Here's a fun (perhaps unintended) interaction: The Spell-Storing Item is itself a magic item with charges. Which means, you can use Magic Item Tinker to turn level 1 spell slots into level 3 spells.

The concept of an Artificer is great, and I'm among a large group that would LIKE to play this. 

Unfortunately, they seem to have made a whole bunch of new decisions that are the same as the old decisions... except now it's even worse since the bar was raised by improving every other class.  

But at least they delayed the book for several months. Totally worth it... 🤦

 I want to see the subclasses! Hope you guys kept the Dreadnaught armorer!

 UUgh... I was going to buy this until I saw they nerfed a mediocre class, putting them in C-D tier.  So disappointed.  Literally every other class got more powerful with 2024, for a reason - the monsters in the 2024 monster manual got a significant buff across the board.  So compensating by making individual classes stronger made sense.  Instead - we got Artificers getting weaker - like what?  

Spell storing items are and can be sorely busted. This was busted in play test it doesn't look like they listened. 

This doesn't fully cover everything for the artificer, so I'm hoping there are some other additions or changes that they decided not to expand on in this article.  If not, I'm sure alchemist is going to be just as bad as it was in the playtests, too, but I digress.  Some stuff here seems cool, but a lot of it does seem worse than the original.  Flash of Genius, unless it's been buffed, isn't so good that the whole class needs to revolve around it 

 At this point, the subclasses and any new spells they get will help to decide how viable the class is going forward.

But on a positive note, it's still an excellent multiclass dip for Wizard. Unless something has drastically changed that WoTC hasn't told us yet, 2 levels of Artificer are still a great boon for a Wizard character.

The 2025 Artificer was written by someone who does not like crafters and decided to take the crafting out of the Artificer even more than the 2019 version did.

The only useful part of Tinker's Magic is that it gives you the Mending cantrip. Being able to summon rope for a class than can summon a bag of holding is laughable past level 2. It's a feature that won't be used past level 2 or 3. This version of Tinker's Magic is far worse than the prior version.

In addition, it's not stated here but the UA cut out a lot of the magic item crafting perks, like reducing the time and gold to craft common and uncommon magic items. The subclasses still get benefits for their specialties, but that's it.

This article does not state it, but the Unearthed Arcana playtest also reduced the number of plans known to only 2 more than the infusions that you can maintain. Remember that you cannot have more than one copy of the same infusion at the same time. I really hope they kept the original number of plans known but that seems unlikely. In addition, they have divided a few of the infusions into multiple infusions. (+1 armor, +1 shield, +2 armor, and +2 shields were all 1 infusion that scales with level. Now they are 4 infusions that do not scale with level.) This has pros and cons. We will have to see what the final product brings.

I am aware that these are not the complete details, but I am concerned.

The 5e Artificer always suffered from WotC's assumptions (as confirmed by Mearls) of a much longer adventuring day than modern D&D now tends to have. As such they tend to heavily overvalue "At Will" or "Always on" abilities like the artificer's infusions, compared to limited-use class abilities such as higher-level spell slots. 

Having a constant +1 to hit, and adding Int score to cantrip damage sounds good when you're going through 6-8 encounters, and the wizards are down to cantrips as well for a significant portion of the day. It is much less effective when you're only in a few or single, much more significant encounters, and the wizards can drop one of their higher-level spells every encounter.

From the looks of the preview, this core issue has not been addressed, but the more general capabilities of the class with tool use, unique items and other tricks has been reduced.

Not encouraging.

This!!! Why does the artificer now feel like a tepid half-caster without personality in its base class? Let us craft, let us be creative, give us expertise in tools or unique ways to use them, if they didn't improve massively on the subclasses within the UA, this is going to be sort of sad. Also, and this has always baffled me, if we're broadly nerfed by needing "M" for all our spells, why do we still need "V", you're telling me my alchemists tosses a vial of "Acid Splash" and screams, "Acid Splash"? If they are going to flavor it as using the tools to manifest the spells, why is it harder for us than other classes without compromise or flavorful inclination?

Quote from Nullcade >>

This!!! Why does the artificer now feel like a tepid half-caster without personality in its base class? Let us craft, let us be creative, give us expertise in tools or unique ways to use them, if they didn't improve massively on the subclasses within the UA, this is going to be sort of sad. Also, and this has always baffled me, if we're broadly nerfed by needing "M" for all our spells, why do we still need "V", you're telling me my alchemists tosses a vial of "Acid Splash" and screams, "Acid Splash"? If they are going to flavor it as using the tools to manifest the spells, why is it harder for us than other classes without compromise or flavorful inclination?

The "M" requirement is something I consider a buff in practice. Rules as Written, every Artificer spell having an M component means that you can be having a tool in one hand and a shield in the other, and still be able to cast the spell even if it only has V and S components normally. And since the last Artificer UA let you use magic item plan weapons as spellcasting foci, this is even more relevant for Battle Smiths imo.

That said, I wholeheartedly agree that Artificer spells should remove the V component, since you shouldn't need to say anything to use your gadgets.

Also I really think they could add more existing PHB spells to the base spell list, since there are quite a few that could easily fit the theme and are excluded for some reason. The illusion spells (Minor Illusion, Silent Image, and Major Image), Comprehend Languages, Create or Destroy Water, Hypnotic Pattern, Counterspell, and even Mage Armor and Shield come to mind.

Quote from Crawling_Chaos >>

That said, I wholeheartedly agree that Artificer spells should remove the V component, since you shouldn't need to say anything to use your gadgets.

"Go, go, gadget Dancing Lights" - John Travolta, probably.

You guys are crazy, The artificer is buffed not nerfed.

Being able to recharge items like wands of web is way better.

Give it to your homunculus to cast. Congrats Artificer can cast 2 spells per turn now, one with homunculus and one with their action.

Quote from Rp4man >>

You guys are crazy, The artificer is buffed not nerfed.

Being able to recharge items like wands of web is way better.

Give it to your homunculus to cast. Congrats Artificer can cast 2 spells per turn now, one with homunculus and one with their action.

Two problems with this:-

1.) Unless I missed something about the Replicate Magic Item feature, Wand of Web has a fixed save DC, which is 13. While DEX saves are not terrible saves to target, they're also not uncommon for monsters to be proficient in. Spell-Storing Item does address this, but that doesn't come online until Level 11.

2.) The homunculus isn't invulnerable and is actually pretty squishy (at its base, it has AC 13 and 15 HP), and you can't remake it in the middle of combat. So if it dies, which it likely will if the enemy ever targets it, that "extra attack" ceases to function. This is where the subclasses would typically pick up the slack, and not all of them do based on the playtest content.

Of course, if the Homunculus Servant spell got buffed from its playtest version, this would be moot.

To #1 - yea, it would be way to strong to double cast spells using your DC rather than the items Fixed DC. Still this is the only class that can do this and even if the DC's are lower its still strong. you can give a wand of web 2 charges with a lvl 2 spell slot. So you can have 2 casts at 13 or 1 cast at 15. I'll take the former.

To #2, No its not invulnerable nor is any Player Character. But it does not have a time length on it. Which means you can start the day with it at high lvls by casting it at lvl 5, and long rest so that it has lots of hp. You can also ritual cast it during play to not spend spells slots. And there are plenty of ways to keep it out of harms way when not in combat. Make and put it in a bag of holding if you want. This is tankier than a familiar and familiars still get seen at higher levels of play, so will this.

My only question on the servant is if mending will still work on it.

Quote from Rp4man >>

To #1 - yea, it would be way to strong to double cast spells using your DC rather than the items Fixed DC. Still this is the only class that can do this

Nope, Thief rogue can do exactly the same without having any innate magical abilities. Magic items can be used 2 times per round by thief - and this is a lvl3 subclass ability. And Thief's ability is more reliable because it is not dependent of a squshi homonculus servant.

Use an Object. Take the Utilize action, or take the Magic action to use a magic item that requires that action.

Don't get me wrong, I did my fair share of shenanigens with HS as an Armorer artificer, but it is always a big risk. 

And this is not the only bad comparison between thiefs and artificers. At lvl13 thief has the following feat:

Level 13: Use Magic Device

You’ve learned how to maximize use of magic items, granting you the following benefits.

Attunement. You can attune to up to four magic items at once.

Charges. Whenever you use a magic item property that expends charges, roll 1d6. On a roll of 6, you use the property without expending the charges.

Scrolls. You can use any Spell Scroll, using Intelligence as your spellcasting ability for the spell. If the spell is a cantrip or a level 1 spell, you can cast it reliably. If the scroll contains a higher-level spell, you must first succeed on an Intelligence (Arcana) check (DC 10 plus the spell’s level). On a successful check, you cast the spell from the scroll. On a failed check, the scroll disintegrates.

So, a Tier 3 thief can cast two spells per turn more efficiently than a Tier 3 Artificer. Thief has the chance to use a magic item without expending it charges and on spell scrolls the thief uses his own intelligence score for the DC . 

Quote from Merras >>

Quote from Rp4man >>

To #1 - yea, it would be way to strong to double cast spells using your DC rather than the items Fixed DC. Still this is the only class that can do this

 

Nope, Thief rogue can do exactly the same without having any innate magical abilities. Magic items can be used 2 times per round by thief - and this is a lvl3 subclass ability. And Thief's ability is more reliable because it is not dependent of a squshi homonculus servant.

Use an Object. Take the Utilize action, or take the Magic action to use a magic item that requires that action.

Don't get me wrong, I did my fair share of shenanigens with HS as an Armorer artificer, but it is always a big risk. 

And this is not the only bad comparison between thiefs and artificers. At lvl13 thief has the following feat:

Level 13: Use Magic Device

You’ve learned how to maximize use of magic items, granting you the following benefits.

Attunement. You can attune to up to four magic items at once.

Charges. Whenever you use a magic item property that expends charges, roll 1d6. On a roll of 6, you use the property without expending the charges.

Scrolls. You can use any Spell Scroll, using Intelligence as your spellcasting ability for the spell. If the spell is a cantrip or a level 1 spell, you can cast it reliably. If the scroll contains a higher-level spell, you must first succeed on an Intelligence (Arcana) check (DC 10 plus the spell’s level). On a successful check, you cast the spell from the scroll. On a failed check, the scroll disintegrates.

So, a Tier 3 thief can cast two spells per turn more efficiently than a Tier 3 Artificer. This is really bad.

Seeing this post, I just want to jump in and also mention that Thief can get Expertise in four skills by the time they reach Level 13, and can never roll below a 10 for those skills by that level. So a Level 13 Thief can have Expertise in Arcana (which the class doesn't get on its own, but can easily get from other sources), Investigation, Athletics, and Sleight of Hand, letting them use Thieves' Tools, Chains, and Manacles better than an Artificer can, letting them pass knowledge checks on D&D technology better than an Artificer can, and letting them use Spell Scrolls better than an Artificer can.

Give them a way to get Tinker's Tools proficiency, and they can even make a UA Manifold Tool after 5 days per the DMG crafting rules. Thus letting them craft any magic item in the game per those same crafting rules.

Let's hope that the subclasses really come in clutch with stuff like expertise in Arcana and plenty of tool proficiencies. 

Quote from Crawling_Chaos >>

Seeing this post, I just want to jump in and also mention that Thief can get Expertise in four skills by the time they reach Level 13, and can never roll below a 10 for those skills by that level. So a Level 13 Thief can have Expertise in Arcana (which the class doesn't get on its own, but can easily get from other sources), Investigation, Athletics, and Sleight of Hand, letting them use Thieves' Tools, Chains, and Manacles better than an Artificer can, letting them pass knowledge checks on D&D technology better than an Artificer can, and letting them use Spell Scrolls better than an Artificer can.

Give them a way to get Tinker's Tools proficiency, and they can even make a UA Manifold Tool after 5 days per the DMG crafting rules. Thus letting them craft any magic item in the game per those same crafting rules.

OMG, you are right, this comparison gets more terrible every minute. 

Disappointing. They kept Tinker's Magic and the fake magic items of Replicate Magic Item.
Tinker's Magic gets invalidated by replicating a Bag of Holding literally next level, meanwhile Replicate Magic Item gets invalidated by just crafting.

Horrid design, why did you keep this?