Dungeons & Dragons ranger – the best build

Discover the best Dungeons & Dragons ranger build for defeating enemies with your trusty companion and woodland skills.

Best Dungeons & Dragons Ranger Build

The ranger has evolved since its original release in the fifth edition of DnD, with Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything introducing new features that have improved its reputation. Unfortunately, the original options from the Player’s Handbook were often too specific and simply didn’t come into play frequently enough. Luckily, the ranger’s options have been expanded in the official source material, and we recommend using them for your ranger character.

While you’re making a ranger, you’ll need to consider your species, your ability scores, your background, and your feat. We recommend choosing a variant human or a custom lineage from Tasha’s to get the best species features. We also have advice on the best background, the best race, and the best class features. Finally, we have the best multiclass options and feats you can take as you level up.

The Best Dungeons & Dragons Ranger

The best ability score for a ranger is Dexterity, as it affects your AC, your attack rolls, and your ability checks. Constitution is important for your survivability, and Wisdom is crucial for your skills and your saving throws.

The best feat for a ranger is Sharpshooter. This makes your ranged attacks more deadly, and it’s a feat that’s available to everyone at level 1, so there’s no need to delay taking it. Other feats you might consider include Aberrant Dragonmark, if you want to improve the ranger’s spellcasting, Alert, if you’re going to be in the front line of fights, Athlete, if you plan to do some parkour in your adventures, or any of the feats in our best Dungeons & Dragons feats list.

Ranger Spells

Rangers have access to impressive spells, ranging from utility spells like Absorb Elements, which protects you from damage, to Zephyr Strike, which lets you move through enemies and deliver a deadly attack, to Pass without Trace, which helps you to sneak around in the open.

The best Dungeons & Dragons ranger subclasses are:

The Gloomstalker subclass for the ranger is widely regarded as the best for rangers. It allows you to deal additional damage, gain extra attacks, and gain stealth abilities.

Other notable subclasses are the revised Beastmaster and Horizon Walker, which both give rangers some additional options, and the Swarmkeeper, which is unique and lets you play with swarms of tiny creatures.

The Hunter, Monster Slayer, and Beast Master subclasses from the Player’s Handbook are all considered weaker options. Hunter lacks the damage dealing abilities of the other subclasses, Monster Slayer requires you to wait until level 6 before it’s even useful, and Beast Master is a lot of work for only modest benefits.

Ranger Race

The best Dungeons & Dragons race for a ranger is the variant human or a custom lineage. The variant human gives you two free feats, which is more beneficial than the species benefits of many choices. If you choose a custom lineage from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, you can pick the Feral, which gives you an additional attack when you take the attack action and allows you to use your bonus action for additional attacks.

Ranger Multiclass

You can multiclass most effectively with the following classes:

Rangers have good synergy with rogues, as they can give rangers access to stealth and good damage dealing capabilities.

Rangers also have good synergy with fighters, as they can provide rangers with additional armour and they provide good damage-dealing capabilities.

Rangers work well with druids, as they can provide rangers with access to the Beastmaster subclass.

Multi-classing with a ranger is fairly straightforward. You can take one level of rogue or fighter to get the Sharpshooter feat and the extra attack feature from the fighter. You can also take one level of druid to gain access to the Beastmaster subclass.