Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios recently suggested it was “not quite done” with the acclaimed RPG, and it’s proven today that it wasn’t joking around.
We’ve known for a while now that Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 7 wouldn’t be the game’s final update, but aside from crossplay and photo mode, we’ve had no indication of what was in store. Now, Larian has released a detailed overview of the big changes coming to Baldur’s Gate 3 when Patch 8 releases sometime “next year.”
The big new highlight of the patch are the 12 new subclasses, one for each existing class, which will add a new way to play your preferred class. “Expect new abilities, animations, VFX, summons and cantrips, and unique voiced dialogue lines for the Oathbreaker Knight with written reactivity for Oathbreakers, along with a touch of homebrewing on certain actions to enhance your role-playing experience,” Larian said.
College of Glamour will give Bards the Mantle of Inspiration spell granting allies five temporary hit points and making attacking enemies Charmed while the spell is active. Meanwhile, Mantle of Majesty will target Charmed enemies and let you command them to flee, move closer, freeze, drop to the ground, or drop their weapon.
The new Barbarian subclass, Path of Giants, will increase Throw attack damage and carry capacity with the new Giant’s Rage passive. Death Domain is the new Cleric subclass, and it adds new spells that deal necrotic damage and three new necromancy cantrips, including Toll of the Dead, which deals 1-8 damage and scales based on how much the enemy has already been hurt. Death Domain will also have the homebrewed ability to explode nearby corpses with AoE damage.
Meanwhile, Druids can opt for the new Circle of Stars subclass that’ll let you take on one of three Starry Forms for your power: the constellations of the Archer, Chalice, and Dragon, each tuned for different playstyles and strategies.
Paladins have the new Oath of the Crown subclass to look forward to, which will let you “guide your companions in battle with Righteous Clarity, taunt enemies with strategic interrupts, and keep your party standing strong with Divine Allegiance, absorbing their damage while restoring their health.”
Fighters can now embrace the Arcane Archer lifestyle with “unique skills on top of new shooting animations.” With this subclass, Fighters will be able to straight-up remove foes from the battlefield for a turn or deal Psychic damage that forces them to make a Wisdom saving throw or be blinded until their next turn starts.
Monks might be having the most fun with Patch 8 thanks to the new Drunken Master subclass, which will let them drink alcohol straight from their inventory and from bottles lying around the Sword Coast to recover Ki. Monks will also be able to get their enemies drunk and buff their armor Class and Chance to hit Drunk targets.
Rangers will be able to choose the Swarmkeeper subclass and cast Cloud of Jellyfish for extra lightning damage, The Flurry of Moths for Psychic damage, and Legion of Bees for piercing damage.
Rogues will soon be able to embrace “the piratical life” with the new Swashbuckler subclass, which will add the ability to toss sand at enemies and Blind them, flick weapon at targets to Disarm them, and use the new Fancy Footwork passive in melee combat to ensure foes can’t make opportunity attacks for the rest of the player’s turn.
The new Sorcerer subclass Shadow Magic will add Superior Darkvision and the ability to Shadow Walk between dark and dimly lit spaces. Meanwhile, “the perfectly homebrewed Hound of Ill Omen” will let you harass your foes, and Strength of the Grave will prevent you from being downed, which Larian pointed out will be “ideal for those attempting Honour Mode runs.”
Warlocks will be able to choose the new Hexblade subclass if they want to “make a pact with an entity from the Shadowfell that manifests in the form of magical weapons.” This will allow Hexblade Warlocks to Curse their enemies and “force their souls to do your bidding.”
They’ll also be able to raise the spirit of any corpse for 10 turns so long as it wasn’t “an element of nature, construct, giant blob, or already dead.” Summons will deal necrotic damage and “rip away a chunk of your enemy’s soul to provide your Hexblade Warlock with healing.”
Finally, the new Wizard subclass, Bladesinging, will add new spellcasting animations and the new Bladesong ability that’ll grant “supernatural speed, agility, and focus,” and give you a bonus to any Constitution throw you make.
Patch 8 will also add “full cross-platform progression” and crossplay across PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S, letting everyone play and progress together no matter what platform they’re on.
The Baldur’s Gate 3 photo mode is yet another long-awaited feature coming with Patch 8, and now we have the details. You’ll be able to set up scenes by choosing which characters you want to focus on and adjusting the camera’s position. Meanwhile, lens settings will let you adjust field of view, exposure, depth of field, and focus.
Scene settings will give you the ability to toggle off player characters, NPCs, and enemies if you don’t them in your shot, and you’ll be able to choose from pre-set facial expressions and a range of over 40 static and animated poses, each with several variations. Finally, all sorts of post-processing effects, frames, and stickers will be available for your picture-perfect, uh, picture.
There’s still no hard release date for Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 8, but Larian said it’ll start stress-testing the update on all platforms in “early January.” More info on that to come in Community Update #31.
Now that’s how you make one of the best RPGS of all time.