Is Ranger Beastmaster Any Good in Baldur's Gate 3?

The Beastmaster subclass for Ranger in Baldur's Gate 3 has had a rough life time in D&D 5e, but in this game it's actually very solid! In this video we answer the question of: Is Ranger Beastmaster Any Good in Baldur's Gate 3? We'll be talking about the Ranger Companions, especially the Dire Raven and Dire Wolf Spider as well as some stand out features such as Prey's Scent!

0:00 Intro & Summary
1:17 Beastmaster General Info
3:00 Beastmaster Companions
7:18 Companion Evolution
8:52 Dire Bear
9:29 Dire Boar
10:05 Dire Wolf Spider
11:09 Dire Wolf
11:49 Dire Raven
14:08 Companion Bonus Actions
15:46 Last Beastmaster Levels
17:04 Final Companion Evolution
22:33 How Prey's Scent Works
24:03 Beastmaster Multiclass Options
29:00 Conclusion

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#bg3 #guide #baldursgate3 #beginners

[italianspartacus]

For some reason, I called, "Prey Sense, " "Prey Sight" in that section, apologies for the mess up guys! I also forgot to showcase that the Spider gets a special jump!!!

[Bluntspammer]

The pathfinding for pets made it feel quite cumbersome. My wolf was always getting stuck on terrain.

[Rukdug]

I am so happy at how Larian redesigned Beastmaster. It reminds me of having a hired sidekick character, but as a class feature, and some of them get kind of close to being an animal version of subclassed player class (most obviously Bear, Boar, and Wolf Spider).

[normal]

The spider's ability to get infinite webs for free, without any concentration, is pretty much a game changer. If you set up an area before starting, then the enemies can barely even touch you. It also messes up enemy pathfinding - they might Dash through a web and then Jump back to where they started, for example.

[DaveDzz]

4:10 Getting shot with a ranged weapon goes against the target's AC, it's not a dex saving throw, a fireball is an example of what would be a dex saving throw.

[bleh]

One other cool thing that alot of people miss about web is that it acts as soft ground, so jumping off a high ledge onto a webbed area results in you taking 0 fall dmg. The spider is so good.

[noxluxe]

My first character (Just arrived in Baldur's Gate last night) is a Lolth-Sworn 5/5 Cleric/Ranger, the idea being a priestess commando who led/accompanied drow raids on the surface and fully integrated the survival and skirmishing tactics on top of her priestly training. The big wolf spider companion lent so much authenticity to the concept, and it's ability to web up half the battlefield in a couple turns made several early encounters almost trivial on Tactician difficulty. With extra attack and two hand crossbows + Sharpshooter she's the DPS of the party, and the spider alone gives her excellent crowd control on top basically for free. Really, really satisfied that I took Beastmaster Ranger for my first run.

[zero]

Don’t worry about the level 11 thing. There is a LOT of game in act 3. You’ll end up maxing out at level 12 shortly after you arrive in act 3 (assuming you’ve hit major locations and quests on the way).

It feels like there is enough experience to get you to level 15 or maybe level 16.

It’s a very big game.

[ismlamaroof]

The bear disarm is amazing. Knock the weapon out of the enemy hands and then use a companion to just pick it up and now they have to punch you.

[WinterFrostx]

Warning when using Beastmaster, when entering areas with NPCs some of your summons can scare them off.
(Dammon in Act 2 in the Last Light's Inn can be scared off into the shadows and die, which locks out your Karlach companion quest)

[jtfike]

Typically wolf/bear are the supreme options and in some sense they still are but the battles in this game quite often give you difficult terrain or archers on ridiculously difficult heights that aren’t easy to run towards. This makes that raven so deadly good.

[mynamejeff]

You can dash, disengage, and help all the time, but at level 7 you can do them as a bonus action. This means that you can now do an attack or whatever other action available and then also dash or help up a downed ally, give them advantage, or just disengage and fly out of range after the attack as well with your bonus action. It adds to the action economy in a very noticeable and beneficial way. It is like when a rogue gets their cunning abilities and can do a sneak attack and then hide again in the same turn. It is an extra opportunity to make a move to keep things alive in the same turn. Getting extra actions or bonus actions can be one of the most exponential increases in power in D&d. Instead of deciding whether you want to bring an unconscious ally back into the battle or attack, or whether your choice would usually be to get into position for the next attack or to make the attack, you no longer have to decide. You can just do both. Managing your action economy is one of the skills you need to master as fast as you can and this makes you twice as efficient as you were before.

[smilingbear]

Something about the dire wolf that is often overlooked. That infectious bite plus bane from a cleric on a tough enemy with high con saves can really help put when you got a con save spell you wanna push through. As the game gets tough many enemies have a higher con save, so casting bane then usin the necrotic bite makes the enemies often fail con saves

[ptimuscrime]

Beast master with wolf spider is very good early game because infinite web is great and goblins get enwebbed easily. The gap between level 3 and level 4 can be a long one for some builds and the webs can help the party a lot. Unfortunately the pathing breaks frequently after the wilderness and enemies just stop getting enwebbed, so it drops off hard.

[writingNDG]

Thanks for this video. Started a beast master ranger and have been struggling (level 4). Glad to know the early levels are a slog.

[slfteach]

As someone who has been playing Beast Master with the rules from Tasha's Guide, that was my immediate first character with BG3 and they feel similar in a lot of fun ways while also feeling fresh in BG3. Definitely my favorite subclass

[matthewholmes]

Apologies if I missed a clarification somewhere but it isn't correct to say that attack rolls are a dex saving throw. Some special class or weapon abilities do trigger a dex saving throw, but they usually use a normal attack as well. Normal ranged weapon attacks don't trigger a saving throw, they just roll against armor class to hit.

[JustinCarnall]

I love my BM ranger she was my first choice. The ravin is the best companion, hands down. Anyway, I love your videos and your insights on all of BG3

[cameronsabin]

The Wolf also has pack tatics which gives advantage when there is an ally within 5ft of target.

[bobnewkirk]

I appreciate the showcase of the beastmaster. I was exploring beastmaster when I was looking into my Necromancer as having an archer with a strong tank pet would set up other summons nicely. However after some testing it feels like the subclass is being taxed for trying to do two things at once. First you need to invest heavily in your pet in order to make it competitive, but then you miss out on multiclass opportunities and the flexibility/power it affords you. You already get Extra attack on Base Ranger, but not being able to roll in modifiers like Sneak attack, Pact of the blade, Rage or Maneuvers really hurts the output of the Ranger itself. Meanwhile the pet doesn't benefit from other classes bonuses (like better summons on necro) so I couldn't find a good multiclass for the build.

It is fun to have the strong companion, but with the lack of features at 9th level, and the capstone for the class being pushed all the way back to 11th, the subclass just misses the mark for me.