1. Essential info
2. Pros & cons
3. Best stats
4. Best races
5. Best background
6. Best subclass
7. Best feats
7. Best spells & cantrips
The DnD Ranger is a survivor and, if you play them right, they’re going to keep on surviving. They’re a multifaceted class that gives you a little bit of magic, a little bit of combat, and a healthy dose of the natural world that you can use to your advantage. Although commonly seen with a bow in their hand and a quiver on their back, your choice of weapons and spells mean your Ranger can look and play completely different from another player’s. Their versatility means you can become what your party needs you to be. One thing remains the same though – this class feels most at home amongst leafy greens, tracking their prey.
To make sure your DnD Ranger hits their mark, we’ve compiled advice, tips, and tricks on how to build and play them. If you're still undecided as to whether you want to play as a Ranger in your first game, though, check out our list of the best D&D class for beginners.
DnD Ranger: essential info
The DnD Ranger is a class that thrives when tracking, hunting, and honing in on their target. They aren’t the heaviest hitters, nor the most powerful spellcasters, but if you like the idea of playing a wise, dextrous character that knows the forest like the back of their perfectly steady hand, who can blend in with the undergrowth until they choose to make themselves seen, and who, let’s face it, probably dresses exclusively in earth-tones, the Ranger might just be for you.
Should you play a DnD Ranger?
DnD Rangers are essentially hunters. They are able to stalk through the wilderness, and have a knack for tracking down and taking on a particular type of foe thanks to the ‘favored enemy’ rule. You can choose between a multitude of enemy types, from fiend to celestial, and this gives you plenty of opportunity for flavouring your character. Perhaps one of your parents fought a Beast and lost. Maybe they were tricked by a Fiend. Or maybe they’ve always dreamt of taking on a Dragon. This can all come down to who you want your character to be.
Play this class if...
Don't choose this class if...
DnD Ranger: best stats
As with all the best tabletop RPGs, attributes play a huge role in this game; they'll dictate your character's strengths and weaknesses. Ranking by importance, this is how you'll want to prioritize your attributes when creating your DnD Ranger:
- Dexterity
- Wisdom
- Constitution
- Strength
- Intelligence
- Charisma
High Dexterity is essential for a DnD Ranger. Not only will it impact how successful you are with most weapons available for you to choose from, but you’ll also likely be wearing light armor… and Dexterity determines your armor class. You’ll also want to make sure your Wisdom is high for your spellcasting, and to ensure the bonus to Perception checks is good.
While Constitution is always useful, given that it dictates your Hit Points, it is arguably more useful for a Ranger that focuses on melee than a Ranger who likes to stalk in the shadows, firing off arrows.
As is always the case when choosing stats for your DnD character, the top two to three stats are important, and the rest can be allocated depending on who you want your character to be. Whether you opt for a higher charisma or intelligence comes down to flavoring your character – if they grew up alone in the woods, perhaps they won’t be much of a smooth-talker, and if they opted for the school of hard knocks over the school of.. learning, perhaps their Intelligence won’t be too sharp.
DnD Ranger: Best races
If you’re looking for a way to optimise your character, several DnD Races, now known as species, offer bonuses to Dexterity and Wisdom that are ideal for your DnD Ranger. Of course, we think it is equally important to play a species that excites you and fits with the character you want to create, rather than simply choosing something to make the most powerful character possible. Unsuccessful rolls can be just as interesting as successful ones, so don’t fear playing a character that isn’t optimised to the teeth if you find particular species fun to play as!
- Wood Elf (Player's Handbook)
- Human (Player's Handbook)
- Halfling (Player's Handbook)
- Tabaxi (Monsters of the Multiverse)
If you want the full Aragorn experience, a Human Ranger is the way to go. Humans get a +1 to their Ability Scores, which never goes amiss.
Given the +2 to Dexterity and their Halfling nimbleness, they would make a great melee Ranger who can move swiftly too. Halflings also benefit from 'Halfling Luck,' a frankly overpowered perk that allows you to reroll a natural one.
Similarly, the Wood Elf gets a +2 Dexterity bonus and +1 to Wisdom, as well as a 'Mask of the Wind' ability which means they can hide easily in natural environments.
Why did we choose Tabaxi, you ask? Aside from the Dexterity bonus of +2, who wouldn’t want to play as a cat-person with a bow and arrow? If you’re from the Robin Hood era of Disney, we’re sure you get it.
DnD Ranger: Best background
Character backgrounds are a great opportunity to flesh out your character and so roleplaying opportunities should come first before optimisation, at least in our opinion! Outlander seems like a solid, if not obvious, choice for the archetypal Ranger, and gives you a boost to Athletics and Survival. Urchin could also be a good choice for a Ranger character, depending on where they grew up. Far Traveler is another fun choice that will bump up your insight and perception, both very useful for a DnD Ranger. If you want your Ranger to have a little bit more renown, Folk Hero is a classic and will see them adored by people and animals alike.
DnD Ranger: Best subclass
Subclasses arrive for your DnD Ranger when you reach level 3, and are a way to further personalise your character. More than any other class, DnD Rangers really come alive once you choose their ‘Conclave.’ Here are some of our top picks for Ranger subclasses to spice up your roleplaying:
- Beastmaster (Player’s Handbook)
- Drakewarden (Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons)
- Fey Wanderer (Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything)
- Gloom Stalker (Xanathar’s Guide to Everything)
Beastmaster is essentially a Ranger with an added pet - need we say any more? With your ‘primal companion’ you’ll be giving combat a new leash of life, as not only do they travel with you, but can fight alongside you too. Drakewarden also gifts your Ranger with a companion of the draconic variety, as well as some dragon flavoring for your character themselves, as your experience… scales. Eh?
Fey Wanderer is a fun subclass that douses your Ranger with some fey magic. As we previously mentioned, it’s always worth making sure your class choices make sense for your character - but with a subclass like the Fey Wanderer in particular, it’s worth thinking about how you came to be fey-touched in the first place. It might sound good, but what’s important is that it makes sense for the character you want to play, and how you want to play them.
Finally, the Gloom Stalker is the perfect subclass for an edgy Ranger who wants to lurk in the shadows and perfect the art of the ambush.
DnD Ranger: Best feats
For the DnD Ranger who likes to stay at range, Sharpshooter and Crossbow Expert are the obvious choices, with Sharpshooter allowing you to shoot your shot from an even greater distance, and Crossbow Expert allowing your crossbow wielder a second attack as a bonus action which can make a huge difference in the throes of combat.
Alternatively, if you’re playing a Ranger who likes to get up close and personal, a feat like Sentinel couldn’t hurt (unless you count the damage you’ll deal to your enemies).
Finally, Piercer allows you to reroll a damage die, and given Rangers tend to work with multiple damage dice, it seems you can’t go wrong with that choice.
DnD Ranger: Best spells and cantrips
Rangers aren’t typically known for their spellcasting, but they do have access to a few spells and cantrips and so it’s arguably more important than for full casters that you choose what’s in your arsenal wisely.
Cantrips
- Guidance
- Thorn Whip
Level 1 spells
- Hunter’s Mark
- Speak with Animals
- Goodberry
Guidance is a favorite cantrip for a reason – you only need one person in your party to have it, but you do need one person to have it! Meanwhile, Thorn Whip is a great cantrip, although loses some of its relevance if you prefer playing at range, as it involves dragging foes closer to you, which is counterintuitive if your weapon of choice is a bow.
As for spells, Hunter’s Mark is an ideal choice for the Ranger and Speak with Animals makes sense for your woodland warrior.
Goodberry, like Guidance, is a spell that can really change the game so long as one party member has it in their back pocket. A bushel of 1HP berries to doll out to your party members might not sound like the flashiest spell, but when that little piece of fruit is the difference between life and death, you’re going to be glad you’ve had one of your five a day!
For more from tabletop RPGs, be sure to check out our guide on how to play DnD online, how to write a DnD campaign, and our chat with the developers on how to make a DnD horror story.
