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Common questions
What is the origin of the Ranger class in Dungeons and Dragons?
The Ranger class was born from the shadow of a fallen king and modeled directly after Aragorn, the wandering protector of the North in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. The Strategic Review volume 1, number 2 introduced this class to the tabletop, marking the first time a character could be defined not by their ability to swing a sword in a dungeon, but by their capacity to survive and hunt in the wild.
When was the Revised Ranger class released and what are its key features?
In 2016, due to criticisms of the Ranger as presented in the Player's Handbook, the Revised Ranger class was released as part of the Unearthed Arcana playtest. This playtest version made some of the Ranger's core abilities easier to use and specifically fixed how a Ranger uses its animal companion, giving a Ranger the animal at Level 3 and allowing a Ranger to attack with both its weapon and the animal on the same turn.
Which Ranger subclass is the most criticized version of the Ranger in 5th edition?
The Beast Master subclass is the most criticized version of the Ranger, with many current D&D fans believing that the Ranger class is the weakest in the game due to a combination of poor class-specific abilities and weak damage output. Christian Hoffer, for ComicBook, wrote that many current D&D fans believe that the Ranger class is the weakest in the game, due to a combination of poor class-specific abilities and weak damage output.
How popular is the Ranger class among 5th edition players according to D&D Beyond statistics?
Of the 5th edition class and race combinations per 100,000 characters that players created on D&D Beyond from August 15 to the 15th of September 2017, Rangers were the 6th most created at 8,887 total. Elf Ranger was the second most created character out of all the class and race combinations, following Elf as the most common racial combination.
Ranger (Dungeons & Dragons)
The Ranger was born from the shadow of a fallen king, modeled directly after Aragorn, the wandering protector of the North in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. Before the first rulebook was printed, the concept existed as a literary archetype of the skilled bushcraftsman who lived in reclusion, using the wilderness as both home and weapon. The Strategic Review volume 1, number 2 introduced this class to the tabletop, marking the first time a character could be defined not by their ability to swing a sword in a dungeon, but by their capacity to survive and hunt in the wild. Early iterations drew heavily from myth and legend, pulling inspiration from figures like Robin Hood, the giant-slayer Jack, the huntress Diana, and the Greek hero Orion. These literary roots established a class that was fundamentally different from the standard fighter, prioritizing tracking and survival over brute force. The original Rangers were a subtype of fighters who used any weapon and wore any armor, yet they gained extra attacks at a slower rate than their warrior counterparts. They possessed a unique d8 hit die, which was lower than the d10 of standard fighters, but they gained a second hit die at first level and could eventually max out at 11 hit dice instead of the standard nine. This design choice reflected a class that was durable but not a frontline tank, relying on their knowledge of the terrain to outlast their enemies.
Tracking The Wild
In the first edition of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, the Ranger's most defining trait was their ability to track opponents using a percentage score rather than a simple skill check. This mechanical advantage allowed them to surprise opponents on a roll of 1 to 3 on a d6, a significantly higher chance than the 1 to 2 available to other classes, while they themselves could only be surprised on a 1. This made them the ultimate ambushers, capable of striking first and often deciding the outcome of a conflict before it truly began. Unlike other warriors, Rangers gained limited spell use at level 8, acquiring 1st through 3rd level druid spells and 1st and 2nd level magic-user spells, with a maximum of two per level. High-level Rangers gained followers ranging in type and power from classed player-character races to creatures such as pegasus mounts, pseudodragons, werebears, copper dragons, and storm giants. The fewer followers a Ranger gained based on random dice rolls, the more powerful each individual follower was, creating a dynamic where a solitary Ranger might command a single, legendary creature while a more popular one might gather a horde of weaker beasts. Rangers were required to be of good alignment and were initially limited to humans and half-elves, with the only multi-class option open to Rangers being the Ranger/Cleric, which was allowed only to half-elves. This restriction emphasized the class's role as a guardian of the natural order, bound by moral codes that prevented them from straying into the darkness.
What new Ranger archetypes were added in Xanathar's Guide to Everything and Tasha's Cauldron of Everything?
Xanathar's Guide to Everything added three more Ranger archetypes: the Gloom Stalker, Horizon Walker, and Monster Slayer. Tasha's Cauldron of Everything added two more archetypes: Fey Wanderer and Swarmkeeper, further diversifying the class's capabilities and allowing players to tailor their Rangers to specific campaign needs.
When was the Unearthed Arcana 2022 - Expert Classes playtest material for One D&D released?
In September 2022, they released the Unearthed Arcana 2022 - Expert Classes playtest material for One D&D which included rules for playing a Ranger up to level 20, as well as the Hunter subclass. This ongoing evolution of the class reflects the community's desire for a more robust and flexible Ranger that can compete with other classes in terms of power and utility.
The third edition of Dungeons and Dragons saw more changes to the Ranger, dropping the race and alignment restrictions of the earlier editions and allowing evil Rangers for the first time. The species enemy was now called favored enemy, and the Ranger was allowed to select additional enemies during advancement, giving players more flexibility in how they defined their character's purpose. The class retained its spellcasting ability, but gained it much earlier, and had its own spell list, making them more self-sufficient than in previous iterations. The nature of the Ranger's companions also changed significantly, as instead of gaining multiple followers, the Ranger gained a single animal companion, and at an earlier level than in previous editions. This shift from a horde of followers to a single, loyal beast became a defining feature of the class, creating a bond between player and character that was central to the Ranger's identity. The fourth edition retained their ability to specialize in archery or two weapon fighting, but redefined them as strikers who specialized in single-target damage and mobility. They had the martial power source, and like all martial classes, their powers were called exploits. Their special abilities made them better suited to hit and run tactics and focusing on a single opponent, while other abilities allowed the Ranger to aid his companions with skill checks and avoiding ambushes. This era of the class emphasized speed and precision, moving away from the slow, methodical tracking of the first edition to a more dynamic combat style that fit the faster pace of the new game system.
In 2016, due to criticisms of
The Revised Ranger
the Ranger as presented in the Player's Handbook, the Revised Ranger class was released as part of the Unearthed Arcana playtest. This playtest version made some of the Ranger's core abilities easier to use and specifically fixed how a Ranger uses its animal companion, giving a Ranger the animal at Level 3 and allowing a Ranger to attack with both its weapon and the animal on the same turn. However, this new version of the class is not legal for organized play such as in the Adventurer's League. Since the release of the Revised Ranger, Jeremy Crawford, Co-Lead Designer of the 5th Edition, has reiterated multiple times that there are no plans to release an official alternate version of the class. In November 2019, Wizards of the Coast released a new Unearthed Arcana titled Class Feature Variants, which added additional class features for all classes including the Ranger. These new class feature variants were introduced in 2020, with the release of Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, as optional rules, including an optional revision of the Beastmaster's companion feature. Screen Rant rated the Ranger class as the least powerful class of the base 12 character classes in the 5th edition, noting that the class forces players to be kind of specific. Being able to have a favored enemy and terrain is kind of cool because the character gets all sorts of bonuses, but if the Ranger is good, say, in the Underdark fighting aberrations, but the DM has set the adventure in a desert ruin somewhere, well, those bonuses won't do much good. That
The Controversial Class
being said, the Revised Ranger stats help balance this out a little bit, as players don't have to be as specific, but still.
The Beast Master subclass is the most criticized version of the Ranger, with many current D&D fans believing that the Ranger class is the weakest in the game due to a combination of poor class-specific abilities and weak damage output. Christian Hoffer, for ComicBook, wrote that many current D&D fans believe that the Ranger class is the weakest in the game, due to a combination of poor class-specific abilities and weak damage output. The Beast Master subclass is the most criticized version of the Ranger, and while not official, many fans preferred the Revised Ranger to the original Ranger class found in the Player's Handbook. Hoffer also highlighted Crawford's reiteration that the Ranger class would not change and wrote that surprisingly, Crawford's comment became the flashpoint for tons of D&D debate over the weekend on various boards and forums, with players debating the merits of the core Ranger class and the revisions seemingly discarded by the D&D team. Unless you're playing in an Adventurer's League game, it's ultimately up to the DM whether or not you can use the Revised Ranger rules. Homebrewing is extremely common in Dungeons and Dragons, and there is nothing stopping home games from using a Revised Ranger to their heart's content. In 2019, Jeremy Thomas, for 411Mania, wrote that the Ranger has long been a source of criticism for D&D players in Fifth Edition, who have argued that the Beast Master subclass in particular is underpowered. Wizards even released a Revised Ranger class, which would potentially be an optional take on the class and not replace the core version, leaving the community in
The Beastmaster's Burden
a state of perpetual debate over the class's viability.
Despite the criticism, the Ranger remains a popular choice among players, with Gus Wezerek, for FiveThirtyEight, reporting that of the 5th edition class and race combinations per 100,000 characters that players created on D&D Beyond from August 15 to the 15th of September 2017, Rangers were the 6th most created at 8,887 total. Elf was the most common racial combination followed by human and then half-elf, with Elf Ranger being the second most created character out of all the class and race combinations. The 5th edition Player's Handbook included the Ranger as a character class, and Rangers are a half caster class in 5th edition, gaining limited spellcasting. Their features and spells focus on exploration, survival skills, and tracking foes. At third level, players chose from one of two Ranger archetypes: the Hunter, and the Beast Master. The Hunter archetype gains combative capabilities, while the Beast Master gains an animal companion to control. Several sourcebooks since the launch of 5th edition have expanded the number of Ranger archetype options. Xanathar's Guide to Everything added three more Ranger archetypes: the Gloom Stalker, Horizon Walker, and Monster Slayer. The Gloom Stalker focuses upon hiding in areas of low light, the Horizon Walker gains access to certain teleportation features, and the Monster Slayer becomes adept at attacking certain studied foes. Tasha's Cauldron of Everything added two more archetypes: Fey Wanderer and Swarmkeeper, further diversifying the class's capabilities and allowing players to tailor their Rangers to specific campaign needs.
Playtesting for the next version of Ranger was announced, and in September 2022, they released the Unearthed Arcana 2022 - Expert Classes playtest
The Hunter's Legacy
material for One D&D which included rules for playing a Ranger up to level 20, as well as the Hunter subclass. This ongoing evolution of the class reflects the community's desire for a more robust and flexible Ranger that can compete with other classes in terms of power and utility. The history of the Ranger is a testament to the adaptability of the Dungeons and Dragons game, as the class has been reimagined and redefined with each new edition to fit the changing needs of players and the evolving narrative of the game. From the shadowed hunter of Tolkien's Middle-earth to the specialized tracker of the modern tabletop, the Ranger has remained a constant presence, embodying the spirit of the wilderness and the struggle to survive in a world filled with danger. The class's journey from a niche option to a central pillar of the game's identity is a story of innovation, controversy, and enduring appeal, proving that the Ranger is more than just a character class, but a symbol of the player's connection to the natural world and the stories they tell within it.