What a fun little class the Artificer is! The Artificer is unfortunately underdeveloped compared to the other class. There are only 4 subclasses for the Artificer, and they all do fairly similar things. Thankfully, despite how few options you get, there’s actually a lot of room for character diversity. It should also be noted that some of these subclasses are especially powerful – to the point they are commonly banned by DMs. Each of these use your bonus action and spell slots in efficient ways, and give the Artificer good spells. However, nothing can be truly created equally, and the Artificer does have some troubles that some subclasses don’t solve. Learn about what you should look for in our Artificer Subclasses 5E rankings.
Our Criteria for the Best Artificer Specialist
Before we dive into the rankings, we’ll first take a look at the criteria we use. For starters, it is important to note that we are only ranking artificer subclasses against each other. The best subclass on this list might rank much lower than other options on the Sorcerer 5E subclass rankings, for example. When ranking these subclasses, we consider the following factors:
- Game design. First and foremost, we are looking for well-designed subclasses that are easy to optimize and will hold their own during a campaign. While I consider every aspect of the subclass, I put particular weight on the early, cornerstone features of a class given that most characters are never played at a high level.
- Clarity. How easy are the features of this class to understand? I like crunchy mechanics as much as the next player, but there are some subclasses that are full of complicated and unclear language.
- Fun. Ultimately, we are all here to have fun. I give extra points to subclasses that are particularly fun and thematic. However, most subclasses can be fun with the right mix of character background, a willing DM, and an interesting campaign. My hope is these rankings shine a light on characters that are both fun an optimized.
- Theme. I love a thematic subclass. Give me a subclass with a strong theme that carries through each feature instead of a random assortment of powerful but unrelated abilities.
- Versatility. The more options for playstyle, the better. Some subclasses are pigeonholed into particular roles, while others give you a ton of options for how you optimize your character.
What is the Best Subclass for Artificer?
Don’t want to read our entire list? Here is our quick answer for the best artificer subclass.
Without question, the armorer tops our list for the best artificer subclass. It is super versatile, offering you different modes of play. You can be a heavily-armored beefcake or relatively stealthy. You can shoot energy bursts from your hands, or you could give yourself a steady pool of temporary HP. There are countless ways to build this character, and most of them pack a serious punch. You can deal tremendous damage, have a fairly broad array of spells, and be one of the sturdiest defensive characters possible. You are essentially Ironman – and what’s not to love about that?
Our Artificer Subclass 5E Ratings
4. Alchemist
See our Alchemist 5E Guide
This might be a bit of “3.5 Player Grudge,” but I believe the Alchemist is the weakest of the options. Not to say it’s all bad; in fact, it’s much better than the worst subclasses of other classes! But, compared to the other two, Alchemist simply can’t keep up.
Alchemist tools aren’t bad (probably better than Artillerist’s Woodcarving!), but they really limited how creative you can be with these tools. You can’t create magical potions, or create homunculus, or anything fun. All you can really do is make puffs of smoke (without real DM intervention). The spell list is pretty solid; being able to cast Healing Word makes you a fantastic off-healer and emergency pick-up! Neither the tools nor the spells bring you shame.
The only problem is the Experimental Elixir. Getting up to 3 “level 1 spells” is great… But they’re random! You need to spend spell slots to gain the effects that you might need in a situation, because you roll a d6 for your free uses. If you get 3 Transformation Elixirs, then your day is ruined! And none of these effects ever get better! You just get temp hitpoints at level 9.
The follow-up abilities almost exclusively focus on giving you free spell slots. You heal more, deal more damage, and gain free casts of utility healing spells like Restoration. Not bad at all! But you can’t match a Cleric, or even a Bard, in terms of healing ability. Considering how much you dedicate to healing… You’re not awesome at healing. You’ll still need at least one other healer to be safe. This isn’t an awful archetype, and can deal some pretty above-average damage. It’s just… It dedicates so much to healing, and it’s not even that good at it!
3. Artillerist
See our Artillerist 5E Guide
Artillerist has an absolutely abysmal tool proficiency, but it doesn’t try to be something that the Artificer struggles with. Instead, the Artillerist is a damage-focused build. The cannons that the artillerist make can be carried or walked around. As a bonus action, the cannons can deal a bit of damage or give your party temp HP. Instead of trying to heal damage, you either prevent damage from happening, or deal a bunch! This gives the Artillerist an absolutely insane bonus action ability; Cast a cantrip, shoot a gun!
If that wasn’t enough, the Artillerist continues to gain damage. They gain damage for their spell slots by using a wooden “gun”, which adds a d8 to their damage. This is actually “less” than the Alchemist, who adds their Intelligence modifier to Acid or Poison damage. However, the d8 can be used for any spell… like Fireball.
The gun is also upgraded much more than Experimental Elixir. The guns gain bonus damage at level 9, and can be exploded for emergency AoE (though this is not recommended!). At level 15, the guns provide cover for your party, and you can have 2 of them! Great defensive buff, and you can fire them both with the same action. That doubles your damage potential! Though, your Protector’s temp HP doesn’t scale well with either ability. That’s fine; you give insane amounts of temp HP anyways!
The main downside of the Artillerist is the cannon’s duration. This is the most resource-intensive Artificer, since the cannons only last an hour, or if it dies. At least the Alchemist gets a ton of free spells! The canons have good health, but if your party is traveling or does two dungeons in a day, you might be spending a few slots. Not bad, and great damage! This is number 1 if your goal is to deal damage, but…
2. Battle Smith
See our Battle Smith Guide
The Battle Smith is just so useful! Blacksmith’s tools are the best free proficiency of any archetype, and the spells that you get from the Paladin spell list work so well! They’re great for their spell level, and offer extra utility and damage, as well as great tank stuff! Tanking is what the Battle Smith does, because they get a little mechanical buddy that soaks damage for you. It’s ridiculously tanky, with loads of health! It has its own reaction, can use your bonus action to deal force damage, and can be healed with a simple cast of Mending. This little friend is a great tank, can check traps for you, and is a full-on construct. A great, completely expendable tank!
The Battle Smith is also themselves quite potent. They use Intelligence for weapon attack rolls, get Martial proficiency, and Extra Attack. That’s loads of damage (as long as you’re using a magical weapon)! If that wasn’t enough, you eventually gain the ability to surge with magic on hit; dealing extra force damage or healing someone nearby. Without any action! This is an incredibly strong ability, since normally healing consumes some part of your turn! And, even better, it uses a new resource pool, so you don’t even spend spell slots!
Finally, your Steel Defender gets buffed to be even more durable, deal more damage, and double the healing or damage of Arcane Jolt. Extremely efficient, extremely useful buffs that will make you a priority target… But you’ll be in their face, dealing damage, wearing heavy armor, and with a robot buddy that can protect you! It’s a brutal combination, and one of the most fun Defenders in the game! That’s why Battle Smith is our #1 choice for an Artificer (if just barely).
1. Armorer
See Our Armorer Artificer 5E Guide.
At the top of the list is the newest Artificer Specialist from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything: The Armorer. For this archetype, think medieval Ironman. The subclass centers around your ability to turn a suit of armor into Arcane Armor. This armor can be worn whether you have the minimum strength and it cannot be removed from you unwillingly.
One of the best features here is that this subclass is very customizable. At Level 3, you get to choose your Armor Model. There are two options: Guardian and Infiltrator. Guardian is a defense-first front line brawler. The Infiltrator is a sneaky option with an interesting lightning damage range weapon. The armor gains additional powers as you level.
On top of the basic premise of the subclass, you also get an excellent spell list. The list includes several damage options as well as some utility with spells like Greater Invisibility. Throw in an extra attack at Level 5 and this is by far my favorite of the artificer subclasses.
Concluding Our Artificer Subclasses 5E Rankings
And that’s the Artificer list! The fact that there are only four archetypes is a bit saddening, but this is how we ranked them! And, admittedly, there’s subjectivity here. The Alchemist is fine, but we feel it could be stronger, considering how good the Battle Smith’s Protector is. Of course, in a party with no healers, an Alchemist might feel much, much more at home. That’s why you should consider your options carefully, especially for this class, where the few options it does have are so good!
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