Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 CrimsonAssassin Feb 04, 2015 11:22:55	Howdy folks!  I was wanting to ask a question before I look over the ranger's handbook to ask if rangers are any good. I have an old character, a cat-humanoid (homebrew race) who was a ranger back in 4E and was pretty much the typical DPR king with Twin Strike.  Well, now I want to revive him in 5E, but the flavor of the ranger doesn't suit him.  I kind of blame my ex DM for not really letting my character do ranger-y type things like forage for food and hunt game and the like.  Essentially, my character was deadly in combat and pretty sneaky.  Fighter/Rogue fit the idea better in terms of being damaging and sneaky and I've grown accustomed to him being just like that.  It would be odd if my character went from being this sick damage dealer to something that has situational damage (Favored Enemy). I'm leaning towards Fighter / Rogue with Archery because he pew-pew'd arrows.  Getting Extra Attack at Fighter 5 would bring back the Twin-Strike feel he had.
#2 mellored Feb 04, 2015 11:48:09	Fighter's deal more single target damage and are tougher.  But that's about all they do.   Rangers deal pretty good single target damage, have AoE, some control, and utility.  They can be rather squishy though. (Beastmasters aren't very good, much like 4e's).   Rogues have the most utility, but the least damage of the 3.  Unless you can manage to get OA's.  Though they can be pretty hard to kill, in an indirect manner.
#3 AaronOfBarbaria Feb 04, 2015 11:57:08	Rangers are good - their real potential is just less readily apparent when compared to other classes.   For example, you can tell a fighter does fantastic damage because they can use any weapon they want and attack a whole bunch of times... and a ranger can deal comparable damage, but it requires things like comboing together the Colossus Slayer bonus damage with damage enhancing spells such as Hunter's Mark.
#4 Timborama Feb 04, 2015 12:07:56	In addition to the above:   Rogue Assassin could work well, if you don't mind the level 9 and 13 abilities to be lackluster or out of place. But hey, maybe that's a new avenue you can pursue! Plenty of damage, there, especially if you can get the jump on people. Mixing in some fighter wouldn't be too bad, but too many levels will cost you Sneak Attack for not that much gain, depending. If you go for it, Action Surge is obviously a must! But will going beyond 5 be worth it...? And how many levels will you end up with by campaign end, anyway?   Also: Sharpshooter. Get it. Love it. Optional is Crossbow Expertise, but that's more if you want straight-up Rogue and no Fighter levels (but it allows you to shoot bows upclose without Disadvantage!).
#5 Illithidbix Feb 04, 2015 12:30:01	Depends a bit on the level, they actually seem pretty tooled at lower levels, not so sure at higher levels.   From my vague napkin maths, Hunter's Mark, Colossus Slayer and Extra Attacks combine pretty well for good damage at levels 3-5. Along with some cool AoE spells. I think they actually do more damage than Fighters during that time... but depends on frequency of combats because Action Surge.   Thing is though, there isn't much *single target damage* increase after that point. Until 17th level and Swift Quiver.   Also yeah: Hunter's Mark... it's kinda vital if you care about your combatness. So vital in my game I give it to rangers for free.
#6 Archon007 Feb 04, 2015 19:22:04	All the classes are good in their own way. It always frustrates me when players need to min/max or play the "best" class. Play the class you like and want to play regardless of it being the "best". This is a tabletop RPG not an mmo, you party isn't going to wipe because everyone isn't maximized.
(Reply to #6) jaappleton	Archon007 wrote:
#8 CrimsonAssassin Feb 04, 2015 23:54:52	Back from work and I gotta say that I appreciate everyoen's input and feedback!  I was thinking fighter/rogue because from my experience with my group, Fuma (my cat PC) was a damage dealing ranger.  Though, with 5E, our groups new focus is to get more in depth with the roleplaying aspect of D&D (and let's be honest, 4E was approximately 80% combat, 20% roleplaying, depending on your group). With a ranger, I really have to ask the DM, "Hey, what kind of monsters would we find in our adventures?" in order to decide which favored enemy would do me the most good.  They can also cast some spells, which could come in handy. I wasn't going to go Rogue assassin because he's a cat so it would be kind of hard for him to disguise himself without the use of magic.  For those who are confused, think Puss In Boots with a bow.  That's my character.  He did do some scouting and focused on ranged combat, so I'll have to read up on rangers. TO THE HANDBOOKS!  I don't know what level we're going to, but I enjoy studying and not just min/maxing, but making sure things make sense and are appropriate for my character.  The 5E ranger might open up some new ideas.
#9 Yunru Feb 05, 2015 3:33:34	The Fighter is the 4e Ranger. The Ranger is... 4e Hunter maybe?
#10 Ashur420 Feb 05, 2015 9:21:42	CrimsonAssassin wrote:
(Reply to #10) FrogReaver	Ashur420 wrote:
#12 Ashur420 Feb 05, 2015 9:22:33	FrogReaver wrote:
#13 FrogReaver Feb 05, 2015 9:40:06	Btw Rangers are freaking awesome all the way up to level 5.  After level 5 they just dont get enough to stay good.  In terms of Damage I'd put a lvl 5 ranger against a lvl 5 fighter any day.    I would suggest you look at a ranger lvl 5 rogue lvl 15.  It gives you the ranger feel and still really good damage.  Use hand crossbows + crossbow expertise.  You just made one beast of a ranger.  You still get the sneaky feel from rogue.  You still get the ranger feel from the ranger.  You still get hunters quarry.   I think it'll get both the mechanical feel and flavor feel of your previous character better.
(Reply to #12) FrogReaver	Ashur420 wrote: