Just finished a playtest of the new Arti, ( about 6 sessions, lvl 15) and ive got to say im pretty disappointed, overall it feels like the flavour of the artificer has been sucked out of it in favour of mechanical power; the magical tinkering was situational and is still equally so, but is far less flexible and with a 1 hour duration it seems pointless. the lack of ambition for the subclass changes are just dreary, i played a bugbear dreadnought armorer and getting a 30ft reach (with enlarge) is super fun and its a really cool build, but aside from that new addition its just dull, the other three subclasses are functionally the same, despite the community being very vocal about the alchemist for example. the removal of some niche but unique and distinct infusions in favour of more blanket options ( removing armor of magical strength)and giving us just a scaling +x armour/ weapon really adds to the lack of flavour.
The most egregious thing of all to me however is the removal of key utility features the artificer had that made it truly distinct in role play and exploration, that being the tool expertise, and the removal of universal attunement. These features let the artificers theme translate perfectly into mechanics; being a whizz when it comes to your specific field of trade, and being pretty good everywhere else. Skill-monkey-ism isnt something new or gamebreaking ( however the updated 11th level feature sure as hell is) and i dont see any valid reason myself as to why theyd be removed when, as i said, they were perfect for the class.
overall, its a relativley bland UA that really couldve been better and drastically needs some spice thrown in, and the unambitious changes that were made detract from the experience of playing an artificer
You forgot specifically for the Armorer (if not other subs) "Doesn't scale." With the addition of weapon Masteries and the Armorer getting none its already starts in a hole that they only manage to dig deeper as they level.
Just finished a playtest of the new Arti, ( about 6 sessions, lvl 15) and ive got to say im pretty disappointed, overall it feels like the flavour of the artificer has been sucked out of it in favour of mechanical power; the magical tinkering was situational and is still equally so, but is far less flexible and with a 1 hour duration it seems pointless. the lack of ambition for the subclass changes are just dreary, i played a bugbear dreadnought armorer and getting a 30ft reach (with enlarge) is super fun and its a really cool build, but aside from that new addition its just dull, the other three subclasses are functionally the same, despite the community being very vocal about the alchemist for example. the removal of some niche but unique and distinct infusions in favour of more blanket options ( removing armor of magical strength)and giving us just a scaling +x armour/ weapon really adds to the lack of flavour.
The most egregious thing of all to me however is the removal of key utility features the artificer had that made it truly distinct in role play and exploration, that being the tool expertise, and the removal of universal attunement. These features let the artificers theme translate perfectly into mechanics; being a whizz when it comes to your specific field of trade, and being pretty good everywhere else. Skill-monkey-ism isnt something new or gamebreaking ( however the updated 11th level feature sure as hell is) and i dont see any valid reason myself as to why theyd be removed when, as i said, they were perfect for the class.
overall, its a relativley bland UA that really couldve been better and drastically needs some spice thrown in, and the unambitious changes that were made detract from the experience of playing an artificer
You forgot specifically for the Armorer (if not other subs) "Doesn't scale." With the addition of weapon Masteries and the Armorer getting none its already starts in a hole that they only manage to dig deeper as they level.
Why does my blanket only last one hour? im cold all night.