Baldur’s Gate 3 Ranger Guide

Rangers get to summon the aid of a great beast into battle!

Table of Contents Table of Contents

Far from the bustle of cities and towns, past the hedges that shelter the most distant farms from the terrors of the wild, amid the dense-packed trees of trackless forests and across wide and empty plains, rangers keep their unending watch.

Rangers are versatile outlanders, those who border the world of civilization and nature. There are two possible subclasses to choose from when you play a Ranger. The more commonly known Beast Master where you get to summon your companion beast, or the Hunter which focuses more on your ability to deal with specific types of enemies. In this guide we’ll walk you through which is the best Ranger build, focusing more on the Early Access build where you’ll be capped at level 4.

Rangers in Baldur’s Gate 3

Playing as a Ranger in BG3 is fun but it might not be quite what you had in mind if you’ve played Rangers in the tabletop version. For example, you don’t – at least in Early Access – have as much of a close relationship with your beast companion if you have one. But thanks to the game’s starting location, and the interactions with the Druids, there are a lot of unique dialogue options for Rangers.

Rangers are versatile when it comes to equipment, able to sport most weapons and armor, you’ll be able to deck out your Ranger in a variety of ways. In particular, you – as a ranger – get to choose a favored enemy, this allows the Ranger to gain certain Proficiency or learn a new Spell.

• Bounty Hunter: Gain Proficiency in Investigation and learn the Thieves’ Cant passive. Creatures you Restrain have a harder time escaping.
• Keeper of the Veil: Gain Proficiency in Arcana, and can cast Protection from Evil and Good.
• Mage Breaker: Gain Proficiency with Arcana and the True Strike cantrip.
• Ranger Knight: Gain Proficiency with History and Heavy Armour. (Recommended so that you can get the Heavy Armour proficiency)
• Sanctified Stalker: Gain Proficiency in Religion and the Sacred Flame Cantrip. 

You also get the option to choose your type of ‘natural explorer’ which also has a series of benefits depending on the one you choose:

When you create a Ranger, you must choose one of the following types of Natural Explorer, this allows the Ranger to increase the number of skills at his/her disposal.

• Beast Tamer: You can cast Find Familiar as a ritual.
• Urban Tracker: You gain Proficiency with the disguise kits and thieves’ tools.
• Wasteland Wanderer: Cold: Gain resistance to Cold damage, taking only half from it. (Recommended)
• Wasteland Wanderer: Fire: Gain resistance to Fire, only taking half damage from it. (Recommended)
• Wasteland Wanderer: Poison: Gain resistance to Poison and take only half damage from it. (Recommended)

Rangers focus mainly on high Dexterity but their spellcasting works off their Wisdom so having both of those stats high will lead to a powerful build. With that in mind, let’s take a look at which are the best races to start building your Ranger.

Best races for Ranger

Here are the best Races to choose from, depending on their stat buffs.

• Wood Elf: +2 Dexterity and +1 Wisdom means you can start off strong!
• Human: +1 to all stats, you can’t go wrong with that!
• Strongheart Halfling: +2 Dexterity and +1 Constitution means you’ll still get the buff in Dex that you need, and if you’re not going to focus on spells, you might as well focus on Con.

Beast Master or Hunter?

You have two possible choices when it comes to Ranger. Either focus on a specific kind of enemy and gain benefits whenever you face them or get an extra party member in the form of a beast who can turn the tide in your favor. We’ll cover which will suit you best in terms of your ideal play style.

Beast Master

Your main and only feature as a Beast Master in the Early Access is your ability to summon a Beast Companion. These beasts are highly useful but sadly – as of yet – don’t provide any story or role-play benefits. However, in a game where resource and action management is key to winning, having an additional party member can prove highly efficient.

You get a variety of beasts you can choose from, each with its own abilities and methods of aiding you in battle. Whether it’s the tanky Bear, webbing spider, or the sneaky wolf. Having any number of extra players on your team gives you the upper hand. As soon as you can outnumber your foes, you stand a much better chance at winning.

NAME	ATTRIBUTES	ACTIONS
Bear	HP: 19 AC: 11 Speed: 40ft	Dash. Action. Double your movement speed for the current turn. Hide. Bonus action. Stick to the shadows to improve your chances of going undetected. Jump – Disengage. Action. Range: 21.7ft. Jumping doesn’t trigger opportunity attacks. Bear Claws. Action. +2 to hit. Reach: 5ft. Lash out with deadly claws to deal 1d8+2 slashing damage. Goading Roar. Action. Range: 30ft. Roar at nearby enemies to goad them into attacking you.
Boar	HP: 11 AC: 11 Speed: 40ft	Dash. Action. Double your movement speed for the current turn. Hide. Bonus action. Stick to the shadows to improve your chances of going undetected. Jump/Disengage. Action. Range: 18.3ft. Jumping doesn’t trigger opportunity attacks. Tusk Attack. Action. +1 to hit. Reach: 5ft. Gore the target to deal 1d6+1 slashing damage. Boar Charge. Action. Range: 30ft. Charge forward, attacking all hostile creatures in the way. Deals 1d6+1 slashing damage and potentially knocks characters prone.
Giant Spider	HP: 10 AC: 14 Speed: 40ft	Dash. Action. Double your movement speed for the current turn. Hide. Bonus action. Stick to the shadows to improve your chances of going undetected. Arachnid Jump. Action. Range: 67ft. Jumping doesn’t trigger opportunity attacks. Poisonous Bite. Action. +4 to hit. Reach: 5ft. Bite a target to deal 1d8+3 piercing damage and possibly poison it. The target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or become poisoned for one round. Web. Action. Range: 60ft. Cover a target in a thick, flammable webbing that can Enweb creatures within. Targets within or entering the web must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or become enwebbed for one round.
Raven	HP: 13 AC: 12 Speed: 40ft	Dash. Action. Double your movement speed for the current turn. Hide. Bonus action. Stick to the shadows to improve your chances of going undetected. Fly. Action. Range: 60ft. Fly to the target position. Beak Attack. Action. +2 to hit. Reach: 5ft. Peck at the target, dealing 1d6+2 piercing damage. Rend Vision. Action. +2 to hit. Reach: 5ft. Attack a creature’s eyes. The target takes 1d4+2 piercing damage and is blinded for one round.
Wolf	HP: 11 AC: 13 Speed: 40ft	Dash. Action. Double your movement speed for the current turn. Hide. Bonus action. Stick to the shadows to improve your chances of going undetected. Jump/Disengage. Action. Range: 18.3ft. Jumping doesn’t trigger opportunity attacks. Bite. Action. +2 to hit. Reach: 5ft. Lunge at a target to bite it. Deals 2d4+2 piercing damage and possibly knocks the target prone.

Hunter

As a Hunter, you put all your focus into dealing with specific monsters and encounters. These are:

• Giant Killer: If a Large or bigger creature attacks you, you can use your reaction to make a melee attack. One of the three Features available to choose for Hunter’s Prey
• Colossus Slayer: Once per turn, your weapon attack deals an extra 1d8 damage if the target is below its hit point maximum. One of the three Features available to choose for Hunter’s Prey.
• Horde Breaker: Target two creatures standing close to each other, attacking them in quick succession. One of the three Features available to choose for Hunter’s Prey

Best spells for Ranger

Rangers have access to a small number of spells, these are nature-based and tend to be buffs to you or you or your allies, not especially damaging spells. With that in mind, we’ll go over which are the best spells for your Ranger!

You’ll only have the choice to get 3 spells by the time you are level 4. These are our top picks:

• Hunter’s Mark
• Ensnaring Strike
• Hail of Thorns

Final thoughts

Rangers are great fun for players, but at the end of our day, we will always go for the Wood Elf Beast Tamer build.