Yeah, that's exactly how I planned to flavor it: rather than a soothing divine intercession, it would be a violent "KER-CHUNK" to kick your dead ass back into gear! 😝
One important thing you missed regarding cantrips: The artificer is able to change one of their cantrip selections at every level, so you may want different ones for levels 1-2 (before you get your subclass features), levels 3-4 (once you have your subclass), and levels 5+ (if you get extra attack).
One thing with Artificers is that they can change their cantrips when they level. In this case, an Armorer or Battle Smith taking booming blade or green flame blade at lower levels then swapping to something else at 5th level works
I'd switch back to booming blade later, as at level 11 it far out damages extra attack, provided you aren't running greatweapon master with hex or something.
That is the cool thing about Artificer and also their downside. You can customize a lot, so if you pay attention you can min-max your character without multiclassing and be effective. The downside is that you have to keep track of a lot. Spells everyday, cantrips every level up, infusions, magical tinkering.
I wouldn't swap out an armourer 2nd attack for booming or gfb. Yes it's more damage BUT you lose that 2nd chance to give something disadvantage towards your allies which is a core feature of the sub class
@@Tattoosbycal I think it depends. 2 enemies are not always close enough together to get attacks on multiple creatures. In that case use a blade spell. Also your character might just need to focus on one hard enemy for a bit and let the others take out some minions. I'd use a spell here too
Really wish Artificers just began with Mending plus two cantrips of their choice. Making an Artificer for which Mending *doesn't* feel compulsory would be incredibly niche. It's Eldritch Blast all over again. 99% of the Artificers I could possibly build will simply have Guidance and an attack cantrip that will be switched for Mending after getting through the low levels.
I wouldn't compare Mending to Eldritch Blast. Mending is very thematic, true, but the only subclass that it's a must-have for is Battlesmith. Artillerist's canons are temporary and don't get that much damage, and for any other Artificer Mending is just a thematic, but still incredibly situational spell. Though yes, getting it for free would be nice.
In the campaign, I'm playing as an Artificer, my DM just allowed me to have Mending as a free cantrip since it is so crucial but feels so rough to choose over other cantrips sometimes. My others are guidance and fire bolt and they're both used more than mending tbh. Maybe ask your DM for something similar?
In my games, Warlocks get Eldritch Blast for free and Artificers get Mending for free becuase FUCK they need it. Basically, it functions more as a class feature in that case. As a trade off for Artificer, I would probably have them trade out Magical Tinkering, becuase let's be real... they are gonna use it once and forget it exists.
Every artificer gets "Magical Tinkering" at level 1 which has a lot of overlap with basic utility cantrips like Prestidigitation, thus making them even less appealing choices.
First, Artificers should not be spell casters, the whole premise of this class is: simulate magical effects by manipulating awesome unseen technology. But, at the same time they have ZERO nonmagical abilities that are meaningful in the context of the game. It's just lazy design, "ok, let's make another paladin like class, but give them cellphones and youtube". BAM! The Artificer.
@@EnfermeiroPensador that is one way to frame it but I think a more accurate way of framing it is that atificers infuse their magic into objects to create technology
I personally would take Enlarge/Reduce over Aid because of the added flexibility in and out of combat. Because Artificers are half casters, I really want my spells to be useful in as many situations as possible.
@@antikmayas True, and I'm definitely not saying Aid is a bad choice. I'm just giving my opinion on what I would choose, and my reason behind it. Aid is a great spell, and if you like it, take it. I prefer Enlarge/Reduce.
One thing I kinda felt was missing from this video was the spell storing item feature for the Artificer the ability to cast a 1st or 2nd level spell 10 times (with a 20 int) is pretty good
Haste is also very strong with it, because you can use the hasted action to use a non-magical object, which is what the spell storing item is. The storing item is amazing, it's like 8-10 additional second level slots that you can let a friend use
I played an Artificer in Curse of Strahd, and Mending ended up becoming really useful when we had to take refuge in a cabin, because I used it to fix the doors, walls and windows - and it saved us from a lot of bats and a pack of werewolves.
Fantastic video. One thing to keep in mind is that your Spell-Storing item, which you get at level 11, will give you a lot more versatility and uses of 1st or 2nd level spells. Dispel Magic is another very useful 3rd level spell and extremely thematic for an Artificer.
at high levels of play with the tiny servant spell, you can actually command multiple tiny servants to unload an entire Spell Storing Item at once. imagine casting 10 scorching rays on a bonus action!
Finally grease getting some love. On top of everything, not a concentration spell. Just a minute of good battle field control at a choke point or under a web.
Grease + prestidigitation= instant battlefield BBQ. Add Create Water from your cleric, and enjoy. Also, if your dm decides to try to use this against you, just use Prestidigitation again to clean up the mess!
@@joeyelmer8549 Spells only do what they say they do apparently. According to the game creators, Grease spell isn't flammable for that reason. You can always house rule it, but don't expect it at every table. Web spell is though, since it's right there in the text.
@@dainslatton9877 that is why it is important to ask at session 0 if "real world physics" will apply. That is the great thing about D&D. There is only 1 hard rule. Everything else is up for interpretation.
@@joeyelmer8549 In regards to real world physics, not all grease is flammable, and most grease that will burn isn't considered a fire hazard. From my perspective, it's basically like saying the Entangle spell should instantly go up in roaring flames.
One thing I think people either forget or homebrew away is that Mending has a casting time of 1 minute, so even if you intend to use it to heal your steel defender or eldritch cannon it would need to be done outside of combat. Additionally, the Steel Defender has self-healing capabilities making Mending a little less crucial.
“Invisibility makes a great escape route.” I’m laughing cause I’m remembering the time my space bard casted Invisibility on the cleric, climbed on their shoulders to become Invisible themselves, and ended up running around the battle map with the monk in a Looney Tunes type chase trying to stay out of reach of an unknown monster before we could get back to our ship. It also ended up that finding that loophole in Invisibility eventually turned into the cleric fastballing my bard while I readied an attack of some sort. I can’t wait to play that campaign again.
Fun fact! When you get to 11th level artificer you can store aid in an object and cast it 10 (assuming +5 to int) times without expending a spell slot. This means, when you start your day, that is 150 extra hp, which is 25 extra hp for everyone in a group of 6
My artificer's go to Tiny Servant, Screwie the Screwdriver, reeeally likes to screw with other people's bussiness. Also wants to be a superhero, but can't find a fitting nickname.
Another vote for Catapult here - I have an alchemist artificer in my campaign and she’s used it to great effect to ping vials of acid or alchemist’s fire at baddies.
Catapult is a lot of fun... if your DM understands it. Mine does not. So, rather than annoy myself and a DM I really enjoy playing with, I've shifted away from using it. I think part of the confusion about Artificers in general is that they're flavored as inventors, but mechanically are more of a cut-rate wizard.
Store 10 uses of level 2 catapult in your staff. Hollow out the staff to fill it with stones, and cut a strip off of the side so you can fingers through, but not so the stones will fall out. Cast magic stone on the first 3 stones in line, then using your staff as both arcane focus and to Cast the spell, catapult the last of the 3 stones at your target. On a hit, you get +1d8 from the focus, 4d8 bludgeoning damage from the catapult spell, and 3d6 + 15 from the magic stones. Rinse and repeat for the next 9 turns.
As someone on my third artificer, my current 8th-level armorer's go-to spells are absorb elements, catapult, cure wounds, expeditious retreat, grease, and Tasha's caustic brew at first level and enlarge/reduce, heat metal, and web at second level. I have found catapult to be a lovely damage spell especially when used to deliver vials of exotic and/or flammable liquids to a target. Cure wounds is strictly for emergencies as I am the teams off-healer, and I have taken to preparing expeditious retreat because I am constantly having to run from the back of the group to the front or vice versa usually while carrying someone. Carrying people is also the reason I keep enlarge/reduce handy.
The thing about artificers that mostly makes up for the slow spell progression is their ability to create temporary or permanent magical items that allow them to cast spells not on their spell list. Depending on GM ruling, the ability to infuse a 1st level spellwrought tattoo could give them access to literally any first level spell in the game (including great spells like find familiar or shield for the two subclasses that don't get it on their spell lists) they can also make a feather fall token or a wand of magic detection instead of preparing those spells. All of these could be done at level 2. At level 6 they can make a ring of water walking At level 10 they can get winged boots This is not including the magical items they could craft permanently, sure they can't prepare dimension door but there is nothing preventing them from crafting a Cape of the Mountebank to have a single use of dimension door every day. I could keep going on but this would get way too long.
Ritual Caster on Artificer sounds great. Not only are ritual spells utility-based, which is the area where Artificer already shines, but it gives them access to higher level spells than they can normally access.
The ability to swap out your cantrips when you level adds a lot of flexibility to use the "super effective at low level, but only so-so at higher level" ones.
High elves are perfect artificers - intelligence bonus, and an extra cantrip, which is insanely helpful at low levels. It's literally 50% more cantrips early on.
I know that it’s not actually an option but I love the thought of an Artificer gaining access to contingency, it’s a panic button, and in my head it’s a phenomenally useful and thematic tool. Maybe as a homebrew infusion of some sort.
Story about Aid. I've been playing a Battle Smith Artificer who uses her steel guardian as a mount. One of my party members, who was 60 ft away, was knocked out. I had my steel guardian pick me up, move the remainder of its movement (I believe it was 25 more feet), then I moved my maximum and cast AID on the downed player and two more allies. I ended up getting an inspiration point for that.
Alchemists get Flaming Sphere, which is a good way to not only weaponize your bonus action, but creates a very mobile "enemies should not be here" zone
@@karsten69 as an artificer you can craft 1,500 gp Plate mail so long as you have a chunk of metal and proficiency in smiths tools… so basically for free. That can not be a cantrip or 1st level spell as it would just be absolutely abused in game and possibly even banned from some tables if left as a cantrip.
@@karsten69 at this point then you’re heading into a quasi adversarial approach with your players which is never good. But why wouldn’t you go and try to mine for some? However, in this scenario as a player I would spend my downtime to smelt my crews armor and weapons so they become raw materials again and then just spend ten minutes making them into whatever they would like. As well you just tell people “bring me metal and I’ll make whatever you like for the best price in all the lands” you may piss off all the local smiths, but you’ll come out on top.
Honestly, a healing spell is great to have regardless of the amount of healers. Both for the inevitability that your healer goes down and in those cases where they need to cast other spells or for whatever reason they're not in the area. Considering our other caster besides myself is our Peace Domain Cleric, I should probably lean to damaging spells. I also went with a tiefling, specifically Zariel, for those times where I wade into combat. Those Smites will likely come in handy.
This is super useful, engaging, and entertaining content! Great job fellas. Broad enough to apply to many situations, party compositions, and campaign themes, but not so broad as to be useless. You hit that elusive sweet spot here!
With a flying homunculus, which you can use to channel touch spells, I prefer having as many of those as possible. It gives you the opportunity to cast "Spare the Dying", "Cure Wounds" and "Revivify" on people in a distance, as well as mending to another construct. Of course a nice "Shocking Grasp" can also be delivered.
I love Catapult as a level 1 spell, just the idea of blasting a random object that is within 60ft of range from you, up to 90 feet smashing into an enemy for 3D8 damage! So fun, so funny and so flavourful!
Given that Battle Smith and Artillerists (I forget if Armorers do) have constructs that can take damage, and are healed by mending ... These artificers really only have ONE cantrip available, because they're going to take mending. In fact. I'd personally make a house rule that artificers automatically get one or two extra pre-selected cantrips, probably mending and mage hand, that cannot be swapped out.
Armorers don't, but starting at level 2 every artificer is able to choose the homunculus infusion, which benefits from mending. But why boost the artificer's power like you propose? It's not really necessary. They have Magical Tinkering for basic utility stuff, and it's not like the Mending cantrip can't be used for other things too.
Thanks for these videos! I had absolutely no idea how to build an artificer before I saw them, I’m pretty sure they’re the only thing that’s kept my character alive this long 😅
Love this! Just starting a new Artificer and had almost the exact same list- I went with tiny servant for one big reason; battle smiths will have a Humunculus Servant and Iron Defender at that point. Once you add the Tiny Servant you become excessively versatile in action economy and you can set up your own attack actions with ease
I really like the fact that artificers have the ritual casting feature. Being able to cast detect magic and identify without using spell slots is a game changer in terms of resource conservation.
@@bigdream_dreambig that's true, but detect magic is always useful to have, while identify can be easily prepared for when you know you'll have some time outside of combat to appraise your groups spoils enmass, but still want to keep your spell slots available for unforseen situations. Either way they can be huge resource saving utilities, which I think is a major focus of the base class in general: utility/support. Every detect magic or identify you cast is one extra spell slot your party wizard doesn't have to burn, or covers a niche your party lacks if you don't have a wizard.
We don't play often but in the one D&D campaign I'm in, I play an Artificer. I made it a priority to only take spells that I know I can reflavor into mechanical things. Faerie Fire, for example, has me reaching into a pocket and grabbing a handful of oily metal shavings and tossing them onto the enemy. Causing them to light up for everyone with a glittery sheen.
I'm a fan of Thorn Whip for Artificers. It's not a _lot_ of damage, but magical piercing is a great damage type, it also packs a strong pull, and who can turn down a 30' _melee_ attack?
@@jeffdietz630 1. Fly above and Thorn Whip. 2. Pull them up and watch them take fall damage and land prone. 3. Laugh as the mad scientist you are. 4. Cry as you used your magic item and action at level 10 for a combo that dealt 3d6 damage, as the mad scientist you are.
Catapult is so useful. Made a bomb? Catapult. Have alchemists fire and something more than 20 feet away? Catapult. You're an artilirist and you need to reposition your flamethrower closer to an enemy right quick and in a hurry? Catapult. Want to turn a ball bearing into a bullet? Catapult.
Careful. An object thrown by Catapult takes damage when it strikes something, which your DM may interpret as also meaning if/when it hits the floor, so it's probably not the best idea to use it to reposition your artillery.
You make a good point about the limited number of cantrips and power level of the spells per artificer level. At least for me, I think first of what an artificer would do without any spellcasting ability, and then I add the limited spellcasting to support or augment the aspects o tinkering, infusions, and subclass features. The power level can be difficult to grasp, though, and your review here is helpful to consider how to manage through the character levels.
Catapult ftw You can prepare objects, put them together inside easy breakable jars to throw to combo the enemies. Of course, this cannot just be improvised since you can only cast it on 1 object at the time, so be carefull You can put a jar with an alchemic fire and oil, or a jar full of caltrops and bearing balls to 'home alone' the enemies
Craft a ball out of silver (either with Fabricate or requisitioned from an NPC), you can now deal silvered bludgeoning damage, for use against lycanthropes and other silver-vulnerable creatures. If you can scrounge and craft just a pound of adamantine? Objects made of adamantine deals auto-crits to objects, so even a level 1 Catapult could deal up to 48 damage to a door or wall, giving you (with a little luck) an emergency exit through an unexpected portal. It doesn't even have to be used offensively. One time, our Battle Master Fighter managed to land a Disarming Strike on the BBEG, knocking their Greataxe out of their hands. The Maneuver specifically states that the dropped item falls at their feet, so they can just pick it back up the following turn - until I cast a 2nd level Catapult on it (the Greataxe weighs 7 lbs in the Weapons list of the PHB) and flung it 90 feet across the room. They rapidly realised that they had just travelled a long way up shit creek.
Expeditious Retreat is fabulous at lower levels, and it's a super thematic precursor to Haste, like the spell is cast by a prototype of whatever turbo button or potion you will use to cast Haste.
I'm jumping in as a dwarf (eventually battlesmith) artificer. Given it's a Warhammer based campaign, and my character is the progeny of a line of gunsmiths, my DM let me start with a pistol instead of a hand crossbow. The wonderful thing about that is that the d10 + dex damage is higher than any of the cantrips would be, so it allowed me to double down on utility with Mending and Spare the Dying. The only dedicated healer in our party is a paladin, so I took both StD and Cure Wounds to help out.
Thank you for this! As a person who loves Artificer as it teaches players how to reflavour their characters and come up with some crazy ways to use their spells. 😊 I love making an alchemist who leans into the Herbert West styled mad creator making weird elixirs and trying to reainimate the dead with the humonculos servant. Also, nothing funnier than invincibility flavoured as a potion that players have to drink making them invisible but only if they take their armour off. Makes people have to play attention to it wearing off!
On my Celestial Warlock and my Armorer Artificer, as soon as I get access to Revivify I'm looking for enough downtime to create a scroll of Revivify which will allow you to use your limited spells for more interesting things while keeping it in reserve.
21:43 I had the sudden mental image of a panel opening up in the construct's chest and launching a spring-loaded boxing glove with Bigby's Clenched Fist 🤣
Due to the limited number of cantrips, an Artillerist should take Thorn Whip. The reason is because Thorn Whip is a melee spell attack despite having a 30 ft range. Meaning you can cast it without disadvantage even with enemies next to you.
I just love the idea of stonecutting tool proficiency and then just cast fabricate on the stone floor to create 10 feet of caltrops terrain. that being said, Fabricate should have been a 1st level spell, long casting time, uses up the materials, intricate designs must have proficiency, it's not at all overpowered even at low levels.
Yep, especially since artificer is a half caster so don't get the spell slot for it until 13th, and even them it's a pretty mediocre spell to use a 4th level on
Here's a thought: An Armorer can actually change roles from support or attack at lower levels, to a tanky Concentration spellcaster at higher (10+) levels. Since the damage from Arcane Armor doesn't increase except for INT bonus, this will be outpaced pretty quickly. But you still have a spellcaster that can wear heavy armor & use a shield. A level 10 Armorer with full plate and a shield, with the infusions of Enhanced Defense and Repulsion Shield has an AC of 23. Add the Warcaster feat and shield spell, you have a spell hurler that can cast concentration spells & is pretty hard to lose that concentration.
@@theonlymatthew.l it really beats the 0/day. And if you're playing a 10th level character that repeatedly has to bump their AC from 23 to 28, you might just have a sadistic DM..... *eyes Monty warily*
@@frankbassett6192 Honestly I would think I would just dip 2 levels in Wizard 🤷♂️. As currently I find it highly doubtful that I will find a game that plays at lvl 20
I’d give Magic Stone a hard look, particularly if you will get an 18 INT with CL/1/2feat starting from first level. Although the range is less, 60’ is still acceptable in the majority of circumstances. A Magic Stone can be used to attack objects, as with Fire Bolt, but far fewer enemies are resistant to magical bludgeoning damage than fire damage. 1d6+4 is not only higher than 1d10, but a minimum damage of 5 hp on a successful hit means your Stone is guaranteed to incapacitate the really low CR critters that show up in numbers at L1. This makes the hits more effective than average damage would indicate. Finally, you get multiple stones and there is usually another party member like a cleric or bard that would, overall, have a higher attack bonus and more consistent damage using a Stone you hand over as opposed to a longbow or crossbow. Since Artificers can switch out cantrips when leveling, at 5th Level you can switch it for Fire Bolt, which levels. But, by then most characters are using less actions on attack cantrips (SorLock excluded, but that EB is essentially a Formula 1 Engine stuck in a GoKart chassis). I worried that the 60’ range would be a problem...but, it rarely comes up...and in my experience, at low level there is always another character with a suboptimal ranged attack that can just throw a Stone. And, on at least 3 occasions at L2/3 only one player had a legit magic weapon against creature resistant to non-magic attacks. Those stones made a huge difference - with them, we had a chance. Without them, we would have had to run...there wasn’t a reasonable chance to take the enemy down before or Paly dropped - and, he had the magic sword. If they went down to 10 hp each and a crit had gone against us...with two Stones/round will still recovered. Without them, less certainty. At Level 1-3 when not everyone has a +1 can opener, those pebbles are nothing to scoff at.
magic stone uses your spellcasting mod even when you hand it to someone, so druids and rangers can use magic stone and conjure animals (monkies) or you could use the tiny servant to get a third attack on your turn, using up all of the stones you get
Guys it is amazing how you seemingly try a different outfit and/or hair style every other video and no matter what you're always rocking it. That's some big drip energy you have 🔥🔥🔥
I think best cantrips For artificers are spare the dying and mending expetially if you are a battle Smith or armorer. I mean i already have good hurting optinons like magic weapons and fighing gautlets expetially the infiltrator that can do the damage of a ranged great sword per turn and with extra attack you can obliterate an enemy with at least 5d6 of damage between lighting gautlets and a spell with 3d6 of damage
Artificers only getting two cantrips to start is such a pain. Because important ones like Mending are necessary, and also having one attack cantrip also really helps.
I'm having a lot of fun with pottery tools and alchemy jug to fill small clay jugs with oil. Use them as the focus of the catapult spell and then fire bolt the now oil soaked enemy on the next turn. We're also playing pirates so works great on enemy vessels trying to board.
Aside from the intended uses (having someone under the effect to non-offensive actions) it's a poor man's Shield. Attack, and then cast Sanctuary while placing yourself between the enemy and your allies.
@@nilsjonsson4446 I understand your points but I think you are under valuing its power. Its a bonus action, have a 30ft range and last for a minute. Not just that, but it doesn't even require concentration. Against creatures with low wisdom, which is a lot of creatures. This is very powerful. As a tank it can save you from so many hits. You can even use it to ward your backline. Seeing it used in game on multiple occasions, it is very powerful.
@@JohnSmith-mn2ip The "poor man" in this case is simply any Cleric or Artificer. It's a great spell and my point is that intuitively you'd think to use it on someone that's not attacking (e.g. a completely pacifist support caster or a mount), but even if it only lasts a round, it's a good spell! It's amazing if it lasts several rounds, e.g. on the Bard concentrating on Hypnotic Pattern.
I find the High Elf much more appealing for Artificers for the extra cantrip. Also, I found myself tempted by the Catapult spell. Thanks for the video guys. Love the content.
I'm playing a Fire Genasi armorer, and Fire Genasi get Produce Flame as a racial cantrip. 1d8 fire damage isn't as good as Fire Bolt's 1d10, but it's serviceable enough to let you take two support cantrips without feeling like you're missing out. Fire Genasi is a really underrated artificer race.
Honestly one of the most staple ones is to go V.human artificer taking spellsniper : thorn whip and have MH and mending as your cantrips and grease as a first level spell you have a real good damage+control combo
You could take magic initiate... or you could take aberrant dragonmark, get 1 sorcerer cantrip, and 1 1st level spell on a short rest cool down. Shield, Hex, Hunter's Mark, etc...
Tiny Servant came up and was not talked about much with the Dungeon Dudes I can recommend a resource. Bilbron did a “Tiny Servant Deep Dive” on his channel (about a month ago) so give it a look for some ideas about the spell. (He really is crazy about the spell)
I just started last week to play a Harengon Armorer Artificer, my spell choices for this start are: Cantrips: Firebolt (came already to use because when the battle started my character was way behind the rest) Mage Hand First Level: Absorb Elements Faerie Fire (already loved that on my bard before) Feather Fall (saved the group before two times when playing the bard) Second Level: Aid Darkvision Invisibility Vortex Warp Since I took Fey touched as Feat I also got Bless Misty Step And of course the always prepared spells from the class itself. We started those new Group of characters directly on level 7.
As a note for BS and Ar subclasses booming or green flame blade works with warcaster and might be a thing to pick up at 10th level or at 1st if your running a feat at first level (and picking up warcaster)
I like this content a lot. The only thing i would say against it (and i do mean only cause the rest is gold) is for not taking tiny servant. Since homunculus servant is an option that also requires your bonus actions to command, i would use that since it doesn't take up spell slots. Later on you might swap out HS if you want to infuse something else from the infusion list, but it is hard to say that spell is needed above blink when artificer is the class that has that without needing to use up a spell slot. Otherwise great video and very helpful.
another thing to consider with Artificers is other things that grant spells like the Dragonmarked races from Eberron: Rising from the Last War or having a Guild background from Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica my GM was very lenient and allowed our party to have both these options in our games with some reflavouring
Eyo guys, love your channel! Keep up the amazingness and PLS GOD PLS TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK OF THE FATHOMLESS I'VE BEEN WAITING 7 MONTHS!!! :)))))))))))))))))))
Im currently building the anti adventurer based on yun from Yona the dawn a nerd alchemist who's really helpful and competent at everything but adventuring proficient in cartography cooking herbalism feet most knowledge skills. This was super helpful
Oh damn, I'm early. Thanks so much for doing this guys. I'm new to D&D i.e started at 5e and my very first class was the Artificier and I am loving it so far.
I've been wondering about how the Artificer works with novices. Some of the previous 12 classes are easier for beginners than others, but there's nothing that can't be solved with prep time and a little coaching. Artificer, though, seemed awfully complicated for a newbie. Your thoughts?
My first character was also an Artificer. I chose Battle Smith and paired it with being a Warforged. I found it really simple compared to a full caster while also being more interesting than a pure martial class.
@@destroyer1675 Honest question: How was it simple compared to a full caster? In addition to having to choose which spells to prepare every day (like a cleric), you also have to decide which infusions to have active daily, plus your spell storing spell each day, not to mention using your subclass features -- _and_ you also need to decide how you want to re-flavor each of your spells to make them artificer-appropriate. It seems like a lot more than a wizard worries about!
@@bigdream_dreambig honestly the spells were a little bit too overwhelming but since I chose Armorer i usually just attacked using the Arcane Armor feature or tanked blows using the Armor Model: Guardian. My spells were more for utility and healing the party. I'm actually thinking of making a Battle Smith as well since that is an interesting class to me. I've always loved classes that were basically crafting/has an actual role in combat and the Artificier is the closest
@@bigdream_dreambig I found it simpler because I didn't change spells or infusions that often, I didn't get high enough of a level to unlock Spell Storing item and because it was my first time playing my DM didn't require the re-flavouring of spells.
I’m currently playing a level 6 armorer artificer, and the cantrips that I’m using are light (usually needed in my party) and I’ve been having fun with playing field control with lightning lure. I think this is the last level I’m going to have LL, but it has been very useful. My spells prepared are 1st: Absorb Elements, Cure Wounds (I’m the secondary healer), Faerie Fire, Feather Fall, Longstrider, Magic Missile, Thunderwave. 2nd: Aid, Enlarge/Reduce, Shatter, Mirror Image. It’s been a lot of fun handing magic items to people and making combat difficult for my dm.
As far as haste and artillerists, and maybe even alchemists, you can use your spell storing item with your extra item up to ten times. That means that your ability to drop an extra scorching ray or shatter or cure wounds can actually be better than just giving another player a single extra attack.
My favourite artificer spell is magic stone. You can use a bonus action to enchant stones for your servant to throw using your intelligence modifier. This tactic is actually better for a wizard who just takes a feat, bur the artificer can still do it. If you have three tiny servants and a bag of stones, you can effectively use a bonus action for three attacks each round.
Given the artificer's ability to swap out a cantrip when they level up, every artificer who has at least a +4 Int mod should take Magic Stone instead of Fire Bolt until 5th level.
For a Battle Smith there's a good case for spending an infusion on your primary weapon, which makes it magic and you can use INT as your attack stat, and then you don't need a combat cantrip at all. For the Repeating Shot Infusion, may I suggest flavoring it as a Chu-Ko-Nu crossbow or an Instant Legolas bow?
I built my Artificer much like this before I saw the video. Maybe because I consume a lot of DDudes videos. I took MI: Wizard and got Thorn Whip as a cantrip to keep enemies beside the character (L4 Armorer). Managed to keep some mooks beside me. Also, Grease came in useful in and out of combat. Considering Heat Metal when I level.
What do you think about kinetic jaunt on an armorer; being able to run through enemies to distribute the disadvantage inducing auto attack seems pretty nice. 10 ft of movement on top of also being only a bonus action seems very nice.
My artificer High elf for the free ray of frost catrip. Went infiltrate armorer ( this was ua version at the time) with mending and guidance. Dipd 1 lvl into forge cleric (for the extra cantrips spare the dying is huge and there free psudo infusion and realy helped lighten the spell load up even though my wisdom was only 14. Spells i always had were cure wounds healing word MM and sheild Heat metal levitate (Thats what I remember using most of the time.) This was like over a yr ago and without going on r20 I don't remember. I remember my gimmick was in alot of our down time I had crafted 3 wands of MM. And had installed them into my shoulder (my hands were always free just for thematics) and id use all 7 charges and burst them out like a missile barrage whenever I could my infusions were I put repeater on our rouges crossbow and bag of holding and then I bestowed +1 armor to our ranger/druid multiclass. It was a 3 person party and I tanked and supported the later half after my khaos soccerer died. (It started out as a 6 person party but life had dropped us down to 3 after lvl6)
Definitely would have tossed "Enhance Ability" in my spell list. Guidance is also a must-have. But I might be biased due to me always playing the crafty lad who rolls tool checks left and right, and want the best results from it.
Revivify from an artificer is just a defribulator.
A fantasy defibrillator, since they only work like that in fantasy
Gandalf, "CLEAR!"
Yeah, that's exactly how I planned to flavor it: rather than a soothing divine intercession, it would be a violent "KER-CHUNK" to kick your dead ass back into gear! 😝
@@bigdream_dreambig A diamond suppository would wake me from near-death
@@ryanhale6339 "Dammit! No response! We're losing him! We're going to have to increase the dose to 2.5 carats!"
One important thing you missed regarding cantrips: The artificer is able to change one of their cantrip selections at every level, so you may want different ones for levels 1-2 (before you get your subclass features), levels 3-4 (once you have your subclass), and levels 5+ (if you get extra attack).
This, so much this. You can, for example, choose Magic Stone at early levels and then "trade" it with Fire Bolt at Lvl 5.
Also booming blade is great unless you get extra attack.
If you pick artillerist mending should never leave your cantrip list, gotta keep that cannon working for the full hour
@@benjin3993 Yes, but maybe you don't take it until level 2 or 3.
@@bigdream_dreambig yes since it's only good for to until then imo
One thing with Artificers is that they can change their cantrips when they level. In this case, an Armorer or Battle Smith taking booming blade or green flame blade at lower levels then swapping to something else at 5th level works
While true, I'd keep it because after a while it's better than the extra attack (since you only get one)
I'd switch back to booming blade later, as at level 11 it far out damages extra attack, provided you aren't running greatweapon master with hex or something.
That is the cool thing about Artificer and also their downside. You can customize a lot, so if you pay attention you can min-max your character without multiclassing and be effective.
The downside is that you have to keep track of a lot. Spells everyday, cantrips every level up, infusions, magical tinkering.
I wouldn't swap out an armourer 2nd attack for booming or gfb. Yes it's more damage BUT you lose that 2nd chance to give something disadvantage towards your allies which is a core feature of the sub class
@@Tattoosbycal I think it depends. 2 enemies are not always close enough together to get attacks on multiple creatures. In that case use a blade spell. Also your character might just need to focus on one hard enemy for a bit and let the others take out some minions. I'd use a spell here too
I am LIVING for this artificer content. Hard to find since it's new but love to see it
Same
Agreed!
100th like
I'm with you guys😆
It's not new, it's been around for years back in the 3.5 days....
Really wish Artificers just began with Mending plus two cantrips of their choice. Making an Artificer for which Mending *doesn't* feel compulsory would be incredibly niche. It's Eldritch Blast all over again. 99% of the Artificers I could possibly build will simply have Guidance and an attack cantrip that will be switched for Mending after getting through the low levels.
I wouldn't compare Mending to Eldritch Blast. Mending is very thematic, true, but the only subclass that it's a must-have for is Battlesmith. Artillerist's canons are temporary and don't get that much damage, and for any other Artificer Mending is just a thematic, but still incredibly situational spell.
Though yes, getting it for free would be nice.
In the campaign, I'm playing as an Artificer, my DM just allowed me to have Mending as a free cantrip since it is so crucial but feels so rough to choose over other cantrips sometimes. My others are guidance and fire bolt and they're both used more than mending tbh. Maybe ask your DM for something similar?
@@antongrigoryev6381 not just thematic if a battle Smith, it's the only way to restore your guardians health
In my games, Warlocks get Eldritch Blast for free and Artificers get Mending for free becuase FUCK they need it. Basically, it functions more as a class feature in that case. As a trade off for Artificer, I would probably have them trade out Magical Tinkering, becuase let's be real... they are gonna use it once and forget it exists.
@@antongrigoryev6381 Eldritch Cannons still last for 10 minutes. they may be temporary, but Mending could help them get through more than one fight.
Every artificer gets "Magical Tinkering" at level 1 which has a lot of overlap with basic utility cantrips like Prestidigitation, thus making them even less appealing choices.
Can magical tinkering clean off my character after being covered in monster guts
@@crsmith6226 Nope...but you could make yourself sweet-smelling with the scent of vanilla!
First, Artificers should not be spell casters, the whole premise of this class is: simulate magical effects by manipulating awesome unseen technology. But, at the same time they have ZERO nonmagical abilities that are meaningful in the context of the game.
It's just lazy design, "ok, let's make another paladin like class, but give them cellphones and youtube". BAM! The Artificer.
@@EnfermeiroPensador that is one way to frame it but I think a more accurate way of framing it is that atificers infuse their magic into objects to create technology
@@ambermurray2496 Still lazy design.
I personally would take Enlarge/Reduce over Aid because of the added flexibility in and out of combat. Because Artificers are half casters, I really want my spells to be useful in as many situations as possible.
adding 25 max hp at max level is not to laugh at...
Yes, a cleric would be more suited to that job, but any hp is good to take.
@@antikmayas True, and I'm definitely not saying Aid is a bad choice. I'm just giving my opinion on what I would choose, and my reason behind it. Aid is a great spell, and if you like it, take it. I prefer Enlarge/Reduce.
Oh yea great when you need to grapple down a dragon or turn a halfling into a normal size dude as disguise.
One thing I kinda felt was missing from this video was the spell storing item feature for the Artificer the ability to cast a 1st or 2nd level spell 10 times (with a 20 int) is pretty good
Haste is also very strong with it, because you can use the hasted action to use a non-magical object, which is what the spell storing item is. The storing item is amazing, it's like 8-10 additional second level slots that you can let a friend use
Haste is decent. Shield tho..mmm.
Unfortunately that doesn't come until level 11
I played an Artificer in Curse of Strahd, and Mending ended up becoming really useful when we had to take refuge in a cabin, because I used it to fix the doors, walls and windows - and it saved us from a lot of bats and a pack of werewolves.
Fabricate is the most important spell in the game because it allows you to produce oars: the true mark of a master spellcaster.
Fantastic video. One thing to keep in mind is that your Spell-Storing item, which you get at level 11, will give you a lot more versatility and uses of 1st or 2nd level spells. Dispel Magic is another very useful 3rd level spell and extremely thematic for an Artificer.
faerie fire in SSI is nice. or grease
at high levels of play with the tiny servant spell, you can actually command multiple tiny servants to unload an entire Spell Storing Item at once. imagine casting 10 scorching rays on a bonus action!
I like telekinetic feat for artificer. The extra mage hand spell really helps at early level. And helps with doing something with bonus action.
That's actually a great idea. You can push people into the Grease or Web too!
Artillerist and Battle Smith already have uses for their Bonus Actions
@@stevenmarko4769 Alchemist can throw webs up and shove people into them.
I guess I should have mentioned Armorer specifically. Other than defensive fields, not much to reliably use my bonus action on.
Plus a +1 to Intelligence never hurts.
Finally grease getting some love. On top of everything, not a concentration spell. Just a minute of good battle field control at a choke point or under a web.
Grease + prestidigitation= instant battlefield BBQ.
Add Create Water from your cleric, and enjoy.
Also, if your dm decides to try to use this against you, just use Prestidigitation again to clean up the mess!
@@joeyelmer8549 Spells only do what they say they do apparently. According to the game creators, Grease spell isn't flammable for that reason. You can always house rule it, but don't expect it at every table. Web spell is though, since it's right there in the text.
@@dainslatton9877 that is why it is important to ask at session 0 if "real world physics" will apply.
That is the great thing about D&D. There is only 1 hard rule. Everything else is up for interpretation.
@@joeyelmer8549 In regards to real world physics, not all grease is flammable, and most grease that will burn isn't considered a fire hazard. From my perspective, it's basically like saying the Entangle spell should instantly go up in roaring flames.
One thing I think people either forget or homebrew away is that Mending has a casting time of 1 minute, so even if you intend to use it to heal your steel defender or eldritch cannon it would need to be done outside of combat. Additionally, the Steel Defender has self-healing capabilities making Mending a little less crucial.
“Invisibility makes a great escape route.” I’m laughing cause I’m remembering the time my space bard casted Invisibility on the cleric, climbed on their shoulders to become Invisible themselves, and ended up running around the battle map with the monk in a Looney Tunes type chase trying to stay out of reach of an unknown monster before we could get back to our ship.
It also ended up that finding that loophole in Invisibility eventually turned into the cleric fastballing my bard while I readied an attack of some sort. I can’t wait to play that campaign again.
Fastball Special huh? I like it 😂
Fun fact! When you get to 11th level artificer you can store aid in an object and cast it 10 (assuming +5 to int) times without expending a spell slot. This means, when you start your day, that is 150 extra hp, which is 25 extra hp for everyone in a group of 6
unfortunately buffs cannot be stacked, but i would argue the current HP can still be added so you would still be able to heal 5HP x 3 ten times
My artificer's go to Tiny Servant, Screwie the Screwdriver, reeeally likes to screw with other people's bussiness. Also wants to be a superhero, but can't find a fitting nickname.
Yeah, "Super Screw" is probably inappropriate. 🪛🙈🪛
Dread Pirate Robertson?
"the tightener" will get you!
@@bigdream_dreambig He tried that one, actually, but was politely discouraged by everyone giggling like 13 year old teenagers.
@@Gargandan Nice one, will recommend it to him.
My friend now plays an Artificer in my campaign I DM, of which, I'm not that familiar... This helps a lot!
Another vote for Catapult here - I have an alchemist artificer in my campaign and she’s used it to great effect to ping vials of acid or alchemist’s fire at baddies.
Catapult is a lot of fun... if your DM understands it. Mine does not. So, rather than annoy myself and a DM I really enjoy playing with, I've shifted away from using it. I think part of the confusion about Artificers in general is that they're flavored as inventors, but mechanically are more of a cut-rate wizard.
Wonderful spell. You can even take Magic Stone cantrip and go for a shrapnel-gunner roleplay.
@@vladimirserpov6773 ha, that’s an excellent idea!
Store 10 uses of level 2 catapult in your staff. Hollow out the staff to fill it with stones, and cut a strip off of the side so you can fingers through, but not so the stones will fall out. Cast magic stone on the first 3 stones in line, then using your staff as both arcane focus and to Cast the spell, catapult the last of the 3 stones at your target. On a hit, you get +1d8 from the focus, 4d8 bludgeoning damage from the catapult spell, and 3d6 + 15 from the magic stones. Rinse and repeat for the next 9 turns.
As someone on my third artificer, my current 8th-level armorer's go-to spells are absorb elements, catapult, cure wounds, expeditious retreat, grease, and Tasha's caustic brew at first level and enlarge/reduce, heat metal, and web at second level. I have found catapult to be a lovely damage spell especially when used to deliver vials of exotic and/or flammable liquids to a target. Cure wounds is strictly for emergencies as I am the teams off-healer, and I have taken to preparing expeditious retreat because I am constantly having to run from the back of the group to the front or vice versa usually while carrying someone. Carrying people is also the reason I keep enlarge/reduce handy.
The thing about artificers that mostly makes up for the slow spell progression is their ability to create temporary or permanent magical items that allow them to cast spells not on their spell list. Depending on GM ruling, the ability to infuse a 1st level spellwrought tattoo could give them access to literally any first level spell in the game (including great spells like find familiar or shield for the two subclasses that don't get it on their spell lists) they can also make a feather fall token or a wand of magic detection instead of preparing those spells. All of these could be done at level 2.
At level 6 they can make a ring of water walking
At level 10 they can get winged boots
This is not including the magical items they could craft permanently, sure they can't prepare dimension door but there is nothing preventing them from crafting a Cape of the Mountebank to have a single use of dimension door every day. I could keep going on but this would get way too long.
Ritual Caster on Artificer sounds great. Not only are ritual spells utility-based, which is the area where Artificer already shines, but it gives them access to higher level spells than they can normally access.
The ability to swap out your cantrips when you level adds a lot of flexibility to use the "super effective at low level, but only so-so at higher level" ones.
High elves are perfect artificers - intelligence bonus, and an extra cantrip, which is insanely helpful at low levels. It's literally 50% more cantrips early on.
And this is why I made my alchemist a high elf and gave him acid splash
Elves are not my favorite
My new artificer is also an aereni high elf alchemist i think its nice and u have 4hours Long Rest so U can usw the time to craft a lot of things
Variant half-elf can get that high elf cantrip too.
I know that it’s not actually an option but I love the thought of an Artificer gaining access to contingency, it’s a panic button, and in my head it’s a phenomenally useful and thematic tool. Maybe as a homebrew infusion of some sort.
I also like Thornwhip thematically. The idea of a barbed/razored chain springing out of a contraption just appeals to me.
Story about Aid. I've been playing a Battle Smith Artificer who uses her steel guardian as a mount. One of my party members, who was 60 ft away, was knocked out. I had my steel guardian pick me up, move the remainder of its movement (I believe it was 25 more feet), then I moved my maximum and cast AID on the downed player and two more allies. I ended up getting an inspiration point for that.
Alchemists get Flaming Sphere, which is a good way to not only weaponize your bonus action, but creates a very mobile "enemies should not be here" zone
I imagine that if a bard uses fabricate, they just play the Home Depot theme song
Fabricate should be a 1st level spell or maybe even a cantrip.
I was thinking the theme song from home improvements “Tool Time”
@@karsten69 as an artificer you can craft 1,500 gp Plate mail so long as you have a chunk of metal and proficiency in smiths tools… so basically for free. That can not be a cantrip or 1st level spell as it would just be absolutely abused in game and possibly even banned from some tables if left as a cantrip.
@@Trial88 just make a chunk of metal pricey to offset the profit.
@@karsten69 at this point then you’re heading into a quasi adversarial approach with your players which is never good. But why wouldn’t you go and try to mine for some? However, in this scenario as a player I would spend my downtime to smelt my crews armor and weapons so they become raw materials again and then just spend ten minutes making them into whatever they would like. As well you just tell people “bring me metal and I’ll make whatever you like for the best price in all the lands” you may piss off all the local smiths, but you’ll come out on top.
Honestly, a healing spell is great to have regardless of the amount of healers. Both for the inevitability that your healer goes down and in those cases where they need to cast other spells or for whatever reason they're not in the area.
Considering our other caster besides myself is our Peace Domain Cleric, I should probably lean to damaging spells. I also went with a tiefling, specifically Zariel, for those times where I wade into combat. Those Smites will likely come in handy.
I've always wanted to try an artificer and I love your spell list suggestions! Heat metal and Web sound so amazing - thanks for the great content! 🤓
This is super useful, engaging, and entertaining content! Great job fellas. Broad enough to apply to many situations, party compositions, and campaign themes, but not so broad as to be useless. You hit that elusive sweet spot here!
With a flying homunculus, which you can use to channel touch spells, I prefer having as many of those as possible. It gives you the opportunity to cast "Spare the Dying", "Cure Wounds" and "Revivify" on people in a distance, as well as mending to another construct. Of course a nice "Shocking Grasp" can also be delivered.
I love Catapult as a level 1 spell, just the idea of blasting a random object that is within 60ft of range from you, up to 90 feet smashing into an enemy for 3D8 damage! So fun, so funny and so flavourful!
Given that Battle Smith and Artillerists (I forget if Armorers do) have constructs that can take damage, and are healed by mending ... These artificers really only have ONE cantrip available, because they're going to take mending. In fact. I'd personally make a house rule that artificers automatically get one or two extra pre-selected cantrips, probably mending and mage hand, that cannot be swapped out.
Armorers don't, but starting at level 2 every artificer is able to choose the homunculus infusion, which benefits from mending. But why boost the artificer's power like you propose? It's not really necessary. They have Magical Tinkering for basic utility stuff, and it's not like the Mending cantrip can't be used for other things too.
Thanks for these videos! I had absolutely no idea how to build an artificer before I saw them, I’m pretty sure they’re the only thing that’s kept my character alive this long 😅
Love this! Just starting a new Artificer and had almost the exact same list- I went with tiny servant for one big reason; battle smiths will have a Humunculus Servant and Iron Defender at that point. Once you add the Tiny Servant you become excessively versatile in action economy and you can set up your own attack actions with ease
I really like the fact that artificers have the ritual casting feature. Being able to cast detect magic and identify without using spell slots is a game changer in terms of resource conservation.
Unfortunately, you still need to have the ritual spell prepared, so it's not quite as useful for the artificer as it is for a wizard.
@@bigdream_dreambig that's true, but detect magic is always useful to have, while identify can be easily prepared for when you know you'll have some time outside of combat to appraise your groups spoils enmass, but still want to keep your spell slots available for unforseen situations.
Either way they can be huge resource saving utilities, which I think is a major focus of the base class in general: utility/support. Every detect magic or identify you cast is one extra spell slot your party wizard doesn't have to burn, or covers a niche your party lacks if you don't have a wizard.
I love artificer so this is the video I needed 😂
1. Shield
2. Rope Trick & Catnap
3. Dispel magic
4. Wall of Force
5. Fireball
6. Revivify
Thank you for the guide, Dudes, the quality of your content remains high all the time :D
Kelly's cephalopod themed t-shirts are amazing. Thank you for another fun video.
Very helpful video. I’m playing an artillerist so this is helpful indeed
We don't play often but in the one D&D campaign I'm in, I play an Artificer. I made it a priority to only take spells that I know I can reflavor into mechanical things. Faerie Fire, for example, has me reaching into a pocket and grabbing a handful of oily metal shavings and tossing them onto the enemy. Causing them to light up for everyone with a glittery sheen.
I'm a fan of Thorn Whip for Artificers. It's not a _lot_ of damage, but magical piercing is a great damage type, it also packs a strong pull, and who can turn down a 30' _melee_ attack?
If you levitate yourself, you pull them 10ft into the air, for extra fall damage and prone.
And you get to pull them into your Web or something! It's a lot of fun to use, but it's very hard to compete for just two cantrips known.
@@nilsjonsson4446 yeah better when you hit 10th level and you infuse boots of flying.
@@jeffdietz630
1. Fly above and Thorn Whip.
2. Pull them up and watch them take fall damage and land prone.
3. Laugh as the mad scientist you are.
4. Cry as you used your magic item and action at level 10 for a combo that dealt 3d6 damage, as the mad scientist you are.
@@nilsjonsson4446 Step 5. Bonus Action Monolog as the mad scientist.
Catapult is so useful. Made a bomb? Catapult. Have alchemists fire and something more than 20 feet away? Catapult. You're an artilirist and you need to reposition your flamethrower closer to an enemy right quick and in a hurry? Catapult. Want to turn a ball bearing into a bullet? Catapult.
Every time I've designed an Artificer, Catapult was the first spell I took.
That's brilliant. Definitely a must have for an Artillerist.
Careful. An object thrown by Catapult takes damage when it strikes something, which your DM may interpret as also meaning if/when it hits the floor, so it's probably not the best idea to use it to reposition your artillery.
You make a good point about the limited number of cantrips and power level of the spells per artificer level. At least for me, I think first of what an artificer would do without any spellcasting ability, and then I add the limited spellcasting to support or augment the aspects o tinkering, infusions, and subclass features. The power level can be difficult to grasp, though, and your review here is helpful to consider how to manage through the character levels.
Catapult ftw
You can prepare objects, put them together inside easy breakable jars to throw to combo the enemies. Of course, this cannot just be improvised since you can only cast it on 1 object at the time, so be carefull
You can put a jar with an alchemic fire and oil, or a jar full of caltrops and bearing balls to 'home alone' the enemies
Craft a ball out of silver (either with Fabricate or requisitioned from an NPC), you can now deal silvered bludgeoning damage, for use against lycanthropes and other silver-vulnerable creatures.
If you can scrounge and craft just a pound of adamantine? Objects made of adamantine deals auto-crits to objects, so even a level 1 Catapult could deal up to 48 damage to a door or wall, giving you (with a little luck) an emergency exit through an unexpected portal.
It doesn't even have to be used offensively. One time, our Battle Master Fighter managed to land a Disarming Strike on the BBEG, knocking their Greataxe out of their hands. The Maneuver specifically states that the dropped item falls at their feet, so they can just pick it back up the following turn - until I cast a 2nd level Catapult on it (the Greataxe weighs 7 lbs in the Weapons list of the PHB) and flung it 90 feet across the room. They rapidly realised that they had just travelled a long way up shit creek.
@@Zombiewithabowtie "Where's your gun?"
"I AM the gun! (casts catapult)
Expeditious Retreat is fabulous at lower levels, and it's a super thematic precursor to Haste, like the spell is cast by a prototype of whatever turbo button or potion you will use to cast Haste.
I'm jumping in as a dwarf (eventually battlesmith) artificer. Given it's a Warhammer based campaign, and my character is the progeny of a line of gunsmiths, my DM let me start with a pistol instead of a hand crossbow. The wonderful thing about that is that the d10 + dex damage is higher than any of the cantrips would be, so it allowed me to double down on utility with Mending and Spare the Dying. The only dedicated healer in our party is a paladin, so I took both StD and Cure Wounds to help out.
I need to know what songs you use in the Drakkenheim campaigns. They add so much to the atmosphere.
Tabletop Audio. They thank them in every episode. Even the intro theme is there.
@@ryanhale6339 Yeah, but there are a lot of songs there, and I have no clue which ones they use.
Pretty sure I've heard the theme to "The Thing" in there a few times. If it isn't the song it is something very similar.
Thank you for this! As a person who loves Artificer as it teaches players how to reflavour their characters and come up with some crazy ways to use their spells. 😊 I love making an alchemist who leans into the Herbert West styled mad creator making weird elixirs and trying to reainimate the dead with the humonculos servant. Also, nothing funnier than invincibility flavoured as a potion that players have to drink making them invisible but only if they take their armour off. Makes people have to play attention to it wearing off!
On my Celestial Warlock and my Armorer Artificer, as soon as I get access to Revivify I'm looking for enough downtime to create a scroll of Revivify which will allow you to use your limited spells for more interesting things while keeping it in reserve.
21:43 I had the sudden mental image of a panel opening up in the construct's chest and launching a spring-loaded boxing glove with Bigby's Clenched Fist 🤣
U guys rock love watching ur vids. So helpful
Due to the limited number of cantrips, an Artillerist should take Thorn Whip. The reason is because Thorn Whip is a melee spell attack despite having a 30 ft range. Meaning you can cast it without disadvantage even with enemies next to you.
That's an interesting reason to take thorn whip over, say, firebolt lol.
I just love the idea of stonecutting tool proficiency and then just cast fabricate on the stone floor to create 10 feet of caltrops terrain. that being said, Fabricate should have been a 1st level spell, long casting time, uses up the materials, intricate designs must have proficiency, it's not at all overpowered even at low levels.
Yep, especially since artificer is a half caster so don't get the spell slot for it until 13th, and even them it's a pretty mediocre spell to use a 4th level on
Wow! Earliest I've ever made it to a dungeon dudes video!
Are you ever gonna make a video about Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft?
I at least assume you're gonna rank the new subclasses from it at some point.
Here's a thought:
An Armorer can actually change roles from support or attack at lower levels, to a tanky Concentration spellcaster at higher (10+) levels.
Since the damage from Arcane Armor doesn't increase except for INT bonus, this will be outpaced pretty quickly. But you still have a spellcaster that can wear heavy armor & use a shield. A level 10 Armorer with full plate and a shield, with the infusions of Enhanced Defense and Repulsion Shield has an AC of 23. Add the Warcaster feat and shield spell, you have a spell hurler that can cast concentration spells & is pretty hard to lose that concentration.
I'm sad that the Armorer no longer gets the Shield spell... 🤧
@@theonlymatthew.l Not on the spell list, but a Magic Initiate feat...
@@frankbassett6192 I know, but that's only 1/Day
@@theonlymatthew.l it really beats the 0/day. And if you're playing a 10th level character that repeatedly has to bump their AC from 23 to 28, you might just have a sadistic DM.....
*eyes Monty warily*
@@frankbassett6192 Honestly I would think I would just dip 2 levels in Wizard 🤷♂️. As currently I find it highly doubtful that I will find a game that plays at lvl 20
I’ve seen some builds with booming blade + crusher for alchemists. Think it makes it a must have for a certain build.
I’d give Magic Stone a hard look, particularly if you will get an 18 INT with CL/1/2feat starting from first level. Although the range is less, 60’ is still acceptable in the majority of circumstances. A Magic Stone can be used to attack objects, as with Fire Bolt, but far fewer enemies are resistant to magical bludgeoning damage than fire damage. 1d6+4 is not only higher than 1d10, but a minimum damage of 5 hp on a successful hit means your Stone is guaranteed to incapacitate the really low CR critters that show up in numbers at L1. This makes the hits more effective than average damage would indicate. Finally, you get multiple stones and there is usually another party member like a cleric or bard that would, overall, have a higher attack bonus and more consistent damage using a Stone you hand over as opposed to a longbow or crossbow. Since Artificers can switch out cantrips when leveling, at 5th Level you can switch it for Fire Bolt, which levels. But, by then most characters are using less actions on attack cantrips (SorLock excluded, but that EB is essentially a Formula 1 Engine stuck in a GoKart chassis). I worried that the 60’ range would be a problem...but, it rarely comes up...and in my experience, at low level there is always another character with a suboptimal ranged attack that can just throw a Stone. And, on at least 3 occasions at L2/3 only one player had a legit magic weapon against creature resistant to non-magic attacks. Those stones made a huge difference - with them, we had a chance. Without them, we would have had to run...there wasn’t a reasonable chance to take the enemy down before or Paly dropped - and, he had the magic sword. If they went down to 10 hp each and a crit had gone against us...with two Stones/round will still recovered. Without them, less certainty. At Level 1-3 when not everyone has a +1 can opener, those pebbles are nothing to scoff at.
magic stone uses your spellcasting mod even when you hand it to someone, so druids and rangers can use magic stone and conjure animals (monkies) or you could use the tiny servant to get a third attack on your turn, using up all of the stones you get
Rocking the General Zod look :)
Guys it is amazing how you seemingly try a different outfit and/or hair style every other video and no matter what you're always rocking it. That's some big drip energy you have 🔥🔥🔥
I think best cantrips For artificers are spare the dying and mending expetially if you are a battle Smith or armorer. I mean i already have good hurting optinons like magic weapons and fighing gautlets expetially the infiltrator that can do the damage of a ranged great sword per turn and with extra attack you can obliterate an enemy with at least 5d6 of damage between lighting gautlets and a spell with 3d6 of damage
*laughs in Mark of Making Artificer(battle smith)/1 Cleric (Knowledge)*
I'll make it a point to play "Sorcerer's Apprentice" from Fantasia anytime someone at my table casts Tiny Servant.
😝 That's _exactly_ the image that came to mind the first time I read that spell! 🌊🧹
Artificers only getting two cantrips to start is such a pain. Because important ones like Mending are necessary, and also having one attack cantrip also really helps.
You can change cantrips as an artificer at every level up so you can skip mending until you need it at level 3
@@andrewmcmillan229 Fair point there.
I'm having a lot of fun with pottery tools and alchemy jug to fill small clay jugs with oil. Use them as the focus of the catapult spell and then fire bolt the now oil soaked enemy on the next turn. We're also playing pirates so works great on enemy vessels trying to board.
That's a great thematic build :). Has a very ancient chinese or japanese flavour to it.
Artificer multiclasses well with wizard IMO. Helps make aid a more viable option at level 10.
Really depends on the subclasses.
Really Surprised Sanctuary was not pick. Can be a very clutch spell.
Aside from the intended uses (having someone under the effect to non-offensive actions) it's a poor man's Shield. Attack, and then cast Sanctuary while placing yourself between the enemy and your allies.
@@nilsjonsson4446 I understand your points but I think you are under valuing its power. Its a bonus action, have a 30ft range and last for a minute. Not just that, but it doesn't even require concentration.
Against creatures with low wisdom, which is a lot of creatures. This is very powerful. As a tank it can save you from so many hits. You can even use it to ward your backline. Seeing it used in game on multiple occasions, it is very powerful.
I like it even more for Wizards that start off with one level of Artificer. Cast a high level concentration spell then Sanctuary yourself.
@@JohnSmith-mn2ip The "poor man" in this case is simply any Cleric or Artificer. It's a great spell and my point is that intuitively you'd think to use it on someone that's not attacking (e.g. a completely pacifist support caster or a mount), but even if it only lasts a round, it's a good spell! It's amazing if it lasts several rounds, e.g. on the Bard concentrating on Hypnotic Pattern.
It's really good, but fits some of the subclasses far better than others.
I find the High Elf much more appealing for Artificers for the extra cantrip. Also, I found myself tempted by the Catapult spell.
Thanks for the video guys. Love the content.
Then take magic initiate, and now you got some options.
My Dm was generous enough tolet me use Magic Stone with Ball Bearings, but you could make do with a small bag with pepples. I am a big fan of it.
I'm playing a Fire Genasi armorer, and Fire Genasi get Produce Flame as a racial cantrip. 1d8 fire damage isn't as good as Fire Bolt's 1d10, but it's serviceable enough to let you take two support cantrips without feeling like you're missing out. Fire Genasi is a really underrated artificer race.
You also are a Ritual Caster. Since you are limited in spell slots, Ritual Spells are also a good idea, like Detect Magic
Honestly one of the most staple ones is to go V.human artificer taking spellsniper : thorn whip and have MH and mending as your cantrips and grease as a first level spell you have a real good damage+control combo
Love Web also love my Catapult/Net combo... helps a ton. Made my Arti. a action economy monkey.
Don't forget that shocking grasp can be delivered by a homunculus servant that's within 120ft of the Artificer
I love using sanctuary, shield spell, a protector turret, and the help action to make my character super difficult to hit and give my party advantage
You could take magic initiate... or you could take aberrant dragonmark, get 1 sorcerer cantrip, and 1 1st level spell on a short rest cool down. Shield, Hex, Hunter's Mark, etc...
Tiny Servant came up and was not talked about much with the Dungeon Dudes I can recommend a resource. Bilbron did a “Tiny Servant Deep Dive” on his channel (about a month ago) so give it a look for some ideas about the spell. (He really is crazy about the spell)
Kelly, I'm loving the Wildman hair.
I just started last week to play a Harengon Armorer Artificer, my spell choices for this start are:
Cantrips:
Firebolt (came already to use because when the battle started my character was way behind the rest)
Mage Hand
First Level:
Absorb Elements
Faerie Fire (already loved that on my bard before)
Feather Fall (saved the group before two times when playing the bard)
Second Level:
Aid
Darkvision
Invisibility
Vortex Warp
Since I took Fey touched as Feat I also got
Bless
Misty Step
And of course the always prepared spells from the class itself.
We started those new Group of characters directly on level 7.
As a note for BS and Ar subclasses booming or green flame blade works with warcaster and might be a thing to pick up at 10th level or at 1st if your running a feat at first level (and picking up warcaster)
I like this content a lot. The only thing i would say against it (and i do mean only cause the rest is gold) is for not taking tiny servant. Since homunculus servant is an option that also requires your bonus actions to command, i would use that since it doesn't take up spell slots. Later on you might swap out HS if you want to infuse something else from the infusion list, but it is hard to say that spell is needed above blink when artificer is the class that has that without needing to use up a spell slot. Otherwise great video and very helpful.
another thing to consider with Artificers is other things that grant spells like the Dragonmarked races from Eberron: Rising from the Last War or having a Guild background from Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica
my GM was very lenient and allowed our party to have both these options in our games with some reflavouring
Eyo guys, love your channel! Keep up the amazingness and PLS GOD PLS TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK OF THE FATHOMLESS I'VE BEEN WAITING 7 MONTHS!!! :)))))))))))))))))))
My Artificer leans more towards rituals like Detect Magic and Identify and buff spells like Haste. I'm trying to be a support character.
The Bard in our group use to have Heat Metal. It is an absolutely brutal spell..., then we went into Avernus where it became 100% useless.
Im currently building the anti adventurer based on yun from Yona the dawn a nerd alchemist who's really helpful and competent at everything but adventuring proficient in cartography cooking herbalism feet most knowledge skills. This was super helpful
Oh damn, I'm early. Thanks so much for doing this guys. I'm new to D&D i.e started at 5e and my very first class was the Artificier and I am loving it so far.
I've been wondering about how the Artificer works with novices. Some of the previous 12 classes are easier for beginners than others, but there's nothing that can't be solved with prep time and a little coaching. Artificer, though, seemed awfully complicated for a newbie. Your thoughts?
My first character was also an Artificer.
I chose Battle Smith and paired it with being a Warforged.
I found it really simple compared to a full caster while also being more interesting than a pure martial class.
@@destroyer1675 Honest question: How was it simple compared to a full caster? In addition to having to choose which spells to prepare every day (like a cleric), you also have to decide which infusions to have active daily, plus your spell storing spell each day, not to mention using your subclass features -- _and_ you also need to decide how you want to re-flavor each of your spells to make them artificer-appropriate. It seems like a lot more than a wizard worries about!
@@bigdream_dreambig honestly the spells were a little bit too overwhelming but since I chose Armorer i usually just attacked using the Arcane Armor feature or tanked blows using the Armor Model: Guardian. My spells were more for utility and healing the party. I'm actually thinking of making a Battle Smith as well since that is an interesting class to me. I've always loved classes that were basically crafting/has an actual role in combat and the Artificier is the closest
@@bigdream_dreambig I found it simpler because I didn't change spells or infusions that often, I didn't get high enough of a level to unlock Spell Storing item and because it was my first time playing my DM didn't require the re-flavouring of spells.
I’m currently playing a level 6 armorer artificer, and the cantrips that I’m using are light (usually needed in my party) and I’ve been having fun with playing field control with lightning lure. I think this is the last level I’m going to have LL, but it has been very useful. My spells prepared are 1st: Absorb Elements, Cure Wounds (I’m the secondary healer), Faerie Fire, Feather Fall, Longstrider, Magic Missile, Thunderwave. 2nd: Aid, Enlarge/Reduce, Shatter, Mirror Image. It’s been a lot of fun handing magic items to people and making combat difficult for my dm.
As far as haste and artillerists, and maybe even alchemists, you can use your spell storing item with your extra item up to ten times. That means that your ability to drop an extra scorching ray or shatter or cure wounds can actually be better than just giving another player a single extra attack.
My favourite artificer spell is magic stone. You can use a bonus action to enchant stones for your servant to throw using your intelligence modifier. This tactic is actually better for a wizard who just takes a feat, bur the artificer can still do it. If you have three tiny servants and a bag of stones, you can effectively use a bonus action for three attacks each round.
Given the artificer's ability to swap out a cantrip when they level up, every artificer who has at least a +4 Int mod should take Magic Stone instead of Fire Bolt until 5th level.
For a Battle Smith there's a good case for spending an infusion on your primary weapon, which makes it magic and you can use INT as your attack stat, and then you don't need a combat cantrip at all.
For the Repeating Shot Infusion, may I suggest flavoring it as a Chu-Ko-Nu crossbow or an Instant Legolas bow?
I built my Artificer much like this before I saw the video. Maybe because I consume a lot of DDudes videos.
I took MI: Wizard and got Thorn Whip as a cantrip to keep enemies beside the character (L4 Armorer).
Managed to keep some mooks beside me. Also, Grease came in useful in and out of combat. Considering Heat Metal when I level.
What do you think about kinetic jaunt on an armorer; being able to run through enemies to distribute the disadvantage inducing auto attack seems pretty nice. 10 ft of movement on top of also being only a bonus action seems very nice.
I'm really digging the hair in this episode.
My artificer
High elf for the free ray of frost catrip.
Went infiltrate armorer ( this was ua version at the time) with mending and guidance.
Dipd 1 lvl into forge cleric (for the extra cantrips spare the dying is huge and there free psudo infusion and realy helped lighten the spell load up even though my wisdom was only 14.
Spells i always had were cure wounds healing word MM and sheild
Heat metal levitate
(Thats what I remember using most of the time.) This was like over a yr ago and without going on r20 I don't remember. I remember my gimmick was in alot of our down time I had crafted 3 wands of MM. And had installed them into my shoulder (my hands were always free just for thematics) and id use all 7 charges and burst them out like a missile barrage whenever I could my infusions were I put repeater on our rouges crossbow and bag of holding and then I bestowed +1 armor to our ranger/druid multiclass. It was a 3 person party and I tanked and supported the later half after my khaos soccerer died. (It started out as a 6 person party but life had dropped us down to 3 after lvl6)
Definitely would have tossed "Enhance Ability" in my spell list. Guidance is also a must-have. But I might be biased due to me always playing the crafty lad who rolls tool checks left and right, and want the best results from it.
And with a Homonculus Servant you can be on the other side of the room from the character making the roll!