Ranger Point Buy: Dexterity First, Wisdom Close

Dexterity takes the 15 because attack, damage, Armour Class and Stealth all read it. Wisdom then has to reach 14, not for flavour but because every Ranger spell that forces a save — Ensnaring Strike, Spike Growth, Conjure Animals — is cast at a DC built from it.

Four legal Ranger allocations, and what each one costs

Dexterity 15 and Wisdom 14 take 16 points between them, and unlike the Monk a Ranger gets no Armour Class back from the second one. The rows below price what the remaining 11 points can and cannot cover once that is paid.

What each legal allocation of the Ranger’s 27 points actually buys. Armour Class is the best reachable in Ranger armour.
Allocation	Array	AC	Save DC (WIS)	HP lvl 1	HP lvl 5
Recommended	STR 12 · DEX 15 · CON 13 · INT 10 · WIS 14 · CHA 8	17	12	11	39
Gloom Stalker	STR 8 · DEX 15 · CON 14 · INT 12 · WIS 14 · CHA 8	17	12	12	44
Beast Master	STR 10 · DEX 14 · CON 14 · INT 10 · WIS 15 · CHA 8	17	12	12	44
Swarmkeeper	STR 8 · DEX 15 · CON 14 · INT 10 · WIS 15 · CHA 8	17	12	12	44

Why this spread is expensive

Dexterity 15 costs 9 points and Wisdom 14 costs 7, so the pair alone takes 16 of the 27 and leaves 11 for the remaining four abilities. On the recommended array that comes out at Armour Class 17 , a save DC of 12 from Wisdom, and 11 hit points at level 1.

Wisdom pays a Ranger only on the spells it casts, and at level 1 that is Hunter’s Mark and very little else. Dexterity pays on the attack roll, the damage, the Armour Class, initiative, and a save the class is already proficient in, which is why the 15 goes there.

The recommended spread in full

Where each of the Ranger’s 27 points goes, ability by ability.
Ability	Score	Point cost
STR	12	4
DEX	15	9
CON	13	5
INT	10	2
WIS	14	7
CHA	8	0
Total spent		27

Scores worth reaching exactly

Dexterity 15: With the Archery fighting style this is +6 to hit at level 1, before any magic weapon exists.
Wisdom 14: Ensnaring Strike and Spike Growth land at DC 12 rather than DC 10 — the difference between a control Ranger and an archer with spells.
Constitution 14: The Ranger fights at range but scouts alone; Constitution is what survives the encounter the party is not in yet.

Subclasses that change the array

Gloom Stalker — STR 8 · DEX 15 · CON 14 · INT 12 · WIS 14 · CHA 8: Dread Ambusher adds initiative and a bonus attack in round one, so Strength drops entirely to fund Constitution and Intelligence.
Beast Master — STR 10 · DEX 14 · CON 14 · INT 10 · WIS 15 · CHA 8: The companion makes the attacks, so Wisdom 15 for spell DCs beats the fifteenth point of Dexterity.
Swarmkeeper — STR 8 · DEX 15 · CON 14 · INT 10 · WIS 15 · CHA 8: Swarmkeeper Magic forces saves every round, which is the one Ranger subclass that genuinely wants both 15s.

Races that pay part of the tax

Ranger totals once each racial bonus is added to the array above.
Race	STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
Elf (Wood)	12	17	13	10	15	8
Halfling (Stout)	12	17	14	10	14	8
Firbolg	13	15	13	10	16	8

Elf (Wood). Dexterity and Wisdom together with Mask of the Wild, on the class that scouts ahead of the party.
Halfling (Stout). Dexterity and Constitution, plus poison resistance on a class that spends time in the wild.
Firbolg. Wisdom +2 turns a Beast Master or Swarmkeeper spell DC from adequate to genuinely threatening.

The mistake this array is built to avoid

Building the Ranger as a Rogue with spells and leaving Wisdom at 10. Every Ranger spell that forces a save — Ensnaring Strike, Spike Growth, Conjure Animals — is cast at DC 10 with no Wisdom behind it.

Hunter’s Mark is concentration and this array holds it at +1, so the Wisdom 14 that casts the spell is worth less to a Ranger than the Constitution that keeps it from ending on the first hit taken.

Ranger ability score questions

What array should a Ranger use with 27 points?

Dexterity 15, Wisdom 14, Constitution 13, Strength 12 spends all 27. That sets a spell save DC of 12 and, with the Archery fighting style, gives +6 to hit at level 1 before any magic weapon exists.

How much Wisdom does a Ranger actually need?

Wisdom 14 sets the spell save DC at 12; Wisdom 10 sets it at 10, which most creatures simply pass. The 7 points Wisdom 14 costs are the difference between a control Ranger and an archer who happens to have spells.

Can a Ranger dump Strength?

A Gloom Stalker can and does, dropping Strength to 8 to fund Constitution 14 and Intelligence 12. The base array keeps Strength 12 instead, which costs 4 points and covers Athletics checks and carrying capacity in the wilderness.

Does the Beast Master change the Ranger array?

Yes. The companion makes the attacks, so Wisdom 15 for spell DCs beats the fifteenth point of Dexterity. That array runs Dexterity 14, Wisdom 15, Constitution 14 and still spends exactly 27.

Where to go next

Monk — The same Dexterity-and-Wisdom split, but without armour to soften the cost.
Druid — Casts from Wisdom too, which shows what the Ranger gives up by funding Dexterity first.
Every array on this page is a plain 27-point spread, so you can adjust the spread and see each step priced as you go.