Any experience about a tanky battlesmith with 1 dip fighter ?

Hi everyone , i 'm looking for some experience about a 1 dip fighter. I imagine this character with a trident (for weapon mastery and versatility) of returning and shield with a protection fighting style. I know 1 level behing create a strong gap for magical items but i wonder if someone get some opinion after test.

What do you feel you're getting out of one level of Fighter that makes it worth losing a level of Artificer?

It does get you heavy armor guaranteed as well as weapon proficiencies, but in many cases it’s just not necessary.

There is a similar multiclass you can do, but it doesn’t sound like the strategy/fantasy that you are going for. If you go Battlesmith 3/Eldritch Knight 17 you can dump strength on your fighter build. Just thought I’d share.

Speaking of Eldritch Knights though, if you are after a spellcaster with heavy armor and a trident like what you described I would simply choose that fighter subclass and reflavor it to where that character is steampunk or the like.

Can you better describe the fantasy? Is your character a magical smith or more of the genius type? Better yet, what kind of a stat spread do you imagine? It doesn’t have to be exact yet, but it could give you a more narrow idea of what to go for.

this character will be a warforged, just "awake" after centuries of sleep (or desactived). It's a totally out of time "tool of war" (so some emptiness and a long path to find new purpose, an interesting rp for me) who wakes up with no war, no ennemy, no master. His last reminder of the past will be his companion (steel defender)

I want to try battlesmith but with an extra "tankiness" so i think protection weapon style is a good tool (its not worth an "active taunt" but its an usefull tool to protect the group)

So 1 level fighter will be for this weapon style and weapons masteries mostly. I know its not opti, but i wonder if it has been tried to unsterstand if it can at least be decent. (sorry for probably bad english). I dont want to delay by more than 1 lvl the artificer progression.

It is possible to have a pet as long as it doesn’t do anything in combat. You could just make what you envision to be your steel defender be that pet. I know the steel defender is what makes it so tanky normally, but with heavy armor I’m not sure you need it.

There’s just a lot of overlap in what you get at first level in fighter and artificer that it just doesn’t make much sense to do it. Most of the stuff I said you gain like the heavy armor is sort of replaces by the steel defender, and it’s designed to be in the front while you stay sagely in the back with a ranged weapon.

The other thing is that to the best of my knowledge, the steel defender doesn’t have a taunt, so it’s entirely possible for the enemy to completely ignore it and go for you if you are next to it. It’s still extra damage I suppose.

Anyway, I’ve never been at a table that has done that combination in that way. My current campaign does have a battlesmith, but it is much more traditional with no multiclassing.

I still believe there is a better way to realize your fantasy in a way that doesn’t sacrifice anything. Like I said, you can have a robotic pet, and the fighter can keep using the trident and heavy armor combo. Finally, if you want spells to go with your warforged, simply go Eldritch Knight and reflavor them as gadgets or firepower.

Good luck!

Also worth thinking about other ways to get that armor you want, depending on the table. At level 6 you can make yourself +1 armor; if you choose a shield you can easily add +3. My artificers all end up being pretty tanky in their medium armor, ~ AC 20.

@FoolishMortal18588: I dont want any heavy armor, i'm thinking about 1 dip fighter for the fighting style : protection and for the weapons masteries. Heavy armor is bonus but not needed.

 you' re totally right, medium armor + shield can be pretty tanky in a lot of classes.

Thks all for input :)