Whenever I’m not serving as Dungeon Master at my long-running Dungeons & Dragons table, I’m usually playing an Artificer. While Bard is always described as a Jack of all trades (they even get an ability called that) and master of none, Artificer is the real Jack of all trades — and a master of one. Depending on the subclass, the Artificer can assume any role in the party, running as a support tank, frontline fighter, or blasting away with spells from afar. But they’re the undisputed masters when it comes to magical items. At higher levels, magical gear with unique features often defines the D&D experience, and artificers get to wield twice as many as their comrades.
The latest official Dungeons & Dragons sourcebook, Eberron: Forge of the Artificer, hits shelves Dec. 9. It’s described as an “extensive supplement” to 2019’s Eberron: Rising from the Last War and expands nearly every corner of the setting: updated character species, new feats and Dragonmarks, deeper lore on the Last War, fresh magic items, and a full suite of rules for airships and mobile bases. Ideally, you’ll reference both books together, but there’s enough meat to Forge that it’s worth picking up even if you don’t have its predecessor. Forge’s biggest impact on D&D is how it updates the Artificer class so it’s in line with the 2024 fifth-edition refresh. And it makes my favorite class even better.
Tinker’s Magic replaces Magical Tinkering as the class’s first-level ability. In the 2019 Artificer version, you could basically only turn a random tiny object into a source of light or sound. Essentially, you could make a glowstick or some kind of noisy thing to toss as a distraction. But now with Tinker’s Tools, the Artificer can create all sorts of useful items, including a torch, rope, grappling hook, caltrops, and so on.
The biggest change is the elimination of the Infuse Item system, which is replaced by Replicate Magic Items. Instead of enhancing items, weapons, or armor with a magical effect, the Artificer can now create them outright (up to a certain number that scales with their level). In other words, before you could enhance your tank’s armor to give them +1 AC, but you had to have an object to infuse. Now, you can create that armor outright. You can make a shield that blasts enemies away from the wielder, a wand that grants bonus to spell attack rolls, or even goggles that let anybody see in darkness. Forge of the Artificer also notes that any character can craft items by spending gold and downtime, but Artificers can do it much faster.
In previous editions, Level 6 granted Tool Expertise, a boring buff to skillchecks related to using tools. Now Artificers get Magic Item Tinker, allowing them to interact with magical items they’ve created in more useful ways. They can consume a spell slot to recharge an item, drain an item to replenish a spell slot, and transform something into a different magical item. This update emphasizes the class’s versatility and redefines the Artificer as a tinkerer who thinks on their feet. They’re not the type of character that can do everything, but they are the type who can empower their comrades to do anything.
The Artificer’s best ability, Flash of Genius, also gets a quality-of-life upgrade. Starting at the seventh level, the Artificer can use their reaction to add their Intelligence (INT) modifier to an ability check or saving throw. INT should always be an Artificer’s top stat, so that modifier typically winds up being between three and five, meaning that Flash of Genius can be the difference between a fail and a save. If your Fighter gets hit by a Fireball and fails the DEX save, Flash of Genius could make up the difference, so they’d take 14 instead of 28 damage.
The updated Flash of Genius clarifies that the Artificer can use it after the roll is deemed a fail, whereas before you could never be sure. At level 14, Artificer also now replenishes a Flash of Genius use with a short rest, which is yet another boon.
Each of the existing Artificer subclasses — Alchemist, Armorer, Artillerist, and Battle Smith — receive smoother progression updates that make the class stronger at low levels. And Forge adds Cartographer to the mix.
Alchemist is your potions master, focused on buffing and healing the party in often unpredictable ways. (One time, my Alchemist won a fight by using an Experimental Elixir to gain flight, and then she just kept pouring acid on the enemy’s head.) Do you want to be Iron Man in D&D? Then Armorer is for you, with numerous customization options that help you define the kind of tank or skirmisher you want. Battle Smith functions like a defensive frontline support class that comes with a Steel Defender companion. The default art showcases a dog, but the player gets to determine if their medium-sized construct has two legs or four. So you basically get a pet robot of your design with solid stats and immunities that can deflect attacks.
Cartographer utilizes magical maps for battlefield control, opening up portals to let anyone in the party teleport under certain circumstances. They also get a decent mix of healing, support, and offensive spells to supplement their kit, along with a Homunculus Servant. While not as bulky as the Steel Defender, it’s a tiny construct that allows them to deliver spells at range that normally require proximity.
My personal favorite, Artillerist, remains the “big boom” specialist, and Forge of the Artificer tightens the subclass so that it’s a bit more flexible. An offensive spellcaster (with access to Fireball at ninth level), Artillerist’s big feature is the Eldritch Cannon, a small or tiny construct that can move around the battlefield functioning as a flamethrower, force ballista, or it can generate temporary hitpoints for nearby allies. Previously, you could only pick one effect, but in the updated rules, the Eldritch Cannon can do any of the three on your turn.
The best character I ever played in Dungeons & Dragons was an Artillerist Artificer named Fergus. A gun-toting teenager with a penchant for blowing things up, Fergus never told the rest of the party he was a transplant from the future. An experiment went wrong, and the magical explosion blasted him into the past. I played him a bit like the “so I just started blasting” meme with flavor mixed with Impulse from DC Comics, using weird jargon from his timeline to confuse the party. Every battle, he’d strap an Eldritch Cannon to somebody’s back and then take cover to shoot at enemies from afar. After, he’d randomly make somebody an ultra-useful magic item.
Fergus had his limitations as a character since I made him shortly after Rising from the Last War was released in 2019. I originally conceived of Fergus during a phone interview with D&D Lead Designer Jeremy Crawford at the time.
“Masters of unlocking magic in everyday objects, Artificers are the supreme inventors,” he said. “The Artificer always has the right tool for the job. If they don’t, give them a bit of time, and they’ll make it.”
But is it legal for Fergus to strap an Eldritch Cannon to a Warforged Fighter’s back and ship them both to the frontlines? Yes, Crawford said. That’s the real power fantasy of the Artificer. And with Forge of the Artificer, the class is better than ever.
