Working out which subclasses are horrifying and which are horrific.
D&D 2024’s latest expansion, comes in the form of a horror themed supplement dedicated to the shadowy demiplanes of the Ravenloft setting. Inside Ravenloft: The Horrors Within comes 7 new and refreshed subclasses built for D&D 2024. They are
- Reanimator artificer (new)
- College of spirits bard
- Grave domain cleric
- Hollow warden ranger (new)
- Phantom rogue
- Shadow sorcery sorcerer
- Undead patron warlock
That’s a decent spread of subclasses. But which do I think are best and the most worthy of your next character? I’ve been analysing each one and now I’ve ranked them based on how well I think they perform mechanically.
7th: Grave domain cleric
What are they?
Clerics of the grave domain are focused on death. They seek to shepherd the souls of the dead to the afterlife and fend off the curse of undeath.
Strengths
- Reviving downed allies
- Debuffing enemies with channel divinity
- Protecting allies from big hits by halving some incoming damage
Weaknesses
- Spare the dying is still only any good if you’re out of spell slots. This causes it to quickly diminish in usefulness as you gain levels and more spells slots.
- The damage boost is tiny and doesn’t even work on ongoing effects.
- The best features are limited use and short-lived (1 round or 1 hit) making their impact a little smaller.
How effective are they?
The grave domain’s damage boost is tiny and insubstantial and spare the dying as a bonus action is good if you’re out of spell slots, but I’d mainly recommend healing word for this as it’ll get your allies back in the battle too (especially as healing allies on 0HP will be maximised). The debuffs through channel divinity are good, as is the defensive feature at level 6 but this remains just an OK subclass.
3/5
6th: College of spirits bard
What are they?
Spirit bards are essentially mediums. They speak with the spirits of the departed and harness their powers for themselves.
Strengths
- Lots of extra spell-like effects equivalent to levels 1-3 spell slots.
- Improved guidance means better skill checks.
- Enhanced spirit guardians is a strong option.
- Some enhanced damage and healing.
Weaknesses
- Channelled spirits are either random or expensive on your action economy and a use of bardic inspiration.
- Spirit guardians pushes for tactics that make you more vulnerable despite not being a particularly resilient class (though gaining half cover helps here).
How effective are they?
The main challenge with the spirit bard is you’re either granted a random capability, or you must use both your bonus action, action and a bardic inspiration die to use an effect equivalent to a spell of level 1-3. It’s a big price on resources for something you can just cast a spell for and retain your bonus action.
It is elevated considerably at level 6 when you gain an enhanced form of spirit guardians. The AC boost to yourself and allies is especially welcome as you will be throwing yourself in harms way when you activate this. The enhanced damage and healing is a welcome buff too.
Ultimately, the subclass is alright, but for me, the action economy is too expensive or the benefits are too random for a really effective subclass. It could be plenty of fun though.
3/5
5th: Phantom rogue
What are they?
Phantoms are rogues that are especially close to death. Not only do they exact it on others, but they also draw on its powers.
Strengths
- Deal even more damage with sneak attacks.
- Adaptable skills are great for one of the skill specialist classes.
- Eventually becomes a good information gatherers with speak with dead.
- Ghost walk at high levels is really strong and great for staying safe or sneaking around.
Weaknesses
- Wails from the grave is too limited at early levels with low damage and few uses.
- Too much of the phantom’s power kicks in from level 9 making their power levels quite uneven.
How effective are they?
Phantom rogues are pretty great from level 9 onwards, but feel underpowered before then while wails from the grave has limited uses and less bonus damage.
If you happen to be starting gameplay at level 9+, you’ll do just great with a phantom rogue.
Score: 3/5
4th: Reanimator artificer
What are they?
A Dr Frankenstein subclass that possesses a reanimated companion made from stitched flesh. They’re also revive specialists making them great at recovering downed allies.
Strengths
- Great at reviving allies from being downed.
- Interesting companion with some unusual utility and synergy.
- Good at creating meat shields to aid party durability and spread attacks among more targets.
- Can easily stay safe by casting spells through their reanimated companion.
- Just a really fun and unique subclass to play.
Weaknesses
- The ferocity modification is terrible. At least you can ignore it and take another option.
- Isn’t a typical high damage subclass.
- Requires careful positioning and planning to get the most out of it.
How effective are they?
The reanimator doesn’t do power scaling in an easily comparable way like most subclasses. Instead, it throws a load of unique ways of achieving important effects like damage dealing, reviving and resilience. And mostly, it manages to do this effectively and perhaps more importantly, in really fun and unique ways.
Score: 4/5
3rd: Shadow sorcery sorcerer
What are they?
Draw upon the negative energy of the Shadowfell to gain magical powers over shadows and darkness.
Strengths
- Can stay safe by hiding in their own magical darkness and using teleportation.
- Great at stealth
- Can use their beast of ill omen to make enemies more likely to fail their saving throws.
Weaknesses
- Safety capabilities like seeing through your own darkness can require a setup turn.
- The beasts of ill omen are a little less resilient and hard hitting than the previous version, though do gain other capabilities.
How effective are they?
The shadow sorcerer is great at staying out of danger, especially as they can easily lurk in darkness of their own making, blast out spells and teleport around when threats loom. They have some magically great ways to tackle stealth too. Their beast of ill omen, while a little nerfed in the latest version, remains a great way to make enemies fail their saving throws.
Score: 4/5
2nd: Hollow warden ranger
What are they?
Rangers that draw on the powers of ancient and wild terrors to become merciless hunters themselves.
Strengths
- Lots of resilience through increased AC and self-healing when bloodied.
- Give regular, small debuffs just by making attacks in the form of the frightened condition.
- Hit harder with easier opportunity attacks.
- All of this works to make this the best ranger for melee combat.
Weaknesses
- Features aren’t as effective on a ranged build.
- May want to push for a strength build for the increased damage output (from a two handed weapon) but this can stretch your ability scores a lot.
How effective are they?
The hollow warden just works really well in melee combat. It’s tougher, can maintain concentration longer, gets extra damage through regular opportunity attacks and frightening foes constantly just whittles away at their capabilities. The hollow warden just works really well and has some terrifying vibes too.
Score: 5/5
1st: Undead patron warlock
What are they?
Warlocks that make a pact with a powerful undead being like a lich or a vampire lord.
Strengths
- Lots of extra resilience makes them a good option for a bladelock.
- Boosted damage dealing works with both spells and pact blade attacks.
- Consistently able to debuff enemies with the frightened condition.
Weaknesses
- Even with the boosted resilience, you’re not a tank so will need to build for resilience and be tactically mindful of this.
How effective are they?
Undead patron warlocks are the most resilient warlocks around. This makes them ideal for a bladelock build, but they can work really well at range too. Boosted damage, constant debuffs and even a fair bit of utility if you reach level 14 means this subclass has a bit of everything. While this might make them seem like they don’t specialise, in reality, there’s great synergy here with all the parts working together to make a powerful warrior-type warlock that can keep up with martials and spellcasters.
5/5
Overview
As it happens, the 2 best subclasses in this book do very similar things. They build towards melee combat by upping resilience in several ways, cause the frightened condition in short, regular bursts and enhance damage. They both push for a terrifying and relentless attacker and pull it off nicely, managing to be the most fearsome of these horror subclasses.
The undead patron edges it for me, but it’s very close if I’m honest.
While the undead patron and hollow warden take the top spots, in reality, the subclasses in Ravenloft: The Horrors Within are generally well-designed and well balanced. No subclass is a poor option. I did find that some subclasses are a little imbalanced between levels, but largely the balance is there. I’ve also found that there are a lot of interesting ideas for these subclasses with the reanimator taking a very unique approach to pet subclasses.
Overall, I’m pleased with the subclasses we’ve been given and think they make a great addition to horror-inspired adventures.
Which Ravenloft subclass do you think is the best? Let me know about it in the comments below.
Spotlight on Ravenloft: The Horrors Within
All the latest articles on D&D’s latest horror-filled expansion.
