Optimising for Initiative in D&D 5e

Showing you how to get your initiative insanely high for characters in both the 2014 and 2024 versions of D&D 5e.

How does initiative work?

When a combat encounter is about to begin, the DM will ask all players and NPCs to make an initiative check. This is a type of ability check. Initiative is used to determine the order in which characters take their turn in combat. The higher you roll, the more likely you are to take your turn earlier in combat.

You calculate initiative in the following way:

1. Roll a d20
2. Add your dexterity modifier to the roll
3. Add any other modifiers to the roll

The DM will then create the turn order for characters. It starts with characters with the highest initiative count and works its way down until you reach the lowest initiative count.

If creatures have the same initiative count, then players determine order of the tie is between players and the DM determines order of the tie is between NPCs or a mix of NPCs and players.

In the 2024 rules, if creatures are surprised by combat, then they roll for initiative with disadvantage. This is different to the 2014 rules where surprised individuals do not get to act on their first turn of combat.

How to increase your initiative

Having a high initiative can be a big advantage. Imagine a wizard being able to hurl a fireball in the first round of combat, or a rogue letting off a sneak attack for some big, first round damage. The higher you can get this, the bigger your advantage is going to be.

Some character will even have features that rely on getting attacks in ahead of others to enhance their attacks. This is the case for assassins and Bugbears for example.

Below are a load of ways you can improve your initiative:

Increase your dexterity

The most obvious way to do this is to have a high dexterity. The higher your dexterity modifier, the better your initiative rolls will be. Typically, this peaks at +5, but beyond level 20 (at least in D&D 2024), levelling up will allow you to take ability scores beyond the usual 20 up to a maximum of 30.

This approach suits dexterity based classes best like rogues and monks, but many classes can build into dexterity, and even something like a barbarian, who relies on strength attacks, is reliant on dexterity for their unarmored defense.

Take the alert feat

In the 2014 version of this feat, you gain a flat +5 to your initiative rolls and can’t be surprised.

The 2024 version is a little different. It becomes an origin feat, allowing you to take it from 1st level. It also adds your proficiency bonus to your initiative rolls (meaning it will benefit you less for most of the game but slightly more at high levels). This means a bonus of +2 to +6.

It also allows you to swap initiative with another character. This means that even if you roll poorly, if someone else rolled well, you can still have a high initiative count. Conversely, it can pay to know someone with the alert feat if you have a tactic that means you taking a turn earlier in the combat for an important advantage.

Class features

Some class features can directly influence your initiative. These include the following:

• Barbarian – At level 7, feral instinct gives you advantage on initiative rolls. In the 2014 rules, this also allowed you to act normally on the first round of combat when surprised.
• Champion Fighter – In the 2014 rules, at level 7, remarkable athlete lets you add half your proficiency bonus to initiative rolls. This has now been changed in the 2024 rules, gaining this feature at level 3 instead, and granting advantage on initiative rolls.
• Assassin Rogue – At level 3, assassinate will give you advantage on initiative rolls.
• Swashbuckler Rogue – At level 3, rakish audacity lets you add your charisma modifier to your initiative roll.
• Bard (2014 only) – Jack of all trades for the 2014 bard lets you add half your proficiency bonus to initiative rolls (as long as you don’t already add your proficiency bonus to your initiative roll). The 2024 version of the bard specifies that jack of all trades only works for skill proficiencies and not for initiative rolls so if you’re using the new rules, this won’t work.
• Gloom Stalker Ranger – At level 3, dread ambusher lets you add your wisdom modifier to your initiative roll.
• Wild Magic Sorcerer – Tides of chaos at level 1 will give you advantage on ability checks (including initiative rolls) on a semi-regular basis.
• School of Divination/Diviner Wizard – Portent at level 2 (or 3 if you’re using the 2024 rules) will let you roll 2 d20 and change d20 tests (like initiative rolls) to one of the numbers you’ve pre-rolled.
• War Magic Wizard – At level 2, tactile wit allows you to add your intelligence modifier to your initiative roll.
• Twilight Cleric – At level 1, vigilant blessing lets you grant someone advantage on their next initiative roll.

Racial trait

A couple of races will also give you a boost to your initiative:

• Harengon – Gives you a bonus to your initiative through hare-trigger which adds your proficiency bonus to your initiative roll.
• Human – Choose alert as your extra feat. If you’re using the 2014 rules, you’ll need to take a variant Human.

Spells

Some spells can be used to enhance initiative rolls. These include:

• Guidance (cantrip) – The 2014 version of this spell will let you add 1d4 to an ability check (including an initiative roll). The 2024 version specifies that this only enhances a skill so doesn’t work for initiative.
• Enhance ability (2nd) – If you choose cat’s grace/dexterity for the type of ability checks this enhances, you’ll get advantage on dexterity ability checks, which includes initiative.
• Foresight (9th) – This will give you advantage on ability checks (including initiative rolls) along with a bunch of other benefits. The 2014 version also prevents you from being surprised.

Magic items

Several magic items will grant an enhancement to your initiative rolls. These include:

• Sentinel shield (uncommon) – Advantage on initiative rolls.
• Weapon of warning (uncommon) – Advantage on initiative rolls.
• Rod of alertness (very rare) – Advantage on initiative rolls.
• Scorpion armor (legendary) – +5 to initiative rolls.
• Sword of Kas (legendary) – +d10 to initiative rolls.

Surprise your enemies

OK, so this doesn’t actually increase your initiative, but it will help you take your turn before enemies. How this works depends on whether you’re working with the 2014 or 2024 rules:

• 2014 surprised – Surprised creatures don’t act during their first turn of combat.
• 2024 surprised – Surprised creatures have disadvantage on initiative checks.

If you do want to surprise enemies, having proficiency in the stealth skill and a high dexterity will help you out here. As will wearing armor that won’t impose disadvantage on stealth checks (light armor and some types of medium armor fit the bill). You can also use spells like invisibility and pass without trace to help you here too.

High initiative build – The swash-stalker

Based on the above, I’ve tried to piece together what a really high initiative build would look like. I’ve excluded things like magic items (which you can’t rely on to receive) and spells as they have a temporary effect and could in theory, affect any character if cast by another.

Below is the best build I could work out while still making it a balanced character (for instance, I’ve purposefully not paired a war magic wizard with a barbarian). Just be aware that this doesn’t necessarily mean you’re an optimal build in other areas, and you may simply want to go with aspects of this build for an actual character:

2014 high initiative build

• Take the Harengon race to add proficiency bonus to initiative rolls. That’s +2-6 depending on your level.
• Take at least 3 levels in rogue and take the swashbuckler subclass for a bonus to initiative rolls equal to your charisma modifier.
• Take at least 3 levels in ranger and take the gloom stalker subclass for a bonus to initiative rolls equal to your wisdom modifier.
• Take most of the rest of your levels in rogue for the extra ability score increase at level 10. You can also grab an extra level in ranger for another ability score increase, and at this point, might as well go to level 5 for extra attack and 2nd level spells.
• For standard array ability scores, I’d go with strength (8), dexterity (15), constitution (12), intelligence (10), wisdom (14) and charisma (13). Use your racial ability score increase to add 2 to dexterity and 1 to charisma.
• For point buy ability scores, I’d go with strength (8), dexterity (15), constitution (10), intelligence (8), wisdom (14) and charisma (15). Use your racial ability score increase to add 2 to dexterity and 1 to charisma.
• I’d then follow this progression in levels (your important ability scores here are dexterity, wisdom and charisma as well as your proficiency bonus for initiative bonuses so I’ve only included those below):

Level	Options	Proficiency bonus	Dexterity	Wisdom	Charisma	Initiative bonus
1	Rogue lv 1	+2	17	14	14/16	+5
2	Rogue lv 2	+2	17	14	14/16	+5
3	Rogue lv 3 (swashbuckler – rakish audacity)	+2	17	14	14/16	+7/+8
4	Rogue lv 4 (alert)	+2	17	14	14/16	+12/+13
5	Ranger lv 1	+3	17	14	14/16	+13/+14
6	Ranger lv 2	+3	17	14	14/16	+13/+14
7	Ranger lv 3 (gloom stalker – dread ambusher)	+3	17	14	14/16	+15/+16
8	Ranger lv 4 (+2 dexterity)	+3	19	14	14/16	+16/+17
9	Ranger lv 5 (extra attack)	+4	19	14	14/16	+17/+18
10	Rogue lv 5	+4	19	14	14/16	+17/+18
11	Rogue lv 6	+4	19	14	14/16	+17/+18
12	Rogue lv 7	+4	19	14	14/16	+17/+18
13	Rogue lv 8 (+1 dexterity, +1 wisdom)	+5	20	15	14/16	+19/+20
14	Rogue lv 9	+5	20	15	14/16	+19/+20
15	Rogue lv 10 (+2 wisdom)	+5	20	17	14/16	+20/+21
16	Rogue lv 11	+5	20	17	14/16	+20/+21
17	Rogue lv 12 (+2 wisdom)	+6	20	19	14/16	+22/+23
18	Rogue lv 13	+6	20	19	14/16	+22/+23
19	Rogue lv 14	+6	20	19	14/16	+22/+23
20	Rogue lv 15	+6	20	19	14/16	+22/+23

• This gets you a peak of +23 to your initiative scores meaning you should almost always take your turn first.
• You also don’t need to take ranger to level 5 and can instead leave it at level 4 and squeeze in another ability score increase, potentially taking your initiative bonus up to +24! Though I feel an extra attack is worth more than the extra ability score increase in this case.

2024 high initiative build

The 2024 build is almost exactly the same as you can take the same classes and subclasses with a few alterations.

• Take the criminal or guard backgrounds to grab the alert origin feat. You’ll want to use those ability score increases on dexterity or wisdom primarily. For this reason I’d favour the criminal background.
• However, be aware that alert and a Harengon’s initiative boost can’t work together. It’s one or the other. You could avoid the alert feat altogether and grab a different, or you could go for a Human and grab alert through there and choose whatever background you like. Either way, a 2024 build will lead to a smaller initiative bonus than the 2014 version, but you can still get this very high.

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That’s everything you need to know to get your initiative insanely high in D&D 5e. Do you have any other tricks for making your initiative really high? Let me know about them in the comments below.

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