Belt of Giant Strength 5e: Every Belt, Its Strength Score and Rarity

A Belt of Giant Strength is a wondrous item that requires attunement and sets your Strength score to that of a true giant: 21 for a hill giant belt (rare), 23 for stone or frost (very rare), 25 for fire (very rare), 27 for cloud (legendary) and 29 for storm (legendary). It replaces your score rather than adding to it, so it does nothing if your Strength is already that high. The numbers are the same in the 2014 and 2024 rules. The verdict: the higher belts are a large upgrade for any Strength character, while a hill giant belt doesn't change the modifier of a fighter who already has Strength 20.

Table of Contents

• •Belt of Giant Strength Rules Text
• •How the Belt of Giant Strength Works
• •Belt of Hill Giant Strength
• •Belt of Stone Giant and Frost Giant Strength
• •Belt of Fire Giant Strength
• •Belt of Cloud Giant Strength
• •Belt of Storm Giant Strength
• •Belt of Giant Strength: 2014 vs 2024
• •Is the Belt of Giant Strength Worth It?
• •Belt of Giant Strength for DMs
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Belt of Giant Strength Rules Text

The 2014 SRD prints a general entry plus six belts (each 2014 card sits in its section below); the 2024 SRD prints one entry with a table.

Each score matches the giant's Strength in the SRD stat blocks of both editions: hill giant 21, stone and frost giants 23, fire giant 25, cloud giant 27, storm giant 29.

How the Belt of Giant Strength Works

It sets your score; it doesn't add to it

Your Strength becomes the belt's number while you wear it. A Strength 10 wizard and a Strength 18 fighter both have 25 with a fire giant belt: the wizard goes from +0 to +7, the fighter from +4 to +7.

If your Strength is already at or above the belt's score, nothing happens. The 2014 barbarian's level 20 feature raises Strength by 4 to a maximum of 24, and the 2024 version raises it to a maximum of 25. A barbarian at that cap gets nothing from a hill or stone/frost belt. A fire giant belt lifts a 2014 barbarian from 24 to 25, which is still a +7 modifier, and does nothing for a 2024 barbarian at 25. Only the cloud and storm belts raise their modifier.

The belt also ignores the normal maximum of 20.

What a high Strength actually changes

• •Attack and damage rolls with Strength-based weapons, including finesse weapons, since a finesse weapon lets you use Strength or Dexterity, whichever is higher.
• •Strength saving throws and Athletics checks.
• •Grapples and shoves. In 2024 the save DC is 8 + Strength modifier + Proficiency Bonus: a level 17 character (+6) with a storm giant belt forces a DC 23 save. In 2014 the same character, proficient in Athletics, rolls +15 in the contest.
• •Carrying capacity: Strength × 15 pounds for a Medium creature, and twice that to push, drag or lift. A storm giant belt carries 435 pounds and lifts 870.
• •Jumping. A running long jump covers feet equal to your Strength score (29 feet with the storm belt); a running high jump is 3 + Strength modifier feet (12 feet).
• •Heavy armor. Any belt clears Plate's Strength 15 requirement; you still need the armor proficiency.

The hit and damage math

Take a 2024 fighter with Strength 16 (+3) and Extra Attack, swinging a greatsword at a monster with AC 18, Proficiency Bonus +4:

• •Without the belt: +7 to hit, hits on 11+ (50 percent), 2d6 + 3 per hit.
• •With a fire giant belt: +11 to hit, hits on 7+ (70 percent), 2d6 + 7 per hit.

Expected damage per attack goes from 0.5 × 10 = 5 to 0.7 × 14 = 9.8, close to double, before counting critical hits. For that same fighter at Strength 20, the fire belt is +2 to hit and +2 damage: useful, not dramatic.

Combining it with other Strength items

The Gauntlets of Ogre Power set Strength to 19, and a Potion of Giant Strength sets it for 1 hour. Every one of these items has the same clause: it does nothing if your Strength already meets or beats its score. Gauntlets plus a hill belt give 21, and the gauntlets waste an attunement slot. A storm giant potion on top of a hill belt gives 29 for an hour; a hill giant potion does nothing.

The 2024 wording makes this cleaner: the belt checks your Strength "without the belt," so it never blocks itself and never blocks a higher potion.

Belt of Hill Giant Strength

Strength 21, rare, 4,000 GP in 2024. On a Strength 20 fighter it adds 1 point and no modifier (both are +5); on a Strength 10 cleric or Dexterity-focused ranger it is +5 to Strength attacks, saves and Athletics. Hill giants are CR 5, so a party that can beat one is about the right level for the belt.

Belt of Stone Giant and Frost Giant Strength

Strength 23, very rare, 40,000 GP in 2024. The 2014 text says the two look different but work the same; 2024 merges them into one row. They match the stone giant and frost giant, CR 7 and CR 8. For a fighter at 20, +6 is the first belt worth an attunement slot.

Belt of Fire Giant Strength

Strength 25, very rare, 40,000 GP in 2024. Same rarity as stone and frost, two more points of Strength. The fire giant is CR 9. A level 20 barbarian already at 25 (the 2024 cap) gains nothing from it.

Belt of Cloud Giant Strength

Strength 27, legendary, 200,000 GP in 2024. +8 to Strength attacks and damage. The cloud giant is CR 9, a low CR for a legendary item, so the giant you fight and the belt you take aren't level-matched.

Belt of Storm Giant Strength

Strength 29, legendary, 200,000 GP in 2024: +9 modifier, 435 pounds of carrying capacity, a 29-foot running long jump. A storm giant is CR 13. Raising your own Strength later, with an ability score increase or a Manual of Gainful Exercise, changes nothing while you wear this belt.

Belt of Giant Strength: 2014 vs 2024

Mechanically it is the same item. The 2024 clause compares against your Strength without the belt, so when another item or a potion also sets your score, the higher number applies. And 2024 adds prices: the storm belt is worth fifty times the hill belt.

Is the Belt of Giant Strength Worth It?

It depends on your current Strength more than anything else. Gain in Strength modifier, per belt:

A hill giant belt changes nothing for a Strength 20 character's modifier; for a Dexterity-based rogue, a high belt makes Strength the better stat for their finesse rapier.

Best on: barbarians, fighters and paladins who haven't maxed Strength yet, grapplers of any class, and any character who keeps failing Strength saves.

Compared with a weapon: on a Strength 18 character a stone or frost belt gives +2 to hit and damage, like a +2 weapon, but with every Strength weapon plus Athletics and Strength saves. A +2 weapon needs no attunement, though, so the two don't compete: wear both.

When it's a trap: low-rarity belts on characters already at 20, and any belt on a pure caster who never attacks. A wizard with Strength 25 still makes spell attacks with Intelligence. The carrying capacity and Strength saves are real but rarely worth one of three attunement slots.

Belt of Giant Strength for DMs

Picking the giant. A belt fits a giant's hoard. Choose the type by the party's level, not by flavor: a storm giant belt on a level 8 barbarian makes most Strength checks in your adventure trivial.

What it changes. Grapples and shoves get hard to resist: a 2024 grappler forcing DC 23 Strength or Dexterity saves can pin down creatures up to one size larger. Climbing, breaking doors and carrying treasure stop being obstacles.

Pricing. Under the SRD 5.2.1 values, rare is 4,000 GP, very rare 40,000 and legendary 200,000. The 2014 SRD gives no prices. The magic item rarity calculator helps if you're comparing it with other loot.

Hooks.

• •A hill giant wears a belt it can't use: its Strength is already 21. It keeps it because it's shiny, and it will trade it for something it values more, such as a cow.
• •A cloud giant's castle sits at the top of a beanstalk. Somebody in town planted something they shouldn't have.

Which belt went to which character is easy to lose between sessions. Loreify records the game and writes the recap, loot and all.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the Strength scores for each Belt of Giant Strength?

Hill giant 21, stone giant and frost giant 23, fire giant 25, cloud giant 27, storm giant 29. The scores and rarities are the same in the 2014 and 2024 SRDs.

Does a Belt of Giant Strength stack with Gauntlets of Ogre Power?

No. Both set your Strength to a fixed score, and each does nothing if your Strength already meets its number, so you get the higher score only. Wearing both wastes an attunement slot.

Does a Belt of Giant Strength require attunement?

Yes, every version requires attunement in both editions. There's no class restriction, so anyone can attune to one.

How much is a Belt of Giant Strength worth?

Under SRD 5.2.1 values: 4,000 GP for hill (rare), 40,000 GP for stone, frost or fire (very rare) and 200,000 GP for cloud or storm (legendary). The 2014 SRD has no magic item prices.

Item text: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Analysis, rulings and ideas are Loreify's own.