Deep Delve: Eldritch Knight in Playtest 7

 While my Wizard is catching up in terms of hours played, the D&D character I've played the most is my Blue Dragonborn Eldritch Knight Fighter, Jax (as a note, I didn't know Jax was an actual name when I came up with this, so I thought that this was just a cool fantasy-sounding name for a dragon-man).

Since... before I really ever played any class-based RPGs, I've always been enamored with the idea of the Battlemage - and to clarify, what I've always meant by Battlemage is someone who combines the heavy armor and weapons of a knight with the magical capabilities of a wizard. (The way I often see it portrayed, basically any spellcaster who fights in combat is a Battlemage, but I've always meant one that is just as tanky as any front-line fighter - like an Arcane equivalent of a Paladin). The Eldritch Knight is perhaps a little less magically capable than my imagined Battlemage, but it's the closest thing in 5th Edition to that ideal.

Unlike the Great Old One revision we looked at in the previous post, the Eldritch Knight in playtest 7 has seen more subtle tweaks and tune-ups. But I do think that, ultimately, they come out ahead.

First off, as with all Fighters (and basically all classes that use weapons by default,) EKs will gain the benefit of weapon masteries, and with that, the Fighter's specific ways of interacting with those masteries.

But we're looking mainly at the subclass, so let's compare this feature-to-feature. In this case, all the features of the 2014 EK return, but with some subtle shifts to their functionality in some cases.

Before we start, though, we need to address a big change, but also note that Eldritch Knights might wind up being the sole subclass to escape this change's implications. Action Surge no longer allows you to take the Magic action with your additional action. Thus, the old "Fireball Action Surge Fireball" technique is gone.

(Or is it?)

Spellcasting:

Spellcasting has gotten two changes, one of which I think is far more impactful than the other. We're still 1/3 Casters, meaning we have to wait until level 7 to get 2nd level spells, level 13 for 3rd level, and capping out at 17th level with 4th level spells. And, with the disappearance of the Arcane spell list, we are once again using the Wizard spell list to choose from.

Now: the old Eldritch Knight could only learn spells from the Abjuration and Evocation schools, with a few exceptions every few levels. That restriction now only applies to two of the three spells that you learn at level 3. For your first three spells, two must be from Evocation or Abjuration, but after that, all the spells you learn can be anything on the Wizard spell list you have slots to cast.

This is nice. While we could always pick up off-school spells at 3rd, 8th, 14th, and 20th level, this allows us to be much more flexible in the spells we pick up, giving us easier access to things like Hold Person, Polymorph, Misty Step, etc.

The next change is that we can now use an Arcane Focus for our Wizard spells.

    This I think is negligible unless we are counting the Staff used for an Arcane Focus as a Quarterstaff (they are considered separate items in the adventuring gear section). I was really hoping, and will beg for it in the survey when we get it, for Eldritch Knights (and Arcane Tricksters) to be able to, like College of Swords Bards, use their weapon as a spellcasting focus. You could even make this part of Weapon Bond.

    The reason is that currently, if you use a one-handed weapon and a shield, you need to drop your weapon if you want to cast a reaction spell like Shield, Absorb Elements, or Counterspell. It's not all that disadvantageous to do so - you'll need to use your object interaction to pick the weapon back up at the start of your turn, or to use Weapon Bond to summon it back if it's no longer beneath you. But because it's more of an annoyance than a real penalty, I think it would be best to simply say that these combat-spellcasters are trained to cast spells while in combat.

War Bond:

So, Weapon Bond has been renamed War Bond. It is otherwise completely identical as far as I can tell.

    This is one of those features that is fun, and in very unusual circumstances could potentially be helpful, but is honestly probably better for using with a Thrown weapon. And that is why you will definitely want to get a Trident as an Eldritch Knight, which have suddenly become basically the best one-handed martial weapon (and whether you like its mastery or not, you're a Fighter, so you can just change it).

War Magic:

Ok, here's the big one. War Magic is at the core of the Eldritch Knight's appeal (well, that and being able to cast Shield with full plate and a shield,) but it could always be a little frustrating. The old version let you make a single weapon attack as a bonus action after casting a cantrip.

This created breakpoints in terms of damage. First off, I'm assuming here that you're using either Green-Flame Blade or Booming Blade, which both have the benefit of not relying on your Intelligence modifier for the attack roll. Given that you have two attacks per attack action, from level 7 (when you get this) to level 10, it's a good idea to cast a cantrip and then make a bonus action attack. But once you get to level 11, the scaling of the cantrip doesn't keep up with the damage of another attack unless you can reliably trigger its secondary effects (hitting a second target with GFB or getting a character to move with BB).

The new version fixes this, and it does this by basically flipping it. Now, when you take the Attack action, you can replace one of the attacks with one of your Wizard cantrips.

(Did you notice it yet?)

So, now, there's basically never a reason not to throw a cantrip in there. Indeed, this could even work with a ranged EK - Shooting off a Fire Bolt and then two arrows with your Longbow at level 11 means probably 3d10+2(1d8+5), which comes out to 16.5 + 19, or 35.5 damage, compared to 28.5 with just three longbow attacks (granted, you've probably got a much better hit bonus with your longbow). But for melee EKs using the SCAG cantrips, this becomes a no-brainer. On a single target, my EK with a +1 Battleaxe would make a Booming Blade attack (dealing 3d8+6, or 19.5 damage) and two regular attacks (ignoring the Chromatic Dragonborn breath option) for 1d8+6 (10.5 twice, so 21) and we're looking at 40.5 damage if everything hits (and 3d8 if the target moves). That's compared with my previous best single-target damage option, which was three attacks for 31.5.

I adore this change. And even better: we now get to save our bonus action for War Bond or Second Wind!

Eldritch Strike:

This feature is unchanged. But let's consider how the previous change affects it: The old War Magic required the following sequence of events: you cast a cantrip, and then, you can make an attack as a bonus action. That means that by the time you've attacked with a weapon (outside of the SCAG cantrips) you aren't casting other spells that turn. Sure, next turn they'll get disadvantage, but circumstances can change a lot in the next round.

Now, however, you can attack once, grant disadvantage, and then unleash some spell that requires a saving throw. It'll still only be a cantrip at this level - and you probably only have those SCAG cantrips. But if you don't care about not having utility cantrips, you could have something like Frostbite. But this will of course get more powerful when we get Improved War Magic.

Arcane Charge:

This feature is unchanged, and I also can't think of any nuances to the other changes that make it work significantly differently.

Improved War Magic:

This has gotten a similar treatment to War Magic, but it also makes the cost a little higher for casting a leveled spell. When you take the Attack action on your turn, you can replace two of the attacks with a casting of a Wizard spell that has a casting time of an action.

Ok, a couple things:

First off, there's nothing saying we can't use this with War Magic on the same turn, meaning we could cast Green-Flame Blade with one attack and then Fireball with the other two.

Is it double-dipping on us to cost an additional attack as well as a spell slot? Possibly. I don't think it's the end of the world.

But let's talk about another nuance. This is the thing I've been hinting at the whole time.

The change to Action Surge is, I think, necessary to disincentivize spellcasters from dipping two levels into Fighter just so that they can cast two leveled spells in a turn. It encourages multiclassing into a class whose other features are probably going to go unused (though Medium Armor and a Shield for a Wizard is nothing to sneeze at). But as someone who was looking forward for years to be able to Fireball-Action Surge-Fireball, and whose campaign fell apart half a level (we were using XP) before I got to do that, I was crestfallen.

Here's the thing, though: an Eldritch Knight can still fucking do it.

See, (and here I have to try not to giggle like a mad fool) the change to Action Surge says we cannot take the Magic action as our additional action.

But we're not casting our spells with a Magic Action!

Unlike every other spellcaster, as far as I can tell (at least among the subclasses in the 2024 PHB,) when we cast a spell as part of our action, we're taking the Attack Action. And when we use our Action Surge, we are going to make another Attack Action. And as part of that Attack action, we're going to cast another fucking fireball.

Now: I don't know if this is intentional. They might break this by making an explicit rule that you can only ever cast a single leveled spell on your turn (with the exception of reaction spells). And I will not be surprised if they specifically make changes to address this, like changing Improved War Magic and even War Magic to say you can only do this once per turn. None of this will shock me.

But I hope they don't. And I think they shouldn't. And I'm not just saying that because it would help my character.

Because if I want to cast Fireball twice in a turn in this way, I'm going to need to invest 18 levels into the Fighter class. This is not a dip. This is not even a level that most campaigns go to. Indeed, we're going to have to wait five more levels to do this with the new system.

But don't you think that a character who has achieved 18th level as a specialized Battlemage, a master of magical combat, who has walked the path of the Fighter to the pinnacle of mortal capabilities... can't we give them something special?

I really hope this nuance is intentional and that it stays. Because it makes the Eldritch Knight truly unique among all the classes and subclasses.

Generally, if we get this version of the Fighter and the Eldritch Knight, I'd be really excited to play my good dragon man (I haven't been able to since converting him to the Fizban's version of the Chromatic Dragonborn).

Deep Delve: Great Old One Warlock in Playtest 7

 So, Playtest 7 brought about new revisions to a whole lot of PHB subclasses. Basically, as long as a class didn't already have more than four subclasses (the Cleric and Wizard,) all the 2014 subclasses were bound for a reprint. But those subclasses that worked just fine are getting only minor tweaks. Those that were broken are getting much more extensive changes.

The Great Old One is the subclass for the very first D&D character I ever rolled up. But in playing the game, I've often looked at the design of that subclass in 2014 and found it seriously lacking. Without the burden of a whole ton of other subclasses and other posts to make, I thought I'd go in and look at how the new version feels, both in comparison to the old one and on its own.

There might be a bit of redundancy here with the earlier post, but I'm going to probably go deeper into my thoughts about the design.

Awakened Mind:

When I first started playing, I was not, I guess, aware of how precise the language in class features needs to be. So, I interpreted the ability to speak telepathically with another creature as a two-way communication. The new version of this feature is functionally very different from the old version.

The only real nerf here is that you no longer get to communicate across language barriers. That is a little sad, but the other aspects are quite good. Indeed, this now functions identically to the Aberrant Sorcerer's Telepathic Speech feature (these subclasses are obviously thematically linked).

Actually, there is one other nerf - you need to activate it with a bonus action, while the old one was just always on for people within range.

I think this change is good - the old version was misleadingly less powerful than it seemed, and the new version both spells thing out much clearer and also will probably see more use.

Psychic Spells:

This feature has two parts, and both are intriguing.

The first is that you can choose to have your Warlock spells deal Psychic damage instead of other forms.

Naturally, you'll probably never use this on Eldritch Blast or anything that does Force damage. Even if Psychic is a pretty rarely-resisted damage type, almost nothing is immune or resistant to Force - which is honestly kind of the damage type's purpose. But let's consider what spells we might use this on:

The Warlock spell list is, at least for now, staying the same except for a handful of spells (hoping it gets better high-level spells). So let's go down the list, specifically of Warlock spells that deal damage that is not Force or Psychic.

Cantrips: Booming Blade, Chill Touch, Create Bonfire, Frostbite, Green-Flame Blade, Infestation, Lightning Lure, Magic Stone, Poison Spray, Thunderclap, Toll the Dead.

1st level: Armor of Agathys, Arms of Hadar, Hellish Rebuke, Hex, Witch Bolt

2nd level: Cloud of Daggers, Shatter

3rd level: Hunger of Hadar, Spirit Shroud, Thunder Step, Vampiric Touch

4th level: Blight, Elemental Bane, Shadow of Moil, Sickening Radiance

5th level: Enervation, Negative Energy Flood, Wall of Light

6th level: Circle of Death, Investiture of Flame, Investiture of Ice, Investiture of Wind

7th level: Crown of Stars, Finger of Death

So, it's not a tiny number of spells. However, a lot of these do Necrotic damage, which is also pretty rarely resisted, and even a few do Radiant, which is even less often resisted. Still, being able to use spells that usually do necrotic damage when fighting incorporeal undead could be useful.

The other half of this feature nearly gives you Psionics. You can cast Enchantment and Illusion spells without using verbal or somatic components. Notably, this means that if they don't have material components either, you can't be counterspelled and people can't necessarily know that you were the one that cast the spell. The patron spells for the GOO Warlock have Dissonant Whispers, Phantasmal Force, Tasha's Hideous Laughter, Confusion, and Modify Memory. Unfortunately, a lot of these do have material components, so you might need to work out with your DM how obvious it is you are casting a spell if you happen to be holding your spell focus, you know, or a bit of fleece.

Still, you will be able to cast these even if you're silenced, and I think it would be reasonable to say that casting them does not break stealth if there's no obvious visible or audible effect to the spell. And those spells that lack a material component, which a good number of them do, will work just as you'd want them to.

Clairvoyant Combatant:

I always hated Entropic Ward. I hated it because it was weak - a single chance to impose disadvantage, and then only if they then miss you, you get advantage on a single attack roll. But I also hated it because it felt like it had zero to do with Great Old Ones. Entropy is, sort of, another term for chaos. Great Old Ones aren't inherently chaotic. Hell, Beholders and Mindflayers are typically Lawful. And, like... what is actually happening when I use this? It was terrible, off-theme, and just left a sour taste in my mouth.

Clairvoyant Combatant, though... this works.

And it works by using Awakened Mind. As part of the same bonus action to activate Awakened Mind, you can force the creature to make a Wisdom saving throw, and if they fail, the creature has disadvantage on attacks against you and you have advantage on attack rolls against it for the duration of the bond - which they can't break unless you're incapacitated or they get miles away from you.

You get one free use of this per short rest, but then you can spend spell slots if you need to use it again. (Specifically, you can spend 2nd level spell slots to recharge it - by this level as a Warlock, you have 3rd level slots, but if you're multiclassed or have spell slots through other means, like Pact of the Tome, this puts limitations on that).

Mechanically, this is similar (though obviously more powerful, as it persists for far more attacks). But the huge win here is that there's an actual thematic reason for this: as someone who has touched a power beyond mortal (and even immortal) comprehension, you can fuck with your target's mind. I think the phrasing of it as "clairvoyant" implies that you're reading the thoughts of how they intend to attack you, and what way they're anticipating your attacks, but you could also interpret it as simply breaking their mind with unsettling eldritch power.

My only real problem with this is the range. Awakened Mind requires a target be within 30 feet of you. While you can certainly dip within range and then leave it, unless I'm a committed Bladelock, I want to stay 90 feet away from them if I can (the range of Hex).

Still, I think this feature is miles and miles beyond the old Entropic Ward, and I far, far prefer this in more or less every way.

Thought Shield:

This is the one feature that hasn't changed at all. That's fine, as it always seemed reasonable. Psychic damage is not unheard of amongst monsters. There is, of course, the feedback loop if this triggers a Star Spawn Hulk. Oddly, this will also in theory feedback if you hit yourself with a spell that does psychic damage, such as if you put yourself in a Synaptic Static. I might phrase it as "when another creature deals Psychic damage to you" to resolve at least that case. I also might say you "can" have the creature take the same amount of damage you do, to avoid these weird edge cases. Or, embrace chaos and stay the hell away from Star Spawn Hulks!

Eldritch Hex:

This is actually another feature that does something I thought the base version did when I first started reading the D&D books. First off, it gives you Hex for free (so if you have that, be sure to swap it out at 10th level). Now, when you choose an ability to Hex, the target gets disadvantage on saving throws as well as ability checks for that ability for the duration of the spell.

Hex is, by this level, not what I want to hold concentration on. That being said, this makes it more attractive as an option. But disadvantage on a saving throw of your choice? That could be very handy. If your Wizard friend is getting ready to try to Disintegrate a foe, giving them disadvantage on Dexterity could really help that spell land.

For Warlocks, though, our damage is mostly born out of attack rolls - both with Eldritch Blast and with the Summon spells (which we'll touch on in the 14th level feature). This is for sure a damage loss versus, say, Summon Aberration, but if you coordinate with the rest of your party, it could be clutch.

Create Thrall:

The old Create Thrall was interesting thematically, but seemed like a nightmare for DMs and really situational (and also relies on you facing humanoid enemies at high levels). So, the old one is totally gone.

Instead, we now get Summon Aberration for free. We can also cast it in a different way: you can cast it without requiring Concentration. If you do it this way, the duration of the spell is reduced to 1 minute, but the Aberration gets Temp HP equal to your Charisma modifier plus your Warlock level. (So, probably 19 at this level and capping out at 26 if we use the level 19 ASI to get Charisma up to 22).

Additionally, the first time your Aberration hits a creature under the effects of Hex, the Aberration does bonus Psychic damage equal to Hex's bonus damage.

Thematically? Amazing. Mechanically... ok, let's break down all the ways that this probably isn't going to be used as intended.

First off, no Great Old One Warlock worth their salt is not going to take Summon Aberration at 7th level. It's a fantastic spell that is also totally on-brand for the subclass. This comes when you are twice that level. Maybe make Summon Aberration a third Patron spell at level 7?

Second: I wonder if this feature was designed with Playtest 5's version of Hex in mind. If you don't remember, that playtest changed Hunter's Mark and Hex to always only work on the first hit, but as they scaled up in level, they also scaled up in damage. Thus, a 3rd level Hex did 2d6, and a 5th level Hex did 3d6. While the lack of auto-scaling spells in playtest 5 (and the fact that you got these spell levels at 9th and 17th level) made this really underwhelming, this version of Hex is actually strictly better than the old one when used with a Pact Magic warlock. The reason is that the current version still relies on your hitting on all attacks to do its full damage, while the playtest 5 version only requires you to hit once.

Notably, this made the Beast Master Hunter capable of doing 6d6 extra damage with Hunter's Mark thanks to it similar feature. However, with this design, even if the Aberration is doing two attacks per round, you're getting at most 4d6 out of Hex.

Third: Yes, this is meant to encourage you to cast Hex with Summon Aberration. But you know what I think I'd rather do?

Cast Summon Aberraton with Summon Aberration.

While a single creature or object can only be affected by the same spell once, there's nothing saying you can't cast a spell like Mage Armor on multiple creatures. And if one instance of Summon Aberration doesn't require concentration, there's nothing to say you can't cast a second, normal, 1-hour long, concentration version.

Actually... at this level we have 3 warlock spell slots. Maybe I cast it three times.

Sure, it'll take three turns to get up and running, but given that I don't need to be worried about getting knocked out of concentration on the first two minute-long ones (and they get to start attacking immediately,) that means that by turn 3, I could swarm my target with 3 Star Spawn, attacking a total of six times to deal 1d8+8 on each hit (a total of 6d8+48, or 75 damage) and then potentially dealing 6d6 (21) damage from their Whispering Auras.

Even if we only cast two of them - the same spell slot cost of doing Hex and Summon Aberration - we're still doing 4d8+32 (50) damage compared to 2d8+16+1d6 (28.5). We can even throw in the 3d6 damage we could get for hitting with Eldritch Blast on later turns (10.5) and we're still a little short.

This cannot be the intention, and shows you the pitfalls of removing concentration from spells.

I really like the idea of incentivizing the use of Summon Aberration, but I think even with Eldritch Hex, there's still not enough power in the Hex spell to make it worth your while at this level as a Warlock.

    But the big question is this: Does this subclass feel like it now delivers better on its fantasy and feels like a powerful one to play? Tentatively, I think yes. I don't think it's outpacing the other subclasses (the Archfey has gotten way better than it was) and I think there could be some tweaks made to the features here, but I would feel good converting my beloved neutral good spooky boy Conrad to this version of the subclass. With a little polish and tweaking, I think we could have an absolute banger here.

Liberator of Rubicon

 Well, I can't help but do the "good guy" ending. I've beaten Armored Core VI, by which I mean I've gotten one of the three endings. Upon finishing the final mission, you immediately get booted back into new game +, but you don't really lose anything - you can still replay any missions you'd done during your first playthrough, still have the parts and OS chips you got on the first go around, but any missions that call for a decision can now be done the other way.

I haven't actually played any of those yet.

Spoilers Ahead.

Playtest 7: Odds and Ends

 With the classes out of the way, we can now turn our attention to the other elements of Playtest 7. 

Spells:

So, the big change here is the removal of the Arcane, Divine, and Primal spell lists. I think the main beneficiary of this is the Wizard, who has always gotten most of its strength by having the biggest spell list, with things that even Sorcerers can't cast.

I will say that while I think this might be the right call, it does have some negative consequences. The first is that I liked the idea of giving an in-game definition of these different kinds of magic. Even if Cure Wounds can potentially be any of these (Artificers being Arcane casters who can cast it) there was a kind of cool planar/cosmic explanation. There are also a couple classes that could use better spell lists (Warlocks' 6th+ spells are pretty underwhelming, and the excuse of "well, we can't give them the most powerful spells because they can recharge their spell slots too easily" doesn't work with Mystic Arcanum).

I also think that this makes it a little more complicated to add new classes. Moving forward, I hope we'll see any brand-new spells being specified as available to non-PHB classes. Thankfully, we have seen this in Fizban's, with Ashardalon's Stride calling out Artificers as eligible casters. So maybe it's not the end of the world.

Arcane Eruption, one of the few surviving Sorcerer-exclusive spells from playtest 5, is the same except it uses a Dex save instead of a Con save. This was a really good spell that I think most Sorcerers will be eager to pick up, and I'm glad to see it survived. It is a little funny that you can be charmed on a failed dex save, but oh well.

Counterspell has been redesigned in a few ways. First off, it requires you to see the creature casting a spell with Verbal, Somatic, or Material components. This makes it clear that monsters that use Psionics or Sorcerers using Subtle Spell, or other means of avoiding components will make you immune to this.

The next thing is that, rather than making an ability check to try to overcome the caster's spell, the caster now makes a Con save against your spell save DC. This means that it'll be much easier to counter that Apprentice Mage's Burning Hands than the Lich's Finger of Death.

    And this is actually the same as a speculative design I came up with a month or two ago. The problem, in my mind, is that it becomes too easy to lock down a spellcasting monster - like a Lich. Sure, you aren't guaranteed to succeed, but given how important a single round of combat is in D&D, countering should be hard in a big boss fight.

    That said, I think MCDM's Lich from Flee, Mortals solves this problem a different way - it makes each of the Lich's "multiattack" options count as 3rd level spells, even if it doesn't have to expend spell slots to cast them. That means that the Counter-er can interrupt one of these, but not the others.

    But this makes Counterspell subject to things like Legendary Resistance and Magic Resistance. It's a nerf to the spell, for sure, but... *looks around to make sure no one's listening*... *whispers* I think it needed it. On my Wizard, I've kind of decided to just not take it, because I like it when creatures get to do things in combat. (This also applies to things like stun and incapacitate effects.)

The last change is that Counterspell no longer causes the spell slot to also be expended. The action, bonus action, or reaction used in casting it is spent, but not the spell slot.

    And here, while this looks like a nerf, is actually a buff for players. Caster monsters basically never run out of spell slots because they only have to track them for a single combat (barring a DM who has a caster flee and party chase them down, or something like that.) For players, though, if a monster Counters them, they aren't down a spell slot, just the action. Granted, as a DM, I basically never want to run a monster that can couterspell, because... well, I want my players to be able to do things. But I will honestly feel less guilty using this version, because I want that Sorcerer to grin as he succeeds on the save.

Sorcerous Burst is here, though it's not automatically learned (neither is Arcane Eruption.) It has also had its damage die raised to a d8. 

    This creates some interesting math: it's less likely to "explode" but its usual damage goes up. And here, you'll have to forgive me as I do some math.

    With the old version, which was a d6, here's what it would look like at each tier:

   Tier 1: Assuming a +3 to Charisma, on a hit, your base damage was 3.5, but also 1/6 of 3.5, and then 1/36 of 3.5, and then 1/216 of 3.5. I believe that's an average of 4.2 damage (rounded). With a d8, you have 4.5 (already better) plus 1/8 of 4.5, then 1/64 of 4.5, then 1/512 of 4.5. That's 5.14 average damage.

    On a crit, though, things start getting more complicated. Our chance to explode with a crit d6 is about 31%. Our chance to explode with a d8 crit is about 23%.

    Honestly, the math is now getting a little more complicated than I feel like going through at the moment, but I suspect that this is a buff. At tier 3, the chance to explode becomes about 34%, and at tier 4, it becomes 41%. With a crit at tier 3, and thus 6 dice, you have a 55% chance to explode. And at tier 4, a crit has a 66% chance.

    Now, do the bonus dice also get doubled on a crit?

Feats:

The only thing here is that the ASI feat continues, as in previous playtests, to let you bump an ability score to 22 if you take this at level 19.

Weapons:

Ok, some changes to Masteries, and the Heavy Property.

First off, Flex is gone. I'm glad to see this, because it was always the booby prize of masteries, not only giving you a marginal-at-best damage improvement but also effectively making Versatile as a feature no longer, you know, do anything.

Weapons that had Flex have been given new masteries.

The Quarterstaff now has Topple.

The Spear now has Sap.

The Longsword now has Sap.

The Warhammer now has Push.

The War Pick now has Sap.

And, as you might be able to tell, Sap no longer requires the weapon to have no properties - it will now be usable on Versatile weapons by Fighters.

    Now, don't get me wrong, Flex was bad and I'm glad to see it gone. However... there's a new problem. Why would anyone use a Mace instead of a Quarterstaff? Why would anyone use a Morningstar over a War Pick? I think these weapons with no properties need... something.

The Push mastery has been changed slightly - you can now only push a target directly away from you, but it can be used on any creature that is Large or smaller. The previous version said you could move them up to "10 feet away from you horizontally," while the new version says "you can push the creature up to 10 feet straight away from yourself." So... does this actually then mean that if you're flying and it's below you you can push it down? The other difference is that the old version said you could push them as long as they were no more than one size larger than you. Now, you'll be able to push anyone Large or smaller.

    So, let's break this down: If you're a Goblin, Gnome, Halfling, or other Small character, this is a buff, as you'll be able to Push Ogres and Trolls and other Large creatures. If you're a Path of the Giant Barbarian or Rune Knight Fighter or otherwise capable of becoming bigger this is a nerf, as you'll no longer be able to push around Huge or Gargantuan creatures.

Finally, the Heavy Property has been reworked. Rather than imposing disadvantage on attacks if you're Small or smaller, it now only imposes this downside if you have less than 13 Strength if it's a melee weapon or 13 Dexterity if it's a ranged weapon. (The only heavy ranged weapon is the Heavy Crossbow).

    This is a welcome change, because we can finally have raging Gnome Barbarians with Greataxes. There are a couple of cases, though, where this can be a problem for existing builds. Characters who use other ability scores for attacks, like Battle Smith Artificers or Warlocks who take Pact of the Blade, will likely be restricted from using heavy weapons now. That's probably worth it, though, to open up species options for heavy-weapon builds.

And there we have it. The rules glossary didn't get a lot of big changes - they removed the section on Death Saving Throws, meaning we don't have to deal with the confusing "you have 1 HP but you're unconscious" notion, which I think is for the best - the existing system makes decent sense to me.

So, that's playtest 7. With only 5 classes, there wasn't quite as much to go through as the previous one. We're just now waiting on the second draft of the 2024 Monk - I'm hoping that they bring some more adventurous ideas to the design.

I think this one, while it did see some reversions, which I've criticized as being overly cautious, has nevertheless given us pretty workable versions of these classes. I'm genuinely excited to play this version of the Great Old One Warlock, which makes me feel very good.

I'm hoping that playtest 8 gives us that newer Monk and hopefully expands upon the magic items to boost unarmed strikes and improvised weapons, mentioned in the Brawler subclass.

But yeah, that's it for the next two months or so.

Playtest 7: Wizards

 And here we come to the Wizard, the last of the class revisions in playtest 7. In the previous playtest, Wizards got a number of kind of meta-spells revolving around their spellbooks and being able to modify and create new spells. However, that route has kind of been set aside in this design, largely stemming from the restoration of class spell lists. The Wizard's most important class feature is its enormous spell list, and that has taken center-stage. But let's look at the class and its revised subclasses.

Level 1:

Arcane Recovery has returned as a 1st level feature.

The Spellcasting feature now incorporates the Tasha's option of Cantrip Versatility, letting you switch one of your cantrips on a long rest.

Since playtest 5, the number of spells you can prepare has increased. It is not based on your Level + Intelligence modifier, but in practical terms, it's pretty close. At level 20, you'll have 25 spells, which is consistent with a maxed-out Wizard. Basically, at level 4 you might be slightly behind, but you catch up at level 5, and at level 8, you might be behind but catch up at level 9 (assuming in this case that you were spending ASIs at level 4 and 8 to max out your Intelligence).

Wizard's Spellbook is now folded into the Spellcasting rules, but is basically the same. It does specify that other can only read it by using Identify.

Level 2:

Scholar is a new feature that is thematically similar to playtest 5's Academic. However, rather than granting advantage, you now get expertise in your choice of Arcana, History, Nature, or Religion, among those with which you have proficiency.

    I like this, because the Wizard really should be the one who can speak most knowledgeably about some intellectual topic. I imagine most will choose Arcana. It would be weird for the Arcane Trickster to have a better Arcana bonus than the Wizard. I almost wish that they could get two of these, but I guess you don't want to fully step on the toes of the Expert classes.

Level 5:

Memorize Spell replicates playtest 5's special spell but as a class feature. You can study your spellbook for 1 minute and temporarily get an additional prepared spell. If you use it again, the previous memorized spell is unprepared.

    Ultimately, this just means that you get one more spell prepared. But it's a good option for those utility spells that may or may not be useful. If you go into a spooky haunted house and prepare Protection from Evil and Good, only to discover that, Scooby-doo-like, the "ghosts" are actually just bandits in disguise, you might want to swap that out for something like Charm Person.

Level 18:

Spell Mastery now only lets you choose spells with a casting time of an action. Shield is specifically called out as a reason they made this change, which they felt would be too powerful to have at-will. Like in playtest 5, you can swap your spell mastery spells on a long rest, rather than needing a dedicated 8 hours of study.

    Well, this makes me sad, but I also 100% understand their doing this. That said, I think it would have to be a very eventful day for a level 18 Wizard to run out of low-level spell slots to cast Shield. But they could. It's a nerf, for sure, but probably makes the feature act closer to how it was intended.

Level 20:

Signature Spells is unchanged, just restored to 20th level.

    So, the Wizard looks very much like it did in 2014, which is fine, as it's always been one of the most powerful classes. The return to class spell lists is a kind of backwards-buff for the Wizard - by nerfing other Arcane casters (Sorcerers, Warlocks, and potentially Bards) the Wizard gains back its position of supremacy. Memorize Spell and Academic are nice little bonuses that make the class just a little better, so I don't see much reason to complain.

Now, let's look at subclasses. To my utter consternation, the Necromancer was not included in this list with Summon Undead taking the place of Animate Dead in the Undead Thralls feature. Indeed, I think I only wound up getting two of these in my predictions: we're getting the Abjurer, Diviner, Evoker, and Illusionist.

Abjurer:

The renamed "School of Abjuration," Abjurers are, I think, pretty similar to their 2014 version, but with some tweaks.

Level 3:

Abjuration Savant is redesigned (this will be a theme). When you get this feature, and then every time you get a new spell level (so, every other Wizard level through 17) you get one free Abjuration spell that is of a level you can cast for your spellbook.

    This redesign, which applies to all four subclasses for their respective schools, is one I actually like a lot. One of the ironies of the old Savant features is that it actually encouraged you to learn anything but your chosen school's spells for your free level-up spells, as those would be cheaper to copy. Now, you're instead going to be loaded up on spells of your chosen school, which is much better. Also, more spells is exactly what Wizards want.

Arcane Ward has gotten some subtle changes. First off, to create it in the first place, you must expend a spell slot - meaning that you can't use a magic item or spell scroll to conjure it. Additionally, while you can still recharge the ward when you cast an Abjuration spell (again, now requiring it to use a spell slot) you can also use a bonus action to just expend a spell slot without casting a spell.

    So, I'm sure this is to nerf using some magic item that can easily toss out Mage Armors and the like. But this does allow a little more flexibility if you don't want to, say, waste an action casting Mage Armor just so that you can recharge your ward.

Level 6:

Projected Ward is unchanged.

Level 10:

Spell Breaker is a new feature that reflects the redesign of Counterspell. You now always have Dispel Magic prepared. You can cast it as a bonus action, and you get to add your proficiency bonus to its ability check.

    So, let's talk about Counterspell: the spell no longer uses an ability check on your part, but instead forces a Con save on the person trying to cast a spell. If they fail, the spell does not get cast, wasting the action used to cast it, but not expending the spell slot. This is definitely a nerf, but as a DM who finds Counterspell tends to just mean I can't use spellcasting monsters (with 6 people in the party usually, a single Sorcerer locking down the spellcaster is a pretty valid strategy) I'm kind of happy about it. Granted, the new design for spellcasting monsters kind of side-steps this. I really like MCDM's approach: a powerful spellcaster might be able to take multiple spell-like actions, but these are also labeled as actual spells - a Lich's multiattack allows it to cast four 3rd level spells, each of which is a unique thing for them that doesn't appear in a player-facing list of spell options.

    But, this means that Abjurers will always be able to Dispel, so that's fun.

Level 14:

Spell Resistance is unchanged.

    Here, though, I think they need to clarify what a "Spell" is. Is any "Spell Attack," such as from an Archdruid, a spell? That seems reasonable, but you can't counter them.

    I've only seen one Abjurer Wizard in play (during EXU: Calamity) so I assumed I'd see more popular subclasses here. Still, this fits a certain role - the harder-to-kill Wizard - that makes sense in the PHB.

Diviner:

Now, this I knew was going to make it in, because people love getting Portent. How does the rest of the subclass stack up, though?

Level 3:

Divination Savant has been redesigned like Abjuration Savant, giving free Divination spells every time you get a new spell level.

    Like before, I like this.

Portent is unchanged.

    And of course it's the same. This is the reason people like this subclass.

Level 6:

Expert Divination is unchanged.

Level 10:

The Third Eye is now a bonus action, rather than a bonus action. It also combines Ethereal Sight and See Invisibility by simply letting you cast See Invisibility without a spell slot.

    Seems fine. Nothing huge, but easier to cast in the middle of a fight.

Level 14:

Greater Portent is unchanged.

    So this is a big "not broke, don't fix it" approach. People love this subclass, and it works almost identically to its old form.

Evoker:

We, of course, got our earlier version of this in playtest 5.

Level 3:

Evocation Savant, like the other Savant features, has been redesigned.

    Again, the changes here are good, even if they might be bad for your coinpurse. Though, arguably, getting 8 free spells rather than a discount on all Evocation spells could be a better bargain, depending on your campaign.

Potent Cantrip moves to 3rd level. Like in playtest 5, this also lets you do half damage with a missed spell attack cantrip.

    The logic behind this change is sound: at early levels, you're far more reliant on cantrips for damage, so getting this early is fantastic. The fact that you can always do a little bit of damage (unless you roll a 1 on damage) is going to feel really good, especially, again, in tier 1.

Level 6:

Sculpt Spells moves down to level 6, swapping with Potent Cantrip.

    This is probably ok. Fireball is probably 75% of why you want this feature in the first place, and by this point we can actually have that spell. There are some low-level AoE spells, though, like Burning Hands, Thunderwave, and Shatter (that might be it) that you might want this for in tier 1, but again, I do think Potent Cantrip is the better lower-level feature, and getting this at 6 is fine.

Level 10:

Empowered Evocation is unchanged.

Level 14:

Overchannel is unchanged, apart from some re-wording (that doesn't change its functionality).

    So, yeah, very slight tweak here, and one that I think works fine. Perfect subclass for people who want to deal lots of damage.

Illusionist:

I'll confess this is probably the one I least expected to be included, given that the use of Illusions is very DM-dependent - how likely NPCs are to "inspect" the illusions, etc. Let's see how it works mechanically.

Level 3:

Illusion Savant has been redesigned. You get the gist.

Improved Minor Illusion is unchanged.

Level 6:

Malleable Illusions now uses a bonus action, rather than an action, to change the illusion.

    Like a lot of similar changes, this is a nice quality-of-life change that will allow you to make use of this mid-combat more easily. I'm generally in favor of features that say "you can use this without feeling bad."

Level 10:

Illusory Self can now be used multiple times per rest by expending a 2nd level or higher spell slot.

    Cool. 2nd level for an auto-miss is, I think, fair. Definitely makes you harder to kill, which Wizards need.

Level 14:

Illusory Reality now specifies that the objects created with it cannot deal damage or inflict conditions.

    Here's the thing I think they need to clarify: they give an example of using an illusory bridge that become real enough to cross a chasm. That's cool. The object remains real for 1 minute. Cool. If I drop concentration on the illusion spell that created it, though... can I drop the foes chasing us over that bridge into the chasm? Basically, does the object remain real for 1 minute regardless of its origins? Just a clarification would be nice.

So, looking at the Wizard and these subclasses, it looks like they've taken a very light touch to the class. I think that's probably ok - I don't think anyone was complaining that the Wizard was underpowered or bad to play. The loss of the Modify Spell and Create Spell features from playtest 5 are a little sad - I liked having an explicit system for creating new spells in the game rules. Maybe this is something that could be worked into the DMG and allowed by any spellcasting class.

And that brings us to the end of the class revisions. We'll finish up playtest 7 with the odds-and-ends.

Playtest 7: Warlocks

 The Warlock got a very controversial rework in the last playtest. And as someone who, honestly, hated that rework, I have to say that the version in playtest 7 is far closer to what I want. Even as I've bemoaned WotC's tendency to revert changes and make things closer to the 2014 versions, this was one case in which I think the identity (both on a mechanical and thematic level) of the Warlock was really harmed by the last version.

Now, given how much was thrown out from the Playtest 5 version, I think it might not be all that useful to comb through that one, and we'll mainly compare this with the 2014 version. Even then, Eldritch Invocations are very central to how the Warlock works, and even more so now, so I'll do my best to keep this organized.

Before we get into level features, there is one bit of sad news: We're back to using Light Armor. Granted, my original D&D character was a variant human who took Moderately Armored as his free feat, and in fact I think that that's one of the 1st level feats still. It's honestly not a bad choice - anyone who isn't prioritizing Dexterity really benefits from Medium armor and a Shield a lot.

Now, let's get into it.

Level 1:

Warlocks now get their first Eldritch Invocation at level 1. They ultimately wind up getting 10 total, with their second and third coming at level 2, and then getting two more at level 5 (total of 5 at this level) and then an additional one at level 7, 9, 12, 15, and 18.

Another part of this is that Pact Boons are now considered Eldritch Invocations - which does mean you can have multiple Pact Boons. Pact of the Blade and Pact of the Tome are both available at level 1, while Pact of the Chain requires level 2.

Thankfully, the bonus functionality of playtest 5's Pact Boons has been somewhat preserved.

Pact of the Blade allows you to use Charisma as your attack ability with your Pact Weapon. However, its extra attack feature is once its own invocation, Thirsting Blade, which requires level 5. Lifedrinker is also in this, adding 1d6 Necrotic, Psychic, or Radiant damage (your choice) on a hit, and you can expend a hit die to heal when you hit with the pact weapon (adding Con like it was a short rest). Thirsting Blade has also been buffed, giving you a third attack when you hit level 11, meaning you're keeping pace with Eldritch Blast until tier 4, and also keeping pace with Fighters until level 20.

Pact of the Tome lets you conjure your Book of Shadows. This gives you three cantrips from any class list, and two first level ritual spells. You also get a single 1st level spell slot that recharges on a long rest. And you can use the book as a spellcasting focus.

    So, the spell slot is interesting: one thing this does is it allows you to start off with two spell slots, and it gives you a little extra juice for utility spells.

Pact of the Chain once again uses the normal Find Familiar spell (though that has been revised) but the alternative familiars from the 2014 version remain, and expand, giving the list of Imps, Pseudodragons, Quasits, Skeletons (yes, a medium-sized familiar,) a Slaad Tadpole, or a Sprite. As before, you can have your Familiar make an attack with its reaction if you take the attack action.

Many spells have been added to the Warlock spell list, so invocations that gave you access to them have been removed. Specifically: Beast Speech, Eldritch Sight, and Eyes of the Runekeeper (considering it equivalent to Comprehend Languages).

Several invocations from Xanathar's and Tasha's have also been added: Eldritch Mind, Eldritch Smite, and Gift of the Depths.

Agonizing Blast and Eldritch Spear can now be chosen to apply to other cantrips than Eldritch Blast (but, like, why would you?)

Lessons of the First Ones, from playtest 5, returns but can now be taken multiple times (this gives you a 1st level feat that lacks prerequisites.)

And some invocations have had their level prerequisites changed (mostly reduced).

    This is so much to take in, but I think the big upshot is that I think many Warlocks will pick Pact of the Blade or Pact of the Tome at level 1. But you don't need either of these, technically. They are prerequisites for some other invocations.

    On one hand, I'm a little sad to see Pact Boons relegated to Invocations, but on the other hand, with extra invocations to take (and not having to spend them on Mystic Arcanum) you'll be able to get plenty of these.

Pact Magic is more or less the same as it was in the 2014 PHB - including the single spell slot at 1st level. Bane, Detect Magic, and Speak with Animals have been added to the Warlock spell list.

Level 2:

Magical Cunning is a new feature that lets you, once per long rest, spend one minute to get back half of your Pact Magic spell slots (rounded up).

    So, this is kind of like the old Eldritch Master capstone, giving Warlocks another way to get a little more spellcasting out, and at a far, far earlier level. An extra spell slot, or two starting at level 11, is honestly not bad.

Level 9:

Contact Patron works like playtest 5 version, giving you Contact Other Plane for free, letting you cast it once per long rest, and automatically letting you succeed on the saving throw.

    The one oddity here is that the text of the feature makes some assumptions about the relationship between you and your patron. But I like this, thematically.

Level 11:

Mystic Arcanum is back as a baseline class feature. The only real change from the 2014 version here is that you can swap out a choice for Mystic Arcanum when you level up. And you get the higher-level versions at 13, 15, and 17.

    I'm very happy not to have to spend Eldritch Invocations for this (and to have the spell-slot scaling of a full caster). But I do wish that these gave you a long-rest-recovering spell slot so that you could potentially upcast spells beyond 5th level (letting my Great Old One Warlock, for example, cast Summon Aberration at 6th or 8th level).

Level 20:

Magical Cunning now restores all of your Pact Magic spell slots, which essentially just makes this work the same as it previously did.

    I've never loved this as a capstone feature, but oh well.

Now, we move on to subclasses. I was honestly a little surprised to see their choice of the 4th subclass, which is the Celestial patron. The other three 2014 subclasses come back, but all four have gotten revisions.

Notably, subclasses now grant all of their Patron Spells, rather than simply being an expanded spell list, so you'll get all of these in addition to any spells you pick. That's actually a lot of additional spells.

Archfey:

The Archfey has gotten a significant rework, making them the masters of mobility, allowing them to use Misty Step a ton, and getting additional bonus effects with it. Because it's such a big redesign, I'm just going to treat it as a new subclass rather than comparing it to the old one.

Patron Spells:

3: Calm Emotions, Faerie Fire, Misty Step, Phantasmal Force, and Sleep.

5: Blink, Plant Growth

7: Dominate Beast, Greater Invisibility

9: Dominate Person, Seeming

    So, this is the same spell list as the 2014 one, except for the addition of Misty Step, which is one more than you'd normally get. But, of course, you now just get all of these in addition to the spells you learn for leveling up.

Level 3:

Steps of the Fey is a new feature. You can cast Misty Step without expending a spell slot a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of 1) per long rest.

Additionally, when you cast that spell (I think with this feature or not) you can get one of the following benefits:

Refreshing Step: After you teleport, one creature you can see within 10 feet of you gets 1d10 temporary hit points.

Taunting Step: Creatures within 5 feet of the space you left make a Wisdom saving throw, and on a failure they get disadvantage on attacks against creatures other than you until the start of your next turn.

    So, Misty Step is one of the best spells in the game, so getting potentially 5 free uses of it (especially for a class that has to be frugal with spell slots) is amazing, and then getting these bonus effects is very cool. Taunting Step against normal-speed enemies could let you bamf away and then run, "range-tanking" some foes.

Level 6:

Misty Escape now explicitly lets you use Misty Step as a reaction in response to taking damage. This does cut the distance of the teleport, but you get far more uses of it (you are casting the spell). It also adds additional effects you can add to your Misty Step:

Disappearing Step: You gain the invisible condition until the start of your next turn or immediately after you make an attack roll or cast a spell.

Dreadful Step: Creatures within 5 feet of the space you left or the space where you appear (your choice) make a Wisdom save or take 2d10 psychic damage.

    So, Disappearing Step gives some of the functionality of the old version of this back. The fact that you can use this more often probably beats the lower distance in most cases, but you will have issues if you have fast foes or ones that started their turn in melee with you.

Level 10:

Beguiling Defenses still gives you immunity to the Charmed condition. Rather than being triggered when a creature tries to charm you, you can now use a reaction when a creature you can see hits you with an attack roll, reducing the damage you take half (rounded down) the damage of the attack and then you can force the attacker to make a Wisdom saving throw, and on a failure, they take Psychic damage equal to the damage you just took.

You can use this once per long rest, but you can also expend a spell slot to use it additional times.

    This is interesting: damage reduction is great, and the reflective damage is fun. Probably want to save this for when you get crit.

Level 14:

Bewitching Magic replaces Dark Delirium, and gives you a free Misty Step as part of the action you use to cast an Illusion or Enchantment spell (with a spell slot).

    So, this'll let you bamf even more, assuming you pick up spells of these schools.

    I do think we've got a good identity to the subclass now - Archfey Warlocks will be very hard to pin down, teleporting around the battlefield with ease. I think the old version suffered a lot from very situational features, but Misty Step and the additional effects here are going to be much more easily used. So, thumbs up.

Celestial Patron:

The Celestial was introduced in Xanathar's. While you can definitely have less benevolent Celestials, this is still the most generally good-aligned patron. The Xanathar version had some healing capabilities (Cure Wounds auto-upcast and coming back on a short rest is not bad). Let's see what this one looks like.

Patron Spells:

3: Cure Wounds, Flaming Sphere, Guiding Bolt, Lesser Restoration, Light, Sacred Flame

5: Daylight, Revivify

7: Guardian of Faith, Wall of Fire

9: Flame Strike, Greater Restoration

    So, this is unchanged, except of course that you automatically get all of these without counting against your spells known. (So at level 20, you'll have 25 non-cantrip spells and your four Mystic Arcana).

3rd level:

Healing Light works identically to its old version.

6th level:

Radiant Soul... also works identically to its old version.

10th level:

Celestial Radiance now works both when you take a Short Rest as well as when you use Magical Cunning.

    Certainly a buff, giving you more short-rest-like benefits when using Magical Cunning.

14th level:

Searing Vengeance is unchanged.

    So, this subclass is nearly identical to its Xanathar's version. I think that one did see a fair amount of play. I will say that I'm a little bummed we didn't get the Undead Patron in the PHB, especially because we are also not getting the Necromancer Wizard. But that's not this subclass' fault.

Fiend Patron:

We saw a version of this in playtest 5, but we'll look at this level-by-level.

Patron Spells:

3: Burning Hands, Command, Scorching Ray, Suggestion

5: Fireball, Stinking Cloud

7: Fire Shield, Wall of Fire

9: Geas, Insect Plague

    This has both different spells from both 2014 and playtest 5, and also has been readjusted to give these spells at appropriate levels for a full caster. Like all the subclasses, you now get all of these known for free in addition to your chosen Warlock spells. The spells we lose from 2014 are Blindness/Deafness, Flame Strike, and Hallow. These don't seem to be added to the Warlock spell list (there were only a few additions). I think Suggestion is thematically appropriate, as is Insect Plague. Geas, perhaps only because it's an Irish word, feels more Archfey (also, public service announcement: it's pronounced "Gesh").

3rd level:

Dark One's Blessing, like in playtest 5, now also gives you temp hit points if another creature reduces an enemy to 0 hit points if it's within 10 feet of you. So, that's nice if you just happen not to be the one that deals the killing blow, but will be most useful for a Bladelock.

6th level:

Dark One's Own Luck can be used a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (well, spellcasitng ability modifier, but that's just Charisma for Warlocks now) per Long rest, instead of once per short or long. This got some clarification from playtest 5, where you can't use it more than once per ability check or saving throw.

10th level:

Fiendish Resilience, like in playtest 5, lets you choose a damage type that is not Force, , with no rider about magical weapons or silvered weapons.

14th level:

Hurl Through Hell now lets a creature make a Charisma saving throw to avoid being plane-shifted, and the damage is reduced to 8d10. However, the creature gets the Incapacitated condition while hurtling through hell, and thus cannot use things like Plane Shift to get back early. You can now use this multiple times per Long Rest if you expend a 5th level spell slot to use it subsequent times, but still only once per turn.

    I think this is largely a nerf - giving them a save to avoid it means that a lot of bosses can use legendary resistance or might just have big Charisma save bonuses. And the damage is, of course, lower. It's still metal as fuck.

    So, the subclass feels more or less like it's working as intended. This was probably the strongest of the 2014 PHB subclasses, and I think the overall shape of it is very familiar.

Great Old One:

This one holds a special place in my heart. While I never got to play him beyond 2nd level, my very first D&D character was a Great Old One Warlock. Looking back, though, I think the 2014 version of the subclass leaves a lot to be desired. So, I've been waiting very eagerly to see how this version looks. And, not to get ahead of myself, I think it's looking much better. The new version has a lot of echoes of the old one, but I think the themes are stronger and the mechanics more powerful.

Patron Spells:

3: Detect Thoughts, Dissonant Whispers, Phantasmal Force, Tasha's Hideous Laughter

5: Clairvoyance, Hunger of Hadar

7: Confusion, Evard's Black Tentacles

9: Modify Memory, Telekinesis

    So, we lose Sending, Dominate Beast, and Dominate Person. Interestingly, because Patron spells now give you these spells without counting against your spells known, there's now a reason to put Warlock-exclusive spells like Hunger of Hadar on this (one of the most GOO-themed spells). Given that Archfeys get the two Dominate spells, I think this is probably for the best, and Confusion and Modify Memory really lean into the Eldritch Madness theme of the subclass.

Level 3:

Awakened Mind now lets you establish a two-way telepathic communication line with another creature within 30 feet of you that you can see. The bond lets you speak if you're within a number of miles of each other equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of 1). You do need to share a language. The connection lasts a number of minutes equal to your Warlock level, but ends early if you get the Incapacitated condition or use the feature on another creature.

    So, mostly this is a buff, and kind of makes the thing work more like I thought it did when I first got my PHB. But the language barrier is now erected between you and the target. The distance and time limitations are similar, I think, to the Aberrant Mind's similar feature.

Psychic Spells is a new feature that lets you change the damage of any Warlock spell you cast ot Psychic damage. Additionally, when you cast a Warlock spell of the Enchantment or Illusion schools, you do not require verbal or somatic components.

    The first part of this can potentially be useful, as Psychic is one of the less-resisted damage types. Naturally, you're not going to bother doing this with Eldritch Blast unless you happen upon a foe with vulnerability to psychic damage.

    The second part of this, though, has some potential. It's a little hint of Psionic power, and lets you, for instance, cast Modify Memory on someone without it being obvious that you're casting a spell at all. That is, actually, really cool (I'd also argue for a ruling that if you're Hidden from a foe and you cast a spell but don't use verbal or somatic components, you might not break stealth.)

Level 6:

The awful Entropic Ward is gone!

Clairvoyant Combatant is a replacement for it that, honestly, has similar functionality but in a way that feels much better and much more on-theme. Here's how it works:

When you form a telepathic bond with a creature using your Awakened Mind, you can force the creature to make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, the creature has Disadvantage on attack rolls against you and you have Advantage on attack rolls against it for the duration of the bond.

Once used, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest, or if you expend a 2nd level spell slot to do so before then. (By this point, your Warlock spells are 3rd level, but if you're multiclassed, you could use, say, Sorcerer spell slots).

    The wisdom save could be a sticking point, but you are getting a more powerful Vow of Enmity. The main thing that I love about this is that, unlike Entropic Ward, this feels like it's actually tapping into the mind-expanding power of the Great Old One, really playing into the psychic/psionic feel of the subclass. Big fan.

Level 10:

Thought Shield is unchanged.

Eldritch Hex is a new feature. You automatically get the Hex spell "prepared," and when you Hex a target, it gets disadvantage on saving throws using the ability you chose for their ability checks for the duration of the spell.

    Ok, so while I'm not sure I want to be forced into maintaining Hex at this level, the spell does feel quite a bit better now - Hexing a target one turn and then, oh, say, casting Modify Memory on them? It's a bit more appealing now.

Level 14:

Create Thrall has been totally redesigned. You automatically get Summon Aberration, and when you cast it, you can modify the spell to not require concentration. If you do so, the spell's duration becomes 1 minute for that casting, and the Aberration gets a number of temp HP equal to your Warlock level plus your Charisma modifier.

Additionally, the first time the Aberration hits a creature under the effects of Hex, the Aberration does additional psychic damage equal to the Hex bonus damage.

    The only flaw here is that there's no way I don't pick up Summon Aberration the instant I turn 7th level as a Great Old One Warlock, and this is literally twice that level. Granted, that lets me swap the "learned" Summon Aberration spell for something else.

    The temp HP is certainly nice, bolstering a creature that will otherwise only have 50 HP when cast at 5th level (giving it, probably, 19 temp HP at this level.

    However, given that the Hex spell has been reverted to its old version (dealing 1d6 extra on each attack, rather than scaling up the damage you get on the first attack that hits per turn) that means that the bonus damage here is never going to be more than 1d6 (or 2d6 on a crit).

    However, on the other, other hand: While a creature or object can't be under the effect of the same spell multiple times (RIP my "reduce a boulder to launch it with a trebuchet and then drop the spells all at once right before it impacts" plan) I do think that you can have multiple spells active at a time. And I think technically that means that you could have your normal, concentration-based 1-hour Summon Aberration and then summon a second Aberration with this feature, which I think is probably a lot better than using this with Hex. I doubt this is intended and will probably be fixed in a later version.

    And so, that gives us the Great Old One Warlock. I think this is looking way better than the old version, and while there are some fiddly aspects to it, I think it's far more thematically unified and just feels overall more powerful, but not unreasonably so. I would happily play this version of the Great Old One over the 2014 version, and happily play it just... as is. I really want to play the rest of that character's story.

And there we come to the end of the Warlock. This version saw some enormous changes from the playtest 5 version, even if some of those were big reversions to the 2014 version. I think we're overall in a better place here.

I will say that, apart from the Mystic Arcanum and Spellcasting changes in playtest 5, there were aspects of that version I liked - I enjoyed the Pact Boon design (I also liked getting Medium Armor, though that shouldn't be too punishing with Lessons of the First Ones and everyone getting level 1 feats). I was intrigued with the idea of choosing a spellcasting ability, but I'm also not at all shocked by the fact that they reverted it to all Charisma.

    Interestingly, you can now do a level 1 dip into Warlock on a Paladin regardless of subclass to get Charisma-based attacks.

That leaves us with just the Wizard, and then odds and ends.

Playtest 7: Sorcerers

 Sorcerers in Playtest 5 got a whole bunch of odd class spells that varied from really cool to kind of awful. While there are two that are staying, and one that has become a class feature instead of a spell, the others are gone.

I think one of the most notable changes is the return of class spell lists. This was more or less primarily to give the Wizard back its most important distinctiveness, but the Sorcerer has long had a very similar spell list.

Let's go through the features and compare it with Playtest 5 and the 2014 version.

Level 1:

Spellcasting is similar to how it was in the last playtest, with Sorcerers getting 22 known spells (they're still calling it "Prepared" even though I think that's confusing given that some classes prepare each day but Sorcerers can only swap them on a level-up) up from 15 in the PHB.

They also get a new 1st level feature called Innate Sorcery.

As a bonus action, Sorcerers can gain a buff for 1 minute. This increases the spell save DC of your Sorcerer spells by 1, and gives you advantage on attack rolls of Sorcerer spells you cast.

You can use this twice, regaining expended uses on a long rest.

    So, this is actually pretty cool. Obviously, with subclasses coming at level 3, you need something to make you Sorcerous. Advantage on attacks is a pretty great bonus, and while the +1 bonus to spell save DC is only a little, that's one of those values that's always nice to have a bit higher. Obviously, we're going to pay attention to if there's a way to get more uses of this.

Level 2: Font of Magic is pretty similar, but with one tweak: if you want to convert spell slots into Sorcery Points, it takes no action (pretty great for the Aberrant Mind and their Psionic Spells - there's literally no reason to ever cast a Psionic Spell with a spell slot anymore).

Creating a spell slot out of Sorcery Points still requires a bonus action.

Level 3:

Apart from subclass (which is Draconic, Wild Magic, Clockwork, and Aberrant) here we see some changes to a few Metamagic options.

As in playtest 5, Careful Spell now works like Sculpt Spells, giving your chosen allies full immunity from the spell's damage even if it's a "save for half" spell like Fireball.

Distant Spell once again doubles the range of a spell or makes touch spells 30 feet.

    This could be a nerf at very high levels, as at level 20 you'd be increasing a spell's range by 600 feet - I don't think there are a lot of 300-foot range spells.

Seeking Spell now costs only 1 Sorcery Point, instead of 2.

Subtle Spell now clarifies that it doesn't remove material components that are consumed by the spell or have a cost, but it will remove Material components that don't have these properties.

    Notably, the new Counterspell design specifically points out that you can't tell someone's casting if they aren't using Somatic or Verbal components, so this will, as intended, prevent someone from countering, but now it's more explicit.

And now the big one: Twinned Spell last playtest was terrible. It's definitely not as powerful as the 2014 one in the new version, but it might see play: If you have a spell that can target more than one target if it's upcast, like Fly, Invisibility, Jump, etc., (and they've increased the number of spells that scale up this way,) Twinned Spell lets you spend a Sorcery Point to upcast such a spell. This does include offensive spells like Hold Person, but I don't think any damage spells work this way.

    So, this feels like a... probably a compromise. It gives them control over which spells this can work on, which I think is what they were looking to do, but still lets you get some more bang for your buck. It's certainly not "double disintegrate" powerful, and I think it will probably not be as popular as it was, but it might be used.

Level 5:

Sorcerous Restoration now shows up at level 5, instead of level 20 (or level 15 in playtest 5). If you have none, you now get Sorcery Points equal to one fifth of your level (rounded down) when you either roll Initiative or finish a Short Rest.

    Ok, here's my issue with this, and a lot of similar features: Why do I need to be out of Sorcery Points? The way this works, I'm better off if I've emptied the tank before we get into a fight than if I've got one point left over. Sure, at the level you get this, it doesn't make a difference. But at level 10, you're better off being fully out than holding on to 1. This should just say that "if you have fewer than a fifth of your Sorcerer level's worth of Sorcery Points, this puts you up to that minimum." And that's how I'd rule it at my table.

Level 7:

Sorcery Incarnate is no longer its own spell, as it was in playtest 5, but now buffs your Innate Sorcery feature, letting you use two of your Metamagic options on each spell you cast. On top of that, if you have no uses of Innate Sorcery left, you can spend 2 Sorcery points to get an additional use.

    Great, as hoped for, there's a way to get more than two uses of Innate Sorcery. Indeed, at level 10, you will always be able to do your "Sorcerer Rage" as long as you don't start combat with a single Sorcery Point (which, again, shows you why that restriction is dumb).

Level 20:

Skipping ahead past the spell levels and subclass features, we get to the last pan-Sorcerer feature: Arcane Apotheosis.

While using Innate Sorcery, you can use one Metamagic option on each of your tuns without spending Sorcery Points on it.

    So... ok that's actually an awesome capstone. In a lot of cases, you're basically only ever going to need to spend Sorcery Points on getting more uses of Innate Sorcery (surely 2 Sorcery Point is fewer than what you'd spend on your spells). All the Metamagics! I guess in theory you might not be able to totally get every spell Meta'd for free if you're using it on cantrips and bonus action spells and reaction spells, but this nearly removes the cost. Very cool, and definitely makes it feel like you're a master sorcerer.

And that's our Sorcerer base class.

I think it's good. Notably, Sorcerous Burst and Arcane Eruption made it into the Sorcerer class spell list. I believe Arcane Eruption is unchanged (which is great because it was good) and Sorcerous Burst has been upgraded to d8s instead of d6s. This does mean that you're less likely to get the "explode" effect. I'll probably do some napkin math at some point to figure out the difference in damage here. I think it's probably higher overall.

Now, let's look at subclasses:

Draconic Sorcery:

We got this in Playtest 5, so we're looking at just some tweaks - largely welcome ones.

Level 3:

Dragon Speech allows you to be understood by any dragons along with teaching you Draconic, but it doesn't let you understand their communications (granted, they're probably speaking Draconic, so you probably will, but you won't necessarily have "speak with animals" with non-sapient dragons).

Draconic Resilience is, I think, unchanged from playtest 5 (which was also only slightly changed from the 2014 PHB to account for getting the subclass at level 3).

Level 6:

Elemental Affinity is the same as its playtest 5 version - unlike the PHB 2014 version, you no longer need to spend any Sorcery Points to get the associated damage resistance.

Level 14:

Dragon Wings are permanent once again! They end if you're incapacitated, but you can get them back with a bonus action (and dismiss them with one) for no cost. You can also choose if the wings are spectral or physical, so if you don't want to have to cut wing-holes out of your Robe of the Archmagi, you're all good.

Level 18:

Draconic Presence has been buffed in a couple ways. First, it no longer requires concentration, only breaking if you become incapacitated. Second, it only requires a bonus action to activate. Finally, creatures that succeed against the aura do not get 24-hour immunity to it.

    So, this feels much more usable and actually worth it. (You could consider it a 5th level spell in terms of the cost - you can always burn a 5th level slot to recoup the Sorcery Points).

I think this revision does a lot to make the Draconic Sorcerer work the way we all kind of want it to - very much like the 2014 version, but with a couple buffs.

Wild Magic:

Oh, the most chaotic subclass in D&D.

Level 3:

Wild Magic Surge no longer requires the DM's permission to roll for a Wild Magic Surge - if you spend the spell slot, you can roll the d20. Also, you now get the surge on a 20, instead of a 1 (reflecting that, yes, you want this to happen!)

The playtest does not have a new Wild Magic Surge table - we're just using the 2014 one.

Tides of Chaos no longer requires DM's permission to do a Wild Magic Surge to regain this feature - in fact, it just happens if you've expended its use and cast a Sorcerer spell of 1st level or higher.

    So, this is good. You shouldn't be at the mercy of the DM's whims to use your subclass features.

Level 6:

Bend Luck has had its cost reduced to 1 Sorcery Point (from 2).

    Great.

Level 14:

Controlled Chaos is unchanged.

Level 18:

Spell Bombardment is now called Wild Bombardment. Actually, it's a totally different feature.

After you cast a Sorcerer spell with a spell slot, you can create an effect of your choice from the Wild Magic Surge table, as long as that option casts a spell or restores all your expended Sorcery Points (99-00).

Once used, you can't use this again for 1d4 long rests.

    That is a real capstone. I think that you'll almost always choose the "all your Sorcery Points" option, which feels like a potentially really important thing to use in some climactic boss fight (or a grueling battle with a major boss at the end).

    Looking at the Wild Magic Sorcerer as a whole, I think things have been tuned up in a nice way. I think the initial design was afraid of the power of the randomness of the Wild Magic Surge table, which is why they put all those "at DM's discretion" things. But while I recommend only playing with DMs who like fun, it does potentially set you up to have very limited use of the subclass' core feature. So, removing that is a huge thumbs up from me. And Wild Bombardment, while it probably should have a different name, is a very cool capstone.

The other subclasses for the Sorcerer in playtest 7 are simply the Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul from Tasha's - which have not received any edits. I will say, though, that given that, it would be nice if Draconic and Wild Magic got subclass spells. Given how crucial Psionic Spells are to the Aberrant Mind, I don't see them getting rid of those in some future revision, but it does mean that these two are more limited in spell options.