Baldur's Gate 3 Hunter Ranger Build Guide
Jan. 14, 2023Baldur’s Gate 3 Hunter Ranger Build Guide
Baldur’s Gate 3 Hunter Ranger Build Guide– In thisBaldur’s Gate 3 Hunter Ranger Build Guide, I’m going to cover myRanger Build, and show you what I’ve found to work best. I’ll be doing moreBuild Guidesat the launch ofBaldur’s Gate 3, but for now, let’s look at how you can use aHunter Rangereffectively.
Be sure to check out our other Baldur’s Gate 3 Builds including:Circle of the Land Druid,Circle of the Moon Druid,Wild Magic Sorcerer,Wildheart Barbarian,Draconic Sorcerer,Berserker Barbarian,College of Lore Bard,College of Valour Bard,Oath of Devotion Paladin,Oath of the Ancients Paladin,Oathbreaker Paladin!
The Hunter Ranger is a powerhouse of aSubclassthat can be compared to other MartialClasseslike theBarbarianandFighterin terms of the overall damage they deal. Not only do they haveSpellsto restrain targets, but they also have the ability to mark them in order to inflict damage over time. However, it doesn’t end there since at Level 5, theseRangerscan execute anExtra Attack, allowing them to eliminate threatening enemies in a few, if not a single round.
Because of how simple they are to play, the Hunter Ranger is considered one of the best beginner Classes in the game. On top of their damage potential, they have decentACsince they can equipMedium Armor. What’s more, is that they’re optimally positioned outside of harm’s way to shoot arrows safely from a distance.
In this section, we’ll take a look at how to set up your Ranger duringCharacter Creationfor the best results.
ForBackground, choosing one that provides you withDexterity Skillsshould be enough since this is your primaryAbilityto hit and damage enemies, alongsideWisdom. Dexterity hasAcrobatics,Sleight of Hand, andStealth. Some Background examples areCharlatan,Entertainer, andUrchin.
ForRace, if you’re not taking an Origin Character, then I recommend selecting theWood Elf. The Wood Elf has Darkvision andFey Ancestry. Darkvision helps them see and attack better in the dark, and finally, Fey Ancestry makes it so that they have aSaving ThrowAdvantage against the effects ofCharmedand Sleep. All of these qualities make them the clear favorite for a Ranger. The reason why I’m not highlightingLongbow Proficiencyis due to theMartial Weapon Proficiencyof this Class. This means that they’ll be able to wieldLongbowsto further increase their Ranged Weapon Damage.
Alternatively, you can choose theStrongheart Halflingsince they gainLucky, allowing them to make anotherAttack Rollwhen they roll a natural 1. They even have Poison Resistance due toStrongheart Resilience.
ForSkillsagain it’s not super important, but you’ll have high Dexterity and Wisdom, so selecting Skills that fall under these Abilities is ideal. Wisdom hasAnimal Handling,Insight,Medicine,Perception, andSurvival, and I’ve already listed what Dexterity Skills there are.
The primary Abilities that are needed for this Build are Dexterity since you’re going to focus on Bow combat, followed by Wisdom and Constitution. Wisdom is needed to land some Spells while Constitution increases HP and helps to maintainConcentration. Your Ability Spread should look something like this:
Out of all theFavored Enemies, the best one isBounty Hunterbecause it imposes aDisadvantageon targets attacked usingEnsnaring Strike, specifically when it comes to theirSaving Throwsand Attack Rolls. What’s more, is that you and your allies gain anAdvantageon Attack Rolls against them. As a result, they won’t be as effective in combat. Furthermore, theCantripsfeatured in other Favored Enemies such asSacred Flamearen’t that good.
ForNatural Explorer, I suggest takingBeast Tamerso you can summon a Familiar that can assist you in combat. Just remember to summon them before the start of every encounter since you can’t do so once you’ve engaged enemies.
At Level 2, you get to choose a powerful passive. For this Build, I suggest takingArcheryto gain +2 Attack Rolls withRanged Weapons. This will equate to a total of +7 to your Attack Rolls and +8 at Level 4 by taking into account your +2 Proficiency, +2 Archery bonus, and Dexterity Modifier.
You also gain 2 Level 1 Spells and 2Spell Slots. Here, you should take Ensnaring Strike andHunter’s Mark. Ensnaring Strike allows you to restrain a target, thereby dealing 1-6 Piercing Damage after every turn if they fail theirStrength Saving Throwin addition to the 4-9 Piercing Damage they initially receive. Meanwhile, Hunter’s Mark lets you deal 1-6 Slashing Damage against the marked creature every time you shoot them with your arrows. As long as the hunt is completed, which means you’ve slayed the same marked enemy, this Spell will stay with you until you take aLong Restso you can keep applying it in the next encounters as aBonus Actioninstead of spending a Spell Slot.
It’s also worth noting that both Spells require Concentration to remain active. Concentration is broken if you cast another Cantrip or Spell that also requires Concentration. You can tell which these are because it will say so on the Spell itself. For example, if you cast Ensnaring Strike, but then you cast Hunter’s Mark, you would stop “Concentrating” on Ensnaring Strike and begin Concentrating on Hunter’s Mark.
Moreover, if you take damage while Concentrating on a Spell, you must make aConstitution Saving Throw, and if you fail, then the effect of that Spell ends. Should you succeed in your Saving Throw, you maintain your Concentration and the Spell continues. This is why it’s vital for Rangers to have average to high Constitution because of the Spells that require this Ability and is wasted if it’s constantly broken.
At Level 3, you’ll be selecting the Hunter Subclass. As a Hunter, you get to choose between 1 of 3 Hunter’s Prey. Here, you’re going to takeColossus Slayerfor the increased 1-8 Damage with everyWeaponattack you do. This passive is especially potent against stronger enemies. But remember to reduce their HP beforehand to trigger its effect. Because of this, Colossus Slayer isn’t as useful against enemies you can one-shot so it’ll just be a waste.
Note that Hunter’s Mark and Colossus Slayer stack so you must use them together. It’s just that they each have differentDamage Rollformulas but use the same Attack Rolls.
Additionally, you’ll be able to choose a third Ranger Spell. Here, I recommend takingHail of ThornsorCure Wounds. Hail of Thorns is really powerful. Should the target fail theirDexterity Saving Throw, they get the entire 5-19 Piercing Damage from the Spell’s thorns and its subsequent explosion. If they succeed, they still get 4-9 Thorn Piercing Damage plus half of the explosion damage at 1d10 divided by 2. Just remember that Hail of Thorns cannot be cast against an inanimate entity like theIntellect Devourer.
If you’re not running with aClericin your party, you may want to take Cure Wounds to be able to heal yourself or an ally you can touch. Because of your +3 Wisdom Modifier, you can effectively heal more HP than expected.
Furthermore, you’ll be able to unlearn and learn old and new Spells, respectively, via the Replacement Spell, similar to theWarlock. Unlearning a Spell lets you select what you wish to remove from your list. As a replacement, you’ll get to pick one Spell when you level up. But if you want to keep your current list, you can simply ignore this feature and continue to learn new Spells. In this Hunter Ranger Build Guide, we won’t be unlearning any Spells since the ones we’ve chosen are essential in combat.
At Level 4, you’ll gain 2 Ability points to place into Dexterity, bringing it to 18 and your corresponding Modifier to +4. This will not only increase the likelihood of you connecting your attacks but also increase your damage by +1.
At Level 5, you gain Extra Attack, which lets you make another attack using your Ranged Weapon and Spells that deal Weapon Damage, allowing you to obliterate powerful enemies.
You also get to choose 1 Level 2 Spell. I suggest takingSpike GrowthorLesser Restoration.
Spike Growth allows you to control a large space of the battlefield with thorns that slow creatures down and damage them if they try to move through it. This is an excellent way to keep enemy melee units from getting to your allies and can be invaluable when you’re outnumbered.
Lesser Restoration lets you cure allies of diseases and conditions by touching them. It doesn’t require Concentration, only a singleAction.
At Level 6, the Ranger is able to choose one more Favored Enemy with its own language together with a Favored Terrain. For the Favored Enemy, you can go ahead and pickMage Breaker. This makes it so that you become proficient inArcanaand that you’re able to cast theTrue Strike Cantrip. True Strike, which requires Concentration, grants an Advantage on your next Attack Roll. The good thing about it is this can be cast from afar.
For Favored Terrain, you can pick any Wasteland Wanderer you want to gain resistance to Cold, Fire, or Poison Damage, whichever damage types you encounter frequently.
At Level 7, the Hunter Ranger gains access to Defensive Tactics in which they’ll be able to choose from three features: Escape the Horde, Multiattack Defense, and Steel Will. Escape the Horde imposes a Disadvantage onAttacks of Opportunitymade against you, which is quite rare given that you’ll be positioned far away from the Melee Range. Conversely, Steel Will grants you a Saving Throw Advantage against beingFrightened.
So out of all of these, I highly recommend taking Multiattack Defense, especially when you’re facing a boss. This makes it so that when a strong enemy attacks you, you gain +4 AC against their succeeding attacks for the rest of the encounter, allowing you to survive much longer in combat.
At Level 8, the Ranger can choose a Feat. Here, I suggest going for Ability Improvement to raise Dexterity to 20 orSharpshooter. Sharpshooter not only removes any Disadvantage you may incur as a result of making Ranged Weapon Attack Rolls but it also gives you the option to take a -5 Attack Roll penalty in place of boosting your attack’s damage by +10! This is huge and it functions similarly to theGreat Weapon Master Feat. You’ll likely be successful since you now have the True Strike Cantrip to grant Advantage on your Attack Rolls.
Additionally, you gain access to Land’s Stride, which allows them to easily traverse nonmagical difficult terrain and plants without incurring conditions like Slow. Furthermore, they gain a Saving Throw Advantage against magical plants that reduce the effectiveness of their Movement Speed.
At Level 10, you can select another Favored Terrain and blend in with nature thanks to the Hide in Plain Sight Feat. Hide in Plain Sight makes it so that you’re able to camouflage yourself by making use of mud and dirt near you. This is handy when you’re waiting for enemies to walk toward you before catching them by surprise. When you’re pressed against a tree or wall without moving, you gain +10 Stealth Checks.
At Level 11, the Hunter Ranger will be able to choose from two Multiattack features: Whirlwind Attack or Volley. Whirlwind Attack is particularly powerful since you can attack multiple creatures within 5 feet of you, each with different Attack Rolls. However, because you should be near them, I wouldn’t recommend it. You’re better off with Volley as it suits this Hunter Ranger Build much better. Volley makes it so that you can execute a Ranged Attack against several targets within 10 feet of you while once again, having one Attack Roll for each of them.
And finally, at Level 12, you can pick the Feat you didn’t choose at Level 8.
For this Hunter Ranger Build, you’ll primarily be wielding a Ranged Weapon such asThe JoltshooterorLongbow +1. The Joltshooter not only lets you deal 5-12 Piercing Damage but also grants Lightning Charges upon dealing damage. This gives a +1 Attack Roll bonus together with +1 Lightning Damage. You can obtain this Weapon by doing theRescue the Grand Duke Quest.
Comparatively, the Longbow +1 deals greater damage at 6-13. Note that both Ranged Weapons haveBrace (Ranged). What this Weapon Action does is it grants an Advantage to your Damage Rolls to further improve your chances of dealing greater damage. The only caveat is you can’t move when you use Brace so you have to position yourself optimally right from the start.
For Medium Armor, you can go forLae’zel’sGithyanki Half PlateorScale Mail +1to accommodate +2 of your Dexterity Modifier, giving you a total of 17 AC but you gain a Disadvantage on Stealth Rolls.
When it comes toAccessories, you’ll be equipping theBoots of StridingandAbsolute’s Talisman. Boots of Striding is very beneficial to this Build since you have a lot of Spells that require Concentration. Your Movement Speed increases by 3m and you can’t be pushed back or knockedProne.
Next is the Absolute’s Talisman, which will heal your HP by 1-8 after dealing damage. Both items can be found in theShattered Sanctum. And finally, there’s theAmulet of Misty Stepthat’s nice to have. With this amulet from theUnderdark, you gain access to theMisty StepSpellto help you teleport from one location to the other, thereby potentially granting you the +2 High Ground bonus for your Attack Rolls upon performing Ranged Attacks.
The Hunter Ranger is a very solid damage dealer because they’re straightforward to pilot and they inflict massive damage from afar. They excel in trapping a powerful target in place with Ensnaring Strike and even deal damage against multiple enemies with Hail of Thorns. As long as you’re able to succeed in your Constitution Saving Throw and you’re far from the limelight of combat, you’re going to maintain Concentration for Ensnaring Strike as well as your other Concentration Spells.
When executing Ranged Attacks, try to optimally position your character at High Ground. Doing so will grant a +2 Attack Roll bonus with respect to the target, thereby boosting the Hunter Ranger’s total Attack Roll to +10 by the time you reach Level 4. This would almost always guarantee a successful hit!
Lastly, even though you’re focused on executing Bow attacks, remember to equip 2Shortswordsas your Melee Weapons instead of a Two-Handed Martial Weapon like theEverburn Blade. As a result, you gain the Off-Hand Attack (Melee) Bonus Action, letting you move in for the kill when needed. Usually, you’ll need to switch to Melee Weapons when you incur a Disadvantage with Ranged Attacks since enemies are near you.
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Reiku
Writer at Fextralife. I enjoy playing RPGs, narrative-driven games, and platformers. Outside of gaming, I like watching meaningful movies and reading sci-fi and dystopian books.
