Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
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Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
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As title suggests, there's little to no resources (all still too new admittedly) chatting about the changes 5.5 brought to Artificers and the new feats coming out alongside them. I'm certainly curious what feats people have been enjoying with their updated Artificers.
I'm currently running an Artillerist and am rocking the Cold Caster feat on him for control, and excited to see how this interacts with the higher-level cold spells on their prepared list.
I'm comfortable hearing about partnered material on DnD Beyond and I'm curious to hear about what fun shenanigans my brethren are concocting.
Unfortunately the Artillerist doesn't have any subclass-specific spells that interact with Cold Caster. The feat's main benefit applies only to attack rolls that deal Cold damage, and none of the Artillerist spells qualify (though the Ray of Frost cantrip the feat provides certainly does).
For other newer feats, though, Spellfire Adept works well with True Strike, which is a great spell for an Artillerist to have.
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HAH oh my goodness you're right. Unless I look into more creative ways to apply cold damage, but I'm certainly already enjoying the benefits Ray of Frost gets me. That's a good callout with Spellfire Adept too, thank you!
It also occurs to me that Elemental Weapon is on the Artificer list, and can be used to turn a boring weapon into something that can benefit from Cold Caster. Though with half-caster progression you won't have access to it for a while.
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Not an expert so TIFWIW...
I think this really depends on how you are playing the Artificer (not to mention where your Int is at). Each subclass can play multiple roles and getting your Intelligence up to 20 often has a pretty big general impact over Feats.
War Caster is usually a good option if you are using concentration spells and to allow you to use spells for opportunity attacks (can work with True Strike to let you attack with a weapon).
Spell Sniper can be interesting if you want to extend the range on some spells and to ignore cover as well as point blank range (I think this works with your cannons) - can also work with True Strike to cover weapon attacks (does not work if you have multiple attacks but should work for Artillerist).
Fey Touched is good if you want to keep yourself out of combat (and to otherwise expand your limited spell list).
Alert can be really good - especially if you got a Familiar via Magic Initiate (Familiar gets it's own initiative role and you can swap with it if it gets a higher role).
I enjoy Telekinetic on an artificer. You get an invisible mage hand which seems to fit my characters, and so useful. The telekinetic shove is really nice for a disengage or for pulling an ally out of trouble.
For an origin feat, if you're feeling that two cantrips isn't enough, Magic Initiate is potentially a big expansion of your versatility.
I had certainly thought of this feat too, and LOVE the flavorful aspect of it. The only thing stopping me is as an Artillerist, that bonus action would go wasted. But gosh, one of my fave feats.
I put it on my Artillerist anyway, and I really wish the cannon didn't need a bonus action every turn (like can't it just default to protector mode?) but I'm not sorry I chose it, it's still sometimes the best choice in the moment.
Been playing a 2024 artificer/armorer since the ebberon rules came out.
Feats generally do not play well with artificer. Armorers are basically tanks/martials. But you use int instrad of str for everything. And most feats designed for tanky martials will increase STR or maybe DEX.
At level 4 i took skill expert, got expertise in slight of hand to disarm traps and +1 int.
At level 8, i just did a +2 to int.
There really arent any great feats for the weird space that artificers occupy
I was rocking a high ac at level 4 and magic initiate shield means im nigh untouchable from attacks. So its fine if feats arent a great fit.
Do you not like War Caster and/or Spell Sniper? Both give some interesting benefits (depending on the build) and both can bump Int by +1. Fey Touched also expands your spell list - again depends on the build and how you are playing the Artificer.
It really does depend on your start Int. If you are rolling abilities and get at least 1 decently high score it is not too difficult to max out Int with a Background and a Half Feat or two. Once Int is maxed out lots of the martial feats could be useful depending on the build.
Sharpshooter or Crossbow Expert for a ranged build, Defensive Duelist, or maybe even Polearm Master or Heavy Weapon Master for a Melee Build, or possibly even bomber if you are throwing acid or other concoctions (and using thrown weapons).
Even the grappler feat might be useful if you are an Armorer and front lining (I think a Battle Smith is better of letting the Steel Defender grapple if that is your strategy).
It depends on which subclass you take. For armorers, all your armor weapons use INT for tohit and damage and your arcane armor has no strength requirement. So my armorer is running around in plate armor with a strength of 8 and an int of 20.
In that build, the half feats that bump STR arent as helpful cause strength is a dump stat
Definitely subclass matters. Any subclass can use True Strike when attacking to be SAD - the ones that get Extra Attack get to use Int for weapons as far as I can recall so True Strike is only useful at certain levels.
Once Int is maxed out then you can take the martial feats and you are not losing anything and can be gaining a fair amount of DPR potential. Prioritize Con and next Dex when possible although sometimes STR is the only option.