Quick Links
Dungeons & Dragons’ rangers are known for relentlessly pursuing their prey, but none more so than the Monster Slayer. Dedicated to hunting the largest and most dangerous threats, Monster Slayers specializes in taking on vampires, dragons, fiends, and other magic-using foes.
Related:Dungeons & Dragons: Phandelver & Below The Shattered Obelisk – Complete Guide
Monsters Slayers also gain a supernatural ability to determine the weaknesses of enemies and foil their magical machinations. If you want to have all the benefits of being quick with a blade or bow while still being able to counter spells like a wizard, then being a Monster Slayer ranger might be the class for you.
Monster Slayer Ranger Features
You candedicate yourself to the slaying of monsters starting at level three. Once you embark on this path, you gain several benefits, including Hunter’s Sense, Slayer’s Prey, andMonster Slaying Magic, which provides you with spells at certain levels detailed in the table below.
Protection from Good and Evil
13th Level
17th Level
Hold Monster
Hunter’s Senseallows you to determine the damage immunities, resistances, and vulnerabilities of a creature you may see within 60 feet as an action. However, this feature doesn’t work if the creature is hidden from divination magic.
Slayer’s Preylets you designate a creature you see within 60 feet to be your prey as a bonus action. This adds an extra 1d6 to your weapon damage against this creature on the first successful attack each turn. This benefit lasts until you take a rest, the creature dies, or you designate a different creature.
BecauseSlayer’s Prey will almost always use your bonus actionon the first turn of combat, and Hunter’s Mark is likely to use your second,crossbows and two-weapon fighting is a less effective strategy for Monster Slayers.
Supernatural Defenseat level seven lets you add 1d6 to saving throws and ability checks against being grappled by the target of your Slayer’s Prey.
At level eleven,Magic-User’s Nemesiscan foil the magical spell or teleportation ability of a creature within 60 feet of you. The creature must make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC, otherwise, the teleport or spell fails.
Finally,Slayer’s Counterat level 15 lets you use your reaction to make a weapon attack against the target of your Slayer’s Prey ability whenever that target forces you to make a saving throw. This attack is made before the saving throw, and if your attack hits, the saving throw automatically succeeds.
Related:Dungeons & Dragons: How To Build An Oath Of Conquest Paladin
Best Species For A Monster Slayer Ranger
Any species can slay monsters with reasonable efficacy, but there area few species that are a bit better at being a Monster Slayer than others. Here are a few suggestions to consider.
Autognome
Armored Casingprovides you with all the benefits of Studded Leather armor without actually needing to find it.Build For Successis a fantastic ability that can help with any of your rolls.Mechanical Natureprovides a great resistance and advantage against being paralyzed or poisoned, andHealing Machinegives you a good reason to take Mending as a cantrip.
Bugbear
Although not as good as when paired with theGloom Stalker,Surprise Attackis still very strong for a high-Dex build. Anextra five feet of reachbe very helpful for melee-focused rangers, andcharm resistanceandDarkvisionare both great to have.
Duergar
Enlarge/Reduceis a useful buff or debuff, butInvisibilityis the real reason to be a Duergar.Poison resistance,advantage against being charmed or stunned, andDarkvisionto 120 feet are also great perks.
Eladrin
Horizon Walkers will rarely have a free bonus action, butFey Stepprovides very useful effects for a more melee-focused build.Darkvision,charm resistance, andperceptionare also good to have.
Half-Elf
Rangers wanta lot of ability score increases, and half-elves provide just that.Darkvision,charm resistance, anda pair of skillsare also good to have.
Human
Wantability score increases? Humans have lots of those. Or you could govariant humanto start with afree feat.
Harengon
You’ve likely already got a strong Dexterity score, soHare-Triggerwill often put you first in the turn order.Lucky Footworkcan help with Dexterity saving throws, andRabbit Hopcan get you out of or into sticky situations, so long as you’re able to spare a bonus action.
Kenku
Rangers are often the rogue replacement for parties without them.Kenku Recallgoes a long way to providing useful skill proficiencies to keep your party rolling. Low Charisma meansMimicrywon’t be as useful, andExpert Duplicationis situational at best.
Flyingspeed,stealth proficiency, andDarkvision. What more do you need?
Thri-Kreen
Your bonus action is spoken for, so don’t expect thoseSecondary Armsto do more than carry an extra object.Chameleon Carapaceis the real prize here, providing an incredible AC boostadvantage on hide checks.TelepathyandDarkvisionare also nice perks.
Warforged
Extra armor class, askill proficiency,advantage against and resistance to poison, andimmunity to disease and sleepeffects makes warforged an excellent choice for a tough-as-nails ranger.
Yuan-Ti
Poison Sprayis garbage, butAnimal FriendshipandSuggestioncan be useful. What makes Yuan-Ti desirable isMagic ResistanceandPoison Resilience, giving you protection from the most common threats in D&D.Darkvisionis also great.
Try to avoid small or tiny species. You’re going to almost certainly use a longbow as your primary ranged weapon, which unfortunately can’t be wielded effectively by any creature smaller than medium-sized.
Best Ability Scores For A Monster Slayer Ranger
Most of your abilities require weapon damageto work, so you’ll want to either focus on Strength or Dexterity as your primary ability score. But because rangers don’t get heavy armor proficiency, and you’ll have trouble using crossbows due to Slayer’s Prey, your best bet is tomaximize Dexterity.
Dexteritynot onlyimproves your attack and damagewith bows and finesse weapons, but italso improves your armor class.
Wisdomshould be your next priority as this empowers your (somewhat limited) spells.Constitutionis next as it provides more hit points and better saving throws to maintain concentration on spells like Hunter’s Mark.
Have a few points inStrengthto avoid negative modifiers, andIntelligenceis nice for a stronger Nature skill check, butCharisma should be completely ignored.
If you’re using the points buy system for D&D, agood starting ability score spreadmight look something like this:
10(+0)
16(+3)
14(+2)
8(-1)
Related:Dungeons & Dragons: How To Build An Artillerist Artificer
Best Starting Equipment For A Monster Slayer Ranger
Thelongbowis the ranger’s bread-and-butter ranged attack. Expect to keep this weapon for a long time. You can pair that withtwo shortswordsortwo simple melee weapons, but the shortswords are likely to be your best option to start.
Keep in mind that you’ll quickly close your bonus action to Slayer’s Prey at level three, sodon’t expect to dual-wield those shortswords for very long.
Scale mailwill provide you with 16 AC with a 16 Dexterity score, but disadvantage on stealth checks.Leather armorwill provide you with 14 AC, but no disadvantage on stealth. The armor you pick will depend largely on whether you expect the party to opt for stealth rather than frontal assaults.
Try to find Studded Leather armoras soon as possible. This will give you the highest possible armor class when you max your Dexterity at 20.
Adungeoneer’s packprovides more useful goodies than the explorer’s pack, so pick that to start your adventure.
Best Spells For A Monster Slayer Ranger
As a half-caster class, rangers get limited spell slots to augment their physical abilities. As such, you’ll want to get the most out of these spell slots by choosing the most potent spells.Here are a few suggestionsat each ranger level.
