D&D Releases Playtest for Updated Artificer

Wizards of the Coast has dropped a new Unearthed Arcana Playtest for the Artificer, bringing the often neglected 13th Dungeons & Dragons 5E class into alignment with the 2024 rules update. The playtest was released via D&D Beyond today, with feedback launching on December 24th.

The Artificer gains several new abilities, many of which are designed with an eye to making the class more versatile. For instance, players can now craft low-cost items quickly with a revamped Magical Tinkering ability, while Infuse Item ha been changed to Replicate Magic Item and allows players to replicate magic items of certain rarities and item type. Players can also use the Magic Item Tinker ability to convert a Replicated magic item into a spell slot. The capstone Soul of Artifice ability has also received a buff, with the Artificer no needing a Reaction in order to utilize its ability to skip death saving throws and restoring more health as well.

The subclasses were also updated. For example, the Alchemist's Experimental Elixir producing more elixirs and Chemical Mastery getting a big boost with extra damage, resistance, and the ability to cast Tasha's Bubbling Cauldron. The Armorer has a new Dreadnought option and Armor Modifications was replaced with a new ability called Armor Replication. The Artillerist's Eldritch Cannon can switch between various options instead of being set to one option and the Explosive Cannon ability does more damage and only requires a Reaction to use. Finally, the Battle Smith has received minor adjustments to its Steel Defender construct.

Compared to many other class updates in the 2024 Player's Handbook, the Artificer's changes are much less drastic. There are some obvious updates that bring the class in line with the design updates to other classes, but it didn't receive a major rework like several other classes.

 

[Minigiant]

Seems like futureproofing and updating.

Now the Artificer will update new magic spells and new magic items are created.

 

[kittenhugs]

What would be kind of cool is a mechanics update (races, dragonmarks, artificer) plus an anthology of adventures a la Radiant Citadel or similar - something that goes beyond just the setting and gives us a bunch of things to DO in the setting.

I would kill for some of the iconic Eberron adventures to be reprinted and adapted. Steel Shadows (by Keith Baker) is an excellent little murder-mystery for 7th level chars that shows the underbelly of Sharn but was only available in Dungeon mag (#115). Plus there's the Forgotten Forge/Shadows of the Last War/Whispers of the Vampire's Blade/Grasp of the Emerald Claw set that could be wrapped up into one 1st-6th adventure.

But more than anything I would love some new adventures in Eberron. What I would give for a full campaign book treatment!

 

[Minigiant]

But it does show that the issue with player crafting magic is a fundamental problem. 2014 didn't include rules for buying and crafting magic items and that there was nothing to spend gold on. So 5e gives some rather limited crafting rules and the first thing people do is find every exploit and loophole to show how badly the crafting rules break the game. Personally, I think it proves that they were right to make magic purely in the DMs hands, but what can you do?

That was never the actual gold though.

2014 was bear on rules because they designed it with the assumption that DMs would come from other additions and apply their rules from other editions to 5e. They believe that they will pull in older fans and those fans will just pour in variant rules from first second third and fourth edition.

5th edition was designed for grognards but very few grognards bought the game and played it.

That never happened. So now they had to create those rules (like crafting, buying, and selling magic items) and put those rules in the game and the same thing that happened in those old editions happened again: Players try to abuse them.

Shifting the artificers item creation to real magic items was a brilliant idea because it, ike you said, shifts the availability to DM permission as the default.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Anyways I'd see some Artificers flavouring their Homunculus as a "Minidrone", it looks like a Monodrone Modron except it's Tiny sized.

 

[Chaltab]

I just had to explain to my Artificer player Sunday that crafting a magic item and Infusing to replicate one are two different things and then they go get rid of the 'Infusions' Term .

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

There have been a few changes, but I do not think that the fundamental issues of the class have been fixed:

Base class: While the Artificer is touted as the "best magic item crafter", it falls down compared to actual full spellcasters simply because they have access to higher level spells than the artificer. An Artificer cannot create a Staff or Power for example or any other item with a spell level of over 5th level. Ever.
This also limits them when creating scrolls at lower levels compared to classes that get access to those spells much sooner.

Round-by-round in combat:
This is specifically an issue with Alchemist and Artillerist in the levels where most people play: They have neither extra attack, nor access to full spellcasting to supplement their normal damage with some nova.
An Alchemist for example has arguably worse healing than a Paladin, as well as falling shorter in most other areas such as damage, defences etc.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Still looks like it's going to be the least powerful/effective class in 5E, based on all this. I mean, least that's grading on a 5E curve, so that's like 6.5/10 not 1/10 as it would have been in 3.XE/PF1, but the fundamental half-caster design is just... not a good fit for 5E, and all they're doing here is just tidying around the edges, rather than bringing it actually up to code.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

those mundane items disappear after 1 hour though. Not everyone focuses just on combat encounters. Some of us get deeper into our characters and enjoy downtime activities like being a traveling merchant.

I now imagine a charlatan artificer being that travelling merchant... fast travelling merchant...

 

[Chaltab]

That never happened. So now they had to create those rules (like crafting, buying, and selling magic items) and put those rules in the game and the same thing that happened in those old editions happened again: Players try to abuse them.

One of the reasons I've always been dubious on the sentiment about 5E needing more robust crafting rules.

 

[Chaltab]

I now imagine a charlatan artificer being that travelling merchant... fast travelling merchant...

Sell a bunch of wares then immediately retreat through a teleportation circle.