Reanimator vs. Death Knight

 Ok, I know I did an artificer build already, but I'm quite enamored with the Reanimator Artificer - I doubt it's the most powerful Artificer subclass, but it's got a lot of flexibility that I think could be super fun.

My initial backup character in our Curse of Strahd campaign was going to be a Battle Smith Artificer from Lamordia, flavoring his Steel Defender as a flesh golem. But this subclass fits that archetype even better (it's the most Lamordia subclass).

There will be a lot of overlap here with the Armorer build we started this series off with. Once again, it'll be pretty optimal once we hit level 11 to hand a spell-storing item to our Homunculus Servant with Lightning Bolt in it, but we're doing this at level 10.

There will also be a little more of an action-economy pile-up because this is a pet class and thus regularly demands our bonus action. Let's get into it:

    Reanimated Companion:

Each time we create a companion, we can choose some options for how to customize it. While I think Gaunt is a good option much of the time, against a Death Knight that has immunity to fear, I'd probably lean toward either Moist or Bloated - the former dealing more damage if the Death Knight attacks it, but the latter giving us some more battlefield control.

We will also pretty much always want to take Arcane Conduit, which will let us add some damage to our Evocation and Necromancy spells.

    Spells:

I actually think Shocking Grasp works really well as a cantrip for this subclass, as once we have Arcane Conduit, we can always cast it through our companion, making the melee range less of a problem. We'll pack Fire Bolt as an alternative just in case (we don't go True Strike because it's a Divination spell and thus doesn't get the damage bump).

Now, Animate Dead might feel sort of outdated now that Summon Undead is a thing. We do need to use a bonus action to command our undead minion from this as well, but we can give a broad command that they'll follow on subsequent turns. Thus, I'd probably try to get a Skeleton and just have them stand off at max range and keep shooting at the Death Knight. It's not a ton of damage, given the low hit chance, though.

Actually, if we figure that the Skeleton's hitting for 1d6+3, or 6.5 on average, versus just hitting the DK with a lightning bolt, which deals 28 average damage on a failed save, it would take a lot of attacks on average to match that damage output. Over a whole adventuring day, the Skeleton might be better overall, but in a boss fight, we might want to just favor damage-per-round over damage-per-day.

As before, we can slap Dragon Breath on our Homunculus Servant. This does mean we delay sending in our companion, but their damage is pretty low on its own, so I don't know that that's a huge problem.

Weirdly, we don't actually have a concentration spell in this case. We could slap Enlarge any of our friends who make lots of attacks - a dual-wielder is probably the best choice here, but mainly anyone with Extra Attack. But I won't include that in the calculation here. It does mean that we basically just get started on turn 1.

    Magic Items:

Mainly, I'd get a +2 Wand of the War Mage to boost our spell attacks (this will also boost our companion's attacks, I believe). Defensively, we can get +1 Half Plate and a +2 Shield, which can get our AC to 22.

We might consider a Wand of Magic Missiles as well, and give it to the Homunculus. If we do, we'd skip Dragon's Breath. The damage on Dragon's Breath will be 10.5 on a failed save, while a 1st level Magic Missile will be 10.5 guaranteed (well, on average). Hey, you know what? We're totally doing that. (We could upcast it too, but we'll assume we're spreading out the uses to maximize its damage potential just for our purposes here). This then also opens up our bonus action to send our companion in immediately.

Depending on what else we want to do, we have some options: Mind Sharpener could be very helpful if we get hit with a Hellfire Orb, but generally, we're going to try to stay out of melee range, and thus we might not worry so much about our AC and favor instead a Cloak of Protection or even some Half Plate of Necrotic Resistance - something that's probably worth picking up if you're in an undead-heavy campaign (unless you're an Aasimar or Chthonic Tiefling, of course).

    Feats:

I was tempted to get Elemental Adept for Lightning damage, but this really only barely improves our damage - a d4 goes from 2.5 on average to 2.75, and a d6 goes from 3.5 to 3.67. It does let us bypass resistance, which could be good against incorporeal undead, but I think there are better choices.

Naturally, we grab Warcaster at 4, and then at 8, we could either cap our Int or grab another General Feat. I liked taking Fey Touched for this (maybe the Fey are spooky wicker-man types, and the Misty Step spell is related to the Mists of Ravenloft). This does mean our Int is only 19 by level 10, but we compensate for this a bit by grabbing a +2 Wand of the War Mage.

    Attack Sequence:

Going all out, we're going to already have our Homunculus at the ready with their Wand of Magic Missiles. With six charges on the wand, we can probably afford to upcast the spell each turn by at least a bit, but I wouldn't go higher than 2nd level. I'm going to assume we're just doing this at 1st level. The damage calculation here is super-easy - each does 1d4+1 damage and we get 3 darts, so that's 3.5x3, or 10.5 damage each round, for up to 6 rounds, which I'd certainly hope would be more than enough to take out the Death Knight.

We have a +10 to hit with spells thanks to our Wand of the War Mage, though our spell save DC is just 16. The spell attack bonus should carry over to our companion.

So, we'll be starting off with our action to cast Lightning Bolt on turns 1 and 2. It's actually fine (even good) if we let this pass through our reanimated companion, as they can choose to fail and get healed up for our roll, so we actually want to try to position our companion directly between us and the Death Knight (or alternatively, put the Death Knight precisely between us and our companion). If we have low initiative and the companion takes damage, we can send them in first.

I'd never waste a spell purely on healing the companion, as it's just an action and a spell slot of any level to get a new one, though we can Shocking Grasp them to pump a little healing into them (it's effectively a 1st level Cure Wounds to them at this level).

Then, with a bonus action, we command our pet to run up to the Death Knight and hit them with their Dreadful Swipe. If there's extra movement, we should try to have the companion move away from any allies - they'll prevent opportunity attacks if they hit with their attack - because their Death Burst does not distinguish friend from foe.

    Damage Calculation:

First off, we get an average of 10.5 damage from our Homunculus.

Our companion will hit for 1d4+4 Necrotic damage. Unfortunately, Death Knights are immune to this. Hm. Well, let's assume it's some equivalent-difficulty foe that isn't. That's 6.5 damage on a hit and an extra 2.5 on a crit. With a +10 to hit, we're talking about a 55% hit chance. 6.5x55% is 3.575 and then 2.5x5% is .125, so that's 3.7 damage.

Note that if we do want to account for this damage immunity, we could cast Dragon's Breath on our companion (or on the homunculus and give our companion the wand). We'd delay our Lightning Bolts for a turn, and the companion would still need another turn to get in range, but once they did. At 2nd level, that does 3d6 damage on a failed save or half as much on a success. The DK has a +6 to dex saves and magic resistance, so that's a 20.25% chance to fail and a 79.75% chance to succeed. So, 20.25%x10.5 is 2.13ish and 5.25x79.75% is 4.19ish, so we've got about 6.32 damage per round. It's a bit of a toss-up, as you're also delaying some stuff by doing this. I'm going to just take the simple route and assume we're using the same normal attack.

Now, on turns 1 and 2, we'll be casting Lighting Bolt. Thanks to Arcane Conduit, we can add 4 to the damage. This thus does 32 damage on a failed save or half as much on a success. (I realized we can just cut the success chance in half and multiply it by the total damage to get the same thing). So, 39.875% (half of 79.75%) plus 20.25% is 60.125%, and that times 32 is 19.24 damage.

Thus, all of these taken together are 10.5 from the Wand of Magic Missiles, 3.7 from our companion's attack, and 19.24 from our Lightning Bolt, for a total of 33.44.

Alternatively, if we have our companion use the wand and our homunculus fire its normal attacks, they do 1d6+2 force damage on a hit if cast at base level, but we'll probably try to have them cast at 3rd level instead by this point, if we can cast it before we have a long rest, which would make it do 1d6+3, which is actually the same hit damage and a little better crit damage. Mainly, this gets rid of our last source of Necrotic damage and so it should all hit the DK fine.

Also, if we have Magic Missile upcast at 2nd level, its damage becomes 14, so a flat 3.5 damage increase per turn (but only sustainable for 3 turns). That would put us to 36.94, and then again a bit of a bump if we shuffle the roles of our two pets.

Honestly, that's not too bad.

However, after turn 2, we will be out of 3rd level spell slots. Now, Witch Bolt is an option - cast at 2nd level, we'd deal 3d12 damage on a hit and the could use a bonus action to do 1d12 damage automatically to the Death Knight. To do so, we'd be unable to command our companion, but that might change our strategy.

Instead, we have the companion use 3 charges on turns 1 and 2, doing 17.5 damage. On turn three, now out of Lightning Bolts, we cast Witch Bolt at level 2. This does 2d12+4 lightning if it hits, or 17 damage, with an extra 13 damage on a crit. We have a 55% chance to hit, so that's 17x55% plus 13x5%, or 10 damage on average. We then, I guess, just use a bonus action to tell our companion to find some place safe to hide. Then, on turns 3 onward, we use a bonus action to deal 6.5 damage to the Death Knight and I guess save spell slots for healing or something and shoot Fire Bolts, dealing 2d10+4 damage on a hit (15 average) and 11 more on a crit (8.8 average damage).

It's a bit of a mess to figure out precisely what we get "per turn," given how much our actions change, but certainly in those first two turns, we're probably looking at somewhere around 40, which is very respectable.

Reanimator Artificer

 Behold: the first ever official 5E Artificer subclass to be introduced in a book that doesn't include the whole class. Yes, it's a setting-appropriate horror-themed subclass that lets us channel our Victor Frankenstein (or maybe a little bit of Herbert West?)

A pet subclass somewhat like a Battle Smith, the Reanimator creates an undead abomination that is relatively expendable. As you level up, you'll have different ways to customize your pets, giving you a certain degree of flexibility with the roles they serve. Unlike the Battle Smith, you will be primarily a spellcaster. Let's just dive in:

Reanimator Spells:

Cantrip: Spare the Dying

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 I'm not a fan of Blight, this is overall a very solid spell list, and while Witch Bolt did get a good buff in 5.5, there are reasons I'll get into that make it a very worthwhile part of your arsenal here. Also, notably, we have a good 3rd level damage spell option that we can load into a Spell-Storing Item and hand off to our Homunculus, which I now think is a big factor that divides the good Artificer subclasses from the bad ones (Sorry, Alchemists and Cartographers).

Level 3:

Reanimator's Skill Set:

You get two benefits: one is the standard subclass tool proficiency, in this case Alchemist's supplies, or another if you already have it. The bigger part, though, is that you can modify your Spare the Dying cantrip to also create a burst of lightning damage around the target in a 10-foot emanation. Creatures in the area of your choice make a Dex save, taking 2d4 lightning damage on a failure or half as much on a success. The damage goes up by a d4 at levels 5, 11, and 17. You can do this Int times per long rest.

    Effectively, this gives Spare the Dying cantrip scaling, kind of along the lines of Word of Radiance or Sword Burst. Note also that Spare the Dying is now a ranged cantrip by default (getting longer range at each tier). Once again, pay attention to the lightning damage, as this will have additional benefits. It's limited use, but also, how often do you need to stabilize people that also happen to be an enemy. But it might be a good idea to send your pet over to them before you set this off.

Reanimated Companion:

The real headliner, this lets you create an undead construct (undead creature type) as an action using Tinker's Tools (or another set you're proficient with). It takes just an action to do so, and you can do it once for free per long rest, or just spend any spell slot to do it again.

The companion lasts until you finish a long rest or it dies, or you can use an action to dismiss it, or if you die. If it dies, it triggers its Death Burst, which does 2d4 Necrotic damage to creatures in a 10-foot emanation, with a Dex save for half (notably, this will do friendly fire). Like other subclass pets, you need to use your bonus action to direct it to do anything other than dodge, unless you're incapacitated, in which case it can act on its own.

The companion has an AC of 10 plus your Int, HP equal to 5 plus five times your Artificer level (with d8 hit dice equal to your Artificer level) and a speed of 30 feet.

It has resistance to Necrotic and Poison damage, and immunity to Lightning. Indeed, it has lightning absorption, causing it to regain HP for each point of lightning damage it would take.

It also has 60 feet of Blindsight, which is pretty nice for detecting invisible foes.

The companion's attack uses your spell attack modifier for its attack bonus, and does 1d4+ your Int of Necrotic damage on a hit, and prevents the target from making Opportunity Attacks on a hit until the start of its next turn.

    So, the damage here isn't very impressive, but that is often the case with subclass companions. But you can get a bit more damage with it by sending it into swarms of foes and letting it blow up. 2d4 damage isn't amazing if you're only thinking of it as an AoE spell, but it's a decent payoff if your companion is taken out.

    Now, that being said, you have a great way of keeping it alive. I don't actually think it's worth casting Witch Bolt on it, because for the same spell slot you could just make a new one, but when you get Lightning Bolt, catching this in it along with your primary target, that'll give you some easy extra survivability for it.

Level 5:

Strange Modifications:

You can now choose an option to add some modifications to the companion (this is a feature that expands as you level up). Each time you create a companion, you get to pick one of the following:

Arcane Conduit lets you cast spells as if you were in the Companion's space (using your own senses). Additionally, once per turn, when you cast an Artificer spell from the Evocation or Necromancy schools, you can add your Intelligence modifier to one damage roll of the spell.

    So, this I suppose is the rough analogue for something like Arcane Firearm. I'd say this is probably going to be a default option. Spells that will benefit from the damage bump should be Witch Bolt, Lightning Bolt, Blight, Acid Splash, Fire Bolt, Poison Spray, Ray of Frost, Shocking Grasp, and Thunderclap.

    In fact, I actually think there's an argument to be made for making your primary damage cantrip Shocking Grasp, because you can still stay at the back and just use it via your companion, and then if you need to heal them up, just shock 'em a bunch of times.

Ferocity changes the damage die for the companion's attack from a d4 to a d6.

    Very little to say here. This winds up being just 1 damage higher, and I don't think you get nearly as much of a benefit as Arcane Conduit. (Sad - in the UA, you could give your companion two attacks, which would have actually been some really nice damage scaling).

Level 9:

Improved Reanimation:

The damage of the companion's Death Burst goes up to 4d4, and the necrotic damage dealt by your companion ignores resistance.

    Necrotic resistance is very rare, though I suspect you might encounter it more in a Ravenloft campaign. The boost to Death Burst is cool, but it's still not enormous damage (though you'll have more spell slots to burn on disposable companions at this level).

Macabre Modifications:

You gain new options for your Strange Modifications, and furthermore, you can now pick two each time you create an companion.

Bloated make the companion Large, and when it hits a Large or smaller creature, they get pushed back 10 feet. Additionally, you can add your Int modifier to its Death Burst damage.

    This is a pretty solid option. The size and the pushing both help this do some battlefield control, and the Death Burst damage now becomes 14 or 15, with a large radius (given that an emanation is bigger from a larger creature). I'd still probably always use Arcane Conduit, but this is a solid choice for your second modification.

Gaunt increases the companion's speed to 45 feet, and it gets the same as a climb speed, effectively with Spider Climb. Creatures of your choice that start within 10 feet of the companion have to make a Wisdom save or become frightened until the start of its next turn.

    And honestly, this is really good too. The speed is nice to have, and the fear is also potentially really good - frightening a whole bunch of monsters that are near the companion.

Moist gives the companion a swim speed equal to its speed and allows it to squeeze through spaces as narrow as 1 inch. Also, when the companion takes damage from a creature within 10 feet of it, the attacker takes acid damage equal to your Int modifier.

    Another really solid choice - obviously the clear winner if you find yourself in aquatic combat, but the backlash damage is also pretty great - especially if the monster hitting it has multiattack. At worst, this disincentivizes foes from attacking your pet.

Level 15:

Refined Reanimation:

You get the following:

Facilitated Revival lets you cast Raise Dead once per long rest without expending a spell slot or material components once per long rest, as long as you have Tinker's Tools or another type of Artisan's Tools to use as a focus.

    This is pretty nice: while Raise Dead is the most onerous resurrection spell, you're also hopefully not going to have to cast it more than once a day, so this can be a little insurance for the party.

Life Transfer lets you use a reaction when you or your companion take damage. You gain HP equal to your companion's current HP and then the companion drops to 0, triggering its death burst.

    I'd like some clarification on whether you take the value of their HP from before or after the hit - I'm assuming after. Still, think about it this way: if you're out of combat, and you want to heal up, send your companion fifteen feet away from anyone you don't want to hurt, then make a ranged attack at it with, like, a sling or a something else that does minimal damage, and then blow it apart to heal yourself for, at this level, 80 HP minus the damage you did. And then get a new companion for a 1st level spell slot. I'm... I'm not sure that WotC thought of that. That is an insane self-heal.

Superior Modifications, then, lets you choose three options for Strange Modifications, up from two (but with no new options).

    And hey, this means you could make an Arcane Conduit Bloated but somehow also Gaunt companion.

Overall Thoughts:

    In terms of pure power, I don't think this is going to be a damage power-house, at least not any more than an Armorer and probably falling behind a Battle Smith.

    But I love the design, because this is so customizable. The fact that you can make companions as an action means that you'll very easily be able to pick whatever suits your current purposes best.

    While Death Burst is probably going to wind up being more of a fun bonus than a major source of damage (though it starts to get significant with a Bloated companion) it's delightfully grisly and thematic.

    I've generally wanted to play an Armorer, and also somewhat a Battle Smith, but I think if I was doing a Ravenloft campaign, I'd strongly consider this subclass, and I think it could be a lot of fun.

Armorer Damage Optimization

 I think I've come around to the opinion that the Battle Smith is probably a more powerful subclass than the Armorer, but I still have a deep love and affection for the Armorer, and I suspect that if I ever get a chance to play one in an ongoing campaign (boy, I wish I had more friends eager to DM - if I could be playing four nights a week I'd consider that really great) I might stick to the Armorer as my subclass of choice.

Now, I was first drawn to the Armorer for their tanking capabilities, and the Guardian model certainly gives you a bit of that semi-taunt ability on your weapon attacks.

But D&D is a game that doesn't necessarily need tanks and healers the way a game like WoW does, and I think there's a strong argument to be made that maximizing damage is the better strategy - indeed, it can even help with a game's pacing by ending combat encounters faster (I love combat, but it's by far the slowest aspect of the game).

So, I wanted to figure out what the best options for maximizing damage on an Armorer would be. Naturally, there are some arguments to be made that multiclassing would be the best choice - perhaps getting enough Wizard levels to get insane spells like Conjure Minor Elementals. But at a certain point, we start to lose that Artificer identity, so I'm planning on doing what I generally prefer with any character and do a single-class build.

Let's talk about some of the challenges we run into:

First off, the Armorer is limited to basically one kind of weapon at a time. All count as Simple weapons, so that the armorer doesn't need to get new weapon proficiencies (like the Battle Smith or Artillerist) and lack some of the other limiting properties that might cause problems for a character relying on Intelligence for their attacks.

What this means, though, is that a lot of the weapon-focused feats that can really boost damage are left out of reach for us: None of our weapons are Heavy, so we can't use Great Weapon Master. None are covered in Polearm Master's categories (which are Quarterstaffs, Spears, and then Heavy Reach weapons - the Force Demolisher has Reach, but not Heavy). None are Light, either, so no Dual-Wielder.

The Dueling fighting style could work for us, as each of our weapons are one-handed and we won't have a weapon in the off-hand, but taking a Fighitng Style feat doesn't boost any ability scores.

Thus, I think we really need to lean into the fact that we're an Int-based spellcaster for our damage boosts.

Again, sadly, some of the spells that work great with characters that make attacks aren't available to us - Spirt Shroud and Conjure Minor Elementals. We can get the latter if we are playing specifically in Eberron - taking the House Lyrandar Heir background, and thus getting Mark of the Storm, and then taking Potent Dragonmark at level 4 would allow us to get CME at level 7. The downside is that this background doesn't boost Intelligence. (I actually think this is amazing on a Monk, who can even Flurry of Blows on the same turn they cast the spell - though there's a little ambiguity over whether a non-caster gets the Mark of the Storm spell list.)

Starting at level 5, having a Homunculus Servant and casting Dragon's Breath on it at the start of combat (a bonus action) is probably going to be standard practice for most 5.5 Artificers. At 11, we'll pack Lightning Bolt into our Spell-Storing Item and hand it to the Homunculus, who should be able to cast it every turn in combat unless we have a very long day of fights.

But the Homunculus stuff is, honestly, probably just going to be the standard for every Artificer (sorry Alchemists and Cartographers, who don't get a good 3rd level damage spell).

What of ourselves?

    Armor Models:

Well, of our three armor modes, we have a ranged and two melee options. Obviously, going Infiltrator is going to be the safest route. I'll say if we want to prioritize damage-dealing, we might skip the Guardian. So, the question becomes who deals more damage: Infiltrator or Juggernaut?

The Juggernaut's Force Demolisher does have a higher damage die, but the Infiltrator's Lightning Launcher also has some riders that might change that math.

The Force Demolisher does 1d10 Force damage, so if we're looking at a +4 to Int (which we'll probably have by level 4) we're talking about 9.5 damage on average per hit. At level 15, this changes to 2d6, and we probably have +5 to Int, so we're talking probably 12 damage on a hit.

(EDIT: I forgot to actually calculate the damage per attack, rather than per hit. At level 5, if we assume a 60% hit chance as we do in the rest of this post, we've got 9.5x60%, or 5.7, and then 5.5x5% for our crit damage, which is .275, so we wind up with an average damage per attack of 5.975. We didn't bother with the damage upgrade at level 15, because clearly the Lightning Launcher is doing better, as both are 2d6 weapons, but the Lightining Launcher still gets its once-per-turn bonus d6.)

The Lightning Launcher does 1d6 damage, but that's not strictly true: once per turn, we can add 1d6. Thus, at levels 3 and 4, it effectively does 2d6, or 11 on average with a +4 to Int. Then, at level 15, the damage increases to 2d6, but we still get that extra 1d6. Clearly, at levels 3-4, and then levels 15+, the damage is strictly better than the Force Demolisher. But at levels 5-14 (where we're most likely to spend the most time playing unless it's a high-level campaign) who wins? Well, 1d10 twice is basically 11 on average. 1d6 twice is 7, but then we have an additional 3.5, which is 10.5 - however, we're more likely to get that bonus d6 than either specific attack, because even if we miss on the first attack, we might be able to add it to the second. Thus, if we have, say, a 60% chance to hit, we've then got an 84% chance to get that extra d6 (because the 40% chance to miss becomes a 16% chance to miss on both shots).

So, 11x60% is 6.6, and then 7x60% is 4.2, plus 3.5x84% is 2.94, so the Lightning Launcher is actually doing 7.14.

Ah, but I forgot Crits!

Well, it's basically 5.5/20 times 2 (which is .55) versus 3.5/20 times 2 (which is .35) (oh duh, dividing by 20 and then multiplying by 2 is just dividing by 10) and then some really complicated math regarding whether the bonus d6 crits (because we can't know ahead of time if we're going to crit on our second attack after we make our first... do we just add the .175? Let's say that and if someone sees a flaw in the math, they can sue me). Ok, so we're just saying that .525. That means that the crit bonus is still better for the Force Demolisher, but only by .025, which does not make up for it.

    Spells:

So, the Lightning Launcher seems to be the highest-damage option here, at least in raw output, at all levels. But how can we enhance it further? (And might the Force Demolisher wind up having some extra edges because of its forced movement?)

Again, by level 5, my guess is that we'll mostly be casting Dragon's Breath on our Homunculus Servant to get a quick burst of 3d6 damage in a cone each turn. So, if we have spells we want to use to increase our damage, they've got to beat that (and remember that AoE spells are going to get tons more value if we have a target-rich environment).

Web is a solid spell that can play nicely with the Juggernaut's ability to knock enemies around the battlefield - if they get out, you can knock them back in. But it's hard to quantify precisely how much damage that translates to.

Heat Metal is a solid choice, especially if you use it on an item that the foe cannot quickly discard, like metallic armor. 2d8 damage is 9 on average, which is a little less than 3d6 (10.5 average) but there's no save against it. One of the really great benefits, though, of Dragon's Breath is that it's a bonus action to cast, and if we're doing it on our Homunculus, we don't need to worry about any action economy loss after that.

Once we get 3rd level spells at level 9, we get a few more options. Naturally, we can use our own spell slots to cast Lightning Bolt, which is pretty solid even against a single target, but best if we can get a bunch of enemies together in a line. (If the targets have a 50% chance to save, it's an average of 21 damage per target. Compare that with our attacks: with a 60% chance to hit, we're talking 1d6+5 (possibly still only +4 at this level depending on which feats we grab) or 8.5x.6, or 5.1 twice (10.2) plus 3.5x84% (2.94) and then we'll say 3.5/20x3, or .525, giving us a total average of 13.665 damage. So, yeah, the Lightning Bolt is definitely out-damaging that even in single-target situations, but it's a precious 3rd level spell slot.

Haste is adding an extra attack each turn (naturally, we might cast it on someone who hits harder in our party, but we're doing this in a vacuum). That means that we've got another chance for our bonus d6 if we miss twice with our normal action (making it a 93.6% chance to happen) and then an additional 13.14 damage - which does out-do our Dragon's Breath from the Homunuclus (in single-target) and also frees up the Homunculus to use its own attack, which only does a little damage, but hey, it's something.

Now, we haven't talked about Magic Weapon and Elemental Weapon. The rules are slightly ambiguous as to whether you can separately replicate your built-in weapons to get +1 versions of them. Also, if the armor is magical (if you've got, say, +1 Plate) does that mean the weapons are magical as well, and thus not suitable for these spells?

But let's take a look at how, Elemental Weapon would affect our damage:

At 3rd level, we're getting a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls and an extra d4 damage on a hit.

Thus, in our standard scenario, we now have a 65% chance to hit, and our hits land for 1d6+1d4+5 (we'll assume we're just taking General feats and won't cap Int until 12). So, our average damage is 11 on a hit. We have a 65% chance to hit, so 11x65% is 7.15, and then 14.3 over two attacks. Now, we have an 87.75% chance to land our bonus d6, so that's 3.5x87.75%, or 3.07 (roughly) per turn. So we get basically 17.37 damage per round. But the part of that coming from the spell, compared to just attacking without it, 13.67 (ish) as we determined earlier, means that this spell is only increasing our damage per turn by about 3.7. By contrast, a 3rd level Dragon's Breath with a 50% chance to fail on saves is 10.5 damage per turn.

So I don't think these weapon-enhancing spells are worth it (the one time I found it clutch was when we were in Curse of Strahd and I cast Magic Weapon on our Gunslinger's non-magic guns, which were doing nothing against the Amber Golems in the Amber Temple).

Ok, now, while I'm focusing mostly on tier 2, if we get up to level 13 and can cast 4th level spells, we should talk about Summon Construct. This will get two attacks that do 1d8+8 (average 12.5) on a hit, so with a 60% hit chance, we're looking at 7.5, and then .225 for crits, doubled to 15.45 damage. How is that? a 4th level Dragon's Breath would let our Homunculus do 5d6 damage on a breath, so with a 50% success rate, we're talking 13.125 - so yeah, this is actually a bit better. While the Construct is vulnerable to getting destroyed, so is the Homunculus, and the Golem's beefier. And hey, the Homunculus is probably shooting lightning bolts with the spell-storing item anyway.

And then, of course for 5th level spells, you can get something like Bigby's Hand, which does decent damage (22.5 average, so with a 60% chance to hit, basically 14.625 including crits, but with some nice utility). But that's not until tier 4, so we won't worry too much about it.

For our Armorer-specific spells that aren't Lightning Bolt, we have a few options - Thunderwave and Fire Shield might help if we're going a melee route. Shatter can be an all right poor-man's Fireball (though it's only a little more damage than Dragon's Breath, and we can get that each round if our Homunculus survives).

    Feats:

Ok, because we have weird, unique weapons, we won't really be able to benefit from any major damage-increasing feats. But what of the more Intelligence-focused ones?

Again, I'm going to leave out the ones from Forge of the Artificer just because they're a bit more setting-specific. So we'll stick to the PHB ones. And I'll stick to those that can increase our Intelligence, as we'll probably be doing that at 4, 8, and 12 (though we can take an ASI if we want to move onto others, like Heavy Armor Master).

Fey Touched is, of course, a classically great one - Misty Step is a fantastic spell. We could pick up Hunter's Mark, though we will probably want to concentrate on a different spell pretty early on (Dragon's Breath, again, as a prime example - this is a spell that wouldn't be so good if we didn't have a little Homunculus to be its recipient).

Ritual Caster, actually, would let us get Find Familiar, and thus have a back-up if someone takes down your Homunculus Servant.

Shadow Touched is probably not as popular as Fey Touched, but you could use it to grab Hex, like Fey can get Hunter's Mark, though it has the same problems.

Spell Sniper unfortunately doesn't prevent disadvantage with attacks from your Lightning Launcher, though it does let you ignore partial cover. Unfortunately, Sharpshooter (which could be a good alternative) doesn't boost Intelligence. A decent choice after we've capped our Int (though a pretty big commitment to the Infiltrator mode).

Telekinetic is a pretty great one, actually - especially given that we don't really need our bonus action for much, and the shoving can combine with the Force Demolisher to give us a bit more battlefield control.

Telepathic is also solid, though it's a little less combat-focused.

War Caster, of course, is always a great choice, and especially if we're in melee more. We'll want to make sure we've got some single-target spells. I think that as long as you only choose the creature provoking the opportunity attack, you should be able to use Magic Missile.

    Replicated Magic Items:

Ah yes, a core element of the Artificer.

First, let's talk weapons. My interpretation of the rules is that you can replicate the weapons built into your armor, and that they're separate from the armor itself, so you could have a +1 Lightning Launcher and +1 Plate. If that's the case, these will be high priorities:

+1 Weapons are going to be the obvious choice once you get your subclass. We don't need a Repeating Shot given that the Lightning Launcher doesn't have ammo. Now: there's another matter of interpretation: does having "Weapon, +1" give you the ability to replicate any +1 weapon when you finish a long rest, or just one you choose the plans for? And if you swap your armor model, does that mean you can't make the right weapon for it? D&D Beyond is no help here because it doesn't even list a "Dazzling Force Demolisher" as an option. If I were the DM, I'd grandfather the old version of the Armorer that lets the Infusion transfer between weapons when you swap your armor model, and thus let you at the very least learn "+1 Armorer weapon," though I'd probably just say you have plans for "any +1 weapon."

At level 6, we get some new options. Unless we're struggling with how many plans we're swapping out (we'll want to get +1 Plate at this level, swapping from, like, Gleaming Plate) we can easily grab Dazzling Weapon and replace the +1 version, as you get the +1 bonus with that anyway along with other stuff. Weapon of Warning will sacrifice the +1 bonus, but you do get advantage on initiative, which is nice.

At 10, we probably want to upgrade to a +2 weapon - it's not actually that big of a jump in power, and so we might stick with one of the others we got at level 6 potentially.

At 14, though, we hit a point where we actually need to seriously reconsider our Armor Model, because we can get a Flame Tongue Force Demolisher. Flame Tongues can only be melee weapons, so this will work for that or the Thunder Pulse weapon, but not the Lightning Launcher. A Flame Tongue grants no bonus to attacks, but it does add 2d6 fire damage on a hit (you need to activate it with a bonus action). That extra damage is enormous, and will wipe out any damage you'd be losing from the lower chance to hit. Basically, by level 15, if we have this, the Force Demolisher is going to be landing for 4d6+5 damage on a hit, which is serious damage.

Now, what about other stuff?

Items with charges can be really great thanks to Magic Item Tinker, which lets us charge them up with spell slots, or more likely, to drain them for spell slots. Indeed, if you have two plans for items with charges, just use the first one up, transmute it into the other, and then drain it for peak efficiency.

Some good options here are Wand of Web, Pipes of Haunting, Mind Sharpener. Necklace of Fireballs doesn't technically have "charges," but given that you can just use it up and then transmute it into something else is pretty great.

So, let's imagine a scenario and see how much damage we're going to be putting out.

Let's imagine a big boss fight at level 10 - the conclusion of some major arc. I think a Death Knight functions pretty well (if it's on its own, otherwise it's too difficult) as a tier 2 big bad.

So, at this level we don't have the final slew of replicated magic items, but we can get a +2 weapon. We also don't have Replicate Magic Item yet (we're very close). If we're grabbing all the General Feats we can, we're talking still a +4 to Int.

Our Death Knight has an AC of 20 and a Dex save bonus of +6. 

If we have +4 to Int, we're looking at a spell save DC of 16, and we're rocking a +2 Lightning Launcher and thus have a +10 to hit. We have a Homunculus Servant.

If we're not worrying about battlefield control and just trying to zap as much damage as we can, here's a gameplan:

We cast Dragon's Breath with a bonus action, upcasting to 3rd level, on our Homunculus. Then, we make two attacks with our Lightning Launcher.

Each attack has a 55% chance to hit. They deal 1d6+6 damage, or 9.5 damage on average, on a hit, and add 3.5 on a crit. So, 55%x9.5 (which is 5.225) plus 5%x3.5 (.175) gives us 5.4 per attack, or 10.8.

We then have our bonus d6, with a 79.75% chance to land on our turn. That gives us 3.5x79.75%, or 2.79125.

Now, to get really crunchy, the crit chance on that bonus d6 is 5% on the first attack, but then, the chance of it critting on the second attack is only 5% x 45% (as we'd only get to crit with it if we hadn't hit on the second attack) so we're talking 5%x145%, which comes to 7.25%, which we then apply to our 3.5 from the d6, giving us .25375 damage.

Thus, from our Lightning Launcher, we're doing a total of 13.845 damage per turn. Not... amazing, but continuing on:

We can cast Dragon's Breath on our Homunculus Servant at 3rd level, which means it will be doing 4d6 damage on a failed save, or 14 average, and then 7 average on a successful save. This should happen every turn, so we can easily just add it to the damage turn-by-turn. The Death Knight has a 55% chance to succeed, so 55% of the time we're doing 7 damage and 45% of the time, we're doing 14. 14x45% is 6.3 and 7x55% is 3.85, so the spell nets us an average of 10.15.

Thus, that brings our total damage per turn to 23.995, which is better, but not amazing.

However, if this is a serious boss fight, it stands to reason that we're going whole hog. At level 10, we only have 2 3rd level spell slots. Should we just blow them on Lightning Bolt?

Lighting Bolt does 8d6, or 28 average damage on a failure. But our DK foe has a pretty good saving throw bonus, so again, 55% of the time they're only taking 14. 14x55% is 7.7 and 28x45% is 12.6, so on average our Lightning Bolt is doing 20.3 damage.

Now, we could do this twice, but this would mean downgrading our Dragon's Breath to a 2nd level (and we'd only be able to start casting Lightining Bolt on turn 2, as we still need to cast Dragon's Breath on the first turn). I believe we can just take our average 3rd level Dragon's Breath damage and cut it to 75% (because it's 3d6 instead of 4d6) so that should give us 7.6125 damage per turn.

Thus, if we do it this way, we can do 21.4575 damage on turn 1, and then on turns 2 and 3, we can do 27.9125 damage. I'd say we're now talking at least respectable, if not insane damage.

Notably, one level later, things change profoundly: we'll be having our Homunculus flying off at a safe distance and shooting a Lightining Bolt probably every round of combat with the Spell-Storing Item, which does take Dragon's Breath out of the equation, but that's doubling what Dragon's Breath was doing, and we can just start things off with our own Lightning Bolts as well, so that's basically 40.6 damage on turns 1 and 2 and then dropping to 34.145 after that, which I honestly think is quite solid.

Armorers, Weapons, and Replicating Items - +2 vs Flametongue

 I've become a big user of D&D Beyond, after spending most of my early D&D years pretty strictly with paper character sheets. While the service is, I think, very convenient (on principle I feel like I ought to buy the new Eberron and Forgotten Realms books physically, but for the time being I only have the digital versions) there are areas where the programmers have certain interpretations of the rules that I disagree with. These interpretations might not even be meant as a strict reading of the rules as much as a way to get the character sheets working, so they are to be taken with a real grain of salt.

As an example, you can get the plan for Gleaming Armor as an Artificer, but in D&D Beyond, but the site makes you pick, say, Gleaming Half Plate, and then that's what you get to replicate. This does make it pretty simple for you to then make the replicated item, but I think that as a DM, I'd rule that you could swap that plan for any other gleaming armor any time you wanted (such as when you hit level 3 as an Armorer).

In the Tasha's version of the Armorer, they explicitly called out that the weapons built into your armor counted as valid targets for your Artificer Infusions - your level 9 feature made it clear that your helm, boots, chestpiece, and weapon were now separately valid targets for infusions. This meant that with Enhanced Weapon, you could make your Thunder Gauntlet or Lightning Launcher into a +1 (and later +2) weapon.

There is some ambiguity, though, with the new version. Our armor has a built-in weapon, but how does that relate to replicating items? Each of the now-three weapons is still considered a simple weapon (Thunder Pulse and Force Demolisher being melee, Lightning Launcher ranged,) but if you're wearing magic armor (which you probably are, either from something found in-game or created via replicate magic item,) does that mean that the weapon is already bearing the, say, +1 bonus to AC as its sole magical enchantment?

I think the Rules as Written here are a little unclear, and I could even concede a very strict reading that prevents you from creating separate magic weapons with Replicate Magic Item. But that strict reading, in my opinion, goes against the fantasy and spirit of the subclass, and it also hobbles them unfairly - while a Battle Smith is going to be able to wield any number of magic weapons (even beyond the possible replicated items) the Armorer is already limited to the type of weapon linked to their armor model (taking the True Strike cantrip does open up some additional possibilities, though it doesn't get to scale with Extra Attack).

Thus, while I recommend going over this detail with your DM before you pick this subclass, I'd encourage most DMs to interpret things in the following ways:

-That a suit of armor that is turned into Arcane Armor will gain one of these weapons, as clearly shown in the subclass features. (This isn't even an interpretation so much as plain reading of the text.)

-That an Armorer can select one of these special weapons and replicate them via a Replicate Magic Item plan like +1 Weapon.

-That these weapons can be "installed" as "modules" into the armor, replacing the unenhanced version of the weapon that comes naturally with the Arcane Armor.

-That the +1 bonus to attacks and damage gained at level 9 with these weapons will stack with the magical bonuses they get from a magical replication.

    This last aspect, I think, open to question: my initial interpretation of the +1 bonus was that this was something of a consolation prize for the lack of magical enhancements. WotC has a nasty habit of failing to give subclasses with built-in weapons (like Soulknives or Beast Barbarians) bonuses to match the kind of magical enhancements that will aid other magic users. But if we use this more generous interpretation, it means that, instead, the weapons will at least be able to scale up slightly beyond our replicated items. Our +2 Weapon plan could now effectively give us a +3 weapon, which is the best kind of +X weapon.

So, now, there's an interesting question:

At level 10, we can start replicating +2 weapons. But at level 14, we can make Flame Tongue Weapons.

Flame Tongues used to only be swords, but now any melee weapon can count. Thus, while the Lightning Launcher is out of luck, with our above stipulations, we ought to be able to interpret the Thunder Pulse and Force Demolisher as valid Flame Tongue weapon options.

Previously, I'd always kind of doubted the power of a Flame Tongue because it lacks the attack bonus that even a +1 weapon gets. But I think as I've come to understand the math of D&D a little better, I think that adding 2d6 fire damage on each swing, which is already far-exceeding any +X bonus to damage, is even going to overcome the +X attack bonus.

I wanted to present a kind of hypothetical scenario to compare the damage output of these options. Just to get the full potential, I'm going to also jump to level 15, where all the Armorer weapons get a damage boost. The Lightning Launcher remains the highest damage weapon for an Armorer (thanks to the once-per-turn bonus d6) but the Force Demolisher gets a decent boost by changing from 1d10 to 2d6 (it's not as big as the Lightning Launcher's 1d6 to 2d6, but it's certainly better than the Thunder Pulse's 1d8 to 1d10. And, of course, you can't make a Flame Tongue Lightning Launcher anyway).

Technically the Flame Tongue requires a bonus action to activate, and it goes out if it's stowed, sheathed, or dropped, but here's an interesting question: as a built-in weapon for our armor, will we ever do that? We might want to deactivate it if we're trying not to be noticed (as it shed bright light) but I think battle-to-battle there's not really any reason to worry about it being out there, all aglow. While activated, the weapon deals 2d6 additional fire damage. That's pretty massive - that's a whole Greatsword's worth of damage.

So, if we're level 15, let's talk about a few assumptions: first, we've probably capped our Intelligence at this point, having had general feats at levels 4, 8, and 12 by now (even if we take half feats at each of these, we can start with a 17 in Intelligence and thus cap it by 12). So, we have a +5 to Intelligence and we have a +5 Proficiency bonus. Our level 9 subclass features is adding +1 to attack and damage rolls with any built-in weapon.

If we take a +2 weapon (which we can get as early as level 10) we're going to be looking at a Force Demolisher that has a +13 to hit (+5 from Int, +5 from PB, +2 from magic, +1 from Improved Armorer) and deals 2d6+8 damage, or 15 on average, twice per turn.

If we take a Flame Tongue, and assume it's active when combat starts, we'll have a +11 to hit, and we'll be doing 2d6+2d6+6 damage, or 20 damage on average (13 Force and 7 Fire), twice per turn.

In the DMG, a 15th-level character accounts for 3,300 xp in a low difficulty combat encounter, 5,400 in a moderate encounter, and 7,800 in a high difficulty encounter. Generally, I think most encounters are probably going to be low-difficulty, unless your DM prefers big, climactic fights (I'm admittedly in the middle of an adventure with my party that is explicitly individual fights with special objectives each day, so these are all tuned high).

I like Vampire Nightbringers as monsters (I enjoy vampires in general as monsters,) which are CR 7, and thus worth 3,900 xp. For a low-difficulty encounter, you'd want the players to slightly outnumber them at level 15. The important thing is that these guys have an AC of 16, which is actually pretty average for monsters of this CR.

My guess is that the +X weapon will actually do better against higher AC monsters, where the bonus to hit counts for more, but let's do some quick math here:

+2 Weapon:

Hitting on a mere 3 or higher, we've got an 90% chance to hit. Our hits do 15 damage, and our crits add 7. So, 15x90% is 13.5 and 7x5% is .35, so we're doing 13.85 damage per attack, or 27.7 damage per turn (you know, before letting our homunculus use our spell-storing item to blast with a lightning bolt, but that'll be the same with both weapon types).

Flame Tongue:

Now, we're only hitting on a 5 or higher (still pretty good) so we've got an 80% to hit. Our hits are doing 20 damage, while our crits are adding a pretty chunky 14 damage.

20x80% is 16, and 14x5% is .7, so that's 16.7 damage per attack, and thus 33.4 damage per turn.

So, yeah, the Flame Tongue is clearly performing better. Note, of course, that there are a lot of monsters that are immune to Fire. If you have both plans, you might consider swapping Flame Tongue out for +2 weapons if you're, say, going to the Elemental Plane of Fire or the Nine Hells, fighting Red Dragons, or anything like that (fiends that aren't devils are also often resistant to fire).

But what about a fight against something with a tougher AC? In the past I've generally set boss-level AC at tier 3 at 20. An Ancient White Dragon would not be an unreasonable fight for a 15th level party, and they have an AC of 20. So, how does the math work out there?

+2 Weapon:

Now we only hit on a 7 or higher (70%). 15x70% is 10.5, with the same crit bonus of .35, so we're looking at 10.85 damage per attack (assuming we can get within range to hit it - honestly a dragon might be a good time to go Infiltrator mode anyway) for 21.7 damage per turn.

Flame Tongue:

And here, we're hitting on a 9 or higher, so 60%. 20x60% is 12, and then we have that crit bonus of .7, so 12.7 per attack. We're thus hitting for 25.4 damage per turn.

Yeah, Flame Tongue sure is proving itself, though the gap here is a little smaller - 5.7 better against a 16 AC versus 3.7 against an AC of 20.

The question, then, is whether there's an AC a monster can get that is high enough to make the +2 weapon better.

The highest innate AC of a monster in 5E is 25, found on the Tarrasque (and, unless I'm mistaken, its fellow CR 30 creatures, Tiamat's fiendish form from Tyranny of Dragons, as well as the Aspects of Bahamut and Tiamat, though they might not actually have the same AC). Sul Khatesh, from Eberron: Rising from the Last War has a native AC of 22, but can cast Shield at will to push that to 27, but I'm also hesitant to use her as an example because she can likely shut down all our magic weapons anyway (though the fact that we deal Force or other non-kinetic damage types with our built in weapons could help as a workaround, if the DM doesn't rule that antimagic fully shuts down our whole armor suit).

The problem with the Tarrasque is that it's immune to Fire damage, making the Flame Tongue clearly not useful.

The Colossus might be our best bet here - it doesn't have any immunities we care about, and has an AC of 23 (it's also the highest CR monster in the new Monster Manual other than the Tarrasque, at 25. I don't think there are any creatures in all of 5E with a 26, 27, or 29 CR).

Now, facing a Colossus at level 15 would be a really scary prospect (especially with its ability to disintegrate people with its Divine Beam). We could just assume we're higher level, which would only shift things by 1 given the boost to our proficiency bonus, but I'm going to just say that this is a very dire scenario instead.

So, with an AC of 23, we're looking at the following:

+2 Weapon:

We now hit on a 10 or higher (still more often than not, but only just barely at 55%).

So, 15x55% is 8.25, and then the usual .35 crit bonus, giving us 8.6 damage per attack, for 17.2 damage per turn.

Flame Tongue:

We're going to be whiffing a lot now - we have a 45% hit chance.

20x45% is 9, and then we've got our crit bonus of .7 as before, so yeah, 9.7 damage per attack and thus 19.4 damage per turn.

So yes, it really turns out that that extra 2d6 damage is basically always going to be better for us than the higher attack bonus. Monsters ACs just don't scale up high enough to make that little +2 bonus over the Flame Tongue worth it.

Again, though, there are a lot of monsters that are immune to fire, so it's truly campaign dependent. If you could get a Vicious Weapon variant (which adds 2d6 of the weapon's normal damage type, which would be fantastic on a Force Demolisher) that would be preferable, but it's not an option.

So, unless your campaign is very fiery, I'd really suggest you consider getting the Flame Tongue for your weapon enchant, assuming you can even do that.

What Magic Items to Hand to Your Homunculus Before Level 11

 The Forge of the Artificer, er... Artificer revamp didn't strictly introduce the Homunculus servant, but it did make some big changes to how it works which will make it, if you ask me, a must-use spell for any Artificer.

The old version took up one of your infusions and also demanded a bit of your action economy, forcing you to use your bonus action to command it, which kind of made it useless for Artillerists and Battle Smiths, who want to use their bonus actions for key subclass features (Eldritch Cannons and Steel Defenders, respectively).

The new version, though, is now a second level spell that acts a lot like Find Familiar, but with one key difference: the Homunculus can attack. (Oh, and the component in the spell isn't consumed, so once you have it, as long as the DM isn't mean and steals your spell component, you can re-cast the spell easily.)

The thing is, the homunculus' attack, while better than a familiar's because it can be ranged (I suppose a Chain pact Warlock could use a Skeleton familiar's shortbow attack, with the pact boon allowing it to attack, but its attack bonus doesn't scale the way the homunculus' attack does) on top of, you know, it being allowed to attack.

But one trick that isn't really talked about a lot is giving your familiar a magic item that can do something more exciting. I can't recall if using a magic item requires a Magic action or a Utilize action, but neither of these are prohibited by either spell. That said, if you have an Owl, for example, your DM could likely argue that they don't have the proper limbs to use and operate a magic item. But the homunculus has two things in its favor: one is that we have pretty broad leeway to define how its limbs are configured, the art often showing a little mechanical dude hovering around with two humanoid-like arms. The other is that, as artificers, we can very easily cook up some magic items to give to them.

Now, if you're worried about carrying capacity, the Homunculus Servant has a Strength of 4. Most playable characters (who are all Medium or Small unless altered by some spell or class feature) have a carrying capacity of 15 pounds for each point of Strength (meaning that a normal person should be able to carry 150 pounds). Tiny creatures, however, have this value halved. But luckily, even with a mere 4 Strength, that means that you can still carry up to 30 pounds as a tiny creature.

The heaviest kind of arcane focus is a staff, which weighs just 4 pounds. A wand is 1 pound. In fact, the very heaviest mundane weapon in the game is the Heavy Crossbow, at 18 pounds, which our Homunculus could hold (and wield! With a 15 Dexterity, they're qualified to use a Heavy ranged weapon!) The heaviest set of artisan's tools, Tinker's Tools, is 10 pounds.

The point here is that unless something is explicitly very heavy (there are armor sets that will be too heavy for them, though I might argue that if you make a set of armor for the homunculus, it might be lighter given that it's for a tiny creature) they should be able to carry most magic items.

One last bit of preamble:

At level 11, you can make a spell-storing item, and three of the five subclasses (and maybe four if and when the Reanimator subclass comes out - which I hope it does) have very good AoE damage spells at 3rd level that will likely be your go-to option for this. And with ten casts per day (unless you're taking a lot of general feats and not Intelligence-capped yet, but then still probably eight uses) you'll probably just have the Homunculus use this over and over.

But level 11 is a pretty big threshold, crossing into tier 3. As a second level spell, we can start using a Homunculus at the start of tier 2. So, what do we do from levels 5-10 with them?

One option to consider is the Dragon's Breath spell, which allows the Homunculus to use its action to do a 30-foot cone (dex save) for 3d6 of a standard dragon elemental damage type. This is really not a bad use of one bonus action in a combat, but it does take up what is still a pretty precious 2nd level spell slot. Making a magic item for them might be a good alternative. But what options ought we to look at?

5th level:

At 5th level, we're still using just our base Replicate Magic Item feature's options. There are a few wands included in the bespoke list, but none that do any damage. But we can also create any common magic item that isn't a scroll, a potion, or cursed.

And frankly? There's not a lot of great options here. Even enspelled items that cast cantrips are actually Uncommon. I think you're really best off just using Dragon's Breath or, if you want to conserve spell slots, just making use of the Homunculus' own attack.

6th level:

Here, we get our second suite of replicable items, and we start to get some strong options:

Pipes of Haunting doesn't have a ton of charges (though we can use Magic Item Tinker on it when it runs out to turn it into one of the other options here) but it's a pretty powerful effect, inflicting the frightened condition on creatures within 30 feet (of your choice). The Wisdom save DC is a set 15 (standard for a lot of magic items) but that's actually pretty good - at level 6 with a +4 to Int, we're looking at a 15 DC for our spells anyway. A 30-foot emanation, effectively, is going to easily cover, if not the entire battlefield, then a pretty enormous swath of it, and there's no limit on targets. You'll only use this once per fight, as creatures who succeed on the save will be immune to the effect, but it's a hell of an opener.

Wand of Magic Missiles is a pretty straightforward option. With 7 charges, you'll probably be able to use this on most turns, and if you just use it up and Magical Tinker it into something else, it only needs to last half the day (though be aware that there's a 5% chance that it crumbles to dust if you use up the last charge, which isn't terrible in the long term, but will prevent you from transforming it into something useful). You can up-cast the spell by using more charges, so if you need a bigger burst of damage, you can do that, but spreading it out over all 7 charges means, effectively, a total of 21d4+21 damage. Or, perhaps more usefully, you can think of this as being a guaranteed (except in very rare cases) 3d4+3 (around 10.5 damage) every turn. To contrast this with the Homunculus' normal attack, that's got an attack bonus equal to your spell attack (we'd probably assume +7 at this level) and does 1d6 plus the spell's level in Force damage, so at this level that's 1d6+2, or 5.5, and if you have a target with an AC of 15, that's 3.75 damage per round. In other words, the wand's going to be doing 2.8 times as much damage.

Wand of Web is another good choice - for one thing, it's your homunculus who will maintain concentration on the spell, rather than you. Web's a strong spell, though the DC on this item is only 13. Still, it's a pretty large region, and the webs are even flammable (which will destroy them, but they do cause extra fire damage when they burn - I'm sad that the new Grease is explicitly non-flammable).

Of these, Wand of Magic Missiles is obviously the best choice for pure damage output. But it's very dependent on the kind of fight you're fighting - if you're getting swarmed by lots of monsters, an AoE fear might make that fight a lot more manageable. If you want to really debilitate a foe or a couple of foes, Web's going to be really great for that. It's a question of what your party really needs from you.

Level 10:

While we're only a level away from Spell-Storing Item, our options here open up massively, because we can now make any uncommon wondrous item. And uncommon is when magic items start to become way more powerful. Now, we can't make any staff, rod, or wand here - which does limit our spellcasting item options. And enspelled items are all staves, armor, and weapons, which aren't included here either. But still, we have a ton of things to look at. I'm not sure I'll be able to cover all the best options here, btu I'll try to find some really solid options.

Coiling Grasp Tattoo might be a bit odd, but it's an endlessly-reusable action that can deal 3d6 damage on a failed strength save and grapple a target. The DC is set by the item, so the Homunculus' low Strength is not a problem here, and the 15-foot range on it can potentially have the Homunculus safely hover above.

The Decanter of Endless Water can do a small amount (only 1d4) damage in a line with its Geyser action, but it can also knock creatures prone. The benefit this has, I think, over something like Wand of Web is that it never runs out (just as the name of the item suggests).

Gems of Brightness can inflict the blinded condition, though note that they don't have the friendly fire protections of the Pipes of Haunting. While the normal version of the item never regains charges and becomes a nonmagical item after its 50 charges are expended, if it's replicated, you can just make a new one when it's used up.

A Pyroconverger (from Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica) is basically a flamethrower that deals 4d6 damage. It doesn't have charges, but there's a growing chance (starting at 50%) that it'll explode, so while hilarious, perhaps not the most practical.

A Wind Fan, similarly to the Gem of Brightness, is largely limited by its chance to break, though Gust of Wind (the spell it casts) is arguably not that great.

Level 14:

By this level, you'll have the Spell-Storing Item, which is probably what you'll have your homunculus using, as it's got a pretty hefty number of charges, uses your own (likely quite high) spell save DC. But we do have some other options.

The Ring of the Ram is probably not worth it unless you want it specifically for breaking objects, especially if you're looking for a sustainable option (the get decent damage out of it, you'll probably want to expend extra charges).

But we also now get Rare wondrous items:

Bag of Beans could be used as a single big AoE burst - if you dump out all of the beans (3d4, so an average of 7.5, we'll round down to 7) then each bean will explode for 5d4 force damage in a 10-foot radius sphere. Your homunculus could thus do something like a bombing run, and if we assume 7 beans, that's basically 35d4 damage (or half on a successful DC 15 Dex save,) which is 87.5 damage - not nothing. (Planting the beans will have much more strange effects, which are randomized). This won't outdamage ten Conjure Barrages, of course, but if you need a really sudden burst, it's an option.

Cube of Force will allow your Homunculus to maintain Wall of Force, among other useful spells, if you need crowd control more than damage.

Cube of Summoning is a very silly option, as you'll be able to have your homunculus cast a random "Summon" spell at 5th level.

Necklace of Fireballs is probably not going to be as good as an Artillerist's spell-storing item, but if you're a Cartographer or Alchemist who doesn't have as good of a 3rd level spell to toss in it, this is a workaround.

    I think that, probably by design, most of the items that can cast lots and lots of spells are either staves or wands, while wondrous items are largely more about constant, passive effects or one-per-day big things that you might not need to hand off to your homunculus.

Honestly, I think that the level 6 options you get pretty early on are going to do a lot to tide you over until level 11. Wand of Magic Missile is probably your most universally useful option, though I'd genuinely consider both the Pipes of Haunting and the Wand of Web.

Now, depending on the item you find in your campaign, or the items you're able to craft if your DM gives you the downtime, materials, and opportunity, there might be some really good options. A lot of these have some attunement requirements that might get in the way, but something like a Wand of Binding (which can cast Hold Person and Hold Monster) could be great to have someone else concentrating on.

Taking Another Look at the Reanimator Post-FotA

 Ok, yeah, I'm a bit fixated on Artificers at the moment.

When I was playing Curse of Strahd, I came up with an idea for a back-up character should my klutzy (7 Dexterity) Paladin meet an unfortunate fate. With Van Richten either about to come out or having just came out, I had the idea of playing a Battle Smith Artificer from Lamordia, with the idea that his steel defender was actually something like a flesh golem (Lamordia being the domain of Viktra Mordenheim, the setting's equivalent of Victor Frankenstein).

Back in May of this year, we got a UA for "Horror Subclasses" that included various reprints and revisions (among them the Necromancer Wizard and Undead Patron Warlock - both subclasses I'd be eager to try). But we also got a brand new Artificer subclass that more or less goes the Frankenstein route, giving you a battle pet in the form of a Reanimated Companion.

Naturally, this will draw comparisons with the Battle Smith as the other subclass with a pet (the Artillerist is nearly like that as well, though its "pet" (or pets at level 15) are objects with less autonomy). The Reanimator doesn't got the martial route that the Battle Smith takes, remaining a more dedicated spellcaster like the Alchemist, Artillerist, and Cartographer.

I did my analysis of the subclass back when the UA came out, so I'm not going to just reiterate the entire argument I made then. We had gotten a UA of the revised Artificer by then, but I think my recent investigation into the final version of the FotA Artificer has given me a few special things to focus on that we can address here:

Spell-Storing Item Spell to Store in an Item:

For damage-output, the spell-storing item can create a massive increase if we have a good 3rd level damage spell to plug into it. The Reanimator, thankfully, does get such a spell! It's Lightning Bolt, which it shares with the Armorer.

Lightning and Frankensteinian flesh constructs are, of course, a classic combination. In a vacuum, I think that there are arguments to be made regarding whether Fireball or Conjure Barrage is the better spell for this feature, but I think Lightning Bolt probably falls into a happy third place in either case. The line shape of the spell makes it very hard to hit more than two targets with it, though it's also easier to avoid friendly fire with it than Fireball (the real appeal for Conjure Barrage is that it's both easy to hit lots of targets and it also automatically avoids friendly fire, its only mark against it being the somewhat lower damage).

Still, that third place is a coveted position compared to the options the Alchemist and Cartographer get, so we can count this possibly on these merits alone as being pretty good.

Level Five Damage Bump:

While Spell-Storing Item can be our main tier 3 damage boost, each Artificer also gets a boost to damage output at level 5, either via Extra Attack or some kind of bonus to our spell damage. Reanimators get something similar to Alchemists - you get to add your Intelligence modifier to a roll from a spell, but it's conditional: in this case, the spell needs to be either evocation or necromancy (put a pin in that) and your companion must be alive and within 120 feet of you. You can also cast spells from your companion's space. And then, finally, the companion gets two attacks when commanded rather than 1.

I actually think that, given that later bonus, this might wind up being quite good.

Let's talk about the spell boost first:

As we've observed, the Artificer spell list's only directly damaging spells are cantrips. And I believe the entire Reanimator spell list is just Evocation and Necromancy (at least, for certain, the ones that deal damage). Thus, the only thing we need to look out for is cantrips that aren't of those schools. The only damaging cantrips that aren't in those schools are Thorn Whip (Transmutation) and True Strike (Divination).

So, just steer clear of those cantrips and you'll be fine. The main benefit of True Strike (other than taking advantage of magic weapons) is to be able to add your Intelligence to the damage, so you'll just be using something else.

For the companion's sort of extra attack feature, we should note that its Dreadful Swipe does a little less damage than a Steel Defender's Force-Empowered Rend - it does 1d4+2+your Int, while the Steel Defender does 1d8+2+Int, but with two attacks, it clearly overtakes the other subclass' option.

Extra Attack is generally going to outpace cantrip scaling, but we can at least close the gap a little with a feature like this one - a Battle Smith using a 2d6 weapon with +4 to Int at level 5 is going to do two attacks for 11 apiece, or about 22, plus the steel defender's attack for 1d8+6, or around 10.5, so 32.5 (this is assuming everything hits).

For a Reanimator using, say, Fire Bolt, at level 5 we'd get 2d10+5 from the spell (16 average) and then 1d4+6, or 8.5, twice, for 17, giving us a total damage output (again, assuming all hits) of 33. Honestly pretty damn close, and slightly better for the Reanimator.

The one downside is that the Companion is slightly less resilient, with a lower AC and HP than the Steel Defender. The good news, though, is that the companion has some damage resistances, and it can also be easily healed via lightning damage. We can do this via Witch Bolt as early as 3rd level, or with lightning bolt later on (a second reason to put it in the spell-storing item). Jolt to Life, the feature that lets Spare the Dying deal a little lightning damage to nearby creatures, could also be used to give a little bit of healing to our pet by just having it elect to fail the saving throw.

I wonder, though, if in an actual printing, if the subclass will get the usual 2d6 healing from Mending that the Steel Defender and Eldritch Cannons do.

One thing to note is that if we hand off our Spell-Storing Item to a Homunculus Servant, it won't get the boost from our Intelligence. That boost can be very nice when spread over all the targets of a big AoE. If we line up an amazing shot (and perhaps get our Companion in there as well for healing) we might just have our Homunculus hand over the item for the turn to get it off, but I still think we can go with a standard protocol of letting the homunculus shoot off the lightning bolts.

    I was a bit worried about power level in my initial review, but I do think this "hack" (which might be considered more just the new SOP for Artificers) raises the overall power of the class (at least for 3/5 and with this 4/6 of the subclasses) enough that I'm not terribly worried that this won't prove itself decent at the very least.

    I also hope it's a sign of future inclusion for Artificer subclasses, spells, and other items when other rules-expansion sourcebooks come out.

FotA vs Tasha's Artificer: Spell List

 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.

How Much Damage Would We Do With a Level 11 Battle Smith

 Spell-Storing Item got a lot better with the update to Artificers. Now capable of storing 3rd-level spells, they have become a great vessel to repeatedly unleash a big, powerful damage spell. The one problem with that is that the Artificer spell list now contains not a single non-cantrip spell that does damage. The good news, though, is that subclass spells do add back in some damage-dealing options. The bad news, if you wanted to play an Alchemist or Cartographer, is that your options aren't great for 3rd level spells (Cartographers do have a damage spell, but it's one that lasts a whole combat and constantly asks you to use your action, which makes the ten-a-day benefit less exciting).

But while the Armorer is my favorite and I have a sentimental attachment to the Artillerist because of my player in the Ravnica game, I think the general consensus is that the Battle Smith is the highest-damage-potential of the Artificer subclasses. Its 3rd level damage spell, is also very good (though the other two have great, nay, classic ones as well, with Fireball and Lightning Bolt). Conjure Barrage got a big glow-up in 2024, now dealing 5d8 Force damage in a 60-foot cone, and also, crucially, only hitting your enemies. So you can now blast this into a group of friendlies with spell-sclupting/careful spell baked into the spell itself.

5d8 is an average of 22.5, which is less than Fireball or Lightning Bolt, but the 60-foot cone is pretty enormous, and the friendly fire protection I think makes up for, maybe more than makes up for, the loss of 5.5 damage in comparison (oh, and Force is the most reliable damage type in the game).

Now, there's a hack here that may or may not have been intended, but I think we can logically justify it:

The spell Homunculus Servant creates a tiny flying robot buddy that can attack foes with a somewhat weak little blast at a 30-foot range. Like Find Familiar or Find Steed, once summoned, the homunculus will stick around indefinitely. It also doesn't require any action on your part to command, so it won't interfere with your Steel Defender. Its attack is fine - kind of just free extra damage. But it's also a creature, and a creature can potentially use an item.

Now, you could argue that with a 4 in Strength and Tiny size, maybe this thing can't carry the item we imbue with Conjure Barrage. But 4 Strength means the ability to carry 60 pounds (while being larger than medium increases your carrying capacity, I don't believe that being smaller reduces it. But we could still halve and then halve it again and we would be ok). You can store a spell in an item that is either a simple or martial weapon, or something you could use as a spellcasting focus. A Dart weighs just 1/4 of a pound, meaning that this is absolutely light enough for a Homunculus to carry. Even if the capacity is 15 pounds because of size (though obviously Small creatures don't have a penalty, given that Halflings and Gnomes exist) only the Pike and Heavy Crossbow outweigh that among all weapons in the PHB.

Thus, ten times a day, we're going to be getting Conjure Barrage more or less for free. On a fairly arduous adventuring day, you might have four fights, and if they each last 3 rounds (which would be very arduous indeed) you still be able to use this all but two rounds the entire day.

The other really big benefit for Battle Smiths is that, because they are the only class (well, actually technically not, as Artillerists have a somewhat narrow option here) that fights with weapons that can interact with the various powerful damage-enhancing feats.

So, let's make some assumptions:

Using Point Buy, we're going to have our Intelligence at 17 at level 1, and probably spread other stats to ensure we have a 14 Dex, 13 Strength (for a feat) and decent Con (we might need to go with 14).

We're going to be fighting with a Greatsword or Maul. Because we're doing a straight-class build here, weapon mastery is going to be hard to come by, so the Maul is fairly interchangeable with the Greatsword at least for now.

We'll take Great Weapon Master at level 4. While the boost to Strength is kind of useless for us here (there's a world where I build a Strength-based Battle Smith, but I think there are so many benefits to high Intelligence that I think it's likely preferable, even if that's not strictly true for the raw damage output) we're going to get the best martial damage-boost feat in the game, which I believe will make up for delaying capping our Intelligence.

At 8, we'll take War Caster to get our Int to 18 and to help maintain concentration on the various spells that might require that.

By level 10, we can make ourselves a +2 weapon.

So:

If we assume a kind of meat-and-potatoes turn, just striking foes with our melee attacks, our Steel Defender, and letting our Homunculus blast them with Conjure Barrage, how much DPR are we looking at?

First off, let's figure out how many foes we're fighting and what their stats are.

At level 11, an easy encounter has a budget of 1,900 xp per player. On a non-boss fight, having a number of enemies equal to the party members is pretty reasonable, so 1,900 xp would be something like an Umber Hulk (CR 5 is 1,800 xp). Let's say we're a party of five players, so we have 5 Umber Hulks we're facing. These guys have an AC of 18, and their Dex save bonus is just +1.

Our attack bonus at this level for our +2 Maul is +10 (4 from Int, 4 from PB, and 2 from the weapon) and just +8 for our Steel Defender. So, we have a 65% hit chance, and our Steel Defender has a 55% hit chance. Our spell save DC is 16. The chance for an Umber Hulk to dodge Conjure Barrage is thus 30%.

Maul damage:

Our hits are going to land for 2d6+10 (4 from Int, 4 from PB via Great Weapon Master, and 2 from the weapon) or 17. Our bonus crit damage is 7 - however, we might also do some extra stuff on a smite like Arcane Jolt and/or Shining Smite. If we save these only for smites, there's a good chance we won't run out of either option. To keep things simple, though, I'm going to only use Arcane Jolt and assume that we have some other concentration spell up like Heroism that we wouldn't want to drop for Shining Smit. Thus, our crit damage is actually 14, as it's now 6d6 (2d6 from the weapon, and the doubled arcane jolt doing 4d6) or 21.

Actually, hold on, we should do Arcane Jolt separately, as it can only happen once per turn. So just 7.

So, per attack we have 17x65%, or 11.05, plus 7x5%, or .35, giving us 11.4 damage per attack, and with two attacks, 22.8.

Arcane Jolt:

We're going to save this only for crits, as we only have four uses per day. With two attacks, each turn we have a 9.75% chance to land a crit on one or the other (much like we would if we had advantage). The damage here would be 4d6, or 14, so that's an extra 1.365.

Ah, but we can also use this with the Steel Defender, so we actually have three chances to crit. With three attacks, the chance for one to be a crit is roughly 14% (It's technically 14.2625, but perhaps we don't have to be so granular). So, 14x14% is basically 2 (1.99675, I couldn't resist).

Steel Defender:

The Steel Defender deals 1d8+6 on a hit (2 from itself, 4 from our Int) or 10.5 on average, with an extra 4.5 on a crit. As we established, they have a 55% chance to hit.

10.5x55% is 5.775, and 4.5x5% is .225, for a total of 6 precisely (well, that lined up well)

Summing it Up So Far:

Before we get to the Conjure Barrage, let's figure out what our single-target damage is, just by summing up the 22.8 from our maul, the 2 from our Arcane Jolt, and the 6 from our Steel Defender, giving us 30.8

Conjure Barrage:

Thanks to the IFF built into this spell, and its wide cone, I think that it's pretty reasonable against a group of 5 foes to be able to hit 4 of them each time. It very much depends on the battlefield. Another factor to consider is that even if it won't hit your allies, they still might be providing half cover to the Umber Hulks (and the Hulks might provide cover to them too. Now, you might fix this by having your Homunculus fly way up high and shoot down, which could hit a 30-foot radius circle on the ground, though its speed might make it take a while to get into this position.

Let's just treat it like half of the Hulks have half-cover. So two hulks are going to have a 30% chance to save, and two are going to have a 40% chance to save (they still take half on a success). On a failure, a creature takes 22.5 damage, and on a success, they take 11.25.

Uncovered Hulks:

22.5x70% is 15.75, and 11.25x30% is 3.375, so 19.125 each turn. Between two hulks, that's 38.25

Covered Hulks:

22.5x60% is 13.5, and 11.25x40% is 4.5, so 18 each turn. Between the two covered hulks, that's 36 damage.

So, all together, Conjure Barrage is dealing 74.25.

All Together:

That means that we can deal 105.05 damage per turn. Against just one Hulk, assuming it's not covered, we're doing 49.925 damage.

    I will say that we did pick some targets with poor Dex saves, but they also have high ACs. These numbers will shift to reflect that, and other factors, like narrow hallways and full cover, and even just fewer targets can really reduce the power of Conjure Barrage (though even with a single target, we got about 2/3s of our single target damage from it).

    The Battle Smith really does come out ahead here, I think, because while an Armorer can pretty easily avoid hitting allies, they might struggle to get more targets into the area of a lightning bolt (though the Homunculus can be all about positioning to maximize that chance). The Artillerist has the opposite problem - it's often very easy to get lots of targets in a Fireball, but much harder to avoid friendly fire.

I'm not sure that around 50 damage per round actually makes this a top-tier damage build (a Bladesinger with Conjure Minor Elementals upcast to 6th level is probably going to beat it, but I'm not going to do that math right now) but I think what makes this really impressive is that it's kind of "default." You're not blowing any super precious resources, and beyond casting Homunculus Servant and putting the spell in the item, you don't need much to prepare it. This is, truly, something you'll be able to do all the time.

While you could eventually run out of uses of the spell-storing item, your fights are going to go faster if you can blast a big AoE spell every single turn. In other words, the power of the spell-storing item might actually help it conserve its own charges.

Now, the Homunculus can get killed. But it's also a ritual spell, and I think it's not a terrible idea to keep it prepared so that if you have an hour of calm and quiet, you can get it back. The gem to cast it is not consumed, so it's pretty trivial to get the homunculus back.

And best of all, this all feels like the Artificer doing something that will wow the rest of the party, something that no other class can really do.