- Hey there, everyone.
Welcome to another 5e Guide.
My name is Patrick Ferguson
with SkullSplitter Dice,
and today we're gonna be talking about
the long-awaited artificer class.
Artificers are the first official class
to be added to D&D 5e since the beginning.
They've spent many years in play-testing
before getting an official
launch, and for good reason.
Artificers are complicated,
they're versatile,
and they often walk the line
between being underpowered
and downright broken.
Let's start this video talking about
artificer ability scores.
You'll find when building
your new character
that you should really
prioritize intelligence.
Intelligence, after all,
dictates how well your spellcasting is,
it dictates the flash of genius ability
and how effective that is,
and generally, all of your
relevant class features
will rely on intelligence.
You should try to get your
score to a +3 at least,
and get it to +4 as soon as you can.
I would say prioritize dexterity next.
Not only is this going to help your AC,
you'll find that in order
to utilize your tools,
you're gonna be doing a lot of dex checks.
Finally, your D8 isn't
bad for a spellcaster,
but you're definitely going
to want to boost that up.
Especially if you're gonna go
for the Battle Smith archetype,
try to get a +1 bonus to constitution
so that you won't be quite as
squishy as most spellcasters.
Wisdom, strength, and charisma
aren't really useful to an artificer,
however, I would highly recommend
trying to get your wisdom to a +0.
At least that way,
you aren't failing so
many perception checks.
There will be a lotta those.
When it comes to choosing the
best race for an artificer,
thankfully 5e is pretty
flexible in this regard.
You don't have to worry
about getting cornered
into playing a certain type of race,
but I would say that there are
four that stick out the best
when talking about
mechanical capabilities.
The first one is the gnome.
So far, gnomes are the only official race
to have that coveted +2 to intelligence.
When it comes to spellcasting
and other reliant abilities,
this is an absolute godsend.
Not to mention, gnomes just seem to have
that kind of flavor that
goes well with an artificer.
Gnomes gain the gnome cunning ability,
which gives them an advantage
on all mental saving throws.
Some would argue this is overpowered,
and I'm not exactly gonna
tell them that they're wrong.
The dark vision is something
that I also always appreciate.
And strangely enough, I would
recommend a forest gnome
as opposed to a rock gnome.
The +1 to dexterity is
something I appreciate
way more than the +1 to
constitution in this case.
Next up is the hobgoblin.
They get a +1 to intelligence,
which is pretty crucial,
as we've established,
as well as a +2 to constitution.
Their saving face ability
is particularly strong,
and is kind of similar
to the seventh level
flash of genius ability.
Getting this early on, along
with the early martial weapons,
can make hobgoblins a
very promising option
for Battle Smiths.
Next up is the warforged,
and in our video on them,
I actually mentioned that there
is some synergy to be found
between the warforged
and the artificer class.
The +2 bonus to constitution
keeps you alive a lot longer,
and you can select intelligence
for using that flexible +1.
Artificers are already getting
a +1 bonus to their AC,
due to their infusion most of the time,
and with medium armor, +2
to dexterity, and a shield,
they can be pretty damn
tanky with a 19 AC.
Make your artificer a warforged
for that extra +1 boost,
and you have a whopping
20 AC as a spellcaster.
And finally, we have the human.
Take the human variant
and add +1 to intelligence
and +1 to dexterity, and
then just simply pick a feat
that helps build your character more,
and you're pretty much set.
Human variants are a
pretty good choice here,
but just be aware that some DMs
and some adventurers guilds,
in fact, will ban this build.
Next let's talk about how to use
your artificer class features,
starting with spellcasting.
Artificers are 2/3 spellcaster,
meaning that they don't
have quite as many spells
as a wizard or a sorcerer,
but they will have more spells
than a ranger or a paladin, for instance.
You will automatically
know all of the spells
on an artificer spell
list, much like a cleric.
The spell list may be pretty limited
compared to other classes,
but you also won't have
to hunt down spells
like a wizard would have to.
You've got a small number of cantrips,
but you're able to swap these
out whenever you level up.
This is something pretty
unique to the class.
Finally, artificers are a little weird
in terms of their spellcasting focus.
You're still able to use your tools
or any item that you've infused,
more on that in just a second,
but you're still casting though.
So you're going to need an
available hand to maintain focus.
Do keep in mind though,
that you can infuse your armor or shield,
and use that as your spellcasting focus.
It's a little weird,
but just know that you need
to infuse your shield or armor
if you wanna be able to use your hands
to do something else
while you're focusing.
Magical tinkering.
You get to cobble together little doodads,
that sort of act like a
better prestidigitation.
You can make a magical light stick,
a message recorder, or noisemaker,
or the equivalent of a magemark, even.
Just like prestidigitation,
this is an ability
that's only limited by your imagination.
So you can truly come
up with some genius ways
to really apply this.
Drop a light stick down a
shaft to find its depth,
or throw a noisemaker
to cause a distraction.
These are just a few things.
Next up is infuse item,
and this is the heart and
soul of the artificer class,
allowing you to create magical items.
You get a bunch of different choices,
but most of them boil down to creating
specifical magical items,
of which you can choose from
a long list of great options,
or adding +1 to a
version of these weapons.
You get to make these
items during long rests,
which is lightning fast
by crafting standards,
and you can even let your
friends in the party use them.
You can only specifically do
that to so many items though,
so check the chart, and at early levels,
it's probably between two and three.
And finally, we have flash of genius.
At level seven, this allows you
to use your intelligence bonus
to do a check or saving throw
that you or someone else has failed.
This can make a huge difference,
especially in heated situations.
Your intelligence should
hopefully be +4 by level seven,
and +4 offers you a lot
of dice manipulation.
Now let's talk about your
artificer specialties.
At third level, artificers
are able to choose
their archetype, or their
specialty, if you will.
Essentially, you get to choose
from a healing artificer,
a shooty artificer, or
a smashing artificer.
Starting off with the alchemist.
Artificers already have cure wounds,
but alchemists gain healing word,
which has saved countless lives
from certain death in this game.
At fifth level, it really comes together
with the alchemical savant ability.
In addition to your normal bonuses,
you'll get to add your
intelligence modifier
to any spells healing,
as well as to any spell that does
either fire, necrotic,
poison, or acid damage.
You also get the hilarious
if unreliable random potion
and the experimental elixir ability.
Definitely pick this up
if you wanna be the healer of the group,
or if no one else has
picked up that banner.
Next up is artillerist.
They get the Eldritch Cannon ability,
and yes, it's just as
awesome as it sounds.
You basically get to set up a turret
and blast away at your enemies,
or you can send waves of
positive energy out to your crew.
I can speak from experience
that if you're on a pirate ship
or some sort of setting like that,
this is a pretty cool ability to have.
Everything about the artillerist
is about dealing damage.
So if you wanna play the role of DPS,
this is definitely the best option.
The obvious risk is if
you lose your cannon
in the heat of battle,
as you'll have to wait till a long rest
in order to get it back.
My advice to you is to
either command from the rear,
or if things get dicey,
just get outta there.
Next up is the Battle Smith.
This essentially turns
you into a martial class
by giving you proficiency
with martial weapons.
Here's the kicker though.
You get to use your intelligence
on attack rolls and for damage.
You also gain extra attack,
which is crucial for your
newfound martial character,
and you also get a bunch of paladin spells
that can put some extra oomph
behind what are hopefully
your infused weaponry.
The big draw of this archetype though,
if you ask me, is the steel defender.
This is basically a little robot pal
that can join you in combat.
It can't exactly do a lot of damage,
but it can soak up a lot of
hits that were meant for you.
Your steel defender is easily abused,
and part of the fun of this
is finding out cool and insane ways
to utilize both your infused
items and your new robot pal.
Let's close this video out
with the best artificer feats,
starting with elemental adept.
If you're going to be the
damage dealer of the party,
this is probably where you wanna go.
Artificers are able to focus very hard
on specific damage types,
and this will help them
avoid being sidelined
if a monster has a
certain damage immunity.
Definitely pick the acid
damage if you're an alchemist,
and pick fire if you're an artillerist.
Next up is lucky, and I could probably do
a whole half-hour video on why
this is really overpowered,
and why more DMs should ban it.
But instead, I'm just going to recommend
pairing it with the
flash of genius ability,
as you'll never fail a save this way.
And finally, we have magic initiate.
As a 2/3 spellcaster,
you're definitely gonna find
yourself pinched on spells,
and could probably benefit from grabbing
a few extra cantrips.
If you're playing a Battle Smith,
I highly recommend picking
up the green fire blade
and the blooming blade.
This will add a ton of
damage potential to you,
and it's gonna be useful
if you're gonna be
a spellcaster in the thick of battle.
Artificers, at least to me,
bring a certain kind of disposition
to the class choices
that I think was missing.
They kind of remind me of something
out of a Studio Ghibli film,
in that they mix tech and fantasy tropes,
and also bring a fresh perspective
on the genre as a whole.
I would love to read about what
type of artificer characters
you guys plan on making
down in the comments.
And if any of you guys have
successfully multi-classed
with an artificer before,
I would definitely like
to hear about that.
I am definitely curious.
Thank you so much for watching this video.
As always, I really appreciate it.
Be sure to like and subscribe
if you'd like to see
some more videos from us.
I'm Patrick Ferguson
from SkullSplitter Dice,
and until next time, farewell.
(bell dings)
- [Narrator] Thanks for joining us.
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