Plus, I don't feel like the caster focused versions deal enough damage. I see that reloading crossbow or gun being their main source of damage, not their wands, even with +Int to damage.
I disagree, especially when considering ability scores. The Battle Smith is very obviously SAD, as everything is keyed off INT, both spells and combat damage. That gives it a very, very good incentive to take the Repeating Shot and use a Heavy Crossbow or a pair of Hand Crossbows, so you can fight as well as anyone and only use one ability. Pump Con next because of saving proficiency, and then Dex, and the rest can be dumped, or forget Dex and pump something else for RP reasons.
For any of the others to benefit from taking Repeating Shot, they’d have to have Dex higher, which hurts Con and everything else. The other subclasses are very MAD because of this. Unless they use their own class abilities and don’t take Repeating Shot or use crossbows.
For the Artilarist, they get a special wand that allows them to use their Int mod for damage. They can then Infuse the Wand with Enhanced Wand and now it’s attack roll is Int+1 (+2 at lvl 12), and you ignore half cover, and you still gain a bonus to damage equal to your Int. By using Wands and Cantrips instead of Crossbows, you make the Artilarist much more SAD.
Alchemists can add their Int roll to either healing or Acid/Poison damage, so Acid Splash and Poison Spray become viable, and therefore makes him more SAD if those are the main form of combat. The Archivist can psychically attack with his Artificial Mind, which adds the Int mod, making him SAD if that is chosen as the main form of attack. And for these two, you don’t need a combat infusion, which opens up a spot for some other kind of infusion.
Yeah, a repeating Heavy Crossbow is awesome, but really only the Battle Smith gets the most out of it due to using Int instead of Dex. If any of the others try to use it instead of their own skills, they have to up both Int and Dex to accomplish the same thing.
