It really depends on your desired role, dm and party make up.
I prefer support roles. sometimes I would even share them. I was also playing a warforged artillerist artificer, so wand sheath allowed me to use a shield, a arcane fire arm and an all-purpose tool at the same time. but that is unique to my build.
I will say spell refueling is nice because artificer feels short on spells but often times you get more uses out of other things more specifically tailored to what you need.
We have only played up to level 6 with my artificer, but I went a couple ways.
Early, I took RMI Bag of Holding and RMI Wand of Secrets, Repeating Shot and Enhanced Defense. We had a Gunslinger with us (playing in a Critical Role-based world), so he got Repeating Shot on his musket and I usually alternated between the two RMI depending on what we needed.
We managed to steal a ship at very low level due to a very lucky confluence of events, so I swapped out the RMI BoH for Cap of Water Breathing so I could wear that when on board just in case, and swapped the RMI WoS for Returning Weapon which I would use when on land.
Where we left off, I had swapped and expanded my list to where I had Mind Sharpener, RMI Cloak of the Manta Ray, Spell Refueling Ring, Repeating Shot, Returning Weapon and Repulsing Shield. Our Gunslinger still has Repeating Shot all the time, and on land I run Returning Weapon and Repulsing Shield and will swap Cloak of the Manta Ray with the shield if on ship.
For my decisions, it was just too good giving the Gunslinger magic on his attacks plus skipping reloading. Whether or not drowning was a risk motivated most of my other choices. And the Returning Weapon was because I didn't want to be toe-to-toe with my Battlesmith -- it let me throw a little damage and still be mobile.
Repulsion Shield on an Artillerist just makes too much sense not to do. I don't think you've made any choices that I could argue with, although I might prefer to have kept Arcane Focus over the Enhanced Defense just to increase the chance of landing my Arcane Firearm shot every round.
We have only played up to level 6 with my artificer, but I went a couple ways.
Early, I took RMI Bag of Holding and RMI Wand of Secrets, Repeating Shot and Enhanced Defense. We had a Gunslinger with us (playing in a Critical Role-based world), so he got Repeating Shot on his musket and I usually alternated between the two RMI depending on what we needed.
We managed to steal a ship at very low level due to a very lucky confluence of events, so I swapped out the RMI BoH for Cap of Water Breathing so I could wear that when on board just in case, and swapped the RMI WoS for Returning Weapon which I would use when on land.
Where we left off, I had swapped and expanded my list to where I had Mind Sharpener, RMI Cloak of the Manta Ray, Spell Refueling Ring, Repeating Shot, Returning Weapon and Repulsing Shield. Our Gunslinger still has Repeating Shot all the time, and on land I run Returning Weapon and Repulsing Shield and will swap Cloak of the Manta Ray with the shield if on ship.
For my decisions, it was just too good giving the Gunslinger magic on his attacks plus skipping reloading. Whether or not drowning was a risk motivated most of my other choices. And the Returning Weapon was because I didn't want to be toe-to-toe with my Battlesmith -- it let me throw a little damage and still be mobile.
Repulsion Shield on an Artillerist just makes too much sense not to do. I don't think you've made any choices that I could argue with, although I might prefer to have kept Arcane Focus over the Enhanced Defense just to increase the chance of landing my Arcane Firearm shot every round.
Just what I was looking for! There are endless combinations.
The +1 weapon/ AC is incredibly powerful at low level.
It depends on how freely your DM gives out magic weapons but for the most part getting a +1 in both these things isn't something you'd see until after level 4 or 5, and in official adventures your party might only find 1. Getting this at level 2 makes artificers pretty strong mechanically.
If you take the returning weapon and put it on something that has the thrown property like a spear or handaxe then you have a ranged option that also gets the +1 without having to pick a damage cantrip. This frees you up to take guidance (which is amazing) and mending for your homunculus, steel defender repairs.
The homunculus is also by far one of the strongest options. It gives you a bonus action attack which is incredibly good, even if you already have a bonus action attack. If you have a steel defend it will now automatically take the dodge action if you don't use it's attack, making it much more tanky. If you are and armorer you and you don't need/don't have defense field then its just extra damage. Artilerist can use it if their cannon gets killed, or use it as a single target option if they use the shield or aoe cannon. For alchemist, it actually brings their damage up to a point where they don't feel useless and can administer elixirs. At lv11 it can use the spellstoring item.
You can also cast touch spells through the Homunculus which is incurably good for things like guidance, cure wounds, revivify etc.
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From level 2-6, my artillerist had Enhanced Arcane Focus and Enhanced Defense.
We just hit 6th level, and now has Enhanced Defense, Focus and the Spell Refueling Ring.
Obviously, 10th level is the mother lode, but we aren't there yet. This will be a tough choice.
What did you choose for your artificer infusions at the various decision points and why?
It really depends on your desired role, dm and party make up.
I prefer support roles. sometimes I would even share them. I was also playing a warforged artillerist artificer, so wand sheath allowed me to use a shield, a arcane fire arm and an all-purpose tool at the same time. but that is unique to my build.
I will say spell refueling is nice because artificer feels short on spells but often times you get more uses out of other things more specifically tailored to what you need.
We have only played up to level 6 with my artificer, but I went a couple ways.
Early, I took RMI Bag of Holding and RMI Wand of Secrets, Repeating Shot and Enhanced Defense. We had a Gunslinger with us (playing in a Critical Role-based world), so he got Repeating Shot on his musket and I usually alternated between the two RMI depending on what we needed.
We managed to steal a ship at very low level due to a very lucky confluence of events, so I swapped out the RMI BoH for Cap of Water Breathing so I could wear that when on board just in case, and swapped the RMI WoS for Returning Weapon which I would use when on land.
Where we left off, I had swapped and expanded my list to where I had Mind Sharpener, RMI Cloak of the Manta Ray, Spell Refueling Ring, Repeating Shot, Returning Weapon and Repulsing Shield. Our Gunslinger still has Repeating Shot all the time, and on land I run Returning Weapon and Repulsing Shield and will swap Cloak of the Manta Ray with the shield if on ship.
For my decisions, it was just too good giving the Gunslinger magic on his attacks plus skipping reloading. Whether or not drowning was a risk motivated most of my other choices. And the Returning Weapon was because I didn't want to be toe-to-toe with my Battlesmith -- it let me throw a little damage and still be mobile.
Repulsion Shield on an Artillerist just makes too much sense not to do. I don't think you've made any choices that I could argue with, although I might prefer to have kept Arcane Focus over the Enhanced Defense just to increase the chance of landing my Arcane Firearm shot every round.
Just what I was looking for! There are endless combinations.
The +1 weapon/ AC is incredibly powerful at low level.
It depends on how freely your DM gives out magic weapons but for the most part getting a +1 in both these things isn't something you'd see until after level 4 or 5, and in official adventures your party might only find 1. Getting this at level 2 makes artificers pretty strong mechanically.
If you take the returning weapon and put it on something that has the thrown property like a spear or handaxe then you have a ranged option that also gets the +1 without having to pick a damage cantrip. This frees you up to take guidance (which is amazing) and mending for your homunculus, steel defender repairs.
The homunculus is also by far one of the strongest options.
It gives you a bonus action attack which is incredibly good, even if you already have a bonus action attack. If you have a steel defend it will now automatically take the dodge action if you don't use it's attack, making it much more tanky. If you are and armorer you and you don't need/don't have defense field then its just extra damage. Artilerist can use it if their cannon gets killed, or use it as a single target option if they use the shield or aoe cannon. For alchemist, it actually brings their damage up to a point where they don't feel useless and can administer elixirs. At lv11 it can use the spellstoring item.
You can also cast touch spells through the Homunculus which is incurably good for things like guidance, cure wounds, revivify etc.