Artificer Armorer (UA) Builds

[king_steve]

I am thinking of building an Armorer Artificer using the new UA, see Subclasses, part 3 (https://media.wizards.com/2020/dnd/downloads/UA2020-Subclasses03_0224.pdf) for specific on the new Armorer subclass.

My character is currently an alchemist in Dragon heist and we're planning on moving to Dungeon of the Mad Mage after we finish. I'm thinking of seeing if I can swap my subclass between campaign arcs.

After looking over the abilities, I think the subclass looks like it will be defensively strong, but may be lacking in other utility. Looking at feats, infusions and possibly multi-class dips to prioritize.


Feats:

Dual Wielder
Pro - It would synergies with the Thunder Gauntlets, allowing for 3 attacks, which seems like it would help with the Thunder Gauntlets special effect.
Pro - +1 AC is always welcome.
Cons - Competes with the Bonus Action Defensive Field, so I am not sure how often the 3 attacks would come up.
Cons - Only helps the Guardian Armor Model.

Sharpshooter
Pro - Damage buff for the Lightning Launcher
Cons - Only helps the Infiltrator Armor Model.

Shield Master
Pro - Bonus Action Shove can be useful.
Cons - Repulsion Shield can have a similar effect without a feat.

Sentinel
Pro - More battle field control by limiting enemy movement.
Cons - Competes with the Guardian Armor Model Perfected Armor reaction in some ways, but not to bad.

War Caster
Pro - Opportunity spell attacks can be very useful.
Cons - Artificer has proficiency in constitution saves and the new Mind Sharpener infusion makes this less valuable.


Infusions:

Homunculus - In Infiltrator mode there seems to be a lack of Bonus Actions, the homunculus could be a helpful boost for triggering the Lightning Launchers Perfected Armor feature. It can also carry the SSI and cast spells from it.
Repulsion Shield - More battle field control by moving an enemy away after being hit.


Multi Class Dips:

2 levels of Wizard for War Magic. +Int to Initiative as well as a boost to saves and AC reaction would be helpful. Plus taking a few levels of a full caster means access to a 6th level spell slot at later levels.
Also allows access to GFB/BB cantrips, since Artificers do not have access to them by default.



Overall, I am leaning towards 2 ASIs to increase Int from 16 > 20, then using the rest of the ASIs on feats. I am thinking Dual Wielder and Sharp Shooter with the 2 level dip around 12 to 14 into Wizard for War Magic and then taking the rest of the levels in Artificer.

Thoughts? Does anyone think some other feats would benefit the subclass? Or is the 2 level dip for War Magic not worth loosing access to Soul of Artifice?

[Pondering]

I came to the same conclusion about using the Homunculus on the Infiltrator to increase action economy. The downside is it may eat one of your 2 advantage rolls at level 15+. I started running the numbers against an Eldritch Blast Hex Warlock baseline. While it can lack in damage throwing advantage out to party members or hookshotting targets is pretty handy. Any multiclassing would delay that feature, or if you actually make it to endgame you'll lose the fancy Artificer capstone ability.

Apparently I need 10 posts before I can share a link to my calculations spreadsheet.

[Dork_Forge]

What's your race? And you're planning to just flip flop between them? If you're going to optimise this to any great degree I'd recommend picking one of the options to focus on. Regardless a level of Fighter would greatly benefit both types of armor, whether it be Archery for the lightning cannons, TWF for the gauntlets or just Defense for an overall AC bump.

[Pondering]

Sharpshooter adds some damage but with the -5 hit to Attack, the average DPR after accuracy is taken into account (with bounded accuracy, and self buff infusions) it's not that much of an increase. Unless you have a reliable way to gain advantage yourself. I've seen mention of taking Rogue for Sneak Attack bonus on the Infiltrator, maybe Arcane Trickster subclass.

Can the Armorer use the Helm of Awareness Infusion? The Armor Modifications feature doesn't specifically mention a helm slot on the armor (it mentions bracers but not much you can do with that). If you can use it, then there is less need to take the Wizard War Magic for +Intmod Init.

I would personally optimize the Armorer to include both forms, as you'd miss out on half your subclass features and the utility each brings to the table.

[king_steve]

I came to the same conclusion about using the Homunculus on the Infiltrator to increase action economy. The downside is it may eat one of your 2 advantage rolls at level 15+. I started running the numbers against an Eldritch Blast Hex Warlock baseline. While it can lack in damage throwing advantage out to party members or hookshotting targets is pretty handy. Any multiclassing would delay that feature, or if you actually make it to endgame you'll lose the fancy Artificer capstone ability.


You could give your homunculus (or a tiny servant) your SSI with faerie-fire on it to help ensure advantage.


What's your race? And you're planning to just flip flop between them?

My character is a half-elf and currently level 5, using the standard array so my stats are Str: 10, Dex: 14, Con: 14 (13+1), Int: 16 (15+1), Wis: 12, Cha: 10 (8+2).

I guess I haven't actually played as an armorer yet, so I wasn't sure how often they end up swapping armor models. They can change the model every short or long rest, but it does require some planning so you may not always be in the armor model that best fits the situation. One of my teammates is a moon druid so maybe I should focus on the infiltrator mode instead of guardian mode. With a 2 level dip into wizard for War Magic I would get +int to initiative and Arcane Deflection, which might be overkill but it also means that I'd have 2 levels of a full caster class which would bump up my spell slots.


Sharpshooter adds some damage but with the -5 hit to Attack, the average DPR after accuracy is taken into account (with bounded accuracy, and self buff infusions) it's not that much of an increase. Unless you have a reliable way to gain advantage yourself. I've seen mention of taking Rogue for Sneak Attack bonus on the Infiltrator, maybe Arcane Trickster subclass.

Can the Armorer use the Helm of Awareness Infusion? The Armor Modifications feature doesn't specifically mention a helm slot on the armor (it mentions bracers but not much you can do with that). If you can use it, then there is less need to take the Wizard War Magic for +Intmod Init.

I would personally optimize the Armorer to include both forms, as you'd miss out on half your subclass features and the utility each brings to the table.

I would guess you can use the Helm of Awareness, other helm type items are usually classified as wondrous items not armor.

A 1 level dip into Fighter might make sense to pick up the archery fighting style, or maybe instead of dipping into Wizard or Fighter I could take 2 levels of Ranger to get a fighting style and Hunters Mark?

[Pondering]

I would guess you can use the Helm of Awareness, other helm type items are usually classified as wondrous items not armor.

What makes me question this is the Power Armor says: "The power armor attaches to you and can’t be removed against your will. It also expands to cover your entire body, and it replaces any missing limbs, functioning identically to a body part it is replacing.", the Helm of Awareness states "Item: A helmet (requires attunement)", and the Armor Modification "That armor now counts as separate items for the purposes of your Infuse Items feature: armor (the chest piece), boots, bracers, and a weapon."

I realize it's only UA, I would hope the final version clarifies the wording.

For the SSI + Homunculus, has it been confirmed that they can use an item? The infusion states "take a bonus action on your turn to command it to take the action in its stat block (Force Strike) or the Dash, Disengage, Help, Hide, or Search action.". I love the idea of a little Magic Missile firing or faerie-fire 'scanning' drone.

I'm all for helm being a part of the Power Armor, possibly replacing the bracer section as none of them (that I am aware of) would benefit this subclass (heavy armor, non-short/longbow).

[Falconcry]

I saw on another forum my favorite MC of the Armorer.

My Gnome is named Lott Scang

Runeknight 3 / Armorer 5

Feat Grappler

Uses Giants Might from RK to go from Small to Large on bonus action.
Casts Enlarge to go to Huge.
Action Surge and tackle and pin the dragon knocking it prone.
Melee buddies go to town.

Can swap to Infiltrator and cast reduce to tiny to ride his Homunculus into battle or do stealthy stuffs.

[Pondering]

That's a really fun concept! Just note the Humunculus shares your initiative but takes its turn immediate after yours, which may make positioning more challenging.

[Atomicwraith]

I've been toying with a multiclass of the subclasses from the same UA: an Armourer/Fey Wanderer. AT level 8 it would be Artificer 5/Ranger 3.

They seem to pair really well together to make a tank who packs a punch (pun intended).

Start as a Veldeken with 8/13/14/17/14/8. Kinda weird as an array, but I think that's the weakest part. Here are the strong points of the build:

High AC
Ac 21, or 26 with Shield, from plate (18), enhanced defense (+1), Dual Wielder (+1), Defense fighting style (+1). Throw on Mirror Image with liberal use of Shield, and nothing much is going to hit. This would be pointless unless you grabbed agro and did good damage, but...

Agro-grabbing
Got a large crowd? Cast Zephyr Strike and skate thru them all, punching them 3 times (most rounds) to force disadvantage on anyone who does not choose you. The 3 strikes come from Dual Wielding, plus the armourer's second attack. BBEG? Just slam him three times to ensure one of those debuffs sticks.

Moderate, Consistent DPS
First attack is +7 to hit (3 from proficiency, 3 from Int, 1 from Enhanced Weapon infusion). It does 1d8 thunder + 3 Int (Thunder Gauntlets) + 1d8 (Zephyr Strike) +1d6 (Hunter's Mark) + 1d6 Psychic (Dreadful Strikes) = 19 average upon hit. Next hit does a bit less (main hand, but 1d8 less as Zephyr Strike only applies once); 14.5 damage. Third strike is less still, as we lose the attack stat bonus (this build preferred the +1 AC from Defense to the +3 offhand damage from Two Weapon Fighting, but YMMV), at 11.5 damage per hit. Still, that is 45 damage per round for a tank, which is amazing.

Perceptive and Investigative
This character can walk first down the scary corridor and both take the first arrow as well as detect the trap. Ranger feature of Deft Explorer: Canny: Perception gives +8 plus Guidance. Investigation is similarly great: +6 +2d4 due to picking this for the Veldeken trait Tireless Precision, plus Guidance. Not much is going to slip by this dude.

Trappy
Thieves' Tools are at +3+2d4 (Tireless Precision, Guidance). And in a level these can be at +8 +2d4 when Artificer 6 unlocks Gloves of Thievery. This is not only good for giving the tank an ouit-of-combat role unlocking traps, but you can also set traps! And with an unlimited supply of acid (Alchemy Jug), they should be nasty and quite undetectable for ambushes.

Smart
Int of 17, plus Guidance, plus proficiency in Arcana, History, Nature, and Religion gives some great skills to the party who might otherwise all choose to dump Int.

Strong Action Economy
Always using actions, always with a tough choice for many bonus actions, and often using reactions for Shield or Absorb Elements.

And here is the main downside of the build:

Hit Points
Just taking the standard amount per level-up, we are only at 52 by level 8. Now, we get 5 THP at will before every combat thanks to the Defensive Field, and Aid can bring us (and 2 buddies) up 5 more. But we are not a Barbarian, that is for sure. Gonna need healz if things hit.

Saves
Saves are OK, but not Paladin-level. Veldeken Dispassion gives us advantage on I/W/C saves, and Cunning Will gives us advantage on charm/frighten, so that's decent.

Spell Slots
4 first level spells and 3 second level are not going to go very far, even though Hunter's Mark is on its own (2/LR) timer.

Take a While to Get Going
You'd use Defensive Field ahead of time, and Attack actions will be for two punches with your main hand, but the bonus action has a lot of options. While that makes it fun, it takes a while to spin up to full power with concentrationless Hunter's Mark (better for one BBEG), Zephyr Strike (better for crowds), more Defensive Field, moving HM, or an offhand strike.


Theme
I personally love the theme of a smart guy... the academic support team for the people who should be the front-liners... developing a suit of power armor and bringing all that knowledge into the field. Smart and tough at the same time. I think of him as Tassadar from Starcraft, with psychic (dreadful strikes) weapons emerging from his armored carapace. Or my dranei enhancement shaman from WOW. And I think this new UA just made him possible.

Anyone see any problems with this build? I think it's be fun, different, and effective.

[Galithar]

@atomicwraith

Your thieves' Tools numbers seem low.
+1 Dex / +3 Prof / +2d4 (Tireless precision and Guidance)
Then at level 6 Artificer it becomes
+1 Dex / +6 Expertise / +2d4 / +5 Thieves' Gloves
Total: 12+2d4 for a minimum roll of 15 (And you have less then a .5% chance of rolling that low)

Edit: Add in for funsises the Armor of Tools for an additional +3 from INT. Though I question why at such a high level our main attribute is still at +3, but I mostly skimmed the build to be honest.

My Armorer at level 6 (rolled stats) will have a Thieves' Tools check of 2 (Dex) + 5 (Int from Armor of Tools) + 6 (Expertise) + 1d4 (Guidance) + 5 (Thieves' Gloves) for a minimum roll of 20. (I won't always have Armor of Tools and Thieves' Gloves at this level, but if I get heads up on a break in I can)

[Atomicwraith]

Good point Galithar - I'm off by one at level 8, and in the future it just skyrockets. Nice catch.