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Unearthed Arcana Artificer Revised

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A revision of Wizard's of the Coast Artificer class released in Unearthed Arcana for 5e. The class itself was missing class features causing "dead levels" when compared to the Eldritch Knight or Arcane Trickster. To compensate, the class was changed to 1/2 caster progression. Also, 3 more subclasses were added to represent some other common Artificer tropes from previous additions, such as a construct maker, a wand user and a general fighting infuser. Please leave feedback below so we can help Wizards finely tune the Artificer for 5th edition DnD. Enjoy!

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Reviews (4)
Discussions (10)
Customer avatar
Vi F April 16, 2018 5:46 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Can I ask for suggestions how best to play the alchemist? It does seem to be a support/mild damage hybrid. But I currently play in a party of 7, with a druid who is better at support and other classes that are better at damage. I don't know I'm i'm approaching my strategy for play wrong but I feel underwhelming just throwing 1 fire or acid bottle (since no extra attack for this class).
I've mostly just been imbuing objects with blur for our paladin and just got haste so may do the same for that.

I'm wondering others general strategy for play tho.
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Jakob T April 20, 2018 2:58 pm UTC
PURCHASER
My players alchemist uses acid for damage and focuses on preemptive imbuing of weapons and items for spells, basically giving a bunch of +1 weapons to the party and a lot of shields of faith
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Bradley L January 18, 2018 8:11 am UTC
PURCHASER
I just want to point this out, doesn't anyone else think it's a bit crazy that by level 5 you can essentially be doing 4d6 damage every turn for free? Yea a Fighter with a greatsword can do this too, but this Artificer can do it in 1 shot from 150ft away. Then at level 11 they get 2 shots?! That's 8d6 if both hit, for free, almost every turn. Mages don't even do this. Then, as if this needed more damage, at level 14 each barrel deals 6d6 damage! That's 12d6 BASICALLY EVERY TURN! My Ranger wants to take this as a secondary class. I'm allowing it, but this needs to be nerfed, HARD. Personally, I'm giving the cannon an overheat possibility. Roll percentile after every shot, lower than 15% the gun overheats and must be repaired during a short or long rest. The percentile goes up by 5 after every shot. Feel free to use this if you want, but good luck to all DMs that allow this unaltered
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Corey O January 18, 2018 3:07 pm UTC
CREATOR
Thank you for your feedback!

At level 5, a Rogue does the same amount of damage, so I don't see that as an issue, especially because Sneak Attack is an easy requirement to fulfill and the Artificer’s Gunsmith sonic damage basically implies it will alert enemies big time. Like you pointed out, any heavy hitting martial class can easily do that much damage at level 5, and this class was changed to be balanced with the heavy hitting martial half casters. And doing alot of damage in 1 shot is generally worse than doing it in 2, especially if you can add modifers (Ability Mod, Dueling Style, Sharpshooter, etc) to both of the attacks, so the Gunsmith is actually a little behind damage wise.

I gave the Artificer 2 shots at level 11 for the same reasons as before, it needs to be balanced damage wise to the half caster martial classes. I scaled it with feats in mind, because Sharpshooter/Great Weapon Master/Polearm Master give large damage increases by allowing modifiers to be added to more...See more
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Bradley L January 18, 2018 10:09 pm UTC
PURCHASER
This is still WAY more damage than is necessary for a basic attack that fires safely from a distance for absolutely free. At least Rogues have SOMETHING they have to do before they can get off huge damage, all this Artificer has to do is pull the trigger. And casters only get so many spell slots per day, this class can do 12d6 every turn. That's a 7th level Fireball on someone each turn. Arcan Archers do a lot of damage, true, but only so many times per fight. They can't just hang back and constntly dish out huge damae. It doesn't matter if it's all in 1 shot when you have the ability to do 36 damage (taking the average) before any modifiers or bonuses are even added.

I'll let you know what I think, but like I said, I've already changed and nerfed most of what is described in this class.
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Corey O January 19, 2018 12:05 am UTC
CREATOR
The Artificer has to use a bonus action to do that damage as well, so the action economy is same as the rogues and prevents sneaking. The rogue can also use crossbow expert or two weapon fighting on turns that they don’t need to use Cunning Action to hide.

And yeah, casters only get so many spell slots per day but they can do 8d6 damage against multiple targets in one round at level 5 if they like. They only get worse as they level up because you can essentially cast a third level spell and up nearly every round you are in combat at some point. Casters aren’t supposed to be single target damage nukers (though they can be). So fireball damage per turn on a single target or split onto two isn’t gamebreaking. A quickening eldritch blasting hexing warlock/sorcerer multiclass can do 6d10+6d6+30 damage almost every round at level 11, which is much more than the Gunsmith can do at level 14 at will. But this isn’t supposed to be balanced to that. An Arcane Archer with feats can do an average of 3d10+30+15...See more
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Jakob T January 12, 2018 1:27 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Excellent class revision my artificers been using this over the original for almost a year now and is very satisfied with it...well not his three deaths but that's his own fault, i was wondering if you'd consider going through Xanthars and adjusting the spell list with the new spells that were added, cheers mate for the class though
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Corey O January 16, 2018 8:23 pm UTC
CREATOR
Thank you for your comment! I'm glad it is being playtested and enjoyed! If you don't mind, what subclass and level are you and how balanced do you and your party think it is? I just want to make sure the class is holding its own/ isn't too overpowering.

About the splatbook spells, I could add an extended spell list for campaigns that include splatbooks which I will put on the side. I'll start working on it and hopefully update the product soon!

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Jakob T January 23, 2018 2:51 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Party is level 7 now and its holding up well, the player does complain about not having the mending cantrip just theme wise is seems like it should be there, (playing alchemist) but he does solid damage and provides high quality support to the party. id rate his satisfaction at about 7 or 8, though he has only played 7 levels. He describes it as a "strange hybrid" and i agree but (the alchemist at least) fulfills a damage support hybrid role that's good in parties lacking a primary healer (we have a ranger and him to heal). the other complaint he has is Acid/firebomb is almost always the best option in combat, despite taking the other CC options, they are rarely what he should use in most situations, it may just be poor tactics on his end though. good luck with the updating man and cheers, ill add any other comments he has
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Corey O January 23, 2018 5:33 pm UTC
CREATOR
Nice! I’m glad he likes it and it is working out well. I’ve updated the spell list for Xanathar’s. I cooouuulld be convinced to add earth tremor and erupting earth to the spell list at well but I decided against it for the time being.

I agree the CC options are pretty situational, but I left them as is from the original version. I too played an Alchemist and never really used them. I might work on them a bit later.

Again, thank you for the response!
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Jakob T January 26, 2018 7:25 am UTC
PURCHASER
Cheers mate, heres a donation, keep up the good work.
Customer avatar
Corey O November 09, 2017 1:27 am UTC
CREATOR
Thank you, whoever left the most recent review! (Customer name was withheld) Since I cannot reply directly to a review, I will respond here.

Regarding the alchemical formulas, I realized both were dex saves in the original version and that it was an issue. My solution was to provide the class with the ability to deal half damage on successful saves. This way, you are guaranteed to do damage to an opponent, barring immunities and evasion on your turn which is a rather powerful ability considering the size of the dice pool acheived by the formulas. I'm not entirely sure how many monsters have a combination of any the above things to both acid and fire damage but it is probably very few, which I think is okay because sometimes monsters hard counter you (Helmed Horrors take little damage from force focused warlocks, Flying enemies make melee focused Paladins lose a dramatic amount of DPS, etc.)

Tanglefoot I think is fine as is. An easily targetable small AoE no save half movement ability...See more
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Gregorio C October 31, 2017 3:05 am UTC
PURCHASER
Hi. I liked your word overall. I want to ask two questions:

What you think about getting a magic item as a class feature? Is the only class feature that can be lost or sold. I think the class could have another non combat feature instead, something like creating some temporary utility items that work like some most famous magic items, but weaker. Maybe he could have access to five formulas and can create one per day, increasing up five per day as he gains the Wondorous Invention feature.

Arcane Magazine, the Gunslinger class feature, is useless IMHO. There is no upper limit of rounds that you can store, so you can store 40 rounds per day until you have some infinite amouts of ammo. This feature could be ignored in some practical terms. Or rebalanced to the class have a limit of 40 rounds and only the special attacks consume ammo.
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Corey O November 08, 2017 9:38 pm UTC
CREATOR
Thanks for your feedback!

To answer the first question, I think it's fine. The idea you proposed, creating temporary magic utility items, I think is already covered by the spell list the Artificer gets and the Infuse Magic ability. Also, I think WotC is going for a class with simple mechanics or ones already established so if they can replicate an idea using spellcasting alone, they will. In terms of an item/class feature being lost or stolen permanently, those cases would only occur with a very harsh DM or if you as a player decided to be careless/exploitative with the item, such as using the Bag of Holding as a weapon. I don't find it to be an issue that will come up a lot in practice (i.e. a DM not providing a way to get a stolen item back) and if an easy way to get the magic items back was implemented, there would be way to high abuse potential. If carelessness/abuse was the reason the magic item was destroyed, nothing is stopping you from using the established crafting rules (albeit vague) to...See more
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Ian W September 15, 2017 11:47 am UTC
PURCHASER
Could you up the number of spells known? The original has 14, making it a half caster would only warrant more, right?
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Corey O September 17, 2017 4:29 pm UTC
CREATOR
The reason I made the spells known follow the model they do is because the Ranger class (also a half caster) has this model for being a spontaneous half caster. I do find it peculiar that spontaneous half casters know less spells than 1/3rd casters and lack cantrips but they make up for it in higher spell levels and faster progression. 11 spells known isn't as bad as you think. It gives you 2 spells known for each spell level and 1 extra to go to any spell level you like. Thanks for your feedback!
Customer avatar
Auz B June 17, 2017 1:45 am UTC
I'd like to see Artificer as a half caster class, and make them memorization casters instead of spontaneous. I also think there should be a way to level up the Mechanical Servant, other it can become less useful at higher levels. Giving the Alchemist more than just DEX save attacks would also be good, it's frustrating having all of your abilities based around a single save.
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Customer avatar
Corey O June 17, 2017 10:58 pm UTC
CREATOR
I addressed most of those issues in my version, maybe you were looking for the actual version posted on DMsGuild? I made the Alchemist abilities save for half damage at level 5 so you are guaranteed damage barring immunities or evasion. I also expanded the Mechanical Servant ability into it's own subclass, and made it a half caster. I kept it spontaneous though.
Customer avatar
patrick D June 13, 2017 3:45 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Also don't reduce halve the cost on magical item crafting maybe just regular item crafting to show their extraordinary but magic items still are a difficult task for all but the most powerful enchanters and crafters.
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Customer avatar
Corey O June 13, 2017 4:22 pm UTC
CREATOR
Alright, I'll probably take away the half crafting cost but leave the 1/2 crafting time. Thanks for your input!
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patrick D June 13, 2017 3:43 pm UTC
PURCHASER
I say that for the battle engineer that they should not be able to make a +1 armor at first level that makes it a bit to powerful maybe give them that at a later level. And the personal weapon augment should get the 9th level spell effect when you reach like 15th level in artificier. That way a level eleven is not running around with a +3 + 3d4 elemental damage weapon for a second or third level spell slot.
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Customer avatar
Corey O June 13, 2017 4:21 pm UTC
CREATOR
The 1st level feature was taken straight from the UA Forge Cleric level 1 ability. I'm currently playtesting one and it's a nice handy ability, but definitely not overpowered, especially because you can't AC stack on the Battle Engineer like you can with the Forge Cleric without multiclassing for Shield.

Also, mechanically the damage of a pure UA Arcane Archer with Sharpshooter outdamages a pure Battle Engineer with Sharpshooter at 11th level. There are pros and cons of Elemental Weapon of course, such as it does cost a spell slot, requires you to maintain concentration, and that it can target monsters that are vulnerable to a certain damage type and bypassing nonmagical resistance. A possibly more fair comparison would be a level 11 Valor Bard who picks up Swift Quiver. Extra attacks in a game with feats is more powerful than any other form of damage increase. If you want me to post the math, I can. I feel as if Personal Weapon Augmentation is a flavorful and unorthodox way to give Battle Engineers...See more
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Ryan R June 12, 2017 12:31 pm UTC
PURCHASER
...See more
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Corey O June 12, 2017 10:25 pm UTC
CREATOR
Thanks for the feedback! I'll download your class in a bit.

You are definitely right about the wand thing, I'll have to update that.

Item crafting is in general hard to make features for because every campaign is so different with how it works/if it's used at all. It can definitely be changed but in general I find it silly that by the DMG rules you don't actually make money if you craft an item because it's base value is the same needed to craft it. However I can see the concerns of the feature breaking economy if given enough time and a DM who follows the selling magic items rules in the DMG with having a 60+% chance to profit for every made DC 20 Investigation check.

And the manual of golems thing is a hard thing to work around. Honestly, even for the cheapest option (flesh) it would take a long time and probably more money than a 9th level party would have, but that may just be my experience. And they'd have to have received the manual too which is also rather rare. If...See more
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Ryan R June 14, 2017 5:41 pm UTC
PURCHASER
The more I think about it the more I think you're right about reducing the price on crafting. I definitely think 1/2 price is too much, though. I have some old notes where something was giving Artificers their level as a % discount, which I think is probably less likely to make wealth impacts unmanageable.
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This title was added to our catalog on June 11, 2017.