The Forge of the Artificer book, naturally, given the title, focuses on the update to the Artificer class. And it's an update that I think could be reasonably argued as either a buff or a nerf.
(EDIT: I actually think that the intent (somewhat confirmed by D&D Beyond, though there are enough things that they get wrong that you can always take this with a grain of salt) is that spells that aren't mentioned in FotA but are listed as Artificer options in Tasha's (or Fizban's) are actually still available for the Artificer 2.0 (3.0? Tasha's was a reprint, but changed far less). So, in other words, this post is kind of wrong - it's basically a pure buff to get all the new spells that we didn't get before. Cause for celebration! Enjoy your Booming Blades and Catapults!)
One of the unambiguous buffs that the class got was Spell-Storing Item, which now can store 3rd-level spells. While there was some serious power in putting 1st or 2nd level spells into it, the real notable thing is that 3rd level is where some of the best AoE damage spells in the game are found. Fireball, Lightning Bolt, and actually the new Conjure Barrage (which does less damage than the other two but is far easier to hit lots of targets with safely) are spells that remain pretty good well into high levels, and by giving players the opportunity to cast them ten times a day without expending any spell slots is a pretty amazing capability even before you consider that, with the new Homunculus Servant spell (which, sure, also existed as an Infusion in the old version) you don't even have to give up your action if you just hand the item over to what is effectively an Artificer's combat-capable familiar.
But you'll note that the three spells I mentioned are all subclass spells, granted, respectively, to the Artillerist, Armorer, and Battle Smith.
The spell list for the Artificer in FotA has changed. Broadly, one thing I didn't initially notice on a first glance was that the only damaging spells an Artificer gets outside of subclass spells are cantrips. Thus, if you want to cast a damaging spell with your Spell-Storing Item (which is arguably the big level 11 damage bump for the class akin to Paladins' Radiant Strikes and Fighters' third attack, and possibly better than either of them) you need to find it in your subclass. And the Alchemist and Cartographer don't really have quite as good options there.
So, I figured I'd do a side-by-side comparison (well, not really because I don't want to have to do weird formatting stuff with the blog) to see what we gain and what we lose. I already did this with each subclass, but let's look at the Artificer as a whole. We'll list the spells that are retained from the Tasha's version, then the ones we gain in FotA and the ones we lose from Tasha's.
As a note, I do think part of the logic here was that FotA doesn't want to refer back to pre-2024 books (though it does refer back to Rising From the Last War in its adventure frames, so, you know, weird). But in the process, you do wind up losing some really good and even quite thematic stuff.
Cantrips:
Both Versions:
Acid Splash, Dancing Lights, Fire Bolt, Guidance, Light, Mage Hand, (Mending isn't technically on the list, but we automatically get it, so it might as well be), Message, Poison Spray, Prestidigitation, Ray of Frost, Resistance, Shocking Grasp, Spare the Dying, Thorn Whip, Thunderclap
New in FotA:
Elementalism, True Strike
Lost from Tasha's:
Booming Blade, Create Bonfire, Frostbite, Green-flame Blade, Lightning Lure, Magic Stone, Sword Burst
Every lost cantrip can be explained the same way: it was something from a pre-2024 book that didn't get reprinted in this or the 2024 PHB. Of these, only Thunderclap wasn't also in the 2014 PHB, but it got printed in 2024.
Personally, I think it's a real shame we didn't see Booming Blade and Green-Flame Blade printed in the new PHB, as they're such fundamental spells for Eldritch Knights, Bladesinger Wizards, and Valor Bards. When these spells were introduced, they were introduced as Wizard spells (among other classes) and so I think it's easy to justify them in any campaign that allows pre-2024 content (and are still listed as options in D&D Beyond) but if the new Artificer spell list isn't also retroactively considering those Artificer spells... what do we think? I think the only reason they're not here is because they weren't reprinted, and they're not even quite as good for Artificers given that they don't get that Bladesinger-style extra attack. True Strike is a similar cantrip that plays a slightly different role - given that the two martial Artificer subclasses already get to attack using Intelligence, the stronger effects of Booming Blade and Green-Flame Blade are better for them, but True Strike here is a far better option for the three other subclasses (especially because it can be used with a ranged weapon - it's kind of built for Artillerists who want to use an actual Firearm with Arcane Firearm).
One other note is that a few of these cantrips have different functionality in 2024. Poison Spray is... still probably not great, but it's way better than it used to be, and Acid Splash is a true AoE cantrip now.
1st level:
Both Versions:
Alarm, Cure Wounds, Detect Magic, Disguise Self, Expeditious Retreat, Faerie Fire, False Life, Feather Fall, Grease, Identify, Jump, Longstrider, Purify Food and Drink, Sanctuary
New in FotA:
none
Lost from Tasha's:
Absorb Elements, Catapult, Snare, Tasha's Caustic Brew
This is honestly a bit rough: Absorb Elements is an amazing spell - kind of the Shield for AoE effects. Once again, I think these are only missing because they were from Xanathar's or Tasha's and not reprinted in the 2024 PHB, but it does mean losing some fun damage spells. What's telling, though, is that they didn't replace these with any alternative damage spells. I feel like Burning Hands, for example, would be pretty thematic for an Artificer if you flavor it like a flame-thrower.
2nd level:
Both Versions:
Aid, Alter Self, Arcane Lock, Blur, Continual Flame, Darkvision, Enhance Ability, Enlarge/Reduce, Heat Metal, Invisibility, Lesser Restoration, Levitate, Magic Mouth, Magic Weapon, Protection from Poison, Rope Trick, See Invisibility, Spider Climb, Web
New in FotA:
Arcane Vigor, Dragon's Breath, Homunculus Servant
Lost from Tasha's:
Pyrotechnics, Skywrite
Ok, so for 2nd-level spells I think the new Artificer comes out much better. While I don't think Arcane Vigor is all that good (especially as we can get Cure Wounds - I feel like the point of Arcane Vigor is to give something to Sorcerers and Wizards who don't have any other healing spells) Homunculus Servant is really good, and it pairs very well with Dragon's Breath (until level 11). The spells we lose here are not terribly powerful (though one thing I find hilarious about Skywrite is that there's actually no limit on how far into the sky you can put your message or how big the letters are, so in theory, you could write a message that an entire hemisphere of the globe could read (though a DM might rule that a "solar wind" counts as a strong wind that might disperse your "cloud" of cosmic dust).
3rd level:
Both Versions:
Blink, Create Food and Water, Dispel Magic, Elemental Weapon, Fly, Glyph of Warding, Haste, Protection from Energy, Revivify, Water Breathing, Water Walk
New in FotA:
none
Lost from Tasha's:
Ashardalon's Stride, Catnap, Flame Arrows, Intellect Fortress, Tiny Servant
Well, clearly only losing spells is a net loss. I will say that Tiny Servant might be kind of redundant and inferior to our Homunculus Servant (it's temporary, requires a bonus action to command, can't fly, its attack is melee, has less HP, etc.). Catnap is, I think, now somewhat obsolete with the new Prayer of Healing (though of course we don't get that). I think the biggest real loss here is Intellect Fortress, which isn't the be-all and end-all of spells but it's still a good one to have available.
You'll note later on that I had initially forgotten Ashardalon's Stride and through the magic of editing, I added it to the list. This was the only Artificer spell I've ever seen added in a book that didn't also contain the entire class, found in Fizban's Treasury of Dragons. It's actually a fun and situationally quite useful spell (one I like to flavor as "activating my fire roller-blades" for an Artificer).
4th level:
Both Versions:
Arcane Eye, Fabricate, Freedom of Movement, Leomund's Secret Chest, Mordenkainen's Faithful Hound, Mordenkainen's Private Sanctum, Otiluke's Resilient Sphere, Stone Shape, Stoneskin, Summon Construct
New in FotA:
none
Lost from Tasha's:
Elemental Bane
So, I guess we should be happy that the Tasha's Summon spells made it into the 2024 PHB (I'm a huge fan of those spells). We don't get anything new here, and we lose one spell. The spell we lose is Elemental Bane, though, which I don't think I've ever seen played, and feels probably not very strong. So I think this is a minor loss, if anything.
5th level:
Both Versions:
Animate Objects, Bigby's Hand, Creation, Greater Restoration, Wall of Stone
New in FotA:
Circle of Power
Lost from Tasha's:
Skill Empowerment, Transmute Rock
Ok, so we do actually get something here. Circle of Power can be a really strong spell in the right situations. I do wish that the game was more explicit about what things were magical effects - for example, a dragon's breath weapon isn't, because that's just a natural part of their physiology, even though they're inherently magical beings. But a Lich's Disrupt Life feature is presumably magical, right? But there's nothing there to explicitly tell you. Liches do have spells that they cast, like Chain Lightning. But an Ancient Green Dragon is also casting Mind Spike as part of its multiattack, so it definitely has some spells. The breath, we say, isn't magical, but what about the dragon's Noxious Miasma legendary action? Is that being naturally secreted or is the dragon calling upon it magically? Needs some clear tag, I think.
Regarding the lost 5th-level spells, I was honestly a bit shocked that Skill Empowerment (which lets a target get expertise with one of their proficient skills for an hour with concentration) seems a little simple for a 5th level spell (though granted, expertise gets better the higher-level you get). Transmute Rock is ok, but we also have Stone Shape, so I don't feel like this is a massive loss.
Spell Thoughts:
Well, one thing that surprised me is that the loss of "any 1st-level+ spells that deal damage" actually didn't mean much. It's pretty clear to me that there was no real intentional culling of particular types of spells, but rather a decision not to refer to spells one couldn't find in the PHB or FotA itself.
I don't really agree with this philosophy, though: the whole backwards-compatibility idea is that the old books don't really lose their value except when things have explicitly been reprinted.
As a DM, my inclination is that players would be free to prepare any of the spells that were lost, even in a strictly 2024-forward campaign. They'd just need to make sure that they're using the most up-to-date versions of the spells that have been reprinted (which will almost all be upgrades, anyway).
The Artificer does genuinely gain some strong new spells in the mix here, and while they lose more spells than they gain, I think with just a few exceptions (Absorb Elements being among the most prominent in my mind) the ones they've lost were kind of niche weirdo spells that had fun flavor, but weren't terribly powerful.
My hope, though, is that, moving forward, they'll be sure to include new spells for the class. I was heartened when Fizban's Treasury of Dragons came out and Artificers got Ashardalon's Stride (oh, hold up, going to go back and add that to the list). I was honestly bummed that we didn't just get the Artificer in the Player's Handbook, to make it clear that this was a core part of the game's options. But at the very least, now that it's a quite established part of 5E, I hope that we'll see expanded options in the future in the form of spells and subclasses, perhaps without requiring a whole new "hey, here's the Artificer" book. If the Reanimator subclass (likely coming in whatever the Forge of the Artificer-equivalent book for Ravenloft will be) ever happens, that could be it.
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