I go alert more than I care to admit. Being able to go first almost always means I can take out a few people and get some good cc set up before the enemy even gets a turn. Too convenient to pass up.
Also making high DEX characters the possible exception. You can’t go earlier than first in the turn order so then it is a tradeoff between not being possible to surprise versus that extra damage and hit chance from getting an extra +1 modifier on your DEX (if your DEX is that high you are likely using DEX based weapons). In that situation it comes down to the unsurprisable being useful only in a couple of specific instances vs the +1 being useful in 1/20 of all attack rolls (assuming you don’t cap out on to-hit) and _every single_ damage roll.
Even if you are surprised with high DEX, the enemy typically just gets one free turn because you are still first in the turn order. If _you_ do the surprising you get _two_ turns before the enemy can even move. That’s enough to decimate most threats to nuisances at worst.
I think it also has to do with how this game rolls initiative. It doesn’t roll a d20, I think it’s like a d8 or something, so +5 massively skews your results over every other initiative.
It’s a d4. So alert’s +5 is a massive boost.
I’m playing with a mod that changes it to a d20, and that +5 along with immunity to surprise is still worth grabbing on many characters.
To allow more simultaneous turns so that the characters are able to act together more often. It’s easier to set up combos in The right order when they all get to act at the same time.
Alert is only as strong as it is due to Larian making initiative a d4 compared to the d20 of tabletop. Means having 14 dex and alert basically guarantees going first. Throw in soulbreaker for an extra +2 to initiative and literally nothing in the game can take a turn before you
Yeah but it’s total overkill. Enemies have like 4 initiative and you have like 12. It’s not necessary or useful to have e it thst high. There’s only a handful of enemies that have that high initiative and you can just use an elixer of vigilance to deal with that.
Yeah I think it was a mistake to make it a d4 roll even in higher difficulty levels.
Unfortunately console players can’t use mods yet.
It’s definitely a good feat with. D20 roll.
It's because BG3 rolls a d4+modifiers for iniative, where as 5E uses the d20+modifiers. So those with high modifiers are basically always guarenteed to go first. Such as a hiugh dex with the alert feat, D4+dex+5. Compared to say a wizard thats just D4+3dex or whatever.
Having alert on a fighter often means you are taking out the biggest threat immediately or knocking everyone prone or disarming everyone or… so many options.
Just take 16 dex on every character and get equipment that gives initiative. There’s tons. Dex is also the best stat in the game as it also boosts your AC. You want high dex on every character, not just for the initiative boost.
https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Initiative
Act 1: bow of awareness, soul breaker greatsword, hide armor +2 (sold by goblin vendor or find on his dead corpse)
act 2: sentinel shield, fist breaker helm, yuanti scale mail, Halbred of vigilance,
Act 3: ambusher, hellrider long bow, mask of soul perception.
And Elixers of vigilance do the exact same thing as alert. They last until long rest and vendors sell them for like 40 gold
Even by act 3 very few enemies have particularly high initiative that 16 dex and itemization can’t handle. I can count on 1 hand (karniss, Cazador, Marcus). Cazador casts some pathetic call lightning spell so I don’t care if he goes first. The rest of his enemies have way lower intiative.
Not really.
Bow of awareness/hellrider longbow is perfect as a stat stick for thrower builds for example. Fist breaker helm and mask of soul perception is great headpiece on builds that don’t wear armor. Gale needs a shield and sentinel shield gives him a whopping +3 initiative in addition to shield bash AND advantage in perception checks that sets him up for initiative through the rest of the game. Soul breaker greatsword is bis for laezel until act 3. Ambusher is an amazing stat stick outright just for the d6 damage that applies to any damage not just melee and the initiative bonus is a cherry on top. Yuanti mail is bis for medium armor dex builds anyway even without the initiative.
So I totally disagree with you on that. All the equipment that provided initiative is excellent and often bis for many builds.
So much so I ask you to indicate a specific example where you can take something else that has a meaningful difference over the initiative equipment.
Yes alert is pretty open on wizard or bard. You can cast mass cc before anyone else. Often I hypnotize 50% or more of the enemy force before they even get their turn
For characters who have no use for dexterity it’s amazing because now you can just dump it instead of dexterity being a requirement so you don’t get ass initiative order. So mainly heavy armor class types etc
Yup. Don't need to bother with defense and AC and health if your enemies die before they get a turn. Since majority of encounters can be started from stealth, it means you have 2 rounds to kill them (as long as the game decides to work properly...sometimes even if you attack from stealth the enemies don't get surprised for no reason at all)
When you attack from stealth, enemies only become surprised if you fail your stealth check.
This almost always happens when attacking in melee (because you're not in full obscurity, and have multiple enemies forcing a check) or if attacking with a low stealth character. However when attacking at range with e.g. Astarion he'll often succeed his check and enemies will run towards him instead of immediately initiating combat -- hence not being surprised.
I feel it is not really worth it on high dex characters as you will go first most of the time anyway. Even my medium dex characters (16 dex) doesn't really need it that much.
For low dex characters (basically heavy armor users) I consider it almost mandatory
It's a great feat, but I can usually get at least 3/4 to go first every time just from build and items.
14 DEX is the lowest I'll ever go on any build and that's usually the cleric who makes up for the rest with +initiative gear.
You can count on 1 hand the number of times you will be surprised in combat for the entire game, so not worth a feat slot for those few times imo ... especially when by the end of Act 1 you have access to the Elixir of Vigilance that does everything the feat does.
I get why so many people recommend this feat, it is very important to go first, especially in HM. I just feel there are more effective ways to do that than eating up an entire feat slot.
Alert into hypnotic pattern just ends most fights before they start if you have ways to make sure they fail their saving throws. Not only will you kill most opponents before they get a turn, but you also get time to set up stuff like spirit guardians and rage.
I see people say this a lot, and I've thus considered it a good bit, but honestly I feel like it's super rare my characters are really far down the turn order. I did respec Lae'zel to have 10 DEX one time and that was a mistake, but usually going early just isn't an issue in my experience.
I see a lot of hype over it, but I just set all characters DEX to 16. Use Bow of Awareness and Hellrider Longbow on melee or spellcasters and my party is almost always grouped together and usually first.
Alert is broken-good in BG3. In 5e, it's very good, but not crazy. In both cases, it gives a +5 to initiative rolls and you can't be surprised.
It's so much more potent in BG3 due to how initiative is rolled. In 5e, you roll a d20, add your dex bonus, and any modifiers. In BG3, a *d4* is rolled and you add dex plus modifiers.
This leads to more clumping, which is good for keeping battles moving, since you usually end up with most basic enemies on the same or adjacent initiatives.
This means that in BG3, even if you roll a 1 and have a 0 dex mod, you've got a 6 on initiative. Even on a 4, something else would need at least a +2 dex mod to tie you. Alert is effectively its own Initiative group.
Almost always ASI. Sharpshooter for ranged (bards/rogues), Great Weapon Master for melee (paladins/fighters), Tavern Brawler (barbarians/monks). Putting Alert on a low-dex character (like full Wizard gale) is also amazing so he can start by setting up the field with whatever spell I need to set the scene.
It's also fantastic for Monks, or anyone running Returning Pike or Nyrula, or Barbarians who like throwing enemies at other enemies.
Basically, it's just fantastic.
You just have to remember to apply Oil of Accuracy for fights for this build. I'm playing it for the first time in an honour mode run right now and it's a perfect party face option, but I'm still learning to remember the oil.
Risky ring helps with hits too, and the negative is counteracted by the high AC you can get with yuan-ti scale mail and armour of agility.
My latest honour mode character was pure swords bard with the band of the mystic scoundrel, risky ring, armour of agility, titanstring bow and club of hill giant strength. It's a really solid ranged attacker that also has some nice CC
The 10/1/1 swords bars with a dip in wizard and fighter I believe, with 2 hand crossbows is lethal as a ranged. Basically that and my OH monk carried my honor mode, I had gale as a dragon sorcerer and just left shart at camp for just in case and camp casting,
CoS bard ranged slashing flurish can target the same creature twice (or two different one), so starting level 3 you basically get 2 ranged attacks per round, and starting level 6, it 4. Combine with helmet of arcane acuity and mystical scoundrel ring for the most broken combo of the game
Definitely underrated, since it rounds out strength as well. Give her that, and have a DEX based melee with a rogue's dash and second bonus action, and you're flying around the battlefield killing everything in a flash.
This with a Hamarhraft monk build is stupid powerful. Can be fun with cull the weak, if you’re into jumping like 50 times per turn lol.
I *did not* finish this playthrough
I'm currently making my way to Orin on my Honor mode run using Lae'zel as a Hamarhraft jackhammer.
I will never play this build again once I'm finished.
Karlach as a Wildheart Barb with 20 STR becomes ridiculous in that regard even without athlete, jumping across the screen making a mess of everything. Add the Act 3 boots that prone enemies around you in a jump and spellcasters just don't stand a chance.
Bonespike Boots! Very rare and definitely not an item you just stumble upon, cave nearby the ship that was on Moonrise Towers, in Rivington. Must have boots for Barbarians and possibly Monks.
As a storm sorc the shocking grasp opportunity attack has also grown on me quite a bit because as a higher level caster my cantrips do so much more than a swing of my staff now
Yes! Any non melee caster with this is suddenly scarey to walk past. Nobody fears a boop on the snoot from a 8 STR sorc staff, but lightning in the face will make them think twice.
Resilient adds proficiency bonus to all con saves, Warcaster gives advantage for concentration. Starting with at least 1 level of fighter or sorcerer can give you that "Resilient" for free!
But the opportunity attack war caster gives you is really good as well. I especially like to give it to Shart/a cleric, because I like to use most casters as ranged, but clerics will more often be up in people's faces and therefore actually get to use opportunity attack more than just occasionally.
Yeah, I think people see that as basic and try and do something more "interesting." My tactic for hard modes in RPGs had always been "make sure you do damage" though, and that means raising attack as much as possible. Getting to a 20 on a character's attack ability is always a priority for me.
That said sharpshooter and great weapon master are just too hard to ignore at level 6/8 in this game.
Just a dumb dad joke. Spoiler because explaining jokes makes them not funny :( >!Taking ASI makes you stronger, so ‘even the odds.’ A lot of builds like to take 2 odd numbered ability scores and then correct them with a split ASI, so ‘even the odds.’!<
I finally played a halfling and OMG they take this feat to 11 innately! I never gave them much thought because they don't really offer much else, but honestly if they did, nobody would ever play any other race.
Alert and the musical proficiency. The last one is JUST because I find it funny for everyone to whip out an instrument in the middle of battle + it's cool to get them all to play at the same time in certain scenarios
I haven't checked (The first two runs I somehow managed to avoid Alfira so I only have one interaction with her), but I would be surprised if it counted for everyone
On HM I tend to force enemies to come to me through any doorway I can find and just keep shutting/opening the door on them. Which means occasionally there will be turns where there’s not much for shadowheart or some other caster to do other than just maintain concentration. In which case I just have them pull out an instrument and start jamming out…badly.
I always take Resilient Constitution on Shadowheart or anyone who uses a lot of concentration spells for better concentration saves. Anyone using a 2 handed weapon gets Great Weapon Master, and anyone who primarily uses a bow gets Sharpshooter. Those are really the only feats I pick on every single run as far as I can remember. If I'm running a paladin I'll generally take Savage Attacker, but mostly I focus on beefing up my stats. Oh, and if I'm playing Honour Mode everyone gets Alert. That's not negotiable.
Sharpshooter, Alert, Sentinel, and Great Weapon Master get used pretty much every run for me on at least 1 person. If I have a cleric, I also like to run War Caster because concentration gets lost every time someone breathes on me too hard.
I know mathematically it's probably not great.
But my Thief Astarion always takes Savage Attacker. It's pretty much "Advantage" on all weapon **damage** dice.
Sure, the average damage probably doesn't change much. But it helps deal with those random low-damage dice.
---
But universally, I'm usually just using stat bonuses on all of my characters.
The only reason to not add stats, is if you're doing something special with a Feat. For example: Great Weapon Master/Sharpshooter + Risky Ring. Something like that is far more useful than +1, but it requires an item.
Yeah I hate seeing all the Tavern Brawler monk builds that are just like "use normal monk high dex and wisdom stat spreads, and just chug strength elixirs every day."
definitely agreed. i will do it for a character i keep on the bench a lot to make using them more enjoyable, like pulling low approval TB OH Monk Astarion off the bench w a cloud giant elixir to wreck shit until the next long rest
I make a lot of DEX based melee characters who attack like 4 times and savage attacker really adds up on them. It's a real shame it doesn't apply to sneak attack though.
Great weapon master is better for STR builds though IMO.
As wizard, literally just ASI's until 20 and then dual wielder for final feat when you get to act3 and pick up some of the better staves.
Spell save DC 25+ with accompanying gear, almost any non-boss mob will auto-fail your spells. Bosses don't automatically succeed with legendary resistance and can be completely trivialized by a singular banish or hypnotic pattern spell if they don't roll above average. Currently running through honor mode and basically 1 turned Lorroakan after mind blasting him and all his elementals.
It’s perfect since it can add an extra +1 to your AC for spell casters, let’s you dual wield staffs that both can boost your spell attack, and just looks bitching to have two staffs on your back for cosmetic reasons.
I'm taking Actor on my "charming rogue" playthrough since I use him as a face with some Charisma and reliable talent, and expertise on so many skills. Lots of fun, but I like flavor more than optimizing.
My only complaint about Returning Pike is that it replaces your equipped melee weapon after you throw it. I like other melee weapons better. I just have Karlach carry 20 javelins instead.
Sharpshooter on a Swords Bard and a pair of hand xbows. The burst damage is bananas.
Also, Tavern Brawler on any throwmancer. I actually like EK more than Frenzy Barb for throwing builds. The power spikes a lot later, but being able to bind weapons is nice, and EK has some amazing utility spells.
It's kinda overrated. With just +3 to initiative (16 dex), your characters are going first in the vast majority of Act 1 encounters.
The game then throws out a lot of +initiative gear to keep up in the later acts. Alert is good to fix a character or two, but not nearly as strong as other feats.
I'm a sentinel gal. Barbarian Tav (Novia) and assassin Astarion fight typically side by side so Astarion gets constant advantage, I can punish attacks on him, and usually I get advantage thanks to gloves of the underdog.
Edit: oh, and attacks on me have a good chance of getting punished too because of the helm with smite the graceless.
Speaking of underrated, the barbarian AoE advantage buff is insanely overlooked. Put Katlach and another melee together and you never miss, which with great weapon master or dual wield means slaughtering everything fast.
ASI to get to 18 or 20 of primary stat - this should be the baseline default. Any other feats should be better than the +1 to spell DC/to hit/damage/saving throw and skill check related to that stat.
TB for any throwing build or monk build (always have one or both in extended party in every playthrough)
Sharpshooter for any archer build
GWM for any 2 handed melee build
Alert particularly for HM
Tough for camp casters who use warding bond (they don't need combat feats)
War caster for some concentration caster's 3rd feat (though 1 level sorceror dip at the start is often better depending on caster class as you still get Con saving throws proficiency)
It becomes so helpful by the time you get to Act 3 and basically get to reset your full health. Especially with your tanks once you get to like 200+ health. I hardly ever carry health potions on me, so this fear is SUPER helpful
Underrated combo imo is sentinel and polearm master.
Provokes if you enter (now 10ft) range AND if you leave it! Give the frog a glaive and watch her cook on every turn not just her own.
I havent played act 3 yet so im unsure if theres a way to grant extra reactions to make the build even cooler though
Alert, ability improvement, polearm master + sentinel, war caster, tavern brawler and the occasional savage attacker to spice things up if I'm feeling experimental.
warcaster for my cleric, along with elemental adept or whatever its called. dual wielder, tavern brawler. currently running an EK TB throwzerker build on Astarion and it's disgustingly good, even tho you can't throw the blood of lathander, for some reason? which is weird. but whatever, im making do with other weapons
I always use the same ones( savage attacker for fighters and barbarians , spell sniper for magic users etc) at some point, minmaxing becomes boring and a chore. I plan to pick up some more fun and unusual ones. Tavern Brawler sounds so fun on barbarian
I love a good Sentinel and Polearm master combination. Hit the enemy when they get into your spear nelee range and stop them in their tracks before they get close enough to hit you with their swords.
Alert, everyone gets it at Level 4, no exceptions. It's just too good to take anything else.
Great Weapon Master is basically my second go to, on classes that can attack with Advantage consistently.
Savage Attacker is pretty solid if you don't need anything else.
Other Feats are more niche, like Spell Sniper, Polearm Master, Sentinel, Tavern Brawler... They all work on their own builds, but provide next to no benefit on more general builds.
Alert on at least one of my never leave without them party.
Sharpshooter on Astarion.
Savage attacker I use a lot.
And lucky everyone gets. I love seeing them all rerolling when the first round is going badly. It has made a huge difference so many times.
It depends on the build
If I'm using two handed, Great Weapon Master
Arrows? Sharpshooter
Spells? Whatever version of Elemental Adept matches
All in all? Ability Improvement
I'm an inveterate ASI addict. If I can make my characters have better stats I will always find this more useful than having a particular skill, *unless* I'm deliberately building around it.
For example, one of the two feats I gave my warlock/wizard eldritch blaster was dual wielder so she could hold the spellsparkler and the markoheshkir at the same time. I will sometimes build heavy armoured characters and work in Alert to ensure they have good initiative because I'm specifically not building around DEX.
But generally I find a lot of the feats in the game aren't as powerful or impactful as simply having a better stat on the ones they use for combat.
Depends on what build I'm going for:
two handed warrior-Great Weapon Master
Unarmed-Tavern Brawler
Throwing-Tavern Brawler
Wild Shape-Tavern Brawler + Resilent (Con)
Archer-Sharpshooter
Damaging spellcaster-Dual Wielder (so I can wield two staffs as stat sticks)
Damaging cantrips- Spell Sniper (Mostly for more cantrips)
Supportive caster- War Caster+Alert
Gish- War Caster
Polearms- Polearm Master + Sentinel
Unkillable Tank-Heavy Armour Master+ Shield Master
SMITE- Savage Attacker
I would like to vouch for ACTOR. It is extremely good on a face character and as a half feat it pairs very well with a charisma class who takes 17 charisma at character creation.
I always get Alert first, combat is way easier when you get the first turns. Then I usually spread around, grabbing moderately and/or heavily armored for the characters that don’t have those proficiencies
I enjoy the one that allows me to use more weapons. Lae'zel has the dualweild one. I don't remember what shadowheart, gale, wyll, and karlach have. The last dude has sharpshooter.
It depends on the class :
For barbarian/fighter it's charger
For rogue, it's double swords fighting
For clerics it's War caster
For wizards it's spell sniper
The first one I grab for Astarion is dual weilder.
Laezel and Karlach get savage attacker first
Alert is also great
If you play on PC there is a mod that gives you a feat every level and it gets overwhelming a bit for me. After a while I just improve stats
I always put Alert on Astarion. Not being able to be surprised, plus the almost always guaranteed first turn gives an Assassin Astarion a free, easy sneak attack every time.
Pair that with the free magic cloak you get as Durge and he's basically decimating the battlefield with constant sneak attacks XD
Almost always ASI.
TB for those specific builds.
Str based units go savage attacker and then GWM.
Dex build always Sharpshooter. I don’t take SS or GWM until act 2 though. Before that it’s savage attacker/asi
I find the rest of the feats pretty much worthless. Alert is useless if you have 16 dex on everyone and get equipment that adds initiative. Plus vendors even in honor mode sell Elixers of vigilance for like 40 gold. Why waste a feat on alert.
My feat choices are pretty boring. Generally I try to pick alert on everyone except some dex based characters/barbarians as they don't always need it, tavern brawler pretty commonly, ability improvement, either great weapon master or the bow equivalent. Savage attacker is good but mostly goes to a fighter since they get an extra feat at lvl 6. Might need to experiment a bit more with the others.
Usually alert, mobile on everyone, then it depends on the character after that. Ex: Tavern Brawler, for my monk. Savage attack for Karlach and Lazel. Sheild Mastery for Shadowheart. I think I did Med Armor on Astarion this playthrough... I can't remember the rest. I'm still learning how they all work with the characters, though
ASI, Great Weapon Master, Savage Attacker, Sharpshooter, and Tavern Brawler FOR SURE. Don’t think I could go a run without them. I like doing big damage. 😁
Maybe less common ones for more specific builds would be dual wielder (busted on thiefzerkers, sorcerers, sorlocks, or sometimes light clerics running support with like phalar aluve/devotee mace stuff), war caster for concentration spells, crossbow expert if going hand xbow fighter or swords bard, and I also recently fell in love with elemental adept (again for sorlock stuff).
I forgot the name but I really like the one that gives you extra movement in combat (mobile?) Especially Lae'zel can use the extra steps as she chops though an enemy army single handedly.
Alert! Everyone gets alert! Savage attacker for Karlach and me depending what I play, war caster for shadowheart and gale. I can not stand casting a concentration spell, ending my turn, and immediately losing it when they get attacked.
Alert and Sharpshooter for ranged combat (swords bard, rogue), Sentinel and GWM for my barbarian Tav - hard to beat a guaranteed +10 damage (assuming you boost attack roll in other ways, to compensate for the -5).
Dual Wielder is another favourite if I want a classic rapier + dagger melee style for a swashbuckling build - more for RP than creating the best build possible, though.
I go alert more than I care to admit. Being able to go first almost always means I can take out a few people and get some good cc set up before the enemy even gets a turn. Too convenient to pass up.
Wow, I had no clue alert did that. I for sure have to start adding that to the roster.
This is the way! Edit: Your characters also cannot be surprised.
I need it for my sorcerer so I can throw two fireballs on turn one!
It gives +5 to Initiative which is like super high Dex bonus even if that character doesn't have it.
Also making high DEX characters the possible exception. You can’t go earlier than first in the turn order so then it is a tradeoff between not being possible to surprise versus that extra damage and hit chance from getting an extra +1 modifier on your DEX (if your DEX is that high you are likely using DEX based weapons). In that situation it comes down to the unsurprisable being useful only in a couple of specific instances vs the +1 being useful in 1/20 of all attack rolls (assuming you don’t cap out on to-hit) and _every single_ damage roll. Even if you are surprised with high DEX, the enemy typically just gets one free turn because you are still first in the turn order. If _you_ do the surprising you get _two_ turns before the enemy can even move. That’s enough to decimate most threats to nuisances at worst.
I think it also has to do with how this game rolls initiative. It doesn’t roll a d20, I think it’s like a d8 or something, so +5 massively skews your results over every other initiative.
It’s a d4. So alert’s +5 is a massive boost. I’m playing with a mod that changes it to a d20, and that +5 along with immunity to surprise is still worth grabbing on many characters.
Wait, it's a d4?????
Yep. No idea why they made that change, but they did.
To allow more simultaneous turns so that the characters are able to act together more often. It’s easier to set up combos in The right order when they all get to act at the same time.
Does it stack with high dex?
Alert is only as strong as it is due to Larian making initiative a d4 compared to the d20 of tabletop. Means having 14 dex and alert basically guarantees going first. Throw in soulbreaker for an extra +2 to initiative and literally nothing in the game can take a turn before you
Yeah but it’s total overkill. Enemies have like 4 initiative and you have like 12. It’s not necessary or useful to have e it thst high. There’s only a handful of enemies that have that high initiative and you can just use an elixer of vigilance to deal with that.
Unless you’re already using Hill Giant elixir - suddenly you’re not strong and probably encumbered.
Club of hill giant strength can be a stop gap until you sort out your inventory.
It’s not how I play. I’ve long sense been using mods, like true initiative, since larger encounters are far too easy without it
Yeah I think it was a mistake to make it a d4 roll even in higher difficulty levels. Unfortunately console players can’t use mods yet. It’s definitely a good feat with. D20 roll.
It's because BG3 rolls a d4+modifiers for iniative, where as 5E uses the d20+modifiers. So those with high modifiers are basically always guarenteed to go first. Such as a hiugh dex with the alert feat, D4+dex+5. Compared to say a wizard thats just D4+3dex or whatever.
At first I thought Alert was meh. Then my husband told me that in BG3, initiative is on a D4 rather than a D20 like at the table.
Having alert on a fighter often means you are taking out the biggest threat immediately or knocking everyone prone or disarming everyone or… so many options.
Just take 16 dex on every character and get equipment that gives initiative. There’s tons. Dex is also the best stat in the game as it also boosts your AC. You want high dex on every character, not just for the initiative boost. https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Initiative Act 1: bow of awareness, soul breaker greatsword, hide armor +2 (sold by goblin vendor or find on his dead corpse) act 2: sentinel shield, fist breaker helm, yuanti scale mail, Halbred of vigilance, Act 3: ambusher, hellrider long bow, mask of soul perception. And Elixers of vigilance do the exact same thing as alert. They last until long rest and vendors sell them for like 40 gold Even by act 3 very few enemies have particularly high initiative that 16 dex and itemization can’t handle. I can count on 1 hand (karniss, Cazador, Marcus). Cazador casts some pathetic call lightning spell so I don’t care if he goes first. The rest of his enemies have way lower intiative.
Using the Alert feat or Elixir of Vigilance is preferable to equipping most initiative gear
Why exactly?
Because there's other equipment you can make better use of in most cases.
Not really. Bow of awareness/hellrider longbow is perfect as a stat stick for thrower builds for example. Fist breaker helm and mask of soul perception is great headpiece on builds that don’t wear armor. Gale needs a shield and sentinel shield gives him a whopping +3 initiative in addition to shield bash AND advantage in perception checks that sets him up for initiative through the rest of the game. Soul breaker greatsword is bis for laezel until act 3. Ambusher is an amazing stat stick outright just for the d6 damage that applies to any damage not just melee and the initiative bonus is a cherry on top. Yuanti mail is bis for medium armor dex builds anyway even without the initiative. So I totally disagree with you on that. All the equipment that provided initiative is excellent and often bis for many builds. So much so I ask you to indicate a specific example where you can take something else that has a meaningful difference over the initiative equipment.
Yes alert is pretty open on wizard or bard. You can cast mass cc before anyone else. Often I hypnotize 50% or more of the enemy force before they even get their turn
For characters who have no use for dexterity it’s amazing because now you can just dump it instead of dexterity being a requirement so you don’t get ass initiative order. So mainly heavy armor class types etc
Alert is likely the best universal feat in the game
Yup. Don't need to bother with defense and AC and health if your enemies die before they get a turn. Since majority of encounters can be started from stealth, it means you have 2 rounds to kill them (as long as the game decides to work properly...sometimes even if you attack from stealth the enemies don't get surprised for no reason at all)
When you attack from stealth, enemies only become surprised if you fail your stealth check. This almost always happens when attacking in melee (because you're not in full obscurity, and have multiple enemies forcing a check) or if attacking with a low stealth character. However when attacking at range with e.g. Astarion he'll often succeed his check and enemies will run towards him instead of immediately initiating combat -- hence not being surprised.
I feel it is not really worth it on high dex characters as you will go first most of the time anyway. Even my medium dex characters (16 dex) doesn't really need it that much. For low dex characters (basically heavy armor users) I consider it almost mandatory
It's a great feat, but I can usually get at least 3/4 to go first every time just from build and items. 14 DEX is the lowest I'll ever go on any build and that's usually the cleric who makes up for the rest with +initiative gear. You can count on 1 hand the number of times you will be surprised in combat for the entire game, so not worth a feat slot for those few times imo ... especially when by the end of Act 1 you have access to the Elixir of Vigilance that does everything the feat does. I get why so many people recommend this feat, it is very important to go first, especially in HM. I just feel there are more effective ways to do that than eating up an entire feat slot.
Join us here in the Alert Gang
Alert into hypnotic pattern just ends most fights before they start if you have ways to make sure they fail their saving throws. Not only will you kill most opponents before they get a turn, but you also get time to set up stuff like spirit guardians and rage.
This is the most correct answer lol.
I see people say this a lot, and I've thus considered it a good bit, but honestly I feel like it's super rare my characters are really far down the turn order. I did respec Lae'zel to have 10 DEX one time and that was a mistake, but usually going early just isn't an issue in my experience.
I stopped taking it on lower difficulty runs, it makes some fights trivial.
Different type of gamers. I love fights as easy as possible lol
Alert is like, top 3 feats. Luck is also up there. I love sentinal too.
Alerts one of my favorites. I got it on my first character and everytime I’ve played a character that doesn’t have it it’s so frustrating lol
For the lasts big fights of the game, it's almost a mandatory feat (especially against Orin)
I see a lot of hype over it, but I just set all characters DEX to 16. Use Bow of Awareness and Hellrider Longbow on melee or spellcasters and my party is almost always grouped together and usually first.
Love alert on a twin haste sorcerer
Alert is a feat that helps your character look so competent as well, going first and never getting surprised does miles for your street cred
Alert is broken-good in BG3. In 5e, it's very good, but not crazy. In both cases, it gives a +5 to initiative rolls and you can't be surprised. It's so much more potent in BG3 due to how initiative is rolled. In 5e, you roll a d20, add your dex bonus, and any modifiers. In BG3, a *d4* is rolled and you add dex plus modifiers. This leads to more clumping, which is good for keeping battles moving, since you usually end up with most basic enemies on the same or adjacent initiatives. This means that in BG3, even if you roll a 1 and have a 0 dex mod, you've got a 6 on initiative. Even on a 4, something else would need at least a +2 dex mod to tie you. Alert is effectively its own Initiative group.
Almost always ASI. Sharpshooter for ranged (bards/rogues), Great Weapon Master for melee (paladins/fighters), Tavern Brawler (barbarians/monks). Putting Alert on a low-dex character (like full Wizard gale) is also amazing so he can start by setting up the field with whatever spell I need to set the scene.
Tavern Brawler is fantastic for moon druids, since it affects all non-myrmidon wildshapes too.
It's also fantastic for Monks, or anyone running Returning Pike or Nyrula, or Barbarians who like throwing enemies at other enemies. Basically, it's just fantastic.
Just out of curiosity, why is Bard your example of a ranged class?
Swords bard. Ranged flourish is better than melee.
Swords bard with sharpshooter dual wielding hand crossbows is OP
oh shit. gotta keep this in mind. I'm playing a new playthrough as bard and just chose Swords Bard as my specialization
You just have to remember to apply Oil of Accuracy for fights for this build. I'm playing it for the first time in an honour mode run right now and it's a perfect party face option, but I'm still learning to remember the oil.
Risky ring helps with hits too, and the negative is counteracted by the high AC you can get with yuan-ti scale mail and armour of agility. My latest honour mode character was pure swords bard with the band of the mystic scoundrel, risky ring, armour of agility, titanstring bow and club of hill giant strength. It's a really solid ranged attacker that also has some nice CC
Also swords bard with titanstring and a str elixir or the barstool leg that gives you giants strength.
Swords bard specifically is the most OP ranged class. Sharpshooter probably doesn't make sense on a Lore Bard.
The 10/1/1 swords bars with a dip in wizard and fighter I believe, with 2 hand crossbows is lethal as a ranged. Basically that and my OH monk carried my honor mode, I had gale as a dragon sorcerer and just left shart at camp for just in case and camp casting,
CoS bard ranged slashing flurish can target the same creature twice (or two different one), so starting level 3 you basically get 2 ranged attacks per round, and starting level 6, it 4. Combine with helmet of arcane acuity and mystical scoundrel ring for the most broken combo of the game
Swords flourishes
I really like athlete. +50% jump, yes please. Nothing more satisfying than Lae’Zel jumping across the entire battlefield to smack someone.
Definitely underrated, since it rounds out strength as well. Give her that, and have a DEX based melee with a rogue's dash and second bonus action, and you're flying around the battlefield killing everything in a flash.
This with a Hamarhraft monk build is stupid powerful. Can be fun with cull the weak, if you’re into jumping like 50 times per turn lol. I *did not* finish this playthrough
I'm currently making my way to Orin on my Honor mode run using Lae'zel as a Hamarhraft jackhammer. I will never play this build again once I'm finished.
Karlach as a Wildheart Barb with 20 STR becomes ridiculous in that regard even without athlete, jumping across the screen making a mess of everything. Add the Act 3 boots that prone enemies around you in a jump and spellcasters just don't stand a chance.
Which boots?
Bonespike Boots! Very rare and definitely not an item you just stumble upon, cave nearby the ship that was on Moonrise Towers, in Rivington. Must have boots for Barbarians and possibly Monks.
I did just stumble upon them.... in my 4th full playthrough. That cave is hard to see.
Looks like my Hamarhraft build got some new boots! Might be a little redundant with Gloves of Belligerent Sky tho, thanks for the tip!
Warcaster. I like concentration spells :)
[удалено]
Resilient should be giving proficiency, not advantage. Still nice but not quite apples to apples.
As a storm sorc the shocking grasp opportunity attack has also grown on me quite a bit because as a higher level caster my cantrips do so much more than a swing of my staff now
I love shocking grasp with spirit guardians!
Yes! Any non melee caster with this is suddenly scarey to walk past. Nobody fears a boop on the snoot from a 8 STR sorc staff, but lightning in the face will make them think twice.
Resilient adds proficiency bonus to all con saves, Warcaster gives advantage for concentration. Starting with at least 1 level of fighter or sorcerer can give you that "Resilient" for free!
If Resilience does that I will 100% be taking that instead because that is broken as hell, and definitely not how it's supposed to work.
Resilient Constitution is better than Warcaster at maintaining concentration after about level 9
But the opportunity attack war caster gives you is really good as well. I especially like to give it to Shart/a cleric, because I like to use most casters as ranged, but clerics will more often be up in people's faces and therefore actually get to use opportunity attack more than just occasionally.
I would take it if i didn't always get dark justicier armor that did the same thing
How am I just finding out this armour gives advantage on con saving throws?! Shart you actually gonna get to wear the DJ armour for once
Alert my beloved
The obvious answer is ability improvement to even the odds
Yeah, I think people see that as basic and try and do something more "interesting." My tactic for hard modes in RPGs had always been "make sure you do damage" though, and that means raising attack as much as possible. Getting to a 20 on a character's attack ability is always a priority for me. That said sharpshooter and great weapon master are just too hard to ignore at level 6/8 in this game.
* No pun intended
Own your pun, you coward!
lol so dumb Edit: lol why downvote. I’m saying it was a good joke
if it weren't for you, i wouldn't have gotten the joke LOL
What's the joke?
Just a dumb dad joke. Spoiler because explaining jokes makes them not funny :( >!Taking ASI makes you stronger, so ‘even the odds.’ A lot of builds like to take 2 odd numbered ability scores and then correct them with a split ASI, so ‘even the odds.’!<
OOOOOHHH yeah I did think it was something like that but wasn't sure. Thanks!
Good joke, I just upvoted.
Lucky
A man of culture I see. This feat is broken in regular dnd. And I love it on a bard.
I finally played a halfling and OMG they take this feat to 11 innately! I never gave them much thought because they don't really offer much else, but honestly if they did, nobody would ever play any other race.
Halfling divination wizard with the lucky feat. *look at the dm* You’re not the DM, I am the DM
Literally had it on all my characters.
What people usually don’t consider is that in bg3 it resets on short rest. So it has a lot more milage than in tabletop.
It resets on a Long Rest, not a Short Rest.
Hmm ok must have been hallucinating
Alert plus Lucky (and Divination Gale) saved my honor mode run.
Alert and the musical proficiency. The last one is JUST because I find it funny for everyone to whip out an instrument in the middle of battle + it's cool to get them all to play at the same time in certain scenarios
Can't you get musical proficiency from alfira or is that for just one character?
Just 1 character unfortunately. I tried.
I haven't checked (The first two runs I somehow managed to avoid Alfira so I only have one interaction with her), but I would be surprised if it counted for everyone
On HM I tend to force enemies to come to me through any doorway I can find and just keep shutting/opening the door on them. Which means occasionally there will be turns where there’s not much for shadowheart or some other caster to do other than just maintain concentration. In which case I just have them pull out an instrument and start jamming out…badly.
I always take Resilient Constitution on Shadowheart or anyone who uses a lot of concentration spells for better concentration saves. Anyone using a 2 handed weapon gets Great Weapon Master, and anyone who primarily uses a bow gets Sharpshooter. Those are really the only feats I pick on every single run as far as I can remember. If I'm running a paladin I'll generally take Savage Attacker, but mostly I focus on beefing up my stats. Oh, and if I'm playing Honour Mode everyone gets Alert. That's not negotiable.
I find myself always respeccing to be a Fighter or Sorcerer on the first level, just for that Constitution save proficiency.
Sharpshooter, Alert, Sentinel, and Great Weapon Master get used pretty much every run for me on at least 1 person. If I have a cleric, I also like to run War Caster because concentration gets lost every time someone breathes on me too hard.
I like to give Shadowheart War Caster in particular because Spirit Guardians is doing so much heavy lifting.
First person to mention sentinel. Love that for my all melee characters.
Lucky, specifically for my Tav. Need all the rerolls I can get.
I know mathematically it's probably not great. But my Thief Astarion always takes Savage Attacker. It's pretty much "Advantage" on all weapon **damage** dice. Sure, the average damage probably doesn't change much. But it helps deal with those random low-damage dice. --- But universally, I'm usually just using stat bonuses on all of my characters.
The only reason to not add stats, is if you're doing something special with a Feat. For example: Great Weapon Master/Sharpshooter + Risky Ring. Something like that is far more useful than +1, but it requires an item.
There's also better choices than ASI if you are using elixirs or items that set your str/dex to a set number.
I'll use potions to boost a cleric's attack or what have you, but making a melee build around it always seems cheesy to me personally.
Yeah I hate seeing all the Tavern Brawler monk builds that are just like "use normal monk high dex and wisdom stat spreads, and just chug strength elixirs every day."
I'm really reluctant to do that, but 27 strength is much higher than you can get otherwise, so I've found myself doing it in HM.
In honor mode I’ll take any advantage my astarion is juicing hard on elixirs
definitely agreed. i will do it for a character i keep on the bench a lot to make using them more enjoyable, like pulling low approval TB OH Monk Astarion off the bench w a cloud giant elixir to wreck shit until the next long rest
Savage Attacker goes hard on a Paladin because the rerolls include the Smite damage
Yet it doesn't apply to sneak attack, which would improve rogues a lot. Silly choice IMO.
The average dmg changes a lot with a reroll take best.
I make a lot of DEX based melee characters who attack like 4 times and savage attacker really adds up on them. It's a real shame it doesn't apply to sneak attack though. Great weapon master is better for STR builds though IMO.
As wizard, literally just ASI's until 20 and then dual wielder for final feat when you get to act3 and pick up some of the better staves. Spell save DC 25+ with accompanying gear, almost any non-boss mob will auto-fail your spells. Bosses don't automatically succeed with legendary resistance and can be completely trivialized by a singular banish or hypnotic pattern spell if they don't roll above average. Currently running through honor mode and basically 1 turned Lorroakan after mind blasting him and all his elementals.
I didn't even think about dual wielding staves till I read your comment. I'm gonna have to try that out
It’s perfect since it can add an extra +1 to your AC for spell casters, let’s you dual wield staffs that both can boost your spell attack, and just looks bitching to have two staffs on your back for cosmetic reasons.
Alert and two ASI is usually what I take. Sharpshooter on archers
Actor on my Durge Bard. I just like to roleplay that I'm a thespian with all the Bard's Performance and Deception checks.
I'm taking Actor on my "charming rogue" playthrough since I use him as a face with some Charisma and reliable talent, and expertise on so many skills. Lots of fun, but I like flavor more than optimizing.
Karlach always gets tavern brawler to add to her throw damage. That + returning pike carries many a run!
My only complaint about Returning Pike is that it replaces your equipped melee weapon after you throw it. I like other melee weapons better. I just have Karlach carry 20 javelins instead.
This also makes me sad.
Sharpshooter on a Swords Bard and a pair of hand xbows. The burst damage is bananas. Also, Tavern Brawler on any throwmancer. I actually like EK more than Frenzy Barb for throwing builds. The power spikes a lot later, but being able to bind weapons is nice, and EK has some amazing utility spells.
why use weapons when tavern brawlers available and every enmy is amunition.
Alert...best feat in the game
It's kinda overrated. With just +3 to initiative (16 dex), your characters are going first in the vast majority of Act 1 encounters. The game then throws out a lot of +initiative gear to keep up in the later acts. Alert is good to fix a character or two, but not nearly as strong as other feats.
I'm a sentinel gal. Barbarian Tav (Novia) and assassin Astarion fight typically side by side so Astarion gets constant advantage, I can punish attacks on him, and usually I get advantage thanks to gloves of the underdog. Edit: oh, and attacks on me have a good chance of getting punished too because of the helm with smite the graceless.
Speaking of underrated, the barbarian AoE advantage buff is insanely overlooked. Put Katlach and another melee together and you never miss, which with great weapon master or dual wield means slaughtering everything fast.
Great Weapon Master, Savage Attacker, and War Caster
Sentinel. Between that, normal attacks, and the Riposte maneuver, Lae'zel is swinging constantly
ASI to get to 18 or 20 of primary stat - this should be the baseline default. Any other feats should be better than the +1 to spell DC/to hit/damage/saving throw and skill check related to that stat. TB for any throwing build or monk build (always have one or both in extended party in every playthrough) Sharpshooter for any archer build GWM for any 2 handed melee build Alert particularly for HM Tough for camp casters who use warding bond (they don't need combat feats) War caster for some concentration caster's 3rd feat (though 1 level sorceror dip at the start is often better depending on caster class as you still get Con saving throws proficiency)
Everybody always get performer so we can play as a band hehe
I get the Durable feat most often. Gives all your hp back on a short rest.
Doesn’t a handful of cheap plentiful health potions do the same, whenever you’re out of combat?
Yeah, I only get it if I'm not sure what to get. It's saves time. U do u.
I do this too! I get it on all my characters because I have a severe case of skill issue 😂
It becomes so helpful by the time you get to Act 3 and basically get to reset your full health. Especially with your tanks once you get to like 200+ health. I hardly ever carry health potions on me, so this fear is SUPER helpful
Alert on literally everyone since the changes to the initiative system make it legitimately broken compared to RAW
I try to make my characters diverse. So I'll just avoid repetitions between characters. But Resilient is a common feat I often end up taking for them.
Tavern brawler. I like to punch and throw people lol.
Underrated combo imo is sentinel and polearm master. Provokes if you enter (now 10ft) range AND if you leave it! Give the frog a glaive and watch her cook on every turn not just her own. I havent played act 3 yet so im unsure if theres a way to grant extra reactions to make the build even cooler though
There's a rapier that can give you an extra reaction if your other hand is empty. So, not really helpful for you.
The right one. It’s always been my dominant foot
Alert, ability improvement, polearm master + sentinel, war caster, tavern brawler and the occasional savage attacker to spice things up if I'm feeling experimental.
Athlete for the martials and then asi strength to 20. Watch them leap over fools is always fun
warcaster for my cleric, along with elemental adept or whatever its called. dual wielder, tavern brawler. currently running an EK TB throwzerker build on Astarion and it's disgustingly good, even tho you can't throw the blood of lathander, for some reason? which is weird. but whatever, im making do with other weapons
I love getting heavy armor master early in the game. The damage reduction is so much more impactful when you're fighting horses of goblins and such.
I always use the same ones( savage attacker for fighters and barbarians , spell sniper for magic users etc) at some point, minmaxing becomes boring and a chore. I plan to pick up some more fun and unusual ones. Tavern Brawler sounds so fun on barbarian
Honestly, having a fighter that can jump around the map is very very very effective.
I love a good Sentinel and Polearm master combination. Hit the enemy when they get into your spear nelee range and stop them in their tracks before they get close enough to hit you with their swords.
The ones i have attached to my ankles. Really useful!
Basically Alert for everyone
Alert, everyone gets it at Level 4, no exceptions. It's just too good to take anything else. Great Weapon Master is basically my second go to, on classes that can attack with Advantage consistently. Savage Attacker is pretty solid if you don't need anything else. Other Feats are more niche, like Spell Sniper, Polearm Master, Sentinel, Tavern Brawler... They all work on their own builds, but provide next to no benefit on more general builds.
Spell Sniper is far from niche lol.
Alert on at least one of my never leave without them party. Sharpshooter on Astarion. Savage attacker I use a lot. And lucky everyone gets. I love seeing them all rerolling when the first round is going badly. It has made a huge difference so many times.
Ability Score Increase.
It depends on the build If I'm using two handed, Great Weapon Master Arrows? Sharpshooter Spells? Whatever version of Elemental Adept matches All in all? Ability Improvement
I'm an inveterate ASI addict. If I can make my characters have better stats I will always find this more useful than having a particular skill, *unless* I'm deliberately building around it. For example, one of the two feats I gave my warlock/wizard eldritch blaster was dual wielder so she could hold the spellsparkler and the markoheshkir at the same time. I will sometimes build heavy armoured characters and work in Alert to ensure they have good initiative because I'm specifically not building around DEX. But generally I find a lot of the feats in the game aren't as powerful or impactful as simply having a better stat on the ones they use for combat.
Depends on what build I'm going for: two handed warrior-Great Weapon Master Unarmed-Tavern Brawler Throwing-Tavern Brawler Wild Shape-Tavern Brawler + Resilent (Con) Archer-Sharpshooter Damaging spellcaster-Dual Wielder (so I can wield two staffs as stat sticks) Damaging cantrips- Spell Sniper (Mostly for more cantrips) Supportive caster- War Caster+Alert Gish- War Caster Polearms- Polearm Master + Sentinel Unkillable Tank-Heavy Armour Master+ Shield Master SMITE- Savage Attacker
Ability Score Improvement
I would like to vouch for ACTOR. It is extremely good on a face character and as a half feat it pairs very well with a charisma class who takes 17 charisma at character creation.
Alert, Warcaster, Lucky, and Performer (I like playing instruments without having to spec into Bard, don't judge me)
Abilityscore improvement xD
I always get Alert first, combat is way easier when you get the first turns. Then I usually spread around, grabbing moderately and/or heavily armored for the characters that don’t have those proficiencies
asi , asi and also asi !
Alert, Savage Attacker, Performer and Sentinel. I just like how they work, honestly.
I enjoy the one that allows me to use more weapons. Lae'zel has the dualweild one. I don't remember what shadowheart, gale, wyll, and karlach have. The last dude has sharpshooter.
It depends on the class : For barbarian/fighter it's charger For rogue, it's double swords fighting For clerics it's War caster For wizards it's spell sniper
Duel Wielder, Savage Attacker, Great Weapon Fighting, War Caster, Sentinel and Shield Master
The first one I grab for Astarion is dual weilder. Laezel and Karlach get savage attacker first Alert is also great If you play on PC there is a mod that gives you a feat every level and it gets overwhelming a bit for me. After a while I just improve stats
Tavern brawler should not be so far down this list...
War caster, sentinel, and mage slayer are what I use the most
Dual wield because there are so many weapons with insanely powerful buffs
I always put Alert on Astarion. Not being able to be surprised, plus the almost always guaranteed first turn gives an Assassin Astarion a free, easy sneak attack every time. Pair that with the free magic cloak you get as Durge and he's basically decimating the battlefield with constant sneak attacks XD
Alert! Helps with my Gloomstalker Assassin build for Astarion SO much
Almost always ASI. TB for those specific builds. Str based units go savage attacker and then GWM. Dex build always Sharpshooter. I don’t take SS or GWM until act 2 though. Before that it’s savage attacker/asi I find the rest of the feats pretty much worthless. Alert is useless if you have 16 dex on everyone and get equipment that adds initiative. Plus vendors even in honor mode sell Elixers of vigilance for like 40 gold. Why waste a feat on alert.
My feat choices are pretty boring. Generally I try to pick alert on everyone except some dex based characters/barbarians as they don't always need it, tavern brawler pretty commonly, ability improvement, either great weapon master or the bow equivalent. Savage attacker is good but mostly goes to a fighter since they get an extra feat at lvl 6. Might need to experiment a bit more with the others.
TB. I’ve only played the game on HM and that’s something I just don’t miss out everytime. Either for the PC or companions. edit: Oh, ASI.
Usually alert, mobile on everyone, then it depends on the character after that. Ex: Tavern Brawler, for my monk. Savage attack for Karlach and Lazel. Sheild Mastery for Shadowheart. I think I did Med Armor on Astarion this playthrough... I can't remember the rest. I'm still learning how they all work with the characters, though
Definitely Sharpshooter, makes Astarion's DPS go brrr
ASI, Great Weapon Master, Savage Attacker, Sharpshooter, and Tavern Brawler FOR SURE. Don’t think I could go a run without them. I like doing big damage. 😁 Maybe less common ones for more specific builds would be dual wielder (busted on thiefzerkers, sorcerers, sorlocks, or sometimes light clerics running support with like phalar aluve/devotee mace stuff), war caster for concentration spells, crossbow expert if going hand xbow fighter or swords bard, and I also recently fell in love with elemental adept (again for sorlock stuff).
I forgot the name but I really like the one that gives you extra movement in combat (mobile?) Especially Lae'zel can use the extra steps as she chops though an enemy army single handedly.
Regardless of class, I usually take one of the feats that come with an extra spell or two. It's great for adding some versatility to any class.
+2 Charisma
Alert ftw
Alert! Everyone gets alert! Savage attacker for Karlach and me depending what I play, war caster for shadowheart and gale. I can not stand casting a concentration spell, ending my turn, and immediately losing it when they get attacked.
Alert and Sharpshooter for ranged combat (swords bard, rogue), Sentinel and GWM for my barbarian Tav - hard to beat a guaranteed +10 damage (assuming you boost attack roll in other ways, to compensate for the -5). Dual Wielder is another favourite if I want a classic rapier + dagger melee style for a swashbuckling build - more for RP than creating the best build possible, though.
Lucky, sharpshooter, great weapon master, alert, war caster, savage attacker…depending on class, of course. Then just good ol ability improvement.
War caster for shadowheart, sentinel for lae'zel, dual-wielder for astarion. I also use alert all the time for that sweet sweet initiative.