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*Dungeons & Dragons
Does the Artificer Suck?
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<blockquote data-quote="tetrasodium" data-source="post: 8175903" data-attributes="member: 93670"><p>That's all well & good but is a distraction from the problem with artificer that makes the missing pieces a problem even if the absence of them is considered a strength for some. Nearly every class gets a strong (or at least good) ability at level 10 & usually 11 but the artificer only gets that if the gm has set that knob in a particular direction. At 10 artificer gets </p><p>[spoiler="Magic item adept & L10 replicate table"]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]131560[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]131561[/ATTACH]</p><p>[/spoiler]</p><p>Those two points certainly look like they could be impressive, but wotc has done a lot of work to push the idea that no or very few magic items are the norm & a party is likely to be more interested in spreading out the magic items where they provide the biggest individua bump in effectiveness so the first point is of questionable value. The replicate magic item options are very much not bridging the gap either. </p><p></p><p>To help that 4 attunement slot perk that could be a completely unused ribbon along they add the second point of being able to spend less time & gold on common & uncommon magic items. But like asking how many angel can dance on the head of a pin & giving a class that lets you have double the dancing angels for a quarter the cost it does nothing unless the gm has set that same knob at a similarly high level as needed to really make the first one shine.</p><p></p><p>All of that could be forgiven if the level 11 ability was really top shelf and while it certainly looks extremely impressive at first glance in isolation it's lacking in execution when the player says "wow this is gonna be awesome, let me see what awesome stuff I can do"</p><p>[spoiler="spell storing item & available spells"]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]131563[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]131565[/ATTACH]</p><p>[/spoiler]</p><p>I highlighted the critically important "this could have been amazing... but..." parts. I admit that ten first or second level spells seems like a lot but your still limited by concentration and double limited by being a half caster. It's pretty rare for casters in 5e to be "out of spells" like in earlier editions due to the ability to just upcast a spell that works well enough into a higher level unused slot so it's not really going to be a noticable amount of sustainability where the artificer is now the energizer bunny. There are very few concentration spells that you might want to cast 10 times per long rest but I marked those off on the list below</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A level 11 full caster has:<br /> 4 1st 3 2nd 3 3rd 3 4th & 1 5th level slot. For a total of nine spells</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A level 11 warlock getting 2 short rests per long has <br /> 9 5th level slots <br /> plus agonizing eldritch blast jumps from 2 up to 3 blasts</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A level 11 artificer has: <br /> 4 1st 3 2nd & 3 3rd level slots For a total of nine spells but unlike the warlock getting 2 short rests per long who has nine 5th level spells artificer doesn't even have anything above 3rd. <br /> That spell storing item needs to really pull double duty in being awesome given the cost it came with. I guess there could be a situation where you might really benefit the group by casting see invisibility darkvision arcane lock lesser restoration magic mouth protection from poison or rope trick 10x during the adventuring day but the damage spells are themselves having a tough time competing with the 3dx cantrips so are certainly not pulling the kind of double duty needed to make up for a dud L10 ability & s o far questionable L11 ability. All of that really puts a spotlight on web & cure wounds but hp recovery is so trivial in 5e that its probably going to mean your new role is to cast web in <em>every </em>fight making you wonder why the heck you needed to wait till level 11 for that "<em>interesting" </em>ability when we all know thanks to dndbeyond doing <a href="https://411mania.com/games/dd-campaign-stop-stats-level-ten-dd-beyond/" target="_blank">the breakdown* </a>something north of 90% of games won't even reach there.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Other level 10& 11 abilities are an archetype feature & 3rd attack, a second 5th & 1st 7th level slot following or possibly in addition to a full caster class feature, improved divine smite following aura of courage, an extra asi & reliable talent, a third warlock spell slot & mystic arcanum for a 6th level spell slot following a patron feature </li> </ul><p></p><p>There are a lot of places they could put limitations on artificer & those are all good places to put them, but the problem of placing too many of them onto it become more and more obvious the higher you go in the class while the half caster progression is functioning as a larger & larger obstacle for the class. Casting second level spells at 5th not so bad, a third level at 10th however is particularly unimpressive & a 4th at 13th with no class feature is likely a completely unremarkable dead level if the game even reaches that point but don't forget to say "I cast web as a 1st level spell... again" & "I cast 2nd level cure wounds... again" ow that you know what awesome stuff that spell storing item can do.</p><p></p><p>*Or the more detailed one by level that I couldn't find</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="tetrasodium, post: 8175903, member: 93670"] That's all well & good but is a distraction from the problem with artificer that makes the missing pieces a problem even if the absence of them is considered a strength for some. Nearly every class gets a strong (or at least good) ability at level 10 & usually 11 but the artificer only gets that if the gm has set that knob in a particular direction. At 10 artificer gets [spoiler="Magic item adept & L10 replicate table"] [ATTACH type="full"]131560[/ATTACH] [ATTACH type="full"]131561[/ATTACH] [/spoiler] Those two points certainly look like they could be impressive, but wotc has done a lot of work to push the idea that no or very few magic items are the norm & a party is likely to be more interested in spreading out the magic items where they provide the biggest individua bump in effectiveness so the first point is of questionable value. The replicate magic item options are very much not bridging the gap either. To help that 4 attunement slot perk that could be a completely unused ribbon along they add the second point of being able to spend less time & gold on common & uncommon magic items. But like asking how many angel can dance on the head of a pin & giving a class that lets you have double the dancing angels for a quarter the cost it does nothing unless the gm has set that same knob at a similarly high level as needed to really make the first one shine. All of that could be forgiven if the level 11 ability was really top shelf and while it certainly looks extremely impressive at first glance in isolation it's lacking in execution when the player says "wow this is gonna be awesome, let me see what awesome stuff I can do" [spoiler="spell storing item & available spells"] [ATTACH type="full"]131563[/ATTACH] [ATTACH type="full"]131565[/ATTACH] [/spoiler] I highlighted the critically important "this could have been amazing... but..." parts. I admit that ten first or second level spells seems like a lot but your still limited by concentration and double limited by being a half caster. It's pretty rare for casters in 5e to be "out of spells" like in earlier editions due to the ability to just upcast a spell that works well enough into a higher level unused slot so it's not really going to be a noticable amount of sustainability where the artificer is now the energizer bunny. There are very few concentration spells that you might want to cast 10 times per long rest but I marked those off on the list below [LIST] [*]A level 11 full caster has: 4 1st 3 2nd 3 3rd 3 4th & 1 5th level slot. For a total of nine spells [*]A level 11 warlock getting 2 short rests per long has 9 5th level slots plus agonizing eldritch blast jumps from 2 up to 3 blasts [*]A level 11 artificer has: 4 1st 3 2nd & 3 3rd level slots For a total of nine spells but unlike the warlock getting 2 short rests per long who has nine 5th level spells artificer doesn't even have anything above 3rd. That spell storing item needs to really pull double duty in being awesome given the cost it came with. I guess there could be a situation where you might really benefit the group by casting see invisibility darkvision arcane lock lesser restoration magic mouth protection from poison or rope trick 10x during the adventuring day but the damage spells are themselves having a tough time competing with the 3dx cantrips so are certainly not pulling the kind of double duty needed to make up for a dud L10 ability & s o far questionable L11 ability. All of that really puts a spotlight on web & cure wounds but hp recovery is so trivial in 5e that its probably going to mean your new role is to cast web in [I]every [/I]fight making you wonder why the heck you needed to wait till level 11 for that "[I]interesting" [/I]ability when we all know thanks to dndbeyond doing [URL='https://411mania.com/games/dd-campaign-stop-stats-level-ten-dd-beyond/']the breakdown* [/URL]something north of 90% of games won't even reach there. [*]Other level 10& 11 abilities are an archetype feature & 3rd attack, a second 5th & 1st 7th level slot following or possibly in addition to a full caster class feature, improved divine smite following aura of courage, an extra asi & reliable talent, a third warlock spell slot & mystic arcanum for a 6th level spell slot following a patron feature [/LIST] There are a lot of places they could put limitations on artificer & those are all good places to put them, but the problem of placing too many of them onto it become more and more obvious the higher you go in the class while the half caster progression is functioning as a larger & larger obstacle for the class. Casting second level spells at 5th not so bad, a third level at 10th however is particularly unimpressive & a 4th at 13th with no class feature is likely a completely unremarkable dead level if the game even reaches that point but don't forget to say "I cast web as a 1st level spell... again" & "I cast 2nd level cure wounds... again" ow that you know what awesome stuff that spell storing item can do. *Or the more detailed one by level that I couldn't find [/QUOTE]
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