You are an artificer. You create objects infused with magical power, and your approach to magic is meticulous, rigorous, and scientific. You tinker and experiment with the wild and unpredictable powers of magic, determined to find some order within its chaos. Most every artificer shares this love of tinkering and experimentation, though their specialties often differ. All artificers are specialists in one way or another. Your specialty may be in the art of alchemy, combining reagents in order to create new and powerful compounds; or in artillery, using magic to create weapons that rain arcane destruction upon your foes; or in the vital role of battle smithing, creating defenses and healing allies with your magical creations.

Artificers are most common in the world of Eberron, as described in Eberron: Rising from the Last War. However, artificers of some sort can be found all throughout the D&D multiverse. You can find artificers in the Forgotten Realms on the isle of Lantan, among the gnomes of Hupperdook in Wildemount, and filling all levels of prestige within the ranks of the Izzet League on the world-city of Ravnica—just to name a few settings where artificers can be found. If you’re playing D&D in another world or in a homebrew setting, talk with your Dungeon Master about how you could integrate artificers into this world.

Artificers are a spellcasting class, similar to a paladin or ranger. They gain access to new spell levels at half the rate that “full casters” like clerics, druids, and wizards do, but they make up for it by having a host of powerful class features to supplement their spellcasting. Artificers are best known as jacks-of-all-trades whose unique powers of magic item creation allow them to contribute passively be aiding their allies. However, they are far from a one-trick pony. The three different artificer subclasses presented in Eberron: Rising from the Last War give all artificers a wide variety of roles they can play in any D&D party.

If aiding your allies, crafting magic items, and turning magic into science appeals to you, read on! Let’s create an artificer!

You need to own the artificer class from Eberron: Rising from the Last War to make full use of this guide. If you don’t want to purchase the full book, simply purchasing the artificer subclasses a la carte on its product page will also give you access to the full artificer subclasses.

Quick Build Expanded: Building your Artificer

This isn’t a character optimization guide, but the first step in playing your class effectively is building it effectively. The Quick Start guidelines in Eberron: Rising from the Last War are a good start, but don’t go far enough for most new players. Here’s an expanded Quick Start guide. This guide assumes you’re using the D&D Beyond Character Builder, which includes helper text for new players.

• Under “Character Preferences,” turn off “Playtest Content” and “Show Unarmed Strike”
• Choose your Race. While any race can be a good artificer, the most powerful artificers tend to be from races that improve your Intelligence score. Intelligence is your most important ability score because it determines the power of your spells and class features.
  • Gnomes are the archetypal artificers, because of their proclivity for tinkering in many D&D settings, such as the Forgotten Realms, Eberron, and Wildemount. Their +2 bonus to Intelligence reflects this love of experimentation.
  • If you’re playing in the Ravnica setting, Vedalken are logic-focused perfectionists that make good members of the Izzet League, a guild known for their artificers. Their +2 bonus to Intelligence likewise reflects a cultural predisposition to inquiry and education.
  • High elves are a good choice from the Player’s Handbook, but consider how your character may be bucking tradition by studying the newer art of artificing instead of more the more respected art of wizardry.
  • Try out other races, even ones that might not give your character a bonus to Intelligence. What race best fits the story you want to tell?

What Kind of Artificer are You?

Artificers are a highly flexible class that gives you an immense amount of freedom in how to support your party. You have the unique ability to passively support your party by giving them items that you’ve infused with magic, while also being able to contribute actively through your diverse selection of spells and class features. That is to say, even though artificers are almost always best off supporting their party by improving their allies’ strengths, they can still kick butt on their own when they need to.

When just beginning your artificer career, your spell selection will largely determine your role in the party. Take these early levels to play around with spells, finding ones you like and determining how you can best fit into your party that way. Then, once you reach 3rd level, you can choose what kind of Artificer Specialist (hereafter referred to as a “subclass”) you want to be. This decision will carve out a thematic and mechanical niche for your character.

The best roles for an artificer are Offense, Tank, and Support. These terms are just shorthand; no part of the D&D rules refer to characters in this way, but it’s an easy way to discuss the different roles characters serve in combat. The three different artificer subclasses presented in Eberron: Rising from the Last War also provide powerful features that solidify your role in the party. You will always have elements of the Support role, simply due to the nature of your class.

Offense

Artificers that want to use their creations to destroy are best suited to the Artillerist subclass. Your Artillerist Spells grants you access to a host of destructive spells. Moreover, your Eldritch Cannon and Arcane Firearm features allow you to pump out serious damage, while still being able to buff and protect your allies if you need to. Battle Smith artificers can also deal serious damage through their spells and through powerful buffs, and their versatile Steel Defender pet makes it easy to deal damage at a distance.

Though it’s still in playtesting, the Armorer subclass also has excellent stealth and damage-dealing capabilities, thanks to its Infiltrator Power Armor and Extra Attack features.

Tank

Most artificers reactively protect their allies through healing spells and other buffs. If you want to proactively protect your allies, the Armorer subclass is your best bet. Though it’s still in playtesting, the Armorer’s Guardian Power Armor gives you everything you need to tank hits like a linebacker. Between your Thunder Gauntlets (which incentivize enemies you hit to attack you instead of your allies) and your Defensive Field (which allows you to gain temporary hit points every single turn), you’re able to make yourself the center of attention in any combat scenario.

Support

All artificers have elements of the Support role in them, but no artificer fills this role quite as masterfully as those who choose the Alchemist subclass. Your Alchemist Spells and Experimental Elixirs are able to give you and your allies useful buffs, allowing you to heal allies, buff them with magic, and deal damage all at once. The Battle Smith also allows you to fill a Support role admirably, by using your spells to create defensive barrier while commanding your Steel Defender to flit about the battlefield, healing allies as needed.

Quick Build Expanded (Part 2)

• Place your highest ability score in Intelligence. The best place to put your second highest ability score depends on what role you want to fill in combat.
  • If you want to fill the role of Offense in your party and focus on dealing damage, place your second highest ability score in Strength (or Dexterity, if you can on using ranged or finesse weapons).
  • If you want to be a Tank or Support character, but your second highest ability score in Constitution so that you can take more damage and still survive.
• Choose any background that fits your character concept. There are a number of new backgrounds in Eberron: Rising from the Last War tailored specifically to that world, but also consider the classic backgrounds in the Player’s Handbook. Were you an acolyte that was banished from their monastery for creating strange inventions? A guild artisan who made a modest living as an alchemist, but wanted to learn more? The options are endless!
• Finally, determine your equipment. For an easy selection, click on “EQUIPMENT” when promoted to “Choose EQUIPMENT or GOLD”.
  • Your two simple weapons can be anything that you think fits your character’s aesthetic.
  • If you want to be a Tank or Support, choose scale mail as your armor. If you want to be a stealthy Offense character, choose studded leather armor instead.

An Artificer in Combat

Artificers aren’t front-line combatants—at least, not at 1st level. Those who learn the ways of the Armorer or the Battle Smith at 3rd level might disagree. In fact, some might say that the most important part of an artificer’s day is the beginning, long before any sort of dangerous monsters have reared their ugly heads. Your combat abilities are limited at 1st level—with a limited number of spell slots and only simple weapons and a pair of cantrips to use when you run out. However, if you can survive 1st level, your true powers as an artificer start to reveal themselves at 2nd level.

This power is the ability to Infuse Items with magic, turning them from mundane trinkets and tools into objects of mystic potency. Your real goal in combat is to strategically deploy these items among your party members before combat begins. The Artificer Table tells you two vital pieces of information about your Infuse Item feature: how many different infusions you know, and how many items you can infuse at once. When you first gain this feature at 2nd level, these numbers are 4 different infusions known and 2 items infused.

Because of their spells and their infusions, artificers have dozens of discrete decisions that they can make every day of their adventuring career. There’s a strong case to be made for saying that the artificer is the most granular class in D&D. It can be overwhelming if you aren’t used to making lots of minute decisions.

To alleviate some of the anxiety of choosing spells and infusions, a selection of sample spell lists and infusions have been provided below. These sample lists are based on your preferred role in the party, and can easily be changed to fit your personal vision for your character. Since you can prepare spells directly from the Artificer Spell List and from your list of Known Infusions, you have an immense amount of flexibility to “re-spec” your artificer’s loadout if you aren’t a fan of it.

If you find that an infusion isn’t working for you, you can exchange one infusion for another whenever you gain a level in this class. But you can only exchange one infusion per level up, so don’t think you can swap out your entire list of infusions whenever you gain a level. You can (and should) tailor these lists of known infusions and prepared spells to not just your personal preference, but also to the sort of challenges you are facing in your own campaign.

All Artificers

At 1st level, you gain the ability to cast spells from the artificer spell list, and the ability to tinker with mundane objects in order to infuse them with a minor sort of magic. This is a great time to get a feel for your role in the party.

At 2nd level, you gain the ability to infuse items with even greater magical power, and start learning Infusions. This is where you truly come into your own as an artificer. Which infusions you’ll want to learn vary based on your role in the party.

At 3rd level, you become a Specialist, focusing on creating a certain type of magical wonder. Alchemists create miraculous potions, Armorers create power armor that they alone can use, Artillerists create explosive walking turrets, and Battle Smiths create a battle companion with a hide of steel. You can also use your magic to create a set of tools for any occasion, which can help both you and your allies skilled in the use of tools. 

At 4th level, you gain an Ability Score Improvement or a feat! Most artificers want to maximize their Intelligence score as quickly as possible to increase their spells’ potency, but you may wish to choose a feat to further specialize your role in the party.

At 5th level, you gain access to 2nd-level spells, and you gain a new feature from your subclass. This marks a huge increase in potential power!

Offense

Though artificers don’t have as many spell slots as wizards and other “full casters,” they have other ways of putting the hurt on monsters. All artificers can infuse items with offensive enchantments that either they or their companions can use to improve the damage-dealing potential of your entire party—and you also have access to magical power gauntlets as an Armorer and martial weapons as a Battle Smith, to say nothing of the walking turret you can create as an Artillerist.

At 1st level, you learn two cantrips from the artificer spell list. You can replace one cantrip whenever you level up, so feel free to play around. It’s worth having at least one of these cantrips be one that can deal damage for now, like fire bolt or frostbite since you don’t have any damage-dealing subclass features to rely on yet. Try to stay out of the fray for now! You aren’t as tanky as a fighter or a paladin yet!

Also at 1st level, you gain the ability to prepare and cast 1st-level spells from the artificer spell list. You can prepare a number of spells equal to your Intelligence modifier plus half your level in this class, rounded down—this means you can probably prepare 3 or 4 different spells right now, and this number is only going to go up as you gain levels!

Catapult is a hilarious way for an Artillerist to chuck a nearly-destroyed Arcane Turret at an enemy—especially once they gain the Explosive Cannon feature at 9th level. Other than that, artificers don’t have many damage-dealing 1st-level spells (outside of their subclass-specific spell lists). Consider preparing spells that hinder enemies, like grease, or spells that make it easier to hit foes, like faerie fire.

At 2nd level, you gain the ability to infuse items with magic. As an Offense-focused character, consider learning infusions that deal damage or make it easier to deal damage, such as Enhanced Arcane Focus, Enhanced Weapon, Repeating Shot, or Returning Weapon. Choosing two or three of these offensive infusions, and one or two utility infusions makes for a balanced and versatile character.

At 3rd level, you gain the ability to prepare another 1st-level spell from the artificer spell list, you gain the situationally useful Right Tool for the Job feature, and get to choose your Artificer Specialty. As an Offense artificer, consider choosing Armorer, Artillerist, or Battle Smith. You also gain two 1st-level spells from your subclass’s spell list. These spells are always prepared!

At 4th level, you gain an Ability Score Increase, or a feat! If you want to improve your chances of dealing greater damage, you should put both points into Intelligence. If you want a feat to help improve your damage output, consider the Lucky, Spell Sniper, or War Caster feats. If you're playing an Armorer, the Skulker feat pairs well with your sneaky, roguish Infiltrator feature.

At 5th level, you gain the ability to cast 2nd-level spells! When preparing spells, you can now choose 1st- or 2nd-level spells from the artificer spell list. Don’t prepare too many 2nd-level spells, but heat metal and web are two great spells that can give you an edge in combat. You also gain two 2nd-level spells from your subclass’s spell list. These spells are always prepared!

You also gain a new feature from your chosen subclass! Both the Armorer and the Battle Smith gain the Extra Attack feature, which makes you even more useful when fighting with weapons. The Artillerist gains the ability to craft an arcane firearm that improves the damage of your spells.

Tank

Tanks are frontline combatants that, paradoxically, don’t always care about dealing as much damage as possible. They are walls of steel and determination, eager to goad enemies into attacking them instead of their allies. Making yourself a scary target by dealing as much damage as possible is certainly an option, but subclasses like the Armorer have specific mechanics in place that discourage enemies from attacking anyone other than you, making them excellent tanks.

At 1st level, you learn two cantrips from the artificer spell list. You can replace one cantrip whenever you level up, so feel free to play around. Frostbite is an excellent tanking cantrip, since it both deals moderate damage and makes it harder for the target to hit with its next attack. Beware the heat of combat for now—you don’t have access to heavy armor until 3rd level, and your hit points aren’t amazing, so your tanking abilities aren’t quite up to par yet!

Also at 1st level, you gain the ability to prepare and cast 1st-level spells from the artificer spell list. You can prepare a number of spells equal to your Intelligence modifier plus half your level in this class, rounded down—this means you can probably prepare 3 or 4 different spells right now, and this number is only going to go up as you gain levels!

False life can give you an extra buffer of hit points before fights begin (though it becomes obsolete once you gain the Defensive Field feature at 3rd level), and sanctuary can help you protect frail allies from harm. You don’t have access to many damage-dealing spells, so focus on keeping your foes’ attention using your simple weapons and cantrips for now!

At 2nd level, you gain the ability to infuse items with magic. As a Tank, consider learning infusions that mitigate damage or give your allies the ability to deal more damage, such as Enhanced Arcane Focus, Enhanced Defense, or Enhanced Weapon. Choosing two or three of these combat-focused infusions, and one or two utility infusions makes for a balanced and versatile character.

At 3rd level, you gain the ability to prepare another 1st-level spell from the artificer spell list, you gain the situationally useful Right Tool for the Job feature, and get to choose your Artificer Specialty. As a Tank, your best choice is undoubtedly Armorer. You also gain two 1st-level spells from the Armor Spells list. These spells—magic missile and shield—are always prepared!

Also at 3rd level, you gain the Power Armor feature from the Armorer subclass. Your Power Armor is incredibly versatile, being able to switch been Guardian and Infiltrator mode whenever you complete a short or long rest. The Guardian mode is going to be your most-used mode as a Tank, but the Infiltrator mode is useful when stealth is required. While in Guardian mode, you gain the ability to activate a Defensive Field as bonus action each turn, which grants you temporary hit points equal to your level in this class. More than that, whenever you hit a creature with your Power Armor’s Thunder Gauntlets, that target is discouraged from attacking anyone other than you. It’s a Tank’s dream!

At 4th level, you gain an Ability Score Increase, or a feat! If you want to improve your spells’ potency, you should put both points into Intelligence. If you want a feat to help improve your defensive capabilities, consider the Heavy Armor Master, Sentinel, or War Caster feats.

At 5th level, you gain the ability to cast 2nd-level spells! When preparing spells, you can now choose 1st- or 2nd-level spells from the artificer spell list. Don’t prepare too many 2nd-level spells, but enlarge/reduce and heat metal are two great spells that can give you an edge in combat. You also gain two 2nd-level spells from your subclass’s spell list. These spells are always prepared!

As an Armorer, you also gain the Extra Attack feature, which helps you hit more foes with your Thunder Gauntlets, encouraging even more enemies to attack you instead of attacking your allies!

Support

All artificers are Support characters in one way or another, thanks to the spells available to them and the way Infuse Item encourages sharing your creations with your allies. Nevertheless, some artificers focus on support more completely than others. The Alchemist and Battle Smith artificer subclasses each have their own unique method of approaching the role of support, with the Alchemist serving as a back-ranks healer and master of buffs and debuffs, while the Battle Smith wades into battle with an mechanical companion, charging through the battlefield as a dangerous and inspiring combat medic.

At 1st level, you learn two cantrips from the artificer spell list. You can replace one cantrip whenever you level up, so feel free to play around. Guidance is an essential support cantrip, since it can cheaply and easily improve your allies’ odds of success on almost every non-combat roll in the game. Magic stone is a useful combat cantrip for you as well, since you can share your enchanted ammunition with your allies.

Also at 1st level, you gain the ability to prepare and cast 1st-level spells from the artificer spell list. You can prepare a number of spells equal to your Intelligence modifier plus half your level in this class, rounded down—this means you can probably prepare 3 or 4 different spells right now, and this number is only going to go up as you gain levels!

Cure wounds is a vital healing spell for you, and grease is a wonderful multi-purpose spell that is useful in both offensive and defensive combat situations, escape scenarios, and even certain social situations.

At 2nd level, you gain the ability to infuse items with magic. As a Support character, consider learning infusions that are useful outside of combat, allowing your party to do useful things when survival isn’t their chief concern. The most significant out-of-combat infusion is Replicate Magic Item, which has incredible utility due to the wide variety of items it can create. It’s also worth picking up a few combat-focused infusions like Enhanced Arcane Focus, Enhanced Defense, or Enhanced Weapon, as well.

At 3rd level, you gain the ability to prepare another 1st-level spell from the artificer spell list, you gain the situationally useful Right Tool for the Job feature, and get to choose your Artificer Specialty. As a Support artificer, consider choosing either Alchemist or Battle Smith. You also gain two 1st-level spells from your subclass’s spell list. These spells are always prepared!

As an Alchemist, you gain the power to create Experimental Elixirs at 3rd level. Experimental Elixirs are volatile concoctions that can improve you or your allies’ power in wild and unpredictable ways. Alternatively, you can imbue the elixir with the power of one of your spell slots to choose exactly how it functions, rather than its powers being determined randomly.

As a Battle Smith, you can create a durable Steel Defender at 3rd level. This faithful companion can flit about the battlefield, dealing damage or repairing objects while leaving you free to support your companions with healing spells, buffs, or debuffs. Your defender can even serve as a mini-Tank by using its Deflect Attack reaction to impose disadvantage on attacks made against other creatures. If your defender falls in the line of duty, you can spend an action using your artificing skills to kick-start its magical self-repair mechanisms.

At 4th level, you gain an Ability Score Increase, or a feat! If you want to improve your spells’ potency, you should put both points into Intelligence. There aren’t a lot of feats that are immediately useful to you, but the Healer feat can help you heal your allies without spending your precious spell slots.

At 5th level, you gain the ability to cast 2nd-level spells! When preparing spells, you can now choose 1st- or 2nd-level spells from the artificer spell list. Don’t prepare too many 2nd-level spells, but aid and invisibility are two great spells that can improve your allies’ odds of success in a wide variety of situations. You also gain two 2nd-level spells from your subclass’s spell list. These spells are always prepared!

As an Alchemist, you also gain the Alchemical Savant feature, which improves the power of your spells that restore hit points, or deal acid, fire, necrotic, or poison damage. Remember that your artificer spells aren’t quite like normal spells—rather than waving your hands and causing magic to appear, you’re rapidly concocting potions and compounds, and hurling them at enemies or smearing them on allies.

As a Battle Smith, you gain the Extra Attack feature, which makes you even more useful when fighting with weapons. Sometimes the best support is just another ally with a blade fighting at your friend’s side!

Creating Stories as an Artificer

Artificers are complex characters to play, even with the D&D Beyond Character Sheet keeping track of your spells and infusions, and updating your Steel Defenders’ stats every time you level up. With some many moving parts, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the mechanics and forget about your class’s incredible storytelling potential.

Even though they can be found in one way or another in most worlds in the D&D multiverse, artificers feel like they break the mold of traditional medieval fantasy. Even wizards, who study magic diligently over centuries, consider magic more of an art than a science—they’re called the arcane arts for a reason, after all. You, however, are an artificer. You are a scientist, with reason and experimentation as your allies, not mysticism and ritual. The ideals of modern-day empiricism and the scientific method may lead to you to try to unravel the secrets of a world where the inexplicable and the supernatural occurs on a daily basis.

In Eberron, artificers—particularly those of House Cannith—were responsible for untold suffering in the near-apocalyptic Last War. Consider how you feel about your role, or perhaps the role of your mentors or ancestors, in the creation of weapons of hitherto untold destruction. Are you like the plane-traveling artificer Vi, who seeks to set things right across the multiverse, perhaps in vain? Or do you embrace your terrible creations in the name of progress?

In other settings, artificers avoid the spotlight of history. The tinkerers of Lantan in the Forgotten Realms have created wondrous things, like nimblewrights and the submersible craft known as the Scarlet Marpenoth (seen in Waterdeep: Dragon Heist), but they are not renowned for their creations. Wizardly, clerical, and druidic magic are so entrenched in the ceremonies, politics, and traditions of the Sword Coast that the relatively new tradition of artificing has not yet gained the cachet to supplant them. Will your masterworks bring you fame, and draw the eyes of the world to your craft?

You can even consider how you cast your spells. Artificers cast spells through tools and creations, not through arcane foci, spell components, or other such mystical nonsense. Your tools create reliable, replicable results, not through the manipulation of some intangible Weave of Magic. Alchemists craft potions on the fly, hurling vials of rapidly brewed acid when they cast acid splash. Battle Smiths draw forth a roll of gauze from their pack and draw a thumb along it before pressing it to their allies’ wounds, healing them with miraculous haste when they cast cure wounds. Armorers hurl tiny metal bullets that flare to life as magic missiles.

How do your spells work? What story do you want to tell? How will your creations change the world?

Class 101 is back! With the Artificer class now in the weekly rotation, look forward to seeing a full breakdown of these three subclasses in future installments of Class 101. In the meantime, look forward to next week’s installment: the barbarian’s Path of the Battlerager, a spike-covered brawler from the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide. What's your artificer character like? Let us know in the comments!

James Haeck is the lead writer for D&D Beyond, the co-author of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus, and the Critical Role Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, a member of the Guild Adepts, and a freelance writer for Wizards of the Coast, the D&D Adventurers League, and other RPG companies. He lives in Seattle, Washington with his fiancée Hannah and their animal companions Mei and Marzipan. You can find him wasting time on Twitter at @jamesjhaeck.