Forgotten Realms: Heroes of Faerun has been out for a good few months now – so it’s no news to anyone that the book includes 8 new subclasses for players to pick from when making their characters, ranging anywhere from evil zealot Rogues to sword swinging, sorcery slinging wizards.
But with the release of Ravenloft: The Horrors Within just around the corner, I thought it high time to discuss the subclasses in Heroes of Faerun, the flavour they provide and their overall rating.
Knowledge Domain Cleric – In 2014’s 5e, I was always intrigued by the idea of the Knowledge Domain cleric, but I’d be lying if I said they weren’t somewhat underwhelming. Now, they’ve received a healthy buff towards all aspects of gameplay. By providing new ways to cast spells through Channel Divinity, giving you permanent telepathy and giving you buffs to your skill checks, this is the treatment this Divination based subclass deserved. This subclass gets a B from me!
Banneret Fighter – The Banneret is a new take on the old Purple Dragon Knight from the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide (2015). And boy, does it give it it’s due. You really feel more like a leader using this subclass, not only gaining some of the trademark features of the earlier class, such as the ability to heal allies with your Second Wind, but also gaining the ability to buff your allies D20 tests. Subsequently, this class feels a lot like a specialised Battle Master Fighter, and it’s nice to have a Fighter subclass with such a social focus to it! For all of this, it gets an A from me.
Oath of the Noble Genies Paladin – The Noble Genies Paladin gives the class a chance to harness the elemental damage types, as well as gaining access to a multitude of control abilities, such as the ability to grapple and push enemies around. They even provide you with the ability to use a “Minor Wish”, even furthering the flavour of the class. Interestingly, this subclass seems to support a Dexterity based Paladin, which is slightly strange, but definitely interesting! Considering this all, the Oath of the Noble Genies gets a B from me.
College of the Moon Bard – This blend between Bard and Druid provides an interesting role for the instrument-proficient class. By providing some defensive options through Moon’s Inspiration, it provides your Bard with some further support in a new flavour, allowing you to do some cool new strategies like go invisible when Inspiring or strengthen your heals. For the combination of the two, this subclass gets an A from me.
Knowledge Domain Cleric – In 2014’s 5e, I was always intrigued by the idea of the Knowledge Domain cleric, but I’d be lying if I said they weren’t somewhat underwhelming. Now, they’ve received a healthy buff towards all aspects of gameplay. By providing new ways to cast spells through Channel Divinity, giving you a permanent telepathy and giving you buffs to your skill checks, this is the treatment this Divination based subclass deserved. This subclass gets a B from me!
Banneret Fighter – The Banneret is a new take on the old Purple Dragon Knight from the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide (2015). And boy, does it give it it’s due. You really feel more like a leader using this subclass, not only gaining some of the trademark features of the earlier class, such as the ability to heal allies with your Second Wind, but also gaining the ability to buff your allies D20 tests. Subsequently, this class feels a lot like a specialised Battle Master Fighter, and it’s nice to have a Fighter subclass with such a social focus to it! For all of this, it gets an A from me.
Oath of the Noble Genies Paladin – The Noble Genies paladin gives the class a chance to harness the elemental damage types, as well as gaining access to a multitude of control abilities, such as the ability to grapple and push enemies around. They even provide you with the ability to use a “Minor Wish”, even furthering the flavour of the class. Interestingly, this subclass seems to support a Dexterity based Paladin, which is slightly strange, but definitely interesting! Considering this all, the Oath of the Noble Genies gets a B from me.
Winter Walker Ranger – The Winter Walker Ranger provides the undervalued class with some new frosty abilities! For example, the Winter Walker can expect to deal Cold damage, fortify their allies and, yes, even apply the DM-loathed Stunned condition on their enemies – If you’ve ever dealt with a monk in your party, you’ll know what I mean! Overall, this subclass gets an A from me.
Scion of the Three Rogue – The Scion of the Three is an interesting subclass. It provides you with the ability to teleport towards weakened enemies and frighten them, as well as giving you some neat resistance and magic based on the member of the Dead Three you pledge yourself to – My main issue with this subclass is that I think it would work nicer as a rogue subclass dedicated solely to Bhaal, so the abilities could get focused towards one playstyle, and then maybe the other two gods could get their own subclass of a different class? Regardless, it’s a fun flavour but falls short in places power wise, and for that gets a C from me.
Spellfire Sorcery Sorcerer – I might be biased towards this subclass as one of my own players recently took it, but I find the Spellfire Sorcery subclass incredibly fun! The spells it gives are really thematic, and the passive bonuses to sorcery points are such a good idea and a nice way to show how this Sorcerer has completed mastery over the weave, as well as providing a new (and quite powerful!) way to gain sorcery points. For all of this, the Spellfire Sorcerer gets an A from me!
Bladesinger Wizard – The Bladesinger in Forgotten Realms: Heroes of Faerun is a subclass which hasn’t changed much from its last appearance in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything – But, that’s for a good reason: You don’t mess with perfection. Indeed, the Bladesinger gets a couple of rewords here and there, but only a couple of abilities change, providing you with even more ways to merge sword and sorcery, even going so far as to let you use your sword as your arcane focus! Now that’s style. And so, perhaps predictably, Bladesinger gets an S from me.
Overall, the Forgotten Realms: Heroes of Faerûn subclasses are all incredibly fun and well thought out. The way 2024 5e does their subclasses is incredibly refreshing, and it’s nice to see how every single one has both great flavour and also great mechanical value. Keep it up, Wizards, I look forward to the next lot of subclasses!
