Dungeons and Dragons has released a teaser for its upcoming book, Forgotten Realms: Heroes of Faerûn, and it confirms the final versions of eight included subclasses. Each of these was featured in a playtest from January, but the D&DBeyond post shared on October 23 hints that a few design tweaks have been made.
The College of the Moon Bard seems to have undergone some serious changes. None of its subclass features have the same names as in the original playtest, and while some of its abilities sound familiar, they are far from the same. This Bard 5e can still cast Moonbeam and use it to heal as well as harm. However, the new version is much more focused on teleportation alongside its healing abilities.
In contrast, the Knowledge Domain Cleric has seen very few changes from playtest to publication. It's still a Cleric 5e with telepathy, additional proficiencies, and the ability to cast certain spells without spell slots. It also seems that the capstone ability, which gives the Cleric advantage on D20 tests for an hour, has survived. The only real difference is that the Unfettered Mind feature improves your resistance to Intelligence saves - rather than improving the odds of your Intelligence checks.
Bannerets (previously known as Purple Dragon Knight) Fighters used to have a (rather unpopular) focus on the subclass' dragon companion. While some of the playtest features have survived intact - Knightly Envoy and Rallying Surge, for example - all mentions of that dragon have been replaced. More of a focus seems to have been placed on the Fighter 5e's abilities to buff and command allies.
The Oath of Noble Genies Paladin has seen a slight nerf, as it can no longer wear light armor and gain the benefits of its Genie's Splendor feature. However, based on the brief description given by D&DBeyond, it seems that the rest of the Paladin 5e remains largely unchanged.
On the other hand, the Winter Walk has seen a fractional buff, as their attacks and spells now ignore a creature's resistance to cold damage. The Ranger 5e's abilities at levels 11 and up seem identical to the original playtest, though Hunter's Rime and Fortifying Soul are entirely new.
The Scion of the Three Rogue sounds like it has survived the playtesting process entirely unscathed. This is still a Rogue 5e that can teleport after annihilating a foe, channel the powers of the dreadful Dead Three, and frighten nearby enemies.
Similarly, Spellfire Sorcery sounds identical to its original draft. The ability to create bolstering flames, turn Counterspells into Sorcery Points, fly, and reduce incoming damage all sound like they've survived for this Sorcerer 5e subclass.
Lastly, there's the Bladesigner Wizard. The Wizard 5e's Bladesong feature sounds largely unchanged - though this had a lengthy rules description in the original playtest, and a lot could be concealed by the one-sentence description D&DBeyond now gives. The rest of the subclass sounds extremely similar to before, though, so perhaps this is another subclass with minimal edits.
According to the DnD release schedule, Forgotten Realms: Heroes of Faerûn releases on November 11. If you want to prepare for these incoming character options, check out our guide to DnD classes. Or head over to the Wargamer Discord to tell us your opinion on the new subclass options.