Discover the Game-Changing New Artificer Subclass in Dungeons and Dragons!

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Dungeons and Dragons has received a large overhaul over the past year, with the release of the 2024 Player’s Handbook and revision of other essential source material. This changed many of the fundamentals of character-building, combat, and role-playing in Dungeons and Dragons. Many of these changes were overall well-received by the community, with the rules being streamlined, points of contention being clarified, and barriers of entry being removed to make Dungeons and Dragons more accessible.

One upcoming class that is getting a big change is the Artificer, which is currently going through player tests in Unearthed Arcana. Recently introduced to the Artificer is a new subclass, the Cartographer, which focuses on creating maps and navigation through teleportation. By combining the Artificer’s support spells such as Cure Wounds, Haste, and Revivify, with the Cartographer’s ability to teleport to party members in need, the Artificer has a unique role as a support subclass.

Introducing a New Artificer Subclass That Stands Apart

As a part of the changes to Dungeons and Dragons, all the classes got a refresh. This involved their subclasses, where the number of subclasses and the level they unlock were standardized across all the classes. The 2024 Player’s Handbook included the original 12 classes, with four subclasses each, but didn’t include the popular Artificer class. This was a controversial decision as, even though Artificer is considered a staple class, it was only included in the Eberron sourcebook released later, and isn’t considered a core class by WotC. The Artificer class is now in UA and undergoing the same changes that the other core classes experienced.

These changes include a limit to four subclasses. One major change has been the addition of a new Artificer subclass, the Cartographer. This new Artificer subclass is founded on the idea of creating maps and using them for reconnaissance and navigation. Cartographers do this with their Adventurer’s Atlas, which they can use to draw maps at the beginning of each day. The Cartographer can give these maps to any creature, including party members, who will then be aware of the location of the other map holders, while the Cartographer is also able to keep track of and teleport to each map holder.

The Cartographer’s Role as a Support Class

Alongside the Artificer’s spell list, this makes the Cartographer the ideal base for a support class. The other Artificer subclasses are more aligned towards a DPS build, and giving the Artificer a support class who can not only quickly move around the map, but enable others to do so as well, could come in handy in a variety of situations, especially when splitting the party.

Improvements That Could be Made to the Cartographer

The Cartographer is an entirely new subclass and, as it’s still a part of UA, is likely to change. While the foundation of the Cartographer as a map-making support class is there, it needs some refinement before it can be considered a truly great support class. Some players have suggested spells that involve linking cartography to reality, where what is drawn on the maps changes what is depicted in real life through simple spells such as Mold Earth, Spike Growth, Erupting Earth, and Plant Growth. Despite these drawbacks, the UA version of the Cartographer has great potential as an Artificer subclass, and gives Artificer players an option if they want to play a support character.

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2025-03-17 22:56