The most exciting part of any new Dungeons & Dragons 5E book release is the addition of new character options, and Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants brings lots of new giant-themed Feats to the table. As is the case with most recent D&D books, the Feats in Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants are a lot stronger than the ones in the 2014 Player’s Handbook, all of which leads into the updated version of D&D that’s coming in 2024.
Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants is a new sourcebook that focuses on the giantkin of D&D. In most cases, giants are the enemies of the player characters, but this isn’t always the case. Some giant races are allied to the small folk, even if they rarely interact with them. A few lucky mortals are given the chance to tap into the power of the giants, which they can unleash in combat.
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D&D’s Strike Of The Giants Feat & Best Choices
Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants uses D&D’s new Background structure, where characters can receive a bonus Feat as part of their Background. If you select the new Giant Foundling Background, then you can receive the Strike of the Giants Feat. Strike of the Giants contains six different functions, all of which kick in whenever you hit with a melee weapon or ranged thrown weapon attack, but you only pick one when you take the Feat. By far, the best choices for Strike of the Giants are:
- Storm Strike: Not only do you deal 1d6 extra Lightning damage, but the enemy has to make a Constitution saving throw or have Disadvantage on its attacks until your next turn. This has the best damage ration to potential debuff rate of all of the Strike of the Giant options and is the best pick.
- Fire Strike: This adds 1d10 Fire damage to your attacks. If you want a simple but powerful effect that you don’t need to keep track of with Saving Throws during your turn, select this one instead.
D&D’s Rune Shaper Feat & Best Choices
Like Strike of the Giants, there is a Background option in Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants called the Rune Carver that gives you the Rune Shaper Feat. Not only does Rune Shaper add Comprehend Languages to your spell list and lets you cast it once per day, but you can also inscribe Runes onto your items, which add spells to your list, which can also be cast one per long rest. As your Proficiency bonus goes up, you can add more Runes to your lineup. These are the best Runes for you to pick from:
- Armor of Agathys: This is normally a Warlock-exclusive spell, giving you easy access to this powerful protective barrier. Not only does Armor of Agathys last for an hour, but it grants temporary hit points and gives you 5 points of reflective damage against enemies that get close to you.
- Chromatic Orb: One of the benefits of receiving this spell as part of Rune Shaper is that you can ignore the material components, so you get one good blast of Chromatic Orb per day without worrying about finding a diamond worth 50gp.
- Entangle or Goodberry: These are two of the best low-level Druid/Ranger spells in the game, and using Rune magic will let your other casters access them if there are no nature mages in the party. Entangle is a great AoE spell that can trap opponents, while Goodberry is an amazing outside-of-combat healing spell.
- Sanctuary: This Artificer/Cleric spell is one of the best low-level defensive barriers, so long as you’re not concerned about attacking. Once you cast Sanctuary, enemies have to make a Wisdom saving throw to even attack you. This is a great spell for the other healer classes (Bard, Druid, and Paladin) to take, especially as the wording of the Sanctuary spell means that you’re free to use other debuffing effects on the enemy, so long as you’re not directly damaging them, without breaking its effect.
Guile Of The Cloud Giant Is An Amazing Defensive Feat.
Rune Shaper and Strike of the Giants can both be taken at level 1, assuming you’ve taken the correct Background or are playing a variant Human. The rest of the Feats in Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants can only be taken at level 4, and there is a definite power divide among them.
One of the best new Feats in Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants is Guile of the Cloud Giant. It increases your Strength, Constitution, or Charisma stat by one and gives you the amazing Cloudy Escape ability. Cloudy Escape lets you use your Reaction when taking a hit to resist half the damage and teleport 30 feet away, and you can use it a number of times per day equal to your Proficiency bonus. This Feat mixes the Rogue’s Uncanny Dodge ability with the Misty Step spell, all without burning any spell slots, and is usable on the enemy’s turn, so you don’t need to spend Actions to get out of dodge.
Fury Of The Frost Giant Gives You A Consistent Use Of Your Reaction
Fury of the Frost Giant has several benefits, as it gives you Cold resistance, lets you add 1 to Strength, Constitution, or Wisdom, and it gives you the Frigid Retaliation ability. Frigid Retaliation lets you spend your Reaction when you’re hit by an enemy’s attack roll, so long as they’re within 30ft. They must make a Constitution saving throw or take 1d8 + Proficiency bonus in damage, with their speed dropping to zero until the end of their next turn. You can use Frigid Retaliation a number of times equal to your Proficiency bonus, and it refreshes on a long rest.
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Frigid Retaliation gives you a reliable way to spend your Reaction on your turn and can also ground an enemy. If your character has a higher-than-normal movement range (such as playing a wood elf), then you can play keep away with the enemy and hit them with ranged attacks while they catch up, assuming they lack ranged options of their own.
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