Actions in 5e: Every Combat Action, Bonus Action and Reaction (2024)
On your turn in D&D 5e you get one action, movement up to your Speed, one bonus action if a feature or spell gives you one, and one reaction per round. The 2024 rules list 12 actions: Attack, Dash, Disengage, Dodge, Help, Hide, Influence, Magic, Ready, Search, Study and Utilize.
What can you do on your turn in 5e?
Every turn has the same budget. Players who know it cold make combat move twice as fast, and if you keep turn order on an initiative tracker, the round flows without anyone asking "wait, can I still do that?"
- One action: pick from the list below, or use a feature that takes an action.
- Movement: up to your Speed, split however you like before, between and after your other choices.
- One bonus action: only if something you have says it takes a bonus action.
- One reaction per round: an instant response to a trigger, usable on anyone's turn.
- One free object interaction: draw a sword, open a door or pick up a dropped dagger during your move or action.
You can also talk freely: a few shouted words or a short sentence costs nothing.
What are all the actions in 5e (2024)?
| Action | What it does | 2014 name |
|---|---|---|
| Attack | Make one attack with a weapon or an Unarmed Strike (more with Extra Attack). You can equip or stow one weapon as part of each attack. | Attack |
| Dash | Gain extra movement equal to your Speed for this turn. | Dash |
| Disengage | Your movement doesn't provoke opportunity attacks for the rest of the turn. | Disengage |
| Dodge | Until your next turn, attacks against you have disadvantage if you can see the attacker, and you have advantage on Dexterity saves. | Dodge |
| Help | Give an ally advantage on their next check with a skill or tool you're proficient in, or distract an enemy within 5 feet so the next ally attack against it has advantage. In 2024 you can also use Help to stabilize a dying creature with a DC 10 Wisdom (Medicine) check. | Help |
| Hide | DC 15 Dexterity (Stealth) check while out of sight; success gives you the Invisible condition. | Hide |
| Influence | Try to change a creature's attitude with Deception, Intimidation, Performance, Persuasion or Animal Handling. | (new) |
| Magic | Cast a spell, use a magic item or use a magical feature that takes an action. | Cast a Spell |
| Ready | Pick a trigger and an action; when the trigger happens, you act with your reaction. | Ready |
| Search | Make a Wisdom check: Insight, Medicine, Perception or Survival. | Search |
| Study | Make an Intelligence check: Arcana, History, Investigation, Nature or Religion. | (new) |
| Utilize | Use a nonmagical object, such as pulling a lever or drinking from a waterskin. | Use an Object |
Grappling and shoving are not separate actions in 2024. They are options of an Unarmed Strike, so they replace one attack of the Attack action. See grappling in 5e for the procedure and the Grappled condition for what it does to the target.
Which actions are worth taking when you're not attacking?
Dodge
The most underrated action at the table. If a goblin needs an 11 to hit you, its chance drops from 50% to 25% with disadvantage. A fighter holding a doorway who Dodges can soak a whole round of attacks while the casters work.
Disengage vs Dash
Disengage is for stepping out of reach without eating opportunity attacks. Dash is for covering ground. If you need both, you usually need a bonus action version: Rogues get Cunning Action for exactly this reason, and 2024 Monks get a free bonus-action Dash from Step of the Wind and a free bonus-action Disengage from Patient Defense (spending a Focus Point lets Step of the Wind do both).
Help
Advantage is worth roughly +5 on a roll that needs a 10 or 11. When your character can't hurt the enemy, Help the one who can. Familiars are famous for this.
Hide
In 2024 Hide has a fixed DC 15. With a +5 Stealth you succeed 55% of the time. You also need to be heavily obscured or behind three-quarters or total cover, and out of the enemy's line of sight. Your Stealth total becomes the DC to find you. Attacking, casting a spell with a verbal component, or making noise louder than a whisper ends it.
How do bonus actions work in 5e?
A bonus action is not a general second action. You only get one if a feature, spell or item says "bonus action", and you can take only one per turn. If you have nothing that uses it, it simply goes unused. You choose when to take it during your turn, unless the feature ties it to a specific moment.
Common bonus actions:
- Spells: Healing Word, Misty Step, Spiritual Weapon, Hex, Hunter's Mark.
- Class features: Rogue Cunning Action (Dash, Disengage or Hide), Barbarian Rage, Fighter Second Wind, Monk Flurry of Blows.
- Two-weapon fighting: attacking with a Light weapon in each hand lets you make the extra attack with a bonus action. In 2024 the Nick mastery property moves that extra attack into the Attack action instead, freeing your bonus action.
The bonus action spell rule
In the 2024 rules you can expend only one spell slot per turn. Casting Healing Word with a slot and then Fireball on the same turn is not allowed, but Healing Word plus a cantrip like Sacred Flame is fine. In the 2014 rules the restriction was different: after a bonus action spell, your action could only cast a cantrip with a one-action casting time.
How do reactions work in 5e?
A reaction is an instant response to a trigger. You get one per round, and it comes back at the start of your turn. Use it on the orc's turn and you have none left for the dragon's turn later in the same round.
| Reaction | Trigger |
|---|---|
| Opportunity attack | A creature you can see leaves your reach |
| Readied action | The trigger you named when you took the Ready action |
| Shield spell | You are hit by an attack or targeted by Magic Missile |
| Hellish Rebuke | A creature you can see damages you |
| Counterspell | You see a creature within 60 feet casting a spell |
| Rogue Uncanny Dodge | An attacker you can see hits you |
Readying an action
Ready costs your action now and your reaction later. "When the ogre comes around the corner, I attack" works well. Readying a spell is weaker than it looks: you cast it on your turn and hold it with Concentration, so the slot is spent even if the trigger never happens, and you may drop a spell you were already concentrating on.
What are the most common action mistakes?
- Taking two bonus actions: one per turn, even if you have three features that use them.
- Treating Extra Attack as extra actions: Extra Attack only adds attacks to the Attack action. It doesn't let you cast Fire Bolt twice.
- Forgetting movement can be split: attack, step 10 feet, attack again with Extra Attack, then finish moving.
- Using the reaction off-turn and on-turn: once it's spent, it's gone until your next turn starts.
Quick reference: best action by situation
| Situation | Good choice |
|---|---|
| Surrounded and badly hurt | Disengage, or Dodge if there is nowhere to go |
| Ally needs to be across the room now | Dash |
| Your attacks keep missing a high-AC foe | Help the party's best hitter |
| Enemy caster behind a pillar | Ready an attack for when it steps out |
| Unknown monster | Study (Arcana, Nature or Religion) to recall weaknesses |
FAQ
How many actions do you get per turn in 5e?
One action per turn, plus your movement. You also get at most one bonus action on your turn, but only if a feature, spell or item lets you take one, and one reaction per round that can happen on anyone's turn.
Can you use a bonus action as an action in 5e?
No. A bonus action is not a weaker action you can spend freely; you can only use it for things that specifically say they take a bonus action. You cannot trade your action for a second bonus action either.
When do you get your reaction back in 5e?
At the start of your turn. If you use your reaction on an opportunity attack during the goblin's turn, you cannot use it again until your next turn begins.
What happened to Use an Object and Cast a Spell in 2024?
Use an Object became Utilize, for nonmagical objects. Cast a Spell became the Magic action, which also covers using a magic item or a magical class feature that takes an action.
Can you cast two leveled spells in one turn?
In the 2024 rules you can only expend one spell slot per turn. In the 2014 rules, if you cast a bonus action spell you could only cast a cantrip with a casting time of one action on the same turn.
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Contains content from the System Reference Document 5.1 and 5.2 by Wizards of the Coast LLC, used under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.