Key Takeaways
- The community has predicted that Larian will change The Dark Urge to a Shadow Magic Sorcerer.
- Players are wondering if Larian will change certain NPCs to include new thematically appropriate subclasses.
- Divine Soul Sorcerer would be best for Dark Urge, but it isn’t in the game.
Larian Studios‘ latest community update for Baldur’s Gate 3 included the bumper announcement that twelve new subclasses would be arriving with Patch 8 when it releases next year.
These new inclusions have prompted an interesting question within the community: Will appropriate NPCs have their subclasses changed? For example, will Sharran Clerics have their subclasses changed to the new Death Domain? It’s an interesting proposition, and I could see Larian choosing either option.
Changing NPCs to be more thematically appropriate is certainly Larian’s style, but combing through a game with hundreds of characters to figure out which ones should have their subclass switched is a laborious task and one that comes with the added danger of breaking something combat-related, as we’ve seen with Jaheira’s Harpers.
The Shadow Urge
One of the characters the community predicts will be changed is default Dark Urge, who is currently a Storm Sorcerer by default. With the upcoming addition of the Shadow subclass, MothmanThingy on Reddit suggests that Larian will change Dark Urge to a Shadow Sorcerer.
This prediction is partially driven by the fact that the animation included in the community update features the default appearance Dark Urge casting magic from the Shadow Sorcerer subclass. Now, Shadow Sorcerers derive their magic from Shadowfell, which isn’t actually related to Bhaal, but is certainly more evil and mysterious than being a Storm Sorcerer.
The new subclasses are as follows: College of Glamour (Bard), Path of Giants (Barbarian), Death Domain (Cleric), Circle of Stars (Druid), Oath of the Crown (Paladin), Arcane Archer (Fighter), Drunken Master (Monk), Swarmkeeper (Ranger), Swashbuckler (Rogue), Shadow Magic (Sorcerer), Hexblade (Warlock) and Bladesinging (Wizard).
As commenters like Cosmic_Meditator777 have pointed out, the perfect subclass for Dark Urge is actually Divine Soul Sorcerer. These spellcasters derive their power from a distant relation to a divine being, allowing them to learn spells normally associated with Clerics. Given Dark Urge’s connection with Bhaal, Divine Soul is a perfect fit. Unfortunately, this subclass isn’t in Baldur’s Gate 3.
There are a couple of characters in Baldur’s Gate 3 who you just know would be better off being a specific subclass, but they aren’t available, so Larian had to pick the closest approximation they had within the available pool of subclasses. For the most part, they’ve done an excellent job at this. It remains to be seen whether they will be updating NPCs with the newly available subclasses.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is the long-awaited next chapter in the Dungeons & Dragons-based series of RPGs. Developed by Divinity creator Larian Studios, it puts you in the middle of a mind flayer invasion of Faerûn, over a century after the events of its predecessor.