How Do I Build A Dnd Outlander Ranger Character?

My image of an Outlander ranger is of a survivalist equipped with tools of the trade (knives, needles, longbows, etc.). First, you need to choose a skill package: Survival and Perception are required; the choice between Stealth and Athletics depends on whether you prefer to crawl around in the underbrush or climb trees. As for gear: a longbow and a few melee tools for close encounters, leather for stealthy types and scale mail for tougher characters. The Outlander background is wonderful. The Wanderer feature it grants is extremely useful in role-playing a Wanderer, and goes very well with the nature-embracing idea of a ranger.

It’s also worth noting how the ranger performs in combat – a ranger is best used for hit-and-run attacks and generally controlling the combat to some degree. Early levels are all about slugging it out with the enemies, and using a few spells here and there to further injure them. By level 5, the ranger gains the Extra Attack feature which really shots up the ranger’s DPR. For a ranger that takes the Archery fighting style, don’t forget to take up Sharpshooter later on. Two-weapon fury is a lot of fun, and is made easier by taking Two-Weapon Fighting, and later Dual Wielder. As for spells, ‘Hunter’s Mark’ is your basic go-to for removing enemies from the fight quickly. ‘Pass without Trace’ is great for stealthy play and ‘Goodberry’ turns a minor survival problem into a quick fix for the party. Multiclassing the ranger with a Rogue adds a whole new layer of skirmishing and having fun, and multiclassing with a Fighter adds a lot of durability to the ranger while maintaining most of his natural consistency. There are also a ton of roleplaying hooks for the Ranger, such as having a favored enemy (for example, beasts because they keep attacking your village and you have to constantly defend the outskirts) or having a favored species of humanoid (because they chased you out of your homeland). For me, I find the most fun is in setting up the scene and then playing it out (such as tracking footprints, whispering tactics to your party, etc).

If building a Ranger out of initiative dice, I think of this build as a Checklist with a Personality in the details, so first we Dexterity and then Wisdom to build around, followed by Constitution in case we need to withstand physical punishment, a racial choice that supports the above two, and then the Outlander background for Survival tool and the Wanderer feature (4th level Druid gets Wilderness), Archery or Two-Weapon Fighting for combat, and then choose a subclass at 3rd level: Hunter ( damage above all) or Beast Master ( Rangers love their pets) or Gloom Stalker (ambushes are awesome, and he’s good at first-round kick. ‘Hunter’s Mark’ and ‘Cure Wounds’ or ‘Goodberry’ and ‘Pass without Trace’ (for stealthy travel) are a few of the key spells to consider for a Ranger, and for feats we’ve mentioned Sharpshooter/Crossbow Expert for Rangers using ranged, but then Mobile or Sentinel for a melee-focused Ranger for control of self and foe in combat, and finally multiclassing in Fighter or Rogue for better action economy and potential for more stealthy ‘bursts’ of damage in combat. And, as ever, Favored Enemy and Favored Terrain for the character to grapple with in-story, that will shape in-game choices and be mentioned in story, themselves. As a whole, a fun crunch of tactics mixed with fun wilderness Adventures, every forest becomes a potential stage for something interesting.

Go for the theme first, math second. Go for a race that has high Dexterity and Wisdom, such as a wood elf or human variant, and dump some points into Constitution to make sure you can actually make it through combat without dying. In addition to your race, you can assign your ability score points to Dexterity and Wisdom to boost your Dexterity-based attacks and improve your Wisdom-based skills and spellcasting. Choose the Outlander background, which comes with the Wanderer feature, Survival ability, and several other great features and roleplaying opportunities. For example, your Wanderer can be someone who knows how to find food and navigate even when you're in the middle of nowhere.

As for fighting style, you want to pick one of the two main ones: Archery or Two-Weapon Fighting. These two are kind of the extreme ends of the damage dealing spectrum, with Archery offering a solid base of damage for when you use a Sharpshooter feature, and Two-Weapon Fighting turning you into a skirmisher type character with a sword in each hand. Then for your level 3 class feature, you want to choose a ranger archetype. The Hunter archetype has a bunch of options for dealing damage in various ways, while the Beast Master archetype lets you have a loyal animal companion (there’s some extra bookkeeping for combat in that one, though). Finally, the Gloom Stalker archetype is a fun one for a Wanderer type character, as it lets you set up for terrifying ambushes and have some strong actions on your first round of combat.

Survival, tracking and knowledge of the wilderness can add so much to your roleplaying of a Wanderer archetype as a wild-hearted Wilderness Legend. Other abilities can include noting likely animal tracks, set up an ambush and take advantage of favored terrain in combat. For feats, consider adding Sharpshooter and Crossbow Expert for your bows, and Mobile or Sentinel for a more hit-and-run, skirmisher-like style of play. Even if you multiclass at some point, consider taking a level of fighter for a new fighting style or action surge, or a level of rogue for cunning actions and a burst of extra damage in a single encounter. Building out your character to enhance your play of this Wilderness Legend is key, and so many of your surviving rolls can tell great stories about your adventures as a ranger. I love this class for this type of play.