New Sorrow Knight Fighter Subclass Drops On D&D Beyond

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The October 2026 D&D Beyond Drop has arrived and represents another big milestone for the program. That’s because it’s the first Drop to feature a new subclass in the form of the Sorrow Knight Fighter.

These unique warriors are created after suffering an intense loss and use their own tragic past to tap into the power of the dark plane of existence known as the Shadowfell to inflict grief and misery upon their foes.

So is this new emo subclass worth the doom and gloom, or is D&D Beyond just going through a phase? Below, we bust out our black eyeliner and dig in.

What are the new Sorrow Knight Fighter features?

Sorrow knights suffuse their opponents with grief and misery from the gloomy plane called the Shadowfell. These fighters harness their past despair to forge a connection with others and protect themselves. A sorrow knight’s intense loss – whether the loss of love, faith, or something equally profound – is the weapon they wield against their foes and their motivator to ensure that no one experiences that same pain.

Like all subclasses in the 2024 D&D 5.5e rules, a Sorrow Knight Fighter is selected at Level 3. Their features are as follows:

Level 3: Despairing Strikes

Each sorrow knight bears an emotional wound like a deep scar, through which they channel despair against their enemies. This misery is fueled by special dice called Despairing Strike Dice.

The Despairing Strike Dice table shows the die size and number of these dice you have when you reach certain Fighter levels. A Despairing Strike Die is expended when you use it. You regain all expended Despairing Strike Dice when you finish a Short or Long Rest.

Fighter Level	Die Size	Number
3	D8	3
10	D10	4
15	D12	5

When you hit a creature with an attack roll using a weapon, you can expend a Despairing Strike Die and roll that die. You deal additional Psychic damage equal to the roll and can also add one of the following effects. You can’t expend more than one die per attack.

If a Despairing Strike effect requires a saving throw, the DC equals 8 plus your Wisdom modifier and Proficiency Bonus.

Abandoned. The target must succeed on an Intelligence saving throw or have the Deafened condition until the end of your next turn. While Deafened, the target regards all creatures it can see as enemies until the end of your next turn.

Dread. The target has Disadvantage on the next saving throw it makes before the start of your next turn.

Level 3: Solemn Gaze

You can see through the darkness around you and recognize the darkness in others. You gain the following benefits.

Darkvision. You gain Darkvision with a range of 60 feet. If you already have Darkvision, its range increases by 60 feet.

Empathetic Inquiry. As a Magic action, you can attempt to search the mind of a creature you can see within 30 feet. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw (DC equals 8 plus your Wisdom modifier and Proficiency Bonus) or you learn an emotion that looms large in its mind, such as a worry, love, or hate. If the target can see you, it knows you have read its emotions. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.

Level 7: Dreaded Appearance

When you use Tactical Shift, you can teleport to an unoccupied space you can see within 30 feet of yourself instead of moving.

Immediately after you reappear, you can briefly take on the appearance of creatures’ fears, visible only to those creatures. Each creature of your choice within a 10-foot Emanation originating from you makes a Wisdom saving throw (DC equals 8 plus your Wisdom modifier and your Proficiency Bonus). On a failed save, a target takes Psychic damage equal to a roll of your Despairing Strike die and has the Frightened condition until the end of your next turn. On a successful save, it takes half damage only.

Once you take on this appearance, you can’t do so again until you finish a Short or Long Rest.

Level 10: Unsettled Strikes

You further channel the pathos of the Shadowfell through your fighting abilities. The following effects are now among your Despairing Strike options.

Apathetic. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or have the Incapacitated condition until the start of your next turn. While Incapacitated in this way, the target can give only one-word responses when spoken to.

Lost. The target makes a Charisma saving throw. On a failed save, the target has the Blinded condition, and its Speed is reduced to 0 until the end of its next turn. On a successful save, the target’s Speed is halved until the end of its next turn.

Weary. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or gain 1 Exhaustion level. This effect can’t increase the target’s Exhaustion level above 2. Exhaustion levels gained from this effect are removed at the end of your next turn.

Level 15: Grim Constitution

You have Resistance to Necrotic and Psychic damage.

In addition, when you are subjected to an effect that reduces your Hit Point maximum, you can make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw. If you succeed, your Hit Point maximum isn’t decreased. Each time you make this Constitution saving throw after the first, the DC increases by 5. When you finish a Short or Long Rest, the DC resets to 15.

Level 18: Grieving Mantle

When you use your Action Surge, you attune yourself to the Shadowfell for 1 minute or until you have the Incapacitated condition. For the duration, you gain the following benefits.

Shade Form. When you are hit by an attack roll, you can take a Reaction to become insubstantial for a moment and reduce the attack’s total damage against you to 0.

Unwavering Resolve. You have Immunity to the Charmed and Frightened conditions. If you’re Charmed or Frightened when you activate your Grieving Mantle, the condition ends on you.

Is the new Sorrow Knight Fighter worth playing?

While playing the most gothed-out fighter in D&D history might not be everyone’s cup of black tea, the fact is that the Sorrow Knight might be one of the most innovative subclasses we’ve seen in some time in terms of being a perfect fusion of both tone and mechanics.

But that’s just our opinion and – like our mom – maybe you don’t get us. You can crank up the My Chemical Romance and check out the Sorrow Knight for yourself now via D&D Beyond Drops.

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