artificers are indeed broken but you just shutdown what makes them broken (bag of holding combo). haha. anyway yes a future video on infusions would be great. however, to set you apart from what's already out there, i'd rather you focus on the items from replicate magical item. no, not the ones on the table as that's been overdone already but the common magical items you can create of which we have a lot to choose from from the different sourcebooks. here's some of my favorites: 1. clockwork amulet-ensures an important attack hits. 2. ruby of the war mage-allows the artificer to go weapon and shield while casting spells without needing to have tools on hand or have the warcaster feat. 3. pot of awakening-who wouldn't want their own baby groot? combine with the artificer's magic stone and you have a decent sustained dmg option that consumes your bonus action once every 3 rounds. 4. spellwrought tattoo-an artificer's poor man's magical secrets giving them access to all 1st level spells and cantrips in the game for a limited times per day. great picks just for infusions known are the long duration ones that you can use and swap out before a long rest like goodberry and find familiar. also great for niche use spells like ceremony.
@@ConstructedChaos your welcome. one last quip about the vid: you harp on the power and brokenness of spell-storing item but fail to mention it's partner among the 3rd level spells that makes it broken: tiny servant. have 10 tiny servants out. standing orders to pass around the spell storing item and cast it at a target you point at. 10 shatters to nuke a battlefield? yes please. 10 flaming spheres for an alchemist for a sustained nuke for the bbeg? take my money. of course this is just the burst option. if you want something sustainable for multiple combats, you can just have 3 tiny servants and command them to cast levitate, web, heat metal, etc subsequently at different targets. the good thing with this combo is it doesn't consume your or your party's action economy or concentration slots.
@@TheRobversion1 I love this idea but tiny servant is 3rd level and spell storing item only works with 1st or 2nd level spells. Unless I’m missing something?
@@ConstructedChaos yup. so start of the day after a long rest cast multiple tiny servants using your spell slots. lets say 3 for a 4th level slot. then create your spell storing item lets say with 10 instances of flaming sphere. you arent putting tiny servant into the spell storing item. then before you adventure give your tiny servants standing orders to cast flaming sphere from the spell storing item at a location you point at and to pass the spell storing item to the next tiny servant who hasn't done so after they are done casting. on your 1st round of combat, take your normal set of actions. your tiny servants lets say come out of your backpack then cast flaming sphere at the target you pointed at once their initiative comes up then passes the spell storing item to the next tiny servant to take their turn. on your 2nd round, use your bonus action to command the tiny servants to use their bonus action to ram the flaming sphere at the target you're pointing at and to take the hide action afterwards inside your backpack to maintain concentration easily.
@@TheRobversion1 Ahhhhh I see what you're getting at now! That's incredible! Just goes to show how broken Artificer can be! Very very creative use of those two features!
Confirmed use of magical tinkering in combat. I infused a coin with the sound of a trex we ran into and in a later encounter tossed the coin into a group of enemies. The DM being a good DM recognized the morale implication of a group of people suddenly hearing a trex roar directly behind them and made them roll to see if they would break and run, which they did. Granted this does require a DM that isn't just interested in making their encounters go the way they want. That type of DM would just ignore it and move on saying they were mildly startled but immediately went back to the fight or something.
I wish that Artificer (especially the Alchemist) had access to the Dragon's Breath spell. Just imagine a character downing a glowing potion, and then gaining the ability to produce a breath weapon like a dragon. That would be awesome!
My Dm let me play up the alchemy roll, so dragons breath potions were available for crafting at a moderate price. He kept things toned down, but allowed me a lot of crafting freedom.
Playing an Artificer/Wizard now who already had proficiency in most tools. Basically a time tinkering mechanic. My DM recently gave me a magical "Universal Multitool" in the form of a screwdriver that can work with my ability to make any magical tool by becoming any tool I want on the spot. It also gives auto proficiency with whatever tool it becomes, and +1. Cool lil tinkering knicknack for on the spot creations inspiration.
Randomly made a character in a party of 8 players 5 minutes before we started. Chose Kobold Artificer because I've never played either of those things. I've only played a small character once. Became the party leader by the end of the session somehow. I'm kind of obsessed with learning how this class works, because at first glance it looks like its not great at anything, but as you go down the rabbit hole you see parallels to ranger, arcane trickster, paladin, and 4•ele•monk. By 7th level you're already starting to figure out neat tricks to do a ton of damage, massively turn the tides of battle with support, or completely peel a single mob while wittling it down with ranged attacks with your magic pistols. I chose a build for flavor, and it turned out to be a bit of a power build, and I love finding new and ridiculous ways to make this class shine. If you are the type who loves to tinker and experiment with mechanics, this class can be immensely fun.
My Favorite 1 Level Dip for Artificers is Genie Warlock. The flavor of a Warlock Artificer is really nice, and the vessel makes for an excellent workshop for your level 10 Artificer feature; it lets you craft on the go, maybe take the adventuring day off, let your steel defender fight in your sted, give all of your infusions to the defender so that it can be the partyficer for the day while you work.
Using a Warforged Artificer to create MegaMan was the highlight of my d&d experience. I chose Armorer and stayed primarily in infiltrator mode. Amazingly fun!
What I love about Artificer is how customizable it is. My Artificer is an assassin who turned his body into a living Swiss Army Knife. I basically took any spells and recontextualized as weapons. Long range spells=guns, healing spells=potions, AOE=makeshift grenades, etc.
I too love bending the flavor of the artificer in non-conventional directions! The class really leaves a lot of room for you to take those creative liberties!
What I love about the Artificer is the versatility of the class, they really are like Iron Man. Given enough time you could probably create an item to help against a specific enemy, create or infuse items to help make up anything the party maybe lacking. Hell, even having more bodies on the board can be useful in that case of the artillerist, or the Battle Smith. Personal favorite is probably to no one’s surprise, the Armorer. A combination of high AC, a great spell list, and the sheer versatility of its armors makes it useful in any number of ways.
Yea, even the less “effective” builds shine in ways other than DPR in combat. I think a lot of people overlook how useful some of their stuff can be in a group setting!
So yea currently playing a level 2 artificer where everyone starts out as a variaent human. So i was like so yea googles of the night is a must. But a well played artificer can be game changing if they have enough prep time. So pretty much either batman or ironman lol.
@@ConstructedChaos battlesmith is mine and the only artificer subclass i've played to date. still haven't come up with and playtested optimized builds with the other 3. there's definitely tools on the artillerist though for a couple of builds such as the force ballista, thorn whip then multiclassing to get cloud of daggers/spike growth or a quarterstaff arcane firearm booming blader with a protector cannon.
I'm in a campaign where the party has two artificers and Flash of Genius is the bane of our DMs existence. Also, I play as an artillerist and the protector cannon that can give out Temporary HP every turn is amazing, especially given it can walk around to help the most vulnerable party members.
I love the artillerist for that specific reason! I actually have a build for it that I’m waiting to do a video on once I have some commissioned art back for it!
My favorite part about Artificers is that they can easily become the DM's best friend in terms of introducing custom magic items to the party. Do you want your campaign to stretch out a bit longer? Have the Artificer make a bunch of magic crystals called "Shards of Knowledge" that store a player's levels, abilities, and current subclass and multi class into it. The gimmick is that you can then shift your playstyle to explore other options without losing your progress. It also opens up options for dilemmas involving stolen Shards or taking multiple Shards at the same time. It's a purely homebrewed idea, but because the Artificer can just make any random bullshit it'll rarely feel out of place so long as it's kept consistent. Another neat item I've seen an Artificer make is a Runic Infusion Chisel. The RIC became a staple tool of the entire party, as the artificer simply has to inscribe a spell or enchantment onto a rune that attached to the RIC, and you'd be able to make a temporary magic item or infuse an item with a spell. So, instead of lugging around twenty swords with different enchantments for niche situations, the party kept a few runes in their pockets to enchant their non magic items on the fly. Pair this with a few more unique runes, like the one that let you create a door into a cottage anywhere you struck the RIC, and the group wound up missing it when we moved on to a new session. The DM had to introduce a rusty RIC with limited uses to get us to shut up about their absence, and later reintroduced proper RICs in a shop for the absurd price of 2k Gold each, plus the cost of the runes.
I love all of these ideas!! Thank you for sharing them! The runic chisel idea in particular definitely simplifies the magic item rewarding process in a way that I think most players would really enjoy!
This is my favourite class to play and usually play a more Gidget from Chip and Dale type artificer. I love this class as you get to create how your magic looks. My girl Kyrie uses her hammer and wrench to cast her spells as she learned blacksmithing from the dwarves.
Love this class, particularly the Battle Smith build. Armorer is also super fun. Made a stout halfling battle smith, just a tough little dude who keeps the party going and can actually put out decent sustained and reliable damage to boot. Such a fun class. Flash of genius is indeed clutch, whether to make a save or to pick a lock. You can usually make something good happen if you really need to.
I'm playing a battle smith in a campaign currently (although, they're only level 2 right now so they're not technically a battle smith yet haha). Haven't dipped my toes in the armorer subclass since it came out, however. Maybe that'll be my next one!
battlesmith is my fave artificer subclass as well though i'm indifferent towards the class. if you're looking for a battesmith build ideas, i shared a unique one somewhere in the comments of Chaos's artillerist build vid. the steel defender is the star of the build and is a tank/controller/support hybrid. agreed on flash of genius as that's a core piece of my own battlesmith.
My DM has been extremely helpful when dealing with Tool Expertise. A bag of powered magical stone ground up in a mortar and pestel (sp) before hand give me expertise in investigation checks, a small spring powered grappling hook made with tinkers tools could be used to help with acrobatics or strength checks to make it up/down a wall. Oils from alchemist tools used to silence gear for stealth checks... the list goes on. Basically, if I can think up a way to have my tools help me on a check before or during a check he alows it. (Within reason of course)
I have to agree with the majority of comments regarding production value and video titles. Production value all around is fantastic. Great pace, presentation, and visual aid use. "Barbarian spell casting hacks." is the next title I anticipate. Which is a shame given the quality of each video. Literal or figurative intent of titles aside, it's a common complaint because we all know what the titles imply. Keep up the good videos, but with honest titles. The subscribers, likes, and shares will follow.
I love an appreciate this input and the kindness with which you've given it! You'd be interested to know that MOST of my videos actually have the kind of titles that you're looking for. Though, my first video that really garnered attention for the channel had this style of title. This was, of course, a happy accident and I had intended (and still do intend) to create the series with a noble goal in mind--that goal being to bring players of all kinds together with a common love for the game regardless of what classes have more DPR or better abilities. The idea for the series actually came from one I'd seen on a smash bros. youtube channel (Little Z) where he'd gone through each character on the roster and made a video called "**** is OP." The series was very well-received and touted as a great illustration for how balanced the game actually was even in the midst of so many contrary opinions on the internet. From that point, I created many many videos with better production quality, honest titles, and what I felt was some of the best advice I have for players. But nobody saw them. It's a sad symptom of youtube and the culture that's developed over time on the platform. Make no mistake, I don't like it. I've continued the series alongside most of my other content with much the same result along the way simply because I still have that same goal in mind for my class guides. I mean absolutely no offense by any of this, of course. And, I hope my transparency as a creator sheds some light on the issue as well as my good intentions behind making videos to help the community and give back to the hobby that has already given me so much. But, if people want to see a certain type of content on RU-vid, they need to click on those kinds of videos.
@@ConstructedChaos and classy to boot! Thanks for taking the time to explain, as I have had exactly that experience. The warlock is broken was my first Constructed Chaos video thanks to the alogorithm and I'm slowly exploring from there. The videos having a themed title is a fun thing too, like JoCat's crap guides to - videos :)
@@ninjamimealt Thank you much! And I'm glad you're enjoying the content!! I'll probably be moving away from this naming convention once the series is done with but it's a fun little inside joke at this point!
I'm currently playing a 28 yo Aarakocra artificer who left his shop to go out an adventure one last time. Aarakocra only live to around 30, so my character is trying to fight in his old age, but using the Propulsion Armor infusion, he's able to keep up with the rest of the party. It's really entertaining to have this little old bird man have to be carried around by his steel defender off the battlefield only to turn around kick ass on it.
Take the Mastermaker subclass ( i know its not official) and the duel wielding feat and strength becomes a pretty important stat. I use this build to play my artificer dwarf who just loves hammers
I always want to run either a big/bulky race as an armorer so his armor makes him even bigger or a small race that the DM allows to fit inside a medium sized suit of Arcane Armor to show that they're insecure about their size.
@@TheBeastANWhaha sorry about that! Sadly, I’m too busy with the new content to make an updated guide for artificer but I’m sure I’ll get to circle back around to it when they inevitably re-release the class.
@@ConstructedChaos Cool, and thanks for the reply! It really is an interesting and informative video so I’ll definitely check out your content on the new stuff!
Maybe it's not an optimal build by default, but I had this idea of playing (or using as a NPC if I ever get the guts to DM something) a character that's, inspired by Alice in Wonderland, a white rabbit Harengon Artificer and/or clockwork soul sorcerer with a magic pocket watch that they use for spell casting and that is bigger than it seems , so it can like unfold into a bigger mechanism for other artificer weapons or and flavour for spells or have little compartments for different kinds of tools that just pop out. (If someone is reading this and you are DMing a campaign, feel free to take that idea and turn them into a Feywild merchant or something around those lines for example. If you do it I'd love to know how it went ) Also great video, it's really well organized and it's super informative ☺️
@@ConstructedChaos it's an idea I had since the Harengon race was announced, but I don't have a campaign to play it in , since the Curse of Strahd campaign I'm playing in is taking all my dnd time and I'm playing a divine soul sorcerer Aasimar there so ... No room for that white rabbit
I am currently playing a 6th level (Lvl2 Chronurgist/Lvl4 Battlesmith) Harengon(small) Named Niven. Top Hat is his Bag of Holding Clockwork Amulet (Pocket Watch) Steel Defender (skinned as a clockwork unicorn) He high strung and a bit jump (Poor WIS and startles easily).
@@michaelnagel2205 that's a really cool way to twist the concept too (I didn't have Chronurgists in mind because I'm not as familiar with CR specific classes and sub classes but it sounds like a fun character to play for sure )
As someone who has played an Armorer Artificer up to level 12, I can attest that she was indeed damn powerful and came in clutch a number of times during the campaign she was in. It would've been nice to continue playing, but there was a player with "Main Character Syndrome" and I ended up leaving because of them
@@ConstructedChaos oh yeah, I really did ^^ My top moment with her was when I got a Nat 20 on Athletics (boosted to 35 with Armor of Magical Strength, +5 in Athletics and Flash of Genius) to throw an Arch-Lich's phylactery into my Rope Trick dimension (said phylactery was a black stone obelisk with a skull in it, dimensions 10x10x10 ft) so we could sever the lich's connection to it without being interrupted. The DM allowed this to happen, so I had a really good game going
@@KalinaHitanaVTuber THAT is such a cool moment!! Thank you for sharing that with me! Here’s to many many more adventures and cool moments like that in the future!
I made the argument for having an artificer in the game I play, my DM told me it better be good. Ended up playing a Triton who used underwater shipwrecks to create his armorer suit. He also uses shells, ropes, coral and many other underwater items for his pseudo-mech suit. He has a ships cannon mounted on his back for when he cast big spells we flavor it as the cannon being enchanted.
Rules as written infuse item is limited in how many you can include at a time at the end of a long rest by your number of infused items, but you can use all of your infusions known, and they don't end until you re-use that known infusion or use a different one on the same object.
One thing I will saw, as I play one in a West Marches campaign is don't make STR your dump stat, as there are some cool armorer abilities, but if you've got a bad STR score you can get easily encumbered.
Good advice here!! I’ve made the mistake in other videos stating what stat should be dumped and I’m always met with some exception. So I made sure to stress that it really depends on your build but most of the time your stats should fall as I mentioned. More of a beginner tip than anything!
Absolutely. This is more if you're going for the "Armorer" type build, where heavy armor can work with your spellcasting. In this case Dex and Str may be swapped since heavy armor limits the ability to utilize your DEX to modify AC, but you need appropriate STR to wear and carry heavy Armor.
My favorite Artificer combo for spell storing object (SSI). At 17th level, put the Artillerist's Scorching Ray in the SSI and then cast Animate Objects. Have 10 daggers all use the item and laugh maniacally as you wield a laser Gatling gun to murder almost anything down range with 30d6 (excluding misses, crits, and the artillerist's Arcane Firearm 1d8 extra damage) fire damage. Not big enough for you? Same principle but use Shatter (be sure to laugh really loud; your targets will be well and truly deaf if they survive).
This is the second video of yours I've run into saying something is broken that isn't. I was curious, and when it turned out to just be a summary of the clsss I was disappointed. Your class summaries are good. Your content is good. Just don't make promises with video titles you aren't prepared to keep.
I appreciate the insight here, Josh! As you can imagine, you aren’t the first person to bring this up to me! The intention of this series is to show that any class can be broken by highlighting the best parts of that class in the class guide (which is also in the title, btw). That said, most of my other content breaks this convention because I have realized that it creates an unwanted problem for viewers. However, I do still intend to finish this guide series as is since I feel it accomplishes the aforementioned goal more often than not. The series has over 90% like/dislike ratio-with 90% being the average across the whole of RU-vid. So I do feel like most people get the gist. But, once again, I really value your honesty and input! Rest assured that it has not fallen on deaf ears or into comment limbo haha!
Thanks for being open to feedback! Seeing that it's a series it makes more sense. Encountering an individual video lands differently as you now know. Keep at it, you're doing great! There's bound to be stumbling blocks along the way but that just means your videos can keep getting better.
@@genrepunk thank you so much for being so understanding. Fostering a community and channel requires me to take criticism to heart and that’s so much easier when it’s coming from someone who is as well-composed as yourself! I truly value feedback like this! ❤️
@@ConstructedChaosMaybe try "The Best Parts of..." or "How good a... can be" or something. Like he said, the title is very misleading. This is just an explanation of an artificer.
@@M0ntezuma300 I'll definitely take that feedback under advisement! However, I've found that the majority of people that watching the video know exactly what it is when they click on it. The like/dislike ratio is something like 97% so I'm not sure it's as much a problem as you think.
Few years ago, we had a campaign that was actually one of my favorite journeys, I was a grung in red named pepper, and my wife to be was a warforged artificer. We crossed the lands in chase of a vile cult of tiamat worshippers that was gather ancient dragon blood and had lost two of our friends to their leader who killed them. It was simply the two of us facing the many but thanks to her character we used our thoughts and talents to create a brand new oil based on my red grunge. With it we created a first aoe pepper spray valley that killed many of the cult.
@@ConstructedChaos we had to improvise since we Did loss half our party early in the campaign, plus be in character since I was a toad and communication was hilariously misinterpreted a lot…. Had to see it honestly on how much I croaked and she took it as inspiration to devise extracting peppers secretions for the spray 🤣 Dm was also loving the torture to so it didn’t help that he also had a damn heavy armored Minotaur chasing after us throughout the year long campaign to add incentive. So we used our heads, made the minataur get snared in my oil drenched rope filled with fiery oil to make it blindly berserk before she blew it up as well the BBeg hideout, causing mass blindness because hey red grunges are spicy for a reason and then it was simply use casting fireballs to engulf them all for not just damage over time but a free cremation service to avenge our friends. Oh and um… we also ended up using the riches we gained to the villages we um… used to slow down that Minotaur. Dm said we we’re definitely banned 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I realy liked the unearthed arcana subclass of archivist, it was one I realy hoped would be added. A shame it never happened, one of my favourite potential subclasses that I've seen.
i love the battle smith, currently i play it as that meme "i am a healer however *pulls out a sniper rifle" the int instead of dex/str for attacks as long as the weapon is magical is brutal
You can also be a nasty mounted combatant if you decide to pick a small race as a Battle Smith. Discovered this completely by accident when I made my Kobold Artificer(back when the only Kobold type available was the Volo's Guide, which I didn't really mind). He rarely got hit as I just had the beast take the Dodge action each turn and combined with my Homunculus Infusion, I still was able to keep my party up while proceeding to have my DM tear his hair out in frustration, up until I retired him at level 15. He was fun to play.
I’ve wanted to play a kobold for a long time, but sunlight sensitivity was a major impairment, the battlesmith’s beast is oretty name for pack tactics though!
My artificer is a front line armorer using the guardian variant, got the mind sharpener enhancement for early game where im just gonna cast blur and mirror image so im nearly unhittable by my opponents (20 AC)
Something along the line of the elders scrolls dwarfs would be a really fun playthrough. Bronze age armor technology at the level of the Dendra panoply. Ancient mycenaean armor, that consisted of hardened bronze plates over the whole torso and shoulder plates. A bronze helmet reinforced with boar tusks. A full body armor built 1500 years BC of bronze and bone.
Spell storing item blows this class wide open. Especially since it can technically be used by your homunculus or steel defender. Letting you cast a spell as your bonus action each turn.
Haha thank you! I have since adjusted my pronunciation but I think this video is here to stay. I'm kindof annoyed that WOTC isn't reprinting the artificer in the new core book.
I like to pick a profession to flavor my artificer. Blacksmith, Weaponsmith, Bartender, etc. And don’t knock those trivial magic items. In a world without electricity, a lamp, a music box, or a picture are practically treasures!
Wait is there something wrong with the way I say it? Lol but seriously, you aren’t the first to correct me. Believe it or not, I tried to look up the “correct” pronunciation before recording so this wouldn’t happen and this is what I got for it. My original pronunciation with emphasis on “aar” and not on “tih” is apparently the one most people accept.
@@The_Gnome_Chomskee Negative Ghostrider. Artifice is the root of Artifact. Nobody pronounces Artifact as ar-TIF-fact, hence, the pronunciation is incorrect.
Hey Alex, got a question about my brother's artillerist artificer. He bought 4 pairs of safety glasses because, evidently, four members of our party(including him) don't have darkvision. Subsequently, he wants to create Goggles of Night for all involved. Is he able to create multiples of one particular item, or how does that work?
I don't think it would be particularly gamebreaking for you to allow him to create all 4 sets of Goggles of Night under one infusion. However, the rules don't allow for it. It would be one item per one infusion, basically.
I‘m really not into steampunk and because of that I ignored this class for a long time all together, not realizing the awesome potential it has. A battlesmith companion could just as well be a magical companion that just uses the stat block of the metal companion. The alchimist could easily be reflavored as a herbalist or even a crazy witch who brews magical potions at camp. And the armorer could be an artifact maker, who just infuses their fantasy armor with magical runes giving it special properties.
I just made an artificer and strength is my highest stat, followed by intelligence. The thinking is I’ll choose the armorer and use guardian, so I can punch lightning into people. I will say though, I’m new to dnd so maybe that wasn’t a good idea?
I'd say do what feels best for you first and foremost--there's no right or wrong in terms of how to play the game. However, I'd say that the character mechanically doesn't have much use for a high strength score since the armorer allows you to use your intelligence modifer for strength or dexterity attack rolls.
What i need to know really badly js how exactly does mechanical servent work cause my player is a barr multiclasssed as a artificer and has that and im so confused by it and nothing on forums helps (have no watched the video fully)
I'd just like to mention that Eberron is not a steampunk futuristic world. It's a high magic setting. Eberron doesn't even have firearms in it. If a world has magical items, the world can fit artificers. Some DMs would be against it because the class was setting exclusive, like most DMs do with setting exclusive content. But since it went to tasha, Artificers aren't anything to be frowned upon at all.
Sure! Perhaps “steampunky” isn’t the right term exactly. But with things like lightning trains, robots, and other various mechanical contraptions, I find it gives off a very steampunk vibe (even if it isn’t technically steampunk). That said, I’ve never had a problem fitting artificers and even warforged into my fantasy games so I was just covering my bases for anyone else that did have that issue.
Honestly, I’d mostly try to limit what items can be crafted based on the materials your group comes across. Everything else should fall pretty well into place around that. Spell-storing item can still be pretty ridiculous in its own too but I think it’s just a really good feature of artificer and probably doesn’t need to be dealt with under most circumstances!
@@ConstructedChaos - That seems like a pretty good solution, especially as I'm using Kibble's Crafting, so things like magical essences can be throttled. Spell-storing items... I may make any concentration require the item be kept on the caster's person, just as a logical way to prevent the worst shenanigans. Thanks for the reply!
imo this is easy enough. just send tougher challenges. most shenanigan can always be mitigated by simply making the encounter tougher. granted there are certain artificer stuff like the bag of holding bomb that increasing challenge level is a dangerous play (can lead to TPK), but other than that, the solution is always to adjust encounters. this way the pcs can have their fun and be challenged while you don't worry about balance. here's some tips i do as a DM: 1. the aforementioned increase the CR level. i personally subscribe to per player level=CR. so for example, you have a party of 4 level 10 players, send 4 CR 10 young red dragons. that might be too tough for your table however. it works for me though as i have a table of optimizers. so adjust accordingly. like maybe CR-1 or CR-2 per player. the key is to use less trash minions and use more bbegs. you can still use minions but for cinematic effect only like a cut scene kill. 2. make the win conditions of some battles not contingent on killing the enemy. maybe they have to protect something/npc, steal a macguffin or capture a bbeg and interrogate them or solve a puzzle covered in runes. 3. use the environment. structures can be placed for cover, the ground can be difficult terrain, trapped or cause dmg, the room can be trapped and enemies pour in non-stop until the puzzle is solved, the area can be warded by an anti-magic field/unhallow, the whole field is a maze that auto-teleports you, etc. 4. make sure your monsters arent primarily composed of melee brutes with no ranged or spell options. 5. the key is always to balance. trying to counter your PCs at every turn is not fun. let them feel like a superhero every now and then, even if its an important battle. letting them feel like a superhero in a trash fight feels empty. you want to make them feel that what they did counts and has ramifications for the future. you can always make new BBEGs. with that said, know the core tactics of your players so you can counter them when the story calls for it. like for example if the party is strong with con saves, use casters that target int like with enemies abound or target cha with banishment. if the party is melee heavy, use enemies with ranged or spell options. if the party is full of casters, make npcs that can grapple and use silence.
@@Verbose_Mode you know your games best but I personally think it’s important to keep spell-storing item as is. It’s a level 11 ability after all and it’s one of the hallmarks of the artificer class!
"Wonderous objects that boggle the mind" me when I make a steel defender only to strap as many sticks of dynamite to him as the DM will allow and tell it to run at the boss after i light the fuse
@@ConstructedChaos if you saw the recent movie The Creator they have these bomb robots with two legs and two arms that just look like a barrel with legs and arms that are super armored but they run into enemy fortifications and then blow up but they're sentient so when they get sent out they're like "it's been a pleasure serving you ma'am, TO VALHALLAH"
@@ConstructedChaos yeah look up G14 bomb robot it's a funny scene if you find the right one it's like the butter robot from R&M, totally sentient for no reason because it's purpose is so straightforward
That sounds like a pretty interesting multiclass! It does feel like it might end up being fairly multi-attribute dependent but the flavor is spot on here!
eh, I rewrote that class for all the systems I play, even pathfinder, instead of having a spell list, I use a modified "weird science" to emulate magic by embedding said spell(s) into objects the artificer crafts themselves, the spell Levels+ plus the metamagic+ the item crafting cost+ plus how the spell(s) trigger+spell use determine the total amount needed to craft said magical object of weird science. It's rarely below 1k gold for basic items.
I like the idea of better synergy with crafting magic items but I'd hate to lose the "spellcasting" designation as this helps us out if we decide to multiclass. As it is now, dipping artificer as a Wizard is extremely beneficial and some other casting classes benefit from it too. Just my own two cents though!
@@ConstructedChaos I've always viewed Artificers as masters Arcane craftmens, so when made the changes I also created a series of bonus feats the player can take to make the new changes more viable, in the 25 campaigns I've run this setup in I've only had 2 failed characters due to consist bad rolls.
@@haseoyamazaki8897 ooooo I really like the idea of custom feats that could help supplement the current version and meet your homebrew somewhere in the middle!
@@ConstructedChaos I have 15 feat for it, and at each indicated level you get to choose one of 3. so it aids in going one of the 3 main subclasses from 5e. I have more for the pathfinder system b/c its far more customizable there. in that system I can even apply the special abilities of feats to the objects crafted.
Hahaha while I appreciate your DMs willingness to listen, you should let him know that this video is part of a series of guides wherein I touch on each class’s most broken features. He should not be banning the artificer 😅
What popped in my head for an interesting artillerist is the Predator. Shoulder cannon multiclass with a rogue likely assassin, stat priority would be int dex con cha wis str.
Yes!! I love that the canons can be tiny enough to fit in your hand! I actually did a video a while back with a Spider-Man monk/artificer build with a similar concept!
My homerule on the Bag of Holding inside a Bag of Holding is simply use Shadowdark rule. Or yes you can do that. What happens is the bag you put inside with everything inside it gets lost in extradimensional space. Nothing else happens. I had exactly one player who wanted to argue in Waterdeep no less. I said ok RAW. He made a bag of Holding the Black staff arrested and executed that character for attempting to build a weapon of mass destruction. Before they got their hand on a 2nd one. Because Wizards charged with the protection of Faerun are not stupid. And Divination Magic exists.
A simple enough solution! I would probably make that sort of possible outcome known to my players before it actually happened but definitely effective!
@@ConstructedChaosWell they were told extensivley about how magic is controlled in Waterdeep. About the Order that every arcane spellcaster who spends a resonable length of time in the city has to register at and I even told them that several spellcasters capable of doing 9th level spells are part of the regime that protects Waterdeep from any danger that would threaten the city as a whole. ------- And if bag of holdings are essentially nukes they are of course on the forbidden list in Waterdeep. I didn'T spell that one out in detail, but it follows logically from the whole setup to not allow arcane magic to destroy the city that is in place in Waterdeep.
Time to make a giant mechanical bomb of holding I'm mostly joking about that but considering the character I want to use I wouldn't put it behind him to keep a bond of holding in his back pocket just for emergency cases only
Invisibility requires concentration so passing it around is quite useful. Same with the sanctuary spell, which makes that brutal as a defensive option.
I had an idea for a changeling artificer that's wanted to travel the world learning about science using it's shape-shifting abilities to sneak in two different places all for the pursuit of knowledge
@@The_Chew yup just make a bunch and get a high attack modifier. Never need to roll for an attack again. Slap 10 of them on your spell storing item and you now have a gun that won't miss.
See... I always wanted to make a type of master enchanter type character....and basically make sauron from lotr lolol or team up with a necromancer and make a reanimated magical flesh atronach like the gatekeeper in the shivering isles from Oblivion lol
That sounds like some super cool flavor if you find the right adventure for it! Maybe you could do a whole evil party and fight against the good guys! haha
Hmmmm… how to show you my build. Basically made, a dwarvish version of’’the thing’’ … playing in AL. Had to rebuild a evil character (cause they are not AL legal anymore) so his a lvl 16 TANK build. Injured warrior with the faceless background. He found a headband of intellectual. So got 19 int from that. Mostly con and dex. And a belt of fire giant’s strength. His awesome!!!!
What most DMs forget is that bags of holding have been made for some time with these boneheads in mind. And all that energy can equal seriously powerful lessons.
Alchemist would be good DMPC, other than that I have nothing nice to say about the subclass. It is rather sad that I missed the part where Artillerist's Protecter cannon is one of more reliable way to gain Temp Hp.
Artillerist is my favorite of the Artificer subclass options currently! You can bet I’ll be going into a lot more detail in future videos! Just wanted to give a very brief overview in this one. People have a habit of complaining if I get too long-winded in the subclass portion of these guides!
@@kwaksea I’d prefer it that way, though. I would rather a subclass/class feature be more powerful than a feat as it requires more of a commitment to acquire.
The protector HP completely trivializes most low level encounters. I felt bad for the healers in my games player party as they had very little to do. Even at level 5-7, that repeated HP buffer of upwards of 8-12 HP each turn required my ratcheting up of the encounter difficulty which in turn made the margin for error even narrower just to keep it interesting and a challenge.
@@DJDace99 That is quite understandable point. While Healers might be able to contribute to party in different ways (For Clerics, they have Spiritual Weapon and Spiritual Guardian, for Druids, they have many good Control/Summons and for Bards, they have good support other than Healing), re adjusting combat difficulty, that sounds like quite a headache which I dont have good answer for.
I'm currently playing a dwarf forge cleric, but I plan on a gnome armorer in the future. He's got a suit of goliath-sized plate armor that he pilots like a mech.
Gnomes make such great artificers!! I’m actually making one for a campaign now but he’s a battlesmith whose steel defender is actually a wooden toy puppet!
@@ConstructedChaos update this was today. Gm paints interrogation scene. Dude roles high as giraffe p*ssy no persuasion no deception works even intimidation fails since "he has nothing to lose"... I go just full scaven on him. -Ah nothing? Good no man-thing will seek-seek. Good good. You become rat, will help good good. I grab him by the ancle and start dragging him into a bush. (Beforehand i made one of my cannons not small but large and it had a gutteral screaming sound when it fired, i disqussed with the gm a mechanic that if i manage to snatch an NPC i can modify my cannons but it must not be seen by any partymate and done in a way that will not make me instantly sus) I carry him to the cannon and reveal to the party the fact that i transformed a roaming merchant (who was so nice that GM typed fuck you when i succeded in his capture in discord) into a gun chamber. He half-transformed is fed by a warp crystal powered system of pullies and clamps with a content of a dragons stomach (not pictured but yeah he's the flamethrowuper) The guy is already happy with his existence turns his head to the party -A! Master how may i be of an assistance today? (I hit him for sounding like a non-rat-kin immediately) The interogation went well. He spilled both the contents of his bladder and stash of intel on slaver's garrison
The Spell-Storing Item comment: a single person can not render an entire party Invisible due to the (in my opinion horrible) 'can only concentrate on one spell at a time' Duration condition; this applies to any stored spell with Concentration -- you have to use that other option mentioned of passing the item off to another player (and they Concentration on their own resulting affect). Also, most magic items have the Concentration limitation anyway (most items 'cast' the spell vs gain the benefits of the spell). Examples are like 'cast the Fly spell' (requires Concentration) vs 'You gain a fly speed' (no Concentration). I believe that the limit should be your Proficiency Bonus, which would again allow for that good ole spying Flying Invisible wizard hovering over the enemy camp by casting alone (no items, potions, second caster, etc.; just a single caster). PB is not under the choice control of the player, only player total levels count - no way to increase but by gaining levels, not even officially with feats. Also, any spell that allows multiple saving throws (allowed each round, over a period of time, or condition - like abuse or attack) shouldn't have Concentration - the caster is dealing with double jeopardy here of itself taking damage or a save by the target bringing down the spell. Buffing the party members used to be one of the Artificer's (beginning in 2E Player's Options books, full caster, before Eberron 3E Setting), Bard's, Cleric's, Druid's, and Wizard's biggest aids; but now without any 'Mass [something]' or multiple target spells, they are mainly reduced to buffing one member per caster at a time with Concentration spells - this makes magic items even more necessary and important not less. Our DM had to reluctantly agree with my argument recently. The only caster left on the other side had to decide to keep holding our tank back or help his party - he held the tank, didn't go well for his party ... or himself or his extended party (the ones encamped elsewhere) (DM: "damn, I see your point now", another player: "that's what [me] has been telling you all this time"). If he could do both, one of them could have warned the others - all they needed was for any ally to have one free round to flee (use invisible ability and RUN!); second part of fight was way easier for us. And recently, as a player himself in another 5E game, the DM has seen the problem from the player's perspective as well.
"What is an ar-TIFF-icer?" Nothing, that's not a word. AR-ti-ficer is the word for someone who creates AR-ti-fices, clockwork devices or mechanical illusions.
But any character that equips a shield will still get the +2 AC no matter what class is it a hand free spell thing?? Does being proficient remove that 🤔
@@OutlawJJ80 I see now that this is more contested in the community than I anticipated. I believe the intention is to treat it the same way that armor is treated-you have disadvantage on any strength/dexterity based ability check, saving throw, or attack roll and you can’t cast spells.
Belt of hill giant strength + armorer subclass with the thunder gauntlet option, at that level you can have arshardalon’s stride and boots of speed + winged boots making you able to attack basically anyone you want in combat and fly away at the end of it to preserve health, this all can be done without restricting feats or any other artificer features not mentioned and of course theoretically with int as a dump stat
i dont understand what's the point of the belt of hill giant strength here and making int a dump stat. armorers attack with int using the thunder gauntlets. no need to nerf your casting or flash of genius nor use an extra infusions used slot.
@@TheRobversion1 I think it's probably just a way to create something against the grain and unique! I'm all for it even if it trends towards less optimal haha
@@TheRobversion1 early in the video they mentioned something about an artificer build with int dumped, that's what this is in reference to, it's not meant to be better then just normally getting 20 intelligence
@@ConstructedChaos thats ok! Even the thought of it is awesome. Just started a game and I went blood hunter order of the lycan so I can't wait to eventually see your build and compare!
Hey! I love artificer it’s easy top 2 most fun classes (I love monk) I’ve been playing an artificer for quite a bit now. Finished Storm Kings Thunder and continuing to move into home brew stories. I got lucky with stat rolls early on but 20 int and 16 Con is what matters. I took the tough feat at level 1 and have also picked up Heavy Armor Master (I’m an armorer). He is the best tank of all time. Absolutely love him. Tough feat has his hit points ridiculously high and he can tank through just about everything with decent damage output! If you’re looking for a tank that isn’t a beefy barbarian or Paladin but is a tank because he’s super smart. Do this! (Feel free to ask questions)
Wow!! That is one beefy build! I love that the armorer has given us more possibility for a frontline tank that isn’t just a macho stereotype! I did recently make a wizard tank (sortof) too haha. Probably not as effective as this but a ton of fun to use!
I did a similar build with artillerist. Only difference to stats is get your dex to 14. Protection turret and the shield spell is crazy good with shocking grasp for melee allowing me to pull out of melee if I really need to, doesn't happen much with half plate, shield, and improved defense infusion. Artificers are up there with being one of the tankiest classes
Straight bass Sta build....... step 1.Warhammer or grate axe with infusion of witch ever element you want Step 2. Heat metal.Step 3 I forget what 3 is. Step 4. Profit
Something you glossed over a bit with Alchemists is that they can use spell slots to create additional Elixirs beyond what you get automatically at the end of each Long Rest. While this doesn't seem very exciting on a half-caster, the potions last until the end of your next long rest... Folks who are familiar with the "Coffeelock" build can see where this is going. Just a few cross class levels into Warlock can make an Alchemist into an Elixir factory, and when multiple different Elixirs are stacked on top of each other, things tend to get pretty broken.
Oh don’t worry, I plan to go much further in depth with the subclasses in future videos! I was just trying to give a brief overview as I’ve been criticized for being long-winded in past class guides when covering subclasses!
while this is an interesting idea, it would be only valuable if the elixirs are actually pretty good or doesn't cost an action to use or have a long duration. the only one really you can use outside of combat is the one that adds to move speed. everything else will consume your action which would preclude you from doing something more effective in conjunction with using an elixir. i think it drinking an elixir a bonus action it would be better.
@@TheRobversion1 I do think a lot of tables run the homebrew ruling of drinking a potion as a bonus action or taking a full action to get the maximum effect. I only use the former (bonus action to drink a potion, but a full action to feed someone else) but I think that alone gives the subclass a notable boost.
@@ConstructedChaos sadly not at my table but yeah if its a bonus action at somebody's table that makes it more useful and boosts the alchemist's viability.
@@TheRobversion1 I don’t blame you-a lot of people don’t like the ruling. But I will say that I RARELY give my players access to potions of healing or any type for that matter. I treat them much the same as I treat magic items in general. They’re pretty rare as are the people that craft them. I find it balances things out quite nicely so potions are stronger in combat but they’re less willing to use them because who knows when they’ll find more.
One thing that would really shine here is taking the ritual caster feat (wizard) for your artificer. Ritual casting all of those great wizard spells (18 of them) using your artificer tools and ritual books seem extremely thematic though getting access to the scrolls you need during play will depend a bit on your GM. I'd really be tempted to take this at level one as a variant Human and add both Find Familiar plus one other great spell to my list. Perhaps my second spell could be Unseen Servant or Tensors floating Disc while I flavor my Familiar as some sort of automaton version of the normal critter.
if i were to take the ritual caster for an artificer, i'd take it at level 8. artificers gain find familiar very early at level 2. the major get for an artificer from ritual caster is not find familiar but phantom steed and tiny hut.
@@TheRobversion1 Doing a quick check I don't see the Artificer getting a familiar at level 2. It looks like they just get infuse Item, which is already awesome. If your game master does allow you to have a familiar starting at level 2 Wizards still have tons of great ritual spells they can access right at level one. Also . . . the ritual caster feat only lets you start with two first level spells so even if you wait until level 8 you aren't going to get phantom steed or tiny hut unless you buy them as a scroll or find them in a dungeon. For me that last bit means that I'm probably getting the most USE out of the feat right at level one. Two extra spells of my level feels a lot different from two free "low level" spells. :) But that's just my opinion. Also here's the link to where I checked my memory on the artificer just for reference: dnd5e.wikidot.com/artificer And here is where I looked up ritual caster just in case it let you choose those higher level spells: dnd5e.wikidot.com/feat:ritual-caster
@@johnchance7836 check the pinned comment by constructed chaos on how i illustrate an artificer gets find familiar by level 2. keep in mind infuse item is the artificer's magical secrets. oh and cool we use the same source site. :) the reason why i mention delaying to 4 or 8 is because if we're not getting find familiar, i'd rather get another more useful feat and actually get ritual caster when we are actually capable of casting tiny hut or phantom steed (which is 5th character level) by getting the scrolls as treasure or buying it.
I’m currently level 10 in my DND session. Went 5 levels of artificer battle smith to get battle ready, steel defender, and cast brandishing smite. I then went 5 levels of chronurgy wizard to get coronal shift and higher level casting. Steel defender gives disadvantage to whoever attacks you first and coronal shift makes people reroll, if they can even hit you. Artificer let’s you make two non magical items +1 or one item +2. So make a shield a +2shield, wear medium armor that boosts with dex, and pick a race like warforged that boosts AC, your AC will be 20+ after casting shield as a reaction. I’m the tank of the party and with upcasting brandishing smite I never get hit and smash skulls daily, but if I’m ever stuck at range I can always rip off a fireball thanks to wizard. Probably one of my most fun builds ever
If i was your DM i'd just ignore you and go for your squishier party members. The battlesmith doesn't really have any tanking mechanics unlike lets say the armorer unless you are grappling with the steel defender. with that said, battlesmith is my fave artificer class and currently playing one as well that's also level 10 but a pure battlesmith which functions as a controller/tank/support hybrid.
@@TheRobversion1 he usually does lmao but he’s been introducing a lot more spell casting enemies cause spells can still hit me like a Mack truck, I got absorb elements for a little bit of help though
@@ConstructedChaos Depending on the class, the DM is making them take time and pay gold for learning how to do things. The DM has been fair about it so I haven't minded plus the DM is giving me some homebrew options for the Steel Defender. Increased AC if I make it out of adamantine, increased speed if I make it out of Mithril. Things like that for more flavor
Warforged Artificer, level 2 Infusions: Bag of Holding, Homunculus Servant. Get into the Bag of Holding and have the Homunculus carry it. Unlimited flight.
My artificer is a 13 year old kid and he has a small doll made from scrap and he can turn it into the steel defender he rolled the best stats ive ever rolled an 18 18 17 16 15 15 i think hell be fun to play
We start with a d8 Hd which we expect from a caster like this *looks up other half casters* Paladin, Ranger, d10 *looks back with disappointed gasmask noises*
If you want a really broken and definitely not intentional combo You can infuse spell tattoos, because they are neither scrolls nor potions You can give everyone in your party familiars because they last forever Then you can have yours with a blessed tattoo, and you get that for no concentration or action economy for one minute each day
@@sieres69 Sorry! I was going to say it came from one of the published D&D books but I couldn't remember which one exactly. From the looks of it, probably Ravenloft or Curse of Strahd but I'm not 100% sure!
Artificers fit into any world where magic items and consumables exist. Nothing says they need to be steempunk-y - that is just a stereotype that people can't seem to let go of. This is the hill I will die on.
Right! I have no problem with fitting them in but I know it’s not for every DM so I wanted to give that disclaimer. People probably think that way because we got artificers from the eberron setting.
While not broken (or course) there are some tricks you MAY want to try. Artificer tricks- Artificer Flavor - (IMHO) The mythical fairy godmother (and her slightly edgier sibling the “Witch” - not Wicca- counterpart) very much and very frequently are simply artificers in a dress or ballroom gown. So it is easy fitting them In. More you know. On Cantrips - You are a half caster Mr MacGuyver. You can start with a Light Crossbow and good enough armor - use that and stick with Guidance and Mending. And don’t forget if you have smith tools you always can make better. Spellwrought Tattoo - it is common and you can use it to a) give you very team mate a familiar or b) give yourself one free spell casting (you are welcome) Homunculus - This is your familiar but you make it what you want and it can (for your bonus action) deliver a 1D4+PB force bolt or a touch spell and it is a creature so anything that says a creature can use it - it can too. And it also can carry a stone you recorded a message into and tap it to start it once it gets to the destination. Unlike the familiar that you have to pay that ritual gold, if it does you just pick up the heart and remake it. You don’t have to get it … Spell Refueling ring gives you one spell slot back. If you are using an Eldrich Cannon (artillerist) or your Steel Defender defended you till it died, this will get you back into the fight as an emergency back up. (Again you don’t have too but Ms Half Caster, you do want to use your subclass to the max right?) Recommended feats- Telekinesis is great but so are the da yard good stuff. As is Fey Touched and if your campaign has guns - Gunner. But the one to not sleep on is *Ritual Caster Wizard* . I know seems odd but you can’t cast rituals unless it is prepared and that means one less slot for other things. Getting this ritual casting means you get to off load some of that to a book to free up your prepared spells and better still it gives you more support without costing you combat stuff you may want to have. So let the feat hold your Identify, detect magic and let it also let you add (eventually) Tiny Hut, Phantom Steed and Telepathic bond. It also is really good flavor. (Again this is not a combat thing but increasing options on a half caster). Lastly, worth your time to read what the tools to in Xanathar’s. Every artificer likely will want to fit in some tool proficiencies like Thieves tools, herbalism and Smith’s tools. But did you know that if you have Painter’s Supplies you can draw pictures. So you can show others what the prince you are looking for looks like or sell them for money.
I'll take the spellwrought tattoo: find familiar a step further. for infused items, pick spellwrought tattoo: bless and spellwrought tattoo: fog cloud then tattoo it on the familiar. that way 2x per day you get to have 2 useful concentration spells up.
Haha sorry about that, Trevor! I actually changed my pronunciation because I thought I was saying it wrong before this! But I've gone back to the *correct* way since this was filmed!
@@ConstructedChaos Thats so funny, I saw a new video this morning where you addressed exactly that. Good on you for taking it in stride! Great content, keep it up!
