Beast Master 2.0 - D&D: Optimized #20

[@AnoNYmous-bz2ef]

It's probably a minor thing, but I really appreciate the timestamps.

[@DavlinViari]

Yes definitely.

[@DnDDeepDive]

trying to make little improvements here and there... thanks for the notice! :)

[@tsar41]

Yes, nice addition! Very helpful

[@PMMagro]

Me too, the video is longy so it helps a lot.

[@TheMrMantequilla]

Hell yeah

[@theblindbuildergrandminuti5648]

It might not be the most optimized, but if you went with a halfling wis variant and took a land beast, you could become a sudo ‘princess Mononoke’ with a shillelagh riding your beast into battle, you could even do custome lineage, take small size +2 wis and be a mounted combatant. Again not so much about optimization as being a forest knight that can get around.

[@WhatWouldBojackDo]

pseudo* i'm sorry but i had to

[@arrowodd7695]

Favored foe is perfect for beastmaster, it doesn't take your bonus action, it doesn't cost a spell slot, and in between combats you can concentrate on non combat spells.

[@jirimaly6019]

but summon beast is better, but ofc if you are out of spells slots then its a possibility, but we usualy homebrew favored enemy that you get +2dmg against them..

[@GergeCoelho]

Yeah, for the first levels it's okay, but you eventually switch over to some summon or Guardian of Nature (specially good with Share Spells).

[@michaelpenner6053]

Regarding swiftquiver: you can give up a regular attack to have your beast attack, as per the Primal Companion feature. You make 3 attacks, the beast makes 2. Not perfect, but not a total clash.

[@davidpitts5522]

Sorry, but you don't give up an attack to let it attack, you give up an action. So I attacks 2x (your action) and you attack 2x (your BA)

[@michaelpenner6053]

@@davidpitts5522 "once you have the extra attack feature you can make one weapon attack yourself when you command the beast to take the attack action" We're discussing Swift Quiver, so you will have extra attack. You make 3 attacks (one from commanding the beast as an action, 2 from Swiftquiver as a bonus), the beast makes 2.

[@michaelpenner6053]

"You can also sacrifice one of your attacks when you take the attack action to command the beast to take the attack action" is the Tasha's wording, but both amount to the same thing.

[@sonofknight5449]

As far as Favored Foe is concerned, I believe it is excellent for Horizon Walkers specifically. They want to use Planar Warrior every turn, and Favored Foe costs no action economy, you just gotta land a hit. So, it ends up being a replacement Hunter's Mark that doesn't cost a spell slot.

[@thunderdragonish]

Favored for is actually great for any built that has a regular use for its bonus action that isn’t hunter’s mark. Hand crossbow with crossbow expert and sharpshooter. Polearm master/greatweapon master. *shudders* Two-weapon fighter. Horizon walker. Monster Hunter. I find that with most of these builds, sacrificing the bonus action attack isn’t worth the extra damage from hunter’s mark unless you can spend 3+ rounds attacking the same creature, which is rarely the case. Favored foe takes no action to apply. Yes, it takes your concentration, but you don’t need to waste a summon beast or conjure animals on smaller fights. Favored foe gives you an option for those smaller fights without consuming spell slots. It’s not fantastic, but it is an improvement over favored enemy.

[@andrewpaul8732]

Except it's piss damage once per turn. I realize they had to make it weaker than hunters mark but it could be 1d6 every time you hit a target until it's dead prof times per day. So hunter's mark is this thing you use in mob encounters and your favored FOE is when you're fighting the big bad evil FOE and you can shoot him dead. Instead we got a sprinkle of damage that doesn't compete with 75% of the level 1 features in the game

[@ArricStormshroud]

About Swift Quiver: Tasha's states "You can also sacrifice one of your attacks when you take the Attack action to command the beast to take the Attack action. " Therefore if you used your second attack for your companion, couldn't Swift Quiver still be viable?

[@DnDDeepDive]

You know, a lot of people have been mentioning this and I think I may have missed the boat on that little gem :). Going to have to crunch the numbers and possibly talk about it next episode...

[@tuaa33]

I'm almost shocked about happiness you're really doing a beast master post Tasha's vid! I really appreciate it. Beginning a new campaign on friday so I'll make a pure beast master, finally! I almost went for a Druid cirlce of wildfire. Cheers Colby.

[@xgon3825]

I think a wisdom focused beastmaster using cantrips like thorn whip as their main source of damage for themselves (and to get enemies in a better position for a beast charge attack) could be fun and actually have some use for favored foe. It doesn't require any action or bonus action on your part and doesn't specify weapon attack, which means it would be straight up better than Hunter's Mark starting at level 6 and you won't need multiple turns of bonus actions to set up. Summon spells are definitely still going to be even better once you've got them but favored foe could be a good backup, especially since the material components for summons are pretty expensive for early levels. Maybe a small dip into arcana or death cleric for decent ranged attack cantrip options using wisdom. Or even 2 levels in stars druid for a bunch of free guiding bolts that also work with favored foe since they're attack rolls. Anyway, loving the channel! Glad I stumbled upon it.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Love the idea, and thanks!

[@brettmajeske3525]

I agree. I think it is better to think of the Beastmaster more are a spellcaster subclass than other Rangers. Druidic Warrior Fighting Style or a one level dip into Druid or Nature Cleric. Beast of the Sky gets flyby. Works pretty good. With Tasha's you really need to change one's entire concept of what a Ranger means.

[@TheRobversion1]

This is how i'd run a beastmaster as well ability score wise. Solves the low attack of beast/summon by simply going all wisdom. Aside from using a druid attack cantrip, the tweaks i would do would be: 1. taking fey touched as my feat at level 1 and getting dissonant whispers. This is where i'd burn my level 1 spell slots on. you, the beast and summon all surround the high priority target then it provokes alot of opportunity attacks when it runs away. 2. Take 2 levels of fighter for action surge so you can dissonant + summon on round 1 as early as level 7. 3. take warcaster at later levels so you can turn your opportunity attack from dissonant whispers into another spell. plus improve your concentration to boot. 4. I personally see no benefit from going past level 15-16 (share spells, 4th level spells) so with 2 fighter already, i'd squeeze in 2-3 levels of something else: either some spell levels in cleric/druid or getting a fighter subclass + asi.

[@TheRobversion1]

@@brettmajeske3525 Agreed. The tasha's rangers veer more toward spellcasting especially the beastmaster and swarmkeeper.

[@IanLCar]

Because I know you’re a consummate perfectionist, “Shillelagh” is pronounced ‘Shill-Lay-Lee’ or "Shill-Lay-Lay," not ‘Shill-Luh-Lee.’ Even still, I love the time and effort you put into your videos, keep them coming!!!

[@DnDDeepDive]

ha ha - thanks!

[@hakkesho12]

I kept meaning to watch the original Beast a Master build when I eventually binged all your vids lol, so I was happy to watch this update! Even if they didn’t “fix” every feature, I’m glad people may have more fun with the subclass’s offensive power now 😃. Thank you for making such in-depth videos, they have been very good!

[@romans_1202]

Just found your channel recently. Love it! Your so right on about all these intricacies

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks and welcome!

[@thebackrow4247]

Favoured foe doesn’t take up a bonus action, I think part the intent of it was to support dedicated Two weapon fighting builds. Fey wanderer in particular

[@binolombardi]

Fey wanderer, monster slayer, horizon walker, and beastmaster all benefit well.

[@Otaconsps]

It also doesn't take a spell slot, can be cast a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, sure you can't move it in combat the same way as hunters mark but you also don't have to worry about concentrating on hunter's mark outside of combat when you could be using things like fog cloud or pass without trace, and on top of all that you're going to want to be using your BA for you pet attacks so this is another benefit to damage sort of "outside" the normal action economy. I think it's pretty awesome all things considered even if the number of uses you can get doesn't feel super great.

[@Zarsla]

And it scales with damage, hunter's mark does not.

[@haphazrds250]

This is great thank you so much. I'm level 4 beastmaster and looking forward to pushing further up the levels!

[@haphazrds250]

Please help! So my dm last night in the middle of a one shot decided I couldn't make 2 attacks and use the bonus action to command my primal companion to attack. I didn't want to argue. He reads it as I use my action to command my primal beast to do an attack or I can use my bonus action to get it to use its action to do something utility like open a door fetch something but crucially not attack. Am I reading Tashas wrong? I thought I could attack , attack, bonus action primal beast to attack. Your's sincerely a struggling level 5 beastmaster

[@brettmajeske3525]

@@haphazrds250 You are correct, but only if it is a primal companion. I think he is confusing it with the training feature base beast masters get later on, which is useless on a primal.

[@haphazrds250]

We had a chat and I think its sorted now, ive got my primal beast attacking on my bonus action once again though he thinks its a bit over powered. Thanks for reply

[@brettmajeske3525]

@@haphazrds250 Ask him to watch this video. It is a strictly middle of the road powerwise. Not that different from duel weilding until level 11.

[@darkwolf1327]

Been waiting all day for a new episode! Finally!

[@jamesblease4635]

You can give up ONE of your attacks to let your companion attack or use your bonus action so with swift quiver you can attack 3 time and your beast can attack

[@davey1852]

Hey, alright! I'm playing a Beastmaster very soon for Icewind Dale, so great timing!

[@xezzee]

Beast Master "Your beast will follow your commands the best it can" In English if you order your beast to kill someone, they wont stop after hitting them once, they will keep attacking until the enemy is dead. Meaning on turn 2 the beast will attack and you keep action Not in some coo coo land where beast is brain dead hits enemy once looks at you and thinks "did I good kill?" In our games this has not been "op" in any means. There are way stronger things at lvl 3 like Wizard casting hold person and using divination dice or Bard casting hold person lowering the DC by 1d6 to make it success ... Then all melee gets advantage and free crits if they hit ;) that is way more strong and with "ready action" you can easily pull this off unless DM is focusing you "I ready action to cast Hold person to the enemy after he moves unless he attacks me. works unless legendary resistance.

[@GoblinLord]

so basically you just set the mode of the beast in a sense?

[@psmith6166]

Exactly, you give them a command and they should keep attempting that command until they need to be commanded to perform a different action.

[@xezzee]

@@psmith6166 this makes me sad, you command your Pet to wait but fall in a ambush little while later. What happened to the Pet? 😥

[@psmith6166]

@@xezzee Disney's Eight Below.....loyal Old Jack

[@BertyBadass]

100% on point with the logic for me not watching the old beast master video.

[@ashdaniels2332]

I had a friend that went to college in colby, kansas lol Edit: Do what you want, passion/doing what you want will be better for the channel overall.

[@LoudAngryJerk]

So, this what we did at my table to really try to fix the beast Master: we left it alone for the most part, except for one thing, it attacks your target as a reaction, as long as you're target is within range. That and at third level you can either expend a spell slot, or take a point of exhaustion, to resurrect it if it goes down. Everything else is the same. No multi-attacks, same hit points, etc. the next thing we're testing is whether or not it's viable to let the companion have an ASI whenever you take one from ranger, given that you already add bonuses to their attacks and damage and all that, as well as how low their hit points are, mostly we've found whenever we're given that opportunity, so far the best way to effectively add anything to the companion is to add to its Constitution.

[@DavlinViari]

17:54 I think it is not a big deal because you can use swift quiver and substitute one of your attacks for the companions attack action (which are two at that level). So a rangers turn at level 17 with swift quiver active would look like this: Attack Action -> Ranger 1 attack, Companion 2 attacks Bonus Action -> Ranger 2 attacks That’s certainly more attacks than a ranger without companion does. I didn’t do the math on it with sharpshooter. For example what’s better, doing all attacks on your own or giving one away for two of the beast. But I guess it’s about the same and therefore beastmaster seems pretty viable to me.

[@DnDDeepDive]

You know, a lot of people have been mentioning this and I think I may have missed the boat on that little gem :). Going to have to crunch the numbers and possibly talk about it next episode...

[@seanbraden8756]

Wow you have gotten sooooooo much better at doing these

[@RS-ry4lp]

So many good fixes for Favored Foe, 1: straight up treat it as the Hunters Mark spell, meaning you can move it. 2: allow it to either scale like Sneak Attack or allow it to be upcast. 3: after a certain level it no longer requires concentration. Have played several rangers with this change and it feels very good

[@4syates]

I am curious how you could optimize around the beast taking 4 attacks at 11, leaving your character with 1 attack. Perhaps you are kobold riding your beast throwing a net with your attack, restraining the enemy? Sort of a reversal of your giant frog. Another great video, thank you!

[@myboy_]

You can still use swift quiver. With primal companion you can use bonus action for it to attack OR sacrifice one of your attacks within attack action for them to use. So if you have two attacks at 17th level you can attack once, use your companion attack, then quick quiver bonus action

[@JazzyOne03]

I'm trying to put my head together for all this. Primal Companion lets you decide to use one of your main action attacks over your bonus action if you so wish. At Level 11, your Companion can do two attacks with one command. So assuming you can cast 5th level spells... Realistically you could, on turn 1: Swift Quiver Companion Attack x2 Ranged Attack Turn 2: Companion Attack x2 Ranged Attack Double Ranged Attack Alternatively with Summon Beast/Fey/Elemental- Turn one: Summon a friend Bonus command companion to hit twice Free command friend to also hit twice Turn two: You Multiattack Your companion multiattacks Your friend multiattacks Of course the double pets plan is better than swift quiver. I just wanted to note that its possible to use it in a build. Burning an attack also opens up two weapon fighting as well, so being a certain panther having drow is something one could do. Finally, while maybe not for beastmaster, Shillelagh Ranger would be fun with polearm master, especially with dueling style as mentioned.

[@DnDDeepDive]

You know, a few others have mentioned still being able to work in Swift Quiver in this way, and I may have missed the boat :). Going to have to crunch the numbers to compare Ranger attack x3 + Companion attack x2 vs. Ranger attack x2 + Companion attack x2 + Summoned Fey attack x2. My hunch is, like you say, that the latter still comes out on top, but at the very least it should be closer...

[@xxTerraPrimexx]

That calculator makes me a happy nerd.

[@leohale6449]

How about a build with a Beast Master/Rogue where you get advantage from your beast fighting at your side and sneak attack

[@Ramschat]

Summon Fey's darkness does not give your pets disadvantage! The enemy is blinded as well, giving advantage and disadvantage, cancelling out :) Blind fighting/ devil's sight could combo nicely but the timing may be a little awkward

[@samircancel1802]

Recently discovered your channel, loving the vids!

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks - glad you’re enjoying!

[@robbiesrevelations3096]

46:01 another thing you could do is put it on yourself. So you could do things like protection which gives them disadvantage to hit you, but they have it as well hitting you because you are heavily obscured. Get sight, and now you got advantage as well

[@chrisclaridge4287]

I've been waiting thanks man 👍

[@quetzalcoatlus1892]

About the Animate Objects point you brought up: you can't animate a +1 ammunition or dagger because the spell description pretty clearly states that you animate "up to ten nonmagical objects".

[@DnDDeepDive]

Right! I knew I had a good reason to avoid it other than it was a little gamey :). Thanks for the reminder.

[@simonburling3762]

But silver coins or silvered daggers would work though.

[@quetzalcoatlus1892]

@@simonburling3762 or tiny Adamantium pieces if you're wealthy. But yeah

[@maxwellwelch3717]

I'd be interested in seeing an optimized build without feats. Love the content, brother.

[@thunderdragonish]

Worth noting that animate objects can be cast only on NON MAGICAL objects. You cannot animate +1 ammunition or daggers. The best you could do is animate silver or adamantine objects to bypass resistance on certain undead, fey, fiends, elementals, and constructs. Another rules snafu: if the tricksy fey drops a 5 ft cube of darkness on a creature, it doesn’t have disadvantage on its attack rolls against that creature. The disadvantage from not being able to see its target is canceled out with the advantage it gains from the target not being able to see its attacker. If you have persistent disadvantage for some reason or an enemy has persistent advantage, darkness and fog cloud are great ways to even the playing field by resetting everything to flat rolls (unless someone has blindsight)

[@bobon123]

I am really in doubt about which skill to apply canny to. Concentration? Perception? Survival?

[@DnDDeepDive]

I don't think Concentration would qualify, but it's totally up to you! Stealth if you need it, otherwise, perception might be the most useful...

[@scepgineer]

Would it be worth it to forego the last 4 ranger levels and somewhere in the early levels multiclass into some figher subclass? To give up the 5th level spells and get that extra action surge attack + 3rd level subclass feature + 4th level ability score improvement or feat (would not be lost from the 20th ranger level ability score improvement). Also thank you so much for this video 👍I'm using the beast master for my first character ever and at currently level 6 your video made me notice that hunters mark could lagging behind in damage so I could just add another beast to my pack with summon beast. However summon beast needs an action instead of bonus action, so would you say you'd need to anticipate when a fight is likely to happen and cast it before that, or is it still worth more than if you had your first turn be a normal attack with hunters mark regardless?

[@thebridgeninja]

My ranger build is Gloomstalker 5, Echo Knight 3. And I can take 9 attacks in the first round (6 for me, 2 for my echo, 1 for my summoned beast, then action surge). Super bursty but I can destroy a big baddie right off the bat, or handle all the trash. Plus if I am in darkness, I'm invisible and get those attacks with advantage (elven accuracy), and fish for alot of crits. Check it out!

[@davidpitts5522]

It seems like Colby usually prefers sustained damage. But I agree. Very fun tho, gloom stalker and action surge any day of the week. My character needed to kill a dragon so many builds were less useful.

[@tylerclark9822]

Great video! I am one of those people who has always wanted to like the Beast Master Ranger but felt like they were just a little too weak.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed :)

[@brettmajeske3525]

Favored Foe works well with the new Beastmaster since it doesn't use bonus action to add the extra damage, which is nice now that bonus actions are for the companion. It also means you can take other first level spells instead of Hunter's Mark. Better for the Wise Ranger Build. There is also the extra damage/to hit bonus at level 20.

[@DnDDeepDive]

My biggest concern with it is the limited number of uses per day - proficiency bonus per long rest is pretty minimal :/

[@brettmajeske3525]

@@DnDDeepDive Yea, I'm not saying it is perfect. Still I think it is better than say the Monk Capstone. Every single monk build would be improved by taking one level of Ranger at 20 instead of their capstone. It basically doubles available first level spells, which can now be used for something other than Hunter's Mark. It does scale, not well, but eventual it becomes a d8 and does not use a bonus action to set up. I wish it worked on every attack, the limitation to once per round doesn't make sense. It is a good multi-class feature, especially for monks and wild shape druids. I think Tasha's changes how we should think about Ranger's. They become much better multi-class dips and mixes. I still see very little reason to continue with Ranger past level 14. Maybe even 11 with the Beastmaster build. Switching to Moon Druid or Nature Cleric make a lot of sense to me at that point. Druidic warrior allows a Wis based melee build that would benefit Beast Master as well. It would be a different build then the half-archer you designed, but with greater first level options spell wise. It might even be worth an early dip into a Wis based Spellcaster.

[@TheRobversion1]

@@brettmajeske3525 druidic warrior doesn't just allow a wis melee build with shilelagh but you can even do a wis ranged build (magic stone) or the way i went full fledged ranger caster.

[@joserico2223]

Love the build videos awesome job keep up the good work.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks!

[@binolombardi]

They limited the beast master update because of the snakes that are choices The flying snake and giant poisonous snake both have 18 dexterity. Their AC is high, they have blind sight, and the proficiency bonus to their damage is great. The giant snake benefits twice per hit since their poison is separated by a saving throw, and even though the save is low it’s still half damage.

[@DownUnderDM]

Personally a big fan of the new primal companion. It doesn’t have to attack. You could, say, as a rogue with a 3 level dip in BM Ranger, use you flying companion to grant you sneak attack & then have it fly away (uses flyby so no Attack of opportunity). If you really want to make the sneak attack hit, have it take the help action for advantage and then make your sneak attack. Elven accuracy for triple advantage & you just upped your crit chance dramatically.

[@abyshai]

Darkness from fey does not give you disadvantage. You don't see them, give disadvantage, but, they have blind conditions which give you advantage. So it's even. So it can be used to force the booming blade damage (for your blade singer build of course)

[@kyleobrien3098]

21:39 Can you actually have all 3 of these active at once?

[@RobThePrincess]

Not sure if its been mentioned, but one thing I really enjoy, is that Barbarians finally have something to concentrate on. They have the highest con saves typically, and cant concentrate on SPELLS. but this isn't a spell. so multiclassing these two can be pretty fun.

[@gethriel]

Beastmaster should, at dinner point, gain pack tactics; are they beast MASTER or not?!

[@aloharover5980]

Just discovered your channel and enjoy it, going through all the Optimized now. FWIW Colby is in Waterville, Maine

[@DnDDeepDive]

Welcome! Yeah I was off a bit there :). Need to visit!

[@notorious.scoundrel]

Real quick: Favored Foe doesn't use your bonus action, it's a special action you can use to activate whenever you hit a creature, dealing the extra damage when you hit. It's okay, but I honestly wouldn't use it unless I spent my spell slots already and I can't cast Hunter's Mark on an important enemy.

[@jirimaly6019]

but also need to mention its once per turn...

[@notorious.scoundrel]

@@jirimaly6019 yeah, it's baby's first Hunter's Mark. I only use it if I want quick damade and don't want to expend a spell slot for it, but really only works well at low levels for the most part

[@tomraineofmagigor3499]

Considering you can't change it to a new creature in my games I would take away the concentration

[@swordsman111982]

But that’s kind of what it’s for. It’s made so if your out of spell slots your Ranger can still keep up the damage again all targets. Revised Ranger Favored Enemy is great, but it’s terrible if your favored enemy is Giant and your party get teleported to Avernus. The only way to make it affective is if the DM tells the Ranger basically the entire campaign.

[@Randomdudefromtheinternet]

Any ideas for flavoring the Primal companion? My ranger is a scholar, he studies fossils, so his primal companions are extinct animals (a dimorphodon/gryphonfly for the B.o.t. Sky, a sea scorpion for the B.o.t. Sea, but can't think of one for the land.)

[@86blakew]

So in your opinion, is it better to pick something like gloomstalker with summon beast or go beastmaster with multiple pets in terms of damage?

[@DnDDeepDive]

Depends on what you’re looking for. Burst damage early in the fight = Gloomstalker. Sustained damage with the ability to have more pets to soak up damage = BM.

[@jeromemartel3916]

Honestly I'm really digging the normal beastmaster for 1 aspect only: The fact that you can tailor your pet to your mission or environment you want. Assassination -> centipede (can shake hand and centipede hidden into your shirt can bite them and paralyze them), scout (owl obviously), dmg (giant poisonous snake), advantage bot (giant frog) and my favorite skill monkey (tressym which has an insane 11 int so they can use help action on every single skill you want to perform or do some of their own, they also understand common!)

[@GoblinLord]

personally I think commanding your beast should spend your reaction because you still spend something but you don't clash with your economy and can still be a real ranger

[@andrewpaul8732]

And yet they nerf an already bottom teir class. As if if they let favored foe 1d6 per hit until an enemy dies prof times a day and reaction to let pur beast hit ranger would somehow climb the ranks of S teir choices for best class ??? I'm just glad my dm is pro homebrew cuz holy faack

[@Randomdudefromtheinternet]

Maybe a little treat for beastmaster could be to get that they get the Find Familiar and Find (Greater) Steed spells (but just as fey?) and to access to higher CR beasts (maybe add monstruosities as things progress).

[@binolombardi]

Did you crunch the numbers for a ranger with the favored foe feature who uses it on the same turn as other bonus action concentration spells? Example: lvl 5 ranger with extra attack. Archery fighting style. Uses bonus action to concentrate on the spell hail of thorns. Takes attack action, uses first attack and hits and activates hail of thorns ending concentration. Takes follow up attack, hits and activates favored foe feature. It may also be worth noting that the new favored foe feature requires only a “hit with an attack roll” and not a weapon like hunters mark. Also, small race beastmaster like a goblin, gnome, or halfling on the back of a “beast of the land” and is wisdom based seems awesome. Pick Druidic Warrior as fighting style, and choose primal savagery as a cantrip. Your SAD with your spells and beast. Your beast can run up, hit a creature possibly probing them, and you can primal savagery it with advantage while using favored foe. Level 11 seems like a major spike for almost no resources since your cantrip outpaces your own extra attack. Goblin riding a wolf/warg seems awesome

[@DnDDeepDive]

Great points and ideas! I'll get a mounted build in here eventually... not sure if it will be a Ranger yet :)

[@binolombardi]

@@DnDDeepDive I’m new to the channel, subscribed yesterday and have been enjoying your content. Do you plan to do multi class videos? A mounted build that utilizes the sentinel feat would probably be great, especially on a class like a rogue or paladin that can make the most out of their reaction and dissuade would be attackers from targeting the mound.

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@binolombardi Thanks - glad you're enjoying! Yep, most of my builds end up multi-classing at some point :P.

[@binolombardi]

@@DnDDeepDive Custom lineage-small race: your w/e you want flavor wise. pick darkvision, will help simplify things when you and your beast can see in similar situations when attacking. 15+2 wisdom. 8 intelligence and charisma. 15 constitution, resilient constitution later for more Hp and concentration proficiency. 14 dex. Good for medium armor and getting you past level 1 offensively. 10 strength, you’re probably gonna swim or climb eventually. feat- fey touched. Free misty step once per day, most rangers do t have access to teleportation. 1st level enchantment spell, dissonant whispers. level 2 pick up Druidic warrior. Primal savagery first pick for cantrip to have a decent and scaling wisdom based attack. level 3 get your beast, choose land beast, enjoy riding up and snaking someone for possible 1d6+1d8+4 at this level, and a chance to prone the target to give your savagery advantage. Note that new favored foe does not specify weapon attacks, so your attack cantrip can enjoy the extra die. level 4, get warcaster to improve your concentration saves. You may also now ride up to a creature, deal your beast damage as a bonus action. If the target is forced prone, cast dissonant whispers for the chance you AND your beast to make opportunity attacks at advantage as it crawls away at half speed. Your primal savagery may be used for opportunity attacks because of warcaster feat. Great damage, and scales decently for the rest of your ranger career.

[@TheRobversion1]

The whole use 1 hit concentration spell-break-favored foe idea was great. Especially if you're just at 2 attacks (early). Though yeah once you can do 3+ (gloomstalker, fighter multiclass) hunter's mark pulls ahead most of the time. I like searing smite upcasted for the 1 hit concentration spell though so it can remain viable even at 3+ attacks. I'd switch the order with searing smite though. like favored foe-break-upcast searing smite.

[@joshuapicaro8726]

Jeremy Crawford mentioned the balance issues they had is there is to much of a diversity of companions to allow these buffs. For example the issue with giving Beast Master companions a bonus action to attack was some have multi attack.

[@tomraineofmagigor3499]

Just add in the rule that if you have your companion attack as a bonus action then it can't use it's multiattack feature

[@nktyfy]

Can you give a multiclass idea for beastmaster beyond lvl15

[@DnDDeepDive]

It would depend on your goal I think, but I'd probably lean toward Fighter for Action Surge or Rogue for Sneak Attack damage, myself...

[@nktyfy]

@@DnDDeepDive Thank you for the reply. I have posted my specific build on the subreddit, would be highly obliged if you can help :D

[@TheRobversion1]

Agreed with Colby here. a 2 dip in fighter always works with any buuld then it just depends on your goal as Colby said. I'd personally pick up a 3 level dip to round it out in spore druid or any cleric for blindness/deafness. this is a great way to provide advantage for you, your pets and your allies that doesn't require concentration.

[@423RedWolf]

Colby College is in Maine, not New Hampshire!

[@barryhill2836]

Love the video! To be totally honest though I still VASTLY prefer they UA Revised Ranger Beast Conclave. Your companion is suddenly its own character that leveled along with you. It's so awesome. And the fact that you can pick a beast 1/2CR and below you have a wide variety to choose to make it as thematic as you want.

[@joshuapicaro8726]

Build starts at 28:56. Pickup custom Lineage

[@Barkstopper]

I was focusing on a build similar to this, using my first ever character i made! He was a champion who adopted an owlbear cub and it grew up to be a monster. Now i can bring it all back! I am however go with a melee build to go with that in your face guerilla fighter kinda style

[@BossTripp1]

Can you do a video of the difference in dps between dual-wielding and two-handed dps? Does dual-wielding work better with certain classes? How can you make dual-wielding viable if it’s not?

[@DnDDeepDive]

I think I'm gonna do a little "short" video answer to this question this week, as I've seen it a few times - stay tuned :)

[@DDCRExposed]

The Dungeon Dudes suggest sacrificing one of your two attacks to allow the pet to attack four times per round rather than two off of just the bonus action. Has this been taken into account for damage as well? Also I have fun calculating cr's for monsters and such and found that at level three the new pet of the sea, land, or air is actually a cr1 monster at the beginning even for air which has less damage, technically.

[@DDCRExposed]

I have my own channel that deconstructs D&D 5e monsters, so if you're interested, come take a look.

[@ryanbrodeur5105]

This doesn't work by RAW. Even if you use both an attack and a bonus action for beast attacks the beast still only has one action, which means only two attacks. Better off just keeping your attack action for yourself and having the beast attack with bonus action.

[@DDCRExposed]

@@ryanbrodeur5105 The 4 attacks from the pet is suggested at Level 11+. Early on, the pet can attack once from the bonus action and once more if the ranger sacrifices one of two attacks at level 5+, when taking the attack action. So at level 11, the ranger could make 1 attack, then command the pet to make an attack action with it's 2nd attack and then use the bonus action to command another attack, resulting in 4 attacks from the pet. Since the pet's attacks rank up with the Ranger, that is a lot of potential damage.

[@ryanbrodeur5105]

@@DDCRExposed I know this. But the level 11 ability does not in any way give the pet a 2nd action to use.

[@ryanbrodeur5105]

No matter if you use action or bonus action, the pet can only ever use one action to attack.

[@matthewsmith-rw3pn]

I would love to see what you could do with the mercy monk, damage or healing I just wanna see that thing strut.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Will add to the list!

[@carlosmarroquin3019]

Your average is consuming spellslot, so what how many combats do you get out of it? There is no real good use of shared spells at the 15th level, especially when the ranger has no really good buff spells.

[@Vyrewolf]

I wonder if Zephyr strike would apply with spell share. Would that mean the ranger and primal companion would both not provoke opportunity attacks, I wonder.

[@matty_nic8478]

i have a question shouldnt the beast consume one of my attack to make an attack action?

[@JuckiCZ]

Try calculating this build and compare it with your build: Human 1st level fighter, GW FS, stats 16/13/14/9/16/9, prof. in CON saves and heavy armour. Grab greatsword and continue as beastmaster ranger. fighting style defensive for AC 19. ASI: 1) GWM 2) STR 3) WIS 4) WIS 5) Sentinel. Tactics: Charge with beast of the land, possibly knock enemy prone, engage enemy and attack with GWM -5/+10 (if he has high AC and wasn't knocked prone, use ordinary attacks without -5/+10). Add any spells you want to. This build allows sustainable advantage source for your GWM attacks, sentinel on top also can improve DMG. On higher levels, you can use guardian of nature to get bonus DMG for ranger, bonus HPs for beast and advantage for both. Enemies around your beast will also move slower - great spell for shared spells. I also recommend background from Ravnica, which gives you haste spell - when you cast it throuch shared spells, both you and your beast both can do another attack - this means 3x companion attack for 1d8+1d6+8 and also with advantage (prone enemy) 3x 2d6+14 (+magic weapon) from ranger + 1d8 favoured foe. AC of you and your beast will be 21 (+magic items), sentinel on top, speed of ranger 70 ft, speed of companion 80 ft.

[@leohale6449]

You know that this is the only option other than a long rest that removes fatigue right?

[@DnDDeepDive]

and the Greater Restoration spell! But as a 5th level spell, it's expensive :)

[@phillipheaton9832]

As I read the magic ammunition rule, the magic disappears after the first attack, hit or miss. Why not take a beast of the sky? It has flyby and thus can give you advantage on one attack, just like the owl familiar. You don't have the Beastmaster on either of your math displays.

[@robbiesrevelations3096]

I don't know if this was there when this was made, but if you just go druidic warrior, that solves the ability to attack issue

[@JoschiChr]

But the best companions do scale with your level? You add your proficiency modifyer to its AC, attack and damage rolls, and its hit points are four times your level (or their own).

[@Agreus-WolfsbaneYT]

I'm thankful that Tasha's cauldron of everything gave the rangers especially beast master alot of love and care. Hopefully it will help with my new ranger build that I've been trying to do for so long

[@brettmajeske3525]

Entangle is a better spell than hunter's mark for the Beastmaster.

[@Agreus-WolfsbaneYT]

@@brettmajeske3525 I could see the benefits of entangle but in late games you might have to go to more untiliy spells than offense

[@brettmajeske3525]

@@Agreus-WolfsbaneYT True, but the same would apply to Hunter's Mark. Sometimes I think Rangers get trapped in the Legolas mindset, but some of the Tasha's options change that dynamic. 12 levels of Beastmaster/8 Circle of the Moon or Shepard becomes much stronger. And Favored Foe can be used in Wild Shape. Take one level of monk for the better AC flip the Wis and Dex priorities and it is a whole new ball game.

[@Agreus-WolfsbaneYT]

@@brettmajeske3525 yes but perhaps that's what I think is the issue with the dicodamy of the game. Everyone seems to be more focused on min maxing damage and being a powerful build that they lose sight that by multi classing your taking away a good classes abilities. I can understand the legolas qulevhe but I've seen more of the Aragorn becuaee legolas is more of a ranger/ fighter

[@brettmajeske3525]

@@Agreus-WolfsbaneYT I would argue Aragorn is more of a multiclass build(fighter/cleric) , but I can see your point. I think the new options are better, but every Ranger build is improved by at least a one level dip in Cleric or Druid. Even if only at level 20. Heck, for some builds a one level Monk dip is better than the Ranger capstone. Now there are many classes for which multiclassing makes no sense, but I can not think of a single reason for 20 levels of Ranger over a one or two level dip in a Wis based spellcaster. At least the Paladin Capstone offers a reason not to dip into Divine Sorcerer or Bladelock. Rangers get a +3 to damage. As soon as they get 5th level spells it is time to move on.

[@PsyrenXY]

One thing I would have emphasized - you're not just doing great DPR, you're also helping control the battlefield because you have a companion in melee doing OAs and keeping the enemy from just walking to your backline etc. And unlike many other archer builds you're granting the rogue sneak attack. And if it dies you just take a minute and get another one.

[@fledgling9097]

I plan on being a goblin who rides a boar. I will use druidic warrior to get access to Shillelagh, using a club, shield and medium armor, then focus mainly on wisdom.

[@Kyjinski]

Can you make an optimized wildshape druid?

[@DnDDeepDive]

Yes... Moon Druid is maybe my most requested build so it's high on the "to do" list :)

[@HonestMan247]

I'm late to the party here, so I don't know if the Animate Objects situation was subsequently clarified. That said, I've heard the idea of using Animate Objects on a bundle of +1 Daggers (or Swords) a few times now - but it's clearly not RAW. The spell very explicitly says, "nonmagical objects."

[@deaconnukem]

Favored foe is good for any duel wielding rangers because it starts on a hit and not on a bonus action freeing up your bonus action to offhand attack.

[@LoreFoundry]

Thank you. I love your work.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks!

[@graveyardshift2100]

I liked your beastmaster episode.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed :)

[@graveyardshift2100]

@@DnDDeepDive i actually have a challenge for you too, if you don't mind.

[@Roger-uw1pj]

Did you do a shapeshifter build already? I played one a couple of years back. I'm certain it could be done much better today.. My idea back then was a halfling barbarian(2), druid of the moon that just went feral with rage in combat and launched himself at the enemy in a shapeshifted form. It had some drawbacks, like both rage and shapeshifting being bonus actions. Still would like to see someone optimize it. :)

[@DnDDeepDive]

I do have a skeleton outline of a Moon Druid tank build that will likely take a Barb dip. Not sure when I'll get to it, but probably sometime in the next month or so... stay tuned ;)

[@cobracao1327]

What if the last 3 levels you take wizard? Does not look like you lose much and you'd gain a 6th level slot to upcast to...?

[@spooderous]

I think the thing to keep in mind, though I understand this is all about optimization, is that it's about choice. If everything fell into place and you could just do everything you wanted to in a turn, it would be the same thing every turn. "Here is my macro of commands" would be boring. Maybe sometimes you use swift quiver and get off some extra ranged attacks, maybe one turn it might be better if your companion does some extra attacks while you are doing something else.

[@jamesmullen3068]

If you take the druidic warrior fighting style, you can take the shileilegh cantrip and make wisdom your highest ability score. Then your primal companion's bonuses also scale with your highest ability score. It is all melee, but it should be very respectable damage and multiclass with other wisdom based classes well.

[@DnDDeepDive]

It's worth considering. I'd hate missing out on 3 attacks + Sharpshooter damage from Crossbow Expert+Sharpshooter though. Polearm Master could give you the three attacks with a Quarterstaff, but Great Weapon Master wouldn't work as the Quarterstaff isn't Heavy...

[@TheRobversion1]

i personally would go range and pick up mold earth (for the one-hit kills vs. medium or smaller enemies) and thorn whip instead for some control as well. but yes, i play wis beastmaster too.

[@rasimir6124]

Isnt spell attack moodifier alsoo scales with your proficiency?

[@DnDDeepDive]

It does! But I still want to find a way to get this character's Wis score higher quicker to make it even better...

[@Duncan55Watson]

Colby College is in Waterville, Maine.

[@Daggoth65]

This is why (in response to why every recommendation is always Variant Human or Custom Lineage) at my table I Just let all races get 1 free feat, and just remove Variant human/Custom Lineage so everyone gets that extra bit of customization and I just adjust my encounters a bit to work with the extra bit of power.

[@DnDDeepDive]

I need to introduce you to my DMs...

[@SilverHalsen]

Why use hunters mark when your bonus actions are using your primal companion?

[@DnDDeepDive]

Right - the idea is to just use it once to get it on the target and in subsequent rounds to use your BA to attack the marked target. Obviously, if the monster is going to die in a couple of rounds it'd be more efficient to just start attacking with the pet from the get-go - all depends on the monster and if your party is focusing them etc.

[@jwraper1498]

I'd like to see you optimize a Psionic themed character. Which class(es) would you go with? Divination Wizard seems like a no-brainer but there are so many more new Psionic themed subclasses now. Not sure which would be the most effective/powerful.

[@DnDDeepDive]

added to the list!

[@jeffdietz630]

Another good episode. As for a character build, I would love to see something along the lines of classic ninja. Thinking it would revolve around gloomstalker/way of shadow monk. Ranger gets blindfighting fight style so fogcloud/darkness advantage is an option. Loving the idea of a mobile bat familiar being the target of darkness spell to make your darkness go where you want it (mega mobility for shadow monk teleports etc.) Gloomstalker help a bit with monk damage but probably not enough for my liking. Thoughts? If there were a way to get shadowblade would be amazing but another dip seems excessive.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Or maybe Shadow Monk/Assassin Rogue?

[@brettmajeske3525]

I had one of these in my campaign pre tasha and it was really great in some circumstances. It didn't blend well with the light cleric and devotion pally though. Some builds tend to be party dependent.

[@jiiaga5017]

on favored foe - beastmaster generally is not attacking an enemy more than once per round because you are probably giving up a bonus action and later an attack for your beast, so hunter's mark is actually kind of "wasted" being cast by a beast master, compared to favored foe. The lowered damage is kind of annoying, I think they could have started at 1d6 and ended at 1d10, but its still useful as is. But this lets you conserve your actual spells for other non-combat or situational uses. Another point though, is that there is no reason you can't take BOTH favored foe and hunter's mark. Rangers don't get much back on a short rest, so having the 2-3 extra favored foes as backup damage between long rests is handy, especially when you don't know what you might eventually be getting in to. You also don't have to declare it until you hit an enemy, you might find yourself shooting a spell caster and hit them or crit them, and realize you really want that extra 1d4/1d6/1d8 damage to multiply, especially for breaking concentration checks.

[@akmi1931]

The problem with the changes with Tasha’s was that these changes should have been ADDED to the Ranger, not REPLACE features of the Ranger. What the Ranger lost was much of the flavor of the class. And the “beasts” options for the Ranger that Tasha’s introduced AREN’T EVEN BEASTS. They’re Fey or spirits in the shape of beasts. Rangers can’t even have real beasts anymore.

[@tomraineofmagigor3499]

They scaled the primal beast attack to your spell attack but also gave the fighting style that gives Druid cantrips BUT hunter's mark only triggers on weapon attacks

[@TheRobversion1]

Yeah. the beastmaster is meant to be a summoner/shilelagh/magic stone user. you cant summon and use hunter's mark togther anyway (concen).

[@tomraineofmagigor3499]

@@TheRobversion1 I wasn't talking about a specific build. It was more that the new feature doesn't work well with the ranger's most iconic spell at lower levels

[@WhatWouldBojackDo]

i wish they made all those ranger maneuvers (ensnaring strike, zephyr strike, hail of thorns) work like booming blade or even better just get rid of the concentration part. they're some of my favourite ranger features but are pretty much never used, cause none of them are worth a spell slot AND your concentration.

[@benjaminray2]

If you did this build is melee, wouldn't you have advantage on every attack assuming you're table uses flanking rules (which in my experience, everyone does)

[@krisbrown6692]

Colby College is in Maine, there is a Colby-Sawyer College in New Hampshire.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Ah rats! I knew it was in New England somewhere! 😬

[@iancunningham9297]

Hey man thanks! I asked for this video way back before the beast master 1.0. You do a great job responding to the community. Have you considered a Mandalorian type character based around an artificer artillerist? Great middle ground between single target damage and area effect.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Will add to list!

[@Charles-ij1ow]

2 longbow 1d8 + Dex 3 + 1d8 + Dex 3 + Beast of land 1d8 +2 +3 Summon Beast 1d8 + 4 + 2 = 4.5 + 3 + 4.5 + 3 + 4.5 + 2 + 3 + 4.5 + 4 + 2 = 35 dmg per round. How is he getting to 47dmg?

[@theonlymatthew.l]

I think I would take 'Gunner' instead of 'Piercer'.. Most Archers fear being near melee combatants, this would enable you to be completely effective if caught in the thick of battle

[@oielvert]

The Swarmkeeper is my favorite ranger right now. Most of my characters are not that fond of animals so I reskinned the swarm for a misty fog that solidifies into a flying cloud at higher levels. My ranger now looks like a herald of Apollo raining arrows at heretics.

[@DnDDeepDive]

love it!