Joining an ongoing campaign at Level 9. Party is currently a Cleric, Warlock 8/Cleric 1, Artificer, Fighter, and Rogue. Wanting to play a Wizard because it seems needed in the party as a controller, rolled for stats using Colville Rules and got 15, 15, 13, 12, 12, 9. Not bad by any means, just flat, and usable for a Wizard with the two 15s going into INT and CON.
I’ve got a couple decisions though. I went with Gnome for the race, so my INT starts at 17, and the CON is set at 16. Took the ASI at 4 to get to 19 INT and the Skill Expert at 8 to round out to 20 INT and grabbed arcana expertise. Scribes as the subclass, as of now. We get a free feat at creation, and I went with Alert because I think it’s generally underrated and great for Wizards.
But now, I’m looking at potentially doing War instead of Scribes because of the initiative bonuses and the save bonuses. And also looking at potentially starting at Artificer 1 before going straight Wizard in order to get some armor proficiencies and CON saves, albeit delaying spell progression a little. I could also take Resilient WIS and round out of my WIS plus get save proficiency still but not sure.
I haven't personally played a War wizard, but imo Tactical Wit and Durable Magic seem to be the best things going for it. Arcane Deflection seems cool in theory, but it comes at the cost of only being able to cast cantrips. Shield seems the better reaction at a lower price. Power Surge is dependent on using 3rd level spell slots for damage equal to... half your wizard level. So 4 or 5 damage per a surge. That's... not great. Not terrible, but not very appealing.
As far as the Artificer dip... it's not very interesting mechanically, but I enjoyed it from a character perspective! Flavoring your magic themed from your artisan tool is just fun. Plus armor, shield and constitution proficiency? It's hard to say no to!
I took 2 Artificer levels on my Scribes Wizard. My GM allowed me to combine the homunculus with the familiar into a single stat block which will add my unseen servant as my manifest mind. So I am building Khonshu with my Moonknight minion.
I would probably take one level in a cleric subclass with heavy armor (like twilight) starting instead of artificer since they get subclasses at level 1. You can select cleric cantrips and spells that aren't as wisdom dependent or just make sure you have some wisdom. You can take resilient feat for con saves and warcaster (to cast spells with shield and whatever in other hand) later.
I am currently doing the (bladesinger/ artificer) route and really having fun, but my dm allows for down time creation/ tinkering. Also rather enjoy the firearms combined with 6th level bladesinger for shooting and fire bolting at same time.
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Artificer dip worth it on a Wizard?
Joining an ongoing campaign at Level 9. Party is currently a Cleric, Warlock 8/Cleric 1, Artificer, Fighter, and Rogue. Wanting to play a Wizard because it seems needed in the party as a controller, rolled for stats using Colville Rules and got 15, 15, 13, 12, 12, 9. Not bad by any means, just flat, and usable for a Wizard with the two 15s going into INT and CON.
I’ve got a couple decisions though. I went with Gnome for the race, so my INT starts at 17, and the CON is set at 16. Took the ASI at 4 to get to 19 INT and the Skill Expert at 8 to round out to 20 INT and grabbed arcana expertise. Scribes as the subclass, as of now. We get a free feat at creation, and I went with Alert because I think it’s generally underrated and great for Wizards.
But now, I’m looking at potentially doing War instead of Scribes because of the initiative bonuses and the save bonuses. And also looking at potentially starting at Artificer 1 before going straight Wizard in order to get some armor proficiencies and CON saves, albeit delaying spell progression a little. I could also take Resilient WIS and round out of my WIS plus get save proficiency still but not sure.
Any ideas or thoughts please!
I haven't personally played a War wizard, but imo Tactical Wit and Durable Magic seem to be the best things going for it. Arcane Deflection seems cool in theory, but it comes at the cost of only being able to cast cantrips. Shield seems the better reaction at a lower price. Power Surge is dependent on using 3rd level spell slots for damage equal to... half your wizard level. So 4 or 5 damage per a surge. That's... not great. Not terrible, but not very appealing.
As far as the Artificer dip... it's not very interesting mechanically, but I enjoyed it from a character perspective! Flavoring your magic themed from your artisan tool is just fun. Plus armor, shield and constitution proficiency? It's hard to say no to!
I took 2 Artificer levels on my Scribes Wizard. My GM allowed me to combine the homunculus with the familiar into a single stat block which will add my unseen servant as my manifest mind. So I am building Khonshu with my Moonknight minion.
I would probably take one level in a cleric subclass with heavy armor (like twilight) starting instead of artificer since they get subclasses at level 1. You can select cleric cantrips and spells that aren't as wisdom dependent or just make sure you have some wisdom. You can take resilient feat for con saves and warcaster (to cast spells with shield and whatever in other hand) later.
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I am currently doing the (bladesinger/ artificer) route and really having fun, but my dm allows for down time creation/ tinkering. Also rather enjoy the firearms combined with 6th level bladesinger for shooting and fire bolting at same time.