Have you reached an Ability Score Improvement mark as an Artificer? Are you looking for ideas to improve your build’s versatility while making things more interesting? Well, look no further! The Artificer already has so many fun tools to play with in it’s class that adding feats on top might seem like just frosting on the cake. However, some of these feats can drastically change how you play the class, and really make it a ton more fun! Our Artificer feats for 5E guide will bring you through some of our favorites!
Top 12 Artificer Feats for 5E
The Artificer 5E class is an intelligence-based option. We recommend bringing your Intelligence up to 20 as quickly as possible, to improve the effectiveness of your spells and class abilities. However, if you’re willing to take the time to get some feats, then here are some fun ideas and build paths!
12. Observant
Observant is nice for a few reasons. First and foremost, you don’t completely give up your ability score improvement, as you get a +1 here. On top of that, you get +5 to passive perception and investigation scores. This is a pretty big boost to passive scores that can be very important, depending on your DM. Oh, and you can also read lips!
11. Ritual Caster
As an artificer, you are already a spellcaster. But as a quarter caster, your access to spells is fairly limited. Adding the ability to cast spells as a ritual is a nice boost to your casting ability. The feat also grants some additional spells, which always helps.
10. Keen Mind
At the bottom of the list is one of the feats with the best flavor. Keen Mind gives you a +1 to Intelligence, meaning you’re not sacrificing your entire Ability Score improvement for it. The three abilities that come with the feat, however… They’re not incredible. You know which way is North (a low-level Survival check), you know what time it is (again, Survival check)… And you can recall anything you’ve seen or heard. This is the interesting part. Depending on how the DM interprets this, you can use it to do things like police sketches or perfectly solve puzzles. Your character remembers it well, and perhaps has a photographic memory!
9. Lucky
Lucky is a useful feat for any class, but the Artificer might not use it well. Lucky allows you to reroll 3 d20s per day. That’s always great. The Artificer ends up using these mostly on Ability Checks for important rolls or for Saving Throws. It’s rare that an Artificer needs to reroll an attack roll; you don’t have very impressive spells for that job. However, this is still a life-saving feat that you should consider, especially if you find yourself rolling poorly.
8. Metamagic Adept
Access to Sorcery Points is a caster’s dream, but the Artificer is not great at casting. Still, this allows you to learn Metamagic, which can be incredibly useful. Now, you can keep your allies safe as you cast Area of Effect spells, or hold monsters in place for longer. While the Artificer isn’t great with Metamagic, it’s no doubt useful! Consider Distant, Extended, Quickened, and Twinned for some great options with your spell list.
7. Telekinetic
Now this is a fun one! You get a +1 to Intelligence (or Wisdom/Charisma, though the Artificer knows what it likes!). You also get a highly potent Mage Hand, which is invisible, can be casted without components, and can move up to 60 feet away from you. That’s pretty stellar! However, you also gain a Bonus Action; a little shove. For most Arcanists, that’s a big deal! It might be just 5 feet, but it gives you something to do as a Bonus Action, and keeps enemies away from you. This lets you win footraces and keep specific enemies from bonking you!
6. Fighting Initiate
For the Battlesmith or the Armorer, this is a legitimate option to consider. Since both of those Artificers use weapons of some kind, the Fighting Style build might be what they need to excel in their role. That being said, if you plan on Two-Weapon Fighting or getting the Defense Fighting Style, consider taking Dual Wielder instead. What this feature is really good with is ranged builds; since the Armorer’s Lightning Launcher is a Simple Ranged weapon, you can get the +2 from the Archery Fighting Style. That’s a gigantic accuracy buff! Be warned, however; some DMs might not consider Firearms to be a Martial Weapon. In which case, this is still great for the Battlesmith. Dueling and Archery both work well for that build.
5. Heavily Armored
Artificers want Intelligence and little else. Why invest heavily in Dexterity? Since you’re already in Medium Armor, the transition to Heavy makes sense, even for Alchemists and Artillerists. This feat gives you Heavy Armor, which provides the highest AC in the game. It also gives you +1 Constitution, boosting your health pool and keeping you alive longer.
If you’d prefer, the Medium Armor Master feat can be just as tanky if you have high AC. However, that doesn’t come with Constitution.
4. Shadow Touched
The void calls, and it has a pretty sweet deal. +1 Intelligence is always nice, and you permanently have Invisibility and one 1st level spell known. For an Artificer, that’s not a bad thing to have! Invisibility is historically useful for ambushes, and you get a cast for free. Your 1st level spell options are less impressive, but you can get spells like Cause Fear, False Life, or Ray of Sickness. Overall, not a bad way to expand your casting abilities.
3. War Caster
For any melee spellcaster, this feat is a must. Concentration checks are a huge pain to maintain in melee; advantage makes them much easier. You can avoid a DM telling you to take your shield off in order to cast. And, you can use a spell instead of an opportunity attack. Spells are almost always going to deal more damage than a weapon, especially in the late game. All three of these abilities are incredibly good deals.
2. Alert
Alert is not the most powerful looking feat in the world. The Surprised condition rarely comes up, and when it does, it’s less than 1 full round of combat. Avoiding getting hit with Advantage from invisibility or stealth comes in handy, but it’s situational. So why is it this high on the list?
Well… +5 Initiative on a Support class is really good. You buff up using your Artificer spells, like Haste or Fly, and then you are guaranteed to wreck havoc on your enemies. Or, you can drop the Artificer’s surprisingly good AoE spells, like Cloudkill, on the first turn of combat. Being ready to go comes in handy… A lot!
1. Fey Touched
Okay, this might be a bit of bias, but I adore Fey Touched. First, you get your +1 Intelligence, which can get your towards 20 and boost your casting. Then, you learn Misty Step, one of the best spells in the game. The ability to jaunt 30 feet as a Bonus Action is crazy for mobility and escape opportunities. And you get to cast it once for free! Then, your 1st level spells… They are so good! You can get spells like Bane, Bless, Command, Compelled Duel, Comprehend Languages, Hex, Hunter’s Mark, Tasha’s Hideous Laughter… Extremely good ways to boost damage or ruin the fight for your enemies! A great pick for any Artificer looking to expand their tool kit.
Conclusions – Artificer Feats
These feats are designed to get your mind working about what you want for your Artificer. Do you disagree with any feats? Do you have ideas for Artificer feats that may give ideas to new Artificers? Share them in the comments! Need more sweet artificer action? See our Artificer subclasses guide to get your fix!
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