Usually, most PCs rely solely on their Dexterity ability score modifier for their initiative; however, there are ways to get bonuses to initiative. How high can this bonus get?

For example, there's the Alert feat (PHB, pg. 165):

Always on the lookout for danger, you gain the following benefits:

• You gain a +5 bonus to initiative.

The Dread Ambusher class feature of the ranger Gloom Stalker archetype (XGtE, pg. 42):

At 3rd level, you master the art of the ambush. You can give yourself a bonus to your initiative rolls equal to your Wisdom modifier.

And the Tactical Wit class feature of the wizard War Mage archetype (XGtE, pg. 60):

Starting at 2nd level, your keen ability to assess tactical situations allows you to act quickly in battle. You can give yourself a bonus to your initiative rolls equal to your Intelligence modifier.

So, a level 6 character who was a Ranger 4/Wizard 2 who took the Alert feat at level 4 would have an initiative bonus of 5 + DEX + WIS + INT.

So, if my Ranger 4/Wizard 2 example above made it all the way up to level 20 (Ranger 18/Wizard 2) and used all their ASIs to max out DEX, INT and WIS, they would then have an initiative bonus of 20.

What character build (up to level 20 if necessary) gives the maximum initiative bonus?

Or, is the one I have outlined here the highest you can get?

For the purposes of this, let's assume the PC is a human (+1 to all ability scores) whose player was lucky enough to roll all 17s during character creation; hence the character has +4 in every stat (for convenience). Anything RAW is allowed; multiclassing, feats, magic items, etc, but nothing from Unearthed Arcana. No temporary effects. Things that grant advantage or half-proficiency count, but nothing temporary.

I'm going to disregard any DM sanity here, and assume anything and everything published is on the table...

Attributes - +10

• +10 from any attribute, because there are shenanigans that will allow you to get them to 30 involving combinations of attribute-increasing tome/manuals, Deck of Many Things Star cards, etc.


• Base bonus is therefore +10 from Dexterity.

Class - +33, +43 total

The starting 18s across the board allow for unlimited multi-classing, so we won't have any problems getting the build off the ground before we go hunting for shenanigans. You'll probably want to start with Fighter for the Heavy Armor Proficiency, because there's a solid bonus available only on a suit of Plate.

• +10 from War Wizard 2 via Tactical Wit applying Intelligence.


• +10 from Gloom Stalker Ranger 3 via Dread Ambusher applying Wisdom.


• +10 from Swashbuckler Rogue 3 via Rakish Audacity appling Charisma.


• +3 (at L20) Champion Fighter¹ 7 from Remarkable Athlete, because Initiative is a Dexterity check.² We could use (Any) Bard 2 for Jack of All Trades, depending on what magic item we pick below, but we want that Heavy Armor profiency, so Fighter is the best choice.

Feats - +5, +48 total

At some point, one of the classes needs to be taken to L4 to earn an ASI for:

• +5 from Alert.

Equipment - +8 minimum, possibly infinite.

Right off the bat we can get +5 from Scorpion Armor¹. It might be better to be a Yuan-Ti, because Scorpion Armor tries to kill the wearer via poison damage each time they take it off or put it on.

A Stone of Good Luck gives another +1 to all ability checks, while the Ioun Stone of Mastery increases the character's proficiency bonus by 1, which benefits Remarkable Athlete. We can use one or the other, because we've got an attunement slot limit.

While we're talking items, you'll want something like a Sentinel Shield to grant advantage on initiative - the Weapon of Warning or Rod of Alertness are out because we are using our last attunement slot to embrace absurdity: add another +1d10 from the Sword of Kas, a sentient evil artifact sword.

Now, here's where it gets tricky... The DMG has minor magical properties that can grant an initiative bonus:

Guardian. The item whispers warnings to its bearer, granting a +2 bonus to initiative if the bearer isn’t incapacitated.

Let's say our particular Ioun Stone or Stone of Good Luck has it. Beyond that, it is ultimately up to the DM if other items with these properties show up.

The existence of this property means there is no theoretical ceiling - it doesn't have to be on attunement-required items. I know of at least two that exist in Adventures League play - a hand crossbow and a shield - and there may be more. There is the question of stacking effects, too. Is the Guardian property on two items the "same source"? That's up to the DM to decide.

Grand Total - +56+1d10... or more.

If we restrict the stats to more "normal" ranges, say 20s (for +5), it only drops to +36. No matter how you slice it, if you deliberately build a character with the express intent to "go first every time", you can overwhelm the variable d20 with static bonuses. Of course, the character may not have anything worth doing when they go first, and after the first round it doesn't really matter all that much.

¹_{If half-proficiency is acquired via Bard, there's room for Barbarian 7 for built-in advantage on Initiative from Feral Instinct, but you either wouldn't have Heavy Armor Proficiency to wear the Scorpion Plate, or you'd have to burn a feat for it.}

²_{Both abilities here specify "that doesn’t already use your proficiency bonus". If you interpret using half the bonus doesn't count as "already us[ing] your proficiency bonus", then you could have both for another +3.}

The maximum permanent initiative bonus is +56 +1d10

The Cast

Cindy is a level 17 Human {ASs: 18,18,18,18,18,18} with these classes:

• Fighter 7¹ ------- [for Alert feat and Remarkable Athlete]


• Ranger 3 ------- [for Dread Ambusher]


• Rogue 3 -------- [for Rakish Audacity]


• Wizard 2 ------- [for the wizard spell list and Tactical Wit]


• Any 2 ----------- [for +6 proficiency bonus] (not needed if using Luckstone over Ioun Stone)

Sven is a friendly Gynosphinx.

¹_{We use Fighter 7 instead of Bard 2 for Jack of all Trades to have the option to use the Ioun Stone of Mastery as Remarkable Athlete rounds up while Jack of all Trades rounds down. If you are using Luckstone, you can go Bard 2 instead and just replace Any 2 with Any 7 (as long as you pick up the Alert feat from somewhere)}

The Gear

• A Tome of Understanding


• A Tome of Clear Thought


• A Tome of Leadership and Influence


• A Manual of Quickness of Action


• A suit of Scorpion Armor


• The Sword of Kas


• An Ioun Stone of Mastery or a Luckstone (with the Guardian minor property)

The Reading

Each of the Tomes and Manuals are used to increase your Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma to godlike levels. However, they only increase your ability scores in increments of +2 and then...

The manual ... loses its magic, but regains it in a century.

The best way to wait out a century is with the help of Sphinx lair actions, so Cindy simply asks Sven for help. Then Sven, after you spend a month reading each of the books, alters...

the flow of time within the lair ... such that everything within moves up to 10 years forward or backward (sphinx’s choice).

After doing this ten times, the books regain their magic and you can go back 100 years to read again. Do this until the relevant ability scores are at 30 (for a +10 ability modifier). Then just protect the lair for a century with Sven to make sure the books don't get stolen during their "incubation".

The Calculation

Below is the final calculation for the Initiative bonus:

• Base: +10 [Total so far]

When combat starts, every participant makes a Dexterity check to determine their place in the initiative order.

• Dread Ambusher: +10 [+20]

You can give yourself a bonus to your initiative rolls equal to your Wisdom modifier.

• Rakish Audacity: +10 [+30]

You can give yourself a bonus to your initiative rolls equal to your Charisma modifier.

• Tactical Wit: +10 [+40]

You can give yourself a bonus to your initiative rolls equal to your Intelligence modifier.

• Remarkable Athlete: +3 [+43]

you can add half your proficiency bonus (round up) to any ... Dexterity ... check you make that doesn’t already use your proficiency bonus.

• Alert: +5 [+48]

You gain a +5 bonus to initiative

• Scorpion Armor: +5 [+53]

+5 bonus to initiative as long as you aren't incapacitated

• The Sword of Kas: +1d10 [+53 +1d10]

you add a d10 to your initiative at the start of every combat

• Luckstone

you gain a +1 bonus to ability checks

or Ioun Stone of Mastery: +1 [+54 +1d10]

Your proficiency bonus increases by 1

The Ioun Stone works by improving the bonus granted by Remarkable Athlete to +4

• Guardian: +2 [+56 + 1d10]

+2 bonus to initiative if the bearer isn’t incapacitated.

And there we have it. Cindy is the fastest gun in the west.

Advantage?

If using the Bard 2/Luckstone build, your Any 7 could be in Barbarian to get Feral Instinct:

you have advantage on initiative rolls.

Otherwise, you will need to pick up a Sentinel Shield for the same effect.

Levels:

• Rogue 4 (Swashbuckler +CHA)


• Bard 4 (Jack of All Trades +1/2 proficiency)


• Ranger 4 (Gloom Stalker +WIS)


• Wizard 2 (War Mage +INT)


• Fighter 6 (ASIs)

5 ASIs (1 rogue, 1 bard, 1 ranger, 2 fighter)
- +2 to 4 stats
- Feat (Alert)

STR 18
DEX 20
CON 18
INT 20
WIS 20
CHA 20

• Base +5


• Alert +5


• Swashbuckler Rakish Audacity +5


• Gloom Stalker Dread Ambusher +5


• War Mage Tactical Wit +5


• Bard Jack of All Trades +3

Total Initiative Modifier +28