Mobile Feat in 5e: Is It Good? Mobile v Sentinel… Fight!

Last Updated on August 23, 2023

There are numerous feats available to take in the Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition universe. Some are definitely better than others, but each one provides different features for combat or roleplay. Mobile is one highly popular feat. But is it actually good?

(For a list of all the Feats in D&D 5e you can refer to our Feats List)

What Does Mobile Do?

The Mobile feat provides additional movement and allows the player to bypass the difficult terrain debuff and avoid opportunity attacks. Mobile is an undeniably powerful feat.

It was introduced in the Player’s Handbook and provides the following:

There’s so much about this feat that is powerful. The extra speed and the ability to negate both difficult terrain’s speed debuff and opportunity attacks make Mobile one of the best feats in the game easily. 

For instance, if a player with Mobile finds themselves in a dangerous situation with an enemy, they can make a melee attack and then slide out of range quickly. Another good use of the Mobile feat is if a Rogue might want to reposition around an enemy to deal Sneak Attack damage.

Let’s take a look at some other strong synergy choices for the Mobile feat.

Synergy: Best Classes

Monk

Monk has some of the best synergies with the Mobile feat in terms of damage dealers. It follows very strongly with the Monk’s dodge and weave martial arts focus in flavor.

It also provides the Monk with a little extra security in removing themselves from situations, allowing them to make an attack and then slip away into the night. Especially since Monks lack the tanking ability that 

Rogue

Like Monk, Rogue is among the best — if not the best — synergy with the Mobile feat. The extra movement and ability to prevent opportunity attacks allow the Rogue to nimbly move around the enemies to get consistent Sneak Attack damage.

Fighter

Fighters have less synergy than it might seem because they don’t get as much out of avoiding opportunity attacks as tanks. They’re pretty hardy and generally sport a pretty high armor class anyway, so they don’t need to take the feet to avoid the damage the way it might be for a Monk or a Rogue.

It is still beneficial, though.

Synergy: Best Races

Tabaxi

Feline Agility has excellent synergy with Mobile. It means that the Tabaxi can double their enhanced move speed and avoid opportunity attacks while they do so.

Goblin

Though not as strong as the Tabaxi’s Feline Agility, the Goblin’s Nimble Escape works well with Mobile. It allows the Goblin to avoid opportunity attacks by attacking and Disengage with enemies so that they can attack a different enemy in that same turn.

Variant Human

Variant Humans get a feat at the 1st level, which gives them the benefits of Mobile right away instead of waiting until the 4th level!

Aaracokra

Aaracokras get a bonus to flying speed from it, but there’s not much special for them.

Triton/Locathah

Same as Aaracokra but Swimming speed.

Mobile Builds

Tabaxi/Goblin Monk

The Tabaxi is a more robust choice because Feline Agility is so powerful on its own, and the Mobile feat only makes it that much better. You’ll want to put the most stat points you can into Dexterity; having an 18 in Dexterity means you’ll start with maxed out Dexterity.

Way of the Open Hand will give you a bit more damage, while Way of the Shadow will make you even more mobile than you were before.

With these races, it’s unnecessary to take the first ASI in Dexterity since you’ll ideally have 20 Dexterity at the 1st level. Subsequent ASIs can go into whatever stats you still need, probably Constitution.

Variant Human Monk

This is the same as Tabaxi, except your first ASI will go into DEX/CON since you get the feat at 1st level and only get 1 point from your Ability Score Increase (though it goes to all the stats instead of just one or two.)

Tabaxi/Goblin Rogue

Once again, we’ll want to put our highest stat into Dexterity. Ideally, putting an 18 in Dexterity will give you maxed out Dex at the 1st level.

Thief and Swashbuckler get the best damage outputs when combined with the Mobile feat, but Phantoms will be able to ghost through objects and people with ease when they use the Dash action.

Your first ASI will have to go to the feat, but subsequent ASIs should go to Constitution or another feat.

Variant Human Rogue

Once again, this is the same as the previous build, but your first ASI will go into DEX/CON.

Mobile vs. Sentinel

One of the most contested feats is the Mobile VS Sentinel argument.

Mobile works as above, and Sentinel works as below:

The most important feature to look at here is “Creatures provoke opportunity attacks from you, even if they take the Disengage action before leaving your reach,” which directly contradicts Mobile’s “When you make a melee attack against a creature, you don’t provoke opportunity attacks from that creature for the rest of the turn, whether you hit the attack or not.”

To delve into how we believe these features interact, we actually have to first look at Magic: the Gathering. You might say, “what the hell? why?” but hold that thought.

When we look at Magic’s errata and the way the rules are written, we can use these to determine the Wizards of the Coast modus operandi.

Magic’s rules are very focused on telling you what you can do. What does this mean? It means that if the rules don’t say you can do it, it’s assumed that you can’t.

We’ll take the Flying keyword as our example. From the Glossary of the Comprehensive Rules:

A keyword ability that restricts how a creature may be blocked. See rule 702.9, “Flying.”

The emphasis is ours. The keyword here is “may.” The rules for Flying further state:

A creature with flying can’t be blocked except by creatures with flying and/or reach. A creature with flying can block a creature with or without flying.

Once again, the emphasis is ours. A creature with flying “can’t be blocked except by…” or “can only be blocked by….” The rules then state that a creature with flying can block a creature with or without flying. In other words, the rules go out of their way to ensure players know what they can do.

So why did I go through the purpose of explaining this? Let’s extrapolate this concept to Mobile and Sentinel.

Creatures provoke opportunity attacks from you even if they take the Disengage action before leaving your reach.

As always, the emphasis is ours. The rules specifically state that Sentinel counters the Disengage action. However, Mobile’s wording is:

When you make a melee attack against a creature, you don’t provoke opportunity attacks from that creature for the rest of the turn, whether you hit or not.

In other words, Mobile says “cannot be hit with opportunity attacks,” and Sentinel does not say “even if the target were immune to opportunity attacks.” It simply counters the “Disengage” action if it is taken. Therefore, a Mobile character who attacks a Sentinel will not provoke opportunity attacks from that Sentinel, no matter what.

Further, Sentinel’s third feature…

When a creature within 5 feet of you makes an attack against a target other than you (and that target doesn’t have this feat), you can use your reaction to make a melee weapon attack against the attacking creature.

…is not an Attack of Opportunity. So this will still happen even to a Mobile character.

To illustrate the concepts applied: Derek the Goblin Rogue has the Mobile feat, but Bob the Human Cleric has the Sentinel feat and is standing next to David the Elf Wizard. Derek approaches Bob and attacks him, then moves away. Sentinel does not trigger because Derek has Mobile.

If Derek approaches Bob and attacks him but uses his bonus action to attack David, Bob can attack Derek because Mobile doesn’t block that feature.

Due to Wizards’ errata being focused on telling you what you can do rather than what you can’t, Mobile doesn’t say that a Mobile creature will dodge all weapon attacks, only that they are immune to attacks of opportunity. Since Sentinel’s third feature is not an attack of opportunity, it isn’t blocked.

Mobile’s Effect On Non-Walking Speeds

Mobile’s effect on speed has the same wording as the Monk’s Unarmored Movement, which, as Jeremy Crawford clarified on Twitter, was intended to encompass all of a character’s speeds. So this increases the characters flying, climbing, and swimming speeds by 10 feet.

If you’re looking for other Feats, try these two:

Metamagic Adept Feat 5e

Moderately Armored Feat 5e

Frequently Asked Questions About Mobile

Do Monks NEED the Mobile Feat?

No! Of course, no one should ever be compelled to take anything they don’t want to, but Tavern Brawler is actually a stronger feat for Monks since it allows them to grapple as a bonus action on a strike.

Does Sentinel Cancel Mobile?

No! Sentinel does not cancel out Mobile. Mobile characters that attack and then flee from a Sentinel will get away without an opportunity attack.

What Class Is Mobile Best On?

Rogue! Assuming they’ve hit their ability score benchmarks, the Monk will get better use of things like Tavern Brawler or Skilled.

How Do I Counter Mobile as a DM?

Range! Mobile affects very little when used in long-range, and ranged and casting-focused characters won’t need those opportunity attacks to blast Mobile characters to bits!