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.

 

[Kurotowa]

looking over the arcane archer, my quick and dirty:

This Arcane Archer is similar to Battle Master, but with a huge downside. The BM's number of Superiority Dice scales with level and the DC scales with their main stat, while the AA's number of Arcane Shot uses and their DC scales with Int. That means the AA has to dump a bunch of ASI into raising Int to get close to the level of effectiveness of a BM. Which is a huge MAD penalty.

I'm unhappy with a lot of what I see here. This version of the Hexblade is a hot mess, mixing good with terrible.

Hungering Hex and Accursed Shield are great; finally, and way to have melee level AC and sustain without needing a multiclass dip. But getting Hexblade's Curse instead of free Hex casts is terrible because Hexblade's Curse can't be freely reapplied during its duration. Since everything in the subclass revolves around HC being active, it either needs to be unlimited application or switched back to the stronger Hex spell.

Similarly, Inescapable Hex is good, and Armor of Hexes being unlimited use is great. But Harrowing Hex and Hindering Curse are terrible because they encourage mixed spell-weapon use, only a Warlock doesn't get enough spell slots to make that viable. Not to mention that a lot of the spells you want to cast are Bonus Action buffs that don't benefit from either feature. And then there's the complete joke of Explosive Hex, which costs a 5th level spell slot to do a tiny 3d6 AoE.

I want to like this Hexblade. There's some good bits here. But this is two steps forward, three steps back.

 

[Parmandur]

I think this screams 2026 to me and frankly I think the Horror ones are for sure that also, at this point.

My guess is these and that UA are all for the Tasha’s Xanathar’s combo book next year, but being tested in thematic bulks. Psion I still think is for something different, my guess being Dark Sun next year.

Maaaaaybr, though there is still that October book to consider.

2026 seems too soon for another Everything book after the Core.

 

[Remathilis]

Maaaaaybr, though there is still that October book to consider.

2026 seems too soon for another Everything book after the Core.

I'm increasingly thinking that October book is a.) Lorwyn and b.) delayed.

I WANT to be wrong though...

 

[see]

o hai. I'm troubleshooting this cuz I'm seeing it from a few corners. Are you getting the 403 when:
A. Going to the main UA page;
B. Going to the Arcane Subclasses page specifically, or;
C. Downloading the PDF

When starting from https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/ua/ , I clicked on the link to https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/dnd/ua/arcane-subclasses , and I got the 403.

 

[mearls]

I want to like this Hexblade. There's some good bits here. But this is two steps forward, three steps back.

I think we've hit the limit of what you can do with the subclass approach. Subclasses are simply too narrow to provide enough design space to go really far afield. If D&D switches to monthly releases - there's a new product a month starting in July onward for this year at least - we're going to hit the wall pretty quickly.

You saw such a slow flow of content under 5e in part because the core 5e classes had to err on the side of stability over flexibility. The bar for "subclass worth taking without being broken" is very high when the core class carries so much mechanical weight.

I hope someone unleashes the designers to start taking different angles on expanding player options.

 

[EthanSental]

The accompanying unearthed Adana video with Amanda, Ben and Mackenzie has a different feel than the usual with Todd talking with Chris, Jeremy, and others…but I’ll get used to it in no time I’m sure!

 

[darjr]

Todd is doing a live stream going over the latest UA!

Unearthed Arcana: Arcane Subclasses | D&D

Support the stream: https://www.patreon.com/c/toddkenreck

www.youtube.com

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

My group just finished a campaign where our party’s monk used magical tattoos to enhance their abilities.

 

[popuman]

Downloaded the pdf and checking it out.

 

[darjr]

I think we've hit the limit of what you can do with the subclass approach. Subclasses are simply too narrow to provide enough design space to go really far afield. If D&D switches to monthly releases - there's a new product a month starting in July onward for this year at least - we're going to hit the wall pretty quickly.

You saw such a slow flow of content under 5e in part because the core 5e classes had to err on the side of stability over flexibility. The bar for "subclass worth taking without being broken" is very high when the core class carries so much mechanical weight.

I hope someone unleashes the designers to start taking different angles on expanding player options.

What would you say screams for a new class fist?

Any of these here? Would any of these be better served by being a new class?