Unearthed Arcana has opened its pages again, and familiar arcane subclasses have returned after some tweaks.
The Fighter’s Arcane Archer subclass features a new arsenal of abilities to use in and out of combat. The Monk’s Tattooed Warrior subclass manifests its magical ink in new ways. And the Wizard subclasses—Conjurer, Enchanter, Necromancer, and Transmuter—have each been reshaped to better embody their arcane traditions.
You can read the full playtest packet yourself or click below for highlights from each subclass, which include designer insights from Ben Petrisor and Makenzie De Armas.
- Arcane Archer (Fighter)
- Tattooed Warrior (Monk)
- Conjurer (Wizard)
- Enchanter (Wizard)
- Necromancer (Wizard)
- Transmuter (Wizard)

Arcane Archer (Fighter)
Player feedback pointed that while they enjoyed the streamlining of the Arcane Shot Die, they didn’t find the die upgrades exciting. In this update, we’ve added several new features across levels. Magical Ammunition gives the Arcane Archer ways to have “trick shots” outside of combat.
Arcane Burst adds the benefit of pushing creatures away from you when you use the Indomitable feature, and Masterful Shots lets you reposition and attack after a creature misses you. Both features aim to give the Fighter the ability to keep fighting from a distance and make them difficult to pin down.
Tattooed Warrior (Monk)
Player feedback showed that the initial design did not succeed at delivering the fantasy of the subclass. Players had a strong desire for the narrative of a warrior with magical tattoos, so we redesigned the subclass. The subclass now provides magical abilities through your tattoos that aren’t spells. Beast Tattoos still provide a useful cantrip, but have been redesigned with an emphasis on enhancing your Flurry of Blows, Patient Defense, and Step of the Wind.
Celestial Tattoo provides benefits to the Search, Hide, and Study actions. Nature Tattoo has been condensed to grant Resistance to a damage type from a small list that can be changed when you finish a Short or Long Rest, or when you use Uncanny Metabolism. Monster Tattoo now includes Beholder, Chromatic Dragon, and Troll, providing new abilities. These changes keep the customization of the previous version, while still keeping the abilities feeling like what a Monk should do.
Conjurer (Wizard)
Conjuration spells typically transport creatures or objects. The previous design was shaped heavily by feedback from the 2014 version of this subclass, wherein players heavily favored the teleportation aspect of Conjuration.
However, the feedback has shown an increase in interest for summoning, and we were more than happy to provide. In this update, we condensed the movement features together and added new features focused on summoning spells. The updated Conjurer focuses on making their summoned creatures much more durable than previous iterations.
Enchanter (Wizard)
The previous iteration of the Enchanter took big swings at new design, but feedback showed it strayed too far from what players wanted for the subclass. We want the Enchanter to be a charmer and beguiler, capable of taking charge as the party’s communicator.
Enchanting Talker succeeded in this direction and scored very well, but other new features didn’t meet our standards. This update returns several features from the 2014 design with tweaks to address feedback we’ve seen over the years.
Necromancer (Wizard)
In the previous version, we moved away from animating the dead, but players made it clear that controlling hordes of Undead is the fantasy they want from the subclass. This update provides the Necromancer with ways to summon multiple Undead creatures.
To keep the Necromancer’s Undead potent at higher levels, the Necromancer learns how to use them as an expendable resource.
Transmuter (Wizard)
The Transmuter still has emphasis on the Transmuter’s Stone, but now also has shape-shifting abilities. The Durability option of the Transmuter’s Stone was consistently cited as the best option, and picking another option created the feeling of playing wrong.
We have updated the feature by making the Durability option part of bearing the stone by default. We revised the subclass to have more flexibility in its features, such as expanding the types of spells Split Transmutation affects.
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 September 25, and let us know what you think.
The issue is why would anyone study to become a lich if you can get immortality at a lower level as a transmuter? More annoyed that deaging doesn't give you bonus stats, in older editions that could have given you +3 to all mental stats.
One super undead we can control as Necromancer as capstone. Thats what everyone is asking for
I feel bad for Monk players.
The Necromancer had so much sauce last UA and now it's all gone to do something safe and repetitive... Man. Same with the enchanter. What a letdown.
To manipulate the energies of life, death and undeath, the life force of all creatures... The possibilities are extraodinary. This is the school that is bringing us Clone or Astral Projection for the most powerful of spellcasters... Or even spells like Soul Cage for the blackest of souls. I mean, come on ! But no... Apparently, big skelletons go boom-boom and that's it. Sigh...
They switched the Nercomancer to be more Undead focussed because that's what people in the survey said they wanted as stated in the article. Quote: "In the previous version, we moved away from animating the dead, but players made it clear that controlling hordes of Undead is the fantasy they want from the subclass."
When most people choose to play a Necromancer, it's because they want the fantasy of controlling the Undead to fight for them, so that's what the game creators are going to focus on. In most games where you can play a Necromancer, they are treated as a summoner-type class, because that's what the majority of players want.
Maybe they should care more about what's coherent with the lore than a passing fancy... Like... How are we supposed to play white necromancers in this version? Or even grey? To create undead is an evil act. They are three branches of necromancy for a reason... White necromancers are supposed to be healers and protectors of the dead's sanctity of rest. How would that work here?
I'm curious where this lore you speak of is coming from.
To be fair, Greys aren't really a thing, and Necromancy being an evil act is complicated. Because that means bringing back the dead the right way was even evil, if you look at some of the older editions. In Which case every Good Aligned Healer that every did a Rez on someone should be Evil not good. As for White Necromancer there have only ever been a handful of Whites and they were all primarily Cleric/Wizard Multiclasses so that they could heal people, and most them were part of the Church of Jergal. Necromancer's have almost always been evil and bad Faerun, with very few exceptions. So it makes more sense for the Necromancer Wizard to be the Undead Minion Necromancer. You want a white Necromancer, that is literally Death or Grave Domain Clerics. Which again, almost every White Necromancer was some kind of Clergy.
So honestly they are pretty staying within lore for Necromancer. You want a White Necromancer that doesn't Multiclass to exist (considering they were all Cleric/Wizard in lore) then make your own "White Necromancer" subclass, and make it a Wizard that gets some Cleric spells, maybe a feature that lets them use Channel Divinity.
Sorry, but my beloved Transmuter is still ass in this version.
Ed Greenwood. It's 5e lore.
From the Complete Book of Necromancy (2e), regarding benign necromancy: "Altough white magic can be used to heal wounds and bone fractures, it is no substitute for clerical healing. White necromancy derives its healing power from a volunteer's source of life energy (often the caster's), as in empathic wound transfer. Clerical magic, in contrast, bestows healing trough a combination of faith and divine authority." Quoted verbatim, Page 46. A page that also brings info on Gray necromancy, altough, I will admit that the Gray lore presented there does contradict the lore latter established in 5e. So no, white necromancers are not clerics... I don't know where you got your infos from.
Is the whole Nicolas Flamel thingy with transmuter's stones really that popular? Or do they just keep trying to make it popular... Doesn't really scream "remaker of worlds" to me, but hey... Maybe some people dig it.
Respectfully, you can talk about the lore all you want (which the lore is really only applicable if a given table decides that it is or when a novel is being written that takes place in the setting), but at the end of the day, they're a business. They're going to do what they feel will make the most money. And that means trying to listen to what the most players say they want.
If you don't like the direction they're taking the subclass, let them know by filling out the survey.
Just did that 👍Don't know if it will make a difference but hey... Worth a shot.
Very nice to see a list of reasons and a look at what the feedback is doing
Playing a tiefling, originally, was akin to playing an evil character and had rules written towards that. Although you could play a lawful good didnt mean it wasnt skewed towards evil. But that is completely modified to modern times to give much more malleability to the experience. I personally have a zariel tiefling whos a vengeance paladin in his quest to redeem himself. So i dont get what this hardcore subjective interpretation of the rules is about but its not legitimate.
Also, is it just me or is Grim Harvest not actually harvesting anything in this version?