Sub-Classes: Alternative ‘Ranger’ Builds
Combining different species, classes, and backgrounds with proficiency and feat selection allows most people to make characters close to their original vision. But, sometimes, a character concept is original, or complex, and requires a unique look at character options to build it. There are often many ways to build characters with similar abilities, and finding the best option(s) to choose can be challenging, but challenging can be fun and rewarding. In the substitute classes (Sub-Classes) features we will look at ways to make different classes work in similar ways through combinations of backgrounds and class and subclass selections along with class feature and spell selection. These explorations won’t be to optimize them, but to develop interesting and unique characters with the abilities you want them to have. We will only provide example paths of up to 3rd level when you can get a subclass and recommendations of your first Feat you might get at 4 or 5 depending on multiclassing.
This time we will look at how to build characters similar to the ranger class, combining weapon combat (usually ranged) with magic to improve their combat, with at least a minor connection to nature. Rangers in recent versions, including the most recent, have been bemoaned for not quite hitting the mark (puns always intended) compared to similar classes. So, by looking to other classes, can we make a character like a ranger, possibly even better?
The essence of a ranger is to use a weapon, often a ranged weapon like a bow but they can also work as melee fighters, combined with primal magic to enhance their combat and other abilities. They are hunters, regardless of their specialization (subclass), of something. But, compared to abilities like paladins’ Smite and rogues’ sneak Attack, their main feature: Hunter’s Mark, falls behind. Not that we are looking to try to do the most damage, but there are paths in character creation that can be taken other than selecting the ranger class to build a similar character. Two have already been mentioned but there are other ways.
Besides their combat abilities, rangers also bring to the table utility including adventuring and exploration knowledge (nature, survival), and mobility often including stealth. Access to healing spells and abilities can be part of a ‘ranger’ build as well. We will look to pick up many of these features through background, proficiency and later Feat selection as needed.
Builds
Here are a few concise recommendations for alternative ranger builds:
Backgrounds & Origin Feats
Depending on your table and group, you may or may not be able to create Custom Backgrounds. First are recommendations of Origin Feats that are useful and relevant Backgrounds.
Alert Origin Feat. Higher Initiative is always good. (Get from Criminal, Guard)
Skilled Origin Feat. More skill proficiencies is always good when building a explorer/adventurer and depending on background and class, your choices may be limited. Athletics, Nature, Perception, Stealth, Survival are all good ones to shoot for if you didn’t already get them. (Get from Charlatan, Noble, Scribe)
Magic Initiate Origin Feat. Can give you spells similar to those available to rangers.
Guide (Druid): Really any cantrip or 1st level spell, especially Druidcraft, Elementalism, Shillelagh, Starry Wisp, Thorn Whip; Animal Friendship, Entangle, Faerie Fire, Goodberry, Healing Word, Jump, Longstrider, Speak with Animals
Sage (Wizard): Dancing Lights, Elementalism, True Strike; Alarm, Expeditious Retreat, Find Familiar, Jump, Longstrider
Of course other Origin Feats can be useful as well such as Crafter (Leatherworker, Carpenter, Woodcarver), Healer, and Lucky.
If you are not looking for a specific Origin Feat, these Backgrounds can help with flavor, or even the best Ability score selection:
Criminal. Perhaps a poacher? Gives Alert, and Dexterity bonus.
Farmer. Rural. Strength, Constitution, and Wisdom bonuses.
Guide. Wilderness. Gives Magic Initiate: Druid and Dexterity, Constitution, Wisdom bonuses.
Hermit. Also wilderness. Gives Healer and Constitution and Wisdom bonuses.
Classes
These are suggestions on routes to take for your class and subclass, including multi-class options which can really open up combination possibilities to achieve your goal.
These first ones are the most straightforward paths to build a non-monk martial artist:
Barbarian: Barbarians are primal warriors, away from civilization. While rangers typically wouldn’t rage, affronts against nature could instill enough fury in a protector. They will definitely want to get into people’s faces in combat versus hang back and use missile weapons but its still a viable option. Weapon Mastery gives them options with their weapons to get extra benefits like Slow, or Nick for dual-wielding. Primal Knowledge allows them to use some typical ranger proficiencies with their Strength bonus versus Wisdom or other abilities that may be low. They no longer have Strength-based weapon restrictions so a more agile, Dexterity-based barbarian is possible including dual wielding Light, Finesse weapons especially if you take Mastery with a Nick weapon. Both Path of the Wild Heart and World Tree are in tune with the natural, primal world and further enhance a naturalist theme. Path of the Zealot provides extra damage per attack from Divine Fury.
(Since barbarians can’t cast or concentrate on spells when raging, those classes won’t add much. Fighter and Rogue are options to add a level or two. A Fighter’s Tactical Mind at 2nd level can make up for missing skills. Combining Reckless Attack for Advantage—and rage damage—with Rogue’s Sneak Attack can make a formidable foe.)Druid: Perhaps an obvious choice, but they are spellcasting and rangers are weapon users. Is there a way to make a melee druid (not through shape-changing)? Of course there is mainly through the Shillelagh and Barkskin spells. They can wear light armor, and the aforementioned barkskin, and they have the nature thing nailed down.Even better, if you take the new Primal Order: Warden option you are even closer to a ranger with Medium armor and Martial weapons proficiencies. But shillelagh only works on clubs and quarterstaffs so if you want to use your martial weapons, or say a bow to attack from ranged, you will need a decent Strength or Dexterity. But if you can pick up True Strike from Magic Initiate or multiclassing you can use your spell ability modifier instead. Circle of the Land or Sea are most appropriate to aid in
Select Spells like those on the ranger spell list of which you have most such as those listed in the Magic Initiate Feat notes.
(Multi-class into Fighter or Rogue mostly for Weapon Mastery, or add a level of druid to them. Fighting Style: Archery is a huge boost if you are a Warden and can use a bow, and Sneak Attack is better than* Hunter’s Mark.)Fighter: The Fighter class is a great place to start as rangers are mostly martial characters like the fighter. This is where the right background and origin feat will help greatly towards providing proficiencies and feats that are akin to ranger abilities. You can gain spells from Magic Initiate or multi-classing, but Eldritch Knight is a subclass that already exists that gives spells that can help replace ranger’s list (see Magic Initiate above for suggestions) especially if combined with a magic initiate. If you aren’t concerned with adding magic, Battle Master has maneuvers that would be useful including: Ambush, Lunging Attack, Precision Attack, and Tactical Assessment.
(Not much need to mutliclass here other than to possibly get spells if you didn’t take an Origin or Eldtritch Knight to get them. Rogue can add mobility at level 2.)Rogue: The rogue, is viewed as a scout (which is an expanded book option subclass) can be a great alternative to make a stealthy, ranged, skilled nature warrior. They get many skill proficiencies and Expertise, and as already mentioned Sneak Attack performs better than Hunter’s Mark. They get Weapon Mastery, mobility through Cunning Action, and Steady Aim can make them a great archer. The only thing missing is magic (well, and Extra Attack), or is it? The Arcane Trickster subclass, like the fighter’s Eldritch Knight, provides magic and of course Magic Initiate and multiclassing are options as well. The Thief subclass gives Second-Story Work which could be used for traversing the wilderness.
(Multi-class a level or two into druid for primal spells, other martial classes won’t add much over more levels in rogue.)
Note: If you get Fighting Style Feats Archery is an obvious and valuable choice. Two-Weapon Fighting is useful if you are going for a more melee build.
These are ways to mold other classes into wilderness martial characters that may not be as straightforward or effective as the ones above:
Bard: Bard’s main feature to build towards a naturalist warrior is their plethora of proficiencies and expertise (plus Jack-of-all-trades). They have some spells that can emulate ranger abilities. But thematically we find it hard to fit a bard into a wilderness, naturalist type.
Monk: Mostly a secondary a choice because of the lack of weapon options especially when it comes to ranged weapons.
Paladin: Paladins are another martial class, and a hybrid just like the ranger with spellcasting built in (now at 1st level). Proficiency and spell list options would need to be helped out with good background and origin feats, and many abilities are only for melee, but Paladins also have a very ranger-like subclass in the Oath of the Ancients which adds spells to their list similar to the ranger list and get the Nature’s Wrath ability to conjure vines. Plus Smites are better than* Hunter’s Mark however Smites don’t work with ranged attacks, they all have verbiage limiting the use to Melee or Unarmed strikes, so they work with a melee ranger type but not with the more traditional archer or ranged image.
Warlock: Like the monk options we covered, Warlock has the best features to be a proficient melee combatant using magic. However, Pact of the Blade no longer has ranged weapon options in the 2024 which lowers it on this list. They can wear Light Armor and Pact of the Blade can allow martial Melee weapons so you could build a melee based ranger-like character. Lessons of the First Ones can provide an additional Origin Feat.
Cleric, Sorcerer and Wizard (with the Free/PHB 2024 options) do not have viable options as a primary class. Though rangers can cast spells, druid has the similar and expanded spell list and other than clerics they lack martial abilities to properly emulate. A cleric with Protector as their Divine Order to get martial weapons and use a longbow might work, their spells and proficiencies just would need too much help from other options.
Feats
These are recommended Feats to take as your first one that give wilderness warrior features as well as great Ability Score increase options.
Athlete for enhanced movement (STR/DEX)
Crossbow Expert if you use one instead of a regular bow (DEX)
Fey Touched because fey in the wilds. (WIS)
Medium Armor Master for increased AC with a good Dexterity score. (STR/DEX)
Observant for awareness in the wilderness. (WIS)
Piercer to use with bows and crossbows (STR/DEX)
Sentinel for Opportunity Attacks and speed reduction (STR/DEX)
Sharpshooter for improved ranged attacks (DEX)
Skill Expert for more proficiencies (Increase ANY ability)
Skulker for sneakiness (DEX)
Speedy for speed. Natch (DEX/CON)
Natan: A Hinterland Defender
Here is an example of a full build of an alternative wilderness warrior type character up to level 4. There are quite a few interesting options, with some easier to pull off (Fighter, Rogue). Barbarian is intriguing but it is difficult to do both ranged attacks and magic and would rely only on subclass abilities, the same drawback with ranged weapons with Druid and Paladin (which have melee enhancement options). I want this character to be an archer so it looks like Fighter or Rogue with options to gain magic. Natan is not one to hide from anything so he will be a Fighter. We will use Magic Initiate to give him some primal powers (see our previous post on the Magic Initiate feat).
Meet Natan Silvercrest, a human from a well-to-do family in the city who was drawn to a more rural small town where his family has a hunting lodge. With more Wildlands around his new home, he learned the ways of the wilds and became a protector of his family’s lands as well as the surrounding wilderness. He is built to level 3 to get his subclass, and I will make recommendations for 4th level (and either multi-class or Feat options).
The Build
The hardest part here will be to see how we can enhance his ranged weapon attacks, if at all. Druid does have a way to enhance melee weapon attacks in the Shillelagh spell but I am trying to build out Natan as an archer primarily.
Species
He is a human. This gives another Proficiency on top of the three gained from Scribe plus an additional Origin Feat. I selected Nature proficiency and the Magic Initiate: Druid feat with Intelligence as the spellcasting ability and the cantrips: Guidance and Shillelagh, and 1st Level spell: Longstrider.
Origin Background/Feat
Scribe. Investigation and Perception proficiencies which are great for surviving in the wilderness though his origin is more urban. Calligrapher’s Supplies which won’t be super useful as a wilderness warrior. But we get the Skilled Origin Feat for 3 extra skills; I selected: Arcana, History, and Medicine: he is an educated man. Plus we get our two favored Ability Scores to increase, selecting +1 to Dexterity and +2 to Intelligence (the score and increase assignments could be swapped: either way we get 16 in both.)
Class:
Level 1: Fighter 1
Proficiencies: Athletics and Survival.
Fighting Style: Archery
Weapon Mastery: Longbow (Slow), Club (Slow), Shortsword (Vex)
Ability Scores
Since this can vary on assignment (Array, rolling, etc.) and because we are not ‘optimizing,’ no specifics here. Recommendations are Wisdom (for class abilities) and Dexterity (for attacks and AC).
Using Point Buy with Ability Score increases I chose this setup:
STR 10, DEX 15 (+1 Background), CON 10, INT 14 (+2 Background), WIS 11, CHA 12
for these final scores
STR 10, DEX 16, CON 10, INT 16, WIS 11, CHA 12
Level 2: Fighter 2
Action Surge.
Tactical Mind. (This can help with proficiency checks)
Level 3: Fighter 3
This might be a good time to multi-class to get more magical abilities, such as druid, but its probably best to continue to Level 5 in Fighter to get his first Feat at level 4 and the coveted Extra Attack at 5th. He already knows some magic so we could add to that by taking the Eldritch Knight subclass. But Battlemaster provides a variety of combat options, most of which add a 1d8 to the damage which makes up for not having Hunter’s Mark or something similar.
Subclass: Battlemaster: Student of War gives him another Tool and Skill proficiency making him even more skilled (I selected Leatherworking as he is a hunter, and Insight to take advantage of his high wisdom). Combat Superiority gives him 4 1d8 dice to use with 4 Maneuvers he can select, many of them don’t even require a Bonus Action to add their effect, and they reset on a Short or Long Rest so he will have them available for most turns in combat (since most combat lasts 3-5 rounds and usually parties can take a Short Rest between encounters).
Maneuvers: Evasive Footwork, Feinting Attack, Menacing Attack
He has AC 15 (wearing a Chain Shirt) and 22 HP
At 3rd level a typical combat for Natan would look like this:
Familiar (a falcon) uses Help Action to give him Advantage on his first attack, delay til after the familiar’s turn if necessary if it has a lower Initiative.
Attack with Longbow, likely at Advantage, and if it hits, Slow the opponent to make it harder for them to reach him. Use Menacing Attack to add damage to the roll and hopefully frighten them so they can’t attack back.
Keep attacking with the Longbow, usually at Advantage from his Familiar.
He has one use of Action Surge to get an extra Action to get an extra Attack, but it could also be used to Disengage or other helpful action (he could Help an ally so they get Advantage on their attack.)
If an opponent gets in melee, he has a few options: attack with his short sword using Feinting Attack to get Advantage (it only works in melee) or Evasive Footwork to Disengage and either way apply Vex for his next (hopefully) longbow shot; or cast Shillelagh and attack with his club using his Intelligence vs. Strength modifier at a 1d8 vs. 1d4 and Slow them.
Summary
Natan is first and foremost an archer, with some magic to help him in some situations. While his magic does not rise to the level of the ranger class, it can help his attacks. He can use his Familiar falcon to get advantage on an opponent and if someone gets in melee range he has options to fend them off and either give them Disadvantage or him Advantage. He enhances his damage not through magic but through his tactics and expertise. His many proficiencies, which can be enhanced with his Tactical Mind and/or Guidance spell, make him as if not more adept in the wilderness as a ranger.
Level 4+
As stated previously, I would stick with Fighter through 5th level for this character and build. He will get a Feat and then Extra Attack to get two attacks per round usually with his Longbow at +7 to hit, +8 at 5th level. Over his two Feats at 4th and 8th we will take half-feats that each gove +1 to DEX to get it up to 18 by 9th level
Feat options: Piercer (DEX), Sharpshooter (DEX), Speedy (DEX)
4th Level Feat: Piercer could help both Longbow and Shortsword attacks, but I would go with Sharpshooter: this is an archer build after all. Ignore Cover, Fire even within 5’ of an enemy without Disadvantage, no Disadvantage on long range attacks so he can still have Advantage when he can get it (from Familiar Help or shortsword Vex.)
4th Level Multiclass: Even though it would delay getting a Feat, a good option here would be to take a level in Rogue to get Sneak Attack. Since we will be able to get Advantage on many attacks, adding the Sneak Attack damage would do a lot to increase our damage output.
