Hunter Ranger Build and Guide
One of my favorite classes in any game, but especially Baldur’s Gate 3, is the Hunter Ranger.
Eliminating enemies from a distance that they are unable to retaliate from, really calls to me.
This is exactly what the Hunter Ranger does in Baldur’s Gate 3!
This Hunter Ranger guide will focus on attacking wounded enemies from afar, and in general, making the entire battlefield chaotic.
Find out where the Ranger ranks in our Baldur’s Gate 3 class tier list.
Pros and Cons
Let us jump into what makes the Hunter Ranger worth playing along with some downsides.
Pros
- High Damage Per Round (DPR), particularly single target.
- Ranged battlefield control witharrows.
- Scouting and exploration.
Cons
- Higher Skill Due to Needing Good Positioning.
- Squishier than Beast Master Ranger
- Gear/Item Reliant
Pros Explained
High DPR
The main reason we chose the Hunter Ranger is because of their subclass ability Colossus Slayer. We take the Colossus Slayer ability over the other Hunter Ranger subclass abilities, Giant Killer and Horde Breaker, because this ability deals an extra 1d8 of damage to a wounded enemy per round. This is consistent and reliable damage, whereas both Giant Killer and Horde Breaker are conditional abilities.
Couple Colossus Slayer with the Ranger ability, Hunter’s Mark (which deals an extra 1d6 damage to marked enemies) then it is easy to see why the Hunter Ranger is dealing massive amounts of damage per round! To top this off, all this damage is consistent damage.
This is because Hunter’s Mark stays on a target until it dies, and procs every time you hit that enemy with a weapon attack! Once you unlock your second attack, at level five, you can proc the Hunter’s Mark twice in one round.
When that target is eliminated you are able to reapply the Hunter’s Mark to a new enemy. Compare this to the Beast Master Ranger who relies more on their animals to dish damage out. Their animals can be engaged with a different enemy or are unable to get to the enemy that the Hunter Ranger would otherwise be able to remove from the battlefield.
Ranged Battlefield Control
The next upside of the Ranger Hunter is their potent long-range battlefield control. I am specifically talking about the Ranger’s use of different arrow options. There are currently seven known arrow types in the game, all of which offer unique battlefield advantages. An example of this is the Arrow of Acid, which will explode and deal acid damage around the target and to all nearby enemies.
This offers the Ranger a unique advantage of being able to dictate how the battle will go, especially if you keep yourself well stocked on ammunition types! Having this sort of control is exactly what the Hunter Ranger wants as they are looking to pick off wounded targets and make the battlefield as chaotic as possible for their enemies.
This allows them to single out specific targets by moving into positions that other classes are unable to reach or are unable to take advantage of.
Scouting and Exploration Utility
Due to the Hunter Ranger’s spell Speak with Animals, stealth, and scouting ability they are a fantastic class for exploration! While you are questing around Faerun, you will encounter a ton of animals. Being able to communicate with said animals will give you access to items, storylines, and an assortment of other things that you otherwise would not have.
The Hunter Ranger is also incredibly stealthy! Being stealthy enables the Hunter Ranger to get to restricted areas, do fraudulent deeds, and reach specific locations unseen. Lastly, the Hunter Ranger is an amazing scout! They have good mobility and are very stealthy. You can scout ahead to check for ambushes or simply gain the lay of the land before a hard engagement.
In short, the Hunter Ranger has high damage, great map exploration, and the capability to dictate fights from afar!
Cons Explained
Positioning Skills Required
The Hunter Ranger takes skill to master! This is due to them needing to constantly evaluate what the best possible position is to dominate. This is easier said than done. The skill comes from recognizing where they need to be along with their capability of getting to said position.
For example, if you always have the Ranger in the back of your party, then you will be missing a lot of strengths of playing this class. Strengths such as being able to eliminate specific enemies, instead of just the enemies directly in front of them. Each fight is different so a player should constantly be scanning the map for advantageous positions to put their Hunter Ranger in.
Squisher than Beast Master
Another weakness is how squishy the Hunter Ranger is, at least compared to the Beast Master Ranger. The Beast Master Ranger has their pets to tank the damage for them.
The Hunter Ranger needs to rely on careful positioning to ensure their survivability. This positioning need means that they should not be wearing armor that will prohibit their movement capabilities, which in turn makes them squishier than the other Ranger subclasses.
Gear/Item Reliance
Finally, the Hunter Ranger is extremely item reliant. They need to have the best possible gear on, with the focus being on their weapon. Additionally, the Hunter Ranger needs to obtain and maintain their unique arrows!
You should be firing off these unique arrows fairly often and running out of them could be detrimental to your party. Compare this to the Beast Master Hunter who can more reliably trust in their allies and pets, or other classes such as the Wizard, who depend on their spells more so than their items.
Races, Proficiencies, and Stats
Note: This article was written based on Early Access, we will have updates that include the new Racial bonus changes very soon.
For races, have a decent number of options actually! The Hunter Ranger needs to have a high DEX score so any race that gives you points into this is acceptable. These races are Elves, Half-Elves, Humans, Strongheart Halfings, Or Deep Gnomes.
I suggest the Wood Elf because WIS is our secondary stat, and it gives us that along with plus two to our DEX. Additionally, Wood Elf increases our base move speed to get around the map quicker!
Here are some quick hitters! Take these to help you throughout the game.
- Proficiency
- Take Animal Handling and Athletics.
- Favoured Enemy
- Take Bounty Hunter to give enemies hit with Ensnaring Strike disadvantage on their saving throws.
- Natural Explorer
- Take Urban Tracker for proficiency with Disguise Kit and Thieves’ Tools.
When you get to the attributes section, I suggest maxing out DEX with WIS close behind as these are your two primary stats. Follow these up with CON and STR.
CON is your health to keep you alive and STR allows you to jump to hard-to-reach areas. Feel free to have both INT and CHA as low as possible.
After doing this your stats should closely resemble: 12 STR, 17 DEX, 13 CON, 8 INT, 16 WIS, and 8 CHA.
Equipment and Items
Remember that the Hunter Ranger wants to have the best gear possible equipped onto them! Here are good early items that you can obtain.
Spellthief
The Spellthief allows The Hunter Ranger to occasionally get their spell slots back.
Leather Armour
Leather Armour is here to boost your Armour Class (AC), making you harder to hit.
Haste Helm
Haste Helm is an essential item! It gives the Hunter Ranger Momentum, which increases their move speed, so they can get into proper position.
Spells and Abilities
While this build of the Hunter Ranger does not gain access to a large number of spells and abilities, the ones it does have access to are important. Additionally, a person could consider the seven different ammunition types to be the Hunter Ranger’s “spells.”
One of the best utility spells that the Hunter Ranger gains access to is Speak with Animals.
This ability grants the user the ability to communicate with animals, which gives the player more story-based options! If you have another character who can communicate with animals in your party already feel free to swap this out with another spell.
Ensnaring Strike goes hand in hand with our Favoured Enemy selection, Bounty Hunter. Bounty Hunter gives the struck unit disadvantage on saving throws.
The Hunter Ranger also is able to obtain the spell Cure Wounds. This gives them a decent early option for healing.
Image from Fextralife
Fog Cloud gives us a battlefield control spell by allowing us to deny certain areas.
Image from Fextralife
At level five, the Hunter Ranger is able to unlock the spell Spike Growth. This spell will route enemies to areas that we want them to move to.
Our last spell is Hunter’s Mark. This is our bread-and-butter spell because it gives us additional damage, but also can be recast for free once the marked unit dies!
This is a huge benefit as Rangers are limited on spell slots.
Overall Combat Gameplay Loop
To start fights off you, can Dash/Jump/Sneak/Move into any position that will give the Hunter Ranger the most opportunity to create havoc.
From there, you will use Hunter’s Mark on any enemy that you want to focus on taking out of the fight. If that enemy is missing HP, your Colossus Slayer will activate to add additional damage. Then start firing arrows!
Feel free to utilize any of the special arrows that you must use to create opportunities for your team! You are the general of the battlefield and have a multitude of different options at your fingertips.
That is all for the level five Hunter Ranger! I hope that you enjoyed this guide and will join me in my next guide.
