I thought artificer was still just an unearthed arcana, but now that I think about it, makes sense for at least the Artilerist subclass to be... canon.
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Heh. Artificer is fully part of 5e, having official releases in 2019 and expanded in 2020 with the armoror. Earlier content that doesn't have newer versions is still valid in 2024 D&D. The 2024 update is UA of course, but the flamethrower turret attack is in both.
I'm pretty sure I knew that (artifcer doesn't appeal to me, and that timeline coincides with everything becoming a blur for some reason...), I just wanted the pun.
It was a lovely pun! I mean, there's good reason to ignore artificer; they have lots of lovely specific bits and flavor but the result is meh at most levels. That said, 3rd level Artillerist and Battlesmith artificers, specifically, are some of the most busted things in the game at those levels.
We had one of those accidental on purpose "oops, I put too many encounters in and no long rests" days at that level, and the GM was watching my girl go and wondering aloud "is there anything artificers can't do?"
And to be less silly, I'm currently playing with folks who are mostly brand new to ttRPGs at all. And so I'm trying to not dip into anything too off curve, because things like "don't build a STR 8 Paladin" are already making me stand out as more doing more than the rest.
This just makes me want to build a Str 8 paladin (obviously, you do this by going Dex and using a longbow/medium armor; you'll lose some AC vs a Str paladin, but partially make up for it by having a real ranged attack, stealth and initiative). There's also Cha/True Strike/Plate, but you only move 20
Yeah, they had a high dexterity but were using str weapons, and (I think) heavy armor... dndbeyond for character creation is great if you know what you're doing but not "tell a new player go for it" without guidance.
Talking with them about what they *wanted* their character to be, it was very much a classic gish, 4E swordmage -- swinging around with a sword in one hand, blasts of fire in the other kind of idea. Paladin is the "Swords and magic" in the description 5e class, so he figured that's where it was at.
Huh. So rebuild as bladesinger wizard, swordlock, or eldritch knight, then? It's so much easier to go from concept to character...at least, when the mechanical support is there.
Playing at level one with 2024 rule set (and no legacy classes), you don't have access to any subclasses. So blade lock is the only option, short of weird shenanigans with magic initiate.
I get why they changed subclasses to level 3, but it just makes level one play as some concepts feel terrible.
And 5e(2024) really only has two ways to get anything like that at level one, Pact of the Blade Lock, or a weapon focused class using shenanigans with Magic Initiate Feat for True Strike.
Had he stuck around, the concept was salvageable, but not very discoverable to a new player.
We hit a similar problem with a player with a 2014 EK. Concept works, but 2014 EK is weak and the player also tried to dual wield. Both options are stronger in 2024, and can even actually work together, rather than entering bonus action exhaustion.
Could also build a wizard with true strike who plans to take Bladesinger later (maybe sub in the 2014 elf for the proficiencies), but yeah, this is not exactly an easy build plan.
4e ironically made this one thing much easier--just take swordmage. But that system was so hard otherwise.
Oh, it's an entirely reasonable choice (as is giving people well-meaning, kind advice; I just suggested a build for a friend's 8th level ranger that would increase her str from 16 to 19 or 20 and wis from 14 to 15, losing nothing else; she'd botched the 2024 update and not taken an extra feat).
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I get why they changed subclasses to level 3, but it just makes level one play as some concepts feel terrible.
Had he stuck around, the concept was salvageable, but not very discoverable to a new player.
4e ironically made this one thing much easier--just take swordmage. But that system was so hard otherwise.