Optimizing the Alchemist?

[the real t-rex]

Greetings!

Like several others, I feel somewhat disappointed by the alchemist subclass of the artificer in Eberron: Rising from the Last War. Battle Smith looks great, and the Artillerist seems pretty good, but the Alchemist features look fairly under-powered. The subclass only gets one Experimental Elixir for free, and they do not scale well. The healing abilities do not seem nearly as strong as other healing/support classes, etc. It just leaves a lot to be desired, especially considering that this subclass fits the non-Eberron settings better than the others.

But instead of complaining about the poor design choices, I want to see if the subclass can be optimized in some way. Home-made fixes seem pretty easy to make, but like the Beastmaster Ranger, it would be awesome to see whether anything (as cheesy as you want) can be done within the rules of the game to make the subclass as powerful as possible, maybe even making it on par with the other subclasses. For the purposes of this exercise, assume that the DM is fairly lenient in regards to RAW cheese. RAI is totally acceptable, but outright changes to the class or subclass are not.

Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Garfunion]

What I have come up with is to take the tavern brawler feat to gain proficiency in throwing alchemist’s fire and acid. An alchemy jug(magic item) can make two vials of acid a day for free.
You can multiclass into Thief Rogue to gain fast hands allowing you to throw two acid/fire each turn. If the DM is lenient They may allow you to add your sneak attack damage to the throw.

That is what I have so far.

Edit; Never mind, a non multiclass Thief Rogue can do the same if they gain access to the Alchemy Jug and tavern brawler feet.

[stoutstien]

So far your best bet is to capitalize the wording of alchemist savant. Anything that can target multiple targets with a single damage roll like acid splash will get more mileage.

As far as healing you are better suited for mitigation than straight HP recovery. Buffing AC and hit/saves will prevent way more than you could possibly heal. For emergencies healing word being 1d4+int x 2 isn't bad.
If more healing is needed your SSI can cover down.

How important casting lesser restoration 5 times a day for free will vary but when you need it you NEED it.


Heal once a day is a tad late but free is free.

Push comes to shove after lv 10 spend all your down time crafting healing potions at 1/4 the time and 1/2 the cost.

[Damon_Tor]

Greetings!

Like several others, I feel somewhat disappointed by the alchemist subclass of the artificer in Eberron: Rising from the Last War. Battle Smith looks great, and the Artillerist seems pretty good, but the Alchemist features look fairly under-powered. The subclass only gets one Experimental Elixir for free, and they do not scale well. The healing abilities do not seem nearly as strong as other healing/support classes, etc. It just leaves a lot to be desired, especially considering that this subclass fits the non-Eberron settings better than the others.

But instead of complaining about the poor design choices, I want to see if the subclass can be optimized in some way. Home-made fixes seem pretty easy to make, but like the Beastmaster Ranger, it would be awesome to see whether anything (as cheesy as you want) can be done within the rules of the game to make the subclass as powerful as possible, maybe even making it on par with the other subclasses. For the purposes of this exercise, assume that the DM is fairly lenient in regards to RAW cheese. RAI is totally acceptable, but outright changes to the class or subclass are not.

Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

1 level of warlock for short-rest spell slots and you can make as many elixirs as you feel like making, as long as you never need to take a long rest.

[stoutstien]

Alchemist can help a party member hit the 23 AC(only crits will hit) threshold for tier one with little effort. This is solid strategy until tier three where NPC hit chance jump a lot and also you see more saves than direct attacks on AC.

[MrCharlie]

So experimental elixers 1, 2, and 4 are pretty useless. However the third, fifth, and sixth one are all actually pretty good. The third one gives you a pretty impactful bonus for a fairly long time, the fifth one gives a rare ability whose usefulness depends on how fast the party needs to fly, and the sixth one is a nearly unique effect-alter self on another person.

The fifth and sixth one in particular allow for major roleplaying changes that can't really be matched without them. Flying past a barrier at level 3 or impersonating an official are powerful abilities.

Otherwise; only cast AOE spells to maximize level 5 ability, or become a espresso machine via multiclassing into warlock and spamming elixers (coffelock+artificer=urge to play a warforged alchemist/warlock rising....)

The problem is that you have the worst spell list to use your level 5 ability with, because it's all damage over time effects and your level 5 ability works once per spell. Honestly, if it worked multiple times then the artificer would almost be fixed in one word, because the archetype could use all these sub-optimal DOT spells in combat!

[Damon_Tor]

So experimental elixers 1, 2, and 4 are pretty useless. However the third, fifth, and sixth one are all actually pretty good. The third one gives you a pretty impactful bonus for a fairly long time, the fifth one gives a rare ability whose usefulness depends on how fast the party needs to fly, and the sixth one is a nearly unique effect-alter self on another person.

The fifth and sixth one in particular allow for major roleplaying changes that can't really be matched without them. Flying past a barrier at level 3 or impersonating an official are powerful abilities.

Just imagine how much a level 3 monk would love being given a potion that turns his fists into 1d6 gigafists that add +1 to attacks and damage.