Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
Sign in- Marketplace
Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
Sign in
How would you build the most powerful artificer in 5.5e? Which subclass would you choose? Which spells, feats, species, etc would you choose?
(Artificer is the class I am least familiar with so I'm just curious what everyone else does with it. I'm not looking for specific advice, this is just a thought experiment.)
Armorer subclass, gives you full plate and shield at level 3, ac is 20. You get mirror image spell, so the hits that get through ac have to then get through mirror image.
Infiltrator armor model gives you a lughtning launcher mounted on your armor chestplate, so you can fire it with both hands full. It uses intelligence for hit and damage. Another model has punching fists. And another has a wrecking ball.
The way the build works, pick a model with melee, cast mirror image, and tank like theres no tomorrow.
Youre a half caater, so you get second level spells a bit later, but that will unlock a homunculus, basically a familiar that has a built in attack, and doesnt require your action for it to attack. It can fly, and has telepathy to 1 mile, but you cant see through it. Its basically a voice controlled drone, not an fpv drone. Once you get homunculus, it can kite around you and do a 30ft ranged attack that does force damage.
At level 7 (i think) you get "Flash of Genius" which lets you use your reaction to add your INTMOD to a saving throw you or someone withing 30 ft of you failed. You can do this intmod times per long rest. Its like a watered down paladins aura. I have used it many, many times to save myself or a party member from very vad outcomes.
At level 10, your replicate magic item feature can make elemental gems every day, so you can have one earth elemental, one water elemental, one air elmental, one fire elemental each day. Once summoned, they last for 1 hour or until hp is 0.
At level 11, you get spell storing item, which lets you put one artificer spell up to level 3 into the item. Anyone can the use item to cast that spell 10 times per long rest. Biggest damaging spell for armorer is Lightning Bolt, which does 8d6 lightning damage.
At level 14, your replicate magic item feature can makr pretty much any rare magic item.
The replicate magic item feature basically lets you make magic items up to a certain rarity. This rarity increases at level 6,10, 14. At level 14, yoh can make rare items. Normally, by level 14, you have already acquired or purchased all the magic items you want. So this feature seems best used for making single-use summoning items that dont require attunement. You get more attunement slots at higher level, but it wont be enough, so you will want to pick replicate magic item plans that dont require attunement. Elemental gems are a good start, once they unlock for you. They are single use items generally, but you can build new ones afte revery long rest.
At level 15, i think, one of the armor models can fly, basically making you Ironman.
And your Capstone feat is crazy good.
“Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.” — Voltaire
A great deal of an Artificer's power is from the investment in their INT score. Getting it to 18 and then 20 will be reflected in nearly every round of initiative.
Yeah, armorer arcane armor uses INT for tohit and dmg. Flash of genius is based off your intmod.
For rangers, you might set your wisdom to 14 and squeeze by. But for artificers, INT is extremely important and you really, really need to max it.
“Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.” — Voltaire
Artillerist can use INT for to-hit and dmg too, can't they? I agree, you need to crank up the INT as quickly as you can!
No, the Artillerist subclass has no such feature. I'm not sure where people are getting this from; it's a surprisingly common misconception.
That's not to say that Intelligence isn't a crucial stat for them — it certainly is — but the subclass doesn't provide any such ability. However, True Strike is on the general Artificer list and probably a good choice for them.
pronouns: he/she/they
The artillerist's little cannon uses your spellcasting modifier for tohit, but it acts more like a spell in that you dont add intmod to damage.
For armorer, the built in weapons are treated like warlock pact weapons: you use them like a normal weapon but use INT for tohit and dmg instead of str or dex. I.e. armorer lightning launcher will do a d8 plus intmod damage per hit.
“Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.” — Voltaire
Ah, I see; you can use intelligence instead of your strength or dexterity modifier for melee attacks. I guess with an artillerist you're going to use spells or maybe a crossbow/pistol with true strike, which does the same thing.
...no, you cannot use your Intelligence instead of your Strength or Dexterity modifier for melee attacks as an Artillerist. Or ranged attacks. It doesn't have that ability.
Battle Smith has that ability for any magic weapon. Armorer has it only for the specific weapons that are built into its Arcane Armor. Artillerist does not have it at all.
pronouns: he/she/they
Yes they can, by attacking with the True Strike cantrip with whatever weapons they use. That plus the cannon (which also uses your int for its attack modifier) basically makes up for not having extra attack or the Battle Smith/Armorer inherent use of INT for weapon attacks.
The only time they cannot is during an attack of opportunity, when they're stuck with whatever melee weapon they have at hand, and likely Dex.
Of course, INT is the attack for any attack spells also.
Yeah, Artilerist never gets ExtraAttack, so you could just use TrueStrike if.you wanted.
“Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.” — Voltaire
Assuming you GM doesn't just give every player every single item they want, their replicate magic item feat from 2, 6, 10, and 14 are incredibly powerful. Plans marked with an "*" are the ones I start the day with at most. This is my Battle Smith Artificer which is planned to be taken to 20+, time will tell. This has huge spikes at 6, 10, and 14 by the obvious rarity increase you can choose of items. The level 6 artificer class feature allows you to drain an item, breaking it, and transmute another item into the one you just broke. Do this with something like Magen Handbell and you now control two CR8 monsters that don't require concentration, act on their own, and hit for a +7 with 8d6 damage twice per turn. They can also cast disintegrate.
Level 5 Plans - 2
Mind Crystal*
Shield +1*
Full Plate
Returning Weapon
Level 6 Plans - 3
Pipes of Haunting*
Shield +1*
Mind Crystal
Full Plate
Mind Sharpener *
Level 7 Plans - 3
Pipes of Haunting*
Shield +1
Mind Crystal
Armor +1*
Mind Sharpener *
Level 8 Plans - 3
Pipes of Haunting*
Wand of Magic Missiles
Mind Crystal
Armor +1*
Mind Sharpener *
Level 9 Plans - 3
Pipes of Haunting*
Wand of Magic Missiles
Mind Crystal
Armor +1*
Mind Sharpener *
Level 10 Plans - 4
Pipes of Haunting*
Wand of Magic Missiles
Mind Crystal
Mind Sharpener*
Thayan Spell Tattoo - Spirit Guardian*
Cloak of Protection*
Level 11 Plans - 4
Thayan Spell Tattoo - Spirit Guardian*
Pipes of Haunting*
Mind Crystal
Cloak of Protection*
Winged Boots*
Mind Sharpener
Level 12 Plans - 4
Thayan Spell Tattoo - Spirit Guardian*
Pipes of Haunting*
Mind Crystal
Cloak of Protection*
Winged Boots*
Mind Sharpener
Level 13 Plans - 4
Thayan Spell Tattoo - Spirit Guardian*
Pipes of Haunting*
Mind Crystal
Cloak of Protection*
Winged Boots*
Mind Sharpener
Level 14 Plans - 5
Thayan Spell Tattoo - Spirit Guardian*
Pipes of Haunting*
Mind Crystal
Cloak of Protection*
Winged Boots
Cube of Force*
Magen Handbell*
Level 15 Plans - 5
Thayan Spell Tattoo - Spirit Guardian*
Mind Crystal
Cloak of Protection
Winged Boots*
Cube of Force*
Magen Handbell*
Scaled Ornament (Rare)*
Level 16 Plans - 5
Thayan Spell Tattoo - Spirit Guardian*
Mind Crystal
Winged Boots
Cube of Force*
Magen Handbell*
Scaled Ornament (Rare)*
Cloak of Displacement*
Level 17 Plans - 5
Thayan Spell Tattoo - Spirit Guardian*
Winged Boots
Cube of Force*
Magen Handbell*
Scaled Ornament (Rare)*
Cloak of Displacement*
Helmet of Teleportation
Level 18 Plans - 6
Thayan Spell Tattoo - Spirit Guardian*
Winged Boots
Cube of Force*
Magen Handbell*
Scaled Ornament (Rare)*
Cloak of Displacement*
Helmet of Teleportation
Robe of Eyes*
"The Thayan art of magical tattooing is highly guarded by its practitioners, and thus, Thayan Spell Tattoos can’t be crafted like other magic items. To learn how to ink Thayan Spell Tattoos, you must have a Renown Score of 50+ with the Red Wizards."
Talk with your dm before trying to craft a thayan spell.tattoo...
“Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.” — Voltaire