1) So I was wondering, is an armorer able to add an infusion to their special weapon (thunder gauntlets or lightning launcher) before they get "Armor Modifications" at lvl 9?
This is with the assumption this is the only infusion on the "Arcane Armor" (so only "Enhanced Weapon" but not "Enhanced Defense"). Was thinking of doing a Rogue/Artificer build where "Lightning Launcher" was the main weapon so I don't really have a need for defense but not planning to go above 3 levels of Artificer.
2) Also, would "Enhanced Weapon" stay on the "Lightning Launcher" if the armor got converted from "Infiltrator" to "Guardian"? Like would the infusion get transferred over to "Thunder Gauntlets" or simply disappear? Or maybe if in one day you convert you "Arcane Armor" back and forth back to "Infiltrator" did the infusion stick with the "Lightning Launcher"?
1) As long as no other part of their armor (helmet, boots, chestpiece) are infused, yes, they can add an infusion to their Special Weapon. If one of the other parts of the armor are infused, no, you unfortunately cannot infuse both at the same time. It's one or the other until you get to level 9. So, yes, you are correct that while nothing else is infused on the armor, you can infuse the lightning launcher with Enhanced Weapon.
2) The RAW is not clear, but probably not, because the Lightning Launcher stops existing once you use the short rest to change the Armor Model. The Infusion would probably disappear until you took a long rest to infuse something else with that free infusion slot you opened up by switching armor models. It's up to DM interpretation, though.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Regarding 1) there are actually some really weird rules-as-written cases to this, but I don't think the intention is to prevent it; for example, the Thunder Gauntlets are actually only a weapon as long as you aren't holding anything, but while working on Arcane Armor you need to be using smith's tools which seem weird to use one-handed, the way they're worded also makes it seem like they're two separate weapons so do you infuse them both, or just one of them? There's also the argument that while the gauntlets let you attack as a weapon, the armour as a whole set might not count as a weapon for infusion purposes? All are pretty weak cases though, I doubt most (if any) DMs would try to enforce them, it absolutely seems intended that you can pop one boots/helmet/weapon or armour infusion onto your Arcane Armor before 9th level, 9th level then just allows you to add one of each for a total of up to four.
On point 2) it's a bit unclear in RAW; Arcane Armor states that your armour has a special weapon, but nothing in the rule says that changing armour models would cause that to become a new weapon (and thus need to infused separately). The armour model you select isn't equipment as such, but a class feature, so I would personally argue that the armour has one weapon no matter what for infusion purposes, and choosing the armour model just determines how it actually behaves, so you infuse "the weapon" and the infusion would apply to both, but this isn't strictly supported in RAW (nor is it strictly prevented).
In general the Armorer's rules are very sloppy; Wizards of the Coast have gone for simple rules, but in many ways they're too simple, to the point of being really unclear on a whole bunch of cases such as cantrip eligibility, dual wielder etc. So ultimately it's down to your DM; I don't see any reason they shouldn't allow it to work the way you want though as it shouldn't be OP, and Rogue + Infiltrator armour absolutely seems like an intended combo.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
Regarding 1) there are actually some really weird rules-as-written cases to this, but I don't think the intention is to prevent it; for example, the Thunder Gauntlets are actually only a weapon as long as you aren't holding anything, but while working on Arcane Armor you need to be using smith's tools which seem weird to use one-handed, the way they're worded also makes it seem like they're two separate weapons so do you infuse them both, or just one of them?
"Each of the armor’s gauntlets counts as a simple melee weapon while you aren’t holding anything in it"
For each, you care about holding something in it (meaning you are wearing the gauntlet and using it to hold something else). Holding your tools to "make" the arcane armor doesn't stop them from being weapons, since you're not doing that in combat while wearing the armor.
They are two weapons, so only one of them would get infused as a weapon --- so if you're dual wielding with the feat, one of them will be different. Most armorers are probably using a Shield or something in their other hand, anyway. (Infuse the Shield with enhanced defense, infuse the armor as a weapon...)
There's also the argument that while the gauntlets let you attack as a weapon, the armour as a whole set might not count as a weapon for infusion purposes? All are pretty weak cases though, I doubt most (if any) DMs would try to enforce them, it absolutely seems intended that you can pop one boots/helmet/weapon or armour infusion onto your Arcane Armor before 9th level, 9th level then just allows you to add one of each for a total of up to four.
The weapon (or weapons) is (are) part of the armor. As an indivisible object, the armor can only hold one infusion (before the lvl 9 feature), but the easiest answer is to assume that you are infusing the whole armor with a weapon infusion. The weapon manifests differently per armor type (left or right gauntlet vs gem mounted somewhere), so it's probably alright to let it carry over when the armor changes (but sure, that needs to be a DM call).
For each, you care about holding something in it (meaning you are wearing the gauntlet and using it to hold something else). Holding your tools to "make" the arcane armor doesn't stop them from being weapons, since you're not doing that in combat while wearing the armor.
Whoops, you're right, I've confused that with switching the armor model, you only need touch to infuse; still, the key point is that the weapons only technically exist some of the time. Again though, it's a weak RAW issue that I doubt many DM's would bother with; I'd absolutely rule that Arcane Armor always has a "special weapon", and the features just determine how it works.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
The way it is written, albeit a bit messy, it appears that the weapons can not be infused prior to lvl 9 since they count as armor for infusion purposes and therefore you can only infuse your armor (the whole thing) with an armor infusion. This is deduced by the 9th level feature which reads that your armor is now divided into 4 pieces for infusion purposes i.e prior to lvl 9 it only counts as armor, the whole thing.
To recap, prior to lvl 9, you can infuse only your armor, your weapons are part of it and don't count as separate.
Lvl 9 onwards, you can infuse chest, boots, helmet, weapons with separate infusions.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
1) So I was wondering, is an armorer able to add an infusion to their special weapon (thunder gauntlets or lightning launcher) before they get "Armor Modifications" at lvl 9?
This is with the assumption this is the only infusion on the "Arcane Armor" (so only "Enhanced Weapon" but not "Enhanced Defense"). Was thinking of doing a Rogue/Artificer build where "Lightning Launcher" was the main weapon so I don't really have a need for defense but not planning to go above 3 levels of Artificer.
2) Also, would "Enhanced Weapon" stay on the "Lightning Launcher" if the armor got converted from "Infiltrator" to "Guardian"? Like would the infusion get transferred over to "Thunder Gauntlets" or simply disappear? Or maybe if in one day you convert you "Arcane Armor" back and forth back to "Infiltrator" did the infusion stick with the "Lightning Launcher"?
1) As long as no other part of their armor (helmet, boots, chestpiece) are infused, yes, they can add an infusion to their Special Weapon. If one of the other parts of the armor are infused, no, you unfortunately cannot infuse both at the same time. It's one or the other until you get to level 9. So, yes, you are correct that while nothing else is infused on the armor, you can infuse the lightning launcher with Enhanced Weapon.
2) The RAW is not clear, but probably not, because the Lightning Launcher stops existing once you use the short rest to change the Armor Model. The Infusion would probably disappear until you took a long rest to infuse something else with that free infusion slot you opened up by switching armor models. It's up to DM interpretation, though.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Regarding 1) there are actually some really weird rules-as-written cases to this, but I don't think the intention is to prevent it; for example, the Thunder Gauntlets are actually only a weapon as long as you aren't holding anything, but while working on Arcane Armor you need to be using smith's tools which seem weird to use one-handed, the way they're worded also makes it seem like they're two separate weapons so do you infuse them both, or just one of them? There's also the argument that while the gauntlets let you attack as a weapon, the armour as a whole set might not count as a weapon for infusion purposes? All are pretty weak cases though, I doubt most (if any) DMs would try to enforce them, it absolutely seems intended that you can pop one boots/helmet/weapon or armour infusion onto your Arcane Armor before 9th level, 9th level then just allows you to add one of each for a total of up to four.
On point 2) it's a bit unclear in RAW; Arcane Armor states that your armour has a special weapon, but nothing in the rule says that changing armour models would cause that to become a new weapon (and thus need to infused separately). The armour model you select isn't equipment as such, but a class feature, so I would personally argue that the armour has one weapon no matter what for infusion purposes, and choosing the armour model just determines how it actually behaves, so you infuse "the weapon" and the infusion would apply to both, but this isn't strictly supported in RAW (nor is it strictly prevented).
In general the Armorer's rules are very sloppy; Wizards of the Coast have gone for simple rules, but in many ways they're too simple, to the point of being really unclear on a whole bunch of cases such as cantrip eligibility, dual wielder etc. So ultimately it's down to your DM; I don't see any reason they shouldn't allow it to work the way you want though as it shouldn't be OP, and Rogue + Infiltrator armour absolutely seems like an intended combo.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
"Each of the armor’s gauntlets counts as a simple melee weapon while you aren’t holding anything in it"
For each, you care about holding something in it (meaning you are wearing the gauntlet and using it to hold something else). Holding your tools to "make" the arcane armor doesn't stop them from being weapons, since you're not doing that in combat while wearing the armor.
They are two weapons, so only one of them would get infused as a weapon --- so if you're dual wielding with the feat, one of them will be different. Most armorers are probably using a Shield or something in their other hand, anyway. (Infuse the Shield with enhanced defense, infuse the armor as a weapon...)
The weapon (or weapons) is (are) part of the armor. As an indivisible object, the armor can only hold one infusion (before the lvl 9 feature), but the easiest answer is to assume that you are infusing the whole armor with a weapon infusion. The weapon manifests differently per armor type (left or right gauntlet vs gem mounted somewhere), so it's probably alright to let it carry over when the armor changes (but sure, that needs to be a DM call).
Whoops, you're right, I've confused that with switching the armor model, you only need touch to infuse; still, the key point is that the weapons only technically exist some of the time. Again though, it's a weak RAW issue that I doubt many DM's would bother with; I'd absolutely rule that Arcane Armor always has a "special weapon", and the features just determine how it works.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.
The way it is written, albeit a bit messy, it appears that the weapons can not be infused prior to lvl 9 since they count as armor for infusion purposes and therefore you can only infuse your armor (the whole thing) with an armor infusion. This is deduced by the 9th level feature which reads that your armor is now divided into 4 pieces for infusion purposes i.e prior to lvl 9 it only counts as armor, the whole thing.
To recap, prior to lvl 9, you can infuse only your armor, your weapons are part of it and don't count as separate.
Lvl 9 onwards, you can infuse chest, boots, helmet, weapons with separate infusions.