the #dnd Ranger is what happens when you try and expand a single rather 2D character (aragorn) into a character class and I hate it?
WIZARD: I study the art of magic
FIGHTER: I wield many weapons
ROGUE: I am skilled and cunning
RANGER: a dragon pooped in this room 2 weeks ago having a bow and maybe owning a pet dog are not a fantasy archetype worthy of an entire character classcan we just fold it back into the fighter already, it's barely a subclass. or maybe replace it with something that makes more sense like an official Monster Hunter
— Oliver Clegg 🌈 (@deathbybadger) April 17, 2020
It’s a class for the “cool, stoic, loner going off on his own” characters, but that archetype of “hero” was a bit outdated even by 3.5’s day. It’s like the writers keep it around because “well, people are going to want to play as Drizzt, right?” Nowadays, we don’t, really. Drizzt isn't much of a ranger.
He has a figurine of wondrous power, not an animal companion, and he likes wielding 2 weapons, which was a hallmark of drow in Unearthed Arcana (the book).
He's more fighter than ranger, but he has occasionally been statted up as a fighter/ranger.
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) April 17, 2020
I only read the first 3 so far(it was a gift). I remember that some guy by the name of M. told him he had a ranger’s soul or something like that. So he kind of is like that in lore I suppose. Maybe he would be a beastmaster in 5e. He REALLY loved that panther. The panther isn’t a panther. It’s a magic item.
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) April 18, 2020
Ranger is, and has been since 2e, my favorite class. A splash of fighter, touch of rogue, a pinch of druid plus a couple unique hunting-themed abilities. They’re well rounded and incredibly useful in any wilderness campaign. The 5e version in the book does kinda suck though. We use the UA variant, despite WotC choosing not to formally adopt it.
Drizzt is absolutely amazing! He’s in his own class and if you can’t accept that then find something else to be butt hurt and complain over.
Rangers are wilderness scouts. Aragorn wasn’t the only ranger, there were a whole unit of these guys. RANGER: I make sure my party survives difficult conditions. You don’t like a class’s play-style fine? Don’t play it. But also stop moaning about it.
If you read the books you would know drizzt is a complete ranger. The figurine is just the link for a real panther from another plane to come here.
Drizzt is too a Ranger obviously you have no clue about the character
I think WotC did terrible with the ranger class and making them magical trackers. Ranger’s would make a terrible fighter lore-wise. Thats the same as saying the rogue should just be a fighter subclass cause they just do the same thing but with sneak attacks. Rangers are the hunters, trappers, trackers, wilderness experts, animal tamers, animal mimicers, etc. They learn to use camoflauge and the area around them to their advantage. They have heightened senses like they themselves are an animal.
They messed up trying to model Rangers after Aragorn and Drizzt. Those were both nobles trained as fighters at a young age and then thrust into the wilderness as adults. A better model would be Aspar White from the Kingdom of Thorn and Bone series.
Actually, the panther is a magical panther that comes from the ethereal plane to the prime material plane through summoning it from the figurine.