Ring of Evasion 5e: Charges, the Evasion Combo and When It Fails You

A Ring of Evasion is a rare ring that requires attunement. It has 3 charges and regains 1d3 each dawn. When you fail a Dexterity saving throw, you can use your reaction and spend a charge to succeed instead. Against Fireball, Lightning Bolt or a dragon's breath, that halves the damage you take. On a Rogue or Monk with the Evasion feature, it means taking no damage at all. The rules text is identical in 2014 and 2024.

Table of Contents

• •Ring of Evasion Rules Text
• •How the Ring of Evasion Works
• •Ring of Evasion: 2014 vs 2024
• •Is the Ring of Evasion Worth It?
• •Ring of Evasion for DMs
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Ring of Evasion Rules Text

How the Ring of Evasion Works

You decide after you fail

The trigger is failing a Dexterity saving throw, so you see the result before spending a charge. No charge is ever wasted on a save you would have made. You can also skip it on a cheap failure and keep the charge for a breath weapon.

Charges

The ring holds 3 charges and regains 1d3 at dawn, 2 on average. If you spend all three on a hard day, expect two back the next morning. Nothing in the text destroys the ring when its last charge is spent. Under the 2024 rules, a creature attuned to an item knows how many charges it has left.

It costs your reaction

You get one reaction per round, and this ring uses it. That means no Shield spell, no opportunity attack and no Uncanny Dodge until the start of your next turn. If a dragon breathes on you and then its tail swings at you before your turn comes around, you've already spent your reaction on the breath.

When you can't use it

The Incapacitated condition stops you from taking reactions. That condition comes with Paralyzed, Stunned, Unconscious and Petrified, and all four also make you automatically fail Dexterity saving throws. So the ring does nothing for a paralyzed character caught in a Fireball, which is exactly when an enemy might cast one. See Incapacitated for the full list.

The math against a dragon

A Young Red Dragon breathes fire for 16d6 (56 on average), DC 17 Dexterity save, half damage on a success. A fighter with a +3 Dexterity save succeeds on a 14 or higher, 35 percent of the time.

The ring saves the fighter 18 damage on average per breath. It saves the rogue less on average, but it removes the bad roll entirely, and a rogue with Evasion takes nothing.

Not just damage

Any failed Dexterity save counts. Web leaves a creature Restrained on a failed Dexterity save; Grease knocks it Prone. Traps that call for Dexterity saves work the same way. A charge spent to stay on your feet in a Grease spell is a charge you don't have for the dragon, so weigh it.

Ring of Evasion: 2014 vs 2024

The ring is unchanged; only the capitalization of game terms differs. Evasion is still a level 7 feature for both Rogues and Monks in 2024, so the combo works in both editions. The 2024 Evasion adds that it doesn't work while you're Incapacitated, and neither does the ring's reaction.

Is the Ring of Evasion Worth It?

It's worth the attunement for characters who get caught in area damage and can spare their reaction.

Compare it with the other rare items that protect saving throws:

A +1 to saves turns a failure into a success only when you miss by exactly 1, which is 5 percent of rolls. The ring guarantees the success three times a day. For a character who faces a few big area attacks per day, the ring wins. For a character who mostly needs AC, Ring of Protection does more.

Best users:

• •Rogues and Monks from level 7. Evasion plus the ring means area damage only hurts when you're out of charges.
• •Characters with a low Dexterity save who still stand in the middle of the fight: a heavily armored fighter or paladin.

Poor users: a wizard who relies on Shield every round, since both compete for the same reaction.

Ring of Evasion for DMs

Where it turns up. In a rare hoard, on a monk's remains in a burned-out monastery, or with a rogue who has survived three fireballs too many. It fits well in the treasure before a dragon or a spellcaster with area spells.

What it changes. Area damage against one character. Plan a dragon's breath and a Fireball for the ring wearer's charges, not their hit points. If the party's rogue has Evasion, expect them to walk out of every breath weapon untouched three times a day.

At the table. Have the player say when they spend a charge and track it on the sheet. Remind them it costs their reaction.

Pricing. 4,000 GP under the 2024 SRD, the value of a rare item. The 2014 SRD has no prices. The rare item list shows what else sits at that tier.

Hooks.

• •A fire-scarred monk wears a Ring of Evasion and offers it to whoever can tell her which of her pupils set the monastery alight.
• •A ring is stuck on the finger of a petrified thief in a medusa's garden. The thief is a statue, so the ring did nothing for him.

How many charges the rogue has left after the third fight is easy to forget. Loreify records the session, so the recap remembers.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a Ring of Evasion do in 5e?

When you fail a Dexterity saving throw, you can use your reaction and expend 1 of the ring's 3 charges to succeed instead. It regains 1d3 charges at dawn and requires attunement.

Does the Ring of Evasion give you the Evasion feature?

No. It turns a failed Dexterity save into a success; it doesn't change how much damage a success deals. On a Rogue or Monk who already has Evasion, that success means no damage.

Does the Ring of Evasion use your reaction?

Yes, in both editions. You can't use it if you've already used your reaction this round, or while you're Incapacitated.

Can you use the Ring of Evasion after seeing the roll?

Yes. It triggers when you fail the save, so you know the result before you spend a charge.

How much is a Ring of Evasion worth?

4,000 GP under the 2024 SRD, the value of any rare magic item. The 2014 SRD gives no price.

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.