I have a Battle Smith who is a Warforged but he's Goblin-sized. He rides his Steel Defender into battle and at lvl 4 he'll take Mounted Combatant. Makes him tanky as hell and highly mobile.
@@robertking6510 Oh, totally. I can cast _shield_ while the defender gives disadvantage to the attack against me or I can attack the guy for attacking my repairable meat shield. If they try to escape, my Sentinel attack can stop it and I believe the Defender would get an opportunity attack too if they didn't Disengage. So they're stuck by me and that's when you light _create bonfire_ beneath them. I can't wait to get the combo going. I took Magic Initiate (Wizard) first though so I could get more cantrips and pick up a familiar.
A great one-two combo I thought about for maximum battlefield support was to hand my spell storing item to my Steel Defender and have it loaded with Web. I use my action for Slow, and if they fail it, they have a -2 to their dex save for Web from my bonus action with Defender. This alongside the crazy AC you can get as a Battlesmith, you can become a major help in turning the tide of a battle.
I love playing battle smith, right now I'm playing them more like a tanky paladin. Armorer would have been a better choice had I been aware of that UA when I hit 3rd level I would have done it. I can't wait for the Tasha's Cauldron to update some of the things about Artificer. They are so fun to play.
15:50 I think, James didn't quite understand what you were on about, when he answered. The Steel Defender does indeed take it's turn after yours. That means, being a melee combatant while riding it is a bit awkward. Ranged works quite well, though.
This is made less awkward by the rules of mounting. If you take control of the mount if moves on your turn (you use its movement as yours). However this does restrict its actions and it can't attack (but a forgiving DM might still the allow bonus action command to dash). If you chose to let the mount control itself, that's when melee is awkward but the defender can still attack.
I suggest the caveat of readying an attack with the condition "When my steel defender is in range of the enemy for me to attack." That'd work to at least get one attack off, no?
Beastmaster ranger is getting new options in Tasha that make it hype. More hp, can revive it, and it only needs your bonus action to attack. And some more too
I flavoured my Steel Defender as a Secretary Bird (google them if you don't know what they are) named Lady Eunice. She often serves as comic relief for the party, because the DM plays into her. I want to encourage DMs to do that too, the SD was built by the artificer, but it acts as a living entity to an extent, because it is a creature. My DM has actually decided to apply some mystery to my SD, for example we are in a megadungeon and sometimes my SD seems to have insights or ideas about things that no one else does. She can't communicate them, because she can't speak, so we just watch her do her weird thing and sometimes it pays off, like somehow she was able to open a sealed door for us. We don't know how she did it, but she did. So my DM might be playing into the idea that my character built the SD, but the metal used to build it was rare and magically altered before purchase or something of the sort. I think it makes the campaign more fun if a DM decides to incorporate the SD in ways different than just a basic SD would be.
I'm playing a dwarf artificer in a Warhammer campaign. I have stuck to using a pistol so far, but I have as high an AC as our monk and the highest health of anyone in our party thanks to that Dwarven resilience. We're one session from hitting level 3, and I am super excited to take Battle Smith.
If you are playing a character that creates guns, I highly recommend playing the Battle Smith over the Artillerist. Artillerist seems to be more of a blaster mage character whereas the Battle Smith acts similar to a beastmaster ranger. At 5th level, you get two attacks with a weapon and you can make that a musket with the repeating shot infusion, infinite ammo with a +1 weapon that you can use with your intelligence modifer.
Made somthing similar. Knome battlesmith repeating shot pistol with enhanced arcane forcus wand where the ram rod would be. Played it like a la matt revolver, loved it
Deep gnome Artificer riding his steel defender. Sadly, my defender has a higher passive perception than anyone in the group. Our group consists of two gnomes, two halflings and a kobald. The tallest is the other gnome at 4 ft. The kobald is 2 ft tall.
I wonder if your party discovers a rare item before your able to create it if your DM could allow you to study it before someone attunes to it if you could potentially unlock it's replication early?
Fun combo using my Gnome Battle Smith: Cast "Spider Climb" on the defender, then ride them up the wall/ceiling on their belly, and boom repeating shot crossbow/firearm sniper!
Last year, my group did a Christmas One-Shot, and I played a Battle Smith who was a Winter Eladrin and I used a picture of one of those Poochie robot dog toys for my Steel Defender. Lmao
currently a Lvl 3 Battle smith artificer, 3 lvls scribe wizard. i can change the elements of my spells, as well as make it breath a 15 ft cone of my element of choice. Of which i like thunder, as it ROARS to defeat my enemies alongside my lightning infused Lightning spells from scribe
After playing artificer, there's one thing I miss. As a rule, wizards need to use gold and time to copy a spell into their spellbook. As an artificer, I miss the "finally, I have it!" feeling when creating new items. So perhaps a rule based around this. I'm aware that this is someting one can homebrew, but going blindly into artificer without knowing, it took a lot of fun away from it.
@@AM-hf9kk it's level 10 and that doesn't stop them from crafting magic items before hand. Yes technically any character can craft a magic items but it fits artificer much better
Man I kinda wish they had separated the "makes and specialises in using magic weapons and armour" subclass and the "has a mechanical companion" subclass so they could have a steel defender that could do more and take more of a hit, at early levels at least they feel very unfulfilling, they don't get a lot of their bread & butter like arcane jolt till too late
My battle smith invented a force ballista with a selective fire attachment, so he rides around on the back of his mechanical bear firing a fully automatic arcane machine gun at all who dare stand in his way
@@goldengaruda8935 I agree, the new errata even states they have hit die now. So I suppose short/long rests aren't completely out of the question either.
The steel defender takes it's turn directly after yours BUT it wouldn't be out of the realm of being reasonable to say it takes it before and if it uses it's action then you basically use your bonus action as a reaction
My battle smith recreated the rocket hammer from Alita for his Enhanced Weapon and themed his Steel Defender after Gizmo Duck... The party has yet to catch on
Homunculus Servant is a little flying robot that wants to be a REAL fighter, so his creator builds him a Mega Fighting Robot Suit chasse (Steel Defender) so he can pilot it in battle.
Wait, why not allow a Rare item before level 14? According to Xanathar's a party is expected to have around 5 Minor Rare items by level 10. So, while there may be certain Rare items that are too powerful, I could clearly see a case for very useful items like a Chime of Opening or Beads of Force by that level. Honestly, even the majors have things like the Cape of the Mountebank or the Amulet of Health which seem just fine for a 10th level party.
The new stat block for steel defender is a bit confusing, so for clarity, is my steel defender's Force-Empowered Rend attack bonus for my 5th level artificer their spell attack modifier (+4 intelligence modifier) or their spell attack bonus (+4 mod +3 PB)? Being stuck at a +5 cap to hit w/o magic items to buff seems incredibly weak so I'm inclined to believe its referring to the full spell attack bonus.
Spell attack modifier, meaning it includes the proficiency. What you thought of with pure int is the spell **ability** modifier, which is added to cure wounds, for example.
It says its to hit is your spell attack modifier. So if your spell attack bonus is +11 (5+6| Int mod + prof) then its to hit is +11. The damage is 1d8 + Proficiency Bonus. It says that your proficiency Bonus is the same as your Steel Defender's Proficiency Bonus. So in this example the attack is. +11; Hit: 1d8+6 Force damage.
I've always thought that a Red Mage was more of a Bard, but you are totally right! I can already see a Red hat and cloaked figure that seems like a spellcasting swordsman to the untrained eye but is, in fact, a gadget-based Batman.
Okay, so, hot take; I dislike battlesmith for the same reason I dislike hexblade. They take away from any other attempt to be a melee artificer and warlock. Battlesmith isn’t so much your go to for a magic weapon forger, you’re instead the guy with a robot dog, and your class features go to serve that robot dog. And, in the same way, hexblade isn’t your go to for melee warlock, it’s a guy that conjures shades from fallen foes and curses their enemies, and they happen to be better at using armor and weapons than other warlocks, even if you’re a tome/hexblade and someone else is blade boon. Battlesmith and Hexblade are, in my opinion, confused as to who they are.
You see them bleeding out. Your Flash of Genius is you telling them something that pushes their "superman button". Then they Will themselves out of dying. That simple.
@@ChuckUFarley90 sure. you know theyre dying. you wouldnt know the exact moment to use your ability. Its for this reason lots of GMs turn to concealed death saves. If it were me, i'd allow it only if the artificer also had proficiency in medicine. Otherwise it's metagaming in my books. Unless that artificer has also been using Flash of Genius on sleeping party members cos they're constantly worried someones dying from sleep apnea lol
@@lukekneubuehl3109 it's a nerf, not a big one. It hasn't come up yet but I know if I told my players they'd need to convince me they know the death save is happening, theyd be fine with either figuring out a clever way of knowing, or theyd understand that their character wouldn't know. I've also played an artificer once already & I'll be playing another soon, & i also wouldn't fight the idea that my character likely wouldn't know.
I find the artificer subclass variety very disappointing. why isnt there a vanilla subclass. like the monk has the way way of the open hand, barbarian has berserker, fighter has champion. most classes have a basic vanilla subclass that can slot into any setting and has a versatile play style. every artificer subclass specialises or boxes you into a neish or is to manapunk that it wont be suitable for most settings. Why isn't there a artificer subclass that is basic like an artificer who's gimmick is they made a magic sword/weapon using ancient enchantments. no steampunk BS, and it doesn't box you into a neish because every character has a melee weapon, and you get to choose what weapon it is.
Have a battlesmith in my party. Even before the buffs this class was completely broken due to action economy, this class also gets shield so high AC and no restrictions on magic items you can use AND YOU BUFFED IT! can I have whatever weed you're on because what exactly do they suck at that you thought they deserve a buff? also can or cannot iron defenders use spell scrolls and concentrate on spells?
I have a Battle Smith who is a Warforged but he's Goblin-sized. He rides his Steel Defender into battle and at lvl 4 he'll take Mounted Combatant. Makes him tanky as hell and highly mobile.
Yes. Gnomes battle smith that rides her steel defender into combat while wielding a lance! 😈
Treantmonk made this build! He made a UA-cam video on it :)
I'm just over here with my githyanki battle smith, waiting to get Sentinel. I defend Steel Defender, Steel Defender defends me, win-win.
@@clarkside4493 so good!
I prefer kobold cuz free pack tactics
@@robertking6510 Oh, totally. I can cast _shield_ while the defender gives disadvantage to the attack against me or I can attack the guy for attacking my repairable meat shield. If they try to escape, my Sentinel attack can stop it and I believe the Defender would get an opportunity attack too if they didn't Disengage. So they're stuck by me and that's when you light _create bonfire_ beneath them. I can't wait to get the combo going. I took Magic Initiate (Wizard) first though so I could get more cantrips and pick up a familiar.
A great one-two combo I thought about for maximum battlefield support was to hand my spell storing item to my Steel Defender and have it loaded with Web. I use my action for Slow, and if they fail it, they have a -2 to their dex save for Web from my bonus action with Defender. This alongside the crazy AC you can get as a Battlesmith, you can become a major help in turning the tide of a battle.
I love playing battle smith, right now I'm playing them more like a tanky paladin. Armorer would have been a better choice had I been aware of that UA when I hit 3rd level I would have done it.
I can't wait for the Tasha's Cauldron to update some of the things about Artificer. They are so fun to play.
Armorer is a trap for tanks
My Kobold’s Steel Defender is designed like a crude looking red dragon, without working wings
mine will be riding a black dragon mount into combat. i would love to talk my DM into letting me add wings at some point.
15:50 I think, James didn't quite understand what you were on about, when he answered.
The Steel Defender does indeed take it's turn after yours. That means, being a melee combatant while riding it is a bit awkward.
Ranged works quite well, though.
*menacing throat singing in the distance*
This is made less awkward by the rules of mounting. If you take control of the mount if moves on your turn (you use its movement as yours). However this does restrict its actions and it can't attack (but a forgiving DM might still the allow bonus action command to dash). If you chose to let the mount control itself, that's when melee is awkward but the defender can still attack.
I suggest the caveat of readying an attack with the condition "When my steel defender is in range of the enemy for me to attack."
That'd work to at least get one attack off, no?
Ok. So here me out. Kangaroo shaped Warforged battlesmith with a kangaroo steel defender that pops out of its pouch
Mega Kangaskhan, yes.
So, Beast Ranger, but... good.
Nah
Beastmaster ranger is getting new options in Tasha that make it hype. More hp, can revive it, and it only needs your bonus action to attack. And some more too
I flavoured my Steel Defender as a Secretary Bird (google them if you don't know what they are) named Lady Eunice. She often serves as comic relief for the party, because the DM plays into her. I want to encourage DMs to do that too, the SD was built by the artificer, but it acts as a living entity to an extent, because it is a creature.
My DM has actually decided to apply some mystery to my SD, for example we are in a megadungeon and sometimes my SD seems to have insights or ideas about things that no one else does. She can't communicate them, because she can't speak, so we just watch her do her weird thing and sometimes it pays off, like somehow she was able to open a sealed door for us. We don't know how she did it, but she did. So my DM might be playing into the idea that my character built the SD, but the metal used to build it was rare and magically altered before purchase or something of the sort.
I think it makes the campaign more fun if a DM decides to incorporate the SD in ways different than just a basic SD would be.
I'm playing a dwarf artificer in a Warhammer campaign. I have stuck to using a pistol so far, but I have as high an AC as our monk and the highest health of anyone in our party thanks to that Dwarven resilience. We're one session from hitting level 3, and I am super excited to take Battle Smith.
If you are playing a character that creates guns, I highly recommend playing the Battle Smith over the Artillerist. Artillerist seems to be more of a blaster mage character whereas the Battle Smith acts similar to a beastmaster ranger. At 5th level, you get two attacks with a weapon and you can make that a musket with the repeating shot infusion, infinite ammo with a +1 weapon that you can use with your intelligence modifer.
Made somthing similar. Knome battlesmith repeating shot pistol with enhanced arcane forcus wand where the ram rod would be. Played it like a la matt revolver, loved it
I've been playing a Warforged Battle Smith in the Curse of Strahd campaign. It has been rather fun!
I'm a simple man, I see a Todd & James video and then I hit the Like button.
Deep gnome Artificer riding his steel defender. Sadly, my defender has a higher passive perception than anyone in the group. Our group consists of two gnomes, two halflings and a kobald. The tallest is the other gnome at 4 ft. The kobald is 2 ft tall.
Combo that with a multi class into cavalier fighter and add something that gives extra speed and bam rocket gnome robot lancer.
I think I used to play bass for Rocket Gnome Robot Lancer.
I wonder if your party discovers a rare item before your able to create it if your DM could allow you to study it before someone attunes to it if you could potentially unlock it's replication early?
Fun combo using my Gnome Battle Smith: Cast "Spider Climb" on the defender, then ride them up the wall/ceiling on their belly, and boom repeating shot crossbow/firearm sniper!
Last year, my group did a Christmas One-Shot, and I played a Battle Smith who was a Winter Eladrin and I used a picture of one of those Poochie robot dog toys for my Steel Defender. Lmao
I really like throwing flash of genius on my initiative. That +5 as a reaction which you can basically get back on your turn is crazy good.
currently a Lvl 3 Battle smith artificer, 3 lvls scribe wizard. i can change the elements of my spells, as well as make it breath a 15 ft cone of my element of choice. Of which i like thunder, as it ROARS to defeat my enemies alongside my lightning infused Lightning spells from scribe
big brained halfling Jimmy Neutron and his Steel Defender Goddard
After playing artificer, there's one thing I miss. As a rule, wizards need to use gold and time to copy a spell into their spellbook. As an artificer, I miss the "finally, I have it!" feeling when creating new items. So perhaps a rule based around this.
I'm aware that this is someting one can homebrew, but going blindly into artificer without knowing, it took a lot of fun away from it.
Do you mean something like crafting magic items? Artificer makes crafting items faster and cheaper so they should be doing it more often
@@borgazarImproved crafting doesn't com in until "Magic Item Adept" at Level 14.
@@AM-hf9kk it's level 10 and that doesn't stop them from crafting magic items before hand. Yes technically any character can craft a magic items but it fits artificer much better
Man I kinda wish they had separated the "makes and specialises in using magic weapons and armour" subclass and the "has a mechanical companion" subclass so they could have a steel defender that could do more and take more of a hit, at early levels at least they feel very unfulfilling, they don't get a lot of their bread & butter like arcane jolt till too late
My battlesmith is a Dwarf with a steel defender made in the image of a bronze drake (made of actual bronze!)
Koblod Battle Smith that rides a mech dragon mount as their steel defender would get all the time advantage on attacks because of pack tactics.
My battle smith invented a force ballista with a selective fire attachment, so he rides around on the back of his mechanical bear firing a fully automatic arcane machine gun at all who dare stand in his way
Quick question: when a Steel Defender or Homunculus Servant falls to 0 hp do they fall unconscious or immediately die?
I'd say unconscious
@@goldengaruda8935 I agree, the new errata even states they have hit die now. So I suppose short/long rests aren't completely out of the question either.
My Steel Defender would look like a Displacer Beast, Panter with (Doc Ock-style) tentacles from the shoulders.
I rolled high on initiative.
The steel defender takes it's turn directly after yours BUT it wouldn't be out of the realm of being reasonable to say it takes it before and if it uses it's action then you basically use your bonus action as a reaction
My battle smith recreated the rocket hammer from Alita for his Enhanced Weapon and themed his Steel Defender after Gizmo Duck... The party has yet to catch on
A steel defender wearing a headband of intellect 🤯
talks to Steel Defender (aka Wolfenbot 3000) "How are you doing?" It responds with, "Bork, bork"
What's the point of Warding Bond he was alluding to? I think I missed it.
For the Guild Wars players out there, an Asura (just a retooled gnome) with a Golem Steel Defender. Hint hint
Battle smith with Alexa, his steel defender and Siri, his homonculus servant
Homunculus Servant is a little flying robot that wants to be a REAL fighter, so his creator builds him a Mega Fighting Robot Suit chasse (Steel Defender) so he can pilot it in battle.
Your steel defender is just a snowman that you accidentally gave a magical top hat. Since it can't talk it only says "happy birthday"
Wait, why not allow a Rare item before level 14? According to Xanathar's a party is expected to have around 5 Minor Rare items by level 10. So, while there may be certain Rare items that are too powerful, I could clearly see a case for very useful items like a Chime of Opening or Beads of Force by that level. Honestly, even the majors have things like the Cape of the Mountebank or the Amulet of Health which seem just fine for a 10th level party.
I am fond of my Musket Wielding Rabbit Folk Battle Smith. : 3 Mobile gun platform.
Everyone talking bout mounted combat while I can only think about making a Skitarii
The new stat block for steel defender is a bit confusing, so for clarity, is my steel defender's Force-Empowered Rend attack bonus for my 5th level artificer their spell attack modifier (+4 intelligence modifier) or their spell attack bonus (+4 mod +3 PB)? Being stuck at a +5 cap to hit w/o magic items to buff seems incredibly weak so I'm inclined to believe its referring to the full spell attack bonus.
Spell attack modifier, meaning it includes the proficiency.
What you thought of with pure int is the spell **ability** modifier, which is added to cure wounds, for example.
It says its to hit is your spell attack modifier. So if your spell attack bonus is +11 (5+6| Int mod + prof) then its to hit is +11.
The damage is 1d8 + Proficiency Bonus.
It says that your proficiency Bonus is the same as your Steel Defender's Proficiency Bonus. So in this example the attack is.
+11; Hit: 1d8+6 Force damage.
@@jand.4737 ^Ah, I see. Many thanks!
Never mind a gnome on a steel dog, you want a Grung in a walking bathtub
Terminator 2- The T-1000 shapeshifting metal defender 😎 or does it require a spell to alter an appearance into different looking creatures
So I totally Envision Doc Ock as one of these
I really want to be a little gnome with a maul. I'd homebrew out the disadvantage and stuff. I just think that'd be fun. I'd be sly from hollow knight
Cast enlarge/reduce on your steel defender
It's medium size would be at least large which would mean you as a medium seized creature could ride it
Think wider: enlarged Small Artilerist's turret makes a good wall-crawling mount too)
So Red Mage?
I've always thought that a Red Mage was more of a Bard, but you are totally right! I can already see a Red hat and cloaked figure that seems like a spellcasting swordsman to the untrained eye but is, in fact, a gadget-based Batman.
My Steel Defender is a treasure chest with robot spider legs
Also, as my character is a kobold, he can not only use it as a mount, but also a tank or living quarters
I want a mecha subclass for artificer
Seems kinda like a hex-blade in terms of mechanics
best arcane archer
Okay, so, hot take; I dislike battlesmith for the same reason I dislike hexblade. They take away from any other attempt to be a melee artificer and warlock. Battlesmith isn’t so much your go to for a magic weapon forger, you’re instead the guy with a robot dog, and your class features go to serve that robot dog. And, in the same way, hexblade isn’t your go to for melee warlock, it’s a guy that conjures shades from fallen foes and curses their enemies, and they happen to be better at using armor and weapons than other warlocks, even if you’re a tome/hexblade and someone else is blade boon. Battlesmith and Hexblade are, in my opinion, confused as to who they are.
Stop limiting your steel defender mounts to animal shapes. Gnomes riding in mech suits is where it's at!
Yes! Any small race
My Kobold artificer was a dumpster diver. His steel defender was a trash can with robotic limbs that he'd ride around in.
@@sammcvey8538 should have been a goblin named Oscar de grouch
Other than the name nothing even says it has to be made of metal. So technically it can even look like an actual animal or just a person
Steel defender that's a mech
Beast master is the want to be battle smith
A bit sad that the new battle smith art is another four legged companion. Could have used it to show a humanoid form companion.
I would honestly feel kinda weird about my battle-slave robot being humanoid.
@@deadseven3474 kinky i see? jk. I was imagining just a golem, see taimi from GW2
Howre you gonna know to use your reaction for flash of genius on someones death save? Isnt that a little meta-gamey?
You see them bleeding out.
Your Flash of Genius is you telling them something that pushes their "superman button".
Then they Will themselves out of dying.
That simple.
@@ChuckUFarley90 sure. you know theyre dying. you wouldnt know the exact moment to use your ability. Its for this reason lots of GMs turn to concealed death saves.
If it were me, i'd allow it only if the artificer also had proficiency in medicine. Otherwise it's metagaming in my books.
Unless that artificer has also been using Flash of Genius on sleeping party members cos they're constantly worried someones dying from sleep apnea lol
@@greenhawk3796 that’s taking the ability and nerfing it hard with a role of the dice.
@@lukekneubuehl3109 it's a nerf, not a big one. It hasn't come up yet but I know if I told my players they'd need to convince me they know the death save is happening, theyd be fine with either figuring out a clever way of knowing, or theyd understand that their character wouldn't know. I've also played an artificer once already & I'll be playing another soon, & i also wouldn't fight the idea that my character likely wouldn't know.
I find the artificer subclass variety very disappointing. why isnt there a vanilla subclass. like the monk has the way way of the open hand, barbarian has berserker, fighter has champion. most classes have a basic vanilla subclass that can slot into any setting and has a versatile play style. every artificer subclass specialises or boxes you into a neish or is to manapunk that it wont be suitable for most settings. Why isn't there a artificer subclass that is basic like an artificer who's gimmick is they made a magic sword/weapon using ancient enchantments. no steampunk BS, and it doesn't box you into a neish because every character has a melee weapon, and you get to choose what weapon it is.
Have a battlesmith in my party. Even before the buffs this class was completely broken due to action economy, this class also gets shield so high AC and no restrictions on magic items you can use AND YOU BUFFED IT! can I have whatever weed you're on because what exactly do they suck at that you thought they deserve a buff?
also can or cannot iron defenders use spell scrolls and concentrate on spells?
VELOCIRAPTOR!
Robo Lobster
Rock gnome battlesmith uses his steel defender as half cover while he fires down with his crossbow, maybe he even discoveres firearms?