Dungeons & Dragons Best Origin Feats

The 2024 Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook introduced Origin Feats to the game, some of which are a better fit for specific character Classes than others.

Origin Feats are free Feats that are included as part of a character’s Background selection. These offer extra powers that make a hero even more useful to the party. Anyone playing a human can also pick an additional Origin Feat, regardless of Background choice.

Origin Feats are one part of D&D character creation that can be screwed up, as it’s possible to pick something that won’t get used, like a Wizard taking Savage Attacker. This is why there are specific Origin Feat choices that work best for different classes.

12 Barbarian – Tavern Brawler

Turn Swords Into Tankards

Barbarians benefit from anything that involves the Strength. In this case, Tavern Brawler gives them a number of options when fighting without a weapon.

Tavern Brawler increases the damage of Unarmed Strikes, lets them reroll 1s on damage dice, deal damage when shoving, and gives Proficiency with Improvised Weapons. These combined ensure the Barbarian is always dangerous.

A close second for choice of Origin Feat is Savage Attacker. The campaign the Barbarian appears in might help the player decide, as anything involving a city means Tavern Brawler is the safest bet, as bars and prisons are natural gathering points for adventuring parties.

11 Bard – Musician

A True Inspiration

The Bard & Musician combo might be the most natural fit in the game, to the point where players might avoid taking it, just to dodge the stereotype.

Musician is essentially a replacement for the Bard’s Song of Rest feature from the previous iteration of D&D. Along with getting three new Musical Instrument Proficiencies, the bearer of this Feat can give other characters Heroic Inspiration during rest.

Heroic Inspiration can be spent on a free reroll, making it extremely valuable to players in dangerous situations, and no one is better suited for providing buffs than the Bard.

10 Cleric – Healer

Save Those Spell Slots

Cleric players are often stuck spending precious spell slots on healing spells, forcing them to be more selective about when they can use the rest of their magical arsenal.

The Healer Feat can help free up some of the load, as it lets the Cleric use Healer’s Kits to patch up allies, while the reroll feature makes their healing magic more effective, so fewer spells need to be used.

With the Healer Feat, the Cleric doesn’t have to worry as much about saving slots for Cure Wounds or Healing Word, as they know they can resort to items after the battle if they need to.

9 Druid – Magic Initiate (Wizard)

Going To Night School

The Druid spell list is filled with healing, nature, and elemental magic. Tapping into the raw power of the planet is kind of their whole deal.

A spellcasting Druid can expand their repertoire by taking the Magic Initiate Feat and choosing spells from the Wizard list.

In terms of the two Cantrips, they can select from the likes of Blade Ward, Mind Sliver, Toll the Dead, and True Strike, which they normally wouldn’t have access to.

For the spell, the best options are Magic Missile (a guaranteed hit damage spell,) Grease (a tremendous AoE debilitation spell,) and Tasha’s Hideous Laughter (great for temporarily taking out powerful solo units.)

A Druid who follows the warrior path, usually one who plans to follow the Circle of the Moon subclass, might want to consider a more martial-themed Origin Feat. In this case, Alert or Tough would be better choices.

8 Fighter – Savage Attacker

Doing The Most Damage

The Fighter is good at one thing – beating up enemies. This is where the Savage Attacker Feat fits in perfectly, as it’s all about rerolling 1s on damage dice.

As the Fighter is mostly going to be whacking monsters with pointy sticks, the Savage Attacker Feat is a perfect choice for their play style. It even works for ranged weapons, so the archery-themed Fighters can also benefit from this Feat.

The Tough Feat is also a great choice for the Fighter, as it gives them more hit points as they level up. This can help them keep up with the beefy Barbarians while still being able to rock the plate mail armor.

7 Monk – Tavern Brawler

Push It Real Good

This might seem like an odd choice off the bat. After all, the Monk’s natural Martial Arts feature is better than the improvements offered by Tavern Brawler.

The reason to pick the Tavern Brawler Feat is because of its Shove feature. When a Monk hits the enemy with an Unarmed Strike, they can push the enemy five feet away from them.

A Monk can save their Shove for their final attack, then move away from the foe without worrying about receiving any Attacks of Opportunity from the enemy. It can also be used to push enemies into traps set up by allies, for some extra damage and debuffing.

6 Paladin – Healer

The Backup Bandage

While Paladins are often fighting on the front line, they still act as a backup healer for the group. Sometimes, they’re stuck doing all of the healing, which can influence how the player chooses their spells.

The Healer Origin Feat is extremely useful for the Paladin handling the party’s wounds. The ability to use a Healer’s Kit for much-needed restoration and reroll 1s on checks related to treatment makes it a lot easier for them to put the group back together after a tough battle.

5 Ranger – Alert

Ranger Rover

While Savage Attacker might seem like a natural choice for the 2024 Player’s Handbook Ranger, they have a bigger role in the party than just whacking the enemy on the head.

Rangers are often the party scout, especially in the wilderness, as that’s their whole gimmick. It’s what happens when an entire class is cribbed from Aragorn.

The Alert Feat not only makes it easier for the Ranger to act first in combat, where they are likely to be near danger, but it lets them swap Initiatives with another character on the off-chance that they have a better move they can pull off.

4 Rogue – Skilled

Doing Everything For Cheap

Rogues are the masters of solving problems outside of combat. They’re usually in the front when exploring dungeons, as they have an eye for traps and environmental hazards.

It’s extremely helpful for Rogues to have as many Skill Proficiencies as possible. This is where Skilled comes in, as it gives them three additional choices from outside their normal class options.

The Rogue already gets four Skill Proficiencies from their class, two from their Background, and potentially another one from their Species. When Skilled is thrown into the mix, it means they can potentially start with ten Skill Proficiencies, making them extremely useful to have around.

3 Sorcerer – Magic Initiate (Druid)

Blood For Nature

As the Sorcerer starts out with only a handful of spells that they know and can cast, they should take Magic Initiate as an Origin Feat to improve their arsenal.

Due to the similarities between the Sorcerer and Wizard spell lists, they’re better off going for the Druid Magic Initiate option, as the Sorcerer’s ability to create spell slots makes them an effective backup healer.

For Druid Cantrips, Produce Flame, Shillelagh, Starry Wisp, and Thorn Whip are all excellent attack options, some of which have extra effects outside of just damage.

For the level 1 spell, taking Cure Wounds and Healing Word are the best restorative options. If the Sorcerer is the backup healer, then Healing Word is the better option, as they can use it to quickly revive the Bard, Cleric, or Paladin of the group, while still being able to fire off a Cantrip.

2 Warlock – Magic Initiate (Wizard)

Kingdom For A Spell Slot

Of all of the arcane spellcaster classes, the Warlock benefits the most from Magic Initiate. This is due to how the Warlock gets fewer spells than the other primary magic-users, so they need all the help they can get.

The best class spell list to choose from is the Wizard. This gives them access to the Dancing Lights, Elementalism, Light, Mending, Message, and Prestidigitation Cantrips, of which two can be chosen.

There are also the Wizard’s combat Cantrips, but they pale in comparison to Eldritch Blast, so don’t bother going with them.

For the level 1 spell, the guaranteed damage of Magic Missile is always a great choice, while Sleep is one of the best status effect options at low levels.

1 Wizard – Magic Initiate (Druid)

Touching Grass

Due to the class restrictions on Magic Initiate, Wizards have fewer options than the Sorcerer of Warlock, being stuck with the Cleric or Druid.

The Druid has some fantastic exclusive spells that the Wizard can make use of with this Feat, including the same healing options as the Cleric (as mentioned with Sorcerer above.)

Druids have several amazing Cantrips to choose from, including Produce Flame, Shillelagh, Starry Wisp, and Thorn Whip. The Wizard can take any two of these and save their other Cantrips for utility options.

For the level 1 spell, the Druid has the incredible Entangle and Faerie Fire, which are AoE spells that screw over the enemy. There’s also Goodberry, which acts as ten storable hit points and is a great backup spell when resting isn’t an option.