How to Play an Artillerist Artificer In Dungeons and Dragons 5e

MONSTERS OF DRAKKENHEIM is 300+ pages of eldritch horror inspired monsters for 5e by the Dungeon Dudes! Coming to Kickstarter March 26th, 2024: www.kickstarter.com/projects/... We discuss our tips for building this bold blaster build, taking a look at race and ability scores, feats, infusions, and spells to help make sure your artillerist is blowing up the battlefield.
This episode is Sponsored by Arora: Age of Desolation. check it out here. ghostfiregaming.com/DUDE_AR01...
TIME STAMPS
0:00 - Sponsor
0:58 - Intro
2:18 - Artillerist Features
8:12 - Race & Ability Scores
10:41 - Feats
13:29 - Infusions
16:52 - Spells
26:07 - Progression Snapshots
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[@KaptainSpade]

I've been playing a Tortle Artillerist (a Tortillerist) in my campaign recently! I wanted to spice it up and I'm playing him like a toymaker, where his cannons are little toy tanks with treads, and a remote controller as my blasting wand. Its been an absolute blast

[@willykevinsuarezphellan3925]

Blastoise I choose you!!! XD

[@tompadfoot3065]

Getting heavy Zoids vibes lol

[@oddcarl1]

@@willykevinsuarezphellan3925 I was just about to say that! 😄

[@willykevinsuarezphellan3925]

@@oddcarl1 great minds think similar my friend

[@vulture6068]

Lmao. "Absolute BLAST."

[@ThePack812]

These subclass deep dives are blowing my mind. I’ve been playing Rime of the Frostmaiden with a stars druid, a rune knight, and an artillerist. If your next one is about a way of mercy monk, I’ll officially think you’ve been watching us play.

[@fatgumthegoat]

They really should tho way of mercy is so good it's legit my favorite monk

[@antuanlemon484]

@@fatgumthegoat I love way of mercy but I’m really hoping they do kensei

[@fatgumthegoat]

@@antuanlemon484 if kensei let you use ranged weapons for stunning strikes it'd be tied with mercy for me, but it's still up there

[@Leif47]

I'm playing a Swords Bard who just multi-classed into a hex blade, and then they did a Swords Bard/Hexblade video. I think they're watching us too lol

[@willykevinsuarezphellan3925]

Rune Knight + Artificer Infusions? Are you trying to create overpowered enchanted weapons? XD

[@lewisgale62]

Can you do an episode talking about sidekicks. They seem very interesting and I don’t see them used very often. Maybe saying how best to implement them or the best sidekick class

[@rockwallguy]

I actually would really like that, too!

[@calebbyrd2328]

Ditto!

[@underthedice1231]

We use them a lot. I don't think it's fair to talk about "the best sidekick class". They aren't meant to be good. They are there to give mechanical support to a narrative device that is a sidekick. The offensive warrior is the least impactful one. The others all actively support your party

[@custardpanda6209]

I’d recommend looking at MCDM’s follower/retainer system. I’ve been using it recently in my games, and it allows sidekicks to join the party, without bogging it down by fully adding another PC.

[@RioDrake]

I love using them as pregens too, just to hand out easy characters. Especially good with new systems for 5e, like Spheres of Might/Power. Also, horses and dogs being able to stand up to even low level play. Sidekicks are how you get good ranger companions.

[@geoffreyperrin4347]

Well not mentioned in the rules, I like to imagine new version with legs for the Eldritch Cannon attaching itself to your shoulder so you can have a shoulder mounted gun, allowing you to have a shield in one hand, a "gun" in your other hand, and a "gun" on your shoulder

[@jacobellis9820]

This is what I did with the last artillerist I ran, basically a predator shoulder cannon except if needed it can detach and move around.

[@feralart]

I attach mine to the front of my shield.

[@TwelveTables]

I did an elf and went with plant themed cannons (pea shooters, fire flower, and sunflower). Yes this was inspired by plants vs zombies. Using a watering can to grow my turrets a hand plow (Dagger) to attack with and fertilizer bombs (arcane firearm) for the explosive bonus. Being a farmer they had to have lots of knowledge to fix things that broke around the farm. Their reason for leaving the farm and adventuring: rumspringa.

[@anttitikkanen5985]

Sounds also like a Deku Scrub from Majora's Mask. 🤓

[@willykevinsuarezphellan3925]

Funny, actually super funny, please tell me you have proficiency in nature XD

[@TwelveTables]

@@willykevinsuarezphellan3925 I did.

[@lucasguertin5086]

The temp hit points is so good, it has no set duration so it lasts until you long rest and you usually get at least 6+ aoe temp health on each target

[@ferrumchnop6617]

Id agree its highly underrated until you start hitting double digit lvls.

[@michaeljohnson957]

My Artillerist was in a dungeon crawl campaign. The temp hit point was normally the best option. With a 5+ to my int, there were every few rounds I couldn't give out at least 9 temp hit points to everyone on my turn. It made us all super tanky. Definitely the best option.

[@druxusthemage9806]

And through the healer feat in there and that's how I healed icewind dales campaign

[@Swahhillie]

Spell storing item is even more useful then you might think: Any creature can use it. Give it to a familiar, servant or companion and have them cast and concentrate on Web/Fearie Fire for you.

[@chill_will9816]

I plan on making a little toy gun and charging it with Shatter to give to Archie, my homunculus. It's gonna be called the Noisy Cricket.

[@rossanderson5815]

Sounds like a spell grenade. Or if for yourself reloads on your firearm. I'm now picturing a revolver with multiple reloads.

[@maybevoldemort8995]

Flamethrower on the barb. Pew pew like a discount warlock. Temp hp like a discount (read: more balanced) Twilight cleric. It is pretty diverse. Did I mention the flamethrower on the barbarian?

[@iododendron3416]

The Ragethrower? Flamerager?

[@thomastownley5049]

One of my favorite characters ever was a Mark of Scribing gnome artillerist. His arcane cannon looked like an ink pot and sat on his shoulder to watch his back most of the time. His arcane firearm was a staff that looked like a big paint brush. Every spell he cast looked like a painting.

[@bigbbrendan]

I've been playing an artillerist fire genasi with elemental adept (fire). The group I play with is larger (7-8 players). When used in a large group it gets absurd when consistently opening every combat with 13 Temp HP. Protecting upwards of 70-100 damage in a single combat. Suck on that peace clerics

[@gordonross3270]

Twilight Cleric would like a word lol

[@skylerstevens8887]

Just take dip into Cleric instead of bashing them...

[@CanadianCrits]

As an Artificer main, I thought I'd throw in some extra Artillerist tips that I've picked up; For pure damage, scorching ray out does firebolt, so if you NEED more damage, fan that hammer! Speaking of scorching ray, putting it into your SSI is VERY effective, because you can combo it off with Animate Objects (still the best 5th lv spell). And for the defender turret, I would like to point towards the Twilight Cleric. Repeatable temp HP is apparently broken to the point many people ban the twilight domain just for that. Yours "isn't as good" but can be done WAY more times a day and can itself act as a pretty chunky body for the DM to throw (*cough* waste) attacks at. Fun fact, you can have your turret ride you, like the Predator's gun. I think you guys coveted everything else. Great video dudes. I'll try to remember to edit this post if I come up with anything else. To those reading this, did I miss anything? Let me know, I'd love to hear about your tips for my favorite class!

[@dashboots376]

Personally what I did regarding cannon selection was that since there is no time listed for the temporary hit points, I turned it into that first and then spammed it outside of combat to grant the max temp HP to me and my other party members and just kept it, then depending in the combat scenario I'd weigh if it was worth it to spend the level one slot to turn it into either flamethrower or eldritch cannon as needed, since the cannon lasts an hour I felt it was worth it, as this way I took advantage of both it's defensive and offensive capabilities and was able to squeeze the most out of it, plus I got to use the self destruct explosion feature when discarding the cannon which is pretty decent, also I must say that the temp HP really does make the difference, we were saved by them a LOT of times.

[@Coffin17I]

Up until Twilight cleric it was my favourite source of recharging thp.

[@TheGraviox]

I like to picture the Arcane Firearm is like the Caster Gun from Outlaw Star.

[@adriansalazar2919]

I'm so glad someone else does this! No one I hang out with even knows Outlaw Star.

[@LupineShadowOmega]

@@adriansalazar2919 Then as the joke goes: "Get better friends." XD

[@rickybrown8264]

Omg best post. I love that show and Adrian is right, no one seems to know that show...

[@mkay6915]

Another Cantrip that I would recommend is "shocking grasp". Since you are an Artificer with medium armor and a shield you have pretty good AC and with "shocking grasp" you can be pretty useful in melee combat should an enemy get to close to you and force you into fighting in melee range.

[@bluebird3281]

I agree!

[@mardshima2070]

And you can flavor it as stungun

[@ravanscar]

I take Shocking Grasp with /any/ caster who can, just for that "oh crap, someone's in melee with me!" moment

[@TheHandgunhero]

Shocking Grasp also gets rid of the enemy's reaction allowing you to retreat, though you can also just use your Eldritch Cannon to blast the enemy back as well.

[@RobKinneySouthpaw]

Even if it's not optimal (and against enemies with metallic armor or oddball creatures like the Marilih that get multiple reactions it can be), it's worth taking shocking grass just to be able to yell "taser taser taser" while you throw the dice.

[@shawnmayberry933]

I'm currently playing a level 9 rock gnome artillerist. I appreciated hearing your guys take on this and we did a lot of similar things. I went more support to help our paladin have good gear early on and will put a flamethrower on his shoulder. Makes him feel like the Predator. I also highly recommend getting an All-Purpose Tool from Tasha's. I maxed Int at 8 and just got a +3 APT at 9, so I have +12 to spell attack and save DC 20. My Scorching Ray alone gives our rogue a good run for his money on dmg. I also took See Invisibility since we keep running into invisible enemies which allows me to Faerie Fire for the rest of the party to see. This has been one of my favorite characters to play. My next character though, will be your Hexblade Bard which I'm super excited to play!!

[@sundaycomicssection]

I love the cannon on the shoulder for the predator feel as well.

[@shawnmayberry933]

@@sundaycomicssection It's pretty great! Let him wade into a group of enemies and blast em!

[@sunstar8782]

Honorable mention for a small race: kobolds! They’re known in D&D to be clever little monsters, crafting intricate traps that often take advantage of their small size vs medium humanoids, just like goblins!

[@Noct31]

Great video! I loved my time playing my Tiefling Artillerist Zoë with the Willing Creatures group. I used a lot more support spells because I found using the eldritch cannons so reliable. Spells like grease, hold person, and earth tremor along with others you mentioned really made her the ultimate battlefield Swiss Army Knife.

[@meikahidenori]

Thank you! I love artificers as they can open up a ton of creativity for players and you see some wacky things with them at the table!

[@theFunkyThumb]

My primary campaign right now im running an artillerist and its my favorite build so far. He's a pirate that worked as the powder monkey and snatched a book from a ship they relieved goods from. Found out when he drew stuff from the book on stuff magic happened and has been tinkering with it ever since. Also, one note here. A lot of the damage dealing spells are fire based, so i started taking wizard levels(scribes to be specific) to help with spell slot progression and to be able to change damage types if needed. Plus, if you take a level of tempest cleric you get 1 max damage fireball spell a day lol.

[@theFunkyThumb]

Also, I've taken fey touched for bane and misty step. So I'm casting and concentrating on bane for free, putting my tiny cannon on the shoulder of the fighter and positioning myself in the middle of everything since ive got a 19ac at level 7 so far.

[@BeanzimusPrime]

Ive had such a turbulent day and it’s so good to tune in to some brand new dungeon dudes to round it out, thanks folks ✨

[@flfiast1]

Happy to see this. Asked about this exact thing in the live stream the other night. Thrilled to see it!

[@garyperez7574]

I’ve been playing a Harengon Artillerist I maxed out INT & DEX and took Fire Bolt and Shocking Grasp as the cantrips. At 4th level I took Fey Touched getting Misty Step and taking Bane. I also got an All Purpose Tool and I pick up Eldritch Blast as the extra cantrip. I am the part damage dealer! Pleasant surprise.

[@Sil3ntLynx]

How do you balance between using the All Purpose Tool and the Arcane Firearm? Are they one and the same for you or do you switch between them?

[@LupineShadowOmega]

@@Sil3ntLynx You wouldn't need to technically. All Purpose Tool only specifies that you be holding it, so it in one hand, Arcane Firearm in the other.

[@Sil3ntLynx]

@@LupineShadowOmega True, though in case you ever want to hold a weapon or shield then it makes things difficult. At the same time, sometimes you may want a better bonus to hit or a higher spell save DC versus the extra damage and you might want/need to keep switching back and forth in such a case; Not to mention just knowing when either one is best

[@LupineShadowOmega]

@@Sil3ntLynx While that is an interesting point so far as the shield goes, I'd argue that the blaster Artificer cares less about the weapon bit than most of his subclass compatriots.

[@cattrucker8257]

"For his neutral special, the Artillerist uses a gun." I still feel like the class could use some homebrew beefing-up for actual play. Artificers fell on the bad side of "either bonkers-broken options or underpowered jacks-of-all-trades" 5E releases have been tending towards. When I think "Artillerist", I imagine a very powerful blaster that might have issues with durability and something like wild magic surge mishaps, who trades off exceptionally high frontloaded damage for needing recovery and minding resources and AoE. But instead we're looking at a field support unit who can do many things poorly.

[@kelvinl2214]

Totally agree, I homebrewed the Artillerist in my Eberron campaign and here are the changes. The cannon acts as your spellcasting focus and lasts indefinitely. You can switch modes and activate the effect by expending a bonus action and the cannon adds your Intelligence Modifier to spell damage. (Including Force Ballista) This makes for a pretty versatile and heavy hitting Artillerist, much like I first envisioned it. The drawback is that any spell I cast that has an attack roll (Including the Force Ballista) consumes ammunition and the cannon can still be destroyed retaining all the stats it has in ERLW.

[@anttitikkanen5985]

Good ideas. The level 5 Artillerist in my game casts spells like shatter & scorching ray with Arcane Firearm, followed by Force Ballista B.action shot. Still needs more Dakka 🤓

[@snazzyfeathers]

Infusions are busted, depending on what the DM allowed. I played an Artificer Artillerist and I didn't feel like I was doing anything poorly, I was doing solid damage in a party with a barbarian, a sorcerer, and a cleric.

[@rickybrown8264]

I disagree, this is my favorite subclass and I feel very powerful at level 5. Firearm ability at level 5 adds d8 to attack spells and d10 to your Firebolt cantrip. With your eldrich cannon out you can make two attacks every round with Firebolt (2d10 + d8) and Force Ballista (2d8) at 120ft. Throw in spells like Faerie Fire and Web and you have a literal choke point and thats just with a cantrip. I play a Warforges Artillerist, it's my absolute favorite character I have ever made. So much flavor.

[@Chigen_Atomic]

Been playing a tiefling Artillerist. He started out as a pseudo-Paladin idea I had, so he's got the Smites from his Zariel lineage, but I've used them all of once. lol. Keeping a lot of this in mind as I go forward. One good thing the tiefling can get is Infernal Constitution, which boosts CON by 1, adds poison and cold to their resistances, plus a bonus to poison saves. I've made good use of the Returning Weapon for our Barbarian and will be holding onto an Infusion slot for resistant armor, to cover the Totem Barbarian's one missing resistance. This video has definitely given me a lot of good ideas going forward, as I'm currently level 7. I'll admit, I partially took homonculus due to being one of the party healers as well, since everything requires touch. Vortex Warp has been more utility than I intended, as I've used it to save my teammates on more than one occasion. Wind Wall is another spell you get alongside Fire Ball and could also be a great battlefield manipulation tool. Set it at the entrance to the next room or the room you just left, so they get buffeted by Wind trying to get in, and it can defuse certain gas or smoke related spells. Honestly, considering the more martially focused Battle Smith gets Extra Attack, I personally think the Artillerist should get something similar with the Cannon. It'd admittedly get a little OP with the variety of different Bonus Action stuff you already get with the Servant and other items, though I wouldn't allow for the breadth of Extra Attack, it'd be Cannon specific.

[@benjrc3611]

I love playing Artilerist as a “wandslinger” type character. I flavor each spell as a different wand I have carved.

[@palidansghost]

I do something similar puling inspiration from Outlaw Star where each spell is a special cartridge

[@willykevinsuarezphellan3925]

I go as a magic gunner, all of my bullets enchanted with cantrips or spells. Firebolt = explosive bullets, ray of frost = freezing bullets, with mark of sentinel's counterspell = magic disruption bullets. Scorching ray = multiplying bullets and all in that flavor. Also my wand resembles a gun.

[@TheTookinator]

I just finished playing a campaign as an artillerist. My DM let me use the Mapach race from the excellent Humblewood setting, and they're essentially evolved raccoons, so big Rocket vibes. They also come with an ability called Scroungecraft that lets you take 10 minutes and appropriate materials to make adventuring gear worth up to 30 gold that lasts an hour, which really added to that artificer crafting flavor and let us take care of situations where a grappling hook or whatever would be handy. I'm into 3d printing, so I even designed and made my eldritch cannon in real life, which was a ton of fun to bring to the table as a prop. It's a very fun subclass that lets you play differently every day based on what's going on, so I took infusions that offered options too, like Homunculus for scouting and better out of combat perception than mine, and if we were expecting to fight that day rather than explore, I just didn't use that infusion that day.

[@dickermannfilme_cora1717]

This. This was the Subclass that made 5E interesting enough for me to start actually reading into it. Finally the real Dudes are covering it.

[@lonely1951]

Hey! Welcome to this edition!

[@TheJerbol]

You're missing out

[@nordicninjah2497]

YES! I have been eaiting for your thoughts about the artillerist! I have been playing one for a while and it's been great! the flash of genius ability has been super helpful for my group as well!

[@N_Skoronski]

I'm really excited for this episode. Artificers are already cool, and this is the subclass I really wanted to play. But I'm not too experienced with DnD, and this seems like it might be a slightly advanced class to build on my own

[@sandmanlives3]

I’ve been waiting on this one. Thank you!

[@harrywhiteley89]

I quite like the Mark of Making race for Artificers, it grants you mending for free, a free casing of (concentration free) magic weapon and an extra 1d4 to your artisan tools if they ever come up which when combined with guidance is effectively a +5 bonus to your checks as well as the double expertise which is pretty nice

[@Jaedeok82]

Pro Tip: Cast Fly on your Eldritch Cannon. Now it moves faster and can reposition in battle, and it does keep it safe from melee combatants. Plus the image of having a drone shooting for you is just extra cool points.

[@ChrisHendricks]

Does that work? Does the Eldritch Cannon count as a creature?

[@finalfantasy50]

get the humonculus, it has innate fly so it saves you a spell slot, it can pick it up and let the flamethrower be a radius spell instead of a cone to hit more enemies and keep it safe

[@generalvince3829]

Love you guys thanks for the work!

[@RichMerry]

This is one of my favourite artificer subclasses. It has powerful abilities for every situation.

[@rsanders791]

My current artillerist artificer is a Giff named Bruce, he’s a big nerd. He has the war caster feat his canon is named Matilda

[@fatgumthegoat]

Could've been Martha and then you're basically ben afflecks batman

[@rsanders791]

@@fatgumthegoat The name came from a two second line from League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Also I forgot the Martha joke lol

[@ChristnThms]

I played an Artillerist for a one-shot, and would always summon the thp cannon, which I'd promptly stick on the Barbarian's back. That turned him into such an effective meat shield that plinking from the back row was plenty effective for me. After a couple encounters, the Rogue caught on and would play up front with the Barb. It really took the risk out of playing aggressive. The DM thought he'd be clever and attack the cannon, forgetting that it has a good AC and decent hp. At the end of the one-shot, the DM was actually kind of bummed. He'd carefully crafted encounters that would have been tough but survivable. That constant barrage of thp turned everything into a cake walk.

[@ferrumchnop6617]

We've experienced gameplay almost identical to this throughout our campaign its such a strong tool if used in concert with the team.

[@ChristnThms]

@@ferrumchnop6617 exactly. I didn't plan it beforehand. I just read how the Barbarian was going to play, and adjusted to best match him. Then the Rogue adjusted to take advantage of our teamwork, and were were rolling.

[@darthsurya88]

My gnome artillerist discovered the joy of shooting bandits into a grease spell over and over again.

[@inner_war9694]

Thank you for the video guys. Haven't played D&D since 3.5. So I appreciate your level of depth. I was interested in the artificer from the moment I found out it was playable. This video cemented it.

[@ghilliemonster566]

Well I know what I’m going to play as for my next character. Thanks Dungeon Dudes I really appreciate you for all that you do. Look forward to the next video.

[@NateArnoldVideos]

Rocket Racoon was the inspiration for Cannonball, my Goblin Artillerist Artificer, too!

[@thomasbakkenmoe6605]

I was literally creating an Artillerist when this video got published. Perfect timing!

[@The.bardbarian]

I wanted to try out an artificer so I looked for videos. Didn’t expect to find a new one from y’all this early

[@hamsmcham3238]

The Artificer has gotta be one of my favorite class in 5e. Can't wait to try these builds

[@SingaporeanInKorea]

Indeed, after playing artificer with a rock gnome, I have to conclude that your initial recommendation of mountain dwarf is correct. You are getting better stats with +2 +2 rather than just +2 +1, you get to start with proficiency in heavy crossbow (which is great help all the way to level 5) and greataxe right from the start, and you really only lose the ability to... make a musical box to cheer someone up... duh...

[@LeWebslinger]

Hope to see more multiclass deep dives like the hexbard :) Quick suggestion: the Armorer Scribe

[@LeWebslinger]

You can flavor the awakened spellbook your personal Jarvis

[@cdfreester]

This video just gave me a great idea for an artificer artillerist villain. I could really mess up a party with the whole ray of frost - boom - boom combo. Sweet. Thanks, guys.

[@wyatthill6252]

I'm currently playing a Mark of the Warding Dwarf artillerist, and I'm having a blast! :D I've been playing DnD since 3.5 back in 2005, and this is the most fun character I have ever played.

[@anathema1828]

What a dope class!

[@Zaeyrus]

Started watching, I'm preparing a new adventure and one of my players wants to play the artillerist, even though I begged him to choose something else since artificers are not very compatible with my setting. I hope this will help me as a DM :D !! Thanks for making this video guys!

[@fatgumthegoat]

Always the potential to reflavor all the mechanics to fit your world better. Let him keep the abilities he likes, but maybe call them something else or describe them in a unique way that fits your world. Maybe the cannons are actually tiny monsters he commands, who knows. Just an idea, have fun at the table!

[@Zaeyrus]

@@fatgumthegoat hmmmm that doesn't sound bad at all! Thanks dude, I'll definitely use it! The setting is ancient Greece type culture so artificer seems somewhat weird, armorer on the other hand would fit perfectly

[@fatgumthegoat]

@@Zaeyrus oh if it's ancient Greece him commanding his own little monsters would be super cool! Dope concept, though I do agree armorer would fit better

[@fernandomoreti5568]

There can be many cool Greek-styled artificer machines. Look for a Aeolipile (steam machine) picture and go from there.

[@fatgumthegoat]

@@fernandomoreti5568 I did think of Daedalus and his creations or archimedes and his but luka seems to want a low tech campaign

[@lunamoth34]

I love giving the stored spells to other party members, like giving the party rogue 10 free uses of invisibility or giving the fighter or barbarian free casts of cure wounds (or healing word if you're an alchemist), especially if they're playing the non-spellcasting subclasses.

[@austynkozak4073]

I always see the Artillerist like theyre a Bowgunner from Monster Hunter. Rolling around in heavy armor, taking shots with different ammo types. I just love the idea of spending your action to "create" the cannon, is you taking it off your back, unfolding it, and pulling back on a big lever ready to fire.

[@Shantaq]

I loved playing a rune knight artillerist and being able to dish out damage both up close and from a distance. I was allowed by my DM to slot my eldritch cannon(s) into my longsword, so once I got the fortification, I was carrying half cover with me all the time.

[@troyg5439]

Just started playing an artificer in our " vo villagers on rumblecusp after the death of vokodo" campaign.I just begun to mulit class into wizard eventually to sub into time wizard. Been fun so far!

[@Alassandros]

I picked up Aberrant Dragonmark to nab Mage Armor. Every now and then I'd roll an even number on the dragonmark die and get temporary hit points on top of the AC bump. I also picked up a new cantrip to blast through my arcane firearm.

[@Nanan00]

I am playing a Gnome artillerist artificer and it has been a fun class, the force damage on the cannon has been a life saver a few times.

[@cristopherclark4180]

While watching this video I have discovered the class to make my "Preditor" character. The turret on your shoulder is perfect.

[@jasonmartin4687]

A surprisingly good multi class is with the earth genie warlock. You get bonus damage to an attack, and with genies respite allows you to craft magic items during travel

[@WolfmanXD]

I made a fire genasi artillerist who was a carnie. His show was basically just showing off all his gizmos. He had a homunculus familiar named furnace, and a wrist mounted force Canon. He was so much fun, and since he was a showman, I gave him a pretty decent charisma, and cross classed creation bard, which works so well.

[@Alynis_]

I play this setup now and went with the half-elf mark of detection dragon mark (currently playing frostmaiden). I really like how it plays and it fits the theme of Eberron. Also as far as cantrips go, Blade Burst with the arcane firearm is a great aoe spell if you end up in melee range. Since its only a single dice roll you can do 1d6+1d8 aoe with the d6 scaling as you level.

[@epitaph4606]

For the arcane firearm, I’d like to imagine for spells they load a special shell into the firearm. With spell paper and the material components in the shell it’s loaded and then fired out of the firearm

[@jamesfoster9613]

Amazing build. I really hope ya'll do the Mercy monk soon :D

[@slashb7836]

In a campaign, I was running (he's taking some time off) a Battle Smith Artificer. I'm actually surprised at the lack of noting a race option that screams Artificer to me, Mark of Making Human. It's thematic, free tool prof and Mending, and an extra d4 on tool checks. Also enables Prodigy for use as a skill user. That all tracks even for an Artillerist. Can confirm on Fairy Fire. Excellent spell for Artificers of all stripes

[@jasmr7594]

When I think of the artillerist I think of jinx from League of Legends she has canon name fishbones, she is does have a high intelligence, and she does have gadgets like a artificer.

[@johnhoward269]

Plug for pairing a homunculus with eldritch cannon: make the cannon tiny with legs and have it hold onto the back of the homunculus; I imagine it like a scorpion riding on a pseudodragon. Homunculus only needs a bonus action to do something other than Dodge, which won’t be necessary most of the time. Now, you have a flying cannon that can position itself wherever it will be most useful for pushing enemies around.

[@jasonite]

You guys tend to do great videos for 5e, I've watched several. I like the sound advice! My question is, would you ever consider doing videos on Pathfinder 2e, or another gaming system?

[@fatewalker]

One of my favorite Artificers to play.

[@AwesomeWookiee]

Thorn Whip, Thunderwave and the Eldritch Flamethrower play VERY nicely together to line up area damage. My Artillerist was an old woman using Weaver's Supplies to cast (and eventually an Arcane Firearm Knitting Needle). It was great fun yanking people into range of a badly crocheted dragon flamethrower or pushing them away to get hit by a deflated football knit-beholder ballista.

[@prizum217]

I made Isaac Clark from the Dead Space as an Artillerist and its very similar to build! I'm glad to hear I was on the right track when building. He had a tiny cannon, which sat on a wooden gun frame which was his arcane focus. He used for force blasts from the cannon and all of his cantrips came from the focus, allowing for the Dead Space weapon switching feel. His charisma was low because no one listened to him and Isaac got mind controlled/manipulated frequently in the DS series.

[@rezeq634]

Very nice 👍🏼

[@captianbacon]

My favorite new tech for artificers is going lorehold background. And for the free first lvl known spell. And scoop up magic missle for that sweet sweet hammer slamimg gunslinger vibe and 1d4+1+1d6 for each bolt feels really good...

[@tommy2capa]

I love that Kelly changed from one Twilight Zone shirt into a different Twilight Zone shirt!

[@superkami8618]

One thing I did as a 1-20 artillerist: pick up Find Familiar through either Magic Initiate or Ritual Caster: Wizard, then pick up Elven Accuracy if you qualify. Primarily using single tap offensive cantrips NEED to hit. Elven Accuracy increase chance to hit and to crit through owl flyby help action. Also, for spell selections, once you get to 10th level a whole new world opens up. Wand of Magic Missile, Magic Detection, and Secrets are all uncommon wands and don't require attunement. Wand of the War Mage and Web are both uncommon and require attunement. While Wand of Web is probably gonna have a lower DC than casting it out right, but it allows you to prepare other spells and War Mage would theoretically allow you to use a different infusion other than Enhanced Arcane Focus. The uncommon wands would only take roughly three days and 100g each. And this doesn't take into account any common or uncommon wonderous items like the Clockwork Amulet or Goggles of Night you could make for yourself or others. Of course, this all hinges on DM discression when it comes to downtime and any added materials needed for magic items outside of the gold cost. That also means three days and 100g for a Broom of Flying. Become the Green Goblin of DnD like you were ment to.

[@CitanulsPumpkin]

The Artillerist I just made is a triton. I took the Golgari background and reflavored it to make her into a "Bog Witch." She's multiclassed into scribes wizard. Her eldritch cannon is a giant tarantula made of drift wood. Her artificer Homunculous infusion is a 2 foot tall frog man named Dapper Dan dressed in a bowler hat and a black suit like he's one of the robbers from Reservoir Dogs. Her wizard familiar is a big greasy pelican named Dirty Dan. Her Awakened Spellbook is a ghostly severed orc head that floats around crying out "I can't feel my legs, Lieutenant Dan."

[@fasterpet]

I feel like the artificer, especially the artilliarist, is support focused. The defensive shield for the protector cannon helps keep your teem up (also works on cannon) and you can give out your infusions to your party that doesnt have a magic weapon or needs the armor boost. The damage and control are available, but the spell storing item is most impactful when using it to create a "cantrip" from first or second level spells. Throwing acid vials via catapult is very fun!!

[@clintjohnson1045]

I just played a artillerist I was able to get an all purpose tool, there’s an uncommon version so it’s pretty easy to get I would say. And I used the 8hr cantrip for eldritch blast., and fey touched for hex, 410+1d8+6d6+4d8(depending on what your cannons giving you maybe more) your doing pretty good. No Construct but choices

[@darkyatom]

Playing this class right now as an "arsonist" kinda character and I'm having a blast with it.

[@edwinlevi6608]

Since your eldritch cannon can be small or tiny, there is nothing preventing a gnome or halfling from having their eldritch cannon be an identical replica of themselves, only metal.

[@CountBechy]

I have a Warforged Artificer toon, in semi-retirement(he needed a timeout), Fineas Briggs. His spells are all gadgets he has rigged on his body. He’s a rifle sniper! He’s also 2 Levels Forge Cleric to make his tinkering easier!

[@snazzyfeathers]

I played a Reborn character flavored as a skeleton in Ghosts of Saltmarsh. He was an Artificer Artillerist with a homonculus monkey, and his cannons were your typical cannons you'd find on a ship. His protector turret was something he'd put on his back, and then it would fire bubbles to surround his allies for temp HP. It was a lot of fun, we called him "Davey Bones".

[@jeffdietz630]

Homonculus carrying tiny artillerist canon is a must have, regardless of type of canon employed. The mobility of canon by air is chefs kiss for protector temp hit points or flamethrower.

[@JaxonBurn]

This is late but this is more awkward than it seems to make work. You activate the cannon on your turn as a bonus action, but the homunculus takes its turn immediately after yours. That means the homunculus can’t move into position before you activate the cannon. Probably still not bad for the ranged attack version, terrible for the flamethrower version.

[@timjackson9334]

I was working on a build inspired by Cayde-6 from Destiny and Destiny 2. A Warforged Artificer Artillerist up to Level 5, then switch to Ranger. Tempted to use Druidic Warrior fighting style to get Shillelagh, the cantrip that turns a club or staff into magic weapon.

[@tylerwinder5656]

I found a really good artificer multclass that you guys should cover. It is an armorar 12 and arcane trickster 8. They both use intelligence as spell casting. You don't lose a lot of spell slots. Heavy armor does not impose disadvantage if you take the infiltrator model. It has lots of advantages with few disadvantages.

[@RoninRaconteur]

I had a player (young kid) who made an artillerist artificer for a character but later chose to dropout since he just wasn't feeling it. No problem. I just had his character find his now vampire turned daughter and he joined their ranks. He ended up a villain and there was a fight to be had at the higher levels. With some tactics utilizing the battle field control he was a pain in the ass for the party members who went after him. He was assisting his daughter and two other vampires but I had a pretty stout party that was having a difficult time getting to him and his allies since I would put up things to defend them while still pushing them back and laying down fire. One of the player who had to face the character was his the players dad and he asked, "Is this what he could have been doing?" I just said yes and he was blown away by it all. It instantly became one of my favorites...then armorer came out, but still think it's top notch when done right.

[@TheEmerald97]

My artillerist artificer was a shifter. Which was nice cause he gained temp hp when he shifts so I was able to send the cannon to give temp hp to the rest of the party while he would be summoning cannons out of glyphs to launch his spells cross the battlefield. He was party combat medic, who would swap damage types to try and find weaknesses.

[@adromea5628]

i play an artillerist in one of my friends' campaigns and she's very gun-focused. i reflavoured her arcane firearm as her just duct taping a wand to her revolver, she's very fun to play

[@scifisyko]

My Warforged Artillerist is part of the Dream Team in our Eberron game - he’s helped get our team through some encounters that absolutely would have been fatal without him. Between the Protector Cannon and Flash of Genius, he’s an incredible support character and it’s only going to get more insane when he gets Haste and Fly next level. A fun little side thing he has is that he keeps a homunculus wrapped up and hidden in his cloak… the homunculus is holding a Supreme Healing Potion and has standing orders to administer the potion to him if he’s ever knocked unconscious with no other assistance available.

[@moocowofjustice525]

I just need to homebrew that Orange Dragonborn and I’ll be ready to play this subclass. Thanks, Dudes!

[@clintjohnson1045]

By lvl 11. Take alchemy jug, put 2nd lvl catapult in your spell item. Haste yourself 11d8s(Firebolt/2nd lvl Catapult/Force balista) and between 2-10d6 depending on how many and if your dm let’s you do it. I personally do 2-3 vials per shot. But it’s a raw vs rai thing with the vials

[@Darkendrain]

My favorite thing about artillerist is flavoring my turret. My artillerist was a mad toymaker, so it led to such wonderful cannons as the Badger Cannon, the Squirrel with a Gattling Gun, and the Tuba of Annihilation

[@michaeljohnson957]

Another race option, tiefling + flames of phlegethos. Never have a bad firebolt(reroll 1 on fire-based spells), fire armor that does a little bit of damage if you are hit, plus extra spells for a half caster. Awesome character.

[@ZeroAC]

am playing a kobold artificer at the moment and took the spell sniper feat early on with chill touch as the cantrip, and combined with the force ballista its ridiculously fun in distance fights

[@alexlathrop1462]

I've only recently gotten an Artillerist character, a Tortle Shipwright that was first a Barbarian and now Multi-Classing into it. So Far he's been Kicking ASS!!! Usually summons the Cannon, small size and rides on his back, Bonus-Action Rages and charges into the fight. If it takes several rounds to get there, I'd do the Ballista to blast off shots as I'm dashing or using a Wand of Firebolt/Eldritch Blast to make hits. Upon getting close, single enemy or group, I go FlameThrower while I"m swinging my Maul about. Can't cast spells as I rage, but chatting with my DM, working a little "rotating gauntlet" with various wants enchanted with spells of his repitour that I can use as an action. Fully Legal to use magic items while Raging last we checked, so if he needs to use something, expends a charge on a particular wand

[@donalddouds6033]

Don’t sleep on Tiny Servant as a third level spell. Create a small crossbow that has arms and legs. In battle give It the order to use the pebbles I supply as your projectile and target the enemy that I target. Cast magic stone every 4th turn to keep it “topped off”. When able to up cast with 4th level there are now three of them.

[@r3liability]

I stat'ed up a Hobgoblin Artillerist, cuz the scores are right, longbow and Rapier as your weapons, and also the destructive magic only and conquests of their culture works well. Use his infusions and crafting to keep the partys war path moving.

[@ericshermak7235]

my favorite would have to be my Mark of making human artillerist who focused has a heat defecancy. as a result, she hugs people to stay warm. eventually she got a ring of warmth to stablize her but until then, she was oblivious and huggy so it was so fun. by the time she was level 14, she was a flying fortress with cat ears, weak to thunder from them, and used haste to zoom at 120 ft with wings of flying to basically be a bomber from the sky. it was always so much fun playing her.

[@matthewroberts621]

Thanks!

[@DungeonDudes]

Thank you 🙏

[@matthewroberts621]

@@DungeonDudes great video! Running this build on my new game!

[@spinwardbound]

Nice. Our next campaign will be all artificer all the time!

[@Blastercadre]

Especially for an artillerist the magic item All Purpose Tool, is really really useful. I recommend, with DM approval, spending any and all down time making it or collecting materials/resources for it. Wand of Lightning Bolts is also totally dope once you get arcane firearm. I think you dudes are underselling the protector option especially at the levels 3-5. I also wish you mentioned some of the irritating rules/language around both the free hand issue and the time limit per Eldritch Cannon. The mending cantrip seems like it should fit a lot better with artificer generally, but has been surprisingly useless. Don't remember you mentioning it, probably for the better.

[@rickau]

I played as a Simic Hybrid Artillerist. Took manta glide & carapace for the mutations. Stacking on enhanced defence and repulsion shield meant my DM didn't like my AC sometimes. Negating up to 100ft of fall damage was also a nice perk to have from early on. Was like having a lite version of fly/winged boots.

[@christaylor6741]

They always say homunculus is a bad choice for artificer but you can make your eldritch cannon hand size then have the homunculus carry giving the cannon a fly speed and using the saves of the homunculus, plus spell storing class feature on the homunculus to give you a self moving magic item with a useful spell.