Knocking enemies around the battlefield has never been so easy!
Pushing is quite a basic mechanic in D&D 5e that’s been made more available in the 5.5e rules. This is especially the case because of weapon mastery, allowing you to push in conjunction with an attack.
There’s a load of utility that comes from pushing. In fact, I think push is quite an under-rated mechanic. In this article, I’ll explain how push works, why you might want to be using it and builds you can use to expand your push distance.
How does push work?
Pushing is simple. If you do something that can push a creature, that act will push the creature a distance described by the feature, action or spell.
There may be a saving throw required and there may also be limitations on the size of creature you can push. All of this will be described in the individual feature you’re using.
You can also stack sources of push to increase the push distance a single attack or action makes. For example, using push weapon mastery and the crusher feat together will combine the push distance of a single attack rather than being limited to one or the other.
It’s worth being aware that being pushed is a form of forced movement so won’t provoke attacks of opportunity.
Why is pushing useful in D&D?
There are a bunch of reasons you might want to push creatures. In fact, different builds might want push for different reasons:
- Hit and run tactics: Hit and run specialists like rogues and monks might want to attack and then move away from a creature without invoking an opportunity attack. By pushing an enemy away when making an attack, you’re now free to move away without getting hit by an opportunity attack (and without using an action/bonus action to disengage).
- Escape: Similarly, less robust classes like sorcerers and wizards may want a push option for when creatures do get into melee range, allowing them to push away then move out of melee range themselves. Again, this prevents attacks of opportunity.
- Fall damage: Many battlefields are not just flat plains, many have verticality like cliff edges, bridges, tall buildings and city walls. Pushing an enemy off of one of these could be deadly when you add in fall damage. Even if it’s not, they may take a while to get back into the action.
- Keeping distance from spellcasters: You can use push to keep enemies funnelled away from less resilient party members, maintaining distance between enemies and spellcasters.
- Push into spell radius: Some spells have AoE and by pushing creatures, you can ensure they’re moved into the places you want them, like into a nice crowd for the wizard to offload a fireball the next turn or a maintained spell like cloudkill.
Sources of push
I’ve not found anywhere so far that lists out all the sources of push, so I’ve made my own list so you know what options are available for your character. This probably won’t be exhaustive, and character options are always being added, but these are the options I can find/remember:
Universal options
- Shove action: 5ft
- Push weapon mastery: 10ft
Class features
Subclass features
- Battle master fighter – Pushing attack maneuver option: 15ft
- Psi warrior fighter – Telekinetic thrust: 10ft
- Open hand monk – Open hand technique: 15ft
Feats
- Charger feat: 10ft
- Crusher feat: 5ft
- Shield master feat: 5ft
- Tavern brawler feat: 5ft
- Telekinetic feat: 5ft
- Weapon master feat (by taking a weapon that uses push mastery): 10ft
Spells
- Gust (cantrip): 5ft
- Thunderwave (Lv1): 10ft
- Gust of wind (Lv2): 15ft
- Bigby’s hand (Lv5): 5 + (5 x spellcasting ability modifier)
- Telekinesis (Lv5): 30ft
Push builds
If you’re wanting to maximise on push mechanics, I’ve outlined a few builds you can use.
Warlock repeller
This is more for a ranged warlock build. You’ll need to take repelling blast as an eldritch invocation. Make sure you apply this to eldritch blast because it allows up to 4 attacks rolls (depending on your level). The 10ft push is applied to each blast on a hit giving you up to 40ft of push power.
The handy thing about this build is you can spread that 40ft push however you like across multiple enemies.
Barbarian smasher
Barbarians get weapon mastery at level 1 so pick a push weapon (like a warhammer) for your weapon mastery. Once you hit level 5, you can use this on 2 attacks giving you 20ft of pushing per turn.
Once you reach level 9, you can then use brutal strikes for another 15ft of pushing per hit for a potential of 25ft push per attack (or 50ft altogether).
You can take this even further by taking the crusher feat which adds another 5ft push to one attack per round for a whopping 55ft potential push per turn!
Tactical push fighter
Fighters can work really well for pushing too because of all their extra attacks. Push mastery will give them 10ft push per attack (you’ll get up to 4). Again, a warhammer works well here. However, with a fighter, at level 9, they can use push on any weapon they like so you might want to use it on a greatsword instead.
Add crusher for another 5ft once per turn. If you take a psi warrior, from level 7, you can make one of those attacks push an additional 10ft too. This gives a potential of 55ft pushing per turn. Be aware though that this is only for a level 20 fighter. It has a high ceiling, but a barbarian can manage 55ft of pushing per turn from level 9 which is much more achievable for most players.
Push and run monk
Monks usually want to be using hit and run tactics. They can disengage with their bonus action, but it prevents them from using flurry of blows. For this build, we can integrate push mechanics into their attacks so they can hit and run and have even more distance from enemies while still making loads of attacks. Or they can just shove a bunch of enemies off buildings.
To start with, you’ll want to take tavern brawler for a 5ft push once per turn (and enhanced unarmed strikes). You’ll then want to be a warrior of the open hand, allowing your flurry of blows attacks to push 15ft each (that’s 2-3 times per turn). That’s up to 50ft pushing at level 10 or 35ft before then.
You could also take the weapon master feat and take the push mastery through greatclub (which is surprisingly, the only monk weapon with the push mastery). This will give you 10ft push on each of your actions attacks but not your flurry of blows. This adds an extra 20ft pushing for up to 70ft pushing per turn.
Is it worth building for push?
Yes. Push mechanics are really easy to add to your character and don’t require complicated builds. Chances are, you may already have access to some form of push. They can also be really effective, especially with a bit of planning and teamwork.
