D&D: The Winter Walker Ranger Playtest – Make Ice Nice
The Winter Walker Ranger in the latest Unearthed Arcana Playtest gives Rangers some ice new toys to play with. But does it go far enough?
The Winter Walker Ranger in the Forgotten Realms playtest packet explores cold new ground for Rangers. With icy new abilities, it is one of the most flavor-and-mechanics-aligned of the eight subclasses up for playtest right now. Which is why we’re going through it today.
This cool new Ranger gets to play with frost damage, as you might expect. It can slow enemies, give added defenses, and even do some nice damage. But there are a few places where it doesn’t go far enough. That’s the Ranger story in 5E and 5.5E.
In 5th Edition Rangers didn’t have a whole ton of Class identity. They were sort of archers or dual wielders by default, and it wasn’t until later books that they finally got into a groove. Then in 5.5E, they got that identity: they’re the Hunter’s Mark class. For better or worse. And the Winter Walker Ranger seems ready to play with that. Though as you’ll see, I think there’s room for it to play even harder.
Winter Walker Ranger Playtest – How Many Synonyms For “Cold” Can You Fit Into a Subclass
As you might expect from a subclass called the Winter Walker, this Ranger is all about cold stuff. In the playtest, the Winter Walker Ranger has a number of cold abilities throughout its progression. The cold winter is even baked right into the flavor of the class. Specifically it’s the frozen reaches of Icewind Dale that ground it in the Forgotten Realms:
“Winter Walkers hone their craft in the bleak and frozen wilds of places like Icewind Dale. Rimed with ice, these ruthless Rangers hunt the monsters that haunt arctic wastelands, eventually becoming frigid terrors themselves.
More so than any other Rangers of Icewind Dale, Winter Walkers are known to be well versed in the paranormal phenomena specific to the realm, including the latent magic of fallen Netherese cities, endemic monsters like yetis and crag cats, and the rising threat of Underdark invaders. In exchange for their cold pragmatism, terrifying magic, and mastery of the region, these Winter Walkers are regarded with equal parts respect and fear.”
So, you know, cold stuff. And a lot of “fear” and “terror” show up in the description of the Winter Walker. But precious little shows up in the actual abilities. Mostly it’s about hitting your enemies with magical ice.
Winter Walker Ranger – Ice To Meet You!
At level 3, the Winter Walker Ranger—in the playtest at least—begins its frozen reign. Right away you get three different ice-centric abilities, starting with Frigid Explorer. This ability cements you as the ice guy on its own – you gain resistance to Cold Damage and gain a “deal extra damage when you hit a creature” ability.
Called Polar Strikes, this ability allows you to deal an extra 1d4 Cold damage, once per turn, whenever you hit a creature with a weapon. At level 11, it goes up to 1d6. This is in line with the Fey Wanderer Ranger, but I think both of those subclasses could go much harder than they do.
You also get Hunter’s Rime, which is a frost-themed add-on to your Hunter’s Mark spell. Whenever you cast Hunter’s Mark, you gain 1d10 + your Ranger Level in temporary hit points. And your target, marked by the spell, can’t Disengage. Finally, you gain a (small) list of bonus spells which you’ll have always prepared:
- Ice Knife
- Pass Without Trace
- Remove Curse
- Ice Storm
- Cone of Cold
Getting Frosty as a Defense Mechanism
Ice in D&D typically does one of two things. It either freezes/slows enemies in place, or it provides some kind of defensive buff. Usually if it’s going to be a defensive option, that means temporary hit points of some kind – take a spell like Armor of Agathys, for instance. A “frozen rime” often translates to some sort of pool of temporary hit points. And having cold powers seems to mean you’re hardier in general.
That holds true of the Winter Walker Ranger in this playtest. At level 7, you’ll gain Fortifying Soul. This is a defensive buff for both you and you allies. Whenever you finish a Short Rest, you can pick up to your Wisdom Modifier in extra creatures to be selected to gain 1d10 + your Ranger level in hit points, which is potent stuff if you pay Short Rests the way they’re supposed to be played and make people actually spend hit dice. A lot of DMs might just handwave players through a full refresh after a Short Rest. But those DMs are cowards.
At level 11, the other side of frost as a defensive mechanism comes out to play. That’s when you’ll pick up Chilling Retribution, which is a Reaction you can pull out whenever a creature hits you with an attack roll. This is, incidentally, the one place the “terror” of the Winter Walker comes into play – when you use your Chilling Retribution, the creature that hits you makes a Wisdom save vs your spell DC, and if it fails, your target is Frightened until the end of your next turn.
A nice way to punish enemies who hit you. While Frightened, your enemies are at Speed 0—frozen in place with fear. It’s a nice gimmick.
When It Snows, Ain’t It Thrilling?
Finally, at 15th level, the Winter Walker Ranger playtest shows off the capstone ability, Frozen Haunt. This is supposed to let you become a ghostly, snowy form, drifting in the wintry air. You can adopt it whenever you cast Hunter’s Mark—which is a trend I like to see. I like that you get rewarded for casting Hunter’s Mark instead of for hitting your Hunter’s Mark target. The more things that play off of that, the better for Rangers all around.
Whenever you cast Hunter’s Mark yu gain two benefits. The first is a frigid aura that renders you immune to cold damage while also damaging creatures of your choice within a 15-foot Emanation of you. They get hit for 2d4 damage, though, so it’s not game changing.
Same goes for the other ability, Partially Incorporeal. This benefit makes you immune to Grappled, Prone, and Restrained. And you can move thrugh creatuures and objects if they were difficult terrain. So, you know, ghostly type things. Though again, it feels the “terror” is lacking from this entry.
The Winter Walker Ranger – Let It Snow
All in all, I like the Winter Walker Ranger. In the playtest, we catch a glimpse of an interesting Ranger niche. It’s got some panache that the other Ranger subclasses lack. And it can be surprisingly viable as both an offensive and defensive character, depending on how you want to build it.
I think, in general, it could do a little more with what it already has. Again, there could be more damaging effects. Maybe another little sprinkling of terror – especially where the higher levels of the class are concerned.
But that’s just my opinion. WotC really wants to know yours. So tell them what you really think at the link below.
Just in time for the “winter” weather!
