D&D: ‘Unearthed Arcana Playtest 8’ Buffs Barbarians, Monks, And Druids In A Big Way
Unearthed Arcana 8 is here, bringing big changes to the Barbarian, Monk, and Druid. Things are looking up for these three.
WotC released Unearthed Arcana 8 today, and with it, gave hope to a lot of players looking to try Barbarians and Monks. Druids also got some love, but they were already pretty good, so it’s not quite as stark a difference. But all in all, the new Unearthed Arcana is a positive new update for D&D 2024.
With changes to three classes, along with new spells and updates to the “summon spells,” there’s a lot to dive into with this one. We’ll be going through it all in detail later, but for now, here are the highlights.
Unearthed Arcana 8: Barbarians, Druids, and Monks
In a 40-minute long video, Jeremy Crawford, lead rules design for D&D, talks through the overall changes and the reasoning behind them. This gives you an interesting look behind the scenes at why these specific changes are happening, and what sorts of things WoTC is looking for in their feedback.
But you don’t have time to watch a 40-minute video right now. Nobody does. Here’s a quick look at everything in the playtest.
The Details…
Barbarians get some big updates. They are looking pretty promising right now, starting with a much needed quality of life upgrade to Rage. Now Barbarians regain the use of Rage after every Short Rest. This is something that Barbarian players have been feeling the need for for a decade now. This means you’ll always have a way to make sure you’ve got at least one Rage to get you through the rest of your day.
The other big change to Barbarians is that the Brutal Critical feature is gone, replaced with Brutal Strikes. And by and large, this seems to be the better option. Now you get a series of options and improved options to pick from when making a Reckless Attack. This includes knocking enemies away and staggering enemies so that they make their next save at Disadvantage.
Druids get some tweaks to Wild Shape. These changes seem to be zeroing in on making the feature more usable while also making it feel exciting. Here is a quick list of the highlights:
- Wild Shape grants temporary hit points (instead of setting yours to the beast form, RIP bear druid tanks)
- Wild Shape forms can now wear and/or wield equipment at the DM’s discretion
- Wild Shape is by default limited to the forms listed in the PHB, though the DM can permit more at their discretion
Finally Monks get some much-needed love. Though there is a band-aid to rip off, for now, they lose access to weapon mastery. But they gain so much more, including your Bonus Action Unarmed Strike now just being a thing you can do without having to attack first.
Even bigger, both Patient Defense and Step of the Wind no longer require a Discipline Point to be used at a basic level. Patient Defense lets you Disengage as a Bonus Action now, or for a Discipline Point, you can Disengage and Dodge as a Bonus Action. Step of the Wind lets you Dash as a Bonus Action or spend a Discipline to Disengage and Dash with doubled jump distance.
And they just keep getting better at higher levels.
Druids, Monks, Barbarians – all…good? In THIS economy?
