Ive made an Air Genasi Eldritch Knight that uses a longbow, and I am about to hit Level 4. My Dex is at 19 so I need a half-feat to max it out. Which of the two feats (mentioned in title) would you recommend?
I feel like I will use the features of Piercer more, but I know that Dex saving throws is the most common saving throw in 5e. Any takes?
You've got a +4 modifier at the moment. You should be taking sharp shooter as a priority, since an extra +10 damage is a much better boost to your DPR than piercer is. But, I suppose when you hit level 6 you'll have the same question again, so I say neither half-feat is that good. Instead, I'd recommend gunner. You get to add a +1 to your dex, but more importantly, being within 5ft of an enemy doesn't impose disadvantage on your ranged attack rolls.
dex saving throws are the most common saving throw, but in reality 90% of those saving throws are just to avoid damage. You're a fighter with a d10 hitdie and an ability that gives you HP every short rest, so, I don't really see the need to avoid as much damage on DEX saving throws as possible. In the few rare, extreme cases where DEX saving throws can mean life or death, well, indomitable exists for that very reason. Plus, resilient dex or any resilient really doesn't add anything to your gameplay other than a straight number boost. It's just uninteresting.
Piercer is a damage feat meant to increase damage, but it does a poor job at it. Great weapon fighting style lets you re-roll damage die on their corresponding weapons every time you attack, but piercer only does it once per turn? Boo!
Gunner lets you be up close and personal should the need arise (and it will arise), it's the feat that lets you fight like Legolas! The choice is easy.
Keep in mind you don't need a feat with a +1 to Dex, you can always do something to get another score to an odd number, and then do +1s to that score and Dex at a later time. I'd take a hard look at Resilient(Wis). Your Dex saves will already be decent, and as cgarciao said those are mostly about reducing damage. Failing a Wisdom save can take you out of the fight completely(same with Con saves, but you already have those). Fey/Shadow Touched are worth looking at too, since both Misty Step and Invisibility are quite useful and normally require EKs to use those precious "from any school" spell choices. Heck, even Skill Expert is a possibility.
What’s the rest of your stat spread? Have you tried to make use of spell selections that don’t rely on intelligence scores?
I’d say fey touched would be a great option. It supplements an Eldritch knights limited casting slots with free casts of each spell. It also expands the spells available to the Eldritch knight, which has a very limited number of spells it can know along with additional constraints on spell schools.
The ability for a 1/3rd caster to make use of a 2nd level spell at level 4 instead of waiting until level 7+ is nice.
I’d also think about the comparison of the 1st level spells available. Hex and hunters mark seem like they would serve you well. They’re both 1st level spells that boost your offensive capabilities as a fighter, and very importantly leave your action alone. Bonus action spells on an Eldritch knight feel amazing. They also have the ability to boost your damage even if you gain access to stronger magical weapons.
hex could be quite useful against a caster if you can guess their casting stat, provided that your DM makes use of counterspell occasionally and there are other casters in the party. it could help with stealth since you could target wisdom and reduce their perception.
you could even weigh the option of picking bless. It’s an action to cast, but it’s a great spell at any level so long as a full caster isn’t concentrating on it. The saving throw bonus could be great very often, but the attack roll bonus would be limited by your party composition.
all that being said, if your heart is set on the two feats you mentioned before, I’d go resilient dexterity. It would round out your mod like you pointed out, but there’s also it’s impact out of combat. Piercer could be slightly impactful in combat, but you are very likely to make Dex saves while exploring before and after you are in combat.
Piercer is a bad feat, there is no justification in numbers. Resilient DEX is an ok feat, since DEX save rolls usually only causes damage or annoying perks like falling down or something. They are not debilitating effects like the ones who target CON or WIS. Plus as an EK, you’ll probably get Absorb Elements that gives even more protection against common DEX save elemental damage.
I would go for +1 in DEX, +1 in another odd score. In case you don’t have it, get a better feat like people mentioned above. Alert, Sharpshooter, Lucky, Fey Touched.
I kinda like Piercer, my main problem with it is that it's only once per turn, not once per attack, so it has diminishing returns the more attacks you can make, so it's not necessarily the best on a Fighter. You also want to make sure you have both a melee and ranged weapon with piercing damage to get the most out of it.
I've taken it on my minotaur gunslinger because she doesn't tend to action surge at range, and it's good to be able to re-roll poor damage rolls when she does a goring rush (horns being a piercing melee weapon). When the crit does come up though the extra damage dice is nice as well. It also slotted in nicely for the odd DEX score as she's a very MAD build so I gave her a 13 in DEX to save points (in points buy) knowing I could compensate with Archery fighting style and bump it up later.
While it may be a little more boring than crusher (which has a fun minor control ability that can be very useful) I think for a half feat it's fine; while statistically it may not be the best, it feels good to be able to re-roll a bad damage roll, and to roll extra dice on a critical hit. I'm someone who very often rolls my worst damage on my best hits, so damage consistency is far more valuable than the numbers might make it seem. This is one of the reasons I like taking Lucky on very unpredictable builds, as I don't personally think that feat is as strong as people claim (it's only 3 times a day) but it feels great to be able to roll again when the dice screw you. 😝
But really what should inform the choice is what the character is like; what do you feel like they may be missing, and what you'd like to do more of?
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Ive made an Air Genasi Eldritch Knight that uses a longbow, and I am about to hit Level 4. My Dex is at 19 so I need a half-feat to max it out. Which of the two feats (mentioned in title) would you recommend?
I feel like I will use the features of Piercer more, but I know that Dex saving throws is the most common saving throw in 5e. Any takes?
You've got a +4 modifier at the moment. You should be taking sharp shooter as a priority, since an extra +10 damage is a much better boost to your DPR than piercer is. But, I suppose when you hit level 6 you'll have the same question again, so I say neither half-feat is that good. Instead, I'd recommend gunner. You get to add a +1 to your dex, but more importantly, being within 5ft of an enemy doesn't impose disadvantage on your ranged attack rolls.
dex saving throws are the most common saving throw, but in reality 90% of those saving throws are just to avoid damage. You're a fighter with a d10 hitdie and an ability that gives you HP every short rest, so, I don't really see the need to avoid as much damage on DEX saving throws as possible. In the few rare, extreme cases where DEX saving throws can mean life or death, well, indomitable exists for that very reason. Plus, resilient dex or any resilient really doesn't add anything to your gameplay other than a straight number boost. It's just uninteresting.
Piercer is a damage feat meant to increase damage, but it does a poor job at it. Great weapon fighting style lets you re-roll damage die on their corresponding weapons every time you attack, but piercer only does it once per turn? Boo!
Gunner lets you be up close and personal should the need arise (and it will arise), it's the feat that lets you fight like Legolas! The choice is easy.
Keep in mind you don't need a feat with a +1 to Dex, you can always do something to get another score to an odd number, and then do +1s to that score and Dex at a later time. I'd take a hard look at Resilient(Wis). Your Dex saves will already be decent, and as cgarciao said those are mostly about reducing damage. Failing a Wisdom save can take you out of the fight completely(same with Con saves, but you already have those). Fey/Shadow Touched are worth looking at too, since both Misty Step and Invisibility are quite useful and normally require EKs to use those precious "from any school" spell choices. Heck, even Skill Expert is a possibility.
Shadow Touched does allow you to take Invisibility and Disguise Self in one easy package. That's pretty good if you want those spells.
What’s the rest of your stat spread? Have you tried to make use of spell selections that don’t rely on intelligence scores?
I’d say fey touched would be a great option. It supplements an Eldritch knights limited casting slots with free casts of each spell. It also expands the spells available to the Eldritch knight, which has a very limited number of spells it can know along with additional constraints on spell schools.
The ability for a 1/3rd caster to make use of a 2nd level spell at level 4 instead of waiting until level 7+ is nice.
I’d also think about the comparison of the 1st level spells available. Hex and hunters mark seem like they would serve you well. They’re both 1st level spells that boost your offensive capabilities as a fighter, and very importantly leave your action alone. Bonus action spells on an Eldritch knight feel amazing. They also have the ability to boost your damage even if you gain access to stronger magical weapons.
hex could be quite useful against a caster if you can guess their casting stat, provided that your DM makes use of counterspell occasionally and there are other casters in the party.
it could help with stealth since you could target wisdom and reduce their perception.
you could even weigh the option of picking bless. It’s an action to cast, but it’s a great spell at any level so long as a full caster isn’t concentrating on it. The saving throw bonus could be great very often, but the attack roll bonus would be limited by your party composition.
all that being said, if your heart is set on the two feats you mentioned before, I’d go resilient dexterity. It would round out your mod like you pointed out, but there’s also it’s impact out of combat. Piercer could be slightly impactful in combat, but you are very likely to make Dex saves while exploring before and after you are in combat.
Piercer is a bad feat, there is no justification in numbers. Resilient DEX is an ok feat, since DEX save rolls usually only causes damage or annoying perks like falling down or something. They are not debilitating effects like the ones who target CON or WIS. Plus as an EK, you’ll probably get Absorb Elements that gives even more protection against common DEX save elemental damage.
I would go for +1 in DEX, +1 in another odd score. In case you don’t have it, get a better feat like people mentioned above. Alert, Sharpshooter, Lucky, Fey Touched.
I kinda like Piercer, my main problem with it is that it's only once per turn, not once per attack, so it has diminishing returns the more attacks you can make, so it's not necessarily the best on a Fighter. You also want to make sure you have both a melee and ranged weapon with piercing damage to get the most out of it.
I've taken it on my minotaur gunslinger because she doesn't tend to action surge at range, and it's good to be able to re-roll poor damage rolls when she does a goring rush (horns being a piercing melee weapon). When the crit does come up though the extra damage dice is nice as well. It also slotted in nicely for the odd DEX score as she's a very MAD build so I gave her a 13 in DEX to save points (in points buy) knowing I could compensate with Archery fighting style and bump it up later.
While it may be a little more boring than crusher (which has a fun minor control ability that can be very useful) I think for a half feat it's fine; while statistically it may not be the best, it feels good to be able to re-roll a bad damage roll, and to roll extra dice on a critical hit. I'm someone who very often rolls my worst damage on my best hits, so damage consistency is far more valuable than the numbers might make it seem. This is one of the reasons I like taking Lucky on very unpredictable builds, as I don't personally think that feat is as strong as people claim (it's only 3 times a day) but it feels great to be able to roll again when the dice screw you. 😝
But really what should inform the choice is what the character is like; what do you feel like they may be missing, and what you'd like to do more of?
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.