Crusher 5e
Published on March 12, 2022, Last modified on June 9th, 2022
The Crusher feat can provide a significant power boost to martial builds that rely on bludgeoning damage. How well will it work for your build? Find out here.
Victor Adame Minguez - Wizards of the Coast - Bonecrusher Giant
Arcane Eye may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article.
Learn more.What Is Crusher 5e?
Crusher is one of the three martial-focused feats we got in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, alongside Slasher and Piercer. These feats offer martial classes an additional bonus for sticking to a specific damage type and also provide half an Ability Score Increase.
How Does Crusher Work?
If you grab this feat, you’ll end up with three new benefits:
- You can increase your Strength or Constitution by one, up to a maximum of 20.
- Whenever you make a critical hit that deals bludgeoning damage to a creature, any attack rolls made against that creature have advantage until the start of your next turn.
- Once per turn, when you hit a creature with an attack that dealt bludgeoning damage, you may move it five feet into an unoccupied place, as long as the creature is no more than one size category larger than you.
Is Crusher Good?
In our 5e Feats Tier List, Crusher was given a B Tier rating, making it a niche feat that can improve some builds in D&D 5e.
Crusher is a somewhat situational half-feat. The only build that really wants this feat is a melee build (preferably Champion Fighter) with a bludgeoning weapon. If this fits your build, being able to +1 your STR or CON while getting the bonus from crits is going to provide a lot of value for your party.
Which 5e Classes Make the Most of Crusher?
The color code below has been implemented to help you identify, at a glance, how good the Crusher 5e feat is for a specific class/subclass.
- Red isn’t going to contribute to the effectiveness of your character build at all
- Orange Situationally good, but a below-average option otherwise
- Green is a good option
- Blue is a great option, you should strongly consider this option for your character
- Sky Blue is an amazing option. If you do not take this option your character would not be optimized
Crusher is best on builds that:
- Want to be in melee range with bludgeoning-type weapons (maces, hammers, clubs, etc.)
- Ideally, have access to booming blade.
This is an ideal feat for any martial class that doesn’t want to go with Polearm Master, as it adds a great movement attack and the chance for extra advantage, plus half an ASI. It forces you to stay with a particular weapon type, though, which may be difficult to keep if your DM offers a lot of magical weapons that aren’t bludgeoning damage.
Artificer: Because this class is so flexible, it can work with most feats. Melee-focused artificers like Battle Smiths or Armorers can get some great use out of this since they are melee-oriented.
Barbarian: It's not a terrible choice for a barbarian, especially compared to the other damage-type feats from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. It offers them a chance to have a little battlefield manipulation, plus a possible damage boost.
Bard: Most bards won’t be in melee range, so this is a skip. Both of the melee subclasses can potentially use this feat, but I think they would be better off with more flexible utility feats like Lucky or Mobile.
Cleric: Melee-focused clerics can get a lot of use out of this, especially the War Domain. You already get extra attacks and damage, making this feat even better.
Druid: Melee-based druids don’t use weapons, so you’ll need to rely on a Wild Shape animal that not only deals bludgeoning damage but is also appropriate for your level. Overall, it’s too difficult to get this feat to work without any compromises.
Fighter: Crusher is a very strong pickup for any build using a bludgeoning weapon. The Champion especially loves this feat because of how much more often they will be landing critical hits. The only downside of this feat would be if your fighter finds a magical weapon that isn't bludgeoning and is strictly better than your current weapon.
Monk: If there was ever a perfect feat for Monks, this is it. Because your unarmed strikes are bludgeoning damage and a good variety of monk weapons, you can almost always trigger this feat. Any subclass is excellent, but I think Way of the Drunken Master fits best since they already offer a lot of battlefield manipulation.
Paladin: This is a great secondary option for most paladins if you don’t want to go the polearm route. They have access to all the weapons this feat wants, and they get plenty of mileage out of the manipulation.
Ranger: I don’t think most rangers will care much about this feat, as it isn’t in their wheelhouse. The push can help get them in and out of melee range, but it isn’t as effective with any particular ranger build.
Rogue: This feat doesn’t add much to the rogue class unless you’re aiming for a particular style of play. Rogues can already get in and out of melee range with Cunning Action, and they typically want DEX over STR.
Sorcerer: Absolutely not worth it, as they never want to be in melee range. This feat is for martial classes.
Wizard: Absolutely not worth it, as they never want to be in melee range. This feat is for martial classes. Bladesingers can use bludgeoning weapons, which works well with booming blade, for some fun damage opportunities, but it isn’t an essential feat
Warlock: Absolutely not worth it, as they never want to be in melee range. This feat is for martial classes. Hexblades can use bludgeoning weapons, which works well with booming blade, for some fun damage opportunities, but it isn’t an essential feat by any means.
Crusher 5e FAQs
What's the best weapon to use with Crusher?
Different weapons will shine in different scenarios. The maul is the go-to choice for great weapon builds because it deals 2d6 and has the heavy property, the quarterstaff can work with Polearm Master and doesn't require proficiency with martial weapons, the warhammer offers versatility between 1d8 and 1d10 depending on how you wield it, and even the sling can be used for ranged builds.
Conclusion
All three of these damage feats from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything offer martial classes something new and different. These new damage-type feats expand on what a regular melee class can do without expending any bonus actions. Crusher is by far the best of them, though it is the one that has the least amount of support behind it, as bludgeoning isn’t as common.
How do you feel about Crusher? Do you think it works for any particular class we didn’t mention? Let us know in the comments below!
Fill out the form below to receive Escape From Mt. Balefor for free!
Or follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
Crusher is fantastic for Magic Domain Clerics who use Shillelagh and Booming Blade. Mixed with spells, it creates a devastating vortex which controls the battlefield on a SAD Wis character, weaving the cantrips into the spell sequence. Depending on whether or not you start the combat with Shillelagh active, the sequence is:
Round 1: Spirit Guardians, Shillelagh
Round 2: Booming Blade, Spiritual Weapon
Round 3: Booming Blade, Spiritual Weapon
If Shillelagh is already active,
Round 1: Booming Blade, Spiritual Weapon
Round 2: Spirit Guardians, Spiritual Weapon
Round 3: Booming Blade, Spiritual Weapon
The second sequence offers an additional round of Spiritual Weapon and a harder burst of single-target damage in Round 1, at the cost of waiting a round to activate Spirit Guardians. Of course, in a smaller combat, you could forgo Spirit Guardians and just keep casting Booming Blade with the Crusher forced movement and Spiritual Weapon, which saves a 3rd level spell slot.
Remember, of course, that you can’t cast Spirit Guardians and Spiritual Weapon in the same turn, as they are both leveled spells.