The Best Feats For A Ranger In D&D

In Dungeons & Dragons, Rangers combine the martial prowess of Fighters or Rogues with the nature-themed magic of Druids. The class was inspired by none other than the famous hero Aragorn of Arathorn of Lord of the Rings fame, and this class shares many of the survivalist traits and melee weapon talents that also made that character famous. This wide range of abilities means that there are a few Feats that can help rangers make the most of their various weapon, armor, and spell proficiencies.

Sometimes their Feats are chosen based on the Ranger’s main skill score, so any Feat that requires a high Dexterity is often a good match for the Ranger. The best Feats for Rangers can vary based on the type of ranger build, but here are some good options.

Updated January 27, 2024, by Zackary Wiggs: Often overlooked, a craft Ranger can be the backbone of a party. Stealthy, accurate with bows, and friends of nature, they fill in spots that every party needs. Now, with D&D’s 2024 edition available, there are even more ways to make a Ranger that will be the bane of your party’s foes. No matter what makes you want to be one, here are some of the best feats for your very own Ranger build that either pair nicely with their pre-existing strengths, or fill in some of their weaknesses.

Rangers usually need a good Dexterity and a good Wisdom score to function well in their usual roles. This isn’t always the case, but starting with high numbers in these attributes is a preferred start before looking at feats to round out your character.

15

Telepathic

While overlooked for more combat-oriented feats, Telepathic has some great uses both in and out of battle. The increase to either Charisma, Wisdom, or Intelligence isn’t the main thing for Rangers to be sure, but it doesn’t hurt for starters.

The real boon is the ability to speak telepathically to any creature within 60ft of your character. Assuming you and the creature share a common language. You may also cast Detect Thoughts once per long rest without burning a spell slot.

One of the main goals of a Ranger is scouting and stalking, especially in more nature-oriented settings. Telepathic allows you to soundlessly relay information to your party about whatever your character may see while looking out for enemies. It also works in plenty of RP scenarios too, when you need a low profile.

This, combined with Speak With Animals, is a great way to boost Animal Handling checks and to make your Ranger a voice of nature.

14

Skulker

Ranger’s may not be the go-to class for stealth, but they still have need of it from time to time, no matter your playstyle. Especially for those who like to take the stealth-archer approach to rangers, Skulker can be a lifesaver.

For this feat, you can be lightly obscured and still try to take the Hide action, giving you far more opportunities. To balance this out, you can also negate the disadvantage dim light gives you on Perception checks, and missed ranged attacks don’t reveal your position when hidden as well.

This means you can hide and take shots against your enemies, then move and find a new hiding spot for more stealth attacks far easier.

13

Poisoner

A feat with plenty of possible uses behind it, Poisoner is great for classes that have you up-close with nature like the Ranger class does. With it, you gain proficiency with the Poisoner’s Kit, so make sure you don’t double up on proficiencies before you choose this one.

In addition to being able to make poisons of your own using the kit, you may also ignore poison damage resistance, such is your ability with the poisonous materials you create them with. In combat, you can also coat a weapon in poison using a bonus action instead of an action.

This makes it an all-around good feat if you want to be a poison-heavy Ranger, or you just need a way to boost your damage output per attack.

12

Athlete

An extra point in Dex or Strength as a Ranger never hurts. But, that’s just the beginning of the Athlete feat and everything it can do for your character. In a world full of twists, turns, and obstacles, it doesn’t hurt to do some physical training here and there.

Your Ranger also gains the ability to climb using their normal movement speed, stand up from being prone by only using five feet of movement, and you can make a running long or high jump after just five feet of movement as well.

Rangers are all about getting the best angle on their enemies, either in combat or scouting, so this extra ease of movement that Athlete allows for will pay off time and time again.

11

Crossbow Expert

This is the first feat any Ranger who wants to specialize in ranged weapons should take. It also gives benefits to Rangers who prefer two-handed weapons. They can use the best-ranged weapon in the game, the heavy crossbow, and use their extra attack. Rangers that prefer the lighter hand crossbow can even dual wield, getting the same action economy as melee two-weapon fighters but from 30 feet away.

The ability to use ranged weapons at close range rounds out the feat, eliminating the main disadvantage of ranged weapons. Overall, the multiple advantages make Crossbow Expert a must-have for any ranger that uses ranged weapons.

10

Gunner

As D&D has continued to grow and evolve, new technologies and classes have become more commonplace. Not only was an entirely new class introduced for the purposes of using guns and various firearms, but also some new feats such as Gunner.

Although the Ranger can be tailor-made to fill holes in any party’s defense and offense, they’re arguably best suited to a ranged position where they can attack safely and support their party.

However, the more enemies that are introduced to a fight, the less likely the Ranger will be able to avoid melee fighting. With Gunner, a Ranger wouldn’t have to waste an action switching to a melee weapon and can stick with their preferred ranged weapon and therefore continue to dish out good damage without worrying about disadvantage.

9

Resilient

Melee Rangers are at the front line of the party, acting both as scouts, spellcasters, and bruisers. As such, Rangers want to avoid being taken out of any combat encounters or otherwise rendered ineffective.

The Resilient feat allows you to use an extra saving throw, so you have a better chance during encounters. Rangers can customize the saving throw to anything they feel like they need, but Wisdom is a good defense against many types of magic, plus the associated Wisdom ability boost is helpful for ranger spellcasting.

8

Dual Wielder

This feat is a good choice for any Ranger that chooses the two-weapon fighting style. The Dual Wielder feat can be used to get slightly better damage die for your weapons or other properties such as reach, which can be beneficial to certain builds.

There is some benefit to defense here, and although it might not be enough to be a front-line tank, it’s still a decent boost for any melee fighter. It also gives +1 to AC when using both weapons, which helps any damage-dealing class.

7

Elemental Adept

A common view of the Ranger is that it’s a mix of multiple classes, having access to abilities and features normally associated with Druids, Fighters, and Rogues. This can cause problems with spreading the character too thin as they grow, but it’s wise to make use of the Ranger’s access to magic.

Considering how easy it is to create a ranged build for the class, a good move would be to use skills and feats such as Elemental Adept to give their spells extra power.

Through subclasses and conclaves, Rangers gain access to a variety of spells making them very magically adaptable. With this feat, your spells are guaranteed to be more damaging no matter what difficult foe you may face.

6

Piercer

A versatile Feat that works well with almost any Ranger build, Piercer blends well with several Conclaves, Skills, and Feats typical of the Ranger. This class is required to have a high Strength and Dexterity score in the first place while also providing a slight boost to either one.

The power of this Feat is an offensive ability that both melee and ranged Rangers can use. For those fighting on the front line, use it to distract and mortally wound your enemies. For those in the background, using a ranged weapon with piercing damage like a crossbow or a bow and arrow, this Feat makes them even more dangerous.

5

Dungeon Delver

Rangers often find themselves acting as scouts for their party, which is another reason that the Ranger-Rogue multiclass is a common occurrence. In a party without a Rogue, the Dungeon Delver feat will help you fulfill a Rogue-equivalent role for your party during dungeon crawls.

This Feat will help Rangers detect secret doors, find traps while moving quickly, and avoid the ill effects when your trap-disarming efforts fail. It also helps rangers avoid flubbing hit dice rolls, which will help regain points lost from being on the front lines of fights.

4

Fighting Initiate

You don’t always have to multiclass a character to steal a few benefits from another class. This Feat only requires you to have proficiency with a martial weapon, which every Ranger has anyway.

Rangers that fight on the front line can choose a Fighting Style like Defense to improve their tank abilities or Two-Weapon Fighting if they want to do more damage. Rangers who prefer ranged weapons can take Thrown Weapon Fighting to improve their skills with daggers and shurikens. Rangers also have their own Fighting styles to complement their Fighter counterparts, so you can mix and match.

3

Sentinel

Sentinel can be good for front-line Rangers who want to take the role of the tank in your party. This Feat gives the player extra attacks against enemies that attack your allies.

This versatile Feat can aid any Ranger subclass, but this is especially useful for Beast Master Rangers. Animal companions will likely draw fire on the battlefield due to their lower AC and Rangers with the Sentinel Feat can pass the benefits on to their pets.

2

Inspiring Leader

Rangers are trackers and navigators as described by lore, and so can naturally fall into a leadership role. This class is great to take the lead whenever heading into a new location, whether it be a natural environment or something like a dungeon. Since they can see what’s coming, it makes sense to give the Ranger feats that benefit the whole party, even if they’re supporting from the rear or at a distance.

Inspiring Leader’s temporary hit points they grant can be the edge the party needs to endure lethal damage. Since Rangers can also gain additional companions through conclaves, this ability benefits them personally as well.

1

Mounted Combat

Beast Masters may want to take the Mounted Combat Feat if they choose an animal companion that can serve as a mount, if only for the protection that is afforded to their mount in battle.

This Feat pairs nicely with anything that takes advantage of the Ranger’s high Dexterity score, with Alert and Athletic as two of the more popular choices. Dual or multi-class Rangers who have also taken on the Rogue or Warlock class, which also have high Dexterity scores, can also benefit from this Feat.