All the feats in the DnD 2024 Player’s Handbook have seen a major rebalancing, and we predict a certain sort of RPG fan is going to have a great time tinkering with all the new options available to them.
We’ve previously categorized every single change made to the DnD 2024 feats, but if you’re now considering DnD character builds and wondering which are the strongest and which the weakest, here’s our take on what to consider and what to avoid.
One thing to realize is that for the most part we think the balance changes in this new iteration of Dungeons and Dragons are good for the game. A lot of feats are better than they used to be, and since everything except fighting styles now boosts your DnD stats, picking a feat isn’t such a big trade-off.
The best DnD 2024 feats
Great Weapon Master
Great Weapon Master was already among the best 5e feats a martial character could take, and though the 2024 version is quite different, it may be even better than before – at any rate it’s far more consistent. You still get a bonus action extra attack on a critical hit or when dispatching a creature, but that’s where the similarities end.
Rather than making less accurate but more damaging attacks with heavy weapons, you get to do extra damage on every attack equal to your proficiency modifier. That’s only a small amount of damage early on, but it really adds up, especially on classes that get to make multiple attacks per turn. When you factor in the fact that you’ll be missing less often, we think it’s a better ability than the old Great Weapon Master.
Another factor is that the 5e version of this feat only worked with melee weapons. Now, it’s any heavy weapon, so you can switch to a heavy crossbow or longbow for flying enemies or foes out of range, and still benefit.
Defensive Duelist
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Defensive Duelist has become an excellent feat to take if you’re using lighter, pokier weapons. It’s a very simple feat that boosts your defensive capabilities. In 5e, it let you use a reaction when attacked to add your proficiency bonus to your AC, hopefully transforming your enemy’s close hit into a close miss.
You can still do all that in the 2024 rules, but the difference is now the AC bonus sticks around till the start of your next turn. While it doesn’t let you deflect ranged attacks or spells like the DnD 2024 Monk, it’s still going to buff your survivability a great deal.
Mage Slayer
A once fairly niche feat, that was only good if your DM was chucking a lot of spellcasters at you, the version of Mage Slayer in the 2024 Player’s Handbook has a much wider application. You lose the reaction attack against spells cast within five feet of you, but in return you gain the ability to automatically turn a failed Int, Cha, or Wis save into a success, once per short rest.
You’ll almost be able to use this ability every single adventuring day, and there are times when it’ll be extremely important indeed.
Skulker
Skulker is quite a build-specific feat – but incredible for any stealthy character who wants to strike from the shadows – and, just as importantly, get back into those shadows again later. Just like in 5e, missed attacks you make while hidden won’t reveal you when you have this feat, but now this applies to both melee and ranged attacks.
You lose the ability to hide when lightly obscured – which lets you attempt to disappear in dim light. This is a pretty big nerf, but on the bright side you get advantage on all attempts to hide during combat. You’ll have to be smarter about planning your encounters to take advantage of stealth, but you’ll rarely be caught out by a bad roll.
You no longer ignore the effects of dim light – a potentially useful part of this feat which made you better at spotting hidden creatures. But you gain 10 feet of Blindsight, allowing you to fight close up in total darkness and even see invisible creatures.
The rogue is considered to be the weakest DnD class in the 2024 rules, but this feat lets you play a classic stealth-em-up style.
The worst DnD 2024 feats
Ritual Caster
This feat works quite similarly to how it used to, giving you access to a handful of level 1 rituals, a good way for a non-magic class to dabble in the arcane arts. However, whether this feat is any good will depend on your party’s composition. It’s fairly likely there’ll be someone else in your party who can easily upstage you.
Objectively, Ritual Caster is better in some ways than it used to be. You’re no longer locked into a particular class’ spell list when you choose the feat, giving you a much wider range of rituals to choose from. And you can cast rituals without the 10 minute delay.
But we’re a bit sad because you can no longer gain higher level rituals from spellbooks and scrolls, removing a fun minigame for ritual casters, and denying them access to higher level magic. Boo!
Chef
Chef is unchanged from its appearance in Tasha’s Cauldron of everything. It lets you make meals during a short rest which allows party members to heal a bit more when expending their HD (adding 1d8 in total). And it lets you make treats with an hour of cookery that give players a couple of temporary hitpoints, equal to your proficiency bonus.
The trouble is that while this is fun and flavorful, it’s also very low impact. It’s especially uninteresting when you consider how much 2024 DnD boosts magical healing spells.
Martial Weapon Training
This very dull feat gives you proficiency with martial weapons. The problem is, everyone who might need to use martial weapons starts out with this proficiency already. The barbarian, College of Valor bard, cleric, druid, fighter, paladin, and ranger all have it.
Who else could use it? Monks don’t need it, because martial weapons that aren’t light don’t count as monk weapons for your other features (and they already have proficiency with light martial weapons). Rogues need to use finesse or ranged weapons to perform sneak attacks, but maybe you’d pick this up if you wanted a longbow or gun rogue?
Aside from that, it’s hard to think of any scenario where you might take this.
Moderately Armored
Moderately Armored used to be a pretty good feat, giving you proficiency in medium armor and shields, allowing a not very dexterous rogue, bard, or warlock to suddenly become a lot harder to hit. In DnD 2024, while Lightly Armored gives you shield proficiency, Moderately Armored does not.
Which doesn’t feel all that logical, and also makes this feat highly unappealing – as the AC bonus available is much smaller. Just invest in dexterity, or consider multiclassing to get the armor proficiencies you need.
For more new RPG content, check out our DnD 2024 Player’s Handbook review, or find out about the game’s biggest spell changes. You can also enjoy good old 5e content with our guides to DnD races.
Source: Wargamer
