Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 8 Coming in 2025 Adds 12 New Subclasses and Loads More

Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian has detailed the game’s last big patch – and it’s a big one.

Patch 8, due out in 2025, adds crossplay, photo mode and 12 new subclasses to the hugely successful role-playing game. In one blog postLarian said Patch 8 is the game’s last major update, with the developer moving on to brand new games away from the Dungeons & Dragons universe.

However, Larian promised to continue supporting Baldur’s Gate 3 modders with “major updates still on the way,” including more functionality “so you can tell your own stories.” Official mod tools were released in September, and since then players have uploaded more than 3,000 mods and downloaded over 70 million.

The addition of crossplay means that Baldur’s Gate 3 multiplayer will soon feature full cross-platform progression. Once the update is live, you will be able to invite your friends to join your crossplay lobby directly, regardless of platform and find available multiplayer lobbies with friends on other systems using the Larian Network.

Meanwhile, Patch 8 adds a new subclass for each of the existing Bard, Barbarian, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Fighter, Monk, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, Warlock, and Wizard classes in the game. Larian said to expect new abilities, animations, VFX, summons and cantrips, and unique voiced lines of dialogue for Oathbreaker Knight with written reactivity for Oathbreakers, along with “a touch of homebrew” on certain actions to enhance your role-playing experience.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 8 New Subclasses:

Bard – College of Glamour
As a College of Glamor Bard, you will find that you have the power to heal friends and command enemies in equal measure. Cast The cloak of inspiration to give your allies 5 temporary hit points. And should an enemy attack while it is thrown, they will find themselves The charm. Play your hand correctly and you will be able to use this to your advantage with Majesty’s cloak. Aim at charmed enemies and you can command them to flee, move closer, freeze, fall to the ground or drop their weapons.

Barbarian – Giant’s Path

Choose the Giant’s Path and your newfound giant strength will make it easier for you to meet friend and foe alike. Forget tough potions to pump those muscles, these barbarians enjoy Giant’s Rage passive that grants both strength and size – allowing you to deal additional damage with Throw attacks. Are the pockets weighing you down? Not for you and your increased carrying capacity!

Cleric – Death Domain

As a death priest, you’ll find a few dark new tricks up your sleeve—from spells that specialize in necrotic damage to three new necromancy cantrips. This includes Toll The Deada cantrip that deals 1~8 damage when your priest rings the bell of impending doom – a number that scales if your target has already been damaged. We’ve also added the homebrew ability to explode nearby corpses and destroy enemies.

Druid – Circle of Stars

These druids look to the stars for answers and access powers beyond those offered through the classic wildshapes. Undertakes one of three Starry Shapes for their power – the constellations of the archer, the chalice and the dragon. Each favors a different playstyle and strategy – the Archer dealing radiant damage with astral arrows, the Life-giving Chalice restoring hit points to you and others nearby, and the wise Dragon allowing you to deal damage with an added bonus to constitution throw. Starry Forms offer not just a celestial aesthetic, but practical, powerful options to enhance your role as a healer, fighter or strategist.

Paladin – Oath of the Crown

You have been sworn to uphold the principles of the law. Stay true to your oath and you will be rewarded with the power to help your allies and disrupt your enemies. Guide your companions into battle with Fair Claritytaunt enemies with strategic interruptions and keep your party strong with Divine Faithfulnessabsorbing their damage while restoring their health.

Fighter – Arcane Archer

Mastering the dual arts of magic and marksmanship, the Arcane Archer subclass offers unique skills on top of new shooting animations. Banish enemies to the Feywild, remove them from the battlefield for a turn, or unleash psychic damage that forces enemies to make a Wisdom saving throw or be blinded until the start of their next turn.

Monk – Drunken Master

When you put the brew in the homebrew, as the Drunken Master, you have the option to consume alcohol directly from your inventory, as well as drink from bottles you see around the Sword Coast to regain Ki. By sharing the bottle with your enemies using Intoxicating strikeyou will generate a buff against your armor class and your chance to hit intoxicated targets. Drunken enemies are also susceptible to Drunken Masters’ other abilities, such as Sober realization – which breeds intoxicated targets and inflicts physical and psychological harm.

Ranger – Swarm Guardian

The Swarmkeeper subclass gives Rangers three kinds of deadly swarms to aid them in battle. The Cloud of jellyfish deals extra lightning damage – potentially stunning your enemy. The Moth City deals psychic damage, allowing you to blind your enemy. The Legion of bees deals piercing damage and forces the enemy to make a saving throw or be knocked back 15 feet. Each swarm also has the ability to grant you teleportation abilities!

Rogue – Swashbuckler

This Rogue subclass introduces a number of new actions befitting the pirate life. Play dirty by throwing sand at enemies to Blind you. Flick your weapon at one more target Disarm you. Or use your new one Fancy footwork passive while fighting your enemy to ensure they can’t make attacks of opportunity against you for the rest of your turn.

Sorcerer – Shadow Magic

As a Shadow Magic Sorcerer, you deal with a form of magic that makes you deadliest in the dark. This subclass gives its sorcerer Superior Darkvisionas well as the ability to Shadow Walk between places with dim light or darkness. It also lets you call out the perfect home brew Hound of Ill Omen to harass your enemies, and use The Strength of the Grave to prevent you from getting shot down – ideal for those trying to run Honor Mode.

Warlock – Hexblade

The Hexblade Warlocks make a pact with an entity from the Shadowfell that manifests itself in the form of magical weapons. Curse your enemies and force their souls to do your bidding. Kill any enemy that isn’t generally an element of nature, construct, giant blob, or already dead and you’ll be able to raise their spirit from their corpse in ten turns. This new summon can deal necrotic damage and will rip away a portion of your enemy’s soul to give your Hexblade Warlock healing.

Wizard – Bladesing

The Bladesinging subclass combines swordplay with sorcery. Expect new spellcasting animations when you cast spells with your weapon, a new Bladesong ability to give you supernatural speed, agility and focus, plus give you a bonus to any Constitution saving throw you make.

And here comes the rest with Patch 8:

Photo mode

Finally, stop using pictures of fish you’ve caught on your dating profile and start taking pictures with your Hound of Ill Omen. Photo Mode is coming to Baldur’s Gate 3 in Patch 8!

Baldur’s Gate 3’s Photo Mode is a bit like a photo booth that lets you set up pretty much any image you want. This new feature introduces a wide range of options, allowing you to customize and edit your in-game photography with different levels of freedom depending on whether you’re using it while adventuring or during combat, dialogue and cutscenes.

Camera settings

Switchable from the HUD, located near the minimap, or using the hotkey binding (F9 on PC and pressing both analog sticks at the same time on console), you can choose which character you want to take center stage , determine their best side and adjust the camera position to suit.

As long as they’re in your party while you’re adventuring, you’ll be able to set your stage perfectly – including summons and wild ones! For all budding virtual photographers, you can also turn on the camera’s crosshairs and composition grid to ensure you line up the perfect shot.

Lens settings

Determined the angle and sorted the positioning? You’ll be able to jump over to the lens settings where you can play with field of view, exposure, depth of field and focus.

Scene settings

NPC messes up your shot? Turn off either Playing, Party, NPC or Enemy characters.

Now you’re ready for your close-up! Or, if you’re feeling creative, set the stage for a full-on Faerûn musical – choose a fixed facial expression plus a range of over 40 static and animated poses, each with multiple variations to help give you the perfect layout.

Effects after treatment

While you won’t be able to adjust your party or play with lens and camera settings during cinematic scenes and dialogue, you will be able to color grade your image and experiment with contrast, saturation, highlights, brightness and vignette.

Frames

Add flair to your scene with a variety of frames and letterboxing to match the cinematic images.

Stickers

Choose from over 300 stickers and add up to 30 to your scene, including emojis, icons, blood splatter, textures, objects and objects, and of course, cat ears.

In your hands, you’ll soon be able to take roleplaying to the next level with unique combinations of poses, stickers and frames. We can’t wait to see what absolute nightmare fuel you come up with.

Larian is planning a Patch 8 stress test on Xbox and PlayStation, as well as PC in early January. “The goal is to go beyond our internal testing and help us catch things before they can become a problem once a patch has been released,” Larian explained.

“Along with all the new things coming in Patch 8, we’ll also be integrating a huge range of bug fixes and cinematic polishes, including making sure Shadowheart’s hair color no longer washes away when she takes a dip with her romantic partner. We’ll share more about what has been fixed in a future update!”

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can contact Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].