D&D 5E (2024) Which spells should level 11+ Artificers spam all the time?

[Horwath]

if upcasting is allowed and I dont see why not, there is a few good options.

if facing spellcasters with concentration, magic missile at 3rd level is a good conc breaker,

3rd level Aid, +10 HP for 30 people is good if running that kind of campaing or the party is loaded with pets, familiars, summons, companions, sidekicks

Cure wounds/aura of healing is great if you are lacking on healing in the party

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

Assuming no houserules, this is one of the factors that creates such a disparity on the power of the subclasses.
Already powerful subclasses get very powerful spells. Already-struggling subclasses often get no good options.

Best: Battle Smith. Conjure Barrage
2nd best: Artillerist. Fireball
Runners up: Armourer and Reanimator. Lightning Bolt

No good options: Alchemist and Cartographer. Potentially spamming Aid as a healing spell, or Web. Or even just level 1 Magic Missile. Best used by a homunculus or other sidekick since they won't be getting the damage bonus that both subclasses get when the actually cast spells themselves.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

2nd best: Artillerist. Fireball

This is going to be a bit build dependent. Spamming fireball is likely to make you unpopular with your party unless you have some means of protecting them. Artillerist probably has their arcane firearm as a wand of the war mage, so they probably have +2 to hit with Scorching Ray. And there is a good chance you have Hunters Mark or Hex in your build.

they won't be getting the damage bonus that both subclasses get when the actually cast spells themselves.

There seems to be a bit of vagueness here. The spell storing item can be your spellcasting focus, which, for an alchemist, can be your alchemist’s tools. They get the damage/healing bonus when they cast with alchemist’s tools. So it really boils down to how you interpret the word “casting”. And for the alchemist I would err their favour.

 

[BenjaminPey]

I would rule, like @Paul Farquhar, that you are indeed casting a spell when you're using the item. Hence, the Guided Precision feature of the Cartographer applies IF the stored spell is on the Cartographer's spell list (so a stored Guiding bolt would do 4d6 + 5 + adv, that's better than Magic Missile). Same thing for Alchemical Savant IF the item is part of your alchemist's supplies used as a focus.

That makes Cure Wound an OK fit for this item for an Alchemist. 2d8 + 10 HP restored, 190 HP total during the day.

That said, I'd say for a Cartographer one of the best spell to store would be Blink, a spell you don't see used often, but quite fitting on the Cartographer. Being able to do it ten times a day and, best of all, to give your mates the capacity to cast it on themselves, that's not only fitting and quite colourful, it's possibily super strong, though a bit random.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

This is going to be a bit build dependent. Spamming fireball is likely to make you unpopular with your party unless you have some means of protecting them. Artillerist probably has their arcane firearm as a wand of the war mage, so they probably have +2 to hit with Scorching Ray. And there is a good chance you have Hunters Mark or Hex in your build.

There seems to be a bit of vagueness here. The spell storing item can be your spellcasting focus, which, for an alchemist, can be your alchemist’s tools. They get the damage/healing bonus when they cast with alchemist’s tools. So it really boils down to how you interpret the word “casting”. And for the alchemist I would err their favour.

This is why I mentioned houserules: Technically you're not "casting the spell" from the SSI, you are "producing the spell's effect". At the level you get SSI, cantrips have scaled to where they can overshadow most eligible base Artificer spells.
However I would definitely allow the alchemist and cartographer effect bonuses to count when using a SSI.
That makes Acid Arrow a fairly decent Alchemist SSI spell. Guiding Bolt for the cartographer doesn't do much better than True Strike however, so @BenjaminPey 's suggestion of Blink, or another utility spell might be more valuable.

Then again, I personally would probably also allow upcasting to 3rd level from an SSI as well. I'm just used to considering RAW due to playing a lot of Adventurer's League.

 

[Coroc]

Hmmn damn you might be right.

What about the same effect not stacking general rule

It cannot be right, or do temp hp stack in 5.5 (I honestly do not know)?

 

[Vael]

It cannot be right, or do temp hp stack in 5.5 (I honestly do not know)?

Temp HP do not stack, they can replace. So if you have 5 tmp hp and a spell grants you 6 ... you now have 6 temp HP.

 

[Zardnaar]

It cannot be right, or do temp hp stack in 5.5 (I honestly do not know)?

Think we established it doesnt stack.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

It cannot be right, or do temp hp stack in 5.5 (I honestly do not know)?

It doesn’t stack, but not because it involves temp hp - it doesn’t.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

Even though it doesn't stack, Aid isn't a bad spell to have available to spam anyway. Its multiple-target, ranged, healing.
Particularly if its just a minion (homunculus, familiar, tiny servant etc.) doing the spamming.