Leveling up? How to choose a feat

Whether you’re building a new character or leveling one up, you may have the option of choosing a feat. Feats are often the hardest choice a player has to make during character creation.

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I’ll be talking about feats in 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons in this article. Other RPG systems, like Pathfinder, GURPS, or Baldur’s Gate 3 use similar systems; consult those rule books for more details. Each Game Master may have their own rules, so ask your GM before taking a feat!

What are feats?

Feat are special talents or expertise. They represent training, experience, and abilities beyond what a class or background provides. They may boost your stats, give you extra spells, or give you advantage in certain situations. Some are more combat-focused, while others are more roleplay-focused. Some even give you abilities you can’t get any other way.

Specialized skills

Feats let you specialize in fighting styles. Many Rangers and Rogues take the Crossbow Expert, Sharpshooter, or Piercer feats to improve their long-ranged attacks. A Monk or Fighter might take Grappler, Crusher, or Tavern Brawler to increase their options during battle. A Paladin or Barbarian might take Tough, Resilient, or Durable to ensure they can take a hit for their party.

Feats also let you customize characters with special abilities. My first character was an Oath of the Ancients Paladin. I loved the cantrips that I saw other spellcasters using, so my Game Master recommended I take Magic Initiate: Druid. This gave me access to Druidcraft and Goodberry, deepening my character’s connection with nature and giving me more spellcasting options outside of combat. As another example, one of my Bard players uses both the Actor and Telepathic feats to literally get into the heads of his enemies, whispering lies and making suggestions.

What are the best feats?

It depends. There are lots of articles and videos about the “best” feats, but they’re just the best for a certain situation. For example, Dungeon Delver is a great feat, giving advantage to detect traps and secret doors. But Dungeon Delver won’t help you in a roleplay-heavy campaign that doesn’t feature a lot of traps or secret doors.

I can’t tell you what the best feats are. There’s only the best feats for your character and your campaign. I can tell you my favorite feats, and why I like them.

Overall useful feats

My favorite general-purpose feats are Tough, Magic Initiate, and Keen Mind. These are useful regardless of your character, playstyle, or campaign.

• Tough is pretty simple: you get more hit points (HP) every time you level up. More HP means you’ll survive tough battles longer.
• Magic Initiate lets you choose two cantrips and a first-level spell from a different class. This is great if you want to try spellcasting or expand your spell list but don’t want to multiclass.
• Keen Mind is like having smartphone. It’s a GPS, a clock, and a camera! You always know which way north is, you always know what time it is, and you remember everything you have seen or heard in the last month perfectly.

Roleplay feats

If you’re in a roleplay-heavy campaign or you’re playing a Charisma-based character like a Bard or Paladin, I recommend Actor, Chef, or Inspiring Leader.

• Actor lets you mimic voices and pose as others. Combined with Disguise Self, Alter Self, or a disguise kit, you can get away with a lot of shenanigans.
• Chef lets you make snacks during your long and short rests. These little treats aren’t just a fun, wholesome roleplay moment. They also give you and your friends temporary HP!
• Inspiring Leader is another way to give your party temporary HP. Spend ten minutes making a rousing speech, and everyone gets a boost.

Exploration feats

If you’re in an exploration-heavy campaign or you’re playing a scout-type character like a Rogue or Ranger, consider Alert, Observant, or Dungeon Delver.

• Alert means you’ll never be surprised by ambushing enemies.
• Observant gives bonuses to Investigation and Perception checks, and lets you eavesdrop on conversations.
• Dungeon Delver helps you detect traps and secret doors. If you miss a trap and accidentally trigger it, you can avoid catastrophic damage.

Combat feats

Those in combat-heavy campaigns or with characters who like to be in the middle of the battle like Fighters and Monks should check out Mobile, Crusher, and Tavern Brawler.

• Mobile lets you get out of the battlefield without provoking attacks of opportunity.
• Crusher gives you bonuses to bludgeoning damage and lets you shove your enemies around the battlefield.
• Tavern Brawler lets you use improvised weapons. Grab a chair or a cast iron skillet from the tavern and wield it with expertise!

When do you get feats?

Variant Humans get a feat at level 1. Most characters have the option of getting feats at levels 4, 8, 12, and 16. Some Game Masters give bonus feats as rewards instead of magic items. Certain classes like Rogue and Fighter get additional feats at level 10.

Unlike armor or magic rings, feats are permanent bonuses to your character. Since they are part of your character, feats can’t be taken away from you like magic items. For example, if a feat and a magic ring both give you the ability to cast Misty Step, the ring could be stolen from you, but the feat cannot.

Can I choose any feat?

Not every feat will be available to every character. Many feats have prerequisites.

• Some feats require a minimum ability score. Grappler requires a Strength of 13 or higher.
• Some feats can only be taken by a certain race. Bountiful Luck is exclusive to halflings and Elven Accuracy is an elf exclusive.
• Fey-touched and Shadow-touched require that your character has spent significant time in the Feywild or Shadowfell, respectively.
• Some feats, like Knight of the Crown, are associated with certain campaign settings.

It’s always a good idea to ask your Game Master if you qualify for the feats you’re interested in.

What’s a good strategy for choosing a feat?

Consider your current ability scores, any spells or abilities you feel are missing from your character, and what kind of campaign you’re playing in.

Feats or ASI?

In most cases, you can take an Ability Score Improvement (ASI) instead of a feat. From a roleplay and character development perspective, I think feats are more fun and interesting. But sometimes ASI is the better choice!

For example, if you’re a Rogue, improving your Dexterity will improve almost every aspect of your character’s special talents. You’ll hit harder (higher bonus to damage dice), more accurately (higher Attack bonus), and faster (higher Initiative bonus). You’ll be sneakier (higher Stealth and Sleight of Hand bonuses) and become less likely to be hurt (higher Armor Class and Dexterity Saving Throw bonuses).

Even-numbered ability scores will give you a bigger modifier bonus than odd-numbered ability scores. For example, a 12 or 13 in Strength has a +1 bonus, a 14 or 15 Strength has a +2 bonus, and a 16 or 17 Strength has a +3 bonus. If your Strength is an odd number, like 13 or 15, adding one will increase your bonus. But if your Strength is an even number, like 12 or 14, you’ll need to add two in order to increase your bonus.

When you choose ASI instead of a feat, you can either add 1 to two ability scores, or you can add 2 to one ability score. For example, if you have a 13 Strength and an 11 Constitution, adding one to both of those scores will boost both modifiers. If you have two stats with odd numbers, this can be a good strategy!

As a final note, ASI cannot improve your stats above 20. So, even if you have 19 Strength, you can’t get 21 Strength with ASI (unless your Game Master allows it).

What’s your favorite feat?

I’d love to hear in the comments!