It has been ages since I’ve written a breakdown post. Yesterday, though, I picked up a copy of Arcana Unleashed and AU: Deadfall from Tyche’s Games in Athens, GA, and I realized I miss the practice. This book is intended for all D&D settings, while using Alustriel Silverhand for its commentary and marginalia. They’ve done it with Elminster and a ton of Greyhawk characters, so… sure.

Right out the gate, there’s a sidebar on the Weave of Magic that is specific to the Realms. Is it different than other settings? Not mechanically, except that dead magic zones are a fact of life in the Realms. To be clear, I’m happy about this section; this is as much “bucking the trend” of magic being the same in every setting as the Realms needs. Dragonlance, Dark Sun, and Birthright need a whole lot more to cover their concepts; I don’t have that much hope that Dark Sun will deliver on its magic being different.

The first chapter is nine subclasses.

Arcana Domain

The original Arcana domain comes from the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide, and I’ll try to offer some side-by-side comparison. The flavor text introducing the domain is a little bit shorter and expresses considerably less, by referencing no real-world myths. It also shades away from characters using this domain for personal aggrandizement, which the SCAG version highlighted. As a reminder if you’re not in tune with 5.5e, remember that Clerics get their first subclass feature at level 3 now, rather than level 1 as they did in 5.0.

• The Arcana Domain Spells are very similar, exchanging only magic circle for Counterspell and planar binding for Bigby’s Hand.
• Arcane Initiate has changed to Student of Arcana, and is otherwise essentially the same; the text change is only to offer handling for “what if you already had Arcana” and “can I respend these Cantrip selections?”
• Channel Divinity offers Arcane Abjuration in 5.0, basically a Turn Undead but for celestials, elementals, fey, or fiends. You can eventually banish those supernatural creatures, as a cognate to Destroy Undead. In 5.5, the feature works completely differently, becoming a kind of metamagic.
  • Fortifying Spell lets you drop a hefty number of Temp HP on one target of your spell. 2d8 + Cleric level is no joke.
  • Tenacious Spell is getting at the same idea as the Heightened Spell Metamagic, but instead of Disadvantage declared before the save, it’s -1d6 to the save but declared after the target succeeds the save. This is very strong, all the more if the DM is in the habit of giving out information about the target’s roll result.
• Spell Breaker added a Dispellation-like rider to any healing spell you cast, but only worked on spells with a level. It’s not impossible to use well, but it doesn’t come up a ton unless the DM is very into throwing out debuffs or other non-instantaneous spells. It does happen each time you cast any healing spell, which is impressive.
  • Instead, we have Dispelling Recovery, where the Dispellation is a free Dispel Magic and doesn’t necessarily target the creature that you healed. You get this once per Short or Long Rest, or you can burn a Channel Divinity to refresh it. Its use cases are much broader, since you can use any healing spell to take down zone effects or buffs on the enemy as well.
  • I think it pays for that expanded functionality (and reduced frequency) with a substantial loss of narrative resonance. It’s gone from “my healing also cleanses the same target of hostile magic” to “whenever I heal or cast a spell to end a condition on a creature, I might also knock out a magical effect in the area, which won’t necessarily have anything to do with my healing target.” Out of slots for Dispel Magic? Don’t worry, drop a Healing Word on your buddy and you can also Dispel.”
  • Technically you can also trigger this by Dispelling a friend out of the Restrained condition, Thunderwaving a bad guy to break their grapple on your friend, or the like. There are a lot of condition-ending spells, some of them odd and situational, so the trigger for this feature has a lot of space for the unexpected. I don’t think that’s game-breaking, just a curious point of design.
• Potent Spellcasting is of course gone, folded into the core of the 5.5 Cleric class.
• Arcane Mastery at 17^th level is renamed to Magical Mastery, and the only mechanical change is that you can respend these choices when you gain a Cleric level. I mean, you only have three Cleric levels left to gain, so I hope you can get settled in your choices pretty soon.

Overall, then, Channel Divinity is the big news. The core goal behind that change I assume is to avoid centering features that only come up when the DM puts the right kind of creature into encounters. The functions of Fortifying Spell and Tenacious Spell are useful most of the time, and they add some sorcerous theme to the subclass.

Arcane Archer

First appearing in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything (and in 3.0 and 3.5 versions before that), this is a character concept that has never really spoken to me. For me, I think it always feels like a much narrower concept of an Eldritch Knight or other gish expression. Let’s see if they can change my mind! The flavor text gets rid of the exclusive use of bows, noting that these features can apply to other ranged weapons that have the Ammunition property (so no thrown weapons; you can’t use this to fully recreate your 4e Seeker fantasy, for both of you out there that played Seekers).

• Arcane Archer Lore is almost unchanged (pick one of Druidcraft or Prestidigitation, pick up skills) except where 5.0 gives you proficiency in Arcana or Nature, 5.5 says and. It also includes clear handling for getting different skills if you’ve got proficiency in both by Fighter level 3.
• Arcane Shot has changed very little. You still start with two options and gain new ones at the same rate. The three meaningful changes are that, as mentioned, you can use any ranged weapon, there’s now an Arcane Shot die that starts as a d6 and improves to a d12 by level 18, and instead of getting two shots per short or long rest, you now gain a number of uses equal to your Intelligence modifier per Short or Long Rest.
  • Is that better? Maybe! You already needed to have a strong Int to play an Arcane Archer, since that determines your shot’s save DCs. It’s definitely better at some point in the campaign, once you have a few ASIs under your belt (which the Fighter class inherently helps with). The worst-case situation here is a game with the “elite array” ability scores (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8) where you take the obvious step of putting the 15 in Dex and the 14 in Con (you’re a Fighter, for crying out loud), but then don’t have a +1 to Int from your Background to kick that 13 up to a 14. It’s the classic Ranger problem, but now for Fighters too!
  • Just another proof case for why ability score boosts shouldn’t come from Backgrounds.
  • The Arcane Shot die is obviously very much in line with the Battle Master’s setup, and I can’t help but remember that there was a time in D&D Next when all Fighters had some form of Combat Superiority dice setup. That faltered once it needed extension to the other weapon-using classes… but it remains a pretty good idea for Fighters.
• Curving Shot at level 7 is effectively unchanged, but the wording has moved around a bit. It’s still a Bonus Action to get a second chance ricochet at a different target, when you miss with a ranged attack. The 5.0 version required a magic arrow… but all of your arrows are magic because of another feature you get at that level. See the next bullet point.
• Magical Ammunition replaces Magic Arrow, both at level 7. The deal with Magic Arrow in 5.0 is that it just lets you deal damage as a magic weapon, for all the things in the 5.0 world that are resistant or immune to nonmagical damage. It’s not even especially clear that it’s meant to be magical for purposes of Curving Shot.
  • In 5.5, nothing is “magic to hit.” Instead, you can use the Magic action to give an arrow a magical property, chosen from a short list. These are trick arrows with utility, rather than offensive, effects. You get one use of this per Short or Long Rest, and you can burn a Second Wind for an additional use.
  • Darkening Arrow is a weaker version of Darkness that also extinguishes nonmagical flames. You can’t see through it with Darkvision; it just penalizes Wisdom (Perception) and Passive Perception. (Including non-visual senses, as a result.) There’s some meaningful friction between narrative and mechanics here.
  • Unlocking Ammunition casts Knock on an area, basically. I think this wouldn’t have been my go-to idea here, but it’s fine for what it does.
  • Vine Ammunition is a magical 120-foot rope (vine) attached to your arrow. As part of the core of Magical Ammunition, it notes that your shot attaches firmly to a surface that you shoot. Finally a solution to having only 50-foot segments of rope! (I actually really like this one.)
• Ever-Ready Shot has dropped from 15^th level down to level 10. The effect is unchanged. I like this move.
• Indomitable Teleport is a new feature at level 15 to cover the move of Ever-Ready Shot. (To be clear, there was no level 10 feature in 5.0—what you got was the additional Arcane Shot option. You still get that in 5.5, but now you also get a feature. This is good because, tbh, you probably grabbed your two favorite options back at level 3.)
  • Anyway. As an additional benefit when you spend an Indomitable and succeed the new save, you also teleport to a space you can see within 60 feet.  That’s an incredible (if late-game) skirmishing boost for a subclass that is all about being a Fighter skirmisher.
• Masterful Shots at level 18 is also a new feature; 5.0 had all of your Arcane Shots get an extra 2d6 damage widget at that level instead. (The built-in scaling of the Arcane Shot die has covered this ground thoroughly.) Masterful Shots lets you move up to half your Speed and shoot your attacker as a Reaction when a creature attacks you and misses.
  • So this is another huge skirmishing boost that only shows up in the endgame. I like the feature, but as a way to organize a playstyle it’s a weird choice.
• Now for the individual Arcane Shot options. The 5.0 text makes it explicit that each shot is themed to one of the eight schools of magic. That’s gone in 5.5, with an implication that you might be less Wizard-adjacent and more Druid-adjacent. (But Int is still your only option for casting stat, for whatever reason.) The damage output from these winds up about the same, while being a lot better for most of the course of a campaign.
  • Banishing Shot’s main change is that it sends the target to a harmless demiplane rather than the Feywild. For most intents and purposes, this is a non-change.
  • Beguiling Shot is almost unchanged, except that you can now choose to be the one that your target is Charmed to, where previously it was always a proxy Charm to one of your allies. Good change.
  • Bursting Shot is still a 10-foot big badaboom around a creature you shoot. It’s not incredible amounts of damage, but it can be a handy AoE splash.
  • Enfeebling Shot no longer halves the target’s damage on a failed Con save. Instead, it applies the Poisoned condition and the target reduces damage from its attacks by your Arcane Shot die. It’s sort of an open question whether that’s preventing more damage or less, but it means fewer cases of halving a damage total that the target also has Resistance against. (OTOH, it doesn’t answer the order of operations on Resistance and damage subtraction, which is a pretty big argumentative loophole.)
  • Grasping Shot applies the Restrained condition for 1 minute rather than damaging the target when the target moves. Since this is the first option in the list with a duration greater than the end of the target’s next turn or the start of your next turn, it feels particularly impressive.
  • Piercing Shot is essentially the same, as the shot forces a Dex save and ignores cover in a 30-foot Line, but it does a lot more damage in 5.5.
  • Seeking Shot is still the Patriot Arrow scene from Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Mechanically, it’s rephrased but essentially unchanged, and its damage has improved considerably.
  • Shadow Shot previously reduced the target’s visibility to 5 feet and dealt 2d6 extra damage; now it’s the Blinded condition until the end of the target’s next turn, and one Arcane Shot die. This is the only one to get a clear damage reduction, though its condition situation is a clear power increase.
  • Now that I’ve gone through all of them, Grasping Shot is simply overpowered. Need to kill a flyer that doesn’t have Hover? Perfect. Need a long-lasting Advantage for your allies’ attacks and Disad on the target’s attacks? Perfect. Want to get the target or their ally to waste actions freeing them from the Restrained condition? Accept no substitutes. The other shots are good; this one is much better.

My criticism of Arcane Shot balancing notwithstanding, this is a far more exciting Arcane Archer than the XGTE version. Utility effects, better damage output, and good late-game skirmishing powers go a long way here. The downside of a really enjoyable Arcane Archer is that it highlights the flabbiness of the Ranger spell list. (Also the several Ranger spells that may be okay on power but absolutely suck for fitting the mood and narrative reality level of D&D.)

Warrior of the Mystic Arts

This an all-new Monk subclass that gets Sorcerer spells (with Wisdom as the casting stat) and can turn spell slots into Focus or vice versa, like they’re sorcery points. I’m the guy who has been saying for years that the Sorcerer needs more clear separation from other arcane casters, possibly getting more gish action in there, and now a Monk subclass comes along to approach the problem from the other direction. Also, because it’s so much about spell use, this feels like what the Four Elements Total Landscaping monk of 5.0 wanted to be. Oh, and while I’m listing inspirational sources, the mystics of Kamar-Taj that combine martial arts with sorcery.

• Spellcasting at level 3 looks a whole lot like the Eldritch Knight/Arcane Trickster chart. They start with 3 prepared spells and scale up to 13; they get spells up to level 4. Great, fine, exactly what you’d want to see here.
• Mystic Fighting Style at level 6 lets you replace one Unarmed Strike in your Attack action with a Sorcerer cantrip. By midlevels, that’s considerably better damage output, absolutely phenomenal if you can get Thunderclap to hit several targets at once.
• Mystic Focus, also at level 6, adjusts the numbers of the Sorcerer’s Font of Magic feature for the Monk’s spell level progression, and that’s it. No objections from me.
• Focused Strike at level 11 adds Disadvantage on saving throws until the start of your next turn to your Stunning Strike (even if they succeed the Stunning Strike save). Because of your action economy, unless you have a Bonus Action or Reaction spell to use, you probably can’t benefit from this with your spells until level 17, but the other casters in your party are going to love it.
• Improved Mystic Fighting Style at level 17 matches up with the Eldritch Knight’s level 18 Improved War Magic feature: instead of a cantrip, you can use a level 1 or 2 spell. Additionally, you can replace one of your Flurry of Blows attacks with that spell instead of one of your Attack action attacks.

This is a rare care of an official-release subclass that is literally built out of the existing pieces of other subclasses. (3pp releases, including mine, have been building subclasses entirely out of looting official subclasses since before there was a 5.0 OGL.) Focused Strike is a very simple feature, but it’s the “newest” thing here. And, honestly, why reinvent the wheel? This looks like it should work well and be fun.

The central thing that it gets right, and that the Four Elements Total Landscaping monk got wrong, is that your spell slots are extra stuff on top of your existing Focus pool and such, instead of being only an alternate way to spend your points. It’s painfully obvious once you think about a side-by-side of the 4ETL monk and the EK or Arcane Trickster.

And that’s the end of this first post on Arcana Unleashed. Up to this point, I see three solid hits in subclass designs: two updating old standbys and one new kid.

I’ll be back soon with the next in this breakdown series. If you enjoy my writing, consider backing my Patreon. For as little as $1 a month you can support my writing and get early access to all of this blog’s content!

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