Building a Better Beast: The Specialist

I always wondered what the spikes were for.

Welcome back to Building a Better Beast. We’ve already taken a look at The Tank, and The Wraith, today we’ll explore another build called the Specialist. Whereas the Tank focuses on being indestructible and the Wraith supports his rogue allies, the Specialist is a melee combatant who uses his abilities to control the flow of combat.

As always the artificer should start by taking the Augment Summoning feat. He should also pick up all the repair spells he can. In addition he might want to consider the following.

1st Level: Because they are both melee combatants your Specialist can benefit from all the same spells as the Tank.

Ablative Armor--A pool of hit points which keep the Specialist safe from physical injury.
Shield of Faith--At lower levels your Specialist is still without his armor upgrades, this will help to offset that major difference between the Tank and the Specialist.
Enchant Weapon--The utility of the Specialist comes from his combat feats, if those attacks don’t hit he isn’t as useful. A +1 to hit is always appreciated.

2nd Level: A few defensive spells, as well as a spell which is key to the build.

Rienforce Construct and Toughen Construct--I’ve already extolled the virtue of these spells when we discussed the Tank. What holds there holds here as well.
Bull’s Strength--The DC for combat feats depends on the Strength of the user. This is why it is so important to get your Specialist’s Strength as high as possible.

3rd Level: A few spells from the same list as the tank, and one peculiar choice.

Shield of Faith, Mass and Stoneskin--As described in the Tank build.
Flame Turret--What makes this choice so peculiar is that it isn’t a buff spell for the Specialist. However, it works really well with this build. By utilizing the Specialist’s Intimidate and Takedown attacks you can keep an enemy well within ranged of the raging fires of the Flame Turret.

4th Level: Either of the Armor spells are useful at this level. Unlike the Tank whose high AC makes Thundering Armor almost useless the Specialist is a little bit easier to hit, and thus the spell effect is more likely to be useful.

5th Level: At this level you’re going to choose a favorite spell as well as possibly get an upgrade of an earlier spell.

Radiant Forcefield--Remember how we were talking about how the Specialist is easier to hit? This spell will make that factor a little less pronounced.
Bull’s Strength, Mass--Like Shield of Faith, Mass you might as well buff all the warriors while you buff your own.

6th Level: Although they aren’t essential to this build you can use the Specialist’s skills to kite enemies into position for Blade Barriers and Tactical Detonations.

Enhancements:

1st Level:
Let’s start by picking up the first of the Specialist’s combat feats, Takedown. It unlocks the Trip command.

2nd Level:
Now we’re going to select the other one, Shattering Strike. It unlocks the Sunder command.

3rd Level:
Menacing Growl will let the Specialist guide enemies forward so that he can disable him with his combat abilities. It unlocks the Intimidate ability.

4th Level:
At this level you’re going to want to upgrade both your combat feat abilities. DC12+Str Modifier.

5th Level:
Let’s not wait any longer to pick up Adamantine Plating, this will increase your AC by +8 and give you a Damage Reduction of 2/adamazinte.

6th Level:
Time to buy Homunculus Strength.

7th Level:
Time to increase Shattering Strike and Takedown again DC is now 14+Str Modifier.

8th Level:
Upgrade Menacing Growl 2 steps. Intimidate is now +12.

9th Level:
Save your points.

10th Level:
And spend them on Homunculus Strength II.

11th Level:
Now you can enjoy the capstone enhancement Homunculus Combat Alacrity. This enhancement gives a 5% chance to double strike, and a 5% increase to attack speed.

12th Level:
Maximize your combat feats. DC is now 10+Str Modifier+6.

13th Level:
Pick up Reinforced Armor for a +10 to hit points.

14th Level:
Upgrade your Reinforced Armor (+20 now) and max out Menacing Growl (+16 to Intimidate)

15h Level:
Max out your Reinforced Armor for a +40 to hit points.

16th Level:
Time to pick up Combat Alacrity II which will increase the double strike and attack speed to 10%.

17th Level:
Increasing Adamantine Plating two steps sounds like a good idea, which will give your pet a +12 to ac and a DR 6/adamantine.

18th Level:
I suggest picking up Danger Avoidance, this will give you an additional +1 to AC and +2 Reflex Saves.

19th Level:
Increase Danger Avoidance two steps, your dodge bonus to AC and Reflex saves will now be +3 and +6 respectively.

20th Level:
Wow, you’re just about about as tough as the Tank if you take this level to max out Adamantine Plating (+14 and DR 8/adamantine) and Danger Avoidance (+4 to AC and +8 to Reflex saves).

Building a Better Beast: The Wraith

Originally I was going to call this build "Traptester"

Welcome to number two in an ongoing, but limited, series called Building a Better Beast. In each segment we take a look at how to make your artificer’s pet, that little bundle of mechanical joy called the Iron Defender, even better. Today’s build focuses on a very narrow niche, making a pet which works well with rogues.

Artificers are already pretty rogue-like, and two classes share a lot of similarities, maybe you want your pet to work well with rogues because you want to multiclass, or maybe you just want to help the rogue out when he goes scouting. Either way, this beast setup (which I’m code-naming Wraith) will help.

Like the last build, the Tank, there are spells which will make this build even more effective. Oh, and don’t forget to pick up the Augment Summoning feat.



1st Level: Like always you want to make sure you can heal your pet, but more important is protecting it from the various traps that it may encounter as it defends the rogue.

Repair Light Wounds--A standby which is necessary. Plus it doesn’t take up a spell slot, so why not?
Resist Energy--Drop a few of these on the Iron Defender to help defend iit from getting blasted by unseen traps.
Resistance--Like the aforementioned spell, this will help keep your Iron Defender safe. A bonus to spells means he is even more likely to take half damage from most traps, which makes it easier for Resist Energy to soak up all the abuse from the trap.

2nd Level: With the next few spells there is really no chance your pet will be damaged by elemental spells, and even physical traps will have trouble getting through to him.

Protection From Energy--Combined with Resist Energy the two make for a potent defense against elemental damage.
Reinforce Construct--Temp hit points? Yes please, lets see those spikes hurt your pet now.
Cat’s Grace--An increase to AC and a bonus to Reflex saves, come on traps, you’re going to have to try harder

3rd Level: Other than the Repair spells and possibly Stoneskin if you want to spend some extra money, there really isn’t a lot here for the Wraith.

4th Level: Upgrade for one spell, another repair spell and everyone’s favorite armor enchantment.

Protection From Elements--Like Protection from Energy, but for every element at once, most certainly worth it..
Armor of Speed--Unlike the tank who wants this for AC and attack speed, the Wraith really just wants this for the +1 to Reflex saves.

5th Level: Just like the tank you’ll want to pick this spell up.

Radiant Forcefield--This spell is amazing, if by some chance an Elite trap happens to break through your pet’s defenses, this will make the damage even more neglible.

6th Level: Other than reconstruct there aren’t really any options for this build.

1st Level:
Homunculus Distraction, the bluff skill makes enemies susceptible to sneak attacks for awhile, trust me, your rogue will thank you.

2nd Level:
Homunculus Ruthless Deception while the enemy is susceptible to sneak attack damage for 6 seconds you might as well add on some of your own. Get +3 to sneak attack damage with this enhancement.

3rd Level:
Homunculus Skillful Deception, a +2 to hit with sneak attacks is pretty helpful too.

4th Level:
Pick up Homunculus Danger Avoidance for a bonus to AC and Reflex saves.

5th Level:
Turn that bluff up a notch by picking up Homunculus Distraction II, and don’t forget to upgrade your Danger Avoidance while you are at it.

6th Level:
Homunculus Dexterity has become available to you, take it for a chance at a great enhancement later on.

7th Level:
Time to upgrade your sneak attack capabilities with Ruthless Deception II and Skillful Deception II, bring the bonuses to a +4 to hit and +6 to damage.

8th Level:
Pick up Danger Avoidance III and Distraction III to increase your combat effectiveness even more.

9th Level:
Your pet is still a combat build when it comes down to it, pick up Reinforced Armor to give him the extra hit points he needs.

10th Level:
Skillful Deception III and Ruthless Deceptoion III this level means your pet’s getting a +6 to hit and +9 to damage on sneak attacks.

11th Level:
Time to max out Danger Avoidance and Distraction.

12th Level:
Save your points.

13th Level:
And spend them now for Homunculus Dexterity II

14th Level:
Fear those traps even less by picking up Homunculus Evasion, a captsone enhancement you’ve unlocked with your rogue-like abilities.

15th Level:
And now you can max out your Ruthless and Skillfull Deception abilities for a +8 to hit and +12 to damage while using sneak attacks.

16th Level:
Take a moment and reward yourself with Improved Evasion.

18th Level:
A +20 to hit points would be nice, go ahead and upgrade your armor twice.

19th Level:
You might as well accept your brutish nature by picking up Adamantine Plating.

20th Level:
And upgrade it twice here for a total of +12 to AC and DR 6/adamantine.

Building a Better Beast: The Tank

I told you there was more artificer goodness coming. Since my friend is planning on making an artificer soon, I figured I'd kick off a new, but limited, series called Building a Better Beast. The point of the series is to discuss various ways to increase the effectiveness of your pet...in this case the Iron Defender...at different roles. Today we take a look at how to make an Iron Defender into a tank.

Before we even start to talk about how to modify your iron defender we have to talk about a few things your artificer will have to do. First of all you're going to have to take the Augment Summoning feat. This feat will give your Iron Defender a +4 bonus to his ability scores which will result in a +2 to attack rolls, +2 to AC, +2 to saves, +2 hit points per level...etc. You can see why this is a good first step yeah?

Secondly, you're going to want to make sure you can heal and buff your Iron Defender even more. This means that you should take the following spells when they become available, either as part of leveling up, or by picking up the scroll and inscribing them:

1st Level: A few of these spells will be replaced by others at later levels, but they're important for now.

Shield of Faith--More AC for your Iron Defender means he can do what he's good at longer.
Repair Light Wounds--Healing your Iron Defender when it gets hurt is important, so be sure to pick this spell up.
Ablative Armor--This will give your Iron Defender another pool of hit points to detract from before it takes actual damage. It only blocks physical damage though.
Enchant Armor--Although the other three spells are more important this spell will give an additional bonus to your pet's AC.


2nd Level: This will be the level where most of your Pet's buffs come from.

Toughen Construct--Barkskin for constructs, anything that makes your Iron Defender harder to hit is important.
Repair Moderate Wounds--Like repair light only better.
Reinforce Construct--Ahem, this is essentially false life for constructs, and it isn't limited to self so load up your defender and any warforged you might party with.
Protection from Energy--Like Ablative Armor Protection from Energy will negate damage, in this case an elemental damage of your choice. Usually this means loading up on acid, electricity, and fire.

3rd Level: Not much will really help your pet at this point, but we can replace two of the 1st level spells with their betters.

Shield of Faith, Mass--Might as well buff everyone while you're buffing your pet. Pick this up to gain a little more utility.
Stoneskin--Like Ablative Armor, but stronger. However, you may want to keep Ablative Armor and use this one only on rare occasions due to an expensive spell component.
Repair Serious Wounds--Yeah, yeah, another upgrade. You might as well, you get a free slot for having it.

4th Level: This level upgrades an earlier spell and gives your Iron Defender yet another armor boost.

Protection From Elements--Like Protection from Energy except this spell gives protection from all elemental damage.
Armor of Speed--A +15% bonus to attack speed coupled with a +1 to Attack Bonus and a +1 Dodge bonus to AC means takes your Iron Defender to another level.
Repair Critical Wounds--You knew this was coming right?

5th Level: Not much is needed this level, but the spell you do get is a game changer.

Radiant Forcefield--A 25% reduction in damage taken, on top of everything else you do for him means your Iron Defender might not EVER need those repair spells.

6th Level: Never need to worry about your Iron Defender's health again.

Reconstruct--This is heal, but for constructs. Drop this on your puppy when his health drops below half and he'll be back at maximum fighting shape again in no time.

Now, on to enhancements.

Your pet will get 2 Ability Points per level, and unlike you, they get those at the start of their level, so the bonuses you give them can benefit you from the get go.

1st Level:
Get Adamantine Plating. It will give your pet a +8 to Armor Class and damage reduction 2/adamantine.

2nd Level:
Reinforced Armor will give your pet 10 extra hit points, and who couldn't benefit from that?

3rd Level:
Menacing Growl will give your pet the Intimidate skill, and a +4 bonus on it. With this he'll be able to draw even more aggo off of you. To top it all off he will even do it sometimes without you having to ask.

4th Level:
Spend those points upgrading your plating to +10 and DR4/adamatine, the other point should be spent further reinforcing your armor for an additional +10 to hit points, making it +20 total.

5th Level:
Increase your menacing growl by an additional +4 (making it +8) and drop a point in Fearsome Tactics to make your pet 10% better at grabbing aggro.

6th Level:
Your pet will need more strength to deal more damage so go ahead and buy the strength +1 enhancement.

7th Level:
A further boost to your plating for +12 AC and DR6/adamatine, and a further boost to his armor for +30 hit points.

8th Level:
Get his intimidate up to +12 and purchase Fearsome Tactics II to make him even better at grabbing aggro (now 20%).

9th Level:
A +1 to Dex will get help to increase his AC and reflex save so go ahead and purchase it.

10th Level:
Max out your plating at +14 and DR8/adamatine. Max out your armor at +40hp.

11th Level:
Max out Menacing Growl at +16 and increase Fearsome Tactics to 30%

12th Level:
Max out Fearsome Tactics at 40% and snag Danger Avoidance for a +2 to Reflex Saves.

13th Level:
Just save those points for now.

14th Level:
And spend them with these for a +2 bonus to Strength.

15th Level:
Wait for it...

16th Level:
+2 to Dexterity.

17th Level:
Increase Danger Avoidance by 2 steps to a +6 bonus to Reflex saves.

18th Level:
Another increase to Danger Avoidance brings it up to a +8 bonus. Save the other point.

19th Level:
Select one of the combat feats, hopefully Takedown, and level it up to two.

20th Level:
Max out that combat feat and enjoy your pet's destructive capabilities.