Ranger Guide 5e: Hunter, Spells, and Complete Builds

A Ranger joins weapon attacks to a small, valuable spell list and a practical understanding of travel. The important choice is often whether to keep shooting, spend an action changing the battlefield, or preserve concentration while helping the party move safely.

This guide uses the 2014 Ranger, including its original Favored Enemy and Natural Explorer. It does not silently add optional replacement features from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. The builds use Hunter from the SRD, 27-point buy, and 2014 racial bonuses. See the separate 2024 comparison for the revised class.

Ranger quick build

For a ranged generalist, choose a high elf with Dexterity 17, Constitution 14, Wisdom 14, and the utility cantrip Mage Hand from the race. Take leather armor, two shortswords, longbow and twenty arrows, and an explorer’s pack. Choose Stealth, Survival, and Investigation; Acolyte adds Insight/Religion and the race adds Perception. At 2 take Archery and learn Hunter’s Mark and Goodberry. At 3 choose Hunter and Colossus Slayer. Increase Dexterity and Wisdom by one each at 4.

The class has a d10 Hit Die and Strength/Dexterity save proficiency. Dexterity supports ranged weapons and light armor, Wisdom supports spell DCs and awareness, and Constitution supports both survival and concentration. A Strength Ranger can work, but armor and ability prerequisites need deliberate planning.

Favored Enemy, Natural Explorer, and tracking

Favored Enemy improves specified tracking and knowledge checks against chosen enemy categories and grants a language under its rules. It does not add damage against every chosen enemy. You add enemy choices at 6 and 14. Choose something the campaign will actually feature; ask the DM about its premise before locking in a narrow category.

Natural Explorer supports travel in chosen favored terrain, with more choices at 6 and 10. It changes specific tasks and long-travel situations rather than making you automatically succeed at every wilderness check. Weather, a destroyed bridge, and hostile creatures can still create decisions. Primeval Awareness spends a slot and an action for limited creature-type information; it does not supply exact locations or a monster count.

For a useful tracking scene, identify the evidence, direction, approximate age, and immediate risk. A successful check should inform a route decision rather than simply announce that the adventure continues. Survival checks and the travel tracker can support that process.

Weapons, armor, hands, and spellcasting

Archery adds +2 to ranged weapon attack rolls, not damage. Two-Weapon Fighting adds your ability modifier to the bonus attack’s damage under its rules. Dueling works with a suitable one-handed melee weapon and a shield. You pick one of the Ranger’s listed styles at 2; you do not gain every style.

Scale mail offers AC 14 + Dexterity modifier capped at +2, with disadvantage on Stealth. Leather is 11 + Dexterity modifier. Neither studded leather nor a shield is automatically part of the standard Ranger package. A longbow requires two hands for its attack; stow it before wielding a shield and melee weapon.

The 2014 Ranger learns spells at level 2 and uses Wisdom. Known spells are not daily preparations. You may replace one known spell when gaining a Ranger level, subject to the class’s limits. At 5 you know four spells and have four first-level and two second-level slots. Slots recover on a long rest. The base class has no cantrips, ritual casting, or spellcasting-focus feature. A racial cantrip is separate. Obtain actual components or a purchased 25 gp component pouch where needed, and keep a hand available for the relevant components.

Spell	When it earns the slot
Hunter’s Mark	Concentration and a bonus action buy damage on repeated weapon hits; moving it also costs a bonus action
Goodberry	Plan food and small amounts of healing ahead; it does not supply drinking water
Cure Wounds	Touch-range action healing when returning an ally to the fight matters
Pass without Trace	Support group infiltration; concentration competes with your mark
Spike Growth	Control an approach with damaging terrain; keep allies’ routes in mind

Hunter’s Mark and Spike Growth cannot both remain active from your own casting. A turn spent casting a control spell is not also an Attack action. See concentration and spell components.

Ranger progression: levels 1–20

Class level	Milestone
1	Favored Enemy; Natural Explorer
2	Fighting Style; first-level spells
3	Hunter; Primeval Awareness
4	ASI or optional feat
5	Extra Attack; second-level spells
6	More favored enemy and terrain choices
7	Hunter: Defensive Tactics
8	ASI or optional feat; Land’s Stride
9	Third-level spells
10	Hide in Plain Sight; another terrain choice
11	Hunter: Multiattack choice
12	ASI or optional feat
13	Fourth-level spells
14	Vanish; another favored enemy choice
15	Hunter: Superior Hunter’s Defense
16	ASI or optional feat
17	Fifth-level spells
18	Feral Senses
19	ASI or optional feat
20	Foe Slayer

Land’s Stride does not mean every magical plant or hazard is harmless. Hide in Plain Sight requires preparation and remaining within its limits; it is not a mobile invisibility feature. Vanish at 14 makes Hide available as a bonus action but still requires a situation in which hiding is possible. Foe Slayer is a limited once-per-turn addition against a favored enemy, not a permanent bonus to all attacks.

Hunter choices and subclass alternatives

Hunter (SRD/PHB 2014) gives a useful choice at 3. Colossus Slayer adds damage once per turn against a target already below its HP maximum when you hit. Horde Breaker provides a restricted additional attack against another nearby target. Giant Killer offers a reaction attack against a qualifying Large-or-larger attacker within reach. Pick the enemy pattern you want to handle rather than adding all three to the sheet.

At 7, choose a defensive option; at 11 choose Volley or Whirlwind Attack; at 15 choose another defense. Volley and Whirlwind have their own actions and targeting limits: they are not extra attacks to bolt onto a normal two-attack action. Beast Master (PHB 2014) is the companion alternative, but its original companion commands require reading that specific version. Optional later companion rules and the revised subclass are separate implementations. Hunter’s drawback is that a feature chosen for crowded encounters may add little against one isolated enemy.

Three complete 2014 Ranger builds

Scores are STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, CHA. Each base array costs 27 points. All use Hunter at 3, Acolyte for Insight/Religion and its equipment including 15 gp, and the standard Ranger travel equipment. No feat, optional class replacement, or magic item is included. Level-5 HP uses fixed increases. Choose forest as favored terrain and goblins and orcs as the two starting favored humanoid races, with Goblin as the associated language.

High elf archer and scout

Sources: SRD/PHB 2014. Base 10, 15, 14, 10, 14, 8; +2 Dexterity/+1 Intelligence gives 10, 17, 14, 11, 14, 8. Class Stealth/Survival/Investigation; racial Perception; background Insight/Religion. Racial Mage Hand uses Intelligence and is your only cantrip.

Start with leather, two shortswords, longbow/twenty arrows, explorer’s pack. Choose Archery at 2, Colossus Slayer at 3, Escape the Horde at 7, Volley at 11, Evasion at 15. At 4 add +1 Dexterity/+1 Wisdom, reaching 18/15; at 8 raise Dexterity to 20.

At 5: AC 15, HP 44, longbow +9 for 1d8 + 4, spell DC 13. Studded leather for 45 gp would raise AC to 16; it is a purchased upgrade. Spells: learn Hunter’s Mark/Goodberry at 2, Cure Wounds at 3, Pass without Trace at 5. Four known, slots 4/2. Obtain Goodberry’s actual sprig of mistletoe before using it, or buy a component pouch later.

Turn: use a bonus action to mark an important visible target, then shoot twice. Add the mark to qualifying hits and Colossus Slayer at most once when its condition is met. Weakness: concentration can be lost and repeated short-lived targets consume bonus actions. Accuracy does not remove cover or long-range disadvantage.

Hill dwarf paired-blade defender

Sources: SRD/PHB 2014. Base 10, 14, 15, 8, 15, 8; +2 Constitution/+1 Wisdom gives 10, 14, 17, 8, 16, 8. Class Athletics/Perception/Survival; background Insight/Religion. There are no duplicate skills or class cantrips.

Take scale mail, two shortswords, longbow/arrows, explorer’s pack. Two-Weapon Fighting at 2, Horde Breaker at 3, Multiattack Defense at 7, Whirlwind Attack at 11, Uncanny Dodge at 15. Increase Dexterity to 16 at 4 and 18 at 8. At 5: AC 16, HP 54 including Dwarven Toughness, shortswords +6 for 1d6 + 3, spell DC 14. Scale gives Stealth disadvantage. No shield is wielded with the paired weapons.

Learn Hunter’s Mark/Goodberry at 2, Cure Wounds at 3, Spike Growth at 5: four known, slots 4/2. Supply the actual listed components or buy a pouch; two drawn swords do not leave a free casting hand. Turn: take two shortsword attacks and the qualifying bonus-action off-hand attack. A turn casting Hunter’s Mark cannot also use that bonus attack. Horde Breaker needs its separate eligible target. Weakness: crowded melee and competing bonus actions can make the apparent attack count unreliable.

Human spear-and-shield pathfinder

Sources: SRD/PHB 2014. Base 15, 13, 13, 8, 14, 9; +1 each gives 16, 14, 14, 9, 15, 10. Class Athletics/Perception/Survival; background Insight/Religion; no cantrips.

Take scale mail, spear and handaxe as the two simple melee weapons, longbow/arrows, explorer’s pack. Buy a shield for 10 gp from the background’s 15 gp. Choose Dueling at 2, Giant Killer at 3, Multiattack Defense at 7, Whirlwind at 11, Evasion at 15. Raise Strength to 18 at 4; at 8 add +1 Wisdom/+1 Constitution to reach 16/15.

At 5: AC 18, HP 44, one-handed spear +7 for 1d6 + 6, spell DC 13. Four known spells and slots 4/2: Hunter’s Mark, Goodberry, Cure Wounds, Spike Growth learned at the same milestones as the dwarf. Do not assume a focus replaces components. Turn: attack twice with the spear; reserve the reaction for Giant Killer only if its precise trigger occurs. For control, stow the spear and cast Spike Growth instead of attacking. Weakness: lower Dexterity limits ranged performance, and a shield creates extra hand-management work for spells.

Feats, multiclassing, and sustained play

The builds favor ASIs. Optional PHB 2014 Sharpshooter is a ranged specialization whose accuracy tradeoff needs a suitable target and circumstances; War Caster and Resilient (Constitution) are concentration-oriented candidates rather than universal damage increases. Check their prerequisites and 2014 wording before replacing an ASI. Revised feats are different choices.

Ranger multiclassing needs Dexterity 13 and Wisdom 13, plus the other class’s prerequisite. Rogue can improve expertise and add qualifying Sneak Attack, but delays Ranger spell access and Extra Attack. Fighter can support weapon play, but Extra Attack features do not simply stack. Start with the actual role you want and count the delayed milestones before dipping.

An original tactical decision: two enemies are approaching down a narrow path while allies hold the exit. Spike Growth can restrict the approach even though you give up attacks that turn. If enemies are already among the party, the same placement may hurt your own side. Hunter’s Mark is a damage option, not an obligation to maintain it through every situation.

Wilderness and social contributions

Ask what the party needs to know before moving: where can you rest, which route supports a cart, and what signs indicate an ambush? Keep watch assignments, pace, food, and water visible. A Ranger’s ability should turn an uncertain journey into informed choices, not remove everyone’s participation. Use Survival and Perception to supply evidence, then let a persuasive ally handle an unfamiliar court if that is their strength.

2024 Ranger changes

The revised Ranger gains spellcasting and Weapon Mastery at 1. Its Favored Enemy centers on Hunter’s Mark, always prepared with free uses; this is a different feature from the old enemy-category knowledge benefit. Deft Explorer at 2 adds expertise and languages, Roving arrives at 6, more Expertise at 9, and Tireless at 10. The revised high-level class protects Hunter’s Mark concentration from damage at 13 and improves attacks against the marked target at 17; Foe Slayer changes the spell’s damage die at 20.

The revised spell table lists prepared spells, with a limited replacement after a long rest; it is not the Cleric’s unrestricted daily preparation model. The class can use a Druidic focus. Hunter is also rewritten: it gains information about marked prey, its feature choices and later improvements change, and its level-11 feature interacts with Hunter’s Mark rather than giving the original Volley/Whirlwind choice.

Recalculate backgrounds, ability boosts, equipment, feats, and concentration using the revised rules. The 2014 builds do not gain Weapon Mastery or free Hunter’s Mark uses merely by choosing the same class name. Level 19’s Epic Boon belongs to that revised progression.

Ranger FAQ

Does Favored Enemy add damage?

The 2014 version does not provide a general damage bonus. Hunter’s Mark is a separate spell; Foe Slayer is a much later feature.

Can I change all my spells each morning?

No. The 2014 class uses known spells and replaces one on a Ranger level increase. Revised preparation also has its own limit.

Can I mark and attack with two weapons on the same turn?

You can take the Attack action, but casting or moving the mark uses the same bonus action needed for the off-hand attack.

Do Rangers need a pet?

No. A companion comes from a relevant subclass, not the baseline class.

Rules sources: SRD 5.1 for the 2014 class, SRD subclass, equipment, and spells; the Player’s Handbook (2014) and 2014 Basic Rules races for named racial options and optional PHB choices; Sage Advice Compendium for relevant 2014 clarifications. The separate comparison uses SRD 5.2.1. Recommendations, builds, and example decisions are original advice.

This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at https://dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This work includes material from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 (“SRD 5.2.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available at https://www.dndbeyond.com/srd. The SRD 5.2.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.