Artificer

Version 0.14: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Artificers are attuned to gadgets, mechanics and magic elicited from arcane items, as opposed to casting magic themselves. As a consequence, they enter the Dungeon with an assortment of wands. Artificers are skilled at evoking magical items and finding traps, and also understand the basics of melee combat.

An Artificer is an Evocations specialist. Wands and rods are their tool of choice, and they bring some of the former with them to the Dungeon.

Because of the limited usefulness of Evocations to a character without advanced evocable items, Artificer can be considered a challenge class, even if their survivability is far more than that of a wanderer.

Preferred Races

Deep Dwarf, Halfling, Kobold, Spriggan, Draconian, and Demonspawn are the recommended races if you pick an Artificer Background.

Starting Equipment

Some species may receive different items based on their unique restrictions.

• +0 short sword
• +0 leather armour
• 3 15-charge wands (wand of flame, wand of enslavement, wand of random effects)
• Bread ration

Starting Skills and Stats

These are adjusted by your species' aptitudes.

• Fighting: 1
• Short Blades: 1
• Dodging: 2
• Stealth: 1
• Evocations: 3

Choosing Artificer adds 3 to your starting Strength, 4 to your starting Intelligence and 5 to your starting Dexterity.

Strategy

• Although it's possible to branch away from Evocations early on, artificers who wish to focus on this skill will benefit greatly from Nemelex Xobeh, as his abilities are only affected by the Evocations skill and his deck gifts greatly expand the abilities an artificer will have access to.
• Although the game does not suggest them as a race, trolls make for an interesting alternative kind of artificer. Their innate attributes allow them to claw their way through most early-game situations, and as they ignore almost all weapons and armour, they can gain piety with Nemelex quickly. Their Evocations skill proficiency is a lousy -2, but that's standard for trolls, and selecting artificer gives you some skill right from the start. Getting a wide array of powers through a single skill is an excellent bargain for trolls.

History

Prior to 0.14, artificers began with scrolls of recharging identified.

Prior to 0.10, artificers could start off the game with a +0 leather armour, a bread ration, and either a rod of Striking (8 charges) or their choice of a wand from Magic Darts, Frost, Flame, Confusion, or Enslavement (15 charges each). If they chose a wand, they also started with a wand of random effects (15 charges). If they chose a non-damaging device (wand of enslavement or wand of confusion), they started with a +0,+0 dagger.