So it's been officially said that 5e will not have any more new classes unless it's needed for a setting. What new classes for settings could we get for 5e?

Given the existence of subclasses and the fact that WotC apparently isn't interested in making separate psionic classes, I don't see a lot of need for anything. I was never all that interested in Spelljammer, maybe some kind of navigational class could be useful there, but I expect the thirteen we have now might be doing the lifting for the entire edition.

Quote from pangurjan >>

Given the existence of subclasses and the fact that WotC apparently isn't interested in making separate psionic classes, I don't see a lot of need for anything. I was never all that interested in Spelljammer, maybe some kind of navigational class could be useful there, but I expect the thirteen we have now might be doing the lifting for the entire edition.

 I understand this, but what classes could we POSSIBLY get. I doubt we'll get any new ones unless we want 4 years of playtesting like the Artificer. There's a slight possibility for Dragonrider to be a class but I doubt it.

Via UA they’ve released a dragon rider sub class. Psioncist is probably the only setting specific class that’s I think is necessary/along with dark sun defiling rules. Personal I want an intelligence based half caster that’s not the Artificer but I can still reskin that.

I've never played in Dark Sun before, why are Psions so important there? I feel as if we should get an INT-Based Paladin/Ranger equivalent, but Eldritch Knight Fighter and Bladesinger wizard fill this niche pretty well.

They are the predominant "spell casters" if you will of Athas. And as setting specifically necessary as Artificers are to Ebberon. 

And they do, which is arguably why there is not a need for new classes.

They could make some sort of half-arcane warrior hybrid class that bridges the gap between the Eldritch Knight and Bladesinger, but I have no idea what sort of campaign that would fit in.

Beyond that and the other stuff already listed here, I'm not sure where they could actually go with new classes that didn't involve some of the late 3.5 garbage like the Truenamer and Incarnum users.

If Psions are so important to Dark Sun and people really want Athas to come out, I think we might get a Psion/Mystic UA later this year. In 4e, they released a Swordmage in the Forgotten Realms Setting Guide. (something I want to be updated and released in 5e)

To clarify, from what little I know of previous discussions.

In Athas/Dark Sun, 'traditional' magic (i.e. arcane/divine/primal powers) is actively toxic to the world.  it leeches from the planet's own life force, and overuse of that magic has turned Athas into a desolate post-apocalyptic wasteland.  Users of such magic are seen as the height of evil/selfish and it's usually punishable by death.  Psionic characters/powers are the only form of 'magic' that do not further the cycle of desolation, which means that functioning psionics is sorta essential for the core of Dark Sun.  A Psion/Mystic/Psyker/Ms. Cleo class is one of the highlights of the setting, as the artificer was one of the highlights of Eberron.  However, testing of the first Mystic went very poorly and as such, not only was the class permanently shelved but the "psionics" we got in Tasha's Cauldron in the form of terrible subclasses is...well.  Terrible.

This means we're not likely to see Dark Sun as a setting any time soon - or ever.  Dark Sun absolutely requires alternative forms of spellcasting, and Wizards has made it absolutely clear that they will never include any alternatives to the base arcane-style spell slot casting system in the game that have any sort of actual support.  So no Dark Sun, and thus no psionic class. 

Short that?  Absolutely gobsmack everything is going to be a subclass.  They'll never introduce another base class, because the belief is that new subclasses can do everything a new base class can do with a bare fraction of the development effort and far less potential to get weird balance-wise.  Wizards has no intention of plugging the holes in this edition - in their eyes, the existing subclasses and the Power of Reflavoring(TM) can already accomplish literally everything any reasonable player could ever want, so why keep developing new things, eh?

It's perfectly possible that Wizards takes an approach to Dark Sun whereby they don't make a systematic distinction between which classes are defilers and which are not, and instead create a list or guideline. Something like "The following subclasses are not considered defilers for the purposes of magic and spell casting. This could be due to their use of psionics, such as with the Aberrant Mind Sorcerer, or through mastery of some other source as energy such as Way of the Four Elements monk and their use of ki". This would let them 'soft classify' some classes and subclasses as being safe to use what is still ostensibly magic, without the requisite to design a whole bespoke system.

The other route would be to create something akin to Theros's supernatural gifts, where when you make a Dark Sun character you can choose to be a defiler or preserver, which defines your magics source and maybe gives you some mechanical benefits. The approach that there must be a mechanically distinct system seems a bit narrow to me, there seem to be plenty of alternate design routes that would enable Dark Sun and its special relationship with magic.

That's nothing more than the Power of Reflavoring(TM) on an official level, and it seems like a terrible cop-out.  "You're only a defiler if you say you're a defiler.  Otherwise just say you're not a defiler and enjoy having all your same usual magic anyways".  Rather goes against the entire purpose of there being defilers and preservers in the first place if the only difference between them is whether or not the player wants to deal with the baggage or not.

Having to deal with one's problems without the easy-patch bandage of arcane magic was supposed to be one of the main points of the setting, from what I've heard from folks who played it.  A 'Dark Sun' book without the balls to tell players that they can't have all their toys in this world is really no such thing, ne?

Quote from 6thLyranGuard>>

They could make some sort of half-arcane warrior hybrid class that bridges the gap between the Eldritch Knight and Bladesinger, but I have no idea what sort of campaign that would fit in.

Honestly, I see absolutely no reason why sorcerers, as a whole, would be defilers in the Dark Sun setting. The reason defiling works is primarily attributed to how the magic weave works there.

Psionics bypassed this because they use internal energy instead of tapping into a background magical field. That's basically how sorcerers also cast magic in a nutshell. From a thematic perspective, I see no reason why sorcerers would defile. 

I mean, Dark Suns originally came out in 2e, when your class options were Warrior, Wizard, Priest, and Rogue. If you cast arcane magic, you were a wizard. Period. You got a variety of options within the Wizard class, much like we have subclasses now, but you were always fundamentally a wizard. Defiler was a class created as a type of "evil wizard." 

3e and 4e changed how the roles worked - there were whole hosts of classes distinct from the wizard.  In 4e, they said it didn't matter, arcanists were all defilers, but in 3e, there were several different "arcane" classes that didn't cause defilement - wizard was the only absolute one that defiled, and the rest were open to question.

Bards are another odd spot. 2e treated them as a rogue class, and Dark Sun replaced their magic with potions. This really doesn't work outside of 2nd edition, as the bards are far more caster-oriented, especially in 4th and 5th. 

'traditional' magic (i.e. arcane/divine/primal powers) is actively toxic to the world.

As far as I'm aware, divine classes (Cleric, Druid, and to a lesser extent, the technically arcane class Warlock) had other issues to contend with. Being cut off from the Outer Planes and all that, which theoretically impacted the type of spells they had access to. But, I don't recall ever seeing anything about them causing defilement.

So, in Dark Sun in 5e terms, would every cleric and paladin have to be Nature Domain or Oath of the Ancients? 

It never did make sense to me why Sorcerers in 5e are automatically arcane casters. If your magic comes from a divine source (i.e. Divine Soul), why isn't your magic divine? The same applies to primal magic (if there were a primal sorcerer subclass, that is). 

I would love for Dark Sun to come out, even though I don't know a whole lot about it, just like I wanted Eberron to come out in 5e before I knew a ton about it. Once Eberron: Rising from the Last War came out, I bought the book and read all about the setting in lore given both online and in the book. If a Dark Sun setting book were to come out, I would do the same thing. However, "true Psionics" hasn't come out in 5e yet and there aren't any signs of WotC trying to make another Psionic class for the time being, so Dark Sun seems fairly unlikely to be released anytime soon. 

Thanks for explaining. Because Psions are so important to Athas, and it took 4 years for Artificer to be published, I doubt we’re getting Dark Sun anytime soon. 

Quote from Third_Sundering >>

So, in Dark Sun in 5e terms, would every cleric and paladin have to be Nature Domain or Oath of the Ancients? 

 In 2e, there were Templars who served the Sorcerer Kings instead of a god, but basically the same thing. I imagine we might get Fire, Water, Wind, Earth Domains for clerics too with Dark Sun. But otherwise, yeah, spot on.

It never did make sense to me why Sorcerers in 5e are automatically arcane casters. If your magic comes from a divine source (i.e. Divine Soul), why isn't your magic divine? The same applies to primal magic (if there were a primal sorcerer subclass, that is). 

Divine magic means that your power comes from an outside force - gods, spirits, etc.  Arcane magic means that its based on your own skill or internal ability. Mainly, divine magic can be taken away, whereas arcane magic can't. 

Divine Soul sorcerer are arcane because they still get that power from their own bloodline/soul/etc. Its all internal, independent of any god, angel, spirit, etc. 

Warlocks are weird - most abilities, despite being taught by a spiritual being, are yours permanently and can't be removed, but there are some that do depend on your patron's continued favor, as does gaining any new levels in the class. I think that warlocks would have been considered flat out divine class in 5e if it wasn't for the fact that they were grandfathered in as an arcane class, based on their previous incarnations.

I still hold out hope that Dark Sun will happen. I don't know how they'll pull it off considering the path they've chosen for psionics, and I'm positive that it will be controversial regardless of what they do, but I do love the setting.

Arcane magic is a matter of internal ability, but the magical energy used to fuel it is drawn from the outside environment.  That's how Null-Magic Zones (areas with no magic, basically like extended, permanent Antimagic Shells) function.  It's been like that pretty much the entirety of D&D's existence.  Wizards don't use internally generated magic, they just access the ambient magic that exists in the world.

Quote from 6thLyranGuard >>

Arcane magic is a matter of internal ability, but the magical energy used to fuel it is drawn from the outside environment.  That's how Null-Magic Zones (areas with no magic, basically like extended, permanent Antimagic Shells) function.  It's been like that pretty much the entirety of D&D's existence.  Wizards don't use internally generated magic, they just access the ambient magic that exists in the world.

 Well, sorcerers use internal energy, whereas wizards use the Weave (ie environment), but both are considered arcane.  I suppose that, at this point, we really should say that arcane magic is anything not divine, since artificers, bards, sorcerers, wizards and warlocks are all arcane, but they're vastly different from each other. 

Honestly, its not really a helpful distinction anymore, more of a role play thing, and even then, its debatable. 

Sorcerers also use the Weave, they just have a different method of accessing it.

But you're right in that the distinction between different types of magic is arbitrary and not really a useful descriptor anymore.