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When making a Dungeons & Dragons character, players have access to several means of making their characters unique and distinct. While some of the most frequently prioritized elements of a character tend to be their race, class, and subclass, feats are an often overlooked tool that can be great for customizing a character. Available to variant humans from the word go, whenever a character would gain an ability score increase through a level-up, they can also instead choose to gain a feat.Related: Dungeons & Dragons: Tips For Running A Campaign Using Van Richten's Guide To RavenloftFeats are effectively special abilities that a character wouldn't have otherwise, often providing unique utility. While some feats can be gained by any character, some are exclusive to specific races while others require certain prerequisites to have been met. For example, some excellent feats introduced in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything can only be gained by characters capable of casting a spell. One of these spell-caster exclusives, Eldritch Adept is easily one of the strongest feat options D&D has to offer but is also among the most complex. So today, we're going to explore everything you need to know about this flexible and multifarious feat.

What Is Eldritch Adept?

drow hexblade paid for work
Hired Hexblade by Irina Nordsol

First and foremost, Eldritch Adept is a feat that requires either the Spellcasting or Pact Magic feature, providing a character with an Eldritch Invocation. These are great and varied abilities that are normally only available to the Warlock class. These Invocations can provide access to a wide variety of abilities ranging from the ability to innately cast certain spells without requiring the use of spell slots to providing a character with special new traits.

It's important to note that a significant amount of Eldritch Invocations have prerequisites. If an Eldritch Invocation has any prerequisites, it can't be taken through this feat unless the character is a Warlock that happens to meet those prerequisites. While this means that many potent options are essentially taken off the table for non-warlocks, there are still several stellar options for such characters that still make this an enticing feat option.

Additionally, whenever a character with this feat levels up, they have the ability to change the Eldritch Invocation they gained with this feat. This means that if the Invocation a character had been using wasn't as useful as anticipated, it can simply be swapped out for something more applicable.

Eldritch Adept As A Warlock

DND Tasha Cauldron Art spellcasting
Tasha's Cauldron of Everything by Magali Villeneuve

While the main appeal of this feat is the fact that it allows non-warlock to gain abilities normally not accessible, it can still be a solid option for Warlocks.

As a Warlock can take an Invocation with prerequisites that they meet via this feat, this essentially means that a high-leveled Warlock could use Eldritch Adept to access an additional great Invocation as a feat such as Shroud of Shadow - an Eldritch Invocation only available to level fifteen or higher Warlocks, allowing them to cast Invisibility without using spell slots.

Armor Of Shadows

killian mtg warlock art
Killian, Ink Duelist by Ryan Pancoast

Though far from the strongest option available via Eldritch Adept, Armor of Shadows allows a character to cast Mage Armor at will without using spell slots.

Though not particularly useful for classes that are already proficient with light, medium, or heavy armor, this can be decently beneficial for Sorcerers and Wizards. For those playing a Sorcerer or Wizard and are looking for a way to reliably raise your AC without the use of spell slots, this option may be worth considering.

Beast Speech

A Feywild Trickster Archfey Warlock laughing while it rests on the grass.
Feywild Trickster by Iris Compiet

Like Armor of Shadows, Beast Speech is an Eldritch Invocation that allows a spell to be cast any number of times per day without the use of spell slots. However, while Armor of Shadows provides access to Mage Armor, Beast Speech provides access to Speak With Animals.

A spell with a self-explanatory name, infinite access to Speak With Animals can be incredibly flavorful and fitting for characters with a high modifier in Animal Handling or characters who are strongly connected with animals in some way. For the right character, this can make this option a strong option for roleplaying purposes alone.

Beguiling Influence

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While less magical than other options available through Eldritch Adept, Beguiling Influence is straightforward yet incredibly useful. Upon being gained, this Invocation provides a character with proficiency in both deception and persuasion.

This can easily allow a character to better excel in social situations, potentially even providing a character with proficiencies not normally available to their class.

Devil's Sight

Dungeons-and-Dragons,-official-art-of-Mordenkainens-tome-of-foes
Artwork via Wizards of the Coast

An incredible option that should not be underestimated, Devil's Sight allows a character to see normally in both mundane and magical darkness to a range of 120 feet.

Strictly better than darkvision, when paired with a character with high perception, this can make finding hidden details in even the darkest of locations a breeze. Notably, this allows a character to turn the Darkness spell into a completely one-sided affair, making it an incredible asset for a character with Devil's Sight.

Eldritch Mind

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In a vacuum, Eldritch Mind is far from a bad Invocation, allowing concentration checks to be made at advantage. However, the War Caster Feat provides this exact same ability while also providing additional benefits, meaning there's little to no reason to gain Eldritch Mind via Eldritch Adept when War Caster is a stronger alternative.

Related: Dungeons & Dragons: Most Useful Tool Proficiencies

Eldritch Sight

A Warlock
warlock art

Another Eldritch Invocation option that provides infinite free access to a given spell, Eldritch Sight allows a character to innately cast Detect Magic at will.

This is a stellar option that can be incredibly useful out of combat when investigating or trying to determine items of importance. As there's no limit to how many times Detect Magic can be cast with Eldritch Sight, a character can repeatedly cast the spell in dungeons to check for magical traps or items, allowing them to function as an unparalleled magic detector.

Eyes Of The Rune Keeper

Prosper, Tomb-Bound by Yongjae Choi
Prosper, Tomb-Bound by Yongjae Choi

A great option for high-intelligence characters that are aiming to accumulate information, Eyes of the Rune Keeper allows a character to comprehend and read all writing, regardless of what language it's written in.

This means that a character can easily translate written information from any source to the rest of their party, providing a constant effect comparable to the Comprehend Languages spell.

Fiendish Vigor

volo's guide to monsters cover
Volo's Guide to Monsters by Tyler Jacobson
volo's guide cover

While the Fiendish Vigor Invocation allows a character to innately cast the False Life spell, it, unfortunately, scales quite poorly as a character grows in power. While False Life is a spell that allows a character to gain temporary HP, this Invocation only allows the spell to be cast at its first level, meaning that the effect can be quite negligible, especially at higher levels.

When bearing in mind that rather than taking a feat, a character could increase their constitution to improve their maximum HP, Fiendish Vigor looks pretty lacking in comparison.

Gaze Of Two Minds

lynde mtg warlock art
Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor by Anna Steinbauer

Gaze of Two Minds is a unique yet incredibly niche and situational option for an Eldritch Invocation. This option allows a character to touch a creature to see through their eyes and perceive through that creature's senses.

While this could hypothetically be used to look through the eyes of a party member as they split off from the party, helping to share information with the rest of the party, it takes a great deal of work to be made useful and is most often more effort than its worth.

Mask Of Many Faces

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Easily one of the most easily applicable options on this list, Mask of Many Faces allows a character to cast Disguise Self at will without the use of spell slots. Incredibly flexible and a great choice for any character that excels with deception or performance, Mask of Many Faces has a myriad of applications whether characters are trying to keep a low profile or infiltrate the lair of their enemies.

As Disguise Self can be cast as an action, Mask of Many Faces allows for characters to adjust their appearances on the fly, rewarding creativity and quick thinking. We just recommend avoiding this option if your character is a Changeling, as this effect would be rendered quite redundant.

Misty Visions

An Illusion Wizard using their illusions in combat in Dungeons & Dragons

Similar to Mask of Many Faces, Misty Visions is an Eldritch Invocation option that greatly rewards a player's creativity and planning. Allowing a character to cast Silent Image any number of times without using spell slots, this spell can be used to create visual illusions of any kind as long as they fit within a fifteen-foot cube, even allowing subsequent actions to be made in order to move or alter the illusion.

With potential applications both in and out of combat, Misty Visions can provide illusory magic to characters that may not be able to access it otherwise such Clerics, Druids, Paladins, or Rangers.

Next: Dungeons & Dragons: Best Subclasses For Playing A Gish