Artificers!

[Sindal]

Hey everyone.

So I've been looking at the artificer and wanted to get peoples feel on the class.

An when I say artificer, i mean the one in the unearthed arcane, not the 500 reworks I've seen flying around because everyone seems to have an idea on how they would like the class to go.

The general consensus appears to be that artificers are slightly below par.

But I wanted to get peoples ideas on how it was to play. Fun? Underwelming? Just about ok? Suprisingly op?
I'm personally interested more in the alchemist side of things, but gunsmith is also more than welcome to let me know.

On paper they don't look too bad.

[Aett_Thorn]

All of this is going to be my opinion only-

Out of combat, they are amazingly fun. They can do a ton of different things with their collection of magic items, tool proficiencies, and skills. Their infuse magic ability allows them to cast some spells ahead of time and give them to other characters to use when combat does break out, and you have a cool mechanical pet!

In combat, I felt like they were very one dimensional for most of their career. Alchemists I’m combat is just, “I pull out X potion and use it”, and Gunsmith is just shooting your gun each round. Gunsmith AoE abilities are okay, but feel weak for the level you get them. Alchemists have almost no AoE potential.

A few other odd things:
1) It’s one of the few (only?) classes that gets almost no combat abilities from the base class. All of the combat abilities come from the subclass.
2) The way that they create their magic items as written seems very one-and-done, meaning that if you use up the charges or you lose it somehow, you can’t make another
3) The class gives rules about how to fix your pet if it dies, but not on how to fix it if it’s damaged. Healing spells don’t work on constructs, so you’ll need to work with the DM on that one


All in all, I think it’s a fun class, especially if you do a lot of out of combat stuff in your campaigns. But if your campaigns focus a lot on combat, you may feel a bit week.

[Grod_The_Giant]

In combat, I felt like they were very one dimensional for most of their career. Alchemists I’m combat is just, “I pull out X potion and use it”, and Gunsmith is just shooting your gun each round. Gunsmith AoE abilities are okay, but feel weak for the level you get them. Alchemists have almost no AoE potential.
This is the main thing that struck me reading the class as well. It just feels...underbaked. The Gunsmith and the Alchemist get about one thing they can do, and it's... reasonably effective, but everyone who takes the subclass will be doing the same thing, and they'll be doing it from 1-20. The Gunsmith needs their AoE options to be more viable, and they need something at low levels to introduce round-by-round tactical choices. The Alchemist needs more options, and it desperately needs level-gated options.

[ImproperJustice]

Having run one for some time (An Alchemist).

It’s a very fun class. As others have said, out of combat there is tons to do with all your tool proficiencies, utility magic, and likely some handy magic items.

Extra attunment slots and being a spellcaster means that getting ahold of wands and other items will really help expand your options.

In combat, the whole you do X every round is no worse than a fighter or Rogue IMHO.

Thunderstones are hilariously fun. Fire and acid bombs scale nicely and never run out. Lots of problems can be solved by melting things.

Healing Draught scales amazingly well, and I firmly believe that combined with the Healer Feat will greatly extend a party’s adventuring day.

Servant choice I think is mostly for picking a good mount. Giant eagle, spider, or dinosaur are all solid choices. It gives a nice mobility boost.

It’s definitely a wild grab bag of features but I think it’s better than the sum of it’s parts.

[stoutstien]

I know u said no Homebrew but some of the artificer fixes floating around are amazing and IMO capture the spirit of the class better.

[Damon_Tor]

Hey everyone.

So I've been looking at the artificer and wanted to get peoples feel on the class.

An when Is ay artificer, i mean the one in the unearthed arcane, not the 500 reworks I've seen flying around.

The general consensus appears to be that artificers are slightly below par.

But i wanted to get peoples ideas on how it was to play. Fun? Underwelming? Just about ok? Suprisingly op?
I'm personally interested more in the alchemist side of things, but gunsmith is also more than welcome to let me know.

On paper they don't look too bad.

If you follow the Sage Advice, then infusions are a way you can hand out buffs to other party members without using your concentration: you use theirs instead. Great for that fighter that wants Haste but you'd rather use Magic Weapon on your gun. "Here you go" and you toss him a rock with "HASTE" written in sharpie.

[Mr.Spastic]

1) It’s one of the few (only?) classes that gets almost no combat abilities from the base class. All of the combat abilities come from the subclass.
2) The way that they create their magic items as written seems very one-and-done, meaning that if you use up the charges or you lose it somehow, you can’t make another
3) The class gives rules about how to fix your pet if it dies, but not on how to fix it if it’s damaged. Healing spells don’t work on constructs, so you’ll need to work with the DM on that one


Answers
1. Mystic, but that is another UA. Druid focuses your combat type. Bard focuses combat type as well with valor and swords.
2. Yes, that is sadly the RAW but there are rules for crafting magic items. Ask your DM if you could cut down on the time.
3. They specifically state that you can cast healing magic on your servant.

[Aett_Thorn]

Answers
1. Mystic, but that is another UA. Druid focuses your combat type. Bard focuses combat type as well with valor and swords.
2. Yes, that is sadly the RAW but there are rules for crafting magic items. Ask your DM if you could cut down on the time.
3. They specifically state that you can cast healing magic on your servant.

1) Mystics still get their version of cantrips that they can use. Druids and Bards still get full spellcasting (including cantrips) from the base class that might get boosted from the subclass. Artificers, on the other hand, get no offensive spells in their list, and nothing in the base class besides their weapon proficiencies is for the Artificer itself to deal some combat damage.

2) True, I think that there would be reasonable reconstruction rulings from DMs, but per RAW, you can actually use up a class ability. Not that problematic in actual play, but still odd.

3) Where? I'm looking at the UA now and I'm not seeing any language that allows Artificers to heal their Servant besides when it's killed.

[Grod_The_Giant]

1. Mystic, but that is another UA. Druid focuses your combat type. Bard focuses combat type as well with valor and swords.
Mystics get all their base casting power through the base class; their subclass just grants bonus disciplines known.

[Mr.Spastic]

1) Mystics still get their version of cantrips that they can use. Druids and Bards still get full spellcasting (including cantrips) from the base class that might get boosted from the subclass. Artificers, on the other hand, get no offensive spells in their list, and nothing in the base class besides their weapon proficiencies is for the Artificer itself to deal some combat damage.

2) True, I think that there would be reasonable reconstruction rulings from DMs, but per RAW, you can actually use up a class ability. Not that problematic in actual play, but still odd.

3) Where? I'm looking at the UA now and I'm not seeing any language that allows Artificers to heal their Servant besides when it's killed.

1. I just meant that their subclasses guide combat styles. Also does it even matter that it comes from a subclass? That's kinda like saying that all scientists should be able to do all science instead of their field. The point is that they are specialized in those areas.

3. Misread the rules, I think it heals on rests though. I'd just say you'd have to spend time repairing it.

[Damon_Tor]

1) It’s one of the few (only?) classes that gets almost no combat abilities from the base class. All of the combat abilities come from the subclass.

It is a bit odd. If I were writing it I would have (slightly weaker) alchemical grenades as "cantrips" available to all artificers, start them off with the ability to modify crossbows to function at a slightly higher efficacy, and also give them a familar-esque minor summon. Then at level 3 you're pick a subclass and specialize in one of those three core abilities, becoming an alchemical engineer, a ballistics engineer, or an automaton engineer.