Artificer Advice

[Valaqil]

I'm playing a Level 4 Warforged Artificer in a new campaign. To get a few things out of the way: I didn't know how powerful they were starting out, but that's because I knew nothing about anything in Eberron. Since then, I've read three commonly linked guides (Artificer Handbook (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19872330/Artificer_Handbook_%28rough_draft%29), Unofficial Artificer Guide (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=5929.0), and Zeroficers (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=11474.0)) as well as a few of the Artificer threads on this subforum. I'm not looking to optimize. I want to know what my options are and make some good choices, but I don't want to break the party/campaign/whatever. Our party is two rogues, a Divination specialist Wizard and me. I should probably do what I can to help the party, esp. with combat, but we're not in a high-combat game anyway (Together, they fight crime solve mysteries!).

I want my primary party role to be a Buffificer/Craft-Monkey who keeps everyone well-stocked/prepared. I'm debating on whether I should focus a little more on being a Melee-ficer or Blastificer as my combat role since I could buff myself fairly well. I've taken Adamantine Body and Skill Focus: UMD for feats, crafted most of my reserves on scrolls (and a +3 UMD belt), and made sure I get my skill synergies. I didn't take a UMD tool because the DM and I agreed that it doesn't make much sense. I'm also trying to limit everything I use to Core, ECS, and RoE because, again, I'm not here to break anything -- although I'd probably be fine with bending a few things.

To the questions:
(1) Homunculi. I _just_ hit Level 4 so it's time to decide about this. First, how do you handle Warforged lacking blood to create a Homunculus? Which would you suggest? At first I was thinking Dedicated Wright, but I've had sufficient downtime (so far) and I'm considering the Messenger or Iron Defender now. I think I'll make two, one now, one in a level or two, but it's a question of which of the three first.
(2) Crafting costs. The gp costs don't bother me as much as the xp costs. Scrolls aren't so bad, but a single Homunculus completely wipes out my reserve at this level and Wondrous Items can quickly do the same. I could take Legendary Artisan as my Level 4 bonus feat to lessen xp costs, but everyone suggests Extraordinary Artisan to reduce the gp costs. Which is worse? How would you cope with funneling xp? I get Retain Essence next level, but that doesn't help now. Item Familiar seems cheesy and potentially game-breaking (or contributing to it) for the major bonuses (UMD, xp) to crafting, but it looks attractive right now. I really don't want to keep wiping out my reserve in a hurry and lagging behind the others in xp.
(3) What/How much to craft. As a Wizard/Artificer/Whatever, do you prefer to wait it out and craft something or buy it? For example, the Quiver of Ehlonna (slightly cheaper than Heward's) looks like a handy thing to have, but I can't craft it for three levels. Would you spend the gp to buy it or wait until you could craft it at a much cheaper price? Which items are worth buying asap, and which should I craft when I get the chance? Are there any items you'd recommend at this level?

[Aharon]

1) Use the warforged equivalent of blood. Spells like Blood to Water work on them because they are living creatures, so they obviously have a substance that fulfills this purpose. I would ask your DM OOC wether the downtime will remain about the same before making that decision. If it does, Messenger (seems more useful to your kind of adventures), if it doesn't, the wright.

2) If your DM uses the standard item creation and xp reward rules, you won't lag behind for too long. Have you read the Cost Reduction Handbook (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=7274.0)? Just use what seems right (i.e., not too cheesy) for your campaign.

3) Craft as much as you can. I don't think there's anything I would favor over the advantages crafting it myself a bit later has. Caveat: If you play and, as a consequence, level, only seldomly, buying stuff may be worth it.

[Undercroft]

The messenger homonculus rocks as a scout (size means bonuses to hiding. flight for getting places and telepathy to relay what it sees back to you). Wright is a solid choice if you don;t have enough downtime to craft stuff. Defender is the more combat orientated of the lot.
essentially i'll boil down to whether you need the extra oomph from the defender in combat or the extra scouting the messenger provides.

There's some more homonculi in the Magic of Eberron book too, as well as a sweet feat that lets you add some bonus things to them as you increase their HD. If you can get your dm to allow it (or get ahold of it) then it's worth a look at those.

[Greenish]

I'm not looking to optimize. I want to know what my options are and make some good choices:smallconfused:

[Edit]: To actually contribute:

1. Warforged have something that works like blood for creating homunculi etc. Messenger or maybe Furtive Filcher would probably be best for the campaign, and they're plenty fun.

2. XP is a river. If you're behind other PCs in level, you'll be getting more XP.

3. I'd wait for it, but then I'm a cheapskate.

[Valaqil]

*snip'd long text*

Thanks for the Item Creation Handbook. There's a couple of interesting things in there that I missed elsewhere. So Warforged have a blood-replacement? Interesting. I knew there had to be something, but hadn't seen anything about it.


:smallconfused:
In the sense that I'm not seeking to create some variation of "I don't need the party, I'm so awesome." For example, if you're looking long-term, my Skill Focus and Adamantine Body feats aren't really optimal. They're decent choices, esp. low-level, but I could be much better if I grabbed Extend Spell, or Item Familiar instead of Skill Focus, if not Adamantine Body. Almost every "optimized" artificer build I've seen has neither of those. There's a difference, imo, between choosing something that makes you stronger and really _optimizing_. And, for this campaign, trying to avoid being "too good" is probably the right choice.



3. I'd wait for it, but then I'm a cheapskate.

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one. I'd prefer to wait and craft things, but I was wondering if that was a good idea. With the above posts, I'll probably do that. Also, on the advice so far, I'll craft what I can and try not to worry too much about lagging behind.

If anyone has other tips, I'm willing to listen.

[Greenish]

There's a difference, imo, between choosing something that makes you stronger and really _optimizing_.I agree, optimizing isn't necessarily about making your character objectively stronger. :smalltongue: (There's the definition I agree to in my sig.)


Also, artificer buying ready-made magic items is like a chef grabbing a TV dinner, an admission of defeat.

[Diarmuid]

It also largely depends if your DM is planning on accounting for the downtime requried for you to really make the most of your item creation.

From the brief description of your game (solving mysteries) it certainly sounds like it could be accomodating, but most of the games I've played in have never been able to really support someone spending weeks/months doing nothing that advances the game.