The Scorpion Lord

“We can allow satellites, planets, suns, universe, nay whole systems of universes, to be
governed by laws, but the smallest insect, we wish to be created at once by special act.”

Nature Cleric / Swarmkeeper Ranger

A guide by Lilith
 Preface
Ever wanted to do God Wizard stuff but you already have 5 wizard characters? Tried a
martial but tired of hitting Attack x2? Well, with the new and exciting Swarmkeeper Ranger,
you can do controls in a brand new way! It’s like Graviturgist in terms of dynamic and tactical
gameplay, but more straightforward and still a lot of fun. Let’s explore some of the new
options introduced in Tasha’s.

Concept
The build is all about moving people around, utilizing Gathered Swarm feature and Thorn
Whip, to combo with battlefield control. You already have internal synergy within the build,
but it will perform even more astoundingly if your allies pitch in to combo with your gimmick.
You can station anywhere depending on your team's strategy, but generally you like to be in
the fray for slightly finer control of where you'll throw your foes around with Thorn Whip.
You’ll be playing the role of a controller, and a great tactician. Positioning is key, and
teamwork will make it much easier.

*Note: A standard build would be Swarm 5 Any Cleric x. This build goes Swarm 3 because
the goal is to get double dip SG online as fast as possible.

Level 0

Race:​ ANY
This build is not at all reliant on Feats, or at least no more reliant on Feats than a regular
Cleric. You only need some basic concentration protection, then just pump ASI as fast as
possible to improve your save DC. With Tasha in play, or perhaps a decent stat roll, you are
free to explore any racial gimmick you want.
Notable mentions:
Any race with access to flight/hover: Thorn whipping from higher up is crazy. You do an
extra d6 fall damage and they're automatically prone, making it much harder for enemies to
recover from your repositioning. Climb speed also works, but a lot less versatile.
Races with extra mobility: You want to move around and reposition yourself to control where
you throw your enemies, more move speed is nice.
Bugbear: 5ft extra reach! It's a nice boon to the gimmick we're going for. Thornwhip is a
melee attack, and pulling someone 10ft from 35ft away, plus a potential 15ft from this build,
can be really handy. If you're playing keep away, you can proc Gathered Swarm with a
Shillelagh whack without having to be in 5ft.
Lotusden Halfing (Wildemount): Your 5th level is a bit weak, but this race grants you your
first milestone one level early! Entangle is nice, Spikegrowth is awesome.
Kobold: Well, you’re a Kobold, that’s already the appeal. But also you like to hit your
Whip/SW as often as possible, and Pack tactics help.
For this build, I'll go with Vuman just as the standard baseline, but feel free to play around
with racial choices

Ability Scores:
Feat: Resilient Con
Str 8 / Dex 14 / Con 16 / Int 10 / Wis 16 / Cha 10

14 dex for Medium since we already need 13 to multiclass in Ranger, Wis is the only stat
you want, Con is obviously important and 16 especially so since we're relying on Con save
prof for concentration. 15 Str and 14 Con is fine too if you want more AC.
You're actually fine with a low initiative. Your role is to yoink people into hazard zones, which
means you do like your ally to throw it down first, while enemies that just managed to escape
are easy targets for yoinking them back in as well.

1: Nature Cleric 1
+Acolyte of Nature
Armor:​ All armor, shields 
Weapons: S ​ imple/martial weapons 
Saving Throws: ​Wisdom, Charisma 
Skills:​ Pick 2 
 
0: +Mending, +Thaumaturgy, +Guidance + Shillelagh
1: +Healing Word, +Bless, +Command, +Detect Magic +Animal Friendship*, Speak with
animals*

You don't need attack cantrips, since you'll be picking up more offense from Ranger side.
Shillelagh is handy and lets you whack stuff with Wis, also helps with some Wererat
encounters.

2: Nature Cleric 1 / Ranger 1

+Bonus skill
+Favored Foe
+Canny

Spells
0: Mending, Thaumaturgy, Guidance, Shillelagh
1: Healing Word, Bless, Command, Detect Magic Animal Friendship*, Speak with animals*

First level of Ranger is better, but still not all that exciting. Favored Foe is free damage
whenever you happen to not be concentrating. It's nice but don't count on it.
For Canny, can't go wrong with Perception, but feel free to pick whatever. If you have the
STR, grappling lets you potentially move three enemies around each turn with no extra
resource cost, but do remember you want a way to get free hand for casting after, such as
Simic arm.

3: Nature Cleric 1 / Ranger 2

+Fighting Style: Druidic Warrior

Spells
0: Mending, Thaumaturgy, Guidance, Shillelagh +Thorn Whip +Magic Stone/Mold Earth
1: Healing Word, Bless, Command, Detect Magic Animal Friendship*, Speak with animals*
+Goodberry +Entangle
Your first puzzle piece is in place. Thorn whip! You don’t have much yet, but this is the same
level your buddies have access to Web, Spikegrowth, at at least Grease and you yourself
have the leftover difficult terrain from Entangle. Pull stragglers into it, and out of your friend's
faces. If you can gain high ground, or pull some one off a ledge, great! Free damage, and
they’re prone.
You have lots of cantrips, pick something fun, or feed magic stone to your friend’s tiny
servant.

4: Nature 1 / Swarmkeeper Ranger 3

+Primal Awareness
Spells
0: Mending, Thaumaturgy, Guidance, Shillelagh, Thorn Whip, Magic Stone/Mold Earth,
+Mage hand
1: Healing Word, Bless, Command, +Bane, Animal Friendship*, Speak with animals*
Goodberry, +Absorb Element, Longstrider
You get fluff rituals that can cast for free, it’s handy but I won’t bother listing it out.
But also, you are now the first step in being the Scorpion Lord!
Gathered Swarm, an amazingly fun ability that can trigger once on each of your turns. Do
some free bonus damage, give yourself disengage-lite, or the clearly superior option, force
enemy a Strength save or get yoinked up to 15ft anywhere you want. Drag them across
hazards of all kinds at much greater potency/efficiency, and when you just want push you
can also do it with a Shillelagh whack. Lining enemies up for big AoE spells is also much
more efficient.
Another handy use is to get your friend out of dodge by giving them a friendly bonk, and this
is especially effective if your DM lets them willingly fail a save.
This build is a more team support iteration and to maximize pull/push meme, and you’ll be
paying quite steep multiclass tax for the next level. This is why I’m grabbing Longstrider to
get you into position more easily, and Bane to improve both your Gathered Swarm success
rate as well as the hazard trigger you’re dragging them into. Bane has extra merit here
because you can force that save every turn at no extra resource cost. Absorb element
because this is the last Ranger level so you can’t swap it out later on, and waiting for 6th
level Nature feature takes a long time.

5: Nature 2 / Swarmkeeper 3
+Channel Divinity: Nobody cares it’s pretty poo poo
+Harness Divine Power
Spells
0: Mending, Thaumaturgy, Guidance, Shillelagh, Thorn Whip, Magic Stone/Mold Earth,
Mage Hand
1: Healing Word, Bless, Command, Bane, Animal Friendship*, Speak with animals*
Goodberry, Absorb Element, Longstrider, +Detect magic
This level hurts a bit, but Harness Divine Power does soften the blow. You convert CD,
which you won’t use anyways, up to 2nd level slot once per day, and it improves as you
level. Feel free to upcast your good spells, like Bane, Bless, and Command.
On the other hand, your allies are likely stronger now, since they possess powerful
control/area spells that you can combo with, unless they also have to pay multiclass tax like
you do.
6: Nature 3 / Swarmkeeper 3
Spells
0: Mending, Thaumaturgy, Guidance, Shillelagh, Thorn Whip, Magic Stone/Mold Earth,
Mage Hand
1: Healing Word, Bless, Command, Bane, Animal Friendship*, Speak with animals*
Goodberry, Absorb Element, Longstrider
2: +Spiritual Weapon, +Aid, +Spike Growth*, +Barkskin*

You are finally one strong, independent Scorpion Lord! Your Spikegrowth is not just a
Spikegrowth, it’d doubly potent! It’s a slowing and damaging field that you’re gonna make
enemies walk through over and over again. Your best combo at this level is probably with
Web or Spirit Guardian, possibly Sleet storm, Stink Cloud might be a fun consideration, and
for maximum hurt they can overlap their effect with some Spikes to make it harder to walk
out.
The second major piece of synergy is Spiritual weapon. A SW whack also triggers Gathered
Swarm, and only costs bonus action. That means you have 2 attacks to ensure the trigger
the Swarm, and can potentially move two enemies into danger zones each round if you proc
swarm with SW and pull with Whip. Positioning is key! For this level, however, you only have
4 2nd level slots to spare (1 from Harness), but the option to burn both SW and Spikegrowth
is there for a tough fight.

7: Nature 4 / Swarmkeeper 3
+ASI Wis

Spells
0: Mending, Thaumaturgy, Guidance, Shillelagh, Thorn Whip, Magic Stone/Mold Earth,
Mage Hand
1: Healing Word, Bless, Command, Bane, Animal Friendship*, Speak with animals*
Goodberry, Absorb Element, Longstrider
2: Spiritual Weapon, Aid, Spike Growth*, Barkskin*, +Hold Person, +Locate Object

Bump ASI, grab the universal buff to your performance.

Hold person is a decent pickup here. It's a nice upcast with your 3rd level slot, and paralysed
enemies will automatically fail save against Gathered swarm, so you can tell them to fall off a
cliff easily.
Also you can now rest trick 3rd level Aid

8: Nature 5 / Swarmkeeper 3

Spells
0: Mending, Thaumaturgy, Guidance, Shillelagh, Thorn Whip, Magic Stone/Mold Earth,
Mage Hand
1: Healing Word, Bless, Command, Animal Friendship*, Speak with animals* Goodberry,
Absorb Element, Longstrider
2: Spiritual Weapon, Aid, Spike Growth*, Barkskin*, Hold Person, Locate Object
3: +Spirit Guardian, +Dispel Magic, +Plant Growth*, +Wind Wall*
And finally, the capstone of this build. You yourself can contribute to your team’s death
zones, with Spirit Guardian! Roast enemies around, drag two of them into it each turn and
proc it again. If your DM is not restrictive about Plant Growth, it also works amazing with our
kit. Any death zone plus super difficult terrain will mean certain death for many foes,
especially when you always have the option of slapping them deeper inside. Wind wall is
situational, but there are interesting ways you can deploy it for big control value, and both
your SW and Thorn Whip are unaffected by the wind.

What’s great about this build is that its value scales with your team’s power. At this level,
your team will likely have access to Sickening Radiance, Black Tentacles, or Wall of Fire, all
of which are devastating to get slapped into. Having access to flight at this point is also
highly valuable, since you can pull people with Thorn Whip with greater finesse, so consider
slipping your DM a $5.

For future levels, pick up Nature 6 for the free 30ft absorb element every turn, then go Cleric
all the way to enjoy higher level spells. You can pick up Swarmkeeper 4 whenever you feel
like getting an extra ASI, since it does give you an extra level of caster progression for
upcasting Spirit Guardian.
Alternatives:
This build is all about maximizing the forced movement niche and getting to ultimate form -
Spirit Guardian at an earlier level. If you want to contribute more in terms of DPR, you can
consider something like Swarm 5 / Cleric x like a standard Ranger Cleric progression
instead. You’ll get Spikegrowth and extra attack at 5, along with Web, then you can pick up
any of the high quality Cleric domain (Ahem, Twilight).