I like the way you think. Are you a fan of the "aim the fireball at your monk" school of thought?

Mathematically true! :D I'm sure they'll understand

Heh. A blast.

That's a good combo. Will have to steal it for my Alchemist . Acidi Arrows in my case. I wonder if the level 5 ability works on that or not.

When storing Scorching Ray could you do it using a 3rd+ level spell slot? It should still be considered a 2nd level spell.

Also remember that spells like Dragon Breath?? (Xan's) don't require an attack action....and Imps and Sprites can go Invisible. So you now have a permanently invisible tiny dragon hitting multiple people, on top of giving them the focus for another spell option, like maybe Grease for crowd control, then lighting them up with a fire breath.

instablaster...

One of my friends used the homunculus to carry their flamethrower

Sounds like magic stobe

@WexMajor82 alchemist use fling.

I'd allow the alchemist to make potions from a select list, similar to Infusions (start with a few, gain more as you level). I imagine you can make Int+Prof items per long rest, and all become inert at the end of the next long rest. Options would include various thrown AoE lingering effects, such as: 30 ft radius of burning oil for X turns, 1d6 fire damage and a Dex save or creatures catch on fire 20 ft radius sphere of cold air for X turns, 1d6 cold damage and a Con save or slowed on next turn 20 ft radius sphere of acid cloud for X turns, 1d6 acid damage and a Con save or .... confused for next round? Some toxic effect 20 ft radius sphere of healing gas for X turns, 1d6 healing each turn and repeat save against any ongoing effects, grants advantage if they already get a repeat save 30 ft radius of scattered herbs for X turns, creatures in the area are immune to poisons and poison damage and gain advantage on saves against mind effects Stuff like that. Turn duration should scale with level rather than damage or effect, is my thought. It's up to the alchemist to position the effects well and the party to keep allies/enemies in/out as appropriate. Honestly, the alchemist is the least inspiring of the subclasses and clearly had the least thought put into it.

Question - as an Artificer, even an alchemist should have access to a Sling that allows them to use their potions, poisons ect as ammo and become a bomb thrower?

You can use the catapult spell to fling potions and concoctions such as alchemist fire for extra damage.

Actually, the Force Ballista need only be within 120 feet of the target, so it's even better than you say. 👍 However, they can't hit multiple creatures.

I'd argue that Battle Smith is better. Getting an infused pistol and having broth the crossbow expert and sharpshooter makes it to where you have 3 attacks per round and you can fire your pistol as much as you want. Get arcane jolt and you have an extra 4d6 per turn. That's 7d6 per round of combat for 5 rounds assuming you're 20th level with 20 int. It can even go higher, with an Int of 24 or 22? You do more damage with your pistol, and you're not sacrificing a spell slot (of which artificer is already heavily limited).

Dade Pritchett sure, but you are looking at a much higher feat investment. Artillerist I think also has better spells overall. The problem i see with a martial oriented battlesmith is that you end up being a discount fighter.

@@sixty5202 You get smite spells with Artificer (DnDbeyond lemme do it, so if that's wrong, blame them). So, as a BA, you can use branding smite spell (2d6, at higher levels it gets extra d's, ya know), use Arcane Jolt after the hits dealing 7d6 in one attack, 14d6 on a crit. That's ignoring your usual +6 bonus damage. You can also use Sharpshooter a d get an extra 10 damage, so a normal FIRST attack deals 7d6+16 damage with an average of a 12 to hit at 17th level. Artillerist is cool and all, and can effectively get any form it wants out of the cannon turning it into any weapon in the game so long as it fits the dimensions (you can probably have a shield cannon). At the end of the day, I just don't see how Artillerist can compete with Battle Smith without being solely reliant on it's cannon and a handful of uses of scorching ray. You can get catapult and do consistently more damage with a javelin by 5th level.

@@sixty5202 Forgot to mention that you can also just run VA human bc it's absolutely broken and you're looking at 1 feat oit of 5 ASI levels. If you don't want to run one of the 2 feats, then you can just go straight melee instead and get effectively a better build because SD uses his own reaction and you can get 3 melee attacks with Sentinel. On top of all that, Artillerist can't really succeed as a spell casting class because you get 2 5th level spell slots maximum without sacrificing damage on your cannon, and the spells are okay at best, but if you're gonna run a half spell caster, then run a bard fighter/barbarian combo or something because artificer simply doesn't have the capabilities to run a true spell casting roll because you're sacrificing a spell slot to just summon a cannon after 1 hour.

does it really compete, though?

@@pencilbender Probably not. Sorlock is still basically a full caster as well as doing all that damage

Thank you!

Yes, I agree that Thornwhip would be a good choice here.

One small thing, the cannon will not proc the 1d6 from hex as the cannon is a separate entity from you.

@@Zankaroo The force ballista would proc Hex. Force Ballista- Make a ranged spell attack, originating from the cannon. You make the attack, from the cannons position. The Flame thrower won't proc Hex and Hunters Mark because both require you to hit with an attack.

​@@X20Adam I don't see it that ways. But w/e.

@@Zankaroo Not really sure why you wouldn't. It's pretty clearly written.

Would your artillery cannons gain from Hex? They are supposedly separate creatures, and you technically only command them to fire. It's up to DM interpretation I guess, but it's something you need to think about, and need to talk about with your DM before getting the feat. Also if you go warlock with Magic Initiate, you need to take it into account that your charisma will be the spellcasting ability for those spells, I've also heard before that you can only use the 1st level spell you learn with magic initiate only once, and only through that ability.

My thought - Custom Race: Awoken Fauna, essentially biomutant. Learns alchemy and tinkering from a local gnome kind enough to teach and protect. Figures out black powder and accidentally creates a rocket propelled flask. Learns to hunt using firearms and his arcane abilities, goes to a forest and hunts hunters for revenge. Finds an Ent's head that was seperated from its body and cant seem to grow a new one, befriends and builds it a body. Use it as the cannon platform. Name it Root. The adventures of Rocket and Root :D

I played a Rogue Scholar in a game full of dragons, glitterboys, SAMAS, and all kinds of crazy shit lol

Yeah this class is the Mandolorian. Thrown whip is a really cool for this build as well

Been trying to choose between Artillerist or Armorer for a "Megaman" build. Artillerist has got a healthy variety of damage types (cantrips, force-damage with Eldritch Cannon, elemental spells), lending to Megaman's adaptibility. Armorer has a nifty backstory potential, where perhaps they were a gnome who was given an exo-armor to repair their physical damage. The spells and combat features have "decent" variety...not quite all the elements, but some good defensive buffs (Greater Invisibility, Mirrot Image)

nope gonna make the winged boots be rocket boots Tada

I played a lvl 10 alch healbot it was awsome the only thing i disliked that there is no emphasis to use a higher level spell slot to cast your experimental elixirs. They upgraded the duration and amount healed and be a lot better

@@sharkforce8147 Nothing that I have seen about the artilirist suggest the temp hp works any differently than any other temp HP. Meaning it sticks around till long rest right? So even after that 1 hour you'll still have temp hp until you lose it~ very effective at lower levels

I'd love to hear what they tend to do during their rounds? I have an alchemist and I'm pondering dipping because it feels like my rounds are just "cantrip spam. Oh they went down, i have a slot left, here's a healing word" with the occasional "level 2 acid arrow! hell yea!" moments. I feel like it'll get a bit better at level 11 when I get the storing item. (Plan to put acid arrow or ray of sick.I love those spells). but most of the time in battle I feel a bit like I'm just standing there.

@@zwordsman since mine in an NPC, I like that he mostly does fire bolt (2d10+5 fire damage can be helpful) and healing word. He also helps with spells like Haste, and I might start making him use Web (a very good control spell for its level). I'm not sure how to make one more powerful as a PC. I like to add helpful NPCs to my games, and I typically have them be less damage focused because I never want them to overshadow the players and what they are capable of. Players might get annoyed if the NPC is using fireball all the time, but they'll never get mad that one is healing them Side note: my players do actually find it funny when the NPC's fire bolt crits and does 27 damage, but I think that's because it was a crit and thus was unexpected

@@sharkforce8147 I don't think that is a bad thing. A life domain cleric makes a great NPC, a valor bard makes a great NPC, and a druid can make a great NPC, but if all you want is damage them you might think they are worse as a PC. I could make an alchemist PC and find ways to have a lot of fun. I've heard of the "god wizard" which does a lot of buffing and crowd control and not much damage but it is super powerful because it makes the fight super in the players' favor. Power is not just damage, and an alchemist artificer can be super powerful if you build them like the god wizard (but just a little slower since they are half casters)

Nets are f un. What way did you get the profiency for it? (and dealing with the always disadvantage of them ?

Zwordsman dm ruled that nets shouldn’t have disadvantage when thrown at an adjacent creature. Nothing to back it up cause RAW it allways has disadvantage but that doesn’t make much sense. I didn’t have proficiency so I just hoped I rolled well, but against gobblins and mages with only 11-13 AC I allways managed to hit. Not good to throw on a tank or bruiser, but will ruin a mages day in a heartbeat.

nice GM! Yeah if you can swing it nets are really fun. I actually am tempted to pick up Rogue Theif 3 (or at least rogue 2) for my Alchemist to get a net. So that they can use the cunning action (lv2) unearthed arcana's Aim to get advantage to equal it out into a normal roll

Zwordsman Crossbow expert also removes the disadvantage of nets!

And its warforged?! They my fav race too

They did that.

Do you mean they used to have the re vised version-which was the same as the official release version? Becausue if its just "revised put out again, revised put out again" they did that with the artificer like.. 4? times in 3?years. THe final version wasn't UA'd . Were past ua's done so?

I'd probably dip 3 for the Pact of the Tome and second level slots.

@@killcat1971 One thing to think about is if you just go two levels, you'd get two first level spell slots on a short rest that could be used to regenerate your cannon. Seems like a little more of a waste though if those slots were level 2.

@@sharkforce8147 Perhaps the Artificer uses a hand crossbow as the spell storing device and adds a second trigger to the weapon, like an extra trigger for the grenade launcher. (Evil laughter added)

FF specifies the familiar cannot make attacks. This will include ranged spell attacks

Howdy! context for me ~ I've not played above level 10 on an alchemist yet. So I love hearing aobut other's experiences! How much have you played the alchemist? I've been playing and while yeah I adore the support options-real darn good at it. I have nenever really been able to use spell slots on attacking much. Flaming sphere is a nice bonus action thing. But the lv 5 INT bonus only applies the first round its cast-not the extras. -it only applies to the spell when cast and only to one damage role. Also I never seem to have enough of the slots for Elixirs and healing word (I tend to hand out some level 1 slots for elixirs and keep level 2 for me/healing word etc). Particularly if I want to have the other spells on tap you mentioned, while using elixir I basically can't use it for flaming sphere. (Post level 11 the spell storing might take care of this though~ but lv 11 is very long time) I should look into the acid splash, I do really wish it was longer reach though. One issue I have with that as the sole cantrip choice (assuming one ants guidance or mending-which probably do. you do get more cantrips later though but I picked up more suport stuff) is that you hit hte same issue clerics do, you don't roll anything on several rounds if they make their save. Its not very exciting... but good point about the multi hit, trying to finangle multi hits would give me more to do narratively in battle.! ("for when you do find yourself casting cantrips" Do you not find yourself mostly casting cantrips? I rarely seem to do much else given the other uses for slots) Hmm, I looked at Dragon mark but I still hit the issue of interabilty competing. Feels weird to add more options to things that I can't use that much. but that could just be personal playstyle (Also I've never had them offered as a choice as I've not played eberron yet). Dragonmark of travel sounds very neat though, mobilty would be great! I'd love to hear more about what you do in battle, It feels great when there aren't much fights in a day but on a normal scheduled combat by the DMG feels like I don't hav enough gas. The most fun I've had with it was a build I did with a one shot. Rogue Thief 3. I used a sling to proc sneak attack and I gave half my spell slots to elixirs people wanted in the morning. then saved the other half mainly for healing tricks. But I had a lot of fun with that since I got to interact with the battle more--comboing with friends for sneak attack, or using items via bonus action (surprisingly Hunter's Trap as a bonus action can really be hilarious if you have the carry weight.) Acid Splash would've been a great choice for this charater's attack cantrip. I glossed over it and snagged firestrike for the range.

those temp hit points are nice at low levels, but it DEFINITELY does not scale

I don't use a spreadsheet, I just punch the math into a calculator. Most of the time I don't save the work, but I notice I still have my notes for this one. I can just copy/paste it here. If I made errors, by all means let me know. Artillerist Level 17: To Hit: +6 prof, +5 Int, +2 Focus = +13 Damage 4d10+1d8 = 26.5 (0.7x26.5 + 0.05x26.5) = 19.875 Familiar with scorching ray item = 13.65 Flamethrower Cannons x2 = 27 Cone of Cold 40.5 (0.7x40.5 + 0.3x20.25) = Artillerist Level 12: To Hit: +4 Prof, +5 Int, +2 Focus = +11 Damage 3d10+1d8 = 21 (0.7x21 + 0.05x21) = 15.75 Familiar With Scorching Ray item = +9 to hit, Damage 6d6= 21 (0.6x21+0.05x21) = 13.65 Flamethrower Cannon = +9 to hit, Damage 3d8 = 13.5 (.6x13.5+.4x6.75) = 10.8 Fireball = 32.5 (0.7x32.5+0.3x16.25) = 27.625 Artillerist Level 8: To Hit: +3 Prof, +5 Int, +1 Focus = +9 Damage 2d10 + 1d8= 13.5 + 2d8 = 9 Flamethrower (0.65x13.5 + 0.05x13.5) = 9.45 (0.65x9+0.35x4.5) = 7.425 = Scorching Ray (0.65x11.5+0.05x11.5) + (0.65x14+0.05x14) = 17.85 Artillerist Level 4: To Hit: +2 prof, +4 Int, +1 Focus = +7 Damage: 1d10 + 2d8 = 14.5 (0.65 x 14.5 + 0.05x14.5) = 10.15 Flamethrower (0.65x5.5+0.05x5.5) = 3.85 + (0.65x9+0.35x4.5)=7.425 = 11.275 Thunderwave (0.65x9+0.35x4.5) = 7.425

@@TreantmonksTemple Thanks for your quick response. Yeah, IMHO, there are some mistakes in your calculation. For instance, sometime the chance to hit is inaccurate or missing. I created a spreadsheet to do this type of calculation. Feel free to use it or modify it. It is far from perfect. Here is the link: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xBuGBuacE16NK2C_IZ5Tm8jsLAKOnnsMlOYT3npptyc/edit?usp=sharing

@@TreantmonksTemple If the ruling is that scorching ray and shatter are not viable options for the spell storing item because they are not on the base artificer spell list, would the next best option then be catapult? And if so, how does that affect the calculations, I assume not by much? Also, is the familiar trick using a stored item gimmick seen as a must have for this class to be viable? If its ruled that familiars cannot cast this item for you at all would the class still be viable in terms of damage?

@@phomaniac1 If your DM rules that the SSI cannot be used with subclass-specific spells (I actually agree with this interpretation) and/or you prefer not to use the familiar gimmick (I also find it gimmicky and avoid it where possible), the sustained damage of this build and of the Artillerist subclass in general gets quite a bit worse. You will still do decent damage if you burn through your higher-level spell slots, but your long-term sustained damage options are sorely lacking. Casting a cantrip with an extra d8 damage as your action and using your BA to flamethrower is your bread-and-butter sustained damage option, and it's just ok. At 13th level, against an enemy with an AC of 17 and a +5 dex save, assuming the +2 arcane focus and a maxed INT stat, you'll be doing 39.71 DPR assuming the flamethrower hits two targets, 28.91 if it hits only 1, which is below both the baseline Chris uses, which is the eldritch blast-casting warlock (30.75 DPR at 13th level), and the baseline I use which is a sword-and-board fighter at a slighter higher 34 DPR. That means, in order for the sustainable damage of this build to be over the baseline, the flamethrower *needs* to hit 2 targets. If it doesn't, we fall below the baseline, unless we start expending spell slots. Keep in mind, if our goal is primarily to do damage, being even close to the baseline is not a good thing, so even when we're getting 2 enemies in our flamethrower our damage is still pretty lackluster compared to other sustained DPR builds of the same level. As a point of comparison, a 13th level totem barbarian using the same enemy assumptions as above, using GWM and polearm master with reckless attacks would be doing ~49 DPR, and totem barbarians are not considered particularly good damage-dealers. Using the familiar gimmick increases DPR by about 10.8, by the way, but only for 10 rounds of the entire adventuring day, and if the familiar dies in combat that damage is gone.

@@JaxonBurn thanks for the in-depth analysis and reply. I think it's fair to include some higher spell slot use especially if they are concentration spells as martials typically don't get any of those so are balanced a bit on the upper side, with feats.

That's actually probably a good swap. Definitely make it appear as a cable with a barbed hook that you fire at enemies. Like a sci Fi harpoon

@@TreantmonksTemple I was thinking a tractor beam! :) Honestly I think a great 6th level infusion as a warforged is replicating a wand sheath to hold your arcane firearm. Then you could carry your cannon in the same hand, which should make it much less vulnerable to attack. Maybe then you could drop mending until you get a second cannon and have fire bolt and thorn whip for long and medium/short range.

You can use a shield without warcaster, since all artificer spells are cast through a focus.

@@TreantmonksTemple How would you change this build with customise your origin. or if Warforged wasn't allowed in a setting? Also, do you plan on making an Armorer build anytime soon?

Against a single enemy with a dex save of +5 and an AC of 17, assuming max int and the +2 enhanced arcane focus, they will be taking on average 10.8 damage from the flamethrower and 11.88 from the force ballista (this accounts for crit chance and damage, which is what puts the ballista slightly ahead since the flamethrower cannot crit). So, if you know you are going up against a single enemy, or flying enemies that the flamethrower cannot get to, the ballista is the better choice.

Just go straight Artificer. You get the extra attunement slots, better saves with flash of genius, less chance of getting fucked via counterspell, etc. At later levels, you can try to grab some high end robes like the robe of stars if you're lucky. Or even a necklace of fireballs. Getting the catapult spell, quiver of Ehlonna, and a javelin is incredibly good. At 11th level, you can even start storing catapult in the javelin if you remove returning weapon (which you should keep on it tbh). Getting a spell refueling ring at 6th level is pretty good too.