My inclination is to go straight Battle Smith. But there's a build I'm curious about. If I take one level of Fighter, I get a Fighting Style and Weapon Masteries. That would let him dual wield a Scimitar +1 and a Repeating Hand Crossbow. When he gets an additional attack (that can use a spell), he could attack Hand Crossbow (Vex), Scimitar w/Advantage, then True Strike (with either). All with full bonuses.
Is this correct? If so, is it worth taking that one level dip, say around Level 6?
So the 2024 True Strike uses your action - you take a Magic Action to cast it. If you cast with it you aren't using the Attack Action and you don't get Extra Attack. Your True Strike attack would replace your Attack Action (though at level 5 you do get an extra d6 of damage at least).
Guided by a flash of magical insight, you make one attack with the weapon used in the spell’s casting. The attack uses your spellcasting ability for the attack and damage rolls instead of using Strength or Dexterity. If the attack deals damage, it can be Radiant damage or the weapon’s normal damage type (your choice).
For a Battle Smith, who already gets to use Int for their attack modifiers, True Strike is probably not advantageous unless you need the damage to be Radiant.
You can use your bonus action to attack with your second weapon but remember you need your bonus action if you want to command your steel defender. The Steel Defender can still be useful just placed and dodging but you'll still need to use the bonus action sometimes.
As to whether the dip is worth it, it's up to you. You already have the weapons and armor proficiencies. The fighter dip gets you the fighting style, Second Wind, and Weapon Mastery. But I suspect you might find that when you're level 5 and thinking about the next level, that you'd rather have the level 6 Artificer with the additional options for replicated magic items, the ability to charge and drain them, and you'll probably be looking eagerly at level 7 for Flash of Genius and the additional spell slot.
So the 2024 True Strike uses your action - you take a Magic Action to cast it. If you cast with it you aren't using the Attack Action and you don't get Extra Attack. Your True Strike attack would replace your Attack Action (though at level 5 you do get an extra d6 of damage at least).
Guided by a flash of magical insight, you make one attack with the weapon used in the spell’s casting. The attack uses your spellcasting ability for the attack and damage rolls instead of using Strength or Dexterity. If the attack deals damage, it can be Radiant damage or the weapon’s normal damage type (your choice).
For a Battle Smith, who already gets to use Int for their attack modifiers, True Strike is probably not advantageous unless you need the damage to be Radiant.
You can use your bonus action to attack with your second weapon but remember you need your bonus action if you want to command your steel defender. The Steel Defender can still be useful just placed and dodging but you'll still need to use the bonus action sometimes.
As to whether the dip is worth it, it's up to you. You already have the weapons and armor proficiencies. The fighter dip gets you the fighting style, Second Wind, and Weapon Mastery. But I suspect you might find that when you're level 5 and thinking about the next level, that you'd rather have the level 6 Artificer with the additional options for replicated magic items, the ability to charge and drain them, and you'll probably be looking eagerly at level 7 for Flash of Genius and the additional spell slot.
With the Nick weapon mastery, though, he can make a Scimitar attack and Hand Crossbow attack on his Attack action, then use his Bonus action for a True Strike or Steel Defender attack. At the cost of a 1-level delay in the next Artificer level. That's the trade-off I'm considering.
He can't use 2024 True Strike with a Bonus Action because 2024 True Strike has a casting time of 1 Action. It's a matter of timing- it's not a "when you make an attack roll" thing, it's a "you may take the Magic Action to use this" thing, unless there's a feature in play like a cantrip weaving subclass- which Artificer does not currently possess.
So the 2024 True Strike uses your action - you take a Magic Action to cast it. If you cast with it you aren't using the Attack Action and you don't get Extra Attack. Your True Strike attack would replace your Attack Action (though at level 5 you do get an extra d6 of damage at least).
Guided by a flash of magical insight, you make one attack with the weapon used in the spell’s casting. The attack uses your spellcasting ability for the attack and damage rolls instead of using Strength or Dexterity. If the attack deals damage, it can be Radiant damage or the weapon’s normal damage type (your choice).
For a Battle Smith, who already gets to use Int for their attack modifiers, True Strike is probably not advantageous unless you need the damage to be Radiant.
You can use your bonus action to attack with your second weapon but remember you need your bonus action if you want to command your steel defender. The Steel Defender can still be useful just placed and dodging but you'll still need to use the bonus action sometimes.
As to whether the dip is worth it, it's up to you. You already have the weapons and armor proficiencies. The fighter dip gets you the fighting style, Second Wind, and Weapon Mastery. But I suspect you might find that when you're level 5 and thinking about the next level, that you'd rather have the level 6 Artificer with the additional options for replicated magic items, the ability to charge and drain them, and you'll probably be looking eagerly at level 7 for Flash of Genius and the additional spell slot.
With the Nick weapon mastery, though, he can make a Scimitar attack and Hand Crossbow attack on his Attack action, then use his Bonus action for a True Strike or Steel Defender attack. At the cost of a 1-level delay in the next Artificer level. That's the trade-off I'm considering.
You can't use a bonus action to cast True Strike. That takes an action unless you have a feature that allows otherwise, like the Quickened Spell Metamagic from Sorcerer or a Thief Rogue with a Spell Scroll containing True Strike. The extra bonus action attack would have to just be a regular weapon attack with either weapon.
If you want to be able to do the attack combination above (Crossbow, Hand -> Scimitar -> True Strike), you would have to get it from another class. Eldritch Knight Fighters, Valor Bards, and Bladesinger Wizards each get this special version of extra attack that lets them substitute a cantrip with a casting time of an action for one of their attacks at level 6. If you also took the Dual-Wielder feat, you would be able to make a total of four attacks (3 with action, 1 with bonus action), substituting one of those attacks for a cantrip like True Strike or Booming Blade.
My inclination is to go straight Battle Smith. But there's a build I'm curious about. If I take one level of Fighter, I get a Fighting Style and Weapon Masteries. That would let him dual wield a Scimitar +1 and a Repeating Hand Crossbow. When he gets an additional attack (that can use a spell), he could attack Hand Crossbow (Vex), Scimitar w/Advantage, then True Strike (with either). All with full bonuses.
Is this correct? If so, is it worth taking that one level dip, say around Level 6?
So the 2024 True Strike uses your action - you take a Magic Action to cast it. If you cast with it you aren't using the Attack Action and you don't get Extra Attack. Your True Strike attack would replace your Attack Action (though at level 5 you do get an extra d6 of damage at least).
For a Battle Smith, who already gets to use Int for their attack modifiers, True Strike is probably not advantageous unless you need the damage to be Radiant.
You can use your bonus action to attack with your second weapon but remember you need your bonus action if you want to command your steel defender. The Steel Defender can still be useful just placed and dodging but you'll still need to use the bonus action sometimes.
As to whether the dip is worth it, it's up to you. You already have the weapons and armor proficiencies. The fighter dip gets you the fighting style, Second Wind, and Weapon Mastery. But I suspect you might find that when you're level 5 and thinking about the next level, that you'd rather have the level 6 Artificer with the additional options for replicated magic items, the ability to charge and drain them, and you'll probably be looking eagerly at level 7 for Flash of Genius and the additional spell slot.
With the Nick weapon mastery, though, he can make a Scimitar attack and Hand Crossbow attack on his Attack action, then use his Bonus action for a True Strike or Steel Defender attack. At the cost of a 1-level delay in the next Artificer level. That's the trade-off I'm considering.
He can't use 2024 True Strike with a Bonus Action because 2024 True Strike has a casting time of 1 Action. It's a matter of timing- it's not a "when you make an attack roll" thing, it's a "you may take the Magic Action to use this" thing, unless there's a feature in play like a cantrip weaving subclass- which Artificer does not currently possess.
You can't use a bonus action to cast True Strike. That takes an action unless you have a feature that allows otherwise, like the Quickened Spell Metamagic from Sorcerer or a Thief Rogue with a Spell Scroll containing True Strike. The extra bonus action attack would have to just be a regular weapon attack with either weapon.
If you want to be able to do the attack combination above (Crossbow, Hand -> Scimitar -> True Strike), you would have to get it from another class. Eldritch Knight Fighters, Valor Bards, and Bladesinger Wizards each get this special version of extra attack that lets them substitute a cantrip with a casting time of an action for one of their attacks at level 6. If you also took the Dual-Wielder feat, you would be able to make a total of four attacks (3 with action, 1 with bonus action), substituting one of those attacks for a cantrip like True Strike or Booming Blade.