"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 phases for some time, is now ready for all players to experience.

Patch 8 introduces a wealth of new content to the critically acclaimed Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. Among the highlights are 12 new subclasses, a new photo mode, cross-play functionality, and Xbox Series S split-screen support. For a detailed overview of all the changes, be sure to check out the Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 8 patch notes.

Here's a closer look at the new subclasses introduced in Patch 8:

Bard - College of Glamour
As a College of Glamour Bard, you'll wield the power to both heal your allies and command 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. Utilize Mantle of Majesty to command these charmed enemies to flee, move closer, freeze, drop to the ground, or drop their weapon.

Barbarian - Path of Giants
Choosing the Path of Giants grants you immense strength, allowing you to throw both friends and foes with ease. The Giant’s Rage passive not only increases your size and strength but also enhances your Throw attacks' damage and increases your carry capacity.

Cleric - Death Domain
As a Death Domain Cleric, you'll have access to new spells that deal necrotic damage and three new necromancy cantrips, including Toll The Dead, which can cause 1-8 damage, scaling with the target's existing damage. Additionally, you can now explode nearby corpses to damage enemies.

Druid - Circle of Stars
Circle of Stars Druids harness the power of the stars, choosing from three Starry Forms—the Archer, Chalice, and Dragon. Each form offers unique abilities: the Archer deals radiant damage, the Chalice restores hitpoints, and the Dragon provides a bonus to constitution rolls, enhancing your role as a healer, fighter, or strategist.

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 enemies with strategic interrupts, and protect your party with Divine Allegiance, absorbing damage and restoring health.

Fighter - Arcane Archer
The Arcane Archer combines magic with archery, offering unique skills such as banishing foes to the Feywild or inflicting Psychic damage that can blind enemies.

Monk - Drunken Master
As a Drunken Master Monk, you can consume alcohol from your inventory or around the Sword Coast to recover Ki. Use Intoxicating Strike to buff your Armour Class and hit chance against drunk enemies, who are also susceptible to abilities like Sobering Realisation, which deals both physical and Psychic damage.

Ranger - Swarmkeeper
Swarmkeeper Rangers can summon three types of deadly swarms: 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 grants teleportation capabilities.

Rogue - Swashbuckler
The Swashbuckler Rogue introduces actions like tossing sand to Blind enemies, flicking weapons to Disarm them, and using Fancy Footwork to prevent opportunity attacks during melee engagements.

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 also 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 a pact with a Shadowfell entity, manifesting magical weapons. Curse enemies to raise their spirits from corpses for ten turns, dealing necrotic damage and healing the Warlock.

Wizard - Bladesinging
Bladesinging Wizards merge swordplay with spellcasting, featuring new spellcasting animations, a Bladesong ability for speed, agility, and focus, and a bonus to Constitution saving throws.

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Patch 8 marks the final major update for Baldur's Gate 3, concluding a remarkable chapter for Larian Studios. The game, which launched to critical acclaim and massive commercial success in 2023, has continued to perform strongly into 2025.

Larian has announced plans to move away from Baldur's Gate 3 and the Dungeons & Dragons franchise to focus on a new, undisclosed project. Meanwhile, Hasbro, the owner of D&D, has expressed interest in continuing the Baldur's Gate series. Speaking at the Game Developers Conference, SVP of digital games at Hasbro, Dan Ayoub, hinted at future plans for the series, though he did not specify whether these plans involve a new Baldur's Gate game or a crossover project.

"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, expressing a desire for a Baldur's Gate 4 but acknowledging that such a project would take time.

Larian will celebrate the release of Patch 8 with a Twitch livestream, where senior systems designer Ross Stephens will discuss the new changes and additions.