As half-casters with access to a good spell list, on top of being great at weapon use, Rangers get access to a wide variety of magic items. We get the best of both worlds to some degree. In today’s article, I will go over what I believe to be the best magic items available to a Ranger in D&D 5e.
For each rarity, I will name the five best items of that rarity, in order. Artifacts and named items(like the trident Wave) are excluded from this ranking.
Common Items
1. Spellwrought Tattoo(1st-level)
This item can be crafted by a 2nd-level Artificer, and allows the bearer to cast one 1st-level spell from any class’s spell list without requiring components. Obvious selections include find familiar, ceremony and gift of alacrity.
2. Spell Scroll(1st-level)
Scribing these is a good way to spend downtime, and having them allows you to cast shield more frequently – this is massive, as it mitigates our low number of level 1 slots(or complete lack without a dip).
There isn’t much else to talk about on the Common items list, sadly. These are the only two major powerhouses present there.
Uncommon Items
1. Wand of Web
Web is a fantastic spell, and simply getting access to it will be hugely beneficial. The DC is also pretty good. Getting to control the battlefield like this early on will be great.
2. Broom of Flying
Flight is a hard counter to most enemies you will face. A source of non-concentration flight will allow you to dominate the battlefield with ease, and has merits outside of combat as well.
3. Weapon of Warning
Quite possibly the best magic weapon in the game. Unlike a fullcaster simply holding it for the bonus, we also wield it as a weapon(assuming it’s a hand crossbow),
4. Hand Crossbow, +1
Assuming we are around level 5, a subclassless ranger goes up from 22.3 DPR to 26.2, and on top of that we also no longer care about resistance and immunity to our attacks.
5. Cloak of Protection
+1 to AC and saving throws is a good buff that stays relevant across your whole career. AC gets better the more you have of it, each subsequently added point reduces a larger fraction of incoming damage.
Rare Items
1. Cube of Force
Living things lul. Become impervious to melee and demolish the enemy with ranged attacks.
2. Ring of Spell Storing
Any spellcaster who would not commit war crimes to get their hands on this item clearly doesn’t know what it is.
Storing 5 levels’ worth of spells is massive. The absolute minimum you can do with this is get shield from a friend. Then there’s letting the martials contribute effectively by having them concentrate, and finally you can just hand it to a friend’s familiar and have it concentrate on your spells for you. Make it vanish for maximum memes. It’s an extra conjure animals.
3. Wand of Fear
Non-concentration fear. That is all you need to know. You can have your beast companion attune to it – important for Drake Wardens and Beast Masters of the new Tasha’s variety.
4. Ioun Stone, Reserve
Much like the Ring of Spell Storing, but this can only store spells up to 3rd-level. Fortunately, our main spell is 3rd-level so this is good for us.
5. Hand Crossbow, +2
At around level 9, we jump from a +0 crossbow’s 19.8 DPR or +1’s 23.6 to 27.8. Pretty significant.
Very Rare Items
1. Battle Standard of Infernal Power
We can drop this, reload our crossbow and pick it up, I guess, though Repeating Shot would make our life easier if we have an Artificer friend. Magical damage on all our summons – not just the dinosaur legion from conjure animals, but also all your necromancer friend’s skeletons and the like. You can have a cheap minion attune to it and use it.
2. Peregrine Mask
Advantage on initiative and flight in one.
3. Hand Crossbow, +3
Around level 13, our damage jumps from a +0 weapon’s 23.6, +1’s 27.8 or +2’s 32.1 to 36.9.
4. Manual of Quickness of Action
A permanent +2 to our Dexterity score. Hypothetically, if there is absolutely no pressure to get a job done and we have all the time in the world we can have someone cast sequester on us and wait a hundred years until we can wake up and take it again.
5. Heartstone
The classic night hag loot, heartstones allow you to cure any disease, which is just really helpful overall.
Legendary Items
1. Ring of Three Wishes
Cast simulacrum and profit. Two Rangers are better than one, just expect the fullcasters to want it more.
2.Luck Blade
Not as many casts of wish as the ring, but you can reroll one die per day and get a +1 bonus to saves.
3.Spell Gem(Diamond)
The other gems are great too, but this is the mightiest one. Get your Wizard friend to hand you some spare wishes.
4. Ascendant Dragon’s Wrath Weapon Hand Crossbow
This weapon is loaded with power. +3 to hit and damage and +3d6 damage on each hit. A 1/day 12d6 breath weapon and extra AoE on a natural 20 too. Very impressive, that level 13 Ranger from the previous example jumps to 55.8 DPR.
5.Cloak of Invisibility
The level 3 Gloom Stalker feature, but even better. This is incredibly useful for both offense and defense, as most spells cannot target what the caster cannot see.
Concluding thoughts
Rangers got really lucky as far as magic items go. We don’t really care about weapons other than hand crossbows, but it’s worth picking them up for other party members – one man’s trash is another skeleton’s magical attack.
As far as equipment for us goes, it’s nice to see such a solid weapon in Fizban’s in the form of the Ascendant Dragon’s Wrath, and the standard staple picks remain very valuable for us.
It’s good to see there exist ample items in this game that support our class well, and we are quite unlikely to turn up empty-handed after searching through a treasury or similar room in a dungeon.
Have I missed any good magic items? Is there something you believe is more deserving of a high rating than the items I highlighted? If so, please let me know in the comments!
This is the final instalment of the Ranger guide before I once again talk about example builds. As before, you can expect 2-3 builds using various subclasses and going in at least somewhat different directions to showcase what you can do with a Ranger.
That’s all I had to say on magic items. Thanks for reading, and until next time!
Form of Dread - D&D Tactics 