Larian Studios has its hands full these days. The newest patch, Patch 7, for Baldur’s Gate 3 has officially been released. And with this new patch, a new class, The Barbarian, has been added to the game.

And seems like the full game will get its full release in 2023. But let’s start with the release date. Larain’s Co-Founder and Creative Director Sven Vincke had talked to Eurogamer and said this about the game nearing full release:

We think we’re in our last year of development. We do still think we have a year of development ahead of us, so it’s unlikely it will be this year [2022]. But we are at the end, so we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel now. We have a pretty concrete plan.

Meanwhile, in a subsequent Press Release, Larian had mentioned:

Our internal goal post for release is a quality bar rather than a date. A ton of progress has been made towards that quality bar over the past year in Early Access, but we know many players are waiting for an actual date. That date will come when we’re even closer to meeting our goal, but right now our expectation is that Baldur’s Gate 3 will be released out of Early Access in 2023.

Now with them saying the full release is coming next year, they can still release a lot more content between then and now.

As for the new character class, The Barbarian is now available to play.

Barbarian Image Gallery

In the Press Release, Larian also gave some information about the 2 Barbarian Subclasses:

Wildheart Barbarians choose a Bestial Heart to inspire, protect and guide them, receiving different combat abilities and facial piercings depending on their choice.

Berserker Barbarians pull from a reservoir of pure fury, turning their Rage into a Frenzy that grants two new bonus actions – Enraged Throw wreaks additional damage to enemies and inflicts the prone status, and Frenzied Strike allows Berserkers to attack twice using a bonus action like Improvised Weapon.

As for the UI, Larian mentioned that the UI HUD got a complete overhaul. And Larian also mentioned information about some new things coming to weapons:

Improvised Weapons: Almost anything has the potential to become a deadly projectile to be hurled at your foes! Improvised Weapons do damage based on their weight, and characters can wield an Improvised Weapon that weighs up to three times their Strength ability score. In short, this means with a high enough Strength stat, you can use something as big as a Mindflayer as a tool for thwacking your foes – although we don’t think he’d like it.

Thrown Weapons: Patch 7 also adds throwable Daggers, Javelins, Handaxes, and Spears that allow you to attack from a distance, making melee combat feel more dynamic.

With all of this new content and more to come on the horizon, Baldur’s Gate 3 is looking awesome. And if you want to check out the Barbarian Class, you can check out the trailer and the Panel From Hell: 5th Edition below: