There's nothing in RAW so any mods would basically be DM discretion. You and your DM should put your heads together to figure out what might be cool without breaking balance, and then your DM should figure out what gold/time/skill it should take
We could sit here all day and talk about magic items, opinions on Artificer and what they want it to be but what do you want out the Steel Defender? Why do you feel a Battlesmith should be able to do more?
The Steel Defender was designed not as a creature, but an object. Objects get destroyed and re-created. The Defender was also designed to be this thing that the Artificer positioned on the battlefield to cause chaos, but not be the instrument of destruction. Remember that it has a separate turn and separate actions and reactions. Move it next to an enemy and take the dodge action. 15 AC isn't terrible and hitting it at disadvantage is pretty unlikely at lower levels. Want to make it harder to hit? Cast Sanctuary on the defender too! Now a creature has to make a wisdom save, fail it and THEN attack at disadvantage(assuming you haven't hit the enemy). Have a rogue in the party? Maybe it runs with the rogue so that the rogue can get it's precious sneak die. You aren't doing all the damage but you are the reason the rogue is doing all the damage. Treat his victory as yours, because it is! This frees up your other melee classes to not have to go where the rogue goes all the time. Or maybe it frees up your spellcasters not having to cast things like faerie fire to have it get advantage for the sneak die.
Artificer is a class that thrives on support as it has far more versatility than any other class in the game by design. It doesn't do the most damage but it can burst with branding smites and arcane jolts(at 9th level for this though). It doesn't have the most healing, but it can still bring someone back to life in a pinch. Might not be the best skill monkey like a bard or a rogue but can hang with them just fine. Being able to supplement your party with magic items is far stronger than most would think too.
Hopefully some of this helps but if you would be so kind as to answer the hows and whys of your question I am sure someone would be more than helpful to give advice in the right direction.
I just want to beef up the Ac via a shield, give it a weapon other than a rend. cause I have seen it bypassed as a target to injure the fleshy ones or tie me up doing other things so it only dodges.
if it had a better ac and weapons it would be a more necessary target to take out by the enemy and last a bit longer to aid the rogue
just my thoughts
maybe if the UA Sidekicks come into formal play those can be sub planted onto the steel defender framework
Literally anything with a hand can hold a Shield for +2 AC, if it isn't already receiving a +2 from a shield. But it (probably) gives you disadvantage on attacks if you aren't proficient, so may not be worth it.
Steel Defenders are creatures. By the rules as written, they can attune to magic items, and they can hold shields, and possibly weapons. If you as a DM allows it is up to you.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
I just want to beef up the Ac via a shield, give it a weapon other than a rend. cause I have seen it bypassed as a target to injure the fleshy ones or tie me up doing other things so it only dodges.
if it had a better ac and weapons it would be a more necessary target to take out by the enemy and last a bit longer to aid the rogue
just my thoughts
maybe if the UA Sidekicks come into formal play those can be sub planted onto the steel defender framework
questillion
Sidekicks are available through the new starter set that comes with the Dragon of Icespire Peak adventure.
Steel Defenders start out good, but eventually just aren't great. The damage going up by one every 5 levels is not enough, their damage should be higher, but I don't think the sidekicks rules are the way to go.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
The Steel Defender isn't honestly that useful for attacks at any level, its main selling point is that it is a Defender that can stand next to/in front of you, which gives you half cover (+2 AC and Dex saves), lets the Defender use its reaction once per round to impose disadvantage on an attack against you, and is a hard counter to any enemy trying to stand in or move through that square. With its action, it should probably usually just be Dodging, or maybe giving you a Help action if you're in melee and have a spare bonus action laying around.
For all of that, HP and AC are the only two stats you really care about, to a lesser extent also its other saves and Athletics score (so that enemies can't just shove it out of the way). Its HP scales just fine from around 22-107, its saves are just fine at 3-7 dex/4-8 Con, its Athletics is decent at +4-8.... but its AC does indeed lag a bit behind at 15/17.
Just making it bipedal and giving it a shield (even if it isn't proficient) gives it 17/19 AC, which is enough to be called "good." If your DM will let you give it a door to carry or something else like that instead of a shield, then it can instead be taking Total Cover in combat and possibly even giving that cover to you as well, providing no AC bonus but instead providing that it/you can't be targeted at all with attacks or spells. It's arguable non-player creatures can generally be considered as being able to benefit from putting on armor, but "anyone can put on a suit of armor" and the existence of barding is a pretty good argument that yes, any creature that fits into armor can put on armor so long as it's shaped for their body (though it may not be proficient and thus may suffer some penalties). Non proficiency in armor (disadvantage on any ability check, saving throw, or attack roll that involves Strength or Dexterity, and you can't cast spells) is honestly not a huge penalty to the Steel Defender's usefullness as a defender, so by strapping on a Half Plate or Chain Mail, you can add another +1 to the SD's AC as well at low level ... though it probably isn't worth doing so after 15, unless you're strapping it into Mithral Armor Plate. The rules for Attunement use "creature" instead of "character," so it's very clear that non-player creatures are allowed to attune to magic items. Arguably however, Use an Object or other special actions/reactions are not among the enumerated action types that the SD has available to it with or without a command though, so if you have a strict/annoyed DM be careful about giving it any cool magic items that require activation, or casting spells on it like Dragon's Breath.
So put it all together and what do we have? Our Chainmail+Shield Steel Defender is going to be clanking along with us right at level 3 with an AC of 18, but is not even going to attempt to Rend anything. When he's standing next to/in front of us, he'll be trying to position to give us a constant +2 cover bonus to AC/Dex saves against ranged attacks, as well as using his reaction to interfere with attacks against us, and his action to either Dodge or Help us depending on where we are and what we're doing. Most fancy magic items are too risky to put on him, since we're not sure he can use any special actions/reactions, but things like Mithral Armor or Armor, +1, Shield of Missile Attraction, Ring of Protection or Ring of Resistance, Amulet of Health, or holding an Everbright Lantern or Lantern of Revealing can help him be tankier, or provide benefits to those around him.
Their damage at lower levels is nothing to sneeze at. In order to do a bonus action attack that has a 1d8 damage dice, adding an ability modifier, you would need to have the Two-Weapon Fighting Style and Dual Wielding Feat, which is impossible at level 3 without being a variant human fighter/ranger. It is also force damage, the least common damage resistance/immunity, and they can be fairly far away from you.
But, it barely increases at higher levels, and there are certainly better bonus action options at level 20 than 10 (1d8 + 6) force damage.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Well, riding your defender as a Controlled mount is arguably within your ability as well, that might be a useful approach too to make it serve a halfway useful purpose while it stands around waiting to use its reaction to help you. Might take a .... unique saddle to pull off for a snake-shaped SD, but if anyone's up to the challenge, it's probably an artificer.
A little help please. Playing an Artificer Battlesmith he should be able to do more so How can a Steel Defender be modified?
Armor, Shield, Weapon?
Acquire Magic Items?
Thanks for the info
Ed
There's nothing in RAW so any mods would basically be DM discretion. You and your DM should put your heads together to figure out what might be cool without breaking balance, and then your DM should figure out what gold/time/skill it should take
What do you mean by "more"?
We could sit here all day and talk about magic items, opinions on Artificer and what they want it to be but what do you want out the Steel Defender? Why do you feel a Battlesmith should be able to do more?
The Steel Defender was designed not as a creature, but an object. Objects get destroyed and re-created. The Defender was also designed to be this thing that the Artificer positioned on the battlefield to cause chaos, but not be the instrument of destruction. Remember that it has a separate turn and separate actions and reactions. Move it next to an enemy and take the dodge action. 15 AC isn't terrible and hitting it at disadvantage is pretty unlikely at lower levels. Want to make it harder to hit? Cast Sanctuary on the defender too! Now a creature has to make a wisdom save, fail it and THEN attack at disadvantage(assuming you haven't hit the enemy). Have a rogue in the party? Maybe it runs with the rogue so that the rogue can get it's precious sneak die. You aren't doing all the damage but you are the reason the rogue is doing all the damage. Treat his victory as yours, because it is! This frees up your other melee classes to not have to go where the rogue goes all the time. Or maybe it frees up your spellcasters not having to cast things like faerie fire to have it get advantage for the sneak die.
Artificer is a class that thrives on support as it has far more versatility than any other class in the game by design. It doesn't do the most damage but it can burst with branding smites and arcane jolts(at 9th level for this though). It doesn't have the most healing, but it can still bring someone back to life in a pinch. Might not be the best skill monkey like a bard or a rogue but can hang with them just fine. Being able to supplement your party with magic items is far stronger than most would think too.
Hopefully some of this helps but if you would be so kind as to answer the hows and whys of your question I am sure someone would be more than helpful to give advice in the right direction.
I just want to beef up the Ac via a shield, give it a weapon other than a rend. cause I have seen it bypassed as a target to injure the fleshy ones or tie me up doing other things so it only dodges.
if it had a better ac and weapons it would be a more necessary target to take out by the enemy and last a bit longer to aid the rogue
just my thoughts
maybe if the UA Sidekicks come into formal play those can be sub planted onto the steel defender framework
questillion
Literally anything with a hand can hold a Shield for +2 AC, if it isn't already receiving a +2 from a shield. But it (probably) gives you disadvantage on attacks if you aren't proficient, so may not be worth it.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
This is incorrect. Attunement of magic items can be done by creatures, the Steel Defender is a construct.
...which is a type of creature, as evidenced by the SD having a stat block.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Boats have stat blocks.
Constructs are creatures. “Construct” is one of the standard creature types alongside humanoid, beast, fiend, etc.
Boats are not constructs.
I was going to reply "no they don't"... but huh, I guess some vessels/vehicles do have stat blocks now!
That being said, these vehicles are called out as being vehicles in said stat blocks, and "vehicle" is not a type of creature, while "construct" is.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Steel Defenders are creatures. By the rules as written, they can attune to magic items, and they can hold shields, and possibly weapons. If you as a DM allows it is up to you.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Sidekicks are available through the new starter set that comes with the Dragon of Icespire Peak adventure.
Steel Defenders start out good, but eventually just aren't great. The damage going up by one every 5 levels is not enough, their damage should be higher, but I don't think the sidekicks rules are the way to go.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
The Steel Defender isn't honestly that useful for attacks at any level, its main selling point is that it is a Defender that can stand next to/in front of you, which gives you half cover (+2 AC and Dex saves), lets the Defender use its reaction once per round to impose disadvantage on an attack against you, and is a hard counter to any enemy trying to stand in or move through that square. With its action, it should probably usually just be Dodging, or maybe giving you a Help action if you're in melee and have a spare bonus action laying around.
For all of that, HP and AC are the only two stats you really care about, to a lesser extent also its other saves and Athletics score (so that enemies can't just shove it out of the way). Its HP scales just fine from around 22-107, its saves are just fine at 3-7 dex/4-8 Con, its Athletics is decent at +4-8.... but its AC does indeed lag a bit behind at 15/17.
Just making it bipedal and giving it a shield (even if it isn't proficient) gives it 17/19 AC, which is enough to be called "good." If your DM will let you give it a door to carry or something else like that instead of a shield, then it can instead be taking Total Cover in combat and possibly even giving that cover to you as well, providing no AC bonus but instead providing that it/you can't be targeted at all with attacks or spells. It's arguable non-player creatures can generally be considered as being able to benefit from putting on armor, but "anyone can put on a suit of armor" and the existence of barding is a pretty good argument that yes, any creature that fits into armor can put on armor so long as it's shaped for their body (though it may not be proficient and thus may suffer some penalties). Non proficiency in armor (disadvantage on any ability check, saving throw, or attack roll that involves Strength or Dexterity, and you can't cast spells) is honestly not a huge penalty to the Steel Defender's usefullness as a defender, so by strapping on a Half Plate or Chain Mail, you can add another +1 to the SD's AC as well at low level ... though it probably isn't worth doing so after 15, unless you're strapping it into Mithral Armor Plate. The rules for Attunement use "creature" instead of "character," so it's very clear that non-player creatures are allowed to attune to magic items. Arguably however, Use an Object or other special actions/reactions are not among the enumerated action types that the SD has available to it with or without a command though, so if you have a strict/annoyed DM be careful about giving it any cool magic items that require activation, or casting spells on it like Dragon's Breath.
So put it all together and what do we have? Our Chainmail+Shield Steel Defender is going to be clanking along with us right at level 3 with an AC of 18, but is not even going to attempt to Rend anything. When he's standing next to/in front of us, he'll be trying to position to give us a constant +2 cover bonus to AC/Dex saves against ranged attacks, as well as using his reaction to interfere with attacks against us, and his action to either Dodge or Help us depending on where we are and what we're doing. Most fancy magic items are too risky to put on him, since we're not sure he can use any special actions/reactions, but things like Mithral Armor or Armor, +1, Shield of Missile Attraction, Ring of Protection or Ring of Resistance, Amulet of Health, or holding an Everbright Lantern or Lantern of Revealing can help him be tankier, or provide benefits to those around him.
Not a bad lil guy!
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
Their damage at lower levels is nothing to sneeze at. In order to do a bonus action attack that has a 1d8 damage dice, adding an ability modifier, you would need to have the Two-Weapon Fighting Style and Dual Wielding Feat, which is impossible at level 3 without being a variant human fighter/ranger. It is also force damage, the least common damage resistance/immunity, and they can be fairly far away from you.
But, it barely increases at higher levels, and there are certainly better bonus action options at level 20 than 10 (1d8 + 6) force damage.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Well, riding your defender as a Controlled mount is arguably within your ability as well, that might be a useful approach too to make it serve a halfway useful purpose while it stands around waiting to use its reaction to help you. Might take a .... unique saddle to pull off for a snake-shaped SD, but if anyone's up to the challenge, it's probably an artificer.
dndbeyond.com forum tags
I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.
It's not proficient with weapons or armour this is ridiculous.