Hi all I'm new to D&D and was curious to thoughts on a Ranger11/Rogue9 multiclass?
I was thinking of going Wood Elf for race and Outlander as a background, with a long bow as my primary weapon. Would this be viable for consistent damage?
I read a lot of posts of people being some what down on the ranger, especially towards the beast master, but would the extra damage from sneak attacks make up for any lacking damage? Plus the companion animal would always ensure I'd have a sneak attack if I were to attack an enemy not occupied by our groups fighter/cleric.
If I'm reading the multiclass spell slots section correctly i the PHB I'd still have 2 level 3 spell slots, so could get Lightning arrow, as well conjure animal for some extra damage when needed.
No no, it's the beast/melee Ranger that's in a bad place. Archer Rangers are good, and actually get support from the Ranger spells.
Are you planning to play from lv1, or starting higher? This has an effect on the 'best' multiclassing path...
Most games won't go to level 20 and those that do tend to stop soon after.
Personally, and I really mean that as I just got done rolling a wood elf rogue, I plan to go straight rogue for awhile. I might multiclass after level 5 as that's a break point for sneak attack and uncanny dodge.
Ah ok, thanks.
Yeh we're starting at level 1.
I was planning on going ranger first, then taking a level early in rogue for sneak attack, back to ranger to level 5 for the animal companion and extra attack, then I'm not sure. See how it goes after that. Think I'd rather focus on leveling Ranger as a priority for the spell access, unless the sneak attack bonus is much more effective.
At low levels I don't think it's that much more effective but for my build I have an eye on Cunning Action for the bonus dash, disengage, and hide (especially the dash, 70ft yes please!). That puts me one level away from another sneak attack die and arcane trickster. Which puts me one level away from a feat. Which puts me one level away from another sneak attack die and uncanny dodge. Level six has another round of expertise which is really nice but that's about it so I can afford to look at other classes.
For your build I'd probably go ranger five and then look at rogue. Similar idea really, the first level or ranger sucks (honestly it's terrible). Level two you get your fighting style. Level three you get your pet. Level four you get a feat. Level five your second attack and second level spells. At level six you get a new terrain and favored enemy (so basically a repeat of level one). So level five is a really good time to multiclass on a ranger too, at least in my opinion.
I've toyed around with a build similar to this. I would suggest two routes for your build.
A) take 5 levels in ranger, then 5 in rogue, then the last 10 as needed.
B) take 2 levels in ranger, then 2 in rogue, then finish each to 5 as desired.
Option A is mechanically stronger for levels 4-7, but option B gets you early access to sneak attack and cunning action. Personally I'd play two levels of ranger then you should have a much better idea of what levels will be helping your playstyle more.
Thanks for the replies and input 
I think I'll go the 5/5 route, seems to make the most sense (or atleast 2 levels of ranger and decide, though getting ranger to 5 seems to be best for the playstyle I'm aiming for).
I am starting the same character, ranger/rogue archer.
I think 5/5 is a good place to land, but the path has all sorts of possibilities. Right now I am thinking Ranger 3, then rogue 1, then who knows....
Do you think Beastmaster is the best choice? I really liked the idea of Collosus slayer or Hordbreaker....
Probably go assassin with the rogue. Arcane T is tempting, but not sure if it brings enough.
I'm not sure on best choice for the Ranger path to be honest. I personally liked the idea of have a pet to control in battle or scout ahead. The hunter features do look decent though for more raw power.
Arcane trickster seemed like too much spell choice, along with the ranger spells and minimal slots. Plus that would mean maintaing a higher intellect as well as wisdom for those spells to be effective.
Hunter for sure.
The best "Beastmaster" Ranger is a Hunter who takes Conjure Animals (Lv. 9) and Conjure Woodland Beings (Lv. 13). :P
In terms of raw power I would think hunter is stronger than beast master, but it can be hard to quantify the effect of your beast spotting an ambush before you get there.
As for the rogue subclass, I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss AT. It gives you bonus spell slots that you can use for ranger spells if you so choose, you can still completely dump int and use wis as your casting stat.
If I was going to play a character like this I would either go hunter/AT or beastmaster/assassin.
Frippet wrote:
RCanine wrote:
Assassin is more party-dependent than DM dependent. The advantage on the first round is pretty immune to DM fiat; just roll a higher initiative than your enemy. The party-dependent part is whether your group is stealthy enough to consistently ambush enemies so you can get your free crits. Or I suppose you could scout ahead and get a quick kill or severely injured enemy alone and have the rest of the party rush in to help, but that's hard to coordinate.
Anyway, here's a DPR comparison between an archer and a dual-wielder.