Highlights

  • Baldur's Gate 3 is missing the popular Artificer class, which is known for combining tools and spellcasting for explosive results and offering versatility in party roles.
  • The absence of the Artificer class limits the roleplaying opportunities for intelligent and genius characters, as the only other class that utilizes Intelligence as a primary stat is the Wizard.
  • Despite the lore and presence of mechanical technology in the game, implementing the Artificer class would require a new crafting system and careful consideration of balance due to the abundance of magical items already present in Baldur's Gate 3.

Baldur's Gate 3 gives players twelve classes to build their characters, and each of those classes has its own subclasses. This gives players dozens of options for builds, role-playing opportunities, and things to try over multiple playthroughs. However, despite the staggering amount of options, Baldur's Gate 3 did have a noticeable omission of a popular Dungeons and Dragons class: Artificer.

Artificer was the only class of Dungeon and Dragon's thirteen classes to be omitted from Baldur's Gate 3. It's unknown why Larian made the choice to remove Artificers from the Baldur's Gate 3 class list, but there are several reasons why Artificers could still make a great addition to Baldur's Gate 3.- and reasons why it may be worth keeping out.

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What Exactly is an Artificer?

The Mechanical Genius of the Party

The Artificer is a hybrid spellcaster class that combines tools and spellcasting for explosive results. Artificers always have the right tools for the job, and can be found tinkering away at whatever new tool or invention they have at hand, infusing them with magic and using said tools to cast their spells. They're a flexible class that can serve any role in the party, from DPS to support and healing, and have their own spell list that accommodates any scenario. Although they're considered a part of the Dungeons and Dragons core classes, they're a later addition to 5e, and were only added with Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.

Artificer Subclasses

While Artificers are fine as they are, they thrive when their subclasses are brought into the picture. The Artificer subclasses are:

  • Alchemist: A healing and support subclass that crafts potions and has access to healing spells.
  • Armorer: An Iron Man-like class that is built around supplementing a lack of strength with machinery.
  • Artillerist: The Artificer builds turret-like weapons that deal AoE damage using spells like Scorching Ray and Fireball.
  • Battle Smith: Gets an arcane construct much like a mechanical familiar.

Why Artificers Could Work in Baldur's Gate 3

The Artificer Gap in Baldur's Gate 3

While Baldur's Gate 3 already has twelve classes, it's missing a role for characters who work with tools and are geniuses at machinery. Currently, the only class in Baldur's Gate 3 that has Intelligence as its primary stat is Wizard, which uses Intelligence as its primary and spellcasting stat. Arcane Tricksters, a subclass of the Rogue, also use Intelligence as a spellcasting stat. Other than these two examples, Intelligence isn't utilized as much as it could be, and players who want to play intelligent or genius characters, no matter the type, are limited by their options.

Roleplaying Opportunities for an Artificer

There are a ton of roleplaying options that are open to characters from the Artificer class, both for Custom origins and for the Dark Urge. Players can tap into the Intelligence aspect of the character, which can include creativity and eccentricity. Creative, intelligent, and eccentric characters have long been popular character archetypes and, at the moment in Baldur's Gate 3, their use is limited to Wizards, or through the other classes via headcanon.

The Technology Exists in Baldur's Gate

Despite the absence of Artificers, Baldur's Gate 3 already has the prerequisite lore in that the world has mechanical technology fueled by magic, such as the Grymforge, Steel Watch, and Karlach's infernal engine. This especially becomes apparent with the mechanical elements in the story of Act 3, with Gortash, his inventions, and the places his storyline leads, such as the Iron Throne, the Steel Watch foundry, and Wyrm's Rock Fortress.

Gortash Needs a Narrative and Mechanical Foil

The Dead Three's Chosen don't have classes, but it's likely from their abilities and stories that Ketheric is an Oathbreaker Paladin, and Orin is an Assassin. Gortash, with his inventions, mechanical genius, and combining inventions with magic, is arguably an Artificer. While both Ketheric and Orin have classes that correspond to classes in Baldur's Gate 3, Gortash stands out as not having a playable class, and the player cannot create a class that mirrors his. An Artificer class for player characters would create a narrative foil for Gortash who, at the moment, stands apart and alone.

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Why Baldur's Gate 3 Shouldn't Have the Artificer Class

Despite the popularity of the class and it being lore friendly, there are a number of reasons why the Artificer class can't be added to Baldur's Gate 3 via DLC. Larian has made a name for itself for its relationship it has with its players, and adding classes via paid DLC has never been a popular move. If it does get added retroactively, it should be via a free patch or update, rather than be paid, especially as it's a feature that some would argue should have been a part of Baldur's Gate 3 from launch.

Baldur's Gate 3 Has Too Many Magical Items

Another issue is the abundance of powerful magical items in Baldur's Gate 3, which would make the Artificer redundant if they weren't implemented in a very careful way. Because magical items are so common in Baldur's Gate 3, relying on them to make Artificers functionally different from other characters with magical gear would be a challenge. The Artificer abilities and items would also have to avoid either being too over- or underpowered, a danger when attempting to differentiate it from the game's other items.

Crafting Would Require a New System

Crafting and infusing tools and equipment are the core of the Artificer, and Baldur's Gate 3 only has a crafting system for potions, with weapon and armor crafting only possible in certain places. Implementing Artificers would require an overhaul of many in-game systems in order to build a new crafting system, including nerfing or removing many of the magical items that already exist in-game in order to set Artificer items and abilities apart. Aside from the impracticalities of overhauling all the magical items in Baldur's Gate 3, doing so is also likely far beyond the means of a patch or even a DLC.