'Dungeons & Dragons' Has No Plans to Revise Its Ranger Class

One of the lead developers reiterated that there are no current plans to revise one of the most criticized classes in its Fifth Edition game.

Many current D&D fans believe that the ranger class is the weakest in the game, due to a combination of poor class-specific abilities and weak damage output. The "Beast Master" ranger subclass is the most criticized version of the ranger, as it requires a ranger to spend its action ordering its animal companion to attack at lower levels, which effectively nerfs its ability to do any decent amount of damage. The animal companion also doesn't have a way to heal outside of a long rest (or magic) and its HP maxes out at 80...which makes it vulnerable to tons of different attacks at various levels.

In response to this criticism, Dungeons & Dragons released a "Revised Ranger" class for playtesting back in 2016. The Revised Ranger made some of the ranger's core abilities easier to use and specifically fixed how a ranger uses its animal companion, giving a ranger the animal at Level 3 and allowing a ranger to attack with both its weapon and the animal on the same turn.

While not official, many fans preferred the Revised Ranger to the original Ranger class found in the Player's Handbook. And some players expected the Revised Ranger to eventually make its way into an official D&D book so that it could be used in Adventurer's League and other "official" D&D games.

However, while discussing other playtesting material on Twitter earlier today, D&D lead rules designer Jeremy Crawford reiterated that there were no current plans to replace the Ranger class found in the Player's Handbook.

Regarding the revised ranger, I mentioned back in 2017 that we have no plans to release an alternative version of a class. That plan hasn’t changed.

There is one ranger: the one in the Player’s Handbook. #DnD https://t.co/yDXwgY4uMb

— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) July 28, 2018

Surprisingly, Crawford's comment became the flashpoint for tons of D&D debate over the weekend on various boards and forums, with players debating the merits of the core Ranger class and the revisions seemingly discarded by the D&D team.

Crawford followed up by pointing out that the Dungeon Master's Guide had several ways to add classes to animal companions and even noted that a player doesn't need to be a Beast Master Ranger in order to have an animal companion in the game. So - if a player feels that a Beast Master Ranger is "too weak," there's a few alternatives so that players can have that wolf companion they wanted in the game.

Ultimately, it's a little odd that Crawford's comments have stirred up the debate over the Revised Ranger. Unless you're playing in an Adventurer's League game, it's ultimately up to the DM whether or not you can use the Revised Ranger rules. Homebrewing is extremely common in Dungeons & Dragons, and there's nothing stopping home games from using a Revised Ranger to their heart's content.

So - what do you think about the Ranger class in D&D? Too weak, or are players making a big deal over nothing? Let us know in the comment section or let me know on Twitter at @CHofferCbus!