Dungeons and Dragons New Artificer Subclass Misses the Mark: ‘You can go anywhere, but you can’t do anything when you get there’

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The latest core rulebook for Dungeons & Dragons, released in 2024, has significantly changed how the game is played. Many character classes and their specializations now function very differently, core gameplay elements have been updated, and even classic monsters have been reimagined. While some of these changes aren’t universally loved – sometimes newness comes at the cost of familiar identity – the update has generally been well-received. Coming soon is a new book called Eberron: Forge of the Artificer, which focuses on the Artificer class, including its four existing specializations and a brand new one called the Cartographer.

Eberron: Forge of the Artificer was delayed, and is now releasing on December 9.

The addition of new character classes, or subclasses, to Dungeons & Dragons is always welcome, especially for dedicated players. These new options can introduce completely new ways to play or expand on existing ideas. For the Artificer class, those subclasses – Alchemist, Armorer, Artillerist, Battle Smith, and Cartographer – become available at level 3. However, while the Cartographer subclass is interesting in concept, its teleportation abilities don’t quite work as intended, making it a decent support class but ultimately feeling unfinished and lacking in impactful features.

Dungeons and Dragons‘ New Cartographer is Officially The Worst Artificer Subclass

The Artificer class is receiving updates in 2024 with the release of the Eberron: Forge of the Artificer book, including learning the Mending cantrip and a change to how Flash of Genius works. Each Artificer subclass has also been revised, and a new subclass, the Cartographer, has been added. The Cartographer is designed to be a support class, enhancing allies’ movement and providing useful magic while creating maps that benefit the entire party. However, in practice, the class doesn’t quite live up to this potential, as its abilities and spells feel underwhelming and don’t fully capture the intended fantasy.

Eberron: Forge of the Artificer’s Cartographer Subclass Breakdown in DnD 2024

Dungeons and Dragons – Eberron: Forge of the Artificer’s Level Cartographer is a Mixed Bag

The Artificer’s Cartographer gains a helpful ability at level 3 called Tools of the Trade, allowing them to create spell scrolls at a reasonable cost. However, crafting scrolls becomes much more difficult and expensive after level 3, and takes a significant amount of time – assistants can’t speed up the process. Scrolls are most valuable if you have a Wizard in your group who can learn spells from them, which is fairly common given the overlap in spells between Artificers and Wizards in Dungeons & Dragons. But having a Wizard isn’t always a guarantee.

Then, the Cartographer gets its own spell list. This is as follows:

Artificer Level Spells
3 Faerie Fire, Guiding Bolt, Healing Word
5 Locate Object, Mind Spike
9 Call Lightning, Clairvoyance
13 Banishment, Locate Creature
17 Scrying, Teleportation Circle

The Artificer’s Cartographer spells aren’t terrible, but they aren’t outstanding choices either, especially when considering how well they work with the class’s level 11 ability, Spell-Storing Item. This feature lets you imbue a spell focus with a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd level Artificer spell after a long rest, using an action and without needing a material component. This limitation prevents you from storing potentially useful spells like Healing Word, which requires a bonus action instead of a standard action. Similarly, Faerie Fire isn’t a strong spell overall, and the class relies on it too much, making it a poor choice for storage as well.

As a film buff, I’m always intrigued by world-building, and this ‘Adventurer’s Atlas’ feels like a cool mechanic for that! Basically, after a good night’s rest, I can create a set of maps – one for each creature I physically touch. The number of maps I can make depends on my Intelligence, but I can always create at least two. The really neat part is that anyone holding one of these maps instantly knows the location of everyone else who’s holding a map. That gives us two pretty handy bonuses, which I’m excited to explore!

  • Awareness: +1d4 to initiative rolls
  • Positioning: When casting spells or creating effects that require to see a target map holder, this creature can be targeted regardless of line of sight or cover if they are in range.

While the Cartographer class doesn’t benefit much from positioning abilities – they lack spells that really take advantage of it – it can be very helpful for the rest of your group. Healing Word is a solid healing spell in Dungeons & Dragons to combine with this effect, though there aren’t many other great options. Being able to cast Healing Word on an ally who’s hidden or behind cover is definitely useful, and the ability itself is strong – just not particularly effective for the Cartographer themselves.

Any solid object counts as being behind cover, so even a window, for example, or maybe a door.

The Cartographer class feature, Illuminated Cartography, lets you cast Faerie Fire without using a spell slot, which sounds helpful. However, getting advantage in Dungeons & Dragons 2024 isn’t as difficult as it used to be, and Faerie Fire requires concentration. Although it’s a free spell to cast, it doesn’t have a huge impact, and it’s probably only worth using around levels 3 or 5.

In Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, the Faerie Fire spell is particularly useful because gaining advantage isn’t as simple for some characters, like Fighters. It’s a solid way to help your teammates succeed.

The Cartographer gains Portal Jump at level 3, a useful ability for quickly escaping danger. However, it only works if you’re already moving. This means you can’t use it in situations where you’re completely stopped, like when you’ve been grabbed by an enemy.

Dungeons and Dragons – Eberron: Forge of the Artificer’s Cartographer Won’t Find Its Way Between Level 5 and 15

When a Cartographer reaches level 5, they gain Guided Precision. This ability lets you add your Intelligence modifier to a damage roll once per turn, either when you cast a Cartographer spell or when you hit a creature affected by Faerie Fire. Additionally, taking damage will no longer cause you to lose concentration on the Faerie Fire spell. However, there are three issues with this ability that need to be addressed.

  • Guided Precision only works on three Cartographer spells, and none are great for it:
    • Guiding Bolt
    • Mind Spike
    • Call Lightning
  • The benefit is mostly going to be +3 or +4 to a damage roll in DnD, which is good in a vacuum, but not amazing when considering it still requires casting Faerie Fire the turn before, keeping concentration, having the target creature fail a saving throw against it, and then again for the next attack spell you cast.
  • Other Artificer subclasses, like the Artillerist, have much more impactful and powerful abilities for extra damage, whereas this one can entirely be avoided, and it requires heavy setup.

When a Cartographer reaches level 9, they gain Ingenious Movement, which works in connection with their Flash of Genius ability. This is a helpful feature because Ingenious Movement doesn’t require the same character who received the benefit of Flash of Genius to activate – allowing you to strategically position other members of your party.

Finally, the Cartographer gets two more abilities with Superior Atlas at level 15. These are:

  • Safe Haven: When a map holder (any, not just you) is reduced to 0 HP but not killed, that creature can destroy their map. If they do, their HP change to a number equal to your Artificer level times two, and that creature is teleported to an unoccupied space within 5 feet of you or another map holder.
  • Unerring Path: You can use Find the Path if you are a map holder, and do so without consuming a spell slot, without preparing the spell, and with no components. This can be done only once per long rest.

Safe Haven is a fantastic support ability, often able to prevent a character from being defeated in battle. Its ‘cheat death’ effect is always useful when it triggers, and it also includes a teleport. However, Unerring Path feels weak and doesn’t deliver the power you’d expect from a high-level ability, especially considering you need to invest 15 levels into the Cartographer class to obtain it. While Find the Path isn’t a bad spell in Dungeons & Dragons, it’s unlikely to be something you’ll use frequently, if at all.

You Should Avoid DnD’s New Artificer Cartographer Like The Plague

The Cartographer class has some strengths and can be useful in specific situations, so it’s not inherently weak. However, it’s difficult to recommend over other Artificer subclasses unless your Dungeon Master designs a campaign heavily focused on terrain and movement challenges. Even compared to the Alchemist, which has recently been updated and is still less powerful than other options, the Cartographer often falls short. Furthermore, the class’s appealing theme doesn’t always translate into satisfying gameplay.

As Reddit user Gizogin pointed out, this class feels like it lets you travel anywhere without actually letting you do much when you arrive. However, even that isn’t quite right – slowing down completely disables a key ability, Portal Jump. While the Cartographer can create maps to help allies and has a unique theme, its main features aren’t very powerful. Positioning is weak, Safe Haven is only useful in specific situations, Spell Scrolls cost too much, and Faerie Fire becomes ineffective at higher levels. Ultimately, beyond a small boost to initiative and a few average spells, what does a Cartographer actually do that other Artificer subclasses can’t?

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2025-12-08 06:06