[It is a class that was heavily criticized in the 2014 D&D Player's Handbook for its lack of functionality, then polished to a mirror-like sheen with supplements like “Tasha's Cauldron of All Things”. And now, in 2024, we seem to be having the exact same conversation about the pathetic Rangers again. The Rangers can't catch a break.

Late last month, I wrote a blog post, “2024 Rangers vs. 2014 Rangers”: what's new?

For those unfamiliar with Fluid Minmax, here's the breakdown: many of the new and exciting features from Tasha's Cauldron of All Things have been cut. Hunter's Mark, an essential Ranger spell that deals Force damage (which is a buff, since Force is a rarely resisted damage type), is now a core class feature and the centerpiece of the entire package.

In addition, the ranger has replaced many of the interesting, if under-adjusted, class features with additional spell and skill proficiencies. This, in a nutshell, frustrates players and signals a return to the Ranger's woes in 2014. [But in a recent interview with ScreenRant, lead rules designer Jeremy Crawford tries to reassure players, “Don't worry, the Ranger spells are better:”

“Like Hunter's Mark, 2014 required concentration and will still require concentration in 2024, while others used to require concentration but do not now. We were especially aware of this for classes like Ranger, which have important characteristics that require concentration.”

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Concentration is a label that applies to certain spells and requires a roll to maintain it each time damage is taken. [The only reason concentration needs to be removed from these spells is because Hunter's Mark, a spell that deals 1d6 force damage to a single target per hit, has concentration to begin with.

This is a secondary criticism in the face of the main criticism that the ranger's class features are, for the most part, reduced to tedious skill mastery and spellcrafting. [Some other general nerfs compared to Tasha's Cauldron Ranger: Hide in Plain sight is indeed a super-niche feature, but has been replaced with one that gives temporary HP; Tasha's Cauldron Ranger's Nature' s Veil has been pushed down from level 10 to level 14.

Meanwhile, Vanish, a feature that previously had the cool flavor of being able to hide as a bonus action and becoming untraceable by non-magical means, has been completely replaced by Nature's Veil.

So, in summary, many of the flavorful, though certainly under-adjusted, features have been replaced with skill checks and spell Expertise. Hunter's Mark is the Ranger's new core mechanic, and the big buff to leveling up is basically the freedom to cast more. While it's nice to gain perm advantage against one enemy, there are plenty of ways to gain advantage once you reach level 17. [And I think the Weapon Mastery that the Ranger gets would be a huge boon to the core of martial arts in this game. However, I feel that this ranger proposal completely misses the point.

I am certainly not alone. Noted D&D YouTuber XP to level 3 has a similar breakdown (mechanical, not emotional) in his eponymous “New Ranger Bad” video: citing the infamous “Do you guys not have phones.” he says, citing the blunder ”You guys have a spell. You guys have spells, don't you?' You guys can cast spells, it's the same thing.”

JoCat, now retired D&D and FF14 YouTuber/streamer, basically says what we're all thinking right now in the comments: “Again.” Another player writes, “‘Learning how to use your eyes to be more aware of the world around you’ - WotC abolished Primeval Awareness, 2024, colored” and that we should just take Expertise in Perception instead. He refers to the blog's suggestion.

The response from the rest of the community was not good.

“I don't understand why they decided to triple [Hunter's Mark], the centerpiece feature of Ranger, and not solve any of the problems associated with the spells. It's really puzzling.” wrote user bobbifreetisss on the dndnext subreddit. 'Crawford, you're the head game designer. If you think the lack of focus on HM is too broken because of multiclassing, then come up with a new feature ability.”

“No one put a gun to Crawford's head and said that this level 1 spell must be the identity of every Ranger,” the thread author replies.

Look, just as “Tasha's Cauldron” provided a new supplement and a misprint, I'm sure future books will do a half-decent job of fixing it, even if Wizards is too bent on getting back on track at this point. At the same time, there is a great deal of schadenfreude in the fact that Ranger is once again heading into the realm of fiasco. Time is a flat circle. As planned, the first of the new 2024 rule sets should arrive on September 17.

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