I think the main reason they didn't give something similar to the Warlock is because not all Warlock builds use Hex and it sort of would paint the Warlock class into a corner and be like "Okay, you have to use curses." I agree that Hex is a very important spell for many warlock builds, but it isn't 100% must add for every Warlock. I've built plenty of Hexless Warlocks, have yet to built a Ranger without Hunter's Mark.
I think a happy medium would be an Invocation that allowed you to cast Hex at will without expending a spell slot.
Really? I would think that it is honestly equal, if not even better (i.e. more frequently used) especially with the ability debuff with hex
an invocation is a good idea but ugh. so many more invocations coming out yet too limited invocation slots.. MOAR invocations plz
Monk Weapons - so basically battleaxe, longsword & warhammer are the new quarterstaffs? I'd still say it is harmless overall & does grant flexibility, but not a fan myself.
Ki-Fueled Strike - bit of a head-scratcher, but I guess it is a rebate on Stunning Strike or using a class feature in extreme proximity? Did Stunning Strike need this buff?
Monk Weapons - you can only use the new monk features with weapons you're proficient with. Monks, by default, are not proficient with Martial weapons, so none of the ones you listed will work without picking up the proficiency elsewhere.
Ki-Fueled Strike - Monks can already make an unarmed strike as a bonus action after an attack, so this literally has no impact on Stunning Strike. The main purpose here is if they do one of the action-focused Ki abilities of one of the subclasses (such as cast Darkness with Way of Shadow's Shadow Arts), they can make a single attack as a bonus action, which they couldn't previously. Normally you need to make an attack with your action to use your bonus action unarmed attack. I actually like this change a lot, it buffs some of the weaker Monk subclasses that needed a little boost.
Is no one else disappointed that the warlocks don't get a similar 'favored foe' feature for their hex? Hex should be a class feature since its pretty much a given in the first place and wasting a spell slot on hex is a lot more costly with a warlock's 2 spell slots even if the ranger is also pretty limiting. Between the almost necessity to have hex at all times, and the 'kill a bag of rats in the morning' exploit, just give it to us already!
Not to mention that the warlock - 'cursing class' doesn't even get other curses as base class spells, only granted things like bane through an invocation.
There's lots more issues with Warlocks than just the Hex.
But yeah not a lot of Hexing for someone who's supposed to use Curses...
Other than the hex/lack of curses what other issues are there for the warlock?, between subclass, pact AND invocations, I actually love the versatility and customization that the warlocks have.
I think the main complaint about Warlocks is their abilities are so front loaded, and so easily applied to improve other classes, and there's so little payoff for staying with the class long term... it often feels like they have been designed to be splashed instead of taken as a pure class, or designed to be very fun at low levels without a lot of thought to mid/late play. There aren't a ton of things that a Warlock of higher than 4th level can do that a Warlock 4/Something else X can't be built do do better (and conversely, for a lot of builds, aren't a ton of things that aren't improved by a splash of one or two Warlock levels). If you picked up that third spell slot at 6 or 7 it might do more to hook you, but 11 levels is a long time to wait for it... and if you do make it to 10 or 11, you've maxed out your spell slot level and probably have more invocations than you need for your concept, tough to justify 10 more levels of Warlock just for 1/day spells. If you really cared about 6th-9th level spells, you probably wouldn't have rolled a Warlock in the first place. A pure warlock is kind of just 20 levels of casting Eldritch Blast, without the different subclasses really feeling all that different (other than Hexblade).
I think the main reason they didn't give something similar to the Warlock is because not all Warlock builds use Hex and it sort of would paint the Warlock class into a corner and be like "Okay, you have to use curses." I agree that Hex is a very important spell for many warlock builds, but it isn't 100% must add for every Warlock. I've built plenty of Hexless Warlocks, have yet to built a Ranger without Hunter's Mark.
I think a happy medium would be an Invocation that allowed you to cast Hex at will without expending a spell slot.
Really? I would think that it is honestly equal, if not even better (i.e. more frequently used) especially with the ability debuff with hex
an invocation is a good idea but ugh. so many more invocations coming out yet too limited invocation slots.. MOAR invocations plz
Everyone's play group is different, obvious, so I can only speak for my group. But I think there has been a steady trend away from the idea that "Warlock == Evil". With that trend, it doesn't make sense that Hex would be moved into the base class's features. since most people (in my play group) view Hex in a negative connotation. Making it an Invocation would still allow for the freedom to select and make their Hexlock while still allowing the Celestial Warlock that has made a pact with a Good Patron to not have an essentially useless class feature that would never be used.
Ki-Fueled Strike - Monks can already make an unarmed strike as a bonus action after an attack, so this literally has no impact on Stunning Strike. The main purpose here is if they do one of the action-focused Ki abilities of one of the subclasses (such as cast Darkness with Way of Shadow's Shadow Arts), they can make a single attack as a bonus action, which they couldn't previously. Normally you need to make an attack with your action to use your bonus action unarmed attack. I actually like this change a lot, it buffs some of the weaker Monk subclasses that needed a little boost.
I'm thinking stealth buff to Way of the Four Elements?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
I think the main reason they didn't give something similar to the Warlock is because not all Warlock builds use Hex and it sort of would paint the Warlock class into a corner and be like "Okay, you have to use curses." I agree that Hex is a very important spell for many warlock builds, but it isn't 100% must add for every Warlock. I've built plenty of Hexless Warlocks, have yet to built a Ranger without Hunter's Mark.
I think a happy medium would be an Invocation that allowed you to cast Hex at will without expending a spell slot.
Really? I would think that it is honestly equal, if not even better (i.e. more frequently used) especially with the ability debuff with hex
an invocation is a good idea but ugh. so many more invocations coming out yet too limited invocation slots.. MOAR invocations plz
Everyone's play group is different, obvious, so I can only speak for my group. But I think there has been a steady trend away from the idea that "Warlock == Evil". With that trend, it doesn't make sense that Hex would be moved into the base class's features. since most people (in my play group) view Hex in a negative connotation. Making it an Invocation would still allow for the freedom to select and make their Hexlock while still allowing the Celestial Warlock that has made a pact with a Good Patron to not have an essentially useless class feature that would never be used.
Sure, the word hex may give a negative connotation but it doesn't necessarily mean you're using it because you're evil. Clerics and Divine sorcs are giving bless as well as bane too. Most aren't evil either (granted the darker subs do get it as an always prepared spell) but you can always reflavor it as bad luck or something that your benign being afflicts on your targets.
To be real honest, I haven't even thought of the RP connotations of it and just used it for the damage boost & ability debuff
A target can generally only be affected by a given ability once. I forget where the exact rule is, but if you generate a Hunter's Mark effect on a target, then try to Hunter's Mark it again, you would simply replace the existing mark, not double up on it.
Admittedly, the ranger's kind of needed Hunter's Mark to work like this for a long time, it's ridiculous that their 'class-defining' ability is a spell that conflicts with three quarters of their existing spell list, but no, you can't double Hunter's Mark.
You can, however, add Hex to it. Which is mostly just a straight-up better version of the same thing.
BUT does this mean you can have the spell Hunter's Mark and the ability Hunter's Mark up simultaneously on two different enemies?
While I think the RAI is that the Hunter's Mark variant lacks concentration so that it doesn't interfere with the umpty dozen other Ranger spells that require concentration, there's nothing to stop you from casting all 5 of your variant Hunter's Marks (with a 20 WIS) plus a Hunter's Mark spell to cover six enemies at once. Why you would want to is not clear, other than some of the Hunter multiple-target attacks I suppose.
It does kind of show what an elegant solution concentration was, given how easy it is to screw with the game by removing it.
Sure, you could, why the hell would you? Just focus fire, down a target and move it to the next. I can't think of a situation where you would need to mark six targets.
After spending more time to read it over I'm actually happy with most of these changes. Though there are two things that stand out to me. First, the new cunning action option, second the unarmed fighting style.
Aim Cunning Action - What worries me about this, is that this will allow archer rogues to be the go to. Reason being now they don't even have to try to hide or attack a creature next to an ally to gain their sneak attack. Sure, if you're using a short bow you can only be up to 80 feet (without sharpshooter) and it can be argued that they'd be charged or attacked by another creature at that ranged. When you take into consideration that some rogues use long bows that can do this at a possible range of 120 feet (without sharpshooter). You can be out of range of most attacks, and without much risk to the character, plus this issue is worse if they do take sharpshooter being able to do this from a much longer range.
Unarmed Fighting Style - I haven't done the math of this one, but my worry is that this can possibly enable fighters to out pace monks in unarmed combat. Mostly cause fighters can do 1d8 + str mod at level 1 which monks are limited to 1d4 + str or dex. Which I understand that dex is a super stat, but monks wouldn't even get the damage die until they reach level 11 and now surpass that until level 17. Which by that point the fighter can make 3 unarmed strikes without expending any resources and I'm not even going to include action surge or possible subclass features
but a fighter can do 1d8 with almost ANY weapon, plus use a shield to get +2AC, so is it really that big a deal?
Everyone's play group is different, obvious, so I can only speak for my group. But I think there has been a steady trend away from the idea that "Warlock == Evil". With that trend, it doesn't make sense that Hex would be moved into the base class's features. since most people (in my play group) view Hex in a negative connotation. Making it an Invocation would still allow for the freedom to select and make their Hexlock while still allowing the Celestial Warlock that has made a pact with a Good Patron to not have an essentially useless class feature that would never be used.
Sure, the word hex may give a negative connotation but it doesn't necessarily mean you're using it because you're evil. Clerics and Divine sorcs are giving bless as well as bane too. Most aren't evil either (granted the darker subs do get it as an always prepared spell) but you can always reflavor it as bad luck or something that your benign being afflicts on your targets.
To be real honest, I haven't even thought of the RP connotations of it and just used it for the damage boost & ability debuff
Not everyone wants to re-flavor nor does everyone think about their characters from a min-max perspective.
Personally, I think it was the right move not moving Hex to a class Feature. Unlike the Ranger, there isn't a base class feature that needs replacing that could fit that Hex-based feature.
Is no one else disappointed that the warlocks don't get a similar 'favored foe' feature for their hex? Hex should be a class feature since its pretty much a given in the first place and wasting a spell slot on hex is a lot more costly with a warlock's 2 spell slots even if the ranger is also pretty limiting. Between the almost necessity to have hex at all times, and the 'kill a bag of rats in the morning' exploit, just give it to us already!
Not to mention that the warlock - 'cursing class' doesn't even get other curses as base class spells, only granted things like bane through an invocation.
Well said. Hex should 100% be a lvl 1 class feature. The first gift from any patron if you will and should not cost concentration. Warlock has more concentration taxes than any other full caster class bar none.
Also, can anyone explain what the improvement is on the new blessed strikes for clerics is? Up until level 14, its the same +1d8 (albeit with radiant damage across the board instead of a unique type per domain), making this worse after level 14 because sounds like it remains at 1d8 and regarding potent cantrips, statistically, wouldn't a static, but automatic +5 (if you're not maxed out wisdom by now, you should be soon, unless you choose not to) be better than rolling a 1d8? You have a chance of getting a 1, 2, 3 or 4 just as much as getting a 5, 6, 7 or 8 -- although I would even consider a 5 as a 'bad' roll because you're risking losing the static +5 for only a 37.5% of an improved roll with 6-8.
Also, can anyone explain what the improvement is on the new blessed strikes for clerics is? Up until level 14, its the same +1d8 (albeit with radiant damage across the board instead of a unique type per domain), making this worse after level 14 because sounds like it remains at 1d8 and regarding potent cantrips, statistically, wouldn't a static, but automatic +5 (if you're not maxed out wisdom by now, you should be soon, unless you choose not to) be better than rolling a 1d8? You have a chance of getting a 1, 2, 3 or 4 just as much as getting a 5, 6, 7 or 8 -- although I would even consider a 5 as a 'bad' roll because you're risking losing the static +5 for only a 37.5% of an improved roll with 6-8.
The d8 was only ever for weapon attacks, now you can juice your spells too, so if you hit things alot, keep the original, if you mix it up with spells, this may be the better option
Also, can anyone explain what the improvement is on the new blessed strikes for clerics is? Up until level 14, its the same +1d8 (albeit with radiant damage across the board instead of a unique type per domain), making this worse after level 14 because sounds like it remains at 1d8 and regarding potent cantrips, statistically, wouldn't a static, but automatic +5 (if you're not maxed out wisdom by now, you should be soon, unless you choose not to) be better than rolling a 1d8? You have a chance of getting a 1, 2, 3 or 4 just as much as getting a 5, 6, 7 or 8 -- although I would even consider a 5 as a 'bad' roll because you're risking losing the static +5 for only a 37.5% of an improved roll with 6-8.
The d8 was only ever for weapon attacks, now you can juice your spells too, so if you hit things alot, keep the original, if you mix it up with spells, this may be the better option
Ah, I didn't notice that it applies to leveled spells too and not just cantrips
Everyone seems to miss one really important thing about the barbarian: The berserker subclass is now playable! With a level one dip from ranger you get the ability to recover one exhaustion after a SHORT rest! Frenzy is now a potent subclass feature!
Blessed Strikes (+ an average of 4.5 damage on weapon and spell damage) over Potent Spell Casting (+5 damage to Sacred Flame and Toll the Dead) is a no-brainer, right?
Everyone seems to miss one really important thing about the barbarian: The berserker subclass is now playable! With a level one dip from ranger you get the ability to recover one exhaustion after a SHORT rest! Frenzy is now a potent subclass feature!
It seems like Tireless should have gone to the Barbarian, and Survival Instincts to the Ranger.
The no-concentration Hunter's Mark would also work with rage, making a one-level dip irresistible for berserkers.
So I had most of a huge-assed post written going into extensive detail on most of the document, discussing ideas, opinions, and reactions. Then I looked at it and said "does anybody except me give a remote rat shit about any of this?" The answer, sadly, is no. Decided instead to condense it down into a couple of talking points specifically addressing directions of concern in the thread.
Proficiency Versatility: I see people badmouthing this, all "I made the greatest doctor in the land, except now I'm not a doctor but a shepherd instead. Huzzah!" That's not what it's for. A lot of these new switchy-switchy class features are clearly aimed at players who made a decision because the book told them to at early levels, before they knew their character, the group, or the game, and regret that choice.
The brand new cleric player who doesn't realize that Medicine is essentially useless in virtually all cases; the fighter who took Animal Handling for the warhorse he never found a chance to buy, the bard who took Acrobatics but then broke his leg in a tumble and isn't feeling so acrobatic anymore - those are the target audience for these features. If your entire character concept revolves around mastery of a given skill? Then, obviously, keep that skill. But having an occasional chance to fix a mistake or a choice you made only because the book told you to is cool, not a waste.
Spell Versatility, in general: On the one hand, this is amazing for the spontaneous casters. Sorcerers and rangers especially suffer hard for being ironbound-locked into a small number of spells that players don't always realize they have to choose with extreme caution, because you basically never get to reselect if you realize you made a bum deal. On the other hand I can kinda see the complaints from the divine caster players, who generally get a more restrictive spell list in exchange for being able to prepare freely. It's a fine line to walk, and I'm honestly unsure if Spell Versatility crosses it.
SV only lets you switch one, and it has to be level-for-level - no turning your Locate Objects into Swift Quiver on the ranger. It does allow those casters to switch their cantrips on long rest, which either is no longer an artificer ability or it's an artificer ability that happens a LOT earlier than level 10 now. On the whole, I don't think it's really broken. Divine/preppy casters can still tailor their entire spell list on a rest, and while a lot of players don't do that, it's only because they're lazy. They should be using that flexibility, and I think SV might be restrictive enough to slide. I do see where the frowny-face reactions are coming from, though. Even if the divine casters get Cantrip Versatility so clerics and druids aren't shafted as hard.
Druid - WIld Companion: THANK YOU. God I hate that every stupid freaking druid ever is supposed to be Beast Boy the Shapeshifting Wonder Moose. People who want to play a more traditional druid, who walks with and commands nature but is not a closet furry, have been out in the cold for forever. I love this ability - a druid summoning a natural spirit to be their eyes and ears is so much freaking cooler than "I'ma turn into a manbearpig!" Even if this document burns and dies, this is now Official Unofficial Homebrew for all my campaigns going forward. An absolutely wonderful, stellar alternative to Wild Shape and I am absolutely thrilled to see more ideas in the vein of Wild Companion and the Wildfire druid.
I know this isn't much of a contention point, but I just want to remind the old D&D heads in the forum that only D&D - only this game and close derivatives of it - have ever depicted druids as weird animal people. That is not what druids are and the class being forced into being The Shapeshifty Guys makes it super weird for a lot of players who didn't grow up with D&D and druids being The Animal People. So yeah. Wild Companion - awesome.
Unarmed Fighting Style: I can see where the complaints here are, but by the same token I know a lot of people who're super frustrated that anyone who wants to be good at unarmed combat MUST BE a monk. No monk, no unarmed. All unarmed combatants that aren't monks (or heavily homebrewed) are absolutely godawful. This wouldn't be as big an issue if monks didn't have a very strict aesthetic baked into their class. You have to break the rules a bit for your monk to not be a nigh-emotionless sagey Kung Fouchebag. One of the players at my table is enormously excited for Unarmed Style because he wants a huge, beefy character that wrestles and grapples and beats people down with her bare fists, and monk just...doesn't do that.
I could see knocking it down to d4/d6 instead of d6/d8, but I also like the feel of this particular style. It's more scrappy - instead of flitting around the battlefield delivering seventeen ORAs a turn with centuries of training behind them, this fighting style encourages the player to get in, clinch up, and just beat the everloving donkeypiss out of some poor schmuck. it's a very different feel than monks, and monks have had a monopoly on unarmed combat long enough. I'm all for Unarmed Combat Style, even if it is weird to try and scale.
As someone who loves both Rangers and Warlocks this UA has me salivating. So many useful options here to both buff and diversity playstyle. However, while the Beast Master upgrade is a step in the right direction they REALLY need to port some more stuff over from the last Revised Ranger. In that UA it made the Beast Master companion an actual character with traits and that leveled up WITH the player. I understand why they are hesitant to allow it to roll it's own initiative, but having run a campaign with this variant I can tell you it is very much not overpowered.
This reminds me of the old 3.5 UA book, I'm almost more excited to see what the next book has in store outside of character stuff now with all these archtypes and options of yore almost lol.
There's not going to be a 5.5e. All these alternate features will go into a Xanathar's-like supplement, probably with some other variant rules, and will stay completely optional. That's as close to a 5.5e we're likely to get.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Really? I would think that it is honestly equal, if not even better (i.e. more frequently used) especially with the ability debuff with hex
an invocation is a good idea but ugh. so many more invocations coming out yet too limited invocation slots.. MOAR invocations plz
Monk Weapons - you can only use the new monk features with weapons you're proficient with. Monks, by default, are not proficient with Martial weapons, so none of the ones you listed will work without picking up the proficiency elsewhere.
Ki-Fueled Strike - Monks can already make an unarmed strike as a bonus action after an attack, so this literally has no impact on Stunning Strike. The main purpose here is if they do one of the action-focused Ki abilities of one of the subclasses (such as cast Darkness with Way of Shadow's Shadow Arts), they can make a single attack as a bonus action, which they couldn't previously. Normally you need to make an attack with your action to use your bonus action unarmed attack. I actually like this change a lot, it buffs some of the weaker Monk subclasses that needed a little boost.
I think the main complaint about Warlocks is their abilities are so front loaded, and so easily applied to improve other classes, and there's so little payoff for staying with the class long term... it often feels like they have been designed to be splashed instead of taken as a pure class, or designed to be very fun at low levels without a lot of thought to mid/late play. There aren't a ton of things that a Warlock of higher than 4th level can do that a Warlock 4/Something else X can't be built do do better (and conversely, for a lot of builds, aren't a ton of things that aren't improved by a splash of one or two Warlock levels). If you picked up that third spell slot at 6 or 7 it might do more to hook you, but 11 levels is a long time to wait for it... and if you do make it to 10 or 11, you've maxed out your spell slot level and probably have more invocations than you need for your concept, tough to justify 10 more levels of Warlock just for 1/day spells. If you really cared about 6th-9th level spells, you probably wouldn't have rolled a Warlock in the first place. A pure warlock is kind of just 20 levels of casting Eldritch Blast, without the different subclasses really feeling all that different (other than Hexblade).
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Everyone's play group is different, obvious, so I can only speak for my group. But I think there has been a steady trend away from the idea that "Warlock == Evil". With that trend, it doesn't make sense that Hex would be moved into the base class's features. since most people (in my play group) view Hex in a negative connotation. Making it an Invocation would still allow for the freedom to select and make their Hexlock while still allowing the Celestial Warlock that has made a pact with a Good Patron to not have an essentially useless class feature that would never be used.
I'm thinking stealth buff to Way of the Four Elements?
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
Sure, the word hex may give a negative connotation but it doesn't necessarily mean you're using it because you're evil. Clerics and Divine sorcs are giving bless as well as bane too. Most aren't evil either (granted the darker subs do get it as an always prepared spell) but you can always reflavor it as bad luck or something that your benign being afflicts on your targets.
To be real honest, I haven't even thought of the RP connotations of it and just used it for the damage boost & ability debuff
Sure, you could, why the hell would you? Just focus fire, down a target and move it to the next. I can't think of a situation where you would need to mark six targets.
but a fighter can do 1d8 with almost ANY weapon, plus use a shield to get +2AC, so is it really that big a deal?
Not everyone wants to re-flavor nor does everyone think about their characters from a min-max perspective.
Personally, I think it was the right move not moving Hex to a class Feature. Unlike the Ranger, there isn't a base class feature that needs replacing that could fit that Hex-based feature.
Well said. Hex should 100% be a lvl 1 class feature. The first gift from any patron if you will and should not cost concentration. Warlock has more concentration taxes than any other full caster class bar none.
Also, can anyone explain what the improvement is on the new blessed strikes for clerics is? Up until level 14, its the same +1d8 (albeit with radiant damage across the board instead of a unique type per domain), making this worse after level 14 because sounds like it remains at 1d8 and regarding potent cantrips, statistically, wouldn't a static, but automatic +5 (if you're not maxed out wisdom by now, you should be soon, unless you choose not to) be better than rolling a 1d8? You have a chance of getting a 1, 2, 3 or 4 just as much as getting a 5, 6, 7 or 8 -- although I would even consider a 5 as a 'bad' roll because you're risking losing the static +5 for only a 37.5% of an improved roll with 6-8.
The d8 was only ever for weapon attacks, now you can juice your spells too, so if you hit things alot, keep the original, if you mix it up with spells, this may be the better option
Ah, I didn't notice that it applies to leveled spells too and not just cantrips
Everyone seems to miss one really important thing about the barbarian: The berserker subclass is now playable! With a level one dip from ranger you get the ability to recover one exhaustion after a SHORT rest! Frenzy is now a potent subclass feature!
Blessed Strikes (+ an average of 4.5 damage on weapon and spell damage) over Potent Spell Casting (+5 damage to Sacred Flame and Toll the Dead) is a no-brainer, right?
It seems like Tireless should have gone to the Barbarian, and Survival Instincts to the Ranger.
The no-concentration Hunter's Mark would also work with rage, making a one-level dip irresistible for berserkers.
So I had most of a huge-assed post written going into extensive detail on most of the document, discussing ideas, opinions, and reactions. Then I looked at it and said "does anybody except me give a remote rat shit about any of this?" The answer, sadly, is no. Decided instead to condense it down into a couple of talking points specifically addressing directions of concern in the thread.
Proficiency Versatility: I see people badmouthing this, all "I made the greatest doctor in the land, except now I'm not a doctor but a shepherd instead. Huzzah!" That's not what it's for. A lot of these new switchy-switchy class features are clearly aimed at players who made a decision because the book told them to at early levels, before they knew their character, the group, or the game, and regret that choice.
The brand new cleric player who doesn't realize that Medicine is essentially useless in virtually all cases; the fighter who took Animal Handling for the warhorse he never found a chance to buy, the bard who took Acrobatics but then broke his leg in a tumble and isn't feeling so acrobatic anymore - those are the target audience for these features. If your entire character concept revolves around mastery of a given skill? Then, obviously, keep that skill. But having an occasional chance to fix a mistake or a choice you made only because the book told you to is cool, not a waste.
Spell Versatility, in general: On the one hand, this is amazing for the spontaneous casters. Sorcerers and rangers especially suffer hard for being ironbound-locked into a small number of spells that players don't always realize they have to choose with extreme caution, because you basically never get to reselect if you realize you made a bum deal. On the other hand I can kinda see the complaints from the divine caster players, who generally get a more restrictive spell list in exchange for being able to prepare freely. It's a fine line to walk, and I'm honestly unsure if Spell Versatility crosses it.
SV only lets you switch one, and it has to be level-for-level - no turning your Locate Objects into Swift Quiver on the ranger. It does allow those casters to switch their cantrips on long rest, which either is no longer an artificer ability or it's an artificer ability that happens a LOT earlier than level 10 now. On the whole, I don't think it's really broken. Divine/preppy casters can still tailor their entire spell list on a rest, and while a lot of players don't do that, it's only because they're lazy. They should be using that flexibility, and I think SV might be restrictive enough to slide. I do see where the frowny-face reactions are coming from, though. Even if the divine casters get Cantrip Versatility so clerics and druids aren't shafted as hard.
Druid - WIld Companion: THANK YOU. God I hate that every stupid freaking druid ever is supposed to be Beast Boy the Shapeshifting Wonder Moose. People who want to play a more traditional druid, who walks with and commands nature but is not a closet furry, have been out in the cold for forever. I love this ability - a druid summoning a natural spirit to be their eyes and ears is so much freaking cooler than "I'ma turn into a manbearpig!" Even if this document burns and dies, this is now Official Unofficial Homebrew for all my campaigns going forward. An absolutely wonderful, stellar alternative to Wild Shape and I am absolutely thrilled to see more ideas in the vein of Wild Companion and the Wildfire druid.
I know this isn't much of a contention point, but I just want to remind the old D&D heads in the forum that only D&D - only this game and close derivatives of it - have ever depicted druids as weird animal people. That is not what druids are and the class being forced into being The Shapeshifty Guys makes it super weird for a lot of players who didn't grow up with D&D and druids being The Animal People. So yeah. Wild Companion - awesome.
Unarmed Fighting Style: I can see where the complaints here are, but by the same token I know a lot of people who're super frustrated that anyone who wants to be good at unarmed combat MUST BE a monk. No monk, no unarmed. All unarmed combatants that aren't monks (or heavily homebrewed) are absolutely godawful. This wouldn't be as big an issue if monks didn't have a very strict aesthetic baked into their class. You have to break the rules a bit for your monk to not be a nigh-emotionless sagey Kung Fouchebag. One of the players at my table is enormously excited for Unarmed Style because he wants a huge, beefy character that wrestles and grapples and beats people down with her bare fists, and monk just...doesn't do that.
I could see knocking it down to d4/d6 instead of d6/d8, but I also like the feel of this particular style. It's more scrappy - instead of flitting around the battlefield delivering seventeen ORAs a turn with centuries of training behind them, this fighting style encourages the player to get in, clinch up, and just beat the everloving donkeypiss out of some poor schmuck. it's a very different feel than monks, and monks have had a monopoly on unarmed combat long enough. I'm all for Unarmed Combat Style, even if it is weird to try and scale.
Please do not contact or message me.
As someone who loves both Rangers and Warlocks this UA has me salivating. So many useful options here to both buff and diversity playstyle. However, while the Beast Master upgrade is a step in the right direction they REALLY need to port some more stuff over from the last Revised Ranger. In that UA it made the Beast Master companion an actual character with traits and that leveled up WITH the player. I understand why they are hesitant to allow it to roll it's own initiative, but having run a campaign with this variant I can tell you it is very much not overpowered.
This reminds me of the old 3.5 UA book, I'm almost more excited to see what the next book has in store outside of character stuff now with all these archtypes and options of yore almost lol.
There's not going to be a 5.5e. All these alternate features will go into a Xanathar's-like supplement, probably with some other variant rules, and will stay completely optional. That's as close to a 5.5e we're likely to get.