Wizards of the Coast released a new Dungeons and Dragons playtest document on September 18, giving another pass at some of the arcane subclasses it put out in June. Four flavors of Wizard lie within, but we're more interested in the two character options that let martial DnD classes muck about with magic.
That's because these two subclasses, the Arcane Archer and Tattooed Warrior, were distinctly lackluster last time they appeared. Arcane Archer, which as you might expect is a Fighter who uses magical arrows, was at least more effective than in 5th edition, but its implementation was still ever so boring, with most of the level ups just unlocking an incremental upgrade to your Arcane Shot die.
Meanwhile the Tattooed Warrior, a Monk who can use arcane tattoos to cast spells, was underwhelming for a completely different reason. It had the same problem as the infamous old Fifth Edition Monk subclass, the Way of the Four Elements Monk. Its abilities simply cost too much for what you got out of them. It was also pretty inconsistent, with some tattoos that were simply way better than others.
The big question, then, is to what extent WotC has fixed these issues with its latest take on the subclasses?
Well, happily, the Arcane Archer is a much more exciting Fighter subclass, thanks to the addition of a bunch of new features. Instead of just incremental upgrades to an existing ability you get new features to play with at each milestone. These include flinging someone 20 feet when you use the Fighter's saving throw reroll, and moving and attacking when someone misses you. The archer also gets some new utility options with Magical Ammunition that can unlock doors or create climbable vines.
While Wizards mainly just added stuff to the Arcane Archer, they tore down the Tattooed Monk and built a new one. "The initial design did not succeed at delivering the fantasy of the subclass," the design notes accompanying this UA explain, so the new version has abilities that don't just copy existing DnD spells and are designed to feel more 'Monk-y'.
Personally, I think this is a better attempt, but it's still got a long way to go. The Level 3 Beast Tattoos still have the problem that some are super strong and others are nearly useless. Crane gives advantage on attack rolls after you miss with Flurry of Blows, while Butterfly lets you use your Dexterity instead of Strength when making a High Jump - really?
The middle is where the class really slumps, with abilities that don't feel super impactful or proactive. You can make your character much better at Searching, Hiding, or Studying at Level 6 and gain a changeable resistance type at level 11. It's not exactly inspiring stuff, and I feel like the subclass could really use some more combat bonuses.
The final Monster tattoos are cool, especially the Beholder one that lets you fly and shoot eye beams. But ultimately, by level 17 I think this is too little too late.
We won't dig too deeply into the Wizard changes here, but the gist seems to be that the Conjurer, Necromancer, Enchanter and Transmuter have all gone back to their roots. The Necromancer has more features related to raising the dead, the Conjurer has less teleportation and more summoning, the Enchanter ditches buffing and movement abilities for more tricksy charming effects, and the Transmuter can shape-shift themselves now.
What do you think of the new Unearthed Arcana? Check it out for yourself here, and then let us know over on the Wargamer Discord. And you might also enjoy our guide to all the DnD races.