While the Armorer is probably my favorite Artificer subclass, the Artilerist is the one I'm most familiar with because of my long-running Ravnica campaign.
The Artillerist is by I'd guess a wide margin the most powerful of the pure spellcaster Artificers, with a cannon (and later two) that can pop out to provide consistent additional damage (or protection) on top of our own spells.
Artillerist Spells:
These have not been changed at all. Moving on.
Level 3:
Tools of the Trade replicates our old Tool Proficiency with Woodcarver's Tools, but it adds two things. The first is that we get proficiency with martial ranged weapons. And you know what are included in that category? Every firearm. Now, you might be asking why we'd want to wield a firearm with this class that doesn't get something like the Battle Smith's ability to use Intelligence with our magic weapon attacks. The answer: Artificers now get True Strike, which I think is honestly, probably the best damage cantrip for us (though admittedly, the PHB firearms have fairly low ranges). Notably, because we don't get Extra Attack, we're actually less concerned about the loading property. But it's not a terrible idea to make a Repeating Pistol or Musket at level 2 so we don't have to worry about buying ammo. (Musket is a bit more range and damage, while Pistol leaves a hand free for a shield.)
It might be a little costly in terms of feats to get something like Sharpshooter in order to get better range with these weapons. Technically, though, a replicated weapon can work as a spell focus, so we could actually cast things like Fire Bolt from one of them. But I don't think that the +1 bonus from a repeating shot weapon would apply in this case. If you're ok with a 40-foot range, though, a Musket will do just fine.
As a note, the old Artificer had an optional rule that required DM permission that gave you proficiency with firearms (for the base class,) but with the mystique around this sort of weapon kind of dispelled by adding them to the PHB, it's nice to get a special carve-out for the subclass that feels most like one that should be using guns (other than Matt Mercer's Gunslinger Fighter, of course).
Also, Artillerists get their crafting speed bonus to magic wands. This is only going to do anything for you in a campaign where you DM lets you actually craft magic items, and also gives you the downtime to do so. Wands can have some real power, though not quite as much as staves like Staff of Power or Staff of the Magi.
Eldritch Cannon, of course, is the central feature of the subclass. It's an object, rather than a Construct creature like the Battle Smith's Steel Defender, which actually means, I believe, that there's a slight nerf here: objects automatically fail saving throws (while the old version explicitly said it just added nothing to them). It's still immune to poison and psychic damage, and I think objects are similarly immune to all conditions.
One slight change is that the old version could move or climb 15 feet when directed, implying it essentially had a climb speed. (I don't know where I go this idea, but I always interpreted it as if it had spider-climb). Now, however, it simply moves 15 feet when directed.
However, there's a big buff here: the old version had you choose between Force Ballista, Flamethrower, or Protector modes when you summoned the cannon. Now, the cannon has all three functions, and you simply determine which it uses with the bonus action you use to activate it. The effects are all the same as before.
Level 5:
Arcane Firearm works the same except that you can now use a Martial Ranged weapon as your Arcane Firearm in addition to rods, staves, and wands. Makes sense, right? You ought to be able to turn a Firearm into an Arcane Firearm!
Level 9:
Explosive Cannon got two changes. While Force Ballista shots and Flamethrower bursts still get the extra d8, the Protector now also benefits, adding another d8 to the temp HP it grants (for a total of 2d8+Int now).
The Detonate function is no longer an action, but is now a reaction when your cannon takes damage. The explosion now does 3d10 instead of 3d8 damage. This is interesting: while a buff to the damage, it requires your foes to actually go after your cannons to use it. I'll also say: I don't think I've ever seen this used with the old version. The cannons are too valuable to give up for a Shatter's worth of damage (there's also a good chance you'll be caught in the blast). So I think this kind of doesn't matter one way or another.
Level 15:
Regarding the ability to now summon two cannons, there's a weird wording thing here that might be a buff: In a parenthetical, the rules clarify that if you spend a spell slot to get one cannon out, you need to expend spend another to get the second out. The old version said you could summon two with the same action, but not the same spell slot.
My interpretation of the original version of this was that your first cannon summoned per day was free, but if you were level 15+, even if you wanted to summon the second cannon as part of the same action, you'd still need to spend one spell slot. The wording here suggests to me that you only have to spend a second spell slot if you were summoning the first cannon with a spell slot, which would suggest you can get two out for free once per day.
Now, have I just been a jerk to my player and forced them to expend one more 1st level spell slot each day than they should have? Is it possible that I'm wrong here and that you still only get one free cannon a day?
Or is this a real buff, just giving you two free cannons when summoned together each day?
Might need to get some clarification on this, but I think that's how I'd rule this as a revision. Also, as a note, the two cannons don't need to use the same function when commanded.
Overall Thoughts:
In the grand scheme of things, this is a subclass that has only gotten very subtle changes. And I think it's fine, because it already does a pretty good job at what it's supposed to do. The most notable thing is an unambiguous buff - the ability to choose any of the three options when you activate a cannon.
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