Larger than life, learn all about the overhauled Goliath species for D&D 2024
What are Goliaths?
Goliaths are the relatively diminutive cousins of giant-kin, though at 7-8ft tall, are hardly slouches in the size department. Like their giant cousins, Goliaths are big, strong and fiercely independent.
In previous editions of D&D, Goliaths were based on their stone giant kin, having a greater resilience and dwelling in high mountains and frigid climates. D&D 2024 broadens the types and lineages of Goliaths with some taking on the characteristics and traits of other giant-kin including:
- Cloud giants
- Fire giants
- Frost giants
- Hill giants
- Stone giants
- Storm giants
Because of this, there is a lot of variation in the appearance and traits of different Goliaths. Some will have fiery orange hair, others will have stone-like skin and so on. On top of this, they gain traits related to the capabilities of their ancestors including things like the ability to resist damage, to enhance attacks, to knock prone and to teleport.
With the big changes to how Goliaths work in D&D 2024, I’ve put together this guide to help you understand what’s changing, how the species works and how to optimise for a Goliath.
Is a Goliath the right species for me?
Choose a Goliath if you like…
- A big, strong species
- Being faster than everyone else
- Having customisable traits
- Doing more damage, taking more damage, being able to teleport or any of the other giant traits you can receive
A Goliath might not be for you if…
- You prefer to be more discreet
- Have no need for speed
- Don’t need strength much
- Are looking for a species with innate spellcasting
What’s changed for Goliaths?
Goliaths get some of the biggest changes of any species with a stronger link to their giant lineage. This means that instead of having traits entirely linked to their stone giant lineage, they now have a choice of traits based on the different giant types they might be descended from.
On top of this, they gain an extra 5ft of movement speed and can turn giant to increase their movement speed and strength checks more. They do, however, lose their resistance to cold damage and their athletics proficiency.
All in all, these feel like solid changes that increase the flexibility of the species.
Goliath 2024 traits
| Creature Type | Humanoid |
| Size | Medium |
| Speed | 35ft |
| Traits | Giant ancestry, large form, powerful build |
| Resistances | None |
| Proficiencies | None |
| Darkvision | No |
| Innate spellcasting | No |
| Book found in | Player’s Handbook 2024 |
Giant ancestry: Choose an ability related to your giant ancestry that you can use a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus each long rest:
- Cloud’s jaunt (Cloud giant): You can teleport 30ft as a bonus action.
- Fire’s burn (Fire giant): You can add 1d10 fire damage to an attack.
- Frost’s chill (Frost giant): Deal 1d6 cold damage and reduce your target’s speed by 10ft for a turn.
- Hill’s tumble (Hill giant): Knock an enemy prone.
- Stone’s endurance (Stone giant): Use your reaction to reduce damage taken by 1d12.
- Storm’s thunder (Storm giant): Deal 1d8 thunder damage as a reaction when an enemy damages you.
Large form: Once per long rest, use a bonus action to become large. This increases your movement speed by 10ft and gives you advantage on strength checks.
Powerful build: Advantage on saving throws to end the grappled condition and count as one size larger for determining carrying capacity.
Where are the ability score increases?
You may have noticed that there are no ability score increases associated with your species any more. This is because these increases are now linked to your background. This gives you more flexibility to play the species you want and optimise more easily for a broader range of classes.
Check out our guide to backgrounds in D&D 2024 to find out more.
Tactics
Because of a Goliath’s giant ancestry trait, they can be very versatile. No longer are they pigeon-holed into being tanks, limited by stone’s endurance (even though that is an excellent trait).
Small giants: You can choose a giant ancestry option, but knowing what to choose will much depend on your class and play style. Below are some ideas on approach for each ancestry option:
- Cloud giant: Great for less durable characters. It’s essentially misty step, which many Spellcasters can get, but may not want to expend spell slots on. Grab this for Spellcasters and more vulnerable martials that may struggle to get out of sticky melee situations on their own (like a Valor bard or artificer).
- Fire giant: Great for anyone wanting to deal more damage with their attacks (seems this includes spell attacks as well).
- Frost giant: Also decent for enhancing attacks, but the decreased movement speed can be a bit situational in usefulness. I’d tend to favour a fire giant over this.
- Hill giant: Automatic prone is excellent and great for martials with multiple attacks allowing you to strike, then gain advantage on attacks. It will also slow your opponent down better than a frost giant and allies can benefit from this too. Probably a Goliath’s best option (if they’re a martial class), though other options are good too.
- Stone giant: Great for tanks that want to last longer in the fight or less durable martial characters like monks and artificers.
- Storm giant: It’s less powerful than a fire giant’s damage which requires no action economy. It’s still a decent option for frontline warriors that might get hit a lot, but hard to recommend against the better fire giant option.
Growing up: Goliaths are already the fastest race in D&D 2024, but once per rest can transform so they have a huge 45ft of movement speed!
This is great for frontline martials that need to get into combat quickly and close the gap between enemies. It also stacks with other features you might have. For instance, if you’re a ranger, you eventually get a climb and a swim speed. A Goliath can do these things faster. If you use a spell that allows you to fly, you may also be able to fly faster than anyone else. Barbarians are able to pounce half their movement when they enter a rage and can use the forceful blow brutal strike to move half their speed after hitting an enemy. All of these features combine nicely with large form.
Choosing a class for your Goliath
Below I’ve scored how well each class works with an Goliath:
Artificer⭐⭐⭐⭐
Barbarian ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Bard ⭐⭐⭐
Cleric ⭐⭐⭐
Druid ⭐⭐⭐
Fighter ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Monk ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Paladin ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ranger ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rogue ⭐⭐⭐
Sorcerer ⭐⭐
Warlock ⭐⭐⭐
Wizard ⭐⭐
*Star ratings scored out of 5
Best classes for a Goliath
With giant ancestry providing such versatile options, any class can work reasonably well with a Goliaths traits.
However, the best traits are geared towards combat with the hill giant being the stand out option. On top of this, greater movement speed benefits martials better as well as advantage on strength checks. As such, there are some classes that just work better for a Goliath. These are:
- Barbarian
- Fighter
- Paladin
All of these are strength based martials that will enjoy the greater ability to close down the gap between their enemies. They’ll also enjoy the increased damage output, greater endurance and tactical utility that different giant ancestry options provide.
Worst classes for a Goliath
Because of the versatility of the Goliath’s giant ancestry, there aren’t any really bad classes for a Goliath. However, I would argue that a heightened movement speed is not particularly important for backline spellcasters. Yes, a cloud giant’s teleportation is handy for spellcasters. However, some spellcasters have easy access to teleportation through misty step (and have the spell slots to back this up) anyway. Because of this, I think Sorcerers and wizards are probably your worst options for a Goliath, but still not a terrible option.
About Goliaths
Appearance
As you’d expect from their name, Goliaths are large in stature (even if by the games mechanics, they’re technically medium in size). Most Goliaths are about 7-8ft tall, their height being a gift from their distant relation to giants.
Goliaths in D&D 2014 seem to have been based on the stone giant ancestry, having a natural hardiness and resistance to the cold, living in frigid mountain peaks. The 2024 Goliath expands on this a lot, giving different Goliaths ancestry from different types of giants. This means that not all Goliaths look like they’ve been carved from the stone itself. Now there’s more variety. Below are some physical characteristics your Goliath might take on depending on their ancestry:
- Cloud giant: Tall and aloof with attractive and finely chiselled features.
- Fire giant: Stocky giants with fiery orange hair. They almost look like giant-sized dwarves (but often with less beard).
- Frost giant: Blue or white giants that often grow long beards (at least the males do).
- Hill giant: These giants tend to be fatter (but not taller) than most other giants with a propensity for throwing their weight around.
- Stone giant: Sturdy and almost rock like in both the hardness of their skin and the their physical features.
- Storm giant: The tallest of the giants with pale, light green skin and dark green, purple or blue hair.
Personality
In order to survive in the usually remote locations they settle in, Goliaths naturally learn to be hugely self-sufficient (there’s no space in the tribe for deadweight). This lends itself to intense competition and a desire to earn ones place in the tribe. Both of these are major driving forces behind a Goliath’s motives. They will gladly compete with anyone for a chance to prove themselves (much like true giants with the ordning, a sort of social hierarchy).
Goliaths even compete with themselves, constantly seeking to outdo their previous achievements. A Goliath that wins in a gladiator fight against a single opponent, will seek to win in a contest against 2 opponents. Similarly, if they defeat an adult dragon in combat, they may simply seek an ancient dragon to defeat instead.
As you might have guessed, it’s for this reason that many Goliaths don’t live to an old age.
If you do want to befriend a Goliath, demonstrating your skill is a sure way to do so. Co-dependency is seen as weakness while self-sufficiency is seen as strength. That’s not to say that being part of a tribe (or adventuring party) is weak, it’s simply pragmatic. But being reliant on those others to survive would be.
Roleplaying a Goliath
If you choose to play as a Goliath, consider some of the approaches below when roleplaying them:
- Competitive nature: Seek out competition wherever you can find it, and seek to be the best at it. Take glory in your successes and learnings from your failures.
- Striving to improve: Always seek to improve. If you defeat an enemy, seek out a bigger one to best. If you fail, learn from your failures and come back stronger.
- Despise weakness: Goliath tribes will shun those that are weak or contribute little and that cannot fend for themselves. Treat the weak with disdain and respect the highly accomplished. There’s little space in your heart for those that don’t earn it. Though perhaps you could learn to see strength in less obvious places…
- Fairness: Goliaths frown upon cheating and an unfair contest. Where is the glory in such a contest?
Other D&D 2024 playable species guides
With the launch of D&D 2024, we’re covering off how you can optimise all the updated species. You can check these out below.
