Guile of the Cloud Giant 5e
Published on August 1, 2023
Confound your enemies as you flit around the battlefield with the tricky power of cloud giants!
Anna Steinbauer - Wizards of the Coast - Elusive Tormentor
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Learn more.What Is Guile of the Cloud Giant 5e?
Guile of the Cloud Giant is a feat introduced in Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants that provides reaction-based damage reduction, akin to the rogue’s Uncanny Dodge, while also allowing you to misty step to safety.
There are a cycle of 6 feats included in this book, each of which are thematic to a sub-type of giants. Guile of the Cloud Giant allows players to channel the elusive, tricky ways of cloud giants in combat.
How Does Guile of the Cloud Giant Work?
Like all of the 4th-level Bigby feats, Guile of the Cloud Giant provides an Ability Score Increase (ASI) to one of three thematic choices based on the giant type this feat stems from. In this case, you can choose to increase your Strength, Constitution, or Charisma by 1.
You also get access to a reaction that can be used when you’re hit with an attack roll. If you can see the creature attacking you, you can use your reaction to gain resistance to the attack and teleport 30 feet to safety. This can be used a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus (pb) per long rest.
Prerequisites
This feat is reserved for 4th-level and above characters, and also requires that you take the Strike of the Giant (Cloud Strike) feat before you gain access to this one.
Is Guile of the Cloud Giant Good?
In our 5e Feats Tier List, Guile of the Cloud Giant was given a B Tier rating, making it a niche feat that can improve some builds in D&D 5e.
Misty step is an incredible spell that most builds will want access to. Unfortunately, you can only use this ability when you’re hit by an attack so it’s a bit more limited than the actual spell version, which can be easily acquired through Fey Touched.
Gaining resistance to the attack’s damage is a nice little boost to survivability, as is the fact that this can be used pb number of times per long rest.
Ultimately, this is a solid defensive and evasive ability, which unfortunately reduces its effectiveness in a game like D&D 5e where outputting damage is usually the best gameplan.
Guile of the Cloud Giant 5e Interactions
There are a couple things to keep in mind when choosing this ability:
- This is only applicable when you’re hit by an attack roll. AoE attacks cannot cause this to activate.
- If you’re willing to game the system a bit, you can use this out of combat by getting an ally to unarmed strike you. You’ll then be able to gain resistance to the damage and use your teleport. This can be infinitely useful for when you need to sneak into somewhere and nobody stocked misty step.
- If you want to gain resistance to the triggering attack, you must also teleport. This can be a bit clunky if your a tanky build that wants to stay between your foe and your squishier party members.
Which 5e Classes Make the Most of Guile of the Cloud Giant?
The color code below has been implemented to help you identify, at a glance, how good the Guile of the Cloud Giant 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
This is essentially the rogue’s Uncanny Dodge with an ASI and misty step thrown in. Yes, it will be useful for builds that don’t want to get pummeled, but it’s also effective for builds that want to be tanking for their party.
Unfortunately, this ability is overshadowed by Fey Touched, which is the obvious choice to take over this feat for most spellcasting classes.
Artificer: While this can help with survivability, Fey Touched can get you misty step and another useful spell while also pumping Intelligence.
Barbarian: You already have resistance to mundane damage while you Rage, so this is likely unnecessary.
Bard: Seeing as you can pump Charisma with this half-feat, it is decently useful for keeping your bard alive. Still, Fey Touched is likely a better option if you're looking for misty step.
Cleric: While this can help with survivability, Fey Touched can get you misty step and another useful spell while also pumping Wisdom.
Druid: While this can help with survivability, Fey Touched can get you misty step and another useful spell while also pumping Wisdom.
Fighter: This is actually a pretty decent ability for non-Sentinel or Polearm Master fighters. Giving yourself resistance to an attack's damage can help with survivability and the free teleport can help you navigate the battlefield. Plus, you can pump Strength or Constitution.
Monk: This is a really cool boost for a monk who wants to flit around the battlefield, striking enemies then disappearing before they can react. Unfortunately, there's no Wisdom or Dexterity boost, but this can help your hit points if you have an odd Constitution modifier after character creation.
Paladin: This is actually a pretty decent ability for non-Sentinel or Polearm Master paladins. Giving yourself resistance to an attack's damage can help with survivability and the free teleport can help you navigate the battlefield. Plus, you can pump Strength, Constitution, or Charisma.
Ranger: This is great for Strengh-based rangers who want more survivability and mobility while they soak damage for their party. It's also helpful for ranged rangers who hate to be in melee distance of their enemies because it grants disadvantage on their ranged attacks.
Rogue: This is a solid enough upgrade to Uncanny Dodge that it could certainly benefit your rogue. As they don't have particularly good survivability, the boost to Constitution plus the ability to teleport out of danger is really beneficial. Plus, you could teleport to the edge of the fray and find somewhere to hid next turn, allowing you to attack with advantage and avoid further attacks.
Sorcerer: The Charisma boost could be beneficial and sorcerers have notoriously terrible defensive capabilities. If your sorcerer is getting attacked, this can allow you to get out of dodge while also reducing the damage you take from your attackers.
Warlock: Misty step doesn't scale well with upcasted spell slots, so it's pretty useless to warlocks who only have access to 3rd level or above spells. This is a good way to boost defensive capabilities while also improving mobility.
Wizard: Unfortunately you can't boost Intelligence with this, but if you have an odd Constitution modifier after character creation it can help with hit points and concentration. Plus, if your wizard is getting attacked, this can allow you to get out of dodge while also reducing the damage you take from your attackers.
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