Zardnaar
Legend
Well here goes an attempt at rating the artificer after seeing a few in action and testing out some specifics. So artificer the name and systems basically hint at magic items. How good is it in a real game however? That is the kicker the artificer is probably the most complicated, DM and player dependent class in the game. Are you playing on Eberron is another factor, are you using bastions. Not only do you have to understand the mechanics but it also helps to know about magic items, their creation how long it takes and what you DM lets you get away with or how generous they are with magic items, cash and time in their game. Its also fairly easy to mess it up even moreso than the Warlock.
The artificer has no strong identity as such. Its a half caster but isn't a dedicated warrior although some subclasses are. It has some support built into it and you may gift some of your items away Beyond that its not to clear on its role and what its good at beyond magic items. Its up to you what you want to build it as. I'm assuming you get the bare minimum here a somewhat generous DM would upgrade anything here by 1 step (B to a B+) and a generous DM could upgrade two steps (B to an A-) or potentially a full grade. How many items and how fast you can create them is an it depends on the DM situation.
As per usual weighting this more towards the first 10 levels or so level 13+ is theory craft territory. Main considerations.
Impact.
Basically how good its effect is. Eg fireballing a horde of CR1 or less mooks is a big impact.
Frequency.
How often can you do it or how often it comes up. Bypassing psychic damage might be great but its not going to be needed that often lets face it. Skill Expertise: Underwater Basketweaving......
Cost.
What resources does this cost you. Eg could be time, action economy, concentration, hit dice, opportunity cost.
Synergy
How well it interacts with your class features, the world etc.
I'll be looking at the main features of the class *skipping the minor ones they don't need much attention). The more quality subclasses a class has along with the bas class the higher the rating.
The early artificer is actually reasonably strong. Nice saving throw combination best in the game later apart from the Paladin. Shields and medium armor, nice skill list some tools and spells. Guidance and true strike are very good cantrips. You spell list is leanging heavily towards utility. It also switches on early and is good from level one and "switches on" level 2. I'm happy to play an artificer all through tier 1 for the most part.
Replicate Magic Item
The MVP ability of the artificer and the main appeal of playing one. How good it is depends mostly on player knowledge. For example at level 2 you can replicate 2 items via your plans. You can use the table on page 9 Forge of the Artificer or pick any common item that isn't a potion or scroll. You could create for example glamour full or half plate armor. You could gift the full plate to a fellow PC or use half plate yourself. Potentially 19 or 20 AC at level 2. That is really good. You have several good items available in the list and ask the DM about 5.0 books eg spellwrought tattoos from Tashas. Even an alchemy jug has its uses. Upgrades at level 6 on the item list and you get more items at 6, 10,14 and 18. Build you own combo using the best knowledge you have.
Magic Item Tinker.
Looks cute but it can be abused. Basically find an item with charges and transmute it into something else once it has 1 charge left. Or drain it for a spell slot.
Flash of Genius Level 7.
Great ability. Big buff to a saving throw as a reaction. Would be gold but Paladin auras exist. This is the next best option. Scores high on impact and you can use it more than once or twice per long rest. Stacks with other save bonuses.
Magic Item Adept
You can attune an extra item. Very nice but its not exactly MVP and its level 10. More is always better especially for this class.
Spell Storing Item
This one varies by subclass a lot. Generally get 6-10 uses of a level 3 spell. Also varies depending on who uses it. Doesn't require attunement can be gifted. Great item for a Rogue thief. Minions can use it but minions can also die a lot. Whoever uses it just has to be able to hold it. 3 subclasses have great options for the spell to put in ti, 1 subclass has a built in minion. Can be S tier for those subclasses.
Level 14+ abilities. Generally more of the same. They're all decent abilities for the most part but they don't stand out to much or arrive very late.
The artificer comes online at level 2 IMHO and peaks at level 10 and 11. This is due to magic item plans via replicate magic item and the spell storing item. Uncommon wondrous item covers a lot of optins at 10 including elemental gemstones. 1 hour concentration free real elemental. Potentially you can get 4 of them depending on how one rules each type of stone. Even at level 6 you get things like Weapons of Warning which basically grants the party advantage on initiative and I rate initiative manipulation very highly.
Alchemist.
Formally the worst one it is now somewhat decent. Still the weakest one tier 1 but gets some upgrades later so its not bad as such. This subclass is leaning towards support heavily and you can double down on support/control via wands you can create or things like pipes of haunting. You probably don't need to create magical weapons and armor for yourself so you can give some away or create different items for yourself. Opportunity cost for a "better" subclass is higher. Outclassed at that role by one of the other subclasses at least early on. I found it rough at level 3 and its the only one I would say that about. Its not outright bad or weak I would give it a B- and it lacks a great spell at level 11 to imbue into an item. B- overall.
Armorer
Living the dream You are iron man from the MCU. However first impressions are deceptive. You think you're Iron Man but you're actually fairly poor at combat. You struggle reconciling taking weapon feats and your built in weapons may or may not be able to be enchanted with your replicate item ability. You have warrior abilities eg 2 extra attack at level 5 but you don't get weapon masteries, weapon feats are a high opportunity cost and its debatable if any weapon feat is worth taking anyway. If you are thinking Iron Man its bit of a failed dream. If you build it as a combination support/control build that is tanky I suspect you will have more luck. I've played it at level 10 and seen others play it 5.0 and 5.5 and none have impressed me as "Iron Man". Its not bad however and it has lightning bolt as a spell you can imbue and has its hands free for casting spells so there is that. Armor model is versatile and can be changed as required. Overall its a B. Hasn't impressed me or made me go meh. Outclassed by other damage dealing builds. Those builds also get the shield spell. Conceptually its a bit of a whiff I think if you're expecting to be Iron Man.
Artillerist.
Basically you get a cannon and you are a "striker" artificer and you're one of the better subtypes on paper. You get shield and fireball the latter which can be imbued into your spell storing item. I'm not the biggest fan of fireball but you do get a lot of them and if someone else is firing it very low opportunity cost. You and a Rogue: Thief would be a match made in heaven at level 11. On paper you deal reasonable damage. There is one big potential bugbear. You cannon only has 5hp per artificer level. 5.5 critters hit like a truck and if your cannon dies things fall apart a bit. Easy to replace but it takes a round so the extra damage is unreliable especially with AoEs around Save or die vs CR 3 or 5 critters AoE's up to around level 9. Overall a B+ and potentially higher at level 11 and with the right DM. More incentive to use one of your replicated items on your cannon as well.
Battle Smith
Conceptually you are a warrior that can equip itself with its own weapons. And for once it basically works as advertised. In effect you are kind of a hybrid beastmaster ranger/Paladin as you have some smites on your spell list and arcane jolt essentially grants more smites. Plus you have the utility of being an artificer. You're inferior to the Paladin generally but you might be more OP at level 11. Your steel defender is squishy however and doesn't hit that hard. Similar issue to the Artillerists turret in terms of survivability. At level 11 I think I want a simian steel defender however. At level 9 the Battle Smith gets to use conjure barrage or aura of vitality. Level 11 spell storing item. Conjure barrage is a AoE cone that doesn't hit friendlies and you have a pet that can theoretically gift it to your pet. That pet may die a lot however YMMV. You could also have a CR 5 elemental helping you out potentially 4 of them but realistically you probably want some magic weapons, shields etc. But you may be able to make the Paladin cry when it comes to damage at least. Medium armor, shields, shield spell and access to magical arms and armor...... Overall a B+ ramping up to potentially an S around level 10 or 11.
Cartographer
A weird new class that doesn't stand out in any way at least on paper. I think the internet may be sleeping on this one. You get adventurers atlas and mapping magic. Essentially you boost initiative by 1d4 and can teleport at will near anyone holding a map as part of your movement. Doesn't even eat your bonus action. You get a lot of bonus faerie fire spells and at 5th can deal extra damage to them. I've actually played this one up to 6th level and created a weapon of warning. It was a popular addition to the party most got an extra 1d4 to initiative and all of them got advantage. I also played support/control with my magic items. Here is your full plate lvl 2, spamming faerie fire every combat, teleporting to line up shots. Anything that got faeries fired got hit with true strike or guiding bolt. At level 6 I started using pipes of haunting often going first. Throw in healing words and cure spells. Even with a hard ass DM you might have enough time to scribe level 1 and cantrip scrolls. Didn't feel weak in any way, lots of party synergy. Damage was weaker I admit but I didn't pretend I was good at that with all those free faerie fires I was using guiding bolt as an "archer". Due to having other things to do (faerie fire, fear, web via wand etc) I didn't need to do guiding bolt that often. Wand runs low on charges hers a level 2 guiding bolt aimed at a faerie fire target. Doesn't scale as well as the others especially at level 11. Would rate it ahead of Alchemist and Armorer up through early tier 2 and I had more fun playing it than the other 2 I played. Overall a B but a B+ falling down to a B- by level 11 IMHO.
So that is the Artificer. Generally a decent class, potentially broken later on with several subclasses and various magical items from various books. Very DM and player skill dependent. Doesn't excel as much in very many roles and a lot of it varies by subclass. Overall I would give it a B but potentially an B+ or A under the right DM and at level 11. No terrible subclasses but a bit of an oops at level 11 for 2 of them. No major issues at levels most games take place, potentially headache inducing on DMs especially inexperienced ones who may not say no to certain books and rules interpretations eg elemental gems.
The artificer has no strong identity as such. Its a half caster but isn't a dedicated warrior although some subclasses are. It has some support built into it and you may gift some of your items away Beyond that its not to clear on its role and what its good at beyond magic items. Its up to you what you want to build it as. I'm assuming you get the bare minimum here a somewhat generous DM would upgrade anything here by 1 step (B to a B+) and a generous DM could upgrade two steps (B to an A-) or potentially a full grade. How many items and how fast you can create them is an it depends on the DM situation.
As per usual weighting this more towards the first 10 levels or so level 13+ is theory craft territory. Main considerations.
Impact.
Basically how good its effect is. Eg fireballing a horde of CR1 or less mooks is a big impact.
Frequency.
How often can you do it or how often it comes up. Bypassing psychic damage might be great but its not going to be needed that often lets face it. Skill Expertise: Underwater Basketweaving......
Cost.
What resources does this cost you. Eg could be time, action economy, concentration, hit dice, opportunity cost.
Synergy
How well it interacts with your class features, the world etc.
I'll be looking at the main features of the class *skipping the minor ones they don't need much attention). The more quality subclasses a class has along with the bas class the higher the rating.
The early artificer is actually reasonably strong. Nice saving throw combination best in the game later apart from the Paladin. Shields and medium armor, nice skill list some tools and spells. Guidance and true strike are very good cantrips. You spell list is leanging heavily towards utility. It also switches on early and is good from level one and "switches on" level 2. I'm happy to play an artificer all through tier 1 for the most part.
Replicate Magic Item
The MVP ability of the artificer and the main appeal of playing one. How good it is depends mostly on player knowledge. For example at level 2 you can replicate 2 items via your plans. You can use the table on page 9 Forge of the Artificer or pick any common item that isn't a potion or scroll. You could create for example glamour full or half plate armor. You could gift the full plate to a fellow PC or use half plate yourself. Potentially 19 or 20 AC at level 2. That is really good. You have several good items available in the list and ask the DM about 5.0 books eg spellwrought tattoos from Tashas. Even an alchemy jug has its uses. Upgrades at level 6 on the item list and you get more items at 6, 10,14 and 18. Build you own combo using the best knowledge you have.
Magic Item Tinker.
Looks cute but it can be abused. Basically find an item with charges and transmute it into something else once it has 1 charge left. Or drain it for a spell slot.
Flash of Genius Level 7.
Great ability. Big buff to a saving throw as a reaction. Would be gold but Paladin auras exist. This is the next best option. Scores high on impact and you can use it more than once or twice per long rest. Stacks with other save bonuses.
Magic Item Adept
You can attune an extra item. Very nice but its not exactly MVP and its level 10. More is always better especially for this class.
Spell Storing Item
This one varies by subclass a lot. Generally get 6-10 uses of a level 3 spell. Also varies depending on who uses it. Doesn't require attunement can be gifted. Great item for a Rogue thief. Minions can use it but minions can also die a lot. Whoever uses it just has to be able to hold it. 3 subclasses have great options for the spell to put in ti, 1 subclass has a built in minion. Can be S tier for those subclasses.
Level 14+ abilities. Generally more of the same. They're all decent abilities for the most part but they don't stand out to much or arrive very late.
The artificer comes online at level 2 IMHO and peaks at level 10 and 11. This is due to magic item plans via replicate magic item and the spell storing item. Uncommon wondrous item covers a lot of optins at 10 including elemental gemstones. 1 hour concentration free real elemental. Potentially you can get 4 of them depending on how one rules each type of stone. Even at level 6 you get things like Weapons of Warning which basically grants the party advantage on initiative and I rate initiative manipulation very highly.
Alchemist.
Formally the worst one it is now somewhat decent. Still the weakest one tier 1 but gets some upgrades later so its not bad as such. This subclass is leaning towards support heavily and you can double down on support/control via wands you can create or things like pipes of haunting. You probably don't need to create magical weapons and armor for yourself so you can give some away or create different items for yourself. Opportunity cost for a "better" subclass is higher. Outclassed at that role by one of the other subclasses at least early on. I found it rough at level 3 and its the only one I would say that about. Its not outright bad or weak I would give it a B- and it lacks a great spell at level 11 to imbue into an item. B- overall.
Armorer
Living the dream You are iron man from the MCU. However first impressions are deceptive. You think you're Iron Man but you're actually fairly poor at combat. You struggle reconciling taking weapon feats and your built in weapons may or may not be able to be enchanted with your replicate item ability. You have warrior abilities eg 2 extra attack at level 5 but you don't get weapon masteries, weapon feats are a high opportunity cost and its debatable if any weapon feat is worth taking anyway. If you are thinking Iron Man its bit of a failed dream. If you build it as a combination support/control build that is tanky I suspect you will have more luck. I've played it at level 10 and seen others play it 5.0 and 5.5 and none have impressed me as "Iron Man". Its not bad however and it has lightning bolt as a spell you can imbue and has its hands free for casting spells so there is that. Armor model is versatile and can be changed as required. Overall its a B. Hasn't impressed me or made me go meh. Outclassed by other damage dealing builds. Those builds also get the shield spell. Conceptually its a bit of a whiff I think if you're expecting to be Iron Man.
Artillerist.
Basically you get a cannon and you are a "striker" artificer and you're one of the better subtypes on paper. You get shield and fireball the latter which can be imbued into your spell storing item. I'm not the biggest fan of fireball but you do get a lot of them and if someone else is firing it very low opportunity cost. You and a Rogue: Thief would be a match made in heaven at level 11. On paper you deal reasonable damage. There is one big potential bugbear. You cannon only has 5hp per artificer level. 5.5 critters hit like a truck and if your cannon dies things fall apart a bit. Easy to replace but it takes a round so the extra damage is unreliable especially with AoEs around Save or die vs CR 3 or 5 critters AoE's up to around level 9. Overall a B+ and potentially higher at level 11 and with the right DM. More incentive to use one of your replicated items on your cannon as well.
Battle Smith
Conceptually you are a warrior that can equip itself with its own weapons. And for once it basically works as advertised. In effect you are kind of a hybrid beastmaster ranger/Paladin as you have some smites on your spell list and arcane jolt essentially grants more smites. Plus you have the utility of being an artificer. You're inferior to the Paladin generally but you might be more OP at level 11. Your steel defender is squishy however and doesn't hit that hard. Similar issue to the Artillerists turret in terms of survivability. At level 11 I think I want a simian steel defender however. At level 9 the Battle Smith gets to use conjure barrage or aura of vitality. Level 11 spell storing item. Conjure barrage is a AoE cone that doesn't hit friendlies and you have a pet that can theoretically gift it to your pet. That pet may die a lot however YMMV. You could also have a CR 5 elemental helping you out potentially 4 of them but realistically you probably want some magic weapons, shields etc. But you may be able to make the Paladin cry when it comes to damage at least. Medium armor, shields, shield spell and access to magical arms and armor...... Overall a B+ ramping up to potentially an S around level 10 or 11.
Cartographer
A weird new class that doesn't stand out in any way at least on paper. I think the internet may be sleeping on this one. You get adventurers atlas and mapping magic. Essentially you boost initiative by 1d4 and can teleport at will near anyone holding a map as part of your movement. Doesn't even eat your bonus action. You get a lot of bonus faerie fire spells and at 5th can deal extra damage to them. I've actually played this one up to 6th level and created a weapon of warning. It was a popular addition to the party most got an extra 1d4 to initiative and all of them got advantage. I also played support/control with my magic items. Here is your full plate lvl 2, spamming faerie fire every combat, teleporting to line up shots. Anything that got faeries fired got hit with true strike or guiding bolt. At level 6 I started using pipes of haunting often going first. Throw in healing words and cure spells. Even with a hard ass DM you might have enough time to scribe level 1 and cantrip scrolls. Didn't feel weak in any way, lots of party synergy. Damage was weaker I admit but I didn't pretend I was good at that with all those free faerie fires I was using guiding bolt as an "archer". Due to having other things to do (faerie fire, fear, web via wand etc) I didn't need to do guiding bolt that often. Wand runs low on charges hers a level 2 guiding bolt aimed at a faerie fire target. Doesn't scale as well as the others especially at level 11. Would rate it ahead of Alchemist and Armorer up through early tier 2 and I had more fun playing it than the other 2 I played. Overall a B but a B+ falling down to a B- by level 11 IMHO.
So that is the Artificer. Generally a decent class, potentially broken later on with several subclasses and various magical items from various books. Very DM and player skill dependent. Doesn't excel as much in very many roles and a lot of it varies by subclass. Overall I would give it a B but potentially an B+ or A under the right DM and at level 11. No terrible subclasses but a bit of an oops at level 11 for 2 of them. No major issues at levels most games take place, potentially headache inducing on DMs especially inexperienced ones who may not say no to certain books and rules interpretations eg elemental gems.
