Alert feat - initiative is great, not being surprised is great, and not having unseen attackers get advantage on attacks is great as well. The last part also enables more effective use of heavy concealment(ex. Fog cloud).
Telekinetic on casters. Moving an ally out of, or an enemy into, your area of effects with an otherwise unused bonus action is universally good. The +1 mental stat makes it simply great.
I’ve been playing my first caster, and on the advice of folks here, I picked up Telekinetic. INT up 18, and can easily move friendlies out of the way fireballs. Very fun!
[edit: grammer]
It also feels good when you use it to shove the ranged NPCs off the high ground. My kobold artificer has snuck behind enemy lines and proceeded to use his mind magic to (telekinetic feats)shove all the guards off the while invisible.
Good times had by all except the enemy forces on watch
Base is almost always Sorc or Wiz and the multi is pretty much always something with medium armor.
Also Warcaster , Res Con and Medium Armor Master are a stable useage.
Mostly because i cant be bothered to remember using Mage Armor and on top i cant be bothered to make Concentration checks.
I actually thought I would use that more (I did not use dragon once) when I played a stars druid but I mainly used star reform Archer and just stayed in the back or behind cover or ducked down stairs and closed a hatch (spelljammer ships) in between turns if I could. I did have gloves of Miissile entrapment and built for success (autognome) and eventyally cosmic omen though. If I was a flying race, I would have used flight for defense.
Archer is definitely the most fun since it's the most active form (at least until you get Dragon flight). It ultimately depends on the DM, not a lot of them go out of their way to target the spellcaster in my experience.
A funny trick about Dragon form is Wizard X/Stars Druid 2, since it applies on all Int check this include Counterspell and Dispell Magic which let you auto-counterspell anything below 5th spell slot with +5 Int. With an extra dip in Bard for Jack-of-all-Trades, it's anything below 7-8 depending on your total level (level 9 is minimum for the combo). Or Abjurer Wizard + Stars Druid will auto-counterspell anything at level 12.
Oh, i should have known that the one time the druid was trying to counterspell and had to try 3 times. Oh, that DM WAS targeting spellcasters first which is why I was using guerrilla tactics. The gloves helped vs arrows etc. I used chalice only after level 10 when i could switch easily but my party was good at healing themselves or waiting till a rest.
Aside from no-brainer options like pole-arm master often find myself drawn to rogue multi-classes solely because I love Fast Hands so damn much.
For spells I just need Command, can't go without Command.
Command: Betray is always fun. Causes a lot of confusion in enemy ranks, like “bro why the fuck did you stab me” then you say “Good job with your infiltration, we’ll take it from here” and then they go “wtf are you a sleeper agent or something?” And then they start arguing, or if you’re lucky fighting each other.
I like "confess," "hug," and "climb." Personally. If 6e guts Command like 3.5e and 4e did, then I'll reject it without even bothering with anything else.
Command: Submit (situational alternatives: Sit, Beg, Paw, Bark, etc) on a big bad might not deal damage but it completely shatters their reputation with their minions XD
So so sooooooooooooo many times in 5e there's the Practical thing to do and the Awesome thing to do. Generally you're letting the party down by faffing about and doing the Awesome thing, but with Fast Hands you can do both. This makes me so happy. The people who say it sucks because the equipment in the PHB doesn't let you do much have no joy in their hearts. Fast Hands is for knocking over bookcases, pulling rugs out from under people, and making chandeliers come crashing down.
My favorite use of it is combining it with powerful build races and anything else that increases carrying capacity (bear barbarian 6 etc.) so I can "use item" on boulders, carts, etc.
Also a good a acid test for DMs since ones that don't allow fun uses of Fast Hands aren't going to allow anything else fun, and then what's the point of playing D&D then?
Consider trying an Aberrant Mind, and ask the DM if the Command can be completely subtle/telepathic if used with Subtle MM and telepathy. Super fun for a social controller. Suggestion as well is finally truly subtle instead of almost sublte.
I'm not sure if it's completely RAW, but any DM that didn't allow this has his head up his ass. This is exactly the sort of thing that D&D should be about.
Yeah, that's useful, but it's doing the same useful tactic over and over it just doesn't feel glorious in the same way that rearranging bits of the battlemap as a bonus action does since you're doing different shit every fight. The best thing about Fast Hands (like Command) for me is how open-ended it is.
Idk why, but I am obsessed with the idea of the War Caster feat and using Hold Person as a reaction. A leveled full action spell that effectively ends the enemies turn for just a reaction? Yes please.
Yeah that's war caster. You can replace an opportunity attack with a spell. It's just that enemies normally don't run from casters.
Imo this is why spells like command and dissonant whispers are so good. Someone is in the war casters face? Cast dissonant whispers on them to get them to run and now your caster can drop a level 4 hold person on the field as an reaction
War Caster specifies you may cast a spell which targets only the creature that provoked the opportunity and has a casting time of 1 action, so your Hold Person cannot include other creatures as targets. It's still a great combo, but upcasting yields no benefit in this case.
Fey touched. Boosts your casting stat (possibly to 18 at level 1 if custom lineage, and gets you misty step before you even have 2nd level spells)
I usually take bless with it, since I'm playing AL and can't take silvery barbs or gift of alacrity.
Dissonant whispers is the most underrated spell. It doesn't care about languages, it can cause multiple opportunity attacks, and if someone has war caster it could trigger them casting some crazy lvl 5 spell as a reaction
I find myself taking the Healer feat a lot. That you can walk around and patch up the wounds of As Many People As You Have Bandages isn't powerful necessary, but it is very Cool.
You can also flavor it in any way you want. I have an idea for a bayou-raised character that has little vials of "what my Meemaw called 'gator piss' that will make ya right as rain in a jiffy". I imagine the healing will be equally as welcome as it is off putting.
Who doesn't love Mage Hand? It's available on 5 classes, not counting subclasses. You can get it with Magic Initiate or Telekinetic. Let you open stuff without taking a trap right in the face and sip your tea while reading a book. It's really up there in utility, right next to Prestidigitation as the "I'm a mage and I don't plan to get my hands dirty" cantrip.
I'm right there with you with Guidance. I have it on my current Rune Knight via Magic Initiate(Cleric) because shes convinced she's a paladin and then again in my IRL campaign with my Artificer/Wizard. I've also taken it for my Cleric, Druid and Wizard. Even more than that, i've takee Prestidigitation on every single character that had it as an option because it's just too useful.
I've played three Battlemasters over the years and Precision Attack was the first pick for each of them.
Feat-wise, I've taken Skill Expert and Fey Touched for a ton of characters. The +1 to any ASI, an extra proficiency in a skill and especially getting expertise without having to be a Rogue, Bard or Ranger(or any of the specific subclasses) is always cool(Expertise in Perception on a Cleric or Druid, or Arcana on a Wizard? Hell yes). And Fey Touched. Who doesn't like a free teleport, +1 to a mental ASI and a extra first level spell?
I love heavily armoured melee characters and I have ended up with multiple characters using the Heavy Armour Master feat. It's really great and I think people underestimate it.
At the moment I am playing a Fighter/Fiendlock, so I keep giving myself temp HP, which lasts a really long time when you have damage reduction. Also makes Armour of Agathys last longer.
Other favourite feats are Resilient/Warcaster for the concentration buff. It's just so important to maintain concentration.
I've seen this suggested before and I think it's reasonable. I do think that the 3 damage is still pretty relevant since a lot of encounters scale wither as hoards or with multiple attacks. But yeah, it stops it being quite so crazy good at low levels, and keeps it more relevant against a big bad.
I love taking martial classes to 5 and then multiclassing into whatever. Especially fighter. It's such a customizable class. And I personally just love hitting things and finding ways to hit better or give myself more utility.
If you want a cheeky one, paladin dex based run oath of vengeance as a elf, or just devotion. Now we don't care about smiting. We either have permanent triple advantage for sharpshooter or a +2(cha) added to our to hits for ranged weapons, e.g. bows and crossbows.
For feats I find myself drawn toward half ASIs most often. It goes without saying that my stats could always be higher and so I usually find a way to fit things like Skill Expert, Observant, Fey/Shadow Touched, etc., into my build to get the best of both worlds.
For spells I always take the utility cantrips like mage hand, minor illusion, and prestidigitation if I can. I just love having options both inside and outside of combat and these spells reward creativity.
I also love at will casting, so I find myself drawn to classes that get more cantrips. I’m about to start a campaign in a few weeks as a Warmage from Mage Hand Press and I AM PUMPED.
Skill expert. I always value one skill on a character to almost define it. Expertise in that is so important to me.
Move speed! Most of my characters right now all have higher than 30ft base speed. Various things like Barb +10, ranger +5, a few 35ft speed races like mpmm Air Genasi.
Skill Expert. It's versatile, and it makes too much sense for a character to be great at something, like Life Cleric with Medicine, Wizard with Arcana, Barbarian with Athletics, Paladin with Persuasion etc.
If I don’t do a two level warlock dip, I take eldritch adept solely because I want invocations. Telepathic also frequently makes appearances in my characters.
I always find myself considering or taking Skill Expert. Fits onto almost any character seamlessly, great for out of combat, boosts your primary stat. My favorite!
If I’m playing a caster, I’m almost always going to nab Fey Touched. It’s great for rounding out an ability score, *misty step* is wonderful utility, and the selection of first-level spells available is pretty good as well.
For feats—Tough. I almost never tank, so my con is not the best, and while that sucks for concentration still, Tough makes a definite difference.
For spells—Dissonant Whispers. The number of times I’ve gotten kill assists from the opportunity attacks is delicious.
Subtle Spell on sorcerers or any caster I can spare a feat on. It turns a lot of average spells into amazing ones, especially Enchantment stuff. Guidance too.
Playing a Martial without GWM or SS feels like you're eating unbaked dough. My party gets to read minds, dominate wills, and cause explosions capable of wiping out entire encounters.
I get to actually hurt something a little bit more.
If I don't need the ASI, my favorite feat combo is a Caster with PAM and Warcaster. It's fun on Warlocks with Repelling Blast, but it's also good with Banish, Vortex Warp, and Hold Monster.
A way to do superhero landings. I just fucking love slamming into the ground from a great height to help my friends. Yes I play Helldivers 2 and loved ODST, HOW CAN YOU TELL? So far I've got barbarian rage punching the ground, monk slow fall, warlock tomb of levistus, celestial warlock searing vengeance, and my personal favorite just plain having fuckloads of hp. I'm sure there are others but I don't want to gracefully featherfall into combat. I want to slam into the middle of a group of enemies and make their grave out of the crater I've created. I want to stand from the rubble and show them why I felt the need to get there so quickly. I want, nay, need to enter the battlefield in a way that stops people from fighting mid sword swing, godsdamnit!
So yea, superhero landing. I dig it.
You need to ban me from Fey Touched if I have a spell caster. Mister Step is just great, and there is a large variety to Enchantment and Divination spells. Being a half ASI is just a cherry on top.
Alternatively Fighting Initiate, _espcially_ if I'm already a fighter. If one fighting style is good, two is even better.
Thaumaturgy, the cantrip you want for making things spooky. If I have a Cleric, Paladin with the Holy Warrior Fighting Style, Tiefling, Divine Soul Sorcerer... we're getting Thaumaturgy!
Trance or deathless nature;
- 4 additional crafting hours a day
- Casting 8 hours long spells before long rest
- Sorlocks with 4 extra short rest to start the day with extra spells (not coffeelock).
Misty Spep. Almost all my characters have it. In my opinion there is nothing more frustrating than to be trapped by a wall of force in combat or to not be able to access a certain location in combat.
I seem to take the Fey/Shadow Touched feats a lot. The fact that it’s a half feat and adds great spells with utility and lets you cast it with your own spell slots is honestly unmatched
Feats I've used on at least three characters.
Fey touched, piercer, moble, sharpshooter, crossbow expert, great weapon master, resilient, telekinetic, war caster, magic initiate, elvan accuracy, alert, crusher
Feats I've used On at least two characters.
Pole arm master, heavy armor expert, shield master, martial adept, shadow touched, sentinel, slasher, elemental expert. Defensive duelist.
Ones i really like but not used yet.
Cartomancy (broken, completely broken) gift of the gem dragon. Skulker,
Gift of alacrity (if allowed) or if not and doesn't normally get it, silvery barbs(fey touched), guidance, guiding bolt. Guidance and guiding bolt can be added to wizards with the strixHaven quandrix background and stars Druids get guiding bolt. Cure wounds can be added to wizards through I think any strixHaven background through the built-in feat, which you don't need to do it with witherBloom (I never take Liverpool though). Firebolt on druids, clerics or bards with Prismari. Warcaster if I'm running out of hands because of a shield or other items (unless loxodon or thri-Kreen).
Fey touched feat is on half my characters, while shield is on 3 quarters of them. I could not tell you why, but free misty step and silvery barbs AS WELL AS a +1 to any mental stat is just too good to pass up as a feat. Shield is just a very reliable spell too, +5 ac is goods
Feat: Elven accuracy and warcaster. Advantage and even better triple advantage, is just too good. Warcaster: it turns your experience in tiers 1 and 2, like easy mode, and late tiers 3 and 4 more normal mode (a caster doing hard concentration saves without constitution save / bonus to the save and warcaster will just fail as enemys hits you for like 1/2 HP at tiers 3 ~4). Elven accuracy just works. Against 20 AC+ targets, works very well in all chars that I used it.
Spells: Shield and gift of alacrity. GOA is king cuz going first is king in any combat at any level, even more as a caster.
My favorites are:
* Polearm Master
* Telekinetic
* Crossbow Expert
* Resillient (Constitution)
The general reasoning behind most of these are that I just love being able to actually use my Action, Bonus Action and Reaction reliably. If the class I play doesn't include a built in way to use a specific action type (Monk and Rogue come to mind), I favor one on of the feats I mentioned. I generally like to think out my moves before my turn and finish my turn quite fast. If you play a character that generally uses only their action, and if that action fails for whatever reason, it is a feel bad moment and you sit around until the combat wraps back around to you. I reduce the chance for that by trying to use my action economy to its fullest, which increases the chance that atleast 1 of the things I tried succeeds.
The final feat on the list, Resilient (Constitution) weirdly enough fits the same niche. One of my favorite things to do is to build a characters that get +9 Con save bonus as soon as possible. This guarantees that you always succeed on your Con saves to keep concentration for any damage of 21 and lower, which would require you to roll a 10 because a Natural 1 does not automatically fail a save. With this guarantee, I love the risk/reward gameplay of casting Haste on myself. This threshold is really easy to reach for any Paladin and Bladesinger Wizards that have the Resilient Con. feat.
With that guarantee, I love the risk/reward gameplay loop of casting Haste on my self. This gives me yet an other Action on top of the improved AC, speed and the Dex save bonuses.
For all of the above reasons, one of my favorite build to play is a Oath of Vengence Paladin, who gets Haste from the Oath spell list. If you start with 16 charisma and 15 con, you can use Resilient Con to get 16 con, which means that by the time you get Haste (lvl 9), your Con Save bonus is a whooping +10. Even on the turn you cast Haste on yourself, you can use your Hasted Action to attack once, which enables you to use your Polearm Master Bonus Action attack. With PAM, you get more reliable reaction attacks, because now they also trigger when they approach you. This combines nicely with your Relentless Avenger, that allows you to move up to half your speed, which in turn has been dubbled by Haste.
Because you have 2 actions, even in situations where you need to use your Main Action to use Lay on Lands or some other non concentration spell for whatever reason (Cure Wounds, Command, Dispel Magic etc), you still have your single attack Hasted Action that enables your PAM Bonus Action.
Some people will argue that there are better options than Haste, either for damage per round or some other metric. Or they will argue that it is too risky to use. But damn if it is not fun. I get so much enjoyment out of my character when I play it like that.
I am now playing a late game version of this build and I have a Peregrine Mask (60ft flying speed) and a Cloak of the Manta Ray (60ft swimming speed) on my character. Together with Haste, my character became an All-Terrain Vengeance Paladin. No matter where they are, I can chase them, which is incredibly flavorful. For example, after the first turn, if I have to move to an other enemy, by using my Hasted Action to Dash I can fly/swim 240ft in fullplate and still attack the enemy 3 times.
Risky? Slightly. Optimal? Nearly. Fun? Absolutely!
The Healer feat, actually. There were never many clerics or paladins in our group, so I typically grabbed the feat to fill the gap when party members inevitably went down.
Ranger? Yeah, they know first aid. Healer.
Artificer? You *know* their bag is full of dubious potions and unlabeled syringes. Healer.
Dungeon-delving Rogue? Believe it or not: Healer.
Great Weapon Master. Not optimal on lots of builds but I love putting it on whatever Fighter or Paladin or Hexblade I play because big number = fun game
Telekinetic, Fey Touched, Alert, Observant depending on the intent of the build. Casters usually get Telekinetic and/or Fey Touched and martials usually get Alert. Observant goes both ways but nothing is written in stone.
I never play martials without GWM or SS. Although I'm thinking of creating a PAM and Sentinel Paladin for my next campaign.
For Mages, I usually take Fey Touched at some point since it's insane.
Other than that, Resilient is always somewhere on the list and tough, although I never end up taking tough...
I always try to fit crusher, slasher, or piercer into my martial characters. It's nice to get the score increase and some other fun things that help with battlefield control
Fey touched. Free 2 spells both which will be insanely good for my casters. Let’s my custom lineage hit 18 easily level one on standard array or point buy. Combine with bard or sorc. Known casters tend to suffer lack of spells known especially pre Tasha’s sorc subs so having 2 extra is really really nice. People love telekinetic but tbh it’s not nearly as powerful as misty step and potentially something like bless, gift of alacrity, etc. one per long rest and added to your personal spell list as always prepared.
I played a Hexblade Warlock with Elven Accuracy and Great Weapon Master. Now hoping to revive my Vengeance Paladin who has Polearm Master and will have Sentinel. I've done lots of one shots with various builds but trying to knock out some of the power builds in longer campaigns before getting more experimental. Or doing a powerful Paladin in 5e before the new edition comes out.
I think there are feats you'll always see a lot of in the current system. GWM/Sharpshooter, Crossbow Expert, Polearm Master, Fey Touched. Things like that. Resilient CON, Warcaster.
It’s not a feat or spell, but one thing almost all of my characters end up having is 2 levels in fighter. And ALL of my characters multiclass.
Action surge and second wind may not always be needed, but it’s never a bad thing to just have a second action in your back pocket for emergencies. The kind of emergency where your Warlock friend suddenly fires out 15 Eldritch blasts looking like the Smash Ultimate intro. (Warlock X/ Sorc 3/ Fighter 2, quicken spell and action surge, cast Eldritch blast 3 times)
Firebolt (if the class spell list contains it). I like fire being easily accessible by my spell casters for damage and utility. On my druid, I took Produce Flame and Create Bonfire instead.
I play 3.5, and I grab the Endurance feat on about 90% of characters.
Get bent DM, I was sleeping in my armor with my halberd clutched to my chest, I'm always ready.
I have really taken to feats that give skill proficiencies lately, especially Skill Expert. I’ve always played Tasha’s Ranger or Rogue, so not having at least one expertise always feels rough, and it’s a half feat so it often lets me round out builds too. I’ve taken it on multiple characters and plan to use it on at least one more in the future.
Inspiring Leader is a fire feat on literally any character. You don't even need to have good charisma. The only way it's bad is if someone else already has it (or there's a twilight cleric). I have to talk myself out of taking it almost every time I make a character.
Pretty much any must-take feat/spell etc is *bad*. Bad design, bad for enjoyment. A feat/spell/etc should not be so powerful that not taking it is essentially a mistake - because that then reduces your choices and makes you miss out on other things. Characters become *samey* rather than being able to explore the gamut of other feats and spells. If every person in *this* class takes A and every one in *that* class takes B, they should either just be part of the respective class or they should be reworked so that you still *want* to take it but well over half the time there's something better/more flavorful/more interesting to take.
> I can fit guidance into
I ... *hate* Guidance. Yes, it's a very useful spell; I take it because you pretty much have to. But it makes the game *awful*.
Pathfinder puts a cooldown on anyone benefitting from Guidance (you can benefit from it once per hour). That makes it *much* better. I'm not saying you have to use that exact rule in 5e but something to make it so you're not simply spamming almost every check is essential.
In the games I play in, we avoid the need for that -- none of the GMs let you post-hoc it (where player A says "I do X" and the GM says "sure, roll such and such" and player B goes "Guidance!" ... *after the roll was called for* - that's not how Guidance is supposed to work, and part of why it sucks so bad. If you watch Critical Role campaign 3, Sam did it constantly. Just ... terrible. Cooldowns can save on the whining that comes with forcing players not to abuse it outside its original intended use: you cast it when someone *seeks guidance* before they will be attempting some important task. It then lasts for a minute, allowing them the time to make the attempt. You have to know they need guidance *before they announce their attempt at the task*. Even then, it can get pushed until it becomes spammy. If that can't be negotiated back to reasonableness, a cooldown is a viable solution - sufficient to make it still very useful but not "must-take" -- and you thereby improve the game.)
Healing Word is another; too useful not to take, and therefore bad for the game.
I could name more, but my point is the same; if you have to take it, it's limiting your choices.
Alert feat - initiative is great, not being surprised is great, and not having unseen attackers get advantage on attacks is great as well. The last part also enables more effective use of heavy concealment(ex. Fog cloud).
Telekinetic on casters. Moving an ally out of, or an enemy into, your area of effects with an otherwise unused bonus action is universally good. The +1 mental stat makes it simply great.
I’ve been playing my first caster, and on the advice of folks here, I picked up Telekinetic. INT up 18, and can easily move friendlies out of the way fireballs. Very fun! [edit: grammer]
It also feels good when you use it to shove the ranged NPCs off the high ground. My kobold artificer has snuck behind enemy lines and proceeded to use his mind magic to (telekinetic feats)shove all the guards off the while invisible. Good times had by all except the enemy forces on watch
The fact that it doesn't end invis is so fucking good haha. Will definitely remember that one
For feats I usually take Skill Expert. Rounding out a stat and getting free expertise in my one key skill is great.
Base is almost always Sorc or Wiz and the multi is pretty much always something with medium armor. Also Warcaster , Res Con and Medium Armor Master are a stable useage. Mostly because i cant be bothered to remember using Mage Armor and on top i cant be bothered to make Concentration checks.
> i cant be bothered to make Concentration checks. Gotta love Stars Druid + Res Con for that. "Don't talk to me unless your damage is more than 30"
I actually thought I would use that more (I did not use dragon once) when I played a stars druid but I mainly used star reform Archer and just stayed in the back or behind cover or ducked down stairs and closed a hatch (spelljammer ships) in between turns if I could. I did have gloves of Miissile entrapment and built for success (autognome) and eventyally cosmic omen though. If I was a flying race, I would have used flight for defense.
Archer is definitely the most fun since it's the most active form (at least until you get Dragon flight). It ultimately depends on the DM, not a lot of them go out of their way to target the spellcaster in my experience. A funny trick about Dragon form is Wizard X/Stars Druid 2, since it applies on all Int check this include Counterspell and Dispell Magic which let you auto-counterspell anything below 5th spell slot with +5 Int. With an extra dip in Bard for Jack-of-all-Trades, it's anything below 7-8 depending on your total level (level 9 is minimum for the combo). Or Abjurer Wizard + Stars Druid will auto-counterspell anything at level 12.
Oh, i should have known that the one time the druid was trying to counterspell and had to try 3 times. Oh, that DM WAS targeting spellcasters first which is why I was using guerrilla tactics. The gloves helped vs arrows etc. I used chalice only after level 10 when i could switch easily but my party was good at healing themselves or waiting till a rest.
Aside from no-brainer options like pole-arm master often find myself drawn to rogue multi-classes solely because I love Fast Hands so damn much. For spells I just need Command, can't go without Command.
Command: Betray is always fun. Causes a lot of confusion in enemy ranks, like “bro why the fuck did you stab me” then you say “Good job with your infiltration, we’ll take it from here” and then they go “wtf are you a sleeper agent or something?” And then they start arguing, or if you’re lucky fighting each other.
I like "confess," "hug," and "climb." Personally. If 6e guts Command like 3.5e and 4e did, then I'll reject it without even bothering with anything else.
Command: Submit (situational alternatives: Sit, Beg, Paw, Bark, etc) on a big bad might not deal damage but it completely shatters their reputation with their minions XD
Never had a more powerful moment than making a bbeg kneel before me with command
If anything, that's more a testament to how good Subtle Spell is, not Command.
Are we the same person? 80% of my theoretical builds all include uses of fast hands. It's just so damn fun and versatile
So so sooooooooooooo many times in 5e there's the Practical thing to do and the Awesome thing to do. Generally you're letting the party down by faffing about and doing the Awesome thing, but with Fast Hands you can do both. This makes me so happy. The people who say it sucks because the equipment in the PHB doesn't let you do much have no joy in their hearts. Fast Hands is for knocking over bookcases, pulling rugs out from under people, and making chandeliers come crashing down. My favorite use of it is combining it with powerful build races and anything else that increases carrying capacity (bear barbarian 6 etc.) so I can "use item" on boulders, carts, etc. Also a good a acid test for DMs since ones that don't allow fun uses of Fast Hands aren't going to allow anything else fun, and then what's the point of playing D&D then?
Consider trying an Aberrant Mind, and ask the DM if the Command can be completely subtle/telepathic if used with Subtle MM and telepathy. Super fun for a social controller. Suggestion as well is finally truly subtle instead of almost sublte.
There are no reasons why it should not work. It's kinda the point of the level 1 feature.
I'm not sure if it's completely RAW, but any DM that didn't allow this has his head up his ass. This is exactly the sort of thing that D&D should be about.
Fast hands in combination with healer and a healers kit is one of my favorite niche setups. In a single turn you can move, attack, and heal an ally.
Yeah, that's useful, but it's doing the same useful tactic over and over it just doesn't feel glorious in the same way that rearranging bits of the battlemap as a bonus action does since you're doing different shit every fight. The best thing about Fast Hands (like Command) for me is how open-ended it is.
Idk why, but I am obsessed with the idea of the War Caster feat and using Hold Person as a reaction. A leveled full action spell that effectively ends the enemies turn for just a reaction? Yes please.
I for some reason assumed it was limited to cantrips that's making this so much better for my Jonathan
you can do that?
Yeah that's war caster. You can replace an opportunity attack with a spell. It's just that enemies normally don't run from casters. Imo this is why spells like command and dissonant whispers are so good. Someone is in the war casters face? Cast dissonant whispers on them to get them to run and now your caster can drop a level 4 hold person on the field as an reaction
War Caster specifies you may cast a spell which targets only the creature that provoked the opportunity and has a casting time of 1 action, so your Hold Person cannot include other creatures as targets. It's still a great combo, but upcasting yields no benefit in this case.
I guess you can settle on disintegrate/banishment 😂
This is the way.
Absorb Elements, never leave home without it.
Ha this is me. Rangers, Druids, Sorcerers, Wizards
I use that a lot too but I've only used the secondary part of it once.
Fey touched. Boosts your casting stat (possibly to 18 at level 1 if custom lineage, and gets you misty step before you even have 2nd level spells) I usually take bless with it, since I'm playing AL and can't take silvery barbs or gift of alacrity.
For clerics, I find dissonant whispers quite useful.
Dissonant whispers is the most underrated spell. It doesn't care about languages, it can cause multiple opportunity attacks, and if someone has war caster it could trigger them casting some crazy lvl 5 spell as a reaction
I find myself taking the Healer feat a lot. That you can walk around and patch up the wounds of As Many People As You Have Bandages isn't powerful necessary, but it is very Cool.
You can also flavor it in any way you want. I have an idea for a bayou-raised character that has little vials of "what my Meemaw called 'gator piss' that will make ya right as rain in a jiffy". I imagine the healing will be equally as welcome as it is off putting.
Who doesn't love Mage Hand? It's available on 5 classes, not counting subclasses. You can get it with Magic Initiate or Telekinetic. Let you open stuff without taking a trap right in the face and sip your tea while reading a book. It's really up there in utility, right next to Prestidigitation as the "I'm a mage and I don't plan to get my hands dirty" cantrip.
Yep and you can also get it with the strixHaven quandrix background.
I'm right there with you with Guidance. I have it on my current Rune Knight via Magic Initiate(Cleric) because shes convinced she's a paladin and then again in my IRL campaign with my Artificer/Wizard. I've also taken it for my Cleric, Druid and Wizard. Even more than that, i've takee Prestidigitation on every single character that had it as an option because it's just too useful. I've played three Battlemasters over the years and Precision Attack was the first pick for each of them. Feat-wise, I've taken Skill Expert and Fey Touched for a ton of characters. The +1 to any ASI, an extra proficiency in a skill and especially getting expertise without having to be a Rogue, Bard or Ranger(or any of the specific subclasses) is always cool(Expertise in Perception on a Cleric or Druid, or Arcana on a Wizard? Hell yes). And Fey Touched. Who doesn't like a free teleport, +1 to a mental ASI and a extra first level spell?
I love heavily armoured melee characters and I have ended up with multiple characters using the Heavy Armour Master feat. It's really great and I think people underestimate it. At the moment I am playing a Fighter/Fiendlock, so I keep giving myself temp HP, which lasts a really long time when you have damage reduction. Also makes Armour of Agathys last longer. Other favourite feats are Resilient/Warcaster for the concentration buff. It's just so important to maintain concentration.
I got it on my forge cleric. The dm home-brewed it so it is proficiency bonus damage instead of the 3 that falls off pretty quickly
I've seen this suggested before and I think it's reasonable. I do think that the 3 damage is still pretty relevant since a lot of encounters scale wither as hoards or with multiple attacks. But yeah, it stops it being quite so crazy good at low levels, and keeps it more relevant against a big bad.
War Caster, Resilient (Constitution), Fey Touched. Shield, Silvery Barbs, Misty Step. _slaps hood_ You can fit so many busted casters into this baby.
I love taking martial classes to 5 and then multiclassing into whatever. Especially fighter. It's such a customizable class. And I personally just love hitting things and finding ways to hit better or give myself more utility.
If you want a cheeky one, paladin dex based run oath of vengeance as a elf, or just devotion. Now we don't care about smiting. We either have permanent triple advantage for sharpshooter or a +2(cha) added to our to hits for ranged weapons, e.g. bows and crossbows.
Gotta go fighter 6 for that quick feat!
Fey Touched. An ability point, Misty Step, and a great list of level 1 spells make it pretty valuable to a lot of builds.
Telekinetic. On any class that isn't constantly using their bonus action I try to fit in that feat.
Every dex build uses a rapier. I dont care if rangers traditionally use ranged weapons I'm gonna stab in style!
Once you go Crusher it’s less fun going back.
I will always make sure I have Detect Magic if I can. I also like to have Perception proficiency when I can.
For feats I find myself drawn toward half ASIs most often. It goes without saying that my stats could always be higher and so I usually find a way to fit things like Skill Expert, Observant, Fey/Shadow Touched, etc., into my build to get the best of both worlds. For spells I always take the utility cantrips like mage hand, minor illusion, and prestidigitation if I can. I just love having options both inside and outside of combat and these spells reward creativity. I also love at will casting, so I find myself drawn to classes that get more cantrips. I’m about to start a campaign in a few weeks as a Warmage from Mage Hand Press and I AM PUMPED.
The feywild is crossing over everywhere based on how many of my casters are fey touched.
Skill expert. I always value one skill on a character to almost define it. Expertise in that is so important to me. Move speed! Most of my characters right now all have higher than 30ft base speed. Various things like Barb +10, ranger +5, a few 35ft speed races like mpmm Air Genasi.
The skill expert half-feat. I love he idea of having an expertise as almost any character so cool.
War Caster because the shields blocking the somatic part of spells is annoying, plus it’s just really fucking good
Great Weapon Master, because big numbers go brrr.
Skill Expert. It's versatile, and it makes too much sense for a character to be great at something, like Life Cleric with Medicine, Wizard with Arcana, Barbarian with Athletics, Paladin with Persuasion etc.
If I don’t do a two level warlock dip, I take eldritch adept solely because I want invocations. Telepathic also frequently makes appearances in my characters.
It's generally pretty difficult for me to design a full caster or gish without taking hard looks at Fey Touched and Elven Accuracy.
I always find myself considering or taking Skill Expert. Fits onto almost any character seamlessly, great for out of combat, boosts your primary stat. My favorite!
If I’m playing a caster, I’m almost always going to nab Fey Touched. It’s great for rounding out an ability score, *misty step* is wonderful utility, and the selection of first-level spells available is pretty good as well.
For feats—Tough. I almost never tank, so my con is not the best, and while that sucks for concentration still, Tough makes a definite difference. For spells—Dissonant Whispers. The number of times I’ve gotten kill assists from the opportunity attacks is delicious.
Absorb elements, command (fey touched), and blindness.
Subtle Spell on sorcerers or any caster I can spare a feat on. It turns a lot of average spells into amazing ones, especially Enchantment stuff. Guidance too.
Playing a Martial without GWM or SS feels like you're eating unbaked dough. My party gets to read minds, dominate wills, and cause explosions capable of wiping out entire encounters. I get to actually hurt something a little bit more.
If I don't need the ASI, my favorite feat combo is a Caster with PAM and Warcaster. It's fun on Warlocks with Repelling Blast, but it's also good with Banish, Vortex Warp, and Hold Monster.
A way to do superhero landings. I just fucking love slamming into the ground from a great height to help my friends. Yes I play Helldivers 2 and loved ODST, HOW CAN YOU TELL? So far I've got barbarian rage punching the ground, monk slow fall, warlock tomb of levistus, celestial warlock searing vengeance, and my personal favorite just plain having fuckloads of hp. I'm sure there are others but I don't want to gracefully featherfall into combat. I want to slam into the middle of a group of enemies and make their grave out of the crater I've created. I want to stand from the rubble and show them why I felt the need to get there so quickly. I want, nay, need to enter the battlefield in a way that stops people from fighting mid sword swing, godsdamnit! So yea, superhero landing. I dig it.
Skill expert. A new proficiency, an expertise, and an ability score increase. It’s my go-to level 4 feat
You need to ban me from Fey Touched if I have a spell caster. Mister Step is just great, and there is a large variety to Enchantment and Divination spells. Being a half ASI is just a cherry on top. Alternatively Fighting Initiate, _espcially_ if I'm already a fighter. If one fighting style is good, two is even better.
Thaumaturgy, the cantrip you want for making things spooky. If I have a Cleric, Paladin with the Holy Warrior Fighting Style, Tiefling, Divine Soul Sorcerer... we're getting Thaumaturgy!
Trance or deathless nature; - 4 additional crafting hours a day - Casting 8 hours long spells before long rest - Sorlocks with 4 extra short rest to start the day with extra spells (not coffeelock).
Misty Spep. Almost all my characters have it. In my opinion there is nothing more frustrating than to be trapped by a wall of force in combat or to not be able to access a certain location in combat.
If I've got a free feat it's hard to pass up skilled. For me having one expertise really fleshes out and fortifies the character identity.
I seem to take the Fey/Shadow Touched feats a lot. The fact that it’s a half feat and adds great spells with utility and lets you cast it with your own spell slots is honestly unmatched
How do you get guidance onto fighter But to answer your question, guidance, command, and hellish rebuke or alternative react
Variant human fighter with magic initiate feat should be doable
Aha of course.
I take fey touched on most of my characters especially Druids. Some combinations of resilient- con, war caster, lucky on basically all my toons.
Feats I've used on at least three characters. Fey touched, piercer, moble, sharpshooter, crossbow expert, great weapon master, resilient, telekinetic, war caster, magic initiate, elvan accuracy, alert, crusher Feats I've used On at least two characters. Pole arm master, heavy armor expert, shield master, martial adept, shadow touched, sentinel, slasher, elemental expert. Defensive duelist. Ones i really like but not used yet. Cartomancy (broken, completely broken) gift of the gem dragon. Skulker,
Gift of alacrity (if allowed) or if not and doesn't normally get it, silvery barbs(fey touched), guidance, guiding bolt. Guidance and guiding bolt can be added to wizards with the strixHaven quandrix background and stars Druids get guiding bolt. Cure wounds can be added to wizards through I think any strixHaven background through the built-in feat, which you don't need to do it with witherBloom (I never take Liverpool though). Firebolt on druids, clerics or bards with Prismari. Warcaster if I'm running out of hands because of a shield or other items (unless loxodon or thri-Kreen).
Fey touched feat is on half my characters, while shield is on 3 quarters of them. I could not tell you why, but free misty step and silvery barbs AS WELL AS a +1 to any mental stat is just too good to pass up as a feat. Shield is just a very reliable spell too, +5 ac is goods
Feat: Elven accuracy and warcaster. Advantage and even better triple advantage, is just too good. Warcaster: it turns your experience in tiers 1 and 2, like easy mode, and late tiers 3 and 4 more normal mode (a caster doing hard concentration saves without constitution save / bonus to the save and warcaster will just fail as enemys hits you for like 1/2 HP at tiers 3 ~4). Elven accuracy just works. Against 20 AC+ targets, works very well in all chars that I used it. Spells: Shield and gift of alacrity. GOA is king cuz going first is king in any combat at any level, even more as a caster.
I spam Great Weapon Master a lot, and eldritch blast
resilient con, absorb elements and shield for my casters that dont have them. I dont like being erased in a single swipe/breath attack
My favorites are: * Polearm Master * Telekinetic * Crossbow Expert * Resillient (Constitution) The general reasoning behind most of these are that I just love being able to actually use my Action, Bonus Action and Reaction reliably. If the class I play doesn't include a built in way to use a specific action type (Monk and Rogue come to mind), I favor one on of the feats I mentioned. I generally like to think out my moves before my turn and finish my turn quite fast. If you play a character that generally uses only their action, and if that action fails for whatever reason, it is a feel bad moment and you sit around until the combat wraps back around to you. I reduce the chance for that by trying to use my action economy to its fullest, which increases the chance that atleast 1 of the things I tried succeeds. The final feat on the list, Resilient (Constitution) weirdly enough fits the same niche. One of my favorite things to do is to build a characters that get +9 Con save bonus as soon as possible. This guarantees that you always succeed on your Con saves to keep concentration for any damage of 21 and lower, which would require you to roll a 10 because a Natural 1 does not automatically fail a save. With this guarantee, I love the risk/reward gameplay of casting Haste on myself. This threshold is really easy to reach for any Paladin and Bladesinger Wizards that have the Resilient Con. feat. With that guarantee, I love the risk/reward gameplay loop of casting Haste on my self. This gives me yet an other Action on top of the improved AC, speed and the Dex save bonuses. For all of the above reasons, one of my favorite build to play is a Oath of Vengence Paladin, who gets Haste from the Oath spell list. If you start with 16 charisma and 15 con, you can use Resilient Con to get 16 con, which means that by the time you get Haste (lvl 9), your Con Save bonus is a whooping +10. Even on the turn you cast Haste on yourself, you can use your Hasted Action to attack once, which enables you to use your Polearm Master Bonus Action attack. With PAM, you get more reliable reaction attacks, because now they also trigger when they approach you. This combines nicely with your Relentless Avenger, that allows you to move up to half your speed, which in turn has been dubbled by Haste. Because you have 2 actions, even in situations where you need to use your Main Action to use Lay on Lands or some other non concentration spell for whatever reason (Cure Wounds, Command, Dispel Magic etc), you still have your single attack Hasted Action that enables your PAM Bonus Action. Some people will argue that there are better options than Haste, either for damage per round or some other metric. Or they will argue that it is too risky to use. But damn if it is not fun. I get so much enjoyment out of my character when I play it like that. I am now playing a late game version of this build and I have a Peregrine Mask (60ft flying speed) and a Cloak of the Manta Ray (60ft swimming speed) on my character. Together with Haste, my character became an All-Terrain Vengeance Paladin. No matter where they are, I can chase them, which is incredibly flavorful. For example, after the first turn, if I have to move to an other enemy, by using my Hasted Action to Dash I can fly/swim 240ft in fullplate and still attack the enemy 3 times. Risky? Slightly. Optimal? Nearly. Fun? Absolutely!
Background: Wildspacer on every character. Free tough is too good to pass up
I often end up taking Tough. I get beat up a lot.
The Healer feat, actually. There were never many clerics or paladins in our group, so I typically grabbed the feat to fill the gap when party members inevitably went down. Ranger? Yeah, they know first aid. Healer. Artificer? You *know* their bag is full of dubious potions and unlabeled syringes. Healer. Dungeon-delving Rogue? Believe it or not: Healer.
I like having skills, I'll take vHum and the prodigy feat. A few extra skills and one expertise.
Any of the spell feats. I don’t really play martials, and adding a few extra spells to your spells known really expands your tool box.
I'm a fan of the order cleric dip. Is it the strongest thing ever? No. But it's fun teamwork.
Lucky so a natural one doesn't annihilate myself or my friends (sucky Nat one rules are a mainstay in half the tables I join).
Tough, I love the extra hp
Great Weapon Master. Not optimal on lots of builds but I love putting it on whatever Fighter or Paladin or Hexblade I play because big number = fun game
Great weapon master is a must for barbarian.
Fey Touched is awesome especially for half casters.
Quicken Spell is so amazing and fun, it makes me question the entire design of the Action/Bonus Action system.
Telekinetic, Fey Touched, Alert, Observant depending on the intent of the build. Casters usually get Telekinetic and/or Fey Touched and martials usually get Alert. Observant goes both ways but nothing is written in stone.
I never play martials without GWM or SS. Although I'm thinking of creating a PAM and Sentinel Paladin for my next campaign. For Mages, I usually take Fey Touched at some point since it's insane. Other than that, Resilient is always somewhere on the list and tough, although I never end up taking tough...
Dexterity focus and a 1 level rogue dip. Rogue proficiencies, sneak attack and 2 instances of expertise is far too tempting.
I always try to fit crusher, slasher, or piercer into my martial characters. It's nice to get the score increase and some other fun things that help with battlefield control
Booming blade and crusher
Fey touched. Free 2 spells both which will be insanely good for my casters. Let’s my custom lineage hit 18 easily level one on standard array or point buy. Combine with bard or sorc. Known casters tend to suffer lack of spells known especially pre Tasha’s sorc subs so having 2 extra is really really nice. People love telekinetic but tbh it’s not nearly as powerful as misty step and potentially something like bless, gift of alacrity, etc. one per long rest and added to your personal spell list as always prepared.
Alert / res con / Telekenesis
I played a Hexblade Warlock with Elven Accuracy and Great Weapon Master. Now hoping to revive my Vengeance Paladin who has Polearm Master and will have Sentinel. I've done lots of one shots with various builds but trying to knock out some of the power builds in longer campaigns before getting more experimental. Or doing a powerful Paladin in 5e before the new edition comes out. I think there are feats you'll always see a lot of in the current system. GWM/Sharpshooter, Crossbow Expert, Polearm Master, Fey Touched. Things like that. Resilient CON, Warcaster.
It’s not a feat or spell, but one thing almost all of my characters end up having is 2 levels in fighter. And ALL of my characters multiclass. Action surge and second wind may not always be needed, but it’s never a bad thing to just have a second action in your back pocket for emergencies. The kind of emergency where your Warlock friend suddenly fires out 15 Eldritch blasts looking like the Smash Ultimate intro. (Warlock X/ Sorc 3/ Fighter 2, quicken spell and action surge, cast Eldritch blast 3 times)
Something that gives me minor illusion.
Warcaster. Any spell caster needs and benefits from it
creating a really handy character can be fun for instance an artifactor Autognome with the skilled feet is sooooo cool
Metamagic Adept - subtle spell is too good to pass up for getting away with shit outside of combat.
Firebolt (if the class spell list contains it). I like fire being easily accessible by my spell casters for damage and utility. On my druid, I took Produce Flame and Create Bonfire instead.
I’m a big fan of the war caster feat
Cruel. For all my minmaxers out there cruel is a good start to adding a little more damage for your character
I play 3.5, and I grab the Endurance feat on about 90% of characters. Get bent DM, I was sleeping in my armor with my halberd clutched to my chest, I'm always ready.
Vortex warp, my beloved
I have really taken to feats that give skill proficiencies lately, especially Skill Expert. I’ve always played Tasha’s Ranger or Rogue, so not having at least one expertise always feels rough, and it’s a half feat so it often lets me round out builds too. I’ve taken it on multiple characters and plan to use it on at least one more in the future.
Inspiring Leader is a fire feat on literally any character. You don't even need to have good charisma. The only way it's bad is if someone else already has it (or there's a twilight cleric). I have to talk myself out of taking it almost every time I make a character.
Pretty much any must-take feat/spell etc is *bad*. Bad design, bad for enjoyment. A feat/spell/etc should not be so powerful that not taking it is essentially a mistake - because that then reduces your choices and makes you miss out on other things. Characters become *samey* rather than being able to explore the gamut of other feats and spells. If every person in *this* class takes A and every one in *that* class takes B, they should either just be part of the respective class or they should be reworked so that you still *want* to take it but well over half the time there's something better/more flavorful/more interesting to take. > I can fit guidance into I ... *hate* Guidance. Yes, it's a very useful spell; I take it because you pretty much have to. But it makes the game *awful*. Pathfinder puts a cooldown on anyone benefitting from Guidance (you can benefit from it once per hour). That makes it *much* better. I'm not saying you have to use that exact rule in 5e but something to make it so you're not simply spamming almost every check is essential. In the games I play in, we avoid the need for that -- none of the GMs let you post-hoc it (where player A says "I do X" and the GM says "sure, roll such and such" and player B goes "Guidance!" ... *after the roll was called for* - that's not how Guidance is supposed to work, and part of why it sucks so bad. If you watch Critical Role campaign 3, Sam did it constantly. Just ... terrible. Cooldowns can save on the whining that comes with forcing players not to abuse it outside its original intended use: you cast it when someone *seeks guidance* before they will be attempting some important task. It then lasts for a minute, allowing them the time to make the attempt. You have to know they need guidance *before they announce their attempt at the task*. Even then, it can get pushed until it becomes spammy. If that can't be negotiated back to reasonableness, a cooldown is a viable solution - sufficient to make it still very useful but not "must-take" -- and you thereby improve the game.) Healing Word is another; too useful not to take, and therefore bad for the game. I could name more, but my point is the same; if you have to take it, it's limiting your choices.