Artificer thoughts

With a new class that people must be wondering about, and a forum that needs some CPR, I thought I'd take a moment and talk about artificers. Let it be known that I'm no expert on the class, and haven't played one past 10. I'm still learning as I go like everyone else. For those who haven't played one at all, or those who have and are looking for a new take, this is for you.

I have to say I rolled an arti with much skepticism. From everything I had heard about them, they just didn't sound like anything special. They seemed very vanilla. But being OCD about trying new classes, I made one. Er, three. I have had a blast playing them. It's incredibly annoying to have to start from level 1, but I suppose that's just me having been spoiled until now. For those wondering if they're worth the tp, if they're anything different than what we already have, I have to say yes. This class has a feel that somewhat mirrors little touches of many other classes, without feeling like the same thing. For those who love self-sufficient builds, this is definitely a class to look into. For those who like to do a little of everything, this is your class.


Let's take a look at what I've done. Not knowing anything at all about the class, I used the paths as guidelines. While using a bastard sword can make you somewhat of a pseudo-tank through the mid levels, I didn't find it much fun. It really felt like I was straying away from the new class and was just sword and board. Without the board. I'm not a huge fan tanks as it is, and the dps seemed subpar. It's an interesting build, but it wasn't for me.

Next, I made a ranged arti. I liked this build much more than the bastard sword build, but something felt like it was missing a bit. I didn't like high investment into dex. I felt like my casting was a little less than I'd like. This build was a tremendous amount of fun, but after 5 or 6 levels, my interest waned.

The build I have completely fallen in love with is my casting artificer. Now, like I said, I'm still new and will have to work on finding the right balance of enhancements, feats, etc. But I absolutely love this build. I ignored dex, and invested heavily into intelligence and con. I won't be able to get improved precise shot, but that's okay. This wasn't meant to maximize my xbow dps. What I lose there, I gain back with my blue bar. I use the Insightful strikes spell so that my intelligence mod is my attack mod. I crafted an acid xbow of pure good. Eventually, that will become a holy of pure good, then a holy burst of pure good. (Possibly a different suffix). All in all, every time I shoot I get three attacks of 1d10+3d6+1d8. In point blank range, that's 6d10+9d6+3d8 damage per attack.

Further increasing my dps is my casting side. I have all the self healing (and pet healing) I need. In addition, flame turret is a huge chunk of dps. To put it bluntly, it does more damage than some players. Stack onto that my rune arm damage, and the arti dps is quite good. Sometimes, xbow isn't the way to go. If I need to put out a huge chunk of damage quickly, especially in aoe, i put down the repeater and turn to the blue. When I pure cast, my damage output actually rivals a wizard. I can't do it as long, but I can burst with the best of them. I can pull a large group into a flame turret, then drop a lightning motes and my rune arm. If something is still alive, a blast rod will finish off even the ragiest of barbarians. This is a fun route that I recommend. So far, I have solo'd my way to level 10, doing nothing but elites at level.

There is another build that I want to make. I haven't worked out all of the details yet, but I'm thinking it will be something like 12 artificer / 6 fighter / 2 monk. This gives up some top-end spellcasting, sp, and much of my self-healing. In exchange, I would net 4 additional feats, gain 3d6 sneak attack from the helf dile, gain evasion, get improved saves, more hp, etc. All in all, I give up self-sufficiency for survivability and dps.

My caster can be seen here.

Let me know if you have any questions or feedback. I hope this helped!

Thinking maybe an arti for Kal's next life instead of a barb they were a lot of fun to play on lama. Looking forward to more info on them though as more get them leveled up.

I am very interested in the class. Clearly where I want to go with my rogue- that is if I can ever manage to grind through the last two levels. Anyone want to let me pike elite Amrath? I'll stay out of the way and hide behind rez shrines.