How To Build And Artificer In DND

An artificer’s subclasses give them the flexibility to fill almost any role in a Dungeons & Dragons party, able to effectively serve as tanks, damage dealers and utility casters. Better than any class, you’re able to change between these roles on the fly by improvising new items and abilities to match the situation.

The strategies for building them will differ depending on what you want to get out of the class, and this guide will focus on covering the main ways for building an artificer and then using them in play. There are also a couple of fun, if suboptimal builds for those looking to try a new spin on the class.

Updated November 18, 2024, by Sean Murray: Dungeons & Dragons has received new rules that can drastically change the way you start a new character. We’ve updated this guide to reflect these new options in D&D’s 2024 rules refresh, and also given this guide a few tweaks for improved formatting.

Best Ability Scores For An Artificer

Artificers overlap a lot with wizards on their ability scores but to treat them the same can be a dangerous mistake. Your inventor will spend a lot more time in close combat, and they’ll need to be able to defend themselves outside of simply casting spells effectively.

Best Ability Scores

As noted above, you’ll definitely want Intelligence to be your highest ability score, followed by Constitution, and then Dexterity. Here’s how we suggest distributing your ability scores while creating a new character using points buy and standard array starts.

Best Subclasses For Different Artificer Playstyles

Having a clear idea of what you want your character to be will help a lot with picking your subclass, but don’t feel the need to restrict yourself in pursuit of a specific character image: Artillerists aren’t the only subclass able to use guns, and alchemists don’t have a monopoly on crafting potions. Your subclass will represent a specialty but not necessarily an exclusive focus.

Best For Large Parties: Artillerist

The Artillerist is all about getting value for money out of AoE effects. Your subclass spells are almost all AoEs. Your eldritch cannon can either provide area damage or area protection. These abilities will all see the most effect in a large group that fights large groups of enemies or wades through large numbers of small encounters. The cannons are cheap to replace as well. If one is destroyed, you can resummon with a single spell slot.

Artillerist is one of the easiest artificer subclasses to flavor as being completely non-magical. Spells such as shatter and catapult can be flavored as using a firearm to fire scattershot or heavy slugs, respectively.

Best Team Player: Alchemist

Alchemists gain strong utility and better healing from their Experimental Elixirs feature. You get a random assortment at the end of a long rest but if you want to pick and choose you’ll need to spend spell slots. The advantage of the elixirs over their equivalent utility spells is the lack of concentration. An elixir of boldness affects a third as many people as the first-level spell Bless but cannot be interrupted.

A flight speed of 10ft per round won’t help your barbarian to chase down a griffin, but it can let an undexterous and squishy wizard float gently through a room of traps without setting off any pressure plates (keep an eye open for tripwires though).

Even if one of the traps does hit them, there’s no risk of them losing the flight effect and falling into another, more dangerous trap.

The drawback of the Alchemist is they rely the most on their team in combat. Take care to not be caught alone or separated from your group.

Most Survivable: Armorer

Armorers can use more infusions than any other artificer but are the greediest about keeping them to themselves. You’re still a team player however: Your thunder gauntlet provides a taunting effect that draws fire away from other team members, and your infiltrator armor means you won’t sabotage a grouped stealth check.

This subclass shines when used as a defensive combatant, but if you emphasize defense too strongly some enemies may lose interest and attack the easier targets you’re aiming to protect.

A fun way of playing an Armorer artificer is to add as many adjectives to your fist as possible. Guardian Mode Armor gives you the Thunder Gauntlet. The Booming Blade cantrip upgrades this to the Booming Thunder Gauntlet. A radiant weapon infusion gives you the Radiant Booming Thunder Gauntlet.

Strongest All-Rounder: Battle Smith

This subclass combines the core features of the Artillerist and Armorer while losing the specializations of both. You can use intelligence to attack with weapons, but lose access to heavy armor and the bonus infusions of an armorer.

The Steel Defender is able to better defend other people but loses out on damage and is harder to revive than the replaceable cannons of an artificer.

Despite this, Battle Smiths do gain a notable piece of extra utility: The Battle Ready feature initially seems weaker than the Armorer’s intelligence weapons but can be used with any magical weapon. In a setting that contains plentiful magic items, a Battle Smith has much higher potential. They are, however, more dependent on having a generous GM who is willing to hand out magic items as loot or make them available for purchase.

Best Species For An Artificer

Species options are very open in D&D Fifth Edition due to the expanded rules for substituting ability score improvements. Not all tables play with this rule, though, and your characters’ heritages can provide other boons outside an increase in intelligence.

Best Species For An Alchemist

Alchemists benefit from a heritage that lets them stretch their healing resources further. An autognome Alchemist is unable to heal from their own potions, but instead can spend hit dice to heal by casting the Mending cantrip on themselves. Having separate resources for healing yourself and others allows both to last longer.

The mechanical resistance to poison and immunity to gaseous attacks let your Alchemist explore dangerous environments and weaponize them without risk to themselves.

Avoid the species that have ways of gaining temporary hit points as these will clash with the ones generated by your class elixirs.

Best Species For An Armorer

Goblin’s Nimble Escape lets them disengage from combat as a bonus action. This pairs well with the thunder gauntlet and booming blade: Striking an enemy and then disengaging gives them disadvantage to attack other party members, encouraging them to follow you and activate the secondary damage from booming blade by moving.

Gnome is a powerful, if unconventional option here: Your Gnomish Cunning gives advantage on saving throws against magic. Fighting on the front line you’ll face these saving throws more often than a traditional artificer. There is also some fun imagery from a character three feet tall punching people from a mechanized suit.

Best Species For An Artillerist

The ability to carry your turret makes Artillerists shine brightest when they have extra mobility. Flying species can make use of more angles to aim their flamethrowers without hitting allies, as well as share the defensive boost provided by Fortified Position while still hovering comfortably out of melee reach. Two options stand out here:

• A winged tiefling has this flight speed as well as resistance to fire in case they ever have to fight an evil mirror version of themselves.
• A fairy casting enlarge on the turret can ride it into battle (They can also cast Reduce on themselves, but it won’t be as intimidating).

Best Species For A Battle Smith

Similar to the Armorer, Battle Smiths thrive in melee. Their spell list is oriented around defensive buffs and aura spells that will see most use if they’re in the front lines often.

Hill dwarves gain extra hit points to survive longer, while mountain dwarves can ignore the strength requirements of armor. Both provide you an extra tool proficiency, which artificers always appreciate.

Best Multiclasses For An Artificer

Artificer and wizard share a problem when multiclassing: They’re the only two intelligence-focused classes. The overlapping utility of the two classes can also limit how much they can gain from each other. Despite that, artificer allows for some flavorful and powerful multiclassing options.

Best Backgrounds For An Artificer

Backgrounds in Fifth Edition are very malleable. The skills, tools, and languages they provide can all be substituted with GM permission, letting you pick largely based on the type of character you want to build. With that in mind, here are some options that can serve as scaffolding to build a character out from.

How To Play An Artificer In The 2024 Rules

Things haven’t changed too much for the artificer in D&D’s 2024 rules refresh. That said, some new starting options warrant discussing if you plan to play an artificer under the 2024 rules.

Background

When it comes to backgrounds, you’ll want to pick one that lets you boost your Intelligence score and offers a useful Origin Feat.

Easily the best of the backgrounds in the 2024 Player’s Handbook is the sage. As a sage, you can increase both your Intelligence and Constitution scores, and you get the all-powerful Magic Initiate Origin Feat. This provides you with two extra cantrips and a level one spell, vastly improving the artificer’s magical options.

If your team lacks a skill cipher, then the scribe makes a decent option, letting you improve your Intelligence score while providing the Skilled Origin Feat. The criminal or guard backgrounds are also decent with their Alert Origin Feats, as is the Merchant’s Lucky Origin Feat, but unless you have a compelling reason not to, stick with the sage background.

The artisan background is generally not recommended as the Crafter Origin Feat mostly provides features that you already have as an artificer.

Starting Equipment

The artificer’s standard starting equipment provides you with everything you’ll need to begin your artificer adventure. The sage’s starting equipment of a quarterstaff, book, parchment, and robe is generally useless to an artificer, so choose option B for some extra gold.

Species

It’s hard not to recommend human as the best species to play an artificer. Having an extra Origin Feat and an extra skill provides you with so many opportunities that just aren’t available to other species. The Toughness or Lucky Origin Feats are great to pair with the sage’s Magic Initiate feat for incredible early-game power.

Rock gnome is, perhaps unsurprisingly, another ideal choice for artificers. Mending is an essential cantrip for most artificers, and Gnomish Cunning makes you surprisingly tough in mage battles.

More melee-oriented artificers, such as the Armorer or Battle Smith, might find benefit in the goliath and orc traits.

Ability Scores

Your ability score priorities are no different in the 2024 rules than they were in the 2014 rules. Intelligence is your most important ability score, followed by Constitution, and then Dexterity. Use the suggested scores above to give yourself an ideal start.

Multiclass Options

Artificers are usually the class that other classes dip into rather than the other way around. That said, artificers can still receive some benefits with a level in another class. Check the chart in the preceding section for the best potential multiclass options.