Best Feats for Rangers 5e

Amazing Feats for Rangers

• Crossbow Expert: This can provide a ton of damage for any DEX-based class. The ranger’s hunter’s mark makes this even more effective. This is a great pick-up even before you max your DEX.
• Gift of the Gem Dragon: This is an awesome ability for rangers, who get to boost their Wisdom and gain a powerful defensive reaction. This is especially true for ranged rangers, who don't like enemies being within 5 feet of them.
• Lucky: Lucky is a feat that is useful to any character but martials can make especially good use of it. Rangers are also usually relied on for sneaking, perceiving, and foraging for their party, all of which Lucky can help with.
• Sharpshooter: Ranged attacking is already a very powerful mechanic. Sharpshooter provides a ton of extra versatility to ranged attacks and can net some huge damage, especially combined with the number of attacks Hunter rangers can get. Take this as soon as you max your DEX.

Great Feats for Rangers

• Agent of Order: Seeing as you can use Stasis Strike on enemies out to a distance of 60 feet, this is incredibly powerful for rangers. Just sit back, and lock down enemies for your melee buddies to go to town on. Plus, if an enemy is ever getting to close, just restrain them and move away.
• Divinely Favored: This feat provides a huge amount of value to rangers, especially those who like to fight with a weapon and shield. Any of the listed cleric cantrips would be effective, and grabbing armor of Agathys or shield of faith would help their survivability.
• Fade Away: A pretty solid ability for Dexterity-based rangers, especially if they're using ranged weapons. Being able to disappear after you take a hit will allow you to put some ground between you and your enemy so you don't have disadvantage on your attacks.
• Fey Touched: Misty step is a solid spell for rangers and the WIS can be used to buff your spellcasting modifier. As for 1st-level spells, you could go for a free casting of hunter's mark but that's not particularly exciting. There are some interesting Enchantment and Divination spells that could add utility to a ranger, like animal friendship or beast bond.
• Gift of the Chromatic Dragon: Rangers have plenty of ways of eking out extra attacks. Plus, they can combine this with hunter's mark for even more boosted damage. Also, it works whether you're going for a Strength, Dexterity, or ranged build.
• Guile of the Cloud Giant: This is great for Strengh-based rangers who want more survivability and mobility while they soak damage for their party. It's also helpful for ranged rangers who hate to be in melee distance of their enemies because it grants disadvantage on their ranged attacks.
• Keenness of the Stone Giant: This is a solid feat for ranged Dexterity-based rangers who have a decent Constitution or Wisdom modifier. Hunter's mark may get in the way of using Stone Throw all the time, but the combination of the two is potent enough for the investment to be worth it.
• Magic Initiate: Most rangers will appreciate the utility offered here, as rangers don’t get a lot of offensive spellcasting in most cases. However, you’re better off sticking to druid spells so you can use your Wisdom modifier. Otherwise, you might not get a lot of benefits from the spells you pick.
• Medium Armor Master: Rangers are martials that are usually best off going for Dexterity over Strength. They also get proficiency with medium armor but not heavy armor. This makes Medium Armor Master a great way to boost AC while still maintaining your stealthiness.
• Piercer: Ranged rangers rejoice! This works incredibly well with bows and crossbows, making it fantastic for them. STR rangers need not apply here.
• Resilient: If you are going to be in combat, you need to make sure your hunter’s mark stays active when you get hit. Advantage on CON checks helps your concentration checks immensely.
• Revanent Blade: Great option for Dexterity-based rangers. The bonus action attack granted by the double-bladed scimitar will also work very well with your extra damage from hunter's mark.
• Righteous Heritor: Unless you're going for a Polearm Master or Sentinel build, this can offer a huge amount of damage mitigation each long rest, for both you and your allies.
• Ritual Caster: Not a bad feat to increase your ranger's versatility and can help you make a pseudo-Beast Master build with access to find familiar. You will likely already meet the Wisdom requirements and you can expand your repertoire by finding spell scrolls and books during your adventures.
• Rune Shaper: This is a great way to stretch your ranger's half-caster spell slots and get a few new options. The utility (command, disguise self) and battlefield control (entangle, fog cloud) options would go particularly well with a rangers playstyle.
• Scion of the Outer Planes: Grabbing force resistance and guidance can be a great combo to help you round out your defensive capabilities and out of combat utility.
• Shadow Touched: Because of the tendency to be the scout for a party, this feat is great for most rangers. A free casting of invisibility will go a long way to making sure they are undetected and the ASI to WIS and extra 1st-level spell is gravy. Most rangers can use this for all kinds of utility unless they’re dedicated to melee combat only.
• Skill Expert: This helps rangers specialize in a specific area, like Survival, Nature, Perception, or Stealth, which is excellent as they are pretty flexible in what they can offer a party. It is not the first choice, but handy.
• Skulker: The ultimate archer class; these are excellent picks if you want to go for a stealthy character. Gloom Stalker, in particular, would benefit the most from this; it pairs perfectly with this style of play
• Soul of the Storm Giant: Boosting Wisdom or Strength can help this feat make sense for melee-minded rangers. If you're sticking to ranged, skip this feat.
• Strike of the Giants: This will work best on melee Strength-based rangers, because only melee weapon attacks trigger the effects and the saves require Strength or Constitution. Hill Strike is likely to going to be your best bet because of all the extra attacks rangers usually have access to.
• Telekinetic: Rangers don't get access to mage hand and don't normally have a use for this bonus action. Combined with ASI to WIS and Telekinetic offers some decent value.

Good Feats for Rangers

• Baleful Scion: Regardless of your ranger's playstyle, being able to deal damage and heal with the same attack will always be beneficial.
• Chef: Just like druids, the idea of hunting and preparing your meals is a huge flavor win for rangers. While you might not benefit as much from the stat bonuses, your temp HP beef jerky can probably save your bacon in a critical moment.
• Crafter: Could be useful if your Ranger is the party's scout and needs a variety of tools to get their job done. You can Fast Craft things like Ladders, Grappling Hooks, and, given enough time and a Smith's Tools proficiency, can craft your ranged Ranger some firearms.
• Dual Wielder: Taking Two-Weapon Fighting with this makes the build somewhat viable, especially for DEX builds. While some subclasses offer more attacks, the ranger's class features only provide two attacks, so being able to take a third attack as a bonus action can help you land more hunter's mark enhanced strikes. Keep in mind that casting hunter's mark and moving the target of the spell takes your bonus action, which can interfere with the effectiveness of this feat.
• Durable: A ranger with a +5 Constitution and the Durable feat will recover at minimum 15 hit points with a single Hit Dice roll. This is a solid amount of healing, especially if you can find a way to roll Hit Dice mid-combat (like with the Dwarven Fortitude feat or a caster buddy with wither and bloom).
• Elven Accuracy: Dex is essential for most rangers, which works with this feat. While subclasses outside of Beast Master may not get a lot of advantage, you can at least get plenty of use when it does come up.
• Ember of the Fire Giant: Good for Strength-based rangers who will want to be in melee combat.
• Fury of the Frost Giant: Good for Strength-based rangers who will want to be in melee combat.
• Gunner: This feat actually mixes really well with the ranger class, as you can assume from the hybrid melee/ranged DEX builds. Combining this with the Beast Master, you can get an extra advantage from your beast for some serious damage.
• Heavily Armored: Decent option to boost your AC if you find some mithril plate lying around or if you're going for a Strength-based melee ranger. Sacrificing your Stealth for heavy armor can be tough for rangers, though.
• Martial Adept: Ranged rangers can make amazing use of the Battle Master's maneuvers, such as using Trip Attack to knock flying creatures prone. While you still only get one dice, this can be a decent boost to your ranger's kit.
• Observant: This feat works excellent for rangers if you want to be a little more flexible and ultra-aware. The extra WIS helps for spellcasting, and the skill bonuses let you be in control of every room you walk into.
• Poisoner: Rangers who want to act like rogues can pick this up. Since it works for melee and ranged, it blends well with the ranger hybrid style. Obviously, this will compete with hunter's mark for your bonus action slot. But, once hunter's mark is set up, it can be a valuable source of extra damage and debuff.
• Polearm Master: Melee-focused rangers can find some use for Polarm Master, especially with Favored Foe from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. Most rangers will forgo the Polearm Master’s bonus action in favor of Hunter’s Mark when needed, as they are both bonus actions.
• Second Chance: Good way to boost Dexterity and gain access to a defensive option. Rangers don't have much use for their reaction, so this can give you a solid one.
• Sentinel: Some might like this if they prefer to be in melee range, but it’s not a do-or-die pick. They can get plenty of use from this feat and it works well with the extra damage from hunter's mark, but overall it doesn’t add much to the class to make it a perfect pair.
• Slasher: Monks can use this pretty well, just like Fighters. However, I think Kensei monks will find the most use out of it.
• War Caster: Rangers can certainly use War Caster. Based on the spells they choose, they might see a decent buff from this feat. They’re pretty likely to have their hands full, and concentration helps with some of their better spells. However, if you’re choosing to be in the backlines, it’s not as worth it.

Situationally Useful Feats for Rangers

• Alert: Rangers, don't necessarily like to go first in Initiative because of their lack of burst and AoE damage options. That said, Gloom Stalkers are very fond of the Initiative boost.
• Athlete: You get an ASI to Strength or Dexterity and some minor movement buffs, but nothing amazing for a ranger. If you find your ranger is always looking for the high ground for their ranged attacks, the climbing boost can certainly help. But, that depends on how intricate the environments your DMs provide for combat are. If you're really set on attacking from on-high, just choose a race with a 1st-level fly speed.
• Fighting Initiate: Like paladins, this overlaps with the selection rangers begin with, but unlike them, there aren’t a lot of benefits from an additional Fighting Style outside of Archery for those that only use bows. Melee rangers who want to sword-and-board might want this, but that's it.
• Gift of the Metallic Dragon: Ranged builds will probably want to skip this, as their main schtick is to stay outside of their enemy's reach. Plus, they already have a decent amount of healing.
• Mage Slayer: Most rangers find themselves in between melee and ranged combat, making this feat tough to recommend. If you plan to stay in mostly melee, it's a good pick. Otherwise, it's underwhelming.
• Metamagic Adept: While they get a few spells, rangers are typically only using theirs for utility or hunter’s mark, making this just okay. Most rangers will not be casting many spells anyway, and adding metamagic won’t improve it by much, making it average at best. You could use this feat to buff your hunter's mark by extending its duration or doubling the targets, but it's not really worth it.
• Mobile: Some rangers might like this, depending on your playstyle. I wouldn’t say it's essential, but it’s nice to have if you wanna be a melee combatant.
• Mounted Combatant: If you are a small creature (halfling or gnome) and take the Beast Master archetype, you can make your companion a bit more defensively inclined. You likely won’t get to use the advantage on melee attacks a whole lot because your companion is limited to a Medium creature.
• Squat Nimbleness: Could be alright for Strength-based rangers, though you're likely better off going with a Dexterity-based build and using Mobile if you plan on being in combat.
• Telepathic: This could be worthwhile for rangers that stealth ahead and scout for their parties.
• Tough: Typical rangers that are stacked in DEX and use ranged weapons likely won't need Tough as they can do a good job of avoiding damage by staying away from enemies. Melee rangers may want the added survivability the extra hit points provide.
• Vigor of the Hill Giant: There are tons of feats rangers would rather have than this one. Go for something that'll boost your ranger's damage instead, like Sharpshooter or Dual Wielder, or provide more options to their limited spellcasting.

Bad Feats for Rangers

• Cohort of Chaos: Unfortunately, this is too unpredictable to be a efficient use of a feat.
• Crusher: I don’t think most rangers will care much about this feat, as it isn’t in their wheelhouse. The push can help get them in and out of melee range, but it isn’t as effective with any particular ranger build.
• Defensive Duelist: Most rangers focus on DEX, so this feat is an option. However, most ranger subclasses offer a defensive option that is usually much better for them than this feat.
• Eldritch Adept: While rangers can find use in some of these utility spells, they don’t impact any aspect of gameplay beyond utility. Like druids, if they choose Beast Speech, it’s a flavor win but not an essential part of the ranger class.
• Elemental Adept: Skip. You won’t be dealing much elemental damage no matter what build you go for. Rangers mainly deal with weapons, and those often don’t get elemental damage.
• Fey Teleportation: Some subclasses already get misty step, paired with the fact that neither of these stats benefits you at all, makes this feat a pass. Fey Touched is still a better feat if you need mobility, and it can actually give you WIS for spellcasting.
• Grappler: Nothing here for a Ranger.
• Great Weapon Master: Most rangers won’t get a lot out of this feat. Yes, they can use Heavy weapons, but they don’t have any incentive to do so. STR-based melee rangers using Heavy weapons will certainly see a substantial benefit from this feat, but they are quite uncommon.
• Healer: Goodberry is already a better effect than this feat for most circumstances.
• Heavy Armor Master: Rangers don't get proficiency with heavy armor.
• Inspiring Leader: Rangers don't normally invest in Charisma, so this is a skip.
• Keen Mind: Nothing here for a ranger. Unless you want to lean heavily into a survivalist that always knows which way is north and when the sun is coming up and going down.
• Lightly Armored: Already has access to light armor at the start.
• Linguist: Rangers won't get much out of the languages or Intelligence boost.
• Orcish Fury: Nothing here for a ranger.
• Outlands Envoy: One free casting of misty step and an ASI isn't enough to make rangers want to take this feat. If you want to add some magic to your ranger's repertoire, Fey Touched will be much more impactful.
• Planar Wanderer: Even with the tailorable damage resistance, this feat just isn't worth it for a ranger.
• Savage Attacker: Skip this feat.
• Spell Sniper: Can get you access to produce flame or thorn whip but rangers are usually better off with Sharpshooter.
• Tavern Brawler: Nothing here for a Ranger.
• Weapon Master: Rangers already have access to all weapons they need.

Other Ranger Guides

• Ranger 5e Overview
• Ranger Subclasses Overview
• Ranger Spells
• Ranger Races
• Horizon Walker
• Gloom Stalker

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Mike Bernier

Mike Bernier is the lead content writer and founder of Arcane Eye. He is a Adamantine best-selling author of Strixhaven: A Syllabus of Sorcery on DMs Guild and is a contributing author at D&D Beyond. Follow Mike on Twitter.