If you’ve spent any time prowling goblin-infested corridors or clashing steel in darkened dungeons, odds are you’ve tangled with the concept of Flanking. In the 2014 edition of Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, Flanking was a tantalizing tactical tool, hiding in the pages of the Dungeon Master’s Guide like a secret for savvy combatants. The idea seemed straightforward: surround your target and gain a mechanical edge, specifically advantage on melee attack rolls. But as with many deceptively simple mechanics, there was more than met the eye.
Flanking wasn’t part of the game’s rock-solid core. Instead, it was presented as an optional rule—one more lever for DMs to pull, giving the battlefield an extra layer of intrigue. In many adventuring groups, the rule became more than just flavor. It unlocked a kinetic dance around the grid, a waltz of warriors sliding into position for that coveted “advantage” status. Tactical parties reveled in the possibilities: clever rogues, bold paladins, and even animal companions coordinated seamlessly, transforming the geometry of combat into calculated teamwork.
Yet, Flanking’s presence at the table sparked as much friction as excitement. For every player thrilled by collaborative maneuvering, another grumbled about its potential for abuse. Critics noted how easily Flanking collapsed into exploitation—“conga lines” of adventurers snaking around foes, advantage flowing a little too freely. What was intended to encourage creative strategy sometimes devolved into mechanical opportunism, overshadowing class features and breaking the gritty realism many players craved.
Now, with the dawn of the 2024 revision, Wizards of the Coast has made a decisive move: Flanking is gone. It has vanished entirely from the Player’s Handbook and Dungeon Master’s Guide. No asterisks, no fine print—this once-ubiquitous optional rule has been officially cut, stirring debate across taverns, message boards, and gaming tables everywhere. Why the change? What does this mean for your next campaign? Let’s dig in.
How Flanking Worked in 5e
For those new to the mechanic or in need of a refresher, Flanking in 5e was an optional combat rule expressly tied to grid-based gameplay. If your group waded through color-coded battle mats or toggled tokens in a virtual tabletop, Flanking was always in the mix—a set of positioning requirements that rewarded adjacency and coordination with mechanical heft.
Flanking only triggered when certain conditions snapped into place. First, it all hinged on physical proximity: your character and an ally needed to be adjacent to the same enemy, standing on directly opposite sides or corners. A straight line must be possible between the two flankers that passes through the center of the enemy’s space. Neither party could be incapacitated, and distractions—like controlling a Spiritual Weapon—didn’t count. The synergy had to come from characters or animal companions, not ethereal spells.
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On square grids, it was relatively easy to envision Flanking: stand on opposite sides of the target, and if nothing blocked the line drawn through the target’s center-point, you each provided advantage for melee strikes. Hex grids, however, required more granular calculation. Larger creatures straddled multiple hexes, forcing flankers to be a certain distance apart, ensuring the enemy felt genuinely bracketed.
Understanding the nitty-gritty mattered, especially for groups who reveled in tactical fidelity. Here are the classic Flanking conditions distilled:
- Both creatures must be adjacent to the enemy they’re flanking.
- Flankers must be on directly opposite sides (or corners) of the enemy.
- Flankers can’t be incapacitated, stunned, or otherwise unable to make attacks.
- Illusory creatures, spells like Spiritual Weapon, or summoned objects can’t provide Flanking.
- Animal companions, familiars, or summoned beasts can flank.
- Must be able to see each other; no flanking through walls, darkness, or invisibility.
- Flanking applies only to melee weapon attacks.
- Only functions with clear sightlines; cover blocks Flanking.
Below is a quick reference for Flanking requirements based on creature size and grid type:
| Creature Size | Hexes Needed Between Flankers | Does Spiritual Weapon Count? | Special Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium | 2 hexes | No | Must be directly opposite; both must be adjacent. |
| Large | 3 hexes | No | Flankers must span the creature’s width. |
| Huge | 4 hexes | No | May require flanking on corners for Hex grids. |
| Gargantuan | 5+ hexes | No | Coordinated movement required; animal companions OK. |
| Variable | Varies by statblock | No | Size determines minimum distance and positioning rules. |
Why Was Flanking Removed?
The decision to retire Flanking wasn’t announced with ceremonial fanfare, but the logic is written between the lines of D&D’s evolving design philosophy. Flanking had a habit of undermining the core balance the game’s designers carefully curated. Advantage is a potent mechanic in 5e—a boon that inflames the odds and shapes the rhythm of combat. When Flanking became a common fixture, this benefit flowed too freely, flattening dramatic tension and reducing the risk-and-reward calculations players had to make.
One of Flanking’s most infamous legacies is the so-called “conga line” tactic. Tactical, sure—but not in the way D&D’s narrative heart intended. Players would game the system, orchestrating their miniatures into orderly queues to maximize advantage, even if it defied the logic of battle. Suddenly, adventurers stopped fighting as scrappy heroes and started behaving like chess pieces, positioning themselves not for believable blows, but for mechanical loopholes.
This system eroded immersion. Combat lost some of its narrative teeth, becoming less about heroic ingenuity and more about box-ticking. Instead of clever gambits or daring maneuvers, encounters drifted into “how do we get everyone in a line to advantage land?”—a far cry from the chaos of real combat, or the drama of myth and legend. The DM’s terrain-building and monster placement could be swiftly unraveled by a savvy party using Flanking’s quirks.
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Furthermore, Flanking cheapened the allure of unique class and monster abilities. Abilities designed to grant advantage—like the Rogue’s Cunning Action, or monsters with unique Pack Tactics—lost impact. If anyone could wrangle advantage with minimal setup, hard-earned features and careful design started to feel redundant. Removing Flanking paves the way for a return to intentional, meaningful ability design, where tactical edges are prized and not taken for granted.
Systemic Impact on Other Abilities
The ripple effects of Flanking’s omnipresence were felt most acutely by classes and monsters whose core abilities revolved around advantage. Take the Barbarian’s Reckless Attack—a signature move allowing a Barbarian to attack recklessly in exchange for attacks against them having advantage. In a world where Flanking is a trivial feat, the risk of Reckless Attack loses its teeth; players could simply outmaneuver the drawback.
Kobolds’ infamous Pack Tactics—a racial feature granting advantage when adjacent to an ally—suffered a similar fate. If Flanking was always just a quick reposition away, what once set kobolds apart mechanically became little more than background noise. By streamlining combat and removing Flanking, the designers restore the mechanical glory of these corner-case abilities, making them once again rare and exciting moments on the battlefield.
Flanking as a House Rule
Of course, D&D has always been about adaptability. The official rules may shelve Flanking, but nothing stops adventurous DMs from dusting it off and giving it a fresh spin. Beyond nostalgia, many players celebrate Flanking’s power to foster camaraderie and kinesthetic tactics—a party of heroes fighting back-to-back, circling a dragon, outmaneuvering an ogre with panache. If it works at your table, bring it back, but do so with intent and a dash of rebalancing.
Treat Flanking as a modular tool—fine-tune it to your group’s style. Want to emphasize teamwork but avoid mechanical abuse? Try these adjustments, tailored to imbue Flanking with fresh nuance and tactical risk:
- Require that a flanking character must move at least 10 feet into position before Flanking applies.
- Allow Flanking only once per combat round per enemy.
- Instead of granting full advantage, provide a +2 bonus to melee attack rolls.
- Flanking only applies against enemies equal or smaller in size than the attacker.
- Flanking requires both allies to be wielding melee weapons (no ranged attacks).
- Remove Flanking entirely for spellcasters; only martial classes benefit.
- Limit Flanking advantage to the first attack each turn, not every attack.
- Enemies can counter-flank if they have the numbers and tactical positioning.
- Flanking can trigger an opportunity attack from the flanked enemy the first time it happens each round.
- Only creatures with intelligence above 6 can use Flanking tactics.
This modular approach encourages DMs and players to infuse their games with the flavor—and fairness—they crave, without defaulting to exploitative routines.
Final Thoughts on Flanking’s Removal
Pruning Flanking from the core rules is symptomatic of D&D’s broader evolutionary sweep. On the positive side, stripping out an oft-abused mechanic reduces the cognitive clutter on the battlefield, lowers the rules barrier for new players, and re-invests class features and positioning with authentic value. Simplified combat opens windows for creativity—storytelling, heroic descriptions, and wild tactics unbound by the tyranny of the grid.
But there’s undeniably a pang for the old ways. The loss of Flanking strikes at the heart of a certain kind of tactical D&D—a fantasy of elite soldiers weaving around foes, anticipating moves, exploiting openings. Players who thrived on geometric puzzles and precise teamwork may miss this unique mechanical flavor, finding grid combat a little flatter, a bit less kinetic.
Yet, the change also encourages a return to intentionality—where every moment of advantage, every bonus earned, feels earned. Classes with signature tricks and foes with special advantages regain their lustre, drawing the party’s envy and admiration. Combat grows more deliberate, less about stacking boons and more about narrative-driven risk.
Ultimately, D&D flourishes because of its flexibility. In the dance between chaos and control, every table finds its rhythm. Flanking’s official disappearance might change the game’s shape, but not its spirit. For those who miss its intricate patterns, it’s always waiting in the DM’s toolkit, ready for a triumphant return. And for others, its passing marks a fresh start—one where every strategic edge is a story in the making, not just a box ticked on a battle mat.
