Ah, the Ranger. The Dungeons & Dragons class that seems forever destined to be the subject of scrutiny. Ranger critics often point to how the class seems outclassed by every other class. Rogues and Bards can roll better for stealth and knowledge checks. Wizards can clear obstacles in the wild with a single spell. A Fighter can be built to do more damage as an archer, while a Druid can summon more pets. So why play a Ranger when you can just be a nature-lover of another class?
It’s the Ranger’s very identity that lies at the center of these debates. Is it a skill-heavy survivalist meant to shine in the exploration pillar? That was the initial idea behind the 5E Ranger. With the old Favored Terrain and Favored Enemy, Rangers excelled at keeping the party on track during forays into the wild. The problem was that modern players tend to shy away from exploration. So what good is an explorer class when the party wants to skip exploring and get right to the next town?
Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything tried to course correct the Ranger into a combat caster who specializes in targeting a specific enemy. Higher levels granted Rangers more movement, more spells, and even the ability to turn invisible. The changes were well received, especially subclasses like Gloom Stalker that turned the Ranger into a mobile ambusher. Even then, however, a popular use of Gloom Stalker was just multiclassing it to take advantage of the Rogue’s Sneak Attack. So did the Ranger itself really reach its full potential?
Now comes the 2024 Ranger: a hybrid of these two styles that seems to make no one happy. Some lament that it lost its survivalist flavor to give way to more general skills, while others bemoan that its combat abilities are still overshadowed by Fighters and Rogues. So is the Ranger really that bad? Let’s break down the pros and cons to find out.
Pros
Free Hunter's Mark
Hunter’s Mark is to Ranger what smites are to Paladins, so it’s nice to see the iconic spell granted as a class feature. Rangers now always have it prepared and can cast it twice per day without using a spell slot. The Hunter’s Mark upgrades continue with level ups, such as more free casts, not losing concentration with damage, and getting a d10 of damage at level 20. Hunter’s Mark now feels like the Ranger spell.
Weapon Mastery
The new Weapon Mastery Feature is a boon for all martial characters, but I still consider it a win for Rangers as it gives them two more tools for harrying enemies. Most will likely make use of the Slow property of the longbow or the Vex of shortswords to get advantage on attacks. These small buffs, combined with the Ranger’s emphasis on mobility, should help establish a different playstyle from the Fighter who often likes to hold their ground in one spot.
Skill Checks No Longer Rely On Favored Enemy
The flavor of the 5E Ranger was great in concept. You picked one creature type to be the prey you hunt most often. It could pair with a tragic backstory or help you build a certain theme like vampire hunter. You got advantage on tracking and recalling knowledge about your favored enemy creature. Yet while it was perfect from a thematic standpoint, your use of these abilities was largely up to the DM.
Most often, at least at the tables where I’ve been a player, the Ranger didn’t get a chance to do the whole hunter thing. Combat found them before they could roll to track, or it was just obvious that the BBEG hangs out in his floating castle. As for rolling Intelligence checks to gauge the enemy, it was usually a better use of a whole action to just shoot something.
2024 Ranger expresses the Ranger’s skills through Expertise gained as they level up. Instead of waiting for a specific moment or enemy appearance to use their skills, they can instead rely on more general skill checks with high modifiers to showcase their knowledge. This creates more opportunities to actually play the hunter role.
More Widely Applicable Movement Options
Like the example above, the 2014 Ranger had several fun ways to move about the environment that ended up being too situational. They could ignore difficult terrain at level eight, which is awesome, but also move effortlessly through plants which again is quite specific. At later levels the 2014 Ranger could camouflage themselves in dirt or hide as a bonus action, which is an overly complex way to do what Rogues already do.
The 2024 Ranger seeks to improve upon these ideas with more general benefits. They now get 10 extra movement speed at level 6 plus climbing and swimming speeds. They can also turn invisible as a bonus action as a nice combination of those two less useful camouflage abilities.
Cons
Ranger Traded Flavor For Utility
Rangers rarely got to use their signature abilities, it’s true, but they were thematically on point. So as many players looked at the 2024 Player’s Handbook, what they found was a very underwhelming Ranger. Sure it can do more damage and move around more freely, but it came at the cost of the hunter theming. The Expertise in more general skills could be seen as a boring alternative to the highly-specialized relationship with a single type of foe.
It's All Copied From Tasha's
Another common criticism of the 2024 Ranger is that it was done already in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. And there is some truth there; a lot of the best features of 2024 Rangers like the increased movement speed, free Hunter’s Mark, and more versatile spell list come from Tasha’s. Much of it is almost a straight reprint, which some argue shows a lack of innovation compared to classes like the Monk that saw huge changes in 2024.
Hunter's Mark Shouldn't Be Concentration
Hunter’s Mark being available for more frequent casting implies that it’s meant to be used for most combat encounters, if not every encounter. It’s unfortunate, then, that other key ranger spells are subject to concentration. This forces the Ranger to choose between Hunter’s Mark or other cool things like summoning beasts or changing the battlefield. If Hunter’s Mark really is meant to be used frequently, Ranger’s should have the ability to cast it without concentrating on it. As it is now, the Ranger isn’t as versatile in battle as they could be.
Other Classes Still Do It Better
Despite its improvements, the 2024 Ranger still sits in a weird place among all the other classes. Fighters get Weapon Mastery too and will probably use it to deal more damage. Druids are Wild Shaping more often, giving them better domain over nature stuff. And Bards are probably able to outroll you in the skill checks to know things. More importantly, it feels like most players these days prefer more roleplay and big dramatic combats. Trekking through the wilderness just isn’t seen as an exciting use of session time, which puts the Ranger at a disadvantage from the get go.
So Is Ranger Bad?
The 2024 Ranger is actually really cool. The free Hunter’s Mark and general trend towards shorter adventures encourage you to let the empowered arrows fly. At higher levels, you have several options for setting up ambushes that even Rogue’s don’t. If you make clever use of these abilities and roleplay your newly enhanced skill checks well, you can create the image of a badass hunter.
Your challenge, and the question at hand, is should you have to roleplay just to make your class feel like your class? Wizards are out here blowing stuff up roleplay or not. A Barbarian tells you everything you need to know the first time they rage. The 2024 Ranger still feels confused between its flavorful roots and the playerbase’s desire to move away from exploration.
I think the 2024 Ranger is good. While reading over it multiple times for this piece, I became inspired to build one. However, the Ranger doesn’t exist in a vacuum. I’m more looking forward to playing a 2024 Monk or converting my old Fighter. So while Ranger looks good and even fun to play, there is still something missing in the overall package.
