Pack Tactics 5e
Published on September 21, 2022, Last modified on January 9th, 2023
Creatures swarming adventurers at the worst times is a great trope within D&D or adventure movies. These loosely-coordinated attacks put their foes on edge, forcing them to be constantly fighting all around them. This same feeling has been converted to D&D fame with the Pack Tactics ability for monsters, thanks to 5e.
Craig J. Spearing - Wizards of the Coast - One of the Pack
Table of Contents
Pack Tactics in D&D
Pack Tactics is relatively new to D&D, with the 5e only being the second iteration of the ability. We saw the origin of Pack Tactics in 4th edition through the Dragon Compendium (which may or may not be an official book, but we’ll pretend it is because it’s based on the Dragon Magazine). Initially, it was limited to a bonus feat for fighters, allowing your allies to get a bonus on their melee attacks if you both flanked an enemy.
What is Pack Tactics in 5e?
Within 5e, Pack Tactics is an ability for some monsters— mostly beasts or martial creatures—that allows them to get advantage on their attack rolls as long as an ally is within 5 feet of them. This is meant to simulate the strategy of hunter-type and tactile creatures getting the upper hand on singular enemies in battle.
Pack Tactics in Monsters
Pack Tactics is primarily an ability for NPCs that are known for fighting in packs, like wolves, jackals, and even thugs. For the most part, these creatures tend to be relatively low CR—not often going above CR 5—which can offset the fact that this ability to extremely potent, especially when fighting mobs.
Though it’s not explicitly stated, monsters with Pack Tactics are usually cooperative fighters that will strategize with their allies to take down stronger enemies. This can be seen in wolves as they circle their prey in a dark forest, snapping at exposed vital areas, or in kobolds as they work together to trap their hideouts against unwary visitors.
Monsters with Pack Tactics may also be more loyal to their allies than normal, feral creatures. When forming a pack, there is an implicit familial connotation. This could get the party in trouble if they harm a single wolf, as the pack may come after them for vengeance.
Pack Tactics for Player Characters
The only playable race that can use the Pack Tactics ability is the koblod race. Introduced in Volo’s Guide to Monsters, kobolds share the ability to enhance their attack rolls when surrounding an opponent. This mirrors the kobold’s NPC stat block, which also includes Pack Tactics.
This makes kobolds extremely powerful as martial builds that can stack on damage when they crit, like the paladin’s Divine Smite. Though it might seem like a match made in heaven for rogues, they already get access to Sneak Attack when a creature has another hostile creature within 5 feet, so it’s slightly redundant—though the advantage is nice. Unfortunately, the Monsters of the Multiverse kobold has their Pack Tactic ability removed. But, on the bright side, their Sunlight Sensitivity was also removed, so it’s a decent trade-off.
How Powerful is Pack Tactics?
As far as common abilities go, Pack Tactics is an extremely deadly ability that can drastically change encounters based on the number of enemies you include. Say, for example, you pit your 3rd level party against 8 wolves and a dire wolf pack leader, these wolves will all be hitting well above their 1/4 CR weight class because their attacks now essentially have a +9 to hit, rather than a +4. With bounded accuracy keeping AC low, especially at early levels, this will lead to your party being hit way more often than in a typical CR 3 encounter.
When building an encounter around monsters with Pack Tactics, definitely keep in mind that its effect can exponentially increase the difficulty of the encounter. This is doubly dangerous because creatures with Pack Tactics tend to be feral creatures that won’t take the party prisoner—instead, it’ll likely lead to a fairly gruesome TPK.
How do Pack Tactics work in 5e?
There aren’t a lot of rules for Pack Tactics, which is partially why it’s so potent. Those with this ability have advantage on all attack rolls if their target is within 5ft of one of your allies. The only caveat is the ally can’t be incapacitated for the effect to activate.
Now, it’s important to note that this feature does not care where the attacker is, only where the attacker’s ally is. So theoretically, if a thug enemy is in melee range of your party member, but the attacking thug is 30ft away using a crossbow, they’ll still gain advantage on their attack. Pretty nasty, right?
Mechanics that affect Pack Tactics
Flanking
This optional rule in the Dungeon Master’s Guide is the “fair” version of Pack Tactics. This enables two characters to have advantage on attacks if they are both on opposite sides of an enemy, within melee range. While Pack Tactics doesn’t affect this mechanic, this is an excellent opportunity to show how powerful the ability can be.
Echo Knights
Sadly, kobold fighters can’t benefit from this as you’d think. Their echos are not considered allies, so they don’t trigger the Pack Tactics bonus.
Wild Shape
When a druid assumes the shape of a creature with Pack Tactics, they also gain that ability. There are a ton of beasts with this ability, too, so druids can really go hog wild with this.
Pack Tactics 5e FAQs
Is Pack Tactics a triggered ability?
No, for this specific ability, it’s a static yes or no. Either your ally is within 5ft of the target (thus enabling your advantage), or they aren’t.
Can You Get Pack Tactics for other races?
At this time, no other playable races also have the Pack Tactics ability.
Do Pack Tactics work at range?
The specific wording on the ability never mentions range, but Jeremy Crawford later confirmed on Twitter that it indeed works regardless of range.
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