Yes I erroneously read that comment as saying the HS would be casting identify.
After I read this thread, I made my own battlesmith with the HS infusion using some of the features mentioned in the infusion, among which is the fact that many artificers like to use vials or cauldrons as a basis (and I'm not going to lie, I took liberal inspiration from the insect constructs as seen in Aladdin and the Golden Compass):
Your homonculus servant (HS) appears as an intricate clockwork horned beetle. Its abdomen is a hollow glass bulb that can hold fine dust or fluid in a capacity equal to a vial. Its thorax consists of a complex system of magic-powered interlocking mechanisms, covered by a carapace constructed of a delicate sheet of precious metal. This thin sheet largely surrounds its body and its heart, a pearl worth 100 gp, which slightly protrudes from its carapace and which can be accessed if its wings are unfolded. Its head, while finely made, is an unassuming part in comparison to the rest of its form, but it can project energy from its jaws, its horn, and its eyes. It has been made to interlock in the surface in between the shoulders of your steel defender, which in turn has been specifically crafted with this function in mind.
Basically in this scenario the steel defender (SD) and HS have a default combat mode, in which they're interlocked 'Dino Megazord style' and move at the same time; flavor-wise the HS would form an external magical power core of sorts to complement the SD. P.e. using its ranged attack, the HS would allow the SD to shoot blasts of force damage in this way (although as a variant human I took the crossbow expert feat, eliminating the need for an inferior 30 ft.-range attack that uses my bonus action). In this default Megazord combat mode, the SD would be less fragile and more dangerous on its own because I could cast touch-range spells on it (such as mending or elemental weapon) or adjacent enemies (such as shocking grasp) through the HS. To add, using my bonus action the SD could use its action to access the spell stored in the HS, heal itself or the HS using its Repair action, or use its Deflect Attack reaction whenever the HS would be targeted by an attack. So used they would be two parts of a whole. E.g. using the Spell-Storing Item feature on the HS, the SD could help itself in combat with spells like blur, enhance ability, enlarge/reduce, faerie fire, false life (a number of times up to twice your Int mod), grease, magic weapon, sanctuary... There is a lot of synergy there, not counting the dust or fluid the HS can carry, the spells I can cast on it using my HS, or the scouting utility of the HS on its own with a solid stored spell (it's comparable in size to a spider familiar, so it can enter very difficult to reach-locations). Seperately (which I assume is going to be more and more at higher levels) the SD would stay at my character's side while the HS would be flying around to bestow the spell stored in it on the various party members there are.
E.g. Assume level 11, and keep in mind: specific rules trump general rules. I don't like to hypothesize in extremes, so I only assume what can be reasonably be achieved in 11 levels' time. In my downtime I will have tinkered together two tiny inanimate clockwork spiders, which like the HS have a hollow glass abdomen with a storage capacity equal to a vial. Also like the HS, their thoraxes encase a gem, eldarite (or Nebula) stones, which are paired as infused sending stones (now they can be used as spell-storing items). Next is that in my case, my SD has the shape of a shepherd dog. Since you can buy barding for animals, you can buy it for your SD. Any type of armor is available as barding, which costs 4x and weighs 2x as much. Using the Magic Item Adept feature, I could craft a magic version of the barding (mithral plate armor for example, to remove the Strength requirement for heavy armor and delete the disadvantage on Stealth checks) using only 1/4 the normal time and 1/2 the usual gold. For this scenario, assume normal chain mail barding (half plate barding gives the same AC in the SD’s case and weighs 30 lbs. less, but costs 10x as much). I infuse the barding with the enhanced armor infusion for a +2 bonus to its AC, as well as my hand crossbow with the enhanced weapon infusion to give it a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls.
I end a long rest and among the spells I have prepared are aid, haste, and tiny servant (TS). I store blur in my homunculus. I cast aid at 3 level and for its three targets I choose myself, my SD, and my HS, all of whom gain an extra 10 current and maximum hp for 8 hours. With an Int mod of +5, my SD now has 72 hp. Aditionally I cast tiny servant on the clockwork spider that lasts for 8 hours also, and the TS remains on my person. I have stored basic poison in the abdomens of my clockwork spiders (one of which remains inanimate), and a potion of greater healing in my clockwork beetle’s abdomen. During exploration the group is attacked and enters combat.
Round 1. My TS is on my person. My bonus action allows my TS to take its action, which it uses to coat three of my crossbow bolts with the basic poison stored in its bulb-shaped abdomen (flavored as the TS excreting it on the bolts’ tips). While the HS and SD are restricted in the actions they can take during combat, the TS is not and can take actions normally if your command is a simple, general one (p.e. ‘apply poison to bolts’). Grats, you just used a bonus action to apply poison to your ammo instead of the normal action. Using my battle smith’s extra attack feature and my human’s bonus crossbow expert feat, I attack twice with my hand crossbow using two pieces of the poisoned ammunition (both of the attacks get a +2 bonus to the attack and damage rolls from the enhanced weapon infusion).
Round 2. On my turn, I use an action to cast haste on my SD. My bonus action allows my SD to take its action, which it uses to activate the blur spell stored in my HS (flavored as the power core activating and casting a distortion field over the SD; specific trumps general). The spell-storing item feature says that a creature can use its action to produce the stored spell’s effect; rather than contradict the actions the HS and SD can take in combat, this feature complements those actions. Right after my own turn, my SD, carrying my HS on its back, moves up to 80 ft. (haste doubles its speed) over to the enemy that’s next on the initiative tracker and takes haste’s additional action to take the Attack action against it. If it hits, my SD applies the arcane jolt feature’s extra 2d6 force damage. The enemy that was attacked by my SD retaliates, attacking with disadvantage because of blur, against the SD’s AC that was improved from 15 to 20 by both haste (+2 AC) and the chain mail barding (AC 16) that’s under the effect of my enhanced armor infusion (+2 AC). If the enemy’s attack hits, my SD makes a Constitution save (in which it is proficient, amounting to a total bonus of +6) to retain concentration on blur.
Round 3. On my next turn I take the Attack action to attack twice with my hand crossbow; one of the attacks will carry the basic poison’s effect. Using my bonus action, I allow the SD to take the Attack action, hitting the enemy and using the arcane jolt feature to regain 2d6 hp. The SD then uses haste’s additional action in order to take another Attack action, hitting the enemy again and using the arcane jolt feature to deal an extra 2d6 force damage. Whenever the SD crits, you can then decide whether you want to heal or deal more damage (in which case arcane jolt’s extra damage will also be doubled by the critical hit) since arcane jolt’s extra damage is only ever applied after you know if the SD’s attack hits. Grats again, you are now dishing out 4 attacks every round onward. If the fighter is in a spot of trouble, my HS also flies over 30 ft. to them. On their turn, the fighter could use their action to cast blur on themselves and use the potion of greater healing as a bonus action (while not strictly a rule, most DMs allow the use of potions as a bonus action). Also note that blur will stay in effect for both the SD and the fighter: they just have to hold it to activate it at first, not to maintain it.
While this sounds farfetched, it's actually not out of the ordinary. These are simply basic rules that the game offers, which can be used for good synergy. All of the mentioned items can easily be acquired before 10th level as well.
Yes I erroneously read that comment as saying the HS would be casting identify.
After I read this thread, I made my own battlesmith with the HS infusion using some of the features mentioned in the infusion, among which is the fact that many artificers like to use vials or cauldrons as a basis (and I'm not going to lie, I took liberal inspiration from the insect constructs as seen in Aladdin and the Golden Compass):
Your homonculus servant (HS) appears as an intricate clockwork horned beetle. Its abdomen is a hollow glass bulb that can hold fine dust or fluid in a capacity equal to a vial. Its thorax consists of a complex system of magic-powered interlocking mechanisms, covered by a carapace constructed of a delicate sheet of precious metal. This thin sheet largely surrounds its body and its heart, a pearl worth 100 gp, which slightly protrudes from its carapace and which can be accessed if its wings are unfolded. Its head, while finely made, is an unassuming part in comparison to the rest of its form, but it can project energy from its jaws, its horn, and its eyes. It has been made to interlock in the surface in between the shoulders of your steel defender, which in turn has been specifically crafted with this function in mind.
Basically in this scenario the steel defender (SD) and HS have a default combat mode, in which they're interlocked 'Dino Megazord style' and move at the same time; flavor-wise the HS would form an external magical power core of sorts to complement the SD. P.e. using its ranged attack, the HS would allow the SD to shoot blasts of force damage in this way (although as a variant human I took the crossbow expert feat, eliminating the need for an inferior 30 ft.-range attack that uses my bonus action). In this default Megazord combat mode, the SD would be less fragile and more dangerous on its own because I could cast touch-range spells on it (such as mending or elemental weapon) or adjacent enemies (such as shocking grasp) through the HS. To add, using my bonus action the SD could use its action to access the spell stored in the HS, heal itself or the HS using its Repair action, or use its Deflect Attack reaction whenever the HS would be targeted by an attack. So used they would be two parts of a whole. E.g. using the Spell-Storing Item feature on the HS, the SD could help itself in combat with spells like blur, enhance ability, enlarge/reduce, faerie fire, false life (a number of times up to twice your Int mod), grease, magic weapon, sanctuary... There is a lot of synergy there, not counting the dust or fluid the HS can carry, the spells I can cast on it using my HS, or the scouting utility of the HS on its own with a solid stored spell (it's comparable in size to a spider familiar, so it can enter very difficult to reach-locations). Seperately (which I assume is going to be more and more at higher levels) the SD would stay at my character's side while the HS would be flying around to bestow the spell stored in it on the various party members there are.
E.g. Assume level 11, and keep in mind: specific rules trump general rules. I don't like to hypothesize in extremes, so I only assume what can be reasonably be achieved in 11 levels' time. In my downtime I will have tinkered together two tiny inanimate clockwork spiders, which like the HS have a hollow glass abdomen with a storage capacity equal to a vial. Also like the HS, their thoraxes encase a gem, eldarite (or Nebula) stones, which are paired as infused sending stones (now they can be used as spell-storing items). Next is that in my case, my SD has the shape of a shepherd dog. Since you can buy barding for animals, you can buy it for your SD. Any type of armor is available as barding, which costs 4x and weighs 2x as much. Using the Magic Item Adept feature, I could craft a magic version of the barding (mithral plate armor for example, to remove the Strength requirement for heavy armor and delete the disadvantage on Stealth checks) using only 1/4 the normal time and 1/2 the usual gold. For this scenario, assume normal chain mail barding (half plate barding gives the same AC in the SD’s case and weighs 30 lbs. less, but costs 10x as much). I infuse the barding with the enhanced armor infusion for a +2 bonus to its AC, as well as my hand crossbow with the enhanced weapon infusion to give it a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls.
I end a long rest and among the spells I have prepared are aid, haste, and tiny servant (TS). I store blur in my homunculus. I cast aid at 3 level and for its three targets I choose myself, my SD, and my HS, all of whom gain an extra 10 current and maximum hp for 8 hours. With an Int mod of +5, my SD now has 72 hp. Aditionally I cast tiny servant on the clockwork spider that lasts for 8 hours also, and the TS remains on my person. I have stored basic poison in the abdomens of my clockwork spiders (one of which remains inanimate), and a potion of greater healing in my clockwork beetle’s abdomen. During exploration the group is attacked and enters combat.
Round 1. My TS is on my person. My bonus action allows my TS to take its action, which it uses to coat three of my crossbow bolts with the basic poison stored in its bulb-shaped abdomen (flavored as the TS excreting it on the bolts’ tips). While the HS and SD are restricted in the actions they can take during combat, the TS is not and can take actions normally if your command is a simple, general one (p.e. ‘apply poison to bolts’). Grats, you just used a bonus action to apply poison to your ammo instead of the normal action. Using my battle smith’s extra attack feature and my human’s bonus crossbow expert feat, I attack twice with my hand crossbow using two pieces of the poisoned ammunition (both of the attacks get a +2 bonus to the attack and damage rolls from the enhanced weapon infusion).
Round 2. On my turn, I use an action to cast haste on my SD. My bonus action allows my SD to take its action, which it uses to activate the blur spell stored in my HS (flavored as the power core activating and casting a distortion field over the SD; specific trumps general). The spell-storing item feature says that a creature can use its action to produce the stored spell’s effect; rather than contradict the actions the HS and SD can take in combat, this feature complements those actions. Right after my own turn, my SD, carrying my HS on its back, moves up to 80 ft. (haste doubles its speed) over to the enemy that’s next on the initiative tracker and takes haste’s additional action to take the Attack action against it. If it hits, my SD applies the arcane jolt feature’s extra 2d6 force damage. The enemy that was attacked by my SD retaliates, attacking with disadvantage because of blur, against the SD’s AC that was improved from 15 to 20 by both haste (+2 AC) and the chain mail barding (AC 16) that’s under the effect of my enhanced armor infusion (+2 AC). If the enemy’s attack hits, my SD makes a Constitution save (in which it is proficient, amounting to a total bonus of +6) to retain concentration on blur.
Round 3. On my next turn I take the Attack action to attack twice with my hand crossbow; one of the attacks will carry the basic poison’s effect. Using my bonus action, I allow the SD to take the Attack action, hitting the enemy and using the arcane jolt feature to regain 2d6 hp. The SD then uses haste’s additional action in order to take another Attack action, hitting the enemy again and using the arcane jolt feature to deal an extra 2d6 force damage. Whenever the SD crits, you can then decide whether you want to heal or deal more damage (in which case arcane jolt’s extra damage will also be doubled by the critical hit) since arcane jolt’s extra damage is only ever applied after you know if the SD’s attack hits. Grats again, you are now dishing out 4 attacks every round onward. If the fighter is in a spot of trouble, my HS also flies over 30 ft. to them. On their turn, the fighter could use their action to cast blur on themselves and use the potion of greater healing as a bonus action (while not strictly a rule, most DMs allow the use of potions as a bonus action). Also note that blur will stay in effect for both the SD and the fighter: they just have to hold it to activate it at first, not to maintain it.
While this sounds farfetched, it's actually not out of the ordinary. These are simply basic rules that the game offers, which can be used for good synergy. All of the mentioned items can easily be acquired before 10th level as well.
I love it. That's awesome