5e Feats for Versatility

Feats are one of my personal favourite mechanics in Dungeons and Dragons. Whilst the humble Ability Score Improvement is the most practical way to enhance a character, they can often feel boring in comparison to the diverse character building opportunities that feats bring. This is especially true when considering how versatile a feat can be when applied to different character concepts, with some of my favourite versatile feats being described below.

Skill Expert/Practiced Expert

Recently added in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, Skill Expert can be an option for those who wish to improve their proficiencies without wanting to commit to the three skills/tools offered by the Skilled feat.

Skill Expert allows a one point increase in any stat, which gives players greater choice over which modifier they may want to upgrade with this feat. They can also gain proficiency in one skill of their choice, which does not have to be specific to the ability score they increased, giving more flexibility over a feat like Resilient.

Finally, the feat allows players to gain expertise (double proficiency bonus) in one skill with which they are already proficient and not already receiving the benefit of expertise, which can be a massive boon in many ways. Those wishing to grapple more in combat can gain a huge advantage by gaining expertise in their Athletics checks, the front of the marching order will always know what is going on with expertise in Perception, or that one player who finds themselves needing to lie the most can protect their sorry behind with expertise in Deception.

A note about the Unearted Arcana feat “Practiced Expert”. It is essentially the same as Skill Expert but instead of being restricted to just skills, you can also choose tools to gain proficiency/expertise in. This does offer more flexibility, but can be quite campaign/character specific depending on what kind of artisans tools characters may be used. And as always with UA, ask your DM first if it is okay to use it.

Resilient

Mentioned previously, Resilient is a very straightforward feat. You pick an ability score to increase by one, and you subsequently gain proficiency in that score’s saving throw.

The limitation of the proficiency being tied to the ability score increase does reduce some of the potential versatility in this feat, gaining proficiency in a saving throw is not to be underestimated. 

Casters can have the safety net of improved Constitution saving throws when it comes to rolls made to maintain concentration, frontline characters can strengthen their mental defenses by becoming proficient in Wisdom, Intelligence, or Charisma saving throws.

And of course, the Wizard who is somehow spending a worrying amount of time needing to roll Dexterity saving throws in regard to avoiding their own Fireballs can reduce the amount of damage they take (but not reduce the amount of exasperated sighs from around the table).

Magic Initiate

One of my personal favourite feats and the entire reason I got inspired to write this article. Magic Initiate offers a multitude of ways to upgrade any character due to the lack of prerequisite required, no need to already be a caster or to have a minimum casting stat of the class you wish to steal from.

The 1st-level spell is pretty good though the restriction of only being able to cast it once per long rest does reduce some of the potential in this feat. However that does not mean that thought should not go into which spell is chosen:

• Shield of Faith can be a great opening move to a combat or an emergency buff, with the concentration aspect being negligible due to the increased difficulty in getting hit
• Magic Missile is good damage in a pinch, either to get a guaranteed kill or to disrupt an enemy’s concentration 
• Faerie Fire provides a great deal of utility in combat, making any creatures easier to hit with other attacks and giving Rogues more flexibility in how their Sneak Attack is used

Cantrips however are where this feat excels in my opinion. Choosing from the Wizard spell list can give Eldritch Knights and Arcane Tricksters a wider range of cantrips to work from in either offensive or utility contexts, the Ranger can choose from Druid or Cleric cantrip lists without needing to sacrifice their fighting style slot to Druidic Warrior, and most importantly, the Paladin can choose from Sorcerer spell lists to gain access to ranged attacks which are not repeatedly throwing weapons in the hope of hitting something.

Or if you are really feeling adventurous, choose this feat on a Paladin and pick from the Bard spell list. Why? Because using Vicious Mockery and shouting “DEUS VULT” at someone so hard their brain hurts is a wonderful sight.

Conclusion

Feats are awesome, and all of the listed feats above can bring additional interest and development to any D&D character. As always ask your DM if feats are allowed in your game and do not worry if feats do not feel right for you, as mentioned Ability Score Improvements are usually more practical for character progression, but next time you want to do a +1/+1 increase to two stats, go through a list of feats and see if you are willing to sacrifice that second increase for something potentially awesome.