Dungeons and Dragons‘ Artificer class has just made a surprise return to the mainline series, in a sense. A new Unearthed Arcana drop could pave the way for a new Artificer, molded in the style of Dungeons and Dragons‘ 2024 revision.
One of D&D 2024‘s more controversial aspects was its omission of the Artificer, a class brought into 5e via 2019’s Eberron: Rising From The Last War and again in 2020’s Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, from the revised Player’s Handbook. Players can still play the Artificer in D&D 2024 thanks to backward compatibility (as well as the incredible malleability of modern D&D in particular), but fans were still upset at not only this perceived slight against the class but the fact that it would receive no updates or new subclasses.
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D&D’s New Artificer Playtest Explained
Despite what seemed like the game’s designers straying away from additional classes, D&D 2024 is giving the Artificer another go. Earlier this month, Wizards of the Coast dropped a new Unearthed Arcana (the company’s name for playtest D&D material) with a revised version of the Artificer class within. This document also includes updated versions of the Artificer’s four subclasses, as well as a new spell. With the permission of their Dungeon Masters, players can try out this new class right now, and see its many changes in action.
Changes To The Artificer
Generally, the changes of D&D 2024 have made classes a bit stronger, streamlined their abilities, and added flexibility—and this Artificer is no exception. Magical Tinkering is a good example of this, as the ability now allows players to create one item from a list of common items, as opposed to its original presentation as Prestidigitation by a different name. Abilities like Flash of Genius have also been given quality-of-life improvements, with it now becoming a reaction to a failed roll.
Infusions, the class’ signature feature, have also changed; the ability is now limited to just Replicate Magic Item, but the feature does get a new boon at Level 6, which will allow players to turn their created items into spell slots. This removes some of the creativity inherent to the old Artificer, but it does cut down on some of the bookkeeping. In addition, the old infusions have been folded into the list of magic items Artificers can learn to replicate—another instance of streamlining. Everything within this UA is subject to change, of course, and fans will mold the class into whatever shape they deem fit, regardless of WOTC’s official version of the class.
Revised Subclasses And A New Spell
The Artificer’s subclasses have also been packaged in with this update, each revised for D&D 2024. The Alchemist can now brew potions faster, and its Experimental Elixir feature has been greatly buffed. In addition to a number of extra buffs, the Armorer now has a new Dreadnaught option—which will allow the subclass to better take advantage of positioning. The Artillerist’s Eldritch Cannon is now more flexible (allowing different options to be switched to on the fly), and the Battle Smith has seen slight stat tweaks to its Steel Defender companion.
The playtest also includes a number of magic items and a spell, all new for D&D 2024. However, they’ll all be familiar to veteran fans. The new magic items are just item versions of previous Infusions, allowing them to be added to the Replicate Magic Item ability table—though now a DM can also use them as treasure. The new Homunculus Servant spell also replaces an old infusion, keeping the homunculus’ stats mostly the same (albeit the creature now takes an hour to summon, though the spell can be cast as a RItual to save on slots).
Dungeons and Dragons
Created by Gary Gygax, Dungeons & Dragons is a tabletop game in which players craft their own worlds and band together to take on adventures through mysterious realms outlined in companion materials. One of the best role-playing games ever made, it has been adapted into a variety of video games and other media.
- Franchise
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Dungeons & Dragons
- Original Release Date
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1974-00-00
- Designer
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E. Gary Gygax
, Dave Arneson