Large Subclass balance pass! Barbarian, Monk, Cleric, Warlock, Fighter, and Paladin update notes! (Patreon)

Hey heroes! I decided to make one new post instead of notifying you of six updated ones. To accommodate the missing links in your email, though, I've linked all the updated documents below with their respective subclass update descriptions.

I did an exciting balance pass on the last 6 months' worth of archetype releases following some incredible player feedback. These changes are sure to make the subclasses more fun and more balanced to play! And in case you're like me and love changelogs, I've pasted them all below for you to read over!

Be sure to update your documents with the new subclasses!

Barbarian: Path of the Infernal Update v1.1:

• Revised Hellfire Claw damage and mechanics so it can no longer stack with meaty greataxe hits. Damage is now a scaling fire damage die that starts at a d6 and goes up to a d12 by level 14. You can have the fire lick up the weapon you're holding with the weapon or make a claw attack on a turn, combining an extraneous element from the capstone into the core of this feature.
• Revised the grapple effect so the damage you deal per turn to the held creature scales with your claw's fire damage.
• Removed frighten immunity from the level 6 perk.
• Revised Planar Conspirator to be farther removed from the Totem barbarian, allowing you to make miniature sacrifices to interested demonic parties to cast the detect thoughts spell, allowing you to really start to prey on the fears of the people you come across.
• Since the fiery weapon portion of the capstone was folded into the core level 3 Hellfire Claw feature, I increased the uses of the hellish rebuke you get at level 14 to 2 per rage instead of 1. I also adjusted it to be a static level 3 spell, so you never have to figure out what number of dice to use when your stats change.
• Changed spellcasting ability to Constitution.

Monk: Way of the Aether Update v1.3:

• Moved the Stunning Strike access for your ranged attacks to your 6th level upgrades instead of 11th.
• Clarified that, yes, these are replacing any unarmed strike you make, so you can use these ranged attacks with your Flurry of Blows.
• Further diversified the mage hand use from the Arcane Trickster. The hand is no longer invisible and more obviously mimics the appearance of your Spirit Strikes.
• Added gentle repose to your 6th level spells.
• Gave you the possession immunity at level 6, when you'll actually be fighting ghosts, rather than level 11.
• Changed Dismiss Undead from being an action, and instead procs when you hit an undead with your Flurry of Blows. This both makes it more exciting to try and use, and ties in a natural resource to it.
• Clarified the use of the Etherstep feature so you can only move through objects while you're still invisible.
• Reduced the Etherealness duration to 1 minute, instead of 1 hour.

Cleric Domain: Festus Update v1.1:

• Gave martial weapon proficiency at level 1. Getting Divine Strike perks without it just feels bad. Now you can wield that giant fork as the trident it's meant to be using your proficiency bonus, the way Dionysus intended.
• Updated the Channel Divinity's action economy so it can be drunk as a bonus action, making the flavor of the item more that it's a small potion rather than a full-sized one, which normally take an action to consume. This makes it an attractive option in later game stages when the healing might not be as much as some other things, but the action economy is still really nice.
• Gave poison suppression to the Strong Stomach feature, putting it alongside the option to suppress any drunkenness you're feeling. Adjusted the cooldown to once per long rest, instead of short rest, to compensate for the power shift.

Warlock Patron: The Many Update v1.1:

• Adjusted spell list so you get see invisibility instead of magic mouth. MM on a warlock wasn't a great idea.
• Scaled back the bonus damage for using an eldritch head to adding an extra 1 + your PB, instead of twice your CHA mod. Especially at low levels, that hit way too hard and could be fired off too often.
• Revised the option to call back heads between short rests to calling back 2 heads once per long rest, still as a bonus action. This means that at low levels you still have room to play around with, and at later levels you can manage some of your effects better in a pinch if you've gone a long time without a refill.
• Revised the Groupthink ability to not give the bonus if you're already proficient in the thing, since having a warlock be better than a wizard at something like Arcana is peculiar.
• Adjusted the healing from consuming a head to become temporary hit points instead, increasing the value from 1d8 + CHA to 2d6 + CHA instead. This also prevents mass-regen in a fight and helps manage the update to the capstone...
• ...which was updated in its design and strength. Still the same general effect, although it was pointed out that the heads are made to be consumed, but this effect originally punished you for having using them, which was dissonant. So now, these eldritch heads roar back into existence, regenning them for you instead of consuming them. This means that the more you use the heads through the day, the more valuable this effect will become.
• To that point, because of the inherent value of getting this resource back all at once, its damage was reduced, and instead of stunning creatures, it just briefly incapacitates them. It also no longer requires attack rolls, but is just a straight saving throw from creatures you choose around you up to the number of heads you regain in this way.

Fighter: Steel Hawk Update v1.1:

• LANCES are now this fighter's most coveted weapon. They're treated as 1d8/1d12 versatile weapons for you while you aren't mounted, and because of your nimbleness and balance, you're able to offset some of the awkwardness in fighting with close combat with them. When you hit a creature within 5 feet of you with a lance, you can immediately move up to 5 feet away from it (without provoking opportunity attacks), provided you have enough movement remaining. If you hit a creature with a lance while you're Launching, you can deal damage to them as if you're holding the lance with both hands.
• Subclass art has been updated to reflect the move to lances.
• Launch's bonus damage now scales like the Battle Master's, meaning that it'll stay relevant even at higher levels without being too much extra at early ones. It scales from a d8 to a d12 in bonus damage.
• Further, because it feels bad to miss when you use a Launch, the level 10 ribbon has moved to the core Launch one, allowing your Launch attack to be made with advantage. The rest of the level 10 feature remained unchanged.

Paladin: Oath of the Spelldrinker Update v1.1:

• Spells: Replaced protection from energy with dispel magic at level 9, replaced wall of force with dominate person at level 17.
• Changed the math of Absorb Energy to be able to counterspell magic of a level equal to 1 + 1/3 your Paladin level, rounded up. This means that you'll be able to counterspell spells relevant to your character level throughout tier 2 and a lot of 3, until it caps out at 6th level spells. Even then, that's still pretty rad.
• Replaced the second Channel Divinity option with Expeditious Command, which will be more useful in situations where magic isn't present. This will let you invigorate allies around you and allow them (including you, immediately) to take the Dash or Disengage action as a bonus action until the start of your next turn. The original CD options were leaning too heavily on the assumption that you'd always be fighting casters, but that's just not the case. This way you'll still be able to chase down the noncasters or get your party out of a jam using your Channel Divinity.
• Gave the Arcana skill as a bonus proficiency.
• Adjusted the Aura to proc at the end of creatures' turns, not the starts. Woof, that was strong.
• Removed the gamey ribbon/rider on the level 15 perk. Still good.