Summary
- Some Ranger spells will lose the Concentration requirement in D&D's 2024 Player's Handbook.
- Hunter's mark is crucial to the Ranger toolkit, making Concentration a precious asset.
- Balancing Concentration demands is still an important part of strategic Ranger play.
Rangers are a hot button topic when it comes to strengths of most Ranger subclasses often didn't mesh well with the average DnD campaign. Although the new rules are reworking them with the goal of offering more versatility and relevance than before, previews of the redesigned Ranger mechanics haven't convinced everyone that everything is as it should be.
In an interview with Screen Rant, DnD lead designer Jeremy Crawford confirmed that some Ranger spells will be losing the Concentration requirement that they had in the 2014 Player's Handbook, which should go a long way in making the reworked Ranger click. The spell hunter's mark is a key Ranger feature that offers extra damage and perks on chosen targets, and although it still requires Concentration, removing that demand from other spells will make it easier to use hunter's mark without sacrificing as many options.
Jeremy Crawford: "[P]eople are going to see that, while there are certain things like hunter’s mark that required Concentration in 2014 and continue to require it in 2024, there are other things that used to require Concentration that no longer do. And we were particularly mindful of that for classes like the Ranger that have key features that require Concentration."
Less Concentration Means More D&D Ranger Versatility
The 2024 Player's Handbook Could Add Flexibility
Maintaining Concentration on hunter's mark has always required some sacrifice on the part of Rangers, and the new Player's Handbook is incentivizing hunter's mark as a more essential feature than ever with changes like making the Ranger's capstone Level 20 feature focus on the spell. A solid portion of the community has pushed for the removal of Concentration from the spell, although this would sacrifice some of the strategy in what Crawford refers to as "the Concentration mini-game."
New D&D Player's Handbook Deep Dive Shows A Promising First Look At Improved Classes, Subclasses, & Weapons
The 2024 Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook is still a few months off, but a new look at its contents helps clarify what it's focusing on.
Concentration can only be used on one spell at a time, and considering how much of the Ranger's spell list has traditionally required it, the choice could feel limiting. Getting confirmation that some Ranger spells will have their Concentration requirement removed makes the retooled Ranger feel a lot more viable, although opinions will obviously still vary on just how good the class rework is. Hunter's mark Concentration also gets a buff with the Level 13 feature Relentless Hunter, which prevents Concentration from breaking when taking damage.
Just how many Ranger spells might lose the Concentration requirement remains to be confirmed, and where some strong DnD spell options like lightning arrow fall could be a big deal. In some cases, like spike growth, removing Concentration wouldn't make sense in of general flavor or balance, so hoping for buffs across the board has its limits. For anyone who remains entirely unconvinced by the Ranger reworks, only a DM's discretion can ultimately take the old version out of the picture, but there's good reason to be optimistic about the version in the 2024 Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook.
Check out Screen Rant's full interview with Jeremy Crawford here.
- Franchise
- Dungeons & Dragons
- Original Release Date
- 1974
Dungeons and Dragons is a popular tabletop game originally invented in 1974 by Ernest Gary Gygax and David Arneson. The fantasy role-playing game brings together players for a campaign with various components, including abilities, races, character classes, monsters, and treasures. The game has drastically expanded since the '70s, with numerous updated box sets and expansions.
- Publisher
- TSR Inc., Wizards of the Coast
- Designer
- E. Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson
