Look. We have all seen and heard the same thing. This is one of the worst subclasses in 5e. I am not here to sway your opinion, but suggest you give it a fair try before casting judgement. I thoroughly enjoyed playing a Way of the Four Elements Monk.

This subclass is such an enigma to me. All of its features are good, great even, and it’s easily the best patron in the PHB. However, it’s pretty clear to see that this is a subclass that was made at the beginning of 5e when you compare it to ones introduced later, especially the Undead and Genie.

The Fathomless is a patron that is often seen as campaign dependent, as it does have a few features that interact with bodies of water. However I do not share this opinion, as its most important and powerful features work regardless of your environment.

The Undead Warlock definitely feels like a redo of the woefully underpowered Undying Warlock from the Sword Coast Adventurers Guide, and it succeeds with flying colors. The subclass builds its playstyle and identity out of being able to inflict fear every turn just by hitting your opponent with an attack thanks to your Form of Dread ability.

The actual mechanics aren’t too bad either, with a very good healing ability right at level 1 that scales wonderfully and even some offensive upgrades for fire and radiant damage spells, which this subclass grants a host of. All this means our feat selection will focus on our support and defense, the former of which will be a big role for us to fill, and the latter is something we struggle with.

In my opinion, the Genie is the strongest subclass for a straight, level 20 Warlock. The Warlock has a few subclasses that might be better for specific multiclasses, but Genie is also good at multiclassing and has features that make you want to play it to high levels.

Druids only need a couple of feats to be optimal, which is great because it allows us to take more flavorful feats at higher levels. We’ll be looking for feats that improve our defenses and spellcasting.

With more ability score improvements than any other class by a country mile, the Fighter is quite privileged when it comes to feats. Fighters also normally only need to invest into Strength/Dexterity and Constitution, so they can definitely afford to take feats with these extra selections.

The Bard is in a really unique place in 5e. It’s arguably the best support caster with access to many of the best buffing and control spells, while having the skill monkey abilities of a Rogue. Bards may not be able to deal a ton of damage themselves, but they enable the rest of the party to perform at a much higher level when played right.

We really don’t have room for flavor feats here, especially at lower levels, and the power difference between a Barbarian who takes the right feats and one that doesn’t is staggering.

Always a fan favorite, the Paladin offers strong offense, decent utility, and one of the best defensive features in all of 5e. Yeah, they’re pretty cool, but they do have some flaws, namely their need for 3 different ability scores in order to function optimally.

Sneak Attack makes it look like a Rogue is doing a ton of damage to new players, but masks the fact that every other class in the game (besides Monks at higher levels) outpaces their DPR. All this to say, we need a ton of help from our feats.

We need to look for feats that fill holes that invocations cannot fill, which means Warlocks are not nearly as feat hungry as many other classes.

Arcane Trickster is probably the best Rogue subclass on account of its spellcasting alone. It’s really amazing what just a pinch of magic can do for a martial class.

There might not be a class more misunderstood than the Cleric. Far too often they are expected to be the healbots that many other RPGs present them as, but 5e is simply not built around a need for a healer.

Feats for Wizard aren’t going to massively increase our damage output or make our already amazing spells even better. Trust me, we don’t need help in those departments. Instead we should look for feats that fix the few issues with the class; most glaringly durability.

Bladesingers are an incredibly popular Wizard subclass, and for good reason. The image of a warrior mixing magic with swordplay is well represented in media and pop culture. The mechanics of the subclass seem to be aiming to fix the main issue of the Wizard: durability. How well does it perform at this task?

Sorcerer feats look pretty similar to feats for other full casters, with a couple of major exceptions. Mostly what we are looking for is more spells, defensive options, and utility.

Monks are also the most MAD (multi-ability score dependent) class in the game, needing Dexterity, Constitution and Wisdom, meaning taking a feat instead of an ability score improvement is a big ask. These feats need to radically change or improve an aspect of our character.

Artificer already gives a bunch of opportunities for customization thanks to their infusions, and your feat selection will be extraordinary dependent on your build. For this reason, I’ll try to give a few feats for each appropriate level, hoping that at least one fits the build you are looking for.