May 5

May 5 A Player's Guide to Feats - Alert

Alert is not a feat you want to sleep on. If being first in combat is essential to your character, then this is the feat for you. But let's be honest. No one enjoys sitting around waiting for their turn, and the Alert feat can help prevent you from going way down in the order. Your character is hypervigilant, aware of your surroundings, and quick to act when things go sideways. It doesn't matter if your foes are marching straight towards you, lurking about in the shadows or invisible; you'll be able to spot them and lead the charge against them.

What is the Alert Feat?

The Alert feat means you are always on your toes, aware of your surroundings, and looking for trouble wherever it may be. Whether that means getting a spell off first to prevent certain death or putting yourself in a position to sneak attack. Alert is a feat that has incredible potential for almost every class.

Always on the lookout for danger, you gain the following benefits:
- You gain a +5 bonus to initiative.
- You can’t be surprised while you are conscious.
- Other creatures don’t gain advantage on attack rolls against you as a result of being unseen by you.
Player's Handbook

Dissecting the Feat

The Alert Feat has three main components. One is incredibly powerful, while the others are useful in certain situations.

Initiative Bonus. A +5 bonus to your initiative is crazy good. For characters with a high Dexterity score, you're boosting your chance to go first in many combat situations. For those with low Dexterity scores, you have a chance at only sometimes going last in combat.

Never Surprised. Surprise is situational and, in my experience, used sparingly in the 5th edition. If you're playing an elf, auto gnome, or warforged, surprising your character will be next to impossible. Being surprised by your foes isn't a constant threat in most campaigns. If an ambush does happen, you can rest assured that at least one party member, you, will be able to act during the surprise round.

Unseen doesn't mean advantage. Another situational trait that can come in very useful when fighting invisible creatures. There are other ways to sense your foes other than sight, and with the Alert feat, those senses are set to ten. Maybe you feel the air around you move when an invisible creature passes by or can see the leaves rustle on the bush the rogue hides behind. Since being hidden usually leads to advantage in attacks, this part of the feat eliminates that threat.

The Alert feat has no effect on an individual's passive Perception, so make sure to keep on actively searching for traps.

The Alert Feat Useability by Class

Every class can benefit from the Alert feat, but some get more out of it than others.

Artificer: Not a feat high on the list for this class. There is no one skill or attack possessed by the Artificier that requires them to go high in the initiative. Along with this, the Artificer can gain advantage on initiative rolls and negate any chance of being surprised at higher levels (via the Helm of Awareness).

Barbarian: Helpful early on if you want to rage and attack before anyone else, but it's not a feat for barbarians in the long term. At the 7th level, the class gains the Feral Instinct feature, which provides them with advantage on initiative rolls and allows them to act normally on their turn if they are surprised, so long as they aren't incapacitated and rage…and we all know the barbarian is going to rage.

Bard: Great for bards focusing on battlefield control, especially at lower levels. Getting off a sleep spell or casting faerie fire can swing the battle in your favor before the first sword has been swung.

Cleric: Support clerics can gain significantly from the Alert feat, allowing them to buff their teammates before heading off into battle. Hey, at least you're doing more than waiting around to heal someone.

Druid: Unless you really want to wild shape before anyone else gets to do something, there are better feats out there.

Fighter: If you're a tank fighter, the Alert feat can help with proper positioning. Otherwise, there are several better feats available.

Monk: Taking the Alert feat can practically guarantee that the monk will go first on most turns. When combined with the class's abilities, the monk can run in, land multiple blows and escape unharmed before an enemy ever knew what hit them.

Paladin: Your job is to take damage, so getting up front is critical, or at least the spellcasters think it is. The Alert feat allows the paladin to be a meat shield and lay down some severe damage early on by using their smite ability.

Ranger: Being a ranger means putting yourself in the proper position to do the most damage. Being high in the initiative order allows the ranger to put themselves in the best spot on the battlefield to make ranged attacks and minimize the chance of attacks against them. If you're playing a Gloomstalker Ranger, this should be the first feat on your list. Adding the initiative bonus on top of all the goodies from the Dread Ambusher trait makes the Alert feat a no-brainer.

Rogue: If you're playing a rogue, you'll want to take the Alert feat at your first available chance. Playing a rogue is all about Sneak Attack, and a +5 to initiative goes a long way in allowing you to maximize this feature. It's even more critical to those rogues that become assassins.

Sorcerer: Using metamagic before anyone can react, the sorcerer can quickly end the fight before the enemy can make a move.

Warlock: See wizard below.

Wizard: Whether your wizard is about battlefield control, burst, or AoE damage, the Alert spell can be a powerful passive tool. Getting an early spell off will shape the battle for the next few rounds in many ways. Whether taking out a group of minions with a fireball, altering the terrain between you and your enemy, or nuking down the BBEG with a disintegrate spell, going early in the fight allows the wizard to put their arcane magic to good use.

Conclusion

Overall, the Alert feat is an excellent choice for characters who want to be quick, vigilant, and hard to sneak up on. It is particularly useful for characters who rely on ranged attacks, the element of surprise, or who need to be able to spot hidden enemies. No one likes to go last. The Alert feat will help prevent that, and if you roll like me, you'll need all the help you can get.

Art Credit - JordyLakiere

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