Fun fact, my back-up character when I was playing in Curse of Strahd is one I came up with after Van Richten's came out, and was going to be a Battle Smith Artificer from Lamordia named Werner Von Zerhen, whose Steel Defender was going to be a kind of flesh golem constructed from dog parts (though in a humanoid shape).
It turns out, there's an even more fitting subclass we're likely to get for such a theme. How is it mehcanically?
As a note, this would presumably be working with the revamped Artificer coming in Forge of the Artificer, though I think in practical terms, the biggest change there would be the way that infusions work (though I will say that, unless they took away Firearm proficiency, all Artificers could now actually use guns thanks to True Strike becoming one of their spells).
The Reanimator, honestly a bit like the Battle Smith, is a pet subclass, but your Reanimated Companion is far more expendable than the Steel Defender.
Reanimator Spells:
Cantrip: Spare the Dying (remember that this is now ranged for everyone, its range extending as you hit higher levels)
1st: False Life, Witch Bolt
2nd: Blindness/Deafness, Enhance Ability
3rd: Animate Dead, Lightning Bolt
4th: Blight, Death Ward
5th: Antilife Shell, Raise Dead
While very thematic, I don't know that I'm blown away by this list. Blight in particular is one of those spells that is worse than it seems, and especially given that, as a half-caster, we're not going to see it until we're level 13, I don't imagine it would see much use. I'm surprised we get Animate Dead instead of Summon Undead, though I suppose that it's slightly more thematic. Lightning Bolt, of course, is both thematic and also a good spell, even when we have to wait to get it as a half-caster. Witch Bolt, of course, is much better than it used to be, though I'm not yet convinced it's good, so much as not utter crap. Enhance Ability is some classic utility, and while I don't see it get used a lot, Blindness/Deafness is, I think, a pretty good spell.
3rd level:
Jolt to Life enhances your Spare the Dying cantrip. A number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier per long rest, you can modify the spell to restore 1 HP to the target, and to cause creatures in a 10-foot emanation around it to take 1d4 plus half your Artificer level (rounded up) lightning damage, or half as much on a successful Dex save.
I'd love it if you could specify that it only hits foes - you could wind up dealing a chunk of damage to your allies with this. But it does give you effectively some extra healing that works a bit like when a Paladin just spares a single point of Lay on Hands to pop someone up. If you've got an ally who's got 2 failed death saves and you can't get to them for a Cure Wounds, this is quite good. The damage is not huge, but also not nothing.
Reanimated Companion is the real centerpiece of the subclass. Once for free per long rest, and then just for any spell slot thereafter, you can use an action and any of your tools to create a Reanimated Companion, which has its own scaling stat block. The Companion lasts until you finish a long rest, or if you take an action to dismiss it early, or if you die.
Like most subclass pets, the companion requires a bonus action for you to command it, or it will just take the Dodge action.
Now, what's this thing do?
It's not terribly tanky, its AC capping at 15 unless you can boost your Intelligence modifier higher, and its HP is 4+4 x your artificer level (so 16 at level 3, and 84 at level 20). But that's almost by design.
The companion has a melee attack that deals 1d4+2+your Intelligence modifier in Necrotic damage and prevents opportunity attacks. It's also immune to Lightning damage, and will be healed instead by Lightning (which gives you an interesting alternate use for Witch Bolt and Lightning Bolt).
Finally, when it dies, it explodes, and each creature within 10 feet has to make a Dex save or take 2d6 necrotic damage (save for none).
So, essentially, you're going to have your Reanimated Companion fighting on the front lines while you're casting cantrips from afar. You probably want to make sure that the companion isn't near allies in case it explodes. A bit underwhelming at this level, but then again, at level 3, just having another body on the field can be helpful, and while the damage isn't enormous, the fact that it uses the stat you're pushing anyway means it should be reasonably consistent.
Level 5:
Strange Modifications allows you to make some enhancements to your companion when you create them. You choose from among the following options:
Arcane Conduit allows you to cast spells from the companion's position (though you have to use your own senses). And once per turn, when you cast an Evocation or Necromancy spell while the companion is within 120 feet of you, you can add your Intelligence modifier to the damage.
Ferocity allows the companion to make two Dreadful Swipes rather than one.
Of these choices, I think Ferocity is going to be the clear default, though I suppose if you're expecting to do a lot of AoE spells, Arcane Conduit would be good. You are just getting more attacks with the companion, so I'm not sure it compares favorably to the Extra Attack Armorers and Battle Smiths get, where a lot of bells and whistles can be attached to their attacks. Still, probably decent.
Level 9:
Improved Reanimation gives you further options when creating your Reanimated Companion (which stack with the Strange Modifications). These options are:
Bloated, which lets you make your companion Large or Medium (the default is Small) and lets the companion knock Large and smaller creatures back 10 feet when they hit with their Dreadful Swipe, and lets you add your Intelligence modifier to their Death Burst damage.
Gaunt increases the companion's speed to 45 feet, and it gains a Climb Speed and effectively Spider Climb. Also, creatures of your choice that start their turn within 10 feet of the companion need to make a Wisdom saving throw or be frightened until the start of their next turn.
Moist gives the creature a Swim Speed and when it's hit with an attack roll by a creature within 10 feet, the creature takes Acid damage equal to your Int modifier.
I think all of these have practical applications. Bloated and Gaunt both have some reasonable battlefield control abilities, and Moist is the obvious choice if you're going to be doing any combat underwater. The extra speed (not to mention spider-climb) for Gaunt is attractive, but the Bloated option's pushing capability is very reliable.
Level 15:
Promethean Reanimation gives you a few benefits:
Facilitated Revival cuts the cost of material components for Revivify and Raise Dead in half.
Improved Companion increases the damage of its Death Burst to 4d6, and the Necrotic damage the companion deals ignores resistance (remember that its main attack does necrotic).
Life Transfer allows you to take a reaction if you take damage to drop your companion to 0 HP (triggering its Death Burst) and allow you to regain HP equal to your Artificer level.
So... I don't know that any of these are as good as they seem. The halved gold cost for resurrection diamonds is only going to be relevant in games where you're struggling for money. Death Burst, even going up to 4d6 damage, is not a ton of damage at this level. And I don't know how many creatures are Resistant to Necrotic compared to how many are Immune.
The aspect here that I think is probably most relevant is the Life Transfer. If we want to get real fiddly, I don't think this can technically save you from a knock-out, as the damage has to hit your first before it triggers the reaction, but you could use it if you're getting low on HP.
Overall, I think what makes this subclass potentially exciting is how expendable the companion is: while a Steel Defender I think takes at least a minute to revive (even if it's the same single spell slot of any level to do so) the fact that you can create one of these as an action means that you can potentially have a fight where you send one of these in to get slaughtered, hoping it will die and explode, and prepare to just pop another one out on your next turn.
Naturally, Artificers don't have unlimited spell slots, but I do think that an "easy come, easy go" attitude toward your subclass pet is what they're going for here.
I do think that one of the issues with the Artificer as a class is that they sometimes forget that, being a half-caster, they really need something to bolster the fact that they're not getting those higher-level spells until significantly later. I made my own homebrewed alternative to Blight called Despoil, which I think actually punches at an appropriate 4th-level weight class, but even then, that's intended for a full caster to be able to cast it when they're 7th level. A half-caster has to be nearly twice that level to cast 4th-level spells, at a point where 36 average damage is going to be less than the Fighter or Paladin can do on a normal turn without expending any resources, while you're spending one of your most precious ones.
The Companion's attacks, of course, do this to an extent.
Essentially, I think this is a very flavorful subclass but I'm concerned about its overall power level.
Next, we'll look at the revamp to College of Spirits for the Bard.
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