Any good Prestige Classes for Artifacers?

[Denaes]

So far, the closest I can find is this one in Magic of Eberron where you slowly turn into a Warforged like cyborg. Even still I'm not even convinced that it's even a good (other than thematic) match with an Artificer.

I might not even mind taking a bit more combative class later on, but I'd prefer something that allowed me to continue with Infusions or continue counting as Artificer for levels in creating magic items.

I saw some thing thematically fit, but had racial or Arcane pre-requisites... I might be able to convince my GM to waive the Arcane pre-reqs in some cases as the prestige classes were made before Artifacer existed.

 

[ForceUser]

Well, there's the Cannith Wand Adept from Sharn: City of Towers. You might also consider the Extreme Explorer and Master Inquisitive prestige classes from Eberron Campaign Setting, though both cater more to the skill-based portion of the artificer than the magical portion.

Other than that, no, there's not a whole lot of prestige classes for single-classed artificers. They're in the same boat as many other non-core classes, which is okay as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Klaus]

If you're a half-elf and you have the Mark of the Storm, you could take Windwright Captain, from Explorer's Handbook. It's the first class to have a '+1 to infusion level' progression.

... plus you get an airship! And how cool is that?

 

[UltimaGabe]

Really, though, Artificers don't need prestige classes. Not only do they continue to get useful abilities until high levels, their Infusions generally aren't so amazing that you have to find a class that advances them (for example, a Wizard or a Sorcerer that takes Extreme Explorer loses the entire base for their class, whereas an Artificer keeps all of his Item Creation abilities, and really doesn't need infusions so much). What's wrong with sticking as an Artificer?

 

[Drowbane]

There is a PrC in Complete Adventurer...

The Maester (pg 56 -58 complete adventurer)

Prereqs:
Race: Gnome (easy to ignore )
Skills: Craft (any) 8, UMD 4
Feats: any two Craft item creation feats.
Spells: arcane caster level 5th

5 levels, 4 of them grant +1 existing spellcasting.
1: bonus feat, quick crafting (1/2 time needed)
3: identification (handle 1 minute, then make a Spellcraft check...)
5: bonus feat.

Not sure if Artificers count as arcane casters...

 

[Denaes]

The Maester (pg 56 -58 complete adventurer)

Prereqs:
Race: Gnome (easy to ignore )
Skills: Craft (any) 8, UMD 4
Feats: any two Craft item creation feats.
Spells: arcane caster level 5th

5 levels, 4 of them grant +1 existing spellcasting.
1: bonus feat, quick crafting (1/2 time needed)
3: identification (handle 1 minute, then make a Spellcraft check...)
5: bonus feat.

Not sure if Artificers count as arcane casters...

Actually I just saw this Prestige Class the other day.

Not a Gnome (easily ignorable), Artificers arn't Arcane and Artificers already have a similar ability to Identification. The Artificer version just lets you know if it's magic and just adds Int+level, not Spellcraft.

Overall, this is the Prestige class I've found most easily mofifiable to work with the Artificer.

Really, though, Artificers don't need prestige classes. Not only do they continue to get useful abilities until high levels, their Infusions generally aren't so amazing that you have to find a class that advances them (for example, a Wizard or a Sorcerer that takes Extreme Explorer loses the entire base for their class, whereas an Artificer keeps all of his Item Creation abilities, and really doesn't need infusions so much). What's wrong with sticking as an Artificer?

There isn't anything wrong with Artificer. If you want to remain the basic guy who creates items, that's just fine.

But every basic class has at least one, if not more, Prestige class that augments it's core abilities by focusing on a specific aspect of the basic class. You look at your options and see if you want to stay general or focus on a particular aspect.

The part I'd want to keep is the crafting portion which means that a prestige class would need to extend the base class for the purposes of item creation (like some Prestige Classes do for spells and caster levels for casters).

If you're a half-elf and you have the Mark of the Storm, you could take Windwright Captain, from Explorer's Handbook. It's the first class to have a '+1 to infusion level' progression.

... plus you get an airship! And how cool is that?

Well it sounds pretty damn cool to have an airship... but we're playing in a city and that wouldn't do any good for us other than to have a floating base I guess. That and I'm not a half-elf.

I'm going to check that out just to see the airship though!

Well, there's the Cannith Wand Adept from Sharn: City of Towers. You might also consider the Extreme Explorer and Master Inquisitive prestige classes from Eberron Campaign Setting, though both cater more to the skill-based portion of the artificer than the magical portion.

Other than that, no, there's not a whole lot of prestige classes for single-classed artificers. They're in the same boat as many other non-core classes, which is okay as far as I'm concerned.

I'm going to look into that Wand Adept, which sounds interesting.

I understand that a non-core class doesn't really have a Prestige Class in 3.5, especially being so fundamentally different (a non-spellcasting item maker), but within a setting (Eberron) I do expect support within the campaign setting and I'm a bit let down that in like 4 or 5 Eberron books, there arn't any...

 

[ForceUser]

I'm going to look into that Wand Adept, which sounds interesting.

I understand that a non-core class doesn't really have a Prestige Class in 3.5, especially being so fundamentally different (a non-spellcasting item maker), but within a setting (Eberron) I do expect support within the campaign setting and I'm a bit let down that in like 4 or 5 Eberron books, there arn't any...

Requirements
To qualify to become a Cannith wand adept, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Skills: Spellcraft 6 ranks, Use Magic Device 8 ranks.

Feats: Craft Wand, Wand Mastery, Favored in House (Cannith) or Least Dragonmark (Mark of Making).

They get as special powers identify wand, wand focus, wand quick draw, dual wand use, siphon charge, and improved dragonmark.

Also, you might want to check out Magic of Eberron, which I suspect has quite a bit in it that is geared toward artificers. I know there is at least a psionic variant of the class, and I'm sure there's more.

 

[Denaes]

Requirements
To qualify to become a Cannith wand adept, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Skills: Spellcraft 6 ranks, Use Magic Device 8 ranks.

Feats: Craft Wand, Wand Mastery, Favored in House (Cannith) or Least Dragonmark (Mark of Making).

They get as special powers identify wand, wand focus, wand quick draw, dual wand use, siphon charge, and improved dragonmark.

Also, you might want to check out Magic of Eberron, which I suspect has quite a bit in it that is geared toward artificers. I know there is at least a psionic variant of the class, and I'm sure there's more.

Thanks for the rundown on that.

We're running a campaign thats supposed to last until level 23 and Artifacer looks like it's pretty much done about 14, other than gaining more Infusions and Artifacer levels, which are important for level requirements for magic items. You can make pretty much any magic item at caster level 20, which is 18 for an Artifacer. So 18 is really the highest level you need to stick around for if you want to get all their abilities (minus a few infusion slots)

So at some point, this might be a worthy class if I want to advance specifically in wand slinging. Otherwise I might just take Sorcerer (yeah, those 1st level spells are going to be great at level 15!) or some combatative class if I have a good set of magic combat items. Pretty much why I was hoping something could continue me "counting" as an Artifacer for levels while gaining other abilities.