One New Baldur’s Gate 3 Subclass Has Interesting Lore Implications

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home November 30, 2024 4 Views 5 Min Read
One New Baldur's Gate 3 Subclass Has Interesting Lore Implications

Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios surprised fans with an early holiday present: the announcement of twelve new subclasses that will be added to the game in early 2025. Each of Baldur’s Gate 3’s twelve classes will receive one new subclass, including both longtime fan wishes such as the Drunken Master Monk and surprises like the Arcane Archer Fighter. One of these subclasses, the Death Domain Cleric, brings with it interesting implications for Baldur’s Gate 3’s story, as the gods who typically serve as these clerics’ patrons are antagonistic figures in the game.



subclasses in patch 8 from Baldur's Gate 3

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What Is A Death Domain Cleric?

In Dungeons & Dragon’s fifth edition, Death Domain is one of the more damage-focused Cleric subclasses, giving its users access to necromantic magic such as Inflict Wounds or Vampiric Touch. Death Clerics can still heal and resurrect their party members, but they often sacrifice some of the class’s more powerful healing spells for damage-dealing alternatives.

In Baldur’s Gate 3, Death Domain clerics will have access to three cantrips from the Necromancy School, including Toll the Dead, a cantrip not currently available in the game. Toll the Dead deals 1-8 damage, more if its user is attacking a foe that has already taken damage. In addition, Larian has added the ability for Death Domain clerics to explode nearby corpses, a feature created by the studio and not present in the Dungeons and Dragons version of the class.


A Death Domain Cleric Could Struggle With The Conflict Against The Dead Three

Interestingly, the three gods who are typically a Death Domain cleric’s patrons in the Forgotten Realms- Bhaal, Bane, and Myrkul, aka the “Dead Three” – are not available to be chosen as patrons in Baldur’s Gate 3. This is presumably due to the three gods’ role as antagonists in the game; they oppose the party’s attempts to defeat the Absolute, as the Dead Three and their Chosen wish to control and manipulate the Cult of the Absolute for themselves. Throughout the story, the player must defeat a Chosen of each of these three gods – Orin the Red for Bhaal, Lord Enver Gortash for Bane, and Ketheric Thorm for Myrkul.


This could lead to some potentially unique class-exclusive dialogue for a Death Domain cleric when confronting these gods and their Chosen. There could even be unique dialogue for a Dark Urge, who is a child of Bhaal, choosing to become a Death Domain cleric. While it is unconfirmed – and unlikely, given the game’s plot – if the Dead Three will be added as patron options, the game’s dialogue could still reflect a Death Domain cleric’s conflict when opposing gods that their class typically reveres.

A Death Domain Cleric Could Have A Unique Relationship With One Enigmatic Figure

The addition of the Death Domain also brings up an interesting potential relationship with Withers, the mummy-like figure who travels with the party and lets them resurrect fallen members or purchase the aid of hirelings. Withers is strongly implied to be an avatar Jergal, an ancient death god whose portfolio was stolen by the Dead Three.

Jergal is not currently available to be selected as a patron deity for clerics (although Kelemvor, who he serves, is) but a Death Domain cleric could have potentially fun interactions with Withers at camp. A cleric of this Domain could even express suspicion of Withers’ true nature prior to its ultimate reveal. Of the twelve subclasses to be added to Baldur’s Gate 3, the Death Domain cleric is one of the most fascinating, due to its close connection to the game’s story, Withers, and the Dead Three.


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