Patch 8 for Baldur's Gate 3: 12 New Subclasses Released

Larian Studios has officially announced that the much-awaited Patch 8 for Baldur's Gate 3 will be released on Tuesday, April 15. After being available in a stress test form for a while, this update is now ready for all players to enjoy.

Patch 8 brings a significant amount of new content to this critically acclaimed Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. Players can look forward to 12 new subclasses, a photo mode, cross-play functionality, and Xbox Series S split-screen support. For a detailed overview of what's new, be sure to check out the Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 8 patch notes.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 8 New Subclasses:

Bard - College of Glamour
As a member of the College of Glamour, Bards gain the ability to heal allies and manipulate enemies. With Mantle of Inspiration, you can give your allies 5 temporary hit points, and if an enemy attacks while this is active, they become Charmed. Utilize Mantle of Majesty to command these charmed enemies to flee, move closer, freeze, drop to the ground, or even disarm themselves.

Barbarian - Path of Giants
Choosing the Path of Giants allows Barbarians to harness giant-like strength, enhancing their ability to throw both friends and foes. The Giant’s Rage passive boosts both size and strength, increasing damage dealt with Throw attacks and enhancing carry capacity.

Cleric - Death Domain
Clerics of the Death Domain can wield dark powers, specializing in necrotic damage and necromancy cantrips. Toll The Dead is a new cantrip that deals 1~8 damage, scaling up if the target is already wounded. Additionally, clerics can now cause nearby corpses to explode, damaging nearby enemies.

Druid - Circle of Stars
Druids of the Circle of Stars draw power from the stars, gaining access to Starry Forms that enhance their abilities. These include the Archer, which deals radiant damage; the Chalice, which restores hitpoints; and the Dragon, which adds a bonus to constitution rolls, offering diverse tactical options.

Paladin - Oath of the Crown
Paladins sworn to the Oath of the Crown can aid their allies and disrupt foes. With Righteous Clarity, they can guide companions in battle, use strategic interrupts to taunt enemies, and employ Divine Allegiance to absorb damage and restore health to their party.

Fighter - Arcane Archer
Arcane Archers combine magic and archery, featuring unique skills and new shooting animations. They can banish foes to the Feywild or deal Psychic damage that may blind enemies if they fail a Wisdom saving throw.

Monk - Drunken Master
Drunken Masters can consume alcohol from their inventory or around the Sword Coast to recover Ki. Using Intoxicating Strike, they can share a drink with enemies, gaining buffs to Armour Class and hit chance against intoxicated targets. Sobering Realisation sobers up drunk enemies while dealing physical and Psychic damage.

Ranger - Swarmkeeper
Swarmkeeper Rangers can summon three deadly swarms: Cloud of Jellyfish for extra lightning damage, Flurry of Moths for Psychic damage and potential blinding, and Legion of Bees for piercing damage and knockback. Each swarm also offers teleportation capabilities.

Rogue - Swashbuckler
Swashbuckler Rogues can use new actions like tossing sand to Blind enemies, flicking their weapon to Disarm them, and benefiting from Fancy Footwork to avoid opportunity attacks after melee attacks.

Sorcerer - Shadow Magic
Shadow Magic Sorcerers thrive in darkness, equipped with Superior Darkvision and the ability to Shadow Walk between dim light or darkness. They can summon the Hound of Ill Omen to harass foes and use Strength of the Grave to prevent being downed, perfect for Honour Mode.

Warlock - Hexblade
Hexblade Warlocks forge a pact with a Shadowfell entity, granting them magical weapons. They can curse enemies, raise their spirits for ten turns to deal necrotic damage, and heal by ripping away the enemy's soul.

Wizard - Bladesinging
Bladesinging Wizards merge swordplay with spellcasting, featuring new animations, a Bladesong ability for enhanced speed, agility, and focus, and a bonus to Constitution saving throws.

Every IGN 10 of 2023

18 ImagesPatch 8 marks the final major update for Baldur's Gate 3, concluding an exceptional journey for Larian Studios. The game, which launched to critical acclaim and commercial success in 2023, has continued to thrive in 2024 and into 2025.

Larian surprised the gaming community by announcing their departure from Baldur's Gate 3 and the Dungeons & Dragons universe to focus on a new, undisclosed project, initiating a media blackout to concentrate on development.

Meanwhile, Hasbro, the owner of D&D, has hinted at future plans for the series. Speaking to IGN at the Game Developers Conference, Dan Ayoub, SVP of digital games at Hasbro, mentioned that with Larian moving on, "a lot of people [are] very interested in Baldur's Gate." He indicated that Hasbro is "working out our plans for the future" and teased upcoming announcements, though he didn't specify whether this would involve a new Baldur's Gate game or another form of collaboration. Ayoub expressed his desire for a Baldur's Gate 4 but acknowledged that such a project would take time.

"We're not in a hurry. Right? That's the thing, we're going to take a very measured approach... We've got a lot of plans, a lot of different ways to go about it. We're starting to think about, okay, yeah, we're ready to start dipping toes a little bit and talking about a few things. And I think, in really short order, like I said, again, not to over-tease that point, we're going to have some other things to talk about around that."

To celebrate the release of Patch 8, Larian will host a Twitch livestream featuring senior systems designer Ross Stephens, who will detail the updates and additions.