You Should have mentioned Polearm Master and Great Weapon Master Feats, because those have the most synergy with Swarmkeeper Ranger. You can hover 10 ft above enemy, attack him with your reach weapon and he cannot fight back. If you combine this with Sentinel, he cannot even run away. Apart from that, if you knock the enemy prone with your first attack, you can follow with 2 attacks that turn, both with advantage, so GWM -5/+10 feature shines here! And ability to move yourself 5 ft with swarm is the best with reach weapon, because you can use it as free disengage on your first attack and you can still attack that enemy with your second attack. Without reach melee weapon, you can either risk and save this feature for your last attack - so if you miss, you cannot disengage, or use on your first attack and not be able to attack that enemy for the second time. To sum it up, Swarmkeeper wants: 1. 3 attacks (so he can have 2 attacks after knocking enemy prone) 2. Attack in melee (to have advantage against prone enemy and have opportunity attacks when hovering above enemy) 3. -5/+10 option to maximize advantage of having and advantage (if it makes sense ;-)). 4. have reach weapon, so he can use swarm as free disengage. And all those 4 points can be covered only with PAM and GWM feats and reach weapon (Sentinel is just an addon that also counts).
I have social saboteur Drow Swarmkeeper Ranger that was fun, applying Favored Enemy on various races with Canny on Investigation to accrue rumors and info on my targets. Not to mention Speak with Animals for informants and spies. Fun way to play an urban ranger, honestly. And then when combat came up, I'd throw down an AOE control spell like Web or Spike Growth and start pushing enemies with my Gathered Swarm.
So, with piercer, if you crit with a longbow and have hunters mark, your total damage would be 3d8+4d6? And that woul be from level 3, when you pick the subclass.
Hey awesome video! I saw on another site the subclass had slightly different features. Do you know if your video has the most up to date and accurate info?
Thanks! The information in this video is accurate and up to date. What you likely found was the Unearthed Arcana version of this subclass, which is playtest material created before the subclass's official publication. Either way, you can trust my video's information to be accurate and you can find the official publication of this subclass in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.
The triggers on attack spells does that like add the 1d6 to all targets hit? I'm not sure I understand your reasoning for like hail of thorns for example
That spell was used as an example purely for the functionality of combining the effects of your Gathered Swarm feature with a spell. You are correct, the AOE damage caused by Hail of Thorns will not benefit from Gathered Swarm, but the initial hit made that's a part of casting Hail of Thorns does. That's all I was trying to explain.
Druids and Rangers have potential to multiclass well. I can't say for certain of the Swarmkeeper and the Spores in particular, but I suspect some semblance of viability would still be possible. You could even flavor your Ranger swarm off as a cloud of sentient spores. 🤔
You Should have mentioned Polearm Master and Great Weapon Master Feats, because those have the most synergy with Swarmkeeper Ranger.
You can hover 10 ft above enemy, attack him with your reach weapon and he cannot fight back. If you combine this with Sentinel, he cannot even run away.
Apart from that, if you knock the enemy prone with your first attack, you can follow with 2 attacks that turn, both with advantage, so GWM -5/+10 feature shines here!
And ability to move yourself 5 ft with swarm is the best with reach weapon, because you can use it as free disengage on your first attack and you can still attack that enemy with your second attack. Without reach melee weapon, you can either risk and save this feature for your last attack - so if you miss, you cannot disengage, or use on your first attack and not be able to attack that enemy for the second time.
To sum it up, Swarmkeeper wants:
1. 3 attacks (so he can have 2 attacks after knocking enemy prone)
2. Attack in melee (to have advantage against prone enemy and have opportunity attacks when hovering above enemy)
3. -5/+10 option to maximize advantage of having and advantage (if it makes sense ;-)).
4. have reach weapon, so he can use swarm as free disengage.
And all those 4 points can be covered only with PAM and GWM feats and reach weapon (Sentinel is just an addon that also counts).
What's this, a well-edited D&D video that explains AND gives recommendations for making a build?!
Insta sub
I love the swarmkeeper subclass so much!
Hey, I just recently found your channel and I really love your informational and Storytime videos. Great video as always. Keep it up! :)
I have social saboteur Drow Swarmkeeper Ranger that was fun, applying Favored Enemy on various races with Canny on Investigation to accrue rumors and info on my targets. Not to mention Speak with Animals for informants and spies. Fun way to play an urban ranger, honestly. And then when combat came up, I'd throw down an AOE control spell like Web or Spike Growth and start pushing enemies with my Gathered Swarm.
This was great
thoughts on combining this with cavalier fighter + sentinel feat + reach weapon. become the ultimate tank.
So, with piercer, if you crit with a longbow and have hunters mark, your total damage would be 3d8+4d6? And that woul be from level 3, when you pick the subclass.
gods that is nearly the level of damage my paladin does... at level six.*goes to make another ranger*
Hey awesome video! I saw on another site the subclass had slightly different features. Do you know if your video has the most up to date and accurate info?
Thanks! The information in this video is accurate and up to date. What you likely found was the Unearthed Arcana version of this subclass, which is playtest material created before the subclass's official publication. Either way, you can trust my video's information to be accurate and you can find the official publication of this subclass in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.
@@deathbyd4 awesome thank you!
I have a tabaxi swarmkeeper with a swarm of rats :)
Workin on a dhampir multiclassin swarmkeeper wit circle of spores
I started as a thri kreen with this multiclass and some shadow monk
The triggers on attack spells does that like add the 1d6 to all targets hit? I'm not sure I understand your reasoning for like hail of thorns for example
That spell was used as an example purely for the functionality of combining the effects of your Gathered Swarm feature with a spell. You are correct, the AOE damage caused by Hail of Thorns will not benefit from Gathered Swarm, but the initial hit made that's a part of casting Hail of Thorns does. That's all I was trying to explain.
@@deathbyd4 awesome thank you for the clarification. I'm just about to roll swarmkeeper for the first time it looks like a blast
What if I was to multiclass this with a "Circle of Spores" Druid?
Druids and Rangers have potential to multiclass well. I can't say for certain of the Swarmkeeper and the Spores in particular, but I suspect some semblance of viability would still be possible. You could even flavor your Ranger swarm off as a cloud of sentient spores. 🤔
I swear this entire subclass was designed coz someone read 'worm' by John McCrae and wanted to roleplay Taylor lol