Best in Show 5E D&D Magic Items for Rangers

Over at Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted naturally explore the best magic items for rangers in fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Like previous discussions on top magic items for various character classes in 5E D&D this is an unusual topic because it’s rare for a character to choose magic items. There’s a few cases I can think of off the top of my head. In Adventurers League play items can be traded on a one-for-one basis for items with the same rarity at a cost of 15 downtime days unless they’re playing at the same table. Also games beginning beyond 1st level often allow for players to choose magic items, like in our own monthly fan one shots. Looking at 5E D&D magic items is difficult for an entirely different reason though. The best of anything is subjective if for no other reason than campaigns are as diverse as the people playing them. Once again I’m checking out the homebrew magic items at D&D Beyond to complement the video and leaning into this subjectivity. For each type of magic item (excluding potions and scrolls) I’ll consider the rating, views and adds for each kind and choose the one I think best serves a druid. Let’s get into it.

Magic items for rangers at D&D Beyond

It’s worth noting you can create homebrew content for private use and share your homebrew content publicly at DDB at no cost — there’s no subscription required to access these services. However if you want to add any of the homebrew magic items mentioned below or any other homebrew content you come across to your collection you must subscribe at the Hero Tier or above. There’s a lot you can do at DDB for free. Check out what you can do here.

The DDB homebrew collection uses several statistics to track entries. Views shows how many people looked at any particular homebrew creation, Adds shows how many times a creation was added to someone’s collection and Rating is an upvote/downvote system. Since there are over 237,425‬ magic items in the collection I’m going to use an ad hoc selection method to find some that also make naturally good magic items for rangers.

Armor

Highest rating

Shield of Heroic Memories. A shield that remembers the enemies encountered and events of these battle are intricately engraved onto the shield’s surface to confer extra benefits when facing those creatures sounds perfectly at home in the hands of rangers everywhere.

Most adds

Ambush Drake Hide Armor. Nothing too spectacular in terms of effects but thematically very cool. Extra cool if you’re one of those Drakewarden rangers (or maybe not? The drake companion may take umbrage).

Most views

Saddle of the Cavalier. Terrific benefits for mounted rangers. What can I say, Brego made a big impression on me.

Ring

Highest rating

Band of the Dryad. A simple magic ring with some healing power not only holds the lead in rating by a significant margin, it’s elegantly written and evokes the kind of imagery you might expect for rangers (or druids!).

Most adds

Band of the Dryad again! You can’t keep a good magic ring down.

Most views

I’ve gotta give it to Band of the Dryad yet again. Ring of Lightning Strikes would have taken the title here same as it did for druids but I just noticed it requires attunement by a monk. My bad!

Rod

Highest rating

Rod of Mercurial Form. A very useful magic item capable of transforming into any weapon, suit of armor, or other item that fits in a 5 foot. cube. Travel light through those wilderness regions and never be without the right item at the right time.

Most adds

Rod of Mercurial Form coming in strong again. There’s a big drop off in adds after this one and it’s usefulness is indisputable to begin with so I’m calling it for rangers everywhere.

Most views

When magic items and other homebrew material scores high across the board in all three categories it’s a safe bet the 5E D&D community deigns it the best around. Who am I to argue? Rod of Mercurial Form sweeps the rod category.

Staff

Highest rating

Aangbao. This was a tough one. It’s ten spots from the highest rated staves by a big margin. The higher rating ones either require attunement by other classes besides rangers or in one case it’s simply ridiculous. This quarterstaff carries some utility and at the end of the day a quarterstaff is a pretty good weapon in 5E D&D overall.

Most adds

Monkey Staff. Similar issues related to staves in general when it comes to the ones 5E D&D players add to their homebrew collections. I like this because again, a quarterstaff can’t be discounted as a great weapon and this one makes them even better.

Most views

Staff of Anti-Thunder and Darkening. Usually these homebrew dives show some correlation among categories but rangers and staves are breaking the mold. Basically this is a super powerful quarterstaff for combat scenarios. Nothing too exciting unless lots of damage dice gives you a thrill.

Wand

Highest rating

Swiss Army Wand. “You’re not sure who the Swiss are or why an army would need such a non-aggressive wand, but it seems useful enough.” Indeed! The extremely useful cantrips contained within this wand help keep packs light for 5E D&D rangers out there. Bonus points for reminding me about one of my very first posts as a Nerdarchy the Website volunteer.

Most adds

Swiss Army Wand lands firmly in the top spot again both for my choice and overall as the most added wand.

Most views

Wand of the Broken Unicorn Horn. While the effects are unreliable due to generation via a d100 roll on a chart it’s packed with fun and flavor with a connection to the natural world, fey and celestials. I dig the supernatural quality of rangers so I’m going with this highly viewed wand.

Weapon

Highest rating

Dryad’s Gift. For conservationist rangers in 5E D&D this is the ultimate weapon. The longbow transforms ordinary branches into arrows when drawn, which then resume being branches after striking. There’s some other neat thematic features too like sending messages through trees. Really neat stuff.

Most adds

Dryad’s Gift knocked it out of the park for druids and it’s finding the path to do so for rangers as well.

Most views

Summer’s Dance. Inspired by Critical Role this scimitar isn’t incredibly powerful but it is useful and flavorful. In the hands of a Fey Wanderer it really accentuates their connection to fey things.

Honorable mention

Petal Blade. My own creation! A player in my home group used this sword’s power very soon after discovering it during a very fey flavored adventure and created a memorable moment we still talk about.

Wondrous item

Highest rating

Boots of the Vigilant. A bit of an unfair advantage for this one since it’s a Matt Mercer creation, which means ruins the curve. These boots aren’t anything extra special for rangers but they’re very useful no doubt about it.

Most adds

Boots of the Vigilant coming in at the top place. It’s almost like they rocketed to the top of the initiative order.

Most views

Boots of the Vigilant aren’t the No. 1 spot this time around but the two magic items with more views are neither my cup of tea nor add anything for rangers in particular so a solid universally great one like these boots fits the bill.

You can take a look at all the magic items in the homebrew database at DDB here. Check them out and let me know which magic items you think are best for 5E D&D rangers.

*Featured image — A ranger as seen in the 5E D&D Player’s Handbook. [Image courtesy Wizards of the Coast]