Battlemaster Fighter tactics in a mostly ranged party

[Phoenecia]

So. I've been playing in a campaign for a while now (the party is level 5) as a Battlemaster Fighter, things are starting to ramp up in terms of risk and difficulty, and I'm starting to worry about our odds of survival.

The Party Info:
1) The PC party is tiny. There's 3 PCs total, plus one Scout NPC that's been accompanying us for a little bit, but they're likely not going to be permanent.

2) My Fighter is melee-oriented, but can use bows. The other members of the party are a Revised Ranger of the Hunter Conclave that's recently picked up an Oathbow and a Bladesinger Wizard. As you can see, they're pretty much ranged nukers that can blow through enemy HP like nothing, though the Ranger does pretty well in melee when forced to.

3) We have no dedicated healers whatsoever, so any HP recovery so far has been limited to using hit dice during short rests, the Ranger's Goodberry spell, and taking long rests when we've run out of options.

4) The Maneuvers I have so far are Trip Attack (which is kind of bad in a range-oriented party because ranged attacks are made with Disadvantage on prone enemies), Precision Attack, and Distracting Strike.

There have been very strong hints in the campaign that we'll probably be fighting dragons in the very near future. A lot of them. Barring any sort of potential NPC aid and shenanigans, and assuming the party will likely be facing future threats by themselves, what can I do as the de facto 'tank' to help keep the party alive when I'm largely melee and will probably get my butt handed to me without any other melee support? What would be effective uses of my Combat Maneuvers?

What can the other two in my party do to help keep themselves alive or possibly help keep me from dying?

Things I've considered:

* Using Trip Attack via longbow and just eating the range attack disadvantage against enemies that'd do a lot of damage (like a dragon). This probably won't hurt the Ranger quite so much since he has +7 to attack, but I'm not sure. It might hurt him if he makes use of Sharpshooter, but that extra +10 to damage is nice. The Ranger has a damage output of 1d8+4 (normal bow damage), +1d6 (Hunter's Mark), +1d8 (Colossus Slayer), +3d6 (Oathbow), +10 (Sharpshooter). Now double all that by 2 (except Colossus Slayer) if he makes a second attack on his turn. With that much damage in mind, is it worth imposing disadvantage via Trip Attack just to prevent a particularly nasty enemy from moving?

* Asking the Ranger to multiclass into Cleric or Druid (or whatever other class might give him access to in-combat healing since that'd be super useful). The utility would be nice, but I don't know how necessary it might be.

* Switching out one or more of my combat maneuvers first chance I get, though I don't know what I'd switch them to.

While I'm not a D&D newbie, there's still more nuanced details that I might've missed when it comes to strategy. I've been pretty good at handling combat encounters despite the small party size and limited resources, but any further advice on how to avoid a TPK is appreciated!

[Darc_Vader]

If you’re looking to keep enemies off your allies, then you should look to either Menacing or Goading attack imo. Goading will incentivize them to attack you instead of the squishies, and Menacing allows you to keep dangerous melee enemies away from you and/or your party members depending on positioning. Both also work well with a bow if needed: Goading becomes a blanket disadvantage on attacks if they can’t get to you, and Menacing just straight up denies a significant portion of the battlefield to the target (along with its own blanket disadvantage effect) until they can break line of sight.

Edit: as for general healing and survivability, maybe have someone look into taking the Healer feat; turn healer’s kits from a stabilizer to a better stabilizer + reusable potion.

Re-edit: The Ranger also has access to the spell Healing Spirit at level 5, which is widely considered to be brokenly strong, and even if it is limited to in combat, is still pretty good provided the concentration isn't being used elsewhere.

[Crgaston]

Trip Attack is actually decent against flying creatures, since if they can't hover, they fall.

Parry can contribute to your survivability in melee assuming you have decent Dex.

Darc_Vader is spot on re:Goading and Menacing. And everything else, too.

A Hunter Ranger with an Oathbow, Colossus Slayer and Hunter's Mark makes Commander's Strike really good.

[MaxWilson]

Dragons? Make sure the Ranger learns Absorb Elements and Healing Spirit, from Xanathar's. Ditto Absorb Elements for Bladesinger.

There is every chance you might wind up as the squishiest PC in the party. :-D But it depends on tactics.

[Phoenecia]

I had actually completely forgotten about Healing Spirit for the Ranger. I know he took Pass Without a Trace once he hit level 5, and it's been a huge help for stealthing. As far as I know, his current spell loadout at level 5 is Hunter's Mark (a given), Hail of Thorns (it was used a few times pre-level 5, but I think its usefulness will be dropping off), Goodberry (also key to our out of combat healing pre level 4/5), and Pass Without a Trace (been invaluable in helping us get the jump on enemies for surprise rounds). I might nudge the Ranger and suggest he replace either Hail of Thorns or Goodberry at the next opportunity with Healing Spirit since it's too good to not have.

For Maneuvers, Commander's Strike, Menacing Attack, and Goading Attack all look like REALLY good choices. Commander's Strike is good because I actually do the least amount of damage in the party, and letting the Ranger make as many attacks as possible can clean up the battlefield really quickly. Menacing and Goading Attack are also really good for battlefield control.

I'm also considering taking a Feat at level 6 instead of doing the ASI. DEX is my primary damage stat, and I have 18 DEX currently, but I'm kind of thinking survival is more important for me as opposed to maxing damage since the Ranger and Wizard already do insane amounts of damage. Case in point, the last big 'Boss' fight we had, the Ranger did like 30-40 damage in one turn, and this is BEFORE he got his Oathbow, and he does this on a regular basis.

Feats I'm considering:
Defensive Duelist: I'm a sword and board Fighter with an AC of 18, currently, and I already use my Lucky feat to negate critical hits and multiattacks. Taking this would boost my AC to make me virtually untouchable to most things except very high rolls.

Healer: Mainly out of combat utility since we have an abundance of Healer's kits (all three party members have one, and we've been lucky enough so far to avoid needing to stabilize dying), and would reduce the need to burn lots of hit dice to regain HP between multiple encounters.

Sentinel: Amazing for when the Ranger gets stuck in melee and needs me to save his butt. Can soften baddies up for him to make use of Colossus Slayer, but otherwise really situational in a range-heavy party.

Shield Master: As a sword and board Fighter, I'm giving this one serious consideration since succeeding on DEX saves would completely negate any damage I would have taken.

[djreynolds]

Resilient wisdom is also a thought, but I personally would wait til after you get indomitable, say 12th level.

Defensive duelist is nice as you can use this every round.

[Crgaston]

I had actually completely forgotten about Healing Spirit for the Ranger. I know he took Pass Without a Trace once he hit level 5, and it's been a huge help for stealthing. As far as I know, his current spell loadout at level 5 is Hunter's Mark (a given), Hail of Thorns (it was used a few times pre-level 5, but I think its usefulness will be dropping off), Goodberry (also key to our out of combat healing pre level 4/5), and Pass Without a Trace (been invaluable in helping us get the jump on enemies for surprise rounds). I might nudge the Ranger and suggest he replace either Hail of Thorns or Goodberry at the next opportunity with Healing Spirit since it's too good to not have.

For Maneuvers, Commander's Strike, Menacing Attack, and Goading Attack all look like REALLY good choices. Commander's Strike is good because I actually do the least amount of damage in the party, and letting the Ranger make as many attacks as possible can clean up the battlefield really quickly. Menacing and Goading Attack are also really good for battlefield control.

I'm also considering taking a Feat at level 6 instead of doing the ASI. DEX is my primary damage stat, and I have 18 DEX currently, but I'm kind of thinking survival is more important for me as opposed to maxing damage since the Ranger and Wizard already do insane amounts of damage. Case in point, the last big 'Boss' fight we had, the Ranger did like 30-40 damage in one turn, and this is BEFORE he got his Oathbow, and he does this on a regular basis.

Feats I'm considering:
Defensive Duelist: I'm a sword and board Fighter with an AC of 18, currently, and I already use my Lucky feat to negate critical hits and multiattacks. Taking this would boost my AC to make me virtually untouchable to most things except very high rolls.

Healer: Mainly out of combat utility since we have an abundance of Healer's kits (all three party members have one, and we've been lucky enough so far to avoid needing to stabilize dying), and would reduce the need to burn lots of hit dice to regain HP between multiple encounters.

Sentinel: Amazing for when the Ranger gets stuck in melee and needs me to save his butt. Can soften baddies up for him to make use of Colossus Slayer, but otherwise really situational in a range-heavy party.

Shield Master: As a sword and board Fighter, I'm giving this one serious consideration since succeeding on DEX saves would completely negate any damage I would have taken.

Defensive Duelist is better later, since it scales off your Proficiency Bonus. Dex 20 at L6 would boost your Attack Bonus, Your Damage Bonus, your Initiative, Dex saves, and your AC all the time vs DD only boosting your AC, and consuming your Reaction. I'd probably save it for L12.

Healer would probably be the best choice given your party composition, unless the Ranger picks up Healing Spirit. And even still... it's virtually resourceless healing that scales with your level. The small party nerfs it a bit, though.

Speaking of your Ranger... Spike Growth + Pushing Attack is sooo good. Combined with Sentinel, That's potentially an extra 2d8+6d4 for your Reaction.

[Damon_Tor]

I'll second shield master. It's going to help a lot vs dragon breath. You won't get as much use out of the shove as other fighters, but remember you can use the shove to push 5 feet instead of knockdown.

Keep your trip attack. As others have said, it's absolute murder vs flying enemies.

[Skylivedk]

Spike Growth is stupidly good with a strong ranged party (also with Pushing Attack). In a "normal" party it is a top-5 spell for me; and it climbs spots in a ranged party.

I'd definitely swap (if possible) trip for menacing/goading attack. Commander's Strike is also awesome, esp. if your ranger focuses more on his alpha strikes.

Trip is great for grounding units, but that's about it for you in the current party setup. Despite your low health, and especially if your DM cares about carrying weight and tracking resources, check Inspiring Leader compared to Healer. In most cases IL comes out own top since it requires no resources and can be done prior to combat saving you a lot of your action economy. Also, Inspiring Leader + Commander's Strike also just scream gritty-lead-from-the-front leader like few other things do.

[JakOfAllTirades]

Bonus points if you use Trip Attack to drop a flying enemy right into a Spike Growth spell.

[Phoenecia]

So! Update on the party after our most recent combat encounter.

Turns out I was totally right about the dragons. I ended up being wrong about the type of dragon that got sicced on us. I was expecting a Young White Dragon, which seemed about the right CR for our level and party size, and our last session seemed to hint at it (frozen stretch of forest and a dead giant we were able to determine that had been killed via being frozen solid). What we got instead? A Young Green Dragon.

For those of you familiar with the adventure Red Hand of Doom, it's the Skull Gorge Bridge encounter with Ozzyrendion. Yeah. That one. Complete with all of the goblin and hell hound reinforcements.

I had a strategy going in considering we were able to get a surprise round:

Take out the baddies on the south side of the bridge and hope the damage would be enough to one-shot them on each attack (which it did, fortunately. We had some good rolls), and then have the Ranger take shots on the dragon while it was still on the other side of the bridge since it would still take about a round or two for it to even reach us and because the Ranger has Sharpshooter, which ignores long range disadvantage. Once the dragon would get into melee range, I'd perform a Trip Attack to keep it grounded while the Ranger happily eats Disadvantage because he has a +9 to hit anyway.

Things went well UNTIL the dragon got in melee range.

We misjudged our positioning and the dragon's range, and both my Fighter and the Ranger got caught in a breath attack. Ranger saved. I did not. Fighter gets knocked unconscious. The whole Tripping the dragon plan ends up not happening.

Things that saved us from a TPK:

* Bladesinger Wizard got a Web spell off on the dragon.
* Scout NPC scored a critical hit Sneak Attack for 40 damage. Combined with the Ranger's earlier attacks that did a combined 30+ damage with Oathbow, Colossus Slayer, and Hunter's Mark. Sharpshooter +10 damage wasn't used at all due to the dragon's high AC.
* Of all things, the Ranger's obsessive habit of leaving a spell slot to cast Goodberry before every long rest and having a small cache of healing berries prevented me from having to make too many death saves. I got knocked out twice from dragon breath attacks (Ranger was fine since he had a trinket that would reduce him to only 1hp on an attack that would normally knock him unconscious), and so he'd spend his action feeding my Fighter a berry to recover enough to not die. He does this twice.
* Bladesinger Wizard manages to distract the dragon enough for the Ranger to save my butt, and does enough damage to chase the dragon off.
* Just as the dragon is escaping, the Ranger shoots it in the back and manages to kill it.

Post encounter developments:

* Entire party was super low on health. After finally managing to get back up (after the dragon died), my Fighter finished the fight with 15hp. The Ranger had 1hp. Wizard had 3hp. I have no idea how our Scout NPC fared, but he survived too.
* Since we're doing milestone level progression, we hit level 6 after this encounter.
* I decided to make use of the ASI this level as opposed to taking a feat. I'll be getting another ASI/feat at level 8, so I think that's when I'll start going for feats. I have 20 DEX now!
* Ranger has swapped his spells around. He's decided to drop Hail of Thorns for now in order to take Healing Spirit (yay!). He's keeping Goodberry for now since that ended up being really clutch.
* Ranger has, unsurprisingly, chosen Dragons as his Greater Favored enemy since that's the feature he gets for hitting level 6.
* Ranger has a little hero trinket (bestowed by an Archfey patron) that also got upgraded. He can now cast Heroism, Enthrall, and Find Steed once per day.
* My Fighter has succubus powers from story shenanigans that I have to remember to use. Since I don't have Menacing Attack, but I do have access to the Suggestion spell, I'll probably have to make do with that until level 7 when I can learn new Maneuvers. Also have Charm Person, which will probably have some situational use.

I'll probably be taking Menacing Attack and probably Commander's Strike at level 7 to help with battlefield control and augment the Ranger's damage because holy crap is he useful. I'll also probably end up swapping Precision Attack since I never use it and switch it to something else.

At level 8, I'll probably go for the Shield Master feat. Because that experience with the breath attacks was awful, and if I can negate that damage? Heck yes.

[MaxWilson]

Turns out I was totally right about the dragons. I ended up being wrong about the type of dragon that got sicced on us. I was expecting a Young White Dragon, which seemed about the right CR for our level and party size, and our last session seemed to hint at it (frozen stretch of forest and a dead giant we were able to determine that had been killed via being frozen solid). What we got instead? A Young Green Dragon.

Heh. You weren't wrong by much, then. A Young White Dragon and a Young Green Dragon are almost identical except for their elemental damage type. Green has +1 AC, +3 HP, +1 to Perception and Stealth, +5 to Deception, -3 to breath weapon damage (12d6 vs 10d6), and +2.5 to bite bonus damage (2d6 vs 1d8). But for some reason White is worth 2300 XP and Green is worth 3900 XP, so yay! you basically got extra XP.

At level 8, I'll probably go for the Shield Master feat. Because that experience with the breath attacks was awful, and if I can negate that damage? Heck yes.

Just checking: are you aware that Shield Master does absolutely nothing to help you against White and Green dragon breath? It only helps with Dex save attacks, and both those breath weapons are Con save.