Subclasses I'd Like to See Revisited

 So, as of playtest seven, we now have a list of subclasses we can expect to see in the 2024 PHB. I don't know to what degree this is subject to change, and for certain we will see some adjustments before the ones listed make it to print. But right now, these are certainly much more likely to see print than not. With the exception of the two classes that had more than four subclasses in the 2014 PHB, every subclass of the other ten PHB classes that was printed in the 2014 book will carry over (with a couple getting new names, but still thematically and mechanically linked to the old versions) along with another one or two to fill out every class' options to 4. These are:

Barbarian: Berserker, Wildheart (formerly Totem Warrior,) Zealot, and World Tree (new)

Bard: Valor, Lore, Glamour, Dance (new)

Cleric: Life, Light, War, Trickery

Druid: Land, Sea (new,) Stars, Moon

Fighter: Battle Master, Brawler (new,) Champion, Eldritch Knight

Monk: Hand (formerly Open Hand,) Shadow, Elements (formerly Four Elements,) Mercy

Paladin: Ancients, Devotion, Vengeance, Glory

Ranger: Hunter, Beast Master, Gloom Stalker, Fey Wanderer

Rogue: Assassin, Thief, Arcane Trickster, Swashbuckler

Sorcerer: Draconic, Wild Magic, Aberrant, Clockwork

Warlock: Archfey, Fiend, Great Old One, Celestial

Wizard: Evoker, Diviner, Abjurer, Illusionist

    In a lot of cases, they've made big improvements to the subclasses in the revisions. In particular, subclasses that were often looked down on a underpowered or hamstrung, like the Four Elements Monk or Beast Master Ranger (which admittedly got a big glow-up in Tasha's - and the update more or less just makes that version the default) were improved a lot.

But, of course, over the 9 years of 5th Edition, a lot of these classes have gotten many more subclasses, and given the polish that we're seeing with these revisions (though to be clear, there are some where the changes have weakened them, like the Zealot's Rage Beyond Death is not nearly as cool as the older version) there are some subclasses I'd have liked to see printed here if only to get a newer, better version of them.

I need to narrow my criteria here, though. This is not a list of subclasses I simply wanted included in the PHB because I thought they fit the core fantasy of the class in an interesting way. These are also not just subclasses that I like, thematically or otherwise. In a sense, these are subclasses that I feel have strong themes that make them an appealing choice to play, but which need some mechanical enhancement to make them live up to their fantasy.

Artificers:

    Alchemist: Admittedly, we knew we weren't getting the Artificer in the PHB, even though, especially as WotC has rolled back things like universal spell lists and class groups, it seems it would be all the more helpful to do so to let this class keep pace with the others in 5E. Honestly, I think that the Artificer does a pretty good job with most of its subclasses. The Alchemist, though, I think falls short in part because it doesn't really have a place to truly excel. The Artillerist is the other spellcasting subclass, but with the Eldritch Cannons, it is able to pump out a ton of ranged damage reliably, while the Alchemist is stuck in this odd place of being kinda-sorta a healer and with a kind of underdeveloped theme of boosting damage types that you could conceivably get out of various compounds brewed up with alchemy supplies.

    Armorer: I adore the Armorer, but I do think it would benefit from another pass to make sure that it's fulfilling its role. This is a subclass that can be built in two very different ways. I wonder if it would be too powerful to allow the Armorer to use both its melee and ranged weapons at the same time, perhaps only granting certain bonuses to it while its armor was set into a particular mode. Furthermore, with everyone getting Weapon Masteries, let's see some applied to the Armorer's built-in weapons. (This will be a theme).

    Battle Smith: Like the Armorer, they need Weapon Mastery, but otherwise they're probably ok.

Barbarian:

    Storm Herald: I adore the thematics of the Storm Herald Barbarian, but it has always struggled a bit. I think an easy change to this subclass would be to let you choose the kind of storm you create each time you Rage, letting you adapt to the situation.

    Beast: Likewise, I love the thematics of the Path of the Beast, but it does fall behind because of the way that its natural weapons don't scale with magical weapons or items. Generally speaking (and this is a theme,) I'd like to see any subclass that generates its own weapons find a way to keep up with peers that are getting their hands on super-powerful magic weapons.

Bard:

    Whispers: Thematically, I love the College of Whispers. But two of its three subclass features are really situational, forcing Psychic Blades to really carry the weight of the subclass. As a DM, I've struggled to create opportunities for my best friend's Rakdos Whisper Bard in what has tended to be something of an action-focused, combat-heavy campaign.

Cleric:

    I'll confess that I don't really have any strong urge to see any particular subclass revisited. I might have expected different picks from the PHB to make it into 2024, but I can't say that the ones I thought of needed significant reworks.

Druid:

    Spores: This is another case of a subclass I think is really interesting, but it also pushes the Druid into more of a melee playstyle than they're probably really supported by. Also, giving your melee attacks extra poison damage is not so great when there are at least three creature types who are nearly all immune to poison (undead, fiend, construct).

    Wildfire: I don't think this one is too underpowered, but maybe another pass at it.

Fighter:

    Like the Cleric, I don't know that there are any here that are really crying out for a rework. I think the underpowered ones are also often thematically underwhelming as well. For example, thematically, why is an Arcane Archer not just an Eldritch Knight? I might take another look at the Psi Warrior, but I don't know that it's in dire need.

Monk:

    Drunken Master: So, the Brawler Fighter looks like it could be a lot of fun. The problem? Everything it does is what the Drunken Master should have been able to do. The Drunken Master is a really fun concept on a thematic level, but the design doesn't really do much with it. I think you could go two directions with it: either go the Jackie Chan route, where you're doing a lot of improvised weapons and evasiveness, or you could go the Warcraft route and make the brewing and consumption of booze into a mechanical aspect - like being able to down a flammable, high-proof ale that you spit in a cone in front of you, lighting it on fire as you do.

    Astral Self: The spiritual, philosophical aspect of the Monk is something that I think remains painfully unexplored, and the Astral Self was, on a thematic level, a golden opportunity to do that. But the subclass suffers tremendously by being so intensely Ki/Discipline-point dependent. A version of this that let you, you know, use your subclass even if you were drained of resources would be a great idea.

Paladin:

    Honestly, there aren't a ton of subclasses for the Paladin in the first place, and I've always felt that your subclass is less impactful than it is for other classes because the Paladin itself is such a strong class overall (assuming they don't go through with the Divine Smite changes we saw in playtest six - I'd welcome some changes to allow, for example, alternative smites to be as easy to use as the main feature, but the nerf in 6 was a few steps too far).

    Oathbreaker: Actually, you know what, there is one subclass I'd like to see revisited. The Oathbreaker is from the DMG, and is intended for villains, but I think that the design of D&D has moved away from giving NPCs classes and subclasses as a player would have. And I think that the idea of a Paladin should accommodate darker archetypes. I don't even think an Oathbreaker need necessarily be evil - you could make it a subclass where you found that you couldn't do what you wanted to do within the strict tenets of your oath. That might mean you abandoned virtue for selfish gain, but it could also mean that you rebelled more against the "lawful" side of the traditional paladin rather than the "good." Basically, give us a version of this subclass where we don't automatically buff hostile undead or fiends and we're most of the way there.

Ranger:

    Monster Slayer: If you've read this blog, you know that I have a special place in my heart for Gothic Horror Monster Hunters, and this subclass seems built to make you the ultimate vampire/werewolf hunter. But its mechanics have always kind of lagged behind - a bunch of cool ideas, many of which are probably too situational. (Though I think that Slayer's Counter could be a really awesome ability and a great capstone if it worked on any target).

Rogue:

    Inquisitve: The Inquisitive is a really cool concept for a Rogue - basically being the scene in Guy Ritchie's first Sherlock Holmes movie in which Holmes defeats a far bigger and stronger guy in a bare-knuckle boxing match because he's able to analyze all the man's weaknesses in a fraction of a second. I think the subclass is honestly not as bad as some people make it out to be, but it also has some weird, archaic design that, among other things, seems to think that you're going to be exploring a space in initiative. I'd love another, modern pass on this.

    Soulknife: The Soulknife is an amazing subclass, but it's one that is going to miss out on a bunch of the new design of the Rogue due to the fact that its weapons don't actually count as any specific kind of weapon. Giving the Psychic Blades (and yes, I'm aware that that's the same name as a very different College of Whispers Bard feature) an official weapon type (clearly the off-hand one is basically a dagger - you could say the main-hand one is a shortsword) and then providing magical items that boost the attack and damage rolls of these weapons (as they've promised to do with unarmed strikes and improvised weapons) would really cement this as an awesome subclass.

Sorcerer:

    Storm: I was honestly shocked to not see this included among the 2024 PHB options, as it seems like such a slam-dunk conceptually. But the Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul (each losing the latter words in their names) are very popular in part because they're powerful, and powerful in part because of their bonus spells. Clearly, every sorcerer subclass should get bonus spells. Storm isn't bad, honestly, and Sorcerous Burst will give them a reliable cantrip that can deal their favored kinds of damage. So, they might not need much of a revision, to be honest.

    Shadow: My only issue here is the fact that the Hound of Ill Omen doesn't scale with us. Granted, its primary purpose is simply to be near an enemy and thus impose disdavantage on its saves against our spells, but it would be nice to make this a sort of pet-subclass akin to the Battle Smith or Beast Master.

Warlock:

    So, confession: I'm glad the Hexblade isn't making into the 2024 PHB. It was always a subclass that I felt was picked almost entirely for mechanical reasons and not for flavor ones, and I'm glad that Bladelocks will easily be able to play any subclass. The Genie, similarly, is totally fine and powerful enough, and I think strays just far enough outside of the "quintessential" options that I'm fine with it being left out of the PHB. The Undead is already a kind of reworking of the much less impressive Undying. I'd have really liked to see it in the PHB instead of the Celestial, but I also think it's a subclass that doesn't really need a rework. So, I don't really have a pick for a Warlock that I need to see revised. I'm fine with confining the Undying to the ash heap of history, and the ones in Tasha's and Van Richten's are plenty powerful enough as it is, as long as the broad change of Expanded Spell Lists becoming Patron Spells is applied to these as well.

Wizard:

    Necromancer: The lack of the Necromancer in playtest 7 was honestly a bit of a shock. Not only is it useful to have a "dark" option for the Wizard, the subclass could also use a bit of an update, for example swapping out Undead Thralls' spell feature to use Summon Undead instead of Animate Dead (though we have yet to see how the latter spell might be redesigned). If we do see "villainous subclasses" like the Death Domain and Oathbreaker Paladin, I think there's some hope we could see this subclass presented there. But I think it's a shame we won't see this in the PHB.