Rangers are famous — or infamous — in Dungeons & Dragons for being one of the weakest classes, but the 2024 Player's Handbook has tweaked the class and made it stronger. Granted, it's still not the strongest class of the game or anything, but the upgrades it has received are an improvement to the original version from the fifth edition.
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PostsSome species were also changed, making some of them interesting picks for a ranger, as well as older species that now have an interesting synergy with the ranger — or always had and are still worth pointing out. Thus, which species fits your ranger?
10 Human
Always Works
Elturgard Ranger by Francisco Miyara- Source: 2024's Players Handbook
Humans, along with halflings, are the joker species of the game, as their generic yet great perks work on everybody. Humans will get Heroic Inspiration every time they long rest, a free skill proficiency, and the fun part, an extra origin feat.
There are many interesting feats here, such as Magic Initiate for extra spells, Healer if you want to help the main healer out on the side, and Tough to work on your health, among others. And being able to pick two of these is useful.
As mentioned, halflings are also a great pick, as they can re-roll natural ones, which is helpful for everybody.
9 Orc
For Any Range
Artwork by Mike Pape via Wizards of the Coast- Source: 2024's Players Handbook
Rangers are famous for being ranged characters, but they can work well in melee, too. That said, orcs also work well with both ranged characters and melee characters. They have a special dash they can do a few times per long rest that gives them temporary hit points.
This dash is useful for ranged characters to create some distance and for melee characters to close in on their targets. They also have Relentless Endurance, staying up with one hit point after having their health zeroed. Useful for everyone.
8 Goliath
For Any Range, Too
Fleeing Escapees In The Night By Brian Valeza- Source: 2024's Players Handbook
Goliaths also work regardless of your choice of weapons. They can get large, which is mostly useful for melee characters, but they also have their Giant Ancestry, a trait you choose during character creation.
This trait can give you teleportation, extra damage on your attack, knocking people prone, the ability to diminish the damage you take, or even strike back against someone who hurt you. Teleportation is useful just like dashing as a bonus action is, and the rest is self-explanatory.
7 Elf
For The Spellcaster Inside You
Drizzt Do'Urden art by Wizards of the Coast- Source: 2024's Players Handbook
If you want more spells to play around, then elves are a good pick. You get a few spells depending on your Elven Lineage, and you get to use each of them once per long rest without relying on spell slots — and you get to use it again with spell slots if you want to.
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PostsAlong with the extra spells, you get a free skill proficiency from a specified list, Trance (aka four hours of sleep per day), darkvision, and you are resistant against being charmed.
6 Tiefling
For Other Spell Choices
Tieflings playing cards by Clint Cearley- Source: 2024's Players Handbook
We can go on and on about all the species that get free spells in all books, but for now, we'll mainly focus on the two options from the main handbook. Tieflings work similarly to elves here, as each lineage gets them a few spells you can use once for free and more times through spell slots.
Each lineage also gets a damage resistance based on which one you picked, and they all get Thaumaturgy and darkvision. We also recommend the variant from Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide for wings, something we'll dive deeper into later.
5 Bugbear
For Sneaky Damage
Art by Taras Susak- Source: Monsters of the Multiverse
Whether you're a Gloom Stalker or not, stealth is a good skill for every ranger. Bugbears get Stealth and get to squeeze in small locations, along with the fact they cause extra damage to people who haven't had their turn in combat yet.
Your Dexterity is already high (you can also get Alert), meaning you can sneak around and trigger this extra damage often and on multiple people once you get access to Extra Attack. You also get advantage against the charmed condition, extra reach for melee weapons, and can carry more weight.
4 Goblin
Another Sneaky Option
Goblins by Taras Susak- Source: Monsters of the Multiverse
Goblins get to freely hide as a bonus action, and that alone is already a great perk for rangers. They can also disengage as a bonus action, meaning melee goblins can traverse the map with ease. They have a similar resistance against being charmed, too.
Finally, Fury of the Small is a nice damage perk you can trigger with your attacks, which is not a lot but can be used often and as part of the attack without using other actions as part of it.
3 Duergar
Stealth And Pain
Duergar Smiths via Wizards of the Coast- Source: Monsters of the Multiverse
Duergars are resistant to being charmed and also stunned, and both the poison condition and poison damage. But what's fun about them are the free spells they get, similar to elves and tieflings. Here, they get Enlarge/Reduce and Invisibility.
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PostsInvisibility is useful for stealth and getting people by surprise, while your weapon damage, melee or ranged, gets an extra d4 for their damage rolls when you're enlarged. A high-level ranger will be able to turn invisible a few times per long rest, though.
2 Fairy
Air Force
Sprite by Olga Drebas- Source: Monsters of the Multiverse
If your DM is okay with you picking a species that can fly, we highly recommend you consider one of them. Ranged characters that can fight in the sky are a nightmare, as they're out of reach of many enemies.
Between aarakocras, owlins, fairies, or winged tieflings, we recommend fairies for the free spells they get, Enlarge/Reduce and Faerie Fire, due to how useful these two are.
1 Deep Gnome
Ultimate Stealth
Elemental Evil Player's Compendium by Wizards of the Coast- Source: Monsters of the Multiverse
Deep Gnomes, or the Svirfneblin, are another great option for being sneaky. They have the free spells Nondetection and Disguise Self, allowing you to change into other people and even hide yourself from divination magic.
They have advantage on saving throws against spells that use your Intelligence, Charisma, or Wisdom scores, and they can give themselves advantage when hiding a few times during the day, which can stack with proficiency and expertise you can get from your class.
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