The 2024 edition of 5e has brought in some rather nice changes to some of the mundane equipment. I thought this would be a good opportunity to bring some attention to some of the nice changes made here as well as find ways to make some rather good use of the equipment in the book.

Nets

Nets allow you to replace one attack with throwing the net within 15ft of you, the enemy must then make a dex save vs 8 + your dex mod + your proficiency bonus. They automatically succeed this save if they are huge or larger.

This is a step up from the old nets, and works well with nick weapons, allowing us to replace one dagger throw with a decently high DC dex save vs restraint. To end the effect, the restrained creature or another creature within 5ft of is has to make a DC10 athletics check, or deal damage to and destroy the net. This is already rather good, but we can combine it with other bits of equipment to get even more value.

Chains

As a utilize action, you can attempt to wrap a chain around an unwilling creature that has the grappled, incapacitated, or restricted condition. if you succeed a DC 13 athletics check, they are bound and restrained. Escaping the chain requires the creature to make a DC18 acrobatics check as an action. Bursting the chain requires a DC20 athletics check.

Obviously this stacking with net is great, and because it’s a utilize action, our familiar can attempt it. We could also try to build around athletics checks, or just give our local barbarian some chains. Even better is giving summons chains, zombies with their higher strength likely work the best as compared to something like tiny servants.

Use chains once a net has landed, or once enemies fail to web. [downside being chains are melee range]

Rope

Simmilar to chains, needs the same Grappled, Incapacitated, or restrained to work, however, for just a DC10 sleight of hand check we can tie a rope around an enemies legs, restraining them.

Best for things that struggle to make a DC13 sleight of hand.

Rope can be burst with a DC20 athletics check or DC15 sleight of hand, both requiring an action

Manacles

has the same conditions to use as chain, but is a DC13 sleight of hand check, and is a DC20 sleight of hand to escape or a DC25 athletics check. However, it only applies disadvantage on attack rolls unless the manacles are attached “to a chain or hook that is secured in place”. Thankfully, we can keep a chain attached and simply use a spike to attach that chain to the floor as a utilize action.
[Manacles are also melee range]

Hunting Trap and Caltrops

Stepping on either of these reduces a creatures speed to zero. Caltrops will do it once on their turn, a hunting trap offers a DC 13 save, but to escape it you have to use an action for a DC 15 athletics check.

Oil

The best equipment in this guide hands down.

“Oil can be used to ‘douse a creature’ replacing an attack much like net, you can throw an oil flask at one creature within 20ft. They must succeed on a dex save equal to 8 + your dex + your prof. or be coated in oil. If the target takes fire damage before the oil dries in one minute, they take an extra 5 damage from burning oil.”

Notice that oil doesn’t get used up except for once the minute is over, meaning every instance of fire damage deals a +5 damage. That’s already amazing for something like an evoker or flame tongue using martial character, but it gets a lot stronger

Oil, unlike spells, stacks with itself. This means we can continuously throw oil at a target and each and every instance of fire damage will deal +5 damage for each flask that hits. With just two flasks hitting a target, we can use scribes wizard to transmute magic missile into fire damage and deal more single-target nova than a hexvoker in 5e.

oil flasks only cost a single silver piece, so it’s remarkably easy to craft or buy a ton of them right off the bat. Assuming half of our oil flasks hit, with 2 casts of tiny servant at 4th level, we can stack +15 damage on every attack our entire party does, assuming they deal fire damage and we average 2 attacks per person and have a 4 person party, that’s a 120 DPR increase, and it continues to increase every round your servants are alive. This means that, for the price of some minions and some oil, we can outpace conjure minor elementals for damage without even using our concentration.

We could even use hirelings to throw oil instead, a hireling in the 5.5e DMG costs 2 silver per day, so we can recruit 10 for 2 gold and have a constant stream of flasks being thrown.

Even a martial forgoing one attack to land a flask, if they hit, is adding more damage overall than if they were using that attack on the enemy.

We can push our oil for even more work by using another feature of oil to light the ground on fire, causing enemies who enter or end their turn in the burning oil to take 5 fire damage, amplified by the number of oil flasks they’re coated in, additionally, we can use an alchemist fire (worth 50gp) to make them take fire damage at the start of their turn.

Tactics

Martials can throw a net plus an oil flask as their turn, with a chance to give advantage to all attack rolls and +5 to fire damage.

Skeletons or tiny servants with oil flasks can be used as a conc-less conjure minor elementals for fire. Assuming 50% success rates on their single target, every 4 oil throwing minions is equal to a cast of CME, with it upcasting a spell level every round they live. With tiny servant and animate dead being easy to rest-cast, this makes oil one of the most effective, efficient, cheapest, and concless methods of having a high DPR.

Additionally, using light weapons, we can replace more than one attack, meaning we can replace one attack with oil and another with a net for our minions.

Magic missile with scribes wizard to make it into fire deals amazing damage versus highly oiled enemies, we could also use fire bolt. Evokers ability to deal half damage on a missed cantrip could also be used here to deal incredible DPR.

Zombies with chains can be used in tandem with net-throwers to nearly perma-restrain enemies.

Once we hit 3 or 4 flasks, it’s better for martials to use a torch as a melee weapon instead of a real weapon, but if they’re this desperate I’d suggest they just add more oil.

Conclusions

Nets + Chains + Manacles + Spikes = some of the best control in the game

one oil flask landing is a damage gain equal to the number of fire attacks in your party that land per round times 5. Assuming this is 4 at early levels, that’s 15 to 20 DPR. Given this only has to replace one attack, it is always beneficial for martials to throw oil flasks, from 1st to 20th level..

Most martials will have sub-oil DPR until level 6+

Scorching ray is a decent spell now

elemental weapon might be worth using for martials now, however, a lit torch can serve a similar purpose but loses the light property

Oil is stronger than conjure minor elementals