D&D 5E (2024) Rank 5e skills from most useful (1) to least useful (18)

[Hussar]

You also realize Slight of Hand is what is typically used for opening locks and disabling traps .... once in a campaign??

Thieves Tools were always used for opening locks or disabling traps.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Yeah, a lot of this, especially the quote-unquote "low tier" skills are mostly a self-fulfilling prophecy. CharOpers decide which skills aren't exploitable which means fewer players take those skills which means fewer DMs generate circumstances for those skills to shine which means fewer players take those skills and so on. It's not a loop, it's a spiral.

What this ultimately comes down to is which skills are taken most or less often, not which are more or less useful. And yet here we are, framing it as the latter, which does newer players who don't know any better a disservice. Like... it's telling that so many people are framing the "social" skills (Persuasion, Deception, Intimidation) as ways to get past guards when (a) each of those skills has so many more use cases and (b) Performance is just as useful in this specific instance for creating distractions. But nobody takes Performance so nobody uses Performance so nobody figures out clever ways to use Performance, so nobody etc. etc.

My post upthread wasn't just a poo-post. Every skill can be extremely useful, and they can be useful often enough to justify having them. And a lot of skills are a lot less "DM-dependent" if you're clever about it. We just tend to never look at skills through that lens.

I really don't think there's any "self-fulfilling" about it.

Performance checks have never been common in any game I've played. Ever. Doesn't matter what system. I've literally never even heard of a GM calling for lots of performance checks prior to @MostlyHarmless42 saying so just now in this thread.

Likewise, as noted, Intimidate is avoided like the plague for a very, very good reason: huge swathes of GMs view it as the social skill which makes people hate you forever and instantly try to fight against you the moment they aren't under your direct supervision. Like I've personally seen that several times, enough times that I learned, "Oh. Don't take Intimidate. Doesn't matter if I have good Cha and a racial bonus. Never take Intimidate. It'll essentially always screw you over." That has nothing whatsoever to do with its charop potential. In 4e, Intimidate was an extremely highly-rated skill because it had combat applications--and I still saw people avoid it like the plague, very specifically (as in, they told me explicitly) because of their knowledge that GMs actively punish the use of Intimidate as a skill.

This is, in part, why I very much preferred both the skill list, and the explicit rules about how skills were used, from 4e. 4e skills are CHONKY. Getting only four skills in 4e doesn't feel like a huge loss, because every single one actually has lots of uses, even the academic ones like History--and they encourage the GM to be as open-minded as possible. (Ironically, the text for 5e actually isn't super far from 4e on this; it's less strident, but the same idea is there. The vast majority of 5e GMs just.....don't do that, and instead run the skills as though they were carbon-copied from 3e, even when this directly contradicts the text.)

I definitely agree with some of the folks here that there are certain contextual elements that can boost or weaken skills. But we can take an overview across a broad swathe of games, considering how the rules themselves present these things--and some skills, like Perception and Investigation, simply come up far more often than things like Performance or Animal Handling.

 

[BookTenTiger]

What a neat idea for a thread. In my experiences of both running and playing 5e, this is how I would rank the usefulness of the skills:

1) Perception
2) Persuasion
3) Stealth
4) Insight
5) Acrobatics

These are the five skills that get used pretty much every session. Perception is used so often that it should just be a core ability instead of a skill. I mean, every time the characters enter a scene with something hidden in check their Passive Perception scores.

Maybe it's just my players, but we use Persuasion a lot!!! If my players can talk down an enemy or turn them into an ally they will always try to use Persuasion first.

Stealth is also used a lot in my campaigns. Characters are always sneaking, hiding... This skill can change an encounter so much that I have to put it high on the list.

Insight is basically the sub-Perception. When characters are interacting with an NPC I'm often checking passive Insight scores, or the characters are actively making them. Players really love Insight.

And number five is Acrobatics. I find that I want players to use this skill more often than they actually do. It's much more common for my players to try and think or talk their way through a challenge than balance, jump, or climb. I don't know why, but it's what always happens!

6) Deception
7) Athletics
8) Intimidation
9) Investigation
10) Survival

These four skills don't get used by most characters, but they can be really powerful when a single character specializes in them..a character who is super Deceptive or Intimidating can turn the campaign in interesting ways. Having a really high Investigation or Survival can cut through challenges that would otherwise befuddle a group. A single character with really high Athletics can pull a Shaq and change combat into an all-close-in strategy with grappling.

11) Arcana
12) Nature
13) History
14) Religion

The four knowledge skills go here, in order of how useful I find them. Usually if a DM wants you to know something they'll tell you, but it can be fun to unlock extra knowledge early. I wish Knowledge were its own thing separate from skills.

15) Sleight of Hand
16) Animal Handling
17) Medicine
18) Performance

The bottom-list skills are either so specific (Sleight of Hand, Animal Handling) or useless after low levels (Medicine). Performance is a weird one because it's used for one single specific thing, but also if you're proficient in an Instrument you don't really need it.



When I created my own D&D-lite system, I boiled down the skills to six:

Athletics
Expertise
Perception
Persuasion
Stealth
Wilding

The characters can use any ability bonus with any skill so it opens each skill up to a lot of different uses. I put Knowledge in its own little checklist. If a character has a knowledge (like Nature and Monsters), that means they either know something, or can make an Expertise check to know more.

 

[Hussar]

Hang on a tick. Where is this about Sleight of Hands being used for Pick Locks or Remove Traps?

Thieves' Tools​

Tools

Ability: Dexterity Weight: 1 lb. Cost: 25 GP
Utilize: Pick a lock (DC 15), or disarm a trap (DC 15)

There is nothing listing Sleight of Hand for picking locks or disarming traps that I could find. Where is that listed?

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

And number five is Acrobatics. I find that I want players to use this skill more often than they actually do. It's much more common for my players to try and think or talk their way through a challenge than balance, jump, or climb. I don't know why, but it's what always happens!

Acrobatics doesn't let you climb or jump though, those are Athletics. Its uses are balancing, balancing some more, and escaping from a grapple. IMO as written, it's too limited to even be a skill, just have it be a Dex saving throw.

I think other than Perform, Acrobatics might be our least used skill.

 

[Parmandur]

Acrobatics doesn't let you climb or jump though, those are Athletics. Its uses are balancing, balancing some more, and escaping from a grapple. IMO as written, it's too limited to even be a skill, just have it be a Dex saving throw.

I think other than Perform, Acrobatics might be our least used skill.

I mean, the 2014 DMG has a variant Skill system that just makes all action resolution Attribute checks applying Proficiency if judged as applicable in-character, if you want to go that route.

Gotta say, though, y'all who don't see Performance used a lot sure have different players than me...

 

[SkidAce]

Lasso vs wrists. If someone's not co operating.....

Agreed, there's no roll needed IF the person is already captured or submissive.

I'm feeling the DCs are for restraining in combat...

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

Hang on a tick. Where is this about Sleight of Hands being used for Pick Locks or Remove Traps?



There is nothing listing Sleight of Hand for picking locks or disarming traps that I could find. Where is that listed?

Buried in places OTHER than the Slieght of Hand description.

Level 3: Fast Hands​

As a Bonus Action, you can do one of the following.

• Sleight of Hand. Make a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check to pick a lock or disarm a trap with Thieves’ Tools or to pick a pocket.

Lock ​

A Lock comes with a key. Without the key, a creature can use Thieves’ Tools to pick this Lock with a successful DC 15 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check.

Manacles ​

[...] Without the key, a creature can use Thieves’ Tools to pick the Manacles’ lock with a successful DC 15 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check.

Poisoned Needle
Detect and Disarm. As a Search action, a creature can examine the trapped lock and make a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check, detecting the needle on a successful check. Once the trap is detected, a character can take an action to try to disarm the trap, doing so with a successful DC 15 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check. On a failed check, the creature triggers the trap.

 

[Warnavick]

Hang on a tick. Where is this about Sleight of Hands being used for Pick Locks or Remove Traps?



There is nothing listing Sleight of Hand for picking locks or disarming traps that I could find. Where is that listed?

I don't think it says so in the phb besides like thief fast hands feature. In the DMG it makes mention of sleight of hands check using thieves tools to open a locked door. Also to note, that having proficiency in either or will allow you to attempt to pick a lock and having both will make your lockpicking attempts roll with advantage. The only mention of disarming a trap with sleight of hand is also in the thief fast hands feature.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

I mean, the 2014 DMG has a variant Skill system that just makes all action resolution Attribute checks applying Proficiency if judged as applicable in-character, if you want to go that route.

Gotta say, though, y'all who don't see Performance used a lot sure have different players than me...

I'm not going to let someone strongly Stealth. If you want to jump, get the jump skill and don't dump the jump stat. Acrobats would have both skills.

Re perform, are you letting them roll this to basically deceive someone? "I pretend to be the tapestry inspector?" I cant possibly see many other situations where it would come up often otherwise. I don't make people roll to impress the barmaid with their singing.