I remember a joke about survival island that a team of girls left to their devices would eventually get a camp running maybe by the seventh day, while the team of dudes would be saying rockets to Mars, like come on :)
I made an artillerist that was a doll-maker. The 'cannons' were life-sized dolls carrying siege weapons :P All her spells were smaller dolls she'd built doing things, like healing was her throwing a little doll nurse at you that would scuttle up your body and sew your wounds shut. She also had a habit of trying to sew up and stuff the corpses of defeated enemies and sit them together in little tea-parties. She also had a sort of look like the girl from the ring, but in pretty dresses. I kinda disturbed my playgroup by letting my hair fall across my face and adopting her mannerisms when playing her, including toying with some kind of stand in for a doll randomly :3 First time I've played a low-charisma character but very, very fun XD
@@WolfiePH Haha, I think I was already giving my DM enough trouble with her as is; they kept coming up with ways to keep her from messing with the bodies through most of the adventure after the first time it happened XD I had toyed with making her a necromancer to lean into that side of things but the artificer just seemed more fun :3
Not quite a cantrip. Soon as you hit level 5 its still just 1d4+proficiency damage. It is great as a free bonus action option but its not cantrip quality.
I really wanted to design a high Cha/Int spy Artillerist/Sorc, so I can subtle magic explosive IED's on doors & in hallways. Then, I can have my sniper rifle Eldrich cannon with legs mounted on the corner of a building finish off whats left.
@@nicholasleishman5297 Not only that but D&D Beyond says it's 2d8+intelligence modifier when you add the ballista as an attack. Not for the other two though.
I love the fact that most of the abilities say "you can specify what this looks like" so even new players instantly get the fact that you have the creative freedom. Somebody might want a dog partner and somebody else wants a spider, and they can get it! I hope we could see this class at some point in your stream adventures!
While you guys were talking I just had this thought of 2 or three artificers building together a steel guardian that had the force ballistas or shoulder mounted fire cannon, and I'm like whole crap it's an iron Man suit or more specific War machine, but again several would have to work together
@@andrewfarmer6126 I wonder how hard you could brake the game with a partty of high level Artificer ( or how difficult a big bad would be it was made buy three or four )
@@unlikelysuspect5491 very easily I believe but then again when one or more people thinks I am actively going to TRY to break a game, they are usually successful
Huh yeah my alchemist is kind of a warlock too. He's mark of making battlesmith, and I think the idea is that a mysterious force manifested itself in a mark on his skin one day, gave him drive and knowledge to create, and will use the steel defender as a body
My Mark of Making human battle smith lost all his limbs in a battle with a war machine when it exploded. He has 4 prosthetic limbs, his right arm being one he infused himself making it a permanant spell focus that cannot be removed, and at 11 level can be converted into a spell storing item.
Guys, take a good look at the 2 Smite spells that the Battlesmith gets. They're the 2 Smite spells that are *NOT* limited to melee weapon hits. They can be used at *range*. Which is pretty sweet.
Play an alchemist, prepare all healing spells, make a homunculus that looks like dove, name it Archimedes and you have yourself TF2 Medic. Play an artillerist and you basically have Engi.
Every time I’ve played an artificer, I’ve just made up my own magic items to build and asked the dm to allow it. I made a great hammer, with a circular infusion slot, and I wore a bandolier with several metal balls on it that have been infused with different elemental attacks that I can load in to my hammer to add to my attacks. So if you’re a plant monster, I’m gonna slot in a fire attack. To enjoy the artificer I think you’ve gotta deviate from the limitations to what kind of infusions you can make. As long as you’re only making one magic item per level, and doing your infusing during long rests, a dm should be fine with whatever you come up with.
@@jadenthomas5261 as an artificer and artillerist, conjure your arcane ballista into your hand in the form of a gun. The same round, use a bonus action to fire it.
I think the 3 subclasses play vastly different (alchemist is like a cleric, artillerist is like a Warlock, and battle Smith is like a paladin) the difference is it doesn't quite keep up with what those classes are really good at (healing/buffing, ranged spell attacking, and single target DPS respectively) but offsets that with more versatility especially outside of combat.
Also to add onto this: Alchemist: doesn't seem like it can keep up with support classes because it doesn't have enough spell slots to do so. And you only start out with 1 random free potion, so that doesn't make up for being a half caster. Artillerist: I can see this one playing very similar to an Eldritch blast warlock and doing pretty well. They eventually get INT modifier on ANY spell, so cantrip damage will get close to warlock, but they basically make up the difference in damage with their bonus action turret attacks. I can see this one being a very good DPS build. Battle Smith: I'm playing this one now at level 4 and it's been similar to a paladin or a ranger. Losing the arcane weapon spell was not good for this subclass unfortunately. I think the ranged attacker will do really well with going for a 1-3 level dip in either fighter or ranger to get the archery fighting style and pickup sharpshooter. Ranger is nice because your spellslot progression stays the same and you can get hunters mark for nice extra damage, while fighters are just amazing.
John Apa I’ve yet to play either class unfortunately (working on an Artificer for an upcoming campaign though), but the main advantage I can see for Warlocks is their spellcasting staying power throughout the day, given the opportunity for short rests. Given that it costs a spell slot to create the eldritch cannon after the first is dismissed, and given they only last 1 hour, it somewhat limits the number of times you can use it if you intend to also make use of your spellcasting for purposes besides damage (especially in earlier levels). I think it would be nice for the Artificer to get at least one more of their features to recover on short rests, as it currently only includes The Right Tool for the Job, which imo seems highly situational. Unfortunately I’m not sure what would be a balanced option in that case, since a free Experimental Elixir/Eldritch Cannon/Arcane Jolt per short rest might be too strong.
Well, I think you are not properly understanding this class. An artificer is not meant to be the best healer, the beast damage dealer or the beast frontliner. An artificer is meant to be the greatest tool expertise of them all and it is. No other class has that many tool proficiencies (excluding instruments). No other class can create magic items or the right tools at the right moment.
@@fedrikrose2277 I have a mark of making Artificier, its actually level 3, and have proficiency with 6 differents tools. With the Guidance cantrip + the d4 added thanks to the mark of making, that's a rely reliable way to do almost everythings, impliying tool. And this will become better with levels. I am very excited with this class, being a kind of Jack of all trades.
The Artificer is designed to spark creativity, and as long as the changes are mere window dressing, DMs need to be very flexible in dealing with player visualizations. Minor example: A gnomish fey-flavored Battle Smith who has a silver defender (because fey hate iron). A really wild example: A halfling Artillerist whose abilities all come from cook's tools and normal food ingredients - don't let this one near your bakery if you value your town. Biscuit grenades and pie landmines, anyone? Just base damage potential on the eldritch cannon ability to keep damage-dealing potential in line with the class capabilities.
I'm using this idea for a very pragmatic sword and board Battle Master Smith that throws Thuderclap, Acid Splash, and Create Bonfire grenades. Dancing Lights becomes a series of road flares. They're mundane items created with mundane elements like iron, glass, magnesium, phosphor, oil, and flint. Value of the components is low, so crafting time is short. Balance is maintained by keeping cantrip power levels and making a limited number available in combat (since five foot caster centered spells can now be thrown). Gives it more realism instead of just being fluff on a half caster. I certainly don't want to hit the other melee Fighter and Druid and the Steel Defender with Thunderclap and would rather focus on controlling the fight after we close. Mending, Guidance, Grease, and Identify are the very few spells I use that only get flavor.
I'm interested in making a warforged alchemist, who is basically a walking crucible, mixing up alchemical ingredients and elements within his own body and then churning out potions and elixers.
The Artificer in our party had a nice time melting faces with his Eldritch cannon, and in that same battle, he kept the enemy literally stumbling the whole time with a grease spell, I dig it!
I once made a Gnome Artificer, Alchemist archetype, he looked like a plague doctor and his homunculus is a white rat with clockwork augmentations (like dragonfly wings and a stinger for tail)
Hey look buddy, I'm an engineer. That means I solve problems, not problems like "What is beauty?" Because that would fall within the purview of your conundrums of philosophy. I solve practical problems, for instance: how am I going to stop some mean mother Hubbard from tearing me a structurally superfluous be-hind? The answer, use a gun, and if that don't work... Use more gun. Take for instance this heavy caliber tripod mounted lil' old number designed by me, built by me, and you best hope... Not pointed at you.
Part of the balance for this class is it’s “free” Magic items in the form of infusions. Starting at 2nd level you get 2 and it grows to 6... in the mid to high levels this does not mean much in home games but in AL play with the new gimped treasure point system that can be huge, especially in tier 2-3 play. As for character concepts, I can not get out of my head a rock gnome battle smith wielding a lance or a wheellock pistol(with the repeating shot infusion) while riding his steel defender.
I am doing this in my campaign right now. My Warforged Artillerist even recently crafted/integrated his first piece of mando armor (a Helm build from a Minotaur skull that is suspiciously similar to a krayt dragon logo...) and his wrist-mounted flamer. I keep the infusions available for the foundlings. This is the way...
@@chrisreid9563 im playing a halfling who was once a warlock but was cursed by the archfey Verenestra for not following through with his pact. Now he has the head of an owl with horns, talons for feet & a demon tail. I have a homebrew dragonmark that i made. Called "the mark of the scoundrel" it adds sneaky/distracting/deceptive spells, helps with investigation & forgery kits & increases int by 1. My arcane firearm is mounted under the repeating shot crossbow. Im super excited to play this.
Now I'm just thinking of cool enchanted objects for awesome gear that boba fett has like boots of flight for rocket boots. Flame thrower that's basically the dragon breath spell. Thermal detonators for fireball spells.
@@jeredsizemore3108 I have recently started doing the same thing. I now have a Universal Translator (helm of comprehending languages) and a deployable wire (rope of climbing) as used in ROTJ. Working on hitting lvl 6 to get a personal cloaking device (cloak of invisibility) and additional wrist-mounted weaponry (wand sheath). Lvl 10 will provide a jetpack (winged boots) and improved life support systems with built-in resuscitation in my helmet (periapt of wound closure). Lvl 14 will earn short-range sensors (Gem of Seeing). I am excited for the RP aspects of all of these things, as well as how infusions will work with my other players.
Yall realize at lvl 6 youll only be able to make/wear 3 of your own infusions & still only have 3 attunement slots. Just keep that in mind. By lvl20 we'll all be mando/bounty hunters, but early on youll still have limited gear. (Unless your dm is way cooler than most lol)
I am currently playing a Battlesmith Aritificer in Waterdeep. He is level 3 and has the repeating shot infusion on a hand crossbow in one hand, and a kite shield that has pockets on the inside where he keeps his inventions "spells" for easy access and of course being human needs goggles of night. He is a full on steam punk inventor with his steel defender being a top half/humanoid robot that uses a bubble shield for his reaction, and his legs are 2 tank treads. I used the new Human Variant option which comes with mending, floating disk, and identify built in to the race. He uses the floating disk underneath his cart (that stores all of his workbench supplies) to follow him around places. It's the most creative and liberating class ive played so far. Highly recommend.
Do as I did, make an NPC the players need to speak with, perhaps even joining them. Back in the day, we would swap DMs everyday. Meaning the DM got to play their character alongside the other players, all while DMing. Years and years we did this...of course making sure that the DMs player can’t get treasure during the play session...after, they could request a treasure later
@@ndowroccus4168 I do this a lot. Many of my players' favorite npcs are just repurposed character concepts I worked into our homebrew world. The cool as ice artificer mechanic who does some smuggling on the side and may or may not have a link to minor noble family from a neighboring country is their current favorite.
Yeah, that's a major oversight to miss talking about, especially when at the end they were like "oh it just feels half-baked", like...you missed one of the biggest draws to the class. Artificer can grant non-magic classes magic through that item, crucial magic like cure wounds at 2nd level for a frontline fighter, or a buff that frontliner can apply on their own terms. Like it's literally a gamechanger for a lot of classes just to get to have such an item. At Artificer max spellcasting modifier (assuming it's +5) that's 10 free uses of a 1st or 2nd level spell, excellent spells like Aid, Branding Smite, Invisibility, Darkvision, Blur, Levitate, Shield, Absorb Elements, Enhance Ability, and so on. Definitely not something to pass up mentioning.
@@rhysiare Just saying "Hey, See that barbarian who's about to smash in your skull? Yeah, he can heal himself like a Cleric." is enough in and of itself to want the class. A fucking free healing spell on a class who might very well be out of range for healer, or double up by throwing your heals on top of their own free ones if they happen to have a really heavy hit, or just letting you use your heals on other people to give the party multiple heals a round is bonkers.
@@rhysiare Sadly, the spell storing item can only be used with spells that have a casting time of 1 action. So you can't use shield, but you can use cure wounds.
@@rhysiare It is very much half baked. The artificer suffers from trying to be a jack of all trades, but falling short at everything. They're half casters, so they obviously have a lot less spells to cast and they come online a lot later. The spell storing item CAN be nice when used with certain combos, but a barbarian being able to use cure wounds is pointless. Healing is already easy to come by in 5e, especially at 11th level. And using your action in combat to heal yourself 1d8+mod is a horrible waste of your turn, especially if you're a frontline fighter. There also aren't many standout buffs at 1st and 2nd level that a non magic class can utilize effectively. And it has to be a casting time of 1 action, so no smites or hunters marks and hexes. You know what a fighter at 11th level can do instead of casting a measly 1st or 2nd level buff with their action? Attack 3 times. Not only that, but if your focus is giving the whole party your class features then that leaves you with jack squat for yourself. The infusions are extremely underwhelming, there are far too few to choose from, and a lot of them are going to be easily outpaced by actual magic items at higher levels. Artificers by no means excel at damage either. They don't excel at tanking. They certainly don't excel at casting spells. And they don't even excel at utility, their whole schtick. Many other classes and subclasses provide much more utility than the artificer. I really want to like artificers, but nothing I've seen from them is impressive. So what actually makes this class a standout and good?
I'm currently playing as a Human Artificer Alchemist with a homebrew background called Physician my DM let me use, also took the Healer feat. To most I am a generic potion slinging Alchemist but to my party I am known as "The Doctor"
One thing people underestimate about the Eldridge Cannon is that you can make two tiny versions of the cannon that can fire on its own which can climb... you. They can be two extra self-aiming arms attached to your backpack.
With Expertise in Thieve’s Tools, healing ability, utility spells, proficiency with armor, and firepower in various forms this class could solo a dungeon!
Magical Tinkering (If your DM let you ) can be pretty broken -The object continuously emits your choice of an odor or a nonverbal sound (wind, waves, chirping, or the like). The chosen phenomenon is perceivable up to 10 feet away. plus an arrow or any thing you can throw. smells make things run to and fro from a places. or need a saving throw sound.....natural sounds like clapping thunder. ( thunder clap arrow ) ..... Animal growls. , Maybe a little rain and lighting They . go to window to see and get a arrow to the face.
@@garyfagan9609 Now I'm picturing an artillerist with dungeon themed eldritch cannons (Maybe a dragon for the breath one, a beholder for the beam one and a lich for the temp hp)
This works well with any race you would choose for a Wizard. I'm in a Grim Hollow game as an Artificer. looking at battlesmith and by lvl 8 I will have something like an AC21 and +9 to attacks and spells and I haven't factored anything I don't get from leveling up If we make it to lvl 20 it would be insane AC 24 can haste self with a +18 save I'm only Averaging 30 damage a round without spells but I have the Steel Defender, Homunculus, and Familiar. plus if you want to go one man army you can make tiny servants with the spell and use Animate objects on some daggers or coins for 10x 1d4+4. and the best part is you can make free healing every day when you reach lvl 11 with Cure Wounds. store the spell in a dagger or someone's primary weapon and you just made a combat medic. I love the potential with the Artificer and it is the perfect class to play when the DM forgets that magic items exist. With a party of Artificers you make your own.
Davvy Chappy: "ESPECIALLY THE WIZARD." ... Huh, well, that happened. Also, might play the Artificer if my DM ever expands from PHB... if I beat you two to it, I'll let you know how it went.
Throw the whole dm out. My dm litterally was like you want it sureeee. I am multiclassed after rogue which seems like a fun mix but lacks the intelligence i need but looks like that will be my next dump stat
I'm still early, but I've been playing a Warforged Artillerist Artificer. Been really liking it. Have an AC of 21 and put repeating shot on my light crossbow. It's been working really well.
I'm going to be playing an Artificer soon and I really like the way that this class works. I agree that the inherent powers of the Artificer are weaker than other classes, but that's ignoring that the other half of it's abilities are the magic items you make. When you pick infusions, choose half of them as pure power items and the rest as situationally useful ones and with a day's planning you can solve almost any problem. With the high Intelligence for Investigation and Expertise in Thieves' Tools you can also make a decent rogue substitute. My build is going to include one level of Forge Cleric early on (fits the theme, adds a magic item that you'd otherwise want to use an infusion for and fixes the cantrip shortage) and then the rest would be Artificer. Early on you can use the Alchemy Jug to create acid bombs, Alchemist kit to create Alchemist's fire and Ceremony (from the Cleric) to create holy water and then throw them around (maybe even using the Catapult spell on them to add to the mayhem). By 11th level my 8 strength gnome can use Gauntlets of Ogre Power, +1 Plate (from the Forge Cleric), a +2 Shield and a Cloak of Protection to create a walking fortress with AC24 (plus the Shield spell), or swap out some of them for a variety of useful items or buffs for your party. And that's ignoring any items picked up during adventuring. Just don't stand in front of a Beholder. The most versatile ability is the spell storing item. This can be infused with a spell to fit almost any eventuality and can be used 8 (probably 10) times a day. Create a rod that will allow each party member to cast Invisibility/Enhance Ability/See Invisibility or Spider Climb on themselves twice a day each. Give the fighter's sword the ability to use Scorching Ray/Acid Arrow/Branding Smite (depending on the specialisation), Blur or Heat Metal. Have the Wizard's familiar carry a wand with Shatter in it to bombard the area from a distance (it's not an attack, they're just using an item). Really useful. So yes, looking forward to playing this. There'll be a risk of "I have a plan, but we'll need to come back tomorrow" but no worse than most episodes of the A-Team. In fact, if you think of the A-Team as a group of four Artificers then some of those epsodes make more sense...
No, love for the arcane infusion: replicate magic item (prosthetics)? You can make an "automail" arm and use it as an Arcane Focus as well as a regular hand?
I’m currently playing a Dragonmarked Human, Mark of Making, Battle Smith Artificer. It really feels like this race and class were meant to go together. The race gets mending, more tool proficiencies, gets to add 1d4 to any artisan tool check, gets to cast Magic Weapon once a day which doesn’t require concentration(!), AND gets a table of spells they can add to their spell list. Whoa!!! My only bummer right now is I can only infuse two items and won’t be able to do another until level 6. In that regard I agree with Monty here, the progression feels sloooooow. Why not grant me a third infusion at level 4 or 5? Considering the level 1 feature, Magical Tinkering, is so situational and weak. It doesn’t even feel like a real class feature. Just like you guys said, a Prestidigitation cantrip knockoff. I’m still enjoying my play through with her, but most of that is because of my DM. He’s the best! He has let me use a variant on crafting rules so I can make stuff quicker, he let us all create our own custom item to start the game with (mine is a portable forge for crafting on the go), and he’s even come up with homebrew rules about Tinkers Tools that I can basically create my own custom weapons and items. He has to have final approval, but it’s definitely given me flexibility and allowed me to be pretty creative so far!
While this class is a half-caster you guys forgot one very important point. Paladins and rangers get to add half their level rounded down when determining slots and caster level. Artificers round up! This is huge because it allows the artificer to multiclass with a full caster without losing spell progression. For example, a character that’s Artificer 5/Wizard 15 would be an 18th level caster. Which means you would still get a 9th level spell slot. You won’t know any 9th level spells, but you can upcast something using that slot.
And if you do this as a wizard, you could still learn a 9th level spell from a scroll/book/whatever because you just need to have a slot to learn a spell of that level.
I want to create a Warforged Alchemist Artificer who samples everything (poisons, diseases, deceased opponents, allies, etc.) seeking a cure for the suffering of organic life. 😊
Hey Monty, instead of judging them by their spell list, try looking deeper into the synergies between the infusions, spells and the companions. Also, you forgot to mention Spell Storing Item, by far their best ability, and probably the best 11th level feature in the game.
Spell storing item + warding bond + giving it to your steel defender + cloak of invisibility on the defender so they won’t be attacked or targeted = constant resistance baby Add sanctuary on your defender for good measure. Or haste to give yourself an extra attack to make up for the 1d8 of bonus action damage since with this tactic your defender is just a ball of extra HP, this would also free your bonus action to heal your defender with it’s repair system or free action arcane jolt Hell using sanctuary on your defender would basically make it so everything but spellcasters could hardly do shit to stop your defender from giving you advantage or imposing disadvantage on them. Same could be said for the turret
@Jared Vanotterdyk I have zero doupts that spell storing item is the best 11th level feature in the game. What made me the happiest about the artificer class is how the developers made its mechanics relying on synergy, making the player feel like an artificer building something out of the spells, infusions and other features. Damn, I love this class...
In a session once, a giant boar was destroying a piece of farmland, looking for truffles. I, a 2nd level artificer, decided to infuse a rock with a strong smell of truffles and used a catapult spell to fly close over the boar into the forest behind it. And that is how I saved a village from starvation XD
I have 2 Artificers. The first one has tinkered their Guild Badge into serving as a nametag as well. The second one has a necklace that sheds light like a candle for those dark times where they want to sketch with color but not really bother others with a large amound of light. And an earring that emits a pleasant smell around them to put others nearby more at ease with their presence. It's all flavor and doesn't really do anything mechanically... But I love it all the same.
I'll be starting a new campaign as an Artificer this weekend. Can't wait to try it out (and in a few levels get that robot dino I've always wanted). In some ways I don't mind if it's a bit weak compared to other classes. Thematically it's an idea I've always loved.
One of my players in a game I just started recently is rolling Artificer. He's gone Artillerist but is playing strong support instead of whole hog offense by using his temp hp turret. He was able to keep the monk from taking a couple failed death saves while a leech was attached to his unconscious body (The Wretched, they're on the Shadowfell-ish area atm) because while he was at 0 actual hp, he got the temp hp from the defender turret and since the life drain from the wretched wasn't an actual 'attack' it didn't auto-crit. It dealt less damage than the temp hp, so it didn't accrue any death saves. He's been doing good so far at being the team mom and battle coordinator.
Warforged Artificer Armor is awesome. Heavy armor proficiency without STR requirement, can't be removed, and becomes arcane armor capable of bearing enchantments. Want to negate the stealth disadvantage of heavy armor? Go Infiltrator configuration! Want a tanky taunter? Turn on those Thunder Gauntlets and punch everything!
Personally, I think that the interaction the Artificer has with magic items trough the infusions and his other features compensates for his "lack" of higher lvl spells. It felt weird that you focussed so hard on it, even if it is your personal opinion seeing as you don't focus on it for the Paladin or Ranger. The artificer is able to consistently buff multiple members of the party without using concentration. That is worth quite a bit. Or you could focus all your buffs on yourself and be quite the beast. The wizard might gain more spells, but in no way is he going to provide his fighter friend with +2 armour without a real limit or is he going to allow the Barbarian to cast Enlarge on himself about 8 times a day... This character invites people to be creative and has a high degree of customization not unlike the Warlock.
One of my players built an artificer. I cannot remember exactly how he did. But he rocked hand croosbows, hasted a lot, and put stuff down like it was no ones business. His steel defender was always omnipresent helping either himself or his party avoid issues. Once I even let him use it as partial cover for a longe range engagement across a chasim. However it got downed fairly quickly. But it was a fun mechanic he employed to give the rest of the party cover as they tiptoed along a ledge. To get to the next area.
I'm having a great time with my Artificer, over the span of two weeks, I've hit level 3. Used replicate magic item to save a woman after her leg was cursed and had to be amputated. Used Mending to repair a magical vehicle, though I didn't have any spell slots left to recharge it. I made a Grappling hook to help everyone cross rooftops to avoid swarms of lesser enemies that would crush us with sheer numbers. I turned myself into Thor by infusing my Throwing Hammer with the Returning Weapon. My armour has now increased my movement speed to 30 (I am a Dwarf) and has no weight restriction for me as the subclass my DM allowed makes the weight negligible. I have used Acid Splash to alter terrain to cover our retreats or to deal direct damage with surprisingly consistent result. All of this in a reduced point buy (18 instead of 27) campaign that has me as an Off-Tank with 27 HP (Magic doesn't really exist, it's a survival/horror campaign so most effects are created by nanites and psionic abilities a flavour thing) Overall, the restrictions are like a pair of overly tight pants, some people will find them really comfortable and others will find it way too restrictive.
This is the Class i have wanted in D&D for a LONG time! I love inventor characters, and having this really sells it while stayjng true to the systems. Also, it a playground for flavor text, which i love. Now if only Wizards would give us guns. Yes, i know about the back of the DM guide, but that doesn't count. Let us use a flintlock pistol damn it!
I played an artificer alchemist through the unearthed beta class and had a lot of fun playing him. My dungeon master and I worked out some homebrew rules that allowed me to modify my mechanical servant with improvised weapons and additional armor (adamant plated bear with a mounted repeating heavy crossbow). He was also frequently cooking up healing potions and other elixirs that we sold the extra of what we didn’t use. I’m looking forward to trying out this official version to see how it plays out.
I've been playing a artificer for my most recent campaigne and I love it! My DM is being ultra-kind and allowing me to full fill my desire to be Ironman, so he is letting me play the Armorer subclass from UA and so far I've turned out to be the groups main tank. I feel like the armorer is a subclass they should have included in the ERftLW book.
I was thinking that if I made an artificer, I'd want to make an dwarf artilerist based on Torbjorn, but then they said that the Battlesmith's iron defender was most often pictured on a dog. I immediately though of Rush, from Mega Man and began to contemplate using a crossbow. Immediately after I thought of that, they said the smith's abilities work with ranged weapons. I know what I'm making now: a warforged artificer named Rock and his robodog, Rush.
With the recent tasha's cauldron book, I think a special mention of the level 11 feature "spell-storing item" should be noted as being extremely broken considering it gives the power to give another creature (like a familiar if you can see the problem) an item that can cast one 1st or 2nd level artificer spell a max of 10 times per day (2xINT MOD) which you probably will have by lvl 11 if you sink your points in that. To add to that, 2 subclasses get shatter (3d8 thunder damage) which is average 170 damage w/o saves and 85 with, cure wounds (1d8+ability mod.+1d8 up-cast) can do 180 healing average, heat metal isn't worth calculating since it can kill most things and cripple bosses in a single use when used on armor. All this, and you don't even need to use a spell slot...
@@NobodyDungeons but could you imagine, a party wanders to a Storm Giant Castle and it's all automated and defensible, and the Storm Giant is an Artificer NPC, who designs and creates huge monilific constructs and Arcane Infusions which run on Lighning which he/she has in spades, and to contend with this Storm Giant, they have to deal with all the Golems and Animated Armors this being has invented over the centuries of them living, contantly creating Arcane Constructs
Multiclass a Battle Smith, with 1 level of rogue. You have constant sneak attack and disadvantage on attacks on you as long as the Defender is by your side. Plus an added skill prof to boot
Consider the Following: 6 levels in a half caster class multiclassed with 14 levels in wizard makes a 17th level spellcaster with 1 ninth level spellslot, and because you’re a wizard, you now have the capability to cast every wizard spell in the game if you can find the scrolls. I personally enjoy mixing ranger and wizard in this way for a fairly potent battle mage build. Subclasses just lend to flavor.
Rise of the Tinker Gnomes! Seriously, I do see both sides with this class being very front loaded with toys but possibly running on fumes at the 19th level. I think the strength of this is similar to taking the flexibility of a Rogues and Wizards and adding a pinch of any given aspect of Batman. If the DM is into it and is willing to deal with way more magic items in his world, all the classes work. But they also work best in larger groups and with that puzzle solving mentality. If any of these things are missing just feels like things will get less and less fun.
I think the spell storing item, and the infusion bonus's easily balance out the loss of higher tier spell slots. Especially compared to other half caster classes such as Paladin/Ranger/Trickster/EK, I think Artificer stands out above them by a fair margin. Additionally in the case of Paladin and Ranger they don't get access to ANY cantrips, which the Artificer does.
Many of my players have always engaged in amateur Artificery and Alchemy, making the creation, discovery, and combination of blueprints and recipes a constant source of creative agency. I love encouraging and building from their interests, making my worlds so much richer and varied than I could ever develop on my own. I also enjoy the challenge of balancing their sometimes wild concepts into the logistical and mechanical limits of our ruleset. We all started out in AD&D and have since borrowed and spliced in bits of countless other games and editions. To me, the real Magic of RPGs is the unlimited range of possibilities and expression. You Dungeon Dudes are a great inspiration! All the best to each and every member of this wonderful community of dreamers!
I'm personally ecstatic that it doesn't get 9th level spells. I feel like over the course of DnD, 9th level casting has just become common to the point that it is no longer special. In old DnD it was the purview of the Wizard and the Wizard alone - not even clerics had it. Then, as classes which previously didn't have access to it gained it (clerics/druids, then bards/warlocks), we now have over HALF of the classes in the game able to cast 9th level spells. I'd personally have loved if they did 3/4ths casting (up to 7th level) and used that to further differentiate the classes, instead of just pulling everyone up to 9th and having people consider classes without 9th level spells to be un-viable.
Artificer with 7-9th level spells would be WAY more overpowered than a Wizard with 7-9 level spells. Because casting spells is the Wizard's entire thing, while Artificers are thicker, stronger in combat, get free spells, get utility abilities like Flash of Genius, can craft magic items, and are basically unkillable at level 20. Meanwhile Wizards... yeah, you can cast a couple additional spells at will. Which is strong, but counterbalanced by the Artificer.
Actually there are some interesting ideas for small races that are Battle Smiths. For example, you can use the Steel Defender as a mount. Or, you could specify that it’s hollow and that you can climb inside it...like a mech or a battle suit.
Guys, I miss the sound of the sword cutting the center of the video! Why did you remove it?? It was cool! Like an audio signal that the video has really started and the introduction is over.
Fairly new to DnD, currently playing my second campaign with my friends who have played it much longer. And stubborn me wanted to make a Kenku Artificer. First play session went really well. Used acid splash for most of my attacks and mending to top off my party’s HP, and everyone really liked the mix of my character being a chaotic healer who cutely mimicked their words from the campaign. I kept a word doc opened as we went so I could take down quotes from my party and the NPCs and use em as I needed. Can’t attest much to the rest of the campaign yet, but I’ve had a blast playing this game as an adult. Regret not getting into it as a kid because it’s for nerds and I stubbornly refused to accept I was also a nerd. But this has been more fun than I’ve had in a good while.
Based on building and optimizing an 11th level Artificer for a one-shot I was going to be a part of but missed, the Artificer laughs in the face of DM attempts at soft-balance. Don't want the Fighter to have ludicrous AC? That's ok, the Artificer can just give them +2's to their armor and shield - hell, even their weapon - if they're not a Battle Smith and just take it themselves. Try to challenge the party with a winter section? Boots of the Winterlands for everyone! Want to set up some potential intrigue, where the enemy is racing the party back to the capital to make their story heard first and ruin the party's reputation? The Artificer just stands there while everyone else is panicking, calmly takes a sending stone out of his bag of holding, and calls up his contact in the capital to warn them. I'm by no means saying this is a bad thing, and looks to be great fun for the player, but DMs should be wary and informed before agreeing to have an Artificer. Even a single one will absolutely break a campaign if you're trying to have the setting be low-fantasy with minimal magic items, as they laugh maniacally while pumping out items like a godsdamned factory.
Of note Artiliris'ts Turrets Temp HP NEVER increases. "The cannon’s damage rolls all increase by 1d8." damage only. So the balsista or flamer. The TEMP HP is basically always locked at d8+INT. Great at low, later on I can't feel like I like it'll work well later on. Except as "wake up give everyone temp hp during breakfast, break the turret, and use a spell slot to summon damage later on" but at low levels I've basically prevented the need for any healing for sevearl combat moments. Sure maybe if I'd used the damage they'd have died faster.. but we still didn't expend much resources in exchange. I would have to agree. they absolutely need 2 or 3 more cantrips.. They basically have to have some utility cantrips as a class, as a theme, and mechanically.. but 2/3rds of the sublcasses must use cantrips purely for their combat options. So its so awkward. Alchemists need magic initiate for attack options (probably Wiz for toll dead/anti heal spell attack one, ) Artificers want them for utility cantrips. Battle smith.. I feel is fine because they can actually use weapons
Maybe allow a specific wizard cantrip as a bonus at 3rd level, as a subclass feature? Battlesmith would get mending, as it is most useful for him, artilerist a choice of attack roll cantrips , and an alchemist a choice of damage cantrips benefiting from later feature. Way back in the second UA artificer a gunsmith used to get mending as a bonus.
While I would have preferred 3 starting cantrips like a wizard, isn't there a cantrip feature that allows you to switch put cantrips at a rest? Or was that UA?
The steel defender is medium sized, so it could be used as a mount if you are a small race, like the obvious choice of gnome. This mean's the defender's ability that triggers when an ally within 10 feet of it is attacked always hits your attackers because you're riding it.
Artificers in your game make you think about the moment where magic gives way to science. At what point does the world of fantasy and arcane power give way to technology, science, experimentation and engineering? It starts when the Artificer opens his workshop.
"Magic is simply science we don't understand yet." "Oh, yeah smart guy, explain that!" Points at the flight of wyverns in the distance. "Wyverns. Flying reptiles with a poison stinger for a tail...Oh...you mean how does something that big fly. Don't know, yet, but I'm guessing it's actually a form of gliding. Or they just have big effing wings."
@@garyfagan9609 science and magic are incompatible. Science is bound by natural law. Magic is a violation of these laws. Otherwise it wouldn't be special. Take away the "weave" and magic is not possible. But you can always use math and science to construct models with predictive power to accurately describe whatever universe you find yourself in. As for the large flying beast, the answer is most likely hollow bones.
@@rolandkushm.d.710 The way I view it is that science explains how and why a thing does a thing. Magic on the other hand, just does a thing. But, once created, a fire is a fire whether made by striking steel and flint or conjured through other means. It will still burn and can still cause an explosion. Magic doesn't change the formulas on how science explains different things, it just lets the user fudge the numbers plugged into said formula in the direction of the effect the caster is trying to produce.
@@garyfagan9609 "Air bladder is the answer. Air bladders that can be filled with gasses lighter than air. Combine it with the hollow bones, massive wings, and the extra limbs. Of course it flies. The question however, is for how long will it keep flying before the whole thing caves in on itself..."
Been waiting for you guys to cover this! With the changes in the new Eberron book I’ve had to rethink some ideas for an Artificer I was making for a new upcoming campaign (originally going to be more a back row caster through inventions, the half casty-ness and armor and weapon infusions are leaning me more towards a more melee fight with tricks up their sleeves). Super excited to hear your guy’s insights.
I've recently started playing D&D with some brothers and friends. I really enjoy these videos and am excited to see more! Thank you for very helpful videos.
If you ever played Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO), this is one of my favorites. I am disappointed that only one of the three subclasses gets multiple attacks, but I think I can work with that. I want to make a Tabaxi Artificer whose purpose in life is to make the best mixed drinks.
It may feel like it has less abilities than other classes but it's focus on magic items and the diversity of those artifacts bring *much* more to the character then just it's class features.
Sweet! I've been waiting for this, I had a feeling you guys would do this one next. This will be good! Haven't had the chance to check out the Ebberon book yet unfortunately, but the artificer really speaks to me
Currently playing one! I started out with the unearthed arcana and the next session I'm switching over to the official one. We're also lvl 3 now, so my gnome can finally ride his Metal Bear mount. I think this is a good idea for every caster, but with artificer in particular: What does your spell look like? For every spell that I will likely pick I have a contraption in my mind that makes the effect happen. I also make a liquid every night in vials that I add to my machines to fuel them or as the last component of an alchemical substance (So I have physical spell slots, that I can put in my items). I do agree that the 1/2 caster is a bummer, I would have loved to see the Warlock mechanic for the artificer, I think that would fit a lot better (an hour should be plenty of time to tinker with your contraptions). Also, the fact that they have so few spell slots makes the artificer a pretty pathetic healer, even the alchemist (the worst one in the game after the ranger, even the paladin is better at it). Luckily it's very fitting for the Artificer to get a lot of magic items, so it's relatively easy to balance it out (but it still sucks that you basically as a DM have to give your artificer twice the amount of magic items or let them make them themselves). I've had an idea with my DM for a schematic of a pistol (the DMG item), which with Int based attacks (battle smith) and the rapid shot infusion (which allows it to be used with a shield, since you don't need your other hand to reload!) makes it pretty cool. Even the idea to upgrade it with more schematics (which gives a non-magical weapon non-magical enhancements that are practically magic items, but are technically not, so you can still infuse them, although they are specific and designed to be used with the infusion (since they are homebrewed), so it's more balanced than just any magic item). To bad though that, even now it is official content I feel that they need homebrewing (well, the gun itself isn't homebrew) to actually be fun (or at least balanced). Particularly in the mid lvls they are rather lackluster, with meh spell slots, meh infusions, and class abilities that compete with your spells for the super few (and low level) spell slots you have. Also, some spells that certainly should have been on the list aren't, where is chromatic orb? Guiding bolt? Magic Missile? Mage Armour? Sleep? that's just 1st level. I'm quite against the restrictive spell selection in the first place that 5e has (If I want to play a wizard healer, why not?) but these are like in the top 10 spells I want to see in the artificer spell list. Mage armour might not be for every artificer since you get armour anyway, but chromatic orb and sleep are super thematic. Also, I'm quite sad they removed the arcane weapon spell, it made the artificer a lot stronger. At least give them hunter's mark instead (which they didn't get either). I still like the artificer, because the flavour is exactly what I always missed in D&D (I think D&D is best in a high fantasy-tech world, never quite understood the vast riches of the players in this desolate world that somehow still has a money-based economy (and can actually give the players their stuff, if most people earn a silver a day how are there even things that cost 50 gp, and pretty standard things at that, that's almost a 2 year salary!), a lot of casters with crazy power that seems to be almost exclusively used for martial prowess (almost no practical magic that people would actually use to make their lives better) and a cleric in almost every farmer town, even though the cleric could just make the food...) That's why I love Eberron, and this class is a great addition for it. In Eberron most magic IS practical and magic items are common and do specific simple things that people would want; magic as technology.
So I’ve been playing this class since before the official content and then we adapted it to the new official release. It’s fun to play as for sure and my DM gave me a book for constructing shield guardians to go with the homunculus servant to provide more of that construct/ally utility that I think goes really well with the class. That being said, one battle that we did there was a lower level mage that all they did was counter spell any of the spells that I tried and no matter what I didn’t have any spells that were high enough level to even contest them. As an alchemist there’s not much you can do if there’s a wizard, sorcerer, or warlock that is constantly negating your magical spells, and you don’t have a lot of slots to cast them. So I agree that unless you have the magic items to offset that drastic gap, they will always be weaker in combat to those true spell casters.
One of the most broken combos, if your dm will allow it, is to take artificer to level 2 then go gunfighter. It can be difficult given the diverse score layout, but its worth it if you can do it. Artificer level 2 gives you repeating shot. This lets you not only ignore the reload mechanic, but also produces its own ammo if none is loaded into your weapon. Gunfighter obvious lets you use guns, notably Bad News. Infuse Bad News with Repeating Shot and suddenly you are a HUGE monster to deal with. This really starts to shine at level 13. You will have 3 attacks per turn and a bad news that you dont have to reload. Thats a total of 2d12 x 3 = 6d12 damage EVERY SINGLE TURN. Then, you can action surge for a very bursty turn of 12d12 damage. Add the sharpshooter feat and you can make those attacks at 800 WITHOUT disadvantage. Its an absolutely insane combo that a player can do all by themselves. Granted, its only 2 levels artificer, so it would be a fighter build for sure and is only possible if your dm allows gunslingers, but the combo allows for an insane amount of damage at such low levels
I would definitely take the artificer to level 3 instead of only 2. If you do that, from 3rd level on you have an additional 2d8 damage as a bonus action or 1d8 + up to 5 temp hp for the early levels where your party is squishy. If you decide to go Battle Smith instead of Artillerist you don't have a very diverse score layout as your INT mod is used instead of DEX. You also get a little buddy to distract the baddies for a round so you can clear a jam. Finally, don't forget you can fan the hammer for 2 additional shots for a total of 16d12 + 48 + 80 damage (if you are a BS and have +5 INT and hit all sharpshooter shots)
I kinda want to build a character inspired by one of my favorite ways to play skyrim, as a smithing/enchantment specialist. As a battle smith this could be very plausible!
I am playing the Artificer that came in Unearthed Arcana, so it is missing a couple of elements from the official, Eberron Artificer that I really wish I had, but it is still quite fun. I had planned to play the first version of the Artillerist, who carried around the Cannon Thunder, but then the second version came, the DM told me that, if I picked the Artificer, it was from there, so I chose that. So, this is the deal: I am a Gnome who loves to talk about his inventions, I always carry a plate where I show my full name, Gimble Brocc Caranip Erky Scheppen "Tinplate", and anywhere I go I offer to help fix or mend things because I love to use my tools. I am currently involved in an adventure aimed at putting down the evil Strahd and escape from this semiplane he apparently controls too well. As a 12th Level Artificer, I have the Firebolt (which I fire through a small gun-like device wrapped around my wrist), Mage Hand and Mending (my most used spell, by far) and am always accompanied by Dresden II, my faithful wolf-like Iron Defender and mount and the successor of Dresden, who died in a fight against a dastardly undead tree who didn't even give me the time to carry him away. While, at the beginning of my adventure, I carried mostly melée weapons (I still have these pretty silver axe and hammer), currently I use a magical shortbow that can shoot two arrows every turn, which is a mess when it comes down to ammo consumption, but it deals twice the damage with the same attack - and, thanks to my being a Battle Smith, I can attack twice every turn: that's 4d6+24 damage per turn! Essentially, i am the most reliable ranged damage dealer, since the party's sorcerer and warlock aren't always able to fight or quickly run out of spells. Plus, Dresden II is always there to aid the melée fighters. Oh, and the bow has a magical quirk on it that, once a day, allows me to turn one of the attacks into a penetrating strike that hits everything in a 100 foot line. Also, my skill with thieves' tools makes me the only one that can deal with magical traps and locks, so, every time we find a closed door, it's up to me to make sure that it gets opened and that the trap behind won't blow in our faces. Among some of my greatest feats: - Preventing a cleric from killing himself by burning the rope with my lighter. - Taking a half-broken cabin in the middle of the forest and turning it into a sturdy home that kept a flock of bats away and forced a pack of werewolves to funnel through two doors in order to attempt to kill me and my party. - Creating a water rifle, capable of holding ten gallons of holy water and reliably fire at a target 55 feet away - something that's going to be very useful when we fight Strahd. - Making a trap that dropped Izek Strazni, Vallaki's evil captain of the guard, down a 155-foot deep hole, helping throw it down twice more and finally killing it on melée. - Single-handedly purifying a druidic monument by giving rest to the spirits of hundreds of children that had been used by a coven of witches to make "dream cakes" (the leader has a Broom of Flying I really want for myself!) - Deactivating a glyph of protection containing, among other things, the aforementioned bow. - Killing several druids and animals at the point of his new bow. - Holding the Icon of Ravenloft, which has been a lifesaver multiple times, thanks to its permanent Protection from Good and Evil to everyone within thirty feet of him. - Keeping my companions alive through the Arcane Jolt. - Making a "zomvillain" (per the ancient definition of "villain" as "someone who lives in a ville/city" pun, and thus making the rest of the party groan. - Letting myself be the target of a wisdom-damaging strike in exchange of a powerful device for the party's cleric. - Crafting a magnificent letter to tell Strahd that we are unable to accept his invitation to dinner (that's a 27 for you!). - Suriving an attack by multiple greater shadows.
As I recall Soul of Artifice says "all" saving throws. I'm surprised that you didn't point out that this includes Death Saves. Then with 6 attuned items you will pass a death save on a roll of 4+ (an 85% success rate)! ... Here's a question: if you have a Paladin with a +3, +4 or +5 CHA Mod next to you & you have this +6 from Soul of Artifice (or the +6 from being a high level monk) and you roll a 1 on a death save your roll then what happens? The 1 is modified to a success of 10+ but there is a rule stating a 1 is two fails. Would a modifier of this or any sort prevent the double fail??
Death saves are considered a save all by themselves and aren't affected by any mods. It's a straight dance with death (a d20). Edit: I read up and saw that you're technically correct, however as a player and DM, I'm personally not a fan of that. However for your question of "What happens when you roll a 1?" It's still considered a failure just like how a Nat 1 in combat is an automatic failure.
@@ChaseTrent This is not actually true, Crawford has confirmed that things like the aura of protection do apply to death saves twitter.com/JeremyECrawford/status/728656344224432128
@@ChaseTrent I'm away from my books right now, but does the save rule specify that it is a natural one? Because, if not, the number you roll is defined as the dice roll + mods. And 1 + not-zero = not 1.
@@AdrianParsons Normally on saves you are correct, but since it is considered a special save, I don't think mods make a natural 1 into anything higher. The D&D basic rules page 76 states: When you make a death saving throw and roll a 1 on the d20, it counts as two failures. If you roll a 20 on the d20, you regain 1 hit point. I swear the D&D rules are like the Bible sometimes where everyone has their own interpretation, lol, but I think that that's what that means.
I think this boils down to how your DM sees the rules. The book says a 1 is two fails. So, a 1 is two fails no matter what buffs you may get. If you were to roll a 2 though, you're all set.
I run a half orc artificer, his name is Devon and was raised by dwarves. Although he is known as borc nork the science orc .he has proficiency and nearly all tools, is missing both his legs, often changes his accent mid-conversation , will never tell the true story about his legs missing, and is contracted to work for anyone and everyone. From the queen, to the black market. He regained mechanical legs due to the fact that he is an armorer under the artificer archetype. He has become a party favorite and oftentimes is used as an NPC in other campaigns. Excuses for losing his legs are - " I was experimenting in my lab in order to create a type of firearm that would be able to fire at extraordinary speeds, and well I ended up discovering explosives instead haha" "there I was all alone battling a giant when it decides to whip a boulder at me and just when I close my eyes and knew that this would be the end ..I was struck by by a driving carriage, severing both my legs...I know, it but me by surprise too, HA." "cats" " I lost them in a gambling bet with a quadruple amputee demon, I didint think he would have any tricks up his sleeves.. still don't know how I lost that game"
Sam from Critical Role got to use these rules for Trayon Darington in the recently posted one-shot they did live in Texas. That Arcane Jolt is VERY useful, both as a bonus to damage OR to healing. Kinda surprised the effects of Arcane Jolt wasn't discussed here... Are there differences between what's in the published book and the Unearthed Arcana? Edit: I also recalled after posting this that Arcane Jolt worked with the Steel Defender in that one-shot. Being able to add like 4d6 bonus force damage on a hit either by the artificer or the defender is extremely useful depending on the situation.
The Arcane Jolt used to come online much earlier at level 6, but it was 2d4 damage/healing as opposed to the 2d6 at level 9. Kind of a bummer to have to wait again, but the level 7 reaction core class feature, the additional infusions known and making some of the later infusions available earlier helps a bit.
Conceptually, artificer is my favorite class in fantasy settings, those who make that which must not be made! I did a few playtests of the various iterations of the 5e one along the way, and I am reasonably pleased with the final version. I do feel that some aspects were lost between the intents of the older versions and the one we got in RFtLW. Mainly, the exceedingly limited cantrips being a holdover from when they could make cantrip wands. I also am saddened the Archivist subclass didn't make the jump to print, but I hope they are retooling it. I had such plans for that as a character concept...
I've been playing a Deep Gnome Artillerist lvl5 (plus very recently took 1lvl as Cleric of Knowledge Domain) for the past 4 months. I started with the UA class description and now transitioned to the Eberron: RftlW official class. The class lends itself to extremely creative role-play and is very versatile. I started as 4th level and took the Magic Initiate: Warlock feat since my HP and Ability Score rolls were decent. The extra cantrips and spells from the feat are super useful because otherwise the spellcasting can feel somewhat limited. HOWEVER, the infusions reeaally can make up for it, especially since my DM runs a pretty sandboxy game and we worked together to understand the potential of the class (and my take on it specifically). This means I got to craft some cool (permanent) magic items by investing downtime and some serious tool-based skillchecks such as a repeating-shot +1 pistol. My decision to multiclass at 6th lvl is mostly story-related but does allow some useful bits, such as the heavy armor proficiency and access to buff and protective spells and features that complement the artificer's versatility very well. I do agree that the class might be a little under-prepared for high-level play, and I guess I'll find out if it happens as I keep leveling up, but I'm actually pretty sure that multiclassing will take care of that issue. The way I see the Artificer, it's not about getting really powerful in one way or combat/spellcasting style but rather gaining practical knowledge from as many different areas as possible, to combine them in ingenious ways and get power (and mechanical buffs) from these creative combos. So even though multiclassing and feats can go a long way here, they only are so useful because the class is designed to allow for this.
Excellent video. I couldn't disagree more about the Artificer's spell casting being limited. Spell-storing item along with all their other features make them uniquely versatile 2/3 casters at least and that's not even factoring in their abilities to make permanent magic items and use scrolls of any level or list, even up to 9th level ones potentially.
TONY STARK MADE THIS CLASS IN A CAVE!
WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS!
Calm down now Obadiah... 😂
*Well I'm not Tony Stark*
I remember a joke about survival island that a team of girls left to their devices would eventually get a camp running maybe by the seventh day, while the team of dudes would be saying rockets to Mars, like come on :)
@@destroyerinazuma96 theres is episode of it girls part is fun to whach
@@TheJarric yeah I just can't recall which show it was
Gnome Don Quixote mounted on his mechanical steed, Rocinante, followed by his faithful homunculus, Sancho Panza.
You just want to see wind mills burn
But that windmill he encountered was a dire mimic
Don QuiGnometé
@@oooooopppps12 Nice hahahahhahaha
i need this and i need it now
I made an artillerist that was a doll-maker. The 'cannons' were life-sized dolls carrying siege weapons :P All her spells were smaller dolls she'd built doing things, like healing was her throwing a little doll nurse at you that would scuttle up your body and sew your wounds shut. She also had a habit of trying to sew up and stuff the corpses of defeated enemies and sit them together in little tea-parties. She also had a sort of look like the girl from the ring, but in pretty dresses. I kinda disturbed my playgroup by letting my hair fall across my face and adopting her mannerisms when playing her, including toying with some kind of stand in for a doll randomly :3 First time I've played a low-charisma character but very, very fun XD
This is briliant. Stealling some of this for my new grung/artificer
@@theper4sho Haha, I hope they end up as fun to play as mine was :3
Oh dude, that "playing with corpses" is gnarly. I wanna see her cranking it to 11 and making an ancient dragon into a puppet.
@@WolfiePH Haha, I think I was already giving my DM enough trouble with her as is; they kept coming up with ways to keep her from messing with the bodies through most of the adventure after the first time it happened XD
I had toyed with making her a necromancer to lean into that side of things but the artificer just seemed more fun :3
Alice Margatroid from Touhou project wants to know your location.
Forgot to mention how, depending on the setting and the decision of the DM, the Artificer can have firearm proficiency at 1st level.
Eldritch cannon is like a free bonus action cantrip every round. Also, force damage is amazing.
Not quite a cantrip. Soon as you hit level 5 its still just 1d4+proficiency damage. It is great as a free bonus action option but its not cantrip quality.
@@benjaminfrost2780 Eldritch cannon is 2d8 force damage, increasing to 3d8 at 9th level. You're thinking about the homunculus,
Nicholas Leishman Plus... It’s a fucking cannon. Come on! That’s awesome
I really wanted to design a high Cha/Int spy Artillerist/Sorc, so I can subtle magic explosive IED's on doors & in hallways. Then, I can have my sniper rifle Eldrich cannon with legs mounted on the corner of a building finish off whats left.
@@nicholasleishman5297 Not only that but D&D Beyond says it's 2d8+intelligence modifier when you add the ballista as an attack. Not for the other two though.
I love the fact that most of the abilities say "you can specify what this looks like" so even new players instantly get the fact that you have the creative freedom. Somebody might want a dog partner and somebody else wants a spider, and they can get it!
I hope we could see this class at some point in your stream adventures!
one guy I know designed his steel defender to look like a Dwemmer Sphere from Skyrim. I had to give him my best "must you" eyebrow but hey it worked.
My steel defender looks like a sheep, it produces an endless supply of steel wool because it has a magical forge inside it
While you guys were talking I just had this thought of 2 or three artificers building together a steel guardian that had the force ballistas or shoulder mounted fire cannon, and I'm like whole crap it's an iron Man suit or more specific War machine, but again several would have to work together
@@andrewfarmer6126 I wonder how hard you could brake the game with a partty of high level Artificer ( or how difficult a big bad would be it was made buy three or four )
@@unlikelysuspect5491 very easily I believe but then again when one or more people thinks I am actively going to TRY to break a game, they are usually successful
A friend of mine has a fun idea for an Artificer/Outsider Warlock.
"Why would you build that?!"
"I don't know! BUT I MUST! "
So that they will come, of course.
Huh yeah my alchemist is kind of a warlock too. He's mark of making battlesmith, and I think the idea is that a mysterious force manifested itself in a mark on his skin one day, gave him drive and knowledge to create, and will use the steel defender as a body
@@Vawk20 so a battle smith crossed with a hexblade warlock?
@@oooooopppps12 basically but not multiclassed tbh
@@Vawk20 not gonna lie, with artificer out theres a part of me hoping for a Mechanus pact warlock.
Go artillerist/pact of chain with a modron familiar
Warforged Artificer. His spell casting is built into his body as electricity like things.
That's metal
@@williamwalsh4743 No, it's electricity. Schplat said so.
I wanna make a Warforged Artillerist that blasts spells from his buster Canon arm and be MegaMan.
At that point you are, as a matter of fact, Ironman!
My Mark of Making human battle smith lost all his limbs in a battle with a war machine when it exploded. He has 4 prosthetic limbs, his right arm being one he infused himself making it a permanant spell focus that cannot be removed, and at 11 level can be converted into a spell storing item.
Guys, take a good look at the 2 Smite spells that the Battlesmith gets. They're the 2 Smite spells that are *NOT* limited to melee weapon hits.
They can be used at *range*. Which is pretty sweet.
OMG I may have to look at that now.
Translation: I'm going to defeat you with the power of friendship, god and this gun.
Play an alchemist, prepare all healing spells, make a homunculus that looks like dove, name it Archimedes and you have yourself TF2 Medic.
Play an artillerist and you basically have Engi.
**evil grin**
Let's go practise *medicine...*
I NEED HEALING
Play a battle Smith with a musket and you basically have the tf2 sniper.
@@jakobalspaugh3101 wrong game. Also, Snipin's a good job, mate.
“Medic!”
Every time I’ve played an artificer, I’ve just made up my own magic items to build and asked the dm to allow it. I made a great hammer, with a circular infusion slot, and I wore a bandolier with several metal balls on it that have been infused with different elemental attacks that I can load in to my hammer to add to my attacks. So if you’re a plant monster, I’m gonna slot in a fire attack. To enjoy the artificer I think you’ve gotta deviate from the limitations to what kind of infusions you can make. As long as you’re only making one magic item per level, and doing your infusing during long rests, a dm should be fine with whatever you come up with.
I just want everyone to know that conjuring a blaster into your hand means you can be Hol Horse.
Just need a Warlock using Blink or Mirror Image for that sweet, sweet combo.
Is that a mother fucking JoJo's reference?
so you can just be a stand user? maybe multi class with monk?
Wait how do I conjure a blaster into my hand in D&D?
@@jadenthomas5261 as an artificer and artillerist, conjure your arcane ballista into your hand in the form of a gun. The same round, use a bonus action to fire it.
I think the 3 subclasses play vastly different (alchemist is like a cleric, artillerist is like a Warlock, and battle Smith is like a paladin) the difference is it doesn't quite keep up with what those classes are really good at (healing/buffing, ranged spell attacking, and single target DPS respectively) but offsets that with more versatility especially outside of combat.
Also to add onto this:
Alchemist: doesn't seem like it can keep up with support classes because it doesn't have enough spell slots to do so. And you only start out with 1 random free potion, so that doesn't make up for being a half caster.
Artillerist: I can see this one playing very similar to an Eldritch blast warlock and doing pretty well. They eventually get INT modifier on ANY spell, so cantrip damage will get close to warlock, but they basically make up the difference in damage with their bonus action turret attacks. I can see this one being a very good DPS build.
Battle Smith: I'm playing this one now at level 4 and it's been similar to a paladin or a ranger. Losing the arcane weapon spell was not good for this subclass unfortunately. I think the ranged attacker will do really well with going for a 1-3 level dip in either fighter or ranger to get the archery fighting style and pickup sharpshooter. Ranger is nice because your spellslot progression stays the same and you can get hunters mark for nice extra damage, while fighters are just amazing.
Actually doing the Math the Artillerist does way more damage than the warlock starting level 9 up and then the difference just gets bigger
John Apa I’ve yet to play either class unfortunately (working on an Artificer for an upcoming campaign though), but the main advantage I can see for Warlocks is their spellcasting staying power throughout the day, given the opportunity for short rests. Given that it costs a spell slot to create the eldritch cannon after the first is dismissed, and given they only last 1 hour, it somewhat limits the number of times you can use it if you intend to also make use of your spellcasting for purposes besides damage (especially in earlier levels).
I think it would be nice for the Artificer to get at least one more of their features to recover on short rests, as it currently only includes The Right Tool for the Job, which imo seems highly situational. Unfortunately I’m not sure what would be a balanced option in that case, since a free Experimental Elixir/Eldritch Cannon/Arcane Jolt per short rest might be too strong.
Well, I think you are not properly understanding this class. An artificer is not meant to be the best healer, the beast damage dealer or the beast frontliner. An artificer is meant to be the greatest tool expertise of them all and it is. No other class has that many tool proficiencies (excluding instruments). No other class can create magic items or the right tools at the right moment.
@@fedrikrose2277 I have a mark of making Artificier, its actually level 3, and have proficiency with 6 differents tools. With the Guidance cantrip + the d4 added thanks to the mark of making, that's a rely reliable way to do almost everythings, impliying tool. And this will become better with levels. I am very excited with this class, being a kind of Jack of all trades.
Made a Battle Smith that made his Steel Defender in the likeness of his brother who died in The Last War.
Cue Fullmetal Alchemist Reference
Bruh
I would have gone with lady legs.
Can artillerists make potions too or do you have to only be a alchemist?
@@steviegilliam5685 they have to be alchemists.
I cry because my dm wouldn’t let me play artificer, just found out that they suddenly removed the ability for anything to craft magical items
The Artificer is designed to spark creativity, and as long as the changes are mere window dressing, DMs need to be very flexible in dealing with player visualizations. Minor example: A gnomish fey-flavored Battle Smith who has a silver defender (because fey hate iron). A really wild example: A halfling Artillerist whose abilities all come from cook's tools and normal food ingredients - don't let this one near your bakery if you value your town. Biscuit grenades and pie landmines, anyone? Just base damage potential on the eldritch cannon ability to keep damage-dealing potential in line with the class capabilities.
I need your halfling in my campaign!
That halfling would be a super fun merchant
I've always allowed players to make any cosmetic changes to literally anything they want.
I'm using this idea for a very pragmatic sword and board Battle Master Smith that throws Thuderclap, Acid Splash, and Create Bonfire grenades. Dancing Lights becomes a series of road flares. They're mundane items created with mundane elements like iron, glass, magnesium, phosphor, oil, and flint. Value of the components is low, so crafting time is short. Balance is maintained by keeping cantrip power levels and making a limited number available in combat (since five foot caster centered spells can now be thrown). Gives it more realism instead of just being fluff on a half caster. I certainly don't want to hit the other melee Fighter and Druid and the Steel Defender with Thunderclap and would rather focus on controlling the fight after we close. Mending, Guidance, Grease, and Identify are the very few spells I use that only get flavor.
Gulaschkanone!
I'm interested in making a warforged alchemist, who is basically a walking crucible, mixing up alchemical ingredients and elements within his own body and then churning out potions and elixers.
A larger BD1...lmao
indigestion could be a real killer
Would it be a little on-the-nose to name the character "Abar Tender"?
I looked at this, and the diplomat variant would be best suited for this.
Sorry you can't say Warforged and Alchemist without me thinking Full Metal Alchemist.
The Artificer in our party had a nice time melting faces with his Eldritch cannon, and in that same battle, he kept the enemy literally stumbling the whole time with a grease spell, I dig it!
I once made a Gnome Artificer, Alchemist archetype, he looked like a plague doctor and his homunculus is a white rat with clockwork augmentations (like dragonfly wings and a stinger for tail)
Hey look buddy, I'm an engineer. That means I solve problems, not problems like "What is beauty?" Because that would fall within the purview of your conundrums of philosophy. I solve practical problems, for instance: how am I going to stop some mean mother Hubbard from tearing me a structurally superfluous be-hind? The answer, use a gun, and if that don't work... Use more gun. Take for instance this heavy caliber tripod mounted lil' old number designed by me, built by me, and you best hope... Not pointed at you.
*HAPPY TROMBONE NOISES*
*ZOOM OUT, PARTY SHOT*
*Light acoustic guitar playing*
Ido stuff nice
"if "gun" is not the answer, it means you're not using it enough."
IHateNumbersOnNames I literally came here to make engie in dnd
Part of the balance for this class is it’s “free” Magic items in the form of infusions. Starting at 2nd level you get 2 and it grows to 6... in the mid to high levels this does not mean much in home games but in AL play with the new gimped treasure point system that can be huge, especially in tier 2-3 play.
As for character concepts, I can not get out of my head a rock gnome battle smith wielding a lance or a wheellock pistol(with the repeating shot infusion) while riding his steel defender.
Similiar to my rock gnome artificer
The treasure point system is not part of AL play anymore.
Matt DeKok: I had not read season 9 yet, though same concept as they cap magic items to 1/3/6/10... which becomes 3/6/10or11/16 which is a big boost
Sadly the repeating shot can't be put on firearms
@@michaelmorris3298 why not ? They have the loading property
wanna play rocket raccoon or a mandalorian? artillerist artificer.
I am doing this in my campaign right now. My Warforged Artillerist even recently crafted/integrated his first piece of mando armor (a Helm build from a Minotaur skull that is suspiciously similar to a krayt dragon logo...) and his wrist-mounted flamer. I keep the infusions available for the foundlings. This is the way...
@@chrisreid9563 im playing a halfling who was once a warlock but was cursed by the archfey Verenestra for not following through with his pact. Now he has the head of an owl with horns, talons for feet & a demon tail. I have a homebrew dragonmark that i made. Called "the mark of the scoundrel" it adds sneaky/distracting/deceptive spells, helps with investigation & forgery kits & increases int by 1.
My arcane firearm is mounted under the repeating shot crossbow. Im super excited to play this.
Now I'm just thinking of cool enchanted objects for awesome gear that boba fett has like boots of flight for rocket boots. Flame thrower that's basically the dragon breath spell. Thermal detonators for fireball spells.
@@jeredsizemore3108 I have recently started doing the same thing. I now have a Universal Translator (helm of comprehending languages) and a deployable wire (rope of climbing) as used in ROTJ. Working on hitting lvl 6 to get a personal cloaking device (cloak of invisibility) and additional wrist-mounted weaponry (wand sheath). Lvl 10 will provide a jetpack (winged boots) and improved life support systems with built-in resuscitation in my helmet (periapt of wound closure). Lvl 14 will earn short-range sensors (Gem of Seeing). I am excited for the RP aspects of all of these things, as well as how infusions will work with my other players.
Yall realize at lvl 6 youll only be able to make/wear 3 of your own infusions & still only have 3 attunement slots. Just keep that in mind. By lvl20 we'll all be mando/bounty hunters, but early on youll still have limited gear. (Unless your dm is way cooler than most lol)
I am currently playing a Battlesmith Aritificer in Waterdeep. He is level 3 and has the repeating shot infusion on a hand crossbow in one hand, and a kite shield that has pockets on the inside where he keeps his inventions "spells" for easy access and of course being human needs goggles of night. He is a full on steam punk inventor with his steel defender being a top half/humanoid robot that uses a bubble shield for his reaction, and his legs are 2 tank treads. I used the new Human Variant option which comes with mending, floating disk, and identify built in to the race. He uses the floating disk underneath his cart (that stores all of his workbench supplies) to follow him around places. It's the most creative and liberating class ive played so far. Highly recommend.
I've made an artificer for our Descent campaign. So far it's been a blast. Having Faerie Fire and the crossbow infusion has worked great at level 2.
Yeah I was thinking about a crossbow sniper artificer.
ESPECIALLY THE WIZARD
Ah, I see you're a fellow Chappy as well.
I'm here to chew ass and kick goodberries
Knew I would find this.
25:36 I am so glad someone else caught it. 😂
I wanted to say it...was 7 months too late xD
I’m my group’s DM but boy oh boy have I been dreaming about playing a gunslinger/artillerist. Someday.
Soon. (TM)
Warforged Artificer Artillerist
Wildbarley I’ve been a DM and had a character at the same time, you can do it!
Do as I did, make an NPC the players need to speak with, perhaps even joining them.
Back in the day, we would swap DMs everyday. Meaning the DM got to play their character alongside the other players, all while DMing. Years and years we did this...of course making sure that the DMs player can’t get treasure during the play session...after, they could request a treasure later
@@ndowroccus4168 I do this a lot. Many of my players' favorite npcs are just repurposed character concepts I worked into our homebrew world. The cool as ice artificer mechanic who does some smuggling on the side and may or may not have a link to minor noble family from a neighboring country is their current favorite.
Just started a new campaign playing a Half-Elf Artificer. Really excited to play him. He made his entrance by using Longstrider as roller skates.
Didn't talk about Spell Storing Item or the ability to craft magic items at half the cost and in a quarter of the time.
Yeah, that's a major oversight to miss talking about, especially when at the end they were like "oh it just feels half-baked", like...you missed one of the biggest draws to the class. Artificer can grant non-magic classes magic through that item, crucial magic like cure wounds at 2nd level for a frontline fighter, or a buff that frontliner can apply on their own terms. Like it's literally a gamechanger for a lot of classes just to get to have such an item. At Artificer max spellcasting modifier (assuming it's +5) that's 10 free uses of a 1st or 2nd level spell, excellent spells like Aid, Branding Smite, Invisibility, Darkvision, Blur, Levitate, Shield, Absorb Elements, Enhance Ability, and so on. Definitely not something to pass up mentioning.
@@rhysiare Just saying "Hey, See that barbarian who's about to smash in your skull? Yeah, he can heal himself like a Cleric." is enough in and of itself to want the class. A fucking free healing spell on a class who might very well be out of range for healer, or double up by throwing your heals on top of their own free ones if they happen to have a really heavy hit, or just letting you use your heals on other people to give the party multiple heals a round is bonkers.
@@rhysiare Sadly, the spell storing item can only be used with spells that have a casting time of 1 action. So you can't use shield, but you can use cure wounds.
Heat metal. 10 free castings of heat metal. Burn a weapon out of an opponents hand the yeet it away with catapult. Repeat.
@@rhysiare It is very much half baked. The artificer suffers from trying to be a jack of all trades, but falling short at everything. They're half casters, so they obviously have a lot less spells to cast and they come online a lot later. The spell storing item CAN be nice when used with certain combos, but a barbarian being able to use cure wounds is pointless. Healing is already easy to come by in 5e, especially at 11th level. And using your action in combat to heal yourself 1d8+mod is a horrible waste of your turn, especially if you're a frontline fighter. There also aren't many standout buffs at 1st and 2nd level that a non magic class can utilize effectively. And it has to be a casting time of 1 action, so no smites or hunters marks and hexes. You know what a fighter at 11th level can do instead of casting a measly 1st or 2nd level buff with their action? Attack 3 times. Not only that, but if your focus is giving the whole party your class features then that leaves you with jack squat for yourself. The infusions are extremely underwhelming, there are far too few to choose from, and a lot of them are going to be easily outpaced by actual magic items at higher levels. Artificers by no means excel at damage either. They don't excel at tanking. They certainly don't excel at casting spells. And they don't even excel at utility, their whole schtick. Many other classes and subclasses provide much more utility than the artificer. I really want to like artificers, but nothing I've seen from them is impressive. So what actually makes this class a standout and good?
To be fair, it’s meant to be used in Eberron, a high magic setting with lots of magic items.
Oh, I would present a pretty solid argument to refute that. :D
@@AJPickett i just watch your vid on that subject thanks for the info so i have a better backstory for my future artifcer
The sidebar text specifically says Artificers are meant for most campaign settings
To be That Guy, I would cite Keith Baker that Eberron is about widely-available magic, though that maybe doubles down on your point.
I'm currently playing as a Human Artificer Alchemist with a homebrew background called Physician my DM let me use, also took the Healer feat. To most I am a generic potion slinging Alchemist but to my party I am known as "The Doctor"
Here comes the Doctor!
One thing people underestimate about the Eldridge Cannon is that you can make two tiny versions of the cannon that can fire on its own which can climb... you. They can be two extra self-aiming arms attached to your backpack.
You could be SGT. Axton from Borderlands 2
With Expertise in Thieve’s Tools, healing ability, utility spells, proficiency with armor, and firepower in various forms this class could solo a dungeon!
Who do you think those "dark lords" hire to build their dungeons...
Magical Tinkering (If your DM let you ) can be pretty broken
-The object continuously emits your choice of an odor or a nonverbal sound (wind, waves, chirping, or the like). The chosen phenomenon is perceivable up to 10 feet away. plus an arrow or any thing you can throw.
smells make things run to and fro from a places. or need a saving throw
sound.....natural sounds like clapping thunder. ( thunder clap arrow ) .....
Animal growls. , Maybe a little rain and lighting They . go to window to see and get a arrow to the face.
An easy dungeon, perhaps. Though you could have a party made entirely of Artificers.
@@garyfagan9609 Now I'm picturing an artillerist with dungeon themed eldritch cannons (Maybe a dragon for the breath one, a beholder for the beam one and a lich for the temp hp)
@@zecat3727 They wouldn't let them out of the dungeon. So, the artillerist repurposed the traps and turned the dungeon into their under-mansion...
A Rogue Artificer combo.
The best locksmith and the greatest trouble maker.
So, basically, an arcane trickster?
This seems like the perfect class for a player Hobgoblin extra con and int with 2 martial weapons
D-Risky 49 I was thinking the same thing
githyanki is also good with light and med armour, short S long S great S, int +1 str +2, etr language, etr tool or skill and psionics
Goblinoids in general would do well with this class.
This works well with any race you would choose for a Wizard. I'm in a Grim Hollow game as an Artificer. looking at battlesmith and by lvl 8 I will have something like an AC21 and +9 to attacks and spells and I haven't factored anything I don't get from leveling up If we make it to lvl 20 it would be insane AC 24 can haste self with a +18 save I'm only Averaging 30 damage a round without spells but I have the Steel Defender, Homunculus, and Familiar. plus if you want to go one man army you can make tiny servants with the spell and use Animate objects on some daggers or coins for 10x 1d4+4. and the best part is you can make free healing every day when you reach lvl 11 with Cure Wounds. store the spell in a dagger or someone's primary weapon and you just made a combat medic. I love the potential with the Artificer and it is the perfect class to play when the DM forgets that magic items exist. With a party of Artificers you make your own.
Davvy Chappy: "ESPECIALLY THE WIZARD."
... Huh, well, that happened. Also, might play the Artificer if my DM ever expands from PHB... if I beat you two to it, I'll let you know how it went.
HAHAHA I keep thinking that too.
Throw the whole dm out. My dm litterally was like you want it sureeee. I am multiclassed after rogue which seems like a fun mix but lacks the intelligence i need but looks like that will be my next dump stat
I'm still early, but I've been playing a Warforged Artillerist Artificer. Been really liking it. Have an AC of 21 and put repeating shot on my light crossbow. It's been working really well.
I'm going to be playing an Artificer soon and I really like the way that this class works. I agree that the inherent powers of the Artificer are weaker than other classes, but that's ignoring that the other half of it's abilities are the magic items you make. When you pick infusions, choose half of them as pure power items and the rest as situationally useful ones and with a day's planning you can solve almost any problem. With the high Intelligence for Investigation and Expertise in Thieves' Tools you can also make a decent rogue substitute.
My build is going to include one level of Forge Cleric early on (fits the theme, adds a magic item that you'd otherwise want to use an infusion for and fixes the cantrip shortage) and then the rest would be Artificer. Early on you can use the Alchemy Jug to create acid bombs, Alchemist kit to create Alchemist's fire and Ceremony (from the Cleric) to create holy water and then throw them around (maybe even using the Catapult spell on them to add to the mayhem). By 11th level my 8 strength gnome can use Gauntlets of Ogre Power, +1 Plate (from the Forge Cleric), a +2 Shield and a Cloak of Protection to create a walking fortress with AC24 (plus the Shield spell), or swap out some of them for a variety of useful items or buffs for your party. And that's ignoring any items picked up during adventuring. Just don't stand in front of a Beholder.
The most versatile ability is the spell storing item. This can be infused with a spell to fit almost any eventuality and can be used 8 (probably 10) times a day. Create a rod that will allow each party member to cast Invisibility/Enhance Ability/See Invisibility or Spider Climb on themselves twice a day each. Give the fighter's sword the ability to use Scorching Ray/Acid Arrow/Branding Smite (depending on the specialisation), Blur or Heat Metal. Have the Wizard's familiar carry a wand with Shatter in it to bombard the area from a distance (it's not an attack, they're just using an item). Really useful.
So yes, looking forward to playing this. There'll be a risk of "I have a plan, but we'll need to come back tomorrow" but no worse than most episodes of the A-Team. In fact, if you think of the A-Team as a group of four Artificers then some of those epsodes make more sense...
No, love for the arcane infusion: replicate magic item (prosthetics)? You can make an "automail" arm and use it as an Arcane Focus as well as a regular hand?
I’m currently playing a Dragonmarked Human, Mark of Making, Battle Smith Artificer. It really feels like this race and class were meant to go together. The race gets mending, more tool proficiencies, gets to add 1d4 to any artisan tool check, gets to cast Magic Weapon once a day which doesn’t require concentration(!), AND gets a table of spells they can add to their spell list. Whoa!!!
My only bummer right now is I can only infuse two items and won’t be able to do another until level 6. In that regard I agree with Monty here, the progression feels sloooooow. Why not grant me a third infusion at level 4 or 5? Considering the level 1 feature, Magical Tinkering, is so situational and weak. It doesn’t even feel like a real class feature. Just like you guys said, a Prestidigitation cantrip knockoff.
I’m still enjoying my play through with her, but most of that is because of my DM. He’s the best! He has let me use a variant on crafting rules so I can make stuff quicker, he let us all create our own custom item to start the game with (mine is a portable forge for crafting on the go), and he’s even come up with homebrew rules about Tinkers Tools that I can basically create my own custom weapons and items. He has to have final approval, but it’s definitely given me flexibility and allowed me to be pretty creative so far!
I'm so looking forward to playing this class!
My battle smith, "Fuiil Starbattle," has a heavy crossbow infused with repeating shot (blaster). He also has a gonk droid as his steel defender.
And he deals force damage, get it?
Here we are, a lot of geeks spending our few charisma points giving likes to geek like us...
Thanks for the video!
While this class is a half-caster you guys forgot one very important point. Paladins and rangers get to add half their level rounded down when determining slots and caster level. Artificers round up! This is huge because it allows the artificer to multiclass with a full caster without losing spell progression. For example, a character that’s Artificer 5/Wizard 15 would be an 18th level caster. Which means you would still get a 9th level spell slot. You won’t know any 9th level spells, but you can upcast something using that slot.
And if you do this as a wizard, you could still learn a 9th level spell from a scroll/book/whatever because you just need to have a slot to learn a spell of that level.
Merc Treads Ooh great point!
I want to create a Warforged Alchemist Artificer who samples everything (poisons, diseases, deceased opponents, allies, etc.) seeking a cure for the suffering of organic life. 😊
love you for writing an involved hero - signed : me a DM
👌
That is so cute 😔👌
i hope he comes to the usual "artificial life" conclusion that the cure it all for the suffering of organic life is total extinction.
TheAderwolf You are way ahead of me! 🤖👍🏻
Hey Monty, instead of judging them by their spell list, try looking deeper into the synergies between the infusions, spells and the companions. Also, you forgot to mention Spell Storing Item, by far their best ability, and probably the best 11th level feature in the game.
Not to mention the vastly reduced time and cost to make ACTUAL magic items, not just the infusions.
Spell storing item + warding bond + giving it to your steel defender + cloak of invisibility on the defender so they won’t be attacked or targeted = constant resistance baby
Add sanctuary on your defender for good measure.
Or haste to give yourself an extra attack to make up for the 1d8 of bonus action damage since with this tactic your defender is just a ball of extra HP, this would also free your bonus action to heal your defender with it’s repair system or free action arcane jolt
Hell using sanctuary on your defender would basically make it so everything but spellcasters could hardly do shit to stop your defender from giving you advantage or imposing disadvantage on them. Same could be said for the turret
@Jared Vanotterdyk I have zero doupts that spell storing item is the best 11th level feature in the game. What made me the happiest about the artificer class is how the developers made its mechanics relying on synergy, making the player feel like an artificer building something out of the spells, infusions and other features. Damn, I love this class...
In a session once, a giant boar was destroying a piece of farmland, looking for truffles. I, a 2nd level artificer, decided to infuse a rock with a strong smell of truffles and used a catapult spell to fly close over the boar into the forest behind it. And that is how I saved a village from starvation XD
I have 2 Artificers. The first one has tinkered their Guild Badge into serving as a nametag as well.
The second one has a necklace that sheds light like a candle for those dark times where they want to sketch with color but not really bother others with a large amound of light. And an earring that emits a pleasant smell around them to put others nearby more at ease with their presence.
It's all flavor and doesn't really do anything mechanically... But I love it all the same.
I'll be starting a new campaign as an Artificer this weekend. Can't wait to try it out (and in a few levels get that robot dino I've always wanted). In some ways I don't mind if it's a bit weak compared to other classes. Thematically it's an idea I've always loved.
Same!
One of my players in a game I just started recently is rolling Artificer. He's gone Artillerist but is playing strong support instead of whole hog offense by using his temp hp turret. He was able to keep the monk from taking a couple failed death saves while a leech was attached to his unconscious body (The Wretched, they're on the Shadowfell-ish area atm) because while he was at 0 actual hp, he got the temp hp from the defender turret and since the life drain from the wretched wasn't an actual 'attack' it didn't auto-crit. It dealt less damage than the temp hp, so it didn't accrue any death saves. He's been doing good so far at being the team mom and battle coordinator.
6:39 note that Artificer is not part of the Magic Initiate feat and according to Jeremy Crawford it is intended to stay that way.
Oh cool, now I don't have to say it
Warforged Artificer Armor is awesome. Heavy armor proficiency without STR requirement, can't be removed, and becomes arcane armor capable of bearing enchantments. Want to negate the stealth disadvantage of heavy armor? Go Infiltrator configuration! Want a tanky taunter? Turn on those Thunder Gauntlets and punch everything!
Personally, I think that the interaction the Artificer has with magic items trough the infusions and his other features compensates for his "lack" of higher lvl spells. It felt weird that you focussed so hard on it, even if it is your personal opinion seeing as you don't focus on it for the Paladin or Ranger. The artificer is able to consistently buff multiple members of the party without using concentration. That is worth quite a bit. Or you could focus all your buffs on yourself and be quite the beast. The wizard might gain more spells, but in no way is he going to provide his fighter friend with +2 armour without a real limit or is he going to allow the Barbarian to cast Enlarge on himself about 8 times a day... This character invites people to be creative and has a high degree of customization not unlike the Warlock.
One of my players built an artificer. I cannot remember exactly how he did. But he rocked hand croosbows, hasted a lot, and put stuff down like it was no ones business. His steel defender was always omnipresent helping either himself or his party avoid issues. Once I even let him use it as partial cover for a longe range engagement across a chasim. However it got downed fairly quickly. But it was a fun mechanic he employed to give the rest of the party cover as they tiptoed along a ledge. To get to the next area.
Battlesmith Artificer permanently attached and attuned to the Steel Defender, shaping it to look like tentacles? Why hello, Doctor Octopus!
I'm having a great time with my Artificer, over the span of two weeks, I've hit level 3. Used replicate magic item to save a woman after her leg was cursed and had to be amputated. Used Mending to repair a magical vehicle, though I didn't have any spell slots left to recharge it. I made a Grappling hook to help everyone cross rooftops to avoid swarms of lesser enemies that would crush us with sheer numbers. I turned myself into Thor by infusing my Throwing Hammer with the Returning Weapon. My armour has now increased my movement speed to 30 (I am a Dwarf) and has no weight restriction for me as the subclass my DM allowed makes the weight negligible. I have used Acid Splash to alter terrain to cover our retreats or to deal direct damage with surprisingly consistent result.
All of this in a reduced point buy (18 instead of 27) campaign that has me as an Off-Tank with 27 HP (Magic doesn't really exist, it's a survival/horror campaign so most effects are created by nanites and psionic abilities a flavour thing)
Overall, the restrictions are like a pair of overly tight pants, some people will find them really comfortable and others will find it way too restrictive.
This is the Class i have wanted in D&D for a LONG time! I love inventor characters, and having this really sells it while stayjng true to the systems. Also, it a playground for flavor text, which i love. Now if only Wizards would give us guns. Yes, i know about the back of the DM guide, but that doesn't count. Let us use a flintlock pistol damn it!
I played an artificer alchemist through the unearthed beta class and had a lot of fun playing him. My dungeon master and I worked out some homebrew rules that allowed me to modify my mechanical servant with improvised weapons and additional armor (adamant plated bear with a mounted repeating heavy crossbow). He was also frequently cooking up healing potions and other elixirs that we sold the extra of what we didn’t use. I’m looking forward to trying out this official version to see how it plays out.
I've been playing a artificer for my most recent campaigne and I love it! My DM is being ultra-kind and allowing me to full fill my desire to be Ironman, so he is letting me play the Armorer subclass from UA and so far I've turned out to be the groups main tank. I feel like the armorer is a subclass they should have included in the ERftLW book.
Totally i was really hoping they would
I'm a completely new player, I'm going to take a gamble and play this class for my first campaign. Your videos are very helpful!
I was thinking that if I made an artificer, I'd want to make an dwarf artilerist based on Torbjorn, but then they said that the Battlesmith's iron defender was most often pictured on a dog. I immediately though of Rush, from Mega Man and began to contemplate using a crossbow. Immediately after I thought of that, they said the smith's abilities work with ranged weapons. I know what I'm making now: a warforged artificer named Rock and his robodog, Rush.
With the recent tasha's cauldron book, I think a special mention of the level 11 feature "spell-storing item" should be noted as being extremely broken considering it gives the power to give another creature (like a familiar if you can see the problem) an item that can cast one 1st or 2nd level artificer spell a max of 10 times per day (2xINT MOD) which you probably will have by lvl 11 if you sink your points in that.
To add to that, 2 subclasses get shatter (3d8 thunder damage) which is average 170 damage w/o saves and 85 with, cure wounds (1d8+ability mod.+1d8 up-cast) can do 180 healing average, heat metal isn't worth calculating since it can kill most things and cripple bosses in a single use when used on armor.
All this, and you don't even need to use a spell slot...
This class was basically designed for rock gnomes
And storm giants, and kobolds, and humans...
@@AJPickett why those particularly I understand lore wise, but mechanics don't line up as well also you can't even play a storm giant
@@NobodyDungeons but could you imagine, a party wanders to a Storm Giant Castle and it's all automated and defensible, and the Storm Giant is an Artificer NPC, who designs and creates huge monilific constructs and Arcane Infusions which run on Lighning which he/she has in spades, and to contend with this Storm Giant, they have to deal with all the Golems and Animated Armors this being has invented over the centuries of them living, contantly creating Arcane Constructs
And warforged ahh gotta love that +1 to any stat
Hobgoblin is great for Artificer.
Multiclass a Battle Smith, with 1 level of rogue. You have constant sneak attack and disadvantage on attacks on you as long as the Defender is by your side. Plus an added skill prof to boot
Consider the Following: 6 levels in a half caster class multiclassed with 14 levels in wizard makes a 17th level spellcaster with 1 ninth level spellslot, and because you’re a wizard, you now have the capability to cast every wizard spell in the game if you can find the scrolls.
I personally enjoy mixing ranger and wizard in this way for a fairly potent battle mage build. Subclasses just lend to flavor.
Rise of the Tinker Gnomes!
Seriously, I do see both sides with this class being very front loaded with toys but possibly running on fumes at the 19th level. I think the strength of this is similar to taking the flexibility of a Rogues and Wizards and adding a pinch of any given aspect of Batman. If the DM is into it and is willing to deal with way more magic items in his world, all the classes work. But they also work best in larger groups and with that puzzle solving mentality. If any of these things are missing just feels like things will get less and less fun.
I think the spell storing item, and the infusion bonus's easily balance out the loss of higher tier spell slots. Especially compared to other half caster classes such as Paladin/Ranger/Trickster/EK, I think Artificer stands out above them by a fair margin. Additionally in the case of Paladin and Ranger they don't get access to ANY cantrips, which the Artificer does.
Many of my players have always engaged in amateur Artificery and Alchemy, making the creation, discovery, and combination of blueprints and recipes a constant source of creative agency. I love encouraging and building from their interests, making my worlds so much richer and varied than I could ever develop on my own. I also enjoy the challenge of balancing their sometimes wild concepts into the logistical and mechanical limits of our ruleset. We all started out in AD&D and have since borrowed and spliced in bits of countless other games and editions. To me, the real Magic of RPGs is the unlimited range of possibilities and expression. You Dungeon Dudes are a great inspiration! All the best to each and every member of this wonderful community of dreamers!
I'm personally ecstatic that it doesn't get 9th level spells. I feel like over the course of DnD, 9th level casting has just become common to the point that it is no longer special. In old DnD it was the purview of the Wizard and the Wizard alone - not even clerics had it. Then, as classes which previously didn't have access to it gained it (clerics/druids, then bards/warlocks), we now have over HALF of the classes in the game able to cast 9th level spells. I'd personally have loved if they did 3/4ths casting (up to 7th level) and used that to further differentiate the classes, instead of just pulling everyone up to 9th and having people consider classes without 9th level spells to be un-viable.
How many games do you even play that *get* to 9th level spells?
Artificer with 7-9th level spells would be WAY more overpowered than a Wizard with 7-9 level spells. Because casting spells is the Wizard's entire thing, while Artificers are thicker, stronger in combat, get free spells, get utility abilities like Flash of Genius, can craft magic items, and are basically unkillable at level 20. Meanwhile Wizards... yeah, you can cast a couple additional spells at will. Which is strong, but counterbalanced by the Artificer.
Actually there are some interesting ideas for small races that are Battle Smiths. For example, you can use the Steel Defender as a mount. Or, you could specify that it’s hollow and that you can climb inside it...like a mech or a battle suit.
Guys, I miss the sound of the sword cutting the center of the video! Why did you remove it?? It was cool! Like an audio signal that the video has really started and the introduction is over.
Fairly new to DnD, currently playing my second campaign with my friends who have played it much longer. And stubborn me wanted to make a Kenku Artificer. First play session went really well. Used acid splash for most of my attacks and mending to top off my party’s HP, and everyone really liked the mix of my character being a chaotic healer who cutely mimicked their words from the campaign. I kept a word doc opened as we went so I could take down quotes from my party and the NPCs and use em as I needed. Can’t attest much to the rest of the campaign yet, but I’ve had a blast playing this game as an adult. Regret not getting into it as a kid because it’s for nerds and I stubbornly refused to accept I was also a nerd. But this has been more fun than I’ve had in a good while.
Artillerist could be used to build Zane from Borderlands 3. Funny enough, he relies on having equipment to make up for his abilities, too.
I was thinking Mystogan from Fairy Tail...
My god....the movement speed.....
Based on building and optimizing an 11th level Artificer for a one-shot I was going to be a part of but missed, the Artificer laughs in the face of DM attempts at soft-balance. Don't want the Fighter to have ludicrous AC? That's ok, the Artificer can just give them +2's to their armor and shield - hell, even their weapon - if they're not a Battle Smith and just take it themselves. Try to challenge the party with a winter section? Boots of the Winterlands for everyone! Want to set up some potential intrigue, where the enemy is racing the party back to the capital to make their story heard first and ruin the party's reputation? The Artificer just stands there while everyone else is panicking, calmly takes a sending stone out of his bag of holding, and calls up his contact in the capital to warn them.
I'm by no means saying this is a bad thing, and looks to be great fun for the player, but DMs should be wary and informed before agreeing to have an Artificer. Even a single one will absolutely break a campaign if you're trying to have the setting be low-fantasy with minimal magic items, as they laugh maniacally while pumping out items like a godsdamned factory.
Of note Artiliris'ts Turrets Temp HP NEVER increases. "The cannon’s damage rolls all increase by 1d8." damage only. So the balsista or flamer. The TEMP HP is basically always locked at d8+INT. Great at low, later on I can't feel like I like it'll work well later on. Except as "wake up give everyone temp hp during breakfast, break the turret, and use a spell slot to summon damage later on" but at low levels I've basically prevented the need for any healing for sevearl combat moments. Sure maybe if I'd used the damage they'd have died faster.. but we still didn't expend much resources in exchange.
I would have to agree. they absolutely need 2 or 3 more cantrips.. They basically have to have some utility cantrips as a class, as a theme, and mechanically.. but 2/3rds of the sublcasses must use cantrips purely for their combat options. So its so awkward.
Alchemists need magic initiate for attack options (probably Wiz for toll dead/anti heal spell attack one, ) Artificers want them for utility cantrips. Battle smith.. I feel is fine because they can actually use weapons
Maybe allow a specific wizard cantrip as a bonus at 3rd level, as a subclass feature? Battlesmith would get mending, as it is most useful for him, artilerist a choice of attack roll cantrips , and an alchemist a choice of damage cantrips benefiting from later feature. Way back in the second UA artificer a gunsmith used to get mending as a bonus.
The eldritch Canon HP is equal to 5 times your artificer level so yes it does increase in HP
@@druxusthemage9806 they were talking about the defensive current, not the other two options.
While I would have preferred 3 starting cantrips like a wizard, isn't there a cantrip feature that allows you to switch put cantrips at a rest? Or was that UA?
@@ericpeterson8732 ok thanks for the clarification
The steel defender is medium sized, so it could be used as a mount if you are a small race, like the obvious choice of gnome. This mean's the defender's ability that triggers when an ally within 10 feet of it is attacked always hits your attackers because you're riding it.
Artificers in your game make you think about the moment where magic gives way to science. At what point does the world of fantasy and arcane power give way to technology, science, experimentation and engineering? It starts when the Artificer opens his workshop.
"Magic is simply science we don't understand yet."
"Oh, yeah smart guy, explain that!" Points at the flight of wyverns in the distance.
"Wyverns. Flying reptiles with a poison stinger for a tail...Oh...you mean how does something that big fly. Don't know, yet, but I'm guessing it's actually a form of gliding. Or they just have big effing wings."
@@garyfagan9609 science and magic are incompatible. Science is bound by natural law. Magic is a violation of these laws. Otherwise it wouldn't be special. Take away the "weave" and magic is not possible. But you can always use math and science to construct models with predictive power to accurately describe whatever universe you find yourself in. As for the large flying beast, the answer is most likely hollow bones.
@@rolandkushm.d.710 The way I view it is that science explains how and why a thing does a thing. Magic on the other hand, just does a thing. But, once created, a fire is a fire whether made by striking steel and flint or conjured through other means. It will still burn and can still cause an explosion.
Magic doesn't change the formulas on how science explains different things, it just lets the user fudge the numbers plugged into said formula in the direction of the effect the caster is trying to produce.
"Your ancestors called it magic, but you call it science. I come from a land where they are one and the same." - Thor
@@garyfagan9609 "Air bladder is the answer. Air bladders that can be filled with gasses lighter than air. Combine it with the hollow bones, massive wings, and the extra limbs. Of course it flies. The question however, is for how long will it keep flying before the whole thing caves in on itself..."
Finally! Been waiting for an Artificer guide from you guys. Always looking forward to your videos Dungeon Dudes! You are amazing 🤩
"Artificer is the only class other than Wizard that uses Int for their spells."
Arcane Trickster and Eldrich Knight: "Am I a joke to you?"
Yes. Those are subclasses.
Subclasses don't count.
subclasses that literally take spellcasting from wizard.
"Arcane" / "Eldrich" 🤦🏻♂️
Been waiting for you guys to cover this! With the changes in the new Eberron book I’ve had to rethink some ideas for an Artificer I was making for a new upcoming campaign (originally going to be more a back row caster through inventions, the half casty-ness and armor and weapon infusions are leaning me more towards a more melee fight with tricks up their sleeves).
Super excited to hear your guy’s insights.
I'm gonna make Jimmy Neutron as a gnome battle smith
I've recently started playing D&D with some brothers and friends. I really enjoy these videos and am excited to see more! Thank you for very helpful videos.
If you ever played Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO), this is one of my favorites. I am disappointed that only one of the three subclasses gets multiple attacks, but I think I can work with that. I want to make a Tabaxi Artificer whose purpose in life is to make the best mixed drinks.
Thanks guys, tremendously helped me out doing a character sheet for my son. We've made it a point to watch your videos every time we get stumped.
ima multiclass into warlock and be a death cannon with infinite beer (2 gallons per day)
It may feel like it has less abilities than other classes but it's focus on magic items and the diversity of those artifacts bring *much* more to the character then just it's class features.
Artificer + 1 level of warlock ( min) pact of the Tome would be a good wya to get around the cantrips.
Sweet! I've been waiting for this, I had a feeling you guys would do this one next. This will be good! Haven't had the chance to check out the Ebberon book yet unfortunately, but the artificer really speaks to me
Currently playing one! I started out with the unearthed arcana and the next session I'm switching over to the official one. We're also lvl 3 now, so my gnome can finally ride his Metal Bear mount. I think this is a good idea for every caster, but with artificer in particular: What does your spell look like? For every spell that I will likely pick I have a contraption in my mind that makes the effect happen. I also make a liquid every night in vials that I add to my machines to fuel them or as the last component of an alchemical substance (So I have physical spell slots, that I can put in my items). I do agree that the 1/2 caster is a bummer, I would have loved to see the Warlock mechanic for the artificer, I think that would fit a lot better (an hour should be plenty of time to tinker with your contraptions). Also, the fact that they have so few spell slots makes the artificer a pretty pathetic healer, even the alchemist (the worst one in the game after the ranger, even the paladin is better at it). Luckily it's very fitting for the Artificer to get a lot of magic items, so it's relatively easy to balance it out (but it still sucks that you basically as a DM have to give your artificer twice the amount of magic items or let them make them themselves). I've had an idea with my DM for a schematic of a pistol (the DMG item), which with Int based attacks (battle smith) and the rapid shot infusion (which allows it to be used with a shield, since you don't need your other hand to reload!) makes it pretty cool. Even the idea to upgrade it with more schematics (which gives a non-magical weapon non-magical enhancements that are practically magic items, but are technically not, so you can still infuse them, although they are specific and designed to be used with the infusion (since they are homebrewed), so it's more balanced than just any magic item). To bad though that, even now it is official content I feel that they need homebrewing (well, the gun itself isn't homebrew) to actually be fun (or at least balanced). Particularly in the mid lvls they are rather lackluster, with meh spell slots, meh infusions, and class abilities that compete with your spells for the super few (and low level) spell slots you have. Also, some spells that certainly should have been on the list aren't, where is chromatic orb? Guiding bolt? Magic Missile? Mage Armour? Sleep? that's just 1st level. I'm quite against the restrictive spell selection in the first place that 5e has (If I want to play a wizard healer, why not?) but these are like in the top 10 spells I want to see in the artificer spell list. Mage armour might not be for every artificer since you get armour anyway, but chromatic orb and sleep are super thematic. Also, I'm quite sad they removed the arcane weapon spell, it made the artificer a lot stronger. At least give them hunter's mark instead (which they didn't get either).
I still like the artificer, because the flavour is exactly what I always missed in D&D (I think D&D is best in a high fantasy-tech world, never quite understood the vast riches of the players in this desolate world that somehow still has a money-based economy (and can actually give the players their stuff, if most people earn a silver a day how are there even things that cost 50 gp, and pretty standard things at that, that's almost a 2 year salary!), a lot of casters with crazy power that seems to be almost exclusively used for martial prowess (almost no practical magic that people would actually use to make their lives better) and a cleric in almost every farmer town, even though the cleric could just make the food...) That's why I love Eberron, and this class is a great addition for it. In Eberron most magic IS practical and magic items are common and do specific simple things that people would want; magic as technology.
So I’ve been playing this class since before the official content and then we adapted it to the new official release. It’s fun to play as for sure and my DM gave me a book for constructing shield guardians to go with the homunculus servant to provide more of that construct/ally utility that I think goes really well with the class. That being said, one battle that we did there was a lower level mage that all they did was counter spell any of the spells that I tried and no matter what I didn’t have any spells that were high enough level to even contest them. As an alchemist there’s not much you can do if there’s a wizard, sorcerer, or warlock that is constantly negating your magical spells, and you don’t have a lot of slots to cast them. So I agree that unless you have the magic items to offset that drastic gap, they will always be weaker in combat to those true spell casters.
One of the most broken combos, if your dm will allow it, is to take artificer to level 2 then go gunfighter. It can be difficult given the diverse score layout, but its worth it if you can do it.
Artificer level 2 gives you repeating shot. This lets you not only ignore the reload mechanic, but also produces its own ammo if none is loaded into your weapon.
Gunfighter obvious lets you use guns, notably Bad News. Infuse Bad News with Repeating Shot and suddenly you are a HUGE monster to deal with.
This really starts to shine at level 13. You will have 3 attacks per turn and a bad news that you dont have to reload. Thats a total of 2d12 x 3 = 6d12 damage EVERY SINGLE TURN.
Then, you can action surge for a very bursty turn of 12d12 damage. Add the sharpshooter feat and you can make those attacks at 800 WITHOUT disadvantage.
Its an absolutely insane combo that a player can do all by themselves. Granted, its only 2 levels artificer, so it would be a fighter build for sure and is only possible if your dm allows gunslingers, but the combo allows for an insane amount of damage at such low levels
I would definitely take the artificer to level 3 instead of only 2. If you do that, from 3rd level on you have an additional 2d8 damage as a bonus action or 1d8 + up to 5 temp hp for the early levels where your party is squishy. If you decide to go Battle Smith instead of Artillerist you don't have a very diverse score layout as your INT mod is used instead of DEX. You also get a little buddy to distract the baddies for a round so you can clear a jam. Finally, don't forget you can fan the hammer for 2 additional shots for a total of 16d12 + 48 + 80 damage (if you are a BS and have +5 INT and hit all sharpshooter shots)
I love the Artificer SO much. The Battle Smith is my new favorite subclass.
I kinda want to build a character inspired by one of my favorite ways to play skyrim, as a smithing/enchantment specialist. As a battle smith this could be very plausible!
I am playing the Artificer that came in Unearthed Arcana, so it is missing a couple of elements from the official, Eberron Artificer that I really wish I had, but it is still quite fun. I had planned to play the first version of the Artillerist, who carried around the Cannon Thunder, but then the second version came, the DM told me that, if I picked the Artificer, it was from there, so I chose that.
So, this is the deal: I am a Gnome who loves to talk about his inventions, I always carry a plate where I show my full name, Gimble Brocc Caranip Erky Scheppen "Tinplate", and anywhere I go I offer to help fix or mend things because I love to use my tools.
I am currently involved in an adventure aimed at putting down the evil Strahd and escape from this semiplane he apparently controls too well. As a 12th Level Artificer, I have the Firebolt (which I fire through a small gun-like device wrapped around my wrist), Mage Hand and Mending (my most used spell, by far) and am always accompanied by Dresden II, my faithful wolf-like Iron Defender and mount and the successor of Dresden, who died in a fight against a dastardly undead tree who didn't even give me the time to carry him away.
While, at the beginning of my adventure, I carried mostly melée weapons (I still have these pretty silver axe and hammer), currently I use a magical shortbow that can shoot two arrows every turn, which is a mess when it comes down to ammo consumption, but it deals twice the damage with the same attack - and, thanks to my being a Battle Smith, I can attack twice every turn: that's 4d6+24 damage per turn! Essentially, i am the most reliable ranged damage dealer, since the party's sorcerer and warlock aren't always able to fight or quickly run out of spells. Plus, Dresden II is always there to aid the melée fighters. Oh, and the bow has a magical quirk on it that, once a day, allows me to turn one of the attacks into a penetrating strike that hits everything in a 100 foot line.
Also, my skill with thieves' tools makes me the only one that can deal with magical traps and locks, so, every time we find a closed door, it's up to me to make sure that it gets opened and that the trap behind won't blow in our faces.
Among some of my greatest feats:
- Preventing a cleric from killing himself by burning the rope with my lighter.
- Taking a half-broken cabin in the middle of the forest and turning it into a sturdy home that kept a flock of bats away and forced a pack of werewolves to funnel through two doors in order to attempt to kill me and my party.
- Creating a water rifle, capable of holding ten gallons of holy water and reliably fire at a target 55 feet away - something that's going to be very useful when we fight Strahd.
- Making a trap that dropped Izek Strazni, Vallaki's evil captain of the guard, down a 155-foot deep hole, helping throw it down twice more and finally killing it on melée.
- Single-handedly purifying a druidic monument by giving rest to the spirits of hundreds of children that had been used by a coven of witches to make "dream cakes" (the leader has a Broom of Flying I really want for myself!)
- Deactivating a glyph of protection containing, among other things, the aforementioned bow.
- Killing several druids and animals at the point of his new bow.
- Holding the Icon of Ravenloft, which has been a lifesaver multiple times, thanks to its permanent Protection from Good and Evil to everyone within thirty feet of him.
- Keeping my companions alive through the Arcane Jolt.
- Making a "zomvillain" (per the ancient definition of "villain" as "someone who lives in a ville/city" pun, and thus making the rest of the party groan.
- Letting myself be the target of a wisdom-damaging strike in exchange of a powerful device for the party's cleric.
- Crafting a magnificent letter to tell Strahd that we are unable to accept his invitation to dinner (that's a 27 for you!).
- Suriving an attack by multiple greater shadows.
As I recall Soul of Artifice says "all" saving throws. I'm surprised that you didn't point out that this includes Death Saves. Then with 6 attuned items you will pass a death save on a roll of 4+ (an 85% success rate)!
...
Here's a question: if you have a Paladin with a +3, +4 or +5 CHA Mod next to you & you have this +6 from Soul of Artifice (or the +6 from being a high level monk) and you roll a 1 on a death save your roll then what happens? The 1 is modified to a success of 10+ but there is a rule stating a 1 is two fails. Would a modifier of this or any sort prevent the double fail??
Death saves are considered a save all by themselves and aren't affected by any mods. It's a straight dance with death (a d20).
Edit: I read up and saw that you're technically correct, however as a player and DM, I'm personally not a fan of that. However for your question of "What happens when you roll a 1?" It's still considered a failure just like how a Nat 1 in combat is an automatic failure.
@@ChaseTrent This is not actually true, Crawford has confirmed that things like the aura of protection do apply to death saves twitter.com/JeremyECrawford/status/728656344224432128
@@ChaseTrent I'm away from my books right now, but does the save rule specify that it is a natural one? Because, if not, the number you roll is defined as the dice roll + mods. And 1 + not-zero = not 1.
@@AdrianParsons Normally on saves you are correct, but since it is considered a special save, I don't think mods make a natural 1 into anything higher.
The D&D basic rules page 76 states: When you make a death saving throw and roll a 1 on the d20, it counts as two failures. If you roll a 20 on the d20, you regain 1 hit point.
I swear the D&D rules are like the Bible sometimes where everyone has their own interpretation, lol, but I think that that's what that means.
I think this boils down to how your DM sees the rules. The book says a 1 is two fails. So, a 1 is two fails no matter what buffs you may get. If you were to roll a 2 though, you're all set.
I run a half orc artificer, his name is Devon and was raised by dwarves. Although he is known as borc nork the science orc .he has proficiency and nearly all tools, is missing both his legs, often changes his accent mid-conversation , will never tell the true story about his legs missing, and is contracted to work for anyone and everyone. From the queen, to the black market. He regained mechanical legs due to the fact that he is an armorer under the artificer archetype. He has become a party favorite and oftentimes is used as an NPC in other campaigns.
Excuses for losing his legs are -
" I was experimenting in my lab in order to create a type of firearm that would be able to fire at extraordinary speeds, and well I ended up discovering explosives instead haha"
"there I was all alone battling a giant when it decides to whip a boulder at me and just when I close my eyes and knew that this would be the end ..I was struck by by a driving carriage, severing both my legs...I know, it but me by surprise too, HA."
"cats"
" I lost them in a gambling bet with a quadruple amputee demon, I didint think he would have any tricks up his sleeves.. still don't know how I lost that game"
Sam from Critical Role got to use these rules for Trayon Darington in the recently posted one-shot they did live in Texas. That Arcane Jolt is VERY useful, both as a bonus to damage OR to healing. Kinda surprised the effects of Arcane Jolt wasn't discussed here... Are there differences between what's in the published book and the Unearthed Arcana?
Edit: I also recalled after posting this that Arcane Jolt worked with the Steel Defender in that one-shot. Being able to add like 4d6 bonus force damage on a hit either by the artificer or the defender is extremely useful depending on the situation.
They did at 22:12.
The Arcane Jolt used to come online much earlier at level 6, but it was 2d4 damage/healing as opposed to the 2d6 at level 9. Kind of a bummer to have to wait again, but the level 7 reaction core class feature, the additional infusions known and making some of the later infusions available earlier helps a bit.
Excellent video guys!
Conceptually, artificer is my favorite class in fantasy settings, those who make that which must not be made! I did a few playtests of the various iterations of the 5e one along the way, and I am reasonably pleased with the final version. I do feel that some aspects were lost between the intents of the older versions and the one we got in RFtLW. Mainly, the exceedingly limited cantrips being a holdover from when they could make cantrip wands. I also am saddened the Archivist subclass didn't make the jump to print, but I hope they are retooling it. I had such plans for that as a character concept...
I've been playing a Deep Gnome Artillerist lvl5 (plus very recently took 1lvl as Cleric of Knowledge Domain) for the past 4 months. I started with the UA class description and now transitioned to the Eberron: RftlW official class. The class lends itself to extremely creative role-play and is very versatile.
I started as 4th level and took the Magic Initiate: Warlock feat since my HP and Ability Score rolls were decent. The extra cantrips and spells from the feat are super useful because otherwise the spellcasting can feel somewhat limited.
HOWEVER, the infusions reeaally can make up for it, especially since my DM runs a pretty sandboxy game and we worked together to understand the potential of the class (and my take on it specifically). This means I got to craft some cool (permanent) magic items by investing downtime and some serious tool-based skillchecks such as a repeating-shot +1 pistol.
My decision to multiclass at 6th lvl is mostly story-related but does allow some useful bits, such as the heavy armor proficiency and access to buff and protective spells and features that complement the artificer's versatility very well.
I do agree that the class might be a little under-prepared for high-level play, and I guess I'll find out if it happens as I keep leveling up, but I'm actually pretty sure that multiclassing will take care of that issue.
The way I see the Artificer, it's not about getting really powerful in one way or combat/spellcasting style but rather gaining practical knowledge from as many different areas as possible, to combine them in ingenious ways and get power (and mechanical buffs) from these creative combos. So even though multiclassing and feats can go a long way here, they only are so useful because the class is designed to allow for this.
Excellent video. I couldn't disagree more about the Artificer's spell casting being limited. Spell-storing item along with all their other features make them uniquely versatile 2/3 casters at least and that's not even factoring in their abilities to make permanent magic items and use scrolls of any level or list, even up to 9th level ones potentially.
I've been playing my Battle Smith since the UA dropped. So far I'm having a blast and love most of the changes.