Ranger - Beast Master

[Sai]

Are the companions suppose to be awful?
90% of the time they get stuck on something, I don't notice until its too late, and said companion is not capable of getting into combat with my party & I lol.
Then of course the sheer lack of stats early on, they all get 1-2 shotted by even a Goblin.

Are the companions for Ranger just suppose to be awful until way later? Or is there some method to not make them awful in the early game? Or am I just unfortunately playing a really weak class?

[Metallicus]

“I don’t notice until its too late”

^ this

[Ele]

Yeah I'm finding the raven pretty underwhelming. It flew up and "blinded" a guy--the guy then turned around, opened a door, when through it, turned back and shot (and hit) one of my party from the next room. Blind, huh?

[Airatome]

Originally posted by Sai:

Are the companions suppose to be awful?
90% of the time they get stuck on something, I don't notice until its too late, and said companion is not capable of getting into combat with my party & I lol.
Then of course the sheer lack of stats early on, they all get 1-2 shotted by even a Goblin.

Are the companions for Ranger just suppose to be awful until way later? Or is there some method to not make them awful in the early game? Or am I just unfortunately playing a really weak class?

Sadly, Beastmaster Ranger is the lowest grade subclass accross all choices and all classes in D&D 5E currently. And it seems not even Larian tried or could make it better.
Wizards of the Coast (who owns D&D) tried to make improvements through play tests but those have also failed horribly.

The Gloomstalker is your second best Ranger subclass followed by Hunter in the number 1 slot with the Colossus Slayer ability at level 3 increasing their per turn damage output beyond that of the Gloomstalker.

Both are solid and thematic choices that won't screw you over or feel poorly implemented like Beastmaster pets are currently.

At least this isn't a Larian issue. This is a Wizards of the Coast / D&D 5E issue.

[Eckoh]

I play hunter ranger. I find it every bit as strong as fighters and Barbarians. I mean every hit get 1d6 added with Mark then the 1d8 after its below 100%hp. You dont get the swings of a fighter but add in sharpshooter with 20 dex then drink hill giant pot with titanstring longbow... you straight up wreck crap each turn.


For me I prefer a "martial" team due to less resting needed.

[solaris32]

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1086940/discussions/1/3823047564749421746/

There's also the issue that summons make NPCs freak out, causing them to run into hazards or break quest triggers. Or just flat out flee from you when you're trying to talk to them.

[Erodigm]

Originally posted by Eckoh:

I play hunter ranger. I find it every bit as strong as fighters and Barbarians. I mean every hit get 1d6 added with Mark then the 1d8 after its below 100%hp. You dont get the swings of a fighter but add in sharpshooter with 20 dex then drink hill giant pot with titanstring longbow... you straight up wreck crap each turn.


For me I prefer a "martial" team due to less resting needed.

This post is specifically about beastmaster though. I just started one, and after a couple levels I can say with full confidence the sub-class is every bit as bad as it is on tabletop. I do like having my dire raven with the cutesy familiar raven, but as soon as they get hit I am just a lesser fighter lol

[Airatome]

Originally posted by Eckoh:

I play hunter ranger. I find it every bit as strong as fighters and Barbarians. I mean every hit get 1d6 added with Mark then the 1d8 after its below 100%hp. You dont get the swings of a fighter but add in sharpshooter with 20 dex then drink hill giant pot with titanstring longbow... you straight up wreck crap each turn.


For me I prefer a "martial" team due to less resting needed.

Enjoyed this build during my very first 5E campaign. I made it better in later iterations by making it a melee Hunter Assassin. Don't get me wrong, a ranged sharpshooter Hunter is incredible but....

A Hunter that takes Two Weapon Fighting fighting style is dishing out 1d6 + Dex + 1d6 Hunter's Mark and then 1d6 + Dex + 1d6 Hunter's Mark again and 1d8 added on one of those for Colossus Slayer.
By level 4 those 1d6 weapons can turn into 1d8 weapons with Dual Wielder (the extra AC is just a bonus!)
By level 5 we are using Extra Attack for 3 separate 1d8 + dex + 1d6 attacks with an extra 1d8 thrown in there somewhere for fun each round.

That's when we start adding in levels of Rogue and then Assassin for Sneak Attack, cunning actions and expertise, and Assassinate.

Feel like a damn ninja sometimes 😅

[Helifax]

The Beastmaster is actually a pretty OP class if specialised and used right!
(A some point you get the enhanced versions of the beast you can summon that also have extra attacks and more specialised moves).
The "Corvus Majorus" (The Dire Raven) has the ability to cast blindness where if lands on flight.. which is insanely OP if you get to use it right.
So is Siff... sorry the Dire Wolf.. the Dire Bear can summon another bear and they can pretty much tank anything...

So... yeah the beast master ranger is a hell of a class ^_^ However don't expect to be a DPS class. It's about playing smart vs dmg output as a rogue/fighter for example.
(I still find it sad/amusing some people don't know what a Cleric CAN do...so, experiment and find the right balance for the way you want to play the class! Every class can be either bad or awesome if you understand and use their strengths and mitigate/complement their weaknesses with another class/ companion).

[Airatome]

Originally posted by Helifax:

The Beastmaster is actually a pretty OP class if specialised and used right!
(A some point you get the enhanced versions of the beast you can summon that also have extra attacks and more specialised moves).
The "Corvus Majorus" (The Dire Raven) has the ability to cast blindness where if lands on flight.. which is insanely OP if you get to use it right.
So is Siff... sorry the Dire Wolf.. the Dire Bear can summon another bear and they can pretty much tank anything...

So... yeah the beast master ranger is a hell of a class ^_^

That's actually good to know that Larian actually DID make Beastmaster better than it is on paper / tabletop. I stand corrected!

If I had one of these: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1086940/discussions/1/3823047564751835719/
I would have known that Larian made upgrades and changes to higher levels of Beastmaster that actually make it tolerable/strong options over the other Ranger types.

Another reason why a breakdown of these subclasses would be helpful. Even for long time 5E players.

[Veganleader1]

I played a beastmaster ranger on my last run through early access, made it to level 5 and cleared everything but the hag and the Githyanki War Patrol. The summons were basically trash. The ranger itself did well but the pets just had low usability because they had both low health pools paired with practically no armor. I almost never summoned my pets because they died in the first round or 2 of combat. By the end I had all but forgotten I was playing a BM ranger because I never used them and when I did the value was almost non-existent.

I know they get stronger as the game progresses, and they can be buffed as well, but they were just so weak at that level that it was a waste of spells to do so. At that time it was maybe just an early distraction to get some small amount of leverage, but I ended up not using them, and stealth sniping with Astarion a lot.

I just noticed a similar trend looking at the animal forms for the Druid while leveling up Halsin for the first time, 1 straight to 9. The animal wild shapes all look super weak as well. The bear which is supposed to be tanky has a default AC of like 12 or 13 at level 9. You have to apply barkskin to impove it, I was finding, and it still paled in comparison to my 23 AC monk or 21 AC Shadowheart or 21 AC Lae'zel, or 19/20 AC Astarion. It could have gotten a little higher with some gear trading, but imagine how much lower the less tanky wild shape forms would fare.

[AsianGirlLover]

Originally posted by Airatome:

Originally posted by Sai:

Are the companions suppose to be awful?
90% of the time they get stuck on something, I don't notice until its too late, and said companion is not capable of getting into combat with my party & I lol.
Then of course the sheer lack of stats early on, they all get 1-2 shotted by even a Goblin.

Are the companions for Ranger just suppose to be awful until way later? Or is there some method to not make them awful in the early game? Or am I just unfortunately playing a really weak class?

Sadly, Beastmaster Ranger is the lowest grade subclass accross all choices and all classes in D&D 5E currently. And it seems not even Larian tried or could make it better.
Wizards of the Coast (who owns D&D) tried to make improvements through play tests but those have also failed horribly.

The Gloomstalker is your second best Ranger subclass followed by Hunter in the number 1 slot with the Colossus Slayer ability at level 3 increasing their per turn damage output beyond that of the Gloomstalker.

Both are solid and thematic choices that won't screw you over or feel poorly implemented like Beastmaster pets are currently.

At least this isn't a Larian issue. This is a Wizards of the Coast / D&D 5E issue.

Hunter Ranger multiclassed with Battlemaster Fighter is perfection. Feels amazing on a dex build.

[echoes222]

stuck on something? Never ever had this problem. Played beast master both in EA and full release.

[Airatome]

Originally posted by AsianGirlLover:

Hunter Ranger multiclassed with Battlemaster Fighter is perfection. Feels amazing on a dex build.

I have a Goliath Battlemaster Two Weapon Fighting specialist I got to play with for a while but never considered multiclassing it into anything like Hunter. Seemed like a downgrade considering I'd have to give up all the ASI/Feat allotments and additional extra attacks the Fighter has.

Being able to empty several Manuevers into a flurry of attacks IS pretty darn fulfilling.

[Helifax]

Originally posted by Veganleader1:

I played a beastmaster ranger on my last run through early access, made it to level 5 and cleared everything but the hag and the Githyanki War Patrol. The summons were basically trash. The ranger itself did well but the pets just had low usability because they had both low health pools paired with practically no armor. I almost never summoned my pets because they died in the first round or 2 of combat. By the end I had all but forgotten I was playing a BM ranger because I never used them and when I did the value was almost non-existent.

I know they get stronger as the game progresses, and they can be buffed as well, but they were just so weak at that level that it was a waste of spells to do so. At that time it was maybe just an early distraction to get some small amount of leverage, but I ended up not using them, and stealth sniping with Astarion a lot.

I just noticed a similar trend looking at the animal forms for the Druid while leveling up Halsin for the first time, 1 straight to 9. The animal wild shapes all look super weak as well. The bear which is supposed to be tanky has a default AC of like 12 or 13 at level 9. You have to apply barkskin to impove it, I was finding, and it still paled in comparison to my 23 AC monk or 21 AC Shadowheart or 21 AC Lae'zel, or 19/20 AC Astarion. It could have gotten a little higher with some gear trading, but imagine how much lower the less tanky wild shape forms would fare.

A true Beast Master Ranger summons their companions BEFORE the fight ;) and positions them for maximum effect (all of them can be crouched/hidden btw). It requires a certain type of play (I think of it as a "rogue" class - from the shadows. And use any tool to keep the enemy far away from the actual ranger - traps, poison, blindness, throw-back arrows etc).
It;s a different type of class, as in half your dps and abilities are WITH your summoned animals vs any other class that can output dmg on their own. I found it harder to learn to play it but once I did.. oh boy :D (also invisibility potions/scrolls/abilities help it a lot, but it depends how you play it).
As for the sharpshooter skill - it is toggle-able - there are moments you don't want it enabled (that extra 10 dmg is worthless if my chance to hit is 45%) It's a skill that you can enable/disable on demand - from passives button in the menu bar. So use it when it makes sense to use it ;)

I actually finished the game 1st time around using this exact class. (I can't remember what I played in EA :)) )

[Sai]

I like to travel with my companion, and summoning beforehand always gets them stuck, and I usually think nothing of it because I still can't get over the fact getting stuck is even a thing, so I always assume they're right behind me, when infact, they're stuck on a tiny little rock back near a travel waypoint & I'm fighting without them, combat isn't any easier or harder without any of the animals, but it really sucks that they offer basically nothing. No durability, utility is mediocre at best, and damage seems irrelevant. Unless there is some serious gear that helps them somehow (like rings & amulets or whatever that buff them) then I don't know what to do. Might as well play a Druid at this point. lol