D&D 5E (2024) What's New with the Artificer in Eberron: Forge of the Artificer

[WanderingMystic]

I mean, they're probably not as good as Battlemaster or Artilerist, but I'd definitely put them above Cartographer!

The Forge Adept is decidedly worse than the Battle Smith, Artillerist, or the Armorer in combat and honestly, I would still take the Alchemist or Cartographer due to their utility. The Mavrick is even worse it focuses on improving your spell list but until 15th level you don't really get anything.

In that book their is however a great monk subclass focusing on enhancing shifter, warforged, changling or kalashtar albitites in melee combat.

In Dread Metrol you have a class that is very similar to the Armorer but no ability to choose between forms. You replace parts of you with artificed versions, gaining the ability to use heavy armor as well as a 1d10 int keyed enhanced arm. Two attacks at level 5, then an extra infusion slot at 9th along with your arm counting as a shield and your weapon bumping up to 2d10
Your weapons however deal a good deal more damage at 9th level. Finally you become a construct at 15th. great class.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

The Alchemist is not bad by any means.
They can entirely focus on int with true strike or cantrips doing fire or Acid damage. Acid splash is an area spell. Adding int bonus to it is great. Poison spray and fire blast have high damage dice. Adding int bonus to the damage helps preventing dealing neglegible damage at times.
Flaming sphere. Nice extra damage with a bonus action. The initial cast deals extra damage. Keeping concentration is not that hard for artificers in general.

Homunculus is doing things without any action needed by the alchemist.

That all adds up.

But this is not the main thing alchemists do. They cam freely give away most of their created magic items. They could keep the mind sharpener or the wand of the war mage if noone else is in greater need though.

Their potions are good buffs no matter what they roll. They are concentrationless and usable as a bonus action from either character.

After level 7, giving a +4 bonus to saves or checks 4 times per day as reaction on their main stat is great. 1st, they don't need to be as close to the receipient as the paladin, their bonus is higher because paladins usually don't have charisma as their highest stat.
And at times addding to checks is helping too.
Their bonus is more reliable than bard dice. And they it is usable as a reaction.

Of course you miss high level spells, but so do paladins and rangers and eldritch knights and arcane tricksters.