Finally A Ranger Worth Playing (Multi-Classing Mini Guide to make a True Ranger)
Most multi-class builds I see either lose versitility, only become good at a certain level, or sacrifice some aspect of gameplay to work. This build allows you to do everything, and not just decent, but better than most. You lose no RP value with this build becasue of all the skills you can aquire. Your survivability is high, some decent healing, can wear up to med armor for free if wanted(heavy with a feat), stealthy as anyone can get. This works for strength and dex, though dex is my favorite. You can take almost any role with this build and do it better than most while still being amazing at other roles, except end game spellcaster(Not made for that in the first place) or heal bot(but who wants to do that anyway).
Lastly the reason I made this build is becasue my favorite class is ranger(well equal to paladin atleast for top position). And past 5th level ranger becomes dull and falls way behind all other classes in a lot of aspects. This build allows me to get exactly what I want from a ranger and more.
Notes And Requirements*
- For build 1, I assume Hunter/Assassin/Champion.
- For build 2 I assume Hunter/Assassin.
- Build 1 goes farther into fighter, while build 2 sticks with rogue quite a bit longer.
- Both builds must still work with other archetypes.
- I also require a standard 5 feats/ability bumps, like most standard classes.
- Should feel like playing a class.
- Both need a capstone that feels right for level 20.
- The build must scale well and have no "dips" or "jumps". (No "coming on line at X level") Meaning you can start at any level.
- Lastly this is an attempt to have a true Ranger build, not a DPR build, without creating my own new set of rules for the Ranger class. Everything in this build is completely compliant with rules in the orginal text.
Now on to the builds.
Build 1 Build 2 Build 3(Place Holder)
Ranger 1 - 5 (5 levels) Ranger 1- 5 (5 levels)
Rogue 6 - 9 (4 levels) Rogue 6-17 (12 levels)
Fighter 10 - 20 (11 levels) Fighter 18- 20(3 levels)
What you gain(Build 1):
General Features (Including 5e Ranger abilities you still have.)
- 5 feats/stat bumps 4,9,13,15,19 (Hey, look a tiple multiclass with 5 feats)
- Solid scaling of DPR/Surviability all the way through.
- Ranger/Rogue/Fighter Archetypes. Holy crap you get all 3! Think of a hunter/assassin/champion.(Or hunter/assassin/battlemaster if you like manuvers)
- Versitile(I made this for dex builds, but would also be strong for strength builds as well. Also why not be an amazng tank with this build)
- Huge Nova potential.
- Extra attack at normal time.(A lot of builds put you behind in this sense)
- Colossues Slayer / Horde Breaker (Choose depending on party make-up.)
- Still have access to 2nd level spells from Ranger spells
Rogue Features
- Sneak attack 1d6 at levels 6-7 and 2d6 at levels 8+
- Auto-Crit for NOVA surpise round from assassin archetype.
- Tons of skills and rogue expertise(3 from ranger, an extra at level 6 from rogue along with thieves tools prof. and then the normal 2 from your background and more from your race potentially. Max amount of skills is 10, or 8 with 2 having expertise)
- With rogue expertise you are just as stealthy as anyone can get(Well those darn thieves may have an edge, but doesn't auto crits on surpise rounds sound so much better)
Fighter Features
- Action Surge(This is a nice upgrade)
- 2 more fighting styles (Only 1 extra if you're battlemaster, but those maunevers sound sweet too.)
- Improved crit range
- Second Wind (Not super strong by the time you get it, but hey ill take an extra heal any day.)
- Indomitable(Reroll that save, no one wants to die)
- Remarkable Athelete(Half Profiency in Str,Dex,Con saves you're not already prof. in. Not to shabby)
- 3 attacks at level 20 as your capstone(Gives it that true class feeling, who wants to just roll HP at level 20 and call it quits.)
What you gain(Build 2):
General Features (Including 5e Ranger abilities you still have.)
- 5 feats/stat bumps 4,8,12,14,16 (Hey, look a tiple multiclass with 5 feats)
- Solid scaling of DPR/Surviability all the way through.
- Ranger/Rogue Archetypes. Hunter / Assassin sounds fun to me.
- Huge Nova potential.
- Extra attack at normal time.(A lot of builds put you behind in this sense)
- Colossues Slayer / Horde Breaker (Choose depending on party make-up.)
- Still have access to 2nd level spells from Ranger spells
Rogue Features
- Sneak attack 1d6 at levels 6-7, 2d6 at levels 8-9, 3d6 at levels 10-11, 4d6 at levels 12-13, 5d6 at levels 14-15, 6d6 at levels 16+)
- Auto-Crit for NOVA surpise round from assassin archetype.
- Tons of skills and rogue expertise, and for this build twice!(3 from ranger, an extra at level 6 from rogue along with thieves tools prof. and then the normal 2 from your background and more from your race potentially. Max amount of skills is 12, or 8 with 4 having expertise)
- With rogue expertise you are just as stealthy as anyone can get(Well those darn thieves may have an edge, but doesn't auto crits on surpises rounds sound so much better).
- Uncanny Dodge(Half Damage trade for a reaction, yes and thank you)
- Evasion(You should already be amazing at dex saves, let's go the extra step and also take no damage)
- Reliable Talent(Now you only get a 10+ on ability checks....with stealth expertise...nothing needs to be said)
Fighter Features
- 1 more fighting style
- Second Wind (Not super strong by the time you get it, but hey ill take an extra heal any day.)
- Action Surge at level 19
- Fighter Archetype at level 20(Not A Bad Capstone)
What you miss from both builds:
- Heavy Armor Profiency (If you are going for a heavy armor ranger you'll have to use a feat, my orginal reason for this build is more for sneaking though.)
- If you are looking for a spellcasting ranger, I reccomend going build 2 and pick arcane trickster as your archetype, instead of assassin. (Also if that's your reason for ranger, why not just go druid?)
- Also the Ranger 7 & 11 features are something worth mentioning.
Special Note (For build 1): If you're in a game you're starting at level 14+, you can possibly switch out the ranger level 5 and switch it for rogue 5. This allows you to get an extra sneak attack dice and uncanny dodge for the trade of 2nd level ranger spells. This build was originally made for people progressing normally for smooth leveling. ( You can thank jacobrh for this idea.)
2nd level spells you give up.
Silence - For those pesky spellcasters
Spike Growth - Nice bit of AOE
Lesser Restoration - End diseases, blindness, defness, paralysis and poison.
Pass without Trace - Nice group stealth
Darkvision - For the Human/Halfling/Dragonborn Ranger
Reserved For Detailed Level Progression Later.
Notes For Later*
For Build 1
- Add subsection in about using battlesmaster, instead of champion archtype for build 1.
For Build 2
Add subsection for build 2 about droping 1 level of rogue and taking 1 extra level in fighter for the following tradeoff(s):
- 1d6 sneak attack / Imposter vs Fighter Archetype and earlier fightingstyle/secondwind/action surge.
- Also could take 11 rogue levels, push back the 5th feat to level 20 and get Fighting Style / Second Wind / Action Surge 2 levels earlier.
For Build 2(Possible Changes, but probably not)
- Take out level 12 Rogue and add in 1 more level of fighter. Switching your last feat to level 20 and pushing fightign style/secondwind/action surgre/archtype to levels 17-19.
It doesn't have 9th-level spellcasting. 
Other than that, no.
Matau99 wrote:
HermanTheWize wrote:
Matau99 wrote:
I am not sure if the fighters extra attacks at higher levels works with the build. in multiclassing it says Extra Attack from seperate classes don't work together, you only get one of them, so for that fighter11 capstone 3rd attack at level 20 i think you have to hit fighter 5 before you hit ranger 5.
for that matter you might want to skip ranger 5 and take an extra level of rogue instead. uncanny dodge and 1 mode sneak attack for 3d6 might be more useful. so ranger 4, rogue 5, fighter 11
Also you wouldnt have to take them in that order. you could of-course stack the levels as you go, but i wouldnt exceed the 4 ranger 5 rogue.
jacobrh wrote:
HermanTheWize wrote:
Matau99 wrote:
jacobrh wrote:
>not casting Gate
>not casting Shapechange
>not casting Clone
>not casting Forcecage
>not casting Reverse Gravity
>not casting Meteor Swarm
>not casting Foresight
>not casting Plane Shift
>not casting Maze
>not casting True Resurrection
>not casting Wish
Do you even caster 17? 
@jacobrh Put a note in about your idea for people starting at level 14+.
If just do ranger 5 rogue 15
FrogReaver wrote:
Herman,
I am playing that character right now....
I am doubtful about getting to lvl20, so Uncanny Dodge is worth more to me at level 10, then a possible extra attack at level 20
I ended up going Ranger2/Rogue2/Ranger5/Rogue5..... then most likely Battlemaster3.... then not sure... more fighter? more Rogue?
I understand the benefit of going straight Ranger5, but the SA die, Cunning Action, Expertise.... I didn't want to wait.
It does work well with the skills and the Expertise. Playing longbow archer and its working great, lots of fun.
Oh, as for cons...... Rangers do get some pretty useful spells. Those Summon spells are pretty powerful. A lot of their other abilities you can get via Rogue, but summoning 8 wolves.... good stuff.
HermanTheWize wrote:
Matau99 wrote:
jacobrh wrote:
Coredump00 wrote:
HermanTheWize wrote:
Coredump00 wrote:
Updated OP with new 2nd build that includes suggestions about gaining more rogue levels, while still having solid scaling through the lifetime of the character. I think the rogue lovers will really enjoy the second build as well. And currently correcting spelling errors and such to make the whole post look cleaner.
If anyone has any layout or format suggestions, let me know.
I'm at the point where I like build 2 better, but I think build 1 might have a little more flexability to it.
This build makes me think trickster / ek and either rogue 6 / fighter 9 or rogue 3 / fighter 12 -- lots of spells and a level 7 caster.
I don't see figher 11 as worth much. Paticularly since you only get it at level 20. Do you really need that many feats?
Also, why champion? Crit's don't stack or anything. But battlemaster dice can be multipled with assassin, and used for other fun stuff like menecing attack.
And i wouldn't understimate ranger 11. That's some nice stuff.
IMO: Ranger 5/ Figher 3-4 / Rogue 11-12.
RCanine wrote:
All of this I assume is in refrence to build 1.
mellored wrote:
HermanTheWize wrote:
mellored wrote:
IM playing a goliath in the Elemantal stuff (just started the level 1-4 packet in group) I might start taking some ranger or rouge to get some of the extra stuff mention in this. Str based off these builds feels like a super good wild-man field with out being a Barbarian as well.
cowleymen wrote:
I started as a fighter, and wanted a wild man field with out going the obvious barbarian. I think this will do great. IM short on the skills but that doesnt bother me all to much.
mellored wrote:
I'd start off with Rogue 1/Ranger 5. You get a permanent extra skill at a cost of a level of not being quite up to par(5th).
I'd look at the assortment this way:
Rogue 1
Rogue 1/Ranger 5
Assassin Rogue 4/Ranger 5/Battlemaster Fighter 4
Then add 7 levels depending on direction desired.
Need opinions on this.
Would you guys trade 1d6 sneak attack damage at 18 and imposter
for
Fighter archertype at 20, getting fighting style at 18 instead of 19, and action surge at 19 instead of 20?
Mommy_was_an_Orc wrote:
Need opinions on this.
Would you guys trade 1d6 sneak attack damage at 18 and imposter
for
Fighter archertype at 20,getting fighting style at 18 instead of 19, and action surge at 19 instead of 20?
HermanTheWize wrote:
Mommy_was_an_Orc wrote:
Currently working on a build where we dive farther into ranger, approxiamtly level 11 to 12ish.
Edit: Doing this may wipe out the ability to take "dips" into rogue and fighter, might just be 1.
Edit: The farthest we will possibly be going into fighter is 4, but 99% sure 3 will be the farthest, if we dive into fighter.
Stopping Points Ranger:
11: AOE ranger feature from Hunter
12: Feat
13: 4th levels spells
Stoping points Rogue 5 or 7
5: Uncanny Dodge
7:Evasion(also 2nd expertise at 6)
Fighter:
1 - Second Wind and Fighting style
2: Action surge
3 Archetype
Ranger2
Rogue2
Ranger5
Rogue5
Battlemaster3 (Or 4)
Rogue 12 (or 11)
Getting the extra attack at Ranger 5 is really handy, but so is Expertise, Cunning action and Sneak attack instead.
I like it. In many different configurations, rogue and fighter add very nicely to the ranger. It's almost like you can't go wrong, although some combinations are of course better. EK is also a fun option because it gives you spells and spell slots for the ranger spells, if that is what you are into. Casting off INT can be ameliorated by proper spell selection, or completely ignored if the slots are just for ranger spells. I suppose same is true for arcane trickster.
At what point does a character become not so much a ranger and more a whatever other class you're leveling up all the time?
All these builds have no more than 5 levels of ranger....
Patron1972 wrote: