Jan 5

Jan 5 A Player's Guide to Feats - Fade Away

No one enjoys being hit in the face with a mace or stabbed with a sword. It seems significantly worse when the individual getting hit is only 3 feet tall. Gnomes get a bad rap, but that doesn’t mean we should wish them ill-harm. Fade Away helps our vertically challenged friends slip away to fight another day.

What is the Fade Away Feat

Prerequisite: Gnome
Your people are clever, with a knack for illusion magic. You have learned a magical trick for fading away when you suffer harm. You gain the following benefits:
Increase your Dexterity or Intelligence score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
Immediately after you take damage, you can use a reaction to magically become invisible until the end of your next turn or until you attack, deal damage, or force someone to make a saving throw. Once you use this ability, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest.

Dissecting the Feat

Once again, we have a half-feat on our hands. I've said it numerous times, but many feats have no ability score increase. It comes as no surprise one of the options is Intelligence since you're a gnome. You also have the option to increase your Dexterity score, which could increase your AC, so choose wisely. A +1 in any ability score is a pleasant bonus you should embrace.

It's too bad you have to take damage to use the feat's ability, but having a use for your Reaction is always great. Using that Reaction to go invisible is also great. The effect is limited to the end of your next turn. Still, there are so many things you can do in that time, ranging from simply running away, giving yourself advantage on your next attack, avoiding attacks of opportunity, and so on. It's the gnome version of Fey Teleportation, except going invisible is better than misty step.

The only drawback is you can only use it once per short or long rest. I understand why. The feat's ability to get you not only out of trouble but also attack with advantage on your next turn is excellent. Plus, most feats with abilities like this are limited to once per rest. Being able to use this feature more often would be OP. So, I guess it's not really a drawback; it's just me being greedy.

The Fade Away Feat Useability by Class

Artificer: I'm a bit torn here. The Intelligence boost is nice. There are a lot of people who tout the feat for the armorer and battlesmith artificer, but I'm not sold. If you're an armorer, I think you should stay up front and tank. It makes a bit more sense if you're a battlesmith artificer, but you can use your steel defender to help you get out of a jam if necessary. I know your mechanical friend could die, but that could happen if you go invisible and leave it all by its lonesome.

Barbarian: Not worth taking.

Neither Dexterity nor Intelligence helps a barbarian, and hiding from your enemies goes against everything these raging meat shields are made for.

None of this changes the fact that now I want to play a gnome barbarian.

Bard: Not worth taking.

Cleric: Not worth taking. How can I run to you to heal me if you go invisible?

Druid: Not worth taking. We all know you're just going to wild shape into a bear.

Fighter: Not worth taking

A couple of sites I highly respect (Arcane Eye does excellent work) list the feat as a worthy option for Dex-based fighters. I'm not saying you should never take this feat as a fighter, but it should be way down on the list. First, there are many batter feats for a fighter to consider. More importantly, fighters are front-line heroes who can absorb damage better than most classes. Going invisible means your attacker will look for another target, probably something soft and squishy. Do I spy a wizard hiding in the back?

Monk: The feat would be great for gnome monks since they can find themselves standing next to the bad guy. The problem is the monk already has several options with which they can use their Reaction, so the feat is a bit wasted on them. It's not a bad option but not a great one.

Paladin: Not worth taking.

Ranger: I agree with the collective wisdom about rangers and the Fade Away feat. It's a good option for Dexterity-based rangers who launch arrows and hate it when someone runs up and hits them with a sword.

Rogue: A gnome rogue should take this feat. It's a great way to set up your next attack with advantage, allowing you to use Sneak Attack. You can get hit, go invisible, and run away. In fact, you can run far away if you want - use all your movement, an Action to Dash and Cunning Action to Dash to again. I'm sure the rest of the party won't be surprised when the rogue appears 90 feet from the battle, crying that he took 5 points of damage.

Sorcerer: Not worth taking.

Warlock: Not worth taking.

Wizard: Both the ASI bonuses are nice. Increase your spellcasting ability, or have a little better AC. There are better feats out there for the wizard, and while they have access to the invisibility spell, it's still worth a hard look. Wizards really don't like getting hit. When they do, safely running away without burning a spell slot can come in handy.

Conclusion

Fade Away is a solid feat, just not a great feat. If you're a gnome, you should look at it because you can. It has some benefits for specific classes and can be a great last option when you're bleeding everywhere and running to the cleric. For me, however, it's more of a second-tier feat than a must-have for any of the classes.

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