Artificer - Never tried it, looking for help

[Sirion8288]

Hey all,

So my friend is hosting a one shot (2-3 sessions) and I figured I would finally get experience with the Artificer class, as I have never seen it in action. We are starting off with lv 13. My background is that I am a rock gnome tinkerer who was a badass scientist/arcane user, but accidently inflicted himself with an incurable disease that is slowly killing him. He spent many months looking for a cure, but has given up, and is now looking for an honorable death in battle and not to slowly die from some disease. So my guy wants to run into the most dangerous situations, be in your face, doing lots of DPS, and only wants the toughest/most worthy thing in the world to kill him. The DM loved this background and gave him a specific type of disease that does -2 to Str and reduce my movement by 5...bastard. I think he did this cuz I rolled awesome numbers lol. 10, 12, 14, 14, 18, 18 (two natural 18s!).

So as of now I am interested in doing the Battle Smith subclass. Since I can add Int to attack rolls and damage, I'm ignoring Dex and will simply wear a breastplate armor. Here are my stats...

Str: 8
Dex: 14
Con: 20
Int: 20
Wis: 14
Cha: 12

I got +1 Con (get it to 20) via the resilience feat (and +1 for rock gnomes), and added the saving throw Wisdom (already had proficiency with Con). Wondering if I should consider a different feat other than resilience. I also went with the feats Crossbow expert and Sharpshooter. I envision my guy having a shield in one hand, hand crossbow in other (I have proficiency with martial weapons). Apparently, items that are infused can be a spell casting focus, and I tentatively plan on having both my shield and crossbow infused (DM was shocked that both hands are full and I can still cast spells lol). With casting haste on myself, I can be unloading 4 attacks every turn, all the while tanking it up and having other spells in the ready. I also plan on having my steel defender on my shoulder who will use its reaction to deflect attack to invoke disadvantage on melee attacks (DM is ok having my steel defender and main character sharing same spot, cute little metal dragon on my shoulder helping me out).

Infusions...this is tough, so many options, this is where I probably need the most help to make the character I am looking for. Tentatively, I have Enhanced Defense on my shield for an extra +2 AC, Enhanced Weapon on my hand crossbow for an extra +2 to attack rolls and damage, Replicate Magic Item (DM allowed this) and I will have a Cloak of Protection, and my suit of armor will be infused with Mind Sharpener (use reaction to maintain concentration). I currently have an AC of 21 total. Here are some of my thoughts....I get the lv 1 spell Shield, so I should be rarely hit (I think at least), maybe I don't need the Mind Sharpener and should instead Enhance Defense on my suit of armor for an extra +2 AC. Maybe I should replace Mind Sharpener with Boots of Striding and Springing since DM reduced my movement to a total of 20 (why did I pick rock gnome...ugh). Then again, I can make sure I prepare the lv1 spell Longstrider to give me that 30 movement speed. But, my original plan was to have constant Haste in battles, doubles my speed to a total of 40 movement speed (60 with Longstrider).

Ya.... I am completely new to an Artificer and am trying to learn an entire class to lv 13 in a few days. Looking for any thoughts on how to improve this character. I know the DM is permitting me to have the spell Arcane Weapon (I don't think it's an official Artificer spell), but is requiring me to cast it at lv 2 to balance things out. If you think I should consider other feats or infusions, please let me know. I am looking for any advice/thoughts.

Thanks everyone!

[Dudu]

Battlesmith is quite capable. It seems you want to go ranged, which is fine, and crossbow expert allows you to fire at 5ft targets without any issue.

I just want to remind you that a Gnome riding their Steel Defender is possible, and looks very fun. Not just that, but can also be very powerful.
The SD uses it's reaction to grant disadvantage on someone attacking you, that someone will attack you instead of the SD if you have the Mounted Combatant Feat. It's great synergy.
You also get advantage against small opponents while mounted too (and they are not), but this might not come too often.

Bonus, you kind of frustrate your DM debuff, since you'll be using your SD movement (which is 40ft, so faster than a human). Hell, you can even grab heavy armor if you take a feat/multiclass and have zero issues with movement as long as your SD is up. And the only reliable way to put your SD down is with AoE spells, strong ones, but bringing the SD back isn't a huge issue.

With that disadvantage combo and Shield spell, you are pretty tanky already. Investing on extra defense can be overkill, and maybe you are better enhancing a party member item.

Is multiclassing on? You apply for Life Cleric, which really boosts your Aura of Vitality spell that you get from Battlesmith, which will allow you to heal for 2d6+5 with a bonus action, meaning you'll be a superb tank, quite mobile (despite your DM best attempts), will support your buddies with magic items, and a very decent combat healer. One hell of a presence in combat. Your DM will think you are one cheeky mofo for riding the SD though.

[Sirion8288]

Battlesmith is quite capable. It seems you want to go ranged, which is fine, and crossbow expert allows you to fire at 5ft targets without any issue.

I just want to remind you that a Gnome riding their Steel Defender is possible, and looks very fun. Not just that, but can also be very powerful.
The SD uses it's reaction to grant disadvantage on someone attacking you, that someone will attack you instead of the SD if you have the Mounted Combatant Feat. It's great synergy.
You also get advantage against small opponents while mounted too (and they are not), but this might not come too often.

Bonus, you kind of frustrate your DM debuff, since you'll be using your SD movement (which is 40ft, so faster than a human). Hell, you can even grab heavy armor if you take a feat/multiclass and have zero issues with movement as long as your SD is up. And the only reliable way to put your SD down is with AoE spells, strong ones, but bringing the SD back isn't a huge issue.

With that disadvantage combo and Shield spell, you are pretty tanky already. Investing on extra defense can be overkill, and maybe you are better enhancing a party member item.

Is multiclassing on? You apply for Life Cleric, which really boosts your Aura of Vitality spell that you get from Battlesmith, which will allow you to heal for 2d6+5 with a bonus action, meaning you'll be a superb tank, quite mobile (despite your DM best attempts), will support your buddies with magic items, and a very decent combat healer. One hell of a presence in combat. Your DM will think you are one cheeky mofo for riding the SD though.

I did not even consider riding the steel defender! I somehow assumed it was the size of a parrot or something, something that would ride on my shoulder. But YA! It's size is medium and I am small, I can totally ride this thing, cool. This would be badass, riding a mechanical creature into battle. Definitely counteracts my movement speed of 20.

How do you figure I can do 5 attacks? Normal attack action, I get an extra attack action, haste allows one extra attack action (specifically states "one weapon Attack only" so I wont benefit from an extra attack action), and then bonus attack with crossbow expert. I only see 4 attacks max as an option. How do you get the 5th?

I like the idea of putting one lvl in Cleric Life Domain for that added healing...however, I cannot benefit from heavy armor unless I change around my stats. Move one of my natural 18s to Str, cuz right now its an 8. DM is making my STR a minus 2 due to the disease my character was inflicted with. What about instead of the Resilience feat, I take the Mending Affinity feat. Get to heal myself for an extra +5 (current proficiency). If I do Aura of Vitality build, I need to use bonus action for that, won't be able to use Crossbow Expert bonus action for extra attack. HmmmmÂ…

[Sherlockpwns]

One quick note, while it's a little unclear if it is RAW, using a shield and a hand crossbow at the same time is possible but ONLY if you take the Repeating Shot infusion, NOT the enhance weapon one as you had written.

Some other fun ideas involving infusions: Because you are starting at level 13 you can use one of them to give yourself Gauntlets of Ogre Power, which means you can wear Plate Armor (In fact, it can be Plate +2).

So some fun uses of the 3 infusions you have left (knowing you must use one of the repeating shot).

Massive AC
Ogre Power Gloves
+2 Shield
+2 Plate Armor
= Base AC of 24.
30 when you cast shield.
+ Defender's reaction to give an enemy disadvantage once per turn
= Win?

In this scenario not only are you getting a huge boost to your STR for any str saves / checks, but it is effectively +2 to AC as well. Sneaking will be a thing of the past though ;)

Super Steel Defender
You need to get DM permission for at least half of this, but the question that must be asked is "Can your defender attune a magic item?" - if so... plop some winged boots on him (and at least the boots of spider climb on you so you don't fall to your death) and fly around shooting people.

But Sherlock, you say, the steel defender is not doing anything but acting as a flying mount! Oh ho! This half usually doesn't require DM approval. At level 11 you get Spell Storing Item. Attach it to your dog (I suggest his mouth). Install the spell (lol) Web or Catapult (and some ammo storage) and let it use its action to activate the spell. It is thematically one of the coolest parts about Battlesmith imo!

For the third item, get whatever you want. Boring cloak of protection for +1 AC and +1 save is probably the best for combat.

Resist... everything?
Breastplate + shield is decent AC on its own (especially if you can pick up something magical that doesn't use an infusion). So focus on where you are weaker. Saves. I'd consider

Boots of Winter
Cloak of Protection
Ventilating Lungs
(Alternatively, replace any of these with broach of shielding).

Each of these items either gives you a resistance (and some other effect) or in the case of the cloak, just +1 save and +1 AC. The lungs are probably the most interesting, making you basically immune to dangerous gasses, hostile environmental effects and advantage against ALL breath weapons (How they help against a dragon's fire breath is beyond me).




On Mounted Combat
As for riding your steel defender in general, I strongly recommend the Mounted Combatant feat. Being able to force people to attack you instead of your mount is huge, plus evasion on your mount and your ability to add your int (+5) to its save will be big helps. Don't be afraid to let your mount take a little damage though, it's easy to heal.

[Quietus]

One quick note, while it's a little unclear if it is RAW, using a shield and a hand crossbow at the same time is possible but ONLY if you take the Repeating Shot infusion, NOT the enhance weapon one as you had written.

Some other fun ideas involving infusions: Because you are starting at level 13 you can use one of them to give yourself Gauntlets of Ogre Power, which means you can wear Plate Armor (In fact, it can be Plate +2).

So some fun uses of the 3 infusions you have left (knowing you must use one of the repeating shot).

Massive AC
Ogre Power Gloves
+2 Shield
+2 Plate Armor
= Base AC of 24.
30 when you cast shield.
+ Defender's reaction to give an enemy disadvantage once per turn
= Win?



Your math is off. For one, you can only infuse a single thing with the +2 enhanced defense. You can do enhanced defense full plate and repulsion shield, though. Also, Shield only adds 5. So you're "only" at a base AC of 23, or 28 when shielding.

[Sirion8288]

One quick note, while it's a little unclear if it is RAW, using a shield and a hand crossbow at the same time is possible but ONLY if you take the Repeating Shot infusion, NOT the enhance weapon one as you had written.

Some other fun ideas involving infusions: Because you are starting at level 13 you can use one of them to give yourself Gauntlets of Ogre Power, which means you can wear Plate Armor (In fact, it can be Plate +2).

So some fun uses of the 3 infusions you have left (knowing you must use one of the repeating shot).

Massive AC
Ogre Power Gloves
+2 Shield
+2 Plate Armor
= Base AC of 24.
30 when you cast shield.
+ Defender's reaction to give an enemy disadvantage once per turn
= Win?

In this scenario not only are you getting a huge boost to your STR for any str saves / checks, but it is effectively +2 to AC as well. Sneaking will be a thing of the past though ;)

Super Steel Defender
You need to get DM permission for at least half of this, but the question that must be asked is "Can your defender attune a magic item?" - if so... plop some winged boots on him (and at least the boots of spider climb on you so you don't fall to your death) and fly around shooting people.

But Sherlock, you say, the steel defender is not doing anything but acting as a flying mount! Oh ho! This half usually doesn't require DM approval. At level 11 you get Spell Storing Item. Attach it to your dog (I suggest his mouth). Install the spell (lol) Web or Catapult (and some ammo storage) and let it use its action to activate the spell. It is thematically one of the coolest parts about Battlesmith imo!

For the third item, get whatever you want. Boring cloak of protection for +1 AC and +1 save is probably the best for combat.

Resist... everything?
Breastplate + shield is decent AC on its own (especially if you can pick up something magical that doesn't use an infusion). So focus on where you are weaker. Saves. I'd consider

Boots of Winter
Cloak of Protection
Ventilating Lungs
(Alternatively, replace any of these with broach of shielding).

Each of these items either gives you a resistance (and some other effect) or in the case of the cloak, just +1 save and +1 AC. The lungs are probably the most interesting, making you basically immune to dangerous gasses, hostile environmental effects and advantage against ALL breath weapons (How they help against a dragon's fire breath is beyond me).




On Mounted Combat
As for riding your steel defender in general, I strongly recommend the Mounted Combatant feat. Being able to force people to attack you instead of your mount is huge, plus evasion on your mount and your ability to add your int (+5) to its save will be big helps. Don't be afraid to let your mount take a little damage though, it's easy to heal.


I can use a shield and hand crossbow cuz is Crossbow Expert (ignore loading properties). I envision this like Terminator 2, where Arnold is driving the motorcycle with one hand, other hand he is shooting the shotgun. When he reloads, he does some trick maneuver and reloads by flipping/spinning the shotgun. He basically has Shotgun/Crossbow Expert feat and ignores loading properties lol.

Gauntlets of Ogre Power! Plate Armor....YES! I can start off with 24 AC, badass. But how does Shield boosts that to 30 total AC? Shield just adds +5.

My DM wouldn't let me give my Steel Defender magical items. He said for a campaign, sure, but not for this one shot. DAMN! But he will let me ride the Steel Defender as a mount. So the Mounted Combat feat sounds perfect.

I will have the feats Crossbow Expert, Sharpshooter, and Mounted Combat. I will also have the infusions Enhanced Defense (+2 to both Shield and Plate Armor), Enhance Weapon (+2 to Hand Crossbow), and the Gauntlets and Ogre Power.

[Sherlockpwns]

So the previous post was correct. Can’t have two of the same infusion, so you can swap out the armor or shield for a cloak of protection or shield of repulse and have 1 less ac.

However, you misread the crossbow expert feat. While it does remove the loading property, it does not remove the ammunition property, which states you must have a free hand.

However, the infusion i suggest states the crossbow creates its own ammo, which at the very least implies that the ammunition property is ignored.

And finally, I am apparently very forgetful. Yes, shield is only +5. So you are a base ac of 23 with a buff to 28. Or more with a shield of faith? Lol.

Enjoy your mounted archer! I’m sure it will be a blast.

[Quietus]

So the previous post was correct. Can’t have two of the same infusion, so you can swap out the armor or shield for a cloak of protection or shield of repulse and have 1 less ac.

However, you misread the crossbow expert feat. While it does remove the loading property, it does not remove the ammunition property, which states you must have a free hand.

However, the infusion i suggest states the crossbow creates its own ammo, which at the very least implies that the ammunition property is ignored.

And finally, I am apparently very forgetful. Yes, shield is only +5. So you are a base ac of 23 with a buff to 28. Or more with a shield of faith? Lol.

Enjoy your mounted archer! I’m sure it will be a blast.

Shield of Faith, or, Artificer does get Haste. =P

[Sirion8288]

Your math is off. For one, you can only infuse a single thing with the +2 enhanced defense. You can do enhanced defense full plate and repulsion shield, though. Also, Shield only adds 5. So you're "only" at a base AC of 23, or 28 when shielding.

Damn, you're right. :P

[Alucard89]

The good build for Battle Smith could be Kobold 1 Ranger/X Battle Smith with Greatsword + GWM + Hunter's Mark

Your Steel Defender is your ally and can attack on your bonus action. With your Pact Tactics you would always attack with advantage thanks to your Steel Defender being next to you or you could just ride it because you are kobold. You would have to start with 15 CON and 15 INT taking first ASI +1 to both and second ASI +2 INT. So it's not that optimal but it should work with you attacking for 2 x (2d6 + 4 + 10 + 1d6) with advantage + bonus action Steel Defender for 1d8 + 2 + Proficiency, doing quite nice DPR per turn.

So a little bit of Magic Battle Smith Rider :).

The reason why I think kobold work best is becase of pact tactics and you have free ally on you all the time.

It's DPR is actually impressive. On level 1/10 attacking with GWM + advantage + Greatsowrd infused +2 with Steel Defender + Hunter's Mark that is DPR of 50 vs AC 17.


EDIT: Forgot about small race penalty to heavy weapons. Just scratch GWM out. It's not worth anyway. With just GS without GWM your DPR vs AC 17 is 42.5 DPR.

So a very good, solid DPR with Artificer rider.

[stoutstien]

The good build for Battle Smith could be Kobold 1 Ranger/X Battle Smith with Greatsword + GWM + Hunter's Mark

Your Steel Defender is your ally and can attack on your bonus action. With your Pact Tactics you would always attack with advantage thanks to your Steel Defender being next to you or you could just ride it because you are kobold. You would have to start with 15 CON and 15 INT taking first ASI +1 to both and second ASI +2 INT. So it's not that optimal but it should work with you attacking for 2 x (2d6 + 4 + 10 + 1d6) with advantage + bonus action Steel Defender for 1d8 + 2 + Proficiency, doing quite nice DPR per turn.

So a little bit of Magic Battle Smith Rider :).

The reason why I think kobold work best is becase of pact tactics and you have free ally on you all the time.

It's DPR is actually impressive. On level 1/10 attacking with GWM + advantage + Greatsowrd infused +2 with Steel Defender + Hunter's Mark that is DPR of 50 vs AC 17.

Other than having permanent normal attack rolls with advantage and disadvantage cancellation due to using a heavy weapon as a small race.

[Alucard89]

Other than having permanent normal attack rolls with advantage and disadvantage cancellation due to using a heavy weapon as a small race.

Hah! Correct, totally missed that. It's probably due to fact that nobody ever plays small races so I never even had a chance to see that rule in gameplay. My bad.

Ok, so we need to forget GWM and use just a greatsword then. It's still good DPR with Hunter's Mark.

So our DPR without GWM just with 18 INT and using GS + HM + Infusion + Iron Defender vs AC 17 is 42.5 DPR

Still solid for half-caster and I would even say that GWM is not worth the difference here. Especially that vs AC of 18+ you would be better without using GWM penalty anyway.

[Sherlockpwns]

An extra item I forgot. To get heavy armor you'll need either a multiclass level or the heavy armor prof feat. Fighter 1 is the most likely, since it will net you second wind, heavy armor, and a fighting style (first level fighter, then all artificer).

Just realized this last night, lol.

[Dudu]

I did not even consider riding the steel defender! I somehow assumed it was the size of a parrot or something, something that would ride on my shoulder. But YA! It's size is medium and I am small, I can totally ride this thing, cool. This would be badass, riding a mechanical creature into battle. Definitely counteracts my movement speed of 20.

How do you figure I can do 5 attacks? Normal attack action, I get an extra attack action, haste allows one extra attack action (specifically states "one weapon Attack only" so I wont benefit from an extra attack action), and then bonus attack with crossbow expert. I only see 4 attacks max as an option. How do you get the 5th?

I like the idea of putting one lvl in Cleric Life Domain for that added healing...however, I cannot benefit from heavy armor unless I change around my stats. Move one of my natural 18s to Str, cuz right now its an 8. DM is making my STR a minus 2 due to the disease my character was inflicted with. What about instead of the Resilience feat, I take the Mending Affinity feat. Get to heal myself for an extra +5 (current proficiency). If I do Aura of Vitality build, I need to use bonus action for that, won't be able to use Crossbow Expert bonus action for extra attack. HmmmmÂ…
You're not having a 5th attack. I said you can attack 5ft with no penalty. Normally, you get disadvantage for a ranged attack when adjacent to enemy, but due to crossbow expert you don't have such hindrance.

And the Str isn't mandatory for the armor. The Str requirement is just so you won't be slowed down by armor (dwarves skip this requirement alltogether), which you don't give a damn, because the one doing the move action is the Steel Defender anyway.

The Aura of Vitality thing is a tradeoff. It's great healing for spell slot spent, even greater with Life Cleric slapped on (+5 to the healing).

[Farias123]

So it's not that optimal but it should work with you attacking for 2 x (2d6 + 4 + 10 + 1d6) with advantage + bonus action Steel Defender for 1d8 + 2 + Proficiency, doing quite nice DPR per turn.

So, I think you've made a mistake, the damage of the Steel Defender is 1d8+ Proficiency, since on level 1 it deals 2, and is stated that it "goes up by one" instead of "you add your proficiency" to the damage.

[Sirion8288]

Why not a kobold with lv1 fighter (get archery fighting style = +2 bonus to attack rolls you make with a ranged weapon), rest of levels in battle smith, then get the feats crossbow expert and sharpshooter? Would that not be SO much extra DPS, with Arcane Weapon and/or Haste? This seems like it would have so much more damage output.

[Farias123]

Why not a kobold with lv1 fighter (get archery fighting style = +2 bonus to attack rolls you make with a ranged weapon), rest of levels in battle smith, then get the feats crossbow expert and sharpshooter? Would that not be SO much extra DPS, with Arcane Weapon and/or Haste? This seems like it would have so much more damage output.
Actually there ain't no Arcane Weapon anymore, the closest we have is Arcane Jolt(+2d6 to a damage roll or heal to an ally, INT mod times per rest)

[Sirion8288]

Actually there ain't no Arcane Weapon anymore, the closest we have is Arcane Jolt(+2d6 to a damage roll or heal to an ally, INT mod times per rest)

My DM is permitting the spell with these changes, at lv1 its a d4, and at lv2 its a d6. Lv3 and above increases duration of time the spell lasts.

[Wagadodo]

And to throw this out there, the Artificer is already proficient in Con Saves, so taking the resilient feat is not really necessary. You might consider taking Durable instead. Still gives you a plus one con, but would actually give you a benefit. And there is really not a lot of Feats out there that gives you a plus to con.

Okay rereading the original post, I don't think you can break the stat increase from the proficiency which save you get. So if you take Con it gives you proficiency in Con Saving throws, or if you want Wis Saving throws you have take the Wis +1 with the Resilient feat.

[Pinba77]

Everybody keeps mentioning "sharing infused items", "supporting party with magic items", but... I'm convinced it has been nerfed in Eberron Rising from the Last War (ERFTLW).

In Unearthed Arcana, the Artificer used to have this sentence: "If the item requires attunement, you can attune yourself to it the instant you infuse the item, or you can forgo attunement so that someone else can attune to the item."

However, in ERFTLW, the part about someone else has been REMOVED. Logically, this means it was done INTENTIONALLY, meaning that sharing infused items is no longer ALLOWED.

Can anyone CONFIRM or PROVE me wrong?




With that disadvantage combo and Shield spell, you are pretty tanky already. Investing on extra defense can be overkill, and maybe you are better enhancing a party member item.

Is multiclassing on? You apply for Life Cleric, which really boosts your Aura of Vitality spell that you get from Battlesmith, which will allow you to heal for 2d6+5 with a bonus action, meaning you'll be a superb tank, quite mobile (despite your DM best attempts), will support your buddies with magic items, and a very decent combat healer.

[stoutstien]

Everybody keeps mentioning "sharing infused items", "supporting party with magic items", but... I'm convinced it has been nerfed in Eberron Rising from the Last War (ERFTLW).

In Unearthed Arcana, the Artificer used to have this sentence: "If the item requires attunement, you can attune yourself to it the instant you infuse the item, or you can forgo attunement so that someone else can attune to the item."

However, in ERFTLW, the part about someone else has been REMOVED. Logically, this means it was done INTENTIONALLY, meaning that sharing infused items is no longer ALLOWED.

Can anyone CONFIRM or PROVE me wrong?

They is nothing preventing the infusions from being shared. If touch was required to maintain the infusion then 1/2 of them would be completely useless. As far as attunement goes if the artificer doesn't attune as part of the infusion process then anyone else can do it per normal rules.

[MaxWilson]

Everybody keeps mentioning "sharing infused items", "supporting party with magic items", but... I'm convinced it has been nerfed in Eberron Rising from the Last War (ERFTLW).

In Unearthed Arcana, the Artificer used to have this sentence: "If the item requires attunement, you can attune yourself to it the instant you infuse the item, or you can forgo attunement so that someone else can attune to the item."

However, in ERFTLW, the part about someone else has been REMOVED. Logically, this means it was done INTENTIONALLY, meaning that sharing infused items is no longer ALLOWED.

Can anyone CONFIRM or PROVE me wrong?

"Can" is not "must" and never has been, and in any case attuning to an item doesn't prevent someone else from attuning it. (That's one of the ways attunement can end--if someone else attunes.)

Therefore, the real question is "when an Artificer which requires attunement, is there any rule clause which states that it is a special version of the item which can only be attuned by the Artificer?" and the answer is "No."

Furthermore, some of the Artificer's better items don't require attunement anyway, so even if your DM decides for some reason that only the Artificer can attune the items, you can still pass out the magical repeating one-handed crossbow (usable with a shield because loading is not needed) and +2 weapon and +2 armor to your party, and just keep the Amulet of Health and Headband of Intellect for yourself. Two magical weapons and a solid armor bonus is excellent party support.