Heroic artificer is easy and fun!

[kmoustakas]

After playing artificers extensively for years and just recently coming back to them to test a build after a small detour in barbarian, I have made the following discoveries. I solo run every quest at r1: I could probably run at higher reaper but I find that for heroic, the time vs reward for higher reaper is not worth it.

Levels 1 to 5, all you gotta do is pew pew. Even if you want to be a melee artificer and take no ranged feats, repeating crossbows are probably the best weapon at this stage in the game. Move back and pew pew! Your dog and your hireling and your summon can keep your enemies away, so make sure you grab augment summon at level 1 as a feat and you can change that later for either construct essense at 12 or spell focus evocation (for epic!).

Once level 6 rolls around, you can finally get access to lightning rod sla. That SLA is extremely powerful: you can pew pew and once anything gets close, unleash it. By then you also have the turret summon spell which is an extra body that does aoe fire damage. So now you have aoe for close up, aoe for medium range lightning sphere sla and pew pew for far. I usually take quicken, empower and maximize by level 6 thanks to the artificer bonus feat alongside augment summon so those SLAs are very strong. I spend all my points in the arcanotechnitian tree, getting the SLAs and empowering my doggie to heal me and my hireling (if warforged). Then at 12 you get the lightning bolt SLA and you can strip lightning immunity via your runearm and can put a spare point on lightning motes sla, giving you another good aoe effect.

Up until level 13, a random vorpal xbow and the necronomicanon from the fey wilderness, are fine for all enemies with 0 investment in ranged feats or enhancements (other than the insightful damage spell). It is just too strong, no matter what you aim your final build to be. The slas take care of groups of enemies.

[Livmo]

After playing artificers extensively for years and just recently coming back to them to test a build after a small detour in barbarian, I have made the following discoveries. I solo run every quest at r1: I could probably run at higher reaper but I find that for heroic, the time vs reward for higher reaper is not worth it.

Levels 1 to 5, all you gotta do is pew pew. Even if you want to be a melee artificer and take no ranged feats, repeating crossbows are probably the best weapon at this stage in the game. Move back and pew pew! Your dog and your hireling and your summon can keep your enemies away, so make sure you grab augment summon at level 1 as a feat and you can change that later for either construct essense at 12 or spell focus evocation (for epic!).

Once level 6 rolls around, you can finally get access to lightning rod sla. That SLA is extremely powerful: you can pew pew and once anything gets close, unleash it. By then you also have the turret summon spell which is an extra body that does aoe fire damage. So now you have aoe for close up, aoe for medium range lightning sphere sla and pew pew for far. I usually take quicken, empower and maximize by level 6 thanks to the artificer bonus feat alongside augment summon so those SLAs are very strong. I spend all my points in the arcanotechnitian tree, getting the SLAs and empowering my doggie to heal me and my hireling (if warforged). Then at 12 you get the lightning bolt SLA and you can strip lightning immunity via your runearm and can put a spare point on lightning motes sla, giving you another good aoe effect.

Up until level 13, a random vorpal xbow and the necronomicanon from the fey wilderness, are fine for all enemies with 0 investment in ranged feats or enhancements (other than the insightful damage spell). It is just too strong, no matter what you aim your final build to be. The slas take care of groups of enemies.

Awesome!

I love playing 1-20 arty and I did an arty/barbie build last year. I'm saving the other 2 barbarian lives for later on it was so much fun!

Last year before the end of the old winter event I put Icy Burst on my teens vorpal xbow. Good times! I was sad when I finally out leveled it.

I've got a lowbie Hobble's xbow that I haven't equipped yet from Irestone Inlet to get started on those future barbie arty lives, https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Hobble%27s_Crossbow and a few lowbie rune arms.

[kmoustakas]

Awesome!

I love playing 1-20 arty and I did an arty/barbie build last year. I'm saving the other 2 barbarian lives for later on it was so much fun!

Last year before the end of the old winter event I put Icy Burst on my teens vorpal xbow. Good times! I was sad when I finally out leveled it.

I've got a lowbie Hobble's xbow that I haven't equipped yet from Irestone Inlet to get started on those future barbie arty lives, https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Hobble%27s_Crossbow and a few lowbie rune arms.

I have a keen/vorpal + icy minimum level 4 repeater that only gets outleveled by fatal flaw. The only thing better than that would be keen/vorpal with a slot lol. It's just overpowered in combination with necronomicanon which I'm still using at level 14. Yes arm of archons does a lot more damage... if you get it to tier5. Necronom is better for pew pew purposes.

Alternatively, storm would obviously be better if you are an inquisitive. I have 11 points in renegade right now and 40 in arcanotechnitian at level 14 and the SLAs clean out everything. Perhaps i could use 3 points in inquisitive and just go with Storm for the set bonus too with the gem of many facets combo cannith crafting but I'm worried with no/few points in inquisitor it won't be as good as repeater with no points

[kmoustakas]

Update: Level 15

I have reached level 15 and there is so much going on with gear I can't even. However, I get chain lightning and with the way I spent my AP, it one shots everything within it's range. I feel I'm close to the point where I respec to remove the arcanotechnitian SLAs tree because both Prismatic Spray and Chain lightning one shot everything whereas with the SLAs I have to rotate lightning motes and blast rod. Lightning bolt SLA is still amazing because of long range and chance to double proc and the doggie still keeps me fully healed most of the time, so those will stay.

Right now I have taken all 3 single weapon fighting feats and use dwarven axe when bored. Initially I wanted to go with the renegade set from the madness chain but after a while I realised... it doesn't really do much. The actual axe itself is not good, the runearm is great but it's cold damage. The bracers are kinda ok so I keep those, alongside 5 piece adherent set. I do not have a mark iv to test the artificer set. The helmet is actually good from that set, the armor is worse than fleshmakers, defender plate or even pimped dragontouch but it'll be a sacrifice for the set I guess. I could use part of the family but it won't make any difference as it's the spells that kill everything. I'm pretty sure I should be using the rloft caster set to be honest but that's a robe and I'm not warforged to be covered with a docent. My defenses are way too good to go for a robe with just 6 points in renegade mastermaker.

[kmoustakas]

Short update: level 16

The time finally arrived, in litany of the dead killing mobs with the SLAs was so time consuming, they had a lot of hitpoints comparativelly to what the SLAs were doing to them. A full rotation of lightning motes+lightning sphere+blast rod had mobs still standing in Chothluz side r1, even with the adherent+arcsteel sets and 117 base spellpower item. Chain lightning and prismatic spray did nearly one shot everything still and I had a ton of spellpoints as I rarely if ever had to reconstruct myself. I did take improved critical slashing and my melee damage is very fast and effective considering how many AP I have spent for melee - just 8 in harper agent and 9 in battle engineer.

I will stay with this AP spread for 16 and consider very carefully to drop to 21 points in arcanotechnitian just for the lightning bolt and pump battle engineer. If I get haste boost from battle engineer I know with all the single weapon fighting feats bosses will be toast but I will miss the AOE. Of course, none of this matters in parties, only talking about solo. In parties you just get the traps and finish off what's left from sorcs/alchemists. For sure though this lightning experiment will fall off greatly in Sharn, I dread the moment I get there. Unless Tovens does a good job at carrying, of course. We'll find out soon enough.

PS Still have time to consider the paladin splash! If I get it, it'll be either 2 or 3 levels so I have one more level to think about it.

[kmoustakas]

Last update: level 18.

Well, forget everything I said last update. I had not read the level 18 core of arcanotechnitian. It increases the maximum caster level of spells which pumps your SLAs considerably and with the added bonus of off hand versatility which I also took at 18 everything gets incredibly shocked to death. Also, toven's is insane or more specifically lightning storm is very good: the first strips them off their lightning immunity and the next 3 blow them up because they are criticals because off hand versatility. I didn't have a chance to stay there long but I can easily say with the exception of quests with inflated HP like dreaming dark where your lack of instakills shows, sharn was surprisingly a breeze, reaver's refuge was a breeze, even sharn docks felt like a breeze and those mobs have tons of hp too.

In conclusion: heroic caster artificer is awesome. You can kill all the things (maybe except Zuggtmoy at level with all those lightning immune demons around her), you can do all the quests that require multiple people via turret/puppy/hireling such as Xorian Cypher, you can trap, you can heal, you start strong and stay strong except a small lul at levels 14-16 and end like a firework!

Artificer heroic: 10/10