Summary
Baldur’s Gate 3gives players a whole array of options to build the character they want. It just so happens that many players fantasize about becoming a badass stealth archer who lives off the land. Or a mysterious swashbuckler with an affinity for nature magic. If that resonates with you, Ranger might be the ideal pick for you.
Aragorn is not an icon for nothing, after all. The Ranger is a classic archetype that many people gravitate towards. They’re also quite versatile, capable of raining arrows and summoning a bear to their side equally. Thus, these feats all work well with one type of Ranger build or the other in some situations.
8Dual Wielder
A lot of people think of a dedicated archer when they hear about the Ranger. However, they’re capable of being much more. Due to theirbuffing spells,high Dexterity, and martial capability, Rangers can easily become great front-line combatants. The feat Dual Wielder helps immensely with that. With it, you can use Two-Weapon Fighting even if your weapons aren’t Light weapons. This means you can use two Longswords at once, for example.
You also get a plus one to your Armour Class (AC) while wielding a melee weapon in each hand, which is great, as AC buffs are rare to come by. This feat is even better in Baldur’s Gate as opposed toD&D, as magic items are very transformative in this game, and being able to use two at once is just incredibly powerful.
As a Ranger, you get to pick a Fighting Style at level two. ensure to grab Two-Weapon Fighting to combine with this feat.
7Mobile
Regardless of the kind of Ranger you’re playing, positioning is crucial to your success. If you focus on ranged attacks, getting to a strategic high ground is a must. If you’re a melee Ranger, getting into and out of the frontline is just as important. Mobile is the perfect feat to help with that.
Firstly, when you Dash, you ignore Difficult Terrain, which is great in and of itself. You also don’t provoke Opportunity Attacks from targets that you make a melee attack against. This is great to get a few hits in and book it so your party can use area spells without remorse. While many classes can take advantage of this feat, such as the Monk or Rogue, Ranger absolutely appreciates it as well.
You can also dip two classes into Rogue and play as a multiclass build. This increases the effectiveness of this feat, as you can Dash as a bonus action that way.
6Crossbow Expert
This is one of those feats that help with the ranged Ranger as opposed to the melee build. Normally, when you use a ranged attack at melee range, you roll with Disadvantage. With this feat, you ignore that as long as you’re using a crossbow. Yes, it limits your ranged weapons to a certain kind, but that’s rarely an issue,as crossbows in the game are quite strong anyway.
On top of that, yourPiercing Shotattacks granted by all crossbows also inflict Gaping Wounds for twice as long. Gaping wounds is a great way to rack up extra damage, as each attack against the creature deals an additional two piercing damage. This works especially well if you have several ranged attackers in your party, raining death before the enemy can even reach you.
5Defensive Duelist
Rangers are threading the balance of being a glass cannon and a tank so well, capable of leaning into either play style. If you aim to increase your defenses as a melee Ranger, Defensive Duelist is the pick for you. This feat allows you to use a reaction to increase your AC by your proficiency bonus, as long as you’re wielding a Finesse weapon and are attacked with a melee attack.
This is a must-have for dual-wielding melee Rangers. A bonus to your AC equal to your proficiency bonus is just incredibly strong. Keep in mind that you’re a melee class, too, meaning your AC will likely be great regardless of the buff. This can easily turn some powerful hits into misses and change the tide of the battle. It’ll only get better as time goes on, too, as your proficiency bonus will increase as you level up.
4Sentinel
Sentinel is a feat that’s useful with almost any melee class, and the Ranger is no different. This is the best way for front liners to crowd control and prevent opponents from moving. Sentinel grants so many benefits, too. You get advantage on opportunity attacks, you prevent enemies from moving when you hit them with an opportunity attack, and you may use a reaction to make a weapon attack if an adjacent enemy attacks an ally.
That last part works especially well with Beastmaster Rangers. Your animal companion will likely have a lower AC than you and act as more of a damage sponge. Thus, as the enemies focus fire on your companion, you may gain so many reaction attacks due to Sentinel.
3Skilled
While feats may feel more geared toward combat capabilities, some can improve your roleplaying potential, too. Especially as a Ranger, a warrior who’s one with nature and can lean towards so many archetypes, it’s endlessly fun to roleplay your character fully. Rangers usually lack a few skill proficiencies to be fully realized characters, so Skilled is very good for that.
Obviously, any Ranger should be proficient in Animal Handling, Insight, Nature, and Stealth. But what about Survival, Perception, Athletics, and more? Especially if your Ranger is the only Wisdom-focused class in the party, you should absolutely pick up Skilled and be the wise advisor for your party.
2Medium Armour Master
While armour feats can usually be overlooked by most players, there are certain cases where they are absolutely worth it. For Rangers, Medium Armour Master is the best example of that. This feat allows you to ignore the Stealth disadvantage imposed by the armour and also increases the bonus to AC from your Dexterity to plus three instead of plus two.
Rangers can take advantageof the stealth skill like few other classes,acting as an archer that rains fire from obscured shadows. Thus, getting the benefits of medium armors without hurting your stealthiness is invaluable. The plus one to AC is also great, as you’ll likely have more than a three as your Dexterity modifier anyway.
You could also use Heavily Armoured to increase your AC to new heights if you’re a melee Ranger utilizing Strength.
1Sharpshooter
Sharpshooter is the quintessential feat for any Ranger who prefers a crossbow or a bow over a sword. This feat is so strong that it instantly increases your damage output to two or three times as before. The main effect is simple; you get a minus five penalty to your attack rolls but deal an additional ten damage. Flat damage buffs are rare in Baldur’s Gate 3, so Sharpshooter turns out to be extremely strong.
On top of that, your ranged weapon attacks are not penalized for shooting at targets higher than you. Few other feats are so tailor-made for a specific play style, and that makes Sharpshooter the best feat for Rangers using a ranged weapon, or any class that uses a ranged weapon for that matter.
You can toggle Sharpshooter off if you’re fighting against enemies with high AC and want the best chance to hit them.
Baldur’s Gate 3
WHERE TO PLAY
Baldur’s Gate 3 is the long-awaited next chapter in the Dungeons & Dragons-based series of RPGs. Developed by Divinity creator Larian Studios, it puts you in the middle of a mind flayer invasion of Faerûn, over a century after the events of its predecessor.
