Slasher 5e

Published on March 12, 2022, Last modified on July 18th, 2022

Did you know that slashing weapons are one of the most common weapon damage types? They make up 10 of the 28 melee weapons in the Player’s Handbook, over a third of the total weapons. Almost every class starts with a slashing weapon of some sort!

Wild Slash - Wizards of the Coast - Raymond Swanland

Arcane Eye may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn more.

What Is Slasher 5e?

With the release of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, we got a line of feats that all specialize in using a specific weapon damage type. Today, we’ll be covering slashing damage with the Slasher feat.

How Does Slasher Work?

Like the other damage type feats in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, you gain these three benefits:

You can increase your Strength or Dexterity by one (it’s still capped at 20.)
Whenever you score a critical hit on a creature with slashing damage, the enemy has disadvantage on all attack rolls until your next turn.
Once per turn, if you hit a creature with an attack that deals slashing damage, you can reduce their movement speed by 10 feet until their next turn.

Naturally, you want to have a slashing weapon equipped to make use of this feat. Slashing damage weapons are among the most common in D&D 5e, meaning that almost any melee class can find this feat helpful.

Is Slasher Good?

We gave Slasher a C Tier rating In our 5e Feats Tier List, making it a below-average feat in D&D 5e.

Unfortunately, Slasher is the worst of the melee damage type feats introduced in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. It doesn’t offer as much damage as Piecer and the effects you impose on hit and crit are more situational than Crusher.

Which 5e Classes Make the Most of Slasher?

The color code below has been implemented to help you identify, at a glance, how good the Slasher 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

Artificer: Artificers staying on the front line will find a lot of use for this if they prefer slashing weapons.

Barbarian: Barbarians want to pick this up, as it keeps their enemies close and makes it harder for them to hit back after a Reckless Attack (as the disadvantage cancels out the advantage).

Bard: Bards won’t care much for this feat unless they prefer to be in melee range. College of Valor bards might be more interested if they want slashing weapons.

Cleric: Clerics can use this feat if they want to be in the thick of it, especially War Domain clerics.

Druid: Druids tend to stay away from slashing melee weapons, preferring to cast spells or even use the shillelagh to buff their quarterstaff's bludgeoning damage. Druids that prefer to fight in Wild Shape, like Circle of the Moon druids can certainly make use of this feat because most beasts have attacks that deal slashing damage.

Fighter: Fighters love this feat, and it works with almost any subclass.

Monk: Monks can use this pretty well, just like fighters. However, I think Kensei monks will find the most use out of it.

Paladin: Complements builds nicely that know they will use slashing weapons. Reducing speed allows you to chase down enemies you hit so they stay away from your more vulnerable allies.

Ranger: Monks can use this pretty well, just like Fighters. However, I think Kensei monks will find the most use out of it.

Rogue: Rogues can enjoy this feat based on what weapons they’re using, as not all melee weapons deal slashing damage.

Sorcerer: Sorcerers won’t find anything useful here, as they don’t want to be in melee range.

Warlock: Warlocks, like wizards, won’t find anything helpful from this feat unless they’re a Hexblade, where the higher crit chance makes it even more useful.

Wizard: Wizards don’t want to be anywhere near this. Bladesingers might enjoy it, though, as it keeps them close to their enemies.

Conclusion

You never think about how many weapons come with the slashing property, but they take up over a third of the overall melee weapons. These new damage-type feats expand on what a regular melee class can do without expending any bonus actions. Slasher is an alright pick for almost any melee class.

How do you feel about Slasher? Do you think it works for any particular class we didn’t mention? Let us know in the comments below!

Jeff Nabors

Jeff Nabors has been playing D&D ever since he stumbled upon the 3.5E core books in his high school library. When he isn’t running a campaign or designing a game, you can find him on Twitch, writing about game design, or staring off into the endless abyss.