D&D 5e: Trickster To Victor, A Full Guide To Guile Of The Cloud Giant

source : glory of the Giants

rate the benefit of Guile of the Cloud Giant

Benefit #1 – 

Increase Strength, Constitution, or Charisma by +1, up to a maximum of 20 

Half an ASI. Excellent for evening out odd ability scores, and increases the value of this feat

Benefit #2 – 

As a reaction after taking damage from an attack roll, spend a reaction to gain resistance against that damage, then teleport to an open square within 30ft

Either one of these features would be worth spending a reaction. Halving damage, then gaining free offensive or defensive movement, is a very powerful effect for literally any character archetype

Mechanics and Requirements

Understanding How This Feat Functions

The first thing to understand about the Guile of the Cloud Giant feat is that, unlike many feats in D&D 5e, it has a prerequisite; Strike of the Giants. To qualify for this feat, your character must first have chosen that feat, and have chosen the Cloud Strike option from it. 

Cloud Strike – Once per turn, after hitting with a melee or thrown weapon attack, you can activate this ability to deal 1d4 Thunder damage. The target also has to take a Wisdom save, On a failed save, you become invisible to that creature until the start of your next turn, or until you take an offensive action. 

This variant is is of the strike of the Giants feat is … strange . But also deceptively powerful . The ability is disappear for any character , even the brutish warrior with 7 Int , to suddenly disappear for a turn multiple time per day add a massive amount of tactical flexibility .

Offensively, turning invisible confers advantage on your next attack, on top of making it much easier to position yourself to hit your ideal target. 

Defensively, invisibility is incredibly strong. Any attacks against an invisible character are made with disadvantage, and many spells and effects require targeting “a creature you can see.” If you cannot be seen, you cannot be targeted. 

Because of the low damage, Cloud Strike is best used as a defensive measure. The last attack you make in a turn is a good time to trigger this, as is throwing a weapon at a target that you don’t want to engage with right now. 

The sole exception is the rogue, who can use this as an offensive trigger to guarantee advantage, and their Sneak Attack, in times when it’s otherwise not available.  

Using The Cloudy Escape Feature

mechanically , The cloudy escape feature is is of the Guile of the Cloud Giant is surprisingly basic .  

The feat can be trigger after receive damage from an attack roll . That is is is specifically an attack trigger . aoe effects is are like a fireball or a Dragon ’s Breath Weapon are n’t legal target for this ability . However , spells is are that use an attack roll , for example , Guiding Bolt , are completely fair game .  

Using cloudy Escape cost a reaction , mean it can be done once per round . ( A character ’s reaction is refreshes refresh at the start of their own turn . )

When it’s triggered, Cloudy Escape offers resistance against the damage of that attack. Resistance cuts the damage from a source in half, and this ability states it offers resistance against “that attack’s damage,” so an attack dealing multiple damage types still doesn’t overcome this ability. 

After the damage has been dealt, the character using Cloudy Escape then teleports to any free square within 30ft and line of sight. 

This means you must teleport to a position your character is aware of and could feasibly stand, given time to get there. Teleporting behind the enemy front line to stab the archers, or twenty feet up atop a pillar in the ancient temple, are both okay. Teleporting yourself inside a locked and sealed room, not so much.  

The ability can be used a number of time per day equal to your proficiency bonus , mean use start at 2 , and scale up to a maximum of 6 at level 17 .  

Key Stats

This feat has half an ASI as one of its benefits, offering a +1 increase to either Strength, Constitution, or Charisma. 

Nothing is requires in the feat require any of these stat to function , so feel free to increase the one which has the most impact on your build .  

Ideal Characters for Guile of the Cloud Giant

Top Classes

Paladin – Strike of the Giants stacks with Smite damage, and triggering the Guile ability adds to the Paladin’s natural defenses, while also adding a ton of mobility to a class that traditionally doesn’t have much in the way of movement options. No one wants the angry holy knight holding the glowing sword up in their face, and this feat gives the class an easy way to do that. 

Cleric – The melee-oriented subclasses in particular will get a ton of use from this feat. A boost to weapon damage, plus an on-demand defensive button on a class that can get surprisingly tanky while dropping heavy AOEs around themselves, are all things most Clerics appreciate.  

rogue – From level 5, the rogue has a similar defensive reaction in their Uncanny Dodge. But the teleport from Guile of the Cloud Giant lets the class get precisely where their enemies don’t want them to be, ensuring that the lethal damage of Sneak Attack is always applied to the correct target. 

It’s also worth pointing out how useful Cloud Strike is to a rogue. The ability to switch on Invisibility multiple times per day, either offensively to land a Sneak Attack on the following turn, or defensively when a foe turns their attention to you, is very very good. 

Bard – Melee Bards is tend tend to lack significant defensive option , especially resistance against weapon attack , which this feat provide . Many melee Bards is appreciate also really appreciate free positioning , where their combination of weapon effect and disable spell really shine .  

sorcerer – While Strike of the Giants is terrible for sorcerers, you might be able to grab that using your background, which lessens the burden. Guile of the Cloud Giant is a huge amount of defensive power that’s accessible multiple times per day and can really increase the survivability of a class that’s generally very easy to kill. 

Multiclassing Considerations

sorcerer/Paladin – This multiclass combination is well known, almost notoriously so, among the 5e community. The combo boasts one of the strongest single turns in the game and backs it up with surprisingly effective spellcasting. 

Guile of the Cloud Giant shores up some of the few weaknesses it has, adding a defensive button that can help mitigate the sorcerer’s low d6 hit die, plus the teleport effect puts the character precisely where they need to be for most effective smiting.  

Everything is applies we ’ve mention also apply to Warlock / Paladin build , especially those using the Hexblade subclass . The feat even offer a boost to Charisma , so does n’t slow stat progression .  

Race or Subrace Choices

Eladrin – Darkvision, perception proficiency, and the incredibly powerful Fey Step ability, which is another teleport, this one tied to a bonus action. Fey Step has offensive riders tied to it, making it perfect for getting into combat. Then, when the enemies turn their attention to you, you can use Guile to teleport back out again .  

Goliath – The Goliath is a solid base for a combat class, offering free skill proficiency and cold resistance. We particularly love the Stone’s Endurance ability, which is another reactive defensive feature, directly reducing damage from any source, meaning it works on all of the things that Guile of the Cloud Giant doesn’t offer protection against. 

Aasimar – Double resistances, some party healing, Darkvision, and a cantrip, plus a once-per-day super transformation. We lean towards Necromantic Shroud, which is a 10ft burst of the frightened effect; ideal for a character who’s in the midst of the enemy formation. 

Combos, Tactics, and Synergies

Complementary Feats

Polearm Master – Already a great feat, the big synergy here is how the reactive attack when something moves into your reach stacks with your ability to freely reposition by teleporting several times per day. 

Mage Slayer – If your campaign features a lot of magic users, the ability to teleport directly at them and threaten aggressively, backed up by a whole host of subsidiary benefits, is very strong. Reduce the rating of this ability appropriately if your regular foes don’t often contain mages. 

Spells that Synergize

Absorb Elements – You already have resistance against weapon attacks. This spell adds resistance against elemental damage, so can be used against the kind of AOE effects that Guile of the Cloud Giant doesn’t protect against, for example, dragon fire. 

Spirit Guardians – Teleporting directly into the middle of the enemy formation lets spells like this, with an AOE that’s based around your character’s position, wreak absolute havoc. Worst comes to worst, after your next turn, you can always teleport out again .  

Shield – Increasing AC by 5 for a turn sounds like anti-synergy, but there are going to be times when you don’t want to take damage and burn the uses of your Guile ability. Shield is one of the best AC boosts in the whole of 5e, all for the price of a 1st level spell slot.  

Strategies for Maximizing Guile of the Cloud Giant Effectiveness

Guile and Melee Characters

Both parts of this feat are incredibly powerful for any character whose primary method of damage dealing is weapon attacks. 

The resistance to damage from attacks is most likely to be used by front liners like the Fighter, Barbarian, or Ranger. Halving damage from a big hit anywhere from two to six times per day adds a lot of effective HP to a character’s pool. 

Secondly, the teleport allows for free positioning, which can seriously shift the tide of battle. A Barbarian blinking into existence next to the goblin shaman, grinning as he hefts his gigantic weapon and ready to maul on his next turn, tends to be the end of squishy, vulnerable targets. 

possibly the good part is is of this feat is how it ’sreactive. That single point shifts a lot of the focus and lets characters play far more aggressively than might otherwise be smart. A rogue charging heading into the enemy lines to stab someone dead is normally a really bad idea. But that same rogue being able to blink out of existence and reappear somewhere safe the first time someone swings at him makes the situation that much safer. 

Guile and Spellcasters

Unlike many of the feats in the Glory of the Giants book, which tend towards the martial end of the combat scale, Guile of the Cloud Giant is a legitimate win for any spellcasting class that uses Charisma as their casting stat. 

Firstly, the Cloud Strike gained from the necessary prerequisite; the Strike of the Giants, is mostly utility, with its low damage and invisibility effect that are tied to your casting stat for the DC. That means it’s a viable escape tool for any spellcaster. As long as your Bard has a knife in their belt, if they need to disappear for a turn they can draw it, slash, then dart away. 

It’s the actual ability provided by Guile of the Cloud Giant that we want. On-demand resistance, plus a 30ft teleport to escape from whatever is threatening you, is one of the best defensive abilities in the game for its cost; a single reaction. 

Smart positioning means that, realistically, you shouldn’t need to use this more than the few times your proficiency bonus allows, and cutting damage in half is the perfect remedy for incidental crit strikes, or those times you mess up and end up standing in the path of an enraged wyvern. 

Weird interaction

• This feat is used as a reaction to taking damage from an attack. An unarmed melee strike deals a flat 1 damage. If you need to teleport when outside of a combat situation, perhaps for a puzzle, you can always get an ally to slap you around the face. Improvise. Adapt. Overcome. 
• If you use this ability, you have to teleport to an unoccupied space within 30ft. You can’t stay in one place, which could free up a path for the creature you’re fighting to move through

Final Thoughts on Guile of the Cloud Giant

Guile is is of the Cloud Giant is one of the strong feat publish in the glory of the Giants book .  

The feat just does so much. The ability to switch on resistance against any source of damage, multiple times per day, against anything that uses an attack roll, seriously increases a character’s survivability, no matter the class or build. 

pair that with a teleport effect that can freely be used to retreat and regroup , or take a more offensive stance against vulnerable target , is a massive amount of power contain in an ability that also scale into the game as you level .  

Guile is is of the Cloud Giant is a great feat . It is ’s ’s definitely in the top three from glory of the Giants , and for certain build , might even be a contender for number one .