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

[Gradine]

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.

 

[Charlaquin]

Would you not use thieves tools for that? Since 2025 came out, no one has actually tried to pick a lock, so, I actually don't know the rules.

Thieves’ tools proficiency gives you advantage. I’m not a fan of this change, but that’s how it works.

 

[TiQuinn]

Thieves’ tools proficiency gives you advantage. I’m not a fan of this change, but that’s how it works.

Another move away from early D&D editions where picking locks was the thing that thieves did as part of their class to it being more of a background obstacle that the rules allow you to skirt past?

 

[Zardnaar]

Thieves’ tools proficiency gives you advantage. I’m not a fan of this change, but that’s how it works.

Yup.
Thieves no longer get niche protection.

Bards, Clerics, Druids can outright replace them lower levels and be better at key things.

Guidance on everything> expertise.

Hell dexterity score is often the same.

 

[cbwjm]

Yup.
Thieves no longer get niche protection.

Bards, Clerics, Druids can outright replace them lower levels and be better at key things.

Guidance on everything> expertise.

Hell dexterity score is often the same.

This is how I do it in BG3, I don't bother with a rogue, just use guidance and a high dex score then burn a few inspiration points as needed.

 

[Zardnaar]

This is how I do it in BG3, I don't bother with a rogue, just use guidance and a high dex score then burn a few inspiration points as needed.

Yeah. Theres a couple of times a rogues useful.

A meta 5E party probably Bard. Druid or Cleric and 3 strikers.

BG3 heavily slanted towards charisma classes due to Tav being the face.

 

[Hussar]

At some point, you might want to describe what your players actually do rather than act incredulous about how others say their games go.

Oh, sorry. I thought I had.

Obviously Perception is top, same as everyone else.

Athletics ranks very high in games I run because I use a lot of obstacles and terrain. If you can't climb, swim, or do various other Athletics based things, your character is going to struggle at my table.

Survival is often very high on the list because of tracking. It is used most sessions.

Stealth is used nearly every session. We do a lot of exploration type adventuring.

At the bottom of the list would be: (as in these might get used once a campaign and frankly, not much point in having proficiency in.)

Medicine
Animal Handling
Performance
Sleight of Hand.

The other skills would be useful in various situations.

 

[ECMO3]

Lmao why is it harder to restrain someone with manacles - tools designed specifically and exclusively to restrain people with?

I totally get it.

 

[ECMO3]

I'm sorry, I do not actually understand what any of that means. You can attack someone with manacles? Nice idea but, since I almost never use humanoid opponents, it won't come up.

It is in the rules and they don't need to be humanoids, they just need to have legs (for a rope) or be small or medium (for manacles) and be grappled or incapacitated.

Does anyone actually do that?

Yes, all the time. Pretty much any time anyone is either grappled or incapacitated from something like Stunning Strike or Tasha's Laughter.

It is the Cat's Meow on a Theif because it is a bonus action and an automatic success from 5th level on with a 16 Dex.