The universe of is always expanding, and one of the newest additions is the Artificer class. Artificers are masters of crafting magic items in Dungeons & Dragons, but being cooped up in the workshop all day can get boring. Artificers can get some fresh air by multiclassing, but not all classes mesh the same. You may want to multi-class as a way of flushing out a character's backstory or as a way of explaining some kind of quirk they possess.
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Whatever your reasons may be, bear in mind that they are at the whims of your Dungeon Master and some of your ability scores. The primary ability of the Artificer is Intelligence, so you need a score of at least 13 in that ability before you can multiclass your character. That's the same for dual-class characters, an option that's only open to Humans. The Artificer also has a strong emphasis on Consitution and Dexterity. Here’s a guide for some of the best multiclass options for an Artificer to take.
Updated on July 27, 2021, by Kristy Ambrose: The Artificer class has existed since the days of 3e when it was only available in the Eberron: Rising from the Last War campaign setting. The class is still in the development phase and is still going through a lot of changes and additions since the publication of Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. There are currently four Artificer Specialist subclasses, and each one is designed to enhance the Artificer for damage, both melee and ranged, as well as melee combat. Your choice of a subclass is also important when choosing to multi-class your character.
Barbarian
- Source: D&D Player's Handbook
- Main Benefits: You can craft equipment that you can also wear to improve your AC and combat abilities.
- Primary Ability Score: Strength
- Ideal Race: Human, Bugbear, Dwarf
While Artificers have a reputation as scrawny nerds, that doesn't always have to be the case. One or two levels in, Barbarians aren’t terrible as a mid-to-late-game dip. Artificers can replicate the Gauntlets of Ogre Power at 10th level or the Belt of Hill giant Strength at 14th level. This gives you a 19 or 21 Strength score, and if you add to that to equipment like +2 medium armor, a shield, a cloak or ring of protection, a radiant longsword, and abilities like Rage and Reckless Attack, then you’ve got a decent front-line character who can also build cool stuff.
Additionally, the Artillerist subclass can give you bonus temporary hit points to keep you topped up, while the Battle Smith gives you another attack, bonus damage to some melee attacks, and a powerful ally to defend you. The main trade-off is spell slots and the fact that you don’t get your very powerful 20th level ability.
Bard
- Source: D&D Player's Handbook
- Main Benefits: Adds some healing and buffing abilities.
- Primary Ability Score: Charisma
- Ideal Race: Half-Elf, Halfling
Your average Artificer won’t be a melee superhero, and neither is a Bard, so this multi-class makes sense from a combat point of view. Most of what you’re doing is fulfilling a support role, and bards are great for that. Bardic Inspiration is a good ability in general, but it is powered by Charisma, not Intelligence, as is Bard spellcasting.
Jack of All Trades is good for utility characters, and Song of Rest is something, even if it doesn’t scale. Expertise gives you a few more skill proficiencies on top of your tool proficiencies, but by that point, you’re missing out on a few artificer abilities, and none of the Bard subclasses do anything for Artificers outside of the generally good College of Lore.
Cleric
- Source: D&D Player's Handbook
- Main Benefits: Increases your Armor Proficiency, you can also craft your own weapons and equipment.
- Primary Ability Score: Wisdom
- Ideal Race: Human, Dwarf, Half-Elf
One level into Cleric grants a lot of benefits, making them a decent option for dual-class builds, but they depend on your Divine Domain. Domains that grant heavy armor proficiency are best, but they require a lot of high ability scores, such as a minimum of 15 Strength for the armor on top of multiclassing requirements.
The Life Domain combined with the Alchemist artificer gives a lot of healing potential, especially with access to healing spells from the cleric spell list. Two levels in Tempest Domain can help Artillerists cast maximum damage shatter. A level in Forge Domain or War Domain can help Battle Smiths have better martial prowess.
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Druid
- Source: D&D Player's Handbook
- Main Benefits: Access to the Druid's spell list.
- Primary Ability Score: Wisdom
- Ideal Race: Human, Half-Elf
Other than access to the Druid spell list, which is only a few of which you can prepare a day, this class doesn’t do much for Artificers at higher levels. That makes this a better dual-class option just to give you access to Druid spells and maybe the benefits of a Circle. You get more for higher Artificer levels than Druid multiclass levels, which is another reason to make this more of a dual-class option.
Fighter
githyanki, playable race, D&D 5e
- Source: D&D Player's Handbook
- Main Benefits: Access to weapon proficiencies from the first level.
- Primary Ability Score: Strength
- Ideal Race: Human, Dragonborn, Half-Orc
Here's another build that lets you build a bigger, tougher version of the Artificer that can stand on the front lines of a battle. Fighters get martial weapon proficiencies at first level, which is good if you want to do a martial build but for some reason aren’t going Battle Smith.
The Defense fighting style is good for boosting AC, especially since it stacks with infusions. Action Surge is good for anyone, but Artificers get a lot of value out of using both an action and bonus action, so getting just a second action isn’t as stellar as it can be with some classes.
Monk
- Source: D&D Player's Handbook
- Main Benefits: You can use some healing spells.
- Primary Ability Score: Wisdom
- Ideal Race: Human, Half-Elf
These classes don't share much in the way of ability scores, but they have some things in common that can make a multi-class or dual-class character work. Neither of these classes depends on conventional weapons, and you can choose a Monastic Tradition that focuses on healing, damage, or defense to complement your Artificer abilities. It's definitely not one of the more obvious builds but a creative player can have some fun with this character build.
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Paladin
- Source: D&D Player's Handbook
- Main Benefits: Access to healing spells and an Armor Class bonus.
- Primary Ability Score: Charisma
- Ideal Race: Human, Dragonborn
Two levels of Paladin can give you some utility, access to the paladin spell list, the Defense fighting style, and Divine Smite. The build can work but only if you make some specific choices as a player when it comes to Skills and Feats. It’s only viable if you’re a Battle Smith artificer or, once Tasha's Cauldron of Everything comes out, an Armorer Artificer. Mostly it just lets you be a Paladin with magic items, but if that’s your goal, it works decently.
Ranger
Satyr D&D
- Source: D&D Player's Handbook
- Main Benefits: Exploration, healing, and tracking abilities.
- Primary Ability Score: Wisdom
- Ideal Race: Human, Half-Elf
One level of Ranger gives some exploration and tracking abilities and (depending on how deep you go into the class and the Ranger Conclave you choose) some useful healing spells. If that’s what you want, this can be an interesting build to play. Your Ranger still has the skills of their class plus some of the handy devices and weapons crafted by the Artificer. Past that, anything that benefits an Artificer you can get better or easier from somewhere else. It's probably more viable as a dual-class option.
Rogue
- Source: D&D Player's Handbook
- Main Benefits: The skills of a Rogue combined with some advanced tinkering knowledge.
- Primary Ability Score: Dexterity
- Ideal Race: Elf, Tabaxi, Halfling
Some RPGs have a profession called Engineering, and it's a favorite among the Rogue class of characters. This would be an example of the Rogue-Artificer multiclass, and it's popular for a lot of good reasons. A lot of high-level infusions help out sneaky characters a lot, and one or two levels of rogue can really help a sneaky Artificer.
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You can get Expertise for a lot cheaper than bards do, which is generally useful. Sneak Attack isn’t that helpful at higher levels, since the damage doesn’t scale and artificers mostly benefit from the utility features of rogues. Cunning Action is good for anyone who wants to stay mobile. If you take three levels utility subclass abilities are preferable, such as those found in Arcane Trickster, Inquisitive, or Mastermind.
Sorcerer
- Source: D&D Player's Handbook
- Main Benefits: Acess to more spellcasting abilities, including Metamagic.
- Primary Ability Score: Charisma
- Ideal Race: Half-Elf, Tiefling
Sorcerers offer good first-level subclass abilities and third-level Metamagic, neither of which are very good for an Artificer but both of which are potentially interesting. Shadow Magic and Divine Soul offer some interesting abilities that are decent for anyone. If you want to invest in at least three levels, some Metamagic can be decent. Twinned Spell can be used instead of upcasting buffs and Extended Spell can increase the utility of out-of-combat buffs. It’s up to you whether you think this is worth losing out on high-level Artificer abilities.
Warlock
- Source: D&D Player's Handbook
- Main Benefits: Access to useful invocations that complement Artificer abilities.
- Primary Ability Score: Charisma
- Ideal Race: Tieflng, Half-Elf
The option of multi-classing an Artificer and a Warlock is really a mixed bag depending on your choice of Pact. None of the Patron abilities are particularly good for artificers, are bad either. The Hexblade might be awkward unless you're building an Artificer who's adept at melee combat.
Just two levels of Warlock will give you access to some utility invocations that artificers can use. Anything more than that gives limited utility compared to what you lose from missed Artificer levels.
Wizard
- Source: D&D Player's Handbook
- Main Benefits: Enhanced spellcasting abilities even from level 1.
- Primary Ability Score: Intelligence
- Ideal Race: Tiefling, Gnome
The Wizard has two advantages for Artificer multi-classes. It casts using Intelligence and it has a spellbook. If you take only one level of Wizard, you can then copy any Wizard spell you find into your spellbook as long as you have spell slots for it. Sure, you can only prepare a few at a time, but you can cast any rituals you find without preparing them, which is a major advantage. Both Alchemist and Artillerist artificers benefit greatly from the Fireball spell alone if you can find it.
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