6 Best Feats For Wizard 5e [DnD]

The best Wizard feats in DnD 5e are those that complement their playstyle and base class features well. Wizards are naturally versatile, with the widest range of spells available to any class in 5e. They’re also squishy, with low hit point pools and vulnerability to having their concentration on a spell broken.

It’s also important to keep in mind that Intelligence is very important for a Wizard to max out to 20 as fast as possible since their spellcasting relies on it. That makes feats that provide +1 Intelligence much more attractive, as they slow your essential character progression down less than a feat that doesn’t.

With all these factors in mind, I’ve broken down the 6 best Wizard feats into two categories: 2 focused on improving their defensive capability, and 4 focused on improving their utility and versatility.

DnD 5e Best Wizard Feats (Defensive)

1) Resilient (Constitution)

+1 Constitution and proficiency in Constitution saving throws.

A great feat for protecting your concentration, not to mention all the other nasty spells and effects that force a Constitution saving throw. And if you’re sitting at an odd-numbered Constitution ability score currently, the +1 boost can increase your modifier, thereby increasing your hit point pool, your healing during a short rest when using hit dice, and your hit point scaling as you level up.

In most cases, Resilient (Constitution) wins out against War Caster as far as the best defensive feat for a Wizard overall, even though adding proficiency to concentration checks is less valuable than advantage at most levels and most DC values.

2) War Caster

Advantage on Constitution saving throws to maintain concentration
Can perform somatic components of spells while hands are full
Can cast a single-target spell in place of an opportunity attack

Another great Wizard feat for protecting your concentration spells, as well as a few other perks. Being able to cast a spell instead of make a melee attack against a fleeing foe makes you much more dangerous to move past, although I’ll point out that most intelligent enemies want to be next to the Wizard, so they’re probably not keen on running away in the first place.

And while getting to keep your hands free for somatic spells can be useful, but most Wizards don’t have their hands full anyway and have to have a free hand for their spellcasting focus regardless (which can be the same hand they use for somatic components).

This assessment changes if you’re a Bladesinging Wizard and using two-weapon fighting. And even if you do have a free hand as a Bladesinger, you’ll be making a lot more concentration checks than an ordinary Wizard, since you’ll always be a likely target for foes when you’re fighting in melee range.

War Caster is better than Resilient Constitution) at low levels (9th or lower) for the purpose of protecting concentration. That’s because advantage typically works out to a +4 to +5 bonus, and proficiency scales to +4 at 9th level.

DnD 5e Best Wizard Feats (Utility)

3) Telekinetic

+1 Intelligence
Learn Mage Hand, can cast it without verbal or somatic components, it’s invisible, and it has +30 feet of range
Can bonus action shove a creature within 30 feet, forcing a Strength saving throw that, if failed, pushes it 5 feet away or toward you; a creature can willingly fail this save

Everything about this feat is great for Wizards, but let’s start with bullet #3. Most Wizards don’t use their bonus action for much, so you can try shoving a creature every round of combat. This pairs remarkably well with persistent area of effect control or damage spells. Things like Spike Growth, Spirit Guardians, Moonbeam, and Web come to mind.

Not to mention that you can shove an ally who’s being grappled by an ally, thereby ending the grapple without any check required. Or that you can shove an ally out of reach of an enemy, thereby getting them to safety without requiring them to Disengage or suffer an opportunity attack.

Mage Hand is an excellent cantrip on its own, and this saves you the need to pick it up. Plus, the empowered elements of the spell you get from the Telekinetic feat make it even better for stealthy tasks, sleight-of-hand shenanigans in public view, and farther-reaching utility for snagging keys, opening doors, and so on.

A half-ASI (Ability Score Improvement) is also perfect if your character started at an odd Intelligence ability score. Or, if you started with an even Intelligence ability score, you can take two half-ASI feats to get yourself to 20 Intelligence.

Overall, Telekinetic is a very compelling feat for Wizards that adds even more versatility to an already versatile class.

4) Alert

Can’t be surprised
+5 initiative
Unseen attackers don’t get advantage against you

Going early in the initiative order is incredibly important in DnD 5e. Most combat encounters don’t take many rounds, and the ability to cast a high-impact control spell like Hypnotic Pattern or a big-damage AoE spell like Fireball before the enemy has a chance to reposition is a massive advantage. And since Wizards usually take Dexterity as a secondary or even tertiary ability score, your initiative isn’t that great on its own.

The fact that unseen attackers don’t attack you with advantage is also quite a nice perk, and not just for ambushes. Invisible foes are thwarted by this feat as well, which seriously reduces their likelihood of targeting you if they cop on to your superior defenses. You can even take advantage of this with the Fog Cloud or Darkness spells — since your enemy won’t have advantage to cancel out their disadvantege, they’ll have disadvantage on attack rolls against you, while you suffer no ill effects.

Being surprised doesn’t come up that often, but when it does, it can be a serious disadvantage for your party. Being able to do something during your party’s surprise round can be life-saving, especially if you go before the enemy and can lock them down before they get a chance to do anything.

4) Fey Touched

+1 Intelligence
Can cast the Misty Step spell once a day for free (and added to your spell list)
1st-level Divination or Enchantment spell once a day for free (and added to your spell list)

Misty Step is a great 2nd-level spell that allows you to teleport up to 30 feet for a bonus action. Getting this for free once a day AND added to your spell list does a lot for your survivability and mobility.

As for a 1st-level Divination or Enchantment spell, I suggest a spell not already on the Wizard spell list. Something like Dissonant Whispers is incredibly good with a melee-heavy party that will enjoy a bunch of opportunity attacks when you target an enemy within their reach. Even Bless can be a good pick-up, although the concentration will get in the way of many other tools you’ll probably want to use. Or throw down a Bane to lower enemy saving throws before using a big area of effect saving throw spell, like Hypnotic Pattern or Fireball.

Again, the half-ASI for Intelligence is a welcome boost to an already attractive feat.

5) Metamagic Adept

Learn two metamagic options (from the Sorcerer class)
+2 sorcerery points (to spend on the metamagic)

Metamagic can be incredibly helpful for your Wizard, regardless of your playstyle. If you wish you could stealthily cast manipulation spells in public, Subtle Spell is a great choice, removing the verbal and somatic components of a spell (also great for avoiding enemy Counterspell). And it only costs 1 sorcery point each time you use it.

Extended Spell is another 1-sorcery-point metamagic that doubles the duration of a spell. Great for getting Mage Armor up for 16 hours, allowing it to be active over multiple rests, saving you on spell slots.

Quickened Spell costs 2 sorcery points, but allows you to cast a spell as a bonus action, allowing you to cast a cantrip, Dodge, Dash, or Disengage on the same turn.

Twinned Spell would be attractive, but its cost is equal to the spell level you use it on, so you’ll never get to use it on anything higher than a 2nd-level spell. Still, this can be useful.

6) Shadow Touched

+1 Intelligence
Can cast the Invisibility spell once a day for free (and added to your spell list)
1st-level Illusion or Necromancy spell once a day for free (and added to your spell list)

One minute of invisibility to a creature you touch for up to 1 hour is a great perk to have for free once per day. It’s good for stealth and scouting missions, but also for starting off combat with attack advantage (it breaks after you attack or cast a spell, though).

Wizards already have access to most of the 1st-level Illusion or Necromancy spell, but getting one for free once per day is still a nice perk. Disguise Self is always handy, as is Silent Image. False Life is nice at early levels, providing a buffer of temporary hit points, but its relative value falls off as your hit point pool rises.

Once again, the half-ASI for Intelligence is a welcome boost to an already attractive feat.

Good Wizard Feats Runners-up

These feats are neat and can be fun on a Wizard, but I don’t think they’re “optimal.” That said, they’re worth considering if they suit your character’s backstory, role in the party, or you just think they’re nifty and would be cool in your campaign.