Aren't artificers a bit over-powered?

[Loriac]

Niac's cold ray: lvl 1 spell, at lvl 4:
WF sorc (for selfheals): cha: 16 base, 1 lvl up point, +1 item (we're talking bout general here, not top notch 500 PL's cus that would qualify for arti too), +1 tome maybe and +1 enhancements? Assume 20 cha: 5 modifier in this case.

10 + spell level (1) + 5 + 1 feat if u have. If u wanna assume 3 sorc PL's an arti can also assume 3 ranger/monk PL's for +27 damage a shot.

Niacs is conjuration not evocation. My sorc at that time was human, not WF.

Cha: 18 + 1 level + 1 tome + 3 item + 1 enhancement = 24, for +7

Most sorcs should take SF:conjuration at level 1, with a view to swap it out for evoc at around level 6 (if going anything other than earth savant).

DC: 17 at it's max, meaning even a 0 reflex mob will save it at a 17 roll, assume mobs have 3 reflex, orange nameds have 5 reflex? Maybe 7

DC 19, and ogres have bad reflex saves. I think I may even have had heighten, but its a while now so I can't remember the feat order (first feats were SF:conj, Maximise, then probably heighten - I don't tend to take toughness or empower until later).

Because of that, you need to divide the niacs damage by almost 2 for oranges, and 1.5 for others. Because arti's oneshot trash hat means they are 33% more effective as that is the amount they onehitkill an enemy more while vs orange nameds the arti 3-shots and 'in general' the sorc will 2-shot

Not my recollection tbh, but ymmv.

These are all raw assumptions, that if niacs would hit 250 at lvl 4 without meta's, which is already an untrue statement to begin with, because that would require (niacs has 50 max damage) 500 cold spell power on a lvl 4, if you are lucky to hit the max * 5... I didn't even see lvl 25's hit that without meta's

You could try reading what I wrote - the 200-250 I was stating was with maximised on. I suspect thinking back that this toon was before the spellpower changes were made, and I could certainly accept that the raw damage on the current game is closer to 160-180 non crit. At level 4 you can be casting at level 5 with lesser arcane augmentation (veteran status gear).

Btw, the way that works is:

150 (maximise) + 50 (enhancements) + 40ish (items) = 240, so 3.4x 50 = 170damage (without even needing to empower the bolt). On crits, you're looking at 300+ damage.

I'm getting the idea you have no clue what you're talking about, but I can tell you this:
I duo'd 5/6th (split in the end) life on my TR as sorc with a guildie arti, and until lvl 6ish he was 3 times as useful I was, then he was 1.5 times as useful, and by the time I hit lvl 10-12 I was easily useful, growing more and more useful compared to him at higher lvls

If by useful you mean he could do traps, then sure, he was more useful. That utility doesn't make the arty more powerful however (in my opinion).


Edit: this side discussion of sorc vs. arty is missing the point really. Even on TR3 you hit level 6 within hours of play.

If I was to summarise my experiences of sorc and arty based on having played about 5 lives worth of both classes to cap, it would be:

i. I find artys more fun than sorcs, as they have more things they can do
ii. Solo, artys can complete everything (and more) a sorc can, but its a lot slower
iii. Sorcs really shine when you need to put out obscene amounts of damage quickly
iv. If you have the gear, your low level sorc can be ridiculously overpowered - in particular, the vibrant purple ioun stone is a game changer for a level 5 sorc, you can throw meta'd nukes around without really caring about sp conservation at all

I actually much prefer the arty from a playstyle perspective, but I definitely see them being weak on burst damage, and also on consistent damage vs. other classes at high level.

This thread seems intended to ask for a nerf for artys, and I don't think thats warranted. There is also no point investing time and effort into 'balancing' the low level game, as you can steamroll through it on pretty much anything. At endgame, I doubt anyone would seriously suggest that artys are overpowered. The OP basically hasn't played an arty at that level, and yet is asking for the class to be nerfed (by implication rather than directly coming out and saying it).