Make Ranger Levels Attractive After L6

[Egon the Monkey]

Issue: I'm not sure why I bothered to take Ranger Level 7
So, been working on this thought for a few days, but recently died back down to Ranger 6 and I wonder why I'd bother to take 7 again.

I feel there needs to be a reason to take more than 6 levels of Ranger, once you've picked up your FE perks and Uncanny Dodge. Especially now L10 is on the cards for more PCs, and feats can be taken at a lower BAB. 6 Ranger/3-4 Fighter deals with the low damage output and lets you pick up Improved Critical at 7, and Improved 2-Weapon Fighting at L8 rather than L9. All you really lose is a L2 spell slot that you have to have 14 Wis for anyway.  I feel that Ranger is kind of held back as a class by being balanced against 'FE:Human/Dragon PvP stealth-ganker'. There's lots of ways to play it, and I've taken neither FE: Player Race, nor Stealth on this one. Not the first time I've done that either.

I don't think Pure Ranger Perks would be a good solution, as Ranger is a really fun and thematic multiclass with a lot of flavour if you take a level or two of a caster class. E.g. how much Ranger/Sorc gear there is, Ranger/Cleric as a fullplate undead hunter etc. But after 6, why not have Fighter on there for Feats and Specialisation? You've got Good Enough Stealth when buffed up, the L2 spells aren't anything that special, and you don't get another FE until L10. Or take Rogue for more stealth, Tumble AC, and better damage.

I'm not suggesting '100% give rangers all of this stuff'. I'm saying 'after a couple of weeks back playing one of my favourite classes on EfU, here's some options that I think could make them feel a bit closer to the Almighty Barbarian if you added a few'. Especially when the Barb now gets perks like '+5 Concentration to offset a class weak spot and yet more HP', immunity to flanking sneak attacks from a lower level or multiclass Rogue, and a bonus feat. it's been notable that I could pick up all the Ranger gear I wanted at decent prices, and nobody wanted to buy my spare ranger gear as 'not many of them around here'.

Issue: There's 3 tiers of Favored Enemy
Human, Monstrous Creature, Vermin, Dragon and Reptilian are all amazing. Common enemy types, and other than Human (which comes with CRUSH) they come with about 2 Feats' worth of bonuses, including 'only sources of DI in the Class' 'immunity to a L2 spell you can easily get on loot' and 'bonkers Poison saves in a module with a lot of poison'. Magical Beast makes it in for the +1 spell saves and +3 Spellcraft to get you near another +1 vs Spells. Once you pick the concept-defining or crush FE, may as well take one of these.

Then Aberration, Outsider, Animal etc are mid-tier. Things like +1 to a weak save and some +2s to non-core skills. Situational but rather fun bonuses like '5/1 DR so my Companion doesn't eat shit to a stiff breeze' and 'full-fat PfX vs Outsider'. Rare enemy types. They can be fun for the RP and the odd wacky power, but they're giving less chance to shine.

Then there's bad ones like Construct (slightly less incoming damage if you luck out on the attacker, +1 electrical when constructs seem to resist that a lot). Stonefolk (Famously not antagonistic). Fey, (+2 Mind is nice to have, but that +7% conceal won't stack with Blur etc and Fey don't exactly show up much). Doubt anyone will even notice you have these ones. So, what would make a high-level ranger more appealing?

Idea: Stop Level 7 being a Dead Level
6 is FE perks and Uncanny Dodge, but 7 is very much a dead level for rangers. No spells, no FE, no EfU bonus, no wonder people stop at 6. Fighters and Barbs have been given a sneak attack perk, but neither class was hurting for damage output. What about giving Rangers 1d6 Sneak Attack at 7 and disabling it if they have a Player Race FE or another full BAB class? That would especially go a long way for Rapid Shot and dual wield builds, and feel thematic to a Hunter.

Or a Fighter Bonus Feat here, like Barbarians get? Again, maybe disabled if you take FE: Player Race. Put that in and it makes a Fighter or Rogue dip less appealing. A L7 feat gives a strong reason to take 7 Ranger as you can pick up Imp Crit or Imp KD with it now. And if you have 7, taking 8 for the spell isn't that much more.

Idea: Make FE: Human etc Have an Opportunity Cost
Boosting some of the weaker FEs has made them more desirable, but after picking FE: Human you can still pick Dragon for the 5% DI and +1 AB/damage to beat up Reptilians with. In the same way that Natural Swiftness is disabled in Heavy Armour, what about giving Rangers an ability that is disabled if they pick any Player Race as a Favoured Enemy? Then you can be a Hunter, or a Bounty Hunter, but not both. By locking FE: PC Races out of some of the Good Shit, you don't need to include them in 'is this balanced'.

Idea: Revise the Ranger Spells List Like The Druid List Was (especially L2 spells)
Thanks to bonus slot gear, I literally have more L1 spellslots than I know what to do with. So I just party-buff with Resist Elements usually. And that doesn't scale to Caster Level anyway. L1 Summons are mostly an RP tool, as if I need a throwaway distraction summon there's dozens of basic drops for that. I'm not playing a Stealth ranger so I don't need Camouflage and OWTL, and those are of middling use on quests anyway. Anything other than One With the Land is easy to get off potions or a buffbot PC. You don't feel that useful. And you don't have enough spells to buff your Companion, so I've only ever seen people have those out in town.

Compare to Deafening Clang and Bless Weapon on a Paladin. My point isn't that they're powerful (they are too powerful to compare). It's that they are unique to Paladin and Domains, and add damage to the caster. What Rangers lack compared to other full BAB classes is unique damage or defence. No barb DI or Rage, no Fighter Feats. I think what could go a decent way on a Ranger is to add damage buffs that are available at L7 and 8. Right now it's nothing, nothing, OMG L11 BLADE THIRST. Why not a modest damage buff earlier? Fighters get Weapon Spec and Feats for all-day damage. Barbs get rage for short-term damage. Rangers could have buffs for consistent but not permanent damage, and sit in the middle. Currently, my PC's damage is kind of being carried by 'Max astronomy, ensure I have Stellar Blade'. And for PvP, wow is there a lot of low physical DR/DI around to take the edge off a Dual-Wield Ranger who can't access Weapon Focus or Rage.

Idea: Drop Improved Two-Weapon Fighting to L8
Drop this to L8. It requires 8 BAB now, so IMO fits there. If you look at Fighter and Barb perks they give their big benefits at 8 too. Plus it's not used by all rangers anyway, as they need to be in Light Armour to Dual-Wield. And dropping it a level would reduce the temptation to go Fighter to get it.

Spell Change Ideas

• One With the Land: It's self-only, so it can't skew things by buffing someone else. What if this gave a +2 Damage bonus attached to your current melee weapon and arrows, if you have 7 Ranger levels? Improves the weak damage of Ranger, but has the cost of 'Not using Enhance Ability or Prot From Elements in that 1 L2 slot'. Min 7 Ranger levels so it doesn't create Ranger/druid cheese builds, and won't work with a L2 Spellslot item and L6.
• Spiderskin: It's higher circle than Barkskin, but the AC scaling is worse. Which makes it potentially a decent option to add as a L2 spell. Rangers get a 1 level discount on loads of spells anyway. You need 9 Ranger for that tasty 4AC, whereas Barkskin would give it at 7. So a nice pure ranger bonus there, and a way to make your companion a bit more resilient.
• Magic Fang: I think this needs a 'Sorcerer casting Stone Bones' style of upgrade. If it did scaling benefits like 'also cast Mage Armour' depending on your Ranger levels, and/or had increased duration for Ranger, you could afford to have your companion out without constantly feeding it potions or it being a buff sink for your mates.
• Sand Splash: Sand Splash is fun, it's thematically in line with Grease and Entangle IMO, and I think it'd be a nice choice other than Yet More Insulation. Rangers aren't running high WIS, so an AOE lets them play the odds of some things failing it.

Spell ideas

Bane Of the Unnatural (First Circle Ranger Spell)
The caster's equipped weapon gains +1 AB vs Undead, Outsider, Aberration, and Construct for 5 minutes per level.

You can have FE Undead or Outsider etc, but then someone else needs to buff you to break its DR. If it's limited to these things, then it doesn't become a boost to a PvP Bounty Hunter like MW would. But you do feel like that sort of self-sufficient hunter, and have another use for L1 slots. See also Druid getting access to full-on Magic Weapon and Flame Weapon now, so I feel there's room for this sort of buff in the other Nature Class.

Hunter's Mark (First Circle Ranger Spell)
The caster's equipped weapon gains +1 AB vs Shapechanger, Animal, Vermin, Magical Beast, and Beast for 5 minutes per level.

You could even throw in a L2 version of these that are turn/level and give +2. Could give PC shapechangers, boss monsters and the like something to fear, and make a dedicated FE: Shapechanger ranger able to actually crack the DR of their nemesis. Again, not a PvP crush spell but a nice midpoint between Nothing and Blade Thirst.

[Hierophant]

Make tumble a class skill for rangers and lvl 7 won't be a dead level for them, we now have a pure BAB class that gets tumble and I don't see why rangers can't also be a tumble class. That is to say if the goal is just to try and get rid of the age old rogue or bard multiclasses with fighter or ranger for tumble AC at 7.

After that, I think their spells are fine really, they're not meant to be spellcasters and the spells they get early are nice. Resist elements and protection from elements one circle early is great.

Rangers could get Slumber to add to their Circle 3 (which isn't received until lvl 11 anyway).

Crushing Despair could be a Circle 2, like bards.

Rouse could be a Circle 1.

Nybor's Gentle Reminder as a circle 1.

Crafter's Insight could be (contrary to most of the trend with getting spells early) a Circle 2 spell, so they can be good Herbalists/Alchemists/Cooks if fully dedicated to Ranger levels.

Summon Swarm could be a Circle 2 spell.

Sand Splash could be a Circle 1 spell (same as Druid).

Shell could be a Circle 1 spell, like Bard (who also don't get Protect).

Whispering Wind could be a Circle 1 spell, like Astrologian.

Alter Self can be removed as cool as it is. I'm much more in favour of an Astrologian route for explaining their hedge magic than some form of Transmutation/Changeling stuff. Navigating via the stars, etc etc, dire portents!

Dropping improved two weapon fighting down to 8 for free is probably a bad idea, it can be taken at 8 AB but it's not free. It costs a feat and should remain so otherwise a way to make it pure only will have to be implemented, as people would just take 8 ranger levels and then dip into something else for their next two-three levels I feel!

The big game changer for pure rangers could honestly be corrected with one singular change. 1 lvl dips are frowned on, so this is quite frankly not something to worry about in that regard-- I even think it's not allowed at all if you're taking it as your last level, since 11 is an app (i.e one lvl of rogue at 10, max out your skills).

This also applies to your ask for a bonus feat though, because technically rangers already get a bonus feat at lvl 5. Favoured enemies are granted through bonus feats for rangers, so it would be better for that bonus feat to be at lvl 9, where they also get their general feat.

The only issue is the +1 AB/DMG per 3 levels, so that means 3 FEs and their +3 damage bonus by lvl 9. Not entirely an issue, but it could be spread out to be 4 levels, so for every 4 levels, +1 AB/DMG.

Lvl 4 - +1 AB/DMG

Lvl 8 - +2 AB/DMG

Lvl 12 - +3 AB/DMG

That's the trade off, and lvl 12 is pretty much impossible but could be a thing in exceptionally rare cases or NPCs that the DMs want to be tougher.

Also makes it so you need at least 8 ranger levels to get the full damage/AB benefits, but can still get your lvl 6 bonus if you want to multiclass instead.

[Whyleth]

Rangers having Tumble as a class skill would go a long way I feel towards making the class feel beter.

[Canadianloki]

I've heard it tossed around a few times but much like how barbs get a bonus feat at whichever level id also suggest rangers get one as well.