While we won't have the actual new PHB (or PH, as WotC has been referring to it, which I guess is technically more correct, but flies in the face of what I thought was the conventional abbreviation) for a little over two months (I think I get a week's early access because I'm a D&D Beyond subscriber) we have now gotten a big preview of these classes, and I think some community members already have advanced copies that are covered by NDAs.
While everything in the game is getting a new coat of paint, it's clear that some classes are getting bigger changes than others. I wanted to go through each of the twelve core classes (sorry, Artificers) and talk about how much of a change they've received and whether I think players should feel excited to convert from the 2014 versions or roll up a new character with these changes.
A couple notes:
Weapon Mastery is going to apply to a lot of classes, and is actually a pretty big change, but I don't want to just talk about it over and over. I think every class that gets Weapon Mastery is going to be happy about it, as it will make weapon choice a more interesting one, but I also think they've done a decent job of making every option attractive enough that you can still pick a weapon based on aesthetics and enjoy yourself (reminder: Flex was removed, to much rejoicing).
Secondly, with four redesigned/new subclasses coming with each of these classes, we need to consider the fact that some classes really get their power from their subclass, and so ignoring subclass features to just look at the class features might do a disservice - for instance, I think that the Ranger in particular leans pretty hard on its subclasses to get a lot of its power.
Barbarian:
While there's a lot of focus on Brutal Critical being replaced by Brutal Strikes (which I hope has clearer wording than it had in the UA, because I still don't totally know if you can still get advantage on an attack with it if you were getting advantage from some other means, like attacking a prone target) I actually think that, by far, the biggest and most impactful thing here will be the changes to Rage.
Rage now lasting 10 minutes, and the ability to extend it with a bonus action, is a total game-changer. I think Barbarians will feel a lot freer to burn rage outside of combat for environmental exploration now. Admittedly, 10 minutes and an hour are always kind of nebulous amounts of time in-game, but this is still pretty good.
I think we can also note specifically how nice it is that the Berserker's core mechanic no longer inflicts exhaustion on you - this was a rather baffling design decision from 2014 that probably should have gotten a replacement in Tasha's. But, thankfully, the new design should be much more usable. I also think the Path of the World Tree, the brand new subclass, will be very appealing (and might replace Path of the Giant for my insane Bugbear Polearm build that allows the Barbarian to strike from across the room).
Bard:
The Bard looks like it functions pretty similarly to how it already did, though as with all classes, there are some nice quality of life changes. I think the biggest impact, though, will be for mid-to-high-level campaigns, because Magical Secrets' redesign is massive.
In terms of subclasses, the three returning options are mostly just polished up. I will say the Valor Bard's new Bladesinger-style Extra Attack should also be very appealing - while I don't know if they're being reprinted here, the SCAG-era melee cantrips, Green-Flame Blade and Booming Blade, will both be fantastic options here. And believe it or not, but True Strike - which has been completely redesigned - might actually be a good option as well.
Bards are another one of three classes getting a brand-new subclass in the PHB: the College of Dance, which I think could potentially be really good in combat-heavy campaigns.
Clerics:
In terms of raw power, I don't see Clerics getting buffed, per se, which is fine given that they were already plenty powerful. What I think will be more of note is the degree of customization you have available to you. With armor training and weapon proficiency now made as an independent choice from your subclass, you will be freer to decide whether you really want to mix it up in melee or stay back at range.
Druids:
On the spellcasting side of things, we're basically looking at the same change that the Cleric got, but I will say I think the armor upgrade choice in Primal Order will be more tempting than the ones the Cleric get in Divine Order, given that Druids are a Wisdom-focused class and thus are less likely to max out their potential AC while wearing Light Armor.
I think the changes to Wild Shape are kind of more in line with how the feature is meant to work, though I'm one of the small group of people who really would have preferred templates rather than using existing stat blocks (the only problem with the first UA preview was that the stat blocks were bad).
Moon Druids are going to probably feel a pretty significant dip in power, but this is one of those instances where the power they had was overtuned. Instead, I think that it's more likely that players who don't go with Circle of the Moon will no longer feel like they've just flat-out made the wrong choice.
Druids also get the Circle of the Sea subclass, which is brand new. I honestly don't feel like I have enough of a sense of this subclass to know how powerful it will be - it is very combat-focused. But it's thematically pretty great - I can really picture a storm-tossed sailing ship with a Sea Druid standing on the deck, lightning crackling around them.
Fighter:
The Fighter was always pretty solid - a highly-customizable class thanks to its extra feats. Really, there are just a few nice quality-of-life changes, the best, I think, being that Indomitable will likely actually help when you have to make a tough saving throw.
In terms of subclasses, I'll confess I'm a little biased to checking out the changes to the Eldritch Knight. They get an amazing change (basically picking up the Bladesinger version of Extra Attack at level 7 rather than involving bonus actions, and then getting an upgrade to that at level 17) though I'm a little sad and frustrated that they didn't also grant them the ability to use a weapon as a spell focus.
While I'm not going to touch on it for every class that gets it, I think Weapon Mastery will be a lot of fun for Fighters.
Monk:
The Monk gets, I think, the award for Most Improved. If you ever hesitated to make a Monk because of its reputation for being underpowered, you'll really want to check out the new version.
In my mind, there are two things that are going to really make you notice the Monk's increased power.
The first and broader one is that you'll have more efficiency with your Focus Points (the new name for Ki Points - and thank God they didn't stick with "Discipline Points" because I don't want to have to type that over and over for ten years). Stuff like Step of the Wild and Patient Defense having alternate free options will make you feel like you have a lot more tools at your disposal.
However, I'd actually argue that the thing that is really going to make you feel more powerful is the change to Deflect Attacks - which is basically a buff to Deflect Missiles that allows it to now work on melee attacks.
At least in my experience, ranged weapon attacks are relatively uncommon with monsters - most ranged characters in D&D are spellcasters. Unless you're facing primarily humanoid enemies, you very rarely have ranged weapon attacks to deflect. But melee attacks? Those happen all the freaking time.
And it turns out that Deflect Attacks actually reduces damage by quite a huge amount. The result is that, if they can keep their Reaction free, the Monk is actually going to be potentially second only to the Barbarian in absorbing enemy attacks. Unless they're getting absolutely swarmed, being able to prevent up to 1d10+Dex+Monk Level (which at level 5 is probably going to be like 1d10+9, average of 14.5) damage to you every single round is kind of massive.
I also think it's notable that the changes to both Unarmed Strikes (now incorporating shoves and grapples) and Martial Arts (which now lets you use Dexterity to set the DC for grappling) will mean that Monks are going to actually be really good at moving foes around the battlefield and locking them down.
And we haven't even touched on subclasses. While the Elements Monk does have to spend FP to "turn on" their main ability, it's relatively cheap at just 1 point and and has some pretty significant benefits. While I don't know if Elements is suddenly the best subclass, it has definitely shed the stank of the old Four Elements Monk being arguably the worst subclass (actually, I think the true honor there goes to the Purple Dragon Knight Fighter).
Paladin:
First, a caveat: I think the Paladin will remain a popular and powerful option. There's a big nerf baked into a key Paladin feature, but I don't think it will ruin the class - it will just downgrade one of its key capabilities.
Divine Smite is a spell now, and it will now (at least as of the last UA) now take your bonus action to cast. The good news is that you don't need to cast it before making an attack - you'll still be able to wait and see if you've landed a critical hit before casting it and benefit from the doubled damage as a guarantee. But this has a couple implications: first, you won't be able to stack Divine Smite with any of the other Smite spells, and you won't be able to smite multiple times per turn. You also, I believe, can no longer smite when it's not your turn (such as with an opportunity attack).
The bonus action casting time will also now have it interfere with some subclass abilities, like Vow of Enmity or Sacred Weapon (which has been buffed by now making it a bonus action instead of an action - a great change). The fact that it's a spell will also make it vulnerable to counterspell (though I think that's pretty rare) and also means that Paladin/Barbarian multiclass builds have gotten a serious, potentially build-breaking nerf.
However, all that being said, I think the class is still good and powerful. You'll actually get more uses of Channel Divinity, and as mentioned before, many features that were once full actions are now bonus actions, allowing you to buff up your weapon, for example, and then strike in the same turn.
Also, the various Smite spells like Wrathful Smite and Searing Smite have been redesigned to make them competitive with Divine Smite - like DS, they will now let you choose to cast them after you've already hit, so you'll just be trading damage for utility.
Ranger:
Ok:
I think most of us hoped that the Ranger would get more interesting buffs. There's also a real fixation on Hunter's Mark, a spell that I think tends to fall out of a Ranger's typical damage routine once you get access to more powerful concentration spells.
I think most of the changes here are giving us the Ranger as we saw it in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (though Favored Foe has been redesigned to simply give you free castings of Hunter's Mark - far better than the Tasha's version of it).
All in all, I think the 2024 Ranger is going to work a lot better than the 2014 one. But I do think that it remains to be seen if the class really feels like it has a niche - in combat, it often feels like the Ranger falls behind a ranged Fighter (the only Ranger I played was a Strength-based dual-wielder, so I'm a deviant).
What is a bit of a shame is that the changes here don't suddenly make me want to drop everything and try a class that I was never all that impressed by. There are a lot of iterative changes here, but while it's a huge improvement over 2014, I don't know if it's enough of an improvement over the Tasha's version.
Rogue:
Rogues get what I think might be the coolest new class feature in Cunning Strikes, which lets you effectively treat your Sneak Attack dice as a resource to spend on various utility options. This is the closest I think 5E has gotten to an "instant resource" - something that is not attrition based, but still feels like something you can build up and spend.
To a large extent, the stuff the Rogue was already good at remains - they're still the ultimate skill-monkey class. But I think Cunning Strikes is going to introduce a lot of cool tactical choices (on top of weapon mastery) that should make it a lot of fun to play.
Sorcerer:
The Sorcerer is ultimately going to retain its strong position as a powerful blaster-caster, with Metamagic letting you alter your spells on the fly.
I think the most impactful combat-to-combat change is going to be Innate Sorcery - a kind of Sorcerer equivalent of Rage, which gives you advantage on all attack rolls with Sorcerer spells and increases their save DCs by 1. This can only be used twice a day, so in combat-heavy days you'll need to conserve it as a resource (and unlike Barbarians, I don't think you get more uses of it) but it will be a key choice to make in every fight.
Sorcerers will also get to learn more spells, and on top of that, three of the four subclasses come with additional spells as well, so Sorcerers will get a lot more versatile.
I think the only real nerf in any of this is that Twin Spell is not going to be as powerful as it once was (oh, and Draconic Sorcerers will only get their fly speed for limited time, rather than having permanent wings).
Warlock:
The Warlock has gotten a lot of reworked stuff. Notably, you get an extra Eldritch Invocation (or maybe two more?) and all Pact Boons are now simply EIs, meaning you can be a Tomelock, a Chainlock, and a Bladelock all on the same character.
Pact of the Blade in particular has been improved in a way that I think will end the tyranny of the Hexblade - the pact itself now lets you use Charisma as your ability to attack with the pact weapon.
Warlocks will also get a lot more spells to work with, because "expanded spell lists" that come with each subclass are now simply "patron spells," which you'll gain automatically without counting against your total spells known.
Also of note, the Archfey and Great Old One patrons have been significantly redesigned. The GOO has a similar vibe to its older incarnation, but every feature has been significantly improved and in some cases just replaced. (Clairvoyant Combatant shares some elements with Entropic Ward, but is now both much more thematically connected to the concept of the subclass but also is just flat-out much, much better than the old ability). The Archfey is more like a total redesign, with a focus on the Misty Step spell that will let you zip around the battlefield and inflict fey shenanigans in addition to being incredibly mobile.
Wizard:
Wizards didn't need a ton of help, did they? Well, you'll still be getting a couple fun toys, like a bonus to your Arcana rolls and a new design of the "savant" subclass features. These features will now simply give you a spell from your chosen school to add for free to your spellbook every other level, correcting the bizarre way the old versions of these features would actually incentivize not learning spells of your chosen school on level-up.
So, there you have it. I think simply because of the degree to which it was improved, the Monk probably winds up having the best time with this PHB update. I think the Paladin probably has the least fun with it, simply because it's the only class that gets a nerf that is going to be felt across all subclasses (only Circle of the Moon Druids are going to lament the changes to Wild Shape all that much). The good news is that even where there were nerfs, I think that the overall feeling here will be an improvement.
I can definitely say the updated classes I'm most eager to try out are the Monk and Rogue. Sort of wish I could say the Ranger, but that's admittedly also a class fantasy I've never been quite as excited by simply on a flavor level.
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