Another Unearthed Arcana is out, with 4 new subclasses.

This one’s a bit delayed, it came out a week ago, but it’s here now. Also, no YouTube video for it – not sure why. I’ve seen several people connect this to the Dark Sun campaign setting, and while I personally have no experience with it, it certainly looks like an interesting direction to go towards – people seem to be fond of it, so perhaps WoTC decided to revisit it in some future supplement.

Druid – Circle of Preservation

Safeguard nature and heal the world. Sounds like the baseline druid, but i suppose there’s a greater focus on restoration of ruined areas et cetera.

Circle of Preservation Spells (Level 3)

The usual always-prepared extra spells for spellcasting classes. Getting into cleric territory, lots of buffs and restoration. Bless in particular is amazing, it’s one of my favorite spells, and it retains a lot of utility even past level 1.

Preserve Land (Level 3)

Starting off with a big one. As a bonus action, you spend one use of Wild Shape to create a 15-foot cube around you for 1 minute. The area doesn’t automatically follow you, but you can use a bonus action to move it up to 30 feet, with a maximum distance from you being 120 feet. When a creature ends its turn within the area, you can choose to give it one of the following benefits:

• Gain 1d4+Druid level temporary HP.
• End one effect on it causing the Frightened of Poisoned condition.

That’s a LOT of extra HP – and it scales with your level too! In addition, it’s not tied to your own position – stay in the back and turn it on to give yourself and the ranged squishies the THP, then move it forward to cover the frontline. 15 cube might not be enormously large, but you’ll easily get at least 2 creatures every turn – besides, it’s at the end, of their turn, not yours, so they can always get back in its field if they want to. I like this one a lot. You might baulk at using a Wild Shape for this, but it sounds like a good deal to me.

Student of Preservation (Level 3)

Another Level 3 feature, this one kinda meh. You can cast druid spells without material components, except if they are consumed and have a cost; and if they do, they have a 10% chance to not be consumed. In addition, you gain proficiency in an artisan’s tool of your choice.

Improved Preservation (Level 6)

And we’re back to the good stuff – Preserve Land gets even stronger. First, while inside the cube, you and your allies gain a bonus to CON saving throws equal to your wisdom modifier; so a +5 to all CON saves (fine, a +4 at level 6, but not for long). Yes please. CON saves are among the most common, and they really help you avoid some nasty conditions – so this is… pretty good, really.

But we’re not done yet – your Preserve Land now also deals damage! You heard that right – the first time an enemy enters the area or ends their turn there (including when you move the area yourself), they make a WIS saving throw or take 2d10 radiant damage – oh, and their Speed is also halved. This might even make me play a Druid finally!

Facilitated Restoration (Level 10)

You can cast Lesser Restoration and Greater Restoration without expending a spell slot, a number of times equal to your WIS modifier. You probably won’t need to cast them that many times, but it’s nice to have the option and save some spell slots for other stuff.

Sacrosanct Land (Level 14)

Preserve Land is now a 30-foot cube instead of 15. I’d already count this great on its own, but it now gets people to be even tankier! When a creature is hit by an attack roll inside the area, you can use your reaction to halve the damage it takes.

So, to summarise:

• 1d4+Level THP every turn (or remove a frightened/poisoned)
• +5 to CON saving throws
• Half damage once per turn
• 2d10 damage to all enemies

Yeah, this looks pretty good. All for the cost of 1 Wild Shape – at this point, you’ve got 3 of them, but i think this is more of a spellcaster/support druid, so you’re using this every combat.

Overall, I really like this subclass – and I also think it’s pretty good thematically as well. Restoration and preservation and all that, and the features seem to fit.

Fighter – Gladiator

Let’s see what kind of theatrics these guys are up to.

Brutality (Level 3)

Once per turn, when you hit an enemy with a melee weapon, you can inflict an additional effect. You can do this a number of times equal to your CHA modifier, and you get back the uses from a short or long rest. The effects are:

• Bleed: You can activate the Sap mastery property in addition to a different mastery property you’re using with that weapon, and the target takes extra damage equal to your CHA modifier. (Sap gives disadvantage on their next attack roll)
• Bluff: You can activate the Vex mastery property in addition to a different mastery property you’re using with that weapon, and you have advantage on your next Saving Throw. (Vex gives advantage on your next attack roll against them)
• Stumble: You can activate the Topple mastery property in addition to a different mastery property you’re using with that weapon, and on its next turn, the target can take either an action or a bonus action, not both. (Topple makes an enemy fall prone if they fail a CON saving throw)

Not bad for extra options, especially since they allow extra mastery properties AND they have extra effects on top as well, but I’m not sure how much extra space you have for getting points into CHA – fighters need both CON and STR/DEX, so this is a tertiary priority at best. At level 3, I wouldn’t be surprised if you had just +1 on CHA – though Fighter does get plenty of Feats, so if someone can support this type of build, it’s them.

Combat Theatrics (Level 3)

When you make an Acrobatics or Athletics check, you add your CHA modifier. You also gain proficiency in one of Acrobatics, Athletics, Deception, Intimidation, or Performance. Again, this all depends on how much you’re willing to invest into your CHA – or, perhaps, how willing you are to let your other abilities fall behind.

Flourish Parry (Level 7)

When an enemy hits you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to add your CHA modifier to your AC (for this attack only). If this causes the attack to miss, you can retaliate with a melee attack as part of the same reaction; if your attack hits, you can also apply Brutality without expending a use for it. However, you also can’t counterattack again until you take a long rest, or spend a use of your Second Wind. You can still use your reaction for the extra AC though, it has unlimited uses. Now this is a good reason to invest in CHA – it’s like a mini Shield spell every turn. The counterattack is also nice, but I’d save it for the tougher enemies since you only get the one.

Bolder Brutalities (Level 10)

I like the name of this feature. I’m not sure why, it just rolls off the tongue nicely – must be the alliteration. Anyway, you get 3 more options for Brutality:

• Rive: You can activate the Cleave mastery property in addition to a different mastery property you’re using with that weapon, add you add your ability modifier to the damage of the extra attack granted by it. (Cleave lets you make a second attack against a creature within 5 feet of the first)
• Rush: You can activate the Push mastery property in addition to a different mastery property you’re using with that weapon, and you can immediately move up to your Speed without provoking Opportunity attacks. (Push lets you push the target up to 10 feet away – kinda obvious but I’m including it for the sake of completeness)
• Stagger: You can activate the Slow mastery property in addition to a different mastery property you’re using with that weapon, and the target has disadvantage on their next Saving Throw. (Slow reduces their speed by 10 feet)

Not unexpected, but the star of the show is Stagger – not for Slow, of course, but for the disadvantage on saving throws. I’ve spoken about this at length every time such a feature comes up (including the College of the Moon bard from an earlier UA), so I won’t tire you out with another essay.

Brutal Resurgence (Level 15)

Whenever you use your Second Wind or Action Surge, you also gain an expended use of Brutality. That’s pretty nice – a bit limited, honestly, but it fits the subclass well. You have 4 uses of Second Wind by now, plus however much your CHA will be, so you should be good in terms of total number of uses.

Mutilate (Level 18)

When you hit a Blooded creature with an attack, you can cause it to make a CON saving throw (DC=8+Proficiency+CHA). On a fail, they can only make 1 attack per Attack action, their Speed is halved, and their AC is reduced by 2. This effect lasts until they regain HP. If they fail the saving throw, you also can’t use this again until you take a long rest.

An interesting ability; very powerful when it hits, but also pretty easy to get rid of for certain enemies; I don’t remember off the top of my head the high CR enemies, but if they have easy access to healing, this loses a lot of its potency. On the other hand, if they don’t, they’re completely crippled for essentially the rest of the combat. Not sure how to feel about it – oscillating between “Hey, that’s pretty good!” and “Eh, this is alright at best”.

Overall, an interesting subclass; nothing too exciting or unique, but it’s got a theme. A way to play a CHA-based melee that isn’t bladelock, at least. (Or Paladin, obviously). I was going to question what exactly a Gladiator has to do with the “Apocalypse” part of this UA, but I was also going to say it reminds me of what a death metal/grindcore band would be all about, so I can see the connection. Brutal violence, what fun!

Sorcerer – Defiled Sorcery

Siphon life and drain vitality to power your spells. Spooky.

Defile and Empower (Level 3)

Once per turn, when you roll damage for a spell (that used a spell slot), you can spend a number of your Hit Dice equal to up to half the level of the spell (rounded up) and add the total rolled to one damage roll of the spell.

However, instead of using your own Hit Dice, you can attempt to steal from another creature instead that you can see within 30 feet of you. The creature makes a CON saving throw (automatically succeeding if they have immunity to Exhaustion), and on a fail, you use their Hit Dice instead (again, up to half of the spell’s level). Once a creature fails this save, you can’t use this ability again (stealing from other creatures, you can still spend your own Hit Dice) until you take a long rest or expend 3 sorcery points.

An interesting ability for sure; you’re incentivised to try and use the Hit Dice of larger creatures for more damage, but they also usually have higher CON saving throws. Your own Hit Dice certainly aren’t impressive enough compared to others – and remember that you only get back half of them on a long rest, not all.

Defiler Spells (Level 3)

The usuals – nothing unexpected here, all the dark/scary/defile-y spells you’d expect.

Corrupted Caster (Level 6)

When you spend Sorcery Points to get spell slots, you roll a number of d6 equal to the slot’s level and gain that many Temporary HP. In addition, when a creature hits you with a melee attack while you have THP (from any source, not just this one), they take Necrotic or Poison damage equal to your CHA modifier. Not bad, an extra bit of shielding and some retaliatory damage – without a save, so like a mini Armor of Agathys.

In addition, Necrotic and Poison damage you deal with Sorcerer spells and features ignores resistance. Let’s not get into this discussion once again – I’ll just say that I dislike such easy access to ignoring resistance.

Withering Aura (Level 14)

When you use Innate Sorcery, you also gain a 15-foot aura. When an enemy within the aura hits you with an attack roll, you can reduce the damage dealt by an amount equal to your CHA modifier (no reaction needed), and when an enemy dies within your aura, you gain 1d4 Sorcery points. You can’t gain more Sorcery Points this way until you use Innate Sorcery again.

On paper, this sounds pretty good, but as a Sorcerer, you generally don’t want people that close, you should be flying and blinking and in general being far, far away from the enemy. On the other hand, Defile and Empower requires you to be within 30 feet of a creature to steal their Hit Dice, so this is a good way to stay just a bit safer for it. The sorcery points sound nice too, but nothing shocking.

Also, I’ll be honest, when I read “you ignore resistance” from the previous feature, I was 100% expecting the aura to deal necrotic or poison damage, so I’m pleasantly surprised to be wrong.

Superior Defiler (Level 18)

You have immunity to the Poisoned and Exhaustion conditions, and your Withering Aura increases to 30 feet. In addition, enemies within it can’t regain HP. Kind of underwhelming for a capstone, really. Withering Aura could be 40 feet, perhaps, but the healing block is interesting. If nothing else, a Gladiator will appreciate it.

Overall, I was excited for the Blood Magic-type sorcerer the first feature hinted at, but there wasn’t much more of it – not that it’s a bad subclass, but it didn’t really blow me away.

Warlock – Sorcerer-King Patron

A Sorcerer-King sounds like just a powerful mortal, so I wasn’t sure why a Warlock would make a pact with one, but I have to admit the description is a bit more… hype, I guess you could say: “Your pact draws from the power of a monstrous, tyrannical force akin to a demigod or an overwhelmingly powerful magic-user. Through your pact, you herald this tyrant’s interests in the world, channelling their influence and mind-bending, psionic power.” Though the last-minute mention of psionics kinda threw me off, I assumed this was more Arcane magic than Psionic from the word “Sorcerer”. Anyway, let’s take a look.

Sorcerer-King Spells (Level 3)

Lots of “psychic” type spells – but, there’s also an additional feature: Psionic Casting. When you cast a spell from this table (not Warlock spells in general), you can do so without Verbal or Material components (except components that have a cost or are consumed).

A pretty good selection overall, I’ve grown pretty fond of Synaptic Static myself. Lots of control.

Tyrant’s Herald (Level 3)

You gain proficiency and expertise in Intimidation. Also, more importantly, you can cast Command as a bonus action, without expending a spell slot, a number of times equal to your CHA modifier, regaining all uses after a long rest. Command is a very nice spell, and having it on a bonus action is amazing; it pretty much stuns a creature for a turn while still letting you use your Action for your beloved Eldritch Blast.

Decisive Edict (Level 6)

When you use a Pact Magic spell slot, you can cause a 30-foot Emanation from you. For each creature inside it, you can choose to either give it advantage on attack rolls until the end of its next turn, or make a WIS saving throw or become Frightened. You can use this once per short or long rest, and you also regain a use when you use Magical Cunning. A pretty nice single-use(ish) ability, your martial allies will certainly appreciate it since it gives advantage to all attack rolls for a turn, not just the next one.

Vindictive Rebuke (Level 10)

When an enemy hits you with an attack roll, you can use your reaction to force them to reroll the d20. If the attack now misses, they take psychic damage equal to your Warlock level. You can use this a number of times equal to your CHA modifier, and regain all uses after a long rest. A bit stronger than just giving disadvantage, but not too spectacular.

Absolute Tyranny (Level 14)

An impressive-sounding feature for sure – is it an impressive capstone? When you cast Command, you can target an additional creature, and creatures that are Frightened automatically fail their saving throw for Command. I like it; it certainly works very well with Tyrant’s Herald, and it fits the theme. It’s not too powerful, but Warlocks get their capstone at only level 14, so I’m not complaining.

Overall, however, a bit of mixed feelings for the class as a whole; mostly in terms of theme. You start off calling it Sorcerer-King, then you pivot to psionics instead, then the theme is Tyranny; sure, there’s a connection between psionics and mental domination, but it’s not really reinforced that well.

Final Thoughts

To wrap things up – I realize I sounded quite critical throughout the review, but I’m not really that torn up. It’s an alright UA; It’s not spectacular, but the classes look pretty solid, nothing completely broken in either a strong or weak way.