With the new Forgotten Realms books up for pre-order, we’ve now seen most of what Dungeons & Dragons has in the works for 2025. But even if Wizards of the Coast hasn’t formally unveiled new projects just yet, that doesn’t mean they aren’t working on what’s next. It’s been a few months since players have gotten any new D&D playtest material via the Unearthed Arcana. But now, a fresh batch of subclasses in the latest playtest documents show off something new for players to look forward to.
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The Forgotten Realms books, which have something of a Baldur’s Gate 3 theme, release in November 2025. It’s quite likely these are the last major source books planned for the year before Wizards sets its sights on the 2026 schedule. But thanks to the newest Unearthed Arcana, we might finally have some hints at what might be on the agenda for next year. The latest Unearthed Arcana is titled “Apocalyptic Subclasses” and features four new subclasses, one each for the Druid, Fighter, Sorcerer, and Warlock.
Apocalyptic Subclasses Could Hint at Dark Sun Content in 2026
As the name suggests, these new subclasses have a bit of a darker theme to theme. We’ve got the Circle of Preservation Druid, who is working tirelessly towards conservation, battling against corporate greed in the process. Then we have the Gladiator Fighter, tearing forth from a battle for survival to put the smack down on enemies. Our new Sorcerer subclass is the Defiled Sorcery class, which corrupts life itself to draw its magic. Rounding out the playtest offerings is the Sorcerer-King Patron Wizard, whose pact with a tyrant is the basis for their magical abilities.
Whenever D&D posts new Unearthed Arcana, it’s to invite player feedback on potential new content. So, these subclasses aren’t a guarantee, especially not in their current form. If you want to submit feedback, the survey will open on August 28th. Though the feedback period will end, the playtest materials should remain available for a while. So there’s only a rush on getting ahold of them if you want to complete the survey.
Initial reactions to the new subclasses have been mostly pretty positive. As one Redditor puts it, “They kinda knocked it out of the park with this one.” Certainly, the new subclass descriptions are full of interesting lore that players could draw on, and they take things in a thematic, apocalyptic direction indeed. That Circle of Preservation Druid feels pretty on-the-nose with its environmental concerns, and its healing abilities could certainly come in handy in combat. The Defiler Sorcerer also has a delightfully dark tone for those who want to invite chaos into their D&D sessions. In all, the lineup looks pretty solid, though some fans aren’t so happy with the slightly more lackluster Fighter subclass.
With the theme of these new subclasses, many D&D players think we can predict at least one of next year’s source books. Bringing to mind the apocalypse naturally brings fans back to the Dark Sun campaign, which was set in a post-apocalyptic world. Wizards of the Coast has not revisited this setting in quite some time, with the last official Dark Sun text arriving in 2010. This is in part due to some of the themes inherent in the campaign, which includes heavy mentions of slavery and genocide.
However, these classes certainly seem to point towards something apocalyptic on the horizon for future source materials. Whether that means an official revisit to the Dark Sun campaign or an entirely new adventure with similar themes remains to be seen. At any rate, these and the Psionic subclasses revealed back in June have players feeling optimistic that we’ve got some solid, gritty D&D texts headed our way in the near future.
What do you think of these new Apocalyptic Subclasses for Dungeons & Dragons? Let us know in the comments below!
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