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Does the Artificer Suck?
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<blockquote data-quote="tetrasodium" data-source="post: 8174367" data-attributes="member: 93670"><p>They absolutely should, however there are two problems</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Wotc created a design outline for crafting items but never quite finished it choosing instead to largely end it with ask your gm to finish it & largely not even including examples going back to half or a quarter of ask your gm is still ask your gm</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">At no point has wotc ever put out anything resembling a wealth or downtime by level chart (not even a UA rough draft) to give an artificer who feels lacking similar to how a warlock or monk can point to 6-8 encounters with 2 short rests per long rest as a yardstick if they are feeling underdone by a particular GM's style</li> </ul><p></p><p>[USER=7026407]@Thunderous Mojo[/USER] I don't agree with that assessment about being too narrowly focused. The replicate lists being loaded with largely inappropriately held back filler would be a nonissue if it were paired with a large number of infused items, the small pool of allowed unfused items would be fine if paired with a selection of powerful items that make the party miss having a supporting artificer when there isn't one . Instead they have the worst of both. An 8th level barbarian not aiming for a paladin aura with a longsword instead wielding a greatsword & powerattack+rage is going to be dealing [2d6+str+rage+powerattack]*2 or 25 average. Once you start dropping things like powerattack & a heavy weapon you might as well be dropping the artificer's heavy crossbow for a light/hand crossbow or effect cantrip like ray of frost/frostbite that deals d8 & d6 damage for the same reason the barbarian is using a d8 weapon or add in a strength rogue with a dagger fr a good spread ofapples & oranges data points. As a whole too many parts of artificer are missing a completed subsystem/guideline needed for them to measure up against or <em>almost</em> good but held back by something keeping them from being good lest they be the strong point</p><p></p><p>Yes every table runs differently, for example Alice might allow players to buy +1 weapons of their choice as they are simply uncommon using the dmg135/xge126 costs while bob might stick to whatever module he's running & Cheryl writes everything herself. In alice's game the infusions are going to be severely underpowered & only get moreso as players buy rare & higher stuff. In Bob's game it depends on what module he's running & may or may not be useful. In Cheryl's game the artificer has the same "it depends" & could be in the same boat as one table or even the good/bad at both Alice & Bob's table but neither her nor the artificer in question have a yardstick for what wotc intended it to be measured against when they designed the class. Despite some folks pointing at the radiant weapon infusion as a solution to Alice's choice to allow players to buy +1 gear, the artificer is still deeply hamstrung by being unable to make more than one while many other infusions are rendered pointless & the replicate magic item lists are themselves not really much of a meaningfully alternate path for the artificer to hang a hat on saying "This is how I'm awesome." even if it were a path they wanted to somehow specialize in</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="tetrasodium, post: 8174367, member: 93670"] They absolutely should, however there are two problems [LIST] [*]Wotc created a design outline for crafting items but never quite finished it choosing instead to largely end it with ask your gm to finish it & largely not even including examples going back to half or a quarter of ask your gm is still ask your gm [*]At no point has wotc ever put out anything resembling a wealth or downtime by level chart (not even a UA rough draft) to give an artificer who feels lacking similar to how a warlock or monk can point to 6-8 encounters with 2 short rests per long rest as a yardstick if they are feeling underdone by a particular GM's style [/LIST] [USER=7026407]@Thunderous Mojo[/USER] I don't agree with that assessment about being too narrowly focused. The replicate lists being loaded with largely inappropriately held back filler would be a nonissue if it were paired with a large number of infused items, the small pool of allowed unfused items would be fine if paired with a selection of powerful items that make the party miss having a supporting artificer when there isn't one . Instead they have the worst of both. An 8th level barbarian not aiming for a paladin aura with a longsword instead wielding a greatsword & powerattack+rage is going to be dealing [2d6+str+rage+powerattack]*2 or 25 average. Once you start dropping things like powerattack & a heavy weapon you might as well be dropping the artificer's heavy crossbow for a light/hand crossbow or effect cantrip like ray of frost/frostbite that deals d8 & d6 damage for the same reason the barbarian is using a d8 weapon or add in a strength rogue with a dagger fr a good spread ofapples & oranges data points. As a whole too many parts of artificer are missing a completed subsystem/guideline needed for them to measure up against or [I]almost[/I] good but held back by something keeping them from being good lest they be the strong point Yes every table runs differently, for example Alice might allow players to buy +1 weapons of their choice as they are simply uncommon using the dmg135/xge126 costs while bob might stick to whatever module he's running & Cheryl writes everything herself. In alice's game the infusions are going to be severely underpowered & only get moreso as players buy rare & higher stuff. In Bob's game it depends on what module he's running & may or may not be useful. In Cheryl's game the artificer has the same "it depends" & could be in the same boat as one table or even the good/bad at both Alice & Bob's table but neither her nor the artificer in question have a yardstick for what wotc intended it to be measured against when they designed the class. Despite some folks pointing at the radiant weapon infusion as a solution to Alice's choice to allow players to buy +1 gear, the artificer is still deeply hamstrung by being unable to make more than one while many other infusions are rendered pointless & the replicate magic item lists are themselves not really much of a meaningfully alternate path for the artificer to hang a hat on saying "This is how I'm awesome." even if it were a path they wanted to somehow specialize in [/QUOTE]
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