Returning ancient needs help with pure arti build

[wagnerloeher]

Hello everyone.

Last time I played this game we were all amazed by Cannith crafting. Now it's a whole other dimension.
I decided to let my old character in his eternal slumber and make a new one from zero.
I never played an Artificer before, and I really like the Completionist feat, so I'll try to get that eventually, starting with Artificer.
If you would so kindly help me in developing a build (in extreme detail, like, what skill points, feats, enchancements, spells, action points I get at every level) I'd be deeply grateful!

Things I do have: Drow, Warforged and the Artificer class (duh). I do not have most races, but nonetheless, I like "backstory" a lot, so I'm either going Human or Warforged (unless you guys tell me that's UTTERLY TERRIBLE. I like min/max, but I'm not all that crazy about it). I also start with a 32-point build... so yeah... I have that going on for me... which is nice. Also trying to bring in my girlfriends and my IRL friends to the game.

Things I don't mind: I don't mind being ranged or melee or "full-support" if that's a thing in this class. I have no idea what reaper is or about Epic stuff, because back in my day we were amazed the game added raining. Rain wasn't a thing when I started. I do play tabletop D&D and I know the Eberron setting, and I have a ton more questions (I'm in Orien, cause old habits die hard). I'd truly appreciate your insights in build-making. Thank you.

[unbongwah]

Welcome back, OP. Ahh, the glory days of raiding uphill in the snow both ways - I remember them well!

You're in luck, as SSG recently added a third Artificer tree (Renegade Mastermaker). They also improved Battle Engineer and Arcanotechnician since you were last here. Owning Harper Agent is recommended but not necessary.

We have a number of Arty threads but here's a couple to start:
Melee: https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...elee-Artificer
Ranged: https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...used-artificer

I've been meaning to post a "caster + crafter" human Arty build. Maybe I'll finally get around to that...

[lemiro]

There is a caster/ranged build that is good fun also, I found it much easier than the excellent melee artificer build that Unbongwah has linked for you

https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...tric-Critzilla

[wagnerloeher]

Thank you very much unbongwah and lemiro.
I'll be using the ranged arti build unbongwah linked, looks great!

Can't wait to lag my way till finally disconnecting after 50 min inside a dungeon. Hopefully my internet is better than in 2010.

[andrul]

Oh man, I remember playing this on my old DSL connection. It was... painful
Mainly because the DSL kept failing and I was falling back to dial-up on what felt like a daily basis.

I went caster/ranged with my arti which is now lvl 19. Here are some random thoughts on it:

Definitely get Eschew Materials feat. Will free up 6 inventory spaces at higher levels and only costs an extra 2 SP.

Use repeating heavy crossbows and train up your crafting. Remember that with a repeater it's firing 3 bolts so unless you're missing a lot you're tripling damage from spells like Elemental Weapon and any crafting enhancements like acid and unnatural bane. Speaking of which, those two are my favorites for affecting the most common types of monsters. Conjure Bolts allows you to stock up on magic ammo before entering a dungeon that scales with your level.

I mostly solo, found the Renegade Mastermaker great for raising ac & hp if you're warforged or have taken the Construct essence feats. The 5th tier gives you and all other non-meatbags around you thirty minutes of good regeneration for cheap sp.

Harper Agent tree lets you use INT for hit and damage, further augment your pet and hirelings, increase skills and sp.

Battle Engineer can really boost your rune arm dps. I have a lvl 13 RA which does over 100 dps if I'm standing still. This is in addition to spells and crossbow damage between RA shots.

Spell Focus Evocation is great for keeping monsters on their knees once you get Tactical Detonation at lvl 15. You can also craft evocation dc bonuses onto your RA.

[Kodwraith]

Welcome back!

For a pure Arti build that's pretty forgiving, I'm playing the Vorpal Queen build on my main crafter toon and really liking it. It's a 36 point build but with no Epic past lives, and even so the build performs well in heroic elite. The main thing you need is a DEX tome, but even that is manageable.

The only mod I made was I went with just regular medium armor instead of burning a feat for Heavy Armor and took Precision in that slot instead.

[ForgettableNPC]

I'm a bit late to this post, but welcome back.

Here's my pure melee Arti build.