It all started with me looking at The Dancing Breeze’s special action - Whirlwind attack. I was deploring that it could only be used once per short rest… and remembered about Ranger’s Hunter subclass.

A bit of cooking later, and a nice DPR build is born. This is not a control martial, mind you - it is a full martial build with some AoE capabilities. You will want to pair this build with someone who can cast Command spells, or Black Holes, to set up your AoE attacks.

Lae’zel is a nice candidate for this build. She’ll be able to wear the Silver Sword without any immersion breaking disguises. For evil playthroughs, Ascended Astarion with his bonus damage per attack is also a good choice.

We’re also going to go for a STR, two-handed based ranger. A DEX based, dual wielding melee ranger is perfectly feasible - see Alternative approaches. This build is a very good candidate for Hag’s Hair - you should feed it to this build if possible.

We’re going to go for 12 Hunter. Here’s why.

12 Hunter

• Extra damage to already damaged enemies starting at level 3.
  
• Access to the Whirlwind Attack at level 11.
  
• Three much needed feats.
  
• Access to a fighting style.
  
• Easy access to heavy armor and a bunch of resistances.
  
• Good damage and utility spells.

11 Hunter / 1 War Cleric (or any multiclassing with 11 Hunter) is possible. I will address it in Alternative Approaches.

• Does not really need to worry about initiative.
  
• Really good damage with Savage Attacker, Great Weapon Master, and Whirlwind Attack making it AoE attacks.
  
• Good defense, with high AC and WIS, plus resistance to multiattack.
  
• Good utility with Ranger spells, Cleric cantrips, etc.
  
• The combination of good defense and Whirlwind Attack makes an excellent frontliner.

• Not a party face.
  
• Can’t transition into a control martial. Yes, you’ve got Cleric and Ranger both scaling with WIS, but you just don’t get enough spell slots.

Open Ranger. Take 17 STR, 14 CON, 16 WIS. Rest is up to you. 12 CON is risky, but possible. If you intend to give Hag’s Hair to someone else, reduce STR to 16.

Make sure to select Ranger Knight for heavy armor proficiency, and poison resistance (it will help in the early game). Consequently, DEX becomes less important and can remain at 10-12.

Mostly irrelevant. Half-orc and Githyanki are cool, the usual.

Level up Ranger up to 12.

At level 2, take the Defence fighting style.

At level 3, take the Hunter subclass, with the Colossus Slayer.

At level 4, take the Savage Attacker feat. If you’re confident you can manage Great Weapon Master well, you can take Great Weapon Master early. But Savage Attacker will be very useful with our extra Hunter damage die, so both are really good early.

At level 6, you get to choose another favoured enemy and natural explorer. The first one is whatever (I like Bounty Hunter) ; for natural explorer, make sure to take Fire resistance as it will help a lot in the late game. You will get another of these at level 10 ; take whatever you like.

Around that time, you should reach the crèche. If you’re playing as the Hunter, consider getting the Awakened buff. If Lae’zel is the Hunter, she can’t get it herself - but that’s fine.

At level 7, you get to choose Defensive Tactics. Multiattack Defence is by far the best.

At level 8, take the Great Weapon Master feat.

At level 12, take +2 STR.

Hunter’s Mark is going to be a nice damage boost for you, and your main spell for a while.

Spike Growth and later Plant Growth will be nice to create Difficult terrain you’re immune to (starting at level 8).

Feel free to replace Longstrider (e.g. Enhance Leap) with another spell if somebody else provides it to the party.

You can grab the Everburn Blade[bg3.wiki] early and use it for the first part of the act.

Broodmother’s Revenge[bg3.wiki] is a good amulet for you. You can keep it for most of the game.

Gloves of the Growling Underdog[bg3.wiki] are good for you. They will not combo with Whirlwind Attack (by that point, you will have other gloves) but you want to be in the thick of the fight.

In the Underdark, make sure to grab Caustic Band[bg3.wiki] and Adamantine Splint Armour[bg3.wiki].

Disintegrating Night Walkers[bg3.wiki] are your best boots and should never be taken off. They will provide immunity to most if not all difficult terrain and especially ground ice. You also get access to Misty Step, which is always useful.

At the crèche, you can grab Strange Conduit Ring[bg3.wiki] and Soulbreaker Greatsword[bg3.wiki]. Soulbreaker is your best weapon for all of Act 2 if you’re Githyanki. Strange Conduit Ring will work very well in tandem with Hunter’s Mark, and can replace Caustic Band if you need to give it to someone else (otherwise, just stack them together).

If Gloves of Dexterity[bg3.wiki] are available, consider grabbing them. You can even keep them for the whole game if you like.

If you want to go with two-handed finesse weapons, Phalar Aluve[bg3.wiki] and Larethian’s Wrath[bg3.wiki] can both be obtained throughout this act (the latter must be bought).

As soon as you get to Moonrise, grab Risky Ring[bg3.wiki]. This will help with Great Weapon Master. If you can’t get it, Circlet of Hunting[bg3.wiki] is good for you as you have Hunter’s Mark. You can also grab Halberd of Vigilance[bg3.wiki] if you’re not a Githyanki (otherwise, just keep Soulbreaker).

If Drakethroat Glaive[bg3.wiki] is available, feel free to use it on your weapon for some extra damage (Cold/Lightning are usually best, but on its only 1d4 on its own, so don’t overthink it).

If Cloak of Protection[bg3.wiki] and Evasive Shoes[bg3.wiki] are available, you can use them, but you don’t need them that much, so give them to someone else if needed.

Callous Glow Ring[bg3.wiki] is a fantastic ring for you and should replace Caustic Band, if available.

Get Cloak of Elemental Absorption[bg3.wiki] at the end of the act.

If you’re going the evil route, Shar’s Spear of Evening[bg3.wiki] is your best weapon. Combine it with a certain armour in Act 3 and enjoy mowing everyone.

Reaper’s Embrace[bg3.wiki] is a great armour for you.

You can use either Legacy of the Masters[bg3.wiki] or Helldusk Gloves[bg3.wiki] - both are good gloves options.

Armour of Persistance[bg3.wiki] is your best armour. It is expensive as hell, and you should stick to Ketheric’s if you don’t want to buy it. If you’re using Shar’s Spear, forget about both and just use Bhaalist Armour[bg3.wiki].

Silver Sword of the Astral Plane[bg3.wiki] is your best weapon as a Githyanki. The extra damage feeds into Savage Attacker, and the defensive perks are amazing. Alternatively, you can go for Sword of Chaos[bg3.wiki] early in the act, and later for Balduran’s Giantslayer[bg3.wiki].

The Dead Shot[bg3.wiki] is your best bow for the improved critical chance. If it is available, you can use Hellrider Longbow[bg3.wiki] - but again, you don’t need to worry about initiative, so don’t take it from another build.

A Githyanki can use Boots of Psionic Movement[bg3.wiki] here.

The Dancing Breeze[bg3.wiki] is your best two-handed weapon if you want to be DEX-based.

Just your regular frontline/damage dealer. Get in your enemies face, hit them, and use Whirlwind Attack as much as you can.

There are several ways to set up big boy Whirlwind Attacks :

• Use Black Hole to get enemies close together (by far the best). You can do it yourself if you’re Awakened, or have someone do it for you.
  
• Have your control build use Command: Approach and make sure they’re close to your Hunter. If enemies are already stacked together, use Command: Grovel instead (and send your Hunter up close).
  
• Use Void Bulb (not very reliable, but… it exists).

Whenever you can’t use Whirlwind, just use regular attacks on a single target.

Starting at level 8, you get immunity to difficult terrain. Feel free to use and abuse Spike Growth and later Plant Growth to make your ennemies’ life miserable. Other than that, Hunter’s Mark should be your main spell. It only costs a bonus action, triggers Strange Conduit Ring, and feeds into Savage Attacker as well. That said, it’s only one d6 - so if you need your bonus action for something else, it’s fine.

Once in a while, you can use Barrage, Lightning Arrow or Ensnaring Strike, but that’s about it.

Sure. Replace STR improvements with DEX, use Yuan-Ti Scale Mail in Act 2 / Armour of Agility in Act 3, switch fighting styles, and you can basically call it a day. Do not use Gloves of Dexterity, just respec and dump STR.

It also pairs well with dual wielding versions. Don’t bother with the Dual Wielder feat, just use any good pair of shortswords/daggers (see my Shadow Monk build for some examples) and enjoy. You can still use two-handed weapons, but there are only three finesse two-handed weapons in the game (The Dancing Breeze is pretty nice, however).

You could go for a 1 War Cleric dip at level 12. This would get you three bonus attack actions per long rest. Technically, that gives you a better burst window… but that’s about it. The spells and cantrips you gain are not really relevant - either someone else should have them (Create Water, Resistance, Guidance, and the like) or you are not built to make a lot of use out of them (Command). And getting more Cleric levels is out of the question, as you’d lose access to Whirlwind Attack. The Cleric dip is not even relevant for Heavy Armour proficiency as you can get it with Ranger anyway.

11 Fighter / 1 War Cleric builds are a thing, but Fighter gets an extra feat at level 6. If you’re using items like Diadem of Arcane Synergy, it also allows you to make them scale off WIS, which is a much better stat than INT.

All of this isn’t true with Ranger. And we really want Savage Attacker and Great Weapon Master to bolster our damage, and +2 STR for more consistency (especially if Risky Ring is unavailable).

At the end of the day, it’s up to you. The choice will happen at level 12 anyway, and doesn’t require any respecs. If your current amount of STR felt bad until now, get +2 STR. If it felt comfortable, get War Cleric.

Another possible dip is 1 Rogue, to get access to Sneak Attack. This, in itself, will not give you much more damage (it’s a measly 1d6 weapon damage), but, if used as a Reaction, will allow you to duplicate some damage instances, such as the extra force damage from Craterflesh Gloves. Coupled with piercing weapons and Bhaalist Armour, that’s even more damage.

In general, the piercing damage / AoE piercing vulnerability package is a great way of increasing this build’s damage, as it combos wonderfully with Whirlwind Attack.

If something isn't clear to you, or if you feel like I missed something, let me know in the comments below. I read every single comment I get, and will do my best to answer yours.

Thanks for reading the guide and I hope you have fun with the build!