The Ranger is our typical physical dps class, equipped with long-range attacks that are capable of taking out the mightiest of foes from a distance. Add in their natural affinity nature, and you have a nice fantasy blend of a Rogue and Druid into one. In Baldur’s Gate 3, not much is changing with the playstyles from 5e, albeit, the way they can play with their spells and other aspects of the rule changes does leave some more room for some fun gameplay. For this Baldur’s Gate 3 build, we’ll be making a stealthy ranger, focusing on Gloomstalker Ranger, and Shadow Monk to best utilize the multiclassing aspect of the game, for great synergy, and of course stealth assassinations to support your allies. You’ll also see the best races for a Ranger in BG3, and much more.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Ranger Build: Shadow Gloomstalker¶

This class will use a range of multiclassing to get the job done: You can expect to use the following levels on the following classes:

• Ranger 6
• Monk 6
• Favored Enemy: Mage Breaker (Ranger Level 1 Feature)
• Natural Explorer: Beast Tamer (Ranger Level 1 Feature)
• Level 2 Ranger Feature: Archery - Grants a bonus to attacks made with ranged weapons.

Start as a Ranger, and in the character creation screen, go Mage Breaker, simply for the concentration cantrip of True Strike for better advantages on attacks made against enemy creatures. This requires concentration and is a Cantrip, and since you’re stealthy, you’re likely never to lose the concentration on this cantrip until you get caught, or need to use another spell. This shall be good for the early game until you start using Hunter’s Mark. You also want the Beast Tamer natural explorer perk, as the cat will be a great pet to distract foes so you can sneak around more often and get yourself into position.

Once you’ve begun playing the game, your next goal is to get to level 3 for the Gloomstalker unlock and then get to level 5 so you get your extra attack. From there, you want to invest your next six levels in Monk, so you can grab its Shadow spec, and then grab the Shadow Step, which you get at sixth level Monk. Your final point is to be spent on Ranger just to get the added Ranger effects at the end.

The benefits of going Shadow Monk and Gloomstalker is down to darkness synergy. The Gloomstalker offers players the chance to have great advantages in darkness with their Umbral Sight passive. When you reach 3rd level as a Gloomstalker, you get gain darkvision to 60ft. If you take a race with Darkvision, extend it by another 30ft, or converted it into meters since BG3 uses meters. This grants you better evasion while in Darkness, and creatures that rely on Darkvision cannot see you. What this grants is great stealth mechanics in the Underdark, and you get to benefit from taking out lights and other darkness effects, such as from spells to get combat advantages.

Moreso, the players get the Dread Ambusher, which allows you to gain an additional weapon attack roll if you attack on the first turn of combat. You also get to move slightly more on your first turn too. This allows you to get into an ambush spot and snipe enemies with your bow, and get strong opening round damage on a key target, or to knock one lower HP enemy off the list of threats to deal with. At level 5, you get Hunter’s Mark, which helps you eliminate the key threats you want to assassinate with your ranged weapon. You’ll also get Speak with Animals for those niche dialogue options.

When you get to multiclass into the Monk, you need to make your way into Shadow. At level 3 Shadow Monk, you can spend you Ki points on spells. The main spell you will use in combat is the Darkness spell. Again, this to make the terrain Dark, give you better vision, and therefore grant bonus in fight you to maintain that stealth gameplay. This will allow you to move around fights easily and pick off targets that you may not otherwise have access to using traditional spell casters or ranged enemies. This is why the synergy becomes very important for Gloomstalker and Shadowmonk.

When you reach 6th level with Monk, you can get access to Shadow Step. Shadow Step allows you to use an action to teleport from one spot in darkness to another. You can use this to scout dark areas for your squad, or you may use it to teleport to more favorable spots on the battlefield for more sniping.

• Read More: Baldur’s Gate 3 Tier List

Best Ranger Feats in Baldur’s Gate 3¶

The !Ranger Feats you want to use in this build can be any of the following, depending on party composition, playstyle, and more:

• Crossbow Expert: When you make crossbow attacks within melee range, the attack rolls do not have disadvantage. Your piercing Shot also inflicts Gaping Wounds for twice as long. Decent for hand crossbow users, and Drow !Rogues.
• Sharpshooter: Your ranged weapon attacks do not receive penalties From High Ground Rules. Ranged weapon attacks with weapons you are proficient with have a -5 penalty to their attack roll, but deal an additional 10 damage. - Decent option if you find Ranged Ambush skill your more commonly used attack.
• Lucky: You gain 3 Lucky Points, which you can use to gain advantage on attack rolls, ability checks, or saving throws. Or to make an enemy reroll their attacks rolls. You don’t need this if you play a Halfling.
• Weapon Master Feat: Allows you to tap in with weapons proficiency that other races use.
• Savage Attacker: When making weapon attacks, you roll your damage dice twice and use the highest result.
• Mobile: Increase your character’s speed. You are no longer slowed by difficult terrain. You also don’t trigger an opportunity attack from enemies after attacking.

These Baldur’s Gate 3 feats offer a mixture of options as to how you are playing your class. They improve your ranged opportunities to attack, while also offering some options if you need to change weapons at any point as the game progresses, or some more movement for your more mobile ranged assassin playstyle.

Best Races for Ranger in Baldur’s Gate 3¶

If you’re in the mood for meta-gaming, then there are a few races that can be classes as the best ranger races in Baldur’s Gate 3: We offer a few suggestions, thanks to some options for better stat spread, racial perks, and proficiencies you can use in your build.

• Wood Elf: Probably the best race for Ranger, thanks to Stealth, and various bow proficiencies.

• Drow: You get better Dark Vision than Wood Elf. This makes you particularly good at your Gloomstalker and Shadow Monk darkness combo. The only downside is you miss out on some of the bow proficiency, which means you’ll need to take weapon mastery for the longbow playstyles if you fancy that gameplay style.

• Lightfoot Halfling: Lightfoots get Lucky, Brave, and Stealth proficiency, helping you with some better combat rolls and stealth checks for the scout playstyle.

• Deep Gnome: Another race with great stealth advantages and dark vision for your Gloomstalker stat.

And there you have it, you now know how to build this stealthy assassin like Ranger Build for Baldur’s Gate 3. Feel free to tweak things at will, as there still is the variation for a personal touch on this gameplay style. Whether that be swapping races around for the best Baldur’s Gate 3 race for a Ranger, or tweaking a few of the starting Ranger features if you already have your perfect part composition in mind.

Read More:

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• BG3 Paladin Build
• BG3 Sorcerer Build
• BG3 Rogue Build
• BG3 Ranger Build
• BG3 Fighter Build
• BG3 Druid Build
• BG3 Barbarian Build
• BG3 Bard Build