"Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 8 Release Date Announced with 12 New Subclasses"

Larian Studios has officially announced that the much-anticipated Patch 8 for Baldur's Gate 3 will launch on Tuesday, April 15. This update, which has been in stress test form for some time, is now ready for all players to enjoy next week.

Patch 8 brings a wealth of new content to the critically acclaimed Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. Players can look forward to 12 new subclasses, enhancing their gameplay experience with unique abilities and strategies. In addition to the subclasses, the update introduces exciting features such as a photo mode, cross-play functionality, and split-screen support for Xbox Series S. For detailed information on all the changes, be sure to check out the Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 8 patch notes.

Bard - College of Glamour
As a College of Glamour Bard, you'll harness the power to both heal your allies and command your enemies. With Mantle of Inspiration, you can grant your allies 5 temporary hit points, and if an enemy attacks while this spell is active, they may become Charmed. Leverage this with Mantle of Majesty to manipulate Charmed enemies, making them flee, approach, freeze, drop to the ground, or relinquish their weapon.

Barbarian - Path of Giants
Choosing the Path of Giants unlocks your inner strength, allowing you to throw both friends and foes with ease. The Giant’s Rage passive enhances your strength and size, boosting the damage of your Throw attacks and increasing your carry capacity, making those heavy pockets a thing of the past.

Cleric - Death Domain
Embrace the dark arts as a Death Domain Cleric, mastering spells that deal necrotic damage and three new necromancy cantrips. Toll The Dead rings the bell of doom, dealing 1-8 damage that scales if the target is already injured. Plus, you can now detonate nearby corpses, causing havoc among your enemies.

Druid - Circle of Stars
The Circle of Stars Druids draw power from the cosmos, offering three Starry Forms—the Archer, Chalice, and Dragon. Each form caters to different playstyles: the Archer unleashes radiant damage with astral arrows, the Chalice restores hit points, and the Dragon enhances constitution rolls, providing versatile and powerful options for healers, fighters, and strategists alike.

Paladin - Oath of the Crown
Sworn to uphold the law, the Oath of the Crown Paladin can guide allies in battle with Righteous Clarity, taunt foes with strategic interrupts, and bolster your party with Divine Allegiance, absorbing damage and restoring health.

Fighter - Arcane Archer
The Arcane Archer Fighter blends magic and archery, introducing unique skills and new shooting animations. Send foes to the Feywild temporarily or unleash Psychic damage that can blind enemies with a failed Wisdom saving throw.

Monk - Drunken Master
As the Drunken Master Monk, you can consume alcohol from your inventory or around the Sword Coast to regain Ki. Use Intoxicating Strike to share a bottle with your enemies, boosting your Armour Class and hit chance against drunk targets. Drunk enemies are also vulnerable to Sobering Realisation, dealing both physical and Psychic damage.

Ranger - Swarmkeeper
The Swarmkeeper Ranger commands three deadly swarms in combat: the Cloud of Jellyfish for extra lightning damage, the Flurry of Moths for Psychic damage and potential blindness, and the Legion of Bees for piercing damage and knockback. Each swarm also grants teleportation abilities.

Rogue - Swashbuckler
The Swashbuckler Rogue introduces actions perfect for a pirate's life, such as blinding enemies with sand, disarming them with a flick of your weapon, and using Fancy Footwork to prevent opportunity attacks during melee.

Sorcerer - Shadow Magic
Shadow Magic Sorcerers thrive in darkness, gaining Superior Darkvision and the ability to Shadow Walk between shadowy areas. Summon the Hound of Ill Omen to harass foes and use Strength of the Grave to stay in the fight, especially useful for Honour Mode runs.

Warlock - Hexblade
Hexblade Warlocks form pacts with Shadowfell entities, manifesting as magical weapons. Curse enemies and command their souls, raising spirits from slain foes to deal necrotic damage and heal your Warlock by draining the enemy's soul.

Wizard - Bladesinging
Bladesinging Wizards blend swordplay with spellcasting, featuring new spellcasting animations when using their weapon. The Bladesong ability enhances speed, agility, and focus, also granting a bonus to Constitution saving throws.

Every IGN 10 of 2023

18 ImagesPatch 8 marks the final major update for Baldur's Gate 3, concluding a remarkable journey for Larian Studios. Since its launch in 2023, the game has received critical acclaim and enjoyed massive commercial success, continuing to sell strongly into 2025.

Larian's decision to move on from Baldur's Gate 3 and Dungeons & Dragons to focus on a new, undisclosed project has surprised the gaming community. Meanwhile, Hasbro, the owner of D&D, is actively planning to continue the series. In a recent interview with IGN at the Game Developers Conference, Dan Ayoub, SVP of digital games at Hasbro, expressed interest in the future of Baldur's Gate.

"We're kind of working out our plans for the future and what we're going to be doing with that. And actually, in pretty short order, we're going to have some stuff to talk about around that," Ayoub stated. While he did not specify whether this would mean a new Baldur's Gate game or another type of project, he confirmed his long-term desire for a Baldur's Gate 4, though he noted it would take time.

"It's somewhat of an unenviable position," Ayoub added. "I mean, we're not in a hurry. Right? That's the thing, 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 where senior systems designer Ross Stephens will detail the new changes and additions.