trying to understand Artificer

[Kimras]

okay I've read over this character everyone seems to love him but his power confuses me a little, can he permanently have magic armor or does the magic on the armor only last as long as the spell the whole infusion time scale I think is what truly confuses me and where his powers start and end when it comes to making magic items.

[Urpriest]

okay I've read over this character everyone seems to love him but his power confuses me a little, can he permanently have magic armor or does the magic on the armor only last as long as the spell the whole infusion time scale I think is what truly confuses me and where his powers start and end when it comes to making magic items.

Infusions and crafting magic items are different and don't have much overlap, if any. Just read the sections separately and it will make sense.

[BlackDog918]

And get a notebook, or better yet an excel spreadsheet. Artificers require so much bookkeeping it's ridiculous. They're generally accepted as the hardest class to play in the game, but the rewards are worth it.

[Aharon]

And get a notebook, or better yet an excel spreadsheet. Artificers require so much bookkeeping it's ridiculous. They're generally accepted as the hardest class to play in the game, but the rewards are worth it.

Also, they can work on infusions only, but aren't Tier 1 then. They have to if the DM doesn't give at least some downtime. Timed Quests are the enemy of the artificer. Similarly, if you don't get WBL, it hits you harder than other Tier 1 classes - you can't craft if you don't have gold, other Tier 1s can still cast 9th level spells eventually.

[Deophaun]

Also, they can work on infusions only, but aren't Tier 1 then. They have to if the DM doesn't give at least some downtime. Timed Quests are the enemy of the artificer. Similarly, if you don't get WBL, it hits you harder than other Tier 1 classes - you can't craft if you don't have gold, other Tier 1s can still cast 9th level spells eventually.
Which is why I always recommend speaking to your DM about using craft points (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/craftPoints.htm).