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Potent Potables - The Artificer Manual (by Zathis)
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<blockquote data-quote="Nibelung" data-source="post: 6704884" data-attributes="member: 74499"><p><strong>Originally posted by Zathris:</strong></p><p></p><p><u>Paragon</u></p><p><strong>Level 13 Encounter</strong></p><p>This is, appropriately, a good level for upgrading your level 1 power of filling a hole in your selections. Take Barbed Automaton or Energy Shroud for doing more damage, Bond of Transference for saving throws, or Positive Energy Infusion for healing.<strong>Show</strong></p><p>[sblock]</p><p><span style="color: #0000ff">Barbed</span> Automaton – Not as useful for Con builds. This can dish out a lot of damage, and is very <span style="color: #00ccff">abusable</span> with high forced movement. Not really a leader thing except it can flank. Imp vs Ref.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #00ccff">Bond of Transference</span> – The Ultimate FU in condition warfare. Hitting can prove an issue, but it’s really fun transferring ongoing 30 to an enemy, and you really don’t have much save granting ability. Force, Imp vs Fort.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff">Energy Shroud</span> – While Barbed Automaton requires positioning and forced movement to be really good, this is a very simple “hurt them for attacking your party.” Both the timing, and if the same creature can trigger this multiple times is likely to be questioned by DMs, but no listed action = no action, so multi-attacking enemies beware. Force, Imp vs Ref.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000">Forceful</span> Weapon – Useless for Wis builds. Really not that good for Con builds either, but push + prone is never terribad. Amusing that there’s no Force damage or Keyword here. M/R vs AC.</p><p></p><p>Positive En<span style="color: #0000ff">ergy Infusion</span> – Not as useful for Wis builds. Even though it's not surgeless, affecting all allies instead of just weapon uses makes this a good upgrade of Vampiric Weapons. Healing, M/R vs AC.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000">Wind of Swirling Flames</span> – Letting an ally shift 1 as a minor is kind of cool, but they have to move closer, which is generally the opposite of what they’ll want. Rolling more dice doesn’t make this power good. Fire, R vs AC.[/sblock]</p><p></p><p><strong>Level 15 Daily</strong></p><p>Wis builds don’t actually get anything specific here, a good time to power swap from your MC class or take something from level 9. Con builds should take Lightning Sigil and make their striker happy.<strong>Show</strong></p><p>[sblock]</p><p><span style="color: #0000ff">Animate Arbalester</span> – The upgrade for Dancing Weapon, still quite good. R vs AC.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000">Clockroach Swarm</span> – Just giving out CA isn’t worth a daily (no, I don’t count the same damage as a level 7 power as good, either). Imp vs Ref.</p><p></p><p>Ice Archon’s Armor – Decent Permafrost enabling for an encounter, but the resistance isn’t as useful and the granted at-will is bland. Cold, Imp vs AC.</p><p></p><p>Lightnin<span style="color: #00ccff">g Sigil</span> – Not as useful for Wis builds. Doesn’t really combo with anything, but giving someone +9 or more to damage for an encounter is fairly good. Expending the effect can actually be useful if you time it right. Lightning.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000">Spellmaster’s Pawn</span> – Adding 1w to a bad level 1 Daily doesn’t make a good level 15 Daily. Force, M/R vs AC.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #800080">Stalwart Defender</span> – Oh, I get it, this is the “we just upgraded stuff from level 1 and 5 slightly, and changed the names” level of powers. This is such a small upgrade over Flameheart Defender. Imp vs AC.[/sblock]</p><p></p><p><strong>Level 16 Utility</strong></p><p>Vorpal Edge makes you a multi-attacker’s best friend one encounter per day, or Iron-Hide Infusion gives a large AC bonus for a crucial round every encounter.<strong>Show</strong></p><p>[sblock]</p><p><span style="color: #800080">Dimensional Mooring</span> – Arcane Anchor’s big brother, except this is proactive, which is not what you want for what it does.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000">Good Luck Charm</span> – This is a daily, and is useless for Con builds, and a standard action, and only works once? What. The. <em>Crap.</em></p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff">Iron-Hide Infusion</span> – I’m not really a fan of proactive defensive buffs, but +4 untyped (thus, stacks) to AC for everyone is a big deal, it should put your Defender into nearly un-hittable.</p><p></p><p>Protection from Elements – You absolutely do not want to clump in order to gain resistances, but resist 15 on a key target and 10 on yourself (because you pretty much always want to be adjacent to someone) can trivialize an elemental themed fight.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #00ccff">Vorpal Edge</span>– Unless your party consists of Daggermasters and Students of Caiphon, this power is amazing (even though you don’t have the enabling to truly make the most of it).[/sblock]<strong></strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Level 17 Encounter</strong></p><p>Unless you need to take a power from a previous level to fill a specific need, Siphon Fate is a real winner.<strong>Show</strong></p><p>[sblock]</p><p>Addling Pattern – Artificer’s just aren’t that charming! You can make 2 enemies hit themselves if they attack you or an ally next to you. Psychic vs Will saves this power from being crap. Charm, Psychic, Imp vs Will.</p><p></p><p>Arsenal Transference – Not as useful for Con builds. Another striker power, not as good as the ones you got at level 3, at that. Varies.</p><p></p><p>Earth’s Embrace – Not as useful for Con builds. A good aid to make your defender stickier, but it’s usually difficult to find enemies already clumped. Force, Imp vs Fort.</p><p></p><p>Radiant Burst – I really don't like that you have to provoke to use this on yourself, especially considering the name, but it is one of the few powers that lets you. Healing, Radiant, Imp vs Fort.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff">Siphon Fate</span> – Guaranteed bonus to an ally is always a good thing, and hitting almost has double effect (enemy gets attack penalty, ally gets defense boost; enemy gets defense penalty, ally gets attack boost). I should point out the Compendium is wrong about the power's effects. <span style="color: #00ccff">Better</span> for Battle Engineers. Psychic, M/R vs AC.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000">Skipping Shot</span> - It’s a control power, but it’s just not a good one. Force, R vs AC.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000">Unstable Infusion</span>– It’s a blast that prones, but it’s not friendly, and it’s really just as weak as the other 2 control powers at this level. Imp vs Ref.[/sblock]<strong></strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Level 19 Daily</strong></p><p>Grasping Rope for Wis builds (2 daily levels in a row without a Wis power?!), and some Con builds as well. Hellfire Sigil is a nice addition if you’re wielding a striker.<strong>Show</strong></p><p>[sblock]</p><p><span style="color: #ff0000">Burrowing Projectile</span> – I remember this power from 3.x, it was a lot cooler back then, this version is just weak. R vs AC.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #800080">Clockwork Acid Wasp</span> – There’s much better summons at other levels. Acid, Imp vs AC.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff">Grasping Rope</span> – Very friendly Zone Burst. This is the kind of control that even Wizards would love, enemies effectively can move 1 if they go into the zone (Slowed and in Difficult Terrain). It’s not rated sky blue only because it has no Leader effect to it. Imp vs Ref.</p><p></p><p>Hellfire <span style="color: #0000ff">Sigil</span> – Not as useful for Wis builds. Really not an upgrade over Lightning Sigil’s damage, except the first round after expending the effect, and that’s just something you don’t want to do unless the fight’s almost over. Fire.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #800080">Planestorm Anchor</span> – If this was only a burst … Gives you mobility like Warweaver’s Tether, except as a Standard Action attached to an ‘adjacent enemy’ attack. This also needs the Teleportation Keyword. Lightning, Thunder, R vs AC.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff0000">Radiant Forcefield</span>– Blah blah armor resistance power. Radiant isn’t often needed, and the granted power is fairly weak. Radiant, Imp.[/sblock]</p><p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 15px"><strong><u>Paragon Paths</u></strong></span></p><p></p><p><strong>Artificer Paths</strong><strong>Show</strong></p><p>[sblock]</p><p><strong>Arcane</strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000">Armorer</span></strong> (D381) – The first strike against the Armorer is that it requires you to take Shielding Elixir, but that's not entirely a loss. The powers are not that great, but at level 16 you add your Wis to all resists you grant allies, which is quite substantial, making Shielding Elixir quite viable, and bump your resist powers up at least 1 rating. It's a very specific build (see the builds section), but it does work well as a very defensive leader.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #00ccff"><strong>Battle Engineer</strong></span> (EPG) – Battle Engineer is designed to improve what the Artificer is already good at: increasing Attack and Damage for your allies, and it does it very well. The encounter attack is Greater Magic Weapon (and how!). The utility power is nearly identical to Lightning Sigil, but a little bit better (which means you're getting a Daily Attack out of a Daily Utility!). The daily power is unremarkable, it's best use is against an elite/solo with a lot of minions. All the features are quite useful as well, even though they're entirely weapon focused; you get an accuracy and damage boost when you AP, you make allies weapons brutal when you buff, and weapon attack bonuses you grant are higher.</p><p></p><p><strong>Clockwork Engineer</strong> (EPG) – Clockwork is a very iconic theme for the Artificer, it's really a shame that summons require a lot of investment for little gain. The features are generally good but limited, all they do is make your summons slightly better (bonus attack, speed, defenses).</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000">Familiar</span><span style="color: #800080"> Bloodsmith</span></strong> (D377) – Even though Artificers lack Familiar specific powers (for now?), there's still an amusing reason to take Familiar Bloodsmith, namely the ability to have two familiars at the same time. However, with only the AP feature and Encounter power being better (and the former is marginally so) than Familiar Keeper (which also gives you 2 familiars, 5 levels earlier) this is worth skipping, especially for Wis builds which get little from the level 11 feature.</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000">Self-</span><span style="color: #800080">Forged</span></strong> (EPG) – The only remarkable things that Self-Forged give you are a +3 / 1d8 Mace, the ability to never die from Death Saves, and the ability to embed component items. The powers are pretty bad except the Daily giving you reach for an encounter. Bottom Line: If you want to be a Warforged, be a Warforged; if you want to be a different race that's obsessed with being a Warforged, be a Warforged and refluff yourself.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Spell Commander</strong></span> (D381) – Being able to grant a couple extra basic attacks on your Nova sequence is quite good, particularly with full buffs running which makes it marginally better for Con builds with Minor Action sigils. There's two real issues holding this PP back from being tied with Battle Engineer, first and foremost you need Arcane allies to really reap the benefits of your features (particularly ones with an at-will that's better than their Basic attack). The second, and more annoying issue is that even with the level 11 feature, you still have to take Crossbow Caster in order to take Eldritch Fusillade Expertise; DMs <em>ought</em> to allow you to take it anyway, but that's houserule territory.[/sblock]</p><p></p><p><strong>Arcane Paths</strong><strong>Show</strong></p><p>[sblock]</p><p><strong>Academy Master</strong> (D374) – Since Artificers are so tied to the usefulness of Magic Weapon (and hitting with it), the self-boosting Academy Master is a solid choice for any build, but <span style="color: #0000ff">better</span> for one trying to be a striker.</p><p></p><p><strong>Familiar Keeper</strong> (D374) – Sadly, Familiar Keeper is just as good, if not better, than Familiar Bloodsmith and some of the Summoning PPs out there. The only reasons I'm mentioning it are that you can switch your familiar's type to one other type as a minor action, allowing you to take advantage of (for example) both Chaos Shard and Smith's Hammer, and the daily gives you a reliable Dominate.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Master Preserver</strong></span> (DSCS) – Master Preserver is a lot like Academy Master; the big difference being that, as the name suggests, Master Preserver provides some good healing abilities. You get 3 skill bumps, and the AP gives you a reroll on that attack. The real gem is the daily, which is a nice big friendly burst which penalizes enemies and leaves a zone that moves with you, giving allies a large damage boost or healing.</p><p></p><p><strong>Speaker of Xaos</strong> (HotEC) – I'm not about to claim this as being great, even as a striker path, but it's features certainly are interesting, even being another Academy Master knockoff, it's probably the only niche Path that reasonable in general play.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Swordmage Paths</strong></p><p>You would think that with the Stat synergy, Swordmage paths would have more to offer, but there are few of them that are decent to begin with, fewer that don't require a specific Aegis, and fewer still that aren't significantly tied to being a Defender. It makes a really good Hybrid, but the best thing you get out of the MC is Implements.<strong>Show</strong></p><p>[sblock]</p><p><span style="color: #800080"><strong>Malec-Keth Janissary</strong></span> (MotP) – The only thing really useful about the Janissary is the level 16 feature which gives you extra elemental damage, thus adding a keyword to all of your attacks without having to use an elemental weapon.[/sblock]</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Wizard Paths</strong><strong>Show</strong></p><p>[sblock]</p><p><span style="color: #800080"><strong>Arcane Wayfarer</strong></span> (AP) – Even though you effectively lose the starting feature (only works on Wizard attacks, not even PP powers), I really like Arcane Wayfarer for the silly amount of Teleporting you get to do, but overall it's not very strong for a Leader.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Bonded Summoner</strong> (AP) – Just as with the Familiar PPs, the Artificer specific Clockwork Engineer is entirely inferior to Bonded Summoner. If you're built around Dancing Weapon and the Arbalest, this is probably the <span style="color: #00ccff">best</span> Path available.</p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong></strong></span></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><strong>Simbarch of Aglarond</strong></span> (FRPG) – Amusingly, even though it's designed as a Leader path for Wizards, Simbarch of Aglarond makes a decent Striker path for Artificers.</p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Spellstorm <span style="color: #ff0000">Mage</span></strong> (PHB) – As far as I know, Spellstorm Mage is the only way of reasonably being able to regain the use of a Daily pre-29th, which is the only real draw of this Path, so it's not good for Con Builds.[/sblock][/sblock]</p><p></p><p><strong>Other Paths</strong><strong>Show</strong></p><p>[sblock]</p><p><strong>Invoker</strong></p><p>As an Arcane Leader, Artificers naturally secondary in Control. Invokers, as a Divine Controller, naturally secondary in Leading. One of the most common aspects of optimizing is that classes whose Secondary match your Primary (and vice versa) often have the best feats, powers, and paths for you to steal. Even when you look at the fluff, Invokers are kind of a natural partner for Artificers.</p><p><strong>Show</strong></p><p>[sblock]</p><p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff">Flame o</span>f Hope</strong> (PHB2) – While obviously less useful for a Con build who need to take Resourceful Maneuver to get rid of the e11, Flame of Hope is definitely a good Path for any Artificer thanks to it's fantastic AP feature giving a massive attack bonus, if only Artificers had better multi-target powers.</p><p></p><p><strong>Arbiter of Fo<span style="color: #ff0000">rgotten Justice</span></strong> (D381) – All in all, Arbiters are pretty decent for Wis builds that want to focus more on control. The AP feature letting you act Off-turn is a little bit interesting, I'm not really certain how, or if, there's a way to abuse it.[/sblock]</p><p></p><p><strong>Warlord </strong><strong>Show</strong></p><p>[sblock]</p><p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000">Earthfast</span> Brigadier</strong> (MP) – Only worthwhile as a Con build, being able to hand out bonus damage to allies that you didn't affect with Magic Weapon is a neat feature, the Encounter power isn't Reserve Maneuver fodder though.</p><p></p><p><strong>White Raven</strong> (MP2) – The real gain here is significantly increasing the HP/THP output of all the small gain powers available (+12 bonus with 5 allies within 2 of you). The rest is decent enough if you have BoMMs (slight bonus for Wis builds on the Daily)[/sblock][/sblock]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nibelung, post: 6704884, member: 74499"] [b]Originally posted by Zathris:[/b] [u]Paragon[/u] [b]Level 13 Encounter[/b] This is, appropriately, a good level for upgrading your level 1 power of filling a hole in your selections. Take Barbed Automaton or Energy Shroud for doing more damage, Bond of Transference for saving throws, or Positive Energy Infusion for healing.[b]Show[/b] [sblock] [COLOR=#0000ff]Barbed[/COLOR] Automaton – Not as useful for Con builds. This can dish out a lot of damage, and is very [COLOR=#00ccff]abusable[/COLOR] with high forced movement. Not really a leader thing except it can flank. Imp vs Ref. [COLOR=#00ccff]Bond of Transference[/COLOR] – The Ultimate FU in condition warfare. Hitting can prove an issue, but it’s really fun transferring ongoing 30 to an enemy, and you really don’t have much save granting ability. Force, Imp vs Fort. [COLOR=#0000ff]Energy Shroud[/COLOR] – While Barbed Automaton requires positioning and forced movement to be really good, this is a very simple “hurt them for attacking your party.” Both the timing, and if the same creature can trigger this multiple times is likely to be questioned by DMs, but no listed action = no action, so multi-attacking enemies beware. Force, Imp vs Ref. [COLOR=#ff0000]Forceful[/COLOR] Weapon – Useless for Wis builds. Really not that good for Con builds either, but push + prone is never terribad. Amusing that there’s no Force damage or Keyword here. M/R vs AC. Positive En[COLOR=#0000ff]ergy Infusion[/COLOR] – Not as useful for Wis builds. Even though it's not surgeless, affecting all allies instead of just weapon uses makes this a good upgrade of Vampiric Weapons. Healing, M/R vs AC. [COLOR=#ff0000]Wind of Swirling Flames[/COLOR] – Letting an ally shift 1 as a minor is kind of cool, but they have to move closer, which is generally the opposite of what they’ll want. Rolling more dice doesn’t make this power good. Fire, R vs AC.[/sblock] [b]Level 15 Daily[/b] Wis builds don’t actually get anything specific here, a good time to power swap from your MC class or take something from level 9. Con builds should take Lightning Sigil and make their striker happy.[b]Show[/b] [sblock] [COLOR=#0000ff]Animate Arbalester[/COLOR] – The upgrade for Dancing Weapon, still quite good. R vs AC. [COLOR=#ff0000]Clockroach Swarm[/COLOR] – Just giving out CA isn’t worth a daily (no, I don’t count the same damage as a level 7 power as good, either). Imp vs Ref. Ice Archon’s Armor – Decent Permafrost enabling for an encounter, but the resistance isn’t as useful and the granted at-will is bland. Cold, Imp vs AC. Lightnin[COLOR=#00ccff]g Sigil[/COLOR] – Not as useful for Wis builds. Doesn’t really combo with anything, but giving someone +9 or more to damage for an encounter is fairly good. Expending the effect can actually be useful if you time it right. Lightning. [COLOR=#ff0000]Spellmaster’s Pawn[/COLOR] – Adding 1w to a bad level 1 Daily doesn’t make a good level 15 Daily. Force, M/R vs AC. [COLOR=#800080]Stalwart Defender[/COLOR] – Oh, I get it, this is the “we just upgraded stuff from level 1 and 5 slightly, and changed the names” level of powers. This is such a small upgrade over Flameheart Defender. Imp vs AC.[/sblock] [b]Level 16 Utility[/b] Vorpal Edge makes you a multi-attacker’s best friend one encounter per day, or Iron-Hide Infusion gives a large AC bonus for a crucial round every encounter.[b]Show[/b] [sblock] [COLOR=#800080]Dimensional Mooring[/COLOR] – Arcane Anchor’s big brother, except this is proactive, which is not what you want for what it does. [COLOR=#ff0000]Good Luck Charm[/COLOR] – This is a daily, and is useless for Con builds, and a standard action, and only works once? What. The. [i]Crap.[/i] [COLOR=#0000ff]Iron-Hide Infusion[/COLOR] – I’m not really a fan of proactive defensive buffs, but +4 untyped (thus, stacks) to AC for everyone is a big deal, it should put your Defender into nearly un-hittable. Protection from Elements – You absolutely do not want to clump in order to gain resistances, but resist 15 on a key target and 10 on yourself (because you pretty much always want to be adjacent to someone) can trivialize an elemental themed fight. [COLOR=#00ccff]Vorpal Edge[/COLOR]– Unless your party consists of Daggermasters and Students of Caiphon, this power is amazing (even though you don’t have the enabling to truly make the most of it).[/sblock][b] Level 17 Encounter[/b] Unless you need to take a power from a previous level to fill a specific need, Siphon Fate is a real winner.[b]Show[/b] [sblock] Addling Pattern – Artificer’s just aren’t that charming! You can make 2 enemies hit themselves if they attack you or an ally next to you. Psychic vs Will saves this power from being crap. Charm, Psychic, Imp vs Will. Arsenal Transference – Not as useful for Con builds. Another striker power, not as good as the ones you got at level 3, at that. Varies. Earth’s Embrace – Not as useful for Con builds. A good aid to make your defender stickier, but it’s usually difficult to find enemies already clumped. Force, Imp vs Fort. Radiant Burst – I really don't like that you have to provoke to use this on yourself, especially considering the name, but it is one of the few powers that lets you. Healing, Radiant, Imp vs Fort. [COLOR=#0000ff]Siphon Fate[/COLOR] – Guaranteed bonus to an ally is always a good thing, and hitting almost has double effect (enemy gets attack penalty, ally gets defense boost; enemy gets defense penalty, ally gets attack boost). I should point out the Compendium is wrong about the power's effects. [COLOR=#00ccff]Better[/COLOR] for Battle Engineers. Psychic, M/R vs AC. [COLOR=#ff0000]Skipping Shot[/COLOR] - It’s a control power, but it’s just not a good one. Force, R vs AC. [COLOR=#ff0000]Unstable Infusion[/COLOR]– It’s a blast that prones, but it’s not friendly, and it’s really just as weak as the other 2 control powers at this level. Imp vs Ref.[/sblock][b] Level 19 Daily[/b] Grasping Rope for Wis builds (2 daily levels in a row without a Wis power?!), and some Con builds as well. Hellfire Sigil is a nice addition if you’re wielding a striker.[b]Show[/b] [sblock] [COLOR=#ff0000]Burrowing Projectile[/COLOR] – I remember this power from 3.x, it was a lot cooler back then, this version is just weak. R vs AC. [COLOR=#800080]Clockwork Acid Wasp[/COLOR] – There’s much better summons at other levels. Acid, Imp vs AC. [COLOR=#0000ff]Grasping Rope[/COLOR] – Very friendly Zone Burst. This is the kind of control that even Wizards would love, enemies effectively can move 1 if they go into the zone (Slowed and in Difficult Terrain). It’s not rated sky blue only because it has no Leader effect to it. Imp vs Ref. Hellfire [COLOR=#0000ff]Sigil[/COLOR] – Not as useful for Wis builds. Really not an upgrade over Lightning Sigil’s damage, except the first round after expending the effect, and that’s just something you don’t want to do unless the fight’s almost over. Fire. [COLOR=#800080]Planestorm Anchor[/COLOR] – If this was only a burst … Gives you mobility like Warweaver’s Tether, except as a Standard Action attached to an ‘adjacent enemy’ attack. This also needs the Teleportation Keyword. Lightning, Thunder, R vs AC. [COLOR=#ff0000]Radiant Forcefield[/COLOR]– Blah blah armor resistance power. Radiant isn’t often needed, and the granted power is fairly weak. Radiant, Imp.[/sblock] [CENTER][Size=4][b][u]Paragon Paths[/u][/b][/size][/CENTER] [b]Artificer Paths[/b][b]Show[/b] [sblock] [b]Arcane [COLOR=#ff0000]Armorer[/COLOR][/b] (D381) – The first strike against the Armorer is that it requires you to take Shielding Elixir, but that's not entirely a loss. The powers are not that great, but at level 16 you add your Wis to all resists you grant allies, which is quite substantial, making Shielding Elixir quite viable, and bump your resist powers up at least 1 rating. It's a very specific build (see the builds section), but it does work well as a very defensive leader. [COLOR=#00ccff][b]Battle Engineer[/b][/COLOR] (EPG) – Battle Engineer is designed to improve what the Artificer is already good at: increasing Attack and Damage for your allies, and it does it very well. The encounter attack is Greater Magic Weapon (and how!). The utility power is nearly identical to Lightning Sigil, but a little bit better (which means you're getting a Daily Attack out of a Daily Utility!). The daily power is unremarkable, it's best use is against an elite/solo with a lot of minions. All the features are quite useful as well, even though they're entirely weapon focused; you get an accuracy and damage boost when you AP, you make allies weapons brutal when you buff, and weapon attack bonuses you grant are higher. [b]Clockwork Engineer[/b] (EPG) – Clockwork is a very iconic theme for the Artificer, it's really a shame that summons require a lot of investment for little gain. The features are generally good but limited, all they do is make your summons slightly better (bonus attack, speed, defenses). [COLOR=#800080][b][/b][/COLOR][b][COLOR=#ff0000]Familiar[/COLOR][COLOR=#800080] Bloodsmith[/COLOR][/b][COLOR=#800080][/COLOR] (D377) – Even though Artificers lack Familiar specific powers (for now?), there's still an amusing reason to take Familiar Bloodsmith, namely the ability to have two familiars at the same time. However, with only the AP feature and Encounter power being better (and the former is marginally so) than Familiar Keeper (which also gives you 2 familiars, 5 levels earlier) this is worth skipping, especially for Wis builds which get little from the level 11 feature. [b][COLOR=#ff0000]Self-[/COLOR][COLOR=#800080]Forged[/COLOR][/b] (EPG) – The only remarkable things that Self-Forged give you are a +3 / 1d8 Mace, the ability to never die from Death Saves, and the ability to embed component items. The powers are pretty bad except the Daily giving you reach for an encounter. Bottom Line: If you want to be a Warforged, be a Warforged; if you want to be a different race that's obsessed with being a Warforged, be a Warforged and refluff yourself. [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Spell Commander[/b][/COLOR] (D381) – Being able to grant a couple extra basic attacks on your Nova sequence is quite good, particularly with full buffs running which makes it marginally better for Con builds with Minor Action sigils. There's two real issues holding this PP back from being tied with Battle Engineer, first and foremost you need Arcane allies to really reap the benefits of your features (particularly ones with an at-will that's better than their Basic attack). The second, and more annoying issue is that even with the level 11 feature, you still have to take Crossbow Caster in order to take Eldritch Fusillade Expertise; DMs [i]ought[/i] to allow you to take it anyway, but that's houserule territory.[/sblock] [b]Arcane Paths[/b][b]Show[/b] [sblock] [b]Academy Master[/b] (D374) – Since Artificers are so tied to the usefulness of Magic Weapon (and hitting with it), the self-boosting Academy Master is a solid choice for any build, but [COLOR=#0000ff]better[/COLOR] for one trying to be a striker. [b]Familiar Keeper[/b] (D374) – Sadly, Familiar Keeper is just as good, if not better, than Familiar Bloodsmith and some of the Summoning PPs out there. The only reasons I'm mentioning it are that you can switch your familiar's type to one other type as a minor action, allowing you to take advantage of (for example) both Chaos Shard and Smith's Hammer, and the daily gives you a reliable Dominate. [COLOR=#0000ff][b]Master Preserver[/b][/COLOR] (DSCS) – Master Preserver is a lot like Academy Master; the big difference being that, as the name suggests, Master Preserver provides some good healing abilities. You get 3 skill bumps, and the AP gives you a reroll on that attack. The real gem is the daily, which is a nice big friendly burst which penalizes enemies and leaves a zone that moves with you, giving allies a large damage boost or healing. [b]Speaker of Xaos[/b] (HotEC) – I'm not about to claim this as being great, even as a striker path, but it's features certainly are interesting, even being another Academy Master knockoff, it's probably the only niche Path that reasonable in general play. [b] Swordmage Paths[/b] You would think that with the Stat synergy, Swordmage paths would have more to offer, but there are few of them that are decent to begin with, fewer that don't require a specific Aegis, and fewer still that aren't significantly tied to being a Defender. It makes a really good Hybrid, but the best thing you get out of the MC is Implements.[b]Show[/b] [sblock] [COLOR=#800080][b]Malec-Keth Janissary[/b][/COLOR] (MotP) – The only thing really useful about the Janissary is the level 16 feature which gives you extra elemental damage, thus adding a keyword to all of your attacks without having to use an elemental weapon.[/sblock] [b] Wizard Paths[/b][b]Show[/b] [sblock] [COLOR=#800080][b]Arcane Wayfarer[/b][/COLOR] (AP) – Even though you effectively lose the starting feature (only works on Wizard attacks, not even PP powers), I really like Arcane Wayfarer for the silly amount of Teleporting you get to do, but overall it's not very strong for a Leader. [b] Bonded Summoner[/b] (AP) – Just as with the Familiar PPs, the Artificer specific Clockwork Engineer is entirely inferior to Bonded Summoner. If you're built around Dancing Weapon and the Arbalest, this is probably the [COLOR=#00ccff]best[/COLOR] Path available. [COLOR=#0000ff][b] Simbarch of Aglarond[/b][/COLOR] (FRPG) – Amusingly, even though it's designed as a Leader path for Wizards, Simbarch of Aglarond makes a decent Striker path for Artificers. [b] Spellstorm [COLOR=#ff0000]Mage[/COLOR][/b] (PHB) – As far as I know, Spellstorm Mage is the only way of reasonably being able to regain the use of a Daily pre-29th, which is the only real draw of this Path, so it's not good for Con Builds.[/sblock][/sblock] [b]Other Paths[/b][b]Show[/b] [sblock] [b]Invoker[/b] As an Arcane Leader, Artificers naturally secondary in Control. Invokers, as a Divine Controller, naturally secondary in Leading. One of the most common aspects of optimizing is that classes whose Secondary match your Primary (and vice versa) often have the best feats, powers, and paths for you to steal. Even when you look at the fluff, Invokers are kind of a natural partner for Artificers. [b]Show[/b] [sblock] [b][COLOR=#0000ff]Flame o[/COLOR]f Hope[/b] (PHB2) – While obviously less useful for a Con build who need to take Resourceful Maneuver to get rid of the e11, Flame of Hope is definitely a good Path for any Artificer thanks to it's fantastic AP feature giving a massive attack bonus, if only Artificers had better multi-target powers. [b]Arbiter of Fo[COLOR=#ff0000]rgotten Justice[/COLOR][/b] (D381) – All in all, Arbiters are pretty decent for Wis builds that want to focus more on control. The AP feature letting you act Off-turn is a little bit interesting, I'm not really certain how, or if, there's a way to abuse it.[/sblock] [b]Warlord [/b][b]Show[/b] [sblock] [b][COLOR=#ff0000]Earthfast[/COLOR] Brigadier[/b] (MP) – Only worthwhile as a Con build, being able to hand out bonus damage to allies that you didn't affect with Magic Weapon is a neat feature, the Encounter power isn't Reserve Maneuver fodder though. [b]White Raven[/b] (MP2) – The real gain here is significantly increasing the HP/THP output of all the small gain powers available (+12 bonus with 5 allies within 2 of you). The rest is decent enough if you have BoMMs (slight bonus for Wis builds on the Daily)[/sblock][/sblock] [/QUOTE]
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Potent Potables - The Artificer Manual (by Zathis)
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