As the title says. When 5E 1st landed the assumption was buff your stats to 20 and then take feats. Not 100% sure but I suspect this was because of 4E and its associated riders on the powers.
In both parties we run we are coming up to 9 and 10 and we played around 20 hours of 5E this week over 3 sessions with another session in 2 days time. Public holiday here and all that allowed a bonus session. When 5E 1st landed the obious stand out feats IMHO were.
Great Weapon Master
Sharpshooter
Polearm Master
Heavy Armor Master
The 1st two have proved themselves, the last one is merelt good. Part of this is what is betetr than a +1 bonus to hit and damage? The answer to that question is an extra attack and thats what the Polearm Master and Great Weapon Master allow. The strength based feats I would aregue are also a feat tax as uuch as without feats dex is just better,
So far only 2 PC has buffed stats to 20 and that was a lore bard and a fighter. FIghters get 1 extra feat than the other classes at low levels, the lore bard has to much tied up in charisma. Buff sttas to 18 seems to be the new mentality in our home games as feat combos are more powerful than stat buffs and having an enabler feat like warcaster or healer is also more powerful than a stat bump.
Basic combos.
Polearm Master+Sentinel
Sentinel+ resilient+moon Druid
Great Weapon Master+buff spell
Sharpshooter+buff spell
Shield Master or Sharpshooter+Crossbow expert or Great Weapon Master (on different PCs, +10 damage enabler))
Warcaster+ concentration spells(faerie fire, bless, spiritual guardians, call lightning etc)
Warcaster+resilient (hard to break concentration)
Warcaster+Alert+buff spell (get bless up before NPCs/other PCs)
Healer Feat+Thief (bonus action healing)
Great Weapon Master+Polearm Master+buff spell (3 attacks +10 damage per attack or 2 big attacks+cleave probably at +10 damage)
I have noticed an explosion on PC damage at levels 5 and 8 due to extra atacks becoming avalable and due to compounding effects of feats with single PCs being able to get damage in the 50-120 range all by themselves. By level 8 non human PCs also have a chance to pick up 2-3 feats each or a stat bump and a feat or 2. 18 is the new 20
. The healer feat is one of the best feats in the game as well IMHO thieves and fighters seem to take it.
Best 4 feats in the game IMHO.
Warcaster
Great Weapon Fighter
Sharpshooter
Healer.
Pretty much every party should have Healer and it's cousing Inspiring Leader. However, you only need 1/party.
Monks, rogues, bards, wizards, druids, and warlocks all like their +'s.
Maybe crossbow expertise for rogues.
mellored wrote:
Spellsniper is great for wizard too. The player who has that in my group uses it nearly every round since he fires from behind the rest of the party or through trees, etc.
Lots of synergy between feats and other abilities do lead to more power.
If PC attributes begin low enough though, stat bump seems more attractive. For example, I'm playing a cleric with wisdom 16. I think I'd like to get my wisdom to 18 before taking another feat since a number of abilities, attack spells and DC of spells all depend on the wisdom bonus.
For melee PCs, feats definitely seem more powerful.
Also, feats are more fun than attribute boost. Attribute boost is boring.
Zardnaar wrote:
FFSAA wrote:
FFSAA wrote:
FFSAA wrote:
Zardnaar wrote:
Zardnaar wrote:
I've nearly killed* to 0 a Level 11 Paladin using the CR9 Assassin NPC from the monsters manual in one turn. Went from almost full to 9 HP. That NPC averages about 49-73 damage a round if both his attacks hit (DC15 con save, which if you've ignored CON fo Feats you are likely to fail).
Also I've almost killed* a Level 17 Dwarven Cleric with 173 hitpoints with 5-6 CR5 Drow elite warriors. What saved him was his Dwarven poison resistance.
Does this make toughness mandatory? Nope. But high level combat can still be very lethal, especially if the players have bad luck which happens from time to time.
Which is another thing to note, the healer feat isn't really +2 Con. Doesn't give you any bonus to Con saves or other adventuring related stuff (poisons, traps, etc).
*killed being reduced to 0 hp.
FFSAA wrote:
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
FFSAA wrote:
Zardnaar wrote:
Feats are an optional rule and add complexity.
I don't think it's shocking that added complexity will probably mean increased power level, in some well-optimized cases.
That said, I had a playtest party go to level 15 and no one was willing to give up a 20 mainstat. Whether people grab their key feats first or take an ability boost first depends on class/build.
My "Radar O'Reilley" monk build will take a feat instead of a stat bump at L4 because he's trying to get Perception(the max). Observant or Skulker, or maybe something else that patches up a weakness, based on experience gained at the table in the meanwhile.
If for some reason I can't hit the broadside of a barn I'll change my mind and boost DEX.
If I get hit all the time by enemies I will boost WIS (for both Unarmored Defense and Perception).
FFSAA wrote: