With Ravenloft: The Horrors Within out in the wild, Dungeons & Dragons fans have a while to wait for the next new sourcebook. The magic-themed Arcana Unleashed won’t arrive until September. However, that doesn’t mean we won’t get any new content until then. Thanks to the new D&D Beyond drops system, subscribers get new DM and player-focused content a few times a month. And the first July drop is a big one.
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At the start of the month, D&D Beyond released its July drop, and it’s a big one. On the DM side, there’s new content for playing around with Para-elemental Planes. As for players, this month’s drop includes new magic items and feats. I love a good feat, so I couldn’t resist taking a deep dive into the 4 new options to highlight which are the most exciting for your next character build. The feats are all geared towards melee combatants, which is a nice supplement to a magic-heavy Season of Horror followed by new books centered on Arcana. So, let’s dig into the newly added feats from the July D&D Beyond drop.
4) Pack Fighting
I’ve played a Druid or three in my day, so I’m pretty familiar with wolves and their Pack Tactics. The Pack Fighting feat essentially lets your character borrow this mechanic for yourself. When you use a melee attack, you deal additional damage if one of your allies is nearby. If said ally also has the Pack Fighting feat, that damage is doubled to a +2 bonus. Those small additions can definitely add up over time if you’ve got a melee-heavy party.
However, this feat isn’t the most exciting one on the list. You need a party that includes several melee characters, and you need to focus on surrounding a specific creature to get the bonus. Depending on the party build and player actions, this feat could turn the tide in a fight or be basically useless. I do love the idea of creating a team that all take this feat and make ganging up on foes their primary strategy, but that spells disaster if you run into a caster with AOE attacks in their arsenal.
3) Prone Fighting
Who among us hasn’t fallen victim to the horrors of the Prone condition at least once? Typically, when you’re Prone in D&D 5e, you have disadvantage on attacks. Meanwhile, your enemies have advantage. In other words, until you spend your move action to get up, you’re an easy target for foes, but will struggle to strike back effectively against them. The Prone Fighting feat does away with both of those downsides. It allows you to attack while Prone without disadvantage and also ensures your enemies won’t get advantage on rolls against you.
This is, admittedly, a pretty big perk. However, it’s also a very situational one. Certain enemies are definitely going to try to knock you prone often, such as giants or wolves. However, certain campaigns may focus more on battling foes less likely to use this tactic. That makes it a very useful feat in some situations, but also a pretty niche one. So while it’s a fun one, I’m ranking it lower because it’s a relatively specific perk compared to some of the other perks on offer.
2) Shifting Combatant
Now we’re getting into the more multifaceted feats. You can take the Shifting Combatant feat at Level 4 or above. It boosts your Strength or Dex ability score by 1, making you more effective in combat with your chosen weapon. But it also lets you Push creatures into one another while attacking via the Domino Strike ability. This can render them prone which, as I already mentioned, puts them at a huge disadvantage. In addition, this feat gives you the Fearless Leap ability. This protects you from enemy attacks after jumping into a threatened space using a Long Jump. Until your next turn, those enemy attacks have Disadvantage.
This is a pretty fun feat for melee fighters, in my opinion. And I’m a caster kind of girl, so I’m hard to impress in that arena. But this lets players get creative with movement on the battlefield, rewarding you for it with protection from enemy attacks. It’s also a bit less situation-dependent than some of the other new feats from the July drop.
1) Tactical Combatant
The Tactical Combatant feat is, in my opinion, the most exciting offering in this wave of melee-focused feats. You’ll need to be Level 4 or above and have a Strength or Dex of 13+ to take it. If you do, you’ll be able to boost the relevant ability score by 1. From there, the real fun begins. When you hit a foe, you can choose to gain Temporary HP equal to the damage you dealt. Better yet, this ability recharges each time you roll initiative, or when you finish a Short or Long rest. On top of that, the Honed Instinct ability lets you roll an extra D6 to try and recover from a failed ability check.
Of all the newly added feats, this one feels the most flexible for combat situations. I love the idea of a melee character adding Temporary HP in exact measure to the damage dealt, and those Honed Instincts will come in handy, too. Plus, having one benefit that recharges with each initiative roll keeps the perks coming even if your DM is as resistant to a good Long Rest as mine is.
Will you be trying any of these new D&D feats? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
