Summary
- Consider species like Dragonborn for melee artificer builds to benefit from breath weapons and resistances.
- Humans offer versatility with an extra feat, while Halflings' luck mechanic can help in avoiding critical failures.
- Elves, like Eladrin, provide teleportation abilities for easy positioning, which can be crucial for artificers.
Dungeons & Dragons has more than 12 classes, which you're likely aware of. Along with fan or third-party content, the game also officially has the artificer, a class that uses magic in a more scientific way compared to others, as well as being formidable in both melee or ranged combat, depending on how you make your character.
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PostsJust like every class, it's important to think about which background, subclass, and species you'll get for your character, as it determines many perks you'll have. Species is also essential - which ones can make your artificer deadlier than most?
Despite artificers not being updated outside of an Unearthed Arcana, we'll mostly use the 2024 update of species and 2024 character creation rules instead of the 2014 version.
10 Human
Classic
- Source: 2024 Player's Handbook
The default choice for a lot of people is humans, as their bonuses are simple and generic enough that they work in any class. You get a free skill proficiency and two origin feats instead of just one, like everyone else. You'll also get Heroic Inspiration after every long rest.
The fun part is having two origin feats, one from the species and the other from the background, allowing you to do some fun combinations instead of having to choose only one option. Artificers can be pretty different from one another, so two options help out even more as they can fit many builds.
9 Halfling
Another Classic
Halfling Battle Smith by Zoltan Boros- Source: 2024 Player's Handbook
Halflings also have generic bonuses that work on everyone. You can hide behind other people or go through them if they're larger than you, you're resistant to being frightened, and you're lucky, which is their key feature.
Lucky (not the feat) allows you to re-roll any natural one that you get, and since it doesn't have a cost, you can use this any time it happens - unless you roll two natural ones in a row, then you're just unlucky.
8 Dragonborn
Breathe In, Breathe Out
Scout by Riccardo Moscatello- Source: 2024 Player's Handbook
As an artificer, you'll likely have a decent constitution bonus, and depending on your build, you may be getting up close to people. That means you can benefit from dragonborn's breath weapons a lot, along with resistance to a damage type depending on your color, which is good for a squishier class like artificers.
You can also temporarily fly once per long rest, which can help maneuver your melee character a lot or keep a distance and attack from afar as a ranged character, depending on how your character fights. Either way, wings are useful.
7 Dwarf
Endure The Pain
Firearms by Chris Seaman- Source: 2024 Player's Handbook
Dwarves also have damage resistance, though this time, it's against poison specifically, as well as resistance against the condition itself. They get an extra hit point per level, which is also useful for improving your low health bar, and you can activate tremorsense.
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PostsTremorsense lets you 'see' enemies that are connected to the same ground you're standing on (as long as it's made of stone), allowing you to fight invisible creatures or overcome the blinded condition.
6 Orc
Dash Through Your Enemies
Orc species by Mike Pape.- Source: 2024 Player's Handbook
Orcs have the wonderful benefit of being able to dash as a bonus action - though it has limited use per short or long rest. Still, this is also a wonderful way to maneuver through the battlefield, ensuring distance between you and your enemies or to hunt them down properly if you're a melee character. You also get temporary hit points whenever you dash.
Along with that, orcs kept their classic Relentless Endurance, allowing you to stay up with one hit point whenever you take an attack that zeroes your health but isn't an insta-kill attack, so you can be more resilient.
5 Goliath
Your Ancestry Defines You
Artwork by Justine Cruz.- Source: 2024 Player's Handbook
Goliaths can be used in many ways depending on their main feature, Giant Ancestry. It's a perk you choose during character creation, which changes depending on your ancestry. It goes from teleporting as a bonus action to causing extra damage, knocking people prone, and absorbing or countering damage.
You can also enlarge yourself and carry more weight, but these aren't as interesting features for an artificer as the previous one is. You can get whichever one fits your fighting style better and run with it.
4 Tiefling
But A Different One
Vitriolic Sphere by Ignatius Budi- Source: Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide
The 2024 tiefling is interesting if you want more spells to play around with that won't cost spell slots, making them (and elves, by the way) an interesting choice. However, we'll focus on one thing players love, and DMs hate: wings.
Flying is a powerful trait, and some species have permanent flight compared to temporary, like the dragonborn. So, tieflings, fairies, aarakocras, and owlins are great picks for you if you want to fly around and dominate the sky with ranged combat. We recommend the winged tieflings as they can also wear medium armor while flying.
3 Goblin
Hit And Run
Art by Taras Susak- Source: Monsters of the Multiverse
If you want to get in close but want to take care of your health bar, goblins are a fun pick. They can cause more damage and resist the charmed condition, but the fun part is Nimble Escape, allowing them to disengage or hide as a bonus action.
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PostsThat means you can punch someone with your Booming Blade and/or Thunder Gauntlets and run away without the fear of an opportunity attack, or you can hide and use ranged attacks at advantage.
2 Autognome
Construct Constructor
Autognomes by Nikki Dawes- Source: Astral Adventurer’s Guide
Autognomes are a fitting narrative choice, as they are constructs themselves, making them a fun choice for a class that creates stuff or machinery. That said, they are resistant to poison, poisoned and paralyzed conditions, don't need to sleep, get two tool proficiencies, and more.
Their key features are a higher AC when not wearing armor (13 plus your dexterity), the ability to add a d4 to d20 tests, and the ability to use the Mending cantrip to heal yourself. Their type is also construct, meaning they're immune to spells that trigger humanoids specifically, like Hold Person.
1 Eladrin
Teleport Away
Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse by Wizards of the Coast- Source: Monsters of the Multiverse
As you may have noticed, positioning is key for an artificer, whether you're melee or ranged, which is why orcs and goblins are interesting. Still, teleporting is another fun way to get around with ease, but sadly for you, artificers don't have access to Misty Step and also don't have that many spell slots to spend for that.
As a result, eladrins become an interesting choice as they can teleport a few times per long rest as a bonus action, and their teleports can cause different effects, such as teleporting an ally instead or causing conditions or damage to enemies next to you before teleporting. They're also resistant to being charmed and can swap weapon and tool proficiencies when long resting.
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Like Follow FollowedDungeons & Dragons
9.5/10 Original Release Date 1974 Player Count 2+ Age Recommendation 12+ (though younger can play and enjoy) Length per Game From 60 minutes to hours on end. Franchise Name Dungeons & Dragons Publishing Co Wizards of the Coast Brand Dungeons & Dragons Expand Collapse
