I do not think it is that much damage. yes it is a boost in "ONE" combat. after that you are stuck waiting for a short rest. unless you get a generous DM who allows it in each combat. and its not much of a boost. 3 more damage is nothing to call abusive. and the crit chances are only good if you roll numerous dice. like barbarian raging. In fact a barbarian warlock benefits much more from this then the warlock himself. as reckless attacks gives him literally twice the chance of critting. that was my take on it. the regaining of hit point is also sub par. mostly because its a roll of the die to know if you're gonna get the killing blow or not. for people only playing small adventures from level 1 to 9, then yes its a big thing. for anybody going way further then that... like we do in my groups. higher then level 8 this ability loses much more then then it gains.
also saying... many things in d&d are theorethically correct and abusive... but in practice, they end up pretty meh. the hexblade curse has been mostly meh for my different hexblade warlock. and i played a minotaur barbarian/warlock for quite some time. and i can tell, my hexblade curse i never used because it was only usefull in big boss fights. so i was literally passing 3-4 fights without it then at the fifth fight, boss fight, i was activating it. it was pretty situationnal if you ask me. unlike hex which was literally used every fights along the way. thats not mentionning that both uses the bonus action to activate thus before you actually start dishing damage as you should, it takes you two turns. and you are mostly missing out on 1 attacks because you are losing your bonus action to set up. of course that depends on many things. but mostly... if you wanna maximise your output to that level, it needs set up, where many others do not need that setup after first round.
hex= warrior is also a great boon itself, enabling to dump strength entirely. but that doesn't work at low level because you cant use two-handed weapons until 3rd level where you gain pact weapon. which means you are already better with a rapier then say a long sword, as you are probably already using a lot of dex for protection. so that ability is kinda useless.
DM of two gaming groups. Likes to create stuff. Check out my homebrew --> Monsters --> Magical Items --> Races --> Subclasses If you like --> Upvote, If you wanna comment --> Comment
Play by Post Games --> One Shot Adventure - House of Artwood (DM) (Completed)
A warlock should not be on-par with a fighter or paladin in melee combat. Again, my point was not that hexblade on its own is overpowered, my point was that hexblade as a multiclass option was overpowered. "is not as good as hexblade" is not a bad thing. Battle smith is a hexblade-type subclass done right.
Just going to say I think this thread is heading off-topic with hexblade comments and maybe should be its own thread? This is for discussing the artificer. Even then the thread is probably still off topic tbf considering the artificer is no longer UA material.
Just going to say I think this thread is heading off-topic with hexblade comments and maybe should be its own thread? This is for discussing the artificer. Even then the thread is probably still off topic tbf considering the artificer is no longer UA material.
There are some individuals out there who will continue to shout everyone else down until everyone else eventually gives up and either stop disagreeing, or leave the forum. Scroll up and note the names that stopped posting, then note the name that didn’t....
Long time reader, long time poster. I haven’t posted on this discussion in a while, as Eberron: Rising from the Last War wasn’t released yet and when it was released, I hadn’t purchased it yet. Well, I now have my copy. I’m going to go through each class and subclass feature and give my opinion on it and then give an overall opinion. Realize that these are MY OPINIONS. Whether you agree or disagree that is YOUR OPINION. There is nothing wrong with disagreeing as long as there is civility.
Hand & Heavy Crossbow - The first change to the class is that the Artificer is no longer proficient with hand crossbows and heavy crossbows. This decision doesn’t really affect me one way or another, but a couple of people are upset that the Artificer is no longer proficient with hand crossbows and heavy crossbows.
Magical Tinkering – I was never a fan of this feature when it was originally released in Artificer Revisited on 28 Feb 2019. The ability to craft tiny magic items that had 1 of 4 magical properties just doesn’t appeal to me. I believe that Magic Item Analysis (from the Original 2017 Artificer) was much more useful as you can cast the Identify & Magic Detection spells as rituals. And you could cast Identify without needing material components.
Spellcasting – While some of the changes made to the Artificer’s spellcasting were good, I am not a fan of several other changes.
TOOLS REQUIRED - I think that REQUIRING the Artificer to use a spellcasting focus (Thieves’ tools or some kind of Artisan tool, proficiency required) when casting a spell, SEVERALLY HINDERS THE ARTIFICER. If the Artificer doesn’t have a spellcasting focus (tool or infusion) then they LOSE the ability to cast a spell, until they get one. A big feature of the entire class becomes useless. At least other spellcasters don’t need a focus to cast spells that have a material requirement of verbal and/or somatic.
Cantrips – While I am glad that the Artificer has access to cantrips and while I don’t agree with direct damaging cantrips (or spells) for the Artificer, I can see why others would like it. I also don’t agree with having the ability to change out cantrips after gaining a level (something that was brought up in the Class Feature Variants UA), but it is still 1,000% better that the feature The Right Cantrip for the Job.
Infuse Item – I’ve never like this as a main class feature, as there is no real crafting. However, I would have no issues with it, if it was the focal point of a subclass.
The Right Tool for the Job – I’m not sure how I feel about this feature. While it allows the Artificer to use their Tinker’s tools to magical create any set of Artisan’s tools that lasts until you use this feature again, it doesn’t limit the feature of tools the Artificer is proficient with.
Tool Expertise – I’ve always liked this feature; I think moving it to 6 level was a wise choice.
Flash of Genius – This is a well thought out feature; I just think it would be better to regain all expended uses after a short rest instead of a long rest.
Magic Item Adept – This feature combines Superior Attunement and crafting. The Artificer is supposed to be the magic item specialist, so having the ability to attune to more than 3 magic items is a no brainer. And while having the ability to craft common and uncommon magic items in a quarter of the time and at half the cost is great; I just wish this wasn’t the only crafting related ability for the class.
Spell-Storing Item – I’ve never liked this feature as the item that can store the spell is limited to a simple or martial weapon or an item that the Artificer can use as a spellcasting focus. I also do not like the fact, that it is limited to 1st or 2nd level spells, the spell requires an action to cast, the Artificer doesn’t need the spell to be prepared or that it can be used until the feature is used again or the stored spell is used a number of times equal to the Artificer’s INT modifier.
I would rather imbue a mundane item with a spell that is 1st level or higher, it’s casting time is, 1 action, bonus action or reaction, at the expense of the spell slot. And that stored spell lasts until the Artificer finishes a long rest.
Magic Item Savant – Is a well thought out feature that I have no issues with.
Magic Item Master – Another feature I have no issues with.
Soul of the Artificer – I have mixed feelings about this feature. I do not have any issues with the +1 bonus to saving throws per magic item that the Artificer is currently attuned to. It is the second part that I take issue with. If the Artificer is reduced to 0 hit points, they can use a reaction to end an Artificer infusion to instead be reduced to 1 hit point. From what I can understand the infusion doesn’t need to be attuned and doesn’t need to be in the Artificer’s possession. I feel that this part of the feature would be better if the Artificer loses attunement to one of their items at random.
I don’t want this post to be too long, so I am going to post the subclasses in different posts.
I am extremely disappointed with the Alchemist. While WotC have taken our displeasure in the subclass to heart. This subclass is useless, it is just a caster who reskins their spells as elixirs/potions/salves.
Tool Proficiency – This feature replaced Tools of the Trade. This feature gives the Alchemist proficiency with Alchemist supplies. If the Artificer is already proficient, then they can choose another Artisan’s tools of their choice. Also, Crafting Bonus was removed completely.
Alchemist Spells – I have never been a fan of the Alchemist Spells, as this does nothing but expands spellcasting. Four of the ten spell in this feature have be changed; Purify Food and Drink - Healing Word, Web - Flaming Sphere, Create Food and Water - Gaseous Form, Stinking Cloud - Mass Healing Word.
Experimental Elixir – This in my opinion is a poor replacement for the homunculus (I never liked that feature either). After a long rest, the Alchemist touches an empty flask and magically produces an elixir with an unknown effect. It isn’t until the elixir is consumed that the effect is known and that effect is randomly determined. But if the Alchemist expends a 1st level or higher spell slot, they can create another elixir and they get to choose the effect. So, unless the player is willing to expending spell slots to determine the effect, this feature is too unstable. Especially considering the fact that if you use a spell slot higher than 1st level, they elixir effects do no increase.
Alchemical Savant – This is just a rewritten Alchemical Mastery. While the feature doesn’t give the Alchemist access to Lesser Restoration, it does expand the bonus to damage rolls. So instead of just increasing the damage to acid and poison, the damage increase includes, acid, fire, necrotic, or poison damage.
Restorative Reagents – This feature grants the person who drinks the Experimental Elixir, temporary hit points that equals 2d6 + Artificer’s INT modifier. And the Artificer can now cast Lesser Restoration. This feature just seems like a filler feature. Something that makes the Experimental Elixir a little bit more useful, while at the same time giving the Alchemist access to Lesser Restoration.
Chemical Mastery – This feature is just a renamed Chemical Savant from the 2019 Artificer v2.1 UA.
As I mentioned at the beginning, this subclass is useless. The class would have been better with they brought back and reworked the Alchemist’s Satchel.
Did you notice that they forced the updated versions of the Eberron races onto the ones in WGtE and thought they gave the WGtE the artificer as promised, they gave the WGtE the abolute worst archetype. It's almost like they butchered it on purpse just for the WGtE so peeps would buy the new book instead . . .
Pre-ordering the new book was the worst mistake I could have made. If I'd waited and seen what they were giving us, I'd have just ordered those parts I wanted through DDB and the Compendium. I'd have the core of the artificer, and then I'd just homebrew everything else. What they did to the races in WGtE, a book I PAID for, is nothing but criminal.
I'll definitely NEVER pre-order a source book again until they allow us to preview it in advance. This is too mu7ch like a lottery: you pays your money and you'se takes your chances . . .
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I actually liked the idea of the Artillerist. However, WotC in the 2019 Artificer UA tried to combine that idea with the Wandslinger. That combination wasn’t well thought out.
Tool Proficiency – Like with the Alchemist, this feature replaced Tools of the Trade. This feature gives the Artillerist proficiency with Woodcarver’s tools. And if the Artillerist is already proficient, then they can choose another Artisan’s tools of their choice. Also, Crafting Bonus was removed completely.
Artillerist Spells – I actually agreed with the Artillerist Spells. I felt that they fit the subclass very well. And there weren’t any changes made to the spells.
Eldritch Cannon – This feature is a rewrite of the Arcane turret. Instead of needing Smith’s tools to summon the cannon, you can use Smith’s or Woodcarver’s tools. The cannon’s size is either small or tiny instead of medium, instead of lasting only 10 minutes the time has lengthened to 1 hour, and the Artillerist can no longer detonate the cannon. Finally, the Flamethrower cannon now does 2d8 fire damage instead of 1d8. I’m disappointed, as I would like to see more cannon types.
Arcane Firearm – This feature replaced Wand Prototype. This feature turns a nonmagical (I'm guess) wand, staff or rod into a spellcasting focus for the Artificer. And, when an Artificer spell is cast through the “Firearm”, it increases the damage to Artificer spells by 1d8. This feature actually fits the subclass.
Explosive Cannon – This feature increases the damage of the Eldritch Cannon by 1d8 and it allows the Artificer to detonate their cannons; an ability that was originally apart of Arcane Turret (now Eldritch Cannon). Also, the range of the detonation increase from 10 to 20 feet, and the damage increases from 3d6 to 3d8. This is a filler feature but it works.
Fortified Position – This feature is similar to the Fortified Position feature from the last 2019 Artificer UA. The only exception is that the Artillerist can now summon both cannons with the same action. This is a good update compared to the original.
I actually like this Artillerist subclass. I think that WotC has put some more thought into this subclass and actually made it pretty good. But they should have expanded on the types of cannons though.
Did you notice that they forced the updated versions of the Eberron races onto the ones in WGtE and thought they gave the WGtE the artificer as promised, they gave the WGtE the abolute worst archetype. It's almost like they butchered it on purpse just for the WGtE so peeps would buy the new book instead . . .
Pre-ordering the new book was the worst mistake I could have made. If I'd waited and seen what they were giving us, I'd have just ordered those parts I wanted through DDB and the Compendium. I'd have the core of the artificer, and then I'd just homebrew everything else. What they did to the races in WGtE, a book I PAID for, is nothing but criminal.
I'll definitely NEVER pre-order a source book again until they allow us to preview it in advance. This is too mu7ch like a lottery: you pays your money and you'se takes your chances . . .
Yes, they forced through the updates that they told you were coming and changed the things they told you were not finalized and would likely be changed.
If you're dissatisfied, send them a ticket and ask for a refund. If you'd rather just be pissed, then I guess just keep posting.
This is another subclass that I liked. But the original 2019 Artificer UA version needed a rewrite.
Tool Proficiency – Like with the Alchemist and Artillerist, this feature replaced Tools of the Trade. This feature gives the Battle Smith proficiency with Smith’s tools. And if the Battle Smith is already proficient, then they can choose another Artisan’s tools of their choice. Also, Crafting Bonus was removed completely.
Battle Smith Spells – The original Battle Smith Spells were pretty good; they just needed a little tweaking. But I’m not sure why WotC decided to swap out certain spells. The follow spells were swapped; Searing Smite – Shield, Blinding Smite – Conjure Barrage, and Staggering Smite – Fire Shield. In an interview about the 2nd 2019 Artificer UA, Jeremy Crawford stated that they removed the spell Shield of Faith as it was too divine (I think), but yet Branding Smith deals radiant damage, Warding Bond is a Cleric and Paladin (Crown) spell, Aura of Vitality is a Paladin and Paladin (Crown) spell, and Aura of Purity is a Paladin spell. All of these spells have a relation with the divine, so why give them to the Battle Smith. An ARCANE caster.
Battle Ready – Is a feature that makes complete sense.
Steel Defender – Is a minor updated version of the 2019 Artificer UA Iron Defender. There is some minor characteristic and stat changes but overall, the Steel Defender isn’t that much difference from the Iron Defender.
Extra Attack – The Battle Smith can attack twice per turn. This is significant as the attacks are not limited to melee weapons, ranged melee weapons, or magic weapons. A nice change from Arcane Armament.
Arcane Jolt – This is an updated version of the 2019 Artificer UA Arcane Jolt. First, to benefit from the feature the Battle Smith must attack with a magic weapon. Second, the Steel Defender doesn’t bypass resistances and immunities. Third, the damage and healing increases from 2d4 to 2d6. A good update
Improved Defender – The extra damage and healing increases to 4d6 for the Arcane Jolt and Steel Defender. The Steel Defender gets a +2 to its AC. And the damage dealt by the Steel Defender using its Deflect Attack ability is the same as the 2019 Artificer UA. Overall a nice update feature.
Overall the updates made to the Battle Smith are good in my opinion. I still don’t understand their reasoning behind the Battle Smith’s spells. But maybe they will change them with an update or errata.
There have been a few changes to the Infusions. Some of those changes include changing the level prerequisites, changing the Enhanced Wand to Enhanced Arcane Focus, removing the Many-Handed Pouch, adding the Homunculus Servant (which allows all subclasses to have it), and the most extensive change is the Replicate Magic Item Infusion. By expanding and reworking the Replicate Magic Item Infusion there is a distribution of magic items (all uncommon magic items) between 2nd, 6th and 10th levels. Additionally, those magic items that have the rarity of rare now become available at 14th level (instead of 16th).
Thoughts
Overall, there are things about the Artificer that I like and things I don't like. I knew that Infusion were there to stay, so there was no expectation about it being moved to a subclass. My biggest disappointments were the keeping of Magical Tinkering (a useless feature in my opinion) feature, Tool Requirement to cast spells, Spell-Storing Item feature and the Alchemist subclass. I really feel that WotC dropped the ball on these things. I know there are things that we as the players can't change and I accept that fact. But that doesn't mean we have to use everything that WotC created. We the players can work with are DMs, to create a class/subclass that works for us.
Understand, that as I stated in the beginning "these are my opinions".
Welcome back Marine, I am sorry you didn’t get your hoped for reduction in “Magical” features and I feel they did double down on it in the texts of eg. Right Tool for the Job, which I don’t like much. Luckily as with everything in DnD the RAW theming is not compulsory and everything that say magical or touch at end of long rest can be described as crafted over the previous 1 or 2 hours.
I think a few changes eg Flash of Genius, SSI and additional Attunements helped make the core Artificer stronger post level 3. Specifically with SSI I think the only reason you don’t like it is the spell casting connotations? But if you think of it and theme it instead as Magic Items that only an Artificer can craft, eg “Wand of Magic Missiles? Pawh, I can craft Wand of Scorching Rays!”
Interestingly Artillerist or Battlemaster we’re not nerfed in return setting the bar for core+subclass strength fairly high, then everyone agrees they messed up Alchemist, making it a RP / Heal player without properly play testing the options. For reference my Homebrew will be Higher Spell slots create more potions, and at higher levels you can consume more points with 1 action. Ie. After level 15 you can spend a level 3 spell slot to make 3 flight elixir and have someone consume all 3 for 30ft flight speed. It’s like Alchemist gets free Fly Spell. (maybe change the level requirements to match spell slot levels also)
My main dislike for the Artificer is that the spellcasting was expanded to the point of it is a 3/4 caster. I don't really have an issue with the feature "The Right Tool for the Job", I would like limit it to tools the Artificer is proficient with. Flash of Genius and the increase in the amount of attunements the Artificer has are both smart improvements to the Artificer. As for the SSI feature I do not like it. I'm not going to go into my reasoning here as I already gave my thoughts on the core class. That post can be found on the bottom of page 93.
I agree that the Artillerist and Battle Smith subclasses are actually really good. And when either of the subclasses are combined with the core class, that would make for a strong character. However, WotC really dropped the ball when it comes to the Alchemist. I have no idea what was going through their heads when they put it together.
I suspect it was something along the lines of, "Shit, people hate it and we're 30 minutes away from printing; just throw in wild magic and cross your fingers!"
Yup I do feel like Alchemist was very poorly playtested even internally if at all and just sent to print. Although I am not against weak and strong subclasses being included, eg the power imbalance between Hexblade and Fey Patrons. It is fine to have RP focused non power gamer subclasses but it should still work in an interesting way, which Elixir just doesn’t.
I don't know why they ask for feedback. They read what we suggest, and completely ignore it except to make it into what they want and not what the customers to be want. <sigh>
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Watch your back, conserve your ammo, and NEVER cut a deal with a dragon!
Crawford has explained before that they never do look at forums. And even in their feedback forms they tend to only look at the numerical data of how liked something is rather than the text feedback that goes into actual ideas.
That means Battlesmith is good so gets stamp of approval, while Alchemists Homunculus got bad reviews so let’s pull a new idea out of our ass and roll the dice on it being good enough, has to be sent to print after all.
I kind of understand, you can look at 10,000 analytics in 10 seconds while every idea takes 10 minutes to read/think through meaning 70 years of reading. But still some form of quiet forum presence for good ideas would be appreciated. But then they open themselves to bias and people claiming they took exactly someone’s idea blahblah. In other words it is disappointing that the experts are not great at making short but fun abilities under time pressure.
So I just Homebrew more elixirs per spell slot level spent and let it run with that.
Yup I do feel like Alchemist was very poorly playtested even internally if at all and just sent to print. Although I am not against weak and strong subclasses being included, eg the power imbalance between Hexblade and Fey Patrons. It is fine to have RP focused non power gamer subclasses but it should still work in an interesting way, which Elixir just doesn’t.
Crawford has explained before that they never do look at forums. And even in their feedback forms they tend to only look at the numerical data of how liked something is rather than the text feedback that goes into actual ideas.
That means Battlesmith is good so gets stamp of approval, while Alchemists Homunculus got bad reviews so let’s pull a new idea out of our ass and roll the dice on it being good enough, has to be sent to print after all.
I kind of understand, you can look at 10,000 analytics in 10 seconds while every idea takes 10 minutes to read/think through meaning 70 years of reading. But still some form of quiet forum presence for good ideas would be appreciated. But then they open themselves to bias and people claiming they took exactly someone’s idea blahblah. In other words it is disappointing that the experts are not great at making short but fun abilities under time pressure.
So I just Homebrew more elixirs per spell slot level spent and let it run with that.
I think most of us know by now that WotC doesn't look at the forums. These forums are purely for us to "*****, moan, and complain" about things we don't like, praise things we do like, and bounce ideas off of each other for homebrew material.
However, I doubt that there were that many people that had positive views of the UA Alchemist's features Alchemical Mastery (6th level) and Chemical Savant (14th level). A couple of minor rewrites and updates, adding the filler feature and adding the Experimental Elixir isn't enough to make the subclass usable (in my opinion).
Crawford has explained before that they never do look at forums. And even in their feedback forms they tend to only look at the numerical data of how liked something is rather than the text feedback that goes into actual ideas.
That means Battlesmith is good so gets stamp of approval, while Alchemists Homunculus got bad reviews so let’s pull a new idea out of our ass and roll the dice on it being good enough, has to be sent to print after all.
I kind of understand, you can look at 10,000 analytics in 10 seconds while every idea takes 10 minutes to read/think through meaning 70 years of reading. But still some form of quiet forum presence for good ideas would be appreciated. But then they open themselves to bias and people claiming they took exactly someone’s idea blahblah. In other words it is disappointing that the experts are not great at making short but fun abilities under time pressure.
So I just Homebrew more elixirs per spell slot level spent and let it run with that.
I think most of us know by now that WotC doesn't look at the forums. These forums are purely for us to "*****, moan, and complain" about things we don't like, praise things we do like, and bounce ideas off of each other for homebrew material.
However, I doubt that there were that many people that had positive views of the UA Alchemist's features Alchemical Mastery (6th level) and Chemical Savant (14th level). A couple of minor rewrites and updates, adding the filler feature and adding the Experimental Elixir isn't enough to make the subclass usable (in my opinion).
It’s a real shame if WOTC doesn’t at least read the UA discussion on Reddit. Some great points and counterpoints made there, which I think are potentially more enlightening than sifting through survey responses.
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I do not think it is that much damage. yes it is a boost in "ONE" combat. after that you are stuck waiting for a short rest. unless you get a generous DM who allows it in each combat.
and its not much of a boost. 3 more damage is nothing to call abusive. and the crit chances are only good if you roll numerous dice. like barbarian raging.
In fact a barbarian warlock benefits much more from this then the warlock himself. as reckless attacks gives him literally twice the chance of critting.
that was my take on it. the regaining of hit point is also sub par. mostly because its a roll of the die to know if you're gonna get the killing blow or not.
for people only playing small adventures from level 1 to 9, then yes its a big thing. for anybody going way further then that... like we do in my groups. higher then level 8 this ability loses much more then then it gains.
also saying... many things in d&d are theorethically correct and abusive... but in practice, they end up pretty meh. the hexblade curse has been mostly meh for my different hexblade warlock. and i played a minotaur barbarian/warlock for quite some time. and i can tell, my hexblade curse i never used because it was only usefull in big boss fights. so i was literally passing 3-4 fights without it then at the fifth fight, boss fight, i was activating it. it was pretty situationnal if you ask me. unlike hex which was literally used every fights along the way. thats not mentionning that both uses the bonus action to activate thus before you actually start dishing damage as you should, it takes you two turns. and you are mostly missing out on 1 attacks because you are losing your bonus action to set up. of course that depends on many things. but mostly... if you wanna maximise your output to that level, it needs set up, where many others do not need that setup after first round.
hex= warrior is also a great boon itself, enabling to dump strength entirely. but that doesn't work at low level because you cant use two-handed weapons until 3rd level where you gain pact weapon. which means you are already better with a rapier then say a long sword, as you are probably already using a lot of dex for protection. so that ability is kinda useless.
DM of two gaming groups.
Likes to create stuff.
Check out my homebrew --> Monsters --> Magical Items --> Races --> Subclasses
If you like --> Upvote, If you wanna comment --> Comment
Play by Post Games
--> One Shot Adventure - House of Artwood (DM) (Completed)
A warlock should not be on-par with a fighter or paladin in melee combat. Again, my point was not that hexblade on its own is overpowered, my point was that hexblade as a multiclass option was overpowered. "is not as good as hexblade" is not a bad thing. Battle smith is a hexblade-type subclass done right.
Just going to say I think this thread is heading off-topic with hexblade comments and maybe should be its own thread? This is for discussing the artificer. Even then the thread is probably still off topic tbf considering the artificer is no longer UA material.
Loex - A Lizardfolk Lvl 4/6/4 Hexblade Profane Blood Hunter/ Battlesmith Artificer/ Cleric of the Forge
Arborea - A Warforged Lvl 1 Hexblade Warlock
DM - "Malign Intelligence"
There are some individuals out there who will continue to shout everyone else down until everyone else eventually gives up and either stop disagreeing, or leave the forum. Scroll up and note the names that stopped posting, then note the name that didn’t....
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Long time reader, long time poster. I haven’t posted on this discussion in a while, as Eberron: Rising from the Last War wasn’t released yet and when it was released, I hadn’t purchased it yet. Well, I now have my copy. I’m going to go through each class and subclass feature and give my opinion on it and then give an overall opinion. Realize that these are MY OPINIONS. Whether you agree or disagree that is YOUR OPINION. There is nothing wrong with disagreeing as long as there is civility.
Hand & Heavy Crossbow - The first change to the class is that the Artificer is no longer proficient with hand crossbows and heavy crossbows. This decision doesn’t really affect me one way or another, but a couple of people are upset that the Artificer is no longer proficient with hand crossbows and heavy crossbows.
Magical Tinkering – I was never a fan of this feature when it was originally released in Artificer Revisited on 28 Feb 2019. The ability to craft tiny magic items that had 1 of 4 magical properties just doesn’t appeal to me. I believe that Magic Item Analysis (from the Original 2017 Artificer) was much more useful as you can cast the Identify & Magic Detection spells as rituals. And you could cast Identify without needing material components.
Spellcasting – While some of the changes made to the Artificer’s spellcasting were good, I am not a fan of several other changes.
Infuse Item – I’ve never like this as a main class feature, as there is no real crafting. However, I would have no issues with it, if it was the focal point of a subclass.
The Right Tool for the Job – I’m not sure how I feel about this feature. While it allows the Artificer to use their Tinker’s tools to magical create any set of Artisan’s tools that lasts until you use this feature again, it doesn’t limit the feature of tools the Artificer is proficient with.
Tool Expertise – I’ve always liked this feature; I think moving it to 6 level was a wise choice.
Flash of Genius – This is a well thought out feature; I just think it would be better to regain all expended uses after a short rest instead of a long rest.
Magic Item Adept – This feature combines Superior Attunement and crafting. The Artificer is supposed to be the magic item specialist, so having the ability to attune to more than 3 magic items is a no brainer. And while having the ability to craft common and uncommon magic items in a quarter of the time and at half the cost is great; I just wish this wasn’t the only crafting related ability for the class.
Spell-Storing Item – I’ve never liked this feature as the item that can store the spell is limited to a simple or martial weapon or an item that the Artificer can use as a spellcasting focus. I also do not like the fact, that it is limited to 1st or 2nd level spells, the spell requires an action to cast, the Artificer doesn’t need the spell to be prepared or that it can be used until the feature is used again or the stored spell is used a number of times equal to the Artificer’s INT modifier.
I would rather imbue a mundane item with a spell that is 1st level or higher, it’s casting time is, 1 action, bonus action or reaction, at the expense of the spell slot. And that stored spell lasts until the Artificer finishes a long rest.
Magic Item Savant – Is a well thought out feature that I have no issues with.
Magic Item Master – Another feature I have no issues with.
Soul of the Artificer – I have mixed feelings about this feature. I do not have any issues with the +1 bonus to saving throws per magic item that the Artificer is currently attuned to. It is the second part that I take issue with. If the Artificer is reduced to 0 hit points, they can use a reaction to end an Artificer infusion to instead be reduced to 1 hit point. From what I can understand the infusion doesn’t need to be attuned and doesn’t need to be in the Artificer’s possession. I feel that this part of the feature would be better if the Artificer loses attunement to one of their items at random.
I don’t want this post to be too long, so I am going to post the subclasses in different posts.
Alchemist
I am extremely disappointed with the Alchemist. While WotC have taken our displeasure in the subclass to heart. This subclass is useless, it is just a caster who reskins their spells as elixirs/potions/salves.
Tool Proficiency – This feature replaced Tools of the Trade. This feature gives the Alchemist proficiency with Alchemist supplies. If the Artificer is already proficient, then they can choose another Artisan’s tools of their choice. Also, Crafting Bonus was removed completely.
Alchemist Spells – I have never been a fan of the Alchemist Spells, as this does nothing but expands spellcasting. Four of the ten spell in this feature have be changed; Purify Food and Drink - Healing Word, Web - Flaming Sphere, Create Food and Water - Gaseous Form, Stinking Cloud - Mass Healing Word.
Experimental Elixir – This in my opinion is a poor replacement for the homunculus (I never liked that feature either). After a long rest, the Alchemist touches an empty flask and magically produces an elixir with an unknown effect. It isn’t until the elixir is consumed that the effect is known and that effect is randomly determined. But if the Alchemist expends a 1st level or higher spell slot, they can create another elixir and they get to choose the effect. So, unless the player is willing to expending spell slots to determine the effect, this feature is too unstable. Especially considering the fact that if you use a spell slot higher than 1st level, they elixir effects do no increase.
Alchemical Savant – This is just a rewritten Alchemical Mastery. While the feature doesn’t give the Alchemist access to Lesser Restoration, it does expand the bonus to damage rolls. So instead of just increasing the damage to acid and poison, the damage increase includes, acid, fire, necrotic, or poison damage.
Restorative Reagents – This feature grants the person who drinks the Experimental Elixir, temporary hit points that equals 2d6 + Artificer’s INT modifier. And the Artificer can now cast Lesser Restoration. This feature just seems like a filler feature. Something that makes the Experimental Elixir a little bit more useful, while at the same time giving the Alchemist access to Lesser Restoration.
Chemical Mastery – This feature is just a renamed Chemical Savant from the 2019 Artificer v2.1 UA.
As I mentioned at the beginning, this subclass is useless. The class would have been better with they brought back and reworked the Alchemist’s Satchel.
Did you notice that they forced the updated versions of the Eberron races onto the ones in WGtE and thought they gave the WGtE the artificer as promised, they gave the WGtE the abolute worst archetype. It's almost like they butchered it on purpse just for the WGtE so peeps would buy the new book instead . . .
Pre-ordering the new book was the worst mistake I could have made. If I'd waited and seen what they were giving us, I'd have just ordered those parts I wanted through DDB and the Compendium. I'd have the core of the artificer, and then I'd just homebrew everything else. What they did to the races in WGtE, a book I PAID for, is nothing but criminal.
I'll definitely NEVER pre-order a source book again until they allow us to preview it in advance. This is too mu7ch like a lottery: you pays your money and you'se takes your chances . . .
Watch your back, conserve your ammo,
and NEVER cut a deal with a dragon!
Artillerist
I actually liked the idea of the Artillerist. However, WotC in the 2019 Artificer UA tried to combine that idea with the Wandslinger. That combination wasn’t well thought out.
Tool Proficiency – Like with the Alchemist, this feature replaced Tools of the Trade. This feature gives the Artillerist proficiency with Woodcarver’s tools. And if the Artillerist is already proficient, then they can choose another Artisan’s tools of their choice. Also, Crafting Bonus was removed completely.
Artillerist Spells – I actually agreed with the Artillerist Spells. I felt that they fit the subclass very well. And there weren’t any changes made to the spells.
Eldritch Cannon – This feature is a rewrite of the Arcane turret. Instead of needing Smith’s tools to summon the cannon, you can use Smith’s or Woodcarver’s tools. The cannon’s size is either small or tiny instead of medium, instead of lasting only 10 minutes the time has lengthened to 1 hour, and the Artillerist can no longer detonate the cannon. Finally, the Flamethrower cannon now does 2d8 fire damage instead of 1d8. I’m disappointed, as I would like to see more cannon types.
Arcane Firearm – This feature replaced Wand Prototype. This feature turns a nonmagical (I'm guess) wand, staff or rod into a spellcasting focus for the Artificer. And, when an Artificer spell is cast through the “Firearm”, it increases the damage to Artificer spells by 1d8. This feature actually fits the subclass.
Explosive Cannon – This feature increases the damage of the Eldritch Cannon by 1d8 and it allows the Artificer to detonate their cannons; an ability that was originally apart of Arcane Turret (now Eldritch Cannon). Also, the range of the detonation increase from 10 to 20 feet, and the damage increases from 3d6 to 3d8. This is a filler feature but it works.
Fortified Position – This feature is similar to the Fortified Position feature from the last 2019 Artificer UA. The only exception is that the Artillerist can now summon both cannons with the same action. This is a good update compared to the original.
I actually like this Artillerist subclass. I think that WotC has put some more thought into this subclass and actually made it pretty good. But they should have expanded on the types of cannons though.
Yes, they forced through the updates that they told you were coming and changed the things they told you were not finalized and would likely be changed.
If you're dissatisfied, send them a ticket and ask for a refund. If you'd rather just be pissed, then I guess just keep posting.
Battle Smith
This is another subclass that I liked. But the original 2019 Artificer UA version needed a rewrite.
Tool Proficiency – Like with the Alchemist and Artillerist, this feature replaced Tools of the Trade. This feature gives the Battle Smith proficiency with Smith’s tools. And if the Battle Smith is already proficient, then they can choose another Artisan’s tools of their choice. Also, Crafting Bonus was removed completely.
Battle Smith Spells – The original Battle Smith Spells were pretty good; they just needed a little tweaking. But I’m not sure why WotC decided to swap out certain spells. The follow spells were swapped; Searing Smite – Shield, Blinding Smite – Conjure Barrage, and Staggering Smite – Fire Shield. In an interview about the 2nd 2019 Artificer UA, Jeremy Crawford stated that they removed the spell Shield of Faith as it was too divine (I think), but yet Branding Smith deals radiant damage, Warding Bond is a Cleric and Paladin (Crown) spell, Aura of Vitality is a Paladin and Paladin (Crown) spell, and Aura of Purity is a Paladin spell. All of these spells have a relation with the divine, so why give them to the Battle Smith. An ARCANE caster.
Battle Ready – Is a feature that makes complete sense.
Steel Defender – Is a minor updated version of the 2019 Artificer UA Iron Defender. There is some minor characteristic and stat changes but overall, the Steel Defender isn’t that much difference from the Iron Defender.
Extra Attack – The Battle Smith can attack twice per turn. This is significant as the attacks are not limited to melee weapons, ranged melee weapons, or magic weapons. A nice change from Arcane Armament.
Arcane Jolt – This is an updated version of the 2019 Artificer UA Arcane Jolt. First, to benefit from the feature the Battle Smith must attack with a magic weapon. Second, the Steel Defender doesn’t bypass resistances and immunities. Third, the damage and healing increases from 2d4 to 2d6. A good update
Improved Defender – The extra damage and healing increases to 4d6 for the Arcane Jolt and Steel Defender. The Steel Defender gets a +2 to its AC. And the damage dealt by the Steel Defender using its Deflect Attack ability is the same as the 2019 Artificer UA. Overall a nice update feature.
Overall the updates made to the Battle Smith are good in my opinion. I still don’t understand their reasoning behind the Battle Smith’s spells. But maybe they will change them with an update or errata.
Infusions
There have been a few changes to the Infusions. Some of those changes include changing the level prerequisites, changing the Enhanced Wand to Enhanced Arcane Focus, removing the Many-Handed Pouch, adding the Homunculus Servant (which allows all subclasses to have it), and the most extensive change is the Replicate Magic Item Infusion. By expanding and reworking the Replicate Magic Item Infusion there is a distribution of magic items (all uncommon magic items) between 2nd, 6th and 10th levels. Additionally, those magic items that have the rarity of rare now become available at 14th level (instead of 16th).
Thoughts
Overall, there are things about the Artificer that I like and things I don't like. I knew that Infusion were there to stay, so there was no expectation about it being moved to a subclass. My biggest disappointments were the keeping of Magical Tinkering (a useless feature in my opinion) feature, Tool Requirement to cast spells, Spell-Storing Item feature and the Alchemist subclass. I really feel that WotC dropped the ball on these things. I know there are things that we as the players can't change and I accept that fact. But that doesn't mean we have to use everything that WotC created. We the players can work with are DMs, to create a class/subclass that works for us.
Understand, that as I stated in the beginning "these are my opinions".
Welcome back Marine, I am sorry you didn’t get your hoped for reduction in “Magical” features and I feel they did double down on it in the texts of eg. Right Tool for the Job, which I don’t like much. Luckily as with everything in DnD the RAW theming is not compulsory and everything that say magical or touch at end of long rest can be described as crafted over the previous 1 or 2 hours.
I think a few changes eg Flash of Genius, SSI and additional Attunements helped make the core Artificer stronger post level 3. Specifically with SSI I think the only reason you don’t like it is the spell casting connotations? But if you think of it and theme it instead as Magic Items that only an Artificer can craft, eg “Wand of Magic Missiles? Pawh, I can craft Wand of Scorching Rays!”
Interestingly Artillerist or Battlemaster we’re not nerfed in return setting the bar for core+subclass strength fairly high, then everyone agrees they messed up Alchemist, making it a RP / Heal player without properly play testing the options. For reference my Homebrew will be Higher Spell slots create more potions, and at higher levels you can consume more points with 1 action. Ie. After level 15 you can spend a level 3 spell slot to make 3 flight elixir and have someone consume all 3 for 30ft flight speed. It’s like Alchemist gets free Fly Spell. (maybe change the level requirements to match spell slot levels also)
Arutha,
My main dislike for the Artificer is that the spellcasting was expanded to the point of it is a 3/4 caster. I don't really have an issue with the feature "The Right Tool for the Job", I would like limit it to tools the Artificer is proficient with. Flash of Genius and the increase in the amount of attunements the Artificer has are both smart improvements to the Artificer. As for the SSI feature I do not like it. I'm not going to go into my reasoning here as I already gave my thoughts on the core class. That post can be found on the bottom of page 93.
I agree that the Artillerist and Battle Smith subclasses are actually really good. And when either of the subclasses are combined with the core class, that would make for a strong character. However, WotC really dropped the ball when it comes to the Alchemist. I have no idea what was going through their heads when they put it together.
I suspect it was something along the lines of, "Shit, people hate it and we're 30 minutes away from printing; just throw in wild magic and cross your fingers!"
Yup I do feel like Alchemist was very poorly playtested even internally if at all and just sent to print. Although I am not against weak and strong subclasses being included, eg the power imbalance between Hexblade and Fey Patrons. It is fine to have RP focused non power gamer subclasses but it should still work in an interesting way, which Elixir just doesn’t.
I don't know why they ask for feedback. They read what we suggest, and completely ignore it except to make it into what they want and not what the customers to be want. <sigh>
Watch your back, conserve your ammo,
and NEVER cut a deal with a dragon!
Crawford has explained before that they never do look at forums. And even in their feedback forms they tend to only look at the numerical data of how liked something is rather than the text feedback that goes into actual ideas.
That means Battlesmith is good so gets stamp of approval, while Alchemists Homunculus got bad reviews so let’s pull a new idea out of our ass and roll the dice on it being good enough, has to be sent to print after all.
I kind of understand, you can look at 10,000 analytics in 10 seconds while every idea takes 10 minutes to read/think through meaning 70 years of reading. But still some form of quiet forum presence for good ideas would be appreciated. But then they open themselves to bias and people claiming they took exactly someone’s idea blahblah. In other words it is disappointing that the experts are not great at making short but fun abilities under time pressure.
So I just Homebrew more elixirs per spell slot level spent and let it run with that.
The whole Alchemist subclass doesn't work.
I think most of us know by now that WotC doesn't look at the forums. These forums are purely for us to "*****, moan, and complain" about things we don't like, praise things we do like, and bounce ideas off of each other for homebrew material.
However, I doubt that there were that many people that had positive views of the UA Alchemist's features Alchemical Mastery (6th level) and Chemical Savant (14th level). A couple of minor rewrites and updates, adding the filler feature and adding the Experimental Elixir isn't enough to make the subclass usable (in my opinion).
It’s a real shame if WOTC doesn’t at least read the UA discussion on Reddit. Some great points and counterpoints made there, which I think are potentially more enlightening than sifting through survey responses.