I would be an Elf or Half-Elf, probably either a High Elf, Dark Elf, or Wood Elf. Sharpshooter is going to be a must for feats, as well as Elven Accuracy.
Then, I would take Fey Touched to get either Hex or Hunter's Mark (almost definitely Hex, but Hunter's could be better in some circumstance). This will let you deal even more d6's on your Lightning Launcher attacks.
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Infiltrator Armorers are still primarily artificers. Most of the advice that works for artificers in general works at least in part for armorers. including the advice stating they're highly versatile and customizable and there's not much in the way of truly wrong ways to play one (except skimping on Intelligence)
Infiltrator specialists in general also want to try and follow ranged build guidelines, as pointed out by Third. Feat glut can be an issue, especially on a class that also wants to spike its Intelligence as high as it can pretty quick - I would consider planning around any two of the three mentioned by Third at most, unless you opt out of being an elf. At that point you get no Elven Accuracy, so mlem.
Infiltrators gain the same heavy armor proficiency as all Armorers, but they benefit from not using it. The Infiltrator armor model offers permanent Stealth advantage; if you attach it to armor with no disadvantage you not only get to enjoy that benefit properly, you can skip things like the Boots] or Cloaks of Elfydom in your infusion lists. Since you're looking to wear medium armor, you'll need half-decent Dexterity to fill out your AC. That's also going to fuel your Stealth, so consider making Dex your secondary focus stat over Constitution. You could theoretically even wear light armor if you get madcrazy Dex, but that seems unlikely so, again, mlem.
The lightning launcher is the most interesting feature of the Infiltrator, especially since it can appear on the armor's chest. Most folks agree that this means the lightning launcher doesn't need a hand to fire, so you have a ranged weapon built into your cleavage that leaves both hands free. That means you can carry a shield and still have a hand free for an enhanced spellcasting focus or anything else that feels useful at the time (like dynamite!). Damage-wise, the LL is a magic shortbow with a built-in micro Sneak Attack. You're never going to be a DPS monster with the LL, but it's got solid range and a useful damage type. Usually (emphasis on "usually"; remember, tactical situations can change drastically from fight to fight), the Infiltrator will do its best work as a fire support guy. Use your attacks to finish off weakened targets or clear weenies off your frontliners, let them preserve their higher-damage attacks for more valuable targets.
I'll also specifically recommend Shocking Grasp for Infiltrators. Between medium armor and a shield plus the option for numerous defensive infusions, Armorers have the AC to stand in the front lines, but a Constitution-third Infiltrator may not have the HP reserves to stay there for long. Shocking Grasp is a melee option that works off your Intelligence (important!), doesn't require you to have any weapons (you can cast it with your armor, because Armorer!), and lets you disengage freely from a target threatening you. It's extremely good for Infiltrators. You lose a bit of damage compared to a Blade cantrip, but you make that back with better accuracy, advantage against metal-armored targets (which works great with Elven Accuracy, if you have it!), and the ability to skirmish more easily.
Speaking of. Infiltrators don't have a steady use of their bonus action. The Homunculus Servant infusion is an excellent option for most Infiltrators - not only does it give you a solid bonus-action damage source in combat that works well with skirmisher characters, but the Homunculus makes a useful scout and a pretty excellent sentry. It doesn't sleep so it can guard your campsite overnight, there's nothing saying you can't give it hands and allow it to do all sorts of useful things for you, and also it's a flying force-blasting arcanomechanical best friend. Consider fluffing your Homunculus as an independent part of your armor - a drone assistant with its own dock in your battlesuit that you can deploy as needed.
One of my absolute favorite options for late-game Infiltrators is the Helm of Telepathy. Given your stealth capabilities, the Helm of Telepathy is an excellent recon tool that lets you freely cast Detect Thoughts. The thing lets you play literal mind games with your foes - if you have the Message spell (or a means of communicating telepathically), you can use your surface read of the target's thoughts to Batman the hell out of it, provoke paranoia and screw with people. Frankly, I'm hard-pressed to think of a campaign where mind-reading would not ever come in useful.
Anyways. I think I've rambled enough for one post, and work's starting to pile on. Hopefully something in that mess helps.
Mythril Full plate removes stealth disadvantage. Should add about 500 to the cost of it, so try and score some to upgrade to it as it doesn't count as a magical item for infusions
Correction: Mythril apparently is magic item and thus no infuse.
Mythril Full plate removes stealth disadvantage. Should add about 500 to the cost of it, so try and score some to upgrade to it as it doesn't count as a magical item for infusions
It unfortunately does count as a magic item, so RAW, you cannot infuse Mithral Plate Armor (even though this is dumb).
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Nah mithral is just so full of magic it can't fit anymore. Nice one wizards 👌
If you have access to Tasha's optional stats then I really like Wood Elf for this kind of build. +5 feet of movement gets you up to 40 with armorer. +2 intelligence leaves you ready to round up to 18 with elven accuracy (or fey-touched or another half feat if you like). Being able to hide in light foliage is excellent with advantage on stealth. For an elf, I would go half feat, sharpshooter, +2 intelligence for your first three ASI's with the half-feat or sharpshooter coming at level 4.
Variant Human gets you off the ground faster though so that should definitely be a consideration. When isn't it though. You can start with sharpshooter and then get intelligence to 20 by level 8. There's a lot to be said for that.
Ya mithral counting as "magical" is really dumb. I hope to convince my DM to ignore that rule. I'd consider it more like an advanced material, not really magical. Think carbon fiber in modern day - super light and very strong if made correctly.
I appreciate Yurei's breakdown but I'd like to suggest my own choice of feat to give you a bonus action - Telekinesis. Have an invisible mage hand is super sweet for RP - especially as an artificer, and as a stealthy one too. But the bonus action shove can be really useful - push an enemy or ally (they can choose to fail the save) 5 feet away to give them a free disengage; push an enemy off a ledge; nudge an ally into a flanking position; pull an enemy into spike growth or fire; its up to your imagination! The fact that it's a half feat and can give you a +1 INT is what really sells it.
Reborn Lineage is good for infiltrator too, especially if you use it's Ancestral Legacy with Owlin to get a 30ft fly speed and stealth proficiency as well as the advantage on death saving throws, poison saving throws, disease saving throws and resistance to poison.
It also gives a customisable +1+2/+1+1+1 ASI, which is useful for getting both Int and Dex increase.
Reborn also has a thing where you can add a d6 to any skill ability check an equal amount of times to your PB
So I would say you can be a stealthy zombie owl who doesn't die easy :)
Mythril Full plate removes stealth disadvantage. Should add about 500 to the cost of it, so try and score some to upgrade to it as it doesn't count as a magical item for infusions
Correction: Mythril apparently is magic item and thus no infuse.
The Infiltrator Armor does not impose disadvantage to stealth. In fact, it grants advantage to all Stealth rolls.
Mythril Full plate removes stealth disadvantage. Should add about 500 to the cost of it, so try and score some to upgrade to it as it doesn't count as a magical item for infusions
Correction: Mythril apparently is magic item and thus no infuse.
The Infiltrator Armor does not impose disadvantage to stealth. In fact, it grants advantage to all Stealth rolls.
Mythril Full plate removes stealth disadvantage. Should add about 500 to the cost of it, so try and score some to upgrade to it as it doesn't count as a magical item for infusions
Correction: Mythril apparently is magic item and thus no infuse.
The Infiltrator Armor does not impose disadvantage to stealth. In fact, it grants advantage to all Stealth rolls.
"Dampening Field. You have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks. If the armor normally imposes disadvantage on such checks, the advantage and disadvantage cancel each other, as normal."
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Hello, I’m trying to build an armored infiltrator, whom fights and blasts, at a distance.
I need advice on character builds that I can play to high level. How to spend points? Feats? Weapons? Strategies?
Any help would be appreciated.
I would be an Elf or Half-Elf, probably either a High Elf, Dark Elf, or Wood Elf. Sharpshooter is going to be a must for feats, as well as Elven Accuracy.
Then, I would take Fey Touched to get either Hex or Hunter's Mark (almost definitely Hex, but Hunter's could be better in some circumstance). This will let you deal even more d6's on your Lightning Launcher attacks.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Infiltrator Armorers are still primarily artificers. Most of the advice that works for artificers in general works at least in part for armorers. including the advice stating they're highly versatile and customizable and there's not much in the way of truly wrong ways to play one (except skimping on Intelligence)
Infiltrator specialists in general also want to try and follow ranged build guidelines, as pointed out by Third. Feat glut can be an issue, especially on a class that also wants to spike its Intelligence as high as it can pretty quick - I would consider planning around any two of the three mentioned by Third at most, unless you opt out of being an elf. At that point you get no Elven Accuracy, so mlem.
Infiltrators gain the same heavy armor proficiency as all Armorers, but they benefit from not using it. The Infiltrator armor model offers permanent Stealth advantage; if you attach it to armor with no disadvantage you not only get to enjoy that benefit properly, you can skip things like the Boots] or Cloaks of Elfydom in your infusion lists. Since you're looking to wear medium armor, you'll need half-decent Dexterity to fill out your AC. That's also going to fuel your Stealth, so consider making Dex your secondary focus stat over Constitution. You could theoretically even wear light armor if you get madcrazy Dex, but that seems unlikely so, again, mlem.
The lightning launcher is the most interesting feature of the Infiltrator, especially since it can appear on the armor's chest. Most folks agree that this means the lightning launcher doesn't need a hand to fire, so you have a ranged weapon built into your cleavage that leaves both hands free. That means you can carry a shield and still have a hand free for an enhanced spellcasting focus or anything else that feels useful at the time (like dynamite!). Damage-wise, the LL is a magic shortbow with a built-in micro Sneak Attack. You're never going to be a DPS monster with the LL, but it's got solid range and a useful damage type. Usually (emphasis on "usually"; remember, tactical situations can change drastically from fight to fight), the Infiltrator will do its best work as a fire support guy. Use your attacks to finish off weakened targets or clear weenies off your frontliners, let them preserve their higher-damage attacks for more valuable targets.
I'll also specifically recommend Shocking Grasp for Infiltrators. Between medium armor and a shield plus the option for numerous defensive infusions, Armorers have the AC to stand in the front lines, but a Constitution-third Infiltrator may not have the HP reserves to stay there for long. Shocking Grasp is a melee option that works off your Intelligence (important!), doesn't require you to have any weapons (you can cast it with your armor, because Armorer!), and lets you disengage freely from a target threatening you. It's extremely good for Infiltrators. You lose a bit of damage compared to a Blade cantrip, but you make that back with better accuracy, advantage against metal-armored targets (which works great with Elven Accuracy, if you have it!), and the ability to skirmish more easily.
Speaking of. Infiltrators don't have a steady use of their bonus action. The Homunculus Servant infusion is an excellent option for most Infiltrators - not only does it give you a solid bonus-action damage source in combat that works well with skirmisher characters, but the Homunculus makes a useful scout and a pretty excellent sentry. It doesn't sleep so it can guard your campsite overnight, there's nothing saying you can't give it hands and allow it to do all sorts of useful things for you, and also it's a flying force-blasting arcanomechanical best friend. Consider fluffing your Homunculus as an independent part of your armor - a drone assistant with its own dock in your battlesuit that you can deploy as needed.
One of my absolute favorite options for late-game Infiltrators is the Helm of Telepathy. Given your stealth capabilities, the Helm of Telepathy is an excellent recon tool that lets you freely cast Detect Thoughts. The thing lets you play literal mind games with your foes - if you have the Message spell (or a means of communicating telepathically), you can use your surface read of the target's thoughts to Batman the hell out of it, provoke paranoia and screw with people. Frankly, I'm hard-pressed to think of a campaign where mind-reading would not ever come in useful.
Anyways. I think I've rambled enough for one post, and work's starting to pile on. Hopefully something in that mess helps.
Please do not contact or message me.
This is incredibly helpful, thank you both!
Mythril Full plate removes stealth disadvantage. Should add about 500 to the cost of it, so try and score some to upgrade to it as it doesn't count as a magical item for infusions
Correction: Mythril apparently is magic item and thus no infuse.
It unfortunately does count as a magic item, so RAW, you cannot infuse Mithral Plate Armor (even though this is dumb).
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Nah mithral is just so full of magic it can't fit anymore. Nice one wizards 👌
If you have access to Tasha's optional stats then I really like Wood Elf for this kind of build. +5 feet of movement gets you up to 40 with armorer. +2 intelligence leaves you ready to round up to 18 with elven accuracy (or fey-touched or another half feat if you like). Being able to hide in light foliage is excellent with advantage on stealth. For an elf, I would go half feat, sharpshooter, +2 intelligence for your first three ASI's with the half-feat or sharpshooter coming at level 4.
Variant Human gets you off the ground faster though so that should definitely be a consideration. When isn't it though. You can start with sharpshooter and then get intelligence to 20 by level 8. There's a lot to be said for that.
Ya mithral counting as "magical" is really dumb. I hope to convince my DM to ignore that rule. I'd consider it more like an advanced material, not really magical. Think carbon fiber in modern day - super light and very strong if made correctly.
I appreciate Yurei's breakdown but I'd like to suggest my own choice of feat to give you a bonus action - Telekinesis. Have an invisible mage hand is super sweet for RP - especially as an artificer, and as a stealthy one too. But the bonus action shove can be really useful - push an enemy or ally (they can choose to fail the save) 5 feet away to give them a free disengage; push an enemy off a ledge; nudge an ally into a flanking position; pull an enemy into spike growth or fire; its up to your imagination! The fact that it's a half feat and can give you a +1 INT is what really sells it.
Reborn Lineage is good for infiltrator too, especially if you use it's Ancestral Legacy with Owlin to get a 30ft fly speed and stealth proficiency as well as the advantage on death saving throws, poison saving throws, disease saving throws and resistance to poison.
It also gives a customisable +1+2/+1+1+1 ASI, which is useful for getting both Int and Dex increase.
Reborn also has a thing where you can add a d6 to any skill ability check an equal amount of times to your PB
So I would say you can be a stealthy zombie owl who doesn't die easy :)
The Infiltrator Armor does not impose disadvantage to stealth. In fact, it grants advantage to all Stealth rolls.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/5381-mithral-armor
https://www.dndbeyond.com/classes/artificer#Armorer
"Dampening Field. You have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks. If the armor normally imposes disadvantage on such checks, the advantage and disadvantage cancel each other, as normal."