The Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition Ranger is in the best spot it’s ever been. However, you can always push it further.

Following powerful new subclasses and buffs in books like Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, the D&D 5e Ranger is a powerhouse that’s genuinely fun and interesting to play. Even so, don’t discount effective character-building in making it even moreso.

Picking the most powerful race for your Ranger is the difference between a functional (and fun) character, and a top-tier (and fun) one. While any choice is valid, you can go above and beyond by picking from these, the best D&D 5e Ranger races.

Updated 31st of August, by Isaac Williams: A new job means I don’t get to write new articles as much as I’d like, but updating is a good way to fit things into my schedule. I’ve brought this article more in line with similar, later entries, and performed some boring technical tweaks on it.

Variant Human and Custom Lineage Are Good Here as Well

Would you believe that Variant Human and Custom Lineage are among the best races for Ranger in D&D 5e? It’s only following the trend seen in literally every other class in the entire game.

Jokes aside, I like Humans in fantasy, so I’m glad they’re one of the best Ranger races in the game. Nonetheless, it’s for the same reasons as for every other class.

Free feats top the chart for race abilities in D&D 5e. Nothing provides as much flexibility or power as a feat of your choice from first level. Any Ranger build in D&D 5e benefits from Sharpshooter, Crossbow Expert, Fey Touched, and many more.

Rangers benefit even more than most D&D 5e classes from a free feat. Most Rangers need Dexterity, Constitution, and some Wisdom. Other builds add even more ability scores into the mix. It’s very hard to juggle all of these while adding some of D&D 5e‘s best feats to the mix.

Consequently, Variant Human and Custom Lineage are some of the best Ranger races in D&D 5e for keeping you on-curve without sacrificing feats. Personally, I’d take Custom Lineage for Darkvision, but it’s far from mandatory.

Owlin Provides Mobility and Stealth

Rangers are one of D&D 5e‘s more mobile classes, particularly with the buffs given in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. However, they lack any innate way to get a flying speed outside of limited subclass features (or riding a dragon, which is awesome).

Owlin is one of the best Ranger races in D&D 5e because it gives at-will flight. An Owlin Ranger build can take to the skies whenever it wants, provided it isn’t wearing medium or heavy armour.

This will bite a Ranger at low level, limiting their Armour Class. However, most D&D 5e Rangers build enough Dexterity to make it not matter, and a great many fight at range. A slight fragility problem doesn’t matter if the Ranger is a hundred feet in the air and shooting arrows.

Owlin is also a top-tier D&D 5e Ranger race because its abilities suit a scouting, stealthy playstyle well. Besides anything else, it gets proficiency in Stealth. Most Rangers take this anyway, but it frees up another proficiency in anything the player wants.

120 feet of Darkvision is also far beyond most other races in D&D 5e, letting a Ranger see more if they scout ahead of the party at night or underground (i.e., when and/or where most adventures take place).

Bugbear Rewards Excessive Violence

Ranger builds have always been good at damage in D&D 5e. Most subclasses provide one or more innate attack buffs, coupled with spells and class abilities that do similar.

Bugbear is far and away the best damage race in D&D 5e. As a result, these two stack very well.

Rangers typically have the Dexterity, Stealth, and Perception to either surprise foes or go early in combat. As a result, they can stack Surprise Attack damage on every single strike they make.

This is effective on a normal Ranger. However, players can build for it by making as many attacks as possible, each of which deals an additional 2d6 damage.

A regular Bugbear Ranger D&D 5e build is dangerous. A Gloom Stalker with Crossbow Expert, making at least four attacks on the first turn is lethal. Consequently, Bugbear makes the best D&D 5e Ranger race for players who want to kill things immediately.

Melee Ranger builds in D&D 5e also appreciate Long-Limbed, letting them strike enemies without placing themselves directly in harm’s way. Sneaky is another way to get free Stealth proficiency, synergising with many other Ranger abilities.

Half-Elf Brings a Bit of Everything

Half-Elves have long been infamous as a D&D 5e race for just how wide-sweeping their bonuses are. Almost any class benefits from the Half-Elf race in D&D 5e, but few as much as the Ranger.

Its ability score bonuses – the best in the game – go nicely with a class that is as Multi-Ability Dependent as the Ranger. +2 to Dexterity, +1 to Constitution, and +1 to Wisdom make for one of the best races for a Ranger in D&D 5e.

The fun doesn’t stop there, however. Two free skill proficiencies is among the most any D&D 5e Ranger race offers. With how many Dexterity and Wisdom-based skills they can benefit from, Half-Elf helps them excel outside combat as well as in it.

Side note: Do choose Skill Versatility over the other Half-Elf options if you’re looking for power. The others are fun, but typically don’t provide as much reward as two free skills. If you want the other bonuses, the D&D 5e Elf race they come from is worth checking out.

Rangers lack Wisdom saving throw proficiency. Fey Ancestry helps protect them from certain crowd control effects, such as Charm. It won’t come up all the time, but you’ll be thankful

Satyr Is Mobile and Very, Very Hard to Kill

Rangers don’t need to be mobile, hit-and-run combatants in the way D&D 5e Monks and melee Rogues tend to. However, extra speed and ways to move are always welcome in combat. This holds true for melee Rangers flitting from target to target or ranged Rangers keeping away from danger.

The D&D 5e Satyr’s 35-foot movement speed is more than enough for a melee Ranger to close the gap or a ranged one to keep it very much open. Its Mirthful Leap also opens many movement doors, such as leaping into a tree rather than climbing it.

The Reveler ability is less useful for most D&D 5e Ranger builds. Few Rangers focus on social interaction or Charisma, making Persuasion and Performance far less useful.

However, the Fey Wanderer subclass keeps the Satyr as one of D&D 5e‘s best Ranger races. As a go-to social interaction build, it benefits heavily from two free social proficiencies, while being able to take Deception itself.

All of this pales compared to Magic Resistance. Advantage on all saving throws against magic is ideal for a class like the Ranger. When your Wisdom is likely to be middling and you’re proficient in Strength and Dexterity saves, you need all the help you can get.

Not only is a Satyr Ranger in D&D 5e hard to get away from, it’s also hard to stop before it reaches you.

Duergar Magic Is Invaluable for a Ranger

Duergar has some thematic overlap with the D&D 5e Ranger, particularly the Gloom Stalker subclass. This shows in its many beneficial abilities.

Apart from anything else, the Duergar has magic that any Ranger would benefit from. Invisibility is a hugely useful spell for scouting or stealth that is entirely absent from the Ranger’s spell list in D&D 5e.

Enlarge/Reduce is more situational, particularly with its action casting time. Nonetheless, it’s a reasonable buff with time to prepare that still works with ranged weapons. Shooting enemies with an enormous bow isn’t subtle, but it is effective.

The Duergar’s other abilities help cement it as one of the best races for a D&D 5e Ranger. Psionic Fortitude makes many crowd control effects that much harder to land. Dwarven Resilience provides resistance to one of the most common damage types in the game.

All this comes with top-tier Darkvision.

There is no one feature that makes the Duergar one of the best D&D 5e Ranger races. Instead, everything provides some value or utility, adding up to a very attractive whole.

Shadar-Kai’s Mobility Comes with Benefits

One flaw for Rangers is that they have no innate way to get Misty Step or an equivalent ability. Bonus action teleportation is a boon for any D&D 5e character, whether they want to get close to enemies or as far away as possible.

The Shadar-Kai is such a good D&D 5e Ranger race because of Blessing of the Raven Queen’s unique benefits. It isn’t just a teleport multiple times per day. It comes with resistance to all damage until your next turn.

Rangers have a d10 hit die, much like Paladins and Fighters. However, their lack of heavy armour and multiple ability sores to juggle eat into their durability. In particular, melee rangers might struggle to stay alive. A D&D 5e Shadar-Kai Ranger lacks this problem.

Necrotic Resistance is a very hit-or-miss ability in D&D 5e. Nonetheless, when the Lich begins casting Finger of Death, you’ll be grateful for it.

Keen Senses gives the best skill proficiency in D&D 5e, and one that Rangers particularly excel at. The weapon proficiencies from Trance aren’t helpful, but canny Rangers can find a way to make tool proficiencies work for them.

Darkvision and Fey Heritage are as good for a Shadar-Kai Ranger as they are for the many other races that provide them.

In short, the Shadar Kai has many benefits as a good Ranger race in D&D 5e, but none more pivotal than Blessing of the Raven Queen.

Fairy Proves That Size Isn’t Power

Fairy is another of D&D 5e‘s best races due to its mixture of flight and innate spellcasting. Alone, these are two of the best things any character can get. Together, they make for a potent package.

Much like the Owlin, the Fairy’s innate flight requires a D&D 5e Ranger to forgo medium armour. However, most Ranger builds eventually slip into light armour after increasing Dexterity. Furthermore, flight’s inherent survivability makes lower AC far less devastating than for a ground-based race.

The Ranger’s best damage options in D&D 5e aren’t affected by Small size either. As a result, the Ranger misses out on less compared to, say, a melee Fighter or Barbarian.

As for the spellcasting, Druidcraft is an obvious choice for a Ranger cantrip with many uses for outside-the-box thinking.

Faerie Fire will be unreliable (due to mediocre Wisdom) for the archery-based D&D 5e Ranger builds who would get the most use out of Fairy. Nonetheless, target enough foes and you’re bound to give the party advantage against somebody.

Enlarge/Reduce is as worthwhile a buff on the Fairy as it is on the Duergar, adding bonus punch to ranged attacks (or melee, but that’s an unusual choice for the Fairy).

Overall, it’s the mixture of two top-tier abilities that makes the Fairy such an effective choice. Flight is good. Bonus, powerful spellcasting is good. Put them together and you get one of the best D&D 5e Ranger races in the Fairy.

This has been a handful of top-tier races for a D&D 5e Ranger. If you’re interested in this sort of character-building content, check out the Barbarian guide here or the Paladin guide here.

Alternatively, if you’re dead-set on the Ranger, don’t stop here. Check out ‘The Best Ranger Subclasses in D&D 5e‘ to make your character even more powerful.

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