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The kings and queens of combat inDungeons & Dragonsare always those who hold mastery over action economy, and those who have their hands on the coveted Action Surge feat sit at the top of that list. It’s the diamond gem of the Fighter class - the Creme-de-la-Creme, so to speak. Few feats can compete with Action Surge’s raw usefulness.RELATED:Dungeons & Dragons: How To Build A College Of Lore BardWhether you’re just a Fighter or your average-joe sorcerer, Action Surge is beneficial to you. This feat is the gateway to many broken builds and humiliated bosses, and it’s the reason why so many popular multiclass builds dabble into the Fighter class. Even if you don’t want anything else from the Fighter, Action Surge is worth the two levels of investment.
What Is Action Surge?
A level-two feat from the Fighter main class, this feat allows you tomake one additional full Actionafter using your first full Action on the same turn. It can be used once per rest (short or long)until level 17 where you may use this feat twice per rest.
With an Action Surge, you can:
You cannot:
*This means thatevery attack you can make with Extra Attack(or related feats)through a standard Action can be done again.
Example: you’re a Fighter with two extra attacks. This means you normally get three attacks in a normal turn. If you use Action Surge, you can make them all again for a total of six attacks.
In-Game Applications
Fighters can use Action Surge to make all their standard attacks again - the bread-winning ability of the class. However, more than just Fighters can make use of this feat.
Although it requires multiclassing into two levels of Fighter,Sorcerers enjoy Action Surgeparticularly well. Action Surge allows spellcasters like Sorcerers tocast two leveled spellslike Thunderwave or Fireball in the same turn.
Additionally, Sorcerers get the chance tolearn “Quicken Spell.“This means they can cast a leveled spell with an Action, cast a cantrip with a Bonus Action, and Action Surge for another leveled spell for a total ofthree spells in one turn.
Paladin, much like Fighter,also gets an extra attackat level five. Although they don’t get as many as Fighter, this extra attack is also applicable with Action Surge. This means that alevel five Paladin can attack four times in one round.
This also means that you canpop Divine Smite on all of themfor a total offour Divine Smites(so long as you have the spell slots to spare). All this synergyimproves even further in its damage potential at level 11for a possibility ofas little as 5d8 radiant damageon top of your normal weapon damage with one Action Surged turn.
Other classes like Rangers might benefit from Action Surge too, like the Gloom Stalker Ranger, orany class that would enjoy having one action spent on spell-casting buffs and another on attacking.Thanks to the Fighter’s raw adaptability and how much most classes could benefit from Action Surge, you really can’t go wrong when debating on investment into this amazing feat.
