I've only been able to play one up to level 2 so far (with the exception of a couple of one-shots at higher levels,) but conceptually, I love the Artificer as a class. I think it both brings something genuinely new to the game (well, it did when it was released years ago) and I also think that it just has a very satisfying design.
Generally, there's a kind of technological bent to the class. While you can definitely remove that element in most cases through re-skinning (I like the idea of a Goliath Armorer who carves runes into armor made of stone) most interpretations of the class suggest a somewhat less pre-industrial aesthetic that some consider core to the fantasy genre (I, for what it's worth, think that post-industrial stuff in fantasy is super cool, what with the Dark Tower being such an influence on my tastes).
Of the four extant subclasses, though, the one that fits the most easily into a fully Medieval/Renaissance world is, I would say, the Alchemist. Alchemy is, of course, the pre-scientific antecedent to chemistry, though with a lot of these pre-scientific pseduo-sciences, there was a lot of philosophy and really creative ideas that had little to nothing to do with any observable phenomena (again, at the heart of science is empiricism).
On top of that, alchemy has a whole aesthetic to it. D&D is filled with all manner of bubbling potions, the rather obviously named "alchemist's fire" (which I assume is meant to be like Greek Fire in a setting with no Greece) and the very sort of magical phenomena that alchemists assumed existed but could also be understood.
So, while the other three subclasses lean a little more into a kind of industrial technology aesthetic by default - artillerists seeming to use cannons (albeit magical ones,) battle-smiths having essentially robotic battle-pets, and armorers having essentially mech-armor (like a certain superhero whose debut movie launched the MCU) - alchemists can very comfortably live in the old-timey worlds that many if not most D&D fans prefer or at least expect.
So great! What's the problem?
Well, the problem is that I don't... really like the Alchemist as a subclass.
That might be unfair. I think there are some very cool ideas at work, but I want to dig deep into the subclass and see what feels off and brainstorm how to improve it.
First things first, every subclass gets a tool proficiency (or gets a different one if they already have the one listed,) and this one's really damn obvious. Artificers get a lot of really interesting encouragement to flavor their spellcasting, and I think an alchemist in particular is almost certainly casting spells by lobbing around bottles of caustic fluids or paper packets of explosive powder, using their alchemy supplies to cast spells. No problem here, A+.
Each subclass for artificers gets specialist spells like a cleric's domain spells - always prepared and not counting against your prepared spell count.
There are two sort of themes running through the alchemist in this case: we have healing (or at least life-preservation) and various damaging spells you could easily imagine being caused by some kind of caustic, corrosive, or flammable fluid.
Healing Word, Mass Healing Word, Death Ward, and Raise Dead all fall into that healing side of things. Ray of Sickness, Flaming Sphere, Melf's Acid Arrow, Blight, and Cloudkill fall into the latter. Gaseous form suggests perhaps some kind of special potion (a potion of gaseous form, for example) that still plays into the liquids, gasses, and vapors theme.
Now, on a mechanical level, this (and other features) seem to suggest an alchemist should be able to play as a healer. I think that makes a ton of sense thematically. The question is whether they can keep up mechanically. Essentially: if your party has only an alchemist as a healer, is that going to be sufficient? We won't be able to answer that question until we get through all the features.
Still, this is a pretty solid mix of good spells.
Now, we get to the Experimental Elixir. Once per long rest, you can produce an experimental elixir, and you get to make two for free at level 6 and three for free at level 15. The elixir takes an action to consume. You can also expend a spell slot to make additional flasks of the elixir.
Notably, your free elixirs have randomized effects from a d6 table, but if you spend a spell slot to produce one, you get to choose the effect.
1 is a healing elixir - 2d4+Int healing to the person who drinks it. This actually does wind up being a little better (marginally) than a 1st level cure wounds, though doing so in combat will require one action to create it and one to administer it (or for the person who takes it to drink it).
2, Swiftness, grants the imbiber 10 extra feet of walking speed for 1 hour. Notably, this is the same effect as the Longstrider spell, though again, one action to produce and one to use.
3 is Resilience, granting +1 to the target's AC for 10 minutes. I don't think there's any equivalent spell here. It's a bit of a less powerful shield of faith, which artificers don't typically get. On one hand, no concentration required, but on the other hand, it's half as effective.
4 is Boldness, which lets the drinker add a d4 to each attack roll or saving throw they make for the next minute. This is a single-target bless, another non-artificer spell. The one minute duration, though, does mean you'll likely have to use it after combat has already started unless you get the drop on your foes.
5 is flight, which gives the drinker a 10-ft flying speed for 10 minutes. Fly, the spell, this is not. But it can be useful in exploration, such as having someone fly up a vertical shaft and tie a rope for the rest of the party to climb up.
6 is transformation, which explicitly calls out the Alter Self spell, lasting 10 minutes.
So, that's a lot to unpack. Ultimately, you get effects that are similar to 1st and 2nd level spells, though usually with shorter durations. I wonder if the best way to think about this is with the free elixir per day, or if it's better to think of this as a further subclass spell list - you can make elixirs with your spell slots and choose the effects, handing them out at the beginning of the day (or making more as needed).
Generally speaking, the 3rd level feature that each subclass really becomes central to the way the subclass works. The artillerist gets their Eldritch Cannons, the Armorer gets their Magic Armor. The Battle Smith gets their Steel Defender, which you could argue is not precisely central to the subclass, (perhaps just getting to attack with pretty much any weapon using intelligence is) but it's a big deal.
The big question I have about this feature is how this stacks up with those other features. These have much less obvious combat applications (not necessarily because of what they do, but rather the fussiness of how much of your action economy you're spending on them). On the other hand, it's potentially a lot of utility, and rewards an alchemist who plans ahead.
At level 5, you get Alchemical Savant, which lets you add your Intelligence modifier (a minimum of +1) to one roll of any spell you cast using your alchemy supplies that deals acid, fire, necrotic, or poison damage, or which restores hit points.
Here, again, we have that theme of certain damage types being favored, which I really like. Things do get a bit thorny when you consider the specifics of how spellcasting focuses are used - artificers, as I understand it (in fact I think the sentence that specifies this isn't even grammatically correct) always need a spellcasting focus to cast any spell, not just those with material components. But another odd thing is that the infusion, enhanced arcane focus, technically requires that you infuse a wand, staff, or rod. Rules as written, you can't use that on your Alchemy Supplies. As a DM, I think that's utterly ridiculous (while an artificer can use any item they've infused as a spellcasting focus, this alchemist feature specifically requires that you use alchemy supplies to get the bonus).
In effect, you get something similar to what an Evocation Wizard gets, though Alchemists don't get Magic Missile (and this feature doesn't work with force damage anyway) so you don't get to pull that sneaky "technically you only roll a single d4 for Magic Missile and all the missiles do that +1, so with my +5 intelligence they all get the +5 bonus" shenanigans.
Still, this helps boost the power of your spells, admittedly by at most 5 (unless you have one of those books that can boost your intelligence beyond 20). Compared with the Artillerist's Arcane Firearm, which boosts all spell's damage by a single d8, this is pretty close, though you don't get to crit with this damage bonus. It's ultimately a pretty comparable bonus, though.
Artificers have a tiny number of healing spells, but, as alchemists, we're getting a few more. Particularly when you look at something like Mass Healing Word, this provides a pretty substantial boost.
I suspect that part of the reason that Alchemists and Artillerists get these damage bonuses on spells is to help with the fact that, as half-casters, they need to be more conservative with their spell slots, and rely on cantrips more. It's not quite at Warlock levels (who get to utterly super-charge Eldritch Blast) but if you think about it, with +5 intelligence, you're adding essentially something between a d8 and a d10 that just isn't doubled on a crit. On your Cloudkill's first damage roll, that might not amount to a whole lot, but if you're shooting an acid splash out at level 8, 2d6 is 7 damage, while 2d6+5 is 12, which is nearly doubling it.
At level 9, we get Restorative Reagents. This has two effects.
The first gives anyone who drinks your experimental elixir 2d6+ your intelligence modiier worth of temporary hit points (minimum of 1). Now, temp hit points can be valuable or not depending on how freely available they are in your party. If you have a Twilight Cleric, this might get overwritten immediately.
However, again, I think that the more I look at Experimental Elixir, the more I think you're supposed to lean into spending spell slots to pick specific options. If you've just had a big fight and your Rogue is sitting at about a quarter of their max HP, popping off a 2d4+5 heal that then also gives them a 2d6+5 shield on top of that could be a huge boost to their survivability (effectively 22 hit points for a 1st level spell slot - compare to a cure wounds that would do 1d8+10, or about 14.5).
The other half of this feature is that you can now cast lesser restoration for free and without preparing the spell if you use alchemist supplies (and why wouldn't you?) as your focus. You get to do this a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier per long rest, so likely 5 casts per day.
Lesser restoration is one of those spells that can feel really crucial some days and totally worthless others. This lets you conserve spell slots and actually cast this more often than a Cleric might want to - it's a 2nd level spell, meaning that after the third one, other casters are going to have to spend higher level slots to cast it.
I think the first half - the temp hit points - are going to come into play more often, assuming you actually use your experimental elixirs, but this second half could be really clutch.
Lastly, at level 15, you get Chemical Mastery. Here, you gain resistance to acid and poison damage and are immune to the poisoned condition.
So, full immunity to the poisoned condition is something Monks get, so there's precedence here. Resistance to poison damage is fairly common. Acid resistance, on the other hand, is quite rare. Outside of temporary resistance gained from spells like absorb elements, I think only Water Genasi (the new version) and Copper/Black Dragonborn have resistance among playable races. Acid is a bit like thunder damage, as one of those somewhat rarer elemental damage types that far fewer monsters resist (though Yugoloths are fully immune - Gehenna must have a very caustic atmosphere).
Additionally you can cast Greater Restoration and Heal once each for free and without needing to prepare the spell (which you wouldn't ever be able to with Heal if you had this many levels in Artificer) per long rest.
So, this is kind of interesting, because it breaks you into higher-level spells than you'd normally have access to. Greater Restoration is an artificer spell, but as a 5th level spell, you'd typically need to be level 17 to get it - this gives it to you two levels early. Notably, as well, this feature lets you cast it without the costly diamond dust. Heal, though, is a 6th level spell, and thus is beyond the reach of half-casters in all other circumstances (you couldn't even multiclass with enough levels in Cleric to cast this - even if you had 6th level slots by going, say, 16 levels of Artificer and 3 levels of Cleric, you'd only be able to cast Cleric spells of a base of 2nd level or lower). And Heal is a really powerful spell - one that can take a character who is in really terrible shape and get them back to into fighting form.
I think the question here, then, is what the alchemist is really meant to be for your party.
See, the Artillerist is a fantastic damage-dealer (we have one in the game I run). Battle-Smiths and Armorers can both be really powerful tanks. Can an Alchemist serve as your party's healer?
I still find myself not entirely sure. On one hand, having spells like Healing Word and Mass Healing Word make them quite capable of popping people back up. But the sort of big, sustained healing that a Cleric or Druid can do, I think an Alchemist is going to have a hard time replicating that.
Damage-wise, when compared to the Artillerist, they have similar features to boost their damage output, but Alchemists have nothing resembling the Artillerist's Eldritch Cannons, which ultimately wind up doing more damage than the Artillerist's own cantrips. Furthermore, an artillerist's subclass spells include heavy hitters like scorching ray, cone of cold, and fireball.
You could certainly argue that the alchemist's role is less that of damage or healing, but more one of general utility. And certainly, the experimental elixir gives you a kind of grab-bag of tools to help the party with various tasks.
The artificer already is a pretty strong utility class, between its infusions and the general vibe of its class spell list.
So, I feel kind of torn. I think that something needs to be improved, but I don't know precisely what it is. Partially, I'd love for Alchemists to be healers who are comparable in power to Clerics (generally, I'd like to see more classes viable as a party's primary healer) while another part really likes the idea of alchemists being the ultimate "I've got an elixir for that" subclass.
Honestly, I think one of the biggest drawbacks (and something that makes it a little hard for me to evaluate the subclass) is that players are terrible about using consumables. Getting potions as magical item rewards can be frustrating because you generally don't want to use them on some trivial fight, and you wind up waiting to use them only to find that you've just forgotten you even had them.
The fact that the Experimental Elixir expires if you finish a long rest does, I think, help with this a bit - you can't hoard these. I might want to revisit the design of the various effects, perhaps boosting them slightly so that an alchemist feels confident and comfortable spending spell slots on making elixirs rather than casting their spells.
Psychologically, I think that the way that the elixir is presented is as a randomized feature like Wild Magic Surge. The name Experimental Elixir really pushes that idea of unexpected effects. And frankly, especially when it's mostly there for utility, random utility effects are basically worthless unless you just happen to get the perfect thing in the moment.
So it might just be a matter of rewording and renaming the feature - maybe even getting rid of the random element (though I know some would be sad to lose it) - in order to make it clear that this is the "utility" artificer.
Ideally, when faced with various challenges in some dungeon environment, the alchemist should be mixing up elixirs and having just the right thing to help with the situation.
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