The artificer returns

[jaappleton]

Not really, besides the janktastic mount rules.

You and your mount still have separate turns, so if you want to mount your beast, the beast's movement is separate from yours. This means that you can't do hit-and-run tactics without you Readying your action before your mount moves, and it means that enemies will be more likely to attack you (as any attack that can be made on the mount can instead be directed at the rider).

It's not a terrible combo, though. With some Cavalier levels, for easy modifications to your strategy, higher HP pool, better armor and eventual Mounted Combatant feat, it'd be a good strategy. Just keep in mind that the default Artificer companion is designed to take hits for you, and riding it will basically reverse the roles. And the default Artificer is about as tanky as a Druid.

Well, a Gnome's speed is 25ft.

Iron Guardian's speed is 40.

"Hi ho Silver, awaaayyy!"

Riding it while shooting an infinitely reloading crossbow via infusions seems like a pretty good way to kite enemies. Sure, there's more optimal things you could do, but are there more fun things?

[MaxWilson]

Careful with that Max, if you switch it to bonus action, by lvl 5 you'd be doing 4 attacks a round, Action = Att + Extra Attack, BA = Beast Attack + Beastmaster extra attack when pet attacks.

The Beastmaster attack-when-your-pet-takes-the-Attack-Action clause would go away as part of the rewrite--it's no longer needed.

Also, the class was written with an Action to command the beast in mind, the lvl 7 feature would become redundant, and the lvl 11 feature would allow 3 ranger + 2 pet attacks per round.

Acknowledged. You'd need to rewrite some of the other features including the level 7 feature.

Net effect is that a level 5 Beastmaster would getting Attack + Extra Attack + Beast Attack at level 5, which seems okay, considering that a level 5 Fighter can get beast attacks also just by purchasing a bunch of mastiffs.

I should mention that I've started giving summons and hirelings a share of the combat XP, which IMO is the only way to make summoning spells and Animate Dead a situational tactic instead of an obvious go-to tactic. (Your share of the total XP is your CR or level, rounded up, divided by total CRs or levels also rounded up. Four level 8 PCs and eight CR 1/4 conjured wolves will result in PCs losing out on 20% of total XP, but four level 8 PCs and one conjured CR 2 Giant Constrictor Snake will only cost them about 6% of their XP, making the higher-CR Conjure Animal options more relatively attractive for tough-but-not-deadly fights.)

Without this XP tweak, purchased mastiffs would be overpowered, and Beastmasters-with-a-bonus-action-command would be somewhat overpowered.

[Rukelnikov]

The Beastmaster attack-when-your-pet-takes-the-Attack-Action clause would go away as part of the rewrite--it's no longer needed.

Acknowledged. You'd need to rewrite some of the other features including the level 7 feature.

Net effect is that a level 5 Beastmaster would getting Attack + Extra Attack + Beast Attack at level 5, which seems okay, considering that a level 5 Fighter can get beast attacks also just by purchasing a bunch of mastiffs.

Sounds ok, I'd still just go with revised though.

I should mention that I've started giving summons and hirelings a share of the combat XP, which IMO is the only way to make summoning spells and Animate Dead a situational tactic instead of an obvious go-to tactic. (Your share of the total XP is your CR or level, rounded up, divided by total CRs or levels also rounded up. Four level 8 PCs and eight CR 1/4 conjured wolves will result in PCs losing out on 20% of total XP, but four level 8 PCs and one conjured CR 2 Giant Constrictor Snake will only cost them about 6% of their XP, making the higher-CR Conjure Animal options more relatively attractive for tough-but-not-deadly fights.)

Without this XP tweak, purchased mastiffs would be overpowered, and Beastmasters-with-a-bonus-action-command would be somewhat overpowered.

That's an awesome system! Its elegant and simple enough, and fixed not only that problem, but also a lvl 1 char going with a party of 3 lvl 20s, and becoming lvl 7 in a day. If I don't fully switch to milestone advancement next time I DM, I'll probably borrow that one.

[MeeposFire]

Res(Wis) and Res(Dex) look pretty appealing at Level 12/16 for a Battle Smith once you max Intelligence. You're level 20 saves could look something like +10/+18/+20/+18/+21/+9.

Just so you know you cannot take both Res (wis) and Res (dex) on the same character. You can only take a feat once so you can only take resilient once and that feat is not a feat specified that you can take more than once. So you will have to reduce one of your saves a bit.

[Misterwhisper]

Ok, I finally got some free time, so an analysis.

Let's start at the top and go down.

- D8 HD, ok no problem there, not quite as much as a paladin or ranger, but same as the cleric/druid/rogue, but let's face it this is really just a 3/4 caster they are trying to put in the game with rules that never had 3/4 casters in it, so D8 is about right.

- Light and medium armor and shields.
Like cleric/druid/ranger
Personally I do not think they should get shields but whatever.

- Simple weapons + Crossbows
This was obviously just put there to make sure that people could get the most out of one of their infusions.

- Thieves and tinkers tools, + 1 extra artisan tools.
Fits thematically but a little much honestly.
With a background you can easily start with 5 tool proficiencies, more if you get one from race.

- 2 Skills from well, let's face it what choices you have mean nothing because anyone can get any skill they want from a background.
2 skills i honestly find odd considering they are supposed to be the magical skill guys, but I guess bards already do that.

- Saves of Con + Int
Well that is about the best that any caster would ever want. Main casting stat and the Con for your concentration checks.
Huge bonus there.

Equipment: Who cares? it never really matters what you start with.

CLASS ABILITIES:

Magical Tinkering:
Mostly a ribbon, tinkering based Prestidigitation essentially.


CASTING:
A: "To observers, you
don’t appear to be casting spells in a
conventional way; you look as if you’re
producing wonders through various items"

Gee, I wonder how long it will be before people try to argue that you can't counterspell an artificer because you can't see them casting...
That is a VERY bad sentence to put in the description that is just screaming to be metagamed by powergamers.

B. Also, they get spells starting at level 1, no other non-full caster gets that.


C. Cantrips:
Wait, they are a "1/2" caster that gets cantrips? That is hugely insulting to the Paladins and Rangers out there who never get them.

D. Prepared Spells:
Ok, so they auto know all their spells and pick which ones they want at the end of a long rest like a cleric...
SO at level 2 you can KNOW the same number of spells as a level SEVEN paladin or ranger, on top of cantrips they never get.
ALSO, you get to change them after a short rest.
That better be a small and unimpressive list... oh wait.

E. Int based casting:
Ok, no problem there, the game needed more than just one class who would put intelligence as a priority anyway.

D: Ritual Casting:
Can cast ritual spells you currently know if they are rituals. A small plus but not huge.

SPELL LIST:

Cantrips:
Most of the common wizard cantrips but a few I find odd -
Why do they get Thorn Whip? That does not fit at all to me.
Guidance - ok that one is a little out of place, personally I find it one of the best cantrips in the game.

I also noticed that they do NOT get Booming Blade or GFB.
Why they don't is pretty obvious when you get to level 5.
Also, High elves make great artificers and they would probably just pick it anyway.

1st level:
They get absorb elements but not shield, and cure wounds but not inflict.
They also get sanctuary, while not over powerful I do find it odd how many cleric spells they get.

2nd level:
Heat metal is very nice to have, other than that nothing jumps out... I will get to the new spells in their section.

3rd level:
Dispell, haste, revivify, fly, lots of good choices cherrypicked around other classes.

4th level:
Odd that they would get Private Sanctum, but not magic hut earlier.

5th level:
Nothing too off or out there this level.

LEVEL 2:
Infuse Items:
Essentially you start knowing 3 infusions and can use 2 at a time but not the same one twice.
Basically making magic items for a while.

INFUSIONS:

Boots of winding path:
Just a copied ability from the mystic nomad class.
Kind of like a bonus action disengage that is a teleport.

Enhance Armor/Shield:
Not sure why they put these together considering some people might want to use it on both.
Easy choice for early level defense to keep things simple.
Very nice choice.

Enhance Wand:
Pretty much 2/3 of wand of the war mage, that can apply to any wand.
Considering how easy it is to craft a wand of the war mage depending on your subclass, usually meh.

Enhance Weapon:
Give a weapon +1 to hit/damage
Warlocks have to be a certain subclass, spend an invocation, and can't get it til 3.
This is very good but should have a level requirement.
Forge clerics can do something like it at level 1 but that is also amazingly good for them as well.
It like most others of its type, autoscales at level 12, which nobody else's can do.

Many Handed Pouch:
I can see specific ways this could come in handy depending on the game but not one I would pick at level 2 or anything.

Radiant weapon:
+1 hit and damage
1/SR chance to blind someone who hits you... ok but not great.

Repeating Shot:
Ok this one I have a problem with.
+1 to hit and damage just like enhance weapon.
But it lets you use a hand crossbow with one hand and use the other one for a shield/other weapon/whatever.
CBE with people machine gunning hand crossbows was already VERY powerful and now they can do it while using a shield too.
Nope, that is not cool. That is just mad power gaming munchkinry.

Replicate Magic Item:
How good or bad this is is completely dependent on how much your dm gives out magic items.

Repulsion shield:
Like Radiant Weapon but on a shield... meh.

Resistant Armor:
This an the other enhancements I think should all come with the requirement of a "non-magical item"
Also the idea that force and psychic are on the list i think is a bit much.

Returning Weapon:
Again same as Repeating shot.
There is finally a way to make a thrown weapon worth it and it gets a +1 hit and damage on top.
I would have no problem with this or Repeating Shot, if they also just released a normal magic item with those properties.
The only way to do that otherwise was a Dwarven Thrower, in my opinion the best weapon in the game.

NEW SPELL:

Arcane Weapon:
1d6 damage, concentration, bonus acton for a level 1 spell.
Not bad at all, kind of like their version of hex/hunter's mark
If they get it, it should be added to a few other classes too though.

SUBCLASSES WILL BE AT THE BOTTOM:

Level 3 Tool specialist:
Expertise in tool proficiency...
You could EASILY have 5 - 7 of them at this point, that is crazy powerful.
A rogue has to choose one of their 4 expertise to take in thieves tools if the want it but artificers get it free, and expertise in MANY more as well.
That is too good, especially with a class that also gets guidance.

ASI:
Same as most people so no biggie there.

LEVEL 5:

Arcane Armament:
Why not just call it extra attack, it would make things simpler.
Also, this class is easily powerful enough to not need extra attack.

LEVEL 10:

Right Cantrip for the Job:
Not bad, but by level 10 how often will you ever need to use it.

LEVEL 18:

Spell Storing Item:
Ok, it is level 18 so I know it should be really powerful, but come one.
I can put a buff or whatever spell I want in an item and then use it up to 10 times without having to recharge it.
AND it does not make me lose the spell
AND I do not even have to have it on my list any more
AND It says nothing about concentration...

Long rest: here have 10 cure wounds laying around, have 10 concentration free arcane weapons for the group of whatever element we want, 10 invisibilities on the way.

This needs some limitations cleared up.

LEVEL 20:

Soul of Artifice:
So you can attune up to 6 items all of a sudden.
Kind of seems like this should be spaced out over the class more.
Wait, you ALSO get a +1 to all saves for each one, so you just poof into getting the saves of a paladin as if they had a charisma of 22...
That is crazy.
6 attuned items is not so crazy if spread out, the save bonus on top is too much.


SUBCLASSES:
Here come the issues.

The class is amazing and powerful as is, but now we get subclasses too.

ALCHEMIST:

2 MORE tools, so now you can easily have 7 tool proficiencies ALL with expertise, by level 3...
I guess every other person in the group might as well just have a seat in all tool/kit related activities, you have it all covered.

BONUS SPELLS:
Nothing to write home about, all good to have around for free, speaking of which, Warlocks do not get their patron spells for free, they only get the choice to pick them to take up their small spells known slots, and PHB rangers do not even get bonus spells, that was all added in the "definitely not power creep" subclasses later.

Homonculous:
Essentially an enhanced familiar that is a construct.
- can be healed by a cantrip
- can bonus action help....

hold on...

Free pet that can bonus action help, guidance cantrip, 5 to 7 tool proficiencies all with expertise.

Might as well just tell your dm not to bother ever using checks that require tools use, you are just going to win.

- very easy to bring back if by chance it dies.
- Gains bonuses when you gain proficiency bonuses...
Hold on... are we going to go back and give that to any other class that gets a pet/enhanced familiar.
Nope, that will never happen, because they refuse to reprint the PHB with all the additions and fixes.
Sorry Chain Warlock and Beastmaster Rangers, no new goodies for you, have to play the new stuff if you want the things you should have had.
But again, definitely not power creep.

Alchemical Salve:

Inspiration: who needs a bard when you have the guidance cantrip and magic familiar spit.

Resilience: 2d6 + int THP, really? Almost like double false life 3/day.

Also is it 3/day per homunculus or 3/day for you?
Could you kill the little guy, make a new one and get 3 more?

Alchemical Mastery:
INT to healing and poison/acid damage.
Poison is resisted so much and so few spells, who cares, but acid is not so bad.
+int to acid splash and things is very nice.
Sorry life clerics, keep your +2 to healing, I will take my INT bonus.
Oh, also, multiple free Lesser Restorations just lying around.

Chemical Savant:
Not that bad, resistance to rather rare damage type and immunity to being poisoned is nice.
1 free greater restoration a day is a good boon.


ARCHIVEST:

Tools: See Alchemist.

BONUS SPELLS:
Some very nice choices here, all of which match the theme.
I am not a fan that dissonant whispers is on the list.
I do not think that subclasses should get class specific spells from other classes.

ARTIFICIAL MIND:
Ok this is going to get complicated.

Telepathic advisor: 2 more skills, so now we are up to minimum 4 skills and 5 tools.

Manifest Mind:
So you make a floating, spectral... thing that:
- has darkvision
- flies
- you can share senses with
- can be the starting point of spells that you can cast through it...
Wait. So unlike other familiars who can deliver touch spells, but will die pretty fast.
This thing can float around, is immune to all effects, you can cast any of your spells through it that you want as if it cast them, while using its senses.
Welcome to 3/4 casting from full cover with complete immunity at level 3 up to INT/LR.
Pretty much pick at least one fight that you can just hide and control.

I liked this ability when it was in Shadowrun and they called it a Rigger.

Wait, it gets even worse...

Information Overload:
Float around looking though your invulnerable specter and can now use your action to use an INT save, (the easiest in the game) ability that does 1d8 psychic damage (one of the lest resisted)
AND it give whoever attacks them advantage on their next attack.
hold on, still more
AFTER it has been a successful damage ability you can blow spell levels to essentially smite with it...

If someone created a wizard subclass that had that ability as a capstone, people would question the brokenness of if.

but wait, there is more.

It is not a spell, so sit behind cover and just use this with impunity up to 300 feet away while invisible if you want.
They can't do anything to it, it is immune.
you do not have to be there, you can use its senses
you are not casting a spell so it does not break invisibly or sanctuary or anything else like that.

but wait there is STILL more.

Mind Network

Psychic Damage: Now you can add your INT to damage of your floating, invisible, psychic ball of death.
oh, you can also telepathically communicate across the world or even other planes.

But wait there is STILL STILL more.

Pure Information:

Now when you psychic smite someone they must make an intelligence save or be stunned until the end of your next turn.
So, int save, scaling 1d8 + int damage, can smite, if you smite they have to save or be stunned for at least a turn, can do it from 300 feet away, from cover, and it is immune to effects and abilities...

who the hell made this?

Oh, also you can teleport to your floating death machine or any of your other magic items once for free or with any level 2 spell slot or above...


ARTILERIST:

The remnants of Mike Mearles try to rip off another video game...

Tools and crafting wands: Same as the others, mostly meh.
Wands can be handy to have, there are some good choices on the spell list for them.

Bonus Spells:
Gains the Shield spell, that is nice to have.
The rest are just blasting spells mainly.

Arcane Turret:

Well this just flies in the face of the idea of not liking sci-fi in fantasy settings.
Many people love the ideas of flintlock or similar firearms in their DND and some hate the concept, some at WOTC hate it as well.
So how do we cover this, let's keep firearms as an optional rule in the DMG but go ahead and make a subclass that pulls out a tool box and Team Fort's a walking mechanical gun turret...
I do not see this EVER hitting print but on we go.

1. It takes an action to summon.
That makes sense and works out fine.

2. "Has to be summoned on horizontal surface"
That is just begging to get argued with.
"Sorry, you can't summon your turret, the floor is sloped."
"Can't summon there, it is rough terrain."
Why not just say that you can summon it within 5 feet, why make it complicated and create arguments.

3. It has HP = to 5*your artificer level...
So it has fewer HP than a homunculus?
Why does the walking crab machine that is magical and has an 18 flat AC have less HP than your familiar?

4. AC of 18.
Seems a little high to me, but whatever.
What is it made of?
Can it be targeted by Heat Metal?

5. Immune to poison and psychic damage and all conditions.
Immune to poison and psychic damage, ok, that makes sense.
Immune to ALL conditions?
So it is immune to being prone even though it walks around?
Immune to being grappled? Why?
So you can't knock it over or hold it down for some reason.
Can't be restrained or stunned. Ok no problem, it is a machine.
Technically this also means it can't be invisible.

6. Healed by a cantrip and lasts 10 mins.
Ok. That is fine.
It seems that it is perfectly ok for artificers to just give the finger to everyone else when it comes to healing pets.

7. Bonus action to activate the turret or make it walk 15 feet.
So it can't be summoned on anything but "horizontal surfaces" but it can climb... that is stupid.
It is quite slow, and because it can't be grappled or anything you can't just pick it up and move it yourself if you happen to be strong enough.

8. One free summon and then it costs you a spell slot of any level.
Another artificer feature that you can just hide behind cover and spam out until everything is dead.
I really wish they would stop trying to make video game mechanics shoehorned into tabletop.
Also, i don't care for the idea of just getting the exact same turret whether you spend a level 1 spell or a level 5.

9. Detonate as an action.
Ok, not that big of a deal but then again just a video game mechanic.

10. Turret types:
Flamethrower- a 15 foot cone of 1d8 fire... that's it?
Kind of weak in my opinion but for a bonus action I guess that is ok.

Force Ballista:
Ranged spell attack from the turret, up to 120 feet, that does 2d8 and pushes back 5 feet.
It is like a slightly weaker eldritch blast with a half power repelling blast.
This is much more like it. That is worth a bonus action.

Defender:
a bonus action 1d8 + int THP for it and everyone you want within 10 feet.
Ok, this is kind of nice, makes a great bunker buddy considering you could also just stay behind it and use it for 1/2 cover, or you could use it at the front line to help keep your tanks capped off with THP.

However all of these have a huge flaw that the other 2 subclasses so far can cover but it doesn't.
The others let you use the senses of their summon as your own.
Do you have to be able to see the target of the force ballista?
Also you are using your bonus action to "activate the turret" not to allow it to use its own action so I would think that you are picking a target and using your own spell DC or spell attack, so you have to be able to see it.

Wand Prototype:
You can make a wand that has one of your cantrips in it, which you do not even have to know, and can use that wand with the cantrip to add +INT to the damage of the wand.
This ability is just trying to stick with the theme of wand making for no reason. Just let it say you can add INT to damage of cantrips if you use a wand as a focus if you want it to be wand centered.
Considering that all artificers get 2 attacks the level before you get this, how often are you going to use it anyway?

Fortified Position:
A 10 foot bubble of half cover around your turret?
Nice. Although one of you could already do that by just standing behind it.
You can use 2 turrets at once and activate both as a bonus action.

So my high elf artificer could:
have his shield
wear half plate
have half cover
get THP every round of 1d8+INT
Wield a hand crossbow in one hand and shoot it twice because they don't have to reload
then use his other bonus action to shoot again with a different turret for 2d8
Or just not use the defender and:
Half plate
Heavy crossbow attack x2
magic ballistas x2
at level 14.

That is going to make people who have to pay a lot more for 4 attacks a round rater mad.


BATTLESMITH:

Skills and crafting: same as the others.

Bonus Spells:
Lots of smites, honestly not a big priority for me but some people like them.
The two aura spells are nice to have.

Battle Ready:
You gain marital weapons and can use int to attack and damage for your weapons.
Gaining martial weapons is nice, but honestly it is not that huge of a deal. You already can you a great ranged weapon, spears which are great, and some others.
If you plan to go weapon and shield this is not that big of a deal but much better if you want to use 2 handers.
This is the part I have an issue with but overall not a massive one.
ALL magic weapons?
So Int for your heavy crossbow that autoloads its own magically created bolts, and you can int for damage with your great sword?

There is now an ability for anyone to be able to attack with any stat they want in the game except for con.
The others though all have specified limitations:
Shillelagh has to be a staff or club.
Hexblade has to be certain weapons and costs an invocation if you want more of them.
Finesse is limited to only a few weapons none of which do more than a d8 damage.
Strength is used for many different weapons but if you want to use it at range your weapon types are very limited and are all rather short range.
This though is essentially use any weapon you want and use your casting stat for attack and damage.

This is not needed on a class so stocked already.

IRON DEFENDER:

1. You get a nice pet:
HP: 5*level + your INT + its CON, that is very reasonable
AC of 15, is about right
Speed of 40 is great, never going to have to worry about it keeping up.
Darkvision is great
Immunities and things make sense.
Cant be surprised. That might be going a little far. It is a super watchdog.
Understands all languages that you do.

2. It goes on your initiative but you go first.
Why bother putting this in there? This is just overly complicating things for no reason.

3. The normal artificer pet action/bonus action abilities.

4 Healing: It can heal itself 3/day or you can cantrip heal it. That is a lot of lasting power.

5. It gets a rather basic bite attack. Nothing special.

6. Reaction to give disadvantage on an attack if it is in melee range and targeting someone else.
Makes it a great guard dog.
Doesn't sleep, has dark vision, can't be surprised, and if someone tries to attack you they get disadvantage on the first swing that would have hit.

Arcane Jolt:

Your pet now has a magic bite. Makes sense. It is kind of your thing to make magic items and weapons.

Oncer per turn = to your int mod you can make either one of your attack or your pet's attacks have a mini smite or a mini heal.

The mini smite/heal feels clunky and tacked on to me.

Improved Defender:

Your mini smite/heal gets better.
Ok, it still feels clunky.

Your pet's defensive reaction now comes with free 1d4+int damage.

So you could:

Action:
attack x2 with your heavy crossbow/ hand crossbow and a shield
bonus action:
your pet uses a bite attack
No Action:
If any of those hit you can spend a charge of arcane jolt to do 4d4 more damage
Reaction:
your pet gives someone trying to hit you disadvantage and hits them with 1d4+ int damage.


It seems like they should just:

1. nerf the crap out of archivest

2. get rid of artillerist completely

4. Drop the pet from Battle Smith and just make another subclass that is all about having a great mechanical pet.

5. Go back and give other classes with pets updated abilities

6. Simplify the wording and spread out a lot of this.

7. Put the gunsmith back, lots of fans liked it.

[Wildarm]

Not really, besides the janktastic mount rules.
It's not a terrible combo, though. With some Cavalier levels, for easy modifications to your strategy, higher HP pool, better armor and eventual Mounted Combatant feat, it'd be a good strategy. Just keep in mind that the default Artificer companion is designed to take hits for you, and riding it will basically reverse the roles. And the default Artificer is about as tanky as a Druid.

I looked a bit at leaning heavy into the mounted combatant route for Battle Smith but it just doesn't work that well with a medium size mount. You only get advantage on small creatures. Possibly useful to cast enlarge on your robo-dog but I don't like having to spend resources and concentration to make a feat fully functional.

[jaappleton]

SNIP

See? THIS is constructive.

No hard feelings about earlier, Mist.

[Misterwhisper]

See? THIS is constructive.

No hard feelings about earlier, Mist.

No problems, I am a very negative person.

[Misterwhisper]

Remember you can only use this cast from your MAM's space Int Mod times per day. But yes, it can be pretty broken with heat metal in particular. It would break invisibility or sanctuary. An ability that forces a save or makes an attack roll generally does.

Overload is not a spell.

You can do it as much as you want.

You could hide outside a fort or dungeon Or whatever and go kill the whole place if they are within 300 feet. After you clear a level or area just stay invis or hidden and move up and repeat.

[Wildarm]

Overload is not a spell.

You can do it as much as you want.

You could hide outside a fort or dungeon Or whatever and go kill the whole place if they are within 300 feet. After you clear a level or area just stay invis or hidden and move up and repeat.

Yeah, re-reading it I realized that and deleted the post. Only option is for the enemies to keep 35' away from it. Possible but janky for sure. Unsure how to make it better. Perhaps have the mind wink out after using information overload or casting a spell through it? You can re-summon as a bonus action to somewhere with 60' so it would not break the fundamental use of the feature at closer ranges but we curb some of the long range abuse. Also means you would have to come out of full cover to have LOS on a new spot to summon it.

As a DM I would have it break sanctuary or Invisibility though. Are you targeting or damaging a creature? Lose your protection.

[Makorel]

Manifest Mind:
So you make a floating, spectral... thing that:
- has darkvision
- flies
- you can share senses with
- can be the starting point of spells that you can cast through it...
Wait. So unlike other familiars who can deliver touch spells, but will die pretty fast.
This thing can float around, is immune to all effects, you can cast any of your spells through it that you want as if it cast them, while using its senses.
Welcome to 3/4 casting from full cover with complete immunity at level 3 up to INT/LR.
Pretty much pick at least one fight that you can just hide and control.

Wow I hadn't even considered this. I mean in my experience spellcasters rarely get hit so long as they stay in the back line but it's still technically possible.

[AdAstra]

Spoiler

Show

Careful with that Max, if you switch it to bonus action, by lvl 5 you'd be doing 4 attacks a round, Action = Att + Extra Attack, BA = Beast Attack + Beastmaster extra attack when pet attacks. Also, the class was written with an Action to command the beast in mind, the lvl 7 feature would become redundant, and the lvl 11 feature would allow 3 ranger + 2 pet attacks per round.

IMO, even if you don't use revised ranger, revised Beastmaster does everything as it should have been in the first place.



Storm Sorcerer get exactly that at lvl 14, and enemies must also save or be pushed away, there probably some other one around.



I don't get this, if its next to an enemy i'm attacking that good enough for SA, isn't it?

***************

Regarding the Iron guardian, I see a lot of people saying its like beastmasters pet but better or that BS has 2 subclasses, but is it? Lets compare its stats to the Giant Constrictor Snake, which seems to be referenced pretty frequently when BM comes up:

• Iron Guardian
  
  • AC = 15
  • HP = 5*lvl + Int + IG's Con(+2)
  • Att = 2+Prof
  • Dam = 1d8+Prof
  
  
• Giant Constrictor Snake
  
  • AC = 14+Prof
  • HP = 4*lvl
  • Att = 6+Prof, 10 ft reach
  • Dam = 1d4+4+Prof, +3d6 save for half

The IG has notably better HP(1*lvl+Int+IG Con), but AC is better for this pet, and attck and damage are basically incomparable.

Granted the IG can attack as a bonus action, but franly, at which point does it stop being useful to spend your BA for a low damage attack with a low chance to hit? My guess is... pretty fast. Arcane Jolt can keep IG's attack relevant a bit longer, but it can only be triggered once per round, so if you hit with your attack, no need to spend BA on IG. Defensive Pounce is its defining feature IMO, it stays strong all the way, and becomes even stronger later on. Immunity to surprised is good, but if you are surprised you cant spend you BA to command it, so it becomes somewhat moot, only for OAs.



This is true though, its awfully expendable, as long as you win the encounter you can revive it to full for just a 1st lvl slot, and if it didn't die, you don't even spend a 1st lvl slot...

OTOH, what reason does an enemy have for attacking it? its damage will be way below the rest of the party (in 99% of cases), and if it uses its reaction on OAs then its not doing Defensive Pounce, most enemies won't know this though, so they should treat it as threat, but after second round they may pick up to it.

IDK, I think its good, but nowhere as good as a Chain Familiar, and we've already been comparing Locks to BSs for some reason, so I think its pretty ok.

In combat, the iron defender shares your
initiative count, but it takes its turn immediately
after yours.

Its turn comes after yours. Thus, when approaching an enemy, you would get there first and have to take your turn before it does. You could ready your action to attack, but then you'd lose out on Extra Attack and other reactions you could take instead.

EDIT: I'd like to clarify it does work, it's just not ideal if you and the Iron Defender are not already adjacent to the target.

[Damon_Tor]

I think the best use for the iron defender is just as a mantlet, portable cover for the alchemist. The defender uses dodge automatically every round so isn't likely to take any damage itself, while it's also giving you +5 ac for 3/4 cover. It further protects you with it's reaction. Meanwhile you're sitting there shooting your 2d6 handcrossbow 3 times a turn with your shield in your other hand. You are the tankiest freaking Archer in the game.

Interesting note: the fact that the defender always takes its turn after yours has a specific and exploitable effect. It means that when your turn rolls around, if your defender hasn't used it's reaction yet you can feel good about creating a situation where it might do so, provoking an opportunity attack from a creature adjacent to the defender for example, because as soon as your turn ends the defender will regain the reaction.

[AdAstra]

I think the best use for the iron defender is just as a mantlet, portable cover for the alchemist. The defender uses dodge automatically every round so isn't likely to take any damage itself, while it's also giving you +5 ac for 3/4 cover. It further protects you with it's reaction. Meanwhile you're sitting there shooting your 2d6 handcrossbow 3 times a turn with your shield in your other hand. You are the tankiest freaking Archer in the game.

Interesting note: the fact that the defender always takes its turn after yours has a specific and exploitable effect. It means that when your turn rolls around, if your defender hasn't used it's reaction yet you can feel good about creating a situation where it might do so, provoking an opportunity attack from a creature adjacent to the defender for example, because as soon as your turn ends the defender will regain the reaction.

I think this one may not work without warcaster or a ruby of the war mage since you wouldn't have any hands free to perform the somatic components. Not a major cost, especially considering the artificer's extra attunement slots and benefits from having attuned items, but something to note

Also it may be a bit of a reach to assume that a medium quadruped would give a character 3/4 cover. Maybe if the alchemist was small, but I'm pretty sure most DMs would allow 1/2 cover at most, use movement to flank the defender, or both.

[GlenSmash!]

...snipped very good analysis...

Oh this is good stuff. I look forward to your breakdown of the other 2 subclasses.

[Wildarm]

Interesting note: the fact that the defender always takes its turn after yours has a specific and exploitable effect. It means that when your turn rolls around, if your defender hasn't used it's reaction yet you can feel good about creating a situation where it might do so, provoking an opportunity attack from a creature adjacent to the defender for example, because as soon as your turn ends the defender will regain the reaction.

Hmmm Interesting tactic for psuedo mobility feat. Start of your turn, IG is adjacent to enemy. Your move, come next to enemy and IG, attack w/ Booming Blade, then retreat drawing an AO at disadvantage from IG reaction. After your turn IG attacks and then retreats back to your new position. Enemy had already used his reaction and will take additional damage if it pursues next turn. I like it. If you've got 20+ AC you're unlikely to be hit with a AO at disadvantage.

[Damon_Tor]

I think this one may not work without warcaster or a ruby of the war mage since you wouldn't have any hands free to perform the somatic components. Not a major cost, especially considering the artificer's extra attunement slots and benefits from having attuned items, but something to note

It appears the Artificer always requires material components for all his spells regardless of whether or not the spell in question normally requires them:

You produce your artificer spell effects through your tools. You must have a spellcasting focus—specifically thieves’ tools or some kind of artisan’s tool—in hand when you cast any spell with this Spellcasting feature. You must be proficient with the tool to use it in this way. See chapter 5, “Equipment,” in the Player’s Handbook for descriptions of these tools. After you gain the Infuse Item feature at 2nd level, you can also use any item bearing one of your infusions as a spellcasting focus.

Emphasis mine.

What this means is as long as he's holding an infused item (ie, his crossbow or his shield) he never needs a free hand for casting because the weapon or shield functions as his material component, without the problems other gishy casters have with somatic non-material spells.

Also it may be a bit of a reach to assume that a medium quadruped would give a character 3/4 cover. Maybe if the alchemist was small, but I'm pretty sure most DMs would allow 1/2 cover at most, use movement to flank the defender, or both.

Obviously rule zero is always in effect. But it's a bit silly to think that a normal sized human being couldn't obscure 3/4 of his body behind a black bear assuming the black bear was willing to allow it.



But yes, I think it's fair to say that the artificer is likely to be small. There are simply too many reasons to be a Gnome.

[Damon_Tor]

Hmmm Interesting tactic for psuedo mobility feat. Start of your turn, IG is adjacent to enemy. Your move, come next to enemy and IG, attack w/ Booming Blade, then retreat drawing an AO at disadvantage from IG reaction. After your turn IG attacks and then retreats back to your new position. Enemy had already used his reaction and will take additional damage if it pursues next turn. I like it. If you've got 20+ AC you're unlikely to be hit with a AO at disadvantage.

And starting at level 14, the other guy will take unavoidable damage when the ID takes his reaction. It's a whole bunch of catch 22s stacked on top of each other. It's like a catch 66 or something.

[AdAstra]

D. Prepared Spells:
Ok, so they auto know all their spells and pick which ones they want at the end of a long rest like a cleric...
SO at level 2 you can KNOW the same number of spells as a level SEVEN paladin or ranger, on top of cantrips they never get.
ALSO, you get to change them after a short rest.
That better be a small and unimpressive list... oh wait.

Okay, most of this is very good, if perhaps lacking in rigor, but eh, it's been out for less than a week. This part however, seems just...wrong? Artificers get to prepare spells equal to half their class level + their INT, which at lvl 2 should be 4? That's exactly the same as a Paladin, and both get the same number of "domain" spells, so this evaluation seems just incorrect? Plus I have no idea where you got the thing about changing spells prepared on a short rest, either?

EDIT: Oh wait, realized you were talking about the cantrips and spells known, my bad. Still, the extra spells known remain bottlenecked by only being able to prepare as many as a paladin, and they, along with the cantrips, fit well with the goal of a 2/3 caster.

EDIT AGAIN(I'm so sorry): Ok checking again the math on spells known still doesn't make sense. An Artificer at level 2 can prepare from a list of 17 lvl 1 spells and knows 2 cantrips. A lvl 7 paladin can prepare from a list of 19 spells, PLUS always having 4 spells from their oath known and prepared at all times, AND they can prepare 5-7 more of the base 19, vs the Artificer's 4+2 cantrips. At equal levels Artificers prepare as many spells as paladins plus cantrips, which seems perfectly fair for a more castery class

I think my main issue so far is that Battlesmith and Archivist hew too close to being 1/2 martial, 2/3 caster, if that makes sense. Especially Battlesmith, though the concept is really fun.

[Rukelnikov]

CASTING:
A: "To observers, you
don’t appear to be casting spells in a
conventional way; you look as if you’re
producing wonders through various items"

Gee, I wonder how long it will be before people try to argue that you can't counterspell an artificer because you can't see them casting...
That is a VERY bad sentence to put in the description that is just screaming to be metagamed by powergamers.

Very true.

C. Cantrips:
Wait, they are a "1/2" caster that gets cantrips? That is hugely insulting to the Paladins and Rangers out there who never get them.

Meh, 1/3rd casters also get cantrips, so the "insult", if there was one to begin with, was already there.

D. Prepared Spells:
Ok, so they auto know all their spells and pick which ones they want at the end of a long rest like a cleric...
SO at level 2 you can KNOW the same number of spells as a level SEVEN paladin or ranger, on top of cantrips they never get.
ALSO, you get to change them after a short rest.
That better be a small and unimpressive list... oh wait.

Paladins also get all of their list. Its the Rangers taht are stuck with spells known.

LEVEL 2:
Infuse Items:
[...]
Enhance Armor/Shield:
Not sure why they put these together considering some people might want to use it on both.
Easy choice for early level defense to keep things simple.
Very nice choice.

I guess they are together so they can't both be used at once, its already very good as it is, it would be stupid good at lvl 2 otherwise.

Repeating Shot:
Ok this one I have a problem with.
+1 to hit and damage just like enhance weapon.
But it lets you use a hand crossbow with one hand and use the other one for a shield/other weapon/whatever.
CBE with people machine gunning hand crossbows was already VERY powerful and now they can do it while using a shield too.
Nope, that is not cool. That is just mad power gaming munchkinry.

Its very good indeed, but take into account that it basically giving +2 armor only to a specific build, and requires attunement, at lvl 20 that wouldn't be a problem, rest of the game it will.

Resistant Armor:
This an the other enhancements I think should all come with the requirement of a "non-magical item"
Also the idea that force and psychic are on the list i think is a bit much.

You would really spend an attunement on resistance to 1 element, when you could have bonus to AC without consuming an attument? TBH I think this is borderline bad.

NEW SPELL:

Arcane Weapon:
1d6 damage, concentration, bonus acton for a level 1 spell.
Not bad at all, kind of like their version of hex/hunter's mark
If they get it, it should be added to a few other classes too though.

Why? As you said, its their version of Hex/Hunter's Mark, and those are also exclusives(Vengadins get HM though).

Level 3 Tool specialist:
Expertise in tool proficiency...
You could EASILY have 5 - 7 of them at this point, that is crazy powerful.
A rogue has to choose one of their 4 expertise to take in thieves tools if the want it but artificers get it free, and expertise in MANY more as well.
That is too good, especially with a class that also gets guidance.

Agreed, I think its ok for them to be the tool masters, its a niche that wasn't covered and fits the theme, but this is too much too soon, and frankly, quite lazy.

Arcane Armament:
Why not just call it extra attack, it would make things simpler.
Also, this class is easily powerful enough to not need extra attack.

They could've just put Extra Attack on it tbh, 90%+ of artificers planning to take the attack action on a regular basis will be equiped with magic weapons. However I don't think this class is powerful enough to not need Extra Attack, but they could've maybe gotten it a bit later. IMO this class is pretty good early on, and pretty meh from lvls 10 to 19.

Soul of Artifice:
So you can attune up to 6 items all of a sudden.
Kind of seems like this should be spaced out over the class more.
Wait, you ALSO get a +1 to all saves for each one, so you just poof into getting the saves of a paladin as if they had a charisma of 22...
That is crazy.
6 attuned items is not so crazy if spread out, the save bonus on top is too much.

Agreed, this is easily the best capstone in the game, and likely the best class feature in the game bar spellcasting.

It would still be the best capstone in the game if it was "just" attunement to 6 items, and a potent one if it was +1 to saves for each attuned item.

Both things at once is retardedly good.

BONUS SPELLS:
Nothing to write home about, all good to have around for free, speaking of which, Warlocks do not get their patron spells for free, they only get the choice to pick them to take up their small spells known slots, and PHB rangers do not even get bonus spells, that was all added in the "definitely not power creep" subclasses later.

You can't make the spells cost them something since they know their full list like Clerics, Druids and Paladins, IMO the problem here was that they didn't give Locks at least 1 patron's spell of each lvl for free.

Homonculous:
snip

Sorry Chain Warlock and Beastmaster Rangers, no new goodies for you, have to play the new stuff if you want the things you should have had.
But again, definitely not power creep.

snip

Sorry, but no, Chain Familiar is still far better, Homunculus has a list of choices for what it can do with its action, which means, essentially, that you cannot give it a Wand of MM for a 8d4+8 nuke as a free action or a Rings of Spell Storing to have it mantain concentration on Hypnotic Pattern/Darkness for you, basically having a secondary caster pet, or have it ready an action to activate a Cube of Force when a ranged attack or spell is incoming. Those are all things my Imp actually did, and nothing the Homunuculus has comes even close. Detailed list of possible actions to take is a severe crippler.

I see the same trend here as the rest of the class (sans capstone), very good at early levels, very meh after lvl 10.

Also is it 3/day per homunculus or 3/day for you?
Could you kill the little guy, make a new one and get 3 more?

This is a valid question, however I think its all there, if you revive it as an action spending a slot, its the same Homunculus, hence "revive", and so any resources it has already spent reamin spent. If you create one after a long rest though, that is a new one and thus has its resources fresh.

The real question is, do I get an arbitrarily high ammount of homunculi with this feature?

"Whenever you finish a long rest and your alchemist's supplies are with you, you can form this homunculus in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of you. If you already have a homunculus from this feature, the first one immediately dies."

"If the mending spell is cast on it, it regains 2d6 hit points. If it has died within the last hour, you can use your alchemist's supplies as an action to revive it, provided you are within 5 feet of it and you expend a spell slot of 1st level or higher. The homunculus returns to life with all its hit points restored."

Intent obviously has to be "NO", but RAW you can make a second one and revive the first one right after. They should have added a line that went "You can only ever have a single Homunculus from this feature"

ARTIFICIAL MIND:
Ok this is going to get complicated.

snip

This one is likely the best of all "familiars", however it's tailor made for a caster, and as a damage dealing caster, Artificers are no good, too few slots, get higher level spell too late, it can probably work very well as a dip for a full caster, since some of its abilities are very good, casting from the AM is the best one IMO, and you get it at three so you can get that and still get Wish.

Information Overload gets good at 14th, once you get Mind Overload, so you can conditionally turn low lvl slots into "save or stun". Before that its a nice cantrip since it targets a usually poor save and deals a rarely resisted type of damage, but the option to add extra damage to it is rarely good. Contrary to smite, you can only use this once a turn, so you can't nova with it, and a 3rd lvl slot for instance, can generally be used for something better than 3d8 damage.

[Misterwhisper]

Very true.



Meh, 1/3rd casters also get cantrips, so the "insult", if there was one to begin with, was already there.



Paladins also get all of their list. Its the Rangers taht are stuck with spells known.



I guess they are together so they can't both be used at once, its already very good as it is, it would be stupid good at lvl 2 otherwise.



Its very good indeed, but take into account that it basically giving +2 armor only to a specific build, and requires attunement, at lvl 20 that wouldn't be a problem, rest of the game it will.



You would really spend an attunement on resistance to 1 element, when you could have bonus to AC without consuming an attument? TBH I think this is borderline bad.



Why? As you said, its their version of Hex/Hunter's Mark, and those are also exclusives(Vengadins get HM though).



Agreed, I think its ok for them to be the tool masters, its a niche that wasn't covered and fits the theme, but this is too much too soon, and frankly, quite lazy.



They could've just put Extra Attack on it tbh, 90%+ of artificers planning to take the attack action on a regular basis will be equiped with magic weapons. However I don't think this class is powerful enough to not need Extra Attack, but they could've maybe gotten it a bit later. IMO this class is pretty good early on, and pretty meh from lvls 10 to 19.



Agreed, this is easily the best capstone in the game, and likely the best class feature in the game bar spellcasting.

It would still be the best capstone in the game if it was "just" attunement to 6 items, and a potent one if it was +1 to saves for each attuned item.

Both things at once is retardedly good.




You can't make the spells cost them something since they know their full list like Clerics, Druids and Paladins, IMO the problem here was that they didn't give Locks at least 1 patron's spell of each lvl for free.



Sorry, but no, Chain Familiar is still far better, Homunculus has a list of choices for what it can do with its action, which means, essentially, that you cannot give it a Wand of MM for a 8d4+8 nuke as a free action or a Rings of Spell Storing to have it mantain concentration on Hypnotic Pattern/Darkness for you, basically having a secondary caster pet, or have it ready an action to activate a Cube of Force when a ranged attack or spell is incoming. Those are all things my Imp actually did, and nothing the Homunuculus has comes even close. Detailed list of possible actions to take is a severe crippler.

I see the same trend here as the rest of the class (sans capstone), very good at early levels, very meh after lvl 10.




This is a valid question, however I think its all there, if you revive it as an action spending a slot, its the same Homunculus, hence "revive", and so any resources it has already spent reamin spent. If you create one after a long rest though, that is a new one and thus has its resources fresh.

The real question is, do I get an arbitrarily high ammount of homunculi with this feature?

"Whenever you finish a long rest and your alchemist's supplies are with you, you can form this homunculus in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of you. If you already have a homunculus from this feature, the first one immediately dies."

"If the mending spell is cast on it, it regains 2d6 hit points. If it has died within the last hour, you can use your alchemist's supplies as an action to revive it, provided you are within 5 feet of it and you expend a spell slot of 1st level or higher. The homunculus returns to life with all its hit points restored."

Intent obviously has to be "NO", but RAW you can make a second one and revive the first one right after. They should have added a line that went "You can only ever have a single Homunculus from this feature"



This one is likely the best of all "familiars", however it's tailor made for a caster, and as a damage dealing caster, Artificers are no good, too few slots, get higher level spell too late, it can probably work very well as a dip for a full caster, since some of its abilities are very good, casting from the AM is the best one IMO, and you get it at three so you can get that and still get Wish.

Information Overload gets good at 14th, once you get Mind Overload, so you can conditionally turn low lvl slots into "save or stun". Before that its a nice cantrip since it targets a usually poor save and deals a rarely resisted type of damage, but the option to add extra damage to it is rarely good. Contrary to smite, you can only use this once a turn, so you can't nova with it, and a 3rd lvl slot for instance, can generally be used for something better than 3d8 damage.

The issue with information overload is not the damage which is still pretty good, it is that you do not even have to be there.

You could be in a locked and barred up room 200 feet away and just using the senses of you invulnerable flying symbol to float around and psychic blast things to death with impunity.

Int save which is probably the worst save in the game for most enemies.

Psychic damage which is one of the least resisted.

Can smite with it if you really need to.

Int to damage at level 6 so now it is save or 2d8 + int damage

Later if you smite they also int save or get stunned for a turn at least.

Also it is not a spell to manifest or use so you:
Can’t dispel
Can’t counterspell
Don’t get a bonus on the save if you have resistance to spells
Works in an anti magic zone
It is not even concentration
It also does not even say you lose your sense to use its senses.

Also come to think of it, there is nothing about you that links you to it.

Manifest it and have it go kill someone, how would anyone ever know who did it without getting lucky and using spells directly on you.

It is psychic so no physical marks
Not a spell so no residual magic to detect
No physical items or evidence to leave behind

All you have to do is be within 300 feet.

[Rukelnikov]

The issue with information overload is not the damage which is still pretty good, it is that you do not even have to be there.

You could be in a locked and barred up room 200 feet away and just using the senses of you invulnerable flying symbol to float around and psychic blast things to death with impunity.

Definitely, this is the best feature of the AI.

Int save which is probably the worst save in the game for most enemies.

Psychic damage which is one of the least resisted.

Can smite with it if you really need to.

Int to damage at level 6 so now it is save or 2d8 + int damage

Yeah, but still, before lvl 14 I see smiting with it as a rare clutch, since you generally have better things to do with your slots. I'm not saying its bad, its pretty good, just not OP or close to it.

Later if you smite they also int save or get stunned for a turn at least.

This is pretty good indeed, since you turn 1st lvl slots into save or stuns and thats really good

Also it is not a spell to manifest or use so you:
Can’t dispel
Can’t counterspell
Don’t get a bonus on the save if you have resistance to spells
Works in an anti magic zone

Not being a spell has its good share of bonuses, but It doesn't work in an AMF

"Information Overload. As an action while the item is on your person, you can try to magically overload"

Take into account it also cant be Quickened or Twinned.

Do you really think its better than a Sorlock spamming Eldritch Blasts from Darkness?

EDIT:

It is not even concentration
It also does not even say you lose your sense to use its senses.

It is concentration and you lose your senses: "As an action, you can hear and see using the mind’s senses, instead of your own, until your concentration ends (as if concentrating on a spell)"

Also come to think of it, there is nothing about you that links you to it.

Manifest it and have it go kill someone, how would anyone ever know who did it without getting lucky and using spells directly on you.

Yup, remote controlled killing machine is the best feature.

It is psychic so no physical marks
Not a spell so no residual magic to detect
No physical items or evidence to leave behind

All you have to do is be within 300 feet.

Information Overload is magical though.

[jaappleton]

As far as IO, with the 'Smite' ability:

Doesn't the target make an Int save?

.....meaning unlike Smite, its impossible to Crit?

[Fnissalot]

While I agree with some stuff, here are some general comments I have on the rest. The quotes are cut down to focus on what I discuss.

- 2 Skills from well, let's face it what choices you have mean nothing because anyone can get any skill they want from a background.
2 skills i honestly find odd considering they are supposed to be the magical skill guys, but I guess bards already do that.

I never thought artificers as skill guys; they are practical, not theoretical. They study engineering while a wizard sits in their library.

Why do they get Thorn Whip? That does not fit at all to me.

Thorn whip is mechanically a hookshot. Flavour it as one and you will be fine! This is why things like this section is here:
"To observers, you
don’t appear to be casting spells in a
conventional way; you look as if you’re
producing wonders through various items"

Repeating Shot:
But it lets you use a hand crossbow with one hand and use the other one for a shield/other weapon/whatever.
CBE with people machine gunning hand crossbows was already VERY powerful and now they can do it while using a shield too.
Nope, that is not cool. That is just mad power gaming munchkinry.

Returning Weapon:
There is finally a way to make a thrown weapon worth it and it gets a +1 hit and damage on top.
I would have no problem with this or Repeating Shot, if they also just released a normal magic item with those properties.
The only way to do that otherwise was a Dwarven Thrower, in my opinion the best weapon in the game.

I agree that the crossbow feat is stupid and should be changed. Most of the extra attack feats are crazy strong on earlier levels and the -5/+10 feats are broken as well. The problem here is not this item, it is the feat. That said, a repeating crossbow feels so much like an artificer thing to have and you can obviously give these as normal magic items if you GM. Also, thrown weapons are stupidly bad for every martial class that isn't a rogue in 5e, I am ok with this buff.

Arcane Armament:
Why not just call it extra attack, it would make things simpler.
Also, this class is easily powerful enough to not need extra attack.

This is purely a thematic thing in how it is written, if you want to do weapon attacks, you will have a magical weapon, if you don't want to, you won't. Either way, you do not really care.

- very easy to bring back if by chance it dies.
- Gains bonuses when you gain proficiency bonuses...
Hold on... are we going to go back and give that to any other class that gets a pet/enhanced familiar.
Nope, that will never happen, because they refuse to reprint the PHB with all the additions and fixes.
Sorry Chain Warlock and Beastmaster Rangers, no new goodies for you, have to play the new stuff if you want the things you should have had.

Yeah, beastmaster is in a bad spot compared to this and Battle smith, and it is sad that we probably won't see an official fix for this. Making it that easy to get back also makes it less like something you care about and would protect.

So, int save, scaling 1d8 + int damage, can smite, if you smite they have to save or be stunned for at least a turn, can do it from 300 feet away, from cover, and it is immune to effects and abilities...

Yes, the archivists cantrip-like thing is stupid and should be nerfed. Having ranged smites that are on par/better than paladins are silly.

A bad thing, according to me, is how the artificer steps on the rangers overall and archivist steps on the paladin as a smiter. I am ok with it being a new type of half/caster and having extra attack, its spells are mostly support and utility spells anyway. I haven't crunched the numbers but paladins should still be a better damage dealer than the non-archivist artificers. Rangers is a whole other issue. Arcane weapon is a better hunter's mark in most cases since it is on the weapon and not the target and that was pretty much the only thing rangers had going for them. 3 of the 4 subclasses have equal or better choices for animal companions than animal companions are. Why play a paladin over an archivist and why play a ranger over any artificer? If they cannot answer that question, it is bad design according to me.

[Rukelnikov]

As far as IO, with the 'Smite' ability:

Doesn't the target make an Int save?

.....meaning unlike Smite, its impossible to Crit?

Yup, and you can only use it once per turn, well two with AS, the benefit over casting a normal spell is that when you spend the slot the damage is guaranteed since you decide to do it once the target has already failed the save. However, there are normally better uses for Nth lvl slots than dealing Nd8 damage.

[Fnissalot]

As far as IO, with the 'Smite' ability:

Doesn't the target make an Int save?

.....meaning unlike Smite, its impossible to Crit?

That is a solid point! It shouldn't be able to go bananas.

But even if so is the case, the issue in my eyes is that you cannot waste a spell slot on a smite since you choose to do it after it has been hit or failed the save. Even if the damage is only 2d8 for a lvl 1 spell slot, that is more damage than a spell slot that would miss half the time. Would you rather spend a spell slot for catapult for 3d8 if it hits or information overload for 1d8 if it hits and then spend a spell slot for 2d8? Information overload also scales as you level up without increasing the cost for it. It is just better than a catapult.

[Tetrasodium]

But yes, I think it's fair to say that the artificer is likely to be small. There are simply too many reasons to be a Gnome.

Sure, looking only at FR races gives gnomes probably the closest fit for an artificer, but the artificer only started to get positive reviews once they quit trying to design it for lantan. With that said, eberron has many races that do not exist in FR. Of those.. mark of making human, Mark of warding dwarf, changelings, fernian tiefling, kythri tiefling, an ok semi-refluffed warforged with a dragon head called dragonforged to appease FR fans, aberrant elf/gnome/human, also potentially warforged & a few others that give a choice of stat bonus. All of those races bring a set of very tempting toys to the table & the dragonmarked ones can get both another point of int as well as as some additional toys related to their mark.

There are plenty of medium sized races that could do well as an artificer & among the eberron races there are a bunch that do nothing for int but have abilities that could be very tempting with certain artificer builds giving plenty of reasons to be something other than a gnome

[Rukelnikov]

Sure, looking only at FR races gives gnomes probably the closest fit for an artificer, but the artificer only started to get positive reviews once they quit trying to design it for lantan. With that said, eberron has many races that do not exist in FR. Of those.. mark of making human, Mark of warding dwarf, changelings, fernian tiefling, kythri tiefling, an ok semi-refluffed warforged with a dragon head called dragonforged to appease FR fans, aberrant elf/gnome/human, also potentially warforged & a few others that give a choice of stat bonus. All of those races bring a set of very tempting toys to the table & the dragonmarked ones can get both another point of int as well as as some additional toys related to their mark.

There are plenty of medium sized races that could do well as an artificer & among the eberron races there are a bunch that do nothing for int but have abilities that could be very tempting with certain artificer builds giving plenty of reasons to be something other than a gnome

But thing is pet is medium sized, so to ride it you gotta be small, and gnomes are the only small +Int race. Of course you could play a Loxodon artificer and it will work, but it kinda seems like small races get the best deal with the pet.

[Man_Over_Game]

It might be an unpopular opinion, but I think the Artificer should have racial limitations, just like how the Bladesinger and Battlerager do. It makes a lot more sense, to me, to require Gnomish Artificers than it does Dwarvish Battleragers.

And for those who don't like the restriction...remove it! Just like you would with the other classes. Gnomes don't have a strong identity, and I think making the Artificer a Gnome-specific class would really help with that.

[Ventruenox]

Something I noticed about the wording of Manifest Mind. It's size remains tiny, but there is no restriction to the number of appearances that any given Artificial Mind (even the same Artificial Mind) can take. Sure it takes a bonus action to dismiss and another to reappear, but one interpretation can be to change it up every couple of rounds. This could be played like you GOTTA CATCH 'EM ALL.