Dungeoneering Basics – Ranger

In our podcast Noobs and Dragons, the group is composed of people who have had very little experience with the game of Dungeons and Dragons, and so it may very well be that our fans are in the same position, but haven't had the good fortune of playing the game with an experienced and handsome Dungeon Master. This will be the first in a series of articles detailing certain aspects of the game which might end up being too rudimentary for veterans of the game, but should be just right for those just getting into the game.

On the show, Grimlock plays as the surly Wood Elf named Jandar, who is a Ranger who fights with a longbow. For those watching the show, it's become apparent that Jandar fires lots of arrows, and casts a spell called Hunter's Mark which somehow causes him to do more damage to his foes. He's also mentioned an ability called Colossus Slayer, which does more damage to enemies that have already taken hits. Is that all a Ranger can do though?

Rangers are a character class in D&D that are the ultimate survivalists, who specialize in hunting and tracking certain types of prey. While the Wood Elf of Noobs and Dragons fights with a Longbow, he could honestly fight with just about any ranged weapon, but even that is only one of his options: typically Rangers will either focus on ranged combat, or will fight with two one-handed weapons. Being well versed in nature, they can specialize in certain types of terrain, and even increase the amount of monsters they're adept at slaying.

While Jandar is the Hunter build of Ranger, there are actually other builds that Grimlock could have chosen when making his character. The Hunter build can either focus on single target damage as the Wood Elf, or can take abilities that deal with hordes of opponents. Other builds give Rangers animal companions to fight alongside them, or give them shadowy powers to hunt in the dark, or to help them travel to different dimensions.

While the Ranger class is almost always focused on dealing damage to foes, either through launching long range attacks, or getting up close with melee weapons, the class also offers support in the form of some magic spells, including healing spells, as well as magical abilities to help in the wilderness. On top of that, it's hard to get lost with a Ranger in your team, and they have such a vast repertoire of knowledge on the natural world that it's hard to get confused about nature while a Ranger is at your side.

You can learn how the Ranger class works, alongside Grimlock, as he plays Jandar on Noobs and Dragons, which releases every Wednesday. Also, make sure that you look into the Gamezilla Media Patreon page, so that you can get access to our behind the scenes show!