D&D 5E Artificer - What concepts are missing?

[Amrûnril]

Honestly a lot of the existing ones are just a little too restirctive which means there's a lot of stuff that's almost doable with the existing rules but not quite...

For exmples:

The Armored Artificer is stuck with gauntlets as weapons. You can't make a magic hammer or whatever without needing to max out str rather than int which means you lose out on a lot of core features... and have to set aside a lot of the power of the subclass. But as written you can be Iron Man but not Steel.

The artillerist is so much better at temporary hit points than not using that one option feels like nerfing yourself. And the walking cannon is better than the hand-held one... so playing a gunslinger type is working against the features.

Battlesmith ties up so much power in the robopuppy that playing the subclass as a sword-artificer seems stupid. If the pet was optional, this would be the best swordmage in 5e, better even than the hexblade.

All of these could be tweaked with more optional swap-outs to make them vastly more versatile.

Very much agree with regard to the Armorer. This could be easily be expanded into a generic/flexible warrior subclass if it gave a few alternatives to the Iron Man inspired armor abilities. With Armorer expanded to fill more warrior concepts, I think Battlesmith would actually be fine staying as the pet/construct focused subclass.

Meanwhile, the Alchemist seems like it's in a good place thematically, but its mechanical weakness leaves it unappealing to a lot of players. The Artificer is balanced around having strong subclass abilities to make up for being the the only class that doesn't get extra attack, 9 level spellcasting, or sneak attack+uncanny dodge as core abilities. Elixers and proficiency to damage/healing aren't enough to fill this gap, even though they'd be great subclass abilities in another class.

 

[Marandahir]

Botanist and/or Monster part resource user, Fleshweaver (Dr. Frankenstein), Swordmage/Armamentalist (Forge Adept is basically this, but it's also Keith Baker homebrew), Magitechnician/Engineer/Tinkerer, Physicist messing with the laws of reality (Dunamancy Artificer?), Mathematician/Geometer, Mutagenist (Dr. Jekyll), Crystal-carving sci-fantasy Archivist a la the UA, Dr. Hellsing-esque 3.5e Heroes of Horror Archivist (also plays into tropes that the Monster Slayer Ranger and the Blood Hunter fall into, but Artificer is a great space for this type of semi-religious scientist too)… I've got more but no time at the moment to list them.

 

[SkidAce]

I look at artificer as I do fighter, i.e my PC can be either a hulking native ability warrior, or a professional guardsman turned bounty hunter.

The choice of tools for artificer and the subsequent reflavoring (i.e. I have an artificer that is a wuxia "read blessings from scrolls" character) is normally enough for me.

I will grant that some of the subclasses definitely clash with some reflavoring, and the subclass mechanics might be jarring to the concept.

 

[jgsugden]

To me, the question is about what type of science/engineering is the specialty about.

• Alchemist (Chemistry/Biology - Bioengineering)
• Armorer (Armor)
• Artillerist (Ranged Weapons)
• Battle Smith (Repairs)

What I'd add:

• Conservator (They're experts at capturing unusued energy and redirecting it at other targets. They'll drop an energy cell in an area before a fireball hits and absorb all the fire in a 10 ft cube. Then they'll release it later. They protect by absorbing damage, and hurt by releasing it).
• Demolitionist (Alchemists may play with chemicals that change the body, but the Demolitionist makes chemicals that change the environment, often with a loud boom. They make explosives, acids, and voids that just tear the world apart. They'd inherently do double damage to objects and constructs, and would have the ability to attack the lair as well as the inhabitants of the lair.)
• Electronicist (Energy Focused - primary lightning and radiant damage with beam weapons - Ghost Busters Meets BFG)
• Engineer (Construction - turning the terrain against enemies and in support of your allies. They'd gain "lair actions" that would allow them to turn the environment they are in against their foes)
• Environmentist (Using nature as a tool - a bit of a jack of all trades that uses the elements of nature as their raw materials.)
• Martialist (Melee Weapons - Chainsaw anyone? Jackhammer gloves? An expert at drawing people to them and then delivering high damage in a single blow (rogue like damage))
• Mobilizer (Vehicles - Bikes, Cars, Planes, Boats, Jetpacks, Subs: The driver in an action/heist movie )
• Mecha (Mechs - Size Large, Huge and Gargantuan mechanical creations that you pilot. Transformers, Robotech - lots to inspire you)
• Mineralist (Similar to the Environmentist, but focused on using the nature of rocks and dirt as weapons. They're a bit of a demolisitionist, a bit of a trap maker, and a bit of a stone tool maker... likely as tied to Dwarves as Bladesingers are to Elves.
• Nanoarchanist (They create very tiny constructs that can infiltrate, infest and incapacitate. The swarms might reanimate a corpse, tear a creature apart from the inside, or chew apart a wooden structure)
• Programmer (A "summoner" style that uses runes to animate objects - which follow a program and then deactivate. Once you set them in motion, they try to follow the program until the end without furtherinput from you. A bit chaotic for those that like Robo Rally or Wild Magic Sorcerers. Maybe they get to prepare a number of runes equal to their proficiency bonus, and the instructions in the runes can be 3 words per level in the class?)

 

[doctorbadwolf]

The artillerist is so much better at temporary hit points than not using that one option feels like nerfing yourself. And the walking cannon is better than the hand-held one... so playing a gunslinger type is working against the features.

I’ve always used it handheld and never regretted it. The walker has a 15ft speed. It’s not that great.

 

[Kurotowa]

Most of the ideas in here feel like variant stories of the current class.

Want a golem that attacks a lot? Steel defenders don't have to be made of steel. They can be appropriate for what tools you use to craft them. I'm about to make a steel defender crafted from weaver's tools

Indeed. Not to call too many people out, but a lot of the suggestions in this thread are flavor; themes and concepts and aesthetics. All things that can be accomplished with choice of tool proficiency and spell descriptors. Too few of them have specifics on the mechanics of how the subclass is going to differentiate itself in gameplay. Given how much weight Artificer puts on the subclass side this is very important.

Artillerist shoots stuff with spells and a magic gun. Battle Smith is an all purpose weapons & pet subclass. Alchemist (badly) focuses on healing and buffs. Armorer shifts to being a high AC tank. Those are our baselines for what an Artificer subclass does. So a new subclass has to be something those four don't offer, not "the same but better/worse".

Really, there's not a lot of conceptual space left to work with. Which is probably why Artificer isn't getting promoted to the 2024 PHB. Much as I like them, they're a rather more specialized class. And there's only so much you can do without running into the limits of the game system, ie why having a swarm of animated minions is a no-go.

 

[SkidAce]

...

Artillerist shoots stuff with spells and a magic gun. Battle Smith is an all purpose weapons & pet subclass. Alchemist (badly) focuses on healing and buffs. Armorer shifts to being a high AC tank. Those are our baselines for what an Artificer subclass does. So a new subclass has to be something those four don't offer, not "the same but better/worse".
...

I agree.

Looking at your list, maaaybe an area effect de-buffer type, smoke grenades, alter terrain? etc?

 

[Kurotowa]

Looking at your list, maaaybe an area effect de-buffer type, smoke grenades, alter terrain? etc?

Again, limits of the game system. Those sort of big battlefield controlling effects are Concentration type things, and it's hard to build a character around Concentration spells. Especially when they're a half-caster. And it doesn't help to narrow the targets down, because Bounded Accuracy makes numerical debuffs super powerful.

About the only gimmick I can think of is a toxin focused Artificer, like an offensive Alchemist. One that deals in applying the Poisoned condition and getting bonuses for hitting Poisoned targets. But that's a bit gimmicky, and would run into the trouble of resistance or immunity to poison being so common.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Indeed. Not to call too many people out, but a lot of the suggestions in this thread are flavor; themes and concepts and aesthetics. All things that can be accomplished with choice of tool proficiency and spell descriptors. Too few of them have specifics on the mechanics of how the subclass is going to differentiate itself in gameplay. Given how much weight Artificer puts on the subclass side this is very important.

Artillerist shoots stuff with spells and a magic gun. Battle Smith is an all purpose weapons & pet subclass. Alchemist (badly) focuses on healing and buffs. Armorer shifts to being a high AC tank. Those are our baselines for what an Artificer subclass does. So a new subclass has to be something those four don't offer, not "the same but better/worse".

Really, there's not a lot of conceptual space left to work with. Which is probably why Artificer isn't getting promoted to the 2024 PHB. Much as I like them, they're a rather more specialized class. And there's only so much you can do without running into the limits of the game system, ie why having a swarm of animated minions is a no-go.

Actual concepts not yet realized:

Swarm-Maker - not individual critters, but swarms, AoE effects, etc.

Bombardier - yeet bombs, explode thingns, profit.

Dweomer-Crafter - Wards, stable AoE effects, auras, themed on engraving sigil based spells onto items and surfaces.

Arcane Saboteur - part thief, part exploder, part anti-mage, making enemy spells mirror at high level, recharging magic items when they dispel magic or Counterspell, etc.

Hawkeye/Green Arrow style Magitech Archer - we like the arrows that go boom.

Magitech Mechanic - Vehicle based, with a vehicle gun they can carry around when not using the vehicle.

 

[bedir than]

Swarm-Maker - not individual critters, but swarms, AoE effects, etc.

I also want this for Druids