Rules edition: This character guide uses the legacy Drow traits in the 2014 Player’s Handbook and the 2014 Ranger class. Gloom Stalker and Hunter are from Xanathar’s Guide to Everything; Fey Wanderer and the optional Ranger features are from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. This page does not combine those options with the revised 2024 species or class rules.
A Drow Ranger can be an effective scout and combatant, especially in a campaign with dark environments. The build still follows ordinary Ranger rules: Dexterity or Strength supports weapon attacks, Wisdom supports Ranger spellcasting, and the Drow’s traits have specific limits. Darkvision, innate spells, and subclass features do not automatically make a character invisible, immune to sunlight, or able to ignore concentration and action costs.
Use the 2014 Drow traits as written
The 2014 Drow is an Elf subrace. It has the Elf’s +2 Dexterity increase and the Drow’s +1 Charisma increase, Superior Darkvision out to 120 feet, Fey Ancestry, and Sunlight Sensitivity. Sunlight Sensitivity gives disadvantage on attack rolls and on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight when you, your target, or whatever you are trying to perceive is in direct sunlight. The trigger is direct sunlight, not every bright area; darkvision does not remove it.
Drow Magic grants dancing lights as a cantrip. Starting at character level 3, you can cast faerie fire once per long rest; starting at character level 5, you can cast darkness once per long rest. Charisma is the spellcasting ability for these innate spells. Their listed uses do not spend Ranger spell slots. Faerie fire requires concentration and calls for a Dexterity saving throw; attacks against an affected creature have advantage only for attackers who can see it. Darkness also requires concentration, and your darkvision cannot see through its magical darkness. Neither spell is a rules-defined cure for Sunlight Sensitivity. An effect that grants advantage on a qualifying attack roll can cancel disadvantage under the general rules, but that does not remove the trait. Fog, goggles, or other proposed workarounds need to actually change the conditions or be approved by the DM; they do not automatically switch off the trait.
Set ability scores for your campaign
Dexterity is a strong choice for a Drow Ranger using bows or finesse weapons. Wisdom determines your Ranger spell save DC and spell attack bonus, while Constitution supports hit points and concentration saves. Charisma improves the Drow’s innate spell save DC and Charisma checks, but it does not improve Ranger spellcasting. Strength can be a valid primary score if you want a Strength-based weapon build.
For the 2014 standard array, a sample before racial increases is Dexterity 15, Wisdom 14, Constitution 13, Strength 12, Intelligence 10, Charisma 8. After the legacy Drow increases, this becomes Dexterity 17 and Charisma 9. The array is only an example; backgrounds do not grant the 2024 background-based ability increases under these rules. If your table uses an optional origin rule from Tasha’s, follow that rule and label the character accordingly instead of silently mixing score methods.
If you plan to multiclass under the optional 2014 rules, Ranger requires Dexterity 13 and Wisdom 13, and you must meet the prerequisites for both your current and new classes. Rogue requires Dexterity 13; Fighter requires Strength 13 or Dexterity 13. Multiclassing is optional and can delay Ranger features, spell progression, and Extra Attack.
Choose a Ranger subclass for the campaign
Gloom Stalker
Gloom Stalker works well in campaigns with frequent darkness and ambushes. At Ranger 3, Dread Ambusher increases your walking speed by 10 feet during the first turn of each combat and can grant one additional attack as part of the Attack action on that turn; if that attack hits, it deals an extra 1d8 damage. Umbral Sight grants darkvision to 60 feet if you lack it, or extends existing darkvision by 30 feet. In darkness, you are invisible to a creature relying on darkvision to see you. That feature does not make you invisible in dim light or bright light, and it does not let you see through magical darkness.
This opening-turn feature does not mean every level-3 Gloom Stalker automatically makes three attacks. The extra attack comes from Dread Ambusher; a separate bonus-action attack, such as two-weapon fighting, requires its own conditions and bonus action. If you also want to cast or move hunter’s mark, use Drow Magic, or Hide with Nimble Escape from another feature, those bonus-action choices compete.
Hunter
Hunter offers choices that respond to the enemies in your campaign. At Ranger 3, Colossus Slayer adds 1d8 damage once per turn when you hit a creature below its hit point maximum; Horde Breaker can grant another weapon attack against a different nearby creature once on each of your turns, subject to its range and target conditions. At Ranger 7, Multiattack Defense gives +4 AC against subsequent attacks made by the same creature after it hits you with an attack. Escape the Horde instead imposes disadvantage on opportunity attacks against you. It does not prevent those attacks or reduce their damage.
Fey Wanderer
Fey Wanderer adds social and defensive tools. Otherworldly Glamour lets you add your Wisdom modifier to Charisma checks and grants a skill proficiency. Dreadful Strikes adds psychic damage when you hit a creature with a weapon, limited to once per turn on each creature. The feature’s damage increases at Ranger 11. It does not require a bonus action or concentration, and it does not replace your weapon attack.
Plan attacks, spells, and concentration
The 2014 Archery Fighting Style adds +2 to ranged weapon attack rolls. Sharpshooter is an optional feat: its long-range and cover benefits are separate from its −5 attack-roll/+10 damage option. The damage option trades accuracy for damage; it is not automatically the best choice against every Armor Class. Do not assume an attack deals a fixed total such as “1d8 + 15 + 1d6” without stating the character’s Dexterity, feat choice, weapon, and whether hunter’s mark is active.
Hunter’s mark takes a bonus action to cast or move to another target and requires concentration. It adds damage when you hit the marked target with a weapon attack. Two-weapon fighting uses a bonus action to make its additional attack, so you cannot make that attack on the same turn you cast or move hunter’s mark, cast one of the Drow’s bonus-action spells if applicable, or use another bonus-action feature. Drow faerie fire takes an action, requires concentration, and can compete with hunter’s mark for concentration even though it does not use a Ranger spell slot.
Rangers learn and cast spells using the class’s 2014 spellcasting rules. Ranger spell save DC is 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier. Pass without trace adds +10 to qualifying Dexterity (Stealth) checks for its duration; it does not let the party bypass encounters automatically. The optional Deft Explorer feature in Tasha’s can grant expertise in a proficient skill at Ranger 1 if you choose that option. Expertise is not a baseline Ranger or Drow trait.
Use darkness and sunlight with care
Superior Darkvision helps you perceive in darkness, but it does not grant perfect vision. In ordinary darkness it lets you see as if the area were dim light, which is still lightly obscured for sight-based Wisdom (Perception) checks. Magical darkness is different: darkvision alone does not let you see through it. Gloom Stalker’s Umbral Sight can hide you from creatures that rely on darkvision to see you in darkness, but it does not give you the ability to see through that darkness.
Plan routes around actual cover and light in the scene. A wall, roof, or other feature that blocks sunlight can matter if it puts you out of sunlight. A hood, tinted lenses, fog cloud, or darkness spell does not automatically negate Sunlight Sensitivity by rules text. Ask the DM how a proposed tactic interacts with the current environment before building around it.
Multiclass only when the tradeoff fits
A Rogue dip can add Cunning Action at Rogue 2, but it overlaps with the bonus-action value of two-weapon fighting and several spells. The Scout and Assassin archetypes begin at Rogue 3. Assassin’s Assassinate grants advantage against a creature that has not yet taken a turn in combat; its automatic critical hit requires that creature to be surprised. It is not a guaranteed critical on every opening attack.
Fighter 2 grants Action Surge, which lets you take one additional action on your turn once per short or long rest. Fighter 3 adds a Martial Archetype. The extra action can support a burst turn, but multiclass levels delay Ranger features; Extra Attack from two classes does not ordinarily stack. Compare the complete character level progression before taking a dip.
Roleplay the character beyond the build
For campaign motives and table-friendly secret agendas, see Drow Ranger Roleplay: Writing a Secret Agenda.
A Drow Ranger might be a guide, exile, scout, hunter, or traveler for reasons that fit your setting. Drow communities and surface responses vary by world and campaign. Treat cultural history as a setting choice rather than a rule that dictates a character’s personality. Build the character’s motives with the DM and other players, especially if prejudice or Underdark politics will be part of the story.
Official Rules Sources
- D&D Beyond Basic Rules (2014): Elf traits and general race rules.
- D&D Beyond Player’s Handbook (2014): Drow subrace traits.
- D&D Beyond Basic Rules (2014): Ranger, Fighter, Rogue, spellcasting, and multiclass features.
- D&D Beyond Basic Rules (2014): actions, opportunity attacks, and combat.
- D&D Beyond Basic Rules (2014): ability scores and character creation.
- D&D Beyond: Xanathar’s Guide to Everything (Gloom Stalker and Hunter options).
- D&D Beyond: Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything (Fey Wanderer and optional Ranger features).
