In Pathfinder 2e, Ready is a two-action activity: you spend two of your three actions to prepare a single action with a declared trigger, and when that trigger happens before your next turn, you can spend your reaction to do it. Two actions in exchange for one later, plus your reaction held hostage in the meantime. That price tag is steep, the restrictions are stricter than most players expect, and there are still moments where it’s exactly the right call. Here’s the full ruleset, the gotchas, and the honest comparison with the Delay option everyone confuses it with.
How Ready works, precisely
On your turn, you use Ready (a two-action activity with the concentrate trait). You choose a single action you can use, or a free action, and designate a clearly observable trigger. Until the start of your next turn, when that trigger occurs you can use your reaction to perform the readied action, which resolves after the trigger completes. If the trigger never happens, the preparation is wasted. You’re never forced to fire it; if circumstances change, you can let the trigger pass and keep your reaction for something better.
What you can and can’t ready
| Readying this | Legal? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A Strike | Yes | It’s a single action, the most common thing readied |
| A Step, an Interact, a Raise a Shield | Yes | All single actions |
| A two-action spell (most spells) | No | Ready only holds a single action; activities of two or more actions can’t be readied. This is the big difference from 5e, where holding a full spell is the classic move |
| A single-action spell or cantrip component | Yes, if it’s genuinely one action | Single-action casts and similar one-action abilities qualify |
| An activity or another reaction | No | Single actions and free actions only |
The spell restriction is the rule that catches 5e converts every time. A PF2e caster cannot ready a fireball for “when they come around the corner”; the action economy simply doesn’t allow it, and that’s deliberate design. PF2e wants casting to happen on your turn, in the open, where enemies can respond.
The real cost accounting
Ready charges you three ways. Two actions now, which is two-thirds of your turn. Your reaction, locked to the trigger until it fires or expires, meaning a readied fighter has surrendered Attack of Opportunity (if they have it) and a champion has parked their entire defensive identity. And the risk of total loss if the trigger never occurs. The exchange rate only makes sense when the readied action is worth dramatically more at the trigger moment than two actions are worth now: the classic cases are readying a Strike against an enemy who must funnel through a choke point, readying an Interact to slam a door or cut a rope at the perfect instant, and readying a Step to break a spellcaster’s line of effect the moment they start gesturing.
One nuance worth knowing for readied Strikes: your multiple attack penalty resets at the end of your turn, and the readied Strike happens after that reset, on someone else’s turn. Attack twice, ready nothing; but Ready as your whole turn means the readied Strike comes in clean. (Verify against current errata; this timing interaction has been discussed in clarifications.)
Ready vs Delay: pick the right tool
| Ready | Delay | |
|---|---|---|
| What it costs | Two actions plus your reaction | Your entire turn shifts; taken at the start of your turn as a free action |
| What you get | One specific action, on a specific trigger, possibly mid-someone-else’s-turn | Your whole three-action turn later in the round, when you choose to act |
| Granularity | Surgical: fires the instant the trigger occurs | Coarse: you re-enter between other creatures’ turns, never interrupting one |
| Best for | Choke points, interrupt-adjacent timing, traps you’re springing | “I want to act after the cleric heals me” and every other sequencing problem |
Most of the time players reach for Ready, what they actually want is Delay: full turn preserved, no reaction spent, no trigger gamble. Ready earns its cost only when the action must land at a precise moment between turns, not merely later in the round. We cover the sequencing tool in depth in our PF2e Delay action guide; read the two together and you’ll never confuse them again.
How I rule triggers at my table
At my table, I want the trigger to be clear enough that everyone knows when it happens. “If anything moves” is too broad for me, but “if the goblin steps through the doorway” or “if the guard reaches for the lever” is totally fine. I’m not trying to catch the player in bad wording, but Ready is already expensive in PF2e, so the trigger needs to be something real and observable. If it feels borderline, I usually tighten it up before we move on, because it is a lot easier to fix the wording now than argue about whether it should have fired later.
GM guidance
Require observable triggers stated before the Ready completes (“when the door opens,” not “when it’s advantageous”), and resolve the readied action immediately after the triggering action finishes, never interrupting it mid-resolution. Track who’s holding a readied action visibly, because nothing sours the table like a forgotten trigger. And when a player reaches for Ready, it’s worth a one-sentence check-in: “you know Delay exists, right?” Half the time that’s the better answer, and the other half, the readied crossbow bolt through the doorway is the highlight of the night. Coming from 5e? The same action under 2014/2024 rules works very differently (full spells can be held, only one action is spent), and our 5e Ready action guide covers that side of the fence.