New D&D Unearthed Arcana Reveals Two New Subclasses for Monk and Sorcerer, Plus Revamps For Seven More

Wizards of the Coast has a new Unearthed Arcana playtest for Dungeons & Dragons, featuring revamps of seven existing Arcane-themed subclasses, plus two new subclasses. Today, Wizards of the Coast unveiled a new Arcane Subclass Unearthed Arcana, featuring the following subclasses:

• Arcana Domain Cleric
• Arcane Archer Fighter
• Hexblade Patron Warlock
• Conjurer Wizard
• Enchanter Wizard
• Necromancer Wizard
• Transmuter Wizard
• Tattooed Warrior Monk
• Ancestral Sorcery Sorcerer

Notably, the Hexblade Patron and Necromancer Wizard were both relatively high on the wishlist of many D&D players.

That Tattooed Warrior grants the Monk access to several magic tattoos with specific effects that enhance various monk abilities. The Ancestral Sorcery plays off the idea of having a powerful magical ancestor that grants them guidance and direction from beyond. Notably, the ancestral spirit has an spectral haze form and can even Frighten those around the sorcerer at higher levels.

Some of the notable changes in the UA include a revised Arcane Shot ability that comes with an Arcane Shot die used to deal extra damage that ramps up in size, the Conjurer Wizard's benign transposition starts at an earlier level as does Durable Summons, the Enchanter Wizard has some more versatile low-level options that replace Hypnotic Gaze, and the Necromancer has been wholly redesigned with an emphasis on generating temporary hit points for the wizard, their party members, and undead thralls.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Very possible.

What subclasses do you think those would have?

For Martial maybe a Circle of Blades Druid? Brawler Fighter?

Divine first one that comes to mind is Divine Soul Sorcerer.

 

[mellored]

Curving Shot is one of those ones that's really hard to model in a simple damage calculation because it has so many caveats

Agreed.
But it's likely more than once per short rest.

Nope didn't miss it....banishing is still by far the best of the bunch.

Yea, still probably the best.
Maybe they should switch it to the end of your next turn. Or don't add any damage.

 

[mellored]

Also
Battlesmith / arcane archer 3 seems good.
UA Bladesinger can also attack with Int with a hand crossbow.

 

[Parmandur]

What subclasses do you think those would have?

For Martial maybe a Circle of Blades Druid? Brawler Fighter?

Divine first one that comes to mind is Divine Soul Sorcerer.

Well, interesting place to start is to look
at what is in Xanathar's that has not been updated yet:

Barbarian: Path of the Ancestral Guardian, Path of the Storm Herald, Path of the Zealot
Bard: College of Glamour, College of Swords, College of Whispers
Cleric: Forge Domain
Druid: Circle of Dreams, Circle of the Shepherd
Fighter: Arcane Archer, Cavalier, Samurai
Monk: Drunken Master, Kensei, Sun Soul
Paladin: Oath of Conquest, Oath of Redemption
Ranger: Gloom Stalker, Horizon Walker, Monster Slayer
Rogue: Inquisitive, Mastermind, Scout, Swashbuckler
Sorcerer: Divine Soul, Shadow Magic, Storm Sorcery
Wizard: War Magic

What subclasses do you think those would have?

For Martial maybe a Circle of Blades Druid? Brawler Fighter?

Divine first one that comes to mind is Divine Soul Sorcerer.

Well, one place to start thinking about what we might see is to look at what is in Xanathar's that has not been updated yet in either the PHB or UA yet, though I doubt some of these will return:

• Barbarian: Path of the Ancestral Guardian, Path of the Storm Herald
• Bard: College of Swords, College of Whispers
• Cleric: Forge Domain, Grave Domain
  Druid: Circle of Dreams, Circle of the Shepherd
  Fighter: Cavalier, Samurai
  Monk: Drunken Master, Kensei, Sun Soul
  Paladin: Oath of Conquest, Oath of Redemption
  Ranger: Monster Slayer
  Rogue: Inquisitive, Mastermind, Scout
  Sorcerer: Divine Soul, Storm Sorcery
  Wizard: War Magic

 

[Parmandur]

Well, interesting place to start is to look
at what is in Xanathar's that has not been updated yet:

Barbarian: Path of the Ancestral Guardian, Path of the Storm Herald, Path of the Zealot
Bard: College of Glamour, College of Swords, College of Whispers
Cleric: Forge Domain
Druid: Circle of Dreams, Circle of the Shepherd
Fighter: Arcane Archer, Cavalier, Samurai
Monk: Drunken Master, Kensei, Sun Soul
Paladin: Oath of Conquest, Oath of Redemption
Ranger: Gloom Stalker, Horizon Walker, Monster Slayer
Rogue: Inquisitive, Mastermind, Scout, Swashbuckler
Sorcerer: Divine Soul, Shadow Magic, Storm Sorcery
Wizard: War Magic

Well, one place to start thinking about what we might see is to look at what is in Xanathar's that has not been updated yet in either the PHB or UA yet, though I doubt some of these will return:

• Barbarian: Path of the Ancestral Guardian, Path of the Storm Herald
• Bard: College of Swords, College of Whispers
• Cleric: Forge Domain, Grave Domain
  Druid: Circle of Dreams, Circle of the Shepherd
  Fighter: Cavalier, Samurai
  Monk: Drunken Master, Kensei, Sun Soul
  Paladin: Oath of Conquest, Oath of Redemption
  Ranger: Monster Slayer
  Rogue: Inquisitive, Mastermind, Scout
  Sorcerer: Divine Soul, Storm Sorcery
  Wizard: War Magic

Thinking about if they add all of these (except maybe the War Wizard), riffing on what was posted earlier by @GarrettKP it would take the following to bring each Class to 4 in a theoretical Everything book:

Artificer: 3
Barbarian: 2
Bard: 1
Cleric: 1
Druid: 4
Fighter: 1
Monk: 1
Paladin: 2
Ranger: 1
Warlock: 2

 

[Remathilis]

Well, interesting place to start is to look
at what is in Xanathar's that has not been updated yet:

Barbarian: Path of the Ancestral Guardian, Path of the Storm Herald, Path of the Zealot
Bard: College of Glamour, College of Swords, College of Whispers
Cleric: Forge Domain
Druid: Circle of Dreams, Circle of the Shepherd
Fighter: Arcane Archer, Cavalier, Samurai
Monk: Drunken Master, Kensei, Sun Soul
Paladin: Oath of Conquest, Oath of Redemption
Ranger: Gloom Stalker, Horizon Walker, Monster Slayer
Rogue: Inquisitive, Mastermind, Scout, Swashbuckler
Sorcerer: Divine Soul, Shadow Magic, Storm Sorcery
Wizard: War Magic

Well, one place to start thinking about what we might see is to look at what is in Xanathar's that has not been updated yet in either the PHB or UA yet, though I doubt some of these will return:

• Barbarian: Path of the Ancestral Guardian, Path of the Storm Herald
• Bard: College of Swords, College of Whispers
• Cleric: Forge Domain, Grave Domain
  Druid: Circle of Dreams, Circle of the Shepherd
  Fighter: Cavalier, Samurai
  Monk: Drunken Master, Kensei, Sun Soul
  Paladin: Oath of Conquest, Oath of Redemption
  Ranger: Monster Slayer
  Rogue: Inquisitive, Mastermind, Scout
  Sorcerer: Divine Soul, Storm Sorcery
  Wizard: War Magic

Potential future UAs
Primal: Storm Hearld, Shepherd, Scout, Stormy Sorcery + new ones
Martial: Swords, Cavalier and/or samurai, kensei, conquest, swashbuckler, war magic.

 

[Weiley31]

Looking forward to the Updated Rune Knight. Or how they deal with it's huge reliance on BAs.

 

[GarrettKP]

Potential future UAs
Primal: Storm Hearld, Shepherd, Scout, Stormy Sorcery + new ones
Martial: Swords, Cavalier and/or samurai, kensei, conquest, swashbuckler, war magic.

Piggy-backing off this. So far the two themed UA's included 8 subclasses (not including the Hexblade rework in Arcane which bumped it up to 9) and 2 of them were new, so other themes will likely follow a similar pattern.

Elemental Subclasses

1. Storm Herald Barbarian
2. Forge Cleric
3. Tempest Cleric
4. Wildfire Druid
5. Storm Sorcerer
6. Fathomless Warlock
7. New Subclass
8. New Subclass

Divine Subclasses

1. Ancestral Guardian Barbarian
2. Peace Cleric
3. Twilight Cleric
4. Sun Soul Monk
5. Redemption Paladin
6. Divine Soul Sorcerer
7. New Subclass
8. New Subclass

Planar Subclasses

1. Wild Magic Barbarian (Feywild)
2. Dreams Druid (Feywild)
3. Astral Self Monk (Astral)
4. Watchers Paladin
5. Horizon Walker Ranger
6. Genie Warlock (Elemental)
7. New Subclass
8. New Subclass

Martial Subclasses

1. Swords Bard
2. Cavalier Fighter
3. Samurai Fighter
4. Drunken Master Monk
5. Kensei Monk
6. Swashbuckler Rogue
7. New Subclass
8. New Subclass

Primal/Nature Subclasses

1. Beast Barbarian
2. Nature Cleric
3. Spores Druid
4. Shepherd Druid
5. Swarmkeeper Ranger
6. Scout Rogue
7. New Subclass
8. New Subclass

Politics/Intrigue Subclasses

1. Whispers Bard
2. Eloquence Bard
3. Order Cleric
4. Conquest Paladin
5. Crown Paladin
6. Inquisitive Rogue
7. Mastermind Rogue
8. New Subclass

Dragons vs Giants Subclasses

1. Giant Barbarian
2. Rune Knight Fighter
3. Ascendant Dragon Monk
4. Drakewarden Ranger
5. Monster Slayer Ranger
6. New Subclass
7. New Subclass
8. New Subclass

Leftover Subclasses

1. Battlerager Barbarian (unlikely to return)
2. Creation Bard (likely to return)
3. Death Cleric (unlikely to return)
4. Echo Knight Fighter (unlikely to return)
5. Long Death Monk (unlikely to return)
6. Oathbreaker Paladin (unlikely to return)
7. Lunar Sorcery (unsure)
8. Undying Warlock (unlikely to return)
9. Chronurgy Wizard (unlikely to return)
10. Graviturgy Wizard (unlikely to return)
11. Scribes Wizard (likely to return)
12. War Wizard (unsure)

 

[GarrettKP]

Piggy-backing off this. So far the two themed UA's included 8 subclasses (not including the Hexblade rework in Arcane which bumped it up to 9) and 2 of them were new, so other themes will likely follow a similar pattern.

Elemental Subclasses

1. Storm Herald Barbarian
2. Forge Cleric
3. Tempest Cleric
4. Wildfire Druid
5. Storm Sorcerer
6. Fathomless Warlock
7. New Subclass
8. New Subclass

Divine Subclasses

1. Ancestral Guardian Barbarian
2. Peace Cleric
3. Twilight Cleric
4. Sun Soul Monk
5. Redemption Paladin
6. Divine Soul Sorcerer
7. New Subclass
8. New Subclass

Planar Subclasses

1. Wild Magic Barbarian (Feywild)
2. Dreams Druid (Feywild)
3. Astral Self Monk (Astral)
4. Watchers Paladin
5. Horizon Walker Ranger
6. Genie Warlock (Elemental)
7. New Subclass
8. New Subclass

Martial Subclasses

1. Swords Bard
2. Cavalier Fighter
3. Samurai Fighter
4. Drunken Master Monk
5. Kensei Monk
6. Swashbuckler Bard
7. New Subclass
8. New Subclass

Primal/Nature Subclasses

1. Beast Barbarian
2. Nature Cleric
3. Spores Druid
4. Shepherd Druid
5. Swarmkeeper Ranger
6. Scout Rogue
7. New Subclass
8. New Subclass

Politics/Intrigue Subclasses

1. Whispers Bard
2. Eloquence Bard
3. Order Cleric
4. Conquest Paladin
5. Crown Paladin
6. Inquisitive Rogue
7. Mastermind Rogue
8. New Subclass

Dragons vs Giants Subclasses

1. Giant Barbarian
2. Rune Knight Fighter
3. Ascendant Dragon Monk
4. Drakewarden Ranger
5. Monster Slayer Ranger
6. New Subclass
7. New Subclass
8. New Subclass

Leftover Subclasses

1. Battlerager Barbarian (unlikely to return)
2. Creation Bard (likely to return)
3. Death Cleric (unlikely to return)
4. Echo Knight Fighter (unlikely to return)
5. Long Death Monk (unlikely to return)
6. Oathbreaker Paladin (unlikely to return)
7. Lunar Sorcery (unsure)
8. Undying Warlock (unlikely to return)
9. Chronurgy Wizard (unlikely to return)
10. Graviturgy Wizard (unlikely to return)
11. Scribes Wizard (likely to return)
12. War Wizard (unsure)

And because I am already knee-deep in this, if we take away the subclasses they can't use (Wildmount) and the subclasses that are clearly not coming back (Death Cleric, Oathbreaker, Undying), this is the spread of subclasses (including the new options that have been added in UA's since 2024 released):

6 Artificer
8 Barbarian
9 Bard
13 Cleric
7 Druid
9 Fighter
10 Monk
9 Paladin
4 Psion
10 Ranger
10 Rogue
10 Sorcerer
8 Warlock
11 Wizard

In my above-themed packages, there are 14 new subclass spaces. Assuming Psion would get their own large subclasses UA if they were trying to catch up, then WotC could add 4 Artificer, 2 Barbarian, 1 Bard, 3 Druid, 1 Fighter, 1 Paladin, and 2 Warlock subclasses to get all classes to at least 10.

 

[dalisprime]

3.5e Tome of Magic had some interesting concepts but generally failed mechanically for the Truenamer.

I was thinking more about the 2e Tome of Magic, which had some new spells and I guess what you could say were subclasses in 2e with the introduction of Wild Magic and Elemental schools of magic.

Oh ye the truenamer ironically becoming worse at the craft as it leveled up was a major oversight but it was a neat thought experiment which we're lacking these days. Adept was the last time WotC truly went out there in experimenting.