Hex or Bane for an Artillerest Artificer

[jojosskul]

I'm currently playing an Artillerest, and we just leveled to 4. I originally took a 17 in Int with the intention of taking Observant at 4 to round it out, but then our DM decided that the 2020 Feats UA was on the table.

Our last encounter was a fairly harrowing one with hags, so I decided to take Fey Touched since it also fits with my characters story arc. Extra casting and spells known on a half caster are AWESOME, but I've run into a bit of a conundrum.

I want my first level Enchantment or Divination spell from the feat to be Hag themed, and have narrowed things down to either Bane or Hex.

Hex, of course, is a potentially huge damage boost, especially when I gain Scorching Ray at level 5. It also works with my cannons. My issue is, when I first cast Hex and when I move Hex I'm not firing my cannon that turn. Then whatever I'm shooting seems like they'd have to survive for a few rounds to make that extra d6 per cannon shot worth it, and then I have to move the Hex again.

Bane is much simpler, it takes an action to cast so I'm not giving up anything more than what I'm giving up when I decided to cast Faerie Fire, or another control spell, instead of a damage spell or cantrip. My bonus action stays free to still give me some damage that turn.

Which do you think I should choose? Hex seems like it could give some great Nova rounds combined with Scorching Ray, but then if I have no cannon at the start of battle my ENTIRE first round of combat is always spent on prep, and moving the Hex is also a concern. I guess my main question is what damage bonus, if any given missed cannon opportunites, would Hex give me? Is the damage mitigation and lowered saves for multiple targets from Bane more worth it for this build?

Thanks in advance!

[KorvinStarmast]

Is the damage mitigation and lowered saves for multiple targets from Bane more worth it for this build? What we like about Bane is that it targets charisma saves. Granted, dragons will do well against Bane, as will a number of devils and demons, but quite a few monster will not. At lower levels, very handy.

While I like hex for a lot of reasons, bane's ability to help other casters score on a spell effect is really nice.

[jojosskul]

What we like about Bane is that it targets charisma saves. Granted, dragons will do well against Bane, as will a number of devils and demons, but quite a few monster will not. At lower levels, very handy.

While I like hex for a lot of reasons, bane's ability to help other casters score on a spell effect is really nice.

That makes sense. I'd forgotten that Bane targets an uncommon save.

I also ran the numbers, damage output wise it looks like a target of Hex would have to survive 3 rounds total to get a decent return on casting Hex on them. If they die in the first round you're down 5.5 damage on average. If they die in the second round you've gained 1.5 average damage, and by the third round you've gained 8.5 average damage.

This is all supposing you're using no resources other than Hex and cantripping every round at level 5, and using a Force Ballista (not a Flame Cannon.) If you cast Scorching Ray on round two, you gain about 8ish average damage over two rounds.

So the longer you expect the monster to survive, the better Hex pays off. But if you spent your concentration on a debuff or buff instead, it'll die faster anyway and you're still doing pretty damn good damage without it.

So yeah, think I'm going with Bane. I appreciate the feedback.

[RogueJK]

Yeah, Hex would be best when fighting single big enemies ("bosses" and "mini-bosses"), so if you DM likes to primarily throw these at you, Hex could be useful.

Bane is better for groups of enemies, but is still potentially useful against single big enemies. This is the better all-around pick, IMO. Especially if your party contains other casters that rely on Saving Throw spells.

[kaervaak]

Hex if you use the force ballista more often, bane if you use the flamethrower.

Hex is great for single target damage, but artillerists are best at multi-target damage. I'd recommend bane since you can target multiple enemies and it both ups your flame thrower damage and hinders their attacks.