It’s time for another Unearthed Arcana playtest! This time, we’re diving into themes of survival and corruption with four apocalyptic subclasses: the Circle of Preservation Druid, the Gladiator Fighter, the Defiled Sorcery Sorcerer, and the Sorcerer-King Patron Warlock.
You can read the full playtest packet yourself or click below for highlights from each subclass, which include designer insights from Wesley Schneider and Makenzie De Armas.
- Circle of Preservation (Druid)
- Gladiator (Fighter)
- Defiled Sorcery (Sorcerer)
- Sorcerer-King Patron (Warlock)

Circle of Preservation (Druid)
The Circle of Preservation is a Druid subclass that focuses on conservation, protection, and restoration. Many iconic fantasy stories center on hope—on people who fight to protect the good in the world. The Circle of Preservation leans heavily into these kinds of stories.
Given that narrative framework, we wanted this subclass to be really adept at healing and protecting allies. The subclass introduces a new way to expend uses of Wild Shape, which creates an area of protected land that can buff allies in various ways. We also give you a bunch of healing, restorative, and protective spells as always prepared, to ensure you’re always ready to aid those in need.
Gladiator (Fighter)
When designing the Gladiator subclass for the Fighter, we took a lot of inspiration from video games, especially classic fighting games. The thrill of a finishing move or a perfectly timed counter is so iconic, and we wanted this subclass to deliver on that fantasy.
The Gladiator is meant to be a performer as well as a martial combatant. As such, we leaned heavily into Charisma as a secondary ability for this subclass. The subclass also needs to be brutal, yet still tactically compelling. So, its core feature, Brutality, hinges on using an additional weapon mastery property as a vehicle for different cool effects when you hit with an attack roll. Weapon mastery properties have been such a fun addition to the game, and it’s always a joy to get to play with them more in design.
Defiled Sorcery (Sorcerer)
The Defiled Sorcery subclass for the Sorcerer is all about siphoning life energy from yourself and the world around you to fuel your magic. There are a lot of ways that you can represent “life energy” as a game mechanic, and we wanted to use this subclass as an opportunity to explore alternate uses and different approaches to one such mechanic: Hit Point Dice.
A Sorcerer with the Defiled Sorcery subclass can expend their own Hit Dice to increase the damage of spells they cast. Especially ambitious Sorcerers can even attempt to drain life from another creature, using that creature’s Hit Dice in place of their own. To help mitigate the potential loss of healing capability (with this Sorcerer expending Hit Dice to power their spells rather than to heal), we gave this Sorcerer some fun defensive and battlefield-control abilities as well, to increase the Sorcerer’s survivability.
Sorcerer-King Patron (Warlock)
Warlocks who desire to command the battlefield and intimidate their enemies will find themselves right at home with the Sorcerer-King Patron subclass. For this subclass, we wanted to explore what it would be like to draw eldritch power from a tyrannical figure, and we leaned heavily into aspects of control and fear.
Like our other Warlock subclasses, the Sorcerer-King Patron subclass provides the Warlock with a handful of spells that are always prepared. There are some strong damage-dealing spells on this subclass’s list, but there are also several tactical spells, allowing this Warlock to cleverly manipulate the battlefield for their benefit. And, as you might expect, this Warlock interacts a bunch with the Frightened condition; between spells and subclass features, this Warlock has myriad ways of terrifying a foe, and at higher levels, Frightened creatures automatically fail saving throws against this Warlock’s magical commands.
Your Feedback Matters
Once you’ve read or played with these playtest materials, be sure to fill out the survey on D&D Beyond, coming on August 28, and let us know what you think.
Finally, a Druid subclass that excels at serving as a Healer/Support. I absolutely loved this subclass, which combines elements of my favorite role with my favorite class!
The best part is that ABSOLUTELY everything makes sense within the class's fantasy: you protect an area, empower those who help preserve it, and harm those who try to harm it. Even the level 10 ability, which is very situational, is included in the RP! My friends and I are excited for the Survey, upvotes to everything in this class!
Finally, after the Circle of the Sea fiasco, a powerful subclass was the least they could offer. I hope they don't nerf this subclass in the official material.
i look fwd to dark sun play with these
So when is the dark sun book getting announced? Also if yall could oh I DON’T KNOW finally do a THREE BOOK SET 1 monster book 1 setting and unique mechanics 1 all player facing material if you could make that very small change it would be great honestly and about time to do so.
When dark sun books coming out as announcement? Come on hurry up trailers give
You literally have not even had time to test or play them. You have no idea if they are unbalanced or not.
Maybe you don't put thought into. Sounds like a skill issue. Plenty of people use Weapon Mastery - it was one of the most asked for things in 2024, it was one of the highest scoring things tested, and it's literally a defining characteristic for Martials. Again, this sounds like projection. Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean that it's not widely used. And heaven forbid Fighters get ways to cripple enemy action economy like.... oh, I don't know, on-demand status effect maneuvers and weapon masteries. I can't possibly imagine a game in which that exists....
It doesn't "encourage one-encounter days" -- that's just bad DM'ing. Your DM determines how many encounters there are per day with the party. If they violate that agreement, that's on them, not on WOTC. The idea that it somehow grants "Innate Sorcery for free forever" is absolutely nonsensical and not found anywhere in the UA. Your complaint is about the base Sorcerer level 7 class ability that lets them spend SP to regain IS (which is otherwise 2x/LR). If you pay attention to the text of the Level 14 subclass ability, you'll note it requires an enemy to die within 15 feet of you while IS is active, and states that once you benefit from it you cannot regain more SP until you use IS again. That's neither "for free" nor "forever" -- it requires a careful sequence of events to *possibly* refund you the cost of using IS -- as a level 14 ability (meaning you spend the overwhelming majority of most campaigns without this.) Again, if this turns into "free and forever", that's your DM being terrible at their job (and means that as a Sorcerer you're probably not providing great value to your party by dangerously placing yourself within aura range of enemies, instead of hanging back and protecting your Concentration and actually spellcasting like the party probably expects you to.)
"changed to allow abusing the rules" -- this interpretation is in bad faith.
Further, it does not get "an equivalent of Silvery Barbs as a feature." Silvery Barbs is a 1st level campaign-specific spell, that applies not just to attack rolls, but to ability checks and saving throws and forces the opponent to take the lower of the two, and grants Advantage to be used in the future. This is a 10 level ability that only applies to attack rolls, does not force the lowest dice (only the new one), does not grant Advantage, and only grants damage conditionally if the reaction worked.
It's OK to dislike something without making disingenuous comparisons, fabricating objections that aren't real, and otherwise trashing it for other people. Nobody is forcing you to play this UA. If you don't like D&D -- you're welcome to go play any of the myriad of other TTRPGs while the rest of us enjoy finally getting what's likely the Dark Sun setting we've been asking for.
Love it!
Wonder if they will chain up Rangers and force them to use concentrated Hunters Mark. I feel baad for Hexblade Warlocks! Welcome to tunnel vision restrictions!
I never played DS. Started with 5e two years ago However! I do have read and learned alot about Dark Suns Athas setting and syspect Hasbro will dictate Wott to butcher the settings maturness in these oversenesitive times. The RAW content should absolutely be preserved.
BUT add a Mature Content and/ or even age rating at front cover. Also of course add Safety Rule pages in the new DS books first pages.
It takes huge guts by a publisher nowadays to have maturity and integrity to use sensitive topics. The latter if all agree on it and understand the harsh themes are a CORE part of the systems setting. Even add a glossary and awarness explaining the worst species can do, just in case. Things like well " owning persons ", exploitation of nature and a beings integrert. Gotta be careful with wording here or fireball!
If they wont respect Dark Suns setting and let mature DnD fans craving for the ruthlessness of its content And cant because of the masses of new ( young ) dnd fans to profit from and wont risk letting the nature of a DnD setting be left as is scare away customers and parents suing them?
Well then I rather play Dungeon Dudes Drakkenheim, Kobold Press Wastes of Chaos or Free Leagues non5e Symboraum as options to play instead. Those take it more seriously on being mature. And have guts to dive into the raw brutality of it all.. if only a little of what DS offered
Exactly! If needed. WotC could add " Mature Content " Age rating 16/ 18+, extra Safety pages for using such raw unfiltered content And a reminder glossary explaining in guts wrenching detail WHY this and that are just vile and HOW to use it in DS properly. There IS a market for mature DnD fans that want such a setting. Its nonsense we just cant have this ONE. Its the closest to grimdark/ madmax/ equalizer dnd can get
Nice homage to the 'Dark Sun' setting. The Sorcerer and Warlock subclasses will be great additions to those wanting to play into the "evil" aspects of power, domination, and corruption. The Druid plays well to the Preservers of Athas. The Gladiator screams to be a bloody feather-blade clad Thri-Kreen. I'm certain the design team has already begun considering the gajillion landmines buried in the wastelands of Athas. I don't expect WotC to resurrect the full corpus of 'Dark Sun'.
Basically this is an attempt at Dark Sun for 5E?
All of these subclasses are pretty weak, in my opinion. If they are going to bring back Dark Sun, they need to ramp up the power a bit....Athas is an absolutely brutal world and it won't work if it's dialed down. Just surviving daily is a victory there, these little plus one bonuses and disadvantage on this or that won't cut it.
The Warlock one in particular seems to synergize strongly with a multi-classed Pact of the Blade build, possibly into either Paladin or Bard (depending on whether you expect to use your slots more for smiting or casting). It's also super straightforward. Get the heaviest armor you can, Pact of the Blade and the associated invocations, roll up to the fight and smite something to use your AOE Frightened effect, which makes your freebie/slotless Command spells auto-succeed against extra targets than normal; throw around Compelled Duels and "1v1 me bro" enemies that you spend your Reaction to make miss and take retaliatory damage.
I think that was more out of WOTC designers not wanting to do Spelljammer but fans wanting it to much so they gave them what they wanted
Yeah, you didn't take "inspiration from video games". These are from Dark Sun. You ain't foolin anyone.
If I get to play a Sorcerer-King Warlock, my Patron is going to have to be Momonga / Ainz Ooal Gown from Overlord!
I don't know anything about Dark Sun, but I'll say that "Sorcerer-King Patron Warlock" is a real clunker of a noun phrase. (It made me think of the title Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.) It's also potentially confusing to use the name of one class in another's subclass.
I’m not sure what sorcerer is going to deliberately put themselves on the front line or melee hit range just to as aura. I’m confused at the Defiler subclass role.
i thnik they will probably do a feat, like the wild talents feats, that will allow the defiler ability, rob somehting to the effect of sacraficing hit dice to empower spells, but i think they should allow to sacrafice plant life in the region in lue of hit dice
Druid seems cool! Always glad to have another option to help with Concentration. Almost every single Druid spell requires Concentration, and without Eldritch Mind or Constitution save proficiency, it's miserable. To me, Druid doesn't even feel like a functional character without War Caster. A part of me thinks every single Druid subclass could use a Concentration boost.
While it seems like a lot of fun, I do politely question the strength of Preserved Land. Compare to Land Druids- they use an action to cast Wither and Bloom, and Preservation Druids get a Bonus action for ranged Twilight Sanctuary + Spirit Guardians + Constitution save bonus.
That's because they are all taken from Dark Sun