May 12

May 12 A Player's Guide to Feats - Artificer Initiate

Does your fighter love to tinker with stuff? Does your wizard want to be able to cast cure wounds without having to take a dip into cleric? Well, the Artificer Initiate feat has you covered. If you're dreaming of being able to create your army of clockwork kobolds, you'll be sadly disappointed.

What is the Artificer Initiate Feat?

The Artificer Initiate feat grants you access to the Artificier's spell list, and… that's it. It's criminal that the developers decided to focus on the spells of the Artificer and not the abilities that make them unique with this feat. Shame on you. It's uninspired and, quite frankly, lazy.

You've learned some of an artificer's inventiveness:
- You learn one cantrip of your choice from the artificer spell list, and you learn one 1st-level spell of your choice from that list. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
- You can cast this feat's 1st-level spell without a spell slot, and you must finish a long rest before you can cast it in this way again. You can also cast the spell using any spell slots you have.
- You gain proficiency with one type of artisan's tools of your choice, and you can use that type of tool as a spellcasting focus for any spell you cast that uses Intelligence as its spellcasting ability.

Dissecting the Feat

The Artificer Initiate feat has three main components.

Learn an Artificer Cantrip & 1st Level Spell. So the Artificer may have the most versatile spell list of all the classes, but does it really do you any good in the context of the feat? The answer is no. You have the opportunity to gain access to any of the cantrips or 1st-level spells in numerous other ways, including other more powerful feats. To make matters worse, your spellcasting ability is Intelligence. Don't lie. We all know you all made Intelligence your dump stat.

No Spell Slot is Needed. Everything has a silver lining, and this is it for the Artificier Initiate feat. It doesn't penalize spellcasting classes for taking the feat and clears up potential rules confusion if your fighter takes it. You can only cast it without a spell slot once per long rest, damping any enthusiasm you may have felt. You may use a spell slot to cast your new Artificer spell additional times.

Tool Time. If 5e used our rules for Tools and Kits, then this would make the feat worth taking. Otherwise, you have another set of tools in your backpack, gathering dust.

Cantrip/Spell Options

If you've made up your mind and just have to take the feat, here are the top cantrips and spells you should consider, ranked in order of preference.

Cantrips

Guidance: Best of the lot. Guidance is the best non-combat-oriented cantrip on this spell list, if not in the game.
Sparing the Dying: Stop always relying on your cleric to save everyone.
Booming Blade: If you're playing a melee class, consider this your top option.
Honorable Mention - Magic Stone: First, you must ensure your GM will allow you to take a spell from the Elemental Evil Player's Companion. If they do, then you now have a use for your bonus action if you're in desperate need of one. The range is excellent, and the damage, while nothing outstanding, is respectable if you have nothing to do with your bonus action. The cantrip is most useful at 1st through 3rd levels, where your bonus actions are limited. Unfortunately, you'll have to play the variant human race to gain access.

1st level Spells

Faerie Fire: Best offensive spell on the list, and it doesn't even do damage!
Sanctuary: Any time you can reduce or negate damage coming your way is a happy time. Add that to the fact that the spell takes a bonus action, and it's the best non-offensive spell to take.
Cure Wounds: When the cleric is down and you're out of healing potions, you'll thank me.

The Artificer Initiate Feat Useability by Class

Let's not beat around the bush. Unless you plan on building the most versatile character in history, the Artificer Initiate feat won't be for you, regardless of your class. Since we're here, we may go through the motions.

Artificer: Let's see, you're already an artificer, so taking this feat serves no purpose for this class.

Barbarian: You can have some fun with this combination, but it's not worth taking. Since you cannot maintain concentration while raging, the best spell option, faerie fire, is ineffective. Plus, we are 99.99999% positive Intelligence is your dump stat.

Bard: Already the ultimate skill monkey, you could always take the feat to add to your spell list. A fair number of spells on the Artificer's list don't appear on the bard list.

Cleric: You gain access to several spells that aren't on the cleric's spell list, but Intelligence as the spellcasting modifier is once again the most significant issue.

Druid: You gain access to several spells that aren't on the druid's spell list, but Intelligence as the spellcasting modifier is once again the most significant issue.

Fighter: There are so many better options available for this class, so the feat is not worth taking.

Monk: There are so many better options available for this class, so the feat is not worth taking.

Paladin: There are so many better options available for this class, so the feat is not worth taking.

Ranger: There are so many better options available for this class, so the feat is not worth taking.

Rogue: There are so many better options available for this class, so the feat is not worth taking.

Sorcerer: The spell list must expand to justify taking this feat. There are so many better options available for this class, so the feat is not worth taking.

Warlock: The spell list must expand to justify taking this feat. There are so many better options available for this class, so the feat is not worth taking.

Wizard: Finally, having Intelligence as the spellcasting modifier isn't a penalty. The spell list doesn't expand enough to justify taking this feat. There are so many better options available for this class, so the feat is not worth taking.

Conclusion

Unfortunately, this feat does little beyond granting you spells you can obtain in several other ways. No matter how good the spell list is, gaining one first-level spell and cantrip does not make the feat worth taking. With so many other excellent feats available, not to mention those precious ASI points, it is with great sadness that I recommend always passing over this feat.

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