help optimizing a magic item crafter

[Amdy_vill]

I am looking of a optimized build for crafting magic items. We can use all the book but not dragon magazine. I was thinking wizard but i hold no attachment to that class. We are starting at level 2 and it look like we are go to 20+.

[flappeercraft]

Artificer is what you're looking for, not wizard.

[Amdy_vill]

ok so artificer. what race would be the best.

[Eldariel]

Artificer [Eberron Campaign Settings]. It's a 1-20 class made specifically for this purpose with some good feats to support crafting for cheaper XP/GP costs.

Add Mercantile Background from Forgotten Realms Campaign Settings and you'll be swimming in resources. Then just make a Dedicated Wright [ECS] and have it craft in a portable hole while you adventure.


Race, Human or Strongheart Halfling has bonus feat. Warforged can buff and repair his own body and has some nice alternative class features. Between the two.

[Amdy_vill]

artificer 2 levels
human
human bonus feat for mercantile background
what should the last feat go to and any other feats i should get.

[Eldariel]

Well, the Eberron feats reducing crafting costs like Extraordinary/Exceptional Artisan are obvious. Other ways to reduce crafting costs too. See the Cost Reduction Handbook for ideas.

[Ken Murikumo]

A 1 LVL dip into Maester (complete adventure, i think) will let you craft magic items twice as fast (2000 gp/day), but is gnome only. Any good DM worth their salt could just ignore that, though.

It does require 5th lvl arcane spells though, and i don't remember if artificer infusions would count.

[Bayar]

A 1 LVL dip into Maester (complete adventure, i think) will let you craft magic items twice as fast (2000 gp/day), but is gnome only. Any good DM worth their salt could just ignore that, though.

It does require 5th lvl arcane spells though, and i don't remember if artificer infusions would count.

They won't as infusions are neither arcane nor divine. Talk to the DM into makibg prestige classes that usually require arcane caster level to be available for artificers since that's a reasonable houserule for some prestige classes.

[Amdy_vill]

would talking leadership and using the followers as other crafters help with making money

[PacMan2247]

would talking leadership and using the followers as other crafters help with making money

Followers would be able to craft mundane components, but wouldn't be of much use beyond that, and would largely be low enough level to not be a huge help there anyway. If you're looking to introduce sweatshops to your world's economy, that's one way to go (Thrallherd would be a better option, to make sure they don't unionize).

[Amdy_vill]

what crafting feats should i take that will let me make the best magic items

Edit: i new i should get wondrous item and magic arms an armor

[RoboEmperor]

what crafting feats should i take that will let me make the best magic items

Edit: i new i should get wondrous item and magic arms an armor

Read the artificer class right now before you think any further. They get those for free.

[PacMan2247]

Read the artificer class right now before you think any further. They get those for free.

This. Then you'll also be in a position to start figuring out what sort of artificer you want to be. Lots of good advice to be had, too:

http://www.savevsdm.com/pdf/Unoffici...Guidebook3.pdf

[Amdy_vill]

Ok out side of the artificer feats are there any other feats you would suggested

[Zaq]

I hate to sound harsh, but playing a magic item crafter, particularly an Artificer, is one of the most homework-heavy roles you can assume in this game (maybe second to an intense minionmancer, but it's right up there). It takes a lot of real-world time between sessions to plot out what you're crafting, how you're budgeting your three scarce crafting resources (gold, XP, and—most importantly—time), what consumables you've used up and want to replenish, and so on. You've got to know what you're making and why you're making it, you've got to know what you've got on hand that you've already made that you can apply to solve a given problem, and you've got to know what you can make that you haven't yet made that will help in a given situation. And of course, since most of your big-ticket items are crafted during downtime, you've got to have enough knowledge of your options to pick the good ones relatively far in advance of when they're actually used. (You think a Wizard or a Cleric have a tough job prepping the right spells every day? A scroll-heavy or wand-heavy Artificer basically has to prep the vast majority of their spells for the whole adventure arc in advance, not just their spells for one day in advance.)

The reason that I bring this up is that, to be blunt, you don't seem to have a clear idea of what you want the character to do or where you want the build to go. It's fine to get some help with a class/role you've never touched before, but you don't seem to really be interested in actually building the character yourself—you've made basically no choices and brought us basically nothing to work with, you know? As a wise man once said, "you must have a ride before it can be pimped." And showing up without a ride to pimp is kind of the polar opposite of the attitude that you'll need to thrive as a crafting Artificer. You've gotta do your homework. You've gotta know your stuff. Blood/sweat/tears and all that. It's a legitimately hard class to play. One of the hardest in the game. (Ridiculously high power ceiling if your GM gives you the freedom to craft as you like, but it takes a crazy amount of player skill and dedication to really make it shine, and the power floor if you stumble is pretty bad.)

So while I don't wanna be a parade-rainer, are you sure that you're willing to put in the effort to make a crafting Artificer function? Because if you don't prepare well, you're going to be very frustrated at the table, and who enjoys being frustrated because their main trick doesn't work they way they want it to?*

I'm not saying that you have to do it all on your own, of course—there's handbooks galore for Artificers, and I've never met a community more willing than the Playground to nudge someone in the right direction if it's obvious that they're trying. I would start by reading as many Artificer handbooks as you can find and then trying to figure out what you really want the character to do. Figure out what it's going to take to do what you want. (Even among crafting Artificers, there's many different breeds, and there's definitely build-level choices to be made early on.) Give us a clear idea of where you want to go and what your rough draft of the build looks like, and I'm sure that you'll get plenty of help polishing it. But I feel like having someone else more or less build an Artificer for you is just going to end in frustration (the way that having someone else more or less build, say, a Barbarian for you wouldn't necessarily).


*. . . says the guy who wrote the book on Truenamers. The irony is not lost on me. Perhaps that makes it even more appropriate.

[Gruftzwerg]

If you are OK with delaying your crafting untill lvl 12, warlock (with Imbue Item & UMD max) can become a fine crafter too.
Further, since they are arcane casters, they qualify for the Maester PRC.

Warlock crafter tend to dip chameleon 2 for the floating feat. It can be used for crafting in downtimes and for Extra Invocation (create undead in downtimes, change to combat invocation while traveling/adventuring).

Another interesting option for Warlock crafters is a 4 lvl dip into Blood Magus. This enables the warlock to scribe (any arcane/divine) spells onto his skin and brew potions into his inner blood. The potions can even be shared with someone else who drinks some part of that blood (interesting for personal only buffs and saving spellslots/actions).

A single lvl dip into Effigy Master would fill the 20 lvls and give you access to effigies.

The build would look like:

Warlock 12 / Chameleon 2 / Maester 1 / Effigy Master 1 / Blood Magus 4
(or any other order, depending on what abilities you want first.)

[daremetoidareyo]

Also, to help with XP costs: http://archive.wizards.com/default.a...d/we/20060526a

[Amdy_vill]

I hate to sound harsh, but playing a magic item crafter, particularly an Artificer, is one of the most homework-heavy roles you can assume in this game (maybe second to an intense minionmancer, but it's right up there). It takes a lot of real-world time between sessions to plot out what you're crafting, how you're budgeting your three scarce crafting resources (gold, XP, and—most importantly—time), what consumables you've used up and want to replenish, and so on. You've got to know what you're making and why you're making it, you've got to know what you've got on hand that you've already made that you can apply to solve a given problem, and you've got to know what you can make that you haven't yet made that will help in a given situation. And of course, since most of your big-ticket items are crafted during downtime, you've got to have enough knowledge of your options to pick the good ones relatively far in advance of when they're actually used. (You think a Wizard or a Cleric have a tough job prepping the right spells every day? A scroll-heavy or wand-heavy Artificer basically has to prep the vast majority of their spells for the whole adventure arc in advance, not just their spells for one day in advance.)

The reason that I bring this up is that, to be blunt, you don't seem to have a clear idea of what you want the character to do or where you want the build to go. It's fine to get some help with a class/role you've never touched before, but you don't seem to really be interested in actually building the character yourself—you've made basically no choices and brought us basically nothing to work with, you know? As a wise man once said, "you must have a ride before it can be pimped." And showing up without a ride to pimp is kind of the polar opposite of the attitude that you'll need to thrive as a crafting Artificer. You've gotta do your homework. You've gotta know your stuff. Blood/sweat/tears and all that. It's a legitimately hard class to play. One of the hardest in the game. (Ridiculously high power ceiling if your GM gives you the freedom to craft as you like, but it takes a crazy amount of player skill and dedication to really make it shine, and the power floor if you stumble is pretty bad.)

So while I don't wanna be a parade-rainer, are you sure that you're willing to put in the effort to make a crafting Artificer function? Because if you don't prepare well, you're going to be very frustrated at the table, and who enjoys being frustrated because their main trick doesn't work they way they want it to?*

I'm not saying that you have to do it all on your own, of course—there's handbooks galore for Artificers, and I've never met a community more willing than the Playground to nudge someone in the right direction if it's obvious that they're trying. I would start by reading as many Artificer handbooks as you can find and then trying to figure out what you really want the character to do. Figure out what it's going to take to do what you want. (Even among crafting Artificers, there's many different breeds, and there's definitely build-level choices to be made early on.) Give us a clear idea of where you want to go and what your rough draft of the build looks like, and I'm sure that you'll get plenty of help polishing it. But I feel like having someone else more or less build an Artificer for you is just going to end in frustration (the way that having someone else more or less build, say, a Barbarian for you wouldn't necessarily).


*. . . says the guy who wrote the book on Truenamers. The irony is not lost on me. Perhaps that makes it even more appropriate.

Thank you for this advice. I will be back with a more sold idea of what i want.

[Fouredged Sword]

Another really fun class that can make magical arms and armor is Ironsoul Forgemaster, a dwarf focused incarnum class that gets some really cool equipment focused incarnum binds that do some pretty cool and powerful things.

[Amdy_vill]

Race: human
Feats
Human bonus feat:Mercantile Background
2 flaws: legendary artisans, extraordinary artisans
lv1:Craft Alchemical Item
Artificer lv 1: scribe scrolls
Edit: lv 1: make identify scrolls form money
Artificer lv 2: brew potion
Artificer lv 3: craft wondrous item
Lv3:Armor Proficiency (heavy)
Artificer lv 4: craft portal
Artificer lv 5: craft magic arms and armor
Artificer lv 6: craft wands
Lv6: craft constructed
Lv6: make a Dedicated Wright
Artificer lv 8: craft moving portal
Artificer lv 9: craft rod
Lv9: Leadership
Artificer lv 12: craft staff and
LV12: extra followers
Artificer lv 14: forge ring
Lv15: attuned magic weapon
Artificer lv 16: extra rings
Lv18: Tattoo Magic
Lv 18: regenerating xp http://minmaxforum.com/index.php?topic=1000.0
Artificer lv 20: improved homunculus