Armorer Artificer: D&D 2024 Optimisation Guide

Enhance yourself with arcane armor for this updated martial subclass for the artificer.

Armorers are artificers that excel at crafting their own magically infused armor. It provides them with a variety of benefits. This includes a choice of magical armors as a base and integrated weaponry which gives the armorer 3 unique weapon options and some interesting tactical abilities.

If you want to play a mech or ironman, then the armorer’s the right artificer for you. They can use stealth, they can smash, they can be tanks and they can do some battlefield control, making them the most flexible artificer subclass around.

Below I’ll go into detail on the D&D 2024 version of the armorer including everything that’s changed, how to use them, how good they are and how best to build one.

At a glance

Half caster with lots of utility
Great at buffing allies
Become a martial subclass with integrated weaponry and arcane armor
Able to adapt with different suits of armor.

4/5 – The armorer is quite a versatile subclass with different suits of armor for different occasions. While they never excel in one particular approach, they do manage to be good at a few different approaches. And the parts do all work and synergise into something quite capable making this a really solid artificer subclass.

What’s changed?

With the practicalities of infusions becoming replicate magic item, some changes needed to be made to how this integrated with the armorer. Mostly this is smooth sailing, but one particular change does nerf the armorer unnecessarily which may irk some. However, most of the armorer’s changes do lead to improvements, some better damage scaling and a brand new armor model giving you even more flexibility. Here’s what’s changed:

Quicker armor crafting: Crafting armor now takes half the time.
No longer covers entire body: This is no longer stated in the text. This also means it doesn’t replace missing limbs. I think the intention here is to leave the appearance of the armor open and to remove fiddly mechanics like retracting the helmet. The other important aspect is because you can’t infuse parts of your armor, enforcing feet and head covered would prevent you from having separate magic items for these parts of the body. Not having full body armor ensures this isn’t prevented but I think you can still live this flavour if you want to.
New armor model: There’s now a new armor model you can choose called the dreadnaught. Designed to make you large and swing a wrecking ball around in melee combat with an extended reach.
Guardian model changes: You can now use your defensive field as often as you like for bonus action temporary hit points. This is quite a lot potentially each turn as its equal to your artificer level. Previously, you could only use this a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus each long rest. Thunder gauntlets are now a thunder pulse. This is a single melee weapon rather than 2 of them. With dual wielding working a bit differently in D&D 2024, you can no longer use the dual wielder feat to get a bonus action attack with 2 gauntlets as they don’t have the light property making a pair of gauntlets pointless. By having a single weapon, you can wield a different weapon in another hand (or hold a shield), though nothing was stopping you doing this with the previous gauntlets, but it didn’t make sense with the new rules to have a pair of not light weapons.
Improved armorer replaces armor modifications: You can no longer infuse items meaning your arcane armor is no longer able to be enhanced through armor modifications. Instead, you now get a new magic item plan known and that you can create on top of your normal allowance which must be from the armor category. You also get a +1 for your arcane armor’s special weapon (to compensate for the fact you can’t infuse this weapon anymore). This is a debuff overall though. The 2014 armorer gave you 2 extra infusions for your armor. This kind of does that, and the free magic item armor is equivalent (or slightly better as you have more options here now) but the +1 weapon is less than you’d get with the old armorer who gets +2 weapons at the very next level. And you’re tied to this +1 with no other weapon enhancements available. I don’t think this debuff was necessary. Artificers have never been known for being overpowered and I think the least they could have done is make the weapon +2.
Perfected armor changes: Guardian armor gets slightly higher damage die for its special weapon and uses of the pull reaction are now tied to your intelligence modifier rather than your proficiency bonus. The damage boost is a buff, the number of uses is a downgrade as you get 5 at most now, but the 2014 version would have 5-6 uses. Overall though, I think this is a buff. Infiltrator armor no longer grants advantage on the next attack roll against a hit target. This attack won’t cause an extra d6 damage, instead, the base damage increases by d6 which is more guaranteed and means less to track. You can also use a bonus action to fly sometimes.

Armorer features

Armourer — Artificer: Wizards of the Coast

Tools of the trade (Lv3) – 3/5

Heavy armor training, smith’s tools proficiency and half the time for crafting armor are all decent enough ribbon features. The heavy armor training is quite useful as you can bypass strength requirements making the armorer one of the few subclasses that can genuinely do well without either a decent strength or decent dexterity as you can use heavy armor with both of these low (though you may want a decent dexterity for stealth anyway).

Armorer spells (Lv3) – 4/5

There are lots of great spells on this list. Magic missile, thunderwave and shatter are all great, low level damage dealers. Lightning bolt is a good option for your spell storing item. You also have mirror image and fire shield as defensive options, hypnotic pattern for some AoE enemy nullification and wall of force for battlefield control. Greater invisibility is also a really strong option.

Overall, this is a great spell list with some decent AoE options and it helps the armorer bridge the gap with other damage dealing spellcasters. This is especially the case as you can pass your spell storing item with a lightning bolt or perhaps shatter in it to a homunculus servant or someone else for extra spell damage.

Arcane armor (Lv3) – 3/5

Turning armor into arcane armor is really useful for not worrying about strength requirements if you want to take heavy armor. It also means you don’t have to worry much about item juggling as your armor will be a spellcasting focus. You may still opt for medium armor and some dexterity anyway if you plan on being a bit stealthy and using something like the infiltrator armor a bit more, but you can completely dump strength which is useful for optimising other aspects of your armorer. You can also mix armor depending on which armor model you’re using.

Armor model (Lv3) – 5/5

This is where your arcane armor gets a lot more juicy. You have 3 models to choose from, including a brand new one in the dreadnaught. Handily, you can use intelligence for weapon attacks which is the final piece in the puzzle for dumping strength and dexterity (you may still want some dexterity for stealth, but you can de-prioritise this in your build).

These suits of armor have built in weapons that make it really easy to use a shield as the armor already counts as a spellcasting focus, leaving a hand free for a shield. Two weapon fighting is technically an option, but you’d need to use your armor’s special weapon in your offhand which isn’t ideal as they tend to be pretty great.

Dreadnaught is the big damage dealer with lots of reach making it easier to use hit and run tactics or at least attack from a distance. Push and pull make this even easier. You can even pull enemies into your range to keep them away from others, but even in dreadnaught armor, armorers aren’t that resilient so I see push being used more than pull. I’d also lean into growing large with a bonus action for even more reach.

Guardian is more about defence and drawing enemy attacks while keeping temporary hit points replenished so you can survive longer. The consistent supply of temporary hit points is strong, but beware that you can only use them once bloodied, which is dangerous for the not that resilient artificer. I’d up resilience as much as possible with things like the tough feat, a shield and strong armor (like armor +1/+2).

Infiltrator is more about speed, stealth and ranged attacks. If you expect to be using stealth, then this is a good option. You can also revert to it if you expect to make more ranged attacks for a while. It’s actually a higher damage weapon than the guardian has and only slightly less than the the dreadnaught at level 5 and more before then due to the extra d6 it deals once per turn so is also a good option for maximum damage dealing while staying safe.

Extra attack (Lv5) – 5/5

Extra attack adds a decent amount to your damage output each turn. Especially now that your special weapons can also apply their special effects multiple times too.

Improved armorer (Lv9) – 4/5

An extra armor plan and an extra magic item created is good. You probably wanted some enhanced armor anyway so this fits well. The +1 to your special weapons is definitely welcome too. 2014 players will feel the loss of the alternative magic item infusion that could enhance these special weapons in better ways before. Now you’re stuck with just a +1, which is fine, but in 2014, at the next level, you could grab a +2 weapon anyway.

Still, I’ll rate this on what it grants rather than what is lost. By that assessment, this remains a strong feature, despite disappointments with the changes, and I certainly didn’t feel that the power levels here needed reducing.

Perfected armor (Lv15) – 4/5

All the armor models get a damage boost here. It’s not an even boost though. The guardian’s damage increases the least (d8 to d10) followed by the dreadnaught (d10 to 2d6) and then the infiltrator (1d6 to 2d6). But the extra capabilities aren’t even either. Dreadnaughts get the lesser buff I think since the extra reach from 15ft to 20ft isn’t such a big deal once you already have long reach and advantage on strength checks and saving throws is only OK. Guardians get a reaction attack that’s quite easy to set off and lets them pull a decent distance while infiltrators get bursts of flight and invoke disadvantage on enemies.

The difference in boost isn’t enough to not pick one suit over another, but it is worth being aware of.

How good is the armorer subclass?

The armorer was a solid artificer subclass that remains solid. The nerf to armor infusions I expect will annoy some, but it doesn’t suddenly make the armorer bad.

The addition of the dreadnaught armor definitely adds a new dimension to the armorer. It’s not really a tank as you’d expect. More like a wrecking ball you use when you want to keep people at arms length. But tactically, the armorer is probably better suited to this than as a tank anyway (which is what the guardian is trying to be).

Ultimately, the armorer works well and manages to be able to be quite good at several things, from tanking, hit and run, sneaking, melee or ranged attacks. It’s that flexibility that means the armorer is strong, even if it isn’t the best at any of these roles.

4/5

Building an optimised armorer

While most of the basics remain similar to most artificers, armorers are nearly unique in that they’re also built for melee too. This does make their builds a little different and more focused around resilience and perhaps a little less geared towards spells (especially cantrips).

It’s also worth thinking with multiple armor models in mind. You might prefer to go with 1 armor model most if the time, but the most optimal build will be ready for using different models for different situations.

Below I’ve gone into detail on how you can build an effective armorer.

Ability scores

Recommended options

Intelligence: Your spellcasting ability and the one you’ll use for a lot of your best features like flash of genius and spell storing item as well as for attack rolls from your arcane armor’s special weapons.
Dexterity: If you have medium armor, you’ll want to get this at least 14 for the AC boost. As a rogue alternative, you may need this for things like unpicking locks and stealth too. You don’t need it for weapon attacks and you can use heavy armor, removing the need for dexterity for AC. I’d still rather have at least 14 dexterity for medium armor when you use infiltrator armor so you’ve got decent stealth.
Constitution: All classes benefit from more resilience and armorers even more so; especially if you intend to spend a lot of time in guardian armor. This will also help you concentrate more easily on spells too.

Options to avoid

Strength: Dump, you’ve got no use for strength.
Wisdom: Only useful for some skills and saving throws, otherwise, not worth investing in.
Charisma: This is mostly for face skills and these don’t come naturally to an artificer so I wouldn’t invest much here either.

Ability score	Point Buy	Standard Array
Strength	8	8
Dexterity	15	14
Constitution	15	13
Intelligence	15	15
Wisdom	8	12
Charisma	8	10

Skills

Recommended options

Arcana: Common knowledge skill and you have the intelligence to back it up.
History: Another common intelligence skill.
Investigation: Investigation comes up a fair bit and as one of the few intelligence based classes, you’re in a good place to help here.
Nature: This feels like the domain of rangers and druids, but as an intelligence skill, this is another that an artificer is well placed to focus on.
Perception: Perception is always useful, especially if you’ll be filling in for a rogue.
Sleight of hand: Great option if you don’t already have a rogue with this.

Stealth isn’t on the artificer list of skills, but I’d consider it for an armorer if you don’t have another more natural scout. Especially to take full advantage of infiltrator armor. Backgrounds or the skilled feat can help you get this.

Species/race

I’d look for species with the following qualities:

Resilience: Make yourself tougher or more evasive through things like more hit points, resistances or flight. Resilience is going to be really useful for guardian and dreadnaught builds.
Innate spellcasting: The more spells you possess the better. And as a utility caster, an expanded range will benefit you a fair bit.

Recommended options

Aasimar (2024): Damage resistances as well as some light healing for recovering allies are solid. Temporary flight will be good for infiltrator and dreadnaught armor to keep you more out of harm’s way.
Dragonborn (2024): A resistance for better defence and the breath weapon works well with extra attack for another AoE option. Temporary flight is great like it is for Aasimar.
Gnome (2024): Extra magic resilience is great as you’ll undoubtedly be the target of some spells. Minor illusion and speak with animals are better options than what the Rock Gnome gives.
Goliath (2024): Lots of great options that can either help you enhance damage, defence or movement, all of which are useful for an armorer.
Human (2024): If you need to boost your skill proficiencies to take full advantage of all those knowledge skills or add in stealth proficiency, then Human’s a good option. The consistent supply of heroic inspiration is useful too. However, the extra origin feat is probably the trait you want most, especially if you want to grab something like the tough origin feat, which is normally only available with backgrounds that don’t work for the artificer.
Orc (2024): Bonus action dash will help you close down enemies quicker while boosting resilience with temporary hit points. You can also survive getting knocked to 0HP once per long rest for some much needed resilience.
Shifter (2024): Temporary hit points and a choice of benefits. Beasthide for the extra AC, wildhunt for some better resilience and swiftstride for the faster movement and the extra safety. Longtooth doesn’t really work as armorers who rely on intelligence for attacks so the unarmed attack will be relatively weak due to a low strength. The skills aren’t the best for an artificer, but everything else works well.
Warforged (2024): More AC, poison resilience, a skill and tool proficiency and a few other buffs all work really well for an armorer that wants to be tougher and have more skills at their fingertips.

Backgrounds

Backgrounds are much more important now in D&D 2024 with ability score increases, origin feats and skills all now linked to your background.

For an armorer, I’d prioritise intelligence and then one of dexterity or constitution with the below being your best options:

Name	Ability scores	Origin feat	Skill proficiencies	Tool proficiency
Criminal	Dexterity, constitution, intelligence	Alert	Sleight of hand, stealth	Thieves’ tools
Merchant	Constitution, intelligence, charisma	Lucky	Animal handling, persuasion	Navigator’s tools
Sage	Constitution, intelligence, wisdom	Magic initiate (wizard)	Arcana, history	Calligrapher’s tools
Scribe	Dexterity, intelligence, wisdom	Skilled	Investigation, perception	Calligrapher’s tools

I’d go with criminal for a stealth build which makes a lot of sense in conjunction with the infiltrator armor.

Feats

Origin feats

I’d say the below are your best origin feats for an artificer. Ironically, crafter is a poor option for an artificer who can do the things the crafter feat suggests in better ways usually:

Lucky: Advantage on d20 tests and disadvantage on your aggressors is universally useful. Especially as avoiding getting hit is one of the best ways to not lose concentration.
Magic initiate: Grab some extra spells known from another spell list. A good way to make yourself even more flexible with spellcasting.
Musician: A generally excellent origin feat for helping your allies out with some heroic inspiration (kind of like a slightly better lucky, you give to your friends).
Skilled: If the party needs a bit more proficiency in knowledge skills or you need to fill in for a rogue, then this works well for you. This can bump up your number of skill proficiencies a decent bit.
Tough: Really valuable extra hit points for a class on the lower end of these.

General feats

At level 4, you can start picking up general feats. These are some of the better options for an artificer:

Charger: I like the idea of this on both the guardian and dreadnaught armor, though I think Dreadnaught will find it easier to use. The extra damage will always be beneficial but the push can enable some hit and run tactics from the guardian which could be interesting forcing enemies to come to you after attacking them. Dreadnaughts can stack this push with their own for even bigger hits. Because of their inbuilt push, they’ll find it easier to move around and get this benefit.
Fey touched: Misty step and another spell with free castings is pretty good and misty step makes a decent safety spell.
Genie magic: Another spell to cast and there’s plenty of utility here as you can simply choose any that’s on the sorcerer spell list.
Heavy armor master: Reduce incoming damage from the most common damage types if you’re wearing heavy armor.
Mage slayer: Great for disrupting spellcasters and gives you something similar to legendary resistance.
Ritual caster: If you feel like you’re struggling to have enough of the spells you want available to you, then this is the best way to boost your utility with more spells gained through this feat than any other. You can check out my full guide to ritual casting for more tips.
Shadow touched: Invisibility and an illusion spell are great for a caster class. Especially one built for stealth.
Shield master: A free push or prone attempt when you make attacks and armorers are prime candidates for holding a shield as they need the durability. Also better resilience for dexterity saving throws, which is especially useful against nasty AoE spells, but it works better with a higher dexterity.
Speedy: A good option for martial artificers that want to use hit and run tactics.
War caster: Most artificer spells require somatic components which means a hand free to perform the spell. War caster removes this restriction, allowing you to have a shield while casting somatic spells. The better concentration is great too. It sort of boils down to how often you expect to cast spells in combat. If it’s just occasionally, then a bit of shield juggling isn’t too big a problem, if it’s more often, then you may want this.

Weapons

I wouldn’t bother with weapons for the armor (other than the the integrated special weapons that come with your armor). This is mainly because your special weapons are probably the best options available to you. You might consider dual wielding, but to do this, you’d have to make your special weapon an offhand weapon which isn’t ideal for your best weapon you have. You’re better off occupying that spare hand with a shield.

Armor

Heavy armor will give you the best protection with 0 investment in ability scores which is ideal. The best option here is plate armor, but you may need something a little cheaper at first depending on finances.

If you want to make the most of all your armor models, then you will want some dexterity (at least 14) and grab some medium armor that’s ideal for stealth and infiltrator armor. Breastplate is best here as it won’t harm your stealth.

A shield is a strong option for an armorer, but you may need to do some item juggling if you’re going to cast spells a lot in combat or grab the war caster feat.