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 of 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.

 

[Kobold Stew]

As someone less invested in preserving old lore, I am thinking about the mechanics and the appeal of the mechanics classes:

Warrior of the Mystic Arts (Monk) seems fine: it feels plain, but I think it's an appealing structure that would see a lot of interest. Apart from rewording the level 17 feature, it seems fine and I expect will be approved without major revisions. Grade: B+

Oath of the Spellguard (Paladin) also seems great. The abilities are all generally useful, and I can see pairs of them working together with ridiculous efficiency, guarding each other on the front lines. People will love that they get the Shield spell. The only ability that is ties specifically to the anti-caster description is the minor ability at level 3, that might occasionally give them a reaction attack. It's certainly not the focus of the class. Again, could be accepted without major revisions. Grade: B+

Magic Stealer (Rogue) is bizarre. The level 3 abilities might see no play at all, and it becomes totally campaign dependent. No one is playing this until level 9 in order to be able to buff an ally's casting. I would say it's not even worth re-working and should just be scrapped. Grade: F.

Vestige Patron (Warlock) is fine in principle (as I said above, I have no stake in the legacy lore arguments). The subclass seems to be a kind of confession, though, that the Pact of the Chain is not doing what they had wanted it to do. Someone picking this can still choose Pact of the Chain to have a familiar, but, significantly, they cannot also get Investment of the Chain Master, since the Vestige Companion also needs your Bonus Action.

Compare the latest iteration of the Hexblade in the UA: whatever you thought if it, they worked around Pact of the Blade, essentially assuming that players will also invest in that. Vestige is the opposite of this, saying if you really want a combat pet, avoid the Chain. Instead, it seems to assume that you have invested in Pact of the Blade as well, and taken Thirsting Blade to get an Extra Attack, which you then are sometimes willing to give up to let your pet attack. This all feels very clunky to me, and there's no easy fix. Possibly it could be reworked, but it should be able to be made desireable with any pact. Grade: C.

 

[Parmandur]

Huh? Vestige Warlocks were a thing in 4e D&D.

Oh, go figure. Still, I doubt the design was built around recreating that, either. "I have this build for a pet Warlock!" and someone on the team happened to remember the vestige bit.

 

[Kobold Stew]

What I'd really like to see is in a Mystic subclass is a re-worked Horizon Walker (Ranger) -- someone who can eventually cross the planes without being dependent on DM-positioned portals. Find a way to let them cast Plane Shift 1/long rest as a ritual at level 11 with no Material component (yes, 2 levels before the casters gets it) and suddenly I am more excited about that than any of these. (Yes, I know they'd have to find a way to make it tie to Hunter's Mark somehow...).

 

[Senior_WotC_Janitor]

THIS makes me think

Leadership has hinted at Universes Beyond or official WotC D&D -- could these past UAs maybe be about things like Demon Hunters, WoT and similar?

WoT better be world of tanks.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

Oh, go figure. Still, I doubt the design was built around recreating that, either. "I have this build for a pet Warlock!" and someone on the team happened to remember the vestige bit.

I don't have an issue with that.

I imagine there are two buckets, one for subclass mechanics and one for subclass themes. They probably pull a concept out of each bucket and smash them together and see if it's worth playing or not. Some really neat mechanics just don't have a fantasy that surrounds them, so you've got to find a preexisting concept and append it onto the rules.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I would be interesting a ghostwalk campaing played as a "reverse-dungeon"+"tower defense". The PCs are ghosts, but the goal is the survival of the tribe/community in Duskmourn. The ghosts could explore something like a "mirror plane" with monster anomalies what can eat incorporeal spirits.

 

[Senior_WotC_Janitor]

I don't follow the playtest stuff, but isn't this typically just released as a Beta and then never actually published?

no

 

[Kurotowa]

Personally, I don't consider Binder and the UA Vestige Warlock to have any sort of relationship other than the word "vestige" being used for both.

They're vastly different mechanical experiences with some overlap in narrative concepts, but nowhere close to the same overall concept.

I'm putting it down as "Here is a new thing that's paying a respectful nod to an obscure bit of D&D history in its flavor but is, mechanically, its own thing." Which is fine. It's respect for history without being bound by tradition. And yes, it's playing things a bit safe, but that's what first party material usually does these days. I can get all the wild experimental creativity I want from DM's Guild.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Oh, go figure. Still, I doubt the design was built around recreating that, either. "I have this build for a pet Warlock!" and someone on the team happened to remember the vestige bit.

Frankly, I suspect it has more to do with TP's Small Gods and the common understanding of the English word "vestige" than any obscure 3rd edition class.

 

[Kurotowa]

Vestige Patron (Warlock) is fine in principle (as I said above, I have no stake in the legacy lore arguments). The subclass seems to be a kind of confession, though, that the Pact of the Chain is not doing what they had wanted it to do. Someone picking this can still choose Pact of the Chain to have a familiar, but, significantly, they cannot also get Investment of the Chain Master, since the Vestige Companion also needs your Bonus Action.

Compare the latest iteration of the Hexblade in the UA: whatever you thought if it, they worked around Pact of the Blade, essentially assuming that players will also invest in that. Vestige is the opposite of this, saying if you really want a combat pet, avoid the Chain. Instead, it seems to assume that you have invested in Pact of the Blade as well, and taken Thirsting Blade to get an Extra Attack, which you then are sometimes willing to give up to let your pet attack. This all feels very clunky to me, and there's no easy fix. Possibly it could be reworked, but it should be able to be made desireable with any pact. Grade: C.

It occurs to me that Chain Pact, by itself, is perfectly fine. Spend an invocation, get a better than standard familiar. Very worthwhile use of an invocation slot. It's Invocation of the Chain Master than fails. It tries to turn the familiar into an ongoing combat pet, but with a static non-scaling stat block it quickly fades into irrelevance. The damage isn't nothing but the HP and attack bonus are crippling.

So while a Vestige Warlock would have to go to extreme and inefficient lengths to combine the Vestige Companion with Chain Master, just Chain Pact by itself would have no issue. One tiny familiar for scouting and Help actions, one larger companion for combat. And two pets is just cool, even if they're doing different things.