All the feats are useful, but I like it when enemies attack me and get some immediate karmic retribution
Baldur’s Gate 3 Feats With Reactions/Bonus Actions
This guide isn’t saying any feats are better than others. What feats you choose come down to your character builds and playing style. Personally, I like the opportunity to get some stats bumped up to max and to give some music ability to a character without multiclassing into Bard.
However, I also love having three characters react to one enemy’s attack and deal back some damage. Very satisfying.
Feats are chosen at class levels 4, 8, and 12 for nearly all classes. The exceptions are Fighters (extra feat at 6), and Rogues (extra feat at 10). Note that for Fighters and Barbarians, they get an extra action by default at level 5.
Definitely have reactions and opportunity attacks set to Ask, so that you control when they happen during a battle.
Here are the feats which give passive reactions or extra actions.
Feats
| Feat | Description | Best For |
| Defensive Duellist | Passive reaction. Character is Proficient with Finesse Weapons and is wielding one; enemy attacks character. Reaction: add Proficiency Bonus to your Armour Class, possibly causing the attack to miss. | Any character using Finesse Weapons |
| Great Weapon Master | Land a critical hit and/or kill, and gain a bonus fight action | Fighter, Barbarian, melee/tanks |
| Mage Slayer | Passive reaction. If an enemy caster casts spell within 1.5m of your character, character can react with an attack spell. The particular spell depends on the race and class subtype of the character. | Wizard, Warlock, Druid, Cleric, Sorceror, Paladin, Bard |
| Polearm Master | Bonus attack and Opportunity attack. If character is wielding a glaive, halberd, quarterstaff or spear, this feat grants an extra action to use the butt of the weapon either as a bonus action or an opportunity attack when an enemy disengages. | Fighter, Barbarian, Druid – any character who’s melee and using the required weapons |
| Sentinel | Enemy in melee range attacks a nearby ally, your character can make an attack on the enemy in reaction. | Fighter, Barbarian – any melee-heavy character |
| Shield Master | Your character wields a shield and gets extra Dexterity saving throw points. If a spell attacks the character, and they successfully roll the saving throw, they get a reaction to use the shield to block the spell/damage | Long range damage dealers: Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Rogue |
| War Caster | Opportunity attack: Cast Shocking Grasp at enemy moving out of melee range | Wizard, Warlock, Druid, Cleric, Sorceror, Paladin, Bard |
Relevant extras
Illithid Powers
- Psionic Backlash
- Charm
- Psionic Dominance
- Cull the Weak
Counterspell is a spell that’s also incredibly useful. Negates a magic attack as a reaction if the spell is level 3 or below, and the caster is within 18m of your mage character. Wizard, Warlock, Sorceror (and Bard with Magical Secrets) can get this.
Potion of Speed and the spell Haste grant an extra action to anyone under their effects for a certain amount of time (about three turns). Lethargy happens afterwards, so use tactically.
You might find certain items (shields, necklackes, braces, weapons, etc) that grant special reactions or bonus actions as well. This guide won’t go into those.
Hope you found this useful. Happy gaming!