30:28 "Players, who are very forgetful with their abilities..." In Shadow of Drakkenheim, Kelly describes Wilhelm doing something dramatic, and then rolls low, "Darn." Joe, "I'm sure that Wilhelm is more LUCKY than that..." Kelly, "Oh, yeah, I spend a Luck Point!"
I'd just like to point out, if you combine favored enemy with deft explorer, you get 3 extra languages at level 1 and 1 more at 6th and 14th levels. For the class that's normally a loner wilderness hunter archetype, ironically it just became the best non magical interpreter in the game.
I would agree, but without spells, a storm sorcerer with the sage background as a variant human with the linguist feat you get: - Common, +1 (human languages) - +3 (linguist) - +2 (sage) - Primordial and the elemental languages from storm sorcerer
In two separate campaigns that I DM, I have three players that wanted to be Rangers (2 Beast Masters, 1 Monster Slayer). I recommended that they all take every TCE change to have the best time playing the characters. Taking the advice, all three of these Rangers are doing amazing in their groups and having a blast with the updates and changes. Highly recommended!
28:35 Quick thing, Steady Aim, while clearly designed for Ranged attacks, isn’t limited to Ranged attacks. You can use it with melee attacks (wouldn’t recommend using it on melee attacks but you can).
There's also nothing stopping you from using steady aim on spell attacks Also it only stops your movement on your turn, so a scout rogue can still use there reaction movement. It also works well with the tabaxi's Feline Agility
For my player's Ranger, I just took away Favored Foe's concentration requirement. Hasn't been unbalanced at all and allows him to be a heavy hitter in the group
@@StephanG007 I kinda like the homebrew that favored foe does not require concentration but cant stack hunters mark or hex. It works well because it eliminates the need to use hunters mark and then allows you to use other concentration spells.
One thing I noticed was, Steady Aim doesn't require it to be a ranged attack. Most of the time a melee based rogue will be better off using their bonus action for another attack or action, but in niche circumstances, Steady Aim can be useful.
1000%. This video really made me think I screwed up. My rogue got involved in duels, in which I used steady aim and DECEMATED my enemies. I then thought after this that I royally screwed his encounter balance and apologized. Back at that game today and I double checked the RAW in Tasha's and confirmed I was in bounds. Really important distinction. I've felt bad about this for days thinking I screwed his plans up.
Argument against Hunter's Mark: it takes a spell known. Rangers have so few of these that having favoured foe means they can take a bigger range of spells.
This is exactly how I viewed it. In a world with so many good concentration spells, you want to save your slots for more than hunters mark. And if you want hunters mark-- this is nearly there.
Exactly! Why not to take entangle, goodberry or absorb elements, even fearie fire (trougth the magic initiate feat) instead Hunter's Mark? I agree with you guys
I mean sure, but the flip side is you get a pitiful number of uses out of Favored Foe, and once the target dies you have to spend another use. Hunter’s Mark lasts as long as needed because you can change targets
@@deadpoolrwbyfan8419 it uses a bonus action to switch targets. So if there's a lot of enemies and you have two weapon fighting or crossbow expert, it's more worth to just attack twice
It does last an hour and can switch targets versus the 1 minute favored foe. Favored foe is also only proficiency mod per long rest, too. So while you could realistically squeeze that 1 first level slot between two encounter types and can recast later on if needed, your favored foe is only going to be used 2 times per adventuring day before level 5. And then by level 5 it's just better to summon beast.
Hey, I'd like to point out that Steady Aim can be used on any atttack roll not only a ranged attack. This is great, because it means rogue's can potentially fight one-on-one more reliably.
Steady aim is better than people give it credit for. I've set up my rogue in the back as an archer rather than a hit n run kind of character so the limited movement hasn't bothered me. It is an easier way to get advantage because my DM requires crafty ways to stay hidden.
@@norandomnumbers shut your eyes. Then you are considered blinded. The blindsight takes over. But, you'd be open to adv attacks from ranged chars. Though to me, sunlight sensitivity is too easily delt with by something called sun glasses/goggles. It makes no sense that races with this issue wouldn't make them.
@@robertmore703 This doesn't work. The disadvantage on attacks has nothing to do with sight, it has to do with physically being in sunlight. Think of it as a curse, not a physical trait of the race.
another reason to use favored foe over hunter's mark is if you're playing as a beastmaster or drakewarden that have their bonus action pretty locked down by controlling their pet
Playing a beastmaster and never took hunters mark... I'm always concentrating on some other spell, but it sometimes it drops and If I want save spell slot I use FavFoe
The main benefit of Blessed Warrior that I see is ranged attacks. Paladins are notoriously Melee only, so having a reliable ranged option in Toll the dead is very neat.
@@andmos1001 the alternative is handaxes and javelins, which do not work so well with extra attack RAW, so TdD or sacred flame are better options imo. Also where do Wizards come from? I never mentioned wizards, and they arent common enemies either
Blind Fighting + Fog Cloud on a Ranger is a pretty good combo, similar to Devil Sight + Darkness on a Warlock. Also if you are playing a race with no Darkvision or with Sunlight Sensitivity, you can just close your eyes and see fine. Blinded condition is also moot here. Or if you are getting annoyed by enemies constantly avoiding you by going invisible and such. Heck depending on how your DM rules and interprets illusions, it may even help with that. Blind Fighting can be pretty good.
An artificer rogue, in the same vein as the arcane trickster, would be excellent to see. You could reflavor an arcane trickster but ah well. As for the strength-based rogue, I'm sorry but that's just a fighter with skills feats.
@@Johnny0Masters warlock spells are cast at their highest level so, in effect, a level 10 character with 3 levels of paladin and 7 of warlock regains a 4th level spell with this ability. Then smite with 5d8 a 3rd time.
@@jg2096 Unless I'm missing some loop hole this wouldn't work. Pact Magic spell slots don't just cast as higher level, the way it's written their level increases. The level spell of spell slot recovered is capped at half your proficiency bonus (rounding up) so they couldn't recover their pact magic slots at 3/7. They could for example at 3/3. If this is for a hybrid melee build this feature would work better with one of the stabby bard colleges.
@@wewerepirates1116 Holy crap you are correct. I overlooked that part. Thanks for the clarification. I guess it would be kind of broken if that were the case though.
I dunno, in the Favored Enemy/Foe debate, I think they understated the fact that the bonuses that they mapped out are limited only to certain creature types, whereas the new version is not. Which means, end of the day, that there are several circumstances where that class ability ends up being entirely worthless. You can be the best Zombie Hunter in the lands, but when you are trying to track an owlbear you may as well not have Enemy, but Foe will have value in both situations.
Honestly, I think my favorite addition between these additional features was the fighting style that allows the Paladin to take a couple Cleric cantrips. Imo, a Paladin is truly at their best when they're more invested in acting in more of a support capacity instead of looking for world-ending nova damage, and even taking just two Cleric cantrips can make them a so much more potent support character. In fact, I theory-crafted a Paladin/Bard multiclass that took that fighting style, and I'd argue it was possibly one of the best supports I'd theory-crafted (between that or the Paladin/Celestial Warlock build with the same fighting style).
I like a lot of these changes especially for the ranger however I am a little disappointed by favorite foe. In the UA it did not require concentration and that was what I liked best The rangers concentration is so locked on hunters mark It is frustrating to want to use other spells
Yes! It’s so bullshit that they added concentration to it! It’s one of, if not the only, class feature which requires concentration. And you can tell they only added it to prevent rangers from stacking the Favored Foe mark with Hunter’s Mark. Which is even dumber when you consider that there’s no such built in restriction for Hexblade Warlocks, who can layer Hexblades Curse, Hex and Bestow Curse on a a target all they want!
There is also a viable case for favored foe, for when you are using beast master, drakewarden, or any ranger that needs to use their bonus action to trigger their extra damage. But if you are picking a class that doesn't do it, then pick favored enemy
A thing about Blind Fighting--You don't necessarily have to multiclass. If you play a tielfing or drow, you can innately cast Darkness once a day once you hit level 5.
In my homebrew, I simply take away concentration from Hunter's Mark. It is a class feature that does not use spell slots... Think about why a Barbarian does not have to concentrate on Rage. and that is how I view Hunter's Mark. It is the Ranger's Rage.
I'm not sure I see your point can you explain it better? It seems like rage is a more strict version of concentration, seeing as you can't concentrate on, or cast, spells.
The difference here is that Ranger is much more than Hunter's Mark + weapon attacks. It's intended to be a spell same as Hex for people that can't understand crowd control or anything more complex than a damage buffer. I mean what, would you make Divine Favor a Paladin class feature too? You do realize that what you've given to your Rangers is 11th level Paladin feature *for free* right?
Re: Holy Warrior and attack cantrips. Pally can be weak at range. Having a scaling range option that doesn't use a spell slot is a good option imo; especially if your pally has a good Charisma. Personally, I'm a fan of Toll the Dead, as it's not affected by cover and a pally (with lower initiative) can often gets to use d12s for damage.
Yeah they missed the mark on the cantrips. Like you said, toll the dead is a great ranged option to have. Also, spare the dying is terrible for paladins. You have lay on hands and can heal for 1 HP literally dozens of times. Leave a few HP in your reserves for getting people back up and fighting. Guidance is amazing if no one else has it and then I’d probably take toll the dead for my 2nd.
@@YMasterS 5hp to cure poison/disease but otherwise you can do any amount. You also get it in 5hp chunks, but you can spent any amount. I’ll usually do bigger heals like 20hp when I need to but leave 5hp floating to pop people back up. Wayyy better than spare the dying
There should totally be a strength-based rogue subclass. It should also emphasise the potential of blunt weapon sneak knockouts. One of my favourite flavours of character and so underrepresented in general.
@@DBArtsCreators I just like the idea of there being a type of thuggish rogue who is all about finesse, just finesse in very practiced bluntness. Carries around a rock in a sock and knows exactly where to hit the back of the neck with it, that sort of thing. Gritty down-to-earth bodyguard / enforcer type. The type you might call 'the muscle' but they still need to be able not to ruin the plan. Close to barbarian maybe, but wouldn't be doing with rage. Needs a calm head to contain all the casual disdain toward the sanctity of life, that sort of vibe.
Im currently doing a druidic warrior fey wanderer ranger and basically only using my wisdom mod and it's a TON of fun, this video came at the perfect time you handsome nerds are always reading my mind!
To point out on Interception, it's an *amazing* fighting style... at early levels. If you're doing sword and board, it's amazing with martial versatility - because at early levels, 1d10+2/3 dmg reduction 1/ round is massive. Then, when the reduction becomes much less useful (eg, lvl 4 or 8) you just switch it out for another fighting style and you're good. That's something I'd recommend considering, at least, if you have 2 frontline characters. Edit: Consideration on Favored Foe is that - at lower levels at least - you're not guaranteed to hit every time. So 1d6+3 x2 attacks with a +1d4 added to the first hit probably comes pretty close to 2d6+3 x2 over the long run, depending on the fight. But yeah, I personally tend to take Favored Enemy for the extra languages >
Favored Foe is an option but you can still take Hunter’s Mark. Swap as needed and also since you are a half caster, at low levels it assures you always can put the damage on a target. Also it is worth it to recall that most battles don’t last beyond 4 rounds and it is possible that the last attack with either will finish the target just as easily. Both the feature and the spell struggle with the value you get with Drakewarden and Tasha Beast Master. So always do the math! If you are a direct damage Ranger - Gloom Stalker, Horizon Walker or Swarmkeeper I have to think either will work.
Yeah, like if favored enemy was a good feature, but why not having both? Hunter has so few spell slots each day that having another resorce pool is enough for me to prefer favorite foe anytime
the one reason that I don't like Favored Foe is that it is using concentration to deal 1d4 damage per round and maxes out at 1d8 per level compared to the summoning spells. Once you get to those better concentration spells there really isn't much need to use it meaning you have a useless feature for most of the time
11:24 Deft Explorer (Roving) Combine this with a Centaur to: -get around climb difficulty. -use with Charge race feature. -use with the Charger Feat. -climb and swim better than other races, while also having horse legs.
@@ricaroanimar6695 It normally would take 4 times more movement then normal. Having a climb speed removes the extra movement cost, making them climb fast because they are fast. It's just funny to picture that in game.
@@ajaafive1384 are you sure about that I would definitely be cool but i wouldn't no wich rule this should be Yeah i looked it up , their shouldn't be anything that changes the ÷4 part of the ability. It would just be a higher climbing speed that gets divided by 4. Or do you know a page of the dmg I'm forgetting
@@ricaroanimar6695 With a climb speed from the roving feature, movement spent on climbing is equal to your walking speed. Which should cancel out the extra movement cost of Equine Build, unless your DM says this wouldn't work for a centaur, which would mean they basically removed a piece of your class feature because of your race choice, which isn't fun.
Favored foe is an ability that depends on if your dm does proper adventuring days or not. If you only do 2/3 fights a day, then it's negligible and you can do other things. If your dm actually runs 6/8medium/hard encounters a day (as they should) FF is way better, because you get a boost without using spells.
I picked up favored foe because the way my DM plays we get spell slots back after a 7 day rest so I need to conserve them I also use druidic warrior for shillelagh and magic stone for WIS based ranger and polearm master plus crusher, works pretty well for my Fey Wanderering shepherd/storyteller aesthetic
The thing about Favored Foe is that I'd rather use my spells slots and spells known for other great spells such as Good Berry, Zephyr Strike, Snare, Entangle and Absorb Elements. Most enemies (bosses excluded) die after just two turns and switching targets with hunter's mark takes a bonus action that you would rather spend attacking with Two Weapon Fighting or Crossbow Expert. Honestly, just stacking good berries instead of using your spells slots for hunter's mark (specially in low levels) is just way better.
If favored foe lacked concentration, but had the 1 attack limitation, instantly worth it. Idk why it's concentration, it won't change that much if it's not.
One more thing for Paladins with Spirit Shroud, or Paladin in general. Sword and Board is great, but have you tried Polearm Master with Paladin? You get a third attack, which, at 11th level, means you add 3d8 radiant, and with spirit shroud active at 11th level, you add 3d8 radiant and 3d8 necrotic, cold, or even more radiant damage if all attacks hit. 2d10+1d4+6d8+15 (assuming a +5 strength modifier for each hit) with only one third level spell slot, per turn. Assuming average rolls, that's about 55-ish damage per round if all attacks hit. That's not bad for 11th level, and if you crit, you can still slap a smite on top of it for even more burst damage if you really need it.
I have a Soulknife Rogue named Tommy Timmons, a Variant Human with the Fighting Initiate Feat, which he took Thrown Weapon Fighting. Because thrown daggers count as ranged weapons, he took the Sharpshooter Feat. With landed thrown daggers, he's dealing a +17 on top of dice damage and Sneak Attack. Devastating...
Throwing daggers technically count as a "ranged attack with a melee weapon" Thus not being a ranged weapon itself for the feat. But I'd rule it to work with thrown weapons 100%
@@ajaafive1384 , yeah, after reading up on it, I could take advantage of the first two perks, but not the last. You're right. It would be incredibly OP considering I'd get two attacks, with a +10 damage to successes. Back to the drawing board, lol!!
@@ajaafive1384 , I suppose if you (or another DM) rules in my favor for Sharpshooter, something would have to done to kind of curb the insane amount of damage I could do. Gotta be fair... Maybe a new feat is in order, call it "Deadeye" or something for specifically Thrown Weapons to make a minus to Hit and a plus to Damage. I like how Wizards is trying to get Thrown Weapons back to being a viable choice.
I have to say, I really appreciate the fact that you guys do your absolute best to make arguments for abilities, skills, and powers from all sides of the story - from the min/maxers out there, to the role-play heavy, to the people that just want to have a fun, themed character. I have only been watching your channel for about a week or two, but all of your information is very insightful, and your collective experience shows! Keep up the great work and thank you for all the superb content!
I would point out getting specific proficiencies isn't difficult, RAW you get 2 skills of your choice from your background, all classes get at least 1 skill you probably want imo, and if need be pick custom lineage with a skill. still think expertise in one skill is better than terrain dependent, especially since the game is usually about exporing different environments.
Favored Foe uses - Any subclass or build using their bonus action probably is better with favored foe than hunters mark. - Can be used as a (albeit terrible) burst when combined with a BA spell like lightning arrow - Allows you to use foe slayer on non-favored enemies (foe slayer should really not have that restriction) - hey it doesn’t use a spell slot or spells known Still pretty niche even after all that but tbf we should probably be comparing it to favored enemy not to hunters mark.
The other thing too is depending on the creature(s) you’re fighting, you could have to use your bonus action every round to switch hunters mark between creatures so you’d be better off casting something like zepher strike or entangle for those group fights. Also, the one minute duration means you don’t have to worry about using a slot on a single fight when that concentration could last an hour. This way you save that slot for a similar effect and can use your concentration after the fight without feeling you’ve wasted that remaining time.
Paladin's having Gentle Repose actually came in handy in my home game. My Paladin was able to prepare it to preserve a body we wanted to cast Raise Dead on but we didn't want to do it right then (dangerous situation for someone who'd drop in one hit from anything where we were). So, Gentle Repose + put the body in our Bag of Holding for preservation, safekeeping and transportation. Obviously won't come up much but still situationally useful. Spirit Shroud is just great for getting more mileage from your spell slots though.
I have a bard+paladin with Blessed Warrior. Sacred Flame gives some Ranged Options (something a lot of Paladins lack). Guidance, Spare the Dying and Mending are great clutch/support spells.
Re: favored foe vs hunter's mark... Who cares if it's not as good as hunter's mark when hunter's mark is not really all that good anyway. TBH it's a bit of a trap. Rangers get very few spells known, so having something that can kind of do the job of hunter's mark without costing you spell slots OR spells known is a big win. Faerie Fire, Entangle, Goodberry, Healing Word, PWT, Summon Beast, Zephyr Strike, Absorb Elements, Spike Growth, Aid... which would of those spells would you like to drop so that you can have hunter's mark when Favored Foe gives you free uses of hunter's mark-lite? None IMO. The exception would be a gloomstalker archer with action surge 'cause you do an insane amount of attacks.. like 6 attacks in round 1 .
Out of that list, either Faerie Fire or Entangle. They both do similar similar jobs so it more depends on character flavour which I would take. Plus, it's not like I could concentrate on either of them when I'm using FF or HM tbh
FWIW as well, Favoured Foe's damage dice increases as you level. Only tops out at a d8, but given that Hunter's Mark doesn't increase the damage dice at all, it's something to think about.
Lightfire398 I don't think starting out weaker than HM and scaling up to match it is a point in FF's favour. HM doesn't need that scaling since it already adds d8 when you first get it, scaling based on number of attacks.
It’s a shame, because the Class Feature Variants UA *nailed* Favored Foe: it just gave you Hunter’s Mark as a class feature, and let you cast it *concentration free* WIS modifier times per long rest-which also meant opening up the playstyle for all the other great concentration spells like Zephyr Strike and Ensnaring Strike. I’ve been playing a Ranger/Fighter multiclass with those rules since before Tasha’s and it’s been wonderful. Also, a quick note that Steady Aim is specifically *great* for Tabaxi rogues, since standing still for the one round resets Feline Agility, meaning you actually don’t lose any movement over the course of the fight
We haven't used it yet, but my wife is playing a Tabaxi Assassin Rogue, and one kind of cool synergy with that build that works with steady aim is that if the Tabaxi uses it's racial ability to double it's movement speed, it can't do it again until it spend a turn not moving. So if you've booked it across the battlefield, and now you want to not move so you can use that movement again on a later turn, you might as well use Steady Aim if you need to. It's niche, and like I said it hasn't really come up yet, but it's an option that at least doesn't make the standing still part quite as bad.
Favoured Foe has 3 great uses (two of them you didn't mention): 1. You run out of your spell slots (or want to save them for something else). 2. You are BA-heavy so HM doesn't make sense (Horizon Walker at lvls 1-8,...). 3. You want to make one big burst of damage against several oponents. Example to the third point: Hunter, lvl 11, uses BA to turn invisible (Nature's Veil) and then attacks 4 adjacent enemies with Whirlwind Attack. He can activate Favoured Foe against each enemy once, so he does extra 4d6 of dmg with this feature. So 4 attacks, with advantage, each doing 1d6 extra thanks to this feature, no action cost. It seems really good to me!
I can really recommend the videos by a small RUclipsr called PackTactics about hunters mark and rangers in general : ). They have a lot of really technical insights
I think you guys are discounting for both the Cleric and Paladin regaining a spell slot from a channel divinity is that this can be almost an arcane recovery type ability if you use it before a short rest. For paladins who only get one channel divinity not as good and most of the time you'd be short resting with a spell down you'd have used it on some paladins, but for many others this is the ideal time to get a nice higher spell slot back.
The amazing thing about nature’s veil is the invisibility doesn’t go away when you attack. A fun combo i learned about was using this and then casting steel wind strike and you’d get advantage on all those attack rolls
I'm sure that someone else mentioned this, but the one other huge resource for rangers that Hunter's Mark takes up is a spell known. Not having to choose hunter's mark (even if the replacement is a little less effective) means that I can gain a lot of versatility by choosing some other spell that does more than just gives a boost on damage per attack.
On the matter of thrown weapons, darts are both ranged weapons and have the throwing property. Throwing Fighting Style+Sharpshooter is thus entirely possible. :)
The paladin is one of the strongest class in the game so it didn't need much. The ranger needed to be saved so it really needed a lot of help. The rogue is interesting because i think the base abilities are fine, the problem is that some subclasses would benefit from a rework (that being said the rogue has some amazing options).
One more note on Favored Foe that might get missed: at a certain point, a Beastmaster Ranger is probably only attacking once on each of their turns eventually with their pet attacking a bunch instead. With the ability of letting your pet take one of your attacks and then commanding an attack with a bonus action, you only hit once yourself. This gets more useful at 11th level where your pet can attack twice each time as well. Because of this, you will want to use your bonus action to command your pet all the time and will only attack once yourself anyway so Favored Foe becomes a lot more useful. I know at 15th level the spells you cast apply to your pet as well but by that point you probably have some buff spell you want to cast on both of you anyway. More interestingly for Beastmasters though is the fact that their pet uses your Spell Attack modifier so you want to max out your Wisdom ASAP. Druidic Warrior with Beastmaster seems really good so that you don't NEED a high dexterity for damage and can just focus on Wisdom with Shillelagh. Take another cantrip like Guidance along with it and you have the next character I plan on making.
I was thinking this while they were talking about favored foe. In general hunters mark is still better, and I think thats important (don't want to cannibalize the spell), but it just allows builds like the beastmaster to not feel like they're playing wrong by not taking hunters mark. Also planning on going druidic warrior ranger next campaign I think.
@@mustrdtiger2641 I will agree with them for sure though that these base kit changes really make me want to take take close look at all of the ranger classes again. They've always had interesting subclasses but because the base kit was weak beyond the early game, it never seemed worth it before. Now though...
Favored Foe has been great in the game I'm in. The DM prefers lots of smaller encounters, so it lets me stretch my spells farther before needing a rest.
The addition of Spirit Shroud is a significant upgrade for your tanky Pali. Not only does it add the additional damage, like an advance on improved smite - it also reduces enemy move speed AND makes it impossible for enemies to regain HPs if hit. As a Devotion Pali, for example, I'd cast this as an opening bonus action in a big boss fight any day
deft explorer gives you 2 extra languages, and favoured enemy gives you a language for each favoured enemy. This means you can easily have +4 languages (if you chose 2 humanoids) at 1st level in adittion to race and background languages. Which is fantastic if wanting to scout and find out information while using your double proficiency stealth to hide.
Note Steady aim applies to melee weapon attacks or even spell attacks. The text from tasha's only states "you gain advantage on your next attack roll on the current turn." It doesn't state ranged weapon attack.
As always, I agree with you guys 100% on the ranger optional features. My wood elf gloomstalker ranger/rogue for sure took deft explorer, picking up expertise in perception. My elf eyes see everything. I also kept the favored enemy feature, which is now paying off like gangbusters since I picked dragons and our DM has picked up Fizban’s. I’m having a blast with this character, and the combination of expertise in stealth from rogue, being able to hide behind natural phenomena as a wood elf, and the swim speed and climb speed makes me feel like a special forces kind of dude. Some real US Army ranger stuff for sure.
The Channel Divinity for spell slot thing can be pretty handy if you know you are going to have a short rest and another fight before your next long rest. Replenish a spell slot, get your channel divinity back on your short rest, and you're set.
It's a limited example, but the Horizon Walker's Planar Warrior works really really well with Favored Foe. Freeing up that bonus action allows you to start your turn with a massive burst of force damage, and hitting 11th level really cranks up the intensity
Something to consider with the interception fighting style in general...it works nicely at low level as you can essentially negate all the damage taken and when you get up to higher levels where your allies will probably get hit either way with the +10 or more to hit enemies, this is a consistent ability to neutralize some damage that they were more likely than not already going to take, especially with casting classes having traditionally lower AC. Mid level is where it can be hit or miss...no pun intended.
Favoured Foe not only frees up a spell slot, but also frees up a spell known spot. Rangers know so few spells, depending on the subclass and build, hunters mark is not worth it.
One thing about favored foe is that it benefits the subclasses who use a bonus action to deal damage. This affects the Fey Wanderer, Monster Slayer, Horizon Walker, and the Drakenwarden. Each has a 3rd lvl feature that uses a bonus action to deal extra damage. This allows each of them to still use their features and get closer to the dps of hunters mark without a spell slot.
Druidic Warrior for Shillelagh with a Quarterstaff is really good if you also combine it with Polearm Master. You get to attack as a bonus action, and if you're skirmishing you can use Zephyr Strike as your go-to concentration spell instead of Hunter's Mark to duck-and-weave as if you had Mobile to force melee enemies to re-enter your reach and trigger Polearm Master for the free OA.
As a Vengance Paladin in my current campaign I'm using Harness Divine Power ALL THE TIME. By coordinating with other party members, we are always flanking and getting advantage. Using Harness Divine Power means an extra Smite, which goes with advantage from flanking.
Being able to take expertise in Athletics to go with my ranger's climbing and swimming speed is awesome! I do, however, think the entangle spell is a trap option for gloom stalkers in particular. Cast it on round 1 of combat and you're sacrificing 2-3 attacks. I'll stick with ensnaring strike, thanks.
Currently playing (assuming it resumes, we've been on hold for a couple months) a BM Ranger using the new Tasha's stuff. On the whole, big fan. I'm hardly the top damage dealer in our party, but I'm definitely contributing in a way I wouldn't have been able to before. Druidic Warrior and Shillelagh gives me a solid damage output with a pretty unique style and that high WIS is enhancing my beastie's own change to hit. With Zephyr Strike, Misty Step from the Fey Touched feat and a charging murdercat with his own reactions I can do a pretty darn good job of getting where I need to go on the battlefield and stopping the bad guys from doing the same. I can't compete with the dunamantic fighter for sheer facesmashing, or my wildfire druidic twin, but while it may not be the most optimal it is very definitely *fun* which is something the ranger has been lacking in. Favoured Foe though...it's a huge disappointment. It's not *worthless* - I have plenty of uses for my bonus action - but it falls so flat for me. It just such a feeling of undeniable Meh that it's almost worse than if they hadn't changed it. I think I have remembered to use it maybe twice, for a total of 3 damage between them before the tagged enemies died. Woo hoo. If it didn't take concentration then sure, that's something. But there are so many good options that do that even though I'm making a point of not using Hunter's Mark it feels just...yeah. Like I say. It's not pointless, just so inconsequential as to be immensely disappointing as a ranger fanboy.
As someone playing a vengeance paladin with the blindsight fighting style, it's actually come up a couple of times in the Yawning Portal/Candlekeep campaign I'm in, and every time I've been incredibly happy to have it. Def more niche, but absolutely clutch when you need it, and I've never regretted taking it.. Also, there are times when I've smited but not used my Channel Divinity bc we were fighting a bunch of little guys rather than one big target, and I'll usually burn my CD right before a short rest and get the spell slot AND my CD back, so Harness Divine Power actually comes up a good amount. Also, I'd like to make the case for interception as a fighting style having one key thing over protection: you don't have to have a shield out, and can still make use of it as long as you've got a weapon in hand. I usually use a two handed weapon, so I rarely have my shield out in a fight unless I REALLY need the AC boost. Interception isn't as good for a character who consistently uses their shield, but if your character doesn't, I think it's still a strong choice for something that protects your allies.
Scout rogue with longbow and steady aim has so much versatility, their reaction allows them to run away. Its saved me countless times. Highly recommended for scout players
One thing with getting spell slots back with Channel Divinity is that Channel Divinity comes back after a short rest, so if the party is taking a short rest, you can use your Channel Divinity before the rest to get a spell slot back then get Channel Divinity back after the rest. And with Favored Foe, I'm just gonna homebrew that it's not concentration but cannot be used in tandem with Hunter's Mark
I think the biggest addition to Ranger here is Entangle. If you’ve got a decent wisdom and/or can hit multiple enemies, this will add more damage than hunters mark or favored foe by giving advantage, and it will mitigate a ton of incoming damage as well.
Great vid as always! One thing to note tho, Giving a pally an option for a cantrip like Toll the Dead, shores up a Pally weak point by giving them a solid ranged option. ;)
Notable about Favoured Foe is it not being a spell. So it can't be countered, dispelled or antimagically prevented. So even if in normal situations you want to be Hunter's Marking, it's still a decent backup to have access to.
Druidic warrior with Shillelagh + Tasha's Beastmaster Ranger feels really good. You're able to focus on your wis which makes your pet stronger and you can entangle at the same time. It's pretty nice
Big yes to the concept of a strength-based Rogue. Fighter with a Criminal or Charlatan background can accomplish some of the "Brutal Thug" from 4e, but not fully, since "Rogue" doesn't necessarily mean criminal. Since Wheel of Time is about to start streaming soon, Matrim Cauthon would probably be a great example of someone better suited to a strength-based Rogue with perhaps a Soldier background than a Fighter with a Criminal background. However, I'm not sure I'd have them give up *all* the sneak attack damage, since so many Rogue subclasses refer to it, and it's such a part of Rogue core identity. Limiting them to 1d6 at level 3, 2d6 at level 11, 3d6 at level 19 is probably fine. With Extra Attack and a Fighting Style at some level, it'd be fairly comparable in damage to a Paladin that wasn't using spell-slots-smites.
I'm currently playing a Dwarven diplomat who is a fey wanderer ranger that used the new options to have 8 starting langues and expertise in persuasion. I have thrown weapon fighting and will be taking the feat to also gain two weapon fighting for my thrown hand axes, since I can trigger that extra d4 between multiple targets each turn. It all feels really good.
Blessed Warrior is really good for a Sorcadin. Especially if you're leaning more into the spellcasting side, because it allows you to take more Sorcerer cantrips without competing.
Hey I know you guys probably don't read these. But you mentioned you wish thrown weapons had more feats and then particularly mentioned Sharpshooter. If you read the feat it doesn't mention a specific weapon it just states if you use a ranged weapon attack for the first 2 parts. The only part you can argue against is the -5 penalty for +10, but when you look at the basic rules when you use the thrown part of thrown weapons it is considered a ranged weapon for that attack. Meaning Sharpshooter is really good and meant to be used with throwing weapons
To bring up a point, Steady Aim is NOT just at ranged attacks, it's for all attacks. It's way better for ranged, but theres always the melee option, like if the enemy has no intention of leaving and you're already up there
One more case for Favored Foe: Horizon Walkers' Planar Warrior ability requires a bonus action and no concentration, so it synergizes well with an ability that does require concentration, but no bonus action.
Favourite Enemy is so fun for roleplay. Why are you so good at fighting and tracking these specific creatures? Just answering that question can flesh out your backstory SO MUCH
Love you guys. The information is so useful. One suggestion. As I listen in on your cast, I notice that when Monty turns his head, it’s hard to hear his softer voice. Perhaps a head microphone would be better.
Prayer of Healing being on the Paladin spell list is a nice utility. It's a very strong out-of-combat heal and giving Paladins the option to play more of a healer role can be very helpful. _Warding Bond_ however is *amazing* and easily one of the most underrated spells in the game. It allows you to protect an ally with both more AC and the ability to take damage for them, which can really help spread out hitpoints which makes Short Resting and spells like Mass Healing Word far more useful. If you cast Warding Bond on the Fighter suddenly they essentially have double the health points (as long as you're willing to take some hits) and +1 AC to boot. Warding Bond has countless uses as you can either make a tank tankier or cast it on a squishy ally who's in a bad position to take some hits for them. I think the spell is really underrated and if used smart can seriously provide a huge boost to your team.
Now there are 2 new ways to overcome the initiative deficiency for the surprise crit of assassins: - Fey touched (gaining misty step and choosing gift of Alacrity as 1st level spell) - Choose Harengon race for prof in initiative that stacks with reliable talent
A fun thing to do with rangers is to add buff items into their favorite terrain. Leafs you sew into clothing that have one time effect of the periapt of wound closer. Seeds of oil of sharpness,sovereign glue weed foraging should turn up more than just food.
30:28 "Players, who are very forgetful with their abilities..."
In Shadow of Drakkenheim, Kelly describes Wilhelm doing something dramatic, and then rolls low, "Darn."
Joe, "I'm sure that Wilhelm is more LUCKY than that..."
Kelly, "Oh, yeah, I spend a Luck Point!"
That's happened like 60 times poor lad 😂
I'd just like to point out, if you combine favored enemy with deft explorer, you get 3 extra languages at level 1 and 1 more at 6th and 14th levels. For the class that's normally a loner wilderness hunter archetype, ironically it just became the best non magical interpreter in the game.
that make sense if you think abouth it, a ranger could roleplay as a guide or wanderer and it make sense that he knows many languages
I would agree, but without spells, a storm sorcerer with the sage background as a variant human with the linguist feat you get:
- Common, +1 (human languages)
- +3 (linguist)
- +2 (sage)
- Primordial and the elemental languages from storm sorcerer
@@dugget8990 op did specify non magic, though.
@@dugget8990 still need to use a feat for it
@@nicholasbrosseau6035 I’m aware, was just mentioning it because no magic is required and rangers are also magic…
In two separate campaigns that I DM, I have three players that wanted to be Rangers (2 Beast Masters, 1 Monster Slayer). I recommended that they all take every TCE change to have the best time playing the characters. Taking the advice, all three of these Rangers are doing amazing in their groups and having a blast with the updates and changes. Highly recommended!
Played a gloomstalker ranger with the new features, so much nice stuff
so I actually like the ability to mix and match TCE with the PHB features it makes the character more unique and interesting.
28:35 Quick thing, Steady Aim, while clearly designed for Ranged attacks, isn’t limited to Ranged attacks. You can use it with melee attacks (wouldn’t recommend using it on melee attacks but you can).
now I have the image of a rouge croucing down in the middle of a melee and take aim with his rapier like you would do with a rifle
There's also nothing stopping you from using steady aim on spell attacks
Also it only stops your movement on your turn, so a scout rogue can still use there reaction movement.
It also works well with the tabaxi's Feline Agility
@@mcullennz bro, that scout rogue trick is actually really cool.
A steady aim, melee scout rogue could be fun tho
Debatable if you're fishing for a crit, such as from a vorpal blade.
For my player's Ranger, I just took away Favored Foe's concentration requirement. Hasn't been unbalanced at all and allows him to be a heavy hitter in the group
Does that mean it stacks with Hunter's Mark?
@@StephanG007 yeap.
Can you convince my DM 🤓
@@StephanG007 I kinda like the homebrew that favored foe does not require concentration but cant stack hunters mark or hex. It works well because it eliminates the need to use hunters mark and then allows you to use other concentration spells.
One thing I noticed was, Steady Aim doesn't require it to be a ranged attack. Most of the time a melee based rogue will be better off using their bonus action for another attack or action, but in niche circumstances, Steady Aim can be useful.
Well that's good to know now. I thought that would only be range.
As far as I'm aware it also works with spell attack rolls too. It just states "attack roll" not "weapon attack roll".
If a Rogue is in a one on one melee situation, Steady aim gives them Sneak Attack
1000%. This video really made me think I screwed up. My rogue got involved in duels, in which I used steady aim and DECEMATED my enemies. I then thought after this that I royally screwed his encounter balance and apologized. Back at that game today and I double checked the RAW in Tasha's and confirmed I was in bounds.
Really important distinction. I've felt bad about this for days thinking I screwed his plans up.
Argument against Hunter's Mark: it takes a spell known. Rangers have so few of these that having favoured foe means they can take a bigger range of spells.
This is exactly how I viewed it. In a world with so many good concentration spells, you want to save your slots for more than hunters mark. And if you want hunters mark-- this is nearly there.
Exactly! Why not to take entangle, goodberry or absorb elements, even fearie fire (trougth the magic initiate feat) instead Hunter's Mark? I agree with you guys
I mean sure, but the flip side is you get a pitiful number of uses out of Favored Foe, and once the target dies you have to spend another use. Hunter’s Mark lasts as long as needed because you can change targets
@@deadpoolrwbyfan8419 it uses a bonus action to switch targets. So if there's a lot of enemies and you have two weapon fighting or crossbow expert, it's more worth to just attack twice
It does last an hour and can switch targets versus the 1 minute favored foe. Favored foe is also only proficiency mod per long rest, too. So while you could realistically squeeze that 1 first level slot between two encounter types and can recast later on if needed, your favored foe is only going to be used 2 times per adventuring day before level 5. And then by level 5 it's just better to summon beast.
Hey, I'd like to point out that Steady Aim can be used on any atttack roll not only a ranged attack. This is great, because it means rogue's can potentially fight one-on-one more reliably.
Thank you for pointing that out
I have missed that since it came out 😅
@@tristansutton2956 The name is kinda misleading, so it may happen ;) I'm using it for my Artillerist Shashbuckler, and loving that.
Steady aim is better than people give it credit for. I've set up my rogue in the back as an archer rather than a hit n run kind of character so the limited movement hasn't bothered me. It is an easier way to get advantage because my DM requires crafty ways to stay hidden.
It also pairs with Elven Accuracy, giving super advantage whenever you want
I just finished playing a Kobold Paladin, and the Blidfighting was super useful to get around the sunlight sensitivity.
Oh the kobold medium mount paladin, thats VERY interesting
RAW this doesn't work. If your character is in direct sunlight, blind fighting won't take away the disadvantage.
In addition, both you and your target must be out of direct sunlight……
@@norandomnumbers shut your eyes. Then you are considered blinded. The blindsight takes over. But, you'd be open to adv attacks from ranged chars. Though to me, sunlight sensitivity is too easily delt with by something called sun glasses/goggles. It makes no sense that races with this issue wouldn't make them.
@@robertmore703 This doesn't work. The disadvantage on attacks has nothing to do with sight, it has to do with physically being in sunlight. Think of it as a curse, not a physical trait of the race.
I’m not sure what I like more: Kelly’s hoodie or Kelly’s beanie. Or both of these handsome lads’ ROCKIN facial hair
While these fine gentlemen do indeed rock some excellent facial hair, one cannot neglect to mention the quality beard of their hirsute companion Joe.
Bro seriously, homie drip is 🔥🔥🔥
I had to back up the video. My mind was lost thinking about that jellyfish hoodie.
I love the "emulate another class" styles of subclasses. Therefore Blessed Warrior and Druidic Warrior are my favourite fighting styles.
another reason to use favored foe over hunter's mark is if you're playing as a beastmaster or drakewarden that have their bonus action pretty locked down by controlling their pet
Playing a beastmaster and never took hunters mark... I'm always concentrating on some other spell, but it sometimes it drops and If I want save spell slot I use FavFoe
Or if it's a random combat, where you don't want to waste resources, you are attacked by a bunch of Orc's and don't want to waste a spell slot.
Or we could play by 3.5 rules and telling the pet to do something is a free action. :)
Also forgetting hunters mark needs concentration so melee ranger is gonna burn those spell slots keeping it up
The main benefit of Blessed Warrior that I see is ranged attacks. Paladins are notoriously Melee only, so having a reliable ranged option in Toll the dead is very neat.
Toll the dead is not a reliable option, it requires wisdom saving throws, and against wizards this spell is pretty useless
@@andmos1001 the alternative is handaxes and javelins, which do not work so well with extra attack RAW, so TdD or sacred flame are better options imo. Also where do Wizards come from? I never mentioned wizards, and they arent common enemies either
@@andmos1001 Since it requires a save things like cover don't matter.
A paladin with Toll the Dead is wonderful. My wife is currently playing one.
Blind Fighting + Fog Cloud on a Ranger is a pretty good combo, similar to Devil Sight + Darkness on a Warlock.
Also if you are playing a race with no Darkvision or with Sunlight Sensitivity, you can just close your eyes and see fine. Blinded condition is also moot here.
Or if you are getting annoyed by enemies constantly avoiding you by going invisible and such.
Heck depending on how your DM rules and interprets illusions, it may even help with that.
Blind Fighting can be pretty good.
Yep...I just built a Drow Paladin of Conquest with the Blind Fighting Style.
The Paladin's ability to turn its Channel Divinity into a spell slot is especially useful when multiclassed as Warlock
What's the synergy, anyone care to explain?
An artificer rogue, in the same vein as the arcane trickster, would be excellent to see. You could reflavor an arcane trickster but ah well.
As for the strength-based rogue, I'm sorry but that's just a fighter with skills feats.
@@Johnny0Masters warlock spells are cast at their highest level so, in effect, a level 10 character with 3 levels of paladin and 7 of warlock regains a 4th level spell with this ability. Then smite with 5d8 a 3rd time.
@@jg2096 Unless I'm missing some loop hole this wouldn't work. Pact Magic spell slots don't just cast as higher level, the way it's written their level increases. The level spell of spell slot recovered is capped at half your proficiency bonus (rounding up) so they couldn't recover their pact magic slots at 3/7. They could for example at 3/3. If this is for a hybrid melee build this feature would work better with one of the stabby bard colleges.
@@wewerepirates1116 Holy crap you are correct. I overlooked that part. Thanks for the clarification. I guess it would be kind of broken if that were the case though.
I dunno, in the Favored Enemy/Foe debate, I think they understated the fact that the bonuses that they mapped out are limited only to certain creature types, whereas the new version is not. Which means, end of the day, that there are several circumstances where that class ability ends up being entirely worthless. You can be the best Zombie Hunter in the lands, but when you are trying to track an owlbear you may as well not have Enemy, but Foe will have value in both situations.
Honestly, I think my favorite addition between these additional features was the fighting style that allows the Paladin to take a couple Cleric cantrips. Imo, a Paladin is truly at their best when they're more invested in acting in more of a support capacity instead of looking for world-ending nova damage, and even taking just two Cleric cantrips can make them a so much more potent support character. In fact, I theory-crafted a Paladin/Bard multiclass that took that fighting style, and I'd argue it was possibly one of the best supports I'd theory-crafted (between that or the Paladin/Celestial Warlock build with the same fighting style).
I don’t think I’ve ever played with a paladin that focuses more on support than nova damage. Sounds nice, though.
I like a lot of these changes especially for the ranger however I am a little disappointed by favorite foe. In the UA it did not require concentration and that was what I liked best The rangers concentration is so locked on hunters mark It is frustrating to want to use other spells
Yes! It’s so bullshit that they added concentration to it! It’s one of, if not the only, class feature which requires concentration.
And you can tell they only added it to prevent rangers from stacking the Favored Foe mark with Hunter’s Mark.
Which is even dumber when you consider that there’s no such built in restriction for Hexblade Warlocks, who can layer Hexblades Curse, Hex and Bestow Curse on a a target all they want!
There is also a viable case for favored foe, for when you are using beast master, drakewarden, or any ranger that needs to use their bonus action to trigger their extra damage. But if you are picking a class that doesn't do it, then pick favored enemy
A thing about Blind Fighting--You don't necessarily have to multiclass. If you play a tielfing or drow, you can innately cast Darkness once a day once you hit level 5.
In my homebrew, I simply take away concentration from Hunter's Mark. It is a class feature that does not use spell slots... Think about why a Barbarian does not have to concentrate on Rage. and that is how I view Hunter's Mark. It is the Ranger's Rage.
I'm not sure I see your point can you explain it better?
It seems like rage is a more strict version of concentration, seeing as you can't concentrate on, or cast, spells.
@@joshuawoodfolk8202 You actually make a good point there. I did not consider that. Thank you.
The difference here is that Ranger is much more than Hunter's Mark + weapon attacks. It's intended to be a spell same as Hex for people that can't understand crowd control or anything more complex than a damage buffer. I mean what, would you make Divine Favor a Paladin class feature too? You do realize that what you've given to your Rangers is 11th level Paladin feature *for free* right?
I’ll be honest, if I’m DMing, I’d probably allow my Ranger players to pick and choose from the UA the same way they would from Tasha’s.
Re: Holy Warrior and attack cantrips. Pally can be weak at range. Having a scaling range option that doesn't use a spell slot is a good option imo; especially if your pally has a good Charisma. Personally, I'm a fan of Toll the Dead, as it's not affected by cover and a pally (with lower initiative) can often gets to use d12s for damage.
Yeah they missed the mark on the cantrips. Like you said, toll the dead is a great ranged option to have.
Also, spare the dying is terrible for paladins. You have lay on hands and can heal for 1 HP literally dozens of times. Leave a few HP in your reserves for getting people back up and fighting.
Guidance is amazing if no one else has it and then I’d probably take toll the dead for my 2nd.
@@BigHank I thought you could only spend lay on hands in increments of 5hp? Am I remembering wrong?
@@YMasterS 5hp to cure poison/disease but otherwise you can do any amount. You also get it in 5hp chunks, but you can spent any amount.
I’ll usually do bigger heals like 20hp when I need to but leave 5hp floating to pop people back up. Wayyy better than spare the dying
@@BigHank thanks!
There should totally be a strength-based rogue subclass. It should also emphasise the potential of blunt weapon sneak knockouts. One of my favourite flavours of character and so underrepresented in general.
Ah, the Barbarian that took proficiency in stealth.
"It's a sneak attack so long as they don't see it coming and they don't get back up!"
@@DBArtsCreators I just like the idea of there being a type of thuggish rogue who is all about finesse, just finesse in very practiced bluntness. Carries around a rock in a sock and knows exactly where to hit the back of the neck with it, that sort of thing. Gritty down-to-earth bodyguard / enforcer type. The type you might call 'the muscle' but they still need to be able not to ruin the plan.
Close to barbarian maybe, but wouldn't be doing with rage. Needs a calm head to contain all the casual disdain toward the sanctity of life, that sort of vibe.
@@Torthrodhel a gritty/thuggish rogue with blackjack and hookers and using a blackjack (sorry not sorry)
@@rudyhero1995 that's hilarious! :D
Im currently doing a druidic warrior fey wanderer ranger and basically only using my wisdom mod and it's a TON of fun, this video came at the perfect time you handsome nerds are always reading my mind!
To point out on Interception, it's an *amazing* fighting style... at early levels. If you're doing sword and board, it's amazing with martial versatility - because at early levels, 1d10+2/3 dmg reduction 1/ round is massive.
Then, when the reduction becomes much less useful (eg, lvl 4 or 8) you just switch it out for another fighting style and you're good. That's something I'd recommend considering, at least, if you have 2 frontline characters.
Edit: Consideration on Favored Foe is that - at lower levels at least - you're not guaranteed to hit every time. So 1d6+3 x2 attacks with a +1d4 added to the first hit probably comes pretty close to 2d6+3 x2 over the long run, depending on the fight.
But yeah, I personally tend to take Favored Enemy for the extra languages >
Favored Foe is an option but you can still take Hunter’s Mark. Swap as needed and also since you are a half caster, at low levels it assures you always can put the damage on a target. Also it is worth it to recall that most battles don’t last beyond 4 rounds and it is possible that the last attack with either will finish the target just as easily. Both the feature and the spell struggle with the value you get with Drakewarden and Tasha Beast Master. So always do the math! If you are a direct damage Ranger - Gloom Stalker, Horizon Walker or Swarmkeeper I have to think either will work.
Yeah, like if favored enemy was a good feature, but why not having both? Hunter has so few spell slots each day that having another resorce pool is enough for me to prefer favorite foe anytime
the one reason that I don't like Favored Foe is that it is using concentration to deal 1d4 damage per round and maxes out at 1d8 per level compared to the summoning spells. Once you get to those better concentration spells there really isn't much need to use it meaning you have a useless feature for most of the time
11:24 Deft Explorer (Roving)
Combine this with a Centaur to:
-get around climb difficulty.
-use with Charge race feature.
-use with the Charger Feat.
-climb and swim better than other races, while also having horse legs.
Doesn't climbing take super long as a centaur
@@ricaroanimar6695
It normally would take 4 times more movement then normal.
Having a climb speed removes the extra movement cost, making them climb fast because they are fast.
It's just funny to picture that in game.
@@ajaafive1384 are you sure about that
I would definitely be cool but i wouldn't no wich rule this should be
Yeah i looked it up , their shouldn't be anything that changes the ÷4 part of the ability.
It would just be a higher climbing speed that gets divided by 4.
Or do you know a page of the dmg I'm forgetting
@@ricaroanimar6695
With a climb speed from the roving feature, movement spent on climbing is equal to your walking speed.
Which should cancel out the extra movement cost of Equine Build, unless your DM says this wouldn't work for a centaur, which would mean they basically removed a piece of your class feature because of your race choice, which isn't fun.
@@ajaafive1384 i guess so yeah
I would love to know the official ruling though.
Not necessarily to use it but just to know,u know
I think the use case for favored foe is after you’ve run out of spell slots. May not come up often, but it’ll be nice when it does.
Very decent at low levels
At higher levels it also will have a higher damage die compared to hunters mark. So it's a win loose.
Favored foe is an ability that depends on if your dm does proper adventuring days or not.
If you only do 2/3 fights a day, then it's negligible and you can do other things.
If your dm actually runs 6/8medium/hard encounters a day (as they should) FF is way better, because you get a boost without using spells.
I picked up favored foe because the way my DM plays we get spell slots back after a 7 day rest so I need to conserve them I also use druidic warrior for shillelagh and magic stone for WIS based ranger and polearm master plus crusher, works pretty well for my Fey Wanderering shepherd/storyteller aesthetic
The thing about Favored Foe is that I'd rather use my spells slots and spells known for other great spells such as Good Berry, Zephyr Strike, Snare, Entangle and Absorb Elements.
Most enemies (bosses excluded) die after just two turns and switching targets with hunter's mark takes a bonus action that you would rather spend attacking with Two Weapon Fighting or Crossbow Expert.
Honestly, just stacking good berries instead of using your spells slots for hunter's mark (specially in low levels) is just way better.
If favored foe lacked concentration, but had the 1 attack limitation, instantly worth it. Idk why it's concentration, it won't change that much if it's not.
Probably to prevent it from stacking with Hunter's Mark.
One more thing for Paladins with Spirit Shroud, or Paladin in general. Sword and Board is great, but have you tried Polearm Master with Paladin? You get a third attack, which, at 11th level, means you add 3d8 radiant, and with spirit shroud active at 11th level, you add 3d8 radiant and 3d8 necrotic, cold, or even more radiant damage if all attacks hit. 2d10+1d4+6d8+15 (assuming a +5 strength modifier for each hit) with only one third level spell slot, per turn. Assuming average rolls, that's about 55-ish damage per round if all attacks hit. That's not bad for 11th level, and if you crit, you can still slap a smite on top of it for even more burst damage if you really need it.
I have a Soulknife Rogue named Tommy Timmons, a Variant Human with the Fighting Initiate Feat, which he took Thrown Weapon Fighting. Because thrown daggers count as ranged weapons, he took the Sharpshooter Feat. With landed thrown daggers, he's dealing a +17 on top of dice damage and Sneak Attack. Devastating...
Throwing daggers technically count as a "ranged attack with a melee weapon"
Thus not being a ranged weapon itself for the feat.
But I'd rule it to work with thrown weapons 100%
@@ajaafive1384 , yeah, after reading up on it, I could take advantage of the first two perks, but not the last. You're right. It would be incredibly OP considering I'd get two attacks, with a +10 damage to successes. Back to the drawing board, lol!!
@@ajaafive1384 , I suppose if you (or another DM) rules in my favor for Sharpshooter, something would have to done to kind of curb the insane amount of damage I could do. Gotta be fair...
Maybe a new feat is in order, call it "Deadeye" or something for specifically Thrown Weapons to make a minus to Hit and a plus to Damage. I like how Wizards is trying to get Thrown Weapons back to being a viable choice.
Dudes who are experts in dungeons? Do you mean the Lair Lads?
Crypt Chaps
I have to say, I really appreciate the fact that you guys do your absolute best to make arguments for abilities, skills, and powers from all sides of the story - from the min/maxers out there, to the role-play heavy, to the people that just want to have a fun, themed character. I have only been watching your channel for about a week or two, but all of your information is very insightful, and your collective experience shows! Keep up the great work and thank you for all the superb content!
Kelly's hat is SO GOOD with the jellyfish hoodie. He's joining the jellyfish party!
Oh, my god, Kelly. That hoodie is so bloody great!
I would point out getting specific proficiencies isn't difficult, RAW you get 2 skills of your choice from your background, all classes get at least 1 skill you probably want imo, and if need be pick custom lineage with a skill. still think expertise in one skill is better than terrain dependent, especially since the game is usually about exporing different environments.
Favored Foe uses
- Any subclass or build using their bonus action probably is better with favored foe than hunters mark.
- Can be used as a (albeit terrible) burst when combined with a BA spell like lightning arrow
- Allows you to use foe slayer on non-favored enemies (foe slayer should really not have that restriction)
- hey it doesn’t use a spell slot or spells known
Still pretty niche even after all that but tbf we should probably be comparing it to favored enemy not to hunters mark.
The other thing too is depending on the creature(s) you’re fighting, you could have to use your bonus action every round to switch hunters mark between creatures so you’d be better off casting something like zepher strike or entangle for those group fights.
Also, the one minute duration means you don’t have to worry about using a slot on a single fight when that concentration could last an hour. This way you save that slot for a similar effect and can use your concentration after the fight without feeling you’ve wasted that remaining time.
Soul knife rogues get a lot of use out of steady aim since their psi knives can be thrown
Can confirm, if I don't have to move I love to grant myself some advantage before I toss a mental boomerang.
Paladin's having Gentle Repose actually came in handy in my home game. My Paladin was able to prepare it to preserve a body we wanted to cast Raise Dead on but we didn't want to do it right then (dangerous situation for someone who'd drop in one hit from anything where we were).
So, Gentle Repose + put the body in our Bag of Holding for preservation, safekeeping and transportation.
Obviously won't come up much but still situationally useful.
Spirit Shroud is just great for getting more mileage from your spell slots though.
I have a bard+paladin with Blessed Warrior. Sacred Flame gives some Ranged Options (something a lot of Paladins lack). Guidance, Spare the Dying and Mending are great clutch/support spells.
Re: favored foe vs hunter's mark... Who cares if it's not as good as hunter's mark when hunter's mark is not really all that good anyway. TBH it's a bit of a trap. Rangers get very few spells known, so having something that can kind of do the job of hunter's mark without costing you spell slots OR spells known is a big win.
Faerie Fire, Entangle, Goodberry, Healing Word, PWT, Summon Beast, Zephyr Strike, Absorb Elements, Spike Growth, Aid... which would of those spells would you like to drop so that you can have hunter's mark when Favored Foe gives you free uses of hunter's mark-lite? None IMO. The exception would be a gloomstalker archer with action surge 'cause you do an insane amount of attacks.. like 6 attacks in round 1
.
Out of that list, either Faerie Fire or Entangle. They both do similar similar jobs so it more depends on character flavour which I would take. Plus, it's not like I could concentrate on either of them when I'm using FF or HM tbh
FWIW as well, Favoured Foe's damage dice increases as you level. Only tops out at a d8, but given that Hunter's Mark doesn't increase the damage dice at all, it's something to think about.
Lightfire398 I don't think starting out weaker than HM and scaling up to match it is a point in FF's favour. HM doesn't need that scaling since it already adds d8 when you first get it, scaling based on number of attacks.
@@dascientist8443 hunters mark is a d6, not a d8
It’s a shame, because the Class Feature Variants UA *nailed* Favored Foe: it just gave you Hunter’s Mark as a class feature, and let you cast it *concentration free* WIS modifier times per long rest-which also meant opening up the playstyle for all the other great concentration spells like Zephyr Strike and Ensnaring Strike. I’ve been playing a Ranger/Fighter multiclass with those rules since before Tasha’s and it’s been wonderful.
Also, a quick note that Steady Aim is specifically *great* for Tabaxi rogues, since standing still for the one round resets Feline Agility, meaning you actually don’t lose any movement over the course of the fight
We haven't used it yet, but my wife is playing a Tabaxi Assassin Rogue, and one kind of cool synergy with that build that works with steady aim is that if the Tabaxi uses it's racial ability to double it's movement speed, it can't do it again until it spend a turn not moving. So if you've booked it across the battlefield, and now you want to not move so you can use that movement again on a later turn, you might as well use Steady Aim if you need to.
It's niche, and like I said it hasn't really come up yet, but it's an option that at least doesn't make the standing still part quite as bad.
I like Favored Foe since Rangers got a boost to their spell list. Now you don't have to know Hunter's Mark if you didn't want to.
Favoured Foe has 3 great uses (two of them you didn't mention):
1. You run out of your spell slots (or want to save them for something else).
2. You are BA-heavy so HM doesn't make sense (Horizon Walker at lvls 1-8,...).
3. You want to make one big burst of damage against several oponents.
Example to the third point: Hunter, lvl 11, uses BA to turn invisible (Nature's Veil) and then attacks 4 adjacent enemies with Whirlwind Attack. He can activate Favoured Foe against each enemy once, so he does extra 4d6 of dmg with this feature. So 4 attacks, with advantage, each doing 1d6 extra thanks to this feature, no action cost. It seems really good to me!
I can really recommend the videos by a small RUclipsr called PackTactics about hunters mark and rangers in general : ). They have a lot of really technical insights
There is the thrown weapon feat in Grim Hallow that is pretty amazing to use
Currently playing a caster ranger and took all the alternitive class features and it really helps save slots for using control spells to aid allies
I think you guys are discounting for both the Cleric and Paladin regaining a spell slot from a channel divinity is that this can be almost an arcane recovery type ability if you use it before a short rest. For paladins who only get one channel divinity not as good and most of the time you'd be short resting with a spell down you'd have used it on some paladins, but for many others this is the ideal time to get a nice higher spell slot back.
The amazing thing about nature’s veil is the invisibility doesn’t go away when you attack. A fun combo i learned about was using this and then casting steel wind strike and you’d get advantage on all those attack rolls
OMG I totally forgot about that, awesome!
I'm sure that someone else mentioned this, but the one other huge resource for rangers that Hunter's Mark takes up is a spell known. Not having to choose hunter's mark (even if the replacement is a little less effective) means that I can gain a lot of versatility by choosing some other spell that does more than just gives a boost on damage per attack.
oathbreaker paladin has darkness as oath spell, in that case i'll say blind fighting style might be cool
On the matter of thrown weapons, darts are both ranged weapons and have the throwing property.
Throwing Fighting Style+Sharpshooter is thus entirely possible. :)
The paladin is one of the strongest class in the game so it didn't need much.
The ranger needed to be saved so it really needed a lot of help.
The rogue is interesting because i think the base abilities are fine, the problem is that some subclasses would benefit from a rework (that being said the rogue has some amazing options).
One more note on Favored Foe that might get missed: at a certain point, a Beastmaster Ranger is probably only attacking once on each of their turns eventually with their pet attacking a bunch instead. With the ability of letting your pet take one of your attacks and then commanding an attack with a bonus action, you only hit once yourself. This gets more useful at 11th level where your pet can attack twice each time as well. Because of this, you will want to use your bonus action to command your pet all the time and will only attack once yourself anyway so Favored Foe becomes a lot more useful. I know at 15th level the spells you cast apply to your pet as well but by that point you probably have some buff spell you want to cast on both of you anyway.
More interestingly for Beastmasters though is the fact that their pet uses your Spell Attack modifier so you want to max out your Wisdom ASAP. Druidic Warrior with Beastmaster seems really good so that you don't NEED a high dexterity for damage and can just focus on Wisdom with Shillelagh. Take another cantrip like Guidance along with it and you have the next character I plan on making.
I was thinking this while they were talking about favored foe. In general hunters mark is still better, and I think thats important (don't want to cannibalize the spell), but it just allows builds like the beastmaster to not feel like they're playing wrong by not taking hunters mark. Also planning on going druidic warrior ranger next campaign I think.
@@mustrdtiger2641 I will agree with them for sure though that these base kit changes really make me want to take take close look at all of the ranger classes again. They've always had interesting subclasses but because the base kit was weak beyond the early game, it never seemed worth it before. Now though...
Favored Foe has been great in the game I'm in. The DM prefers lots of smaller encounters, so it lets me stretch my spells farther before needing a rest.
The addition of Spirit Shroud is a significant upgrade for your tanky Pali. Not only does it add the additional damage, like an advance on improved smite - it also reduces enemy move speed AND makes it impossible for enemies to regain HPs if hit. As a Devotion Pali, for example, I'd cast this as an opening bonus action in a big boss fight any day
deft explorer gives you 2 extra languages, and favoured enemy gives you a language for each favoured enemy. This means you can easily have +4 languages (if you chose 2 humanoids) at 1st level in adittion to race and background languages. Which is fantastic if wanting to scout and find out information while using your double proficiency stealth to hide.
Note Steady aim applies to melee weapon attacks or even spell attacks. The text from tasha's only states "you gain advantage on your next attack roll on the current turn." It doesn't state ranged weapon attack.
As always, I agree with you guys 100% on the ranger optional features. My wood elf gloomstalker ranger/rogue for sure took deft explorer, picking up expertise in perception. My elf eyes see everything. I also kept the favored enemy feature, which is now paying off like gangbusters since I picked dragons and our DM has picked up Fizban’s. I’m having a blast with this character, and the combination of expertise in stealth from rogue, being able to hide behind natural phenomena as a wood elf, and the swim speed and climb speed makes me feel like a special forces kind of dude. Some real US Army ranger stuff for sure.
Steady Aim says attack not ranged attack, think you can use it for melee as well.
Just pointing out how strong it can be.
The Channel Divinity for spell slot thing can be pretty handy if you know you are going to have a short rest and another fight before your next long rest. Replenish a spell slot, get your channel divinity back on your short rest, and you're set.
It's a limited example, but the Horizon Walker's Planar Warrior works really really well with Favored Foe. Freeing up that bonus action allows you to start your turn with a massive burst of force damage, and hitting 11th level really cranks up the intensity
Something to consider with the interception fighting style in general...it works nicely at low level as you can essentially negate all the damage taken and when you get up to higher levels where your allies will probably get hit either way with the +10 or more to hit enemies, this is a consistent ability to neutralize some damage that they were more likely than not already going to take, especially with casting classes having traditionally lower AC. Mid level is where it can be hit or miss...no pun intended.
Favoured Foe not only frees up a spell slot, but also frees up a spell known spot. Rangers know so few spells, depending on the subclass and build, hunters mark is not worth it.
Great thoughts gentlemen. I love the Ranger in it's current state! It's a fun class. I think being a true scout is really viable now.
One thing about favored foe is that it benefits the subclasses who use a bonus action to deal damage. This affects the Fey Wanderer, Monster Slayer, Horizon Walker, and the Drakenwarden. Each has a 3rd lvl feature that uses a bonus action to deal extra damage. This allows each of them to still use their features and get closer to the dps of hunters mark without a spell slot.
Fey Wanderer dreadful strikes is not a bonus action, it's just something you add to one attack per turn.
Druidic Warrior for Shillelagh with a Quarterstaff is really good if you also combine it with Polearm Master. You get to attack as a bonus action, and if you're skirmishing you can use Zephyr Strike as your go-to concentration spell instead of Hunter's Mark to duck-and-weave as if you had Mobile to force melee enemies to re-enter your reach and trigger Polearm Master for the free OA.
As a Vengance Paladin in my current campaign I'm using Harness Divine Power ALL THE TIME. By coordinating with other party members, we are always flanking and getting advantage. Using Harness Divine Power means an extra Smite, which goes with advantage from flanking.
Being able to take expertise in Athletics to go with my ranger's climbing and swimming speed is awesome! I do, however, think the entangle spell is a trap option for gloom stalkers in particular. Cast it on round 1 of combat and you're sacrificing 2-3 attacks. I'll stick with ensnaring strike, thanks.
Currently playing (assuming it resumes, we've been on hold for a couple months) a BM Ranger using the new Tasha's stuff.
On the whole, big fan. I'm hardly the top damage dealer in our party, but I'm definitely contributing in a way I wouldn't have been able to before. Druidic Warrior and Shillelagh gives me a solid damage output with a pretty unique style and that high WIS is enhancing my beastie's own change to hit. With Zephyr Strike, Misty Step from the Fey Touched feat and a charging murdercat with his own reactions I can do a pretty darn good job of getting where I need to go on the battlefield and stopping the bad guys from doing the same. I can't compete with the dunamantic fighter for sheer facesmashing, or my wildfire druidic twin, but while it may not be the most optimal it is very definitely *fun* which is something the ranger has been lacking in.
Favoured Foe though...it's a huge disappointment. It's not *worthless* - I have plenty of uses for my bonus action - but it falls so flat for me. It just such a feeling of undeniable Meh that it's almost worse than if they hadn't changed it. I think I have remembered to use it maybe twice, for a total of 3 damage between them before the tagged enemies died. Woo hoo. If it didn't take concentration then sure, that's something. But there are so many good options that do that even though I'm making a point of not using Hunter's Mark it feels just...yeah. Like I say. It's not pointless, just so inconsequential as to be immensely disappointing as a ranger fanboy.
As someone playing a vengeance paladin with the blindsight fighting style, it's actually come up a couple of times in the Yawning Portal/Candlekeep campaign I'm in, and every time I've been incredibly happy to have it. Def more niche, but absolutely clutch when you need it, and I've never regretted taking it.. Also, there are times when I've smited but not used my Channel Divinity bc we were fighting a bunch of little guys rather than one big target, and I'll usually burn my CD right before a short rest and get the spell slot AND my CD back, so Harness Divine Power actually comes up a good amount.
Also, I'd like to make the case for interception as a fighting style having one key thing over protection: you don't have to have a shield out, and can still make use of it as long as you've got a weapon in hand. I usually use a two handed weapon, so I rarely have my shield out in a fight unless I REALLY need the AC boost. Interception isn't as good for a character who consistently uses their shield, but if your character doesn't, I think it's still a strong choice for something that protects your allies.
Scout rogue with longbow and steady aim has so much versatility, their reaction allows them to run away. Its saved me countless times. Highly recommended for scout players
One thing with getting spell slots back with Channel Divinity is that Channel Divinity comes back after a short rest, so if the party is taking a short rest, you can use your Channel Divinity before the rest to get a spell slot back then get Channel Divinity back after the rest.
And with Favored Foe, I'm just gonna homebrew that it's not concentration but cannot be used in tandem with Hunter's Mark
I think the biggest addition to Ranger here is Entangle. If you’ve got a decent wisdom and/or can hit multiple enemies, this will add more damage than hunters mark or favored foe by giving advantage, and it will mitigate a ton of incoming damage as well.
Great vid as always!
One thing to note tho, Giving a pally an option for a cantrip like Toll the Dead, shores up a Pally weak point by giving them a solid ranged option. ;)
Notable about Favoured Foe is it not being a spell. So it can't be countered, dispelled or antimagically prevented. So even if in normal situations you want to be Hunter's Marking, it's still a decent backup to have access to.
Yaaaaaas a new video !!!
Druidic warrior with Shillelagh + Tasha's Beastmaster Ranger feels really good. You're able to focus on your wis which makes your pet stronger and you can entangle at the same time. It's pretty nice
Big yes to the concept of a strength-based Rogue. Fighter with a Criminal or Charlatan background can accomplish some of the "Brutal Thug" from 4e, but not fully, since "Rogue" doesn't necessarily mean criminal. Since Wheel of Time is about to start streaming soon, Matrim Cauthon would probably be a great example of someone better suited to a strength-based Rogue with perhaps a Soldier background than a Fighter with a Criminal background.
However, I'm not sure I'd have them give up *all* the sneak attack damage, since so many Rogue subclasses refer to it, and it's such a part of Rogue core identity. Limiting them to 1d6 at level 3, 2d6 at level 11, 3d6 at level 19 is probably fine. With Extra Attack and a Fighting Style at some level, it'd be fairly comparable in damage to a Paladin that wasn't using spell-slots-smites.
I'm currently playing a Dwarven diplomat who is a fey wanderer ranger that used the new options to have 8 starting langues and expertise in persuasion. I have thrown weapon fighting and will be taking the feat to also gain two weapon fighting for my thrown hand axes, since I can trigger that extra d4 between multiple targets each turn. It all feels really good.
My rogue combines Steady Aim with Elven Accuracy to never.miss.again. The Tasha’s addition has been a whirlwind of benefit.
Blessed Warrior is really good for a Sorcadin. Especially if you're leaning more into the spellcasting side, because it allows you to take more Sorcerer cantrips without competing.
Hey I know you guys probably don't read these. But you mentioned you wish thrown weapons had more feats and then particularly mentioned Sharpshooter. If you read the feat it doesn't mention a specific weapon it just states if you use a ranged weapon attack for the first 2 parts. The only part you can argue against is the -5 penalty for +10, but when you look at the basic rules when you use the thrown part of thrown weapons it is considered a ranged weapon for that attack. Meaning Sharpshooter is really good and meant to be used with throwing weapons
Favored foe actually says “as if concentrating on a spell” it doesn’t use your concentration
That "u" in "Favoured Foe" caused me psychic damage
To bring up a point, Steady Aim is NOT just at ranged attacks, it's for all attacks. It's way better for ranged, but theres always the melee option, like if the enemy has no intention of leaving and you're already up there
One more case for Favored Foe: Horizon Walkers' Planar Warrior ability requires a bonus action and no concentration, so it synergizes well with an ability that does require concentration, but no bonus action.
Favourite Enemy is so fun for roleplay. Why are you so good at fighting and tracking these specific creatures? Just answering that question can flesh out your backstory SO MUCH
Welp, it definitely sounds that they made a solid look over and tried their best to improve the Ranger :) Good video as always, Dudes!
Love you guys. The information is so useful. One suggestion. As I listen in on your cast, I notice that when Monty turns his head, it’s hard to hear his softer voice. Perhaps a head microphone would be better.
Prayer of Healing being on the Paladin spell list is a nice utility. It's a very strong out-of-combat heal and giving Paladins the option to play more of a healer role can be very helpful.
_Warding Bond_ however is *amazing* and easily one of the most underrated spells in the game. It allows you to protect an ally with both more AC and the ability to take damage for them, which can really help spread out hitpoints which makes Short Resting and spells like Mass Healing Word far more useful. If you cast Warding Bond on the Fighter suddenly they essentially have double the health points (as long as you're willing to take some hits) and +1 AC to boot. Warding Bond has countless uses as you can either make a tank tankier or cast it on a squishy ally who's in a bad position to take some hits for them. I think the spell is really underrated and if used smart can seriously provide a huge boost to your team.
Now there are 2 new ways to overcome the initiative deficiency for the surprise crit of assassins:
- Fey touched (gaining misty step and choosing gift of Alacrity as 1st level spell)
- Choose Harengon race for prof in initiative that stacks with reliable talent
Started playing Ranger for the first time in a CoS campaign, super happy about the optional class features
A fun thing to do with rangers is to add buff items into their favorite terrain. Leafs you sew into clothing that have one time effect of the periapt of wound closer. Seeds of oil of sharpness,sovereign glue weed foraging should turn up more than just food.
25:00 - Fun fact:
This feature is from the Ranger in EverQuest. We got the exact same ability by name about 15 years ago.
The best use for Druidic Warrior is Primal savagery on Beast Master. At 15 it's basically a free twinned spell.