TRing to Artificer

[iamheavenbound]

OK, so I'm now looking at a TR build for my arti, coming from a ranger for the +2 damage to ranged attacks. How does my stat distribution look? Should I drop Con/Str and increase Wis or Cha?

What about my feats, is there something weird about my order, or something good I'm missing? I really had to fight to get the feats to fit according to what I could take as a Artificer Feat.

Side note, is there an advantage to using a Light Repeater as opposed to a Heavy Repeater?

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Nemoy Maker
Level 20 True Neutral Human Male
(20 Artificer)
Hit Points: 222
Spell Points: 1233
BAB: 15\15\20\25\25
Fortitude: 9
Reflex: 13
Will: 12

Starting Feat/Enhancement
Abilities Base Stats Modified Stats
(34 Point) (Level 1) (Level 20)
Strength 10 12
Dexterity 16 19
Constitution 14 16
Intelligence 18 24
Wisdom 8 10
Charisma 8 10

Tomes Used
+2 Tome of Strength used at level 7
+2 Tome of Dexterity used at level 7
+2 Tome of Constitution used at level 7
+2 Tome of Intelligence used at level 7
+2 Tome of Wisdom used at level 7
+2 Tome of Charisma used at level 7

Starting Feat/Enhancement
Base Skills Modified Skills
Skills (Level 1) (Level 20)
Balance 5 19
Bluff -1 1
Concentration 6 27
Diplomacy -1 1
Disable Device 8 31
Haggle 3 23
Heal -1 1
Hide 3 5
Intimidate -1 1
Jump 1 11
Listen -1 12
Move Silently 3 5
Open Lock 7 28
Perform n/a n/a
Repair 4 8
Search 8 31
Spot 3 24
Swim 0 2
Tumble 4 8
Use Magic Device 3 24

Level 1 (Artificer)
Feat: (Past Life) Past Life: Ranger
Feat: (Selected) Point Blank Shot
Feat: (Human Bonus) Rapid Shot


Level 3 (Artificer)
Feat: (Selected) Augment Summoning


Level 4 (Artificer)
Feat: (Artificer Bonus) Precise Shot


Level 6 (Artificer)
Feat: (Selected) Toughness


Level 8 (Artificer)
Feat: (Artificer Bonus) Spell Focus: Evocation


Level 9 (Artificer)
Feat: (Selected) Insightful Reflexes


Level 12 (Artificer)
Feat: (Artificer Bonus) Improved Critical: Ranged Weapons
Feat: (Selected) Mental Toughness


Level 15 (Artificer)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Precise Shot


Level 16 (Artificer)
Feat: (Artificer Bonus) Maximize Spell


Level 18 (Artificer)
Feat: (Selected) Greater Spell Focus: Evocation


Level 20 (Artificer)
Feat: (Artificer Bonus) Empower Spell

[Calebro]

I would have helped if the text weren't dark blue against a black background. I can't see anything to read to offer advice on.

[Cardtrick]

The color choice is horrible, but the build is great. I wouldn't really change anything, except maybe to swap Mental Toughness out in exchange of Quick Draw. (And go half-elf with rogue dilettante rather than human.) But I can certainly understand not doing either. A lot of people would say the proper min-max choice is going for 10 Cha and 8 Str, but I'd do what you did -- I hate having less than 10 strength.

[Malison]

Side note, is there an advantage to using a Light Repeater as opposed to a Heavy Repeater?

When I was doing attack speed tests on my capped arti, light repeater was consistently 120 shots per minute where the heavy repeater frequently only got off 117. (conditions: haste, divine power, no other alacrity bonuses). I'm mostly confident in the test, as I added the arcane archer set and the heavy repeater consistently hit 120 with that.

A little mathcraft would suggest the heavy needs to do (120/117 = 1.025) 2.5% more damage to make up for its slightly slower attack rate.

Greensteel repeaters:

heavy 2d8 - avg 9
light 1d10 - avg 5.5

with identical crit profiles, and presumably all else would be equal. If the (9-5.5) 3.5 extra damage represents 2.5% or more of your total per shot, heavy is better. They're equal at roughly 140 average damage; less than that favors the heavy repeater.


That said, the difference is not very big, and if you buy weapons instead of crafting them light repeaters tend to be much cheaper.

--

Build looks good. Not a fan of fleshy artificers, but at least you didn't take construct essence. I swear that feat is the biggest trap since improved fortification.

Also agree with you and the poster above about those two points in str instead of cha. Being burdened sucks, and you've got the easiest class in the game for UMD.

Feat progression... looks pretty good, although I'd suggest maximize slightly earlier. In early mid levels trash mobs start to outgrow your crossbow, right about the point when you can start spamming maximized blast rod for exceptional AoE damage. You will find it far superior to the easily-destroyed and slowly-cast flame turret. As for what to swap it with... insightful reflexes. At low levels it's only a point or two difference with your dex, and you'd laugh at replacing it with lightning reflexes. Later it becomes much more useful; I'm getting +(5-7) off it.

It looks like you put a levelup into dex to qualify for IPS?

[iamheavenbound]

I would have helped if the text weren't dark blue against a black background. I can't see anything to read to offer advice on.

Yeah, sorry was a copy paste job and missed the bad color, then my computer wouldn't let me edit. Fixed now.

Malison - thanks for the math behind it. I will be crafting some, but will have to buy others, nice to know that it isn't a huge deal. So if the weapon has an average greater than 140 it favors the light repeater?

I don't own Warforged, so fleshy is my only option. Yes, I did take one level up in Dex. Hoping to find a +3 Dex tome before TRing, but not counting on it now.

Makes sense to move the insightful reflexes, I wondered at the small difference between the two from the beginning, but definitely will go with the swap of Maximize and Insightful Reflexes.

Cardtrick - What does quickdraw do for me? Is this because I'll be swapping to wands/scrolls, then back to my xbow so often I'll be able to switch faster? I only took Mental toughness because I'd seen talk that SP were a bit low.

Should I consider taking some feats for leveling, then swapping out when I get to higher level? (For example, is augment summoning still important at high level or will I find that my pet is pretty worthless at that point?)

Thanks for the help so far! Now I just need those last two levels.

[Cardtrick]

Cardtrick - What does quickdraw do for me? Is this because I'll be swapping to wands/scrolls, then back to my xbow so often I'll be able to switch faster? I only took Mental toughness because I'd seen talk that SP were a bit low.

It cuts down significantly on the activation time for action boosts and swap times for weapons/items. As artificers tend to do a lot of this, and also have some feat flexibility, I think it's a good choice for them. Depending on playstyle, it can either be great or almost completely worthless. I've had it on a couple of characters and now badly miss it when I can't fit it.

It's not just a matter of convenience, though -- it actually does improve damage output. It lets you get out more attacks while affected by short-duration boosts, especially on a human/half-elf where you'll be combining human versatility:damage boost with endless fusillade. The time it takes between clicking the boost and actually getting a shot out is not insignificant.

Plus, I just think Mental Toughness is a waste. 105 SP? Just not worth the feat slot.

[iamheavenbound]

It cuts down significantly on the activation time for action boosts and swap times for weapons/items. As artificers tend to do a lot of this, and also have some feat flexibility, I think it's a good choice for them. Depending on playstyle, it can either be great or almost completely worthless. I've had it on a couple of characters and now badly miss it when I can't fit it.

It's not just a matter of convenience, though -- it actually does improve damage output. It lets you get out more attacks while affected by short-duration boosts, especially on a human/half-elf where you'll be combining human versatility:damage boost with endless fusillade. The time it takes between clicking the boost and actually getting a shot out is not insignificant.

Plus, I just think Mental Toughness is a waste. 105 SP? Just not worth the feat slot.

I'll probably give it a try then. See what things work like without it, then get the feat and check out the changes. If I don't notice a difference I just switch to a different feat! Thanks.