Something from Nothing

There's been a fair bit of speculation about Artificers, since Turbine made the announcement. I've been lurking in the shadows of the DDO forums, trying to glean as much as I can about what qualities this new class might have. Will Turbine implement them in close alignment with the pencil-and-paper Eberron Campaign Setting rule books? It seems unlikely they would stick too closely to those rules. Gameplay in the online environment is much faster and a lot more furious than what the standard evening of tabletop play would see. But, I do hope they keep the essentials.

One of the things that made the pencil-and-paper version so interesting is the Artificer's inherent ability with mechanical objects that gave them the ability to pick locks and disable traps. Making it the only class, other than Rogues, with such an ability. In the realm of DDO, it seemed odd that multiple classes can melée, multiple classes can heal, multiple classes can repair, multiple classes can crowd-control, multiple classes can buff and de-buff, but only one class could protect the party from the peril of a trap when the quest is set to Elite.

Which has now led to many a "they nerfed my Rogue" messages on the forums. Rogues are so much more than trap-smiths, that I can't begin to understand why such a message even exists.

Granted, I don't play Trinarius the way a Rogue probably *should be played. But, again, Trin's not supposed to be a true Rogue. He's multi-classed in a way that I thought best represented the Artificer, in the absence of a true class within the game. As a result, Trin can't assassinate. Nor can he generate the damage many a true Rogue can. But, as I said, he isn't meant to, either.

As should be evident by his arcane abilities. He offers a wide variety of spells meant to make the adventure party more well-rounded. Which is what an Artificer does. Except that a true Artificer imbues items with arcane power, rather than casting spells directly. It was something I struggled with as I slowly brought Trin up to the level cap.

And, similar to an Artificer, Trin's Ranger abilities are intended to allow him to stand in the back, where he can support the party, rather than getting in the way of the enemy's weapons swinging to-and-fro.

The question I continue to find myself asking is whether the Artificer, as Turbine chooses to implement it, will give me the ability to do Trin justice without having to multi-class. So far, Turbine hasn't said much of any substance about how they plan to implement the class.

All I can do is sit, lurk and hope.

In the mean time, may you have interesting adventures!