacks, creates difficult terrain around you and the spell protects its own concentration with advantage on constitution checks.

I found a simple, easy way to help with the Rangers limited spells: just make them preapared casters, like they're supposed to be!

@dodoschipper6635

3 жыл бұрын

What are prepared casters?

@gumballthechewy

3 жыл бұрын

@@dodoschipper6635 Paladins, clerics, druids and wizards are prepared casters, they have access to all their spells and prepare a certain amount each day.

@maid_of_heart3261

3 жыл бұрын

@@gumballthechewy Wizards are a special case tho, they get both Spells Known and Spells Prepared

Swarmkeepr/Rogue with most of the spells being battle field control is working out really well for us.

I'm playing a Fey Wanderer druid who took the Druidic Warrior fighting style for Shillelagh and Guidance and I am really loving it a lot, I get to take advantage of the best of having a full caster SSDC as well as a martial class's attack and damage bonuses.

A spell that didnt get mentioned is Goodberry. It creates 10 berries (creates an item) and as an action a creature (again an item because the spell descriptions doesn't specify you have to do it) can eat it for 1hp. Every night, before you take a long rest, you can burn all of your remaining spell slots for 10×that number in free healing the next day. Give it to the thief who can administer it as a BA to a downed creature. Or to your monk who can yell "Senzu Bean!" As they give it. Often overlooked bonus to Enhance Ability is that advantage to a skill increases your passive score by 5. Thats a nice boost to any passive check. Cats grace will also give you advantage on initiative rolls, and bears endurance gives a creature advantage on concentration checks

For second level spells I recommend healing spirit because it gives out 2d6 healing per round to any party members around it

Oh yes...one of my friends is a ranger as his first dnd character...definitely needed this.

plant growth in cities could pull from local flowerbeds/pots, or cause weeds to grow up from the cobblestones. and though fungi arent plants, id allow mushrooms to frow from this too

@Hazel-xl8in

3 жыл бұрын

fungi might not technically be plants, but myconids count as plants so i’d agree with this

Nice Video Gents! - Always appreciate them. FYI - If it hasn't been said, your camera is out of focus. It's focused directly between the two of you and focused on the bookcase behind you. Hope that helps. :-)

With plant growth, even if the party is in the underdark, or a dungeon or ruins, there may not be much for plants, but it could be really interesting to have things like tuffs of grass, mushrooms, and lichen can become overgrown. This could create extra hiding places or cover. It could also make mushrooms large enough to use as trees, or vines and stuff to be long enough to bridge gaps, etc. Depending on the DM it could be very useful anywhere

Love these ranger vids!

I really like leaning into healing with the dual-wielding ranger, since you're not going to be using as many of your bonus action spells in combat, you're likely to have more spell-slots available for healing.

Thank you for your videos.

Your dnd videos are always very professional :)

Thank you for another fun guide, Dudes :D

Ah yes Zephyr Strike spelled "Z"

Given the iffy-ness of Conjure Woodland Beings with some groups and the fact that there are a lot of sessions that might not see too much use out of Freedom of Movement (both are still great spells, IMO), I think that one of the best 4th level spells for a ranger is Guardian of Nature. Any Ranger build can use it and get some great benefits between Primal Beast making Strength based Rangers super strong (+1d6 to each attack, like Hunter's Mark without the bonus action, and then a speed boost and free advantage on Strength based attacks) to making ranged and caster rangers better (advantage again, saving throw buffs, temp hp, and free difficult terrain). Honestly I can't think of a ranger that wouldn't benefit from this spell.

5:56 The look on Monty's face says it all. We have an Earth Genasi (+2 Constitution, Meld with Stone (aka Pass Without Trace) once per day) Barbarian (proficiency in Constitution saves) in our campaign.

At low levels, you come across a lot of animals, so animal friendship is surprisingly useful for a level 1 spell. Also Goodberry, popping a berry into the mouth of an unconscious party member is helpful. I do like combining Ensnaring Strike with my arrows as well. Hard choices at level 1.

As a Druidic Warrior Swarmkeeper Ranger with a 2 level dip in Monk for the movement and AC boost using a Shillelagh , I can confirm Freedom of Movement on top of Zephyr Strike (maybe a cheeky Longstrider) has the potential to make your DM cry. I can get anywhere I want, whenever I want. If my DM sees this, sorry, but you did bring it on yourself after the 3rd hoard of zombies in the jungle

Use Druidic Warrior to get Shillelagh. Take a 1 level dip into Arcana Cleric to get access to Booming Blade. Have Polearm Master, War Caster, and Crusher (so you can intercept an enemy moving towards you by smacking them with Booming Blade and forcing them back 5 feet, meaning to finish approaching you they gotta take both parts of the damage). By the end of things you can be an absolute monster depending on what Ranger subclass you took. Fey Wanderer so you can have free Misty Steps? Gloomstalker for bonus init/extra turn 1 movement/advantage from darkness? Horizon Walker to add in Force Damage? Hunter so you add an extra 1d8 against damaged enemies whenever you use your reaction to hit them? Swarmkeeper so you can force the enemy to move farther to hit you without needing Crusher? Beastmaster for the Wis synergy? All of these things also combine well with the various terrain based spells that either slow movement or inflict damage that Ranger has access to. Or with summoning things so the enemy has to decide between moving and getting Boom Blade'd or staying still and getting mobbed. Really the only one I'd flat out avoid is Monster Slayer. Extra 1d6 is okay but its just... really lacking in adding juice for this particular build. Too many bonus action things going on.

I love Lightning Arrow. You get to use a regular attack so you can still use your dex for the attack, you get the additional lightning damage plus your dex modifier still, and you can still use extra attack. With Favored Foe now, you can bonus action cast Lightning Arrow, attack, mark with Favored Foe after hitting (no action required and no longer concentrating on Lightning Arrow), and attack again with Favored Foe damage. Also as a Gloom Stalker you could do this turn 1 and get that 3rd attack still

Can’t wait for the sorcerer subclasses ranking

A quick note on Entangle. If the Ranger is in (one of their) favored terrain, and have been for an hour or more, the whole party isn't slowed by difficult terrain. So they can ignore the non-save component of Entange. I'd also say that, generally when fighting in favored terrain, make sure you check with the DM if there's any difficult terrain on the battlefield.

They didn’t notice one of the best ranger spell combos Guardian of Nature and Steel Wind Strike.

I played an Oath of Ancients paladin who took shillelagh with magic initiate. He was a failed Druid in training. A wisdom based ranger also sounds fun

The moment i cast silence on the mage boss in LmoP. My DM hated me for basically making a tense encounter into a punching bag contest. I love the concept of non-nature rangers. In the old editions rangers could choose between wizard or druid spells. Something of this is still present to this day. Cant wait to pair my ranger with twilight cleric the next few levels. This is gonna be great.

We have a Druid in our party that loves casting Plant Growth. Admittedly, that sheer amount of battlefield control has allowed us to manage encounters well above our level, but our DM never noticed the bit requiring the presence of normal plants to grow. The party will likely hate me for telling him as we move into the snowy, barren, mountains at the Spine of the World.

@mentalrebllion1270

Жыл бұрын

Oh! Icewind Dale? Just tell them they can use conjure animals and summon some wolves. The sled dogs and the wolves have the same stat block and so it can probably be flavored that you can summon sled dogs instead of wolves. This way you can make up for breaking the news to them. Instant transportation team! Only lasts an hour but if you have a ranger with arctic for favored terrain it will make it so much easier to cross a lot of ground quickly. Just ask your dm if it’s ok to do this.

22:58 made me chuckle

Talking about entangled reminded me of one of my favorite moments from a game. In a special homebrew game, our DM threw us into a realm jumping style campaign where we were sent to various worlds from literature. We've been to Seuss-World, there's a whole Horror section where we fought classic monsters of gothic horror like Dracula, Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, the Wolfman, etc. But the first place we went was the Hundred Acre Woods where a darkness had infested and corrupted all the characters. Winnie the Pooh had been taken over a demon embodying Gluttony. So Winnie was this hulking blob, pursuing us to eat us. We jumped over this small creek/river that had acidic water. Winnie tried to walk through it not being as dextrous as us and started to take damage. I was playing my Eskimo styled, Hobbit Druid of the Stars, named Oslo Frosthill. I was the main caster of the group and so I dropped an Entangle spell right there while he was in the acid water. We climbed a tree branch and jumped back accross and avoided the combat encounter. Which was extra fun for me, because I designed my little guy to avoid combat as much as possible.

I find people forget about lightning arrow. It's really great for nova damage on top of whatever else you can apply to the weapon, such as sharpshooter and sneak attack if you multiclass, and gives good aoe. It also stacks with Hunter's Volley to pack more in the punch. I know some people get confused by "it replaces the weapon's normal damage," but this is really if you have say an oathbow. You won't get the extra d6s if you marked the creature with it. Normal weapon damage (from what I looked up, ranger main atm) is just the d8 or d6 the weapon normally is.

I'm surprised goodberry wasn't mentioned nor the new smite rangers get: searing smite. no mention of guardian of nature for 4th? Lots of good spells left unmentioned. Summon beast and summon fey are also good alternative picks for when you have DMs that doesnt let you pick with the conjure spells.

@jamesfreeman3617

3 жыл бұрын

I don't see healing spirit here for some reason.

@SodaPopBarbecue

3 жыл бұрын

@@jamesfreeman3617 Nerfed.

@strix4609

3 жыл бұрын

Why would you take Searing smite over Hunter's Mark ?

@TheRobversion1

3 жыл бұрын

@@strix4609 depends on the build. Hunters mark mathematically is definitely better if you're doing multiple attacks (like gloomstalkers). But lets say fey wanderers who just focus on 1 strong attack (usually via booming blade from another class or magic initiate) with multiple bonuses (plus a multiclass into cleric for path of the grave for double dmg) will do better with searing smite once you have the ability to upcast it to 2+ levels. Here's a 10th level sample that does this combo. Race: custom lineage=feat-orcish fury 4 rune knight: fire rune (2d6), action surge, superior technique fighting style (any maneuver that deals 1d6), asi (str +2) 4 fey wanderer: searing smite (upcastable to 2nd level), dreadful strike (1d4), asi (magic initiate for booming blade 1d8 and find familiar), duelling fighting style 2 grave domain: path to the grave for double dmg on a single attack tactic: 1st action path to the grave, bonus action upcast searing smite, action surge: booming blade + fire rune + maneuver + dreadful strike + orcish fury. Profit. The above assumes an ally member or your familiar has gone ahead of you in initiative and set you up for advantage for that 1 attack..otherwise use zephyr strike over searing smite.

@strix4609

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheRobversion1 That seems really circonstancial, which leads it to be a not that great spell, compare to hunter's mark, which is cheap(1use for one fight, depending on concentration), with out of combat utility.

In my irl game, I spent 3 in-game days tracking the Rogue because they took off with the Quest Item for the main problem in the current arc. I made excellent use of my ability to cast Speak With Animals and Conjure Animals in order to balance the scales against her covering her tracks and the lead she had on the Paladin and I by using the conjured animals as Scouts to scope out a larger area than I could on my own. I also summoned a Giant Elk on the 3rd day to gain ground rapidly as the rogue was now traveling across open ground to get to the city, taking a level of exhaustion to summon another one for the remainder of the sprint as I had run out of appropriately powerful spell slots. The DM gave me two Inspiration tokens for my creativity and RP.

I forgot the 2nd part of Freedom of Movement. At first I was like.... what do you mean "unrestricted by difficult terrain", we got Land' Stride, but restrained and paralysis immunity is pretty nifty for sure.

I tend to main rangers. When I do so my usual spells I take are entangle and zephyr strike with the third 1st level varying depending on how I’m playing my ranger and what the party needs (sometimes this will be my healing spell, sometimes not). For when I finally get second level spells, I will always pick up pass without trace first. Period. It is amazingly useful for most things I need by then and I really helps the group, especially those with disadvantage on their rolls for stealth. After this? Well it will highly vary depending on the party and the campaign. I usually discuss a great deal with both dm and party when I get to this point to tailor my spells to what will actually be used. Lesser restoration isn’t usually a bad one to have though if I really must choose but so is spike growth.

I am playing pre tasha's but a druidic hunter, love zephyr strike and Primal savagery I got from magic initiate

A spell that fits well with my build of Sharpshooter Hunter is Hail of Thorns. Opening combat with it means that I tag most of the conveniently grouped up enemies for at least 1 damage to use Colossus Slayer. The following turn, I use Hunter's Mark, and strike for everything I've got. Our DM describes those hits as "somehow, a single arrow exploded the zombie." Goodberry is underrated, but at early levels it's more reliable than Cure Wounds (if someone eats the 10 fruits, that's 10HP recovered) and can keep the party well-fed if there isn't food to be found. The main downside is that it can't be effectively used in combat, because, unlike Breath of the Wild Link, players can't eat a dozen fruit, pumpkin stew, spicy seafood risotto, two whole coconuts and a roast chicken to recover health in a split second between enemy attacks, and spending an action to heal just 1HP is sad. The versatility of ranger spells made me consider a pirate ranger build. Animal companion would be a shark, favored enemies: people (start with humans and add more prey as they level up), favorite environment: ocean, spells related to water mobility and dealing damage. Really can't shake the image of them jumping off a ship onto the back of a great white shark to pick off the unfortunate enemies that fall into the water.

I wanna say for conjure woodland beings don't count out the humble satyr. While they aren't spell casters (barring a DM allowing for the pan pipe variant) but there are four of these goat men and they all have a bow and short sword attacks. 31 hp and range attacks make for some nice extra damage

@XoRandomGuyoX

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I had a Druid that would regularly conjure a Satyr Squad. They're fairly good minions considering that 5e doesn't take too kindly to minion armies. There's also some RP possibilities if you play it as the same Satyrs appearing each time, and hanging around outside of battle to build rapport.

@grayrook8637

3 жыл бұрын

@@XoRandomGuyoX ya I fell into liking them playing a shepard circle druid with making the attacks all magical having like 40 plus hit points as a go to meat shield and damage dealer.

And my ranger is the only "divine"-caster iny my wildemount party... Goodberry and lesser restoration it is....