'Spare' Artificer feat

[Haphazarduk]

I'm finally levelling up (just at 8th level-up) what I hope is my ideal for an Artificer having tried multiple variations of artificer up to level 7 including a melee version, dragonmarked crafter (still got him) and high chr drow (I know, I know).

The current choice is a pretty standard WF dex-based build (at least for IPS and to-hit) aiming for a focus on repeater damage and a decent DC for BB.

I'm finding that my level 8 feat choice is far from easy. One obvious choice is for Augment Summons but to be honest I'm not missing it that much. I find the dog good enough for what I use it for and, so far, no appreciable difference in the durability of my flame turrets although I'm sure that may change. Quicken is tempting but there are limited spells for its use and even quick draw might be interesting to swap quickly between Xbows.

I should add that I'm happy to swap out Rapid Shot to the 8th slot to make any feat choice possible as a 6th level choice through Fred.

Any thoughts?


Level 1 (Artificer)
Feat: (Selected) Toughness

Level 3 (Artificer)
Feat: (Selected) Point Blank Shot

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

Level 6 (Artificer)
Feat: (Selected) Rapid Shot

Level 8 (Artificer)
?

Level 12 (Artificer)
Feat: (Artificer Bonus) Improved Critical: Ranged Weapons
Feat: (Selected) Spell Focus: Evocation

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

[wax_on_wax_off]

Perhaps maximise? I'd definitely want maximise and possibly empower available at level 15 as soon as you get blade barrier.

[Haphazarduk]

I took Maximize at 16th as I thought I could wait a level as it seems largely redundant before you get BB. Perhaps I should be prioritizing the damage I can do with BB over taking IPS as soon as possible?

BTW the melee build was based on your Bastard Sword Wielding build. Was great fun at low levels but I really struggled as I hit the mids due to taking too much flak (I solo a fair amount and I don't have great gear to call on as I'm new back to the game). Also I found myself thinking - but Artificers are good at ranged so make the most of that! May come back to that chr later though as I did enjoy the mixing it up in melee.

Hap

[FuzzyDuck81]

You also forgot to put in your level 9 feat.

iirc on my arty i didnt bother with evocation focus, figure +1 isnt a huge deal so i took quicken instead.. quickened reconstructs are pretty handy also took umd focus.

Augment summon does come in handy... it's not essential, but can't really go wrong with doggy, hires & summons all becoming stronger (umd a summon monster scroll), and apparantly it works on puddings too which will synergise nicely with the guard & ooze repeater i've got planned

[smeggy1384]

I believe Mr Cow said quick draw does not speed up artis endless fusilade boost, i'd not take it for weapon swaps alone. As an arti you really need the weapons prebuffed, if you forget to buff the banisher for a few elementals quick draw will not help there.

You're currently on a WF, quicken spell makes a lot of sense. If you're soloing and the hireling is lost while you get whacked on you need those repairs to go without interruption. Same with casting flame turret, which was still a heck of an agro magnet even in lvl 20 quests (not tried any epics).

Augment summon could be a very good one, if the pet decides to stay active. Probably half of the time mine stops fighting and stands there, or sometimes flies rather than stands.. Dismissing it and resummoning usually fixes this, but if you just buffed it or the rare bug that claims the dismissed pet (even if it had full health) is dead when you attempt to resummon prevents doing so in quest its a pain. When it works it works great, and in those cases i feel its worth the feat slot.

As for feats order, get either empower or maximize at 8 (whichever is the lesser SP cost, unless you always have tons of sp left over), both should help with repair spells. The second you want at 12 in place of spell focus evoc, you likely won't be seeing big rune arm damage (my biggest useage of them is fireball ones for barrel smashing until the lvl 17 acid one) so do the dc's matter?

[Haphazarduk]

Thanks for the feedback. I did, I missed an entire feat! That's quite nice actually

What I didn't show by the way was actually taking SF:UMD at 4th and swapping out at 14 with Precise Shot. It's much more useful till then.

Quicken definitely feels like a strong choice. I've already been interrupted a few ties casting Flame Turret in Crystal Cove.


Ok, so how about;

Level 1 (Artificer)
Feat: (Selected) Toughness

Level 3 (Artificer)
Feat: (Selected) Point Blank Shot

Level 4 (Artificer)
Feat: (Artificer Bonus) Precise Shot (actually SF:UMD until 14th)

Level 6 (Artificer)
Feat: (Selected) Rapid Shot

Level 8 (Artificer)
Feat: (Artificer Bonus) Quicken

Level 9 (Artificer)
Feat: (Selected) Empower Spell

Level 12 (Artificer)
Feat: (Artificer Bonus) Improved Critical: Ranged Weapons
Feat: (Selected) Maximize Spell

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

Level 16 (Artificer)
Feat: (Artificer Bonus) Spell Focus: Evocation

Level 18 (Artificer)
Feat: (Selected) Insightful Reflexes/Mental Toughness/Toughness?

Level 20 (Artificer)
Feat: (Artificer Bonus) Greater Spell Focus: Evocation

Cheers

Hap

[smeggy1384]

Level 18 (Artificer)
Feat: (Selected) Insightful Reflexes/Mental Toughness/Toughness?

Of those i'd think insightful reflexes, assuming you have the gear to push int noticeably ahead of dex by that point. Mental toughness isn't going to add much SP, and a second toughness is only 22 HP (first got you the enhances so is worth more).

With that missed feat at 9 you may want empower and maximize by then, with quicken at 12. I don't recall a lot of situations (few packs of earth elementals mainly) where i was interrupted casting flame turret prior to 12, but then i tend to shoot into a room and duck around the corner for that anyway (or cast turret in a door before shooting in). Probably not too big a deal either way, you'll have it all before the critters start hitting really hard.

[Haphazarduk]

Is there anything to cast Maximize/Empower on at 8/9 though? Perhaps worth taking for Lightning Motes at 10 once I get my second 4th level slot (thinking Armor of Speed is best first choice at 9th?).

I think Insightful Reflexes is top in my list at 18th too...

Hap

[smeggy1384]

max/empower repairs for the WF and his mutt of course. May not need it all of the time, but its like the difference in a plain cure spell and a max/empowered one when you're at almost no health.

[Haphazarduk]

Sold!

Hap

[wax_on_wax_off]

iirc on my arty i didnt bother with evocation focus, figure +1 isnt a huge deal so i took quicken instead.. quickened reconstructs are pretty handy also took umd focus.

Evocation feats are a massive deal, absolutely try to have these on an artificer for rune arm damage primarily and spells (like BB) secondly.

I took Maximize at 16th as I thought I could wait a level as it seems largely redundant before you get BB. Perhaps I should be prioritizing the damage I can do with BB over taking IPS as soon as possible?

BTW the melee build was based on your Bastard Sword Wielding build. Was great fun at low levels but I really struggled as I hit the mids due to taking too much flak (I solo a fair amount and I don't have great gear to call on as I'm new back to the game). Also I found myself thinking - but Artificers are good at ranged so make the most of that! May come back to that chr later though as I did enjoy the mixing it up in melee.

Hap

I'm sorry it didn't work out for you, I loved the build from 1-10 and 15-20 but in those few middle levels it was a real pain as I just couldn't compete with my GS wielding brethren (wasn't about to make a GS bastard sword just for leveling).

I played it much like a ranger, swapping between melee and ranged as situation demanded. I didn't even bother taking my epic chimera's fang along to challenges (left it in bank due to timer on aligned augment crystal) as easier to just use crossbow.

[Haphazarduk]

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed it. I just struggled enough that I thought a ranged Arti would be more appropriate to my experience, kit and style. So far I've had good success with the current build and generally get good feedback from groups whereas with my melee Arti I was too much of a drain when in a group and too prone to dying in solo.

Hap

[steeven]

i was wondering what feats i should take with my artificer as well, and this thread helped there. i also would like to say this is one of the classes i like better, especially for a ranged class. ive soloed The Pit 2x already, and VON1,2, and 3 so far. when i get on later tonight im gonna try to finish up my VOn flagging, but the dps is just crazy uber. definetly worth playing.

[TheHolyDarkness]

My question here is:

Does Rapid Shot really work?

It sounds too similar to the Rapid Reload we automatically get. Makes me wonder if it truly "stacks."

~TheHolyDarkness Out~

[Khatzhas]

Yes, Rapid Shot and Rapid Reload do stack. Its very much worth getting Rapid Shot.

Regarding Artificer feats, I actually took maximise quite early on. Used with Blast Rod and Storm enhancements, it makes a very effective emergency button. Its not something you want to do regularly, but being able to throw 200 hit points or so of electrical pain downrange when you really have to is rather handy.

I was playing a half-elf, and took the Dragonmark feats, which are also very useful under the effects of Maximise.

[Jaid314]

quick draw is decent for an artificer if you plan on a lot of item swaps (and if you're an artificer, you probably should be planning on a lot of item swaps =S )

skill focus:UMD can be nice for the early levels, provided you don't mind swapping it away at later levels.

[wax_on_wax_off]

My question here is:

Does Rapid Shot really work?

It sounds too similar to the Rapid Reload we automatically get. Makes me wonder if it truly "stacks."

~TheHolyDarkness Out~

Rapid Shot works but it's a small ~5% increase, not a massive deal but important to have by raiding level.