Here Are The Most Popular D&D Feats (War Caster Leads The Pack!)

It's time for some more D&D Beyond stats! This time we take a look at the most popular feats! War Caster, Tough, Lucky, and Sharpshooter lead the pack. We recently looked at stats for adventures, classes by tier, subclasses, and multi class combinations.

The last time DDB looked at this, the number of characters using feats was lower than it is now. Once feats come in properly at levels 4-7, over a third of characters choose a feat. By the time they reach 8th level, half of characters are using feats.

These are the most popular feats across all classes. A year ago, the dev says that Great Weapon Master was in the top four.

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And here we have the top feats broken down by class.

See the full dev video here.

 

[5ekyu]

uhh there may be some aggregation skew going on.

Resilient and Spell Sniper include their sub-type.

Unless its covered in the video then based on how DDB presentes them, that means that the feats represented with choices are being counted as different feats.

So, Ritual Caster may be overall very popular, as might Magic initiate, or resilient - but not be counted in the tops because they are sub-divided. Same for the elemental one and some others.

That may explain the lack of ritual and initiate anywhere on the charts.

 

[Gladius Legis]

I'm surprised sharpshooter is so popular for the rogue. I would figure with one attack it is far too risky to use half the feat.

The -5/+10 part isn't what's appealing to the Rogue. Removing disadvantage for long range and thus allowing long-range Sneak Attacks is what's appealing. Ignoring cover is really good too.

 

[ad_hoc]

Not enough people seem to realise the awesome power of Polearm Master!

People probably choose feats more on theme and character personality.

A few of the numbers surprised me. But the biggest surprise isn't even about feats:

Only 4% of characters are variant human! Since we know from a previous reveal that over 25% of characters are humans, that makes variant-human much less popular than I expected.

From previous DDB data we know 11% are variant human (and 11.5% standard). So that's funny.

 

[ad_hoc]

D&DB statistics on have demonstrated that people aren't really optimizing (a minority of Warlocks take Eldritch Blast as a spell, for example). Is War Caster ideal for a Paladin? Nope. But if someone likes the flavor, they'll take it.

I would argue that EB is not necessary to optimize. It's just a d10 cantrip and invocations are precious.

 

[Parmandur]

I would argue that EB is not necessary to optimize. It's just a d10 cantrip and invocations are precious.

Probably not, but the CharOp consensus is bullish on EB. Which is the point, most people are not plugged into that.

 

[Dr. Bull]

I am surprised at the popularity of Observant. I think it's a good feat myself and am considering it for my Fighter character, but I didn't think my appreciation for it was a common belief.

In D&D and in the real world, getting surprised by an enemy is one of the worst things that can happen. Imagine the difference between getting caught asleep in your bedroll vs. having your shield up and your weapon drawn... As a regular practice, all of my characters have proficiency in perception. Observant is a great feat to enhance it.

In my opinion, adding perception to the fighter's proficiency list was a great improvement in 5e. It is one of the most important aspects of being a soldier. Previous editions of D&D ignored the fact that guards (also known as soldiers, fighters, security forces, city watchmen/women, etc.) are the only class who are regularly assigned "guard duty" or who serve as "sentries". It's part of the job description! If the castle guards aren't paying attention... Who IS?

Getting caught with your pants down = Devastating!
Getting caught with your pants up = Life Saving!

- Dr. Bull

 

[FrogReaver]

I don't understand why dual wielder is popular on barbarian.

Normal sequence
Round 1: Draw First Weapon + Attack + Bonus action rage.
Round 2: Draw 2nd Weapon + Attack + Bonus action attack.

What the heck does dual wielder add?

 

[FrogReaver]

In D&D and in the real world, getting surprised by an enemy is one of the worst things that can happen. Imagine the difference between getting caught asleep in your bedroll vs. having your shield up and your weapon drawn... As a regular practice, all of my characters have proficiency in perception. Observant is a great feat to enhance it.

In my opinion, adding perception to the fighter's proficiency list was a great improvement in 5e. It is one of the most important aspects of being a soldier. Previous editions of D&D ignored the fact that guards (also known as soldiers, fighters, security forces, city watchmen/women, etc.) are the only class who are regularly assigned "guard duty" or who serve as "sentries". It's part of the job description! If the castle guards aren't paying attention... Who IS?

Getting caught with your pants down = Devastating!
Getting caught with your pants up = Life Saving!

- Dr. Bull

Maybe. But you're not typically the only one looking for danger. When the whole party is doing a task it diminishes the need for any single party member to be proficient in it. Don't get me wrong, someone should be proficient in it, but in my experience nearly everyone in the party takes it and at that point not taking it and taking anything else instead feels more useful.

 

[ClaytonCross]

D&DB statistics on have demonstrated that people aren't really optimizing (a minority of Warlocks take Eldritch Blast as a spell, for example). Is War Caster ideal for a Paladin? Nope. But if someone likes the flavor, they'll take it.

Sure, but that's not really what I am asking. What I am asking is, "Why?" Warcaster is not really a flavor feat its more of a function feat. Taking tavern brawler because you want to fist fight the party monk, actor to pretend to be the captain of the guard, skilled to fill out a story concept roll, or even Mage Slayer because a sorcerer kill your paw... sure. I understand those. Warcaster isn't a strong flavor options for building a character concept and its not very functional for Paladins. So my question is what are people taking it for? They are not taking Resilient (CON) for the same function so I already figured they are not looking for better concentration saves. I am just trying to figure out what draws paladin player to pick this to such an extent that its the #1 picked paladin feat. I am not say they are wrong. I am just curious what the thought pattern is because I don't see it.

 

[ClaytonCross]

I don't understand why dual wielder is popular on barbarian.

Normal sequence
Round 1: Draw First Weapon + Attack + Bonus action rage.
Round 2: Draw 2nd Weapon + Attack + Bonus action attack.

What the heck does dual wielder add?

2 longsword for style is what I am thinking. It seems like they are taking it for the removal of the finesse requirement for duel wielding and the +1 to AC which doesn't require armor.