The current mechanical servant suffers from many issues which render it problematic at all levels of play. Currently, at the level at which you gain it, it completely obsoletes a Beast Master's animal companion in the damage department. While it lacks utility, it oversteps its role in a big way. After level 9, it starts to accelerate a bit, then fall off, but remains a large annoyance until it scales into obsolescence due to a lack of progression and low hit points.
This isn't purely a Role issue, as the DPR of an Artificer is resultingly out of line as well. The Gunsmith specialization for Artificer functions in an almost identical way to a Rogue in terms of how it does damage, which generally is viable at all levels(though slightly behind in the mid to late "teens" as other classes gain some late level damage boosts). In essence, by combining a large DPR spike that doesn't scale(and will quickly die in fights past level 12 or so) with a Rogue damage progression, we have a class that does extreme and unfair damage between levels 6 and 10, before falling into a weak rut after that.
I have included below examples as a way to compare a Construct Polar Bear vs a Animal Companion. I have also included Beastmaster DPR assuming a generic beastmaster using a Heavy Crossbow and upgrading Dex at every ASI, and using Hunters Mark at all times. This is compared against a generic Artificer with Gunsmith, using his Thunder Monger on every attack. In an ideal comparison, both will be using bonus actions every turn to shift marks, or reload guns, so it reaches some degree of balance.
All comparisons use the Revised Ranger
Current Comparisons:
Panther @ Ranger 6
Constructed Polar Bear at Artificer 6
I advanced all characters to 9, which I'll omit here because it's just Dex and Proficiency increases, and got the following DPRs:
Proposal:
The current Construct needs to suffer a big power hit at the initial levels, gain some scaling, and be repurposed into another role. By reworking the Construct to focus on a role as a protector and mount, rather than a damage dealer, the Construct can serve as a front line fighter or vanguard to protect the Artificer and his allies. Furthermore, by making it so the Construct does not regenerate naturally and does not recover on a short rest, but heals to full each long rest, the Construct becomes a tool which can be committed to a fight as a way to protect someone, while utterly lacking the longevity of a typical fighter or a barbarian. Part of the front line character's role is the ability to keep fighting and surviving through multiple fights. Giving the construct a good HP pool and defense, but limiting its healing to almost purely long rests makes it extremely useful on the front line, but always as a secondary to the true frontliners. In short, a useful bruiser who doesn't step on toes.
Changes to the Construct:
Important note: While not expressly listed, the construct does NOT gain proficiency bonus to damage, nor does it gain ability score increases. Its hit points increase, but its abilities do not. It does not gain any skills like a ranger pet either. The construct is a mechanical creature which fulfills a purpose, but it is not truly alive, and doesn't gain the utility features of an animal companion.
New Class Feature:
Now, I'd like to include some of the new stats of an example companion at key levels, for your comparison:
New Construct @ 6: Brown Bear
New Construct @ 9: Brown Bear
In short, the new construct adds around 10 damage when it is acquired, but fails to advance in any way with regards to damage output. This is instead of the 20 or so damage it gains initially, which screws up the scaling for a good 5 levels. In the long term, the artificer gains a useful defensive tool, and something which gives it some interesting combat utility. Either way, it creates an interesting new mechanic which should in theory not subvert any existing roles.
I expect that this is not a final proposal, and that some nerfs will be needed. Perhaps removing the ability of the construct to gain save proficiency, or something along those lines. But regardless, the limit of utility and damage in favor of a bruiser should distinguish this from the Beastmaster and create a more balanced progression.
Possible problems: Since this is an initial proposal, there do remain some problems. For instance, the damage is reduced to be on par with a ranger at low levels, and fall off somewhat, but it still may be too high in conjunction with the sneak attack damage. Furthermore, the increased frontline potential may prove extremely problematic with the construct in this new form. Possible solutions could be to require the construct to use your bonus action to be commanded to move and attack.
It is ironic that the thing which annoys people most about vanilla Rangers may actually be a useful limitation and flavorful fix for the issues with artificers. I'm going to continue doing math and figuring this out, but if you think the current construct is too powerful, I suggest adding the caveat that it cannot attack without using your action.
This isn't purely a Role issue, as the DPR of an Artificer is resultingly out of line as well. The Gunsmith specialization for Artificer functions in an almost identical way to a Rogue in terms of how it does damage, which generally is viable at all levels(though slightly behind in the mid to late "teens" as other classes gain some late level damage boosts). In essence, by combining a large DPR spike that doesn't scale(and will quickly die in fights past level 12 or so) with a Rogue damage progression, we have a class that does extreme and unfair damage between levels 6 and 10, before falling into a weak rut after that.
I have included below examples as a way to compare a Construct Polar Bear vs a Animal Companion. I have also included Beastmaster DPR assuming a generic beastmaster using a Heavy Crossbow and upgrading Dex at every ASI, and using Hunters Mark at all times. This is compared against a generic Artificer with Gunsmith, using his Thunder Monger on every attack. In an ideal comparison, both will be using bonus actions every turn to shift marks, or reload guns, so it reaches some degree of balance.
All comparisons use the Revised Ranger
Current Comparisons:
Panther @ Ranger 6
- Pet DPR at level 6: 19
- Beastmaster DPR at level 6(Crossbow, 1d10+1d6+4): 13
- Total DPR at level 6: 32
Constructed Polar Bear at Artificer 6
- Pet DPR at level all levels: 21
- Pet Reaction DPR at all levels: 33
- Gunsmith DPR per shot at level 6(4d6+4):18
- Total DPR at level 6: 39-52
- Ranger DPR: 32
- Artificer DPR: 39-52
I advanced all characters to 9, which I'll omit here because it's just Dex and Proficiency increases, and got the following DPRs:
- Beastmaster Pet DPR at level 9: 23
- Beastmaster DPR at level 9(Crossbow, 1d10+1d6+5): 14
- Total DPR at level 9: 37
- Gunsmith Construct DPR at level 9: 21
- Gunsmith DPR per shot at level 9(6d6+5):26
- Total DPR at level 9: 47
Proposal:
The current Construct needs to suffer a big power hit at the initial levels, gain some scaling, and be repurposed into another role. By reworking the Construct to focus on a role as a protector and mount, rather than a damage dealer, the Construct can serve as a front line fighter or vanguard to protect the Artificer and his allies. Furthermore, by making it so the Construct does not regenerate naturally and does not recover on a short rest, but heals to full each long rest, the Construct becomes a tool which can be committed to a fight as a way to protect someone, while utterly lacking the longevity of a typical fighter or a barbarian. Part of the front line character's role is the ability to keep fighting and surviving through multiple fights. Giving the construct a good HP pool and defense, but limiting its healing to almost purely long rests makes it extremely useful on the front line, but always as a secondary to the true frontliners. In short, a useful bruiser who doesn't step on toes.
Changes to the Construct:
Important note: While not expressly listed, the construct does NOT gain proficiency bonus to damage, nor does it gain ability score increases. Its hit points increase, but its abilities do not. It does not gain any skills like a ranger pet either. The construct is a mechanical creature which fulfills a purpose, but it is not truly alive, and doesn't gain the utility features of an animal companion.
New Class Feature:
Now, I'd like to include some of the new stats of an example companion at key levels, for your comparison:
New Construct @ 6: Brown Bear
- Pet DPR at level 6: 11
- Gunsmith DPR per shot at level 6(4d6+4):18
- Total DPR at level 6: 29
- Compare to Beastmaster DPR at level 6: 32
New Construct @ 9: Brown Bear
- Pet DPR at level 9: 11
- Gunsmith DPR per shot at level 9(6d6+5):26
- Total DPR at level 9: 37
- Compare to Beastmaster DPR at level 9: 37
In short, the new construct adds around 10 damage when it is acquired, but fails to advance in any way with regards to damage output. This is instead of the 20 or so damage it gains initially, which screws up the scaling for a good 5 levels. In the long term, the artificer gains a useful defensive tool, and something which gives it some interesting combat utility. Either way, it creates an interesting new mechanic which should in theory not subvert any existing roles.
I expect that this is not a final proposal, and that some nerfs will be needed. Perhaps removing the ability of the construct to gain save proficiency, or something along those lines. But regardless, the limit of utility and damage in favor of a bruiser should distinguish this from the Beastmaster and create a more balanced progression.
Possible problems: Since this is an initial proposal, there do remain some problems. For instance, the damage is reduced to be on par with a ranger at low levels, and fall off somewhat, but it still may be too high in conjunction with the sneak attack damage. Furthermore, the increased frontline potential may prove extremely problematic with the construct in this new form. Possible solutions could be to require the construct to use your bonus action to be commanded to move and attack.
It is ironic that the thing which annoys people most about vanilla Rangers may actually be a useful limitation and flavorful fix for the issues with artificers. I'm going to continue doing math and figuring this out, but if you think the current construct is too powerful, I suggest adding the caveat that it cannot attack without using your action.
