For Science! A Guide to the Revisited Artificer

[Trustypeaches]

I think you are overvaluing the Artillerist’s turrets and devaluing the Homunculus.

Deploying the Turret Costs an Action.
This is the biggest and simplest problem with the turrets that keeps it from being ranked gold IMO. Spending an action is pretty costly, when most combats only last about 3 rounds. Yes, you can set it up before combat, but the turret’s 10 minute duration means this can be tricky. The turret can still be a strong, efficient source of damage unless...

The Turrets are outclassed by bonus action Weapon attacks
I wouldn’t bring this up if you hadn’t mentioned it in your reasoning for the Homunculus’s ranking. You talk about the Acidic Spittle bonus action attack falling to the wayside if players acquire BA weapon attacks from feats, but the Turrets suffer from the same problem. The extra attack from Crossbow Expert or Polearm Expert is going to outdamage the turret with Arcane Weapon up and proper stat investment. Sure, Arcane Weapon costs a spell slot, but so do your turrets after the first use of each day, and Arcane Weapon lasts substantially longer while improving your standard weapon attacks.

You can technically deal more damage with turrets once you reach level 14 and can have two of them active at once; but harkening back to my first point, this requires TWO turns to set up and can only be done once a long rest.

Think of the Spell Slots
Because the turrets don’t scale with spell slots, they're most efficient when deployed with a 1st level spell slot. Unfortunately, the most 1st level spell slots you'll ever have is 4 (without multiclassing anyways). This puts the turrets in competition with the Artillerist's other 1st level spells, most notably Shield and Arcane Weapon. While you can certainly deploy the turrets using higher level spell slots, using anything higher than 2nd level spell slot is a pretty big waste when compared against a Fireball. Again, this isn't a problem the homunculus suffers from, as you're not expected to resummon it often.


Now that I'm done talking about the problems with the Turret that should lower it to Blue rank IMO, let's talk about the incredible utility the Homunculus offers that should bump it up to Blue rank as well.

The Homunculus
I feel as though the Homunculus's utility isn't done justice in this guide. It's a beefy familiar with stats almost as good as the Pact of the Chain familiars. The Homunculi can produce some pretty powerful effects for cheap costs, and have many unique qualities that separate them from other familiars/summons outside of combat.

• can provide limited flight
• can provide flexible advantage on ability checks (skill checks, grapples/shoves, counterspell)
• can Fly itself
• has very high hit points (far less risk when performing the Help action)
• capable of using most objects, with moderate dexterity and an adaptable form that can include limbs and fingers (judging by the art)
• has moderate strength for carrying up 60 lbs
• has average intelligence, capable of understanding and performing complex commands
• is proficient in stealth and can be disguised as a normal object, based on the examples provided in the flavor text (an animated cauldron)
• is proficient in perception, and doesn't need to sleep (immune to exhaustion, unlike familiars), perfect for keeping watch

In combat, it has a lot of flexible uses, between performing the Help action to give a character advantage on an attack roll to using its Inspiring Alchemical Salve to provide a character advantage on other crucial rolls such as grapples, counterspell ability checks, perception to find invisible enemies, or other situation-dependent actions.

It has the dexterity, strength, and intelligence to perform more complicated free object interactions. It is really unfortunate though that 'Use an Object' is not among the listed options for Actions to command a Homunculus to perform, though. I hope that's just an oversight, and I would totally ask your DM to overlook it.