Hi, I'm about to start my first 5th edition game and chose to make an artificer they will become an armorer (guardian armor) at lvl3. I may be new to 5th edition but I thoroughly read the PHB, Xanathar's and Tasha's, I think I have a fairly decent grasp of the theory.
My DM wanted me to roll stats and I ended up with an insane result of 17, 16, 16, 14, 14, 14. I know... I'll be playing a dwarf and the DM doesn't want custom origins (I don't blame him with those rolls) but he told me I could use Mark of Warding so that means I'll start with 18 Con and 18 Int.
My goal is to play more as a tank, more or less a less effective arcane paladin.
Now I like planning a bit ahead and was wondering what I would do with my ASI, specifically the first 2 ones.
I could go +2 Int and max it out at level 4 but that sounds a bit like a waste.
Alternatively, I was thinking maybe going with 2 half feats, most likely Fey touched to get misty step and hex and Telekinetic to have something to do with my bonus action while compensating a bit for my reduced speed by pulling them if necessary or plain battlefield control. This option sounds fun to me, giving me more tools and access to new spells along the way.
What do you guys think?
By the way, I'm not trying to min/max here, I don't really need to anyway. I'm just curious to hear your opinions on the subject and the reasoning. Maybe I'm missing something due to my inexperience.
What do you mean, reduced speed? Your speed shouldn't be reduced at all at level 4.
In order to reasonably discuss options like Telekinetic, we need to know how your DM is ruling on relevant questions all Armorer Artificers have to ask:
Will your DM let you use Booming Blade with your Thunder Gauntlets?
Will your DM let the part of Telekinetic that extends the range of Mage Hand work as intended rather than as written and actually let the hand work at 35-60' out?
If the answer to both of these is yes, Telekinetic becomes much stronger as a choice and you should definitely raise it towards the top of your consideration list.
What do you mean, reduced speed? Your speed shouldn't be reduced at all at level 4.
In order to reasonably discuss options like Telekinetic, we need to know how your DM is ruling on relevant questions all Armorer Artificers have to ask:
Will your DM let you use Booming Blade with your Thunder Gauntlets?
Will your DM let the part of Telekinetic that extends the range of Mage Hand work as intended rather than as written and actually let the hand work at 35-60' out?
If the answer to both of these is yes, Telekinetic becomes much stronger as a choice and you should definitely raise it towards the top of your consideration list.
For the speed I meant 25ft as a dwarf vs 30 for most other races.
I asked for booming blade with Thunder Gauntlets but did not receive an official answer yet. The DM seems pretty open for rule tweaks so far.
Interesting question about Mage Hand, I wasn't aware there was an issue there. After a reread, I'm assuming RAW is the initial casting range only that is increased and you can only operate it within 30ft after that? English is our second language so I'm guessing he will most likely not notice and use the intended function but I'll ask a bit later.
You probably want to max int once flash of genius comes online. It's a very good reaction and can be useful outside of combat as well.
Well, if I take both half feats as my first feats, I max out my int at lvl.8 instead of investing a full ASI at 4 and taking a feat at 8.
I agree that maxing int is important and that's the main idea behind my question actually. Is waiting until lvl.8 "good enough"?
It will be a bit of a goofy campaign anyway from what I can gather. So far the group has a barbarian (no further detail on that one), an alchemist focused only on making alchemical fire, poisons and potions and finally a one legged pacifist ranged rogue.
I think I may be getting a bit ahead of myself and we might never reach lvl.8 anyway
Dual Wielder will give you an extra AC and let you hit an additional enemy with an offhand Thunder Gauntlet.
FYI the DnDB sheet doesn't calculate it so you have to fiddle around to show it properly but the question was put to Jeremy Crawford and he said it does work that way. I'll try and find a link to it.
Dual Wielder will give you an extra AC and let you hit an additional enemy with an offhand Thunder Gauntlet.
FYI the DnDB sheet doesn't calculate it so you have to fiddle around to show it properly but the question was put to Jeremy Crawford and he said it does work that way. I'll try and find a link to it.
This will only work if you're not holding anything. If you have a weapon or a shield equipped then whichever gauntlets you're holding it with wouldn't count as a weapon and the bonus is lost. Also the rest of the feat is useless as you don't need to stow them and you can use them both in the same turn anyway. Having a shield gives more AC than Dual Wielder and can also be enhanced with infusions to give you up to 4 more AC than without, and up to 3 more AC than with dual wielder.
My Armorer is level 8 and I also rolled really well on stats ending up with an 18, 17, 16, 15, 15 and 14. I went Human variant for an extra feat so far have taken Eldritch Adept as the utility of the feat is fantastic and versatile (changing ach time you level up). He has Telepathic as Detect Thoughts is a powerful and useful spell, and speaking telepathically is great for bluffing your way through social encounters or planning ambushes without needing to speak. You can also get a Int bonus. I took Fey Touched at level 8 because its free spells (which Artificers really need) Misty Step can get you to safety if you're in a jam and you can pick what spell you want to go with it. you also can get an Int Bonus.
So far my stats sit at 20 Int, 18 Con, 16 Wis, 16 Dex, 15 Cha and 14 Str
I play as the party tank. The feats don't add to that you just have to play smart. don't let yourself get surrounded and flanked, use the dodge action as required as it can help more than putting out a little damage. Try to bottleneck enemies or group/line them up for your casters AoE abilities (of Thunderwave/Shatter/Hypnotic Pattern)
Make full use of spells like Sanctuary and Blur. Also Levitate can get you out of harms way too if you do get surrounded.
This will only work if you're not holding anything. If you have a weapon or a shield equipped then whichever gauntlets you're holding it with wouldn't count as a weapon and the bonus is lost. Also the rest of the feat is useless as you don't need to stow them and you can use them both in the same turn anyway. Having a shield gives more AC than Dual Wielder and can also be enhanced with infusions to give you up to 4 more AC than without, and up to 3 more AC than with dual wielder.
My Armorer is level 8 and I also rolled really well on stats ending up with an 18, 17, 16, 15, 15 and 14. I went Human variant for an extra feat so far have taken Eldritch Adept as the utility of the feat is fantastic and versatile (changing ach time you level up). He has Telepathic as Detect Thoughts is a powerful and useful spell, and speaking telepathically is great for bluffing your way through social encounters or planning ambushes without needing to speak. You can also get a Int bonus. I took Fey Touched at level 8 because its free spells (which Artificers really need) Misty Step can get you to safety if you're in a jam and you can pick what spell you want to go with it. you also can get an Int Bonus.
So far my stats sit at 20 Int, 18 Con, 16 Wis, 16 Dex, 15 Cha and 14 Str
I play as the party tank. The feats don't add to that you just have to play smart. don't let yourself get surrounded and flanked, use the dodge action as required as it can help more than putting out a little damage. Try to bottleneck enemies or group/line them up for your casters AoE abilities (of Thunderwave/Shatter/Hypnotic Pattern)
Make full use of spells like Sanctuary and Blur. Also Levitate can get you out of harms way too if you do get surrounded.
Thank you very much for this answer. It sounds like a very similar to what I was planning.
I'll stick with my dwarf race because the backstory I gave is part of the reason why I was accepted by the group but that extra feat would have been nice.
I do plan on using a shield so dual wielder didn't seem that interesting, I asked a house ruling to give the Thunder Gauntlets the "light" property to enable dual weapon fighting instead for the few times it might come up. It doesn't make sense to me that using 2 daggers while I'm still wearing my gauntlets as armor would be "lighter" than the gauntlets alone. We'll see how that works out.
Right now I'm tempted to go with fey touched (+int, hex) at lvl.4. Telekinesis (+int) at lvl.8. After that (if we get that far), I'm thinking mobile, sentinel and maybe lucky (not necessarily in that order).
I highly suggest you get the shield master feat. It is basically evasion for every else and it allow you to infuse a shield. As a tank you want your ac as high as possible and at the front line you are going to be doing a lot of dex saves. You can add you flash of genius if you need it and regularly take no damage from things like fireball and dragon’s breath weapons. I have been thinking about a armorer build for a while and thanks to critrolestats.com I know that dex saves that half the damage is one of the top three saving throws they roll for on that show. Imagine how annoyed you DM will be when his bbeg unleashes meteor swarm on the party and you come out unscathed.
I highly suggest you get the shield master feat. It is basically evasion for every else and it allow you to infuse a shield. As a tank you want you ac as high as possible and at the front line you are going to be doing a lot of dex saves. You can add you flash of genius if you need it and regularly take no damage from things like fireball and dragon’s breath weapons. I have been thinking about a armorer build for a while and thanks to critrolestats.com I know that dex saves that half the damage is one of the top three saving throws they roll for on that show. Imagine how annoyed you DM will be when his bbeg unleashes meteor swarm on the party and you come out unscathed.
Good point. I had to reread the feat because the first time I only focused on the shove part which is a bit redundant with Telekinetic but in melee only.
You are right that bonus to dex save and no damage instead of half damage is pretty sweet. I'll most likely take that instead of lucky (which honestly might annoy everybody else around the table anyway).
Hi, I'm about to start my first 5th edition game and chose to make an artificer they will become an armorer (guardian armor) at lvl3. I may be new to 5th edition but I thoroughly read the PHB, Xanathar's and Tasha's, I think I have a fairly decent grasp of the theory.
My DM wanted me to roll stats and I ended up with an insane result of 17, 16, 16, 14, 14, 14. I know... I'll be playing a dwarf and the DM doesn't want custom origins (I don't blame him with those rolls) but he told me I could use Mark of Warding so that means I'll start with 18 Con and 18 Int.
My goal is to play more as a tank, more or less a less effective arcane paladin.
Now I like planning a bit ahead and was wondering what I would do with my ASI, specifically the first 2 ones.
I could go +2 Int and max it out at level 4 but that sounds a bit like a waste.
Alternatively, I was thinking maybe going with 2 half feats, most likely Fey touched to get misty step and hex and Telekinetic to have something to do with my bonus action while compensating a bit for my reduced speed by pulling them if necessary or plain battlefield control. This option sounds fun to me, giving me more tools and access to new spells along the way.
What do you guys think?
By the way, I'm not trying to min/max here, I don't really need to anyway. I'm just curious to hear your opinions on the subject and the reasoning. Maybe I'm missing something due to my inexperience.
Thanks!
What do you mean, reduced speed? Your speed shouldn't be reduced at all at level 4.
In order to reasonably discuss options like Telekinetic, we need to know how your DM is ruling on relevant questions all Armorer Artificers have to ask:
If the answer to both of these is yes, Telekinetic becomes much stronger as a choice and you should definitely raise it towards the top of your consideration list.
For the speed I meant 25ft as a dwarf vs 30 for most other races.
I asked for booming blade with Thunder Gauntlets but did not receive an official answer yet. The DM seems pretty open for rule tweaks so far.
Interesting question about Mage Hand, I wasn't aware there was an issue there. After a reread, I'm assuming RAW is the initial casting range only that is increased and you can only operate it within 30ft after that? English is our second language so I'm guessing he will most likely not notice and use the intended function but I'll ask a bit later.
Well, if I take both half feats as my first feats, I max out my int at lvl.8 instead of investing a full ASI at 4 and taking a feat at 8.
I agree that maxing int is important and that's the main idea behind my question actually. Is waiting until lvl.8 "good enough"?
It will be a bit of a goofy campaign anyway from what I can gather. So far the group has a barbarian (no further detail on that one), an alchemist focused only on making alchemical fire, poisons and potions and finally a one legged pacifist ranged rogue.
I think I may be getting a bit ahead of myself and we might never reach lvl.8 anyway
Dual Wielder will give you an extra AC and let you hit an additional enemy with an offhand Thunder Gauntlet.
FYI the DnDB sheet doesn't calculate it so you have to fiddle around to show it properly but the question was put to Jeremy Crawford and he said it does work that way. I'll try and find a link to it.
This will only work if you're not holding anything. If you have a weapon or a shield equipped then whichever gauntlets you're holding it with wouldn't count as a weapon and the bonus is lost. Also the rest of the feat is useless as you don't need to stow them and you can use them both in the same turn anyway. Having a shield gives more AC than Dual Wielder and can also be enhanced with infusions to give you up to 4 more AC than without, and up to 3 more AC than with dual wielder.
My Armorer is level 8 and I also rolled really well on stats ending up with an 18, 17, 16, 15, 15 and 14. I went Human variant for an extra feat so far have taken Eldritch Adept as the utility of the feat is fantastic and versatile (changing ach time you level up). He has Telepathic as Detect Thoughts is a powerful and useful spell, and speaking telepathically is great for bluffing your way through social encounters or planning ambushes without needing to speak. You can also get a Int bonus. I took Fey Touched at level 8 because its free spells (which Artificers really need) Misty Step can get you to safety if you're in a jam and you can pick what spell you want to go with it. you also can get an Int Bonus.
So far my stats sit at 20 Int, 18 Con, 16 Wis, 16 Dex, 15 Cha and 14 Str
I play as the party tank. The feats don't add to that you just have to play smart. don't let yourself get surrounded and flanked, use the dodge action as required as it can help more than putting out a little damage. Try to bottleneck enemies or group/line them up for your casters AoE abilities (of Thunderwave/Shatter/Hypnotic Pattern)
Make full use of spells like Sanctuary and Blur. Also Levitate can get you out of harms way too if you do get surrounded.
Thank you very much for this answer. It sounds like a very similar to what I was planning.
I'll stick with my dwarf race because the backstory I gave is part of the reason why I was accepted by the group but that extra feat would have been nice.
I do plan on using a shield so dual wielder didn't seem that interesting, I asked a house ruling to give the Thunder Gauntlets the "light" property to enable dual weapon fighting instead for the few times it might come up. It doesn't make sense to me that using 2 daggers while I'm still wearing my gauntlets as armor would be "lighter" than the gauntlets alone. We'll see how that works out.
Right now I'm tempted to go with fey touched (+int, hex) at lvl.4. Telekinesis (+int) at lvl.8. After that (if we get that far), I'm thinking mobile, sentinel and maybe lucky (not necessarily in that order).
I highly suggest you get the shield master feat. It is basically evasion for every else and it allow you to infuse a shield. As a tank you want your ac as high as possible and at the front line you are going to be doing a lot of dex saves. You can add you flash of genius if you need it and regularly take no damage from things like fireball and dragon’s breath weapons. I have been thinking about a armorer build for a while and thanks to critrolestats.com I know that dex saves that half the damage is one of the top three saving throws they roll for on that show. Imagine how annoyed you DM will be when his bbeg unleashes meteor swarm on the party and you come out unscathed.
Good point. I had to reread the feat because the first time I only focused on the shove part which is a bit redundant with Telekinetic but in melee only.
You are right that bonus to dex save and no damage instead of half damage is pretty sweet. I'll most likely take that instead of lucky (which honestly might annoy everybody else around the table anyway).
Thanks!