ShadowDenizen
Explorer
Hey, all!
Is it just me? Or does it seem like the Artificer class seems to be far outpacing other classes in terms of power, playability and popularity? In literally the last 5 games I've played in (2 ongoing, and a few one-shot/short story arcs) there's been at least one artificer....
I think the biggest problem seems to be the Steel Defender option for me; for virtually no drawbacks, Steel Defenders seem to be as good as a PC, and gives the Artificer PC effectively 2 turns in 1 round? (Yes, you have to use a Bonus Action to let them act fully, but that doesn't seem to be a problem for most artificers, in my experience.) They get decent HP, a good reaction effect, and damage to rival a non-optimized PC. (This was crystallized for me in our last Saltmarsh session where the Steel Defender outdid one of the existing PC's in almost all respects. (THough this PC has admittedly SHOCKING bad luck on any randomized online die-roller.)
And since "Mending" (a cantrip) heals 2d6 points per casting, you can heal them up to maximum HP in no time. (Not in combat, since, IIRC, it takes a minute for each casting, but other than that, time is the only limiting factor, while you have to expend precious Spell Slots or Consumables to heal the equivalent PCs.)
This is NOT a flame thread; I'm genuinely curious on peoples thoughts, and if I'm the only one seeing/feeling this, or if I'm just misjudging, perhaps due to my own biases...
Is it just me? Or does it seem like the Artificer class seems to be far outpacing other classes in terms of power, playability and popularity? In literally the last 5 games I've played in (2 ongoing, and a few one-shot/short story arcs) there's been at least one artificer....
I think the biggest problem seems to be the Steel Defender option for me; for virtually no drawbacks, Steel Defenders seem to be as good as a PC, and gives the Artificer PC effectively 2 turns in 1 round? (Yes, you have to use a Bonus Action to let them act fully, but that doesn't seem to be a problem for most artificers, in my experience.) They get decent HP, a good reaction effect, and damage to rival a non-optimized PC. (This was crystallized for me in our last Saltmarsh session where the Steel Defender outdid one of the existing PC's in almost all respects. (THough this PC has admittedly SHOCKING bad luck on any randomized online die-roller.)
And since "Mending" (a cantrip) heals 2d6 points per casting, you can heal them up to maximum HP in no time. (Not in combat, since, IIRC, it takes a minute for each casting, but other than that, time is the only limiting factor, while you have to expend precious Spell Slots or Consumables to heal the equivalent PCs.)
This is NOT a flame thread; I'm genuinely curious on peoples thoughts, and if I'm the only one seeing/feeling this, or if I'm just misjudging, perhaps due to my own biases...