The New 2024 Ranger: DnD 5e Class Changes

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The fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons is over a decade old now, and during that time the established DnD 5e classes have seen few substantive changes. That’s definitely been the case with the DnD 5e Ranger, which has been virtually untouched since it first appeared, wandering the wilds with only a few minor tweaks and a handful of new subclasses to its name.

That’s about to change, however, with the new 2024 Player’s Handbook introducing a number of significant changes that will put the Ranger squarely in uncharted territory. Many of these updates have already been mapped out during the One D&D playtest, but they’ve since been further refined, adding new options for magic, a core focus on the Hunter’s Mark spell and revisions to several popular subclasses.

So just what other new Ranger features await DnD 5e players? Below, we set out to track down all the details.

What’s changed in the new 2024 Ranger for DnD 5e?

Below are all the changes to the 2024 Ranger versus the 2014 Ranger (notably, both still fall under the DnD 5e rules).

Ranger Feature	Level	Changes to the 2024 Ranger Class
Spellcasting	1	– Now at level 1 instead of level 2. – Rangers can now use a Druidic Focus. (Previously an optional feature in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.) – Rangers can prepare more spells now than they could learn before. They can also switch out one prepared spell per day.
Favored Enemy	1	– You always have the Hunter’s Mark spell prepared. – You can cast Hunter’s Mark twice per Long Rest without expending a spell slot. This number increases as you level up.
Weapon Mastery	1	– You can use the weapon mastery properties for two weapons of your choice. – Swap these out when you complete a Long Rest.
Natural Explorer	1	Removed
Deft Explorer	2	– Gain Expertise in one skill and learn two languages. – Deft Explorer from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything was broken out into 3 features in the 2024 PHB: Deft Explorer (formerly just the “Canny” benefit), Roving and Tireless.
Fighting Style	2	– Fighting Styles are now a type of feat. – Can still select Druidic Warrior instead of a Fighting Style (unchanged from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything).
Ranger Subclass	3	– Beast Master: Similar to changes seen in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, except your Primal Companion’s AC and damage now scales off your Wisdom modifier. Exceptional Training and Bestial Fury saw small upgrades – Fey Wanderer: Mostly unchanged. Still the suave and cunning interdimensional diplomat you know and love. – Gloom Stalker: No more extra attack on the first round, but more consistent damage throughout each day. Stalker’s Flurry changes the circumstances for the additional attack, but adds the option to Frighten nearby foes. Shadowy Dodge also gets an upgrade. – Hunter: Hunters can now identity the strengths and weaknesses of any creature marked by Hunter’s Mark. Later subclass features are streamlined, and now you can switch between them on a Short or Long Rest.
Primeval Awareness	3	Removed
Roving	6	Gain 10 feet of Speed, as well as a Climb speed and Swim speed.
Land’s Stride	8	Removed
Expertise	9	Gain Expertise in two additional skills.
Tireless	10	– Use an action to gain Temporary Hit Points. – You can now reduce Exhaustion by 1 level by taking a Short Rest.
Hide in Plain Sight	10	Removed
Relentless Hunter	13	Damage no longer threatens to break your Concentration on Hunter’s Mark.
Nature’s Veil	14	– Use a Bonus Action to become Invisible until the end of your next turn. – Mostly unchanged from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. Is now at level 14 and the number of uses is tied to your Wisdom modifier instead of your Proficiency Bonus.
Vanish	14	Removed
Precise Hunter	17	Get Advantage on attack rolls against the creature currently marked by Hunter’s Mark.
Feral Senses	18	Streamlined to now just grant Blindsight out to 30 feet.
Epic Boon	19	Gain an Epic Boon feat or another feat of your choice.
Foe Slayer	20	Hunter’s Mark now deals an additional 1d10 damage instead of 1d6.

How will the 2024 Ranger changes impact gameplay?

Level 1: Spellcasting

One of the biggest changes to the 2024 Ranger is how spellcasting works. The new Ranger can now prepare far more spells than its 2014 counterpart. For example, the 2024 Ranger now gets six spells at Level 5. By contrast, a 2014 Ranger didn’t have access to this many spells until Level 9.

You now also prepare our spells when you complete a Long Rest, just like the Druid in DnD 5e, but you can only swap out one spell per day. This is part of a larger change to the DnD Core Rules in that spellcasting classes are no longer distinguished by who prepares spells and who learns them. Instead, the focus is on how often a class can change their prepared spells and how many spells they can change at any given time. The 2024 Ranger can also now use a Druidic Focus for spellcasting, something that was previously only an optional class feature from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.

Finally, the Ranger’s iconic Hunter’s Mark spell has been retooled to deal Force damage on a hit and now augments several primary class features, including Relentless Hunter, Precise Hunter and Foe Slayer (see below).

Level 1: Favored Enemy

Favored Enemy is a 2014 Ranger feature that has seen some significant changes in 2024. This feature no longer focuses on having knowledge about a specific enemy type’s behaviors and language in order to increase your chances of tracking them down or succeed on a related skill check. Instead, you can now cast Hunter’s Mark twice per Long Rest without expending a spell slot, and you always have it prepared.

Level 1: Weapon Mastery

As a martial class, Rangeres are now able to use the new 2024 Weapon Mastery feature, which allows you to tap into distinctive properties of Simple and Martial weapons during combat. Each weapon has its own specific property from the list below (for example, a Ranger’s Longbow uses the “Slow property:):

• Cleave: If you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can make a second attack against a creature within 5 feet that is also within your reach. When you hit with the second attack, you can roll your weapon’s damage, but you don’t add your ability modifier unless it’s negative.
• Graze: If you miss a creature with your weapon, you deal damage equal to the ability modifier you used to make the roll.
• Nick: You can make an additional attack against a target creature if your first attack was made while wielding two Light weapons.
• Push: You can launch a creature you hit (up to a Large size) 10 feet away from you.
• Sap: An enemy you hit has Disadvantage on their next attack roll before the start of your next turn.
• Slow: When you hit a creature and deal damage, you can reduce its Speed by 10 feet until the start of your next turn.
• Topple: When you hit a creature, you can force it to make a Constitution saving throw or fall Prone. The DC for this save is 8 plus the ability modifier used to make the attack plus your Proficiency Bonus.
• Vex: When you hit a creature and deal damage, you gain Advantage on your next attack roll before the end of your next turn.n.

Level 1: Natural Explorer

Natural Explorer was a 2014 feature that allows you to be able to move more effectively across a certain type of chosen terrain. This feature, however, has been removed in 2024. The new Ranger now gains access to 1st level spells that can aid in travel (such as Alarm, Goodberry and Speak With Animals) and you can select Expertise in Survival with the updated Deft Explorer feature (see below).

Level 2: Deft Explorer

Deft Explorer is a 2014 Ranger feature that first appeared as an optional rule in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything and was designed to replace the Natural Explorer feature. In 2024, it is no longer optional and is a core class feature of the Ranger, grants you Experience in one skill (such as Perception or Survival) plus proficiency in two additional languages.

Level 2: Fighting Style

A Ranger’s Fighting Styles remains largely the same as it was in the 2014 version of the class. The only change, however, is that Fighting Styles are now a type of feat. Additionally, the Druidic Warrior (which was an optional class feature from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything ) is now available to all Rangers, letting you choose two Druid cantrips instead of selecting a Fighting Style feat.

Finally, your Fighting Styles are no longer limited to Archery, Defense, Dueling and Two-Weapon Fighting. Instead you can customize your Ranger to use a variety of options for combat.

Level 3: Primeval Awareness

Primeval Awareness was a 2014 Ranger feature that allowed you to detect certain creature types within a 1 mile radius of you. As of 2024, however, this is no longer a class feature and has been removed from the core rules.

Level 6: Roving

Formerly a part of the Deft Explorer feature in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, Roving increased your walking speed by 5 feet, and made your climbing and swimming speed equal to your walking speed. In 2024, the increase in climbing and swimming speed remain the same, but your walking speed now increases by 10 feet as long as you are not wearing Heavy armor.

Level 8: Land’s Stride

This 2014 Ranger feature allowed you to move more easily through difficult terrain and provided saving throws against certain types of plants. In 2024, this feature no longer exists for Rangers and has instead been replaced by the Expertise feature (see below).

Level 9: Expertise

The 2024 Ranger now gains Expertise in two additional skills. This puts Rangers in the same category as Bards and Rogues, who has Expertise in four skills by Level 9.

Level 10: Hide in Plain Sight

This is a 2014 feature that allowed you to spend 1 minute camouflaging yourself in order to gain a +10 bonus to Stealth lasting as long as you did not move or take any action or reaction.

This feature, however, has been removed in 2024. Instead, the Ranger gets the new Tireless feature (see below).

Level 10: Tireless

Tireless was also a part of the optional Deft Explorer feature first introduced in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, which let you can give yourself a number of temporary hit points equal to 1d8 + your Wisdom modifier, plus decreased your exhaustion level by 1 after a short rest. Notably, the number of times you could use this feature was equal to your proficiency bonus.

In 2024, this feature is virtually identical, with the only change being that now the number of uses is tied to your Wisdom modifier, rather than your Proficiency Bonus.

Level 13: Relentless Hunter

This is a new 2024 Ranger feature, that allows you to maintain Concentration on the Hunter’s Mark spell, even if you take damage. With this new feature, the only way you lose Concentration on Hunter’s Mark is if you become Incapacitated or die.

Level 14: Vanish

Vanish was a core Ranger feature in the 2014 rules that allowed you to Hide as a bonus action and avoid being tracked by nonmagical means. In 2024, this feature has been removed and is now replaced by the Nature’s Veil feature (see below).

Level 14: Nature’s Veil

Nature’s Veil is another optional class feature that first appeared in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, allowing you to use a bonus action to magically become invisible until the start of your next turn, with the number of times you could use it before a Long Rest being equal to your proficiency modifier.

For the 2024 Ranger, this is now a core class feature. Its rules are exactly the same as 2014, with the exception that the number of times you can use it is is now is now equal to your Wisdom modifier.

Level 17: Precise Hunter

This is new feature for the 2024 Ranger and now grants Advantage on attacks against any creature marked by a Hunter’s Mark spell.

Level 18: Feral Senses

This 2014 Ranger feature allowed you to ignore disadvantage on attacks made against invisible creatures and to make you aware of any invisible creature within 30 feet of your (as long as it isn’t hidden and you aren’t blinded or deafened).

The 2024 rules have tweaked this feature slights, so that you now have Blindsight out to 30 feet (this subtle change to the wording of the feature is designed to avoid any confusion that may have existed around the 2014 rules).

Level 19: Epic Boon

In the previous 2014 rules, Epic Boons were only available to Dungeon Masters. In the new 2024 core rules, however, players now have access to them as well. Rangers can choose from any of the 12 Epic Boons, but Wizards of the Coast recommends going with the Boon of Dimensional Travel which increases one ability score by 1 (up to a maximum of 30) and lets you teleport to 30 feet immediately after you attack or cast a spell.

Level 20: Foe Slayer

In the original 2014 version of this Ranger feature, once per turn you could add your Wisdom modifier to either an attack roll or the damage roll made against one of your favored enemies. In 2024, this has been changed so that the Hunter’s Mark spell now deals 1d10 Force damage on a hit instead of 1d6.

What are the changes to the 2024 Ranger subclasses?

In the new 2024 Player’s Handbook there are four official Ranger subclasses: Beast Master, Fey Wanderer, Gloom Stalker and Hunter. Notably, the Hunter and Beast Master first appeared in the 2014 Player’s Handbook, while the Gloom Stalker comes from Xanathar’s Guide to Everything and the Fey Wandered from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.

All four Ranger subclasses, however, have been modified for the 2024 rules as follows:

• Beast Master: The Armor Class of your Primal Companion now uses your Wisdom modifier instead of your Proficiency Bonus. Exceptional Training can also now be activated on turns where you used your Bonus Action to command your companion (instead of on turns where the companion did not attack). This feature now lets your Primal Companion take the Dodge action as a Bonus Action. Finally, once per turn Bestial Fury shares some of the benefits of Hunter’s Mark with your Primal Companion.
• Fey Wanderer: Summon Fey is always prepared instead of Dispel Magic (notably, the latter now appears on the Ranger spell list in 2024).
• Gloom Stalker: Instead of an extra attack on the first round that deals additional damage, Dread Ambusher now allows you to add extra damage to a hit a few times per day. Stalker’s Fury also increases the damage of Dread Ambusher and allows you to make an extra attack on a nearby enemy or Frighten your target and creatures within 10 feet.
• Hunter: Hunter’s Prey and Defensive Tactics now grant you two options instead of three (although you can change those options every time you take a Short or Long Rest). Additionally, Hunter’s Lore now lets you automatically know the Immunities, Resistances and Vulnerabilities of any creatures marked by your Hunter’s Mark spell!

Final Thoughts on the New Ranger

The Ranger has been significantly overhauled for 2024, and the changes will likely generate a mixed reaction among fans. Some will undoubtedly like the new spell progression, the heavy emphasis on Hunter’s Mark and the updates make to the Beastmaster subclass. Still others may blast Wizards of the Coast for removing some key features of the 2014 Ranger and never really leaning into the thematic potential of the class (it would have been great to see new tracking rules and other skills to bring exploration and wilderness survival to life).

You can find the new Ranger rules in the 2024 Player’s Handbook, which is available for pre-order now on D&D Beyond and Amazon.

Below is also a video from the official Dungeons & Dragons YouTube channel, with DnD lead designer Jeremy Crawford offering a deeper look at the new class features.

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