The Armorer Artificer - D&D: Optimized #22

[@benry007]

Hey did you include the dual wielder feat somewhere? The gauntlets aren't light so you would need that to use two weapon fighting.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Looks like I'm still in denial about how difficult Wizards makes it for us to Dual Wield effectively! :) Good thing this wasn't a DPR build...

[@DnDDeepDive]

Of course, the nice thing about Dual Wielder is... you get a +1 AC! Duh! So yeah, this is totally replacing the Fighting Initiate Feat at Artificer Level 12. Very nice. Pinned.

[@barco7004]

sub: "@@DnDDeepDive ehi you didn't get dual wielder for the bonus attack" D&D Optimized: "MORE ACCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC"

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@barco7004 lol exactly! :D

[@rue3090]

@@DnDDeepDive not 100% if you're still using the shield but if so that would be an issue losing +3 AC from the repulsion shield

[@thenatetful]

Playing a Tortle who lost his shell, and became an artificer armorer to make a new shell.

[@DnDDeepDive]

love this!

[@Niburu9000]

*chef's kiss* That's great characterization.

[@theshadowbadger]

Donatello?

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@Niburu9000 Your Tortle is showing...

[@krunchyfrogg]

This is the best reason I've seen so far to go "Custom Lineage" - I love it!

[@benry007]

Cody: I've got a few surprises, we are going to multiclass a few levels. Me: These are not surprises..

[@sortehuse]

Cody not multiclaasing ... that would be a surprise 😀

[@PsyrenXY]

Artificer doesn't have to be steampunk. You can literally use Calligraphy tools as your focus to draw runes on objects for all your magic, including both spells and Infusions. Call it a "Runescribe" and you're all set, now it fits in anywhere in D&D.

[@Stentron]

This is now my preferred interpretation on Artificer. Steampunk bothers the crap outta me in fantasy.

[@nathanielspohn3004]

I love this interpretation. I like steampunk, but it doesn't always fit with the fantasy vibe. Runescribe just sounds right

[@BLynn]

Level 1:(see above) [artificer 1 & race] Level 2:(@12:23) [artificer 2 & infusions] Level 3:(@13:56) [artificer 3 & sub-class] Level 4:(@21:16) [artificer 4 & ASI] Level 5:(@22:05) [cleric 1 & sub-class] Level 6:(@25:08) [artificer 5] Level 7:(see above) [artificer 6 & infusion] Level 8:(@32:05) [wizard 1] Level 9:(@34:44) [wizard 2 & sub-class] Level 10:(see above) [artificer 7] Level 11:(@40:45) [artificer 8 & ASI] Level 12:(@41:26) [artificer 9 & infusions] Level 13:(@46:03) [artificer 10 & infusion] Level 14:(see above) [artificer 11 (forgot to mention Magic Item Adept in the previous level)] Level 15:(@53:24) [artificer 12 & ASI] Level 16:(@55:39) [artificer 13] Level 17:(@56:27) [artificer 14 & infusion]

[@MrGoofy03]

Legend

[@Lexion69]

THANK YOU 🙏

[@lordmurderkitten6098]

The McGuffin in LotR is a magical ring forged by the elves with ancient magic. That’s an artificer, right there. Doesn’t need to be steampunk. Do you carve runes into your armor to harness the power of Talos through you hands? That’s just as much an armorer as someone trying to make Tony Stark but a goblin. Magic items are a thing in dnd, they always have been. It doesn’t need to be just “I use science!”, consider how magic items works and how your character uses them. I had an artillerist that had a experimental version of Marvelous Pigments to paint his spells and turrets as well as disrupting patterns on his tattooed flesh to release spells he’d prepared on his body. Give yourself permission to push against the borders of the class and flavor it as your own, not feel like “well everyone else is making a mad scientist so…”

[@RFraser22]

The gauntlets are referred to as a single weapon under Armor Modifications, so I believe they would share a single infusion.

[@foolycoolytheband]

I dont know I've never really seen the artificer as a steampunk thing, I've always envisioned them as the guys who make all of the wonderful magic items, potions and constructs we see in the game. Maybe it's just cuase I've never played in eberron, but I've always flavored them as item enchanters

[@philpeters3689]

Little gnomes with monocles Dwarves with magic forging hammers Elves who play the item a magic song It's not steampunk if it's magical and not mechanical. People just get antsy when you mess up their fantasy headcannons

[@QuesoCucuy]

thats a perfectly valid way to play it. flavor it any way you want it, to have the most fun with it.

[@PsyrenXY]

Copied from another comment: Artificer doesn't have to be steampunk. You can literally use Calligraphy tools as your focus to draw runes on objects for all your magic, including both spells and Infusions. Call it a "Runescribe" and you're all set, now it fits in anywhere in D&D.

[@ElManReborn616]

Eberron does have an unwarranted reputation of being steampunk. It's not, it's arcanepunk. We're talking people corrupted by wild magic, elementals binded to machinery to power them up, constructs that moves with magical runes and so on. The core idea for Eberron was lord of the rings meet Indiana Jones

[@beckerscantbechoosers6768]

"And I love numbers." The battle cry of this channel.

[@DnDDeepDive]

NUMBERRRRRRRS!!!

[@beckerscantbechoosers6768]

@@DnDDeepDive Honestly, really prime stuff on this channel, friend. Nice to see a kindred soul out there with respect for the RP and the (healthy) obsession with number crunching builds. I hope your channel only rises. :)

[@DnDDeepDive]

@@beckerscantbechoosers6768 Thank you, friend!

[@ryane6252]

The artificer in my group used her spell storing item ability to store 10 uses of Alter Self into a flask. Pass it around the group and now the entire party looks like different people for an hour. Literally walked out of town once while the guards were searching for us!

[@d19375]

Sightly unrelated but the Mask of Many Faces invocation I use on my warlock (disguise self at will) is priceless because of this alone. I've gotten out of so much trouble using disguise self and just walking away. Between this and the minor illusion cantrip I have so much fun!

[@tomraineofmagigor3499]

When you talked about resistant armor something you forgot to mention that makes it an even better choice is that you can change your infusions during a long rest. If you know you're going into the lair of a blue dragon then you'd make it lightning but if the next day you're going into a volcano then you'd redo the infusion to fire. For me that's one of the things that makes role-playing an artificer really fun. If you investigate and learn what's coming ahead then you can alter your infusions to fit (just like a wizard's prepared spells)

[@DnDDeepDive]

Truth!

[@christophercunningham8539]

obviously dm has final say, but I do want to mention that the rules kind of stipulate that when take the resistant armor infusion when have to decide what element to know the infusion for so you would have to take the infusion multiple times for multiple elements.

[@tomraineofmagigor3499]

@@christophercunningham8539 my point is you can change your infusion during a long rest. Basically you would undo the infusion then during the long rest redo it with the new element you want

[@GeldarionTFS]

@@christophercunningham8539 it says "when you infuse the item" not when you select the infusion at a level up. You infuse after long rests, so definitely can change it every day.

[@bsmith6784]

@@DnDDeepDive Also seem to have overlooked that while you can put multiple infusions into your set of armor _overall_ as an Armorer, you still can't have multiple on any particular *_piece_* of armor. "[Your Arcane Armor] now counts as separate items for the purposes of your Infuse Items feature: armor (the chest piece), boots, helmet, and the armor's special weapon. *_Each_* of those items can bear *_one_* of your infusions...." So, since "armor" = "chest piece," and the chest piece can only have 1 infusion at a time, there can be no layering of Resistant and/or Enhanced Defense on your armor. (You could put Enhanced Defense on the shield instead, but then that would require you to sacrifice the Repulsion Shield.)

[@igorbertoldo6237]

Hey man, glad you decided to add sections to your videos. It's nice to see a creator that actually listens to the audience.

[@autorobo1000]

Something to note is that the Armor's special weapon (the Thunder Gauntlets) count as one item, so you only have to use 1 infusion for it.

[@victordj8695]

I just saw the title and... Oh boy, I’m hyped! Tanks all the way!!!

[@yurirobin]

Great video! I think the warforged race is a good option too. You get a +1 bonus to your AC and don't have a reduced speed.

[@bwhit7919]

Artificers get the blur spell, leading to disadvantage on attacks. At higher levels when only crits are going to hit, it is definitely more useful than shield of faith.

[@cosmoniums5990]

But maybe not as useful as mirror image

[@mrjek01]

@@cosmoniums5990 the problem with mirror image is that it doesn't require them to hit you to destroy an image. "Each time a creature targets you with an attack during the spell's duration, roll a d20 to determine whether the attack instead targets one of your duplicates". So, they can burn through your spell slot and stll have never had a chance to hit you. Blur on a high AC character is better for the spell slot.

[@mrjek01]

@@cosmoniums5990 the more I think about it, it might be pretty valuable to entice the enemy to waste their actions hitting dupes of you. The one problem with high ac as a tank is the enemy, if they are intelligent, stops trying to hit you. And mirror image isn't concentration so.... Would also be good for the spell storing item. 10 mirror images to pass around is possibly 30 wasted actions.

[@hergie409]

@@mrjek01 mirror image doesn’t count against spells prepared for the armorer. At least at level 5 I skipped blur for another useful option and if I need to increase my tankiness I will use mirror image

[@FluffyAkuma]

@@cosmoniums5990 why not blur and mirror image? One isn't concentration after all

[@Niburu9000]

You and I have gone back and forth on Artifice in D&D before, but I'll bring up my favorite point here again; using mechanics alongside the arcane is just natural progression for any fantasy world where it exists. Hopefully artifice doesn't ruin your games to much, because I LOVE IT!

[@DnDDeepDive]

I am learning to adapt and embrace :P

[@alexanderstringham9124]

I'm excited that this has been made! I'm going to play a dragonborn who desperately wants to be a real full dragon and doesn't know about things like True Polymorph, so became an artificer to basically try to build himself into as close to what a dragon is capable of and looks like as possible to finally feel whole and correct. He was born without horns and has already made himself a set to get started on his mission! Armorer just seems like a perfect fit for this concept

[@Tom-bi7ir]

I'm doing the same thing except with a kobold armorer artificer. Poor guys got no idea how far off dragon he really is

[@iancunningham9297]

This is by far the class I was most excited to see in Tasha’s. Cant wait to see what you do with it!

[@jacksonrivera5646]

41:40 This may just be a subtle difference, but I also just wanted to put my two cents in. How I'm reading the description for Armor Modifications is that your armor is split up into four pieces for the purpose of infusions, not five. Despite the Guardian model describing the Thunder Gauntlets as separate melee weapons, they should only be counted a single "special weapon" as described later in the Armor Modifications section. This would mean that *either* Radiant or Enhanced Weapon would apply to both gauntlets as a pair, instead of each individual gauntlet getting their own infusion. While this may have been mentioned elsewhere in the comments, it is further supported by the fact that infusions transfer over if you change your armor's model, and this wouldn't make any sense since both Radiant and Enhanced Weapon can't apply to the singular Lightning Launcher on the Infiltrator model. Similarly, pairs of magic items (like Boots of Elvenkind or Gauntlets of Ogre Power) are intended or required to be worn together to function and only count as a single object for attunement purposes. Even then, this would only be possible after Artificer Level 9 instead of Level 2 since Enhanced Armor is already getting applied to the Arcane Armor as a whole and the gauntlets don't yet count as a separate object. Also of significance is that you've applied the Resistant Armor infusion to the "helmet slot" of the Arcane Armor. This infusion requires the item to be a whole suit of armor, or in this case the "armor slot" that was separated as a chest piece. This chest piece should be the only item that qualifies as *a suit of armor* for the purpose of infusions, seeing as how other helmets and headwear are never classified as armor. In this way, you could have either Enhanced or Resistant Armor, but never both. The helmet itself should be reserved/restricted to different infusions like Helm of Awareness which specifies that a helmet is required, or something like Replicate Magic Item's Helm of Telepathy. All of this may only slightly affect the numbers, but I think it’s an important difference nonetheless.

[@quetzalcoatlus1892]

About TWF with the Thunder Gauntlets: • This subclass's ability to use their suit weapon's to attack with your intelligence seems to be intented to be similar to Hex Warrior or Battle Ready. I personally wouldn't allow it to work automatically with TWF; • You can't TWF with the Thunder Gauntlets without the Dual-wielder feat, as the gauntlets don't have the light property.

[@JSephH76]

While this is technically accurate RAW it seems like nonsense to me that they aren't light enough to punch with but ADDING weight to your hands in the form of a light weapon its suddenly light enough to do an extra attack. I agree RAW you're correct but when you give it a second of thought it seems ridiculous

[@furyofthesmallartist5485]

* The Extra Attack feature places no restrictions on which hands or weapons you use. * Extra Attack: You can attack twice, rather than once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn. RAW says you can use the same weapon to attack. * Each of the armor’s gauntlets counts as a simple melee weapon. And they aren't considered unarmed strikes, but melee weapons. So technically, you can attack with the same fist, no need to use the fist with the shield. I think you guys are thinking of `The Two-Weapon Fighting`. But with extra attack you can use a two-handed heavy weapon and deal two attacks with it. Just think like in box, a boxer can easily hit twice with the same fist in less than a second.

[@JSephH76]

@@furyofthesmallartist5485 We are talking about TWF. Neither of us mentioned anything about extra attack. So idk who you think you're correcting here.

[@beetlejuss]

Lol those jerks, lets give the class two gloves to attack, but it can only attack with one. XD

[@quetzalcoatlus1892]

@@beetlejuss Same thing with the Beast Barb's claws, or how the unarmed fighting style let's you drop the shield to have a d8 instead of a d6 but you can't use both hands because they're not weapons. Grade A design, really. (My way of weaponizing the Bonus Action for Beast Barb is to use a double bladed scimitar, btw: Custom Lineage with Slasher for 18 Str level 1, then just 20 Str at 4. Use a greatsword in the turn you rage, attack once with it and 2 times with the claws. Drop the greatsword and draw the double bladed scimitar for 4 attacks next turn (one with DBS, 2 with claws, bonus action DBS). Gotta optimise around the bad design, i guess.

[@achoti0-original]

This is the second video of you i see, i love this secction in your channel. Btw, english is not my first languaje and im still learning it, your accent is really easy to understand for me so, thank you so much

[@DnDDeepDive]

I'm glad to hear it! Thanks and welcome!

[@GryphonDes]

So in love with the Artificer :D Glad to see you reeling them into your web of optimization!

[@2000Renegade]

An argument could be made for divine soul sorcerer, with a single level you get both shield and shield of faith and a way to bump those bad bad saving throw...

[@DnDDeepDive]

A worthy consideration if you’re willing to get yourself a 13 Charisma!

[@bomvouage4809]

@@DnDDeepDive only difference is that you’re putting the 13 into Cha instead of Wis

[@Charles-ij1ow]

Nice find, Level 1 Divine, guys gets arm cut off. Then the rest Armorer Artificer.

[@danloftus3459]

Now this is an AC build I can get behind. Thanks and happy holidays

[@nathancleary8299]

Any thoughts/suggestions/ video ideas for the stealth suit armorer? Would love to see a video on that!!!

[@MatTheArtisan]

Playing a Yaun-ti Pureblood Armorer, Came up with a similar route but didn't think aobut the cleric dip, I'm going more for both good saves and AC since I face a mix of all kinds of enemies. At lvl 10 will be Armorer 8 and war mage 2 With shield master feat.

[@prympax]

Currently running a warforged variant of this concept. War wizard lvl 3, Art armorer lvl 4, Forge cleric lvl 1. Created enhanced defense for our party's tortle druid, used Blessings of the Forge for the elf archer's bow. Trotting around with a 21 AC (+1 warforged, 18 AC from integrated plate, +2 for regular shield), but armed with shield and arcane deflection. So much fun! Awesome vid as always, sir!

[@markrennick9977]

Artificer armorer lv3, Divine sorcerer 17 = Dr Doom.

[@emproficecream]

I feel like infiltrator armorer is almost doom already, but if multi-classing i think I would go 5 artificer levels the rest divination wizard

[@LupineShadowOmega]

@@emproficecream Or Warmagic. Doom is a hell of a magical duelist.

[@simondiamond9628]

War Magic is okay to try to invoke the Dr. Doom vibe, but why not the Chronurgy Wizard instead? Chronal Shift and Temporal Awareness are their level 2 abilities, and Victor Von Doom did do some time travelling in the comics.

[@LupineShadowOmega]

@@simondiamond9628 I would argue because those spells don't really invoke how he feels in combat, but everyone's opinions would vary. Doom feels like the mage tank, just standing there and causing havok with massive damage spells.

[@simondiamond9628]

@@LupineShadowOmega, we can certainly agree to disagree. In comic book canon, Doom not only learned an extensive amount of time travelling magic, he also (in his ascension to his characterization as "God Doom") learned to manipulate the forces of time itself such that it would bend to his will, and was capable of doing it on an at-will basis. The world known as Earth-616 served as the basis for God King Doom (or God Emperor Doom as he's also called), in which it's fully explained. Episode 142 of Death Battle (Lex Luthor vs. Dr. Doom) also has references to him being able to time travel, first through sorcery, then through science. For reference: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oIm8h4Scor6bhs0

[@DownUnderDM]

I’ve been playing an armorer artificer and been struggling to come up with a direction for him (only lvl 4 at the moment). I’ve been casting from the back. Haven’t been enjoying it at all. This video has given me a new direction to go and boy am I excited now. Thanks for the help!!!!

[@patrickb.8485]

This is an amazingly fun build. I don't know why but I didn't like artificers on the surface, then I made one (armorer) and man, it's a very fun, flexible and surprisingly complex class to play. Loads of fun, glad to see this vid giving it some props.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks - and same! :)

[@theblindbuildergrandminuti5648]

Glad I found this channel, I like going in depth with builds, like what your doing. It’s also nice your doing this subclass, I’ve not looked at it. I’ve thought about war wizard with a bit of fighter, but this might work as the alternative to fighter for that now.

[@tomraineofmagigor3499]

Stats mind be kind of odd to do it right but war wizard with barbarian could be interesting. Yes you can't cast spells while raging but arcane deflection isn't a spell and depending on your subclass you don't have much to do with your reaction as a barbarian. Also you can add some nice flavor to your character with utility spells and maybe firebolt for when you're not raging and could use some range

[@coreyriley9671]

I've always loved the armorer subclass. I finally got to play one in a one-shot the other day and went with a Mark of Warding Dwarf, Armorer 3/Abjurer Wiz 5. Theme and class synergy was excellent! Hard to justify giving up Spell Mastery at Wiz 18, but if your game is only going to mid levels, I highly recommend this option!

[@TheRobversion1]

I pretty much ignore all class features/spells at level 15+. I think 95% of the tables dont play at those levels. Giving up spell mastery or any of the higher levelled spells shouldnt be an issue because most likely the table isnt reaching those levels.

[@_ericr]

1× Enhanced Weapon Infusion wouldn't apply to both gauntlets automatically?

[@DnDDeepDive]

Depends on your DM :)

[@TheoVect]

Per usual, thanks for the upload, always enjoy your class+subclass guides

[@simondiamond9628]

Thanks for making this video. 👍 I made a Mountain Dwarf Artificer [Armorer] using TCoE's variant rules, and I'll tell you, I have more tool proficiencies than I know what to do with. :) For my cantrips starting out, between levels 1 and 2, I did Firebolt and Mending, though in retrospect, to cover for melee combat situations, I think Shocking Grasp deserves some strong mentioning over Mending. Forcing an enemy to lose their reaction on hit is a good way to effectively disengage without having to take the Disengage action. And even with a near 20 AC via Point Buy stats, the PC is still pretty squishy with a D8 hit die if they get hit. (They need all the help they can get for the first 2 levels.) Further, unless their Dex is high enough to use light/finesse weapons, their martial prowess tends to be badly lacking. And that means that they're gonna need a melee cantrip option to cover themselves when things get ugly. In my case, even after I gave myself a 15 Dex, I still didn't feel confident enough to think I'd be able to defend myself in melee with hand axes and daggers consistently. Speaking of things that the artificer is lacking, when it comes to cantrips, the Artificer does struggle pretty badly there. For that reason, I'd think for Variant Humans and Custom Lineage characters starting at level 1, Magic Initiate: Wizard seems like a slam dunk here (2 cantrips + Find Familiar, Shield, or Silvery Barbs). As for multiclassing with the War Magic Wizard, I personally think you'd be better served with the Chronurgy Wizard instead, for the following reasons: 1. The War Wizard's "Arcane Deflection" ability directly competes with the Artificer's "Flash of Genius" ability at level 7. (Both use your Reaction. Oof.) 2. As for Arcane Deflection's downside, this restricts the PC to only being able to cast Cantrips for their next turn, something of which at higher levels, can be a severe detriment. 3. As for the Chronurgy Wizard, they get Temporal Awareness (which functions the same as the War Wizard's Tactical Wit ability), and the Chronal Shift ability, which effectively functions as Portent-lite. The only real downside to Chronal Shift is that it must be used as a reaction, which does conflict with Flash of Genius's action economy. Nonetheless, it's a massive lifesaver both in and out of combat, especially since it doesn't hinder your spellcasting (unlike Arcane Deflection). In any event, good video. Thumbs up here. I'd be curious to see an updated build of this in the future, going the Infiltrator route instead, and using either Arcane Trickster, Soulknife, Eldritch Knight, or Echo Knight (possibly the Psi-Warrior also?) as your other multiclass option in place of the Peace Domain Cleric option you went with (in conjunction with the Chronurgy Wiz. suggestion I made earlier).

[@Adam.297]

My favorite spell to store is Invisibility. My group played a spy-type setting for a bit and between spell slots and the spell storing item, I would spend all day invisible. It was fantastic.

[@foolwise4703]

I thought about the two-weapon fighting with the thunder gauntlets, but unfortunately they are not light weapons, so they do not qualify without the fighting style :/ Edit: ... it does not work without the Feat. Thanks for the correction to @John Costello.

[@johncostello4565]

They don’t qualify without the dual wielder feat. The style would add int mod damage, but you can’t do it without the feat.

[@foolwise4703]

@@johncostello4565 :D you are right - I recently suggested in the subreddit swapping the feat and fighting style while having the additional attacks scale with extra attack to rebalance TWF, so now I confused myself^^

[@johncostello4565]

@@foolwise4703 that would be a nice switch, would still give the AC boost to the feat - but it would help make two-weapon fighting more viable since styles are easier to come by than feats.

[@toshomni9478]

Really great video. I think this subclass does need the Heavy Armor Master and Sharpshooter feats to boost both its guardian and infiltrator roles. Also, the level 20 capstone is so good that it makes multiclassing much less tempting if you are going to try for some higher level adventures. Probably goes without saying but the cantrips booming blade and green-flame blade help a lot with the damage you can do with thunder gauntlets, especially if you have the boots of the winding path to work with booming blade.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks! One of these days, I'll actually get to play a character at level 20... *sniff*

[@googloocraft12]

Won’t every ennemy have a magic item or spells to deny the Heavy armor master feat at level 20? It’s good early level but I don’t see how it could be of any help later on. I would grab the though feat instead to get 40 more hp at level 20. Also the bonus at level 20 looks pathetic compared to the aura of protection of a Paladin which gives almost the same bonus 5 instead of 6 to all saving throw but Paladin gives this bonus to every ally near him and get it way earlier. I think it suck getting something worst at level 20 then a Paladin at level 6!!!

[@foolwise4703]

I love that you're posting this now that I just built an armorer for a lvl 9 oneshot. I built him as a straight artificer though, since I did not want to miss the extra infusions at lvl 9. In general I went more for utility with the ritual caster feat for find familiar and lots of utility as well as telekinetic to punch people around on the battlefield. Also i went for the hill dwarf for the extra HP. The dip into war wizard is really great in putting the tankiness through the roof though :)

[@spruceschmickington3005]

Telekinetic is a great idea. Going to be stealing it.

[@jmfjmf41]

Love your videos so far. I am playing a kobold armorer artificer in a campaign and this gave me some great ideas. Thanks!

[@DnDDeepDive]

You're welcome - glad you're enjoying!

[@leridecirunato9199]

I know I'm late but here is a small (and perhaps obvious) thing you can do: the homunculus was allowed _(in an errata)_ to use items...and that includes your spell storing item so you can have IT cast some concentration spell _(my favourite pick is blur on yourself to have stupid AC _*_and_*_ give the enemies disadvantage _*_AND_*_ then I cast mirror image since I like to give my DM at least 1 headache per session)_ which opens up a lot of disgusting comboes since you can also concentrate on something

[@googloocraft12]

You can’t do that. Blur can only target the person who cast it so you can’t use your humunculus with spell storing item because it would apply blur to the humunculus

[@leridecirunato9199]

@@googloocraft12 well you can cast blur and mirror image while putting another concentration spell in the item, I don't remember if that was my plan there but in that case yeah...I expressed it poorly

[@David-jw1zh]

Armorer Artificer and Forge Cleric?

[@bobbyg7814]

I love this build. You are amazing, keep up the great work sir!

[@davidpitts5522]

Just gotta say I love how the capstone essentially gives a +6 to all saves so the dip in warmage is not too useful by 20th. That said, the peace domain abilities is still very nice. Played a L20 1-shot with armorer and peace both at 20. It was brutal for the DM.

[@claytonweyl4135]

A Paladin, a Monk, and an Artificer working together to make sure that the DM can't use any saving throw abilities.

[@googloocraft12]

I think it’s pretty sad that the artificer gets only +1 then the aura of protection of a Paladin which can apply to your ally and is given to you at LEVEL 6!!! Yeah Paladin are broken or artificer are weak? Both actually lol

[@jonpalmg]

Love your content and format (and style), keep on crushing it!

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks - glad you're enjoying!

[@Jbolestridge]

Great Video, As far as the barbarian tank comparison, I had great luck going with ancestor barbarian with polearm instead of totem. It provides a lot of control on the battlefield by replicating that same disadvantage to attack teammates instead of you as well as providing a lot of opportunity attacks if they choose to come for you afterwards instead of attacking at disadvantage. If they go for your teammates instead they have disadvantage to hit and your friend has resistance if they do get hit. Later you can even reduce that damage further if you need! It's really solid and fun to play!

[@SilentH3ro]

Hello just found your channel and am a big fan. One point I think would help make the videos like this better is after you've completed a build, if you built the character on DnD beyond with the levels, spells, feats all selected and posted a link in your description. It would help for when you want to see the whole package at the end.

[@MegaRyuki]

You can use the lvl 3 spell tiny servant to create tiny constructs that can use the spell storing item that you create at lvl 11 to target your allies with whatever concentration spell that you want, since you are activating an item and not using a spell its doable by raw, you just need to have a bag of holding at this point to make the tiny robots hide in there and not risk losing concentration

[@dwaynewilkes656]

EDIT: Thanks @JSephH76 for pointing out where my memory failed me! While holding the object, a creature can take an action to produce the spell’s effect from it, using your spellcasting ability modifier. If the spell requires concentration, the creature must concentrate. It just produces the spell effect, meaning it can't be counterspelled!

[@JSephH76]

This is inaccurate. It does require concentration and is explicitly stated in the feature

[@dwaynewilkes656]

@@JSephH76 Thanks for pointing that out! I was misremembering how it works if you give it to someone else (you don't have to concentrate, they do). The point about counterspell still stands though! 😁

[@cultivatedjerk5574]

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

[@saumjha]

Can you make a spell sword build out of hex blade warlock/blade singer/war cleric?

[@DnDDeepDive]

will put it on the to do list!

[@D0sku9]

if Dm allows it, Take booming blade. Guardian is great and all, but you lack dmg. Booming blade allow you to deal more dmg and control the enemy. DM has to decide. Move and take dmg so you can hit squishy wizard. or stay still and try to hit 24ac tank

[@edfreeman4202]

What about taking the blur spell to impose disadvantage on attacks targeting you as well as using your thunder gauntlets?

[@biscuitknight5609]

What do you think about homebrewing additional power armor types? What comes to my mind is something like a dart gun. Which let's you allow to make one additional attack on the attack action (which is always one more, even if you have multi attack) and can stand still to get +1 to hit and dmg. would that be overpowered?

[@DnDDeepDive]

I like it! It probably does run the risk of being a little OP, depending on what other abilities you have it interact with etc., but nothing a convo with your DM wouldn't be able to clear up :)

[@biscuitknight5609]

@@DnDDeepDive thanks! I'll make sure that I don't have to many abilities that will increase my damage.

[@Warinx]

49:15 How would you know if you only need 1 or 2 AC more in order for the attack to miss?

[@DnDDeepDive]

Trial and error! A risky proposition, to be sure :) Of course, we would never *dream* of using player knowledge and meta-gaming, because that would be morally reprehensible.

[@aaronoftees]

If you mean during an enemy attack, both Shield spell and War Mage feature are reactions which allow you to trigger it after the enemy has rolled (e.g DM rolls to attack and says, "Ok that's a 22 to hit" - At this point you can say "Righty, I'm going to cast shield so it misses". Not all DM's may play this way in terms of telling you to hit rolls, but its fairly common. In terms of overall battle and what tankiness you need, run in there with no shield and both gauntlets. If things start hitting and getting scary, whip out your shield and start burning through spell slots/feature uses ;)

[@NoNamesLeft0102]

17:56 What about working with a paladin paladin with compelled duel?

[@DnDDeepDive]

then the space-time continuum implodes on itself :P

[@jikhari7103]

Another great video Colby!! Thank you for the amazing content!! ❤️

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed :)

[@SPACEHOBOgaming]

How about lucky for the late game feat? Limited use, but if the enemy needs a 20 to hit then you are almost always turning a crit into a miss. Helps with saves too.

[@DnDDeepDive]

I like

[@JunMiyazaki]

I started my armorer as a variant human, picked lucky feat, made my DM cry. :) Luck also helps downtime activities like research, crafting, etc. Downtime resoulution is also an ability check, so you can use your luck points as well.

[@VileScarMind]

Dwarfs can already ignore the strength requirement on heavy armour. Mountain dwarves are great artificers as you can swap out armour and weapon proficiencies for 6 extra tool proficiencies.

[@maanNL]

How can dwarfs ignore the strenght requierment? I dont see it in the rules. Or are dwarfs so stubborn that they just ignore it and take the -10 speed ;)

[@VileScarMind]

@@maanNL It's in the Speed section of the base dwarf race. "Your base walking speed is 25'. Your speed is not reduced bt wearing heavy armour."

[@maanNL]

@@VileScarMind 😱 why didn't I see this before. Damn this changes things. Thanks!

[@VileScarMind]

@@maanNL It's pretty cool. Doesn't do anything for variant encumberance for some reason. My house rule when using the variant is that dwarfs count the weight of armour as 0.

[@williambradford6575]

You can't cast spells if you aren't proficient with the armor you are using though

[@darrenromanko2414]

For a two level dip, I would also consider the Divine or the Chrono mage. Specifically the Chrono also gives you the +Int to inish roll. You have the shield spell but get two rerolls instead of +2 AC or +4 to save throw. I also recommended Absorb Elements to compliment shield to improve survival.

[@JunMiyazaki]

Also the Silvery Barbs spell for the first wizard level dip.

[@jeffersontampus6369]

thanks man, didnt know where to go with my armorer build, much appreciated.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@mathiasademar4541]

i myself am running a warforged armorer (no dips) and a have a copy for if i decide to dip into warlock. the reason for my copy is because i am either gonna go full stealth-tank (as the armorer was intended) or im gonna supplement my caster skills. depends on the party composition. if im the only caster, ill dip warlock, if we have another caster, ill go without the dip.

[@halflbobeef]

Awesome! The most recent character I created was a tanky Armorer. Great info as I’m leveling up.

[@binolombardi]

If you find that your arcane deflection and flash of genius are conflicting, remember that initiative is a check. As long as you’re not surprised you can use your reaction to buff your initiative roll with flash of genius. If you can use your gauntlets on a creature before they can act, then you can mitigate that damage from the very beginning.

[@tomraineofmagigor3499]

If you have both flash of genius and arcane deflection then I'd focus flash of genius for either your allies or for skill checks

[@sortehuse]

This is one of my favourite Deep Dive videos. Something that I would like to play in game. I just think that I would go strait Armorer Artificer with plate armour and a shield. I think that would work fine for a casual game.

[@anasb.8647]

Armorer Artificer is such a terrifying tank, the implications of all of its abilities can make for a scary AC

[@mathiasademar4541]

if you add in the short rest "mode change" to infiltrator, they are, in reality, a stealth tank. so any other things you add are basically extra flavor. :P

[@anasb.8647]

@@mathiasademar4541 oh yeah that's right...so they're even more scary XD

[@malum6294]

I came up with a Yautja (Predator) build. 5 lvls in Barb/or Ranger depending on what your "specialty" is, 3 lvls in the class you didn't focus. Berserker or Zealot/ Gloom Stalker or Hunter. 3lvls in Rogue- Swashbuckler and the other 9 lvls Artificer- Armorer (Infiltrator) (Optional Race: Githyanki) WDYT?

[@DnDDeepDive]

Sounds potent! And flavorful :)

[@TheRobversion1]

seems quite MAD. str, wis, dex, int all require 13 at minimum. ideally 14 in each for the bonuses plus you want the main attacking stat maxed out. that will be impossible to achieve on point buy or standard array. con is too low for my own taste as well (I'd go with a 12 minimum). swashbuckler will also want cha for it's abilities. gloomstalker is the way to go for the ranger option as the most powerful ranger subclass. zealot over berserker for barb. i'd be sad that you took 9 levels of artificer and didn't make it to 11 which houses one of the most powerful abilities in the game. personally, i'd drop barbarian and or rogue and take a couple of fighter levels instead but that's me not knowing what's the main tactic of the build. a couple of other anti-synergies: barbarians like to use str based weapons. rogues like to use dex based. barbarians and rangers have bonus action clog already on their own. you have a couple of half-casters there and then a barbarian who negates concentration and spells while raging.

[@LoudAngryJerk]

So, the way I consider artificers to sort of bypass the steampunkiness of them, and still have them fit in the world is by having them be more of just a blue collar wizard, like just a guy who builds all of his magic stuff from scratch, than a straight up or down steampunk guy. So, for example I'll say for the steel defender, you're not using a robot so much as you're using an animated set of armor, which is -there's plenty of those throughout fantasy settings, without going into robotics, etc. (Also, as something of a side note: this can work for warforged as well, they're just inspelled training dummies or animated armor or... Whatever else) As for the armorer, that's even easier. For anyone who have read The Dresden files, think of the inspelled coat he makes. Essentially a leather jacket that has runes painstakingly inscribed into the fabric that make it essentially the same as wearing full body armor. Anyway, one of my favorite things to do in 5th edition is to take the tool sets which are given to us by the classes and races that have been released so far and just reimagine them as other things. I know a lot of people don't like to do that, but this is a pretty easy way to bypass any hitches as far as a predisposition against less traditional fantasy.

[@АлександрСудаков-с2и]

I'm not shure you can use a bonus attack with your gauntlets, since nowhere is it stated that they are light (and tacking a fit for that seems... Inefficient)

[@DnDDeepDive]

You're right, and actually, when I played this character in game, I *did take the Dual Wielder feat and loved it: the +1 AC is *almost* as good as a shield, the extra stat bonus was great, and the extra damage, plus being able to "taunt" one more enemy makes it worth it, I think.

[@Rumsar-s1i]

Personally I’d drop the level in cleric. The concentration slot can be used by blur which artificers pick up at level 5. Not to mention you can put it in your spell storing item at meter levels. Imposing disadvantage on top of the high AC. And you’d get another ASI at max level.

[@numbug1234]

In regards to Two Weapon Fighting: The gauntlets only count as weapons when you're not holding anything with the respective hand, so if you want the third hit you're going to want to make sure both hands remain free, otherwise you've only got one weapon. It also means you get more AC by not taking the feat and just picking up a shield.

[@DnDDeepDive]

correct - when I played this in game I took the feat, since it gives you a +1 AC and having another attack to potentially impose disadvantage felt worth giving up +2 AC for a shield (net loss of only 1 AC). Plus, more damage!

[@joeleek9976]

2:20- you don't need to flavor the abilities as steam punk. You could just say your character etches runes or whatever onto equipment to enchant it temporarily.

[@saumjha]

I don’t think you would need dual wielder, because they are your god darn HANDS, and you can TWF with them.

[@bobdole4eva1]

I've been toying with a tank Armorer Artificer build recently and I think that the 2 levels of Wizard and the 1 level of Cleric could just be a single level of Divine Soul Sorcerer. It gets you Booming Blade, Shield and Shield of Faith and +2d4 to an attack or save per short rest...oh and Bless too

[@austinburant7114]

Congrats on 5k.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Thank you!

[@KingSparda]

I know this is a little late but: As a DM, I would allow the bonus action attack. 3d8 + 15 (assuming +5 int) isn't that much damage past level 8, so from 1-8, you feel on par with other martials if you want to give up your bonus action and shield to do damage but still behind any GWPs or PAM melee striker builds while having some decent support spells. And also, you can already do extra damage with stuff like heat metal, and especially since you're going to want to save that bonus action for other things if you are playing an armorer artificer. It doesn't make much of a difference to me since most importantly, its more fun for the person running the artificer. But. most importantly, it does allow you to tank more. So chip damage (1d8+5 = 9-10 damage) spread across 3 mid CR enemies but imposes a condition that makes you more likely to get attacked is exactly what youre looking for in a tank. Just seems more fun, and then eventually haste, who doesnt want their armor to glow red at the joints like an overclocked heatsink? Seems just fun walking into a fight with glowing red joints with maybe some steam/heat haze coming off the armor and just punching things with pile bunker like weapons on each hands like Big O. Im down with that visual. Rule of Cool it is for my table on both duel gauntlet attacks.

[@joachimhofler5584]

Funny (and somewhat smart way if i may say so myself) of using MAgical Tinkering: If you have a social encounter with an Tabaxi, use it to make something smell strongly of catnip. Hand it over for (perhaps) advantage to any check youte trying to make.

[@WereDictionary]

Cure Wounds is especially nice on the Lv 11 Artificer item because you get Sanctuary from the Peace domain. Sanctuary doesnt even need concentration and you are stupidly sturdy already, so you can just wade through the battlefield and bring back knocked out allies (especially the actual cleric) if you can get the barbarian to tank for a minute.

[@JunMiyazaki]

This video was an inspiration for my build but I did it slightly different. My group finished the Waterdeep Dragon Heist at lvl5, and we are going to do Curse of Strahd. Currently my build: - variant human, INT18. Also has the Luck feat - lvl4 artificer, using homonculus servant infusion and +1 AC infusion on my plate mail. Also have a +1 shield. Current AC is 22. - lvl1 wizard with shield spell. Also have silvery barbs spell which is the best lvl1 spell in the game imho. For ritual casting I have find familiar. We had 3 month long downtime, so I created some stuff for my party members (like +1 weapons). Crafted googles of night for myself, so I don't have to use an infusion slot for this. Luck feat and silvery barbs works very well. Luck saved my skin a few times when I had to make a saving throw; silvery barbs can save party members and also inspire a heavy hitter (like a half-giant warrior or the rogue with sneak attack). I have to decide which arcane tradition fits better this build at lvl2 wizard: - Colby's suggestion in this video is warmage, which is nice. +INT modifier for initiative sounds really nice. Arcane deflection sounds also nice (+2AC or +4 saving throw), you can use without limits, BUT has a huge drawback for me: "When you use this feature, you can’t cast spells other than cantrips until the end of your next turn." If I understand correctly I can't use a well placed silvery barbs or shield next turn if I use arcane deflection - which is very limiting. Also at artificer lvl7 I gain flash of genius which can be used to help myself or a party member to succeed a saving throw and it uses my INT modifier. - Somebody suggested in the comments Chronurgy magic. Also has +INT modifier for initiative. It has Chronal shift , which is a very similar mechanic to Luck feat and silvery barbs spell - twice a day. I'll let you notice what I decide :)

[@chrishardy3439]

I may be wrong; but I believe when you get to level 9, the Armor modifications feature counts the gauntlets as a single “special weapon”, adding 1 infusion to both gauntlets therefore only allowing 1 for them together.

[@DnDDeepDive]

you're likely correct - I can see it being confusing as the Thunder gauntlets says "Each of the armor’s gauntlets counts as a simple melee weapon" I guess then, that if your DM said "nope sorry only one infusion" then I would have to insist that both weapons benefit from whatever infusion I put on them... which is a fair trade.

[@guyver6622]

Artificer+Rogue is basically the Guyver the bio-booster armor.

[@_ericr]

Coby, check out the Magic Stones cantrip for the early lvls of this build, it's really cool.

[@DirewolfMemento]

THE BEST RAW LOW DAMAGE SUPPORT ALCHEMIST GUIDE FOR YOU: Go 3 levels into artificer alchemist then take a 2 level dip into genie warlock. You get a personal lab (genie vessel), and extra scaling damage equal to your prof modifier. (+ hex spell making you witch like although you may want to use flaming sphere + fire bolt for damage) Then be an elf (Any) for trance. (I think reborn technically works as well) I recommend High Elf and taking the Mind Sliver cantrip. You can use the 2 first level spell slots from warlock that reset on a short rest to fuel your potion making in the morning. After a 4 hour long rest thanks to trance, take the time and conduct 4 short rests while the rest of your party sleeps using the 2 spell slots you gain from each rest to craft a potion of your choice. This gives you 8 potions. 9-11 if you count the random ones, and two more if you use the final two spell slots you got after the last short rest. Take Fey Touched at ASI. Boost INT, and learn bless. Choose Dao for bludgeoning damage + *Crusher Feat* to move enemies around by 5 feet on a hit with your firebolts. You could flavor it that your firebolts deal bludgeoning damage because they are flaming flasks you've made that explode and knock enemies around. Open a *Clearance Potion Shop* in town. Tell people you sell your potions for dirt cheap (10 GP - 25) because they expire in 24 hours. Then watch as the profit you make skyrockets. (Remember that every hour you spend working at a shop you can short rest and gain 2 more potions. Meaning that you'll make money throughout the day even if you sell all your morning potions.) When you become level 12, infuse Vortex Warp into a magic item and give it to your Homunculus Servant and watch as your enemies panic as you warp them across the battlefield up to 10 times a day (assuming your INT is +5 = 20) Pro: Finally, the best part about the alchemist is that you don't really need your infusions except for the HS (Homunculus Servant which you don't really need until you're level 12). You are a great support because you are selfless in the act of magic item creation and potion buffs. You add bless + boldness on top of that and give your allies a +2d4 to all attack rolls and saving throws. If you want to make the party feel like they need you, go one level into peace cleric for the extra 1d4 once per turn for 10 minutes to make the total 3d4 to all attack rolls and saving throws, and 1d4 to all ability checks + guidance for a total of 2d4. (This is assuming peace cleric isn't banned and 2d4 is completely fine as well.) In reality your party DPR isn't dropping too drastically since you are actually increasing the accuracy of your party members by a pretty large sum. Especially if you give them your magic item enhancements since you yourself don't need them. Con: You need to be on high alert. If you have a gut feeling you are going to fight, give your party the potions before hand. Remind them to drink it and of the bonuses. Although this will get tiresome, this will save you a lot of effort. Always make sure your party has at least one potion if not two on them before hand. In combat you should be casting sanctuary on yourself to keep you out of harms way if you aren't doing damage or after you firebolt on a turn. Final Note: Accept that your role isn't damage. You make the party act efficiently and have a well of healing outside of combat, and triage in combat. Make sure you ask your DM if you can craft a uncommon All-Purpose Tool using the magic item crafting rules. This will give you a free cantrip, and if you get one cantrip (vicious mockery, or chill touch so you still add the alchemist bonus damage.) With the APT you are incredibly versatile. As you can use an action to swap the tool to any other tool and gain proficiency with said tool. At level 6 you'll have expertise with all tools. Use the tool guild on page 78 with Xanathar's Guide to Everything (I could be wrong on page number, going off of memory) and watch as you can be very useful.

[@isaachoffman6450]

May as well call this the Orwell build. Wizard of war, cleric of peace. As an aside, I take issue with the thunder gauntlets' taunt effect. It's a superior version of the cavalier's unwavering mark with no downside, and no resource dependency. The power creep is real (see also, Peace Domain).

[@DnDDeepDive]

can't argue!

[@ChairmanLevi]

The difference is that the fighter is a strong chassis than the artificer.

[@isaachoffman6450]

@@ChairmanLevi I'm not sure how you qualify that claim. Care to explain how baseline fighter is stronger than artificer?

[@ChairmanLevi]

@@isaachoffman6450 the fighter doesn't need subclasses to be effective. The core class is good in that you get 4 attacks, a couple extra ASI's, minor heals Action surge etc etc. The core Artificer class can not stand on its own without its subclasses similar to the Ranger. Therefore the fighters core Chassis is stronger. Now are all fighters stronger than all artificers? Mostly but a few are better.

[@RAIDENM4N]

Right now, I am fine-tuning quite a Min-Maxed Warforged Armorer Artificer 4/War Magic Wizard X. I'd like to gain as many spell slots as possible to blast Magic Missile with while having good Tanking options and Cantrips. So far, the process has been very fun. As of Level 5 (Armorer 3/War Magic 2), this character has a 20 AC; a +5 to Initiative; main attacks (Booming Blade + Thunder Gauntlets & Thorn Whip) use its Intelligence Modifier; both Arcane Deflection and the Shield Spell for AC options; both False Life and the Guardian Armor's Temp HP feature for Temp HP options; Absorb Elements and Arcane Deflection (Again) for Saving Throw options. These options basically come down to the question of, "Must I burn a Spell Slot or not?" since I want to blast with automatic Magic Missile damage. I only plan to take one feat. I do not know which one though at the moment. This character has been a blast to build.

[@UnkaputtbarEU]

i have a question regarding the spell storing item: it says, that you can store a spell of spelllevel 1 or 2 in an item. Can i store a cure wounds lvl 2 in it or can i simply store cure wounds with lvl 1 in it?

[@shawn55648]

I'm currently trying to make a character that is a reborn Human. I am using Armorer subclass but I am trying the possibly impossible, trying to optimize the Armorer for higher damage rather than higher AC

[@oliverlockhart4053]

QUESTION: what if you swapped Con for Dex and went a different armor? Light? In what ways would that affect your AC? Could it atill get as high and just not have the HP? Your dex saves and Initiative would compensate some.

[@DnDDeepDive]

The best light armor in game is a 12 ac. If you capped your Dex at 20 that would put you at 17. The best heavy is 18. So unless you can get your Dex above 20, or find magical light armor that has a bigger AC bonus than whatever magical plate is available, you’ll always be lower. Not to mention the fact that it’ll take you awhile to get to 20 Dex, but you could probably buy some plate around level 5 or so, if not sooner. Plus the lower hp… you could make it work, but it’d be a lot less tanky :)

[@DumpsterAppraisal]

I put 2nd level cure wounds into the spell storing item and had my homunculous use it to heal people

[@bsmith6784]

It doesn't _say_ you can cast it as a 2nd lvl spell, just that you can "produce the spell's effect." IMO, that means a 1st lvl spell produced by a spell storing item is always produced as a 1st lvl spell. That said, I'd likely be willing to allow the higher effect anyway.

[@SergioRodriguez-bq2wq]

Incredible content and very informative! You really helped me decide between playing another DPS-er or playing the tank/support role my party needs. The strategic use of reactions and other support features make this nuanced but effective enough to validate not going life Cleric. Thank you again! This will be a lot more fun to play mechanically and thematically!

[@DnDDeepDive]

You're welcome - glad you enjoyed! :)

[@heelo93]

Anyone know how the spell progression works (spell slots, spells prepared,spells known ) per level?

[@DnDDeepDive]

I assume you mean for multiclassing spell casting classes? Check here: www.dndbeyond.com/sources/phb/customization-options#Spellcasting

[@Atommsk55]

How would this work going to level 5 in cleric to get Spirit Guardians? Better damage if they ignore you, can keep the shield out for the AC and still punch stuff for disadvantage. Even more incentive for them to hit you to try to break your concentration. Get Warcaster for Booming Blade opportunity attacks if they try to run. Can even use Thorn Whip to pull enemies for extra Spirit Guardians procs. Maybe skip the wizard levels until after Art10/Cleric5?

[@blairbrook1336]

If you have access to ravnica you could go orzov and just get spirit guardians added to your spell list for a cost of a background. But what can you do

[@Yarradras]

I am watching your video because I am planning an artificer armorer. Lots of good advice and definitely a cool build. I am doubting though if this character is effective at protecting team mates. Because he is so hard to hit, creatures will very quickly focus on the other party members and his invulnerability basically channels damage into them instead of protecting them. Sure he can impose disadvantage to some enemies, but creatures will rather attack someone with ac 16 with disadvantage than someone they can only hit with a crit. It also requieres the group to bunch up around the artificer and make them vulnerable to range damage and aoe spells. Tanks as group protector only work in d&d when they can block choke points. This build will rather help the character to outlive all enemies. I might still give it a try :)

[@HybridHerps]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but the way the thunder gauntlet is worded doesn’t it only apply the disadvantage on targets other than you to one creature? “A creature hit by the gauntlet has disadvantage...” means just a singular creature right? I do hope they eventually errata the gauntlets to be simple light weapons as well, I feel like that was the intent since they specify that both gauntlets count as simple weapons when not holding anything, rather than saying just one gauntlet like how the lightning launcher is only one node. Seems silly to let both hands be weapons when empty as a class feature but you can’t use them without an extra feat. Also, a question about the special armorer weapons, since you can’t infuse magical objects, if you are wearing magical armor can you not add an infusion to the gauntlets before level 9? And if that’s the case, would armor with a +1 or more modifier be able to make the gauntlets also have that modifier to them? Since it would then suck for multi classes before 9th level artificer to have to choose between using that better armor or not using it so as to infuse your gauntlets to hit better?

[@DnDDeepDive]

I think these are all questions for the DM :). I could see the reading going either way!

[@Nucket]

Playing a Warforged Artificer - Armorer. Once supporting the shield dwarfs, when one of the great wars broke out. The captives got punished by taking an arm, making them incapable of ever work as a blacksmith or miner again. Now, on 3rd level I finally regain my lost limb due to Arcane armor... (first few levels were pretty static for me in battle :) ). Campaign only just starting for me now!

[@PatandSylus]

Wow 22 episodes already. Congrats, seems like episode 6 was just the other week.

[@DnDDeepDive]

Right?! Thanks :)

[@Glorwin1]

Nice work, I needed some new ideas on my current character

[@anniedarkheart5224]

An interesting multiclass combo for tanking: Druid of the Moon 2. The Arcane Armor expands to cover your body, effectively becoming form-fitting. So if you wildshape into a Bear then you'd get the Armor's AC and defense field + bear hp and since it makes claw attacks it's reasonable to maul with Thunder Gauntlets or Lightning Launcher with Infiltrator. Artificer 11 / Rogue 2: Spell-Storing Item would have 10 charges of something like Invis, Blur, Web, or Fairy Fire and you use it as a Bonus Action through the Use An Object action, in case you wanted to Attack or cast a spell with your action. Invis would be solid since you can use it to give advantage on next attack, avoid attacks of opportunity (enemies must see you) before repositioning, reposition so enemies running past you provoke attacks of opportunity. Bonus Action Blur lets you set up the disadvantage tank-line right away. Web lets you do a lot of things lol. I'm intrigued about the possibility of sometimes off-tanking with my Infiltrator Armorer with Sharpshooter+Archery, and advantage spells, with a shield. It sounds like most of what I'm losing would be Dual Wield stuff if I sometimes used Guardian. (Some players in my group dramatically change character archetypes, so trying to meta a perfect party is kind of pants)

[@TheRobversion1]

interesting idea on moon druid armorers. the image of an armored bear is cool. i'd probably take it a step further and add 2 levels of fighter for action surge so you can attack with the gauntlets and drop a concen spell on round 1. personally i think that's a waste of the op spell storing item ability. i'd rather use that ability to kill a bbeg on round 1 at least once a day. the better multiclass instead of rogue is to pick any 2 levels of caster classes. at caster level 8, you can pre-cast 10 tiny servants. give standing orders to cast the spell in the spell storing item upon your command at your target then pass to the next tiny servant in line. put something like catapult and give an acid flask to your tiny servant to carry around and that's 30d8 + 20d6 dmg on round 1 without your party members or your actions yet. put a flaming sphere inside (alchemist only) and thats 20d6 of sustained dmg per round while also having the capability to do a wall of flaming spheres for area denial. if you need aoe, you can put shatter (artillerist and armorer only) inside for 30d8 of aoe dmg. if i was the DM, there's no incentive for me to attack your infiltrator as you have great defenses. infiltrator doesn't have the tanking abilities the guardian has.

[@googloocraft12]

You can’t put resistant armor on your helmet you need to put it on your chest piece because it’s the only part that counts as an armor. 42m46

[@andrewfairall3648]

You can at higher lvs. At 10 I believe the different parts of your armor count as individual pieces for infusions, so you can do boots , chest, Helm, and gauntlets.

[@googloocraft12]

@@andrewfairall3648 At level 9 only the chest part count as Armor so the helm, gauntlets etc cant handle an infusion that targets armor