The Sentinel feat has long been one of the more popular feats in D&D and was one that could do some work standing on its own or it could combine with the polearm master feat to make that build especially devastating.
The One DnD Sentinel Feat allows the player to add a +1 to their Dexterity or Strength (player’s choice), make an Opportunity Attack against a creature that attacks a target other than you or takes the Disengage Action, and forces a creature’s movement to 0 for the rest of the turn when they are hit with an Opportunity Attack.
This feels like a strong set of benefits, but how do they work together as a feat?
Let’s dive in and see what the Sentinel Feat has to offer!
Sentinel Feat DnD One Review
The best way to break down a feat is to check out the exact wording.
From Unearthed Arcana:
Prerequisite: Proficiency with Any Martial Weapon
You have mastered techniques to take advantage of every drop in any enemy’s guard, gaining the following benefits:
Ability Score Increase. Increase your Strength or Dexterity score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
Guardian. Immediately after a creature within 5 feet of you takes the Disengage Action or hits a target other than you with an attack, you can make an Opportunity Attack against that creature.
Halt. When you hit a creature with an Opportunity Attack, the creature’s Speed becomes 0 for the rest of the turn.
Unearthed Arcana, Expert Classes, 2022
Let’s break down these feats individually to take a closer look at what this brings to the table.
Benefit #1: Increase your Strength or Dexterity score by 1 to a maximum of 20.
This is pretty basic/standard for a half-feat offering to a martial class, but having +1 DEX or +1 STR is better than not getting it at all, so while it’s not going to make or break a feat it is a useful initial benefit.
Benefit #2: Immediately after a creature within 5 feet hits a target other than you or takes the Disengage Action, you can make an opportunity attack against that creature.
Opportunity attacks are great, and not just because they use a reaction which many character classes don’t have an action for. An extra attack is great, plus in this situation an Opportunity Attack has specific features that make the feat more powerful overall. Excellent benefit to a Martial Feat, and the only way in current mechanics where you can attack a creature who has taken a Disengage Action.
Benefit #3: When you hit a creature with an Opportunity Attack, that creature’s speed becomes 0 for the rest of the turn.
This only applies to Opportunity Attacks, but considering that can come from a creature within 5 feet of you hitting an ally or trying to disengage, and you can prevent a retreat, a tactical withdrawal, or a hit and run monk or rogue attack. While this relies on hitting during an Opportunity Attack, it is a major bonus that often forces enemies who don’t want to be flat footed to end up flat footed.
It’s an excellent benefit that is strong in and of itself and devastating when combined with #2.
How Does Sentinel Feat Measure Up?
The Sentinel Feat is an outstanding choice for any martial character build. This adds a potential Opportunity Attack as a reaction, is one of the few ways to deal with the Disengage Action, and stops enemies in their tracks. Add in a +1 DEX/STR and this is once again a solid feat that stands on its own and earns an A grade.
Has One DnD quietly nerfed the Sentinel Feat? Yes. Especially when looking at it paired with the Polearm Master feat. But that doesn’t mean this combination still isn’t worth taking, or that the Sentinel Feat can’t stand alone because it 100% can.
The main indicator that there’s some nerfing comes from the fact that it changes from “Reach of the weapon” down to “Within 5 feet.” This makes sense to some extent, but on the other hand if a halberd can reach 10 feet why wouldn’t that work, as well?
The Sentinel Feat is still very strong and interesting, but there is some measured cutting from the 5th edition version that is worth paying attention to.
Sentinel Feat: DnD One Vs 5E
The One DnD changes to the Sentinel Feat have first made it a half feat. You now get to increase your Strength or Dexterity (player’s choice) by +1 up to the maximum of 20. That’s a nice little boost but nothing that’s going to shake up the world.
But what has changed since the 5th Edition version?
Related Article: 5E Sentinel Feat Guide
A few things have been stripped away from Sentinel that is going to make some min-maxers, and players in general, very unhappy. For one, you lose the ability to use your reaction to attack a creature within 5 feet that’s attacking someone other than you. That reaction was incredibly useful and when combined with polearm master it was extremely effective.
This also changed so only creatures within 5 feet of you (no longer the weapon’s reach) provoke an opportunity attack when moving away. Not creature’s within a weapon’s reach. This nerfs a lot of the min-max benefit of having the infamous polearm master-sentinel combo that could be devastating crowd control in 5th Edition.
Who Should Take the Sentinel Feat in DnD One?
The Sentinel Feat is great for the majority of martial builds. I’ve seen Fighters, Barbarians, Paladins, and Clerics all use this successfully and it’s low-key an excellent choice as one of the best feats for Druids because it’s not reliant on weapons, just on hitting on attacks. That means this is a feat that can still apply through Wild Shape, from a magically summoned weapon, or from normal combat.
That said, this is a feat that can work wonders for the right build of:
- Barbarian
- Cleric
- Druid
- Fighter
- Monk
- Paladin
Certain builds of Rangers, Rogues, and Warlocks might also find some use with this feat, being able to stop pursuit or force a creature to stay still while they can reposition.
DnD One Sentinel Feat Final Grade
The Sentinel Feat is still very good. While I could see it getting some pushback because of that nerfing, the truth is when you look at Sentinel as a standalone feat in the new One DnD (aka 6E) system, it still holds up. This is still an excellent martial feat that has plenty of applications and gives a chance to strike with an Opportunity Attack.
Whether a Monk looking for an opening for a cheap shot or a Paladin defending a friend as they are attacked, flavor-wise this is a feat that can work in many different ways with many different martial builds, making it versatile both for character use and classes that can make it work.
Sentinel is one of the better standalone feats in the system and it can continue to do so regardless of changes.
Other D&D Articles of Interest
- One DnD Polearm Master Feat Guide
- One DnD Resilient Feat Guide
- One DnD Mounted Combatant Feat Guide
- One DnD Complete Epic Boons Guide
- One DnD Mage Slayer Feat Guide
- D&D Types of Damage Guide
Proud to embrace the locally created moniker of “Corrupt Overlord” from one of the all time great Lords of Waterdeep runs, Shane is one member of the Assorted Meeples crew and will be hard at work creating awesome content for the website. He is a long-time player of board games, one time semi-professional poker player, and tends to run to the quirky or RPG side of things when it comes to playing video games. He loves tabletop roleplaying systems like Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Werewolf, Fate, and others, and not only has been a player but has run games as DM for years. You can find his other work in publications like Level Skip or Hobby Lark.