A Player's Guide to Feats - Charger
Do you love smashing into things with your body? Using your Action to Dash and getting to hit something on the same turn? Being able to use a bonus action to gain a +5 to hit after running full tilt at the bad guy? Well, then, the Charger feat is for you.
What is the Charger Feat?
The name says it all. Turn the verb charge into a noun by adding ‘er’ to the end of the word, and by god, we have what you’ve become when taking this feat. The Charger feat is described as the following:
When you use your Action to Dash, you can use a bonus action to make one melee weapon attack or to shove a creature.
If you move at least 10 feet in a straight line immediately before taking this bonus action, you either gain a +5 bonus to the attack’s damage roll (if you chose to make a melee attack and hit) or push the target up to 10 feet away from you (if you chose to shove and you succeed).
Player’s Handbook
Dissecting the Feat
So let’s unpack this. It’s not the longest descriptive text for a feat, but there’s a lot of punch to it. If you’re a melee hero, this is the feat for you. It’s worth mentioning that you will be opening yourself up to a possible attack of opportunity. As a melee hero, you may not worry about it too much, being all mighty and strong. Still, you may consider waiting until the monster has used its Reaction before using this feat whenever possible.
On the surface, using your Action to Dash may not seem like the best use of your precious Action. Don’t be fooled. It opens up several options for you to do, allowing you to get creative. One thing that separates D&D from other RPGs (looking at you, Pathfinder) is that you can split up your movement. For the average character, your movement speed is now 60 feet. But what good is that if all you’re doing is running?
The core of the Charger feat is what you can do with your bonus action when using the feat. Having a use for your bonus action, especially at the lower levels, is always a plus. What you gain using your bonus action is quite good also. I’m confident most people will automatically want to take the +5 to damage. Again, a +5 bonus to damage is fantastic for your level character. You may not have good if any, magical items yet, so this is a substantial bonus.
Being able to Shove an opponent is ok. It’s purely situational, and when used in one of those ‘right’ situations, it can be deadly. When you are on a mountain, near a cliff, or pit trap with point metal spikes at the bottom, shoving someone 10 feet can end the encounter with a painful splat.
The Charger Feat Useability by Class
Artificer: If you’re an armorist, you’ll want to be at the front lines at soon as possible. The Charger feat allows you to get up close a personal quickly and get an attack off for good measure. All other artificer specialists have no use for this feat.
Barbarian: Yes, please. You must use your first Bonus Action to Rage, but then it’s on. The thought of a raging barbarian running around the battlefield at 60 feet a turn, hitting creatures along the way, is terrifying, especially if you’re a lowly kobold. The Charger feat and Reckless Attack make a nice combo early. The description of Reckless Attack does not specify when you use an Action to attack. This means that your attack is made at advantage, doubling the chance of adding +5 to your damage roll.
Bard: College of Swords has some possible uses for this feat, but it’s mainly not worth taking.
Cleric: You may want to use this if you are playing more of a melee cleric. War domain is the usual front-line cleric option, but using the feat will not allow your 1st-level War Priest ability to be used. There are too many other good feats for this class to pick.
Druid: Combined with Wild Shape, the Charger feat can significantly increase your speed. Movement type is not specified, so if you transform into a giant eagle, you’ll have a fly speed of 160 feet. If you go Circle of the Moon and transform into a brown bear, as we all know you inevitably will, you can run up to 80 feet and take a swipe. Then on the next round, you can claw and bite. It’s worth considering depending on your play style.
Fighter: One of the best feats the fighter can take. Run up to an opponent, hit them with your sword, then run back to position yourself advantageously on the battlefield for the rest of the round. Or Dash up to the mean old mind flayer who’s trying to melt your brain for a distance, attack, then, for good measure, use your Action Surge to attack again. There are a lot of options. At the 5th level, you may not want to use your Action to Dash when you gain an extra Attack action. Depending on how far away your opponent is, it may be the best option to get even a single attack off. The dueling fighting style gives you a +7 bonus to damage. The list goes on and on. You can even run up and shove the kobold before the cowering wizard. But not the annoying bard. Never the annoying bard.
Monk: You’re a running, kicking, punching machine. At low levels, your number of Ki points is limited. The Charger feat gives one a different use for your bonus action when you’ve run out. Combining the Charger and Mobile feats is a fantastic combo, increasing your movement by 20 feet (Your base movement rises from 30 to 40 feet, so you now Dash up to 80 feet). It also eliminates that pesky attack of opportunity issue.
Paladin: Another melee hero that will want this feat. You need to make a melee attack to use your Divine Smite. The Charger feat gets you there quicker, allowing you to make an attack and then rain down holy fire upon your foes. Side note, I’ve always found it interesting that Divine Smite requires no Action of any sort to use. It’s one of the reasons that the paladin is my favorite class to play.
Ranger: Another class where considering the feat depends on what archetype you decide to play. Melee focused, yes, ranged focused, hard pass.
Rogue: There are some decent uses for the Rogue. Using the Charger feat to zip up to someone, use Sneak Attack, the get out of harm’s way. Attacks of opportunity may be an issue.
Sorcerer: Not worth taking.
Warlock: Not worth taking.
Wizard: Not worth taking. You want to run away from your enemies, not towards them.
Conclusion
The Charger feat gets nowhere the love it deserves. Melee heroes should have this high on their list at early and mid-levels. I highly recommend the Charger feat for barbarians, fighters, paladin, and any other character that likes to get up close quickly and hit things with their swords.
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