Artificer/Firearm optimization help

[Gruzzle]

Soooooo I started a campaign recently. It's a 7 player party, and I was the last to submit a character. The highest intelligence among the other 6 characters is Int 10 on the druid. Everyone else is an 8 Int. We also had no ranged weapon attackers. No thieves tools prof.

As a result, I knew what I needed to do. Make a fighter! Kind of kidding, I followed the Thunderball build from D4, with Intelligence and rogue-ish vibes. The DM then gifted us with a free starting feat, but banned custom lineage and variant Human. So mountain dwarf was my pick, with crossbow expert. 17 int & 17 Dex, 12 con, and 13 wis.

At character level 4 (Fighter 1/Artificer 3) the DM gave me an option, due to in game RP, to hot-swap my feat for Gunslinger (not Gunner) and craft a pistol with the Master Artificer in the Capitol City who we'd done favors for already.

I picked armorer as my subclass, more on autopilot than anything. But I've been thinking lately that I'm at a point that I should deviate from Thunderball? Perhaps Battle Smith would have been better? My DM might be persuaded to allow me to change, we're about to hit character level 5, and I dunno if I should abandon the 4-class build and just go straight fighter from here? If so, what subclass? Eldritch Knight is possible, since my Int is 17, but Battle Master might be better and I just focus Dex from here on out?

My understanding of The Thunderball is that buffing the lightning launcher is the focus of the build, but I feel like my pistol is unequivocally superior to the Lightning Launcher, so I'm better off using all attacks with my Repeater- infused pistol. Further, we have some Very Unstealthy party members and the group generally never tries to approach things quietly, so the other Infiltrator armor bonuses are less interesting.

So, brilliant theory crafters, min maxers, and optimizers of all stripes... Where would you recommend I go from here? Party definitely still relying on me for all things intelligence, and my sustained dpr FAR outstrips the rest of the crew as well so I almost always have bless and the druid often casts fairie fire before I do.

Alternative: thoughts on 5 fighter levels for extra attack then rogue the rest of the way. Not sure about sub-classes for either fighter or rogue yet tho. If I respect Battle Smith then my attacks key off intelligence, first ASI will be sharpshooter but I was kind of planning on my next ASI/feat going to bumping Dex & Int both to 18? So that's not strictly important. I have full plate currently. Maybe staying armorer vs battle Smith isn't terrible, since my armor gives no penalties despite having an 8 strength?

[RogueJK]

Since you started with a 17 INT and 17 DEX, there's not really a compelling need to chase Battle Smith's INT attacks. And with 7 people in your party, you almost certainly won't need an 8th party member with the Battle Smith's Steel Companion. So there's not much incentive to switch subclasses in my mind.

And being an Armorer who focuses on Firearms actually opens up your ability to be a versatile "switch hitter", wearing the Guardian Armor but mainly utilizing your Firearm. This lets you make DEX-based gun attacks primarily, but also wade in with INT-based melee attacks when you're forced into melee, or provided the chance to make an opportunity attack, or just when you need to protect some more fragile allies with the gauntlet's rider effect. You can also boost yourself with Temp HP when needed. And you're not missing out on much from not wearing the Infiltrator Armor, since you stated that you prefer the Firearm to the Lightning Launcher, and aren't utilizing the Stealth boost at all.


(Note: I'm not sure what the "Gunslinger" feat you referenced does, since I can't seem to find anything about it... That might change my recommendation.)

So if you stick with Armorer and focus on Firearms, I'd probably do something like a basic Armorer with a Fighter dip for Archery fighting style and possibly Action Surge:
Fighter 1/Artificer 3 -> Fighter 1/Artificer 5 -> maybe Fighter 2/Artificer 5 -> Fighter 1 or 2/Artificer X

Basically get your 2nd level spells and Extra Attack online ASAP, then consider whether to go back to Fighter for a 2nd level for Action Surge, and then straight Artificer from there. Wear Guardian Armor but focus on your firearm, as described above.

ASIs would be Gunslinger (whatever that is) at 1, then 18 INT/18 DEX next level at Artificer 4, then either Sharpshooter or 20 DEX at Artificer 8 and the other at 12.

No need to add in any other multiclassing, though if you were dead-set on adding Rogue levels, then likewise the best chance would be to wait until after hitting Artificer 5 before adding in any Rogue levels. But I don't think lower level Rogue levels gain you anything that would be better than your higher level Artificer stuff like extra attunement slots and more/better infusions, Flash of Genius, Spell Storing Items, 3rd level spells, etc., unless you're wanting to focus purely on boosting your ranged damage output with Sneak Attack to the exclusion of all else.

[Gruzzle]

Perhaps my DM customized the feat I'm using, but it's basically crossbow expert for firearms? This is what my DnDbeyond shows:

Gunslinger

Thanks to extensive practice with Firearms, you gain the following benefits:

You ignore the loading property of firearms with which you are proficient.

Being within 5 feet of a hostile creature doesn’t impose disadvantage on your ranged attack rolls.

When you use the Attack action and attack with a one-handed weapon, you can use a bonus action to attack with a firearm you are holding.

[RogueJK]

Yeah, that's a custom homebrew feat.

In that case, I understand why you view the pistol as superior to the Lightning Launcher. 3x pistol attacks definitely beats 2x lightning attacks, even with the +1d6 damage bonus.

But that detracts even further from the idea of possibly taking Rogue levels, as Gunslinger's 3rd BA attack greatly lessens the utility of the Rogue's BA options of Cunning Action or Steady Aim.

Fighter 1 or 2/Artificer X it is.

[Gruzzle]

we have a ton of casters in the party, actually. I was thinking of going Artificer (Armorer) 3/ Fighter ( ???) X, to eventually get 3 attacks in an action? Battle Master vs Eldritch Knight vs ?

[RogueJK]

Artificer 3/Fighter X is fine, if you don't care about casting. But if you don't care about casting or higher level Artificer abilities, and don't really care about the Armorer's armor abilities, then why go Artificer at all...? Unless it's just a flavor thing.

That multiclass combo also delays your Extra Attack until Character Level 8, which really hurts on a martial character, although that is slightly offset by your BA pistol attack.

The optimal routes here would be either be Fighter 1 or 2/Artificer X with the above suggested progression, or just Fighter X with no artificer and the "smart skilled guy tinkering with guns" thing just being roleplaying flavor and skill/tool proficiencies. (Or perhaps a quick dip into Rogue 1/Fighter X for the additional skill proficiencies and Expertise, if you don't feel that a straight Fighter gets you enough skills for your character concept.)


As for Fighter subclass, if you're going to go Eldritch Knight, you're better off just sticking with Artificer to begin with. You're not going to be utilizing their War Magic ability since your pistol with Gunslinger is better than a cantrip (especially when paired with Sharpshooter too). And you apparently don't care about the casting due to the plethora of party spellcasters. So you're not gaining much of anything from the EK subclass.

Battle Master is a better option, letting you tag additional damage and effects on to your ranged pistol shots.

Another subclass to consider is Rune Knight, which might be the best option here both mechanically and flavor-wise. The flavor goes along with your "crafting/engraving/infusing items" theme, and the bonus damage and rune abilities work with ranged attacks just as well as melee. Plus the Fire Rune gives you Expertise in tool use (like Thieves Tools and Gunsmithing Tools).