What Are The Most Powerful Feats in 5e?

Feats represent a special opportunity for players to customize and optimize their Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition characters. While Ability Score Improvements boost your core statistics, selecting one of the many feats available instead allows you to acquire game-changing new capabilities tailored to your adventuring speciality.

But with dozens of feats to choose from in the Player's Handbook and other supplements, which options offer the biggest boost in power and synergy with popular character builds? And how can you make the most of feats to maximize your character's potential in combat and roleplaying scenarios?

Let’s break down the feats widely regarded to offer the most potent effects for both martial warriors and spellcasting classes alike. We break down what makes these special abilities so impactful, which classes and gameplay styles can utilize them best, and how they enable you to reach dizzying heights of power far surpassing run-of-the-mill skill choices.

So prepare to rapidly ascend from novice adventurer to legendary hero status as we reveal the most game-warping D&D feats available! Let's count down the top options veteran players always have their eyes on during character creation!

What are DnD Feats in 5e?

Before listing the most highly impactful feats, it helps to provide a quick overview of what feats are for those new to 5th edition D&D.

Unlike inherent class features you gain automatically as you level up, feats are a special type of feature you can choose instead of taking the standard Ability Score Improvement at certain levels. Rather than increasing your Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and so on by 2 points or 1 point in two abilities, you can select a feat to gain new capabilities. As always, you can manage feats and other character attributes using Roll20's D&D character sheet.

These capabilities might include mastery of a new combat maneuver, specializing in a certain weapon or fighting style, gaining the ability to cast certain spells, improving certain skills beyond their normal limits, or acquiring other exceptional traits described by the feat. They allow you to customize your character to be uniquely suited to a certain adventuring role or style of play.

While Ability Score Improvements are still extremely useful for improving your attacks, spells, skills, and more, feats allow you to define what your character is truly best at. Your weapon master fighter can take Heavy Armor Master or Great Weapon Master, while a cleric might take War Caster to wield both weapon and spell in battle. Your options are endless, but some feats simply offer power beyond compare...

Sharpshooter - Archery Powerhouse

One of, if not the most powerful feats available is Sharpshooter. This hugely boosts characters that rely on ranged weapon attacks. 

First, it removes the penalty for long range ranged weapon attack rolls, allowing you to be a supreme sniper. It also ignores half and three-quarters cover, hard-to-come-by accuracy boosts. Finally - and most impactfully - when making ranged attack roll, you can take a -5 penalty to gain a whopping +10 to damage.

This allows archers to output some of the highest potential damage numbers in 5e. Fighters, Rangers, and Rogues who rely on the longbow or heavy crossbow should strongly consider this feat. Even spellcasters dipping into classes with access to archery can make great use of Sharpshooter to add punch when they're not casting spells. It has such a major damage multiplication effect that it remains a top-tier feat choice.

Great Weapon Master - Heavy Hitter

In the same vein as Sharpshooter, but for melee attack weapons, is Great Weapon Master. The trade-off of -5 to hit for +10 damage applies here as well, adding tremendous damage potential when you land blows with two-handed weapons or polearms. Advantage on attack rolls from sources like the Reckless Attack barbarian class feature can mitigate the accuracy penalty.

Characters that use sweeping polearm attacks can also utilize the secondary bonus this feat provides - a free melee weapon attack with your bonus action after dropping an enemy to 0 hit points. Combat with greatswords, mauls, and greataxes will never feel the same once you pick up this feat and start cleaving foes left and right.

Savage Attacker is another feat that can boost melee damage potential. While less outright damage than Great Weapon Master, it allows you to reroll a single weapon's damage dice once per turn and take the better result.

Polearm Master - Opportunity Attacks

Sticking with melee combat, one of the most potent battlefield control feats is Polearm Master. This feat makes opportunity attacks with polearms much more common by allowing you to make them when creatures approach you before they even get within your weapon's normal reach.

Combined with the Sentinel feat that reduces enemy speed to 0 when you hit with such opportunity attacks, you can lock down enemies and prevent them reaching your backline allies. You also get a frequent bonus action attack, adding to your damage output. Fighters and Paladins make especially scary use of Polearm Master/Sentinel.

War Caster - Spellcaster Resilience

For spellcasters, one of the strongest feats to consider is War Caster. This specialization makes concentrating on spells in combat much easier by granting advantage on Constitution saves made to maintain Concentration when damaged. As many potent spells require Concentration, this is invaluable.

War Caster also allows you to perform somatic spell components even with weapons/shields occupied, and make opportunity attack Booming Blade/Green-Flame Blade spells. Overall, this gives spellcasters much-needed resilience in melee combat. Prioritize it on Clerics and Druids that wade into battle.

Resilient - Saving Throw Mastery

Finally, while Resilient may not seem an exciting feat, it provides a supreme defensive boost. Choosing Resilient for a saving throw, you are currently poor at grants Proficiency in that save and 1 point in the relevant ability score. This makes you far less vulnerable to debilitating effects that target that save.

Whether shoring up your Dexterity saves versus fireballs or gaining iron will with Wisdom saves, Resilient can drastically improve survivability. And that means more spells slung and damage dealt over your adventuring career!

Take Your Power Gaming to Roll20

Now that you know some of the most potent feats to supercharge your next Dungeons & Dragons character, it's time to put all that theory into action! And if you're looking for the best way to experience epic fantasy adventures together with friends near and far, look no further than Roll20.

As the premier virtual tabletop platform, Roll20 gives you feature-packed tools to create awe-inspiring characters and immerse yourself in D&D's grand storytelling like never before. With integrated video chat, detailed digital character sheets, 3D dice, virtual tabletop maps, and more, it's the ultimate stage for your mighty feats and earth-shaking spells.

Plus, Roll20's vast community of players means you'll have no trouble finding a party - even experienced adventurers ready to take on supreme threats and emerge triumphant thanks to your character's peerless feats. 

So once your build is complete, gather your trusted allies and journey to Roll20 for D&D escapades beyond your wildest dreams. With the right team and the digital conveniences to take your roleplaying to the next level, there's no limit to the tales you'll tell of hard-fought victories and last-second heroics.

The monsters of the world don't stand a chance against such powerful feats. Try them our yourself with Roll20's interactive D&D character sheet and buider!

What ability boosts the most powerful feats? Intelligence Wisdom or Charisma?

Many of the most potent combat feats like Great Weapon Master and Sharpshooter rely first and foremost on Strength or Dexterity since they boost melee and ranged weapon attack power specifically.

However, spellcasting-focused feats like War Caster for maintaining concentration, Ritual Caster for utility magic outside combat, or Resilient bolstering mental saves do benefit Intelligence Wisdom or Charisma-based casters greatly. Know your primary means of combat/adventuring prowess to pick the right feats!

Do the damage boost feats work on melee attack actions, too?

Absolutely! While Sharpshooter is tailored to ranged attacks, Great Weapon Master confers its -5 attack/+10 damage benefit to any melee weapon attack made with a heavy two-handed or polearm weapon.

This makes it ideal for barbarians, fighters, paladins, and more who leap into close quarters with melee attack weapons such as greataxes, greatswords, and glaives. Just be wary of the accuracy trade-off based on your stats and advantage chances!

What feats offer hit point maximum increases?

The Tough feat is the quintessential HP-boosting feat. At lower levels, its automatic 2 HP per level can add significant bulk to a normally squishy backline caster or skill expert. It also retains relevance at higher levels, unlike flat boosts.

Importantly, the Tough feat grants not only +2 HP per level, but also an additional boost equal to twice your Constitution modifier. So characters with naturally high Constitution already further amplify the durability Tough provides, easily gaining over 20+ additional maximum hit points.

Another more fringe option comes from the Eldritch Adept feat. Taking it to get the Armor of Shadows Eldritch Invocation bumps your max HP by +5 whenever you cast Mage Armor on yourself!

Do all feats improve a weapon attack, or just some?

Generally, the feats with the broadest applicability of weapon usage for their benefits are Great Weapon Master, Polearm Master, and Dual Wielder. These aren’t tied to specific weapons, just broader categories with varied options.

• Characters focused on two weapon fighting can also benefit from the Dual Wielder feat. This allows you to draw two weapons at once, adds +1 AC while dual wielding, and critically lets you use non-light weapons for your off-hand strikes.
• Polearm Master even enables you to make one melee weapon attack using the opposite end of the weapon as a bonus action after taking the Attack action. This gives significant damage output potential.
• Sharpshooter strictly boosts ranged attacks, and some offer unique benefits tied only to single weapon types like spears, nets, or whips. So consider your favorite arms before picking feats to enhance them!