So, here's the idea. The Republic (setting of the game) has strike teams of battle mages, people who are trained in both combat and magic. Tha plan is to start out with a Custom Lineage Artificer with the Telekinetic Feat for 18 in Intelligence. That way I get Proficiency in Con saves and Guidance as well as some nice armour options. Depending on starting level I would then go either straight for Wizard Abjurer or perhaps a second level of Artificer before multiclassing.
Now the question is, how many levels of Artificer should I get? I'm thinking at least two so that I get infusions, which are always handy, but should I get a third for either Artillerist (for a nice Bonus action option or Battle Smith (to be able to wield magic weapons with intelligence and a handy sidekick? Assuming that the games goes to around 15 levels but might go all the way to 20, what are the best options? 18 levels of Abjuration wizard and Shield is a very handy combination, but nothing says I will get that far. Also, infusions and the Artificer subclasses aren't optimal but fit teh concept and can be fun. Suggestions, ideas, opinions?
Go for 3rd level Battle Smith for the handy sidekick.
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When trying to build a powerful character, as a general rule I never get more than 3 levels, and rarely that much, of a multi-class.
The problem with Artificer is that it is a 1/2 spell class. Taking 2 levels mean you are 1 level behind in spells, 3 means you are 1 1/2.
1 level is worth it, you get 2 cantrips and extra known spells equal to your intelligence modifier, INCLUDING Cure Wounds and Faerie Fire. Those things are worth 1/2 spell casting level.
Taking 2 means you are giving up a full level of spells (i.e. at 5th level you only cast 2nd level spells, not 3rd.) In exchange you get 2 magic items that are appropriate for 2nd level. Worth it at 2nd level, but no longer worth it once you hit about 6th level. If you were to become a full Artificer the type and power of magic item you can make improves as you level up, but you are not leveling up Artificer. Worse, multi-classers often do not get that ability at 2nd level.
Taking 3rd level you give up another 1/2 level of spell. In exchange you get another 2 spells added to your prepared list and a nice magic item worthwhile at 3rd . They are worth it at 3rd level, but not at 9th. Again, as you level up in ARTIFICER, it improves in power. Worse, multi-classers often do not get that ability at 3rd level.
Wizard plus 1 level of Artificer is a great deal. 3 stops being worth it by the time you hit 7th level.
When trying to build a powerful character, as a general rule I never get more than 3 levels, and rarely that much, of a multi-class.
The problem with Artificer is that it is a 1/2 spell class. Taking 2 levels mean you are 1 level behind in spells, 3 means you are 1 1/2.
1 level is worth it, you get 2 cantrips and extra known spells equal to your intelligence modifier, INCLUDING Cure Wounds and Faerie Fire. Those things are worth 1/2 spell casting level.
Taking 2 means you are giving up a full level of spells (i.e. at 5th level you only cast 2nd level spells, not 3rd.) In exchange you get 2 magic items that are appropriate for 2nd level. Worth it at 2nd level, but no longer worth it once you hit about 6th level. If you were to become a full Artificer the type and power of magic item you can make improves as you level up, but you are not leveling up Artificer. Worse, multi-classers often do not get that ability at 2nd level.
Taking 3rd level you give up another 1/2 level of spell. In exchange you get another 2 spells added to your prepared list and a nice magic item worthwhile at 3rd . They are worth it at 3rd level, but not at 9th. Again, as you level up in ARTIFICER, it improves in power. Worse, multi-classers often do not get that ability at 3rd level.
Wizard plus 1 level of Artificer is a great deal. 3 stops being worth it by the time you hit 7th level.
Yeah, that's not really how magic items work in 5e. A bag of holding doesn't become useless just because you level up. And since Artificers round levels up when it comes to multiclassing and spellcasting, you really don't lose that much. Things will come later, but you basically just lose a spell slot, not the spell level itself.
The best thing about including artificer in a multiclass build is that you get some extra action economy by giving you a solid bonus action option which is something the Wizard often lacks. The plan is to start out with two levels of Artificer, then Wizard for up until at least Wizard 10.
Yeah, Lost, you do not not know what you are talking about. While it is true that bags of holding are still useful, they go from being immensely useful to only minor help. There is a reason why the better ones have pre-requisites.. There are a ton of good wizard bonus action stuff. Misty Step, Dragon Breath, Bigby's Hand, Crown of Stars, etc. etc. etc. etc.
Do a comparison of the following:
A) Wizard 10 / Artificer 1. Vs B) Wizard 8th Artificer 3
Build a) can cast wizard spells upto 5th level, gets the 10th level subclass Tradition +1 extra Cantrip, 1 Sixth level spell slot
Build b) At 2nd level you get 2 magic items that have NO pre-requsites, the ability to - with 1 hour prep time, make any non-magical took, 1 proficiency, 2 extra FIRST level spells memorized, and the third level sub-class ability,
You are so in love with the 3rd level ability of the artificer that you ignore the 10th level ability of the Wizard. Everything else is clearly better. Fifth level spells are fantastic - including Teleport Circle, Bigby's hand, etc. 6th level slot is also great. The 2 extra 1st level spells memorized are nice, but an unlimited extra cantrip is on par.
Your build is clearly weaker. Not by a huge amount, but it is. Worse, as you go up in level, it becomes worse. At 19/1 vs 17/3 you will miss out on an ASI and Spell Mastery.a 6th and 7th level slot, all in order to get those same 2 magic items, extra first level spells, and the third level sub-class ability.
The L10 Abjurer ability is really good on counterspell and dispel magic, but it just about never comes up for any other spell, and other classes can do the same thing but better - e.g. the multiclass reqs are a bit mad, but if the char was int 20 wis 20, abjurer 8 stars druid 2 would be better at those two abjuration spells than abjurer 10.
That said, I agree very much with taking exactly 1 artificer level. Medium armor proficiency and con save proficiency without losing any slot progression, so you only lose spells known progression, is a much more reasonable tradeoff than digging deeper, unless the Artificer genuinely has something synergistic to offer - which it does for the Bladesinger, but not for the Abjurer.
The L10 Abjurer ability is really good on counterspell and dispel magic, but it just about never comes up for any other spell, and other classes can do the same thing but better - e.g. the multiclass reqs are a bit mad, but if the char was int 20 wis 20, abjurer 8 stars druid 2 would be better at those two abjuration spells than abjurer 10.
That said, I agree very much with taking exactly 1 artificer level. Medium armor proficiency and con save proficiency without losing any slot progression, so you only lose spells known progression, is a much more reasonable tradeoff than digging deeper, unless the Artificer genuinely has something synergistic to offer - which it does for the Bladesinger, but not for the Abjurer.
Well, yeah, any character with two abilities at 20 is going to be better than one without. ;) I'm thinking more about more reasonable builds that you can assume from SPA or point buy.
Artificer 2 is interesting because the lost ASI isn't that important (you'll already have maxed Int and you can always pick Tough if you need the HP) but you get Enhanced Arcane Focus which is really useful since it's one of the few ways to boost spellcasting. So at level 4 you can have a plus 8 to spellcasting and your spell save DC if you choose Custom Lineage and pick a feat that boosts your Int. That's really neat. :)
The main drawback to anything more of a 1 level Artificer dip is the delay in spell progression. For example Fireball at levels 5, 6 and 7 is absolutely amazing but its power begins to fall off at level 8 onwards.
So you have to decide whether more levels in Artificer is worth the delay in getting your more powerful spells. In my personal opinion I would no. Bag of Holding is a great item but its not something that your DM won't let you find/buy if you ask them nicely. As for 3 levels to go melee, I find that to be a terrible idea as you will not get Extra Attack you will be reduced to spamming Booming or Green Flame Blades. The melee job which is better suited for a Bladesinger. As for the Steel Defender, while it is nice to have it is going to be very frail due to only 3 levels in Artificer and may be redundant as you already have access to Find Familiar.
Another thing to note is at what level your campaign will likely end. And whether or not you feel you have enough levels to make the character you want to make.
So you have to decide whether more levels in Artificer is worth the delay in getting your more powerful spells. In my personal opinion I would no. Bag of Holding is a great item but its not something that your DM won't let you find/buy if you ask them nicely. As for 3 levels to go melee, I find that to be a terrible idea as you will not get Extra Attack you will be reduced to spamming Booming or Green Flame Blades. The melee job which is better suited for a Bladesinger. As for the Steel Defender, while it is nice to have it is going to be very frail due to only 3 levels in Artificer and may be redundant as you already have access to Find Familiar.
Yeah. I'm leaning more and more towards artillerist if I'm going to level three since that gives a nice Bonus Action option with Eldritch Cannon. And it's something you can take later on since it's not necessary for the build.
Yeah, Lost, you do not not know what you are talking about.
You should probably go back and read what you actually write and what you are replying to. You inferred that level 2 infusions (like the bag of holding) would be worthless at level 9.
While it is true that bags of holding are still useful, they go from being immensely useful to only minor help. There is a reason why the better ones have pre-requisites.. There are a ton of good wizard bonus action stuff. Misty Step, Dragon Breath, Bigby's Hand, Crown of Stars, etc. etc. etc. etc.
Which all require spell slots and conflict with casting action spells. Using a bonus action that prevents you from using an action isn't really worth it, is it not?
Do a comparison of the following:
To what end? Who says that this is the level split we're going for?
A) Wizard 10 / Artificer 1. Vs B) Wizard 8th Artificer 3
Build a) can cast wizard spells upto 5th level, gets the 10th level subclass Tradition +1 extra Cantrip, 1 Sixth level spell slot
Build b) At 2nd level you get 2 magic items that have NO pre-requsites, the ability to - with 1 hour prep time, make any non-magical took, 1 proficiency, 2 extra FIRST level spells memorized, and the third level sub-class ability,
You are so in love with the 3rd level ability of the artificer that you ignore the 10th level ability of the Wizard. Everything else is clearly better. Fifth level spells are fantastic - including Teleport Circle, Bigby's hand, etc. 6th level slot is also great. The 2 extra 1st level spells memorized are nice, but an unlimited extra cantrip is on par.
Your build is clearly weaker. Not by a huge amount, but it is. Worse, as you go up in level, it becomes worse. At 19/1 vs 17/3 you will miss out on an ASI and Spell Mastery.a 6th and 7th level slot, all in order to get those same 2 magic items, extra first level spells, and the third level sub-class ability.
Again, I suggest you read what the thread is actually about before embarassing yourself with this kind of behaviour. Had you bothered to read the complete post you would notice that I am quite aware that such a build is suboptimal but that powergaming isn't and has never been the goal. So, do you have any answers to the questions actually given or not?
1) I am not powergaming. Wizards and artificers are thinkers, having them not consider future power levels is stupid.
2) I did not imply that a bag of holding is worthless, I implied it was worth less THAN other things at that level. Important difference.
3) I did read the thread. You did not pay attention to what I said. The comparison was not replying to the thread, I was replying to you, who made foolish claims. You talked about action economy etc that is pure power gaming. I replied to prove you wrong. You ignored my argument and said that was not the point. But I was replying to YOU, so if what I said was not the point then your entire argument was not the point. You dragged me off topic, I called you on bullshit, then you said "off topic"
4) While he did admit Artificer was sub-optimal, he still was asking a bit about power. Yeah he mentioned fun and concept, but he was also talking about end game (18th level).
The subclass to get is battlemaster when you get it at 8th and this will create a strong gish type character at 8th till your campaign ends at 10th
The benefit of doing it this way is that you have 5 levels to think about if you want to be a gish or not in your adventuring party if you get stuck in melee a lot the benefits of going battlemaster should be apparent but if that doesn't happen just continue going up wizard
1) I am not powergaming. Wizards and artificers are thinkers, having them not consider future power levels is stupid.
The "help" you gave was pure powergaming. And neither wizards nor artificers are aware of such things as "future power levels". Metagaming is almost as boring as powergaming.
2) I did not imply that a bag of holding is worthless, I implied it was worth less THAN other things at that level. Important difference.
I would agree with you but then we'd both be wrong. You were comparing an infusion that you get on level 2 with spells you get at much higher levels.
3) I did read the thread.
Really? Then your answers are quite inexplicable.
You did not pay attention to what I said.
I have, hence my responses.
The comparison was not replying to the thread, I was replying to you, who made foolish claims.
Uhm, I started this thread. And "replying to me" means that you are also replying "to the thread". Not that it makes any difference. Just pointing it out. Again, might want to read things a bit ore carefully in the future...
Also, I didn't make any claims, I was stating facts.
You talked about action economy etc that is pure power gaming.
Not really. I was explicitly talking about things that were "handy" and "fun". Are you sure you're replying to the right thread? Because a lot of what you say has nothing to do with the topic.
I replied to prove you wrong. You ignored my argument and said that was not the point.
Well, you didn't prove anything and I didn't ignore anything, I just pointed out that you reply lacks any kind of relevance for this thread. "Important difference." ;)
But I was replying to YOU, so if what I said was not the point then your entire argument was not the point. You dragged me off topic, I called you on bullshit, then you said "off topic"
Why are you so rude? If you want to discuss things that doesn't have anything to do with what I asked about you are free to start your own thread. I would like to keep this one on topic though.
4) While he did admit Artificer was sub-optimal, he still was asking a bit about power. Yeah he mentioned fun and concept, but he was also talking about end game (18th level).
By "he" do you mean me, the person who created this thread? Then you will probably want to read the OP again because the word 'power' isn't mentioned once. I did mention "best options" but that's not the same as the kind of powergaming you've been talking about.
When it comes to bladesingers, I wouldn't ever go without 3 artificer levels. Abjurerer however don't get a second attack or any other featurers useful for melee combat, so the ability to attack with Intelligence is far less useful for them, as the typical abjurer wont attack with a weapon all too often.
If you take three levels, you trade an ability increase or feat and a part of your spell progression for the ability to attack with Intelligence, two infusions and a rather weak steel defender, which may not be worth it.
A single level may be useful for the armor proficiency, additional spells and constitution saving throws.
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Something that people seem to be forgetting is that Artificers get four infusion; it's just that with only 2-3 levels of Artificer, they can only use two at a time. So don't presume you're only getting two that work well in the early levels, and they become pointless later on. Plan for four infusions you can swap in and out throughout your lifetime.
I gave this advice in a different thread: Enhanced Arcane Focus which will work for both Wizard and Artificer casting, Homunculus Servant as a flying metal gundam for your familiar, Bag of Holding for a place to keep your stuff, and Enhanced Defense to soup up your armor. As your needs come and go you can swap between infusions.
Use studded leather and a +1 infusion to save time/spell slot in casting Mage Armor... until you find something better. Then maybe bump someone else's armor, like maybe an NPC you're trying to protect, or animal barding.
Bag of Holding is nice, until the party has 3-4 of them. So use the infusion until then, then swap for something else.
The Homunculus Servant can be reformed overnight. So if your familiar doesn't need it (or you don't have a familiar), it can double as a source of damage, a deliverer of spells, a well hidden spy. One of my Artificer's forms his HS as a lock box, or a broken shield, or a dinner platter; something no one would suspect is recording every word. Then he comes back later to collect his "misplaced" item and gets all the details (draws pictures in the dirt).
And Enhanced Arcane Focus will take a long time to go out of style. As an infusion, it works for Artificer spells, and as a focus it works for Wizard spells. Gives a +1 to everything. So until you find a spare Staff of the Magi, you're good to go.
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So, here's the idea. The Republic (setting of the game) has strike teams of battle mages, people who are trained in both combat and magic. Tha plan is to start out with a Custom Lineage Artificer with the Telekinetic Feat for 18 in Intelligence. That way I get Proficiency in Con saves and Guidance as well as some nice armour options. Depending on starting level I would then go either straight for Wizard Abjurer or perhaps a second level of Artificer before multiclassing.
Now the question is, how many levels of Artificer should I get? I'm thinking at least two so that I get infusions, which are always handy, but should I get a third for either Artillerist (for a nice Bonus action option or Battle Smith (to be able to wield magic weapons with intelligence and a handy sidekick? Assuming that the games goes to around 15 levels but might go all the way to 20, what are the best options? 18 levels of Abjuration wizard and Shield is a very handy combination, but nothing says I will get that far. Also, infusions and the Artificer subclasses aren't optimal but fit teh concept and can be fun. Suggestions, ideas, opinions?
Go for 3rd level Battle Smith for the handy sidekick.
When trying to build a powerful character, as a general rule I never get more than 3 levels, and rarely that much, of a multi-class.
The problem with Artificer is that it is a 1/2 spell class. Taking 2 levels mean you are 1 level behind in spells, 3 means you are 1 1/2.
1 level is worth it, you get 2 cantrips and extra known spells equal to your intelligence modifier, INCLUDING Cure Wounds and Faerie Fire. Those things are worth 1/2 spell casting level.
Taking 2 means you are giving up a full level of spells (i.e. at 5th level you only cast 2nd level spells, not 3rd.) In exchange you get 2 magic items that are appropriate for 2nd level. Worth it at 2nd level, but no longer worth it once you hit about 6th level. If you were to become a full Artificer the type and power of magic item you can make improves as you level up, but you are not leveling up Artificer. Worse, multi-classers often do not get that ability at 2nd level.
Taking 3rd level you give up another 1/2 level of spell. In exchange you get another 2 spells added to your prepared list and a nice magic item worthwhile at 3rd . They are worth it at 3rd level, but not at 9th. Again, as you level up in ARTIFICER, it improves in power. Worse, multi-classers often do not get that ability at 3rd level.
Wizard plus 1 level of Artificer is a great deal. 3 stops being worth it by the time you hit 7th level.
Yeah, that's not really how magic items work in 5e. A bag of holding doesn't become useless just because you level up. And since Artificers round levels up when it comes to multiclassing and spellcasting, you really don't lose that much. Things will come later, but you basically just lose a spell slot, not the spell level itself.
The best thing about including artificer in a multiclass build is that you get some extra action economy by giving you a solid bonus action option which is something the Wizard often lacks. The plan is to start out with two levels of Artificer, then Wizard for up until at least Wizard 10.
Yeah, Lost, you do not not know what you are talking about. While it is true that bags of holding are still useful, they go from being immensely useful to only minor help. There is a reason why the better ones have pre-requisites.. There are a ton of good wizard bonus action stuff. Misty Step, Dragon Breath, Bigby's Hand, Crown of Stars, etc. etc. etc. etc.
Do a comparison of the following:
A) Wizard 10 / Artificer 1. Vs B) Wizard 8th Artificer 3
Build a) can cast wizard spells upto 5th level, gets the 10th level subclass Tradition +1 extra Cantrip, 1 Sixth level spell slot
Build b) At 2nd level you get 2 magic items that have NO pre-requsites, the ability to - with 1 hour prep time, make any non-magical took, 1 proficiency, 2 extra FIRST level spells memorized, and the third level sub-class ability,
You are so in love with the 3rd level ability of the artificer that you ignore the 10th level ability of the Wizard. Everything else is clearly better. Fifth level spells are fantastic - including Teleport Circle, Bigby's hand, etc. 6th level slot is also great. The 2 extra 1st level spells memorized are nice, but an unlimited extra cantrip is on par.
Your build is clearly weaker. Not by a huge amount, but it is. Worse, as you go up in level, it becomes worse. At 19/1 vs 17/3 you will miss out on an ASI and Spell Mastery.a 6th and 7th level slot, all in order to get those same 2 magic items, extra first level spells, and the third level sub-class ability.
The L10 Abjurer ability is really good on counterspell and dispel magic, but it just about never comes up for any other spell, and other classes can do the same thing but better - e.g. the multiclass reqs are a bit mad, but if the char was int 20 wis 20, abjurer 8 stars druid 2 would be better at those two abjuration spells than abjurer 10.
That said, I agree very much with taking exactly 1 artificer level. Medium armor proficiency and con save proficiency without losing any slot progression, so you only lose spells known progression, is a much more reasonable tradeoff than digging deeper, unless the Artificer genuinely has something synergistic to offer - which it does for the Bladesinger, but not for the Abjurer.
Well, yeah, any character with two abilities at 20 is going to be better than one without. ;) I'm thinking more about more reasonable builds that you can assume from SPA or point buy.
Artificer 2 is interesting because the lost ASI isn't that important (you'll already have maxed Int and you can always pick Tough if you need the HP) but you get Enhanced Arcane Focus which is really useful since it's one of the few ways to boost spellcasting. So at level 4 you can have a plus 8 to spellcasting and your spell save DC if you choose Custom Lineage and pick a feat that boosts your Int. That's really neat. :)
The main drawback to anything more of a 1 level Artificer dip is the delay in spell progression. For example Fireball at levels 5, 6 and 7 is absolutely amazing but its power begins to fall off at level 8 onwards.
So you have to decide whether more levels in Artificer is worth the delay in getting your more powerful spells. In my personal opinion I would no. Bag of Holding is a great item but its not something that your DM won't let you find/buy if you ask them nicely. As for 3 levels to go melee, I find that to be a terrible idea as you will not get Extra Attack you will be reduced to spamming Booming or Green Flame Blades. The melee job which is better suited for a Bladesinger. As for the Steel Defender, while it is nice to have it is going to be very frail due to only 3 levels in Artificer and may be redundant as you already have access to Find Familiar.
Another thing to note is at what level your campaign will likely end. And whether or not you feel you have enough levels to make the character you want to make.
Hope this helps.
Yeah. I'm leaning more and more towards artillerist if I'm going to level three since that gives a nice Bonus Action option with Eldritch Cannon. And it's something you can take later on since it's not necessary for the build.
You should probably go back and read what you actually write and what you are replying to. You inferred that level 2 infusions (like the bag of holding) would be worthless at level 9.
Which all require spell slots and conflict with casting action spells. Using a bonus action that prevents you from using an action isn't really worth it, is it not?
To what end? Who says that this is the level split we're going for?
Again, I suggest you read what the thread is actually about before embarassing yourself with this kind of behaviour. Had you bothered to read the complete post you would notice that I am quite aware that such a build is suboptimal but that powergaming isn't and has never been the goal. So, do you have any answers to the questions actually given or not?
Just do the 1 level. Unless you're trying to build some kind of gish the delay in spellcasting isn't worth any more than that.
1) I am not powergaming. Wizards and artificers are thinkers, having them not consider future power levels is stupid.
2) I did not imply that a bag of holding is worthless, I implied it was worth less THAN other things at that level. Important difference.
3) I did read the thread. You did not pay attention to what I said. The comparison was not replying to the thread, I was replying to you, who made foolish claims. You talked about action economy etc that is pure power gaming. I replied to prove you wrong. You ignored my argument and said that was not the point. But I was replying to YOU, so if what I said was not the point then your entire argument was not the point. You dragged me off topic, I called you on bullshit, then you said "off topic"
4) While he did admit Artificer was sub-optimal, he still was asking a bit about power. Yeah he mentioned fun and concept, but he was also talking about end game (18th level).
I would do this 1 art/ 5 wis /+2 art the rest wis
The subclass to get is battlemaster when you get it at 8th and this will create a strong gish type character at 8th till your campaign ends at 10th
The benefit of doing it this way is that you have 5 levels to think about if you want to be a gish or not in your adventuring party if you get stuck in melee a lot the benefits of going battlemaster should be apparent but if that doesn't happen just continue going up wizard
The "help" you gave was pure powergaming. And neither wizards nor artificers are aware of such things as "future power levels". Metagaming is almost as boring as powergaming.
I would agree with you but then we'd both be wrong. You were comparing an infusion that you get on level 2 with spells you get at much higher levels.
Really? Then your answers are quite inexplicable.
I have, hence my responses.
Uhm, I started this thread. And "replying to me" means that you are also replying "to the thread". Not that it makes any difference. Just pointing it out. Again, might want to read things a bit ore carefully in the future...
Also, I didn't make any claims, I was stating facts.
Well, you didn't prove anything and I didn't ignore anything, I just pointed out that you reply lacks any kind of relevance for this thread. "Important difference." ;)
Why are you so rude? If you want to discuss things that doesn't have anything to do with what I asked about you are free to start your own thread. I would like to keep this one on topic though.
By "he" do you mean me, the person who created this thread? Then you will probably want to read the OP again because the word 'power' isn't mentioned once. I did mention "best options" but that's not the same as the kind of powergaming you've been talking about.
Either way, could we please get back on topic?
When people start being rude, I stop reading what they have to say, even if it seems like good information.
When it comes to bladesingers, I wouldn't ever go without 3 artificer levels. Abjurerer however don't get a second attack or any other featurers useful for melee combat, so the ability to attack with Intelligence is far less useful for them, as the typical abjurer wont attack with a weapon all too often.
If you take three levels, you trade an ability increase or feat and a part of your spell progression for the ability to attack with Intelligence, two infusions and a rather weak steel defender, which may not be worth it.
A single level may be useful for the armor proficiency, additional spells and constitution saving throws.
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Something that people seem to be forgetting is that Artificers get four infusion; it's just that with only 2-3 levels of Artificer, they can only use two at a time. So don't presume you're only getting two that work well in the early levels, and they become pointless later on. Plan for four infusions you can swap in and out throughout your lifetime.
I gave this advice in a different thread: Enhanced Arcane Focus which will work for both Wizard and Artificer casting, Homunculus Servant as a flying metal gundam for your familiar, Bag of Holding for a place to keep your stuff, and Enhanced Defense to soup up your armor. As your needs come and go you can swap between infusions.