Dungeons and Dragons is updating its long-neglected thirteenth class – the Artificer. Earlier this year, Wizards of the Coast released a new Player Handbook to Dungeons and Dragonsproviding updated rules for character building and more. Although it is not intended to be a new edition of D&Dthe new Player Handbook contained extensive revisions, with all D&D'The 12 main character classes receive some sort of upgrade to make them more versatile and provide them with additional features.
The only class that was not included in the new Player Handbook is the Artificer, a class first introduced in 5E in Wayfinder Guide to Eberron and later revised in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. However, D&D'The designers assured fans that The Artificer would be updated in a future version. Ahead of this release, Wizards shared a new Unearthed Arcana Playtest including a review of class rules.
Most of the changes are minor, with revisions to the spell lists and updated abilities to bring the class in line with other 2024 classes. All four Artificer subclasses have also received updates to enhance Artificer abilities.
How the Artificer is being updated with the D&D 2024 rules
The D&D class has received updates to make its ability more widely useful
Unlike the Ranger or the Monk, the Artificer hasn't received a major overhaul to most of its core class features. The most notable changes are to the class's Magical Tinkering and Infuse Item abilities. Magical Tinkering now allows players to craft low-cost items quickly, while Infuse Item has been changed to Replicate Magic Item and allows players to create certain types of Magic Items. Players can convert replicated magic items into a spell slot if necessary at higher levels. The core skill Soul of Artifice has also received a boost, no longer requiring a reaction to activate its “cheat death” ability.
As for the Artificer subclasses, the Alchemist can now produce more Experimental Elixirs, and the high-level skill Chemical Mastery has been buffed with extra damage and an innate resistance to damage. The Armorer also received a new Dreadnought option as a new armor replication skill that replaces the existing armor modification skill. Perhaps the biggest change comes from the Gunner's Eldritch Cannon, with the player now able to switch between multiple combat options each turn, rather than choosing an option before creating it.
Our opinion: the craftsman is still trying to do a lot
Several Artificer subclasses require more than three skills to excel
Ultimately, the core problem with the Artificer remains the same – It is a class that tries to embody several archetypes and fails to serve any of them. While all of the changes made to the Artificer are improvements, the class still lacks a truly unifying concept.
Some of the subclass options (like the Battlesmith and Armorer) work well with the general Artificer premise, but Both the Gunner and the Alchemist could use more than just three subclass skills to stand out. I'm more interested in seeing where the Artificer fits in Dungeons and Dragons'future plans, as there is no clear place for the gang in their 2025 book plans.
Source: D&D beyond, YouTube/Dungeons and Dragons