Battle Smith is widely considered the most powerful subclass of the Artificer, but I also think it's the most different from the base class. If you play from level 1, your character suddenly goes from only having proficiency in simple weapons to having proficiency in all martial weapons plus a cool and impressively capable robot sidekick effectively overnight. You also get proficiency in smith's tools, which I find amusing if you've dumped Strength when building the character, as is typically advised for an Artificer.
This isn't just about gaining magic or skills, it's fundamentally including getting stuff, a lot of stuff, and a lot of proficiency in using those items very suddenly.
For a ranged character, you could be starting with a light crossbow and it's a bit less jarring; you've been using it a long time, maybe you applied an infusion to it, and changing to another type of bow or crossbow, should you wish, feels pretty natural. Or even if you were using cantrips, you already knew something of a crossbow and the ranged feel transfers over.
But for a melee Battle Smith, you go from having only proficiency with a dagger to suddenly, you can use a longsword if you want. Cantrips are much better than the dagger, so for example you might be transitioning from Fire Bolt All The Things to Hey Let Me Whack That With A Sword. And the tactics are totally different. It's a lot to account for in RP.
And all the time the character was training with martial weapons, they also were building a cool autonomous robot and learning to smith. Heh, sleep is for the weak!
Battle Smith is widely considered the most powerful subclass of the Artificer, but I also think it's the most different from the base class. If you play from level 1, your character suddenly goes from only having proficiency in simple weapons to having proficiency in all martial weapons plus a cool and impressively capable robot sidekick effectively overnight. You also get proficiency in smith's tools, which I find amusing if you've dumped Strength when building the character, as is typically advised for an Artificer.
This isn't just about gaining magic or skills, it's fundamentally including getting stuff, a lot of stuff, and a lot of proficiency in using those items very suddenly.
For a ranged character, you could be starting with a light crossbow and it's a bit less jarring; you've been using it a long time, maybe you applied an infusion to it, and changing to another type of bow or crossbow, should you wish, feels pretty natural. Or even if you were using cantrips, you already knew something of a crossbow and the ranged feel transfers over.
But for a melee Battle Smith, you go from having only proficiency with a dagger to suddenly, you can use a longsword if you want. Cantrips are much better than the dagger, so for example you might be transitioning from Fire Bolt All The Things to Hey Let Me Whack That With A Sword. And the tactics are totally different. It's a lot to account for in RP.
And all the time the character was training with martial weapons, they also were building a cool autonomous robot and learning to smith. Heh, sleep is for the weak!
Character's mother said I should go and make a Friend. SO, I went to the workshop and MADE a new Friend.
LOL I love that.
Definitely easier if you live at home and your party isn't dragging you all over the continent.
If I give my Steel Defender a humanoid appearance and hands with opposable thumbs, Can I equip them with weapons.
Yes you can give them things like magic items you make and they can attune to them.