Dungeons & Dragons Playtests Four New Mystic-Themed Subclasses

Dungeons & Dragons has dropped their first Unearthed Arcana playtest of 2026, with four brand-new subclasses being tested. Today, Wizards of the Coast posted a Mystic Subclasses Unearthed Arcana playtest to D&D Beyond, featuring four magic-themed subclasses. The new subclasses include the Warrior of the Mystic Arts Monk subclass, the Oath of the Spellguard Paladin subclass, the Magic Stealer Rogue subclass and the Vestige Patron Warlock subclass.

The Warrior the Mystic Arts is a spellcasting subclass that grants Monks the ability to cast Sorcerer spells up to 4th level spells. The Oath of the Spellguard is designed with protecting magic-casters in mind, while the Magic Stealer Rogue targets spellcasting and can empower their Sneak Attacks with magic stolen from nearby spellcasters. The Vestige Patron Warlock forms a bond with a dying god, with the god taking on a vestige form as a companion. The Vestige companion grows in power with the spellcaster. Notably, the Vestige Patron draws inspiration from the Binder from past editions of D&D.

There's no indication when or what this new Unearthed Arcana could be related to. There are several Unearthed Arcanas not currently attached to an announced D&D product, although two almost are certainly tied to a Dark Sun sourcebook.

You can check out the subclasses here. Feedback opens for the playtest on January 22nd.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

The Mystic Monk is bad at level 3, tbh. Like, only if you desparately need to mix sorcerer with your monk would I ever recommend this.

At least the base class can do it's bonus action stuff regardless of what action you take, so it isn't terrible like it would be under 2014 rules, but only getting spellcasting on a martial class without even a minor quality of life ribbon feature is just lame. It's a subclass that until level 6, just....has nothing at all to do with the base class on any level.

I feel like something in between the ribbon of War Bond and the really cool features of the Arcane Trickster is needed here.

HOWEVER, in spite of being pretty "basic" in vibe, the level 6+ features make for a very cool character build, and I've been wanting an arcane monk subclass since day one, so I'm glad that they are at least trying it out.

Personally, I would rather see them be able to use focus points to cast spells and get some unique abilities alongside that to make the subclass feel distinct and feel distinctly Monk.

Spellguard Paladin rules.

Vestige Warlock.....I mean it's a 5e pet subclass, so it sucks in all the same ways that every other 5e pet subclass does.

Looking past that, it's pretty neat. I'd rather have a warlock pet subclass focus on binding stuff, rather than whatever this is with the domain spells and all that. The warlock with a pet should be an expert who bound a powerful creature and draws power from it, and thus their magic reflects that by binding others with spells like command, hold person, banishment, etc. or they should be a Summoner, with spells that summon or spells that can be cast on the summon to strengthen it.

angel summoner undead edition is just...not what I have ever seen anyone ask for in a warlock subclass.

 

[Von Ether]

Since WotC needs non-adventure books to attract both players and GMs, then each book needs some mandatory subclasses. At we maybe getting to a point where the themed connection between those classes and the rest of the book is getting thin unless the theme of the book is either planar or miscellaneous.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

If they have the same book release schedule as last year (1.25 per quarter), I think we could see something like this:

Q1 - Ravenloft expansion/companion to Van Richten's Guide. Similar to Eberron: Forge of the Artificer, a companion to the Ravenloft setting book that focuses on Player mechanics. Most of the Horror Subclasses UA falls here.

Q2 - Arcane players supplement. Here are most of the Arcane Subclasses, along with the new Mystic ones that make the cut. Plus expanded spells and other options.

Q3 - Tasha's/Xanathar combo/update book. Taking the revamped Xanathar's Subclasses they have tested in various spaces along with the left over Tasha's ones in a combined book to bring all the main 2014 mechanics up to date with current standards.

Q4 - Dark Sun Player and DM books. A combo of Player and DM books in the vein of the Forgotten Realms books from 2025.

I would put out Ravenloft III in either the summer or fall, when people will be thinking more about Halloween and autumnal games.

Although we'd need to look at when each of these UAs came out to get a sense of how far along each might be in the pipeline.

 

[bedir than]

The Mystic Monk seems really basic as a subclass, it's just like the Eldritch Knight and I'm sure the key to that is finding the right can trip to combo off of. True strike or one of the weapon cantrips because you can use Monk weapons.

I guess Thunder Clap might be alright if you get surrounded a lot

I also don't like that it is tied to Sorcery.
To me a mystic monk feels more religious, not less -- Cleric stuff!

 

[GarrettKP]

I would put out Ravenloft III in either the summer or fall, when people will be thinking more about Halloween and autumnal games.

Although we'd need to look at when each of these UAs came out to get a sense of how far along each might be in the pipeline.

I think it’s a Q1 or Q2 because of when the UAs were dropped. It’s had the most time to playtest so I think it’ll be ok.

 

[Charlaquin]

While we’re speculating about what this could mean for future products, I think the Vestige Warlock could easily be for the Horror/Ravenloft book. I mean, allowing a Warlock to make a pact with one of the Amber Vestiges is a pretty obvious thing I think a lot of Curse of Strahd DMs have already done in their campaigns. Not having a subclass specifically for that in Van Richten’s Guide seems like a missed opportunity.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

VESTIGES MENTIONED

I've always liked the lore of vestiges in 3.5e and 4e but never liked their implementation with player classes. I'm very interested in this warlock subclass, it seems to do a lot of attractive mechanical things. As a WoW player it has always bugged me that there's not a dedicated warlock pet subclass, and while the celestial pact does also have the flavor of "half warlock, half cleric" I think this is a much more interesting expression of that concept. I also feel that the dead bodies of gods and the astral plane have become more prominent in recent years, so a warlock with a vestige could interact with that lore in a neat way.

If I have one quibble, it's that in older editions vestiges could be the remnants of any powerful creature; gods, primordials, extremely powerful ghosts of humans, elder evils, etc. Making them explicitly dying gods is a bit narrow, but perhaps the original concept was too broad to begin with.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

I also don't like that it is tied to Sorcery.
To me a mystic monk feels more religious, not less -- Cleric stuff!

I don't think cleric spells match the concept of a spellcasting subclass for the 2024 monk. I certainly see them throwing around Chromatic Orb more than they would with Bless

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

I don't think cleric spells match the concept of a spellcasting subclass for the 2024 monk. I certainly see them throwing around Chromatic Orb more than they would with Bless

I imagine there are two separate paradigms for the spellcasting monk; one whose body is already powerful so they focus on buffing spells to make themselves and their companions more deadly, and then the Avatar inspired element-controlling monk, who would have a lot of the elemental damage spells that a wizard (or sorceror) would have, along with control.

Considering they did nerf the more explicitly avatar inspired subclass, I can see why the elemental spellcasting monk is the one they wanted to make.

 

[Reynard]

Why can't these subclasses be the first batch for a big expansion? Why do they have to be directed at a particular THING.