D&D 5E (2024) ReReview: Artificer

UngeheuerLich · Sunday at 8:30 PM

Cap'n Kobold said:
So . . . What is your main job as an Armourer, particularly Dreadnaught and Infiltrator? Your features don't support much other than hitting things with your special weapon.

Tanking. Supporting. Creating magic items.
Opening locks. Solving problems.

You are a spellcaster. You have a lot of tools.
If you have 14 dexterity, you can sneak around very well too.

Don't be fooled by the weapons. It is just a neat side job. Similar to valor bards or war clerics.

Cap'n Kobold said:
Artificers have some buffing items, but with close to half of the spells of an actual caster, they generally have less versatility. You lose out on damage to most other classes along with Alchemists and Cartographers.

This really depends on the optimzation grade of your group. I can honestly say the artificer, at least in 5.0 was very much fun. Losing out on tool expertise is a bummer though. But still the artificer is solid B. Not A as the spellcaster classes you mentioned. But is a class I would be very clmfortable playing in a small party.

kigmatzomat · 2026-04-13T01:09:43+0100

Zardnaar said:
Generous or very Generous DM (read as tine and money) could drsg thst up.

I'd also say that a very stingy DM also makes an artificer A tier as its the only class that always has magical gear. A generous artificer in a low-item game can push into S-tier by boosting the rest of the party as a force multiplier.

ECMO3 · 2026-04-13T01:53:55+0100

For me the biggest thing the Artificer brings to the table is the Sanctuary spell on an Intelligence DC. This makes it ideal dip for Wizards.

FrogReaver · 2026-04-13T04:38:14+0100

Zardnaar said:
Magic Item Tinker.
Looks cute but it can be abused. Basically find an item with charges and transmute it into something else once it has 1 charge left. Or drain it for a spell slot.

Flash of Genius Level 7.
Great ability. Big buff to a saving throw as a reaction. Would be gold but Paladin auras exist. This is the next best option. Scores high on impact and you can use it more than once or twice per long rest. Stacks with other save bonuses.

Magic Item Adept
You can attune an extra item. Very nice but its not exactly MVP and its level 10. More is always better especially for this class.

Some of this is really hard to read on the dark theme.

Paul Farquhar · 2026-04-13T07:01:00+0100

You can’t min-max a Swiss army knife.

FrogReaver · 2026-04-13T13:57:37+0100

Paul Farquhar said:
You can’t min-max a Swiss army knife.

The Swiss already did that for us all.

Zardnaar · 2026-04-14T00:35:49+0100

Paul Farquhar said:
You can’t min-max a Swiss army knife.

Not strictly true with Artificer.

Neonchameleon · 2026-04-14T01:21:40+0100

bedir than said:
How much of an improvement do you see the Artillerist being able to swap the cannon ability constantly rather than once a day?
My Artillerist is 2014 and I'm not wasting a spell slot to make that switch

Surprisingly useful. I'd guess at 50% stronger overall with a lot of that coming from a pre-battle or force field.

Today's battle I managed a full party force field pre-buff, three force ballista attacks (two on faerie fired targets) and a three target flamethrower roast. Had I been stuck to a single mode I'd have managed four force ballista attacks (two with faerie fire) or a three person flamethrower roast plus two one person roasts or party temp hp plus two single target temp hp.

And I don't worry about anyone attacking my cannon. That thing has more armour than I do, almost as many hp as I do, and a temp HP buffer. Any attacks on it are not attacks on us and it's easy to fix. It's only at risk to AoE attacks.

Neonchameleon · 2026-04-14T02:47:01+0100

Cap'n Kobold said:
So . . . What is your main job as an Armourer, particularly Dreadnaught and Infiltrator? Your features don't support much other than hitting things with your special weapon.

The armourer is flexible in 2024 rules and shouldn't be one size fits all. You're meant to work out what you are going to need - and advantage on stealth is substantial.

Cap'n Kobold said:
Artificers have some buffing items, but with close to half of the spells of an actual caster, they generally have less versatility. You lose out on damage to most other classes along with Alchemists and Cartographers.

Tier 1 the full casters are struggling to match my shenanigans with bags of holding and alchemy jugs. Tier 2 - pipes of haunting and a weapon of warning is an ultra strong foundation. You need to look at the package.

Paul Farquhar · 2026-04-14T06:55:09+0100

Zardnaar said:
Not strictly true with Artificer.

Depends on the subclass. The armorer is specifically the one who can switch from stealth to defender to melee attacker to spellcaster as the situation demands, but is not the best in any role. You could try to build your character around a single armor mode, but that will always produce disappointing results.