The Artillerist got an important change in the latest Unearthed Arcana. Now, it’s more versatile than ever!
In the latest Unearthed Arcana, Artificers got a lot of love. And some nerfs and weird flavor changes. But overall, the shape of things to come is positive. Especially if WotC listens to the players when it comes to survey responses.
Nowhere is this more visible than in the Artillerist subclass for Artificers. In the Unearthed Arcana, Artillerist gets one big change (and a few minor tweaks) that makes it feel like a fun and mechanically powerful choice for players who want to be all about magical explosions and shooting magical cannons.
Just don’t ask about regular guns, which are in the Player’s Handbook now. And weirdly, absent from the Artificer. But ESPECIALLY weirdly absent from the Artillerist.
Artillerist Unearthed Arcana – Ready, Aim, Pick Which Turret You Want
As with all of the other subclasses, the Artillerist benefits from the overall Unearthed Arcana for the Artificer. This includes much smoother item creation and an expanded list of items to pick from. But also, the Artillerist has upgraded its core feature, Eldritch Cannon.
Eldritch Cannon is a feature that lets you summon a small or tiny turret that you can then use to attack your enemies. Previously, you had to decide whether you were conjuring a turret that fired bolts of force, functioned as a flamethrower, or offered your allies a defensive screen. Which largely meant that the shield and flamethrower options went unused.
Now, however, the Eldritch Cannon can do all three. You summon it and then spend your Bonus Action to activate the cannon. When you do this, you decide what activation you’ll pick. It can spew a 15-foot cone of flame, blast a single enemy with a force bolt, and push them 5 feet, or it can grant temporary hit points to your allies.
Being able to decide what you want on the fly opens up incredible versatility for the Unearthed Arcana Artillerist. But it doesn’t stop there.
More Than Just A Turret – But Definitely NOT A Gunslinger
Where it gets weird is at 5th level. Arcane Firearm is a subclass feature that you could be forgiven for thinking means you get a magic gun. This is because the word Arcane means magic, and the word Firearm means gun. So it stands to reason.
But no. This feature lets you carve special sigils onto a rod, staff, or wand, neither of which is a firearm. But by inscribing your sigils on them, you transform the item into an Arcane Firearm. This firearm doesn’t function like any other firearm in that it’s not a gun, it doesn’t shoot anything, and instead, all it does is grant you a bonus 1d8 to one of the damage rolls of a spell you cast using your special wand, staff, or rod.
Literally unplayable.
At level 9 your damage goes up and you can make the cannon explode in a blast of force when it would otherwise be reduced to 0 hit points. The damage on this has gone up to 3d10 from the 3d8 it was, which is a nice little buff for the Unearthed Arcana Artillerist.
At level 15, your Fortified Position feature still does the same thing. Still, it’s much better because your Eldritch Cannon is much better: you can now summon two cannons at once, and when you activate your cannons, you can decide which activation option each cannon uses independently, which is very cool. Plus, your nearby allies gain Half Cover while within 10 feet of a cannon.
All in all the Artillerist is much improved. Though it’s strange to see them lose on the Firearm proficiency and to not have WotC address one of the more common complaints about the Artillerist, which is that they aren’t Gunslingers. But hey, that’s what surveys are for.
Happy adventuring!
Don’t Miss:
Read more at this site