Artificer Suggestions

[Reikenbach]

Design Philosophy

The following is the assumed design philosophy for the Artificer class, looking at their current implementation:

1.) Artificers are a martial class.
They don't have spells, the vast majority of their class features are self-buffs, and their damage is applied primarily through auto-attacking.

2.) Artificers are a skill-oriented class.
The only other martial class with 3/4 BAB is the Rogue. Combined with Artificer's large number of skill points, this suggests they're supposed to be a utility class.

3.) The Artificer is expected to wear heavy armor during combat.
Artificers receive free access to Heavy Armor Training, while they do not receive Tumble as a class skill. This implies that they should only be wearing heavy armor.

4.) Artificers are expected to use crossbows for ranged attacks.
In addition to having feats that incentivize crossbow use, the only ranged weapon option for the Grand Invention is a crossbow.

Consolidated Suggestions

Class Features
Inventor's Pursuit: Conductive Weapon *IMPLEMENTED*
Feedback: Awkward due to activation taking an entire round of combat. Can sometimes eat two rounds of actions before letting you attack.
Suggestion: Make it instant-cast.

Inventor's Pursuit: Volatile Concoctions
Feedback: Awkward due to lacking a targeting circle and projectile. Feels low-impact and too simple as the "caster option" among the Pursuits.
Suggestion: Different single-element bombs on a shared cooldown. Add status effects. Example: Acid (-AC), Fire (DoT), Sonic (-AB and Deafened)

Bonus Feat: Conductor Bolts
Feedback: Underperforms versus Rapid Shot on a Full BAB class due to 20-30% uptime. Feels like it should be the "ranged option" Inventor's Pursuit.
Suggestion 1: Turn into a scaling Inventor's Pursuit. Delay the extra APR until level 5.
Suggestion 2: Reduce the cooldown so that uptime can be closer to 40-50%.

Artificer's Focus
Feedback: This is a dead feature for non-Augmenters or Augmenters at level cap. It also has no mechanical implications when balancing a combat class.
Suggestion 1: Artificers can apply unique augments to their equipment, similar to the PSK's Palestone Armor feature.
Suggestion 2: Artificers gain some improvements to their equipment, similar to the Fighter's Armor Training feature.

Grand Invention
Feedback: If Artificer is balanced around eventually getting a piece of +3 equipment, they will always feel like they're behind other classes until they hit cap.
Suggestion: Progressive installment of +1/+2/+3 inventions at levels 6/12/18, similar to how Monks get access to Ki Strike.

New Features
Feat: Rapid Reload
Feedback: Artificers are expected to use crossbows, yet must spend a feat on Rapid Reload to get the second APR which everyone else gets for free.
Suggestion: Give Artificers Rapid Reload.

Skill: Open Lock
Feedback: Artificers are skilled with mechanisms and should be able to open locks. A 3/4 BAB martial class ought to offer group utility like this.
Suggestion: Make Open Lock a class skill for Artificers.

Bonus Feat: Spare Capacitor
Feedback: Artificer bonus feats and support capabilities are both limited, so some additional options might be nice. In this case, electrical Flame Weapon.
Suggestion: A level 1-version of Capacitor Weapon which can also be given to allies instead.

 

[Reikenbach]

Thought I might as well turn this into an Artificer Suggestions thread rather than making a new one.

Bonus Feat: Conductor Bolts
Feedback: This is the ability that defines the Ranged Artificer playstyle. I was initially thrilled to unlock it, yet in practice you feel like a Fighter or Scout who gets the benefits of Rapid Shot 30% of the time but the penalties 100% of the time due to 3/4 BAB. The 1d4 Electric damage doesn't quite make up for the loss on uptime on an extra APR, particularly because it can't crit and doesn't scale like Conductive Weapon does. While Melee Artificers get Forgemaster's Fury to achieve full BAB parity, Ranged Artificers will be left feeling like mediocre marksmen at higher levels.

Speaking personally, it also feels like an ability that should have been an Inventor's Pursuit but was intentionally made a Bonus Feat so people couldn't acquire it with a dip in Artificer, because it becomes significantly stronger on a Full BAB class than a 3/4 BAB class.

Suggestion 1: Change the proc rate to 100%. Reduce the cooldown to 2 minutes so we can have closer to 50% uptime.

Suggestion 2: Make Conductor Bolts an Inventor's Pursuit instead of a Bonus Feat. The following is an example progression:

• Conductor Bolts (1): +1d4 Electric Damage
• Conductor Bolts (5): Extra APR at Full BAB
• Conductor Bolts (11): 2 Minute Cooldown
• Conductor Bolts (15): +2d4 Electric Damage

Edit (25/3/2025): I have been informed by one of the coders that the bug with the electric damage proc stopping autoattacks has been or is going to be resolved. In the process, I also learned that it is not an Electric Jolt (1d4+1) as advertised, but is instead a generic, separate instance of 1d4 electric damage. On the positive side, this means it won't count as magical or interact with protections against spells and should still stack with any bonus electric damage on the weapon or ammunition. On the negative side, it means we're actually receiving less damage than advertised, and that bonus damage still won't be able to crit. I have updated my feedback accordingly.

 

[Pithy Name]

Thought I might as well turn this into an Artificer Suggestions thread rather than making a new one.

Conductor Bolts:
Feedback: I really want to like this ability, because it looks good on paper and its thematic. You get an extra attack per round at full AB and a 75% chance to proc the Electric Jolt spell on hit. Sounds good, right? Except in practice, you feel like a Scout or Ranger who only gets to benefit from Rapid Shot 30% of the time, but still suffers the AB penalty 100% of the time due to Artificers having 3/4 BAB. Im fairly certain the Electric Jolt proc doesnt benefit from crits, either, and it can even stop your autoattack sometimes when it occurs. Melee Artificers will get full BAB parity at level 10 with Forgemasters Fury, but ranged Artificers will be stuck feeling like mediocre archers.

Suggestion: Replace the 75% Electric Jolt proc (avg. 2.6/hit) with 100% +1d4 Electric Damage (avg. 2.5/hit) so that it can benefit from crits. Reduce the cooldown to 2 minutes so we can have closer to 50% uptime, because a Crossbow Artificer without Conductor Bolts active is objectively worse at fighting than a Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, or Scout and less useful to the group than a Bard, Cleric, Sorcerer, or Wizard.

Second this - or something along similar lines. Life is rough for a ranged Artificer, which seems like the class wants to support thematically. But I'm looking at multiclassing into wizard or rogue to feel like I can be useful in a party.

 

[Reikenbach]

Skill: Open Lock
Feedback: Artificers are described as being highly skilled with mechanical devices, as supported by the Contraptionist class feature. They're also a 3/4 BAB martial class, which suggests they're intended to emphasize skills and abilities over raw combat potential, similar to Rogues. Unfortunately, the only skills they offer a party are Handle Trap and Search (also offered by Rangers, Rogues and Scouts), while the only group support they can access is picking up Healing Syringes at level 10. As a result, I don't think it's unreasonable that Artificers get Open Lock as a class skill. Others have proposed letting them pick locks as an ability rather than a skill, but that feels like overcomplication to me.

Suggestion: Make Open Lock a class skill for Artificers.

Edit (3/31/2025): After discussion with others, I've decided to accept that Artificer is heavily encouraged to always use Heavy Armor instead of investing in Tumble. The suggestion for Tumble as a class skill has been removed, and this post changed to hold the suggestion for Open Lock while the OP was turned into a consolidated list of suggestions.

 

[Mustafa]

Inventor's pursuit: Capacitor weapon:
Feedback: Artificers gameplay is clunky and without grace in the context of activating Capacitor weapon, and likely other abilities as well. forcing you to either run into melee and then activate it, potentially taking unnecessary attacks in the interim, or activating it preemptively and wasting some of the precious uptime you have with this ability

Suggestion: Make Capacitor weapon, and potentially all Artificer abilities instant cast

 

[Reikenbach]

Rapid Reload:
Feedback: Ranged Artificers are expected to use crossbows, yet need to pay a feat tax for Rapid Reload in order to get their second APR. Rogues and Swashbucklers aren't taxed Weapon Finesse, Rangers aren't taxed Ambidexterity/Two-Weapon Fighting - shouldn't Artificers have the same with crossbows?

Suggestion: Give Artificers Rapid Reload, either at level 1 or at level 8 (when they get their second APR).

 

[Reikenbach]

Grand Invention
Feedback: Another instance of an ability that looks good on paper but has issues in practice. Mathematically speaking, the capstone weapons are great - the only problem is they arrive all at once at level 18, while the rest of the class needs to be balanced around you eventually having a +3 weapon.

I'm also concerned about whether the spells generated by capstone items count as magic for the purposes of Spell Resistance and similar, which may prompt unintended reactions. Without knowledge of how they work, however, I'm not going to make any comment on them.

Suggestion: Progressive installment of the Grand Invention at levels 6/12/18. For example:

Turbomaul (6): +1 EB, +1 Fire Damage
Turbomaul (12): +2 EB, +1 Fire Damage, +1d4 Massive Critical
Turbomaul (18): +3 EB, +1 Fire Damage, +1d6 Massive Critical

Flask Launcher (6): +1 AB, +1d4 Massive Criticals
Flask Launcher (12): +2 AB, +1d6 Massive Criticals, +1 Mighty
Flask Launcher (18): +3 AB, +1d8 Massive Criticals, +2 Mighty

 

[Reikenbach]

Artificer's Focus
Feedback: Even disregarding the fact that crafting is not yet implemented, I'm going to argue that this is a bad idea on multiple levels. It offers nothing to Artificers who don't learn Augmentation and becomes nothing for Augmenters who hit the profession level cap. It's effectively a nonfactor in terms of class balance while simultaneously giving the Artificer three dead levels at 4, 8, and 13.

Just making Artificers outright better at Augmentation than everyone else isn't really a solution, either, because it discourages anyone who isn't an Artificer from becoming an Augmenter if they'll always be at a disadvantage. There are ways to play around this, such as making them more efficient if there's a crafting stamina system or similar, but given the crafting system is under development it's difficult to pose alternatives.

Suggestion 1: Artificers can apply 1/2/3 extra augments to their armor, making it untradable.

Suggestion 2: Something similar to Fighter's Armor Training, if this is supposed to represent equipment tinkering.

 

[Reikenbach]

Inventor's Pursuit: Volatile Concoctions
Feedback: Inventor's Pursuits seem like they're supposed to define an Artificer's playstyle - Conductive Weapon for melee, Power Shield for tanks. Volatile Concoctions looks like it's meant to be the "caster" option, but it currently falls short in a few areas. The lack of a targeting circle makes it awkward to use compared to most AoE spells, and the lack of a projectile makes for poor visual feedback - maybe a bottle could be thrown, like goblin/kobold firebombers?

Having spoken to players who regularly use the ability, it also feels low-impact. Rather than ramping up the damage, however, I suggest adding status effects to the bomb in order to improve its group utility. I'd also recommend dividing the bomb into multiple different abilities based on damage type, as the current version of the bomb doesn't allow for any intelligent use other than throw-and-forget.

Suggestion: Multiple abilities on a shared cooldown. Effects last INT modifier rounds. At level 11, the effects improve.

Acid Bomb: Reflex Save, -1/-2 Armor Class
Fire Bomb: Reflex Save, 1d3/1d6 Fire Damage per Round
Sonic Bomb: Fortitude Save, -1/-2 Attack Bonus, Deafened

 

[Reikenbach]

Bonus Feat: Spare Capacitor (New)
Concept: The Artificer currently lacks some variety when it comes to their Bonus Feats. For example, Healing Injectors is currently the only support-oriented choice available - and while it's quite good, I believe there should be some additional options. This idea here be something equivalent to Flame Weapon - a short-term weapon enchantment for bonus electric damage. A support-oriented Artificer could use it to empower a more combat-competent ally, or a melee-oriented Artificer could use it to smooth out their performance during the long periods of downtime on Capacitor Weapon.

Suggestion: A lesser capacitor adds +1d4 Electric Damage to the targeted melee weapon or ammunition. Lasts 3+INT modifier rounds. 3-minute cooldown.