The Infiltrator - D&D: Optimized #56

[@DnDDeepDive]

A few errata to correct this week; fortunately, nothing that affects the build/numbers much, but thanks for keeping me honest :) - Longbow is still the champion of long range weapons, with a 600 foot range :) - Telekinetic Movement only works on willing creatures. Duh! (I blame sleep deprivation for that one >.>) - Infiltrator, it turns out, is *not* spelled "Inflitrator." (I blame my editor for that one

[@dienezdarcprowlyr9406]

[@Ahglock]

Eldritch blast with spell sniper and eldritch spear is also 600ft, but yeah you lose the -5+10 but at short ranges you might have something else to reduce the impact of that. Though the last time I used or needed more than 120 has been like twice over the last 6 years.

[@nerovalentine865]

@@Ahglock Distant Spell Eldritch Blast with Spell Sniper and Eldritch Spear...

[@Ahglock]

@@nerovalentine865 True, though likely just a few times a day, but still a 1200 foot shot is pretty dang impressive.

[@morganpetros9635]

@@Ahglock It's also absolutely *USELESS* ... I mean completely free of value ... unless your party spends a lot of time defending against sieges (or trying to assassinate individuals on the other end of a siege), four football fields' worth of range is worthless. In fact, I'll go further and say that in most adventures (i.e., dungeons) you aren't even going to get to use the 120 feet of range the spell has by itself ... not even if you're playing a dark elf or multiclassing to (* *shudder* *) Twilight cleric. Why? because most underground environments simply don't have a 120 foot line of sight, much less ten times that. In short, it's a cute thought experiment, but it has no practical value ... especially considering the amount of multiclassing, Invocations and feats needed to pull it off. If I had some other spell(s) I wanted to have longer than usual ranges on, I might take *ONE* of the options Raymond Weiss mentions (probably going sorcerer and taking Distant Spell because ... more spell slots). But all three of them? Huge waste of finite resources.

[@BLynn]

Level 1:(see above) [fighter 1, fighting-style & race] Level 2:(see above) [artificer 1] Level 3:(@17:02) [artificer 2] Level 4:(@19:20) [artificer 3 & sub-class] Level 5:(@24:24) [artificer 4 & ASI] Level 6:(@25:37) [artificer 5] Level 7:(@28:35) [artificer 6] Level 8:(@31:04) [artificer 7] Level 9:(@31:42) [artificer 8 & ASI] Level 10:(see above) [artificer 9] Level 11:(@37:57) [artificer 10] Level 12:(@41:28) [artificer 11] Level 13:(@45:23) [rogue 1] Level 14:(see above) [rogue 2] Level 15:(@48:50) [rogue 3 & sub-class] Level 16:(@51:03) [fighter 2] Level 17:(@51:58) [fighter 3 & sub-class] Colby, thank you.

[@AndrewThoesen]

Thanks, awesome list

[@jordanhaggerty7868]

Dude, this is the worst and best part of my week. These videos make me want to make so many different characters and I have mayyyyybe 6 hours a month to play. Haha. Great video!

[@JChe-ft4zc]

Ugh, I feel that so much...and I hate deleting the sheets from DnD Beyond, too. (I'm about to go onto my 2nd binder.) Good luck with all of your stories!

[@harjutapa]

Same, though. I made a Fey Wanderer Ranger mostly due to his video on it.

[@Ahglock]

Genielock is my preferred infiltration build right now. Start with Actor feat.Pact of the chain, Invocations, mask of many faces, and voice of the chain master. Change your appearance and voice quickly on the fly after scouting a place out with your invisible imp, if needed the invisible imp can fly you hiding in your ring into secure areas. Not much of an investment and you are amazing as a infiltrator. Still have plenty of resources and levels to make sure you have a respectable DPR.

[@torunsmok5890]

That's a nice build, plus the charisma to pull all that off effectively

[@Haveuseenmyjetpack]

Do you think changeling / mimic companion (from beastheart) fits in here?

[@ardet7383]

Upgrade: play a changeling. Basically gives an improved actor feat plus disguise self, and has a nice charisma bump. Excellent idea with the chain pact genie! I'd never thought of using it like that before.

[@Haveuseenmyjetpack]

@@ardet7383 changeling with a wearable mimic companion, using the Beastheart class features. No magic required, no limits on frequency of appearance change. No need to waste your limited arcane genielock powers controlling appearance if you are a Changeling wearing a Mimic.

[@aaronpapke9763]

No one realized, the chestnode allows you to have a weapon or shield in both hands while still allowing a sniper shot? 🤯

[@RalphusAdolphus2]

I really enjoyed this build. The Artificer has quickly become one of my favorite classes. It's right up there with Monks for me (). I loved the Psi Warrior at the end, too since that subclass gets a lot of hate and fits really neatly into this build.

[@comfortablegrey]

This is a neat artificer! I appreciate how many of Colby's builds multiclass with more than just single level dips, in a way that really enhances the character concept.

[@heir8095]

Wow im actually doing a verion of this build already! However instead of going mostly Artificer, im going mostly psi warrior and then doing a 3-4 level dip in artificer for the armor. Story goes that my character had an encounter with some mind flayers at a young age which gave him psionic abilities. Later he started having visions of weapon designs to build (like the armor). Essentially the Elder Brain of these mind flayers is using my character as a experimental weapons manufactuer.

[@mehmetemrebirinci6536]

I usually don't comment on anything. But these videos have been making my favorite part of the week for the past months, so I decided to comment to help with the algorithm. Never stop please!

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thank you! :)

[@santapacman]

The familiar/homunculus touch spell method is actually a really strong application of shocking grasp. It allows you to disable enemy reactions from far away to allow your teammates to run away for free or disable held actions.

[@santapacman]

The flavor here for an Artificer casting cure wounds is also great. Whenever I cast cure wounds from my familiar, I would flavor it as me tossing a syringe to it

[@LoreFoundry]

To answer your question about the Homunculus using the spell focus. RAW it says the Homunculus you create takes it's turn to Dodge action, unless you expend your bonus action. In which case it can use Dash, Disengage, Hide, Help and Search. I would say, since it doesn't list the Use an Object action the Homunculus cannot use the artificer's item to cast a spell. Thanks for the episode. I love your content. Keep up the good work. I appreciate it.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks! My reading would be this: under Homunculus it says: "It can move and use its reaction on its own, but the only action it takes on its turn is the Dodge action, unless you take a bonus action on your turn to command it to take another action. That action can be one in its stat block *or some other action*." Which seems to indicate that it can do other things that other creatures in D&D can reasonably do. Additionally, the spell storing item says: "While holding the object, a creature can take an action to produce the spell’s effect from it, using your spellcasting ability modifier." Seems like as long as they can "hold" it, they should be ok. Regardless, different DMs may rule differently :).

[@u0311522]

@@DnDDeepDive Was going to say the same thing as Yev, but there is some light even if the DM is strictly reading the text. Familiars, and any Conjured friends have no such restriction. Ideally, you'd have your Necromancer friend make an undead congo line and have them fire off spells and pass the item to their neighbor.

[@TheRobversion1]

@@u0311522 yup. no need to find a necro though. artificers do this themselves powerfully at level 11-12 storing catapults or flaming spherers and firing 10 of those in 1 turn for absurd dmg. like catapult alone gets you 30d8 + 20d6 in 1 turn. or wall off a medium creature with 10 flaming spheres doing 20d6 sustained dmg per round. oh and colby's right here. homunculus can use any action if you use your bonus action to command them. i think you're reading the old text from eberron and not the updated one from tasha's.

[@samcrawford2716]

I usually skip Slidin Into My DMs unless the quick ruling is particularly interesting to me, in which case I'll skip to that to see the result. Idk, I guess it doesn't feel like it's worth investing the time to listen compared to the Optimized videos. The DM topics are more open-ended and nebulous, sometimes the panel all agrees with or repeats itself, and the friendliness between speakers -being much better than if you all hated each other 😅- can lead to side-tracks or people interrupting others to crack jokes or make references to things I'm not really there to listen to. So, while both series can run up to an hour, Optimized feels like that whole hour is packed with useful insights and knowledge, so I find it worthwhile. Slidin Into My DM's has felt like it had too much filler in the past.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks for the feedback!

[@kclubok]

You expressed my own feelings on the matter better than I could. In contrast, compare to the Dungeon Dudes videos which sometimes take on similar topics, but feel like they do so with a lot more efficient use of time. Another reason why the Optimized videos are more time-efficient is that it is easier to tell when I can and should skip ahead. For example, when a game mechanic that I already understand is being explained. Such opportunities to skip are not telegraphed so obviously in the "Slidin" videos.

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@kclubok Thanks!

[@anothercrazyenglishman3494]

Perfect cup-of-tea-and-a-biscuit viewing. Look forward to these each week, and they've helped a lot with my character making. I'm starting a campaign next week and planning on making a warforged fighter/forge cleric tank that's looking to be a ton of fun. Keep it up with Tales of Aneria too! I'm a little behind but loving it so far 😉

[@cady.moriarty]

This is precisely the build I was looking for when making my first Warforged character. Great insight!

[@connormcconnell7881]

Cool thing about this build having profesioncy/expertise with artisans tools (carpenter's tools is what I could think of off the top of my head) can suprisingly help you with stealth

[@pipturen9979]

Perfect timing! I just hopped onto KZbin to watch one of your videos and I saw this was just uploaded! Can't wait!

[@Seraphzero0]

I’m going back through some of my favorite builds of yours. I hope you and your family enjoy this time off. Be blessed.

[@lowellkubik]

I've struggled trying to justify playing an artificer unless its a suportificer. This sounds like a ton of fun. Keep crankin' em out Colby!!

[@rhylin26]

I look forward to Sliding into my DMs as much as the Optimized episodes.

[@billygnosis8820]

Infiltrator is a great pairing with Battlemaster manuevers. Manuevers , such as trip and disarm, can be done using a ranged weapon and your blaster is considered a simple ranged weapon.

[@TheRobversion1]

Imo the synergy isnt as seamless for all maneuvers as some like trip as you mentioned require dex/str based saves which the build didnt pump.

[@billygnosis8820]

@@TheRobversion1 true true. not for this build, but it is fun in builds that lean in the Dex direction

[@Aaron-pj3ky]

​@@billygnosis8820 You could burn your 10th level infusion on Gauntlets of Ogre Strength if you know you're heading for Battlemaster. This would also let your martial weapons proficiency from Fighter get some use in those situations where the enemy resists your lightning damage.

[@TheRobversion1]

@@billygnosis8820 yup like the throwing artificer dip builds or staff fighting artillerists.

[@deanselzler488]

I used an Infiltrator build as an enemy NPC and almost TPK the group. They were 6th level so the NPC was 6th level. This one extended "Encounter" lasted multiple sessions. it works for any level 6+. Let me explain: Four levels Artificer (armorer) then as many rogue levels as you can stack to match the party. My NPC i made a Half-Orc, Stealth skill is a must and one of the expertise from rogue needs to go on stealth as well. One Infusion to make the eyes of night. This extends the darkvision to 120' can stay our of vision range for all but drow or the like. Sharpshooter feat is a must. The lightning launcher is a simple ranged weapon. Since it is not a spell attack then sneak attack and sharpshooter works with it. I had him equipped with breastplate armor. Smart orc stays at long range in rougher terrain and attacks at night. With expertise and advantage on stealth he will get surprise. Steps out, Sneak attacks with lightning damage since he is an unseen attacker. Then steps back into cover and hides as a bonus action. Uses left over move to change position while hidden. rinse/repeat. Hit and run harass the players. His +5 speed and spells like blur, invisibility, etc helps him stay out of reach or make him hard to catch. I set this up just like the predator movies so use them for inspiration. The party was a little freaked when the whole party was almost wiped out by someone that was no higher level than any of them.

[@ryadinstormblessed8308]

As a relatively inexperienced D&D player, I haven't gotten into multi- class much yet, as I'd like to experience everything a class / sub-class has to offer before I try to decide when it's better to mix it up like that. But I really like that watching these is giving me more ideas about the advantages of these various class options!

[@Ouch193]

Idea: Winged Tiefling. You get exactly 1 minute of time to fly straight up into the air and blast lightning from 300ft away. Sure, this can only be done outdoors with some prep time, but overall it’s still pretty powerful. Bonus points if you have a Tempest Cleric and wanna make the enemies truly fear them by getting smote every round. For a one shot, you could even be an imposter god to the party who bestows enchanted magical gifts and smites all who oppose the party whilst giving them a homunculus to act as a vessel for the “god.”

[@endtimer1]

First 10 minutes of the video: "I don't like steampunk in my high fantasy world." Last 10 minutes of the video: "And that's when our handlers give us psionic abilities to go along with our Iron Man armour that shoots bolts of lightning."😄

[@juanitomarquez658]

A build idea I have is Artificer/Fighter Rune Knight. Essentially what you do is you create all these magic items and then inscribe runes on them so you can hand them out to allies, or use them yourself.

[@bensledge4652]

Or turn Large with Runic Might, then Enlarge ourselves to be a Gundam. Awesome idea!

[@TheRobversion1]

@@bensledge4652 i like this idea. hahah. gundam, wanzer, transformer! armorer 5 rune knight 3 gets this realized at level 8. haha. for shits and giggles, play a small race. bonus action- giant's might action: enlarge action surge: attack x2

[@aaronludlo3331]

I'm planning on doing this build with my Guardian Armorer.

[@DeadpoolAli]

@@TheRobversion1 then bring armorer to 11/rune 3/any cleric 5 and use spell storing item to make yourself enlarged with the largest AoE of spirits guardians!

[@TheRobversion1]

@@DeadpoolAli or divine sorc.

[@bruvaroni]

I just so happen to need a int based character for this weekend.

[@srchellis]

Might also want to check out a battlesmith build, at level 3 (I believe) they use Intel for weapon attacks. I like it with 1 level fighter (considering these 3 psi's lev now) and 2 levels of war mage

Man, having stealth expertise and advantage on stealth checks sounds really awesome. All while doing amazing dpr, having a great support abilities and being tanky as fuck... Amazing, probably one of the most well rounded builds out there.

[@JeremySpears-t7u]

A Player in a past game had a build very close to this awhile but with an AArakocra and light armor. It was a lot of fun. Outside encounters happened a little less often but the DM was great and let them have their extreme range flying hijinks fun from time to time. When they did, the player did everything possible to keep their reaction saved for feather fall, but when they did have to eat ground did it with dignity knowing they deserved every point of fall damage.

[@Anton_Jermakoŭ]

I started dming recently, talking my good friend I to joining a campaign. He wanted to make an Artificer who is a ranged damage dealer. Yesterday I made almost exactly the same build as you did lol. Way to go!

[@dienezdarcprowlyr9406]

I love your sliding into DMs. It helps me think about things in DND that I haven't and consider ideas from different perspectivas. I don't miss a one.

[@simonrajj]

So many Great builds and so little time to play them all. I think this might be the build i requested last week! I am so appreciative! Great work, love the channel.

[@TheRobversion1]

i suggest playing shorter campaigns and more one shots so you can play them all. haha.

[@Ricardo-zo1ti]

Cool build. The only thing that feels clunky is the fey touched feat. I would honestly just take skill expert for that +1 INT and stealth expertise since level 1 (delaying the stealth expertise so far for an infiltrator is pretty painful). We would lose misty step and bless, but there's already better uses for our concentration (also, let the cleric bless you, it's their thing lol), and if we ever miss misty step that much we can always substitute that with the boots of the winding path infusion

[@TheRobversion1]

a cleric might have better things to do you know. haha.

[@Wouldyoukindly4545]

I like seeing psychic warrior, and really look forward to seeing it get its due. I was thinking however how terrifying a echo knight build would be, who can kite at the range of 300'

[@fabbit89]

Slidin' into my DMs is really entertaining from a DM side. I like the quick ruling and then deep cut setup a lot. Since it is a zoom setup i think there is not much to improve on the format except maybe more emphasis on a visual summary at the end or during the sections. And if you got time for more content in the show maybe a "spell or feat of the week, and its niche uses" would be something entertaining. if its not overlapping too much with your optimization videos. I always stumble upon weird interactions or new ways of using things during DM prep. Just thinking out loud here....

[@L0K1TV]

I'm way late to this video but I've been tossing a rogue artificer build around for a while and you got me thinking about it again! Great ideas.

[@binolombardi]

Haste’s extra action let’s “use an object” too. The spell storing effect can be activated via the “use an object” action since its not actually casting the spell. An armorer could cast haste on themselves as an action, the use the action from haste to use the spell storing item. The armorer could be offensive, but I think activating mirror image on the same turn would be defensively ridiculous.

[@TheRobversion1]

good catch. i always assumed it was turned into a magic item and would use the use magic item action. makes haste more useful on artificers compared to other classes though personally, i'd probably not use the spell storing item on the artificer but pass it to the tiny servants (so i keep my action economy free) to simply end the combat early.

[@honorablevalor6337]

I like the concept, feels like a special OPS character should. Smart, lethal, and a survivor.

[@strahlungsopfer]

love the build. I can definitely salvage some of this for my battlesmith/arcane archer.

[@RhuneDagron]

Idea for the build... Put Shatter on the item you homunculus has. Go arcane trickster and get a familiar so the familiar can cast shatter instead and the homunculus can attack. Of course the familiar can use the help action for an advantage attack, ensuring sneak attack on the first round of combat. Great build regardless!

[@TheRobversion1]

you don't need to go arcane trickster for a familiar. all artificers have access to familiars at level 2. shatter is nice for aoe but personally i'd rather pick spells for single-target killing such as catapult.

[@michaeledwards2052]

I love this build and glad you used the homunculus servant. It is very underated as a pet. As well as some limited damage, it is great utility with fly, immunity to exhaustion (guarding the camp while you sleep) and providing the help action out of combat. I would love to see a artificer build using the artillerist subclass. I think the cannons could be very useful with a 3 level dip, or dipping other classes with a main class artificer artillerist.

[@g2machine368]

I’m currently playing an aasmiar in one of my campaigns and we ended up having a discussion on whether or not the extra damage you get while Radiant Soul/Radiant Consumption/Necrotic Shroud is active would be added to opportunity attacks. My DM decided that I could apply the extra damage on an opportunity attack OR an attack on my turn but not both. I know this is a common point of discussion when it comes to abilities that work in this way such as a rogues sneak attack and I think it would be an interesting point of discussion for an episode of sliding into my DM’s. Great video, as always👌🏼

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks! Will put it on the list :)

[@jellobag]

Your comment at 29:10 could make for a cool series of builds - building [x class] without any levels of that class. I'd definitely be interested in seeing those

[@meowzebub9667]

My straight fighter goblin sharpshooter battlemaster is one of the most fun rogues I've ever played.

[@woofergranade2044]

I watched this video in order to get some ideas for my Fairy Armorer character who wears the armor as a mech suit. Me and the dm house ruled it so that the actual character is always tiny and the armor makes him a medium creature.

[@runeserpent1449]

i got my inspiration of fairy armorer from the fairys from artemis fowl, was one of my favorite books and i just loved their technology/magic mix of things

[@Llamamilkman]

I’ve actually been running a build almost exactly like this and it has been very surprising how powerful it feels. We’re only at level 7 and I finally got attacked directly by something for the first time since my character just cowers behind everyone else. The casters I was hiding behind were just like, “You’ve had 22 AC and you’ve been hiding behind me this whole time?” That was a pretty funny discovery for them. I joined the campaign at like level 5 so I didn’t go the entire 7 levels just running away.

[@-Lindol-]

My basic infiltrator build is Soulknife rogue 3, Whispers Bard 17. Stack the whispers bard psychic blades on top of soulknife psychic blades and throw on shadowblade for good measure.

[@TheRobversion1]

i don't get how shadowblade is supposed to work with this since you don't have extra attack. action: create soul knife. sneak attack + whisper blade it. bonus action: create another soul knife and attack. unless you meant not using soul knives, using your bonus action to create a shadowblade and just doing 1 attack with it.

[@cabie58]

Pretty awesome fresh take, Colby Appreciated

[@WynTheGrey]

I think the entire threat of a lightning-immune enemy can be almost nullified by using the Magic Stone cantrip. A sling throwing those stones would benefit from INT modifier to attack, Fighter1 Ranged Weapon fighting style, Sharpshooter feat accuracy and damage, Psi-warrior Psionic powers, Artificer5 additional weapon attack, Haste additional attack... the range would drop to 120 ft instead of 300, and you'd need to use your Bonus Action every other round to enchant 3 more stones. Overall, you'd be losing out on 1d6 per round additional Infiltrator damage and 1d4 every other round for the Homunculus attack. This is significantly less than the damage loss involved in switching over to the Firebolt cantrip (and the 120ft range would still be the same).

[@pillowninja9071]

😊 ahh feels good to be home! 🤍 These builds

[@Kenji10000]

I am currently running a guardian armorer and I use my homunculus as a ranged support or to give the help action mainly. However if a Party member goes down I can use it to cast cure wounds for me without having to move my position

[@BrickInTheHead]

you're allowed to go heavy with the title cards, but be wary of those frequent edits speeding up your voice and applying filters :P part of your draw (for me, at least) is your calming demeanor and presentation, near ASMR-like; don't go mad with your newfound editing powers!

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks for the feedback!

[@landonstout3649]

Know I’m torn! I’ve loved the little skits that break up the long video. On the other hand his calming voice is mesmerizing…

[@tuaa33]

Came to say quite same thing: The new sounds effects are a bit loud for my taste. Go more for visual stuff than sound editing please. And ofc nice & interesting build again. Thank you. :)

[@hopeforescape884]

You can actually swap out the armors during a *short rest* so you can rest trick the temp hp, long rest take guardian, use the temp hp feature, short rest swap for infiltrator, and still keep the temp hp.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Good catch!

[@mrjek01]

Thats one of the reasons why I like mark of shadow elf for this..4hrs trance lets you have 4 short rests while everyone else is sleeping. Plus minor illusion, invis, Ginvis and pass without trace amongst the other spells added is quite good. Probably better than a feat if you are going more scout than DPR.

[@duncanohio]

Was listening to this falling asleep in bed. The voice modulation on the Fight Club quote gave the illusion that it was coming from downstairs. Thanks for the heart attack as I jolted awake thinking there was a strange man in my house.

[@DnDDeepDive]

ha ha sorry! ;)

[@duncanohio]

@@DnDDeepDive It's just teaching me patience. I should wait until the next day to listen instead of having my phone out at bedtime.

[@DYMTWrecks]

You’re gonna tease us with the Psi Warrior, huh? I’ll remember this. Also, we won’t talk about that movie reference. You know why!

[@DnDDeepDive]

Ha ha - just a little tease!

[@polares01]

My guardian armorer artificer is a Locatha (crab) that has a mecha like "armor" that is a "big green water bubble" with swamp tree that makes the limbs with the trunk being a bigger arm, and the "legs" being made of the roots, it moves like a crab. I describe it as the tree growing from there armor which serves as a medium for it to absorb magic and create the effects like the bubble. The thunder gauntlet is the water floating trough the tree's trunk and being condensed in a smaller bubble that explodes with the pressure in a contact punch that leaves a watery connection with the bigger bubble and it acts as the dampening field. All spells are flavored as being "swamp like", his mending leaves the tree's wood where he repairs, his magic missels are water bubbles that emerge from the armor as a swamp bubble, the faerie fire are swamp will-o'wisp. My dm and I built a custom infusion that is called "Cap of Land Breathing" that does the clear opposite of the "Cap of Water Breathing" because Locatha needs to stay on water every 4 hours, and it justifies the water on the armor.

[@THEBOSS2237]

Love this episode. Also love valdas. I've been loving optimized third party builds, warmage especially.

[@iLitTheSun]

I’ve seen bilbron extol magic stone+homunculus. It’s a bonus action spell and if all the little guy (or up to three with upcasting) is doing is attacking then it can scale nicely.

[@TheRobversion1]

yup. it's nice little bump to dmg since you can pre-cast magic stone anyway while walking around.

[@nicholasmcmahan-watson9405]

Humunculus is great if your dm will let it cling to an ally and ride them into battle for easy access to cure that ally's wounds while you are dodging and weaving.

[@O-D-X]

Going to be using the core of this build in my current campaign. I needed to roll up a level 5 character to replace my current character(deceased). Now our DM does allow die rolling for stats and I got lucky and got a 17 on one roll, so I am going to War-forged instead. Love the idea of War Machine as an actual machine. My concept is that he became an Artificer in order to eventually procreate by creating a new war-forged. So as such, he is in the Hells seeking out soul gems or soul coins to use in the creation of a new life. Hopefully we don't run into Tiamat, but I know she is there on the first plane.

[@richytheking1315]

A build you should try out is a hexblade 12/oathbreaker 8 padlock. Now it comes at the cost of chain hexing, but you get the cha bonus damage of the oath breaker 7th level ability so by level 19 your weapon attacks have a whopping +16 bonus damage per hit normally(reg cha bonus + aura of hate + lifedrinker + improved pact weapon) with PAM, GWM and Elven accuracy the potential damage output is not only staggering but consistent. If you add hex, curse, and GWM all together thats 2d10 + 3d6 + 1d4 + 96 and you could still potentially put smites on that. You can also get high AC with plate which when within darkness or shadow of moil will make you quite hard to hit. Main drawback is it will take a while for the build to really come online, due to requiring feats and multi-class levels.

[@jakehelder3254]

I love the sliding into my Dms show, I think perhaps I am running out of long form video time slots. So perhaps, people have too much of your content to watch haha. You're by far one of my favourite smaller channels, can't wait for you to explode into the mainstream. Keep making everything you do!

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks!

[@SavageGreywolf]

Stop thinking of an artificer as a 'steampunk' anything and start seeing it as a caster class focused on creating magical items. Do you think Enchantment in Skyrim is 'steampunk'? Do you think of the god Hephaestus or the Dwarves of Nordic myth as 'steampunk'? Do you think the ringcrafters of Middle-earth are 'steampunk'?

[@sammy135_]

Bro Chill, it ain't that deep

[@thundyrcat]

What a freaking fun build! Wow!

[@dienezdarcprowlyr9406]

I love this concept. I would definately have gone into rogue sooner. When you think about it the extra attack offset is almost balanced by getting the sneak damage. For rogue sub class I probably would have gone Inquisitive. Getting bonuses to insight and perception has a proper feel to the builds intentions and being able to use an insight check for 1 minute of sneak attack helps make that damage consistent regardless of battlefield situation or spell concentration

[@TheRobversion1]

sneak attack is very far from balancing it once you add sharpshooter, dex, magical weapon bonuses, etc to the mix but yeah for flavor inquisitive makes sense but the primary intention of the build is to do higher sustained dmg. focusing on infiltration, subterfuge themes are just secondary.

[@dougmartin3573]

Great video Colby! I'd be really interested to see how a ranged Gloomstalker build would compare to your infiltrator... Maybe using the Dhampir lineage for extra speed and spider climbing!

[@TheRobversion1]

the gloomstalker would win in burst dmg definitely. and may win on sustained as well based on the gloomstalker's access to spells like summon beast/fey, lightning arrow, etc.

[@Pygochelidon]

On your spreadsheet, you have the Homunculus plus to hit as 7-11. It looks like you're adding the artificer's INT and PROF bonus, but the Homunculus' attack uses its own DEX. So if I'm not missing something, the plus to hit should be 5-8. I've been playing this sub-class for a while, and I watched this to get some ideas for how to make combat work a little better. Thanks for the content!

Homunculus statblock pretty clearly says "your spell attack modifier to hit"

[@jakeneville363]

I can feel the artillerist getting closer and closer

[@lord6617]

Considering you are using a humonculous which might not have a ton of HP or survivability to fuel your faerie fire engine, having the Psi Warrior's shield to reduce any damage it might be taking (which might kill it or force a concentration check) is fairly useful.

[@TheRobversion1]

colby stated that the homunculus will fly up. so it'll be far from aoe's and the party after casting. so it means the only time it's survival is only a factor if the dm purposely attacks a flying creature not doing much over other party members who are nearer and higher threat. that borders on metagaming or picking on the homunculus already. and even if the dm does that, the dm just wasted their action on something that's not directed at the party so it's a win-win. anyway yeah the psi warrior shield is nice insurance.

[@joshholmes1372]

Nova build. Gloom stalker(3), assassin(3), battle master(11). Using musket. Take gunner, piercer, and sharpshooter. Open with hunters mark and unload 4 attacks (3 multi attack + 1 gloom)x2 with action surge for 8 total shots. Each shot crits for 3d12 + 2d6 + 15 piercing damage. Add x number of d10s where x = 2*number of superiority dice used. Adding 4d8 gloom stalker damage and 4d6 sneak attack and you're destroying something. You can end the build with 4/4/12 and get those nice ASIs.

[@TheRobversion1]

nice. i've played this exact build just at lower levels (didn't reach 20) and slight level distribution differences. oh and no gunner/musket. stuck to the longbow and had a bracers of archery. it's the best martial nova build in the game. very popular online.

[@leonardolenzetti1164]

If your dm lets your homunculus use spell storing item you should consider a a build with warding bond and an homunculus that hides inside your armour for a lot of resilience.

[@arurukrishnavamshi8075]

This was a great build. I have always thought of using magic missile or shatter with spell storing item, but faerie fire is great! I also love the massive amount of healing you can get with spell storing item. 10 free bonus action cure wounds is great!

[@TheRobversion1]

I'd wager 10 magic missiles or shatters is more effective than faerie fire. faerie fire means you're probably taking 2-3 turns killing that bbeg. catapult, magic missile, scorching ray, flaming sphere, shatter means that bbeg is most likely dead on round 1. granted this is 1 combat /day kind of thing over faerie fire's multiple combat use. having said that, this means however all your allies and yourself get to save a bunch of resources because you probably ended combat on round 1 with the spell storing item nuke. for example, with scorching ray cast 10x on round 1 that's 60d6 of dmg without factoring crits on 30 rays. use your own action to grant advantage like via fog cloud, faerie fire, etc and most of those 30 rays should connect.

[@arurukrishnavamshi8075]

@@TheRobversion1 you can only cast one instance of magic missile or shatter in one round though. You can't cast all ten magic missiles at once. So you wouldn't be able to take out the boss in one go like that.

[@TheRobversion1]

@@arurukrishnavamshi8075 nope you can. you might not have run into the combo yet but it circulates around optimizer forums/discussion groups. the combo is this. you pre-cast/rest trick 10 tiny servants. without rest tricking this will need a multiclass dip into a caster class at level 12 otherwise it's doable at level 11 as you get spell storing item. standing order for tiny servants. cast the spell in the spell storing item at my target upon stating of the command word "xxxx" then pass the spell storing item to the next tiny servant. ts1: scorching ray for action. pass as free object interaction ts2: scorching ray for action. pass as free object interaction you get the picture. subclasses only matter for spell choices but the artificer spell list already has a great option with catapult then having the tiny servants carry acid flasks or if you have lots of gold inhaled/contact poisons. for the acid flask setup that's 30d8 +20d6 potential dmg. if you're using shatter, that's a great board clearer for 30d8. alchemists are my fave here for a really tough fight as you can have each ts cast and concentrate on flaming sphere. this will function as both dmg and control (for medium size and smaller) as you can surround the enemy with 10 flaming spheres, ram them for 2d6 x10 and prevent them from moving out unless they teleport. then you repeat that 20d6 worth of dmg again on round 2 on the same target if it isn't dead yet or move it to another target.

[@arurukrishnavamshi8075]

@@TheRobversion1 oooh didn't know that. This is super interesting. Thanks!

[@TheRobversion1]

@@arurukrishnavamshi8075 it's very powerful. granted, it's a 1/day kind of tactic. imo though for something that can end combat for you with minimal resource expenditure it's a worthwhile tactic in the toughest fight of the day. this is also imo, the greatest reason to stay pure artificer until level 11 if you're using artificer as a main class.

[@timb7344]

Okay hear me out. I understand the subclass is named infiltrator so some players are wanting to “infiltrate”. However I just enjoy the idea of the suit and articifers are awesome. If you were looking to optimize purely damage and not really worrying about stealth and the idea of being an “infiltrator” what would you change?

[@johngleeman8347]

Nice well-rounded build. Good at lots of different tasks besides dirt-napping fools.

[@scoutobrien3406]

If your campaign is actually supposed to lead up to a Tiamat fight I think the solution for your *magical inventor/engineer* would be, as part of the overall party preparations once they realize they have to fight Tiamat, send your infiltrator on a quest to find the materials to make a "Transmutation Focusing Lens" that fits over the Lightning Launcher converting the Lightning damage to something else. Maybe with a pretty easy transition to radiant damage just focusing the plasma energy into light or using the heat to make a shorter range force pressure bolt but much rarer materials needed to turn Lightning into Cold or something. Make em have to build each type of lens and require a short rest to switch em out. And if your inventor being able to invent a limited way to do other types of damage using the armor that *they* *themselves* *originally* *created* as implied by the flavor text, still seems overpowered for a BBEG fight to you: then just lower the damned range for the special lenses or make them a type of ammunition the player has to construct at some financial cost that break after a day so the player saves it for an important scenario and doesn't just counter your normal monster selections.

[@SpiderWaffle]

You can also get find familiar using the Replicate Magic Item infusion and using the spellwrought tattoo 1st level, as your common magic item. This could get you advantage on your first attack AND bless without needing a saving throw fail by enemy. I might have calculated damage by factoring the chance the enemy saves vs doesn't save faerie fire using an average dex save. You can also get the homunculus after you have your familiar out after a long rest, caution being you'll just need another long rest to get the familiar back if it dies and won't have the homunculus back until a 2nd next long rest. Find Familiar is kind of busted lasting forever unless it dies.

[@TheRobversion1]

yup most people forget about replicate magic item. he can actually do the offloading concen spell thing to a homunculus as early as level 2 with replicate magic item: spellwrought tattoo find familiar and creating 2 spellwrought tattoo: bless then tattooing it on the familiar for 2x a day bless at level 2. or for variety switch 1 bless out for fog cloud (use vs. large+ enemies for perfect obscurement) or silent image (use an atmospheric effect for perfect obscurement).

[@SpiderWaffle]

@@TheRobversion1 It's very dubious if NPCs, much less summons, or familiars can use spellwrought tattoos. The rules for NPCs and PCs are different. Getting familiars to your whole party is pretty much indubitable by RAW though. I think the class kind of needs that boost anyway.

[@TheRobversion1]

@@SpiderWaffle the rules are clear that rules for npcs are different from pcs. familiars, summons and other pets all all under the pcs umbrella though. not npcs. there have been sage advices/tweets from jc that have clarified aspects of this such as the pets having attunement slots, can concentrate, etc. at the end of the day, imo what matter is its RAW. if the dm thinks it's too powerful and decides to ban it, then that's a homebrew thing. same way that my own DM bans the bag of holding bomb that artificers can also do at level 2. the class imo wouldn't need these boosts anyway if it wasn't common practice for DMs to ban the powerful things they can do. much like how everybody complains that the assassin is niche/weak but alot of DMs are anti-surprise/don't play surprise properly. as far as getting familiars to the entire party the DM can easily circumvent this RAW. simply don't give your party too many consecutive offdays. 1 offday at most and they won;t be able to pull this off. an artificer will need 2 consecutive offdays to pull this off for a party of 4. with 1 offday, they'll be able to give 1 party member a familiar and 1 for themselves. and tbh i don't consider it game-breaking once you hit tier 2. there are so many abilities/spells that can give advantage for multiple attacks. a 1 attack advantage is of little consequence by that time. and if the dm needs to reset this, simply send the party into a low ceiling room use a caster/trap with aoe then all familiars are dead then the artificer would need multiple offdays to set this up again.

[@SpiderWaffle]

@@TheRobversion1 Treeant Monk cover a good video on why these are not legal by RAW. There's lots of ways to interpret the RAW to allow or not allow things, without use of house rules. The DM is the arbitrator of the rules by RAW. Treantmonk makes a great video on this, covers the handbags: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kJynYZp5d9uepdk For the case of the tattoos, the RAW falls short very easily: "To use the tattoo, you must hold the needle against your skin and speak the command word." No familiar or homunculus servant can speak a command word by RAW, this was probably built in by design, to prevent such an OP exploit, they specific wrote about how OP multiple concentrations under one PC's will would be, breaking the game as it was designed.

[@TheRobversion1]

@@SpiderWaffle there are also multiple other youtubers who say this works by RAW such as bilbron, pack tactics, etc. Take note the command word is about inscribing part. This is done by the artificer. Casting the spell from the tattoo doesnt require the needle or the command word. There was a dnd beyond vid on the design intent for tattoos that they were designed to allow non-casters/limited casters access to spellcasting as scrolls were designed to be used by casters. You just activate the tattoo and cast the spell by using the use magic item action. This is also not the 1st time they decided to allow offloading concentration: ring of spell storing, certain wild magic, spell gems, arcane abeyance, etc. There's multiple precedents. Take note as well that tattoos dont require material components. I also dont get where you got that familiars cant speak command words by RAW. familiars can speak (not all but some) therefore they can use command words or any other words as long as the form allows them to speak.

[@nottelling6727]

Wanting to try this one soon.

[@jazminhegyvari8286]

Hey im new to d&d and don’t really have anyone to play with but I love ur videos and always learn a lot from them so thanks! COMMENT FOR THE ALGORITHM PEOPLE HE DESERVES IT

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks! Here's hoping you find a group soon!

[@1manApocalypse_CP]

With Winged Boots, this is basically a Cad Bane build.

[@derekcampbell2686]

Except for my very first character I ever made, I always start off first level as fighter. Fighter just compliments so many builds.

[@ClutchDylan]

Hey this is just what I’ve been asking for!

[@averyroff-nichols4358]

I realise that it's not "official" material, but Keith Baker (the guy who literally created Ebberon) has released an independent 5e supplement called Exploring Ebberon that has two additional Artificer Subclasses.

[@prestonjones9167]

If you were really wanting to take plate armor, instead of Fey Touched you could take the skill expert feat. This still lets you bump your int to 18 at level 1, but also lets you get expertise in a skill. Lets say stealth so even though you arent getting your dampening field buff you can still wear plate armor and be sneaky :)

[@DnDDeepDive]

Me likey.

[@urielcunhabeier979]

Man, i love your builds. I would like to see an assassin build using rogue assassination.Great work!!

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks! On thee list :)

[@TheRobversion1]

check out episode 5. he did an assassin already.

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@TheRobversion1 Ha ha - does 3 levels count though? :P

[@TheRobversion1]

@@DnDDeepDive imo it does. an assassin is pointless after level 3. it's a perrenial dip class. the most people would go after is 4 for an asi and maybe 5 for another sneak attack dice and uncanny dodge. very similar to barbs imo. people dip 2-3 then multiclass out.

[@mattseymour3007]

See the Lightning Launcher kind of like the magic bow on Ezreal’s glove in League of Legends.

[@ariashkenazi9211]

Just casually opening up the can of worms on repeating shot freeing up a hand for a shield :P Jokes aside cool build, thanks for sharing as always

[@maxokaan]

Awesome! I was actually in the proces of building a rogue/armorer multiclass just this week!

[@AuthoritativeNewsNetwork]

So; Magical Tinkering {A static visual effect appears on one of the object’s surfaces. This effect can be a picture, up to 25 words of text, lines and shapes, or a mixture of these elements, as you like} + Theives' Cant = Decoder Ring. Enjoy. 😉😉

[@Dddeltari]

time to update my vocabulary to add “de-locking doors” to my speech

[@DnDDeepDive]

lol

[@KawaiiAzusa]

Great build! By the way you can change your armor model after a long OR short rest. So even more versatile

[@TheRobversion1]

Yeah great way to replenish some temp hp via the guardian armor.

[@DR-wz4gh]

I think artificer is one of the best classes, it's abit down with dpr but their wide versatility is worth it. Armorer and Wizard for example is an insanely good pair

[@TheRobversion1]

they only are low on sustained dpr. on burst dmg, they are one of the best in the game by level 11 (spell storing item). being able to dole out 30d8 + 20d6 in 1 round without using your own action economy is nuts dmg.

[@simondiamond9628]

I appreciate the direction this is going. But as noted, Lightning damage reliance could be problematic at Tier 3 and Tier 4, notwithstanding issues related to the functioning of the Assassinate ability of the Assassin. Is there an argument for changing the subclasses chosen in this build? What I was initially thinking was the Eldritch Knight subclass for the Fighter, and the Arcane Trickster subclass for the Rogue. This gives the PC access to more Wizard-based cantrips, as well as more level 1 slots, albeit within specialized schools. Even then, however, the schools associated with those subclasses (Evocation/Abjuration for Eldritch Knight, and Illusion/Enchantment for Arcane Trickster) come with some intriguing benefits. For the Eldritch Knight (Abjuration/Evocation), Shield, Absorb Elements, Frost Fingers (from Icewind Dale), Alarm, Protection from Evil and Good, and Mage Armor (for worst case scenarios only) all seem to be good in-school grabs here. For the Arcane Trickster (Illusion/Enchantment), Silvery Barbs, Color Spray, Silent Image, and Sleep seem like good in-school pickups here as well, among other things. From either subclass, Gift of Alacrity, Fog Cloud (especially when paired with the Blindfighting fighting style), Feather Fall, Jump, and a few others, seem to be viable pickup options. But most importantly out of all of those, Find Familiar seems to be the most exceptional pickup here. Going this route also shores up a weakness of ours, which is access to more cantrips; things of which we're both in short supply of, and of which can diversify our damage and utility portfolio. Most especially Mage Hand Ledgermain (from Arcane Trickster), Chill Touch, Shocking Grasp as a melee cantrip, and Mending (if we haven't picked it up yet.) Further, the "Weapon Bond" feature from the Eldritch Knight can also prove to be useful in case we can't cast spells for some odd reason, and we don't have access to our weapons/armor. But best of all, from either subclass pick-up, we get access to Find Familiar, which, when paired with our Homunculus Servant (as an owl, or another creature with the Flyby action), can aid in setting up Bag of Holding ambushes for those untimely "OH S&%Ω" enemy encounter moments where the Lightning Launcher is useless, where we can't run, and we know with a good degree of certainty that we're otherwise toast. This final tactic can be the proverbial cyanide tablet for our field agent spy in case we're compromised. As a final thought, although I can see the appeal of starting off as a Fighter initially, I wonder about the Proficiencies trade-off between two of the three classes used to multiclass; specifically, the artificer and the fighter. Both classes, as per TCoE (page 7-8), have proficiencies that can be swapped out for Tool Proficiencies across the board, and for the same amount as well.

[@Onorel]

"All signing, all dancing crap of the world"... Let's make a new movie concept out of this: Pugilist club. Mischief. Mayhem. Herbalism kit.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Only problem is, we could never talk about it :/

[@lordjunal7470]

I'm about to join a campaign in few days and Artificer was the class that I wanted to play! It happened that our only rogue had drop out at the last minutes so( more fun for me?!) Anyway! I went Artificer at lvl 1, it give me Con saves and 2 proficiencies intelligence base & 1 Artisan tool. At level2 I went fighter to pickup the Archery fighting style.

[@wadeosborn9919]

Glad to see some RP creations

[@bobbyLNZ]

Personally I like most of the sliding into my dms videos you do. Some maybe now as interesting but I binged the whole list when I found em

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks for the feedback!

[@XHobbiesPrime]

I'm currently playing a Tiefling Rogue(Scout)4/Artificer(Armorer)6. He inscribes infernal runes on his gear and charges the runes with hellish energy. So not quite steampunk I think. Rogue by itself was a little boring but now I have Scout mobility and can do things like fire electrical blasts, hurl flame cantrips, throw daggers that return to my hand and have advantage on stealth Rogue+Artificer makes for some very cool possibilities.

[@Skepysaurio]

im trying to create the character in Dnd Beyond and you are jumping over categories so chaosly xDD

[@jameswhisnant1555]

I thought for half a second that you ended up making simultaneously with myself the same exact artificer crossbow builds. Big differences are that I took xbow expert lvl 1, and went battlesmith for the better pet and martial proficiency. Otherwise was excited to see other damage artificer builds.

[@Charles-ij1ow]

I would think you would have to go crossbow expert because of the disadvantage on ranged attacks when an enemy is next to you, including his lightning attacks from the suit. Am I crazy or is everyone else missing this point?

[@jameswhisnant1555]

@@Charles-ij1ow (EDIT: He mentions this exactly at 32:00 but one thing that he doesn't mention is the subclass of battlesmith allows you to use intelligence with magic or infused items instead of their normal attribute.) Did a quick rewatch of the video just to make sure that I didn't miss any points from it, but I think the main intent was to use the range of the weapon to just not need to negate disadvantage. There were a few notes and comments about the long range of the build. One thing that 'DID' annoy me slightly after rewatching the video is the build ends on this level split. 11 artificer/3 rogue/ 3 fighter Any sane person would take the next 3 levels split between those. BUT I'd still argue against Colby that the best damage infiltrator would have gone battle smith, and would use hand crossbows. The pet is so much better, and can use your spell storing item at 11th to run ahead invisibly, or touch your allies to heal them, as well as plenty of other options.

[@Charles-ij1ow]

@@jameswhisnant1555 Infiltrator gives extra 1d6 and with sharpshooter and crossbow expert feat the bonus attack would be 1d6 + 10 for sharpshooter, that's more than the pet I'd assume. I just saw arcane jolt and that looks good.

[@jameswhisnant1555]

@@Charles-ij1ow That's only an extra 1d6 per turn on a hit like sneak attack until 15th level, and armorer compares by getting 2d6 once per turn to hurt the target or heal someone within 30 feet a number of times equal to your intelligence modifier per long rest. It balances out pretty nicely, and has a few advantages of its own. It's ultimately up to the individual if you think powered steps and dampening field is a worthy tradeoff, but in either case, you're correct in assuming you'd get disadvantage on ranged attacks within 5ft still, and the easiest replacement would be to hit artificer 12, rogue 4, or fighter 4 asap and maybe rework the feat ordering.

[@Charles-ij1ow]

@@jameswhisnant1555 Just finished our Zero session and I'm going Artificer armorer. Convinced my DM I can use a shield in one hand, fire from gem in chest for lightning attack, crossbow in other hand. Otherwise why make a gem in the chest. Going Sharpshooter / Crossbow Expert / Then Shield Master for bonus catching missiles with gloves. Level 9 Armorer gets 6 infusions. I could fly and grab ranged attacks with winged boots and gloves of missile snaring and still have 4 infusions left. So many AC/DMG/Strength/Flying builds with 6 infusions. Getting the extra 1d6 lightning and bonus action attack can include sharpshooter. 2 Level dip into fighter and 1 level dip into sorcerer to get shield spell. First session this Fri. Also, tempting to get Alert feat and Helm of Awareness Infusion for +5 and adv to initiative to always go first. Also, tempting to get Armor of Magical Str, Gauntlets of Ogre Power, and Enlarge spell to Overpower and grab anyone. Or, could probably get like 28 Armor. What 4 infusions did you get?

[@wizzz1967cm]

Keep up the good work man love the videos

[@wizzz1967cm]

And I'll be Joy when that oath of Conquest video will comes out

[@wizzz1967cm]

Until then keep up the good work can't wait for the next one

[@TheRobversion1]

@@wizzz1967cm he did use conquest paladin already. just forgot which episode. not as a main though, just a few levels.

[@shaunmcdonough7844]

FYI telekinetic movement is only on willing creatures. So wouldn't work on enemies (hence why it has no save)

[@DnDDeepDive]

Truth! Just pinned a comment on this :)

[@MacDanielx]

Can you make a hand crossbow build? I think going full bond would be really cool. Love the vids man, keep it up!