Eight subclasses are set to arrive in the new Heroes of the Forgotten Realms – including a revamped and renamed Purple Dragon Knight.
In Heroes of the Forgotten Realms, the upcoming player’s guide to Faerun, you will find eight new subclasses. Well, at least six new subclasses. And two revamped subclasses brought up to date from older books.
This is the first big release of new player options for D&D 5.5E. So it’ll be well worth digging into when the final versions come out. We’ll get a look at the finalized versions of the Bard College of the Moon, Knowledge Domain Cleric, the Oath of the Noble Genies Paladin, Winter Walker Ranger, Scion of the Three Rogue, Spellfire Sorcerer, Bladesinger Wizard, and then the Banneret Fighter. That last one might not seem familiar, but that’s because the Banneret used to be the Purple Dragon Knight.
Eight Subclasses, Eight Reasons to Start a New Character – Heroes of the Forgotten Realms
You might remember these subclasses from their previous incarnation in the Forgotten Realms Unearthed Arcana earlier this year. It seems as though all eight subclasses made it to print. Though as we get to see in the preview, some have been changed a little. And some have been overhauled completely.
Starting with the big ones! The Bard College of the Moon that has been significantly revamped since last we saw it. Now Bards of this college have new options for using their Bardic Inspiration. This includes a way to teleport, bolster healing spells, and even grant their allies movement.
But I think the most dramatically changed of the subclasses is the new Banneret. Previously known as the Purple Dragon Knight, the last time we saw this subclass, it was all about having a dragon companion that maybe leveled up a little with you as you go. That mechanic is gone. Which is presumably why they renamed it. Dunno why, Purple Dragons is a cool name for an order of knights—but it doesn’t matter.
What does matter? This subclass looks to be WotC taking a stab at a concept we haven’t seen iterated on since 4th Edition. The Banneret Fighter, as it appears in the Heroes of the Forgotten Realms subclasses, is all about being a support fighter.
You lead by inspiring your allies and fighting along others. Which in this case, seems to mean being able to use your own Second Wind feature to heal your allies. Very cool. And then at higher levels, instead of fighting with your dragon (and then at 7th level being able to ride it), you gain a feature called Team Tactics. This lets you weaponize your Second Wind and Group Recovery for your allies. I’m curious to see how this plays out—especially at lower levels.
But we’ll be taking a much closer look once the books come out in November. So check back then folks!
Preferably check back every day between now and then, too!
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