Baldur’s Gate 3 2025 patch will bring 12 new subclasses and more

Developer Larian has announced that the 8^th and final patch for Dungeons & Dragons-themed Baldur’s Gate 3 will launch in 2025. The update will bring 12 new subclasses, one for each of the main classes, bringing new VFX, abilities, cantrips, summons, and more. The update will also contain cross-play and photo mode. Larian has said that patch 8 will be the final major update for the game, as they will be concentrating on developing other titles.

Having launched in August 2023, Baldur’s Gate 3 has enjoyed considerable success. On Metacritic, the game achieves a 96 critic score and a 9.2 user rating. In March this year, the game reached the milestone of 15 million copies sold, giving Larian a $260 million pre-tax profit in 2023. And, it will be competing with entries like No Man’s Sky for Best Community Support at The Game Awards 2024.

The game itself has, according to Larian themselves, seen more than 3,000 user-generated mods, some of which have heavily influenced the latest sub-class additions. The studio not only accepts but welcomes user-created mods, and has said that it will continue to offer mod support.

Patch 8 updates

• College of Glamour Bard – Use Mantle of Inspiration to temporarily give allies 5 hit points and have the chance to Charm enemies, who can then be hit with Mantle of Majesty and commanded to flee, approach, freeze, drop, or drop their weapon.
• Path of Giants Barbarian – Gain the Giant’s Rage passive ability and throw enemies while benefiting from an increased carrying capacity.
• Death Domain Cleric – The cleric gains three new cantrips including Toll the Dead, which deals up to 8 points of damage and scales according to target damage.
• Circle of Stars Druid – Progress in one of three new Starry Forms: Archer, Chalice, and Dragon, each with its own set of abilities and skills in healing, fighting, or archery.
• Oath of the Crown Paladin – Paladins that follow the Oath of the Crown will be able to use Righteous Clarity to soak up damage and restore an ally’s health.
• Arcane Archer Fighter – The Arcane Archer combines archery and magic and can banish or potentially blind foes to the Feywild for a turn.
• Drunken Master Monk – The Drunker Master can turn sober foes drunk, and drunken foes sober, and can replenish Ki by drinking alcohol from their inventory or bottles around Sword Coast.
• Swarmkeeper Ranger – Take control of three new kinds of swarm. Jellyfish deal shock damage, moths deal psychic damage, and bees deal piercing damage. Swarms can also teleport the user.
• Swashbuckler Rogue – The Swashbuckler has several tricks to help turn the tide of battle in their favor. Flick a weapon to disarm an enemy, blind enemies using sand, and benefit from the Footwork passive ability to prevent opportunity attacks.
• Shadow Magic Sorcerer – Benefit from the shadowy dark by moving between shadows with Shadow Walk and improve your ability to see in dark corners with Superior Darkvision. The Shadow Magic Sorcerer can also summon a Hound of Ill Omen.
• Hexblade Warlock – The Hexblade Warlock specialized in summoning weapons, taking control of enemies, and raising fallen foes to fight at their side.
• Bladesinging Wizard – Combining magic and swords, the Bladesinging Wizard enjoys supernatural speed, agility, and focus, and comes with new weapon and spell effects.

As well as new sub-classes, Larian has promised to bring cross-play to BG3. This means players on Mac, Windows, Xbox, and PlayStation 5 will be able to party up and play the same games.

Photo mode is also coming to the game as part of the patch. This will include quick access via hotkeys or pressing both analog sticks at the same time. Users will be able to alter the field of view, exposure, depth of field, and focus settings while toggling whether they want party members, NPC, or enemy characters in the photo. Frames and stickers can also be added.

What next for Larian?

The update is an extensive one, especially thanks to the new sub-classes and cross-play. However, the good news is tempered by Larian’s announcement that this will be the final major update for the game, saying they will be “wrapping up our feature-heavy updates for Baldur’s Gate 3.”

Larian is known for its production of Baldur’s Gate and Divinity: Original Sin games and, in an interview last year, Larian CEO Swen Vincke said that the studio is working on Divinity: Original Sin 3.

The first title in the series, Divine Divinity launched in 2002 and several sequels followed, with the most recent being Divinity: Original Sin 2, in 2017. Larian could be stepping away from BG3 development to concentrate on Original Sin 3 or possibly developing a completely new RPG franchise.