DnD Ranger 5e class guide

Spellcasting

Level: One

Best Ranger spells

Rangers aren’t blessed with many spell slots, so it’s essential to make the most of the spells you can take. As such, here’s a breakdown of some of the best Ranger spells you can take as a beginner.

Hunter’s Mark (Level 1)

Hunter’s Mark is a must-have for any Ranger, and many of your features rely on you using it. Slap it on an enemy, and you’ll deal an extra 1d6 Force damage to that target whenever you make a weapon attack, with an advantage on any Perception (Wis) or Survival (Wis) check. Unsurprisingly, Hunter’s Mark comes in most useful when you’re fighting a single Strength-based foe, as opposed to when mobbed by multiple enemies.

Fog Cloud (Level 1)

Fog Cloud creates a 20-foot-radius sphere of fog on a point within range which can be plenty useful in a pinch. When you need to lose a chasing horde or to disrupt ranged enemies taking shots at your party, Fog Cloud is an excellent spell to have in your back pocket.

Ensnaring Strike (Level 1)

Casting this as a bonus action (with Concentration), you can pin an enemy in thorny magical vines until the spell ends. While restrained, the enemy takes 1D6 piercing damage at the start of each new turn. Whether it’s pinning down a marauding foe before they can reach your lines, or trapping their back-line spellcaster in place so your Rogue can dart forward and finish them off, Ensnaring Strike can be highly useful for low-level crowd control.

Silence (Level 2)

Inside and outside battle, Silence is an incredible spell. When casting Silence, you create a 20-foot-diameter bubble, anywhere up to a range of 120 feet, where no sound can pass through or be created.

You can be creative with Silence – sure, its main use is to stop a spellcaster using verbal spells, but it could also stifle communication between two people. It’s worth noting, too, that this spell can prevent Thunder damage – relevant if you’re facing an enemy who uses this as their main damage output.

Pass Without Trace (Level 2)

Outside of combat, this spell can be key to your party’s survival. When cast, you and your companions are masked from detection: each creature you choose, within 30 feet of you, gets a +10 bonus to Dex (Stealth) checks. This spell is incredible when escaping from powerful enemies, or setting up a surprise attack.

Favored Enemy

Level: One

Deft Explorer

Level: Two

Fighting Style

Level: Two

You choose a Fighting Style from the list of feats. More specifically, you can choose from:

• Archery – +2 to attack rolls with ranged weapons.
  Blind Fighting – Gain 10ft of Blindsight.
• Defense – +1 to armor class while in light, medium, or heavy armor.
• Dueling – While wielding a single one-handed melee weapon, your damage rolls with it get +2.
• Great Weapon Fighting – When rolling damage for a two-handed or versatile melee weapon, any 1 or 2 on the die is a 3.
• Interception – When a creature you see hits another creature within five feet of you with an attack roll, you can spend a reaction to reduce the damage by 1d10 plus your proficiency bonus.
• Protection – When you see a creature attack a target other than you within five feet, you can use a reaction and your shield to give the attacker’s attack rolls disadvantage until the start of your next turn (as long as they stay within five feet).
• Thrown Weapon Fighting – Add +2 to damage rolls with Thrown weapons.
• Two-Weapon Fighting – When making an extra attack with a Light weapon, add your ability modifier to the damage.
• Unarmed Fighting – Unarmed strikes can deal bludgeoning damage equal to 1d6 plus your Strength modifier, or a d8 if you aren’t holding weapons or a shield.

Ranger Subclass

Level: Three

From level three, you specialize in a particular Ranger subclass:

Beast Master

Found in: Player’s Handbook (2024)

A Beast Master Ranger’s main gimmick is their command over animals. This is primarily seen in their level-three Primal Companion ability, which lets them summon a supernatural ‘primal’ beast of the land, sea, or sky.

You get to choose the beast’s specific form, and its stats are tied to yours. For instance, your Wisdom modifier affects damage, while your level determines HP. You can summon a new beast with a different appearance after each long rest.

Your beast acts during combat on your turn, and while it can move or react, you have to spend a bonus action if you want it to attack or take any action except Dodge. You can also give up one of your attacks whenever you take the Attack action to give the beast an extra attack. If your beast dies you can spend one minute and a spell slot to bring it back to life with full HP.

The level-13 Bestial Fury ability lets your companion attack twice when they take the Beast’s Strike action. Plus, the first time it hits a creature affected by your Hunter’s Mark on a turn, they deal extra force damage equal to the spell’s bonus damage. Finally, at level 15, Share Spell lets spells you cast that target yourself affect your Primal Companion too.

Fey Wanderer

Found in: Player’s Handbook (2024)

A Fey Wanderer gains their unusual abilities from their experiences traversing the Feywild. The first boon this gives them is a list of spells that are always prepared:

The level-three Dreadful Strikes ability lets you deal an extra 1d4 psychic damage when you hit a creature with a weapon. This goes up to 1d6 at Level 11. Each creature can only take this damage once per turn. Also at level three, Otherworldly Glamor gives you a bonus to Wisdom checks equal to your Wis modifier, as well as proficiency in either Deception, Persuasion, or Performance.

From level seven, Beguiling Twist gives you advantage on saving throws to avoid or end the Charmed or Frightened conditions. Also, when a creature within 120 feet of you avoids or ends one of these conditions, you can force another creature within that distance of you to make a Wisdom save or have that effect transferred to them.

At level 11, Fey Reinforcements lets you cast Summon Fey without material components or concentration (though doing so means the spell only lasts for one minute). You can also cast it once per long rest without using a spell slot.

Level 15 offers Misty Wanderer, an ability that lets you cast Misty Step without spell slots a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier per long rest. You can also bring a willing person within five feet of you with you when you cast the spell.

Gloom Stalker

Found in: Player’s Handbook (2024)

The Gloom Stalker is the Ranger equivalent of a DnD Rogue, as they’re extra nimble and stealthy. At level three, Dread Ambusher adds your Wisdom modifier to initiative rolls and gives you 10ft of extra speed on the first turn of combat.

Plus, when you hit a creature with a weapon you have the option of dealing an extra 2d6 psychic damage. You can use this damaging effect once per turn, and have a limited number of uses per long rest (determined by your Wisdom modifier).

You’ll also gain some new, always-prepared spells from level three:

Finally, level three comes with Umbral Sight which gives you 60 feet of Darkvision (or 60 more if you already have it). Plus, a hallmark of this subclass, while in complete darkness, you are invisible to creatures that would typically use their Darkvision to see you.

At level seven, Iron Mind gives you proficiency in Wisdom saving throws – or Intelligence and Charisma saves if you were already proficient with Wisdom saves.

Level 11 brings Stalker’s Flurry, which increases the extra damage dealt by Dread Ambusher to 2d8. Whenever you use that effect on a creature you can either make another attack against a second creature within five feet or make your target and everything within 10 feet of it have the frightened condition until the beginning of your next turn.

Lastly comes Shadowy Dodge at level 15. You can use a reaction to impose disadvantage on an attack roll made against you. After it resolves, you get to teleport 30 feet to a space you can see.

Hunter

Found in: Player’s Handbook (2024)

As the name implies, a Hunter has all the skills needed to track and kill. This starts at level three with Hunter’s Lore, which lets you know if a creature affected by your Hunter’s Mark has any particular immunities, resistances, or vulnerabilities.

Also at level three comes Hunter’s Prey, which gives you one of two benefits:

• Colossus Slayer – Once per turn, a weapon attack deals an extra 1d8 damage to creatures missing any of their hit points.
• Horde Breaker – Once on your turn, when you make a weapon attack, you can make another attack with the same weapon against a different creature within five feet that you haven’t already attacked.

Any time you rest, you can swap your choice of option. At level seven, Defensive Tactics gives you two additional options to choose from (which can also be swapped on a short or long rest):

• Escape the Horde – Opportunity attacks against you have disadvantage.
• Multiattack Defense – A creature that hits you with an attack roll has disadvantage on all other attack rolls against you that turn.

Level 11’s Superior Hunter’s Prey means that, when you deal extra damage to a creature affected by Hunter’s Mark, you can deal that extra damage to a different monster within 30 feet of the first target. And finally, Superior Hunter’s Defense lets you use your Reaction to give yourself resistance to a damage type you’re about to be hit by from level 15.

Swarmkeeper

Found in: Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything

With Swarmkeeper, you can conjure swarms or spirits of nature, which can attack enemies, push them away from you, and more. You get decent spellcasting options that complement the Druidic Warrior Fighting Style. Swarmkeeper is a popular choice as it’s flavorful, and offers plenty of aesthetic juice for D&D players.

As you level up, your Swarm becomes more powerful. At seventh level, Writhing Tide lets you have the swarm fly you around the battlefield in its winged embrace.

At 11th level, the Swarm’s attacks do more damage, it knocks enemies prone when it carries them away from you, and it grants you half cover whenever you use Writhing Tide to fly. Finally, at 15th level, Swarming Dispersal lets you not only give yourself resistance to damage from an attack, but dissolve into your Swarm and teleport up to 30 feet away. Neat, huh?

Monster Slayer

Found in: Xanathar’s Guide to Everything

The Monster Slayer cares about analyzing enemies and expands on the Hunter subclass with more options. At third level, you’ll also get Slayer’s Prey, an ability that piles extra damage onto a single target, stacking with the damage from Hunter’s Mark. And at seventh, Supernatural Defense kicks in, giving you additional bonuses to saving throws and escaping grapples.

From there, your superlative shut-down skills keep getting better. At 11th level, Magic-User’s Nemesis allows you to cancel out your enemies’ spells (in the manner of Warhammer 40k’s Deny The Witch), and, at 15th level, Slayer’s Counter lets you make a free single weapon attack against your Slayer’s Prey any time that you would have to make a saving throw against it. If the attack hits, the save automatically passes, and you do damage with the attack; it’s pretty savage.

Horizon Walker

Found in: Xanathar’s Guide to Everything

In terms of strategy, Horizon Walkers play similarly to Gloom Stalkers when it comes to versatility – but, instead of skulking in shadows, these folks prefer to hop between dimensions.

Your subclass abilities start off strong, with Planar Warrior allowing you to use a Bonus Action to lump extra force damage onto your normal attacks. Ethereal Step, added at seventh level, grants you spell-slot-free access to the Etherealness spell, which is great for hijinx; jump to the Ethereal Plane for a turn, blink across the battlefield, and materialize right behind the enemy boss – why not, eh?

You’ll top out, at 15th level, with Spectral Defense. When you’re about to take hits, you can use this ability to effectively phase in and out of the current plane of existence, granting resistance to any attacks for the rest of the turn.

Not the flashiest or most bombastic of Ranger subclasses, possibly – but there’s a lot to be said for its ultra-mobility and sense of mystique.

Ability Score Improvement

Level: Four, Eight, 12, 16

Each time you unlock an Ability Score Improvement you have the choice of gaining +1 to two stats, +2 to one stat, or a feat you meet the prerequisites for.

Extra Attack

Level: Five

Expertise

Level: Nine

Foe Slayer

Level: 20

The class capstone, Foe Slayer turns your Hunter’s Mark damage die into a d10 rather than a d6.