U38 Preview 2: Artificer

[Cocomajobo]

NOTE:
This color means a that this thing was not in the first preview.
This color means that this thing was in the first preview.

General Arti Changes/Other

• Improved Construct Essence now functions like Construct Exemplar does presently on Live, granting full Construct species typing. It's available with 12 Artificer levels, and as an Artificer class feat.
• Construct Exemplar is no longer part of the line with the other two. It now adds +20 Repair Amp and +10 MRR. It is available to any character level 20+.
• Added Combat Expertise to the Arti feat list, because despite being an INT feat, and the fact that Fighters and Monks get it, they don't.
• Added Empower Healing as an available Artificer metamagic
• You no longer lose HP or SP when your Iron Defender dies. (Yes, this is coming to Druid as well).

Arcanotechnician:

• Uncaring Master gets replaced with Arcane Skills: +1/2/3 Spellcraft and UMD
• Palliative Admixture now scales at (20 temp hp + 1 per arti level, 10 temp sp + 1 for every 2 arti levels)
• Critical Admixture goes away (to Mastermaker), gets replaced with Runic Efficacy: Passive: +1 Evocation dc, +2 to Caster Level and Max Caster Level of Electric Spells, +2 to Rune Arm DCs.

Battle Engineer:

• Shatter Defenses DC calculation now includes Half Artificer Level
• Thunder-Shock Weapon DC calculation now includes Half Artificer Level

Curative Admixtures:

• Curative Admixture: Cure Critical Wounds is now a 5th level Artificer spell in the general Artificer spell table.
• Scrolls of Curative Admixture: Cure Critical Wounds now occasionally drop in treasure wherever 5th level scrolls drop.
• Curative Admixture spells have had their Spell Point costs adjusted.
• Curative Admixture spells have had their Maximum Caster Levels raised to match their Cure (non-Mass) analogues, and added to their tooltips.
• Curative Admixture spells have had their tooltips corrected with accurate damage values.
• Curative Admixture spells are now properly considered Conjuration spells for the purpose of DCs and Caster Levels.

[Cocomajobo]

Artificer: Renegade Mastermaker Tree
Renegade Mastermaker is the third tree for Artificers. It focuses on improving your Healing, personal Defense, some Melee, and building things to buff you and your allies.



Removed from previous preview:

• Stronger Admixtures (worked into Cores)
• Repair Light Damage SLA
• Repair Moderate Damage SLA
• Instant Fix

Cores

1. Renegade Defender: Each core ability in this tree grants you +10 Maximum Hit Points, +5 Positive Spell Power and +5 Repair Spell Power.
2. Alchemical Shield While in Medium Armor, Heavy Armor, or Adamantine Body, your equipped armor grants you a +4 Alchemical bonus to AC and immunity to Magic Missiles.
3. Curative Admixture: CSW SLA 4 Spell Points. 8 second cooldown. Passive: Your Admixture spells gain +4 to their Maximum Caster Level.
4. Constructive Conduit+30 Repair Amplification. +50 Maximum Hit Points. +2 Max Dex Bonus while in Medium Armor, Heavy Armor, or Adamantine Body Passive: Your Admixture spells gain +6 to their Maximum Caster Level.
5. Radiant Forcefield Radiant Forcefield SLA. 30 Spell Points. 3 minute cooldown.
6. Mass Unbreakable Forcefield+2 CON, +2 INT. +10 PRR, +10 MRR, +3 to Max Dex Bonus while in Medium Armor, Heavy Armor, or Adamantine Body. Active: Mass Unbreakable Forcefield: For 6 seconds, your entire party takes -95% damage from all sources (except Untyped damage). 3 minute cooldown. (This is a separate cooldown from the non-Mass version).

Tier 1

• Curative Admixture: CLW SLA. 4/3/2 Spell Points. 12/8/6 second cooldown.
• Easily Fixed: +10 Healing Amp, +20 Repair Amp
• Supporting Construction: While in Medium or Heavy Armor (or Adamantine Body), +2/4/6 PRR.
• Skills: Repair/Heal/Balance
• Toughness: +5/10/15 max hp

Tier 2

• Kinetic Discharge: Active Melee Cleave Attack: On hit, +1/2/3[w] and 2d6 Force damage. This damage scales with 200% Melee Power. 10 second cooldown.
• Mighty Slam: Single Target Melee Attack: +1/2/3[w]. You may stun the target for 6 seconds. Stunned creatures are considered helpless. A successful Fortitude save negates this effect. (DC: 10 + Half Artificer Level + INT modifier + Sunder Modifiers). Requires an equipped Rune Arm to use.
• Armor Mastery: +1/2/3 Armor Class and Armor Max Dex Bonus
• Converter: You create a small device that floats near an ally. Target player, hireling, or Druid Wolf pet at touch range takes 100% base healing from Repair spells for the next 3 minutes (or until target dies). This overrides their innate base healing from Repair spells for the duration. 3 minute cooldown.
• Action Boost: Action Boost: Defense OR Action Boost: Saving Throws

Tier 3

• Conjure Component: 10 Spell Points:You conjure a large number of components that stand in for the Potion requirements in all of your Admixture spells. These expire on logout.
• Battlefist: You empower your Rune Arm to devastate a target with a powerful strike. Single Target Melee Attack: +3[w], if the target is under the effect of Mighty Slam's Stun, it takes 1d3 Sonic Damage per Artificer level, 1d3 Force Damage per Artificer level, and is knocked down for 10 seconds with no save. This damage scales with 100% Melee Power. Requires an equipped Rune Arm to use. (This is also gettng a cool new animation.)
• Reinforced Armor: The Armor Class bonus you gain from armor or docents is increased by [15/30/50]%.
• Shielding Construct: 30 sp: You create a construct that shields you and your allies. You and nearby allies (at the time of activation) gain the effects of the Shield spell for 2 minutes. Cooldown: 2 minutes. This effect is dispelled by Antimagic.
• CON/INT

Tier 4

• Kinetic Charge: Passive: Any time you hit an opponent in Melee, you have a chance of gaining a stack of Kinetic Charge. Each stack grants a +1 Shield Bonus to AC for every 3 Artificer Levels you have. This stacks up to five times (for a potential total of +30). Stacks decrement by 1 every 15 seconds, and gaining a new stack resets the duration. Toggle: When this ability is toggled on, using Kinetic Discharge will clear all stacks of Kinetic Charge and slow (both movement and attack speed) all affected (non-boss) enemies by 10% per stack cleared for 10 seconds.
• Reconstruct SLA 35/30/25 Spell Points. 30/15/6 second cooldown. Shares a cooldown with other Reconstruct SLAs.
• Embed Component: Construct Essence or Warforged Required. +5/10/15 MRR and +2/4/6 Constitution. You can no longer use Evasion, Druid Wild Shape feats, or Primal Avatar's Tree form.
• Warding Construct: You create a drone set to counter magical spells. Every 10 seconds, you and nearby allies gain a +3 Alchemical bonus to Saving Throws vs. Magic and +3 Alchemical bonus to Saving Throws vs. Traps that lasts for 10 seconds. 4sp Activation. This construct (and its effects) last indefinitely until dispelled by relogging, Death, or Antimagic.
• CON/INT

Tier 5

• Curative Admixture: Cure Critical Wounds SLA. 5 Spell Points. 12 second cooldown.
• Multiselector: Forcefield
  
  • Unbreakable Forcefield: For 6 seconds, your target takes -95% damage from all sources (except Untyped damage). 3 minute cooldown. (This is a separate cooldown from the Mass version).
  • Reactive Forcefield: When you drop below 50% hitpoints, gain the effects of Unbreakable Forcefield for 6 seconds automatically. 90 second cooldown. (This is a separate cooldown from the non-Mass version).
• Paragon Body:You no longer suffer Arcane Spell Failure from armor. You gain +4 to Fortitude Saves and +20% Racial bonus to maximum hit points.
• Regeneration Construct: You are surrounded by arcane energy capable of repairing damage. Allies (equal to your Artificer level) are Repaired for 1 hit point per 3 Artificer levels as long as they are near you. This construct (and its effects) last indefinitely until dispelled by relogging, Death, or Antimagic. 30sp Activation.
• Mastermaker: Your Repair Wounds spells have no maximum caster level.

[zehnvhex]

Hi Steel:

Some unanswered questions from the preview thread:

1 - Will the DC calculation for mighty fist be adjusted to make it useful in Epic/Legendary/Reaper? You compared it to stunning blow but SB has a -much- higher theoretical cap due to higher available +str bonuses, fighter feats being often used, etc...Can we get it to scale more similar to monk Stunning Fist at the very least (+half caster level)?

2 - Will there be some sort of 'flagging debuff' added to mighty fist so that it can be used in conjunction with Battlefiest on boss fights?

3 - Will battlefiest get better scaling in mid/late-game? The damage sounds impressive on paper but won't when fighting mobs with 20+k health reduced by reaper penalties.

4 - Is something being done to make mastermaker, conjure components and +MCL to admixtures actually useful because as it currently stands, none of those will actually do anything. Like, literally nothing.

5 - Any plans to make the constructs worth taking? Shielding construct has a ~potential~ limited use for groups that are lazy. The other two have no real use in modern DDO.

6 - Any plans to make Converter more user friendly? As it stands it's an extremely cumbersome ability. We want to like it, we want to love it, but it's so heavy handed in it's limitations as to be not be a draw.

Thanks!

[Steelstar]

Hi Steel:

Some unanswered questions from the preview thread:

1 - Will the DC calculation for mighty fist be adjusted to make it useful in Epic/Legendary/Reaper? You compared it to stunning blow but SB has a -much- higher theoretical cap due to higher available +str bonuses, fighter feats being often used, etc...Can we get it to scale more similar to monk Stunning Fist at the very least (+half caster level)?

It already got that last thing. Read the notes! Beyond that: No.

2 - Will there be some sort of 'flagging debuff' added to mighty fist so that it can be used in conjunction with Battlefiest on boss fights?

3 - Will battlefiest get better scaling in mid/late-game? The damage sounds impressive on paper but won't when fighting mobs with 20+k health reduced by reaper penalties.

Might consider something to the first of those if we have time. No to the second. Regarding both of the last two questions: As several people helpfully pointed out in previous feedback threads, we shouldn't be balancing skills based on Reaper, right? The trip's the better part of the skill anyway.

4 - Is something being done to make mastermaker, conjure components and +MCL to admixtures actually useful because as it currently stands, none of those will actually do anything. Like, literally nothing.
5 - Any plans to make the constructs worth taking? Shielding construct has a ~potential~ limited use for groups that are lazy. The other two have no real use in modern DDO.

False! And no.

With regards to Shielding Construct, as I told a few people on Discord lately: If the sheer number of people who are still dying right now to Wisp Magic Missiles in Ravenloft is any indication (and it is), a Mass Shield ability has its uses. If you're wondering what the use of some these skills are, because you'd personally never consider taking them - Bear in mind they might not be meant for you or players who play the same way you do; and that's fine. "They're useful to some players" and "They're useful to the top end of players" are very different things, and both can exist (either overlapping or separately).

6 - Any plans to make Converter more user friendly? As it stands it's an extremely cumbersome ability. We want to like it, we want to love it, but it's so heavy handed in it's limitations as to be not be a draw.

Mostly no. There are one or two small things we're taking a look at, but the large restrictions are there for reasons that aren't changing anytime soon, sorry. Its indicator construct should be working right in this build.

[edrein]

Might consider something to the first of those if we have time. No to the second. Regarding both of the last two questions: As several people helpfully pointed out in previous feedback threads, we shouldn't be balancing skills based on Reaper, right? The trip's the better part of the skill anyway.

With regards to Shielding Construct, as I told a few people on Discord lately: If the sheer number of people who are still dying right now to Wisp Magic Missiles in Ravenloft is any indication (and it is), a Mass Shield ability has its uses. If you're wondering what the use of some these skills are, because you'd personally never consider taking them - Bear in mind they might not be meant for you or players who play the same way you do; and that's fine. "They're useful to some players" and "They're useful to the top end of players" are very different things, and both can exist (either overlapping or separately).

I'm going to try and not sound as sarcastic as I feel about this... But seriously? We can't scale abilities with the hindsight that they won't perform well in Epic/Legendary/Reaper but we can literally build a single ability around a -single- quest?

If you can't see the irony in that Steel, then I don't even know what to say.

[SerPounce]

Might consider something to the first of those if we have time. No to the second. Regarding both of the last two questions: As several people helpfully pointed out in previous feedback threads, we shouldn't be balancing skills based on Reaper, right? The trip's the better part of the skill anyway.

High HP mobs aren't just a reaper thing. Even regular LN ravenloft mobs have thousands of HPs. Normal Baba has, what, 4 million HP? ~90 damage on a special attack is trivial. I don't have a problem with it in this case because, as you said, this ability is really about the CC, but if this was a DPS ability it would need to scale a lot higher.

[zehnvhex]

It already got that last thing. Read the notes! Beyond that: No.

First off, huge thanks for taking the time to actually review and retune the tree. I hope you can see that we are super excited about Renegade Mastermaker coming to DDO. I don't want you for a second to think that I'm dumping on you or anything. I just...being able to become a badass magitek cyborg was what got me into playing Artificers in PnP in the first place.

So that being said, my food for thought counters:

1 - Awesome, thanks! It works guys! Feedback works guys! <3

2/3 - I'm a little disappointed but I can understand. It's just...we already have a ton of single target builds in the game and Artificer isn't exactly near the top of the heap. I get that you're reluctant to say "Okay we're nerfing monks but here's Artificers the new melee meta." I just look at what's on paper here and I don't see any reason to get it other than "Well I'm already committed to a sub-optimal single target melee build...might as well get this sub-optimal single target CC since I have literally nothing else to spend points on."

I'm just not a big fan of "It's okay to have this because heroic normal exists."

4 - I'd like to offer a counter:

Conjure Components: SLA's don't require these and ranged slow casting cure disease/neutralize poison isn't exactly in high demand to the point where an Artificer isn't going to be carrying these en masse anyways. This has literally zero use. SLA Restore Potion would make for an excellent SLA here instead.

Mastermaker: Correct me if I'm wrong but does it work with reconstruct? Because if it doesn't it's useless. If it does it's nice but not T5 worthy. By the time you hit the MCL on repair spells you have better healing options available. For a T5 this is -extremely- weak given the limitations that already exist on repair spells.

+MCL on admixtures: If these hadn't been baked in as baseline with the cores it'd be pretty trash. Without a way to quicken the animation though and the extremely low sp cost of the SLA's the extra 25~50 hp they'll heal for in heroics isn't exactly something I would specifically gun for. I get not everything needs to be in your face "HOLY COW!" (re: toughness) but...just...meh?

5 - Can we up the duration then on shield? 2 minute cooldowns are some of the most obnoxious things in video games to maintain and I played a Paladin in WoW. Try keeping 5 minute cooldowns up on 40 people. Really absolutely no reason for this to not be an always on thing or a 30 minute duration at least. Feel free to up the cast cost considerably, SP is not a problem for Artificers. While I can see the usefulness, it's honestly just not fun in it's current iteration. You're taking an ability and making it a -chore-.

Buffs should exist in two categories: Long enough duration to be effectively permanant or short duration/long cooldown 'burst' buffs. DDO already has -way- too many short duration/spammable buffs as is. Can we please stop adding to that pile? It's -terrible- gameplay.

6 - I strongly, -strongly- hope you'll find some way to make it less terrible. Any chance we can make it a toggle like seasons herald with a, say, 45 second cooldown and a graphic on your target of some kind? As it stands again, unless something has changed from the last PTR pass, it's just awful to use and nothing about it feels good.

As always, thanks for striving to make DDO better!

[Steelstar]

For those curious, here's what Mighty Slam (which will use the normal Stun animation) followed by Battlefist (which is getting the new animation seen below) is going to look like:

[Kza]

For those curious, here's what Mighty Slam (which will use the normal Stun animation) followed by Battlefist (which is getting the new animation seen below) is going to look like:

Argh.... Dont do awesome things like this.
I was 100% sure it was druid to try out first 1-30 and a week or two at cap.

My brain get it hard, too many choises.

Need to try out when live and see if viable/fun in reaper.

Really fun work in both druid and arty. New uniqe things and not "only" + mrr, prr melee/range/spell Power.

10/10

[edrein]

For those curious, here's what Mighty Slam (which will use the normal Stun animation) followed by Battlefist (which is getting the new animation seen below) is going to look like:

Animation looks good but the damage... That's beyond paltry Steel. You stated it was scaled purposefully to take into account the helpless nature (and I'm sure you took that at a lower level without a lot of melee power) but still, that's not looking all that great for late heroics, epics, legendary, etc.

Edit: Clarifying I meant the sonic and force damage portion.

[Steelstar]

Animation looks good but the damage... That's beyond paltry Steel. You stated it was scaled purposefully to take into account the helpless nature (and I'm sure you took that at a lower level without a lot of melee power) but still, that's not looking all that great for late heroics, epics, legendary, etc.

Edit: Clarifying I meant the sonic and force damage portion.

Please note that this terrible character I assembled in 45 seconds to show off this ability should not be taken as any sort of indicator about balance. It has no Destinies. I took Toughness for most feats. 75% of its gear slots are empty.

[zehnvhex]

Alright, played around with some melee Arti builds in the new content.

0 - The upgraded versions of stunning fist don't benefit from Artificer levels according to the text. Didn't test really to see if it's just ~someone~ forgot to update the text or not though. /cough

1 - The damage, as anticipated, is extremely low. Going T5 RM locks you out of pretty much every damage ability/talent available to other Arti builds. I don't see this being a potential solo build at all in any capacity.

2 - I tried again going T5 battle as my primary instead and subbing into RM instead of Harper/Arcano. It...wasn't pretty. A single target 15 second CC and some SLA healing is not worth delaying getting KTA or Blasting Rod SLA. Clear times were noticeably slower which lead to taking more damage which lead to taking even longer etc...I had to drop down a reaper tier just to complete the first quest in the new chain.

3 - Battlefist was about as useful as a wet noodle. I can semi-reliably CC one target in a pack which means I can usually take the most dangerous champ out of the fight. Great on pulls of 2~4 mobs but the new quests are a return to the questionable design of "Let's make every mob pack have like, 12 mobs in it. That's fun right?" The damage is as advertised awful.

As soon as I got tactical detonation I pretty much stopped using slam/battlefist completely. It wasn't worth the hotbar spaces.

4 - Converter is still clunky. I tried using it on my hireling and using heal scrolls was just flat out better than converter/SLA helaing. Less overhead, less worrying about it if it dropped off. The only use I see for this is if you are in a static with a Palemaster.

5 - The constructs were all pretty much not worth the AP. The shield one could have use for carrying bads who don't have shield clickies but the duration and range is simply too small. "GATHER FOR SHIELD!" every 2 minutes is going to be terrible. The saves one worked pretty much as advertised. The regen one seemed glitchy. I got knocked unconscious at one point and the saves construct stayed on me, but the regen vanished. The healing from it is simply not noticeable.

6 - I don't like slam and battlefist having the same icon. I'm hoping this gets changed as well when the new animation for it goes in.

So in summation:

RenM is bad for melee builds. If you go T5 RenM you basically halve your damage potential. If you use RenM as an off tree you have to delay going deeper into BE or getting KTA/insightful damage, etc...etc...for slightly cheaper healing and not much else.

I didn't really feel any more tanky/able to survive than I did when not using the tree. The lower damage just puts you more at risk. I could possibly see giving up Arcano and going RenM once you hit epics but at that point you have significantly better healing options anyways so....what's the point?

Anyways...

I stand by my statements in the previous review thread. This tree is still having a significant crisis of identity and it suffers significantly for it. It lacks a lot of essential healing tools to be a healer tree. You definitely can't go pure tank with it and as a focus/splash for tanking you're straight up trading mitigation (~50 PRR less than current meta tanks, huge chunk of MRR as well) for avoidance/hp (15~25 AC give or take, 3 more dodge, 20% more hp).

The only niche I see for this is a Arcano Arti who is in a static group with a Palemaster Wizard. You'll be able to drop the 6 points or whatever for converter so the PM can heal himself with reconstruct.

Edit:

Before certain people show up, "It's okay for it to be mediocre because Normal difficulty is a thing" is not a valid counter-point to anything.

[Memnir]

[zehnvhex]

For those curious, here's what Mighty Slam (which will use the normal Stun animation) followed by Battlefist (which is getting the new animation seen below) is going to look like:

<3

Absolutely beautiful. I love it. Will we have to worry about animation canceling putting the ability on cooldown? That is to say, does the ability go on CD after the damage portion or before the animation?

Thanks!

[vms4ever]

I only did one quest (the first of the new ones) and it seemed that the core alchemical shield was not giving immunity to magic missiles but the shielding construct was (for 2 minutes). There was a lot going on and I wasn't able to confirm that it was magic missile vs something else that looked like magic missile, but it did hurt.

Edit: Ran another quest and the core alchemical shield was blocking magic missiles. Not sure whether there was a problem on the first run or not. First quest was immediately after doing the enhancements, second one was after logging.

[UurlockYgmeov]

For those curious, here's what Mighty Slam (which will use the normal Stun animation) followed by Battlefist (which is getting the new animation seen below) is going to look like:

just wait until a Kobold Arti does that to a party! muhahahahaha!

[grausherra]

Shielding Construct: 30 sp: You create a construct that shields you and your allies. You and nearby allies (at the time of activation) gain the effects of the Shield spell for 2 minutes. Cooldown: 2 minutes. This effect is dispelled by Antimagic.

What did we, as the community of artificers in DDO, do to deserve a 2 min cool-down buff? Would the balance of the game have really been thrown off if you made the duration more player friendly? I know that artificers aren't you guys favourite class, but ****.

[edrein]

Is there still a chance that we can get a small change pushed into Embed Component? I'd like to see a cross over point for Swashbuckler. I'd like it if you could take Embed Component or even T5 Paragon Body and swashbuckler while in medium armor. You've given up your evasion altogether, but you maintain the original theme of tabletop Swashbuckler which is blinding speed with your hands. 'Cyborg' hands are going to be deft enough. This would open a nice door for interesting multiclass options in my opinion, and reinforce the original idea of Music Box in Swashbuckler.

[DrawingGuy]

The Shield spell is definitely underrated, and I've taught many people where to buy shield scrolls/wands (and nightshield scrolls) in the Marketplace. However considering that it is a level 1 spell that also has unlimited access with a small amount of UMD, I see no reason for Shielding Construct to have a nerfed duration on a T3 ability. It should work like the spell with a 1 min per caster level and 5 minute minimum (possibly also affected by Extend, though willing to lose out on that).

As a 2 minute spell on a 2 minute cooldown, I'd simply not waste my AP and continue to teach people where to get it themselves. Give it a proper duration like the normal spell has, and I'd take it in a second so as to cover those that haven't learned yet and save a few inventory slots.



I'm also on the fence regarding the aura and repair spell cap removal T5 abilities. Where they are amazing and build worthy with Radiant Servent as Positive Healing works for everyone other than Undead Wizzy builds and those noob enough to take the trash Improved Fortification feat, Repairs only work on two races and the very few that take construct feats. Converter helps this, but as others can attest, is clunky... and even with it, you're still only helping a small part of the party or raid.

What I think should happen is allow for the aura to also give 50% Repair Healing (assuming it can be coded to only apply if the target does not have higher repair from feats/race/Converter). This would make the repair lines of the tree a lot more natural to use along with the aura being generally useful instead of only partially. Converter would still have a place for tank healing or non-T5 RM builds.

Even with all that, it would still fall well behind a cleric due to the better access to Heal Amp and far less likelihood of people equiping Repair Amp at all, but I feel it is necessary for the repair nature of RM to work even semi-effectively for a party/raid.


@edrein - I personally don't see the need of RM allowing for Medium Armor Swashbuckler. You are already allowed to take advantage of the RM and Swashbuckler abilities together, and the defensive logics are completely different. Swashbuckling is all about being light on your feat with light armors and light weapons, while RM is about replacing your body with robotic (constructed) parts and those simply being tougher than flesh. Though unless they restrict Embed and Paragon to Addy/Medium+, you can already take advantage of almost everything RM has to offer while swashing in light armor.

[slarden]

The 2 repair slas are gone.