My party is charging hard to save an extremely valuable NPC from a very rough fight in front of a manor house. She's doing battle with seven or eight goons, one of which is Enlarged, and there's two dragons circling the battlefield and occasionally strafing everything with fire. I'm riding the paladin's Steed for reasons of being the slowest member of the group and also carting around a level of exhaustion; the paladin has instructed Gilthunder to listen to me (within reason). We arrive at the scene, Important NPC is engaged with three goons while snipers line up shots from the flanks, and a second friendly NPC is unconscious on the ground near Important Lady. Our skirmishers immediately move to engage, with our monk rushing up to take some pressure off Important NPC, while our rogue dashes off to lay into the bowmen. Winged-tiefling crossbow fighter flies up to distract the dragons because that shit is no bueno, and the paladin (an Oath of Glory guy with enhanced movement) runs up to Lay on Hands Important Lady.
My turn comes up.
I command Gilthunder to charge to a goon and trample-attack him, which the DM lets me have because palladalladingdong reasons, and tell my [Tooltip Not Found] to fly over to the downed NPC and sit on his head. Remember - movement does not require a bonus action to command, the critter can "move and use its reaction" on its own. I command my [Tooltip Not Found] to run up next to Important NPC, punch something and position itself to use Deflect Attack and draw some fire. I then hold a third-level Cure Wounds for "when my homunculus reaches the head of that half-dead guy over there", and when it does I allow the homunculus to use its reaction - no bonus action required -to deliver my spell, getting the guy back on his scaly durganboi feet. The homunculus stays put (my homunculus takes the form of an animated hat and easily perches on other character's heads) and lets me get him back up a second time after a wizard we didn't know was there Fireballs the crowd, he fails his save, but my Evasive homunculus barely scrapes through it.
We managed to end that fight with two living NPCs, rather than one - though the guy I had to MedicHat twice made it out with exactly one hit point left. He would've been roasted twice over if not for timely medical aid, however. And my ability to get him up from a distance freed up our paladin to close-escort the Important Lady, ensuring she survived thanks to his Lay on Hands and protective auras.
I know many Battlesmiths ignore the [Tooltip Not Found] because of bonus action overlap with their [Tooltip Not Found]. You should not do this. The homunculus' reaction is as useful in many situations as its action, and frankly my homunculus has been significantly more help than my Defender outside of combat as its high (for a minion) intelligence allows it to understand and carry out instructions too complex for the Defender and its improved mobility allows it to operate away from its artificer at need. This is especially apt for Battlesmiths that like to use their Defenders as mounts, since the mounted combat rules generally preclude the defender using its own actions when serving as an active mount for the Battlesmith (the Defender can either take its normal turn and move around at your command...after your turn, or it can move on your turn as a controlled mount and in the doing forfeit its attacks/actions). A Smith riding their Defender can make even more effective use of an independent Homunculus.
Nevertheless. That would be my case for "why not both?", as that fight stood out pretty starkly in my mind. We would've lost the dragonborn NPC without remote MedicHat healing, or alternatively the paladin would've had to split his attention and we might've lost Important Lady. Don't deny yourself useful tools that may save lives in the field simply because you don't like the idea of 'wasting' a critter that receives no command. Even without your direct input, both Defender and Homunculus have their tricks, and using both of them gives you options.
I think the follow up question would be, which is more valuable, an infusion or a feat?
By picking up Ritual Caster or Magic Initiate, you could get both a Familiar and few extra spells while leaving your invocation free to pick up Replicate Magic Item or something else. (Options, yada yada.)
Action Economy is always important, but is a Homunculus Servant the best option for the Battlesmith? (I have no idea, I haven't actually looked into it.)
I think the follow up question would be, which is more valuable, an infusion or a feat?
By picking up Ritual Caster or Magic Initiate, you could get both a Familiar and few extra spells while leaving your invocation free to pick up Replicate Magic Item or something else. (Options, yada yada.)
Action Economy is always important, but is a Homunculus Servant the best option for the Battlesmith? (I have no idea, I haven't actually looked into it.)
In the specific case of Yurei's example the Homunculus with it's evasion and auto-dodging (granting advantage on DEX saves) managed to survive a surprise fireball that a magic initiate familiar never would have. Granted that doesn't cover every scenario but it certainly is food for thought.
In the specific case of Yurei's example the Homunculus with it's evasion and auto-dodging (granting advantage on DEX saves) managed to survive a surprise fireball that a magic initiate familiar never would have. Granted that doesn't cover every scenario but it certainly is food for thought.
The increased durability is definitely a solid perk.
However, a Familiar doesn't require your Bonus Action to take the dash action, and can have a Fly speed of 60ft (compared to the Homunculus' 30ft), so it could fly in, deliver the spell, and fly out without ever exposing itself to the Fireball in the first place.
Familiar is a spell, it takes 1 hour to cast plus ten extra minutes if you cast it as a ritual, and it costs ten gold each time you cast it. You can pick from a list of 15 animal stat blocks, though they are fey, fiend or celestial. They generally have 1-2 HP, low ability scores, various movement types and speeds, and some have helpful abilities like Flyby, Blindsight, and Mimicry. They roll their own initiative and obey your commands, though they can’t attack. You can communicate with it telepathically, see through its eyes, and dismiss it to a pocket dimension with an action. You can cast spells with a range of touch through it.
A Homunculus Servant is a magic item. You can infuse a gem or crystal worth 100 gold when you finish a long rest, and the Homunculus forms around it instantly. You determine the appearance, and the rules do not include any specific restrictions except that it’s a tiny construct. They have 1+int+Artificer lvl HP, a 30’ fly speed, the Evasion ability, and they can understand the languages you speak. A number of their stats will increase as you level. They have a 30’ ranged attack using your magic attack bonus that deals d4+pb force damage, and you can cast spells through them, using their reaction. The Homunculus takes its turn immediately after you in combat, and it can move and take the dodge action on its own. You can command it, using your bonus action, to take any other action, and it can take any action on its own if you are incapacitated. You can repair 2d6 of its HP with the Mending spell.
A Familiar is nice because you can communicate with it and see through its eyes, it can act on its own in combat, you can re create it or change its form if you have the time and money, and some of the forms have useful features. The owl is a standout.
A Homunculus is nice because you can re-use the same gem each day (as long as you don’t lose it), it forms instantly after a long rest, it is much more intelligent and can understand languages, it has more hit points, it scales with your level and proficiency, it can attack, and you can ‘heal’ it with the Mending spell. The Homunculus has a lot more leeway in it’s form, and can have opposable thumbs and function as a container or piece of clothing, etc.
Familiar cheese is well known (and some tables shut it down), while Homunculus Servants are much newer and were restricted to sixth level or higher Artificers until recently. There’s still a lot of untapped potential there. But they each have their strengths and weaknesses, neither one totally eclipses the other.
I agree that the Homunculus is a worthwhile infusion for any Artificer. It is extremely useful out of combat or if you’re incapacitated (make sure to give it a healing potion or a goodberry!), and there are lots of cases where you would want to command it instead of your Steel Defender or Eldritch Cannon.
NGL I didn't really think about giving my Battlesmith a Homunculus - for all the reasons said here. I never realized that reaction could be so usefull. On the other hand my artificer is pretty fast and flexible due to his class anyway (she is a Simic Hybrid with glide wings and a climbing speed so she usually climbed up somewhere and jumps when nessessary) but I guess I'll take your points into consideration again.
Ironically? My artificer also has a familiar. Our table generally disregards familiars in combat; the critters are assumed to bamf out prior to a fight breaking out unless the player explicitly states otherwise, and it's also the case that both DMs for my particular group have absolutely no issues with popping a familiar that decides to be a hero (nor do I when I'm DMing, for that matter). Star's familiar is typically used more often as a sentry or as a simple companion; she acquired the spell specifically so she could have a warm, fuzzy body to keep her distracted when out on the ocean which is normally a Very Bad Time for her. Now admittedly, this is in part because the winged tiefling crossbow fighter also has a few levels of (war) wizardry because backstory and he's the one with the flying familiar that does the eyes-in-the-sky thing, but even if I was using a fast flying scouty familiar rather than a role-play-y familiar, the homunculus is a better delivery vessel.
The familiar can certainly deliver spells the same way the Homunculus can, yes. It's absolutely an option to consider, especially for artificers that feel tightly constrained on their infusion choices and don't have room for a Homunculus. The familiar's only real function in combat is spell deliverance, however. It cannot attack or otherwise harry enemies, and anyone who plays with a DM who knows what they're doing knows that "The Help Action" cheese in combat is liable to get them spending their next short rest burning ten GP (literally) on resummoning their owl. Homunculi are also capable of The Help Action, and unlike non-warlock familiars they can shoot enemies themselves if you need them to.
It's also worth noting that unless you houserule familiar initiative in your game (which I do actually highly recommend you do; our table has adopted the "all summoned/hired/bound/whatever'd critters move immediately after your turn unless there's a damn good reason why not" rule from Defenders/Homunculi, and it's streamlined summoner gameplay considerably), the homunculus will usually be able to deliver your spell much closer to your own turn if it has to move into position first. Familiars rolling their own initiative usually produces a large disparity between Critter and Artificer in the turn order, which means the artificer will have to hold their concentration for several turns waiting for their critter to get into position. This is significantly less the case with a homunculus that always moves immediately after the artificer commanding it.
If your DM is less inclined to remind familiars that they have one hit point and piss-poor defenses and should maybe not fly in and peck at an ogre's nipples than we are (and if you're less liable to catch a Fireball and a draconic breath weapon strafing attack in a single round than we are X_X), then by all means look into familiars. I never presume to tell people what to do with their build without invitation, I only relay what my own experience with the class has taught me.
I know that people use them for such regularly but Most Familiars really are rather not as useful as they appear in combat unless you really try for various reasons (not including being lucky enough to have a DM that won't simply off them at any random given opportunity). The initiative change that was mentioned would only mitigate some of them. Even the owl with things like Flyby and a high movement speed don't necessarily get out of the way of AoE's and such.
So I think comparing combat pet to non-combat pet is probably a good general way to look at them unless your really considering particular abilities or tactics to make use of them in the other. Familiars often make better non-combat aid's just because of the massive variety of forms they can have an ways they can be used. But Homunculus do pretty much have the advantage in combat. I think this holds true even for the Battle Smith where sometimes your best choice of thing to do with your Steel Defender is to just get it in somethings way and let it dodge to reduce it's chance to get hit while the Homunculus is used in other ways.
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So. After-Action recap:
My party is charging hard to save an extremely valuable NPC from a very rough fight in front of a manor house. She's doing battle with seven or eight goons, one of which is Enlarged, and there's two dragons circling the battlefield and occasionally strafing everything with fire. I'm riding the paladin's Steed for reasons of being the slowest member of the group and also carting around a level of exhaustion; the paladin has instructed Gilthunder to listen to me (within reason). We arrive at the scene, Important NPC is engaged with three goons while snipers line up shots from the flanks, and a second friendly NPC is unconscious on the ground near Important Lady. Our skirmishers immediately move to engage, with our monk rushing up to take some pressure off Important NPC, while our rogue dashes off to lay into the bowmen. Winged-tiefling crossbow fighter flies up to distract the dragons because that shit is no bueno, and the paladin (an Oath of Glory guy with enhanced movement) runs up to Lay on Hands Important Lady.
My turn comes up.
I command Gilthunder to charge to a goon and trample-attack him, which the DM lets me have because palladalladingdong reasons, and tell my [Tooltip Not Found] to fly over to the downed NPC and sit on his head. Remember - movement does not require a bonus action to command, the critter can "move and use its reaction" on its own. I command my [Tooltip Not Found] to run up next to Important NPC, punch something and position itself to use Deflect Attack and draw some fire. I then hold a third-level Cure Wounds for "when my homunculus reaches the head of that half-dead guy over there", and when it does I allow the homunculus to use its reaction - no bonus action required - to deliver my spell, getting the guy back on his scaly durganboi feet. The homunculus stays put (my homunculus takes the form of an animated hat and easily perches on other character's heads) and lets me get him back up a second time after a wizard we didn't know was there Fireballs the crowd, he fails his save, but my Evasive homunculus barely scrapes through it.
We managed to end that fight with two living NPCs, rather than one - though the guy I had to MedicHat twice made it out with exactly one hit point left. He would've been roasted twice over if not for timely medical aid, however. And my ability to get him up from a distance freed up our paladin to close-escort the Important Lady, ensuring she survived thanks to his Lay on Hands and protective auras.
I know many Battlesmiths ignore the [Tooltip Not Found] because of bonus action overlap with their [Tooltip Not Found]. You should not do this. The homunculus' reaction is as useful in many situations as its action, and frankly my homunculus has been significantly more help than my Defender outside of combat as its high (for a minion) intelligence allows it to understand and carry out instructions too complex for the Defender and its improved mobility allows it to operate away from its artificer at need. This is especially apt for Battlesmiths that like to use their Defenders as mounts, since the mounted combat rules generally preclude the defender using its own actions when serving as an active mount for the Battlesmith (the Defender can either take its normal turn and move around at your command...after your turn, or it can move on your turn as a controlled mount and in the doing forfeit its attacks/actions). A Smith riding their Defender can make even more effective use of an independent Homunculus.
Nevertheless. That would be my case for "why not both?", as that fight stood out pretty starkly in my mind. We would've lost the dragonborn NPC without remote MedicHat healing, or alternatively the paladin would've had to split his attention and we might've lost Important Lady. Don't deny yourself useful tools that may save lives in the field simply because you don't like the idea of 'wasting' a critter that receives no command. Even without your direct input, both Defender and Homunculus have their tricks, and using both of them gives you options.
We're artificers. We live for options.
Please do not contact or message me.
I think the follow up question would be, which is more valuable, an infusion or a feat?
By picking up Ritual Caster or Magic Initiate, you could get both a Familiar and few extra spells while leaving your invocation free to pick up Replicate Magic Item or something else. (Options, yada yada.)
Action Economy is always important, but is a Homunculus Servant the best option for the Battlesmith? (I have no idea, I haven't actually looked into it.)
I agree, and this is a good example of why Battle Smiths can make good use of a [Tooltip Not Found], especially if they're support focused.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
In the specific case of Yurei's example the Homunculus with it's evasion and auto-dodging (granting advantage on DEX saves) managed to survive a surprise fireball that a magic initiate familiar never would have. Granted that doesn't cover every scenario but it certainly is food for thought.
The increased durability is definitely a solid perk.
However, a Familiar doesn't require your Bonus Action to take the dash action, and can have a Fly speed of 60ft (compared to the Homunculus' 30ft), so it could fly in, deliver the spell, and fly out without ever exposing itself to the Fireball in the first place.
Yes, there are a lot of trade-offs.
Familiar is a spell, it takes 1 hour to cast plus ten extra minutes if you cast it as a ritual, and it costs ten gold each time you cast it. You can pick from a list of 15 animal stat blocks, though they are fey, fiend or celestial. They generally have 1-2 HP, low ability scores, various movement types and speeds, and some have helpful abilities like Flyby, Blindsight, and Mimicry. They roll their own initiative and obey your commands, though they can’t attack. You can communicate with it telepathically, see through its eyes, and dismiss it to a pocket dimension with an action. You can cast spells with a range of touch through it.
A Homunculus Servant is a magic item. You can infuse a gem or crystal worth 100 gold when you finish a long rest, and the Homunculus forms around it instantly. You determine the appearance, and the rules do not include any specific restrictions except that it’s a tiny construct. They have 1+int+Artificer lvl HP, a 30’ fly speed, the Evasion ability, and they can understand the languages you speak. A number of their stats will increase as you level. They have a 30’ ranged attack using your magic attack bonus that deals d4+pb force damage, and you can cast spells through them, using their reaction. The Homunculus takes its turn immediately after you in combat, and it can move and take the dodge action on its own. You can command it, using your bonus action, to take any other action, and it can take any action on its own if you are incapacitated. You can repair 2d6 of its HP with the Mending spell.
A Familiar is nice because you can communicate with it and see through its eyes, it can act on its own in combat, you can re create it or change its form if you have the time and money, and some of the forms have useful features. The owl is a standout.
A Homunculus is nice because you can re-use the same gem each day (as long as you don’t lose it), it forms instantly after a long rest, it is much more intelligent and can understand languages, it has more hit points, it scales with your level and proficiency, it can attack, and you can ‘heal’ it with the Mending spell. The Homunculus has a lot more leeway in it’s form, and can have opposable thumbs and function as a container or piece of clothing, etc.
Familiar cheese is well known (and some tables shut it down), while Homunculus Servants are much newer and were restricted to sixth level or higher Artificers until recently. There’s still a lot of untapped potential there. But they each have their strengths and weaknesses, neither one totally eclipses the other.
I agree that the Homunculus is a worthwhile infusion for any Artificer. It is extremely useful out of combat or if you’re incapacitated (make sure to give it a healing potion or a goodberry!), and there are lots of cases where you would want to command it instead of your Steel Defender or Eldritch Cannon.
NGL I didn't really think about giving my Battlesmith a Homunculus - for all the reasons said here. I never realized that reaction could be so usefull. On the other hand my artificer is pretty fast and flexible due to his class anyway (she is a Simic Hybrid with glide wings and a climbing speed so she usually climbed up somewhere and jumps when nessessary) but I guess I'll take your points into consideration again.
Ironically? My artificer also has a familiar. Our table generally disregards familiars in combat; the critters are assumed to bamf out prior to a fight breaking out unless the player explicitly states otherwise, and it's also the case that both DMs for my particular group have absolutely no issues with popping a familiar that decides to be a hero (nor do I when I'm DMing, for that matter). Star's familiar is typically used more often as a sentry or as a simple companion; she acquired the spell specifically so she could have a warm, fuzzy body to keep her distracted when out on the ocean which is normally a Very Bad Time for her. Now admittedly, this is in part because the winged tiefling crossbow fighter also has a few levels of (war) wizardry because backstory and he's the one with the flying familiar that does the eyes-in-the-sky thing, but even if I was using a fast flying scouty familiar rather than a role-play-y familiar, the homunculus is a better delivery vessel.
The familiar can certainly deliver spells the same way the Homunculus can, yes. It's absolutely an option to consider, especially for artificers that feel tightly constrained on their infusion choices and don't have room for a Homunculus. The familiar's only real function in combat is spell deliverance, however. It cannot attack or otherwise harry enemies, and anyone who plays with a DM who knows what they're doing knows that "The Help Action" cheese in combat is liable to get them spending their next short rest burning ten GP (literally) on resummoning their owl. Homunculi are also capable of The Help Action, and unlike non-warlock familiars they can shoot enemies themselves if you need them to.
It's also worth noting that unless you houserule familiar initiative in your game (which I do actually highly recommend you do; our table has adopted the "all summoned/hired/bound/whatever'd critters move immediately after your turn unless there's a damn good reason why not" rule from Defenders/Homunculi, and it's streamlined summoner gameplay considerably), the homunculus will usually be able to deliver your spell much closer to your own turn if it has to move into position first. Familiars rolling their own initiative usually produces a large disparity between Critter and Artificer in the turn order, which means the artificer will have to hold their concentration for several turns waiting for their critter to get into position. This is significantly less the case with a homunculus that always moves immediately after the artificer commanding it.
If your DM is less inclined to remind familiars that they have one hit point and piss-poor defenses and should maybe not fly in and peck at an ogre's nipples than we are (and if you're less liable to catch a Fireball and a draconic breath weapon strafing attack in a single round than we are X_X), then by all means look into familiars. I never presume to tell people what to do with their build without invitation, I only relay what my own experience with the class has taught me.
Please do not contact or message me.
I know that people use them for such regularly but Most Familiars really are rather not as useful as they appear in combat unless you really try for various reasons (not including being lucky enough to have a DM that won't simply off them at any random given opportunity). The initiative change that was mentioned would only mitigate some of them. Even the owl with things like Flyby and a high movement speed don't necessarily get out of the way of AoE's and such.
So I think comparing combat pet to non-combat pet is probably a good general way to look at them unless your really considering particular abilities or tactics to make use of them in the other. Familiars often make better non-combat aid's just because of the massive variety of forms they can have an ways they can be used. But Homunculus do pretty much have the advantage in combat. I think this holds true even for the Battle Smith where sometimes your best choice of thing to do with your Steel Defender is to just get it in somethings way and let it dodge to reduce it's chance to get hit while the Homunculus is used in other ways.