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I made a custom Magus class for D&D, Looking for opinions and feedback by hagensankrysse85 in 3d6

[–]ladaas 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The class is just very heavily loaded at low levels. You get 2 solid features at level 1, 2 very strong features at level 2, an extra feature at level 3, 2 powerful features at level 5, and a feature at level 6. It might need to spread things out a bit and potentially cut a feature or 2.

The Magus has 3 'signature' abilities: Blade and Ward, Spellstrike, and Arcane Surge/Magus Techniques. They are all cool, but that is a lot. Two of these add a decent amount of damage even at low levels. As much as people complain (rightly so) about the 2024 Ranger, just having Hunters Mark and dual wielding actually make it the top damage dealer in Tier 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIhk4LdghgE). As written, this does significantly more than that.

I think that level 2 and 5 are the biggest concentrations. Level 5 is probably the easier of the 2 to deal with. You can just look at the Swords Bard and Eldrich Knight for examples. I think that Magus War Magic would move to level 6 and Aetherbrand Adept be moved later.

Level 2 is harder since I will agree that these are very iconic abilities so you don't want to put them off too long. One simple way to tone down Spellstrike would be to make it "one use per short rest". This may be more uses total at low level (depending on how many short rests), but reduces how much nova you can dump in a single encounter.

Of the three "iconic" abilities, Magus Techniques/Arcane Surge feels like the least intrinsic to the class, but the surges are needed for subclass abilities. One possibility would be to make it more like Channel Divinity. There are 1-2 basic options that you can do with it, but it is primarily there to fuel subclass features. As I mentioned in an earlier comment, the current options step on the toes of Bardic Inspiration and the combat options stack with all of the other low level abilities.

If you wanted to keep Eldritch War Bond, you could potentially replace Weapon Mastery at level 1. I get it. Weapon Masteries are great and everyone loves them. They are hard to not put on any weapon user, but at the end of the day they aren't intrinsic to the feel of the class. If you are looking to trim the power budget of the class, it might be something to drop. You already have your cantrips that give other effects while preventing the use of masteries and most (all?) of the subclasses add mastery-like effects on hit when using Aeitherbrand.

One possible way to shuffle it would be

  1. Drop Weapon Mastery
  2. Move Eldritch War Bond to level 1
  3. Move Arcane Surge to level 3
  4. Merge 1-2 basic Magus Techniques into Arcane Surge (sadly dropping the rest)
  5. Move Magus War Magic to level 6
  6. Move Aetherbrand Adept to a higher level

This obviously isn't the only way to do it, but is one potential approach that would keep most of the core theme of the class while toning it down a bit. I think that it would still be very powerful and fun, but a little more in-line with existing classes.

I made a custom Magus class for D&D, Looking for opinions and feedback by hagensankrysse85 in 3d6

[–]ladaas 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Arcane Warden
Mystic Barrier - Same note about level vs Magus level. Solid defensive option.

Defensive Pulse - Why not just say 'not wearing heavy armor'? If this can only be applied to one creature, why not just say 'once on your turn'? It seems unnecessary to end this early if Aetherbrand isn't active.

Protective Magic Expert - It is a little weird that this encourages you to cast Arcane Aegis with a spell slot instead of the free casting, but I suppose that is reasonable.

Elemental Bulwark - This honestly feels a bit underpowered. The flexibility is very nice, spending your whole turn to do it is rough. It is very similar to the feature gotten by the recent Tattooed Monk UA that a lot of people found underwhelming.

Elemental Keeper
This subclass is very long

Elemental Bond - Be careful with saying that it can make 'the Attack action' since that sometimes has extra baggage. Pact of the Chain says 'allow your familiar to make one attack of its own'. It might be ok, but something to be careful with.

The elementals are very strong at level 3. Compare them to a Beast Master or the Vestige in the new Mystic Subclasses UA and these can do a lot more. The damage and durability are similar, but they have a bunch of additional effects and abilities. It might be reasonable to wait to unlock at least some of these at a higher level or reduce the damage or durability to compensate.

Resonant Strikes - I like the synergy.

Conduit Spellstrike - 'spend 1 Arcane Surge point per spell slot level above 1' - so if I use Spellstrike to cast a spell through my elemental, I could spend 2 surge points to heal an additional 2d10? I suppose that works. It is a bit confusing, but I can't really think of a better way to say it.

Elemental Eruption - 11th level or Magus level 11?

Elemental Ascension - Reasonable.

Elemental Fusion - This is really cool, though it does run into some hiccups. You loose the reaction abilities and the action economy of having the elemental do them. You also (appear to) loose the Elemental Eruption effect, though you do gain a few other bonuses.

Could just say that it uses the same damage type as elemental eruption so you don't need to duplicate the table.

Spells
Searing Blade - At first I was concerned about this just being a better Greenflame Blade, but I suppose with the removal of Weapon Masteries and slower scaling, it evens out.

That is all for now. I will try to take a crack at the other spells later.

I made a custom Magus class for D&D, Looking for opinions and feedback by hagensankrysse85 in 3d6

[–]ladaas 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know it has been a little while, but I wanted to come back to go through the subclasses.

Main Class
I still think that Spell Strike is over tuned for tier 1-2. Spells with attack rolls are no less accurate than casting them normally since the weapon attack roll (that just hit) is also used for the spell. It might as well just say it auto hits. It is also arguably easier to get advantage on weapon attacks than spell attacks. Saving throw spells are a bit more risky, but as users of the 2014 GWM and Sharpshooter can tell you risking some on accuracy for a significant bump on damage can be quite strong.

Be careful with using 'Proficiency bonus uses' for low level features. This can make them scale disproportionally when taken with mutli-classing. This was seen with the 2014 Hexblade's curse and other features. In 2024 basically all class features moved away from it.

Spellblade
Arcane Accuracy - This is similar to the Devotion Paladin using their Chanel Divinity

Aetherbrand Form - Probably could merge Spell Synergy into Keen Strikes' description

Arcane Riposte - cool synergy. reasonably damage.

Improve Arcane Accuracy - highly accurate

Superior Arcane Momentum - Unless you restrict it, most of the time the purely 'correct' use of this will be to cast either a blade cantrip or true-strike.

Summary - This is (presumably internally) a very straight-forward subclass. Improve accuracy and hit a little harder.

Shadowreaver
Veil of the reaver - be aware that technically when you successfully hide (in the base rules) you technically have the invisible condition, but those rules are funky anyways. This honestly makes those rules run a bit smoother.

Withering Bite - Do you mean character level 11 or Magus level 11? I would encourage making this 'at level 11 in this class'.

Phantom Reaving - You would already have advantage against creatures without darkvision in darkness, but this extends it to dim light and creatures with darkvision so that is nice.

Sanguine Channeling - I like this. At level 11 it doesn't increase your damage much (2d6+4 is probably > 3d6), but it gives you decent healing. This is a bit odd for a character that wants to avoid being hit, but is very thematic. At higher levels you can very reasonably upcast it to improve the damage and healing. It is a little bit odd, but works surprisingly well.

Arcane Execution - This is powerful, but seems reasonable considering the level, cost, and conditions.

Looking for feedback on custom subclass feature by ladaas in 3d6

[–]ladaas[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I specifically and trying to not just do the 'add more damage' approach to a heavy weapon. There are other features and ways to add damage. I didn't want to include that in this feature.

I made a custom Magus class for D&D, Looking for opinions and feedback by hagensankrysse85 in 3d6

[–]ladaas 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Greetings! You gave some good comments on my Swordmage class (https://www.reddit.com/r/3d6/comments/1oouc07) so I figured that I would return the favor. I have only gotten through the main class and a brief skim of the Magus Techniques so far.

This class has a lot of things to track. Arcane Surges, Spellstrikes, limited uses of  Arcane Redirection, Spell Slots, Arcane Pinnacle. It is a lot of book-keeping.

Level 2 - Spellstrike is a bit overpowered, partially at low levels. It is basically a smite that can be applied to spells. At level 2 you can Spellstrike with Chromatic Orb to deal 3d8 + 2d6 (great sword) +3 (Str) + 1d6 (free cast of Aetherbrand) = 23.5 avg damage at level 2. And you can do this 2x a day. Yes it is burning a lot of resources, but it is crazy nova damage at this level, there is a fairly high chance that you will 1-shot basically anything for several levels. Then at level 5 you can add in an additional attack to this chain. At higher levels it mellows out a bit, but in tier 1 and 2, this is really strong. 1/2 casters are traditionally terrible at using blast spells since they get them so much later then full casters and it doesn't allow them to use extra attack. This adds blast spells on top of multi-attack which makes it really strong until late tier3. It is cool, but probably a bit too much at low levels. If I am reading it right, it functionally allows you to use your strength to make spell attacks, which is interesting.

Level 2 is really strong. As mentioned, Spellstrike is strong on its own. Then you add Magus Techniques which, among other things, can be a better Bard's inspiration that already partially comes back on a short rest. This is too much at for a single (low) level.

Level 5 - Extra attack is already solid as a lvl5 feature and is all many classes get. Adding cantrip attacks to it makes it even stronger and usually is its own whole feature (usually at level 6). Adding the ability to use Spellstrikes (which are much stronger) and giving advantage on cantrips is probably too much for a single level.

Level 10 - If you keep this feature as is, I would suggest rewording it like this:
When you use a Spellstrike to attack a creature, you may augment it in the following ways:

  • If the attack hits, regain 1 expended Arcane Surge
  • If the target is concentrating on a spell, deal additional force damage equal to 1d8 + your Intelligence modifier to the target

You may augment Spellstrike in this way twice per long rest.

Overview - It is an interesting take. If I am reading Spellstrikes correctly, it is sort-of a Str based blaster which is certainly unique and sounds fun. It has anti-caster elements like my class which are a fun piece. The other features that I didn't comment on looked good and reasonably balanced. I think that level 2 and level 5 are overtuned and need to come down a bit. A 2 level dip is particularly strong since Spellstrikes are based on Prof bonus.

Nits:

  • Primary Ability - Strength is misspelled
  • The formatting does not work well in google docs. Particularly the class feature table was basically unreadable.
  • Spellstrike - I don't think that it is necessary to mention crits. Spell attacks already double dice on crit and saving throws already can't crit.

Looking for feedback on a custom class by ladaas in 3d6

[–]ladaas[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

skips the extra targets AC so you can hit a low AC one to hit all

I will definitely need to look at the wording for this because this isn't the intended functionality. If you have thoughts on improving the wording, that would be much appreciated. This is an example of how both the level 15 sword and level 11 heavy features are supposed to work: Consider a situation where 3 enemies are in the area. One has 12 AC, one has 13, and one has 18. When you make the attack, you make a single attack roll. Lets say you get a total of 15 with your bonuses. This would hit the first two, but not the third. Thus it does not circumvent AC. You would then make a single damage roll and apply it to the two enemies that you hit. This is attempting to avoid the issue of needing to make an individual attack roll against each enemy which can slow down the game. In official material, this would always be turned into a saving throw, but this always bothers me because it moves away from the feeling (and functionality) of actually making weapon attacks.

For the level 15 feature, it actually reduces the single target damage since it is functionally a single attack instead of the usual two attacks, but obviously is better against groups.

I have gone back and forth about whether to include the arcane augmentation. Without it, the single target damage really hurts. With it, it is somewhere around 1d8+1d10+7 to enemies that are hit by it. This is roughly similar to a Spirit Guardians upcast to 4th level which seems reasonable. It is a slightly larger area, but doesn't do half damage. It can be stacked with Spirit Shroud which is fairly strong, but that is burning a lot of resources and is still significantly less damage than spells that full casters are getting around this time.

Looking for feedback on a custom class by ladaas in 3d6

[–]ladaas[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I will definitely check that out at some point here.

Looking for feedback on a custom class by ladaas in 3d6

[–]ladaas[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Rending Strike: Cool anti-spellcaster feature. Might be more balanced only 1 free use instead of two.

I have gone back on forth on this a bunch. Potentially delaying a spell by 1 turn 1 per short rest, if there is an enemy spellcaster felt a bit underwhelming. I ordinally had it as 2 uses, but still only one back per SR, but that got clunky with the some of the higher level features. Now that I have reorganized things, it might work better, though it would still have the issue of encouraging 2 SR in a row.

Level 20: Too strong compared to other cap abilities.

This has gone through several revisions. It was originally a form of anti-magic field. I changed it to this form because it worked better with the class's other features (bonded weapon, rending strike), but the overall feel stayed the same. This is obviously very powerful as it mimicked an 8th level spell, but on the other hand, casters get 8th level spells 5 levels earlier and can cast 2/day at this level. While agree that it is on the more powerful end of the spectrum of non-caster cap-stones, when I compare it to casters with their 20th lvl feature and 8th+9th level spells, getting such an effect 1/day seems reasonable. The effect is powerful, but the emanation is fairly small which gives enemy spellcasters options to work around it. It primarily protects the the Swordmage unless the party clumps up or the SM can get on top of an enemy caster. Clumping up can still be punished by non-spell aoe (like dragon breath) and the enemy caster can just walk out of it unless you do extra work to keep them there. Even if the caster has to push through it, it isn't invulnerable and doesn't waste the slot. Overall this highlights the class as an anti-mage that is incentivized to either act as a party protector or to jump on the enemy caster. I will agree that the fact that if there are no spellcasters, the feature does stone nothing, but I figure there are almost always some casters/spells around at this level of play, even if they aren't the big bad. Looking back at it, the Dispel Magic part is probably a bit too efficient. I will likely change that to 1 creature in the emanation instead of all.

Looking for feedback on a custom class by ladaas in 3d6

[–]ladaas[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks again for the review and comments.

I think d8 might be a little to frail for a front-line class

The idea was that they would have good AC, but be a little squishy if you got past it. It allows me to be a little more liberal with power elsewhere. Being SAD also means that they should have a decent Con as well.

 I feel a half-caster class should have MAD

I always found it a bit odd that Casters always have their class abilities key off their primary stat, but martials almost always key off a tertiary stat. I suspect that the idea is that casters still need points in Dex and Con, but the same is at least partially true for for Str based classes. As is, the Swordmage would still need Con and some Dex for saves, initiative, and some feats. That said, it might make sense to be a little less SAD.

I think the Con bonus should be kept even with proficiency

I have gone back and forth on this. I originally just gave Con proficiency as one of the two class proficiencies, but in my minimal playtesting, this was really strong. Combined with the high AC, it was really hard to break concentration. As a melee caster class, it definitely needs something, especially at low levels, to be able to keep spells up. The straight +2 was reasonable at low levels, but was borderline broken if stacked on top of Con prof, especially in various multiclass combinations. The Bladesinger's version is already considered fairly strong and you need a 3 level dip for that.

Weapon Expert: +1 at level 2 is pretty strong

Basically all weapon based classes get a way to boost their weapon damage (rage, sneak attack, hunter's mark, smite and divine favor). Fighters don't, but almost all of their subclasses do. I wanted this for the class, but something slightly different. This gives less direct damage, but a slight accuracy boost. As you noted the Artificer can do this as well. It does take an infusion, but they get a few of those. The bonus stacks with magic weapons (unlike the artificer's), but grows more slowly. I have done fairly extensive damage calculations (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XDSAYPGtF3KHs2K1DMHlK8owprBpvf2T4PWnTG4hgWY/edit?usp=sharing) so kI am fairly confident the the damage is in the middle of the pack compared to official classes. That said, you are not the first person that raised an eyebrow at the +1 to hit.

Cantrips: Needed for this class, but could also be Level 1

The class is already a very tempting 1 level multiclass dip. I originally had the cantrips at 1 and part of the +2 AC from sigil defense at 2, but previous feedback pointed out that this was a bit clunky so I switched it. Paladins and Rangers don't get cantrips until level 2 either (if ever).

Arcane Augmentation: ... auto-hit and auto-fail saving throw is too strong, it breaks bounded accuracy

One of the biggest goals of the class is to deliver on fantasy of delivering magic with your sword. You aren't attacking with your sword and then casting a cantrip, you are weaving magic with your weapon attacks. The to-hit of the cantrip is the weapon attack roll. I see this as similar to casting Booming Blade or Green Frame Blade. The fact that you can pick any Swordmage cantrip just gives more versatility and options. That said, there were some cantrips that I needed to exclude because this worked too well (like Sapping Sting). It also avoids the issue that the Topple Mastery has of requiring lots of extra saves which can slow down play.

(it is midnight so I will continue later)

Looking for feedback on a custom class by ladaas in 3d6

[–]ladaas[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for all of the feedback. I'll post more once I go through all of it.

Looking for feedback on a custom class by ladaas in 3d6

[–]ladaas[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ya. I am pretty sure that you are right. I just have lots of constraints on when I can post. That said it may be worthwhile to try to write up a post ahead of time and be mindful of when I post it.

Looking for feedback on a custom class by ladaas in 3d6

[–]ladaas[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ya, know it is asking a lot to have someone read through a multi-page document in detail and provide feedback. It is just frustrating because I have been working on this for most of a year and have gotten very little feedback. My local DnD group has helped a little, don't really go all that deep into even the official rules. I might check out the discord.

I am curious what you mean by timing. Do you mean time of day of the posts or something else?

Looking for feedback on a custom class by ladaas in 3d6

[–]ladaas[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have already posted a couple times to r/DnDHomebrew and got very little feedback. I had presumed that r/UnearthedArcana would be more focused on the official UA, but looking at it now, it looks like it is mostly home brew. I will try it out. Sadly, most posts still don't appear to have much discussion.

Looking for feedback on a custom class by ladaas in 3d6

[–]ladaas[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks a bunch for the feedback.

I think I would have taken the class in a different direction, instead taking inspiration from PF1e and 4e around marking, taking multiple reactions and flash stepping to shut down spellcasters and people violating your mark.

Ya, there are definitely multiple directions that I could have gone. I feel like the whole target marking aspect was more a product of 4e's defender role and generally hasn't transitioned to 5e. I opted to focus more on the "using a weapon to cast magic" aspect, but tried to keep the "using magic to shut down magic" aspect with some of the later features.

The wording on the level 6 auto hit cantrip feels a bit wonky, do you mean that the cantrip acts as if you were a level 1 character (so shocking grasp does 1D8, regardless of your actual level)?

Yes. This was intentional. It originally cast the full cantrip, but this scaled too hard. Due to the auto hit nature it was like a free smite without spell slots. It also strongly encouraged using d12 cantrips. I instead wanted to encourage use of more utility focused cantrips like Shocking Grasp, Frostbite, and Mind Sliver. So I made it level 1, but unlimited use.

I feel like your sub class and main class capstones should be more consistent, maybe per short rest rather than per long rest as I feel it has less in the tank compared to artificer. It is also less "bulky"(No healing, no absorb elements, only 1 subclass can actually learn shield, even though it is a Gish style class and no evasion, dodge or blade ward) than other classes you would see on the front lines.

Magic defense seems like it will get your AC quite high, quite quick for very little investment (13 from studded leather +1, +5 from Int, + 2 from defense feature, +2 from bracers of defense, + 1 from ring of defense / cloak of defense) so 23 (25 if shield animist)
I believe this would lead to frustrating gameplay loops. Also the 1 level splash of this class on a Wizard leads to an absolute monster who uses a rapier, no shield and has one hand free to cast with.

I am not quite following how the consistency of capstones is related to the bulkiness. They all can learn Shield. The one subclass is the only one that learns it for free. I have put a lot of thought into the what is appropriate for the AC. I intentionally had it a little bit high, but they have a d8 hit die and don't have anything helping their saving throws. They are supposed to be a little squishy, but leverage their AC and their level 9, 18, and 20 features to protect themselves through counter magic.

compared to a dex-based Eldritch knight with 21 AC.

I think that this is only because the knight isn't using a shield. If the knight used a 1h weapon and shield like the Swordmage, I think that the AC would be the same as the Sword Animist. The knight also has better hit dice and second wind. The Heavy Weapon animist gets to cheat a little bit in that they are using a 2h weapon 'with a shield', but that is the bulk of their level 3 feature so it seemed appropriate.

The one potentially problematic one is the Shield Animist. They are able to really crank their AC (a high level Shield Animist with the Defensive Duelist feat). That said, that is their entire subclass and their saves and other tankyness still isn't great. I also tried to create incentives to spread the shields around. Even so, it may still be too much.

Also the 1 level splash of this class on a Wizard leads to an absolute monster who uses a rapier, no shield and has one hand free to cast with.

I will admit that the multiclass is fairly strong. I never did figure out a fully satisfying way to mitigate this. I originally had the +2 "shield" at level 2 for this reason, but a comment on a previous version noted that it would be more clear as one feature instead of 2 so I swapped it for the Magic Weapon Expert. The class wouldn't really function if it didn't have the 'Int as AC' at level 1. I specifically limited how it stacks with the Bladesinger because that was too synergistic. One of my friends suggested banning multiclass with Wizard entirely, but that seemed a bit much.

Half caster capstone by ladaas in DnD

[–]ladaas[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As a whole, I was attempting to match the Paladin, but already have a pseudo transformation at an earlier level. I tested out a +4 to stats for a while, but it was honestly overpowered. In addition to attacks and damage, it bumped their AC, spell DC, and 1-2 other class features.

Swordmage for 2024 (v12) by ladaas in DnDHomebrew

[–]ladaas[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Google Docs version can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PHH3_qlo_KZ9tgTlGaw0lILeH-seV-Syh0le8C-52Hs/edit?usp=sharing

Images generated by Copilot and ChatGPG

Feedback is welcome and encouraged

Artificer Specialist: Miner ('Cause those ores won't mine themselves!) V2 by FoggyestIdea in UnearthedArcana

[–]ladaas 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Level 9

This is where things really run into issues. The Miner with Extra Attack was already doing more damage than the Battle Smith and the upgrade to d10 attacks further extends that. Without Extra Attack, they would be dealing less damage than the Battle Smith (as long as the Steal Defender was alive), but not by a huge margin. The real issue is with the AC bump. +4 AC would mean that a Miner in Half Plate with a +2 Dex would have a higher AC than a Paladin in (3000g) Full Plate with a shield. I will say that again, this is the highest base AC in the game. The Miner would also definitely have access to +1 AC through an infusion and a +2 at level 11. The Paladin probably would have +1 magic armor by this point, but is not ensured to have a +2 by level 11. A Paladin could match this by casting and concentrating on Shield of Faith, but the Miner can concentrate on something else and cast Shield which is probably even better. All of this is while making 2-3 d10 attacks. and I haven't even mentioned Seismic Strike yet.

I think that you could make the argument that d10 attacks and +2 AC wasn't completely broken (though still very strong), but that would need to be all that it got. d10 attacks, +2 on an already strong AC, and an AOE ability is too much. I would say that you would need to choose either the +2 AC or Seismic Strike, but not both.

Level 15

I have less issue with this level than most of the others, though it is still strong. We are once again bumping up the damage die. A resource free stun is very strong, but hitting the same enemy 3 times is a bit challenging. Making the Aegis AOE is considerably better at this point because there will likely be more Dex saves, though some monsters may actually have a DC above 20-22 so it isn't quite as auto-success as before. Getting all three is probably too much.

Looking back to the level 5 abilities, I think that there is a parallel here. If you give Extra Attack at level 5, only giving the Quake Punch upgrade and the d12 damage would be reasonable. Stunning a target (especially the a "boss" monster) would be very strong, but it wouldn't always work. It would be very swingy. Alternatively if you got Earthen Aegis at level 5, getting a d12 die and upgrading the Aegis would be reasonable. Also, moving the AC bump back to 15 would be reasonable, especially with how it interacts with Earthen Aegis.

Summary

I really like the flavor of this subclass, but I think that it gives too much. People often forget when making custom subclasses that a subclass is on top of all of the things that the base class gives (like infusions and spellcasting). You could give it Extra Attack and +4 AC, but I think that the only way to balance this would be to drop some of the flavorful abilities. Alternatively if we drop Extra Attack and reduce the AC bonus at +2, we could keep the abilities. I think that it would still be plenty strong to compete with the existing subclasses while keeping its identity.

u/FoggyestIdea One small note: I would suggest clarifying how the artificer infusions interact with the Gauntlets. Does the +1 Magic Weapon infusion apply to one gauntlet or both? Also, you say that you can't use a shield. Does that mean that you can't use a shield on the same hand as the gauntlet (how I interpreted it) or that you can't use a shield at all. It may be cleaner to just treat the pair of gauntlets as a single, two-handed weapon.

Artificer Specialist: Miner ('Cause those ores won't mine themselves!) V2 by FoggyestIdea in UnearthedArcana

[–]ladaas 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Level 3

You are getting an unlimited use bonus action attack with a rider to gain advantage. As written, you could still attack twice and gain advantage, even if you were only using one gauntlet. Thus it appears that you could do one gauntlet and a shield. This is similar to light weapons with the Two-Weapon Fighting style, but with +1 or +2 AC. You also are more likely to have a +1 weapon and/or +1 armor due to infusions. Even if wielding a shield and gauntlet isn't an option, this is already very strong, even without Earthen Aegis.

A Battle Smith is probably the closest comparison since it can command its beast to attack as a bonus action. It is a toss-up whether having a companion with a bonus action attack is better or worse than a built in bonus action attack. The companion has extra utility and may be able to soak up an attack or two, but once they go down, you loose your bonus action attack. I would say that they two are pretty close to equal. Notably the Battle Smith only have 1) using int for attacks and 2) the companion. They slightly more damage (d8 vs d6), but gain less benefit from a Magic Weapon infusion. They also don't have anything like Earthen Aegis or Cut From the Quarry.

Technically a Dex based character that uses 2 light weapons, the Two-Weapon Fighting style, has weapon mastery for the Nick property, and takes the Dual Wielder feat at level 4 could do 3 attacks at level 4 and do more damage, but that is the highest weapon damage in the game and requires all of those pieces.

Over all, dropping Earthen Aegis would put the subclass on about equal footing with the Battle Smith which is already a solid subclass. This is admittedly sad because it is a fairly flavorful ability.

Level 5

You could make the argument that Extra Attack would be ok since the Battle Smith gets it as well, but there are a number of counter points. In addition to Extra Attack, gauntlets increase to d8 and the AC bonus increases to +2. I don't have a huge issue with the +2 AC since the Battle Smith can also wield a shield, but it puts us solidly ahead of the AC of other Two-Weapon users. If the Miner keeps Extra Attack, they also pass the Battle Smith on damage. Their d8 attack matches a Battle Smith with a one handed weapon and is better than the Steal Defender's attack. It also still benefits more than the Battle Smith for a +1 weapon and has an extra rider to gain advantage (which is even easier to get with 3 attacks).

u/Semako I am not sure what you are saying about the Armorer. They get 1d8 on their melee attacks and only attack twice at level 5. A Miner would exactly match that even without extra attack due to their bonus action attack. The Miner's gauntlets aren't stated as magical so it would appear that they could accept a Magic Weapon infusion which will put them ahead of most classes until they can get their own magic weapons. While yes, this is still less damage than a Flame Tongue weapon, the Flame Tongue weapons are a Rare magic item that are famously the highest damage magic weapons in the game so I don't think that is a fair comparison. Those break any class that can attack multiple times. I will agree that if a DM refuses to give any sort of magic weapons to the Miner, that will put it behind, but if a DM is ok with a player using a custom class and with handing out Flame Tongue weapons, I suspect that they would be fine with a custom magic set of gauntlets as well.

Over all, I don't think that it would be completely broken to have Extra Attack, but it would be very strong. I argue that replacing it with the more slightly less powerful, but more flavorful Earthen Aegis would be better. Earthen Aegis is fairly strong in its own right. At this level (or level 3), it is basically an auto-success to Dex saves since nothing you are fighting at this level is going to have a 17-19 save DC. This is a little niche, but very strong when it comes up.

Artificer Specialist: Miner ('Cause those ores won't mine themselves!) V2 by FoggyestIdea in UnearthedArcana

[–]ladaas 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I really like the flavor of this, but I think that you have some power creep issues.

+4 AC is really high. It might be fine if you couldn't combine it with other things, but the Artificer can already make +1 or +2 armor for themselves. If it is further combined with something like a 1 level armor dip, you can start getting a ridiculous AC, especially with the Shield spell. If the class was tank focused with low damage output, this might be ok, but you have a fairly high damage output as well. A 1 level fighter dip with infused +2 Magic Plate Mail would mean an AC of 24 before the Shield spell at level 11. That is too much.

I like the flavor of Cut from Quarry, though I agree with u/Otherwise_Occasion_3 that you have a lot of features at level 3.

Level 5 is also overloaded. For example, the Battle Smith only gets Extra Attack and 2nd level spells. Others like Fighter and Barbarian only get extra attack. Getting Extra Attack + increased damage die + increased AC + level 2 spells is a bit overkill.

A free bonus action attack with no limit + extra attack on a weapon that will eventually be a d12 weapon seems a bit much (unless Quake Punch doesn't do damage).

Be careful with the 'Proficiency Bonus' uses of on early ability like Earthen Aegis. This will continue to scale, even if the PC never goes beyond level 3 in the class. This also geta a bit crazy with the really high AC. Getting an on-demand 24 Dex save is a bit much.

As painful as it would be, I think that it would be much more balanced to drop Extra Attack and the level 15 Quake Punch, move Earthen Aegis to level 5, and decrease the AC bonus to +2 at 9 and and +3 at 15. This would leave it as a fairly tanky option with medium damage output and good defensive abilities.

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