Larian Studios has officially announced that the much-anticipated Patch 8 for *Baldur’s Gate 3* will be released on Tuesday, April 15. This update, which has been in stress test form for a while, is now ready for all players to enjoy. Patch 8 promises to bring a wealth of new content to the already popular Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, including the introduction of 12 new subclasses, a new photo mode, cross-play functionality, and split-screen support for Xbox Series S. For a detailed breakdown of the changes, you can check out the Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 8 patch notes.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 8 new subclasses: ---------------------------------------Bard - College of Glamour
As a College of Glamour Bard, you gain the ability to heal your allies and control your enemies. With the Mantle of Inspiration spell, you can grant your allies 5 temporary hit points, and if an enemy attacks while this spell is active, they may become Charmed. Use Mantle of Majesty to command these Charmed enemies to flee, move closer, freeze, drop to the ground, or relinquish their weapon.
Barbarian - Path of Giants
Choosing the Path of Giants enhances your Barbarian's strength and size through the Giant’s Rage passive, allowing you to deal additional damage with Throw attacks and increase your carrying capacity, making it easier to handle heavy items.
Cleric - Death Domain
As a Death Domain Cleric, you'll have access to spells that deal necrotic damage and three new necromancy cantrips, including Toll The Dead, which causes 1-8 damage and scales based on prior damage to the target. Additionally, you can now explode nearby corpses to damage enemies.
Druid - Circle of Stars
Circle of Stars Druids harness celestial power, adopting one of three Starry Forms - the Archer, Chalice, and Dragon. Each form caters to different strategies: the Archer deals radiant damage with astral arrows, the Chalice heals, and the Dragon boosts constitution rolls, enhancing your role as a healer, fighter, or strategist.
Paladin - Oath of the Crown
Sworn to uphold the law, Oath of the Crown Paladins can guide their allies with Righteous Clarity, taunt enemies, and use Divine Allegiance to absorb damage and restore health to their party.
Fighter - Arcane Archer
The Arcane Archer combines magic and archery, offering unique skills and new shooting animations. You can banish foes to the Feywild or unleash Psychic damage to potentially blind enemies.
Monk - Drunken Master
The Drunken Master Monk can drink alcohol from your inventory or around the Sword Coast to recover Ki. Use Intoxicating Strike to share the bottle with enemies, boosting your Armour Class and hit chance against drunk targets. Additionally, Sobering Realisation can sober up and damage drunk enemies.
Ranger - Swarmkeeper
Swarmkeeper Rangers can summon three types of swarms to aid in combat: Cloud of Jellyfish for lightning damage, Flurry of Moths for Psychic damage and potential blindness, and Legion of Bees for piercing damage and knockback. Each swarm also offers teleportation capabilities.
Rogue - Swashbuckler
Swashbuckler Rogues can use new actions like tossing sand to Blind enemies, flicking a weapon to Disarm them, and using Fancy Footwork to avoid opportunity attacks during melee combat.
Sorcerer - Shadow Magic
Shadow Magic Sorcerers thrive in darkness, with Superior Darkvision and the ability to Shadow Walk between dim light or darkness. They can summon the Hound of Ill Omen and use Strength of the Grave to avoid being downed, perfect for Honour Mode runs.
Warlock - Hexblade
Hexblade Warlocks form pacts with Shadowfell entities, gaining magical weapons to curse enemies and raise their spirits as summons that deal necrotic damage and heal the Warlock.
Wizard - Bladesinging
Bladesinging Wizards merge swordplay with magic, featuring new spellcasting animations and a Bladesong ability that boosts speed, agility, focus, and Constitution saving throws.
Every IGN 10 of 2023
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Patch 8 marks the final major update for Baldur’s Gate 3, signaling the end of a remarkable journey for Larian Studios. The game launched to critical acclaim and significant commercial success in 2023, continuing to perform well into 2024 and 2025.
In a surprising move, Larian announced its departure from Baldur’s Gate 3 and the Dungeons & Dragons universe to focus on a new, undisclosed project, leaving fans and the industry buzzing with speculation.
Meanwhile, Hasbro, the owner of D&D, has expressed interest in continuing the Baldur's Gate series. Speaking to IGN at the Game Developers Conference, Dan Ayoub, SVP of digital games at Hasbro, indicated that with Larian moving on, "a lot of people [are] very interested in Baldur's Gate." While no concrete plans were revealed, Ayoub hinted at upcoming announcements and expressed a desire for a future Baldur's Gate 4, though he acknowledged it would take time.
"It's somewhat of an unenviable position," Ayoub said. "We're not in a hurry. We're going to take a very measured approach... We've got a lot of plans, a lot of different ways to go about it. We're starting to think about, okay, yeah, we're ready to start dipping toes a little bit and talking about a few things. And I think, in really short order, like I said, again, not to over-tease that point, we're going to have some other things to talk about around that."
To celebrate the release of Patch 8, Larian will host a Twitch livestream featuring senior systems designer Ross Stephens, who will guide viewers through the new changes and additions.
