Baldur's Gate 3 offers players an array of different classes to choose from, each offering unique abilities and skills to aid them during combat and when exploring the world. The Warlock Class is a particularly unusual arcane caster that receives its power from a powerful and mysterious patron via a pact.
Baldur's Gate 3 allows players to further customize their character via a subclass, selected either at character creation, at level 2, or at level 3, depending on the class. Warlocks choose their subclass during character creation since their subclass indicates what kind of being they made a pact with in exchange for their power. Be it a Fiend, Archfey, or Great Old One, their powers are sourced from dangerous creatures with ulterior motives.
The Fiend
Fiend Warlocks made a pact with an entity known for corrupting and destroying and often serve those ends through their actions, intentionally or otherwise. Fiend Warlocks immediately receive the power "Dark One's Blessing", which allows them to receive HP equal to their Charisma modifier plus their level whenever they reduce a foe to 0HP. This is helpful for keeping the Fiend's health topped off and allows them greater survivability.
They also gain access to the Spells "Burning Hands" and "Command (Halt)" at level 1, which are unavailable to other Warlocks. This allows them to start fires and freeze foes in their tracks. At level 3 they gain access to "Scorching Ray" and "Blindness" too, providing them with further offensive and debuffing capabilities. At level 5 they gain "Fireball" and "Stinking Cloud" spells, allowing them to create a debilitating cloud of gas and use one of D&D's most famous damaging spells.
The Great Old One
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Great Old One Warlocks (sometimes called "Goolocks" by D&D players) make their pact with eldritch beings in the Far Realms whose goals are inscrutable and alien. At level 1 a Goolock gains the power "Mortal Reminder" which causes them to frighten the target and all nearby enemies for a turn when they land a critical hit. This can be great for weakening enemy groups, though since it triggers only on critical hits it can't be relied upon.
Goolocks also get the spells "Dissonant Whispers" and "Tasha's Hideous Laughter" at level 1. The former allows them to inflict psychic damage and frighten a foe, while the latter can leave a foe helplessly laughing on the ground for up to 10 rounds. They gain the spells "Detect Thoughts" and "Phantasmal Force" at level 3, allowing them to read minds without relying on the Mindflayer Tadpole and inflict psychic damage whose damage type changes to match the last attack that hit the target and occurs every turn for 10 turns.
There will presumably be more spells unlocked at level 5 which are specific to the Goolock, but these are not in the Early Access build.
The Archfey
This subclass is unavailable in the Early Access version of the game, so all information on it here is derived either from the tabletop 5e rules or information from Larian. Archfey Warlocks have made their pact with a powerful fey entity, known for their capricious nature.
Archfey Warlocks gain "Beguiling Presence" at level 1, allowing them to project a 10ft fear/charm effect once per short rest. All creatures inside the field must make a Wisdom Saving throw against the Warlock's spell save DC or become frightened/charmed (Warlock's choice) until the end of the Warlock's next turn. This can be useful for frustrating and weakening incoming foes.
At level 6 they are able to use "Misty Escape" once per short rest. This allows them to turn invisible and teleport up to 60ft as a reaction when they take damage, helping them to reposition if a powerful foe decides to make them a target.
At level 10 an Archfey Warlock gains "Beguiling Defenses" which grants them immunity to charm effects and allows them to counter with a charm attempt of their own should a foe try it anyway. The target must make a Wisdom Saving throw against the Warlock's spell save DC or become charmed for 1 minute, though the effect ends early if they take damage.
Baldur's Gate 3 launches on the 3rd of August 2023 for PC and Mac, and the 6th of September 2023 for PS5.