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Message: <blockquote data-quote="WalterKovacs" data-source="post: 5333999" data-attributes="member: 63763">I had an artificer multiclassed into wizard in one of the party's I ran with. During a particularly brutal adventure (above our level and with party members missing) it came down to the artificer duking it out with a dragon and through a combination of the DM's luck running out (he's notorious for rolling 20's) and spamming the at-will that boosts AC and pushes the enemy, the artificer was able to force the dragon in a corner and stay alive. Anyway, while the concepts are similar, they do have powers which are different enough where multiclassing or hybrid-ing is worthwhile. In general, the question is which role you want the most (control or leader). Controller and leader are in some ways two sides to the same coin with the former debuffing the opponent while the latter buffs their allies.  In terms of class to start with, if you don't start with hybrid, you get ritual casting either way. The biggest benefit for the wizard, imho, is their spellbook. Yes, you will get some other features like their implement mastery and the like, but the biggest element is the versatility that comes from the spellbook. The biggest benefit for the artificer is their healing ability, which is extra powerful for it's ability to better manage a party's resources as a tough character (for example a battlerager fighter that makes great use of temp hit points to rarely need to spend their many surges) can contribute surges to keep the weaker members of the party alive. Many of the magic item based abilities of the artificer are greatly weakened by the new magic item economy (you can't really buy items that have daily powers as they are considered uncommon or rare). One thing that could benefit the artificer with the new magic item rules is that by getting more bang for his buck residium wise in disenchanting uncommon or rare items, combined with the feat which lets him craft above his level, he could actually get enough money to enchant higher level (common) items without necessarily bankrupting the party, especially if he uses the rules to boost the level of an existing item further.</blockquote>

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