Are there any infusions or spells that could be used to buff the Iron Defender?
Also I find it strange that the Replicate Magic Item infusion has uncommon wondrous magic items to choose from with no level limitation, but also uncommon wondrous magic items that you have to wait till 12th level to get. Isn't the rarity a designator for how powerful a magic item is? Why not just open up all uncommon wondrous magic items to start and then open the rare ones at 12th level and then very rare at 18th (or something similar)?
What are your favorite infusions?
What Replicate Magic Item(s) do you think are the most useful?
Absolutely for spells. Since the Iron Defender is a construct (creature), then any spell that targets one willing creature can target the Iron Defender.
Regarding Infusions, no infusion can (currently) be applied to the Iron Defender, since Infusions explicitly state that they can only be applied to a non-magical object, and the Iron Defender is a creature. That being said, just like Horse Armor, you could create Armor that fits your Iron Defender and then infuse that armor. My Battle Smith has a Saddle and Armor for his Iron Defender and he rides his Iron Defender around like a mount. Note: my character is a small creature, so he can ride a medium creature around.
I'm confused at what part of my statement do you disagree with? I was just commenting on the fact that you can use spell slots from a different class for Information Overload, which is true. There isn't anything to "disagree" with.
Oh maybe I did misunderstand then if you mean just a few levels dip provides an Extra 2 slots, I was thinking you were saying more of Warlock slots > than normal slots, for this feature. EG. I think any other full caster multiclass gives more and bigger spell slots. All I am pointing out is more is most important with this feature since every one is a stun.
I'm confused at what part of my statement do you disagree with? I was just commenting on the fact that you can use spell slots from a different class for Information Overload, which is true. There isn't anything to "disagree" with.
Oh maybe I did misunderstand then if you mean just a few levels dip provides an Extra 2 slots, I was thinking you were saying more of Warlock slots > than normal slots, for this feature. EG. I think any other full caster multiclass gives more and bigger spell slots. All I am pointing out is more is most important with this feature since every one is a stun.
My comment was only regarding to the fact that the warlock's spell slots refresh on a short rest instead of a long rest, allowing the Archivist to be more aggressive with the Information Overload feature if dipped in for 3 levels. It is similar to the way Paladin + Warlock is such a good combination to feed the Warlock's spells into Divine Smites. It isn't as good as Paladin + Warlock, since they don't share the same spell caster ability score, but it could be fun.
I'd imagine a Great Old One Warlock + Archivist Artificer could be thematically interesting to toy around with.
Addition of Absorb Elements and Catapult to round out early caster role.
Battle Ready 100%.
Iron Defender passively roaming about providing flanking and Defensive Pounce reactions.
Arcane Jolt is intriguing.
Repeating Shot to make crossbows viable when using bonus actions on pet.
Least favorite parts:
The more sub-classes that are added, the more intrusive the pets feel - it's just becoming such a parade of weird, and there's no escaping it.
I know D&D supports a whole range of settings, but the whole theme of the Archivist leaves me cold - I could imagine a shamanistic make-over with an animal guide, but as written it's a sub-class concept that I'd neither want to play as nor even play with (and I don't think I would say the latter about any other sub-class to date). It's just such a weird marriage of familiar & spiritual weapon, introducing a thing that can be indestructably omni-present but requires zero roleplay (by player or DM) and constant combat repositioning. What is the artificer even seen to be doing in the D&D world while the manifested mind is consuming all bonus actions and actions for Information Overload? Neither aspect requires verbal or somantic input, so is the artificer just supposed to hide behind cover (or even invisibility) while a phantasmal face wafts around melting foes' brains?
The Battle Smith spell list is full of bonus action consumers, when there would have been options that encouraged melee while still supporting the mandatory pet.
I think Repulsion Shield is an awful addition to such a shallow pool of options; there is just a window of 3 levels (8, 9, 10) where it is viable before Enhanced Defense graduates to +2 AC. It's harmless because can just swap it out at level 11, but with a mere 11 infusions total there has to be more meaningful ones than this on the drawing board!
Overall I still cannot say I'm a fan of the class, but Battle Smith is the first aspect really making the case to me for playing a pet class whose not quite a caster nor a warrior - ushering in a MMO-esque 'pet tank' partnership, with the artificer dabbling in melee or just settling back with a heavy repeater crossbow.
If they do conduct one more radical overhaul before release though, I think the glaring weakness of the class remains that it peaks at level 6 - the new sub-classes do take steps towards addressing that (e.g. Information Overload), but since it's only the pet features that grow it's a polarizing approach.
It's clear that the devs intend to be all-in on pets at this point, but I think it would be awesome if there were even one sub-class that just takes a core feature and amplifies it (like Circle of the Moon does shape-shifting) as an alternative.
Regarding what the Archivist is doing while their Artificial Mind is running around, think of the Artificial Mind as channeling the Archivist's magic in order to deliver attacks. This would likely require mental exertion from the Archivist, which is why they have to use their action to make the Artificial Mind use their power. Kinda like how if you are dual wielding weapons but cast Misty Step, you can't make an offhand attack. Your mind can only do so much in a short span of time, especially in a combat type situation.
The more sub-classes that are added, the more intrusive the pets feel - it's just becoming such a parade of weird, and there's no escaping it.
I think the pets are fantstic, but I'd love to have something closer to the self-forged from 4e where you replace your hand with a battlefist and add other construct stuff to yourself to basially become a high-fantasy cyborg.
There's some really cool stuff we could do with a machinist/enchanter/craftsman who doesn't have some sort of pet.
Has anyone brought up the fact that Manifest Mind is theoretically an infinite range, completely safe, scouting tool that can also assassinate anything that isn't immune to psychic damage? Your connection is infinite range and the mind can be manifest within 300 of the object, not you. So you could theoretically cast Mage Hand through the manifest mind to pick up its own object and go wherever you please, completely safe from harm, and mind blast things to death.
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Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
First, Mage Hand can't move beyond 30 feet of you.
Second, Manifest Mind states "As a bonus action, while the item is on your person, you can cause the mind to manifest..." So the object must be on you to manifest it. Now granted it doesn't say it has to *stay* on you after it has been manifested, but this would be up to your DM. I personally would rule that it must stay on your person throughout manifestation.
Third, your combat abilities while within your mind are actually limited. Both Information Overload and Manifest Mind's spell casting ability has a hard limit based on your intelligence modifier.
I reread the description, and you bring up a valid point. At first I thought that you needed to see where you were sending it (and, by extension, any enemies could see you), but you can also send it to a place it can see. So, yeah, I'll be sure to mention that when they post a survey. Although, I'm not worried about the scouting. It glows and has a pretty distinctive appearance. I'm more worried about the mind blasting.
First, Mage Hand can't move beyond 30 feet of you.
Second, Manifest Mind states "As a bonus action, while the item is on your person, you can cause the mind to manifest..." So the object must be on you to manifest it. Now granted it doesn't say it has to *stay* on you after it has been manifested, but this would be up to your DM. I personally would rule that it must stay on your person throughout manifestation.
Third, your combat abilities while within your mind are actually limited. Both Information Overload and Manifest Mind's spell casting ability has a hard limit based on your intelligence modifier.
RE: Mage Hand - "When you cast an artificer spell on your turn, you can cast it as if you were in the spectral mind’s space, instead of your own" so I think there's a valid interpretation that the manifest mind allows you to cast spells as if you were in its location, but even if not, you can still give it to someone else and have them take it as far away as you want and still give you a 300ft radius of completely safe exploration and mind blasting since the manifest mind is invulnerable.
If the object has to stay on your person why wouldn't they just say that the Manifest Mind has to stay within 300ft of you? Why would they specifically write that it needs to stay within 300ft of the object?
Information Overload has no such hard limit, though. You can spam it infinitely and as long as the target isn't immune to psychic damage it will have to run away or die.
Edit: Oh I just caught myself, Information Overload requires that the object be on your person. Still, there's nothing stopping you from hiding somewhere and then sending your Manifest Mind out telepathically and killing anything within 300ft of your hidden body with impunity.
I really want to like Archivist, but I am saddened that you have to give up your two attacks(with the lovely arcane weapon accompanying it) to use your subclass. It requires a bonus action to move AND an action to attack, which means you are constantly managing this thing. I get it that an invulnerable focus that you can shoot spells from is very powerful, but all the other artificers on the playground get to attack twice and cast a cantrip-like equivalent from their pets. This opens up a great deal of options and tactics. If I have to give that up in order to use my subclass I kind of want more options with it. Maybe an AoE attack or at least an attack roll option.
I wish you could bonus action attack with your manifest mind, I'd even take a nerf to it's abilities in order to get it as one. If manifest mind is ALL I can do(I know I can attack with a weapon or cast from my limited spells, but I really wanna use my subclass most of the time) on my turn, I'll just hide behind something or sit in my rope trick the whole fight.
I love my artillerist, but I really want to try the Battlesmith and ride a mechanical wolf into battle, too...
Jeremy Crawford mentioned in one of the conversations about the artificer that there is a strong possibility that Arcane Armament will be moved from being a class feature into a subclass feature instead, so after the survey comes out there is a possibility that the next iteration will make that change and have caster-focused subclasses vs martial-focused subclasses.
I think there are enough limitations to it for it to not be overly powerful. For one, the object has to be on your person to do any of the the damageling class features. It's scouting abilities are limited to the fact that it glows and though it can Information Overload within 300 feet of you, it is magical, so if the GM notices you are abusing that then he can include spell casters with Dispel Magic prepared.
Further the GM can merely include enemy Archivists as well.
Jeremy Crawford has mentioned that there is a good chance that Arcane Armaments will be moved into a subclass and something will take its place in the base class.
I think there are enough limitations to it for it to not be overly powerful. For one, the object has to be on your person to do any of the the damageling class features. It's scouting abilities are limited to the fact that it glows and though it can Information Overload within 300 feet of you, it is magical, so if the GM notices you are abusing that then he can include spell casters with Dispel Magic prepared.
Further the GM can merely include enemy Archivists as well.
10ft of dim light isn't really that bright and it doesn't even really matter since the typical danger of being seen is being attacked and the manifest mind is invulnerable. Dispel Magic isn't going to stop Information Overload and I'm not even sure it would dispel the Manifest Mind, but that also doesn't matter because you can just make another one, making your opponent burn a spell slot for something that's free for you is still a win.
Saying that there might be enemy Archivists is ... not a good point to make. If a particular subclass is absolutely necessary that probably means it's overpowered. It's pretty neat, but I think Manifest Mind is going to have to be destructible or banishable in some way.
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Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
We are getting into personal interpretations here, bit 10 ft of dim light from a flying object would, on my opinion be noticeable. Also, Dispel Magic ends magical effects, of which Manifest Mind is one. If it is a big enough problem (which I don't think it is) then provide an opponent a Wand of Dispel magic.
I agree that saying "there can be enemy archivists" isn't a counter point, more as a reminder that DMs have the same tools as players a like.
Personally I feel it is very powerful, but not so powerful that it should be tweaked. I put it at the same power level as a Moon Druid and Bear Totem Barbarian.
That being said, I also don't see why it has to be indestructible. If it proves to be too powerful, simply giving it an AC and HPs might be enough to balance it out.
so with Magical Telephony would that imply that every person with one of your Many-Handed Pouch's would all be connected? sense all 2-5 bags would be an infusion.
so with Magical Telephony would that imply that every person with one of your Many-Handed Pouch's would all be connected? sense all 2-5 bags would be an infusion.
I as well believe that is correct.
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Absolutely for spells. Since the Iron Defender is a construct (creature), then any spell that targets one willing creature can target the Iron Defender.
Regarding Infusions, no infusion can (currently) be applied to the Iron Defender, since Infusions explicitly state that they can only be applied to a non-magical object, and the Iron Defender is a creature. That being said, just like Horse Armor, you could create Armor that fits your Iron Defender and then infuse that armor. My Battle Smith has a Saddle and Armor for his Iron Defender and he rides his Iron Defender around like a mount. Note: my character is a small creature, so he can ride a medium creature around.
Oh maybe I did misunderstand then if you mean just a few levels dip provides an Extra 2 slots, I was thinking you were saying more of Warlock slots > than normal slots, for this feature. EG. I think any other full caster multiclass gives more and bigger spell slots. All I am pointing out is more is most important with this feature since every one is a stun.
My comment was only regarding to the fact that the warlock's spell slots refresh on a short rest instead of a long rest, allowing the Archivist to be more aggressive with the Information Overload feature if dipped in for 3 levels. It is similar to the way Paladin + Warlock is such a good combination to feed the Warlock's spells into Divine Smites. It isn't as good as Paladin + Warlock, since they don't share the same spell caster ability score, but it could be fun.
I'd imagine a Great Old One Warlock + Archivist Artificer could be thematically interesting to toy around with.
It's an interesting update to the UA, to be sure.
Favorite parts:
Least favorite parts:
Overall I still cannot say I'm a fan of the class, but Battle Smith is the first aspect really making the case to me for playing a pet class whose not quite a caster nor a warrior - ushering in a MMO-esque 'pet tank' partnership, with the artificer dabbling in melee or just settling back with a heavy repeater crossbow.
If they do conduct one more radical overhaul before release though, I think the glaring weakness of the class remains that it peaks at level 6 - the new sub-classes do take steps towards addressing that (e.g. Information Overload), but since it's only the pet features that grow it's a polarizing approach.
It's clear that the devs intend to be all-in on pets at this point, but I think it would be awesome if there were even one sub-class that just takes a core feature and amplifies it (like Circle of the Moon does shape-shifting) as an alternative.
Regarding what the Archivist is doing while their Artificial Mind is running around, think of the Artificial Mind as channeling the Archivist's magic in order to deliver attacks. This would likely require mental exertion from the Archivist, which is why they have to use their action to make the Artificial Mind use their power. Kinda like how if you are dual wielding weapons but cast Misty Step, you can't make an offhand attack. Your mind can only do so much in a short span of time, especially in a combat type situation.
I think the pets are fantstic, but I'd love to have something closer to the self-forged from 4e where you replace your hand with a battlefist and add other construct stuff to yourself to basially become a high-fantasy cyborg.
There's some really cool stuff we could do with a machinist/enchanter/craftsman who doesn't have some sort of pet.
I have looked into the mystic class in it is awesome! I hope it comes to d&d beyond soon. Even as a UA class.
DM: So, you doomed the world by betting on dinosauer races instead of doing a quest.
Players: But we got money! Now we can do whatever we want.
DM: You are all dead, you can't spend your money!
Players: Oh.
Has anyone brought up the fact that Manifest Mind is theoretically an infinite range, completely safe, scouting tool that can also assassinate anything that isn't immune to psychic damage? Your connection is infinite range and the mind can be manifest within 300 of the object, not you. So you could theoretically cast Mage Hand through the manifest mind to pick up its own object and go wherever you please, completely safe from harm, and mind blast things to death.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
I'm not sure that works, for several of reasons:
First, Mage Hand can't move beyond 30 feet of you.
Second, Manifest Mind states "As a bonus action, while the item is on your person, you can cause the mind to manifest..." So the object must be on you to manifest it. Now granted it doesn't say it has to *stay* on you after it has been manifested, but this would be up to your DM. I personally would rule that it must stay on your person throughout manifestation.
Third, your combat abilities while within your mind are actually limited. Both Information Overload and Manifest Mind's spell casting ability has a hard limit based on your intelligence modifier.
I reread the description, and you bring up a valid point. At first I thought that you needed to see where you were sending it (and, by extension, any enemies could see you), but you can also send it to a place it can see. So, yeah, I'll be sure to mention that when they post a survey. Although, I'm not worried about the scouting. It glows and has a pretty distinctive appearance. I'm more worried about the mind blasting.
RE: Mage Hand - "When you cast an artificer spell on your turn, you can cast it as if you were in the spectral mind’s space, instead of your own" so I think there's a valid interpretation that the manifest mind allows you to cast spells as if you were in its location, but even if not, you can still give it to someone else and have them take it as far away as you want and still give you a 300ft radius of completely safe exploration and mind blasting since the manifest mind is invulnerable.
If the object has to stay on your person why wouldn't they just say that the Manifest Mind has to stay within 300ft of you? Why would they specifically write that it needs to stay within 300ft of the object?
Information Overload has no such hard limit, though. You can spam it infinitely and as long as the target isn't immune to psychic damage it will have to run away or die.
Edit: Oh I just caught myself, Information Overload requires that the object be on your person. Still, there's nothing stopping you from hiding somewhere and then sending your Manifest Mind out telepathically and killing anything within 300ft of your hidden body with impunity.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
I really want to like Archivist, but I am saddened that you have to give up your two attacks(with the lovely arcane weapon accompanying it) to use your subclass. It requires a bonus action to move AND an action to attack, which means you are constantly managing this thing. I get it that an invulnerable focus that you can shoot spells from is very powerful, but all the other artificers on the playground get to attack twice and cast a cantrip-like equivalent from their pets. This opens up a great deal of options and tactics. If I have to give that up in order to use my subclass I kind of want more options with it. Maybe an AoE attack or at least an attack roll option.
I wish you could bonus action attack with your manifest mind, I'd even take a nerf to it's abilities in order to get it as one. If manifest mind is ALL I can do(I know I can attack with a weapon or cast from my limited spells, but I really wanna use my subclass most of the time) on my turn, I'll just hide behind something or sit in my rope trick the whole fight.
I love my artillerist, but I really want to try the Battlesmith and ride a mechanical wolf into battle, too...
Jeremy Crawford mentioned in one of the conversations about the artificer that there is a strong possibility that Arcane Armament will be moved from being a class feature into a subclass feature instead, so after the survey comes out there is a possibility that the next iteration will make that change and have caster-focused subclasses vs martial-focused subclasses.
I think there are enough limitations to it for it to not be overly powerful. For one, the object has to be on your person to do any of the the damageling class features. It's scouting abilities are limited to the fact that it glows and though it can Information Overload within 300 feet of you, it is magical, so if the GM notices you are abusing that then he can include spell casters with Dispel Magic prepared.
Further the GM can merely include enemy Archivists as well.
I'm for it. Removing Arcane Armament, that is.
Jeremy Crawford has mentioned that there is a good chance that Arcane Armaments will be moved into a subclass and something will take its place in the base class.
10ft of dim light isn't really that bright and it doesn't even really matter since the typical danger of being seen is being attacked and the manifest mind is invulnerable. Dispel Magic isn't going to stop Information Overload and I'm not even sure it would dispel the Manifest Mind, but that also doesn't matter because you can just make another one, making your opponent burn a spell slot for something that's free for you is still a win.
Saying that there might be enemy Archivists is ... not a good point to make. If a particular subclass is absolutely necessary that probably means it's overpowered. It's pretty neat, but I think Manifest Mind is going to have to be destructible or banishable in some way.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
We are getting into personal interpretations here, bit 10 ft of dim light from a flying object would, on my opinion be noticeable. Also, Dispel Magic ends magical effects, of which Manifest Mind is one. If it is a big enough problem (which I don't think it is) then provide an opponent a Wand of Dispel magic.
I agree that saying "there can be enemy archivists" isn't a counter point, more as a reminder that DMs have the same tools as players a like.
Personally I feel it is very powerful, but not so powerful that it should be tweaked. I put it at the same power level as a Moon Druid and Bear Totem Barbarian.
That being said, I also don't see why it has to be indestructible. If it proves to be too powerful, simply giving it an AC and HPs might be enough to balance it out.
so with Magical Telephony would that imply that every person with one of your Many-Handed Pouch's would all be connected? sense all 2-5 bags would be an infusion.
I as well believe that is correct.