I shall remind that you all can do more than merely take out your frustrations on the Keyboard!
This is a playtest. You can test this out, come up with your polite, clearly typed, properly spelled, well punctuated, well reasoned, brief rationales, and then supply them via the feedback survey.
This is not the final form of the class, merely a starting point.
And I will do this very thing and bring my opinions to the survey. However, I almost never seem to end up on the favored side of opinion anyway, but I try—
As do we all.
Imagine my sheer joy at being not only an old, long time player, but also someone who changes the game to fit my original worlds, and still strongly believes in the "magical items grant power" ethos of the TSR days over the "power is in the person" ethos of the Hasbro era.
It has been a difficult time *sniffles*
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Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
I'm just annoyed that the one thing pretty much everyone agreed the Artificer needed was to fix the Alchemist subclass and make it a more viable support/healer. Aside from slightly bumping up the healing potential of the healing elixir (which you only have a 1/3 chance of rolling), I really haven't seen that.
I think the thing that would've gotten me excited account a randomly rolled elixir take would be more options.
If I was rolling on a d12 table and all the options were solid, and maybe I also had the option to use an elixir in place of a spell slot (as long as the spell restores hit points), then I would feel good about it.
I would still play the Alchemist because I love the flavor, but it still feels like it's not what it could be, like before.
I'm just annoyed that the one thing pretty much everyone agreed the Artificer needed was to fix the Alchemist subclass and make it a more viable support/healer. Aside from slightly bumping up the healing potential of the healing elixir (which you only have a 1/3 chance of rolling), I really haven't seen that.
I think the thing that would've gotten me excited account a randomly rolled elixir take would be more options.
If I was rolling on a d12 table and all the options were solid, and maybe I also had the option to use an elixir in place of a spell slot (as long as the spell restores hit points), then I would feel good about it.
I would still play the Alchemist because I love the flavor, but it still feels like it's not what it could be, like before.
The issue with your d12 table is they’d then need to come up with twice as many “solid”, balanced, and roughly equivalent options.
Alchemist still has the issue of nothing to do on their turns. Not enough spell slots to cast offensively, no class/subclass features to use on their turns. Even with the addition of 3rd level spells on Spell Storing Item, they don't have an offensive 3rd level spell on their subclass spell list, so they are either dropping a 2nd level spell on Spell Storing Item, or Haste/Fly/Cure Wounds.
Artillerists still have the problem where their main subclass feature only lasts for 1 hour and requires a spell slot to recharge, so every time the party takes a short rest the Artillerist loses a spell slot. The issue can be solved by just increasing the duration of the canon. It already dies and requires a spell slot to bring back when it takes any significant damage. Best hope no one wants more than a single short rest before 5th level. Also, Protector is overpowered at low levels and completely negligible by level 10.
The Alchemist though, that one needs a serious rework to actually have something to do on their turn. Every other subclass has something to do every turn. Alchemists? Administer 2 potions as bonus actions, then you're done.
I don't understand what you mean by "nothing to do." Alchemists get not one but two damage boosts to every fire/poison/acid/necrotic spell they cast - that includes attack roll cantrips, and they can boost them further by replicating Wand of the War Mage +2 and drinking a Boldness Elixir for an extra +5 to hit on average that lasts the entire combat. It's not that far off from the Artillerist's firearm, and they can serve as a group's healer/restorer too. And that's without concentrating on anything either.
Note that the elixir boosts their Homunculus Servant too for even more DPR, which they can summon the night before since it lasts indefinitely and doesn't use concentration either. It also now leaves their bonus action free as well.
Alchemist still has the issue of nothing to do on their turns. Not enough spell slots to cast offensively, no class/subclass features to use on their turns. Even with the addition of 3rd level spells on Spell Storing Item, they don't have an offensive 3rd level spell on their subclass spell list, so they are either dropping a 2nd level spell on Spell Storing Item, or Haste/Fly/Cure Wounds.
Artillerists still have the problem where their main subclass feature only lasts for 1 hour and requires a spell slot to recharge, so every time the party takes a short rest the Artillerist loses a spell slot. The issue can be solved by just increasing the duration of the canon. It already dies and requires a spell slot to bring back when it takes any significant damage. Best hope no one wants more than a single short rest before 5th level. Also, Protector is overpowered at low levels and completely negligible by level 10.
The Alchemist though, that one needs a serious rework to actually have something to do on their turn. Every other subclass has something to do every turn. Alchemists? Administer 2 potions as bonus actions, then you're done.
I don't understand what you mean by "nothing to do." Alchemists get not one but two damage boosts to every fire/poison/acid/necrotic spell they cast - that includes attack roll cantrips, and they can boost them further by replicating Wand of the War Mage +2 and drinking a Boldness Elixir for an extra +5 to hit on average that lasts the entire combat. It's not that far off from the Artillerist's firearm, and they can serve as a group's healer/restorer too. And that's without concentrating on anything either.
Note that the elixir boosts their Homunculus Servant too for even more DPR, which they can summon the night before since it lasts indefinitely and doesn't use concentration either. It also now leaves their bonus action free as well.
Can Artificers, other than the Artillerist, use a wand as a Spellcasting focus?
It’d be nice if there was an option for upgrading a set of Tools magically, so they could act as both a +1 Spellcasting focus and have +1 on Ability checks using that tool.
Alchemist still has the issue of nothing to do on their turns. Not enough spell slots to cast offensively, no class/subclass features to use on their turns. Even with the addition of 3rd level spells on Spell Storing Item, they don't have an offensive 3rd level spell on their subclass spell list, so they are either dropping a 2nd level spell on Spell Storing Item, or Haste/Fly/Cure Wounds.
Artillerists still have the problem where their main subclass feature only lasts for 1 hour and requires a spell slot to recharge, so every time the party takes a short rest the Artillerist loses a spell slot. The issue can be solved by just increasing the duration of the canon. It already dies and requires a spell slot to bring back when it takes any significant damage. Best hope no one wants more than a single short rest before 5th level. Also, Protector is overpowered at low levels and completely negligible by level 10.
The Alchemist though, that one needs a serious rework to actually have something to do on their turn. Every other subclass has something to do every turn. Alchemists? Administer 2 potions as bonus actions, then you're done.
I don't understand what you mean by "nothing to do." Alchemists get not one but two damage boosts to every fire/poison/acid/necrotic spell they cast - that includes attack roll cantrips, and they can boost them further by replicating Wand of the War Mage +2 and drinking a Boldness Elixir for an extra +5 to hit on average that lasts the entire combat. It's not that far off from the Artillerist's firearm, and they can serve as a group's healer/restorer too. And that's without concentrating on anything either.
Note that the elixir boosts their Homunculus Servant too for even more DPR, which they can summon the night before since it lasts indefinitely and doesn't use concentration either. It also now leaves their bonus action free as well.
Can Artificers, other than the Artillerist, use a wand as a Spellcasting focus?
It’d be nice if there was an option for upgrading a set of Tools magically, so they could act as both a +1 Spellcasting focus and have +1 on Ability checks using that tool.
Wand doesn’t need to be used as a focus, just held and attuned. Will mean alchemists can’t use shields since all artificer spells use tools as an M, but they’re built more for the back row already.
I wonder which book this is going to be in? Doesn't seem a natural fit for any of the announced ones so are we getting a new Eberron book in 2026?
Ugh. I hope not.
Any particular reason? It's a fantastic setting that only gets regular releases if you go to the DM's Guild. It's well due some more official love
Topic for another thread. In a nutshell, most games use homebrew settings, so focusing a bunch of creative attention on a few official settings is less useful than developing new and imaginative settings that we can use for inspiration. We already have over twenty years of material on Eberron to pull from.
Can Artificers, other than the Artillerist, use a wand as a Spellcasting focus?
Technically speaking, you don't have to use Wand of the War Mage as a spellcasting focus to benefit from it, you just need to be holding it. So you can hold that in one hand and your Alchemist's tools in the other for Alchemical Savant, and get both. I do intend to give them feedback in the survey about that though, you should be able to use any Replicated Item as your spellcasting focus as before and trigger all your features.
So, in terms of simple combat function, we should expect the gish type artificers (armorer and battle smith) to function on a level comparable to a paladin or ranger who uses a shield, as both classes are half casters (this isn't the most common build type, people tend to like damage, but it's reasonable, and it's what artificer naturally inclines towards).
Paladin uses a d8 weapon, which can be augmented by fighting style, mastery, smites (one free per day) and channel divinity.
Ranger uses a d8 weapon, which can be augmented by fighting style, mastery, hunter's mark (two free per day), and subclass features like colossus slayer.
Armorer uses a d8 or d10 weapon, which can be augmented by nothing (not a valid target for replicate magic item) and gets a small bonus at level 15. In tier 2 it can summon a homunculus that adds 1d6+2 (+3 at 9, +4 at 13, +5 at 17), but with AC 13 and 15-30 hit points, it will tend to become collateral damage very quickly in combat.
Battle Smith uses a d8 weapon, which can be augmented by replicate magic item, and by your steel defender, which is actually quite powerful in tier 1 (1d8+5 as a bonus action attack) and gets meaningful upgrades at level 9 and 15. It can also do significant healing for tier 1 (2d8+3, 3x/day) though that does not scale, and again, it has access to a homunculus.
Crunching through numbers, I think the battle smith is likely okay, but the armorer needs help.
I think the upgrade to Spell-Storing Item improves an Armorer's lot somewhat. Since their armor is an eligible spell-casting focus, an Artificer can load it up with lightning bolt after every long rest, or elemental weapon if they prefer to buff their favorite weapon (or the dreadnought's armor flail perhaps). With Intelligence 18, that's 8 castings of the spell per long rest.
My feedback will definitely include the need for Battle Smiths to have magic weapons as spellcasting foci. It only seems right to match with the similar features for Armorers and Artillerists that let them cast spells while carrying shields. Not sure what an equivalent would be for an Alchemist, but then again Alchemical Savant seems more aimed at buffing cantrips round to round and thus a free hand for the material component is more easily had than the other subclasses.
As for Drain Magic Item, I'm on the fence as to its value compared to Tool Expertise, but only because I think both fall into the category of "rarely useful". Tool Expertise, while fun, is highly situational and its value dependent on the nature of the campaign - though the new tools rules offer interesting possibilities. Since an Artificer's replicated magic items are a key part of their power, I foresee sacrificing such an item just to get a single 1st or 2nd level spell slot would have to be an extreme act of last resort, and thus very rarely used and of little day-to-day value. Since replicated items are conjured out of thin air, I get the logic of being able to reclaim the magic invested in it, but the benefit gained from the sacrifice needs to be more substantial. The utility of an item you can use over and over all day long is far greater than a single spell slot. Maybe if it was the first step towards Spell-Storing Item, and the slot could be used a number of times per day equal to the Artificer's Int modifier (minimum of once). I could also foresee it being a much more useful feature if instead an artificer could drain a consumable magic item like a potion or scroll to cast a 1st or 2nd level spell without expending a spell slot.
I'm curious as to all your experience with the whole "tools as focus" concept as well. Around my table, it's generally understood that it means any single tool from the set. Whether it's a single lockpick from thieves' tools or a hammer from smith's tools is flavor on the part of the player. Is that how everyone interprets it, or are some poor artificers out there having to juggle an 8-lb. pile of hammers and tongs when they use smith's tools as a focus?
I wonder which book this is going to be in? Doesn't seem a natural fit for any of the announced ones so are we getting a new Eberron book in 2026?
The interviewer could have asked, but I am guessing he is not supposed to ask any prying questions.
Given that one of their goals when revamping artificer was to remove any setting-specific vibe (as stated in the new classes video for the PHB), I suspect it won't be part of an Eberron book.
Alchemist still has the issue of nothing to do on their turns. Not enough spell slots to cast offensively, no class/subclass features to use on their turns. Even with the addition of 3rd level spells on Spell Storing Item, they don't have an offensive 3rd level spell on their subclass spell list, so they are either dropping a 2nd level spell on Spell Storing Item, or Haste/Fly/Cure Wounds.
Artillerists still have the problem where their main subclass feature only lasts for 1 hour and requires a spell slot to recharge, so every time the party takes a short rest the Artillerist loses a spell slot. The issue can be solved by just increasing the duration of the canon. It already dies and requires a spell slot to bring back when it takes any significant damage. Best hope no one wants more than a single short rest before 5th level. Also, Protector is overpowered at low levels and completely negligible by level 10.
The Alchemist though, that one needs a serious rework to actually have something to do on their turn. Every other subclass has something to do every turn. Alchemists? Administer 2 potions as bonus actions, then you're done.
I don't understand what you mean by "nothing to do." Alchemists get not one but two damage boosts to every fire/poison/acid/necrotic spell they cast - that includes attack roll cantrips, and they can boost them further by replicating Wand of the War Mage +2 and drinking a Boldness Elixir for an extra +5 to hit on average that lasts the entire combat. It's not that far off from the Artillerist's firearm, and they can serve as a group's healer/restorer too. And that's without concentrating on anything either.
Note that the elixir boosts their Homunculus Servant too for even more DPR, which they can summon the night before since it lasts indefinitely and doesn't use concentration either. It also now leaves their bonus action free as well.
Late tier 3, sure, they do better. But still, the primary thing the Alchemist is going to be doing in combat from level 3 to 20 is casting cantrips. Compared to all of the other subclasses that have some distinct subclass feature that they can use AND an offensive 3rd level spell to load the Spell Storing Item with. Through most of the leveling they are going to have 2-3 cantrips, so not like there will be a ton of options, and one of those is likely to be mending, prestidigitation, spare the dying, or elementalism.
No creative uses of the cannon, no handing out disadvantage, no pet tricks, just cantrips, like a Warlock, only not as good because none of their tricks work on Eldritch Blast and they don't get invocations.
Can you build it up with magic items to do acceptable damage? Sure. But it isn't subclass defining. The concoctions are subclass defining, but they are super limited and random. They are a bonus action to use, so they feel like they should be getting tossed out each round (similar to how the Artillerist and Battlesmith are both using their subclass defining abilities every bonus action). But when you have 2 +spell slots total to use, that doesn't seem comparable.
I think the new Magical Tinkering is an upgrade --- it was mostly a ribbon feature before, but now it can freely generate expendable stuff like caltrops, oil, and rope (well, expendable when you have to leave it behind)...and being able to get a pole, net, or bucket when no-one has one is kinda nice, too.
The current Magical Tinkering is actually full of weird creative uses. You can make a stink bomb out of a ball bearing. You can make a copy of any page out of a book if you have a piece of paper. You can make an arrow give off light. You can do long range signaling by giving your buddy a tinkered item and then tinkering n other items so the one you gave out reverts to mundane. And all of these effects last as long as you don't exceed your number of items, so not just an hour but indefinitely.
It looks useless when you first read it, but the possibilities are actually many and the best part is that you can be quite creative. (And there are lots of threads showing even more creative uses than these.)
I would have kept the feature as is and buffed it by adding the ability to clean an item and to get the Mending cantrip always prepared.
Their new version is something I already had with a level 2 bag of holding and a visit to a shop in any town.
I'm curious as to all your experience with the whole "tools as focus" concept as well. Around my table, it's generally understood that it means any single tool from the set. Whether it's a single lockpick from thieves' tools or a hammer from smith's tools is flavor on the part of the player. Is that how everyone interprets it, or are some poor artificers out there having to juggle an 8-lb. pile of hammers and tongs when they use smith's tools as a focus?
I understand it as any one tool. So yes, a single lockpick, pair of pliers, hammer, whatever, and it doesn't have to be the same one every time.
Maybe mine will use a leather strap to wrap a lockpick on to the handle of her shield.
2) You can now create categories of items rather than a specific list, allowing the class to grow in power as new material is printed. In addition, the items you can create increase in rarity as you level, letting Artificers have access to new items as they are created in subsequent books. For example, at 6th level they can replicate any Uncommon Weapon / Wand / Armor, at 10th they can replicate any Uncommon Ring or Wondrous Item, and at 14 they can replicate any Rare item from these categories.
I didn't read it that way. Like the current infusions, you can learn the plans for up to n items where n starts at 4. If you choose the general Replicate Magic Item, you still have to choose *one* particular magic item for each n. You don't have carte blanche to produce different common magic items with that plan each day.
That is, if you picked 'Common Magic Item' 4 times for your plans, you'd still be limited to 4 distinct items that you would choose at level-up, say Cloak of Billowing, Hat of Vermin, Dread Helm, and Rope of Mending. That's the list you're restricted to until you change out plans the next level-up. You can't just wake up one morning and decide to make a Shield of Expression instead.
I wonder which book this is going to be in? Doesn't seem a natural fit for any of the announced ones so are we getting a new Eberron book in 2026?
Ugh. I hope not.
Any particular reason? It's a fantastic setting that only gets regular releases if you go to the DM's Guild. It's well due some more official love
Topic for another thread. In a nutshell, most games use homebrew settings, so focusing a bunch of creative attention on a few official settings is less useful than developing new and imaginative settings that we can use for inspiration. We already have over twenty years of material on Eberron to pull from.
They develop new and imaginative settings all the time, it's called MTG 😛 Pretty much all of them can support Artificers too.
With that said, I disagree with CunningSmile that Artificer can't fit any of the traditional settings. About the only one I'd say might be an inherently poor fit is Dark Sun, and that's more because on-demand magic items might be an awkward fit for a survival setting than it is about aesthetics.
I don't understand what you mean by "nothing to do." Alchemists get not one but two damage boosts to every fire/poison/acid/necrotic spell they cast - that includes attack roll cantrips, and they can boost them further by replicating Wand of the War Mage +2 and drinking a Boldness Elixir for an extra +5 to hit on average that lasts the entire combat. It's not that far off from the Artillerist's firearm, and they can serve as a group's healer/restorer too. And that's without concentrating on anything either.
Note that the elixir boosts their Homunculus Servant too for even more DPR, which they can summon the night before since it lasts indefinitely and doesn't use concentration either. It also now leaves their bonus action free as well.
Late tier 3, sure, they do better. But still, the primary thing the Alchemist is going to be doing in combat from level 3 to 20 is casting cantrips. Compared to all of the other subclasses that have some distinct subclass feature that they can use AND an offensive 3rd level spell to load the Spell Storing Item with. Through most of the leveling they are going to have 2-3 cantrips, so not like there will be a ton of options, and one of those is likely to be mending, prestidigitation, spare the dying, or elementalism.
No creative uses of the cannon, no handing out disadvantage, no pet tricks, just cantrips, like a Warlock, only not as good because none of their tricks work on Eldritch Blast and they don't get invocations.
Can you build it up with magic items to do acceptable damage? Sure. But it isn't subclass defining. The concoctions are subclass defining, but they are super limited and random. They are a bonus action to use, so they feel like they should be getting tossed out each round (similar to how the Artillerist and Battlesmith are both using their subclass defining abilities every bonus action). But when you have 2 +spell slots total to use, that doesn't seem comparable.
I don't see the issue with it being a cantrip spammer; that's what Artillerist is.
As for their damage, forget "late tier 3" and consider the following at level 5: Wand of the War Mage +1, Homunculus 1d6+2, Boldness Elixir +1d4 to hit for both, all without concentration. Concentration + Bonus action on 2nd-level Flaming Sphere, 2d6+Int, and Action either Firebolt (2d10+Int) or Poison Spray (2d12+Int.) For the cost of a single 2nd-level spell slot they can do 2d12+Int+2d6+Int+1d6+2, every single round for the whole combat. That seems pretty decent to me, and they have their other spells slots free for multiple other uses.
I wonder which book this is going to be in? Doesn't seem a natural fit for any of the announced ones so are we getting a new Eberron book in 2026?
Ugh. I hope not.
Any particular reason? It's a fantastic setting that only gets regular releases if you go to the DM's Guild. It's well due some more official love
Topic for another thread. In a nutshell, most games use homebrew settings, so focusing a bunch of creative attention on a few official settings is less useful than developing new and imaginative settings that we can use for inspiration. We already have over twenty years of material on Eberron to pull from.
So they should never release any settings guides for existing settings? Seems short sighted and really doesn't serve the half the community (and it is only about 50% that home brew settings) that do want to play in official settings. For most of the people I know the two upcoming Forgotten Realms books are the the ones they're most looking forward to out of the announced releases
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As do we all.
Imagine my sheer joy at being not only an old, long time player, but also someone who changes the game to fit my original worlds, and still strongly believes in the "magical items grant power" ethos of the TSR days over the "power is in the person" ethos of the Hasbro era.
It has been a difficult time *sniffles*
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
Any particular reason? It's a fantastic setting that only gets regular releases if you go to the DM's Guild. It's well due some more official love
I'm just annoyed that the one thing pretty much everyone agreed the Artificer needed was to fix the Alchemist subclass and make it a more viable support/healer. Aside from slightly bumping up the healing potential of the healing elixir (which you only have a 1/3 chance of rolling), I really haven't seen that.
I think the thing that would've gotten me excited account a randomly rolled elixir take would be more options.
If I was rolling on a d12 table and all the options were solid, and maybe I also had the option to use an elixir in place of a spell slot (as long as the spell restores hit points), then I would feel good about it.
I would still play the Alchemist because I love the flavor, but it still feels like it's not what it could be, like before.
The issue with your d12 table is they’d then need to come up with twice as many “solid”, balanced, and roughly equivalent options.
I don't understand what you mean by "nothing to do." Alchemists get not one but two damage boosts to every fire/poison/acid/necrotic spell they cast - that includes attack roll cantrips, and they can boost them further by replicating Wand of the War Mage +2 and drinking a Boldness Elixir for an extra +5 to hit on average that lasts the entire combat. It's not that far off from the Artillerist's firearm, and they can serve as a group's healer/restorer too. And that's without concentrating on anything either.
Note that the elixir boosts their Homunculus Servant too for even more DPR, which they can summon the night before since it lasts indefinitely and doesn't use concentration either. It also now leaves their bonus action free as well.
it me
Read my D&D thoughts at FullMoonStorytelling.com
Can Artificers, other than the Artillerist, use a wand as a Spellcasting focus?
It’d be nice if there was an option for upgrading a set of Tools magically, so they could act as both a +1 Spellcasting focus and have +1 on Ability checks using that tool.
Wand doesn’t need to be used as a focus, just held and attuned. Will mean alchemists can’t use shields since all artificer spells use tools as an M, but they’re built more for the back row already.
Topic for another thread. In a nutshell, most games use homebrew settings, so focusing a bunch of creative attention on a few official settings is less useful than developing new and imaginative settings that we can use for inspiration. We already have over twenty years of material on Eberron to pull from.
Technically speaking, you don't have to use Wand of the War Mage as a spellcasting focus to benefit from it, you just need to be holding it. So you can hold that in one hand and your Alchemist's tools in the other for Alchemical Savant, and get both. I do intend to give them feedback in the survey about that though, you should be able to use any Replicated Item as your spellcasting focus as before and trigger all your features.
So, in terms of simple combat function, we should expect the gish type artificers (armorer and battle smith) to function on a level comparable to a paladin or ranger who uses a shield, as both classes are half casters (this isn't the most common build type, people tend to like damage, but it's reasonable, and it's what artificer naturally inclines towards).
Crunching through numbers, I think the battle smith is likely okay, but the armorer needs help.
I think the upgrade to Spell-Storing Item improves an Armorer's lot somewhat. Since their armor is an eligible spell-casting focus, an Artificer can load it up with lightning bolt after every long rest, or elemental weapon if they prefer to buff their favorite weapon (or the dreadnought's armor flail perhaps). With Intelligence 18, that's 8 castings of the spell per long rest.
My feedback will definitely include the need for Battle Smiths to have magic weapons as spellcasting foci. It only seems right to match with the similar features for Armorers and Artillerists that let them cast spells while carrying shields. Not sure what an equivalent would be for an Alchemist, but then again Alchemical Savant seems more aimed at buffing cantrips round to round and thus a free hand for the material component is more easily had than the other subclasses.
As for Drain Magic Item, I'm on the fence as to its value compared to Tool Expertise, but only because I think both fall into the category of "rarely useful". Tool Expertise, while fun, is highly situational and its value dependent on the nature of the campaign - though the new tools rules offer interesting possibilities. Since an Artificer's replicated magic items are a key part of their power, I foresee sacrificing such an item just to get a single 1st or 2nd level spell slot would have to be an extreme act of last resort, and thus very rarely used and of little day-to-day value. Since replicated items are conjured out of thin air, I get the logic of being able to reclaim the magic invested in it, but the benefit gained from the sacrifice needs to be more substantial. The utility of an item you can use over and over all day long is far greater than a single spell slot. Maybe if it was the first step towards Spell-Storing Item, and the slot could be used a number of times per day equal to the Artificer's Int modifier (minimum of once). I could also foresee it being a much more useful feature if instead an artificer could drain a consumable magic item like a potion or scroll to cast a 1st or 2nd level spell without expending a spell slot.
I'm curious as to all your experience with the whole "tools as focus" concept as well. Around my table, it's generally understood that it means any single tool from the set. Whether it's a single lockpick from thieves' tools or a hammer from smith's tools is flavor on the part of the player. Is that how everyone interprets it, or are some poor artificers out there having to juggle an 8-lb. pile of hammers and tongs when they use smith's tools as a focus?
The interviewer could have asked, but I am guessing he is not supposed to ask any prying questions.
Given that one of their goals when revamping artificer was to remove any setting-specific vibe (as stated in the new classes video for the PHB), I suspect it won't be part of an Eberron book.
Late tier 3, sure, they do better. But still, the primary thing the Alchemist is going to be doing in combat from level 3 to 20 is casting cantrips. Compared to all of the other subclasses that have some distinct subclass feature that they can use AND an offensive 3rd level spell to load the Spell Storing Item with. Through most of the leveling they are going to have 2-3 cantrips, so not like there will be a ton of options, and one of those is likely to be mending, prestidigitation, spare the dying, or elementalism.
No creative uses of the cannon, no handing out disadvantage, no pet tricks, just cantrips, like a Warlock, only not as good because none of their tricks work on Eldritch Blast and they don't get invocations.
Can you build it up with magic items to do acceptable damage? Sure. But it isn't subclass defining. The concoctions are subclass defining, but they are super limited and random. They are a bonus action to use, so they feel like they should be getting tossed out each round (similar to how the Artillerist and Battlesmith are both using their subclass defining abilities every bonus action). But when you have 2 +spell slots total to use, that doesn't seem comparable.
The current Magical Tinkering is actually full of weird creative uses. You can make a stink bomb out of a ball bearing. You can make a copy of any page out of a book if you have a piece of paper. You can make an arrow give off light. You can do long range signaling by giving your buddy a tinkered item and then tinkering n other items so the one you gave out reverts to mundane. And all of these effects last as long as you don't exceed your number of items, so not just an hour but indefinitely.
It looks useless when you first read it, but the possibilities are actually many and the best part is that you can be quite creative. (And there are lots of threads showing even more creative uses than these.)
I would have kept the feature as is and buffed it by adding the ability to clean an item and to get the Mending cantrip always prepared.
Their new version is something I already had with a level 2 bag of holding and a visit to a shop in any town.
I understand it as any one tool. So yes, a single lockpick, pair of pliers, hammer, whatever, and it doesn't have to be the same one every time.
Maybe mine will use a leather strap to wrap a lockpick on to the handle of her shield.
I didn't read it that way. Like the current infusions, you can learn the plans for up to n items where n starts at 4. If you choose the general Replicate Magic Item, you still have to choose *one* particular magic item for each n. You don't have carte blanche to produce different common magic items with that plan each day.
That is, if you picked 'Common Magic Item' 4 times for your plans, you'd still be limited to 4 distinct items that you would choose at level-up, say Cloak of Billowing, Hat of Vermin, Dread Helm, and Rope of Mending. That's the list you're restricted to until you change out plans the next level-up. You can't just wake up one morning and decide to make a Shield of Expression instead.
They develop new and imaginative settings all the time, it's called MTG 😛 Pretty much all of them can support Artificers too.
With that said, I disagree with CunningSmile that Artificer can't fit any of the traditional settings. About the only one I'd say might be an inherently poor fit is Dark Sun, and that's more because on-demand magic items might be an awkward fit for a survival setting than it is about aesthetics.
I don't see the issue with it being a cantrip spammer; that's what Artillerist is.
As for their damage, forget "late tier 3" and consider the following at level 5: Wand of the War Mage +1, Homunculus 1d6+2, Boldness Elixir +1d4 to hit for both, all without concentration. Concentration + Bonus action on 2nd-level Flaming Sphere, 2d6+Int, and Action either Firebolt (2d10+Int) or Poison Spray (2d12+Int.) For the cost of a single 2nd-level spell slot they can do 2d12+Int+2d6+Int+1d6+2, every single round for the whole combat. That seems pretty decent to me, and they have their other spells slots free for multiple other uses.
So they should never release any settings guides for existing settings? Seems short sighted and really doesn't serve the half the community (and it is only about 50% that home brew settings) that do want to play in official settings. For most of the people I know the two upcoming Forgotten Realms books are the the ones they're most looking forward to out of the announced releases