Dungeons & Dragons Announces Arcana Unleashed, New Magic-Themed Sourcebook at $49.99 Price Point

[Christian Hoffer]

Wizards of the Coast has announced Arcana Unleashed, a new Dungeons & Dragons rulebook featuring "high magic" options, including a host of new spells. Today at GAMA Expo, Wizards of the Coast announced the new book alongside a companion adventure book focused on a new wizards war in Thay. Arcana Unleashed will offer new high-magic character creation options, including the Conjurer and Enchanter wizard subclasses, as well as new feats, new spells, and a new magic item system that allows items to grow in power alongside character leveling. Arcana Unleashed will be released in September 2026.

New spells confirmed for the book includes Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting (a 8th Level Necromancy spell that saps moisture from anything inside a 30-foot cube), Aura of Evasion (a 7th Level Abjuration spell that creates an aura that grants all allies within it advantage of Dexterity spells and reduces damage from effects that require Dexterity saving throws by half on a failure and negates all damage on a success) and Battle Familiar (a 2nd Level Transmutation spell that either a beefs up an existing familiar or creates a new one.) Backgrounds found in the book include the Cosmic Dawn Experimenter and the Covenant of the Grave Recruit. New feats include the Arcane Undertaker feat, the Arcane Eloquence feat, and the Transmuted Anatomy feat.

The Arcane Subclasses Unearthed Arcana released in 2025 revealed a likely list of the subclasses we'll see in this book. That playtest included subclasses for the Cleric (Arcana Domain), Fighter (Arcane Archer), Warlock (Hexblade Patron), and Wizard (Conjurer, Enchanter, Necromancer, and Transmuter) and new subclasses for the Monk (Tattooed Warrior) and Sorcerer (Ancestral Sorcery).

One interesting point is that Arcana Unleashed will be released at a cheaper $49.99 price point. It is being released alongside a $29.99 campaign book, so the net price for the two books is higher than a standard D&D book release of $59.99, but the standalone Arcana Unleashed product is still a bit cheaper than other books.

And here are the standard cover (by Javier Charro) and alternate art cover (by Couple of Kooks).

Arcana Unleashed was one of three D&D products released today. You can find a full rundown here.

 

[GarrettKP]

Wait, they gave Enchanter “Vexing Movement” at level 3? The feature no one seemed to like in the playtest and that they then replaced in the updated UA?

That will be a popular decision…

EDIT: looks like the Conjurer also has old UA text. I’m thinking this is just a mock up and the texts aren’t finalized.

 

[Blue]

What's the page count? I wonder if the lower price point is a smaller book.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

I wonder if this book will have rules that actually make spellcasters levitate when they cast spells

 

[JPL]

Battle Familiar. Hell, yes. That should be a thing.

EDIT: Oh, and it's in the preview, other than the stat block. Still a big fan, although you're gonna burn through a lot of smallish diamonds. But you can do a Battle Cat style transformation of your familiar into an attack critter, and that's pretty sweet.

 

[Maxperson]

Wait, they gave Enchanter “Vexing Movement” at level 3? The feature no one seemed to like in the playtest and that they then replaced in the updated UA?

That will be a popular decision…

EDIT: looks like the Conjurer also has old UA text. I’m thinking this is just a mock up and the texts aren’t finalized.

Or else what people have long been saying about the UA's not really being for design any longer, but merely to showcase what WotC is doing, is true.

 

[Kurotowa]

Battle Familiar. Hell, yes. That should be a thing.

EDIT: Oh, and it's in the preview, other than the stat block. Still a big fan, although you're gonna burn through a lot of smallish diamonds. But you can do a Battle Cat style transformation of your familiar into an attack critter, and that's pretty sweet.

The material component doesn't have a "which the spell consumes" clause. So I read that as an expensive focus, like Chromatic Orb or the Summon spells, and not a consumed cost of the spell, like Raise Dead.

I do note that Battle Familiar is listed as a Warlock spell too. I wonder how it will interact with the Chain Pact invocations? Hard to say without the full spell entry.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

Am I wrong or do I feel every time they post a picture of Alustriel Silverhand they make her skin darker?

Which is weird because she has the same mother and father as her sisters, who are all significantly paler than her (aside from the shenanigans with the Drow sister).

Mod edit: language

 

[Reynard]

Am I wrong or do I feel every time they post a picture of Alustriel Silverhand they make her skin darker?

Which is weird because she has the same mother and father as her sisters, who are all significantly paler than her (aside from the fuckery with the Drow sister).

The magic lady can probably make herself have whatever skin tone she desires.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

The magic lady can probably make herself have whatever skin tone she desires.

Alustriel Dolezal