Rangers have had a rough time in Dungeons & Dragons, as they're similar to a Druid but without the same cool powers and fewer healing options. In the original Player’s Handbook, they were underpowered and underappreciated, a jack of all trades but master of none.
The further development of D&D and new subclasses have made the Ranger a much more viable class, but you still have to choose your subclass wisely. There's a Fighting Style that Rangers can choose in addition to a number of Feats, Skills, and their Ranger Conclave. Read on to discover which Ranger subclass is the best in 5E.
Updated July 11, 2023, by Sean Murray: The Ranger subclasses have come a long way since D&D 5E was first released. That's why we've refreshed this guide with every official subclass that's been added and organized them so you can see which one we think is the strongest of them all.
Hunter
|
Source |
D&D Player's Handbook |
|---|---|
|
Main Benefit |
High damage output and extra weapon skills. |
|
Fighting Styles |
Defense, Dueling |
|
Key Skill |
Hunter's Prey |
The Hunter Archetype is pretty much the vanilla Ranger and was one of the earliest subclasses. You still have some decent fighting options, plus it is highly customizable and multiple options are available at each level.
The customizability means that often options are situational or are only decent if you build your Ranger a certain way. Possibly the most underpowered abilities are the ones at level 17, where the better options are Evasion, which Rogues and Monks get at a lower level. Uncanny Dodge is another ability that Rogues get at a much lower level.
Beast Master
|
Source |
D&D Player's Handbook |
|---|---|
|
Main Benefit |
This subclass gets an animal companion. |
|
Fighting Styles |
Archery, Druidic Warrior |
|
Key Skill |
Ranger's Companion |
Rangers of the Beast Master Conclave get to choose from any animal of challenge rating ¼ or lower and size medium or smaller, which means you have a lot of options. Unfortunately, only a few of them are good. If your favorite animal is a flying snake, giant badger, giant frog, giant poisonous snake, giant wolf spider, Pteranodon, or wolf, you’re in luck. Blood hawks are also useful if you want the utility of a good aerial scout, and ponies can serve as mounts if you are a small creature like a halfling or goblin.
Most of your abilities are centered around making your pet stronger, so unlike a Wizard’s familiar, it becomes an extra mini party member. Unlike a wizard’s familiar, it can really die. You can get a new one if you have enough time. It's important to remember that you have a very special animal companion that shares a supernatural link to you and is also 100% killable.
Fey Wanderer
|
Source |
Tasha's Cauldron of Everything |
|---|---|
|
Main Benefit |
Access to several spells from the schools of Enchantment and Illusion. |
|
Fighting Styles |
Archery, Thrown Weapon Fighting, Druidic Warrior |
|
Key Skill |
Fey Wanderer Magic |
For those that want to play a Ranger with a higher range of spellcasting options, consider the Fey Wanderer subclass. These kinds of Rangers can do psychic damage with their weapons and can cast spells like Charm Person and Dimension Door. Your choices of Fighting Skills will vary widely depending on the nuances of your specific build, so if you're Ranger isn't intended to be a ranged Fighter, there are other choices that would suit your build. Druidic Warrior is one example if you'd like access to an even wider array of spells.
Drakewarden
|
Source |
Fizban's Treasury Of Dragons |
|---|---|
|
Main Benefit |
One of the strongest Ranger pets available in D&D. |
|
Fighting Styles |
Defense |
|
Key Skill |
Drake Companion |
This is one of the few Ranger builds that can take some serious damage and even lead the party into battle, and it's the newest addition to the official list of D&D Ranger Conclaves. This is mostly due to the Drake pet connected with this Ranger Conclave, a creature with bonuses to movement, an impressive AC, and immunities to any kind of draconic magic.
The Drakewarden also has a lot of unique melee abilities connected to their draconic leanings, and what they are specifically is determined by the kind of Drake you have as a companion. General skills for all Rangers of this subclass include flight at level 7, provided the character is of a medium-size or smaller.
Swarmkeeper
|
Source |
Tasha's Cauldron of Everything |
|---|---|
|
Main Benefit |
The ability to summon intangible spirits of nature into an obedient swarm and cast some arcane spells. |
|
Fighting Styles |
Archery, Druidic Warrior |
|
Key Skill |
Gathered Swarm |
The advantages of being a Ranger of the Swarmkeeper Conclave might not be obvious at first. Although you might be thinking of insects, the swarm can literally be anything you want, and that includes fairies, raccoons, or any other critter your Dungeon Master permits. The spellcasting options are another interesting ability you get from this subclass, and if you want even more diverse magic-user options there's the Druidic Warrior Fighting Style to consider.
Horizon Walker
|
Source |
Xanathar's Guide to Everything |
|---|---|
|
Main Benefit |
Teleportation abilities for both combat and transportation. |
|
Fighting Styles |
Defense, Two-Weapon Fighting |
|
Key Skill |
Planar Warrior, Detect Portal |
From a purely strategic standpoint, Horizon Walker is similar to Gloom Stalker in terms of effectiveness. Honestly, you might consider Gloom Stalker and Horizon Walker on the same tier simply Horizon Walker can teleport. And teleporting is cool.
The Horizon Walker subclass gives you some useful spells, lets you jump into the Ethereal Plane for a turn, and gives you the ability to blink around the battlefield while making attack after attack against your enemies. If you have a decent AC, you can even reduce most of the damage you might take in a turn by using your reaction to give yourself resistance to an attack that gets through your armor. This subclass works best in a planar campaign, but it will still be plenty of fun anywhere.
Gloom Stalker
|
Source |
Xanathar's Guide to Everything |
|---|---|
|
Main Benefit |
Darkvision, regardless of your race. |
|
Fighting Styles |
Blind Fighting, Two-Weapon Fighting |
|
Key Skill |
Dread Ambusher, Umbral Sight |
There are a number of subclasses that try to make classes into Rogue equivalents, each more terrible than the last. Gloom Stalker breaks the trend by turning the Ranger class into a pretty good option for sneaky players, so if you want a Ranger and a Rogue but not a multiclass, this is your ideal Conclave.
Bonus saving throw proficiencies, free or improved Darkvision, and imposing disadvantage on enemies are all solid features of this subclass. The Dread Ambusher feature makes sure that you can actually utilize your stealth to start a fight, something that a lot of other Rogue-equivalent builds lack.
The fact that other creatures with Darkvision cannot see you in the dark ties it all together. It makes you an absolute monster in caves and dungeons, especially with an all-Darkvision party that doesn’t need light sources.
Monster Slayer
|
Source |
Xanathar's Guide to Everything |
|---|---|
|
Main Benefit |
Similar to the original Hunter build but with more spells and specialized abilities. |
|
Fighting Styles |
Defense, Blind Fighting |
|
Key Skill |
Hunter's Sense, Slayer's Prey |
Monster Slayer takes the vanilla Ranger theme of the Hunter and makes everything better. It’s less customizable, but you get some extra spells, the ability to take an action to analyze your enemies’ strengths and weaknesses, and many abilities centered around a feature called Slayer’s Prey.
Slayer’s Prey grants extra damage that stacks with Hunter’s Mark, bonuses to saving throws and escaping grapples, and counterattacks that can result in automatic saves. You also get an ability that is basically a worse counterspell, which is still useful for a mostly martial character.
Combine all that with your preferred weapons, and you'll see just why the Monster Slayer represents everything there's to love about being a Ranger.