I just started playing a 5e campaign and it's a first for all of us. I played 3e and 3.5e extensively, but I skipped 4e and haven't played in years so I'm a bit rusty on my character building as it is and now the rules are all different...
Anyway, I am already a 4th level Ranger so I can't change the first 4 levels (so I can't start as a Fighter or a Rogue for the saves or skills) and I've already taken the Two-Weapon Fighting Style and Sharpshooter (I know not specializing isn't ideal here, but my party is very back heavy.. 1 frontliner, 3 casters, and me so I have to switch between ranged and melee a lot). I came up with 3 builds to choose between and they're all the same up to 11th level. At that point, I don't know where to turn and I was hoping some of you that are more experienced with 5e could help.
At 11th level, I'll have:
Ranger (Hunter) 8 / Rogue (Assassin) 3 - at this point I'll have Two-Weapon Fighting, Sharpshooter, Assassinate, and Alert
From here I could either go:
Ranger 15 / Rogue 3 / Fighter 2 - This would add Archery Style and Action Surge to double up on the Assassinate round plus another feat (Defensive Duelist or Lucky) for a total of 3 feats or,
Ranger 17 / Rogue 3 - 5th level spells at 4 feats (Defensive Duelist AND Lucky?) or,
Ranger 16 / Rogue 4 - Give up 5th level spells for a 5th feat.
What do you all think?
You're taking nothing but feats, are your stats maxed already? If not, I would HIGHLY recommend getting at least a 20 Dex, costing you 2 feats. 
And then, honestly, I would go with Ranger12/Fighter4/Rogue4. 5th level Ranger spells are... nice, but not the best spells in the world. Unlike the Paladin *grumble*. Battlemaster would add so many options for you, I might spare a feat slot for Martial Adept to grab some more Manuvers and an extra Superiority Dice per fight. And I would probably stop taking Ranger levels at 5, and jump into multiclassing Rogue and then Fighter. You have Extra Attack at lvl5, you can branch out and come back to Ranger after you add nice options from other classes.
FabulousRex wrote:
Good question. Sadly the Ranger features are only middle of the road, and easily the least effective of any class that gets Extra Attack. If you're taking Assassin with Rogue, their features are pretty crappy too except for super-specific social disguising. Not the low CHA Ranger's usual strong point. The rest of the base Rogue features are pretty awesome, but the Ranger does get some pretty nice features as well, particularly if you want to be able to deal with hordes. Using Volley twice with Action Surge during a surprise round can drop a huge swath of Auto Crits onto the field, with one lucky monster eating your Sneak Attack crit as well. 
But you can TOTALLY drop Ranger if you want. Hell, War Cleric makes a better multi than the rest of Ranger IMO.
Is there an argument for Ranger 5 as part of ranger 5 / rogue 3+ / fighter x? Or better to just go fighter...
Ranger adds something most weapon using builds don't consider, AOE effects. Particularly Archer Rangers, which are better supported at the moment, IMO. So if you wanna, Horde Breaker and Volley/Whirlwind Attack are probably the strongest picks for Hunter abilities, and well worth staying in Ranger if you want help that direction. Otherwise, yeah, probably best to take alot more Rogue than anything else after Ranger 5, maybe Fighter 3-4 if you want to add some nova abilities.
Hey replies! Strange I never got notified.. I just happen to be browsing the post headers and this one seemed familiar! 
Anyways, yeah my DEX is already 20. I learned yesterday that it'll probably be many many months before I even get to level 11, so my plans are going to have to change considerably. Seeing as I'm probably going to be in the 7-10 range for a long long time, I'm thinking of just going Ranger 5/Fighter 1/Rogue 1 to try to get some abilities that I can actually use in the forseeable future. I need to avoid the builds that are awesome at 20 but boring leading up to 20, because I ain't never gonna get there.
I'm already stuck with the Hunter Ranger so I can't change my first class. If I had known this ahead of time, I probably would have gone with an Eldritch Knight or something.
Anyways, thanks for replying!
I'd say Ranger 12/Fighter 3/Rogue 5
Since you have TWF, grab sharpshooter, alert, and then Resilient (WIS).
Build Ranger 5 -> Fighter 3 -> Rogue 3 -> Ranger 7 -> Rogue 2
I'd recommend 5 ranger / 3 assassin / 12 battle master. Excellent burst potential, 3rd attack, 5 ability score increases and 2nd level ranger spells. As you'll be busy using your bonus action for tranferring Hunter's Mark, I'd personally skip the hand crossbow and stick with a longbow.