Swarmkeeper is S tier simply for the ability to flavor your swarm as bats and annoy your friends by constantly saying, "I'm Batman" in a gravelly voice.
Damn thats amazing... but also because you can use Thorn Whip with the magic initiate feat, and then because its a spell ATTACK, if you hit, you move the enemy 10 feet closer, then 15 feet backwards, and bang, thats 25 feet of movement inside the Spike Growth. We just call it the Cheese Grater.
@@GeneralPenemonto Because Thorn whip is a druid cantrip, you could also just take the fighting style instead of a feat...or honestly i'd probably just multiclass the 3 levels out of a druid primarily. Lot more slots to cast those spike growths
I’ve always been a fan of the Ranger. Wizards of the Coast though…? Edit: Don’t worry, they’ll have to go through the Ranger fans in the comment section first!!
As a ranger main, I agree with this. Underrated by far. With the right player, these classes are amazing on and off a battlefield, especially with a build suited to the campaign.
Note about Fey Wanderer: The extra damage is once per turn if you attack the same creature multiple times, but if you split attacks between multiple creatures, the extra damage procs again.
That's why Aragorn is a fey wanderer ranger. The extra psychic damage along with the great weapon fighting style is enough to make sure he kills an orc with each hit.
Aye! A fun magic weapon that helped my Fey Wanderer was the Two Birds Sling from Theros. With the battles taking place on a boat and with allies willing to corral the enemies I was just an absolute menace
@@chillycharizard5985 Agree in most instances, however there are times where it comes up. I'm setting up to run a Giant Barbarian/Fey Wanderer Ranger using a halberd. This increases my range to 15 feet from Giant, and with polearm master will allow him to opportunity attack when they enter the space of range. In addition, using the Tunnel Fighter stance from Ranger level 2, I get infinite opportunity attacks on individual targets. That d4 is going to hit all of them as long as I can pull off a hit which is relatively easy to do with reckless attack, so it's going to be useful. Just to finish off the build, add in some Sentinel, and it stops them in their tracks, meaning I don't get hit by melee very often.
My wife played a Swarm Keeper with a creepy vibe. Her swam was bats and she multiclassed into Arcane Trickster Rogue. Her Origin was Haunted One and her backstory included her family being wiped out by a vampire who bit her but she fought off changing completely. Many of the spells and abilities merged with the classic vampire abilities like Body of Mist and Charming people.
I was going to point out that you couldn't get a fly speed from a Velociraptor swarm, but then I remembered that it doesn't state a limit on how big the swarm is. Now I'm imagining that "fly speed" is just you surfing on a wave of 500 velociraptors running all over each other like ants.
D&D 5e is a game with only two splatbooks full of new player options that cause significant power creep and Tasha's is the newer of the two so most of its options cause more power creep than Xanathar's. For those of you who remember 3e/3.5, Xanathar's is probably in line with one of the early 3e Forgotten Realms splatbooks while Tasha's is one of the first few 3.5 "Complete _____" splatbooks. Neither is the second coming of Book of Exalted Deeds or Book of Nine Swords.
It's a mixed bag. The Ranger revisions are mostly solid, and there are some subclasses like Beast Barbarian that have a bit of thought and soul behind it. However, there are some options like the new Bladesinger, the Sorcerer subclasses, and especially Twilight and Peace Cleric that represent an egregious amount of power creep. DMs are now having to decide whether to pick and choose, ignore the book's existence, or simply allow everything and accept the consequences of having op character options at the table
Wow, I forgot Eragon was a thing... On topic, Ranger's main issue was never really the subclasses, which have been pretty solid, it was the core class being iffy until Tasha's. That book has done so much lifting.
Rangers were a specialised generalist, so they didn't really have anything to really showcase their identity outside of being "weird nature people who aren't druids" in their base class
@@sev1120 yeah, despite being my favorite class, my group often mocks them with a common taunt being shit like "they're supposed to be tracking specialists, but I could get a better result if I rolled higher." Like, "ok? I mean that goes with everything... a bard can fight better than the fighter if they rolled higher, a barbarian could persuade people better if they rolled higher than the bard, a druid could heal better w/ cure wounds if they rolled higher than the cleric." Ranger had a lot of faults, but that was just a flimsy argument. All that said, what often handicapped Rangers back then was the idea that the settings would sometimes go outside the Ranger's area of expertise or the crew would end up fighting creatures they didn't specialize in - either due to DM wanting to take the adventure elsewhere or through poor communication in the character creation process - or both.
I agree that the core class is a lacking but I don't think Tasha's fixed it, I personally don't like the removal of favored foe/terrain, that's what made rangers feel like rangers to me it was a mechanic unique to the rangers and I think they should have improved on those features instead of removing cause they just feel less unique.
@@gadgetronking4255Well, they weren't removed? You can still take them if you want. Though you're right on thinking they should've just improved what was there already
Note about the Horizon Walker: that bonus action that increases your damage also turns all of your damage into force damage, which almost no creatures in the monster manual are resistant or immune to
Yeah I played one during a campaign and at lvl 11 with two weapon fighting feats and a haste spell, I was blender when it came to minions/ads/low health opponents. It was great.
Also it stacks with HM so on the bigger guy you're doing 1d8+mod, 1d8, and 1d6 damage per turn as force every turn after the 1st, assuming you're not at 5th level yet and using a Longbow or Rapier. HW really starts making up for its 1st-round damage loss quickly
Something to note here about the Drakewarden with Drake Companion: It says that the drake's cosmetics such as its color, scale texture or visible effects from your Draconic Essence is determined by YOU. This makes it so much better if you use this to trick enemies or BBEGs in or outside of combat because you can have the drake look like a red dragon and then completely catch them off guard when the drake starts dealing cold damage. Makes it even more fun to play with tons of variety
A fun thing about the Fey Wanderer’s Beguiling Twist feature is that while you absolutely can use it after an enemy fails to charm/frighten you or your allies, you can also use it if your allies failed to charm/frighten an enemy. So if that charm monster from your party’s Wizard failed to work, you can Twist it to charm or frighten another enemy within range. It’s not only a great defensive feature but powerful offensive one too
About Fey Wanderer: Beguiling Twist is not limited to its original effect, nor to your allies. You can cast Charm Person, have the enemy succeed, and then proceed to scare them instead. It's especially powerful with Summon Fey, because the Mirthful option has a free charm effect as its bonus action.
I really like the Horizon Walker. I do wanna note that the attack that lets you do an extra d8 also completely changes the damage of that attack into Force. It may seem minor but can be really important because Force is one of the best damage types.
I would say that the most powerful part of being an horizon walker is the one turn of etherealness, just straight up being able to phase through walls is amazing, at the very least it could be a silent knock, when you open the door from the inside, with the added bonus of being better then a dimension door, as you can peek in and then decide if you want to hang out on the other side of whatever wall you would be vibin behind
I play a changeling fey wanderer. Usually I'm the DM and this combo still lets me roleplay a ton of different characters for social encounters, so fun ❤ also the damage is still pretty good!
I think a fun way to improve the Hunter Subclass is to allow you to swap your choices out during a long rest akin to a kind of prep for what you think you might face or might need in the next encounter.
Excellent idea. Simple, thematic and strong without being excessive. With appropriate limitations on the ability and designed in a way that doesn't slow the gameplay, that could be a brilliant bit of homebrew.
Gloom Stalker ranger is so good, even when we aren’t in darkness or fighting at night, that initiative bonus and first round extra attack?? *chef’s kiss*
Bro, the ultimate negotiator: 17 Eloquence Bard/3 Fey Wanderer Ranger. You max out your WIS and CHA, take expertise in all CHA skills, then apply Glibness spell: your minimum CHA check for those skills is 37, and on a Nat 20, 42. Hell, even on spells that require a CHA check, like Counterspell, your minimum is 31 and max is 36
Personally that idea sounds amazing but id probably do 4 or 5 levels of ranger just because you get ability score improvement at lvl 4 and extra attack at lvl 5 seems more useful then a d12 of song of resr
@@kacin1292 I was gonna say. Doing what Garret mentioned would cause you to lose 9th level spells, and this is clearly meant to be a caster. Since you’d be focusing on WIS and CHA, this character would only have decent DEX. Not enough to be a martial character
@@fightingfalcon777 it did not occur to me about 9th level spells the question is though is one 9th spell slot worth more then getting an extra feat or ability score improvement if you do 4 and 16
@@garretwadden618 I don't think this build is very feat hungry, you can go variant human to stay in theme take actor/fey touched/skill expert and you start with 18 cha and 16 wis and you only need 3 ASIs to get 20 in both, and you got one free for another RP feat (or something else if this is in a campaign with combat)
Drakewardens have a neat use for infused strike (I think ... tell me if I'm wrong) if any party members within 30ft of the drake lands a critical hit, the drake can use its reaction to give them an extra 2d6 (instead of 1d6). And since the drake's turn is immediately after your own, yours is the last attack they can infuse before their reaction resets. So the opportunity to buff someone else's attack is always there, without forgoing it yourself.
From an aesthetics standpoint Swarmkeepers are my favourite subclass in the game. I just played one with a swarm of crows for a one-shot and absolutely loved it! Also, can confirm that gathered swarm and spike growth is a killer combination.
I love them too aesthetically, but I much prefer them to wield swarms of Icy snow, dark fog, Smoke and embers, or Wind immune with cherry blossoms and autumn leaves. Making these swarms into swirling elemental magic makes a different and very cool character
@@J.sh_CDN Awesome! That's the best thing, the subclass encourages you to flavour it however you like! Anything from epic icy snow to a comedic crazy cat lady
Yes. And I really want to add in Thorn Whip (druidic warrior fighting style) and the Telekinesis feat to be able to move an enemy (or friend) up to 40ft in a turn. No enemy wants to face you next to a cliff... :D
@@Brethren01 YES, the Thorn Whip one is insane. I use it with the Magic Initiate feat, while playing an Aarakocrka ranger. 10 feet closer with thornWhip, 15 feet backwards, bang 25 feet of movement for a sweeeeet 10d6 dmg. We call it the cheese grater. It just demolishes enemies.
@@laelnascimento7487 There it would be great and drakewarden could definitely use some spells too. I would also like a feature where spells with a range of self can apply either to self or the companion. Like Zephir strike (this would be great for companion, essentially giving them flyby), Ashardalons stride etc. Would of course be better if they also could just cast and concentrate on spells and share your spell list. Speaking a language is necessary for spellcasting and your drake knows draconic which is a language so he/she/etc should be able to learn spells and your own spells make the most sense for the drake.
My Horizon Walker is my favorite character I have ever made. He was an urban bounty hunter and thief for a local Dwarven crime syndocate and his abilities to teleport and phase through walls made his job much easier. Obviously him discovering some devil contracts from the other houses due to his ability to sense portals is where his story really takes off. Being able to teleport around a battle while hasted was a blast. 10/10 would recommend again.
Quick note about Hunter’s Sense for Monster Slayer. This does work on creatures in disguise or shape shifted. This is game changing in the right campaign. Like trying to identify who the vampire is. Or which villager is the werewolf!
Absolutely missed the best part of Horizon Walker, how their Bonus Action ability doesn't just add 1d8 damage to your next attack, 2d8 at later levels, but that damage is Force damage and so is all the other damage you deal with that attack. It converts all the damage you do on that attack, to Force.
I think it's important to point out that Tasha's fix a lot of the problems with the base class. Yeah, it fixed Beastmaster, but the base class features were quite sub-par.
Owlin gloomstalker….with night goggles…210 darkvision lol Anyway, I started playing a swarmkeeper for the first time (though I have experience in quite a few of the other subclasses). I made my swarm fragmented souls that are more akin to fireflies or folkloric will o the wisps than anything. The story was that fragmented souls have been collecting at this old abandoned and forgotten ruins in the mountains for quite a lot of centuries by this point. In this ruins was a white jade statue. This statue was brought to life by the power of the fragmented souls and she became their guardian (earth genasi since she is a spirit of the earth still). So her swarm is the very fragmented souls that brought her to life and she tries her best to either fulfill their wishes, help them move on, or allow them to find some sense of peace until they feel they can move on. She joins the party after the souls share some information about a massive slaughter of people who lived around a long hidden mcguffin. One of the party members was part of the family that protected the mcguffin (though he is unaware of that part of his legacy) and so the souls are also prompting her to join and offer her wisdom and protection to the party member too. So anyway, that’s how her story starts. I felt pretty proud of how this character turned out and I helped the dm build the ruins map and set up and its history when I joined which was also fun too. The dm loved the idea and I had fun with the collaboration portion. The party seems to love it too. Oh and dm led them to the ruins by the whole folkloric will o the wisps method. Think the little spirits in Brave, if you remember the movie. The dm also says that the place will be protected much the same way as some of the places in that movie were too and just can’t be found if the souls don’t lead someone there. Only, apparently, my character can get there without that assistance. It’s a nice ability that makes my character feel unique but isn’t game breaking since it requires the party to be in the area. The cleric and I have been discussing them doing that temple of the gods thing in the area during prologue if we all live that long, just to provide a connection for the place. It’s gonna be interesting for sure.
Dont forget to add, the tasha beast master is best pet class. Simply for the fact that , most pet classes say "bonus action to command it.... it takes its turn directly after yours." , meanwhile the tash pet , "during combat, the beast acts DURING your turn.", i feel that wins out. xD
A cool thing about the horizon walker is, that you can use it as a multiclass dip for rogues to change the sneak attack damage to force damage with just 3 levels of ranger
Having played a drakewarden through the Tiamat Campaign, I can tell you it is a very fun class to play. The drake is a conjured pet so if it dies you can bring it back. You get to choose one immunity, let me recommend fire or posion, and you can change this immunity too. The immunity also doesn't have to correspond with the breath weapon. It helps the rogue with sneak attack because it counts as an ally nearby an enemy and its attacks are magical which means it's great against creatures like vampires and wererats that require damage to be magical to hit them. You get to roll to see if its breath weapon recharges and that's a lot of fun. The drake eventually gets multi attack too with claws and a bite. The Mounted Combatant Feature is viable here because at lvl fifteen you can ride him off into the sunset. Having resistance and immunity in a game where a lot of the monsters are elemental, I.E. Dragons or Demons, is very important. I recommend this subclass so much.
One of my favorite rangers was a Warforged Swarmkeeper that was basically a humanoid beehive piloted by the queen bee. There were so many bees that you couldn't tell if I was a Warforged or not. All of my joints were just the bees moving the limbs around according the the queen.
My partner played a swarmkeeper ranger who was a pirate. Her swarm manifested in two different ways depending on the effect: It was either her single parrot assailing enemies or helping her maneuver, or a small group of pirate underlings who would run in, pushing enemies around and stabbing them. With the spike growth/movement combo, it manifested as the pirates knocking the enemy between one another, punching them in the face and dragging them through the spikes as they went. It was a great bit of roleplay that made the character a blast to watch and play with.
I love the Hunter. It has simple combat abilities that make you feel just a little cooler in battle. It's a great subclass if you want to feel like a non-magical Ranger.
Underrated tbh, im surprised it didn't go into at least A tier here. Kinda glossed over the choice of evasion and uncanny dodge and how good multiattack defense can be.
Today I mocked up an Arcane Archer + Hunter that seems really fun if not a peak damage dealer. Last year I played a Horizon Walker Tortle using a Greatsword instead of DEX. It was really really fun, even at level 5. We fought demons :)
Watching this video and hearing you talk about gloomstalker makes me glad i choose to pair it with way of the shadow monk. I can now make my own darkness.
I am playing a horizon walker now. If you can get the sharpshooter feat either at the level 4 ability score increase or by playing a race that gives you a feat, it can make the damage insane. Because planar warrior converts damage to force once per turn, it means that you can get around lots of resistances that many others can’t without spells. With just one attack with the sharpshooter feat using a longbow at either level 3 or 4 (feat dependent), you can deal 10 + 1d8 +1d8+dexterity modifier (if proficient). Even if you take the average and assuming a +4 dexterity, you deal at minimum 16 force damage with one attack, and at max without a crit, can deal 30 force damage a turn. Besides some of the most powerful classes in the game, a lot of other classes may not be able to match this potential damage output at that level. Sure, sharpshooter gives you a -5 to hit, but most of the time rangers can counter this detriment.
I started watching D&D content (mostly our man here) maybe a year ago. Haven't actually played in over 25 years but if I ever do again I would be a fey wanderer, what a beautiful subclass
Gloomstalker has been fun. If you play as a kenku, you are invisible in full darkness and the subclass gives you dark vision. Just remember on the first turn you have +10 movement and 1 extra attack. Need to figure out how best to use BA besides hunter's mark.
The Question Around alone would deserve an upvote, but the subclass review is great as well. Thanks for another video having me laughing and entertained.
Horizon Walker is so good, and I wish more people recognized it. The party I DM has a Horizon walker in it, and they are the ultimate melee striker character.
I played a level 10 swarmkeeper with the TCE variant Ranger features, and I really leaned into damage output while building her. She was pretty awesome and the swarm was so much fun to roleplay (she was a beekeeper). The fact that you can manipulate an enemy’s battlefield position when you hit them with an attack can be very powerful and useful for protecting yourself or an ally who’s taking a beating. I must say that while the flying ability was cool and a great way to maintain distance from melee enemies, I wish it was a tad bit faster. 10 ft just doesn’t quite feel like enough. That being said, swarmkeeper’s probably my favorite Ranger subclass.
I let my buddy use Tashas beastmaster stuff for his first time playing. It was a party 5 not including the beast. I gave them a brief tutorial esque combat encounter. The dog had the most kills.
I talked with my dm about the beast master subclass, and here are some ways to make it better(with the normal animals and that don’t overpower it): Commanding your companion as a bonus action! Really useful Sharing favoured enemy/certain applicable feats with your companion And leveling up your companions’ hp and armour class according to character rules.
1. Beast Master: Tasha's version is far better. Needs some self features like the Drakewarden. 2. Drakewarden: Very good. 3. Fey Wanderer: My table gives them a pixie familiar. Very good. 4. Gloom Stalker: Epic subclass. 5. Horizon Walker: Nice, but could use better lower lv features. 6. Hunter: Needs a new updated version, possibly one that lets you use all of the options but balanced. 7. Monster Slayer: Yup, simple and good. 8. Swarmkeeper: I'd swap the push and pull feature or make it balance with 10 feet for both. Very nice and leads for imaginive builds.
Hunter just needs a rework. I can see what they were going for, and it really interests me; It's just not good, and the design isn't thematic enough. But if they fixed it up I think it might be my favorite subclass in the game. I love the idea of a fighter having not just a backend specialty for dealing more damage or being more resistant against certain creatures, but actually having different fighting styles, techniques, and abilities that don't just play into what you're better at fighting, but how you play and how you fight those things. It sounds amazing.
Spectral Defense is situationally better than uncanny dodge, because it grants resistance for the whole turn, meaning if a creature has multiattack, you can halve all of its damage for the turn so long as you use your reaction against the first strike. That can be a life-saver if you're the sole target of a Dragon's multiattack, for instance. Its also situationally worse, because if you already have resistance to one of the damage types, the benefit of gaining resistance is less than halving the attack's damage. I'd argue that the first point makes up for that, but that is debatable.
The Beastmaster hunter Im playing at the moment, in a campaign with a homebrew mix of the players handbook and the Tasha's spirit beast one. We imported the Combat Command on a bonus action, and the Spending a spell slot and some time to revive beast. kept the lower hp from players handbook for flavour and all slills, and later can get Tame/befriend new beasts. and only use one at a time. We took all the Flavor skills of the Deep Rothé (dayze she's called) with both Dancing light ect. That was befriended by Rose(me) the svirfneblin ranger failed merchant (That us still trying to sell anything to everybody) Edit: Typos
A thing most people miss between tasha beastmaster and the drakewarden is that it takes a minute and you have to touch your pet to resurect it where the drakewarden is just an action meaning it is next to impossible to kill a drake companion in battle and leave a drakewarden without a subclass where it is actually a viable strategy to do that to a beast master
Last time I rolled low, I played a halfling beekeeper called Bumbledore Beesbury. It was amusing, I didn’t expect him to last long but he survived the whole campaign carrying the same apiary strapped to his back.
The smite spells that ranger has access to also have funny synergy with share spells. Or play a halfling or gnome ranger to ride your dragon while it's a medium creature. One unique thing about Hunters (And rangers in general, come to think of it) is that they're much better at dealing with hordes of weak enemies than other martials. I'm playing a hunter in my weekly CoS game and Horde Breaker actually comes up like... all the time. It also synergizes really well with mobile and my character's naturally higher speed from being a centaur; so I can crash into an enemy line, slap two enemies, deal extra damage to one of them with my hooves, then run away without reprisal.
Gloom Stalker, Drake Warden, Beast Master for my first choices. Though I think Hunter and Monster Slayer should be combined and no not because of possible title of Monster Hunter😂 but have VERY similar roles. Beast Master and Drake Warden is more than enough distinct mechanically and not just reflavored.
Fun note, the Fey Wanderer's extra d4 of damage is once per target per turn, not just once per turn. So if you attack multiple targets, the extra damage can go on all of them :)
I have a Thri-Kreen Swarmkeeper Ranger... Thematically fun, but its dangerously powerful in both roleplay and combat. Advantage on stealth, telepathy. Not to mention the bonus arms. Two weapons with light property, and a shield. With natural armor you get a 13+dex+ 2(for shield), and you get a free hand for somatic spells. All at level 1.
I was super excited to play swarm keeper, I was playing a locathah, and made my swarm sea gulls. It was all fun and games till one of the guys at the table pointed out that the swarms damage can not be boosted through a crit or feats like piercer, as the damage does not come from the attack but directly after... Now most dms would still allow it but we were playing with some serious rule sharks
The thing with ranger is, if you either go with 2 weapons or just pick correct spells, you won't even need bonus action things from subclass to keep gaining this bonus every turn.
Horizon Walker Planar Warrior changes all of that attacks damage to force damage, overcoming almost all resistance’s from level 3. Swing a great sword for 2d6+1d8 force damage and that’s before you set up a hunters mark or GWM etc Pretty crazy. They just get better at higher levels. I’d stick them in A just for the force damage.
One of my favorite characters I made is a halfling Drakewarden ranger who lost her legs... to a drake. She jokes she is a quarterling and while he has a wheelchair, she usually relies on her drake to get her around.
The most effective way to use the fey wanderers 7th level feature is to force an enemy to make saves against fear or charm every turn so you can redirect them around, since it doesn't have to be an ally that makes the save. The Summon Fey spell that they get for example can attempt to charm an enemy every turn, similarly if you multiclass to take 1 level of undead warlock you get to attempt to frighten enemies every turn.
so, what I've heard Is that Rangers have some of the most consistently fun and "balanced" subclasses (keeping in mind the changes done to beast master) out of most of the classes in the game.
I'm currently playing a Wood Elf Drake Warden with Elven Accuracy and Sharp Shooter Feats at 8th level. With our Circle of the Shepherd Druid constantly feeding the group advantage with her Spirit Totems and our Paladin casting Haste on me (sometimes coupled with Zephyr Strike), it's been quite a deadly combo. Crit damage factory. Will be taking a couple levels of fighter to get action surge. Maybe a 3rd to add Arcane Archery shots.
As a DM I love when my players use flavor to make the RP aspects of the game just more interesting so when my ranger PC chose swarm keeper we agreed that he only will ever need no more than 20 arrows. He uses the feature of sending his swarm to attack with his arrow. The arrow hits the swarm follows and grabs the arrow bringing it back to him. I haven't decided if using the swarm to rip the arrow from the creatures flesh will deal an additional couple of points of damage.
My first PC was a half-orc swarm keeper who commanded a swarm of crows! I loved him, but eventually ended up switching to an oath of vengeance paladin when i felt i wasn't having as much fun as the others. He was great early on though!
My ranger was swarmkeeper. I actually rolled up a random character and got human ranger with soldier background. So I made her a veteran as a war scout. She was a conscript and was discharged when her regiment had been destroyed, left purposefully ambiguous for the DM if anyone survived. I imagined the swarm, was kind of specters of her old group (possibly) manifested as insects. She had chronic nightmares and an alcohol problem since being an adventurer in her culture was pitied, and she couldn't be a soldier after discharge. Her soldier background allowed me to pick humans and elves as her favored enemies in a way that made sense.
I love Swarmkeeper, I played one at level 10 in a one shot, and I'm currently playing a Swarmkeeper 3/Twilight Cleric 2 half-drow. You really wanna have some fun, take the Druidic Warrior fighting style for Thorn Whip, because Gathered Swarm triggers on all attacks, including spell attacks. Take Spike Growth at level 5 (or get your Druid to cast it). Thorn Whip them to you, Gathered Swarm them away. At level 5 this combo deals 2d6+10d4 magical piercing damage.
I always like the idea of a swarmkeeper's swarm being something flavored sort of like bending in Avatar. Like maybe you've got a flask of water or a bag of gemstones with me that I pull out and float around during combat, or maybe you go Gaara mode and keep a jar of sand on your back that you use.
I played an aarakocra monster slayer ranger for my last character, and while I had a lot of fun with him, I agree with the B ranking. It doesn’t really have the unique abilities and offensive output of some other subclasses, but Slayer’s Prey alone makes this very good at taking a single big monster by yourself. And the damage output can increase when you stack Slayer’s Prey with either Hunter’s Mark or Favored Foe (at least, that’s how we ruled it at my table). Many were the combat encounters where my character could decimate the big baddie by himself. (He was also an Archery build, so that helped, too lol.) All in all, good, but not great, subclass.
Fey wanderer player here. All of the fey based subclasses are underplayed and under appreciated, try one! Theyre very fun, and surprisingly well rounded. Moderately capable in conversation, of the course the best in exploration, and above average in combat
Playing a Horizon walker just feels cool for me. An alien (she was technically a drow, but had nothing to do with drow lore) girl with an automatic rifle (infused crossbow) who can walk through walls was just super in place in a campaign about the revolution in an arcane-punk empire.
Swarmkeeper Swarmkeeper Swarmkeeper!!! Maybe my favorite subclass in the game. So much flavor, so versatile, and so much underrated power. I'm playing a Warforged with a nanobot swarm, which is freaking awesome. Combining it with the Druidic fighting style has been brutal! Shillelagh + Polearm Master + free 5 ft movement after an attack so I get an opportunity attack without giving one up in return? Awesome! Thorn Whip + an extra 15 ft pull for TWENTY FIVE FEET of forced movement!? No more flying or climbing enemy problems! Extra damage + Hunter's Mark + Multi Attack + Polearm Master (or two weapon fighting)! What boss? AND I get to fly, teleport, and phase shift later!?
Bruh, it's $5 for 4000+ TTRPG maps, and they're *beautiful!* Czepeku maps right here: www.patreon.com/czepeku/posts
These are some seriously awesome maps! I'm finding so many things that I've been looking for for my roll20 campaign.
BALLS 6:59
I love your videos man just gotta point out legolas is more a fighter with a bow and robin hood is deffinately a rogue
Wish i could aford that... 🏴☠
LOL sounds like you are trying to say rogue's are better than Rangers!!
Swarmkeeper is S tier simply for the ability to flavor your swarm as bats and annoy your friends by constantly saying, "I'm Batman" in a gravelly voice.
Damn thats amazing... but also because you can use Thorn Whip with the magic initiate feat, and then because its a spell ATTACK, if you hit, you move the enemy 10 feet closer, then 15 feet backwards, and bang, thats 25 feet of movement inside the Spike Growth. We just call it the Cheese Grater.
@@GeneralPenemonto Because Thorn whip is a druid cantrip, you could also just take the fighting style instead of a feat...or honestly i'd probably just multiclass the 3 levels out of a druid primarily. Lot more slots to cast those spike growths
@@Dieonceperday My table doesnt do multiclass at all, and I didnt have any idea about the fighting style option :( still, it works and its amazing
That's actually why I gave my dhampir that subclass. Great for flavor.
@@GeneralPenemontoIf I can ask, would do you get Spike Growth on ranger?
all rangers are underrated, fight me.
Edit: plz don't fight me I'm weaker than I look
nah the bhoys are on top
I’ve always been a fan of the Ranger. Wizards of the Coast though…?
Edit: Don’t worry, they’ll have to go through the Ranger fans in the comment section first!!
Fighter with a bow
We live in a society where most people filter their opinions through the lense of "will other people accept this opinion "
As a ranger main, I agree with this. Underrated by far. With the right player, these classes are amazing on and off a battlefield, especially with a build suited to the campaign.
Note about Fey Wanderer: The extra damage is once per turn if you attack the same creature multiple times, but if you split attacks between multiple creatures, the extra damage procs again.
That's why Aragorn is a fey wanderer ranger. The extra psychic damage along with the great weapon fighting style is enough to make sure he kills an orc with each hit.
Sure but split damage is cringe so that's only useful if you get a kill with the first attack.
@@saltypork101 To say nothing of getting with elfy Liv Tyler 😅
Aye! A fun magic weapon that helped my Fey Wanderer was the Two Birds Sling from Theros. With the battles taking place on a boat and with allies willing to corral the enemies I was just an absolute menace
@@chillycharizard5985 Agree in most instances, however there are times where it comes up. I'm setting up to run a Giant Barbarian/Fey Wanderer Ranger using a halberd. This increases my range to 15 feet from Giant, and with polearm master will allow him to opportunity attack when they enter the space of range. In addition, using the Tunnel Fighter stance from Ranger level 2, I get infinite opportunity attacks on individual targets. That d4 is going to hit all of them as long as I can pull off a hit which is relatively easy to do with reckless attack, so it's going to be useful. Just to finish off the build, add in some Sentinel, and it stops them in their tracks, meaning I don't get hit by melee very often.
My wife played a Swarm Keeper with a creepy vibe. Her swam was bats and she multiclassed into Arcane Trickster Rogue. Her Origin was Haunted One and her backstory included her family being wiped out by a vampire who bit her but she fought off changing completely. Many of the spells and abilities merged with the classic vampire abilities like Body of Mist and Charming people.
That sounds like an awesome character!
Holy shit. This sounds like something you make if you wanna play as Dracula.
Sooooo…fantasy Batman?
Blade Batman! Sounds pretty fun.
I'm doing an Eladrin Swarmkeeper Ranger for Curse of Strahd and my swarm is the ashes of the dead. No lie - I love it.
The Swarmkeeper can also have a swarm of Velociraptors, as they are also a tiny beast.
I was going to point out that you couldn't get a fly speed from a Velociraptor swarm, but then I remembered that it doesn't state a limit on how big the swarm is. Now I'm imagining that "fly speed" is just you surfing on a wave of 500 velociraptors running all over each other like ants.
@@Hypersaiyanike always remember, Velociraptors are not the raptors you see in Jurassic Park, those are Utah Raptors haha
@@ArchieNox I am acutely aware of how lil' a swarm of velociraptors would be.
@@Hypersaiyanike maybe, but some people reading after you might not. Spread the knowledge haha
I've never played D&D, but I get the impression Tasha's Cauldron of Everything is the real MVP, am I wrong?
depends who you ask, but if you ask me, yeah I like it a lot! One of the last d&d books that felt it had a heart and artistic aims
Tasha's and Xanathar's are absolutely required in my opinion.
Tasha's no Xanthar, but she's aight
D&D 5e is a game with only two splatbooks full of new player options that cause significant power creep and Tasha's is the newer of the two so most of its options cause more power creep than Xanathar's.
For those of you who remember 3e/3.5, Xanathar's is probably in line with one of the early 3e Forgotten Realms splatbooks while Tasha's is one of the first few 3.5 "Complete _____" splatbooks. Neither is the second coming of Book of Exalted Deeds or Book of Nine Swords.
It's a mixed bag. The Ranger revisions are mostly solid, and there are some subclasses like Beast Barbarian that have a bit of thought and soul behind it. However, there are some options like the new Bladesinger, the Sorcerer subclasses, and especially Twilight and Peace Cleric that represent an egregious amount of power creep. DMs are now having to decide whether to pick and choose, ignore the book's existence, or simply allow everything and accept the consequences of having op character options at the table
Wow, I forgot Eragon was a thing...
On topic, Ranger's main issue was never really the subclasses, which have been pretty solid, it was the core class being iffy until Tasha's. That book has done so much lifting.
Rangers were a specialised generalist, so they didn't really have anything to really showcase their identity outside of being "weird nature people who aren't druids" in their base class
@@sev1120 yeah, despite being my favorite class, my group often mocks them with a common taunt being shit like "they're supposed to be tracking specialists, but I could get a better result if I rolled higher." Like, "ok? I mean that goes with everything... a bard can fight better than the fighter if they rolled higher, a barbarian could persuade people better if they rolled higher than the bard, a druid could heal better w/ cure wounds if they rolled higher than the cleric."
Ranger had a lot of faults, but that was just a flimsy argument.
All that said, what often handicapped Rangers back then was the idea that the settings would sometimes go outside the Ranger's area of expertise or the crew would end up fighting creatures they didn't specialize in - either due to DM wanting to take the adventure elsewhere or through poor communication in the character creation process - or both.
I agree that the core class is a lacking but I don't think Tasha's fixed it, I personally don't like the removal of favored foe/terrain, that's what made rangers feel like rangers to me it was a mechanic unique to the rangers and I think they should have improved on those features instead of removing cause they just feel less unique.
@@gadgetronking4255Well, they weren't removed? You can still take them if you want. Though you're right on thinking they should've just improved what was there already
@@williamkavanagh6505 in the variant rules of 5e yes but I didn't see them anywhere in the ONE DnD rules
Note about the Horizon Walker: that bonus action that increases your damage also turns all of your damage into force damage, which almost no creatures in the monster manual are resistant or immune to
Yeah I played one during a campaign and at lvl 11 with two weapon fighting feats and a haste spell, I was blender when it came to minions/ads/low health opponents. It was great.
I'm playing a Sea Elf Horizon Walker Ranger/Fighter. Honestly such a good subclass
3 hw rest rogue = force sneak attacks ftw! Lol
Also it stacks with HM so on the bigger guy you're doing 1d8+mod, 1d8, and 1d6 damage per turn as force every turn after the 1st, assuming you're not at 5th level yet and using a Longbow or Rapier. HW really starts making up for its 1st-round damage loss quickly
Force damage is incredible.
Something to note here about the Drakewarden with Drake Companion: It says that the drake's cosmetics such as its color, scale texture or visible effects from your Draconic Essence is determined by YOU. This makes it so much better if you use this to trick enemies or BBEGs in or outside of combat because you can have the drake look like a red dragon and then completely catch them off guard when the drake starts dealing cold damage. Makes it even more fun to play with tons of variety
A fun thing about the Fey Wanderer’s Beguiling Twist feature is that while you absolutely can use it after an enemy fails to charm/frighten you or your allies, you can also use it if your allies failed to charm/frighten an enemy.
So if that charm monster from your party’s Wizard failed to work, you can Twist it to charm or frighten another enemy within range. It’s not only a great defensive feature but powerful offensive one too
One level of the Undead Warlock on your Fey Wanderer is absolutely fantastic.
you can also use it off of your own feature, if a creature succeds on its sqve against Beguiling Twist on a turn you have your reaction
About Fey Wanderer: Beguiling Twist is not limited to its original effect, nor to your allies. You can cast Charm Person, have the enemy succeed, and then proceed to scare them instead.
It's especially powerful with Summon Fey, because the Mirthful option has a free charm effect as its bonus action.
You have to pick a different target though
0:30 Beast Master
2:42 Drakewarden
3:54 Fey Wanderer
6:37 Gloom Stalker
8:08 Horizon Walker
9:49 Hunter
12:12 Monster Slayer
13:40 Swarmkeeper
Ranger is easily my favorite class, so I can't wait to watch this!
I really like the Horizon Walker. I do wanna note that the attack that lets you do an extra d8 also completely changes the damage of that attack into Force. It may seem minor but can be really important because Force is one of the best damage types.
You can turn poison damage into force, which can make a normally underpowered poison ability or weapon much better
Before watching everyone knows gloomstalker is strongest.
I think the drakewarden might actually be 2nd best, with easily the most fun flavouring.
I would say that the most powerful part of being an horizon walker is the one turn of etherealness, just straight up being able to phase through walls is amazing, at the very least it could be a silent knock, when you open the door from the inside, with the added bonus of being better then a dimension door, as you can peek in and then decide if you want to hang out on the other side of whatever wall you would be vibin behind
I play a changeling fey wanderer. Usually I'm the DM and this combo still lets me roleplay a ton of different characters for social encounters, so fun ❤ also the damage is still pretty good!
I think a fun way to improve the Hunter Subclass is to allow you to swap your choices out during a long rest akin to a kind of prep for what you think you might face or might need in the next encounter.
Excellent idea. Simple, thematic and strong without being excessive. With appropriate limitations on the ability and designed in a way that doesn't slow the gameplay, that could be a brilliant bit of homebrew.
Gloom Stalker ranger is so good, even when we aren’t in darkness or fighting at night, that initiative bonus and first round extra attack?? *chef’s kiss*
Bro, the ultimate negotiator: 17 Eloquence Bard/3 Fey Wanderer Ranger. You max out your WIS and CHA, take expertise in all CHA skills, then apply Glibness spell: your minimum CHA check for those skills is 37, and on a Nat 20, 42. Hell, even on spells that require a CHA check, like Counterspell, your minimum is 31 and max is 36
Personally that idea sounds amazing but id probably do 4 or 5 levels of ranger just because you get ability score improvement at lvl 4 and extra attack at lvl 5 seems more useful then a d12 of song of resr
@@garretwadden618 or 9th level spells?
@@kacin1292 I was gonna say. Doing what Garret mentioned would cause you to lose 9th level spells, and this is clearly meant to be a caster. Since you’d be focusing on WIS and CHA, this character would only have decent DEX. Not enough to be a martial character
@@fightingfalcon777 it did not occur to me about 9th level spells the question is though is one 9th spell slot worth more then getting an extra feat or ability score improvement if you do 4 and 16
@@garretwadden618 I don't think this build is very feat hungry, you can go variant human to stay in theme take actor/fey touched/skill expert and you start with 18 cha and 16 wis and you only need 3 ASIs to get 20 in both, and you got one free for another RP feat (or something else if this is in a campaign with combat)
Drakewardens have a neat use for infused strike (I think ... tell me if I'm wrong) if any party members within 30ft of the drake lands a critical hit, the drake can use its reaction to give them an extra 2d6 (instead of 1d6).
And since the drake's turn is immediately after your own, yours is the last attack they can infuse before their reaction resets. So the opportunity to buff someone else's attack is always there, without forgoing it yourself.
From an aesthetics standpoint Swarmkeepers are my favourite subclass in the game. I just played one with a swarm of crows for a one-shot and absolutely loved it! Also, can confirm that gathered swarm and spike growth is a killer combination.
I love them too aesthetically, but I much prefer them to wield swarms of Icy snow, dark fog, Smoke and embers, or Wind immune with cherry blossoms and autumn leaves.
Making these swarms into swirling elemental magic makes a different and very cool character
@@J.sh_CDN Awesome! That's the best thing, the subclass encourages you to flavour it however you like! Anything from epic icy snow to a comedic crazy cat lady
Yes. And I really want to add in Thorn Whip (druidic warrior fighting style) and the Telekinesis feat to be able to move an enemy (or friend) up to 40ft in a turn. No enemy wants to face you next to a cliff... :D
@@Brethren01 YES, the Thorn Whip one is insane. I use it with the Magic Initiate feat, while playing an Aarakocrka ranger. 10 feet closer with thornWhip, 15 feet backwards, bang 25 feet of movement for a sweeeeet 10d6 dmg. We call it the cheese grater. It just demolishes enemies.
Gloom stalker also have the best spell list (disguise self, rope trick, fear, greater invisibility) in addition of being a killing machine
IMHO the Horizon Walker has the best spell list. It's very hard to beat Misty Step, Haste and Banishment
@@laelnascimento7487 I would have preferred to replace banishment with polymorph, but yes these spells are great.😂
@Wout van ostaden yeah, but it's not thematic, though. I would prefer it in the Beastmaster, if they would ever gonna get a spell list
@@laelnascimento7487 There it would be great and drakewarden could definitely use some spells too. I would also like a feature where spells with a range of self can apply either to self or the companion. Like Zephir strike (this would be great for companion, essentially giving them flyby), Ashardalons stride etc. Would of course be better if they also could just cast and concentrate on spells and share your spell list. Speaking a language is necessary for spellcasting and your drake knows draconic which is a language so he/she/etc should be able to learn spells and your own spells make the most sense for the drake.
My Horizon Walker is my favorite character I have ever made. He was an urban bounty hunter and thief for a local Dwarven crime syndocate and his abilities to teleport and phase through walls made his job much easier. Obviously him discovering some devil contracts from the other houses due to his ability to sense portals is where his story really takes off. Being able to teleport around a battle while hasted was a blast. 10/10 would recommend again.
Quick note about Hunter’s Sense for Monster Slayer. This does work on creatures in disguise or shape shifted. This is game changing in the right campaign. Like trying to identify who the vampire is. Or which villager is the werewolf!
Please keep doing these, I love this 🤩
Note about the Horizon Walkers lvl 3 ability, it makes the entire attack deal force damage instead of its original type, which is rarely resisted.
First campaign and I’m enjoying swarm keeper. The extra damage from the swarm paired with hunter’s mark boosts my damage a nice amount!
Sounds awesome! An extra 2d6 damage starting at level 3 is pretty powerful
I love, love, LOVE that the icon you used for the Fey Wanderer was Ginko from Mushi-shi. One of my favorite shows. Great on ye.
Absolutely missed the best part of Horizon Walker, how their Bonus Action ability doesn't just add 1d8 damage to your next attack, 2d8 at later levels, but that damage is Force damage and so is all the other damage you deal with that attack. It converts all the damage you do on that attack, to Force.
I like the D'Vorah clip for the Swarm Keeper. A nice touch! Great video as always!
I think it's important to point out that Tasha's fix a lot of the problems with the base class. Yeah, it fixed Beastmaster, but the base class features were quite sub-par.
Finally someone gives the beast master some love. It was one of my first classes that got me into DND.
Owlin gloomstalker….with night goggles…210 darkvision lol
Anyway, I started playing a swarmkeeper for the first time (though I have experience in quite a few of the other subclasses). I made my swarm fragmented souls that are more akin to fireflies or folkloric will o the wisps than anything. The story was that fragmented souls have been collecting at this old abandoned and forgotten ruins in the mountains for quite a lot of centuries by this point. In this ruins was a white jade statue. This statue was brought to life by the power of the fragmented souls and she became their guardian (earth genasi since she is a spirit of the earth still). So her swarm is the very fragmented souls that brought her to life and she tries her best to either fulfill their wishes, help them move on, or allow them to find some sense of peace until they feel they can move on. She joins the party after the souls share some information about a massive slaughter of people who lived around a long hidden mcguffin. One of the party members was part of the family that protected the mcguffin (though he is unaware of that part of his legacy) and so the souls are also prompting her to join and offer her wisdom and protection to the party member too. So anyway, that’s how her story starts. I felt pretty proud of how this character turned out and I helped the dm build the ruins map and set up and its history when I joined which was also fun too. The dm loved the idea and I had fun with the collaboration portion. The party seems to love it too. Oh and dm led them to the ruins by the whole folkloric will o the wisps method. Think the little spirits in Brave, if you remember the movie. The dm also says that the place will be protected much the same way as some of the places in that movie were too and just can’t be found if the souls don’t lead someone there. Only, apparently, my character can get there without that assistance. It’s a nice ability that makes my character feel unique but isn’t game breaking since it requires the party to be in the area. The cleric and I have been discussing them doing that temple of the gods thing in the area during prologue if we all live that long, just to provide a connection for the place. It’s gonna be interesting for sure.
Meanwhile, 1 level of Twilight Cleric gives anyone 300ft
@@d_andrews that too! Lol
Dont forget to add, the tasha beast master is best pet class. Simply for the fact that , most pet classes say "bonus action to command it.... it takes its turn directly after yours." , meanwhile the tash pet , "during combat, the beast acts DURING your turn.", i feel that wins out. xD
A cool thing about the horizon walker is, that you can use it as a multiclass dip for rogues to change the sneak attack damage to force damage with just 3 levels of ranger
Having played a drakewarden through the Tiamat Campaign, I can tell you it is a very fun class to play. The drake is a conjured pet so if it dies you can bring it back. You get to choose one immunity, let me recommend fire or posion, and you can change this immunity too. The immunity also doesn't have to correspond with the breath weapon. It helps the rogue with sneak attack because it counts as an ally nearby an enemy and its attacks are magical which means it's great against creatures like vampires and wererats that require damage to be magical to hit them. You get to roll to see if its breath weapon recharges and that's a lot of fun. The drake eventually gets multi attack too with claws and a bite. The Mounted Combatant Feature is viable here because at lvl fifteen you can ride him off into the sunset. Having resistance and immunity in a game where a lot of the monsters are elemental, I.E. Dragons or Demons, is very important. I recommend this subclass so much.
I once played a swarmkeeper whose swarm was puppies, and everyone loved her until all the little puppy teeth came for your ankles 😅
One of my favorite rangers was a Warforged Swarmkeeper that was basically a humanoid beehive piloted by the queen bee. There were so many bees that you couldn't tell if I was a Warforged or not. All of my joints were just the bees moving the limbs around according the the queen.
So you basically played Dvorah from Mortal Kombat? Neat!
My partner played a swarmkeeper ranger who was a pirate. Her swarm manifested in two different ways depending on the effect: It was either her single parrot assailing enemies or helping her maneuver, or a small group of pirate underlings who would run in, pushing enemies around and stabbing them. With the spike growth/movement combo, it manifested as the pirates knocking the enemy between one another, punching them in the face and dragging them through the spikes as they went. It was a great bit of roleplay that made the character a blast to watch and play with.
I love the Hunter. It has simple combat abilities that make you feel just a little cooler in battle. It's a great subclass if you want to feel like a non-magical Ranger.
Underrated tbh, im surprised it didn't go into at least A tier here. Kinda glossed over the choice of evasion and uncanny dodge and how good multiattack defense can be.
Today I mocked up an Arcane Archer + Hunter that seems really fun if not a peak damage dealer.
Last year I played a Horizon Walker Tortle using a Greatsword instead of DEX. It was really really fun, even at level 5. We fought demons :)
Watching this video and hearing you talk about gloomstalker makes me glad i choose to pair it with way of the shadow monk. I can now make my own darkness.
As a new DM, your content helps so much! Thank you!
I am playing a horizon walker now. If you can get the sharpshooter feat either at the level 4 ability score increase or by playing a race that gives you a feat, it can make the damage insane. Because planar warrior converts damage to force once per turn, it means that you can get around lots of resistances that many others can’t without spells. With just one attack with the sharpshooter feat using a longbow at either level 3 or 4 (feat dependent), you can deal 10 + 1d8 +1d8+dexterity modifier (if proficient). Even if you take the average and assuming a +4 dexterity, you deal at minimum 16 force damage with one attack, and at max without a crit, can deal 30 force damage a turn. Besides some of the most powerful classes in the game, a lot of other classes may not be able to match this potential damage output at that level. Sure, sharpshooter gives you a -5 to hit, but most of the time rangers can counter this detriment.
The force damage is only good out to 30 feet😢
I started watching D&D content (mostly our man here) maybe a year ago. Haven't actually played in over 25 years but if I ever do again I would be a fey wanderer, what a beautiful subclass
Gloomstalker has been fun. If you play as a kenku, you are invisible in full darkness and the subclass gives you dark vision. Just remember on the first turn you have +10 movement and 1 extra attack. Need to figure out how best to use BA besides hunter's mark.
With crossbow expert and hand crossbow that BA turns into an extra attack
Zephyr Strike
The Question Around alone would deserve an upvote, but the subclass review is great as well. Thanks for another video having me laughing and entertained.
Horizon Walker is so good, and I wish more people recognized it. The party I DM has a Horizon walker in it, and they are the ultimate melee striker character.
I really like these ranking videos, you keep explanations short and to the point, great stuff! 👍
I played a level 10 swarmkeeper with the TCE variant Ranger features, and I really leaned into damage output while building her. She was pretty awesome and the swarm was so much fun to roleplay (she was a beekeeper). The fact that you can manipulate an enemy’s battlefield position when you hit them with an attack can be very powerful and useful for protecting yourself or an ally who’s taking a beating. I must say that while the flying ability was cool and a great way to maintain distance from melee enemies, I wish it was a tad bit faster. 10 ft just doesn’t quite feel like enough. That being said, swarmkeeper’s probably my favorite Ranger subclass.
I let my buddy use Tashas beastmaster stuff for his first time playing. It was a party 5 not including the beast. I gave them a brief tutorial esque combat encounter. The dog had the most kills.
You help me understand so many things and I have learned so much, thank you!
I just want to say that it makes me very happy to see a dragonkin-pet class actually be competitive in a DnD game.
I talked with my dm about the beast master subclass, and here are some ways to make it better(with the normal animals and that don’t overpower it):
Commanding your companion as a bonus action! Really useful
Sharing favoured enemy/certain applicable feats with your companion
And leveling up your companions’ hp and armour class according to character rules.
I love seeing the swarm keeper get some love. Behind gloomstalker it is my favorite
1. Beast Master: Tasha's version is far better. Needs some self features like the Drakewarden.
2. Drakewarden: Very good.
3. Fey Wanderer: My table gives them a pixie familiar. Very good.
4. Gloom Stalker: Epic subclass.
5. Horizon Walker: Nice, but could use better lower lv features.
6. Hunter: Needs a new updated version, possibly one that lets you use all of the options but balanced.
7. Monster Slayer: Yup, simple and good.
8. Swarmkeeper: I'd swap the push and pull feature or make it balance with 10 feet for both. Very nice and leads for imaginive builds.
I love the information I learned for you about rogue and Barbara’s but I would love a warlock video
1:45 Oh hey, I wasn't expecting a CritCrab collab!
Hunter just needs a rework. I can see what they were going for, and it really interests me; It's just not good, and the design isn't thematic enough.
But if they fixed it up I think it might be my favorite subclass in the game. I love the idea of a fighter having not just a backend specialty for dealing more damage or being more resistant against certain creatures, but actually having different fighting styles, techniques, and abilities that don't just play into what you're better at fighting, but how you play and how you fight those things.
It sounds amazing.
Spectral Defense is situationally better than uncanny dodge, because it grants resistance for the whole turn, meaning if a creature has multiattack, you can halve all of its damage for the turn so long as you use your reaction against the first strike. That can be a life-saver if you're the sole target of a Dragon's multiattack, for instance.
Its also situationally worse, because if you already have resistance to one of the damage types, the benefit of gaining resistance is less than halving the attack's damage. I'd argue that the first point makes up for that, but that is debatable.
The Beastmaster hunter Im playing at the moment, in a campaign with a homebrew mix of the players handbook and the Tasha's spirit beast one.
We imported the Combat Command on a bonus action, and the Spending a spell slot and some time to revive beast. kept the lower hp from players handbook for flavour and all slills, and later can get Tame/befriend new beasts. and only use one at a time.
We took all the Flavor skills of the Deep Rothé (dayze she's called) with both Dancing light ect. That was befriended by Rose(me) the svirfneblin ranger failed merchant (That us still trying to sell anything to everybody)
Edit: Typos
GURREN LAGANN!! also great video been looking into rangers and this helped a lot!
A thing most people miss between tasha beastmaster and the drakewarden is that it takes a minute and you have to touch your pet to resurect it where the drakewarden is just an action meaning it is next to impossible to kill a drake companion in battle and leave a drakewarden without a subclass where it is actually a viable strategy to do that to a beast master
Actually it's a free action. You just have to spend a spell slot, which is even better?!?!
@@scrubnub6203 except it still takes a minute to come back meaning the action economy of it doesn't really matter
Last time I rolled low, I played a halfling beekeeper called Bumbledore Beesbury. It was amusing, I didn’t expect him to last long but he survived the whole campaign carrying the same apiary strapped to his back.
The smite spells that ranger has access to also have funny synergy with share spells.
Or play a halfling or gnome ranger to ride your dragon while it's a medium creature.
One unique thing about Hunters (And rangers in general, come to think of it) is that they're much better at dealing with hordes of weak enemies than other martials. I'm playing a hunter in my weekly CoS game and Horde Breaker actually comes up like... all the time. It also synergizes really well with mobile and my character's naturally higher speed from being a centaur; so I can crash into an enemy line, slap two enemies, deal extra damage to one of them with my hooves, then run away without reprisal.
The rat example when you were talking about the Swarmkeeper should've been spinning three dimensionally tbh
I will stand by Fey Wanderer forever
Gloom Stalker, Drake Warden, Beast Master for my first choices. Though I think Hunter and Monster Slayer should be combined and no not because of possible title of Monster Hunter😂 but have VERY similar roles. Beast Master and Drake Warden is more than enough distinct mechanically and not just reflavored.
Fun note, the Fey Wanderer's extra d4 of damage is once per target per turn, not just once per turn. So if you attack multiple targets, the extra damage can go on all of them :)
I have a Thri-Kreen Swarmkeeper Ranger... Thematically fun, but its dangerously powerful in both roleplay and combat. Advantage on stealth, telepathy. Not to mention the bonus arms. Two weapons with light property, and a shield. With natural armor you get a 13+dex+ 2(for shield), and you get a free hand for somatic spells. All at level 1.
I was super excited to play swarm keeper, I was playing a locathah, and made my swarm sea gulls. It was all fun and games till one of the guys at the table pointed out that the swarms damage can not be boosted through a crit or feats like piercer, as the damage does not come from the attack but directly after... Now most dms would still allow it but we were playing with some serious rule sharks
The thing with ranger is, if you either go with 2 weapons or just pick correct spells, you won't even need bonus action things from subclass to keep gaining this bonus every turn.
With regards to Horizon Walker, the 3rd level ability also switches all damage to force for the attack, effectively ignoring resistances.
Horizon Walker Planar Warrior changes all of that attacks damage to force damage, overcoming almost all resistance’s from level 3. Swing a great sword for 2d6+1d8 force damage and that’s before you set up a hunters mark or GWM etc Pretty crazy. They just get better at higher levels. I’d stick them in A just for the force damage.
One of my favorite characters I made is a halfling Drakewarden ranger who lost her legs... to a drake. She jokes she is a quarterling and while he has a wheelchair, she usually relies on her drake to get her around.
The most effective way to use the fey wanderers 7th level feature is to force an enemy to make saves against fear or charm every turn so you can redirect them around, since it doesn't have to be an ally that makes the save. The Summon Fey spell that they get for example can attempt to charm an enemy every turn, similarly if you multiclass to take 1 level of undead warlock you get to attempt to frighten enemies every turn.
so, what I've heard
Is that Rangers have some of the most consistently fun and "balanced" subclasses (keeping in mind the changes done to beast master) out of most of the classes in the game.
"What ability should a Kobold Barbarian have?"
"Six pack tactics"
Drakewarden can fly at 7th level, if the Drake grapples you. It functions exactly like at 15th level, only at half speed.
2:03 gotta respect the Scissor Seven reference
I'm currently playing a Wood Elf Drake Warden with Elven Accuracy and Sharp Shooter Feats at 8th level. With our Circle of the Shepherd Druid constantly feeding the group advantage with her Spirit Totems and our Paladin casting Haste on me (sometimes coupled with Zephyr Strike), it's been quite a deadly combo. Crit damage factory. Will be taking a couple levels of fighter to get action surge. Maybe a 3rd to add Arcane Archery shots.
7:04 the arrow reference made me chuckle.
Fey Wanderer turning the scare around, like the enemy makes a scary face, and the Ranger pulls out a mirror.
You and I see the classes of DnD same. Love your vids!
As a DM I love when my players use flavor to make the RP aspects of the game just more interesting so when my ranger PC chose swarm keeper we agreed that he only will ever need no more than 20 arrows. He uses the feature of sending his swarm to attack with his arrow. The arrow hits the swarm follows and grabs the arrow bringing it back to him. I haven't decided if using the swarm to rip the arrow from the creatures flesh will deal an additional couple of points of damage.
When he mentioned this counter scare thing all I could do is think of that one scene from The mummy
My first PC was a half-orc swarm keeper who commanded a swarm of crows! I loved him, but eventually ended up switching to an oath of vengeance paladin when i felt i wasn't having as much fun as the others. He was great early on though!
My ranger was swarmkeeper. I actually rolled up a random character and got human ranger with soldier background. So I made her a veteran as a war scout. She was a conscript and was discharged when her regiment had been destroyed, left purposefully ambiguous for the DM if anyone survived. I imagined the swarm, was kind of specters of her old group (possibly) manifested as insects. She had chronic nightmares and an alcohol problem since being an adventurer in her culture was pitied, and she couldn't be a soldier after discharge.
Her soldier background allowed me to pick humans and elves as her favored enemies in a way that made sense.
Have played a Ranger since 2e. Been avoiding subclasses for a while, but this gives me ideas.
I love Swarmkeeper, I played one at level 10 in a one shot, and I'm currently playing a Swarmkeeper 3/Twilight Cleric 2 half-drow. You really wanna have some fun, take the Druidic Warrior fighting style for Thorn Whip, because Gathered Swarm triggers on all attacks, including spell attacks. Take Spike Growth at level 5 (or get your Druid to cast it). Thorn Whip them to you, Gathered Swarm them away. At level 5 this combo deals 2d6+10d4 magical piercing damage.
I always like the idea of a swarmkeeper's swarm being something flavored sort of like bending in Avatar. Like maybe you've got a flask of water or a bag of gemstones with me that I pull out and float around during combat, or maybe you go Gaara mode and keep a jar of sand on your back that you use.
I played an aarakocra monster slayer ranger for my last character, and while I had a lot of fun with him, I agree with the B ranking. It doesn’t really have the unique abilities and offensive output of some other subclasses, but Slayer’s Prey alone makes this very good at taking a single big monster by yourself. And the damage output can increase when you stack Slayer’s Prey with either Hunter’s Mark or Favored Foe (at least, that’s how we ruled it at my table). Many were the combat encounters where my character could decimate the big baddie by himself. (He was also an Archery build, so that helped, too lol.) All in all, good, but not great, subclass.
I'm happy to see a Scissor Seven clip here, excellent
Please make a Sorcerer, Warlock and Wizard version of this video
lol that Scothish team burn was awesome 🤣
Fey wanderer player here. All of the fey based subclasses are underplayed and under appreciated, try one! Theyre very fun, and surprisingly well rounded. Moderately capable in conversation, of the course the best in exploration, and above average in combat
Playing a Horizon walker just feels cool for me. An alien (she was technically a drow, but had nothing to do with drow lore) girl with an automatic rifle (infused crossbow) who can walk through walls was just super in place in a campaign about the revolution in an arcane-punk empire.
Swarmkeeper Swarmkeeper Swarmkeeper!!! Maybe my favorite subclass in the game. So much flavor, so versatile, and so much underrated power. I'm playing a Warforged with a nanobot swarm, which is freaking awesome. Combining it with the Druidic fighting style has been brutal! Shillelagh + Polearm Master + free 5 ft movement after an attack so I get an opportunity attack without giving one up in return? Awesome! Thorn Whip + an extra 15 ft pull for TWENTY FIVE FEET of forced movement!? No more flying or climbing enemy problems! Extra damage + Hunter's Mark + Multi Attack + Polearm Master (or two weapon fighting)! What boss? AND I get to fly, teleport, and phase shift later!?