The Dungeons & Dragons 2024 Player’s Handbook Introduces epic bonuses as high-level feats for player characters. There are twelve available in the new bookAnd each gives an active or passive buff that strengthens the character who takes it immensely. Unlike Origin feats, which are tied to background options, any character of any class or origin can take any of the epic bonuses when they reach 19th level.
Some players may wonder which boon is most effective or useful for their character. Each of these bonuses gives a +1 bonus to one ability score of the player’s choice (There are two exceptions to this discussed later), in addition to the powerful features that epic buns provide. While all of these options will increase a character’s strength, some are more useful than others, especially for players looking to optimize certain builds.
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The boon of irresistible offense is easily surpassed by every other option
Boosts to weapon attacks that are largely irrelevant by high levels
Of all the powerful options, the Boon of Irresistible Offense feels the most like a trap. It sounds like it would be a good option for martial characters, when in fact, The boosts it offers aren’t particularly useful at higher levels. Plus, it’s one of the two epic bonuses that limits the player’s choice of ability score improvement, as it can only be used to gain a +1 bonus to Strength or Dexterity.
This boon grants extra damage when players roll a 20 on an attack roll Equal to their Strength or Dex modifier, and lets their attacks ignore resistance to slashing, piercing, and bludgeoning damage. The critical damage bonus is quite low in proportion to the damage output of max-level characters and does not benefit from other abilities that improve crit chance. And while the physical damage buff sounds good, most high-level martial characters will have magic weapons that already carry this property.
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The boon of energy resistance doesn’t quite have the power it needs to stand out
Useful in certain cases, but the best features are replicable in other ways
The Energy Resistance boon gives players several methods of mitigating elemental damage and reflecting it back at their enemies. It’s neat and provides some cool ways to use one’s reaction, but doesn’t have enough power to stand up against the other choices. This feat grants two damage resistancesWhich can be any type other than force or physical, and lets players redirect the damage to attackers.
The two resistances can be quite useful in certain campaigns, and the fact that They can be switched out on a long rest Means players who know what they’re fighting can prepare accordingly. But damage resistance is easily gained from a plethora of other features, items and consumables, which makes this feat a bit redundant at higher levels. Plus, the damage of the redirected attack is quite low, which makes it difficult to use in a way that feels effective.
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The boon of fate grants a small but important power to turn the balance
Bending the luck of the game – to an extent
The Boon of Fate provides an ability that is actually quite powerful, but is held back by its limited number of uses. The feat functions much like the old version of Lucky, allowing characters with it to apply a bonus or penalty to a d20 roll Made within 60 feet of himself after knowing his result. The amount changed is equal to 2d4, which can be quite an impressive amount to change a failure into a success or a hit into a miss.
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however, This ability can only be used once before it recharges. It comes back on a short or long rest, or when the character rolls initiative. Depending on how many encounters a party deals with in a day and how much they are resting, characters may be able to use this ability a lot or barely. It’s powerful, but limited, and players will want to consider that before taking it.
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The boon of the night spirit is quite strong, but situational
The environment of the campaign will make or break the feat
The Night Spirit’s boon provides a specific but powerful option for builds that rely against the shadows. It not only provides offensive and stealth-based improvements, but also a pretty sizable defensive feature. The caveat is that The features of the feat only function when the character is in dim light or darkness. Certain campaigns and dungeons will make this prerequisite harder to meet than others, but for those who can reliably take the shadows, this boon is a great option.
Characters who take this feat can use a bonus action to turn invisible in dim light or darkness, so they remain until they take an action, bonus action, or reaction. They can still move while invisible to reach a new position, and they can use this feature as much as they want. They are also resistant to all damage, except psychic and radiant, while in the shadowsGive stealthy characters a weapon often reserved for tanks.
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The boon of skill makes anyone a jack of all trades
Turning characters into skill jockeys
This boon is strong and simple: IH gives a character proficiency in each skill That they no longer have it in, and expertise in one skill. Skill checks are the most common type of roll in the game, and by the point that characters are level 19, their proficiency bonus is +6. That is a massive buff for every single skill in the game.
The feat of skill has much in common with the beginning feat “skillful.” Both are quite bland, but useful for almost any player. However, a player who takes skill at level 1 benefits less from the boon at level 19.
The only problem with this feat is that it’s hard to tell who it’s for. Anyone can benefit from it, but it seems like skill jockeys would want to put the most power in this part of their character. yet Rogues and bards already have a lot of proficiencies and expertisemaking the feat less powerful for them. Other characters, like Barbarians, will be more interested in other epic boons, making the market for this feat rather nebulous.
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The Fortitude boon increases durability, but is outclassed in most cases
An epic boon outdone by another epic boon
The Boon of Determination is a buffed-up version of the feat many players know and love. It gives a flat +40 bonus to a character’s maximum hit pointsand increases the amount of hit points they get back once per turn when healed. Combined with Tough, characters can reach insanely high health levels with this boon. After this feat faces a problem, in that another epic feat is often the better choice.
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The boon, the boon of recovery, also deals with increasing a character’s durability. Typically, characters looking for a durability increase are tanks or squishy spellcasters who want to be harder to kill. In the latter case, this boon gives a proportionally large boost; However In the former case, the boost is smaller compared to how many hit points they already have. This is because it provides a flat increase. The recovery boon works differently, and is often better for tankier characters.
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The Boon of Truesight offers a staggering amount of usefulness
This feat is a real eye-opener
The boon of truth, as might be expected, Grants 60 feet of true sight to a character. This is a powerful sense that allows creatures to: see in any kind of darkness, see through illusions and magical transformation, see the true forms of shape shifters, see invisible creatures and objects, and see in the ethereal plane. That’s a lot of use from one feat.
This sense can be temporarily gained by using a sixth-level spell, True Seeing, which lasts an hour. The fact that The ability this boon grants can be replicated Knocks it down a notch, but having it up all the time means players will never be caught off-guard and don’t have to spend spell slots on it. It’s a nice feature to have for players against magic users and other tricky enemies.
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The boon of recovery is the ultimate lifesaver
Make one’s hit points count for more
As said before, The recovery boon is the best option for tanky characters To get the most out of their hit points. When a character with this boon hits zero hit points, they regain half their maximum hit points instead. They get this benefit once per long rest, and they also get a pool of ten d10s that they can spend any number of with a bonus action to restore health.
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Not only does this give non-healers a powerful healing feature, it also maximizes on the large health pools of tanky characters. A barbarian with a maximum hit point of 170 would gain an additional 40 per day from the Boon of Determination; From this boon, they are potentially getting another 85 hit points per dayPlus 10d10 available healing. Characters don’t suffer penalties from being low on hit points, only from hitting zero, and that’s what the boon helps prevent.
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The Boon of Speed ​​provides great maneuverability
Excellent for fast and slow characters to gain an edge in combat
The speed boon gives a huge boost to character movement speed. It adds 30 feet to a character’s speedWhich does not specify walking speed, meaning characters with a swimming, climbing, or flying speed gain this benefit as well. In addition, this boon grants a bonus action disengage ability that also allows the character to automatically escape a grapple.
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Even Monks and Rogues, who already get a bonus Action Disengagement, can benefit from this feat, since Grapple typically takes an action to escape. And every class benefits from improved movement speed. Maneuvering around the map is key to finding better positions and avoiding danger D&DAnd this feat is great for that.
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The Boon of Dimensional Travel provides an even bigger buff to maneuverability
With this feat, the characters will fly across the map
But not as big as the boon of dimensional travel. This boon gives players a free action to take after attacking or casting a spell, Teleporting up to 30 feet to a place they can see. Teleporting is another great way to escape a grapple, or even the restrained condition, and doing it this way doesn’t cost a bonus action.
In fact, it’s better than the Boon of Speed ​​in almost every way. Both give a flat 30 feet of extra distance covered per turn, and this version would allow characters to avoid attacks of opportunity at any cost. answered, It is limited in that the teleportation is only available after players attack or cast a spell, But these are the most common actions taken on a turn, so it’s not that big of a restriction most of the time.
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The boon of instant recall is not for everyone, but is the only choice for certain images
Cast spells with reckless abandon
The Instant Recall boon is quite restrictive compared to every other epic boon. It really functions for spellcasters, and It only allows characters to gain a +1 ability score bonus to Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma. But for characters that can cast spells, this is the best feat by far.
Even at higher levels, when characters have ninth-level spells, they’ll still want to be able to cast low-level stuff often, and the boon of instant recall delivers on that front.
The reason for this is that this boon gives a 25 percent chance that casting a spell of fourth level or lower will not consume a spell slot. Common spells like shield, counterspell, and misty step are all often cast multiple times a day, and this feat lets players cast those spells much more often. Even at higher levels, when characters have ninth-level spells, they’ll still want to be able to cast low-level stuff often, and the feat delivers on that front.
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The Boon of Combat Prowess takes martial characters to the next level
Never miss an attack again
The combat prowess boon is amazing, and manages to be the best epic boon while still being quite simple. simply, When characters with this boon miss on an attack roll, they can choose to hit the target Instead. This boon is like legendary resistance, but deployed offensively, letting players make sure their attacks find their marks every round.
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It’s only usable once per turn, but that’s a good thing, because otherwise fighters could get four guaranteed hits each turn. There is no overstating how powerful this is, Applies not only to weapon and unarmed attacks but also spells. A paladin can ensure that their high-level hit connects, or a rogue can land a long-range sneak attack with certainty. Almost everyone Dungeons & Dragons Builds will find this feat useful.
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