Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Build Discussion POLL: What patch 8 subclasses are you most looking forward to trying?

It's 2025 and so patch 8 isn't too far off, and hopefully some of us will also get the opportunity to take part in the stress test this month.

Which, if any, of the 12 new subclasses are you looking forward to trying out? What interests you about them, and do you have any character or build concepts already sketched out? You can select up to three in the the poll below.

Personally, I'm most looking forward to converting my drunken master themed monk currently in Act 2 into a "proper" drunken master, but am also interested in Circle of Stars druid, Shadow Magic sorceror, Swashbuckler rogue, College of Glamour bard, Hexblade warlock and Swarmkeeper ranger probably in that rough order though it was hard to pick my top three! And I'm sure I'll try out the Arcane Archer fighter, Bladesinger wizard and Death Domain cleric at some point, the descriptions just didn't grab me as much. Nor did those of the Path of Giants barbarian or Oath of the Crown paladin, but I can see myself trying these out on Karlach and Wyll respectively.

What (up to) three new subclasses are you most looking forward to trying in patch 8? multiple choice, up to 3 choices
	College of Glamour Bard
	Path of Giants Barbarian
	Death Domain Cleric
	Circle of Stars Druid
	Oath of the Crown Paladin
	Arcane Archer Fighter
	Drunken Master Monk
	Swarmkeeper Ranger
	Swashbuckler Rogue
	Shadow Magic Sorceror
	Hexblade Warlock
	Bladesinger Wizard
	I don't expect to try any of the new subclasses
Votes accepted starting: 04/01/25 07:49 PM
View Results

I'm waiting for Death Domain Cleric and Shadow Magic Sorceror. My Dark Urge gives it two thumbs up. But I will definitely test other Speccs as well.

Death Domain Cleric is my jam. I'm interested to see what comes from it. The 3! additional cantrips seems interesting and then of course there's a question about what other Necrotic based spells they will have access to.

Hexblade Warlock seems interesting. I wonder how it will turn out. Especially if doing the classic 7 Oathbreaker/5 Warlock split so having Aura of Hate (Which could benefit the summoned soul), triple attack and double dip CHR

Bladesinger Wizard is always fun. So I'll definitely give that a go.

As for other options:

Path of the Giants Barbarian could be interesting. It's just a matter of exactly how useful it ends up being. I know I've tried Throwbarian before but even with Tavern Brawler it sucked. However, it was still incredibly fun to be picking up enemies and smashing them into each other (And/or AoE's) so if the balancing is there to make using enemies as weapons actually viable this will be an incredibly fun subclass.

Arcane Archer Fighter sounds promising. I wonder how it'll fare compared to Throw builds.

Circle of the Stars Druid sounds interesting. Though I can't help but feel it will overshadow Land and Spores...

Other subclasses sound kind of meh from the descriptions... Will have to have a looksee what their actual features are before messing around with them.

Outside of that, I'm hoping they add in some more items to supplement these additional subclasses. Such as more Necrotic damage synergy items (Especially notable for Cleric given they're going to have to compete against their Radiant synergies) which could also double up in helping Spore Druids.

I agree Death Domain Cleric and Shadow Magic Sorcerer sound very cool. I'm also a bit interested in Circle of Stars.
My Astarion is a monk right now and I'm dying to try the Drunken Master class on him. xD Getting blood-drunk, maybe?

Death domain cleric just sounds *so cool*. But I love playing a battlemage warlock, so the Hexblade will be so fun to check out. I can't wait:DD

Is really hard for me to choose but Shadow Magic sorceror sounds the most interesting for me, if it includes new spells in shadow theme would really hope those also become available at random for Wild Magic subclass.

Half or more are duplicates of what we already have/can do ourselves. I'm not excitied about any, with mild interest in the Glamour Bard, as that is what IMO a Bard should be.
The Swarmkeepr? Now that's just silly. Pass.

Honestly, I'm looking forward to all of them and hoping I can get in on the stress tests! I think that right now, nobody outside Larian has a firm grasp what these will ultimately be like because some of their features aren't yet public knowledge. I think it's a terrible idea to judge them before I play them.

...now watch me as I judge them before I play them!

Path of Giants barbarian: I like the idea of throwing, I think I'll have to act 3's sole recruit give this one a spin.

College of Glamour bard: I love bards, having another to work with without mods will be lovely.

Death Domain cleric: I think this'll make for a good, thematic team alongside Circle of Spores druid, Shadow sorcerer, and necromancy wizard.

Circle of Stars druid: What I know of those abilities sounds wild! Sounds like it will ultimately play pretty differently than BG3 druids currently do.

Arcane Archer fighter: I love the idea of an archery-focused fighter. As I understand it, it will probably diverge more from 5E than most of these because some of it's features are already in the game as different mechanics.

Drunken Master monk: I feel like the idea I have of it in my head is going to end up pretty different than how it plays.

Oath of the Crown paladin: Good. BG3 is a little bit light on the tank part of the gameplay "holy trinity", I think it'll be cool to have party member that can both draw aggro and facetank it.

Swarmkeeper ramger: I'm not sure, I think it's hard to pull away from Gloom Stalker as ridiculously good as it is, but maybe I can force myself to make a character.

Swashbuckler rogue: I'm not sure, I already played the Thief subclass pretty similarly with the Mobile feat.

Shadow sorcerer: Shadows, come to me and snuff out every last light of my enemy's hopes! While I don't expect it to diverge too much from the other types of sorcerors, I am absolutely going to make a good-aligned Dark Urge playthrough just for this!

Hexblade warlock: I like it, a more melee-focused warlock sounds like a lot of fun. I usually multiclass my warlocks, so it'll be nice to have more reason not to and make use of Lifedrinker.

Bladesinging wizard: More than most of these, I really feel that I need to get my hands on it. Usually in BG3, I'd go Eldritch Knight fighter with a single level of wizard to get my melee spellcaster, do I'm hoping the features of this subclass make it a more effective choice.


I'm also hoping for more specialized equipment that expqands the gameplay options both forthese subclasses and just to further expand on gameplay styles. Summoned weapons could stand to have a reevaluation, and it would be reallly cool if there were a wider variety of finesses weapons for rogues!

New and interesting dialogue choices would be AMAZING, too. I could imagine a Death Domain cleric tell Orin "your murder cult is bad and you should feel bad" or a Swarmkeeper ranger asking a certain druid if they've ever been intimate with a hive mind species, or a Shadow sorcerer being able bypass the skillchecks with Shadowheart like "honey, it's incredibly obvious looking at you that you're Sharran and tertible at hiding it".

I'm not expecting new weapons or dialogue though, but that would be amazing if there were

I hope Larian's Swarmkeeper can keep up with that one from Nexus Mods or remain that one compatible... The green animation is so awesome. BG 3 lacks good combo classes for a green nature based mage. I've been experimenting a lot and the closest one for me will be a Swarmkeeper + Spore Druid combo.

Glamour bard and Circle of Stars for sure.

Shadow Magic has convinced me to play another round. Death domain and Drunken Master is really tempting too.

Hexblade Warlock and Bladesinging both interest me as a fan of spellblade types. Also curious about Swashbuckler and Arcane Archer. How those two are implemented is the main thing I'm wondering.

Not certain if this the the right place to ask, but I have what I think is a reasonable request:

I’ve been using the Bladesinger Mod, and I noticed that the Bladesong state does not work while wearing Elven Chain (from Rivington).

Elven Chain is Medium Armor, and Bladesong only works with Light.

I get it, but Bladesong could function like the spellcasting ability, where it works if you have proficiency with the armor you are wearing. That might be overpowered for multiclassing and getting the AC buff while also wearing Heavy armor, so another option would be to change Elven Chain to be light armor like similar Studded Leather +2.

Not the end of the world, but it would seem sensible for a bladesinger to use that armor without penalty

A new bard is always nice

Going for the ultimate tavern brawler with making a halfling path of giants barbarian and drunken master monk combo.

Shadow Magic Sorc

Crown because I wanna play a legitimate tank.

I love my Hexblade in the regular dnd campaign I'm in, so naturally I'm hoping it will work as written...

I'm looking forward to the hexblade warlock and glamour bard, as I can (with mods) remake one of my favorite characters from an old 5e group: a CN satyr hexblade/glamour bard. I maintained a pretty versatile and mostly fey-inspired spell list -- plant growth, invisibility, misty step, hex. Those spells, coupled with the added verticle mobility from the satyr's increased jump distance, made her a great character for dealing with a lot of environmental puzzles and crowd control, ontop of being a fun party face.

Other than that, path of giants and death cleric look interesting. I had a CE path of giants minotaur for a one-shot that was fun. A fugitive gladiator who had escaped the arena and had gotten roped into a thieves guild operation. And I had a half-elf grave cleric I rolled up as a backup character that I never got to play, so... close enough. I'm interested to see how it fares in act 2 especially, considering the amount of necrotic resistant or immune enemies.

Goth Shadowheart Death Cleric “life is pain”

Ok, I think, I might like Bladesong the most - it's basically an intellegence based bard class with more spells. Choose Longsword as your weapon and then use Phalar Aluve for a more theme appropriate build.
I think, that might be my first playthrough with patch 8 (after having finished my gnome artificer)

Wait 'til you learn that Shadow Blade has become a regular spell that wizards can learn now. A sword that does 4d8 psychic damage to complement your bladesinging wizard.

I know - and Booming Blade - a ridiculous powerful cantrip.

I just love throwing builds ...
So i was looking forward for GIant Barbarian.
(im also kinda sad we didnt get Soulknife for same reason)

Sadly tho, as it seems throwing still completely messes up our hotbar, bcs our character for meere split second in situation when time is basicaly stopped so nobody can interweene ... is not "holding" the weapon. -_-

Such a waste.

I am looking forward to toy around with some kind of build that makes Gale's corruption by the Shadow Weave a little bit felt if you go down that road in his origin. Currently the consequences are a pretty purple spell slot and Astarion being very pleased with you, and while I don't mind either, it never feels like I made a significant choice.

Are you thinking of making him a shadow sorcerer? I think, that would fit.

Oh yes, or at least multiclass into it, as wizard / wild magic Sorcerer is one of those odd mixtures, I very much enjoy. We'll probably have plenty of chats with Withers once the patch releases.

Bladesinging also sounds interesting, not to make the Shadow Weave felt but in general - and for the shallow reason that I like to hear Gale's dipping comments more often. ^^

I think, it's pretty relatable, that Gale would look for other methods to do magic, since the orb should really make it impossible to reach into the weave as a mage. I made an all bard playthrough and thought, that Gale would jump on it (in early access he had a dialogue with a bard Tav that he is trying to write a book).

But shadow sorcerer sounds pretty fitting with it's darker theme.

I contemplating to make Lae'zel a Bladesinger, since that would fit her as a gith.

The cleric, archer fighter, and drunk monk get my votes.
But I'll no doubt be putting points into all of them over several playthroughs to come lol.
Super excited!

Would like to do an arcane archer, but it sounds broken in the later game due to the savings throw. Will look for a mod b4 I do so.

Does Arcane Acuity affect it?
It affects consumable arrow DC saves, so I'm hoping it affects these special skill arrows too.

The glamor bard sounds fun. I usually try to create a lore bard/archfey warlock character. I have no idea what I'm doing in BG3, whether I'm multi-classing or not. But the glamor bard sounds like a mix of the two classes I always use, so that makes it stand out the most to me.

Not interested in any of these subclasses. Will probably never use them.

The more i hear about Patch 8 ... the more i incline to this sentiment.

They feels like Larian finaly abandoned all ties to 5e and embraced their Homebrew fully.
Or is it just me?

I dont mind they are homebrewn, but none of them really click with me.

Theres plenty of the standard subclasses that dont really click either.

Barbarian for example, really I'll go Wildheart every time. Bard, Lore or Swords. Etc.

I’ve just removed a post from this thread pending review by the Community team. Please keep things on topic and avoid antagonising other fans or implicitly criticising them.

I dont really mind homebrew either ...

But form what have i seen so far (from videos, i didnt get my hands on it ... yet) it dont really seem like good homebrew so far. :-/
And that is just something im a bit affraid of.

More like ...
If you invide your 12y old cousin to play DnD and he come up with super edgy character called Überboss who is half demon, half angel, and cyborg, and 100% badass ... wields shotgun with infinite ammo, have 55AC, +15 to every roll and saving throw, and if they die they can just return to living for free every short rest.
And you just dont have the heart to tell him no ... and so you suffer this bullshit for whole session, wich you will probably scap afterwards anyway ...

I mean ... sure, sometimes its fun to play with cheats ... for like 20 minutes in my opinion.
But if one of your opinion is objectively ten times stronger than anyone else ... do you really have a choice?

That aswell ...

I kinda get some of them ...
Giant Barbarian is great and brings something potentialy new ...
And i certainly understand that Swashbuckler is more popular, than by favourite dagger throwing (wich WOULD be at least different gameplaywise) Soulknife.

But who the hells asked for Arcane Archer?
I mean come on ... basicaly any other subclass would be better pick.

Some of them would be limited by overall design/theme of the game.

Like, for Fighter; Cavalier wouldn't be doable with the design of the game. Samurai wouldn't really fit thematically. Rune Knight kind of competes with Giant Barbarian. Psi Warrior is basically Battlemaster 2.0 and Banneret is kind of boring.

So Arcane Archer or Echo Knight are the most notable options. Echo probably being hardest to implement (It also would end up feeling like an amalgamation of Trickery and War Cleric... Summoning a copy to manipulate the battle and gaining extra attacks)

Not to mention the fact that level 12 is the cap means a lot of subclasses don't get their most interesting features (Yes, they can bump some level 14 features down a bit, like they did with Draconic Sorcerer getting their Flight, but in some cases it can end up with the subclass not feeling particularly different to base classes until level 11-12) which can further limit how well some subclasses can be represented.

Disagree ...
Right now im playing in campaign, where one of us play Cavalier Fighter / Ancestral Barbarian ... and while we have no mounts (i asume that was your point?) Cavalier is still quite usefull addition to party.

So it would be doable ...
Probably it wouldnt be 1:1 with tabletop ... but since Swasbuckler, and Bladesinger are not either ... i would dare to assume Larian wouldnt really mind that.

Also ... Cavalier is basicaly best Fighter Tank ...
And this game dont have any dedicated Tanking spec ... so that would bring something "new".

Disagree again ...

As far as i know, there is nothing odd about Samurais in DnD ...
Yes, i know we have that word tied in our little minds with feudal Japan ... but that is just same word for something entirely different. :-/

How?

Ok, they both go big ... and?
Rune Knight is quite versatile subclass, while Giant Barbarian is weapon throwing elemental brute ... there is not much simmilarity.

And if you really mean this as arguing point, then im affraid i have to insist that in that case Arcane Archer competes with Range Ranger ...
After all one old DnD joke says:
"What is best way to play a Ranger? Play Dex based Fighter instead."

Battlemaster is a dude who is really good with his weapon ...
Psi Warrior is a jedi. xD

Also ... even if ... disclaimer: i dont agree with it, but lets say for argument purposes ... isnt Psi Warrior quite litterally and by deffinition the MOST FITTING SUBCLASS FOR GITHYANKI?

Yup.
No arguments there, they sucks. xD

Maybe ...
Still, it would be cool.

It would be doable. But one of the main things about Cavalier is the mount.

If Larian added a mountless Cavalier to the game, we'd see endless complaints about lacking the subclasses most defining feature.


Yes, there's nothing odd about Samurai in DnD.

It is still however, tied to Eastern locales in DnD. Which... Baldur's Gate is not. Sure, a PC could be a traveller from the East... But it's still an out of place subclass for the setting of BG3.


Both are focused around becoming large and gaining bonuses for it.

They're not identical, but there's some considerable overlap in theme. Something they might have factored in when choosing which subclasses to implement (Of course, they could have picked something else for Barb... Storm Herald or Ancestral Guardian could have been interesting)


Except "Range Ranger" is a playstyle choice, not a class one.

No part of Ranger explicitly is about using ranged weapons at all. Even their weapon focuses provides them with mostly melee options.


Thematically yes.

But in practice, they're both Fighter subclasses that get a unique dice pool to utilize special actions for. It doesn't really bring anything new to the class, it's just "Battlemaster but with different skills"

Arcane Archer on the other hand creates this ranged based playstyle.


Not really. It can be an appropriate subclass for them, given their innate psychic abilities and their martial training. But it's not definitevely the "Most fitting" since there will still be a lot of variance in what any individual Githyanki is capable of (Some might have less potent psychic powers, some might have less potent martial prowess, some might have an affinity for the Weave etc)

Which is reflected in all the Githyanki we face in game. Not all of them are Fighters.


Aye, for sure. But still, "Being Cool" isn't enough of a reason to choose various subclasses.

Ok ... thats fair i gues.

Just as Dragonborns are?
Just as Githyanki are?

Thats the thing ... as you said, people travel in this world.
And since we were obviously picked by Nautiloid "somewhere" wich was as it seems purposefully left vague, there is no limit.

And even if not, just bcs some subclass originate in eastern parts of Forgotten Realms, it dont meean they exists exclusively there and nobody else in whole world is allowed to become one, or invent the same thing on their own.

Its a Fantasy game ... dont be affraid to use it.

In other words they do one thing simmilarly.

I dunno man, feels like this argument cant stand on its own legs. :-/

If doing one thing simmilarly enough is a sign for abandoning one subclass ...
Then why do we have Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster? They are not simmilar enough?
And what is this big difference between basicaly all Wizard subclasses?
Not to mention that Elemental Monk is redundant aswell, since all he does is basicaly what wizard do, just worse and more expensive.


Yes, they get big ...
Thing is tho, that is not where it ends.

While Barbarian is throwing his two-hand weapon inbued with elemental power ...
Rune Knight is providing bonuses for whole group.

I just dont see the simmilarity here ... yes, they are both big while doing so ... but that is not really that much.


I dunno, if being big while doing anything is the same for you ...
Then Shooting Seeking arrow as Arcane Archer, casting Magic Missiles as Eldritch Knight ... or basicaly anyone else, since quite litterally anyone can have this spell ... should be the same aswell, no?

Now you are getting it!

What is so "except" about that?

They still do the very same thing.
If your argument is that two things should not be too similar, i ask you what is difference here.

I see little to no difference thematicaly between Arane Archer and Eldritch Knight ...
Sure, they *CAN* be build differently, but as someone said not so long ago that is a playstyle choice, not a class one. :P

Yeah wich have nothing to do with the fact that DnD provides like thrice as much meele weapons, than ranged huh? xD

I said subclass ...
If you are trying to pull out this "that is not a class" on Ranger ... then stay on it on Fighter subclasses ... be consistent. :P

Oh come on ...
Most of the time its the only reason. xD

Dragonborn are somewhat out of place for sure. But they're part of the PHB, which is what BG3 is based on.

Githyanki aren't out of place. Like, have you actually played this game? They're literally the main plotline of the game.


Yeah, but the thing is that Samurai is very much still based around Eastern parts of the world. With direct references to the Bushido code.

It doesn't make a lot of sense for it being available in a campaign that has no ties to this area of the world.

Yes, you can make exceptions and maybe you can ask your DM to allow it in a TT game, but it's not something that's going to be common enough that it's logical to have it be available to anyone.


They both get big and deal bonus damage and have bonus saves due to it.

The only difference between them (Especially in BG3's limited level cap) is Rune Knight having that Runic Shield feature to reduce the damage an ally take while Giant Barb gets bonus action throw a person.


The difference here is that these subclasses are all part of the PHB. They're not being chosen as a one time update and being picked from the optional modules.

I'm sure if these were all from extra modules, and Laraian were down to picking and choosing what might be interesting to add in an update they might make some different chocies.

P.s. Ripping on Elemental Monk is asinine, given it's one of the most unique subclasses in the game, since it differs from all other "Gish" like builds in that it doesn't actually cast spells. All its "Spells" are actually "Spell-like abilities" meaning they don't use casting stats, don't use spell slots and are considered attacks. Yes, these "Spell-like abilities" might be similar to regular old Arcane Spells but the class still provides a lot of uniqueness in the differences between them.



Not really. Seeking Arrow as Arcane Archer is using a ranged weapon to shoot this effect, which is actually nothing like Magic Missiles. 1) It still has a defence roll (Dex save can half the damage) 2) It deals only 1d6 (2d6 at 18th level) damage compared to base Magic Missiles 3x 1d4 3) It is stopped by full cover and 4) It provides extra information about the enemies location (If they fail the dex save)

Then of course Magic Missiles... Isn't a subclass feature. It's a spell.



It's not a class feature to be playing "Range Ranger"

Meaning that the class and its subclasses are not in any way similar to the Arcane Archer subclass.


Eldritch Knight becomes a 1/3 caster and gains access to spells.

Arcane Archer gains access to unique ranged attacks.

How are they in any way similar?


Which is irrelevant. The class and subclass is not directly based around ranged attacks.

Thus Arcane Archer is not similar to them, since it is entirely focused around ranged attacks and is the only subclass in the game that actually does.

Yes, someone can play Ranged Ranger or Ranged Rogue or Ranged Bard and leverage features that can be used in either melee or ranged for ranged attacks. But Arcane Archer is explicitly focused on only ranged attacks.


I don't get what point you're trying to make?

Not all Githyanki are Fighters, meaning that they have a wide range of variance in what an individual's capabilities are.

This can also include Githyanki who ARE Fighters, but don't have strong psychic abilities and so wouldn't be Psi Warriors. Or opted to hone their martial prowess and became Battlemasters or Champions. Or they had some connection to the weave and became Eldritch Knights.

Which is the thing. It's only the "MOST FITTING SUBCLASS" for a Githyanki who; 1) Is adept in martial warfare (Fighter), 2) Is psychicly powerful to leverage their abilities in combat and 3) Chooses to focus on combining these aspects. Which is not necessarily so common as to warrant its inclusion as a subclass (Especially a generic subclass that will be available to anyone. It's much the same thought as Battlerager Barbarian which is by default restricted to only Dwarves)


Not really.

Heck, you even are bringing up the point about "Arcane Archer" being similar to Ranger as a reason why to not include it.

There's plenty of "Cool" subclasses that simply don't work in video game form. Either because of features that just don't do anything (Things like understanding languages is rendered completely moot in video games and especially BG3). Or because features simply don't have any use (For example, I think Fathomless Warlock is cool. But outside its tentacle all its class features are useless in BG3 because you spend literally 0 seconds in any bodies of water)

While some subclasses might have features that are difficult to implement (Or outright impossible given the way the game is set out)

Being "Cool" is one of the main draws to a certain subclass, especially for this update where they're selecting one additional subclass from any modules to add to the game. However, it's not the end-all-be-all factor for their selection.

-

I didnt read the rest ...
Not sure if i will later ... maybe not since out of sudent, i feel like we have reached the point where neither is willing to even listen to the other one and if that is the case, there is no point anyway.

So i go for a walk and will see later, if i dont return to this debate, concider this to be my tovel in the ring.

We cant allways agree, wich is fine ...
So, lets just not.

Really personally I'm happy with the class choices already available in BG3.

I dont understand why if they have Githyanki they didnt also add Githzerai, because those two look exactly the same, so all graphics would have been already done.

Anyway it doesnt matter to me personally, I dont play Gith. I just find them untolerably unattractive.

Yeah? Well, that large, fleshy nose of yours looks like a mistake.

This was a Lae'zel quote and I in no way actually dislike your nose, I have no idea what it looks like!

I swear...I have so much fun with every single subclass...because of their unique differences...I could play any of them and still have a ball.

The follow up question would be: Now that the classes are releases, how much are you enjoying the ones you had been most looking forward too?

Nimbus is a very good boy and I quite enjoy him and his special mechanic, though he does not quite help me to enjoy full Sorcerer as a class.

Astarion's now a swashbuckling Arcane Archer and that is fun, not quite up to the thieving Swords Bard but getting there, and Wyll's become a Hexblade which is nice so far. The gang is currently adventuring in Rivington so our opportunities to get into fights have been a little slim.

Pendantic Necro:
Dragonborn are out of place because they are rare and, for long lived races, new (which makes it very strange that dragons shapeshift into them).

But their homeland is far closer to Baldurs Gate than Kara-Tur is so its at least plausible that some if them could go up there.


How does Paladin of the Crown work out? That oath should be quite a problem in act 3. Or does BG3 ignore the oath of the crown and just apply the generic paladin rules for oathbreaking?

Well, it would depend exactly on who the Sovereign that said Paladin has an Oath to.

Even if the character is a Balduran (Which isn't necessarily true as all the dialogue options that reference your character being from Baldur's Gate are optional), then their tenets would be still be set by the specific Sovereign at the time of them taking their Oath, so won't necessarily be influenced by changes of leadership (They could if their tenets are focused on serving the City as a whole... But then there's that wishy-washy nature of the goal of taking down people like Gortash is actually serving the city)


I've been trying out a few. Still early going in Act 1 so far so only have the first couple of bonuses but my first impressions are:

- Swashbuckler is pretty neat. Not having to faff around with setting up Sneak Attacks is great for my typical Rogue playstyle that uses Cunning Action: Dash to get into the backlines. While the Bonus Action attacks are neat, especially given they don't use any limited resource so I can freely spam them every turn for extra damage (I'm only slightly saddened that a disarmed foe can't be attacked with the disarm skill because it's nice to get a full MH attack as a bonus action).

- Giant Barb is... Meh. Their initial bonus of double Rage damage on throw is barely noticeable once you're using Tavern Brawler (Even without Str Elixir shenans) and Throw bonus gear (Even more so when Zerker could be bonus action throwing already). I'll have to wait and see how impactful the elemental damage is on level 6.

- Death Domain is okay. Twin-casting Death Chill is neat and the Channel Divinity can deal some nice damage... But outside of that I find myself just going back to Radiant Armour and Radiant damage to proc Radiant Orbs for bonus effects beyond "I can use my filler attack on 2 guys instead of 1" (Even more so since I've noticed they fixed Spell Sniper in one of the patches since my last playthrough, so it actually puts the Cantrip into your spellbook so you can put it onto the Custom bar and thus keybind it so grabbing Eldritch Blast on any Cleric is not a total ball ache)

- Arcane Archer is feeling fun so far. The special arrows are unique enough to be enjoyable to use. Is it a powerhouse? No. Not compared to a Throw Build or Arrow of Many Targets Swords Bard. But it's okay.

- Hexblade... Honestly doesn't feel any different to any Bladelock so far. Nothing early on lives long enough for me to proc the Curse while the subclass spells aren't as impactful as some other Warlocks besides Shield which is occasionally useful. Will have to see when my playthrough that uses Hexblade hits level 5 and the Extra attack comes in.

- Bladesinger is fine. Will become better with levels due to having more actions to stack up the damage/healing bonus as well as having more spells to utilize (Also, when I can get Wyll's Rapier in Act 2 for a nice Spellstat weapon)

I did not wait for specific subclasses. But for certain class skills that I can add to other characters with the coammand console. Unfortunately I noticed that the Arcane Shots as well as the Boots of the Giant kick are not animated and the respective skills appear with a time delay similar to the unique (elemental) monk skills. I find this incredibly unfortunate, as you are forced to waste up to 3+ class levels for the skills to work smoothly. I don't understand why adding (via the command console) certain skills etc. pp. e.g. of (sub)classes like the sword bards works, but not of certain classes, especially from the monk (Water Whip) and apparently all new subclasses.

PS. I don't blame Larian for it. I am just confused about it and want to express my disappointment.