Vagabond Feats Guide

 

These are the best feats to take while playing the Vagabond, the definitive dangerous drifter base class for 5th edition. 

Vagabonds use Battle Dice and maneuvers for tactical, flexible combat. They’re also at their most dangerous when they have less than half their hit point maximum, since the Desperate Attack feature gives them Advantage on Attack Rolls while Bloodied starting at level 2.

While “best” means whatever you decide when you’re building your character, here are some flavorful feats you can choose that synergize well with existing class features or add new storytelling flavor! 

Origin Feats

Chosen with your background, Origin feats shape your adventure from its very beginning. While the Lucky feat, taken with the Merchant and Wayfarer backgrounds, is always a good choice, these backgrounds give you more specialized benefits that work well with the Vagabond’s level 1 feature, the Secret. Your Secret is the scar, curse, or calling that forced you into a life of endless travel.

Alert

Chosen alongside the Criminal or Guard background, this feat gives you the jump on Initiative rolls and lets you swap places in Initiative with a willing ally. You might choose this if you take Fugitive or Avenger as your Secret, both of which have what we can kindly call a complicated relationship with the law. The Avenger secret also gives you a bonus to Initiative rolls, meaning you’ll pretty much always be the first to act in a fight.

Savage Attacker

This feat from the Soldier background basically gives you Advantage on your damage rolls once per turn. It’s a great fit for the Monstrous or Faction Agent Secrets, both of which might need to finish a fight fast before it gets out of hand.

Tough

For stories about a common man driven to extremes, you can take the Farmer background and pick up Tough, which gives you two extra hit points per character level. Since you’ll want to spend most of your time below half your max HP, this gives you more leeway to stay bloodied without actually dropping out of the fight. Take it with the Fugitive secret for the classic Western trope of a dark past that just won’t let you go.

General Feats

A Vagabond can take additional feats at levels 4, 8, 12, and 16. Here are some great feats to choose as you level up.

Defensive Duelist

The best defense isn’t a good offense, it’s a very high Armor Class! When you’re Bloodied and reaping the rewards of Desperate Attack, using the Parry benefit of Defensive Duelist can keep you alive and in the fight in the long run.

Fey-Touched

As a desperate melee fighter, the Vagabond really benefits from any increase to their mobility and ability to track down targets. Take Hex or Hunter’s Mark as your choice of spell and pick up the free Misty Step to be right where you need to be when you need to be there. Plus it’s a great fit for the Feylost subclass, a wanderer at the whim of magical mood swings.

Great Weapon Master

If you’re willing to invest in Strength and Dexterity (a Dark-Souls-style “quality build”), you can stack the additional damage of the Battle Edge maneuver with the Proficiency Bonus offered by Heavy Weapon Mastery for enormous damage. Even at relatively low levels, you might be adding +8 to damage rolls!

Honorable Mention: Actor! 

Yes, you read that correctly: the Actor feat might be a great pick if you also took the False Identity Secret at level 1. A small boost to Charisma and Advantage on Charisma checks made for Impersonation can transform you into the party face (at least, when you’re pretending to be someone else).

Epic Boons

Every class can take an Epic Boon feat at 19th level, each of which has a prerequisite of level 19+ to augment the capstone abilities of your class. For a Vagabond, I’d recommend one of these two:

Boon of Combat Prowess 

Just as we did with the Gunslinger, we can’t recommend this feat enough for raw damage output. Once per turn this Epic Boon lets you turn a hit into a miss; if your class makes attack rolls, this is the mechanically optimal choice.

Boon of Recovery

Once per day this feat lets you keep the only hit point that matters: the last one. It stacks with the Last Stand Vagabond feature at level 9, giving any villain good reason to wonder “Why won’t you die!?!” The fact that this Epic Boon comes with what amounts to a free Second Wind is just icing on the cake.

---

Do you agree with our picks? How do you build your Vagabond in 2024? Let us know in the comments below or in our Discord! There’s a Vagabond-specific channel where you can lurk just like the hooded figure in the back of the tavern.