Patch 8 for Baldur's Gate 3 Launches with 12 New Subclasses

Larian Studios has officially announced that the much-anticipated Patch 8 for Baldur’s Gate 3 will launch on Tuesday, April 15. After being available in stress test form for some time, this update is now ready for all players to enjoy next week.

Patch 8 brings a wealth of new content to the critically acclaimed Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, including 12 new subclasses. In addition to these exciting additions, players can look forward to a new photo mode, cross-play functionality, and split-screen support on Xbox Series S. For a detailed look at all the changes, be sure to check out the Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 8 patch notes.

Bard - College of Glamour
As a College of Glamour Bard, you harness the power to both heal your allies and manipulate your enemies. With the Mantle of Inspiration spell, you grant your companions 5 temporary hit points. If an enemy attacks while this spell is active, they become Charmed. Utilize Mantle of Majesty to command these Charmed foes to flee, move closer, freeze, drop to the ground, or relinquish their weapon.

Barbarian - Path of Giants
Choosing the Path of Giants subclass enhances your Barbarian's strength, enabling you to throw allies and enemies with ease. The Giant’s Rage passive not only increases your size but also boosts your strength, enhancing your Throw attack damage. Additionally, your carrying capacity is significantly increased.

Cleric - Death Domain
As a Death Domain Cleric, you gain access to new spells focused on necrotic damage and three new necromancy cantrips, including Toll The Dead. This cantrip deals 1-8 damage, scaling higher if the target is already wounded. You can also unleash a homebrewed ability to cause nearby corpses to explode, damaging surrounding enemies.

Druid - Circle of Stars
Circle of Stars Druids draw power from the constellations, adopting one of three Starry Forms: the Archer, Chalice, and Dragon. Each form caters to a different playstyle - the Archer fires astral arrows for radiant damage, the Chalice restores hitpoints to you and nearby allies, and the Dragon provides a bonus to constitution rolls while dealing damage.

Paladin - Oath of the Crown
Sworn to uphold the law, Oath of the Crown Paladins gain abilities to support their allies and disrupt foes. Use Righteous Clarity to guide your party in battle, taunt enemies with strategic interrupts, and employ Divine Allegiance to absorb damage and restore health to your party members.

Fighter - Arcane Archer
The Arcane Archer Fighter combines magic with marksmanship, offering unique skills and new shooting animations. You can banish foes to the Feywild for a turn or inflict Psychic damage, which may blind enemies failing a Wisdom saving throw.

Monk - Drunken Master
As a Drunken Master Monk, you can consume alcohol from your inventory or around the Sword Coast to recover Ki. Use Intoxicating Strike to share a bottle with enemies, boosting your Armour Class and hit chance against drunk targets. Additionally, Sobering Realisation deals physical and Psychic damage to sober up these enemies.

Ranger - Swarmkeeper
Swarmkeeper Rangers command three types of swarms in combat: the Cloud of Jellyfish for lightning damage, the Flurry of Moths for Psychic damage that may blind foes, and the Legion of Bees for piercing damage that can knock enemies back. Each swarm also enables teleportation.

Rogue - Swashbuckler
The Swashbuckler Rogue introduces new actions suited for a pirate's life, such as throwing sand to Blind enemies, flicking your weapon to Disarm them, and using Fancy Footwork to avoid opportunity attacks during melee combat.

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

Warlock - Hexblade
Hexblade Warlocks forge pacts with Shadowfell entities, manifesting as magical weapons. Curse enemies to bend their souls to your will, and upon defeating non-elemental, non-construct, non-giant blob, or non-undead foes, raise their spirit as a summon for ten turns to deal necrotic damage and heal yourself.

Wizard - Bladesinging
Bladesinging Wizards blend swordplay with spellcasting, featuring new spellcasting animations. The Bladesong ability enhances your speed, agility, and focus, granting a bonus to Constitution saving throws.

Every IGN 10 of 2023

18 ImagesPatch 8 marks the final major update for Baldur’s Gate 3, closing a remarkable chapter for Larian Studios. The game launched to critical acclaim and impressive commercial success in 2023, maintaining strong sales into 2024 and 2025.

Larian surprised the gaming community by announcing their departure from Baldur’s Gate 3 and Dungeons & Dragons to focus on a new, undisclosed project. They teased this venture before implementing a media blackout to concentrate on development.

Meanwhile, Hasbro, the owner of D&D, has expressed interest in continuing the Baldur's Gate series. In a recent interview at the Game Developers Conference, Dan Ayoub, SVP of digital games at Hasbro, revealed that with Larian moving on, there is significant interest in the franchise. "We're kind of working out our plans for the future and what we're going to be doing with that. And actually, in pretty short order, we're going to have some stuff to talk about around that," Ayoub shared. While he did not specify whether this would involve a new Baldur's Gate game or a crossover similar to the Magic: The Gathering collaboration, he expressed a desire for a Baldur's Gate 4, though he acknowledged that its development would take time.

"It's somewhat of an unenviable position," Ayoub added. "I mean, 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 discuss the new changes and additions.