Resilient 5e

Published on March 9, 2023, Last modified on September 28th, 2023

Saving throws got you down? The Resilient feat is an excellent way to ensure you can resist all those nasty effects headed your way!

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What Is Resilient 5e?

Resilient is a ubiquitous feat that is helpful for a number of builds in D&D 5e. The primary feature of the feat allows you to gain a proficiency in a certain saving throw, which can be beneficial for builds looking to shore up a weakness. The secondary part of the feat allows you to increase the ability score in which you’ve used the feat to gain a proficiency, technically making Resilient a half-feat.

Unfortunately, if the ability in which you gain a saving throw proficiency isn’t necessarily one you want to commit ASIs towards, this feat isn’t particularly good value.

How Does Resilient Work?

The Resilient feat in D&D 5e grants a character proficiency in a chosen saving throw and increases that ability score by 1.

When a character makes a saving throw against an effect that allows them to use the chosen ability score, they can now add their proficiency bonus to the roll. For example, if a character takes Resilient (Constitution), they gain proficiency in Constitution saving throws and can add their proficiency bonus to any Constitution saving throw they make.

Is Resilient Good?

In our 5e Feats Tier List, Resilient was given an A Tier rating, making it an excellent pickup for specific classes.

Gaining an ASI in CON and a free proficiency in CON saving throws is amazing for spellcasters that rely on concentration.

Typically, for casters that will be wading into combat while concentrating on spells, the play is to get War Caster with your first ASI and then get Resilient (CON) when you’ve maxed out your primary stat (STR for Eldritch Knights, WIS for Forge Clerics, etc).

For builds that aren’t going to rely on concentration, the next most likely play is to choose DEX as the ability score. This is good for light/medium armor fighters and barbarians that don’t gain proficiency in DEX, but want to pump their AC and gain a bonus to a common saving throw.

Most Common Saving Throws in 5e

The ability score that is best to increase with Resilient in D&D 5e depends on the specific needs of your character and the challenges they are likely to face.

In general, Constitution and Wisdom are considered to be two of the most important saving throws in the game, as they are commonly used to resist a wide range of negative effects such as poisons, diseases, spells, and other debilitating abilities. Therefore, choosing Resilient (Constitution) or Resilient (Wisdom) can be a good option for characters who want to improve their ability to resist these effects.

However, it is worth noting that other saving throws are equally important depending on the campaign and the types of enemies and challenges your character is likely to face. For example, if your character will be facing a dungeon full of traps or frequently going up against dragons, Resilient (Dexterity) could be a good choice. Similarly, if your character is frequently targeted by mind-affecting spells, Resilient (Charisma) could be useful.

Ultimately, the best choice for Resilient will depend on your specific character, their abilities, and the challenges they are likely to face in the campaign.

Resilient 5e Interactions

Gaining proficiency in a saving throw is a relatively simple concept that doesn’t have a lot of implications outside the primary reason this feat is chosen:

Better Concentration Checks

Concentration checks are, at their core, just CON saving throws. No caster likes to lose concentration on a spell they’ve already spent a spell slot on, therefore if they don’t already have a proficiency in CON saves like sorcerers, Resilient (CON) is usually a solid pick up.

Which 5e Classes Make the Most of Resilient?

The color code below has been implemented to help you identify, at a glance, how good the Resilient 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 feat can be useful for characters who are particularly vulnerable to certain types of saving throws, such as spellcasters who need to make Constitution saving throws to maintain concentration on their spells. The increase in ability score is an added bonus that makes this feat less resource intensive to pick up.

Artificer: Artificers already have proficiency in CON and INT, so the best options would be WIS or DEX. If your artificer is wearing medium armor, DEX is probably your best option because you can get a bonus to your AC out of the deal. Whereas Armorer artificers will likely want to go with WIS.

Barbarian: This can be a good pickup if you have an odd DEX score after character creation. +1 DEX to an uneven score could net you an AC increase, while also offering the increased survivability a bonus to DEX saving throws provides.

Bard: Proficiency with CON saving throws (which includes concentration checks) and +1 CON isn’t anything to turn your nose up at, especially if you’re a melee-focused bard. That said, they will likely get more value out of War Caster because it allows them to cast spells as opportunity attacks.

Cleric: Being better at CON saves is great for clerics since they need to keep up their concentration a lot of the time. Seeing a melee clerics don't need War Caster because they can wear their spellcasting focus on their shield, Resilient (CON) will likely provide more value.

Druid: Druids gain access to plenty of powerful concentration spells and have a relatively weak AC, making them prime candidates for failing Concentration checks. If you're playing a Circle of the Moon druid, it's probably best for you to take War Caster over this feat, but other builds can't go wrong with a bonus to CON and CON saves.

Fighter: This is an alright option for becoming proficient in DEX saves and is especially potent if you're a medium armor, DEX-based fighter as you could gain a pump to your AC.

Monk: Though they don't have to concentrate on spells, monks could do well from picking up Resilient (CON). This can help increase their hit points while also offering them a bonus to resist effects that target CON, like poison, disease, and necromancy.

Paladin: Excellent option if you'll be playing a build that uses concentration spells like haste. Seeing as paladins don't get proficiency in CON saving throws, this can go a long way to keep your concentration spells up and running. Seeing a paladins don't need War Caster because they can wear their spellcasting focus on their shield, Resilient (CON) will likely provide more value.

Ranger: If you are going to be in combat, you need to make sure your hunter’s mark stays active when you get hit. Advantage on CON checks helps your concentration checks immensely.

Rogue: Though they don't have to concentrate on spells, rogues could do well from picking up Resilient (CON). This can help increase their hit points while also offering them a bonus to resist effects that target CON, like poison, disease, and necromancy.

Sorcerer: Sorcerers don’t need Resilient to pick up a proficiency in CON like most spellcasters because they already have one. If you're looking for even more help maintaining concentration, take the War Caster feat.

Warlock: Proficiency with CON saving throws (which includes concentration checks) and +1 CON isn’t anything to turn your nose up at, especially if you’re going for a Hexblade build. That said, they will likely get more value out of War Caster because it allows them to cast spells as opportunity attacks.

Wizard: A wizard might consider using Resilient to gain proficiency in CON saving throws, but they will probably get more value out of War Caster.

Conclusion

All said and done, Resilient is a potent, if not particularly exciting feat that can be useful for just about any build. Before taking Resilient, make sure that you’ve analyzed which saving throw proficiencies you already have and consider which ability score would be best to get an ASI and bonus to saving throws in.

Mike Bernier

Mike Bernier is the lead content writer and founder of Arcane Eye. He is a Adamantine best-selling author of Strixhaven: A Syllabus of Sorcery on DMs Guild and is a contributing author at D&D Beyond. Follow Mike on Twitter.

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