Heph's Artificer Builds & Guide Repository

[Hephaestas]

Hey! Sorry I've been a bit busy...just got married!

I have a gearset for (nuker) Arti caster coming out soon. In addition to being busy with recent life changes, I was awaiting to see how the dust settled with Myth Drannor loot. It's difficult given the drop rates, but the payoff in terms of damage, spell DCs, and defenses is well worth it. Stay tuned!

New caster gearing is done - see tab U69 Caster. It's a doozy in terms of a farm, but it should keep folks busy with highly optimal DC's, damage and defenses for some time. Fair warning that it is pretty raid intensive. On top of higher defenses and more spellpower than even before, this gains +6 DC's. On my toon, I intend to actually drop out of Arcanotech T5 to run Mastermaker T5's for the defense as I will be making up for the lost DC's through this gear. That is... after I find this last augment.

Happy building folks!

 

[Christhemiss]

heph the arti goat

 

[Inueth]

New caster gearing is done - see tab U69 Caster. It's a doozy in terms of a farm, but it should keep folks busy with highly optimal DC's, damage and defenses for some time. Fair warning that it is pretty raid intensive. On top of higher defenses and more spellpower than even before, this gains +6 DC's. On my toon, I intend to actually drop out of Arcanotech T5 to run Mastermaker T5's for the defense as I will be making up for the lost DC's through this gear. That is... after I find this last augment.

Happy building folks!

First off, belated congratulations Heph,
I noticed the gearset included light armor rather than a docent, and dropping arcanotech t5 to mastermaker t5 for defenses leads me to ask, are you planning on swapping from warforged to eladrin chaosmancer to pick up the electric immunity strip there instead then? It's something I had toyed with myself in the past while picking up my chaosmancer past lives as arti and it worked out decently enough, especially given that it adds another spell to rotation which is always nice to have (and when stars align for the wild surge buffs, the additional DC's and spell point cost reductions of course). Between that and the addition of some more feat slots due to the level cap increase which is also super nice to have for arti which was feeling feat constrained in epics, do you possibly have a new build in the works?
All of this is just speculation of course

 

[Hephaestas]

First off, belated congratulations Heph,
I noticed the gearset included light armor rather than a docent, and dropping arcanotech t5 to mastermaker t5 for defenses leads me to ask, are you planning on swapping from warforged to eladrin chaosmancer to pick up the electric immunity strip there instead then? It's something I had toyed with myself in the past while picking up my chaosmancer past lives as arti and it worked out decently enough, especially given that it adds another spell to rotation which is always nice to have (and when stars align for the wild surge buffs, the additional DC's and spell point cost reductions of course). Between that and the addition of some more feat slots due to the level cap increase which is also super nice to have for arti which was feeling feat constrained in epics, do you possibly have a new build in the works?
All of this is just speculation of course

Hey thanks, I appreciate it. I recently showed the misses the night revels which was fun. (Though dealing with the liches was a pain lol). But she's proud of her new Doomspherelet companion

But nice sleuthing! I have indeed been messing around with Chaosmancer and it's pretty decent. Using it to move to Mastermaker T5 was my goal, but Myth Drannor has been rough to all with the bump in DC's, so I wasn't going to drop 3-4 DC's by going to RM. That is, until I decided on a gearset that sufficiently offset the loss of DC's.

I've been messing specifically with a 19Art/1Sorc specifically for the spellpower boosts T1 Air Sorc gives (while offsetting the lost caster level with Air Sorc's +1 Electric CL core). Geared with the older posted caster gearset, with alchemical pots on, a Spring affinity leap and wellspring popped; this build pushes around the 1,350+ electric spellpower mark. It's about as good as I can ask for electric damage to be on Caster Arti.

However, I have some gripes with it. I dislike the loss of a 4th level 6 spell slot, a lot. I tend to build heavily for fire and force (mostly for tact det) in addition to electric, and usually I like to carry Arcane Tempest for extra boss dps, or occasionally swap a Blade Barrier for certain niche aggro uses. Artificer hurts already with spell slots where it counts, so this just exacerbates it in my opinion. My only other real gripe is that Noir Reality is annoying and I would never suggest to anyone they run a Chaosmancer Artificer caster without most of all racial AP available.

 

[Hobgoblin]

3 sorc maybe?

 

[Hephaestas]

3 sorc maybe?

I really wouldn't suggest splitting caster any further than 1 unless you have a very specific build concept in mind using 4 Wild Mage - that goes for any half caster if you ask me.

I was definitely curious about using Mixed Magics from Wild Mage with Arti but in my theory crafting nothing came out of it other than a very weird healer variant.

 

[Hobgoblin]

I did the 3 sorc on hc for a caster arti

 

[Hobgoblin]

wasn't bad

 

[Inueth]

3 sorc maybe?

The conflict with going a larger sorc split is mostly just due to the tradeoff. While 3 sorc does give +1 caster level with electric spells from being able to pick up the 2nd core in the Savant tree, and the potential for an additional 4% electric crit chance (over the initially stated 19/1 split), the downsides outweigh it unfortunately. Losing an additional spell slot for 6th level spells (of which a 19/1 split already struggles with due to only having 3 rather than the full 4 a pure build would), combined with losing the ability to take Runic Efficacy (the level 18 core in arcanotechnician) which grants +2 caster levels and max caster levels, +1 evocation DC's, and +2 runearm DC's. Between this, and the bigger underlying matter of just being very AP spread, since the end goal of running t5 mastermaker, while still getting all the important caster necessities in arcanotechnician, as well as grabbing the worthwhile stuff in the chaosmancer racial tree (since even with the full 18 racial AP, it's a very tight spread).

In the end, it just ends up losing more than it gains imo
(ymmv of course, since different splits could have more front loaded spellpower for quick racial TRing)

 

[Hephaestas]

New caster gearing is done - see tab U69 Caster. It's a doozy in terms of a farm, but it should keep folks busy with highly optimal DC's, damage and defenses for some time. Fair warning that it is pretty raid intensive. On top of higher defenses and more spellpower than even before, this gains +6 DC's. On my toon, I intend to actually drop out of Arcanotech T5 to run Mastermaker T5's for the defense as I will be making up for the lost DC's through this gear. That is... after I find this last augment.

Happy building folks!

New build has been sufficiently geared and tested! Find it here The Chaosmancer Maker: DPS & Support Caster (also updated OP)

Had a lot of fun with this build. It's definitely a grind for gear but the red/purple named DPS is far better on this and the defensive and self-sustainability is the highest I've ever had on a caster Artificer. Nukers are definitely going out of style in the meta, but this one was a lot of fun to play in pre-Myth content, and for farming. Wanted to make sure I shared what I found out about it here. As always, have fun folks!

 

[Green_Draconis]

Can the HC-ificer (Dex based) be a strong toon, comparable to Imbue end game? Good damage/survivability? I tend to take a few metamagic feats for extra healing SLA (versatility in raids and party with healing may be better than 1d6 especially if using Renegade Mastermaker), but may consider nimble fingers instead.

One concern I have is ensuring to avoid Agro. While I can have 100+ threat reduction, this doesn’t apply to imbue or sneak attacks… does it prevent agro from healing?

Could PDK be a comparable option? (2 Toaster feats - Extra feat from Human, extra feat by not needing Mithral and Light Armor should give better/easier dodge) . Would have more skill points even if a little lower health. I only have 7 RAP. Would also lose option for 15 RP from WF tree.

If not removing Paladin, what might your version of ranged BF be? I don’t enjoy my current 6 arty-6 ranger-8 paladin due to weak heals and only one reconstruction sla, so prefer 16 arty, although 12 could still work. (6 ranger for sniper shot and option for elemental arrows is a consideration)

The plan is for a Toaster raid group, btw. Should be interesting. Lots of reconstruct/BF scribe/RM SLA I suspect, although playing pure arty would give stronger heal/repair. I assume low DC for a ranged caster-healer would not work well as a caster.

I don't think I have great caster gear, but am decent for repeater or inquisitive (yawn, so many inquisitive). I don't have any of the set augments, but I have more gear than a year ago.

 

[Hephaestas]

Can the HC-ificer (Dex based) be a strong toon, comparable to Imbue end game? Good damage/survivability? I tend to take a few metamagic feats for extra healing SLA (versatility in raids and party with healing may be better than 1d6 especially if using Renegade Mastermaker), but may consider nimble fingers instead.

One concern I have is ensuring to avoid Agro. While I can have 100+ threat reduction, this doesn’t apply to imbue or sneak attacks… does it prevent agro from healing?

Could PDK be a comparable option? (2 Toaster feats - Extra feat from Human, extra feat by not needing Mithral and Light Armor should give better/easier dodge) . Would have more skill points even if a little lower health. I only have 7 RAP. Would also lose option for 15 RP from WF tree.

If not removing Paladin, what might your version of ranged BF be? I don’t enjoy my current 6 arty-6 ranger-8 paladin due to weak heals and only one reconstruction sla, so prefer 16 arty, although 12 could still work. (6 ranger for sniper shot and option for elemental arrows is a consideration)

The plan is for a Toaster raid group, btw. Should be interesting. Lots of reconstruct/BF scribe/RM SLA I suspect, although playing pure arty would give stronger heal/repair. I assume low DC for a ranged caster-healer would not work well as a caster.

I don't think I have great caster gear, but am decent for repeater or inquisitive (yawn, so many inquisitive). I don't have any of the set augments, but I have more gear than a year ago.

Hey thanks for the comment, and sorry I'm so late getting to it. So while the Hardcore-ficer build is sturdy, it was never designed for endgame play. Frankly, it was only meant for really going to 20/early epics when originally designed. I'm not saying the build wouldn't work - but it's main function is for making it through all of heroic content and giving you a build that will be sturdy to survive while giving a solid way to outlast any fight with a level of moderate offense. A character built for the live servers playing at the endgame of DDO is going to need to be built much differently.

To your modification choices... PDK wouldn't be the pick I'd make if your idea is to go iconic. I might suggest a Tabaxi Trailblazer instead actually, and simply swap the first two levels around. As the Hardcore-ficer build is DEX-based you're start at a max of 20, and if dodge is what you're concerned with Trailblazer has a great tree for giving dodge, max dex bonus, and some other goodies like sneak attack dice/damage. The issue with anything not starting off as a war/bladeforged means you're essentially trading the armor feats for construct essence feats. To be honest, Toughness is not so essential for a character as it used to be - HP can easily be filled from good gearing. I might also suggest if you'd like to change into a non-forged base race that be a feat you use to grab the CE line.

Playing at endgame is completely doable without tweaked out gear. That being said, know the limitations of what content and difficulties you'll be limited to without stacking the various bonus types for abilities. You can definitely play endgame raids without set bonuses, especially with great communication and game knowledge. But I would stick to running raids around Normal - until you're able to begin acquiring some of those raid pieces, begin making set augments, etc. Better gear unlocks higher difficulties, but better gear is not required to play through the content. If you're crossbow focused I wouldn't worry at all about anything caster-related aside from your repair spellpower and crit if you're self-repairing. Focusing on accuracy, deadly/damage, raw stats, deception, and crit-enabling bonuses like armor piercing and seeker are going to be all you really need to focus on. The epic feats my Imbue-arty takes are a good cover-all for a crossbow user in epics/legendaries.

Have fun with the all-toaster group, sounds cool and reminiscent of the old days. Good luck with the build and content!

 

[Green_Draconis]

For the hardcore build I was wondering why lightning reflexes and not insightful reflexes? I may have missed it.

Also, in the toaster raid party and played Bladeforged. I wanted to say that missing the fighter feat wasn’t terribly painful, but having 2 levels of monk and 2 of paladin made for really good reflex saves. This was especially noticeable when using no fail reflex saves on a 1 from epic destiny.

Obviously, having some racial action points for reconstruction sla made life much easier. Regularly doing 2-12k Reconstruct, depending on difficulty levels.

I still occasionally used some admixture potions to heal the group melee fighting close to raid boss, but that’s my play style.

 

[Green_Draconis]

I didn’t ask clearly, but what do you lose between 16 and 17 arty for the tweaked rangificer I mentioned above?

I ended up getting 80-90 mrr cap without mithral plating. I like the idea of light armor more than mithral, since the cap is less impacted, but losing a feat is a drawback. With my toaster I found the additional 10+ dodge (and feat) to be more useful, but YMMV.

The tabaxi could be an interesting option if it or iconic version have improved deflect arrows at a low hanging fruit. One deflect arrow every 6 seconds is noticeable, but often still getting hit. I may try Tibaxi soon. I don’t love chasing things in melee. I also don’t love enemy melee hitting back.

 

[Hephaestas]

For the hardcore build I was wondering why lightning reflexes and not insightful reflexes? I may have missed it.

Also, in the toaster raid party and played Bladeforged. I wanted to say that missing the fighter feat wasn’t terribly painful, but having 2 levels of monk and 2 of paladin made for really good reflex saves. This was especially noticeable when using no fail reflex saves on a 1 from epic destiny.

Obviously, having some racial action points for reconstruction sla made life much easier. Regularly doing 2-12k Reconstruct, depending on difficulty levels.

I still occasionally used some admixture potions to heal the group melee fighting close to raid boss, but that’s my play style.

Hey, the lightning reflexes was a misprint, I mean to have "insightful reflexes" - good catch sorry about that.

Nice to hear with the saves with monk/pali - and I'd definitely imagine those reflexes were good enough for just about anything.

 

[Hephaestas]

I didn’t ask clearly, but what do you lose between 16 and 17 arty for the tweaked rangificer I mentioned above?

I ended up getting 80-90 mrr cap without mithral plating. I like the idea of light armor more than mithral, since the cap is less impacted, but losing a feat is a drawback. With my toaster I found the additional 10+ dodge (and feat) to be more useful, but YMMV.

The tabaxi could be an interesting option if it or iconic version have improved deflect arrows at a low hanging fruit. One deflect arrow every 6 seconds is noticeable, but often still getting hit. I may try Tibaxi soon. I don’t love chasing things in melee. I also don’t love enemy melee hitting back.

There's very little to gain going 17 versus 16 Arty, the main thing is really just a lvl 5 spell slot. Go with whichever makes more sense based on your split.

I like mithril vs. composite which I think is what you're referring to? As Mithril = light armor for a WF. Composite is definitely handy if you're going full dodge mode, but I tend to find a hard time (on an Artificer) getting that much dodge. I think Tabaxi is probably your better choice if dodge and other "rogueish" traits mean more for your play style. Tabaxi is a great race honestly (I just can't stand playing a catman lol). Deflect Arrows is nice, but it's pretty situational and I tend not to work too much defensive stuff into a dps toon unless it's going to be a melee or my play style/party demands it.

 

[Green_Draconis]

I would put platinum that you’re the better player, so that probably factors why I end up going dodge. I wasn’t as often killed my magic, especially when I had 110+ reflex, no fail on 1 evasion. With composite I tended to get something like 35-50 dodge. Especially on higher reapers, dodge didn’t seem to get hit as hard as concealment.

I looked again and realized why you had lightning reflexes and not insightful. You had been recommending a mostly dex-based toon.

Will definitely consider this build for Tibaxi Trailblazer build. Inquisitive, probably, since 9 or so Arty max to get a non-monk Past Life at the same time means no Clip feat.

 

[Hephaestas]

I would put platinum that you’re the better player, so that probably factors why I end up going dodge. I wasn’t as often killed my magic, especially when I had 110+ reflex, no fail on 1 evasion. With composite I tended to get something like 35-50 dodge. Especially on higher reapers, dodge didn’t seem to get hit as hard as concealment.

I looked again and realized why you had lightning reflexes and not insightful. You had been recommending a mostly dex-based toon.

Will definitely consider this build for Tibaxi Trailblazer build. Inquisitive, probably, since 9 or so Arty max to get a non-monk Past Life at the same time means no Clip feat.

Going on 50 dodge? Man, I wanna see how you pull that lol

Also don't sweat not getting expanded clip on an Inquis; it only affects repeaters (unless I'm not in the know on something? And in which case, that's not WAI/WAW so I wouldn't count on it for long.)

 

[Green_Draconis]

Going on 50 dodge? Man, I wanna see how you pull that lol

Also don't sweat not getting expanded clip on an Inquis; it only affects repeaters (unless I'm not in the know on something? And in which case, that's not WAI/WAW so I wouldn't count on it for long.)

Getting 45-50 is difficult and probably not worth giving up the Shadowdancer damage. Not standing 45-50, per se, but often getting that. I think standing dodge was usually mid-30's in composite. Not huge, but I think it's around 10-15 more dodge cap. As your dodge cap goes up any additional dodge cap can seem like it's more significant. i.e., Going from Dodge 10 to 20 is about 11% fewer hits, while going from 30 to 40 is 15% fewer hits. If you could go from 80 dodge to 90 dodge that would be 50% fewer hits, but trying to get those dodge moments over 50 probably would take a greater reduction in damage and play style. e.g., Festive clicky for 25? seconds of +50 dodge/dodge cap is huge, but is short, takes time, and is more effort than I usually bother/remember.

I meant that trying to do a Repeater build is hindered by lack of Expanded Clip when doing less than 12 levels (for Iconic lives with a non-Arty PL, for instance). The Expanded Clip seems to be a big factor getting Repeater Damage more comparable to Inquisitive. e.g., 2 Monk Tibaxi Trailblazer, 6 Arty, and 12 Dark Hunter for DH past life trying to use a Repeater. Inquisitive is just so good and easy by comparison right now, I think, that I struggle to find a (relatively comparable) Repeater build when less than 12 Artificer.

Now that they got the 3rd Universal Tome working the Dark Hunter Inquisitive is looking like a fun thing that I've been wanting to try since DH was released, although every Action Point is reserved/spoken for:

41 AP Inquisitive, of course
8 AP Harper (Int-to-Damage from Insightful Damage spell or Battalion Brew)
11 AP Sniper Shot (Sneak Attack Vulnerability *AND* a really good damage-dealer)
23 Dark Hunter AP - +3 Imbue, +3 Sneak Attack Dice, Smoke Bomb for Invisibility and Core 4 for periodic 12 Sneak Attack Dice boost.

Playing Shiradi Mantle with 21 or 28 Imbue, of course. Then use Shadow Dancer Epic Strike to get ~30 d6 Force Dice on top of everything else.

Legendary Dreadnaught for more Action Boosts (No Holds Barred) and maybe Displacement and other defensive stuff like Max Dex/Dodge boost. Or Macrotechnic for +3 Imbue, Doubleshot, stronger Rune Arm (meh - not really that much damage), and No Fail Reflex saves on a 1. With Evasion from Shadow Dancer you may get high enough to not worry about taking damage from evade-able spells/traps.