I don't understand why people think they get fewer spells. The prepared spells chart is unchanged, and the spell list has been expanded (don't forget, "If you have Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, your Artificer can continue to use the class’s spells in that book."), and they can now swap cantrips on a long rest.
Replicated Magic Items have more options and fewer restrictions, compared to Infusions, and they are somewhat future-proofed as the game grows more magic items.
Homunculus Servent no longer takes up an infusion slot nor necessarily a spell slot (ritual!), and it can fight without consuming your bonus action.
The changes to Armorer clean up basically all of its weird issues, and the third armor model is excellent.
Experimental Elixirs can now be used with a Bonus Action, and the random table has a "your choice" option, and the healing is more powerful, and they get extra free elixirs each long rest.
Battlesmiths don't fight with cantrips; they fight with magic weapons --- casting is for bigger spells. So it's no big deal for Mending to take up 1 of their 2 (eventually more) cantrips. Expecially since they can swap cantrips each long rest now. Also, Mending is close to useless for extending the life of an Eldritch Cannon.
The only significant changes I'd make: Maybe give Artificers one skill Expertise, in probably Arcana. Let Battlesmiths use magic weapons as spell foci. OR give them weapon mastery with magic weapons, but I wouldn't do both, and I think the spell focus part is better for them. The Homunculus Servent spell should say the gem/crystal is left behind if the servant dies. The Homunculus Servent spell should say the servant can substitute for the material component of Detect Magic.
Man, I'm a little bummed by the idea that "Artificers can just make stuff appear out of nothing". Sure, it sounds "easier", but takes away the theme of "Artificer modified this and is now upgraded" or at least extra shinier.
They butchered Magical Tinkering, that was like my bread and butter. It keeps my head gears grinding on how to apply it and make it useful. Now it's just, mundane junk conjuration, or oil refiller.
If they want to keep Alchemist elixir randomness. There should be MAIN potion effects, you can freely choose. Then MINOR (or not) rider effects both good and/or bad that are determined at random. This way, it reflects that the alchemist is always mixing and remixing their reagents in their endless pursuit of concoctions.
I don't understand why people think they get fewer spells. The prepared spells chart is unchanged, and the spell list has been expanded (don't forget, "If you have Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, your Artificer can continue to use the class’s spells in that book."), and they can now swap cantrips on a long rest.
you actually DO get less prepared spells at lower levels if you have a high INT, previously it was half your artificer level (round down) + your INT modifier with a minimum of 1 spell, meaning with a +4 in INT at level 1 you'd have 5 prepared spells, now you would only have 2 prepared. the only scenario in which it is an improvement is if you have an INT stat of 11 or lower (would be equal at 12). if youd have an INT of 18 it is better to have the old spell prepare amount up to level 9 at which the new one starts to take over, and if you took a stat increase to get your INT to 20 the new amount wont take over until level 17
I didn't notice on first read the part where an infusion/created item is no longer a spell focus, which means you can't cast if you have two hands occupied with a weapon and or a shield. I'd probably rather carry a shield than cast the Shield spell, if I had to choose.
It's fascinating to keep reading that Mending and Prestidigitation are useless and yet semi-blocked (the spells and cantrips they recommend are ... curious choices).
I would give all Artificers Mending, and I would add some ability to clean things. I'd amend Magical Tinkering so that you could make a flashlight out of it that could be handed off to another person.
I know people were expecting the Armorer and Battle Smith to interact with Weapon Mastery and I'm curious what people think about that omission.
I tried a form of play-test which was re-running the last combat my Battle Smith Artificer did. I played it online so I have a blow-by-blow transcript I could follow.
Casting Haste worked out alright. With object interaction you can pull out the tools to cast the spell, then with the bonus attack action you get to put them away again freeing your hand for a 2-handed weapon. It would not work for a sword and shield style but for 2-handed weapon this works
Could not cast Shield spell. This spell seems almost unusable on the Battle Smith as written in the UA - there is no situation where you would put yourself in the position of needing to cast it where you reasonably have tools in one of your hands instead of a weapon or shield. Nor could I manage enough object juggling to pull it off - I think this only possibly works with a versatile weapon where you can still use it one-handed but you intend to use it 2-handed so don't use a shield. This relegates Battle Smith to a very poor quality role with limited defences (no shield) and limited damage output (due to restricted weapon choices) if they are actually to use their subclass spells.
But more than the above it breaks the key thematic part of this that I loved which is an artificer who actually uses their weapon to do their magic. Its a very strong theme and was unique to artificer that they actually used their weapon as their focus so they could manifest all of their spells (due to always needing a material component) through their weapons.
All the same issues apply to now having True Strike - you can't cast it with sword and shield or with a 2-handed weapon like a crossbow. Its limited to 1-handed weapons like rapiers and hand crossbows. No other class has this problem.
Battle Smiths need to be able to use their weapons as their spell focus. They can in the Tashas rules if it is an infusion (which it nearly always will be) and they need that ability. This UA really leaves very little room for a workable Battle Smith
Feels like an overall nerf of an already mid class. I've been playing Armorer Artificer in a weekly campaign levels 1 to 9 now -- low levels were painful and this UA seems to make them even worse. Current Artificer has too few abilities until about 5, now they get fewer prepared spells?
In a 4 person party you're probably not going to change 1 of your 2 cantrips daily even with the option. 2 stable ones is bread and butter for fulfilling a role. If Artificer got 3 cantrips at level 1, then replacing one daily as a flex slot would be valuable to the group.
And still no real flexibility with infusions with such a tiny number available. Ok you make a magic weapon ... Do you give that to the Fighter instead of buffing yourself? Unlikely. Bag of Holding still king and almost mandatory if you focus on benefitting the party.
Take that Bag of Holding and fill it with mundane permanent items and it's far better than Magical Tinkering.
I know people were expecting the Armorer and Battle Smith to interact with Weapon Mastery and I'm curious what people think about that omission.
The Armorer built in weapons have pseudo-mastery abilities built into them. I am not sure they need weapon mastery in addition to that
The Battle Smith really should have weapon mastery but its not a deal-breaker if they do not. What is currently a deal breaker is that their weapons cannot be a spellcasting focus and that - from my limited testing so far - makes the too clunky and unworkable in actual play. They may as well be given another spell instead of Shield as they will rarely if ever actually be able to cast it.
I wish we could have this in dnd beyond character creation.
THIS 100%
Is there any way it can be added in the creator so that we can really use it and give it a proper test in play? Being a pseudo-2024 class, that would be fantastic for us Artificer players!
Back in the old days, UA classes did get added, just saying...
I wish we could have this in dnd beyond character creation.
THIS 100%
Is there any way it can be added in the creator so that we can really use it and give it a proper test in play? Being a pseudo-2024 class, that would be fantastic for us Artificer players!
Back in the old days, UA classes did get added, just saying...
If I recall correctly, the reason they stopped doing this is that it made a huge amount of work for them for something that might never actually get released, and often changed rapidly and radically over the course of a few weeks or months. I think it's very understandable that they wouldn't want to sink a lot of time into supporting that.
I'm very surprised that you can no longer use the created magic items as your focus, especially since it means that you can use it to buff any party member's attack but your own (you can't use wands as focus). Unrelated to that, I find it odd that the artillerist subclass can craft wands faster, but not use them until they reach level 5 (arcane firearm)
Am I the only one missing the old infusions? Sure we used plenty of indfusions on repßlicate magic item, but I loved inbfusions like the arcane propulsion armor, the repeating shot infusion, the returning weapon or the mind sharpener.
I feel it is a step back to now boil it down to just magic items (and from a restrictive list at that).
Also, the loss of firearms proficiency hurts to see.
There are some nice additioons here and there, especially when it comes to subclass features, but overall I feel that the class lost a lot of what it once was.
Am I the only one missing the old infusions? Sure we used plenty of indfusions on repßlicate magic item, but I loved inbfusions like the arcane propulsion armor, the repeating shot infusion, the returning weapon or the mind sharpener.
Most of the old ones have been made into new magic items (at the end of the document). Arcane Propulsion Armor is gone, though (it still overlaps heavily with the Armorer subclass).
Mending has to be automatically added to the list, followed by two additional choices.
Magical Tinkering, should be at least created item remains until a long rest. I do like the idea here, especially for those of us who play in strict campaigns where having the right equipment all the time is pretty important, if you do not play in that type of group then I could see this being a waste.
Prepared spells should be equal to the wizard, as the only other intelligence-based class that makes sense, the Artificer spell list is already restrictive and heavy on concentration magic.
The Battlesmith should have 2 masteries, as for the Armorer looks like they tried to bake them in with the built-in weapons, so I can live with that. Must have magic weapon as arcane focus, just broken without it.
I like the Homunculus being a ritual, but if you are going to limit prepared spell make this one automatic as well. Since you would get this at level 5 100gp loss each time should not make a difference you can just create stuff to sell.
Increasing the magic items by one would go a long way to a better balance, we also have Bastions now so at level 5 common and uncommon magic items should be available to most players. So I would assume most players already have their +1 weapon or focus and the Artificer can focus on what the party needs for the next event.
MAGICAL TINKERING. If it's going to create mundane items, 1 hour sucks. Make it permanent, but limit it to Int Mod number of items at any time. If you have your max & create a new item, one of the others disappears. That said, I preferred the original. Breaking up Prestidigitation into itemized parts was fun.
SPELLCASTING is fine. I'd like to see all Artificers get Mending for free, and I'd like them to be able to cast it as an action. (Frankly, I think the cantrip should just BE an action. The one minute casting time is kind of a bummer. And it's the only cantrip (i believe?) that has that long of a casting time.)
REPLICATE MAGIC ITEM. This is ok. However, I wish they would have spent time coming up with more Artificer-specific items that can only be created via this feature (like the Boots of the Winding Step.) I think more unique items (and more unique items representing the higher tiers) would really cement the Artificer's identity. Replicating magic items that anyone could have (depending on your DM and campaign, of course) feels less special. More unique items would make them feel more like the Warlock's Invocations or the Sorcerer's Metamagic: something you can only get with levels in that class (or a feat.)
RIGHT TOOL FOR THE JOB. This is okayyyy... but what would be much cooler is a magical multi-tool. Like the Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver. Just give the Arti the ability to Bonus Action change whatever tools they are holding into any other set of tools they have proficiency with.
MAGIC ITEM TINKER. Meh. The level 6 expansion is fine. I'm not wild about the spell slot for a magic item swap, though. I get what they're going for. They want it to be similar to the Druid Wild Shape for spell slots. Or the Sorcerer Spell Points for spell slots. I think this mechanic makes the Wizard's Arcane Recovery less unique and weaker by comparison. And Wizards are supposed to be the premier casters. But also... I don't think it's a fair trade. I think most Artificers will be very hesitant to give up their created magic items- especially if those items have been given out to party members. I don't think it would be used all that often, and so, it is a weak and not very well designed feature. I'm not sure what feature I'd replace it with, though. Rangers & Paladins- the other half casters- don't really have a spell slot swapping mechanic. So, I'm not sure Artificers should, either.
FLASH OF GENIUS. Great. Arguably the best feature of the class.
MAGIC ITEM ADEPT. This is fine.
SPELL-STORING ITEM. This is really good. Maybe too good? But perhaps THIS could be the Level 6 feature, and that would solve the limited spell slot issue? Perhaps it could scale: Int Mod castings at level 6, and double Int Mod castings at level 10? Perhaps at level 10, you could store up to 3 LEVELS of spells, so that you could put 3 first level spells, or a 2nd and a 1st, or a 3rd level spell into the item. And then have it function like a magic item with charges, where 1st level spells use 1 charge, 2nds use 2, and 3rds use 3. Idk. Maybe that's a bit much.
MAGIC ITEM SAVANT and MAGIC ITEM MASTER. These are fine.
SOUL OF ARTIFICE. Not great. I'm not a huge fan of the "cheat death" feature. It only comes into play if you're getting killed, which is not altogether fun. That said, that part is fine. The Magical Guidance part, however... not awesome. The static boost to saves of the original was great. But I do see their point about what if you don't have so many items attuned. (But, then again, if they think you won't have that many items attuned at level 20, then what is the point of the expanded attunement features earlier in the class?) Anyway. I think this is an easy fix. Just add Saving Throws. Add a d6 to any Ability Check or Saving Throw once per turn. Adding this to Flash of Genius will make the epic level Artificer outstanding at Ability Checks and Saving Throws. A pretty good capstone, imo.
I may have missed it but seems like they lost the "Can use any magic item regardless of restrictions" feature. As far as I could tell that was one of the only ways for Artificers to craft some of the higher level items.
For a magic item crafting class, I'd have liked a little more magic item crafting versatility beyond their "Magic stuff appears" feature. I'm glad they at least kept the 'half the time" feature of crafting.
Artificers need to be given tool proficiencies and expertise back! Why would They be incentivised to create tools with their resources if they gain no benefits to using them? Flash of Genius should be applicable to any d20 roll we wish, not just failures. Sometimes higher rolls on a success mean better rewards, let us boost those odds.
Why has the reduced time and cost for crafting permanent magical items been removed?
Clarification on how/when the spell list will expand with releases of future content would be awesome. The level 9 Armorer feature is a straight downgrade. 2 free armor related upgrades on top of other infusions as it previously worked has more benefit than just learning one extra infusion which must be a suit of armor.
The ability to overrule class, race, spell, and level requirements on attuning to or using a magic items was phenomenal and gave alot of random table loot an actual use, this should be restored to the class.
TOOL PROFICIENCY and ALCHEMIST SPELLS. These are fine. I looked at what other spells could be on this list that would synergize well with their later feature, Alchemical Savant. Honestly, this list is pretty good. It's thematic, has healing, poison, acid, and fire spells. I considered whether Scorching Ray would be better than Flaming Sphere. But I like the variety of action economy and area of effect that Flaming Sphere provides. Acid Arrow and Ray of Sickness are already ranged Ray spells. Sphere is a nice change up. I do think it'd be a nice improvement to give them an additional cantrip slot to use for Acid Splash, Poison Spray, or Firebolt, since those 3 are the bread and butter of this subclass, once spell slots are gone or being used for concentration.
EXPERIMENTAL ELIXIR. Bad. Very bad. The signature feature of the class. And it's random. This is bad. So, first, I'd recommend the name change to Alchemist's Elixir, and let the player choose which elixirs they make. The rest of the feature is fine, with a few minor changes. The number of elixirs and how they increase is good. The effects are good, except for Flight. Make it 30 feet for 1 minute. 10 feet is just... meh. Otherwise, I'd recommend that the 6th option be changed to something else useful. Maybe 10 minutes Darkvision or something. Expending a spell slot to create more elixirs is fine. And you'd still get to choose.
ALCHEMICAL SAVANT. This is fine. However, I'd recommend they make it explicit that this bonus stacks with any other. For example: Cure Wounds and Healing Word, which both qualify for this feature, already add your spellcasting modifier to their healing totals. It should be made clear that this adds your modifier a second time. Also... Necrotic Damage? Is there any spell on the Arti list or the Alchemist list that even does Necrotic damage? Soooo... what is the point of this then?
RESTORATIVE REAGENTS. I get that they like the alliteration here. However, I'd much prefer a more mechanically solid feature. Rename it Improved Elixirs. Temporary HP is cheap in 2024- so many spells & class features now dish them out. And, since they do not stack, any feature that gives Temp HP is less valuable than it otherwise could be. The free castings of Lesser Restoration is fine here. It's a very situational spell, though, so this is only just ok. The meat of this feature should be improving your elixirs in a way other than temp hp. I could see this going one of 2 ways. First, the level 3 options could be improved upon to scale better into higher tiers of play. 4d8 healing. 20 foot movement bonus. +2 AC. 1d6 bonus to attacks & Saves. 1 hour of flight and darkvision. OR...(and this would be my preference) expand the list of possible elixirs. Invisibility for 10 minutes. Enlarge/Reduce for 1 minute. Choose a damage type to resist for 10 minutes. Haste for 1 minute. Blur for 1 minute. Disguise self for 1 hr. Stuff like that.
CHEMICAL MASTERY. Alchemical Eruption is fine. But the choice to make it Force damage and not just the spell's damage type is bizarre to me. I get that Force is better, as it's less resisted. But in this case, I'd prefer less powerful & more thematic. And again- why include Necrotic here? Am I missing a spell they have that does Necrotic damage? Chemical Resistance is fine. Everybody loves resistances, even if they're coming online kinda late. Conjured Cauldron is good. Very on theme.
ARMORER SPELLS. These are fine. Magic Missile is good, but maybe Witchbolt would be more thematic. Also, Hypnotic Pattern seems a strange choice here. It's a good spell- and I suppose you could flavor it to fit the theme- but maybe something like Aura of Vitality would be more on brand?
ARCANE ARMOR. This is a good signature feature, and I like that the armor becomes your spellcasting focus. I'd like clarification on how the armor works, though. One assumes that if you have leather armor or scale mail or whatever, that you continue to get the armor bonus of whatever armor you were wearing that has turned into arcane armor. But I wish the feature would explicitly state that. And it should clarify if the attributes and features of any magic armor continue once its been changed into Arcane Armor.
ARMOR MODEL. Overall, very good. 3 good choices that each have their uses. The Dreadnaught is well designed. I was thinking it'd be nice if you weren't pigeon-holed into having an iron ball & chain, but I see how it works thematically with the push/pull mechanic that comes later. The Guardian Armor is good also. The tanking option. But it makes one wish that one of the Armorer spells was Shield. However, perhaps its Defensive Field feature could be altered to function like a Shield spell, instead of yet another Temp HP feature. A Defensive Field to me sounds like something that defends/deflects, rather than restores (like temp hp would). So, how about, as a reaction, it adds your Int Mod as a bonus to your AC until the start of your next turn, and it can be used Int Mod times per long rest? The Infiltrator Armor is fine as is.
EXTRA ATTACK. is always good.
ARMOR REPLICATION is fine. I think it would be helpful if they just listed all the qualifying Replicate Magic Items in this feature. That way, they'd be easy to find, and there'd be no confusion as to which ones are applicable.
PERFECTED ARMOR. Is fine. I think the Dreadnaught increase to damage should be 2d8, instead of 2d6. The Infiltrators Lightning Launcher has an increase to 2d6. I don't think the Dreadnaught should have the same increase as the Infiltrator. It should be bigger. Maybe the Guardian should be a d12, I stead of a d10. Otherwise, I like the features here.
The really weird thing about Alchemists having features related to necrotic damage is that there was one spell, and only one spell, that they had that could do necrotic damage. Blight. Which they removed from the subclass spell list in this UA, leaving none.
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Who knows, maybe if it scores bad enough they will drop the class all together? I think they said anything below 60% they just scrap right?
She/Her Player and Dungeon Master
I don't understand why people think they get fewer spells. The prepared spells chart is unchanged, and the spell list has been expanded (don't forget, "If you have Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, your Artificer can continue to use the class’s spells in that book."), and they can now swap cantrips on a long rest.
Replicated Magic Items have more options and fewer restrictions, compared to Infusions, and they are somewhat future-proofed as the game grows more magic items.
Homunculus Servent no longer takes up an infusion slot nor necessarily a spell slot (ritual!), and it can fight without consuming your bonus action.
The changes to Armorer clean up basically all of its weird issues, and the third armor model is excellent.
Experimental Elixirs can now be used with a Bonus Action, and the random table has a "your choice" option, and the healing is more powerful, and they get extra free elixirs each long rest.
Battlesmiths don't fight with cantrips; they fight with magic weapons --- casting is for bigger spells. So it's no big deal for Mending to take up 1 of their 2 (eventually more) cantrips. Expecially since they can swap cantrips each long rest now. Also, Mending is close to useless for extending the life of an Eldritch Cannon.
The only significant changes I'd make:
Maybe give Artificers one skill Expertise, in probably Arcana.
Let Battlesmiths use magic weapons as spell foci. OR give them weapon mastery with magic weapons, but I wouldn't do both, and I think the spell focus part is better for them.
The Homunculus Servent spell should say the gem/crystal is left behind if the servant dies.
The Homunculus Servent spell should say the servant can substitute for the material component of Detect Magic.
Man, I'm a little bummed by the idea that "Artificers can just make stuff appear out of nothing".
Sure, it sounds "easier", but takes away the theme of "Artificer modified this and is now upgraded" or at least extra shinier.
They butchered Magical Tinkering, that was like my bread and butter. It keeps my head gears grinding on how to apply it and make it useful. Now it's just, mundane junk conjuration, or oil refiller.
If they want to keep Alchemist elixir randomness. There should be MAIN potion effects, you can freely choose. Then MINOR (or not) rider effects both good and/or bad that are determined at random. This way, it reflects that the alchemist is always mixing and remixing their reagents in their endless pursuit of concoctions.
you actually DO get less prepared spells at lower levels if you have a high INT, previously it was half your artificer level (round down) + your INT modifier with a minimum of 1 spell, meaning with a +4 in INT at level 1 you'd have 5 prepared spells, now you would only have 2 prepared. the only scenario in which it is an improvement is if you have an INT stat of 11 or lower (would be equal at 12). if youd have an INT of 18 it is better to have the old spell prepare amount up to level 9 at which the new one starts to take over, and if you took a stat increase to get your INT to 20 the new amount wont take over until level 17
I didn't notice on first read the part where an infusion/created item is no longer a spell focus, which means you can't cast if you have two hands occupied with a weapon and or a shield. I'd probably rather carry a shield than cast the Shield spell, if I had to choose.
It's fascinating to keep reading that Mending and Prestidigitation are useless and yet semi-blocked (the spells and cantrips they recommend are ... curious choices).
I would give all Artificers Mending, and I would add some ability to clean things. I'd amend Magical Tinkering so that you could make a flashlight out of it that could be handed off to another person.
I know people were expecting the Armorer and Battle Smith to interact with Weapon Mastery and I'm curious what people think about that omission.
I tried a form of play-test which was re-running the last combat my Battle Smith Artificer did. I played it online so I have a blow-by-blow transcript I could follow.
Casting Haste worked out alright. With object interaction you can pull out the tools to cast the spell, then with the bonus attack action you get to put them away again freeing your hand for a 2-handed weapon. It would not work for a sword and shield style but for 2-handed weapon this works
Could not cast Shield spell. This spell seems almost unusable on the Battle Smith as written in the UA - there is no situation where you would put yourself in the position of needing to cast it where you reasonably have tools in one of your hands instead of a weapon or shield. Nor could I manage enough object juggling to pull it off - I think this only possibly works with a versatile weapon where you can still use it one-handed but you intend to use it 2-handed so don't use a shield. This relegates Battle Smith to a very poor quality role with limited defences (no shield) and limited damage output (due to restricted weapon choices) if they are actually to use their subclass spells.
But more than the above it breaks the key thematic part of this that I loved which is an artificer who actually uses their weapon to do their magic. Its a very strong theme and was unique to artificer that they actually used their weapon as their focus so they could manifest all of their spells (due to always needing a material component) through their weapons.
All the same issues apply to now having True Strike - you can't cast it with sword and shield or with a 2-handed weapon like a crossbow. Its limited to 1-handed weapons like rapiers and hand crossbows. No other class has this problem.
Battle Smiths need to be able to use their weapons as their spell focus. They can in the Tashas rules if it is an infusion (which it nearly always will be) and they need that ability. This UA really leaves very little room for a workable Battle Smith
Feels like an overall nerf of an already mid class. I've been playing Armorer Artificer in a weekly campaign levels 1 to 9 now -- low levels were painful and this UA seems to make them even worse. Current Artificer has too few abilities until about 5, now they get fewer prepared spells?
In a 4 person party you're probably not going to change 1 of your 2 cantrips daily even with the option. 2 stable ones is bread and butter for fulfilling a role. If Artificer got 3 cantrips at level 1, then replacing one daily as a flex slot would be valuable to the group.
And still no real flexibility with infusions with such a tiny number available. Ok you make a magic weapon ... Do you give that to the Fighter instead of buffing yourself? Unlikely. Bag of Holding still king and almost mandatory if you focus on benefitting the party.
Take that Bag of Holding and fill it with mundane permanent items and it's far better than Magical Tinkering.
The Armorer built in weapons have pseudo-mastery abilities built into them. I am not sure they need weapon mastery in addition to that
The Battle Smith really should have weapon mastery but its not a deal-breaker if they do not. What is currently a deal breaker is that their weapons cannot be a spellcasting focus and that - from my limited testing so far - makes the too clunky and unworkable in actual play. They may as well be given another spell instead of Shield as they will rarely if ever actually be able to cast it.
THIS 100%
Is there any way it can be added in the creator so that we can really use it and give it a proper test in play? Being a pseudo-2024 class, that would be fantastic for us Artificer players!
Back in the old days, UA classes did get added, just saying...
If I recall correctly, the reason they stopped doing this is that it made a huge amount of work for them for something that might never actually get released, and often changed rapidly and radically over the course of a few weeks or months. I think it's very understandable that they wouldn't want to sink a lot of time into supporting that.
I'm very surprised that you can no longer use the created magic items as your focus, especially since it means that you can use it to buff any party member's attack but your own (you can't use wands as focus). Unrelated to that, I find it odd that the artillerist subclass can craft wands faster, but not use them until they reach level 5 (arcane firearm)
Am I the only one missing the old infusions? Sure we used plenty of indfusions on repßlicate magic item, but I loved inbfusions like the arcane propulsion armor, the repeating shot infusion, the returning weapon or the mind sharpener.
I feel it is a step back to now boil it down to just magic items (and from a restrictive list at that).
Also, the loss of firearms proficiency hurts to see.
There are some nice additioons here and there, especially when it comes to subclass features, but overall I feel that the class lost a lot of what it once was.
Most of the old ones have been made into new magic items (at the end of the document). Arcane Propulsion Armor is gone, though (it still overlaps heavily with the Armorer subclass).
Mending has to be automatically added to the list, followed by two additional choices.
Magical Tinkering, should be at least created item remains until a long rest. I do like the idea here, especially for those of us who play in strict campaigns where having the right equipment all the time is pretty important, if you do not play in that type of group then I could see this being a waste.
Prepared spells should be equal to the wizard, as the only other intelligence-based class that makes sense, the Artificer spell list is already restrictive and heavy on concentration magic.
The Battlesmith should have 2 masteries, as for the Armorer looks like they tried to bake them in with the built-in weapons, so I can live with that. Must have magic weapon as arcane focus, just broken without it.
I like the Homunculus being a ritual, but if you are going to limit prepared spell make this one automatic as well. Since you would get this at level 5 100gp loss each time should not make a difference you can just create stuff to sell.
Increasing the magic items by one would go a long way to a better balance, we also have Bastions now so at level 5 common and uncommon magic items should be available to most players. So I would assume most players already have their +1 weapon or focus and the Artificer can focus on what the party needs for the next event.
I'll try to give a feature by feature critique.
MAGICAL TINKERING. If it's going to create mundane items, 1 hour sucks. Make it permanent, but limit it to Int Mod number of items at any time. If you have your max & create a new item, one of the others disappears. That said, I preferred the original. Breaking up Prestidigitation into itemized parts was fun.
SPELLCASTING is fine. I'd like to see all Artificers get Mending for free, and I'd like them to be able to cast it as an action. (Frankly, I think the cantrip should just BE an action. The one minute casting time is kind of a bummer. And it's the only cantrip (i believe?) that has that long of a casting time.)
REPLICATE MAGIC ITEM. This is ok. However, I wish they would have spent time coming up with more Artificer-specific items that can only be created via this feature (like the Boots of the Winding Step.) I think more unique items (and more unique items representing the higher tiers) would really cement the Artificer's identity. Replicating magic items that anyone could have (depending on your DM and campaign, of course) feels less special. More unique items would make them feel more like the Warlock's Invocations or the Sorcerer's Metamagic: something you can only get with levels in that class (or a feat.)
RIGHT TOOL FOR THE JOB. This is okayyyy... but what would be much cooler is a magical multi-tool. Like the Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver. Just give the Arti the ability to Bonus Action change whatever tools they are holding into any other set of tools they have proficiency with.
MAGIC ITEM TINKER. Meh. The level 6 expansion is fine. I'm not wild about the spell slot for a magic item swap, though. I get what they're going for. They want it to be similar to the Druid Wild Shape for spell slots. Or the Sorcerer Spell Points for spell slots. I think this mechanic makes the Wizard's Arcane Recovery less unique and weaker by comparison. And Wizards are supposed to be the premier casters. But also... I don't think it's a fair trade. I think most Artificers will be very hesitant to give up their created magic items- especially if those items have been given out to party members. I don't think it would be used all that often, and so, it is a weak and not very well designed feature. I'm not sure what feature I'd replace it with, though. Rangers & Paladins- the other half casters- don't really have a spell slot swapping mechanic. So, I'm not sure Artificers should, either.
FLASH OF GENIUS. Great. Arguably the best feature of the class.
MAGIC ITEM ADEPT. This is fine.
SPELL-STORING ITEM. This is really good. Maybe too good? But perhaps THIS could be the Level 6 feature, and that would solve the limited spell slot issue? Perhaps it could scale: Int Mod castings at level 6, and double Int Mod castings at level 10? Perhaps at level 10, you could store up to 3 LEVELS of spells, so that you could put 3 first level spells, or a 2nd and a 1st, or a 3rd level spell into the item. And then have it function like a magic item with charges, where 1st level spells use 1 charge, 2nds use 2, and 3rds use 3. Idk. Maybe that's a bit much.
MAGIC ITEM SAVANT and MAGIC ITEM MASTER. These are fine.
SOUL OF ARTIFICE. Not great. I'm not a huge fan of the "cheat death" feature. It only comes into play if you're getting killed, which is not altogether fun. That said, that part is fine. The Magical Guidance part, however... not awesome. The static boost to saves of the original was great. But I do see their point about what if you don't have so many items attuned. (But, then again, if they think you won't have that many items attuned at level 20, then what is the point of the expanded attunement features earlier in the class?) Anyway. I think this is an easy fix. Just add Saving Throws. Add a d6 to any Ability Check or Saving Throw once per turn. Adding this to Flash of Genius will make the epic level Artificer outstanding at Ability Checks and Saving Throws. A pretty good capstone, imo.
Subclass critiques to follow.
I may have missed it but seems like they lost the "Can use any magic item regardless of restrictions" feature. As far as I could tell that was one of the only ways for Artificers to craft some of the higher level items.
For a magic item crafting class, I'd have liked a little more magic item crafting versatility beyond their "Magic stuff appears" feature. I'm glad they at least kept the 'half the time" feature of crafting.
Artificers need to be given tool proficiencies and expertise back!
Why would They be incentivised to create tools with their resources if they gain no benefits to using them?
Flash of Genius should be applicable to any d20 roll we wish, not just failures. Sometimes higher rolls on a success mean better rewards, let us boost those odds.
Why has the reduced time and cost for crafting permanent magical items been removed?
Clarification on how/when the spell list will expand with releases of future content would be awesome.
The level 9 Armorer feature is a straight downgrade. 2 free armor related upgrades on top of other infusions as it previously worked has more benefit than just learning one extra infusion which must be a suit of armor.
The ability to overrule class, race, spell, and level requirements on attuning to or using a magic items was phenomenal and gave alot of random table loot an actual use, this should be restored to the class.
ALCHEMIST CRITIQUE.
TOOL PROFICIENCY and ALCHEMIST SPELLS. These are fine. I looked at what other spells could be on this list that would synergize well with their later feature, Alchemical Savant. Honestly, this list is pretty good. It's thematic, has healing, poison, acid, and fire spells. I considered whether Scorching Ray would be better than Flaming Sphere. But I like the variety of action economy and area of effect that Flaming Sphere provides. Acid Arrow and Ray of Sickness are already ranged Ray spells. Sphere is a nice change up. I do think it'd be a nice improvement to give them an additional cantrip slot to use for Acid Splash, Poison Spray, or Firebolt, since those 3 are the bread and butter of this subclass, once spell slots are gone or being used for concentration.
EXPERIMENTAL ELIXIR. Bad. Very bad. The signature feature of the class. And it's random. This is bad. So, first, I'd recommend the name change to Alchemist's Elixir, and let the player choose which elixirs they make. The rest of the feature is fine, with a few minor changes. The number of elixirs and how they increase is good. The effects are good, except for Flight. Make it 30 feet for 1 minute. 10 feet is just... meh. Otherwise, I'd recommend that the 6th option be changed to something else useful. Maybe 10 minutes Darkvision or something. Expending a spell slot to create more elixirs is fine. And you'd still get to choose.
ALCHEMICAL SAVANT. This is fine. However, I'd recommend they make it explicit that this bonus stacks with any other. For example: Cure Wounds and Healing Word, which both qualify for this feature, already add your spellcasting modifier to their healing totals. It should be made clear that this adds your modifier a second time. Also... Necrotic Damage? Is there any spell on the Arti list or the Alchemist list that even does Necrotic damage? Soooo... what is the point of this then?
RESTORATIVE REAGENTS. I get that they like the alliteration here. However, I'd much prefer a more mechanically solid feature. Rename it Improved Elixirs. Temporary HP is cheap in 2024- so many spells & class features now dish them out. And, since they do not stack, any feature that gives Temp HP is less valuable than it otherwise could be. The free castings of Lesser Restoration is fine here. It's a very situational spell, though, so this is only just ok. The meat of this feature should be improving your elixirs in a way other than temp hp. I could see this going one of 2 ways. First, the level 3 options could be improved upon to scale better into higher tiers of play. 4d8 healing. 20 foot movement bonus. +2 AC. 1d6 bonus to attacks & Saves. 1 hour of flight and darkvision. OR...(and this would be my preference) expand the list of possible elixirs. Invisibility for 10 minutes. Enlarge/Reduce for 1 minute. Choose a damage type to resist for 10 minutes. Haste for 1 minute. Blur for 1 minute. Disguise self for 1 hr. Stuff like that.
CHEMICAL MASTERY. Alchemical Eruption is fine. But the choice to make it Force damage and not just the spell's damage type is bizarre to me. I get that Force is better, as it's less resisted. But in this case, I'd prefer less powerful & more thematic. And again- why include Necrotic here? Am I missing a spell they have that does Necrotic damage? Chemical Resistance is fine. Everybody loves resistances, even if they're coming online kinda late. Conjured Cauldron is good. Very on theme.
ARMORER CRITIQUE
TOOLS OF THE TRADE. This is fine.
ARMORER SPELLS. These are fine. Magic Missile is good, but maybe Witchbolt would be more thematic. Also, Hypnotic Pattern seems a strange choice here. It's a good spell- and I suppose you could flavor it to fit the theme- but maybe something like Aura of Vitality would be more on brand?
ARCANE ARMOR. This is a good signature feature, and I like that the armor becomes your spellcasting focus. I'd like clarification on how the armor works, though. One assumes that if you have leather armor or scale mail or whatever, that you continue to get the armor bonus of whatever armor you were wearing that has turned into arcane armor. But I wish the feature would explicitly state that. And it should clarify if the attributes and features of any magic armor continue once its been changed into Arcane Armor.
ARMOR MODEL. Overall, very good. 3 good choices that each have their uses. The Dreadnaught is well designed. I was thinking it'd be nice if you weren't pigeon-holed into having an iron ball & chain, but I see how it works thematically with the push/pull mechanic that comes later. The Guardian Armor is good also. The tanking option. But it makes one wish that one of the Armorer spells was Shield. However, perhaps its Defensive Field feature could be altered to function like a Shield spell, instead of yet another Temp HP feature. A Defensive Field to me sounds like something that defends/deflects, rather than restores (like temp hp would). So, how about, as a reaction, it adds your Int Mod as a bonus to your AC until the start of your next turn, and it can be used Int Mod times per long rest? The Infiltrator Armor is fine as is.
EXTRA ATTACK. is always good.
ARMOR REPLICATION is fine. I think it would be helpful if they just listed all the qualifying Replicate Magic Items in this feature. That way, they'd be easy to find, and there'd be no confusion as to which ones are applicable.
PERFECTED ARMOR. Is fine. I think the Dreadnaught increase to damage should be 2d8, instead of 2d6. The Infiltrators Lightning Launcher has an increase to 2d6. I don't think the Dreadnaught should have the same increase as the Infiltrator. It should be bigger. Maybe the Guardian should be a d12, I stead of a d10. Otherwise, I like the features here.
The really weird thing about Alchemists having features related to necrotic damage is that there was one spell, and only one spell, that they had that could do necrotic damage. Blight. Which they removed from the subclass spell list in this UA, leaving none.