The Hunter Ranger is a warrior with the blade and bow, fighting to keep the balance of the wild and civilization.
It is the more combat oriented of the 2 base hunter archetypes, offering bonus damage and tricks for use in a variety of combat situations based mostly on different types of creatures. Let’s take a look at the class and archetype overall.
Ranger Abilities
- d10 Hit points
- Spell Casting
- Favored Enemy options
- Natural Explorer
- Fighting style
- Extra Attacks
- Stealth bonuses
- Enhanced Senses
Overall some fantastic abilities with just ranger stuff, Add in the Hunter Abilities and wow what a class!
Hunter Abilities
Hunter’s Prey: You choose a type of situation to gain a bonus
- Colossus Slayer: Deal extra damage when the opponent is below its max hitpoints
- Giant Killer: Get bonuses fighting Large or Larger Creatures
- Horde Breaker: Gain a free attack when fighting a group provided they are
within 5 feet of each other.
I would say that Colossus Slayer is probably far and away the most overall useful, though Horde Breaker is pretty decent.
Giant Killer seems too circumstantial compared to the other two.
Defensive Tactics: Another Choose your ability option.
- Escape the Horde: Better Avoid attacks of Opportunity
- Multiattack Defense: Gan more AC to avoid attacks after the first from the same attacker
- Steel Will: Advantage on saves for fear.
These three are all kind of only okay, but I find multiattack defense in most cases is the
best option. Though for a mobility type build, Escape the Horde can be useful as well.
MultiAttack: Yet another pick your poison style ability list.
- Volley: Shoot at anything within 10 feet as long as you have arrows!
- Whirlwind Attack: Melee anything within 5 feet of you.
Both of these are decent, it comes down to what kind of Hunter you are, swingy or shooty.
Superior Hunter’s Defense: Look, Mom, more options
- Evasion: Like a rogue. Dex save wins!
- Stand Against the Tide: You missed me, attack your friend.
- Uncanny Dodge: Once per turn, half damage from one attack.
All of these are pretty good and comes down to what one you want. If for some reason you are more of a strength build Hunter, the Evasion helps bolster those dex saves, and Stand Against the tide is most useful for a melee based character.
Overall this makes for one of the more versatile character archetypes in the game, though it is sad that you can not get more than one of any one category. I would gladly not get any of the hunter’s prey or Defensive tactics or remove one to get more than one Superior Hunter’s Defense, but I tend to play a slightly defensive character.
Final thoughts, TL;DR: The Hunter Ranger is an awesome class, combining great ranger abilities with this archetypes versatility makes for a fun and useful character.
Hunter Final Rating: A+: Versatility of abilities, combined with the versatility of ranger in general. Great Archetype
Image Credits: Pinterest, DND4 Wikia
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