Tiefling Ranger Build Guide

Levels 1-4

Start with 15 DEX, 14 WIS, and 13 CON. At level 2, take the Archery Fighting Style; a +2 to hit is mathematically superior to every other option for a Striker. At level 3, lock in the Gloom Stalker archetype. Dread Ambusher gives you an extra d8 damage on turn one, and Umbral Sight bumps your Tiefling Darkvision from 60 to 90 feet while making you invisible to enemies relying on Darkvision. At level 4, take the Piercer feat to round your 15 DEX up to 16, and use it to reroll the terrible 1s on your Longbow damage dice.

Levels 5-10

Level 5 brings Extra Attack and 2nd-level spells. This is also when your Tiefling species grants the Darkness spell. Do not cast it on enemies; cast it on a pebble in your pocket to block line-of-sight against enemy spellcasters. At level 8, take the Sharpshooter feat. With your Archery Fighting Style offsetting the -5 penalty, you can reliably pump out +10 damage per shot. By level 10, your Nature's Veil feature (if using optional class features) will let you turn invisible as a bonus action, heavily overlapping with your Gloom Stalker traits but giving you on-demand advantage.

Levels 11-16

At level 11, Stalker's Flurry ensures that your missed Sharpshooter shots aren't wasted, granting a free reroll on one miss per turn. This severely spikes your DPR. At level 12, use your ASI to boost Dexterity to 18. Level 15 gives you Shadowy Dodge, allowing you to impose disadvantage on incoming attacks. Combined with your innate Tiefling Fire Resistance, you are remarkably difficult to kill for a backline archer. At level 16, cap your Dexterity at 20.

Levels 17-20

At level 17, you gain access to 5th-level spells, specifically Swift Quiver, allowing two bonus action attacks per turn. Level 18 brings Feral Senses, which is mechanically redundant if you've been using your Tiefling Darkness correctly, but nice to have. For your final ASI at level 19, take Resilient (Constitution) to bump your 13 CON to 14 and protect your concentration on Swift Quiver or Hunter's Mark.

Cantrips

You gain Thaumaturgy at level 1 from your Tiefling heritage. With a Charisma of 10, do not use this for Intimidation checks. Instead, use it to blast open unlocked doors from 30 feet away to trigger traps safely while your Ranger scouts ahead.

Level 1-2 Spells

Take Hunter's Mark and Absorb Elements at level 2. Because you are a Tiefling, you already have Fire Resistance. Save your 1st-level spell slots to cast Absorb Elements exclusively against Cold, Acid, or Lightning damage. At level 5, pick up Pass Without Trace to guarantee surprise rounds for your Dread Ambusher feature.

Level 3-5 Spells

At 9th level, take Conjure Animals. Even though you're an archer, dropping eight wolves onto the battlefield clogs the frontline and protects you. At 13th level, Guardian of Nature (Great Tree) gives you advantage on all dexterity-based attacks, perfectly enabling your Sharpshooter feat. At 17th level, lock in Swift Quiver.

High-Level Spells

Rangers cap out at 5th-level spells, so Swift Quiver and Steel Wind Strike are your pinnacle options. Stick to Swift Quiver to maximize your Sharpshooter Longbow attacks.

Piercer

Take this at level 4. It provides a +1 to Dexterity, taking your starting 15 to a 16. Because you rely on a Longbow (1d8 piercing), rerolling a 1 or 2 on damage once per turn slightly boosts your DPR, but the real value is smoothing out that odd ability score.

Sharpshooter

Take this at level 8. The Archery Fighting Style's +2 bonus mathematically mitigates the -5 attack penalty. As a Gloom Stalker, you often have advantage from Umbral Sight, making the +10 damage payload incredibly reliable on your opening turn.

Resilient (Constitution)

Take this at level 19. It rounds your 13 CON to a 14, granting extra hit points, but more importantly, gives you proficiency in Constitution saving throws to maintain concentration on Pass Without Trace or Swift Quiver when an enemy manages to bypass your Fire Resistance and high AC.

Tier 1 (Levels 1-4)

Start with a Longbow and Studded Leather armor. If you can afford it, upgrade to a Breastplate if you took the Heavily Armored feat, but realistically, stick to light armor to maximize your Dexterity scaling. Buy a quiver of at least 40 arrows.

Tier 2 (Levels 5-10)

Seek out Serpent Scale Armor (from Candlekeep Mysteries) to remove the Dexterity cap on medium armor, allowing your 16+ DEX to shine without stealth disadvantage. Try to secure a +1 Longbow to offset the Sharpshooter penalty.

Tier 3 (Levels 11-16)

Hunt down an Oathbow or a Dragon Wing Bow. The Oathbow gives you advantage against your sworn enemy, perfectly stacking with your Gloom Stalker burst damage, while a Dragon Wing Bow removes the need for mundane ammunition entirely.

Tier 4 (Levels 17-20)

Acquire a Blood Fury Tattoo. The extra 4d6 necrotic damage on your weapon attacks stacks monstrously with your Swift Quiver bonus attacks, and the healing keeps you upright if your Tiefling Fire Resistance isn't enough to mitigate an ancient dragon's breath weapon.

As a Tiefling Gloom Stalker Ranger, your party role is Striker and primary Scout. Because you lack the Charisma to be a party face (despite being a Tiefling), you need to lean on your party members for social encounters while you dominate the exploration and combat pillars.

Pair this build with a Twilight Domain Cleric. Their Twilight Sanctuary creates dim light, which actively triggers your Gloom Stalker Umbral Sight invisibility even in broad daylight. Furthermore, their shared Darkvision stacks with your Tiefling sight.

You also benefit massively from a Battle Master Fighter using Commander's Strike. Because your single attacks hit so hard with Sharpshooter, giving you an off-turn reaction attack maximizes your overall DPR, letting you safely fire from the backline while they tank.

Fighter 2 Dip

Taking two levels of Fighter for Action Surge is devastating on a Gloom Stalker. Because Dread Ambusher triggers on the Attack action during your first turn, using Action Surge lets you take the Attack action again, triggering the extra Dread Ambusher attack a second time for massive turn-one burst.

Warlock (Hexblade) 2 Dip

A two-level Warlock dip grants the Devil's Sight invocation. This is incredible for a Tiefling because it allows you to see through the magical darkness created by your own racial Darkness spell at level 5. You can drop Darkness on yourself and shoot out with permanent advantage, though it requires 13 Charisma to multiclass.

• Casting Hellish Rebuke for damage: With 10 Charisma, your spell save DC is 8. Enemies will pass the save, halving the damage. Don't waste your reaction on this when you could use Absorb Elements.
• Casting Darkness blindly: Your racial Darkness spell blinds you too unless you multiclassed for Devil's Sight. Don't cast it on the enemy frontline and blind your own melee fighters.
• Overlapping Fire Resistance: Don't cast Absorb Elements when hit by a Fireball. Your Tiefling Fiendish Legacy already halves fire damage, and resistances do not stack in 5e.
• Using Standard Stat Arrays: If your DM forbids Tasha's customized origins, do not play this build. Starting with 13 DEX and 14 WIS because your +2 went to Charisma makes you mathematically incompetent in combat.