Wizards of the Coast released a playtest version of the 2024 Artificer class just a few days ago, and a Dungeons and Dragons YouTuber has already found a way to build it so it “destroys your game”. In a YouTube video from December 19, popular theory-crafter Treantmonk explains that, at higher levels, the new Artificer has the potential to outdo the most powerful primary spellcasters.
While most people’s first impressions of the 2024 Artificer (ours included) focused on the nerfs made to the class, Treantmonk saw power potential. He acknowledges that his theories are only based on a readthrough (rather than playtesting), but the results are still potentially game-breaking. Basically, Treantmonk says you can easily create a DnD Artificer that can cast 32 third-level spells a day – potentially all in one turn thanks to an infinite loop.
The video above explains Treantmonk’s workings, but if you haven’t got time to watch the full hour-long video, here’s a short summary.
The first Artificer ability that helps create a broken DnD character build is Magic Item Tinker, which you gain at level six. This allows you to use the Artificer’s Replicate Magic Item feature (a re-flavored version of infusions that lets you create a variety of DnD magic items from the Dungeon Master’s Guide) to craft uncommon armor, wands, or weapons that aren’t cursed.
“The big ones, I think, are Enspelled Weapons and Enspelled Armor”, Treantmonk says. For those of you who haven’t picked up the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide yet, these can store a particular spell inside, and you expend a charge to cast that spell. “Each of these has six charges”, Treantmonk continues, “so we select Enspelled Armor as one of our choices and Enspelled Weapon as another, and that’s 12 extra first-level spell slots per day”.
From level 11, an Artificer can use Spell-Storing Item to stash a spell in a weapon or spellcasting focus. Thanks to the changes in the playtest, this can now be a spell of up to level three. This, according to Treantmonk, is “one of the biggest buffs to the class”.
Once your Artificer reaches level 14, they’ll be able to replicate rare versions of Enspelled items, which means these can also hold a level-three spell. “This is honestly a problem”, Treantmonk says. Enspelled Armor and Enspelled Weapons combined now allow you to, if you like, cast 12 extra Fireballs a day. You can also learn to craft a Wand of Fireballs from level 14, which adds even more. Add Spell-Storing Item into the mix, and things start to get out of hand.
“Let’s say we are a 14th-level Artillerist”, Treantmonk says. “We would get Fireball on our base spell list because it is a subclass spell.” “We get three Fireballs from our regular spellcasting feature; we get 10 more from Spell-Storing Item; we’ll get six more from an Enspelled Weapon; we’ll get six more from Enspelled Armor; and we’ll get seven more from a Wand of Fireball.” “That is 32 Fireballs per long rest, and we still have a Replicate Magic Item left over.”
Treantmonk has also discovered a ‘loop’ where you can cast a heap of Fireballs in a single round. You’d need to store Homunculus Servant (previously a level-two infusion, now a level-two spell) in an Enspelled Weapon and use it to cast the spell repeatedly.
This gives you a small army of Homunculus buddies who you can hand your Spell-Storing Item to – over and over again. Since the Homunculus Servant acts after you on your turn and can be commanded without using an action, you can have as many Servants as you want to trigger a huge number of stashed-up spells.
To be clear, Treantmonk isn’t encouraging anyone to do this. “DMs should never allow loops, ever ever ever – it just destroys your game – and as a player you should never, ever exploit a loop”, he says. However, it’s interesting to see how far the rules for DnD classes can be pushed.
Besides, you can still cast multiple spells per round with this build, even without bending the rules beyond their intended interpretation. “Even if we don’t use a loop, there’s a lot of third-level spells here, and presumably we’re going to have one Homunculus – that’s not an exploit – so they can have our Spell-Storing Item.”
“We’ll probably have a familiar because at some point we’ll put Find Familiar in the Enspelled item, so maybe that familiar has an Enspelled dagger”, he adds. “If we’re a Battlesmith, we might have yet another pet with our Steel Defender.” “All these things are going to have turns – none of them are loops because they’re just built into the class – so we’re going to be casting four third-level spells every round, and we’re going to have so many third-level spells that we’re not going to run out of them very easily.”
For more on the recent rules, here’s our full 2024 Player’s Handbook review. Or, if you’re keen to suddenly build an Artificer, here are the DnD races and DnD 2024 backgrounds you’ll need.
Source: Wargamer
