Everything you can find in Wizard’s latest D&D expansion book.
Arcana Unleashed is the latest 1st party supplement for D&D 5.5e (D&D 2024). Unlike recent supplements like Ravenloft: The Horrors Within or Eberron: Forge of the Artificer, it’s setting agnostic. Instead, we get a book themed entirely around the arcane. A supplement of magic from new spells and magical feats to magic-focused subclasses and monsters.
If you’re wondering whether you want to purchase Arcana Unleashed, I’ve given loads of detail below on what you can expect from the book itself and all the specifics of what’s inside. I’ll also be covering all the various options in detail with guides that take deep dives into the subclasses, feats, spells and more.
At a glance
| Contents | Arcana Unleashed |
|---|---|
| Classes | 0 |
| Subclasses | 8 |
| Species | 0 |
| Backgrounds | 10 |
| Feats | 29 |
| Magic iems | 47 |
| Monsters | 19 |
| Spells | 33 |
| Bastion facilities | 9 |
| Adventures | 1 |
| Maps | 1 |
| Edition | 5.5e |
| Pages | 160 |
| Publisher | Wizards of the Coast |
When is Arcana Unleashed releasing?
Arcana Unleashed releases on 15th September 2026. D&D Beyond subscribers can get early access to the book if they purchase a digital copy. Master tier accounts will get access from the 1st September and hero accounts from the 8th September.
What’s in Arcana Unleashed?
8 magical subclasses
Arcana Unleashed comes with 8 subclasses. 6 are revisions of subclasses from the 2014 rules and 2 are brand new. Among these, we get the final 4 schools of magic represented for wizards that weren’t included in the Player’s Handbook (2024).
You can see the included subclasses below and my analysis and optimisation guides:
- Arcana domain cleric
- Arcane archer fighter
- Warrior of the mystic arts monk (new)
- Vestige patron warlock (new)
- Conjurer wizard
- Enchanter wizard
- Necromancer wizard
- Transmuter wizard
10 factional bacgrounds
Within the book are details on 9 arcane factions who perform magical experiments, espionage and all sorts of other arcane deeds. Each has its own background with an additional background dedicated to training a familiar. These backgrounds are:
- Agent of the Ninth Quill
- Bejeweled Conclave Spy
- Cosmic Dawn Experiment
- Covenant of the Grave Recruit
- Crucible Storm Chaser
- Familiar Trainer
- Horizon Weaver Initiate
- Phantasmic Circus Trouper
- Seer Apprentice
- Ward of the Sheltering Hands
29 feats
Spread between various different feat types, these feats are designed to enhance spellcasting acumen. There’s been a lot of discussion online already about how potent many of these feats are, granting spellcasters powerful options for spells not normally on their spell list and enhancements to their spellcasting. We get:
- 10 origin feats
- 1 fighting style feat
- 15 general feats
- 3 epic boon feats
33 new and revised spells
The largest update to spells in D&D 2024 so far. Prior to this, Heroes of Faerun held this title with 19 spells added. Arcana Unleashed dwarfs that figure. It’s not all revisions either. We get brand new spells like; Wail of the Banshee, Iron Body, Spirit Lantern, Zone of Amicability and more.
16 magical monsters
If you want to throw some magical-themed monsters into your campaign, there are 16 completely new monsters stat blocks. These includes creatures like the elven undead Baelnorn, Living Spells, Darkenbeasts and more.
47 magical items and evolving magic items
If you want more magical items to gift your party with (or to bequeath upon your villains), then there’s a load here to use. This includes brand new mechanics for evolving magic items that become enhanced as you progress in levels (no more throwing away your old trusty +1 sword after your next treasure haul). There’s options for evolving magic items you can give your players and rules for creating customised evolving weapons.
9 new bastion facilities
You can expand your bastions into magical facilities with a new facility for each arcane faction detailed in the book.
9 arcane factions and 6 group patrons
If you want magical factions in your campaign, 9 of these are detailed with lore, motivations, goals and everything you need to insert them into your campaign. 9 of the 10 origin feats and backgrounds relate to each of these factions allowing you to become a member of various magical factions.
Alongside these are 6 types of group patrons that might sponsor your group and support for running these patrons.
A level 1 adventure
There’s a short, 1-2 session adventure included in the book called Tomb of the Shadow Serpents. It keeps things short and at low levels (level 1 only) so could form a start to a campaign or an early campaign mission.
Arcana Unleashed is on the shorter side of supplement books, clocking in at 160 pages. It’s shorter than Heroes of Faerun (192 pages) but longer than Forge of the Artificer (112 pages). As short as it is, it does come paired with a high level campaign (levels 12-20) called Arcana Unleashed: Deadfall, a magical spy thriller where players fave off against the lich archmage of Thay, Szass Tam. This comes with another 128 pages of magical campaign to play with. This is a separate book though.
Will you be picking up Arcana Unleashed? Let me know in the comments below.
More on Arcana Unleashed
Check out our other guides dedicated to Arcana Unleashed.
