Despite the Ranger's reputation as an underpowered class in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dungeons & Dragons, the Gloom Stalker Ranger is one of the most feared builds in the entirety of the game. The synergy and power of the Gloom Stalker Ranger's subclass features is difficult to overstate.

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In fact, they're so powerful that the Gloom Stalker is easily a contender for the subclass capable of dealing the most damage, especially on its first turn. If you are interested in taking up an assassin-like character who can down enemies before they even get a chance to retaliate, look no further than this build.

Species

As with nearly all optimized builds, either Variant Human or Tasha's Custom Lineage are required here to ensure you gain access to a feat at level 1.

That being said, many tables allow the homebrew rule of a free feat at first level. If this is the case at your 𝐆table, other powerful species optio🍌ns include Tabaxi, Elf, Feral Tiefling, Halfling, Grung, Goblin, Kobold, and Aarakocra.

All of these species choices provide a +2 bonus to Dexterity which is our primary ability score. Ad💟ditionally, each one comes with its own unique benefits which can modify your playstyle or insulate you from certain types of harm.

For example, the Halfling's Brave feature will help you immensely against the Frightened condition while the Aarakocra's flight will keep you safe from opponents who rely on melee attacks.

Always be sure to check with your DM (Dungeon Master) when selecting your species.

Some DMs don't allow certain species at their tables or in specific campaign settings they're running.

Ability Scores

As mentioned above, Dexterity is our primary ability score and the only one you need to worry about increasing over the course of your character's career.

However, it's also important to hit certain numbers in some other ability scores for the purposes of multiclassing later on. Namely, you need 13 Wisdom to dip one level into Cleric and 13 Charisma if you desire taking Warlock levels in the later parts of the game.

The Gloom Stalker Ranger is one of the most customizable multiclasses in the game and offers a couple of different bu𓆉ild options that are similarly powerful.

If you don't wish to take levels in Warlock, feel free to dump your Charisma score.

Below is a table that shows what your starting ability scores should look like. Your mileage on achieving these scores may vary based on what method of ability score generation you're using.

Suffice to say, meeting a score of 16 Dexterity, 14 Wisdom, and 14 Constitution should be your primary goals.

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Feats

As with all optimized martial builds, a large portion of the Gloom Stalker Ranger's power comes from its 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:access to feats.

The two feats responsible for this power increase are Crossbow Expert and Sharpshooter. At first level, you'll want to pick up Crossbow Expert to prevent melee 🎀enemies from imposing disadvantage on ranged attacks, while also giving you access to a reliable bonus action attack.

Once you unlock your first ASI (Ability Score Increase) at level 4, take Sharpshooter to significantly increase your damaꦇge output thanks to the power attack ♛feature, which gives you a -5 penalty to hit in exchange for +10 damage on a successful attack.

Thanks to the Archery fighting style and fairly consistent advantage on attacks due to either Surprise or our Umbral Sight Gloom Stalker subclass ability, the -5 penalty to hit is almost entirely offset.

In other words, you want to use power attack against just about every enemy aside from those with an exceedingly high AC (Armor Class).

Cleric & Fighter Levels

The Gloom Stalker Ranger will take multiclass dips into both Cleric and Fighter in order to maximize its utility and first round damage output. One level of Life Cleric is taken at level 6 in order to give our party access to the all powerful healing of Lifeberries.

This is a community name for the combination of the First level Ranger spell Goodberry with the Life Cleric's Disciple of Life subclass ability. This combo allows each of your Goodberries to heal for four hit points instead of one.

As you can create ten Goodberries that last 24 hours with each casting of the spell, Lifeberries provide an unmatched amount of outside of combat healing.

Meanwhile, the Fighter levels are taken in order to give us access to Action Surge as well as Battlemaster maneuvers once you hit Fighter 3.

The Precision Attack maneuver makes it so that power attacking with Sharpshooter is nearly guaranteed to hit against any enemy. Maneuvers also increase our overall damage by a handful o꧂f d8s, which is a welcome boon.

Other maneuvers such as Trip Attack, Disarming Attack, and Maneuvering Attack give you combat utility in case you can't finish off your target.

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Multiclassing Level Progression

There are a couple of different options for leveling your Gloom Stalker. The Hexblade Warlock multiclass build prioritizes additional survivability and consistency, while the Rogue multiclass focus looks to take full advantage of the Surprised condition earlier in the game.

Below you'll see a table detailing these two different progressions. If you're interested in the Rogue focus, be aware that this build relies heavily on the DM's interpretation of Surprised, which is often a highl🎃y variable ♊condition from table to table.

The Arcane Trickster Rogue subclass is a great alternative option for additional spellcasting and utility if the Assassin subclass won't work well in your DM's game.

The Assassin Rogue subclass needs to reliably impose the Surprised condition on its enemies to effectively make use of its Assassinat✤e ability, so check with your DM on how they run Surprised before committing to this build.

Spells

Perhaps the most important boon that the Gloom Stalker Ranger offers to its party is the constant casting of the Second level spell Pass Without Trace.

Thanks to the +10 stealth bonus this spell provides to party members, Pass Without Trace makes surprising enemies many times easier than it realistically should be. Needless to say, your primary spellcasting job is mainta💟ining concentration on Pass Withꦚout Trace.

Other than turning your party into an ambushing machine, you'll use your remaining spell slots to cast Goodberry at the end of each adventuring day and provide your party wওith additional utility when n🌼ecessary.

Other important spells to pick up include Healing Word, Absorb Elements, Speak With Animals, Longstrider, and Detect Magic.

If you go the Warlock dip progression, you will also gain access to the powerful Shield spell as a defensive reaction as well as Expeditious Retreat in case you ever find yourself in a position whe⛎re you must retreꦗat.

Optimized Play

What makes the Gloom Stalker Ranger such an impressive build is its ability to eliminate even the most dangerous foes before they get a chance to take a turn.

For this reason, you should always aim to use Action Surge on your first turn of combat in important fights as it combos with your D🦄read Ambusher Gloom Stalker feature to provide two additional attacks.

This results in a total of seven attacks on your first turn of combat by level 9. Due to Sharpshooter providing +10 damage to each of these attack rolls, that's more than enough to take down most enemies before they get a chance to move.

Don't be surprised when your DM ratchets up the encounter difficulty in response 𓆉to you bringing such a powerful character t🌼o their table.

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