(Artwork by Yan Shu. Made for Riot Games.)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - ARTIFICER 1

I mean I don’t know what class you expected. You get proficiency with Investigation, Perception (because why not), and Smith’s Tools which would make sense for making turrets. You also get Magical Tinkering which lets you make more small trinkets to entertain locals (and maybe do something useful probably not.)

You also get Spellcasting for cantrips like Firebolt for a not-quite micro-missile and Guidance to provide advice to your pupils, as well as spells like Catapult to toss more projectiles than just grenades and missiles, Detect Magic to help know what your students are working on, and Faerie Fire for a storm grenade with less stuns and more shiny lights.

LEVEL 2 - ARTIFICER 2

2nd level Artificers get to create Infusions such as an Enhanced Arcane Focus, Mind Sharpener, Repeating Shot Weapon, and replicate a magic item to create a Bag of Holding. You should probably grab both the Enhanced Arcane Focus and Mind Sharpener for now although the other infusions are nice to have as options.

You can also prepare another spell like Grease, as there’s no accidents m’boy! Even if there are spells that work better as accidents!

LEVEL 3 - ARTIFICER 3

3rd level Artificers get to choose their specialty and the Artillerist subclass gets to make Eldritch Cannons for turrets! You can create a small or tiny (handheld) turret with 18 AC, health equal to 5 times your Artificer level, and 10 in all ability scores. You can also cast Mending on the turret it will heal 2d6 health... shame you don’t have Mending, but someone else might be able to fix it for you for now.

You have 3 turret options: the most obvious choice would be the Force Ballista which can shoot a single shot out at a 120 foot range dealing 2d8 force damage, but you also have the Flamethrower option which does 2d8 fire damage in a 15 foot cone and the Protector which will provide everyone within 10 feet of the turret temporary hitpoints equal to a d8 plus your Intelligence modifier.

You also get both Shield and Thunderwave added to your spell list as Artillerist spells. And finally you can also create The Right Tool for the Job with an hour of work to make a magical version of any Artisan’s tool, which is good because you also got Woodcarver’s Tools proficiency with this subclass.

LEVEL 4 - ARTIFICER 4

4th level Artificers get their first Ability Score Improvement but seeing as you have an uneven Intelligence score I’m going to suggest you grab the Skill Expert feat for +1 to your Intelligence, proficiency with the Insight skill, and expertise with Arcana. Sure there are other feats you could take for a +1 to INT but expertise makes the most sense for Heimer.

An increase to your Intelligence modifier does mean you can prepare more spells, but I’m going to wait for...

LEVEL 5 - ARTIFICER 5

5th level Artificers can remember the Rune Wars well with their Arcane Firearm! You can transform a wand into an Arcane Firearm that will add a d8 to one target of all your damaging Artificer spells!

That’s really neat because you get both Shatter and Scorching Ray as Artillerist spells for some heavy-hitting missiles and a big damaging grenade, and can also prepare spells like Aid and Vortex Warp to help your students keep safe and hardy.

(Artwork made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 6 - WIZARD 1

Hey wait a minute this isn’t 20 levels of Artillerist Artificer! We’re quickly dipping into Wizard for some more Spellcasting: you learn 3 cantrips from the Wizard list such as Mending to fix your turrets, Message to keep to team chat, and Mage Hand to grab your tools from far away. You can also learn 6 spells from the Wizard list but I’m going to be honest: all we need is Magic Missile for some micro-missiles. You can grab some other spells but my recommendation would be to take Ritual Spells you can always rely on even if you don’t have them prepared: Detect Magic (yeah maybe unprepare that Artificer spell), Identify, Tenser’s Floating Disk, Unseen Servant, and Find Familiar for the Porofessor.

Additionally you get Arcane Recovery, which I’d explain in detail but let it be known that for now you can recover a 1st level spell slot, and at level 3 you can recover either a 2nd level spell slot or two 1st level slots. This is particularly useful for you as an Artillerist because making a turret takes a 1st level spell slot, so you can use this feature to make sure you always have some in supply!

LEVEL 7 - WIZARD 2

2nd level Wizards get to choose their Arcane Tradition, and honestly it doesn’t matter much what you pick but we’ll be going for the School of Conjuration so you can give the children some toys with Minor Conjuration. You can summon a small object into your hand or within 10 feet of you as long as its no larger than 3 feet and weighs no more than 10 pounds. It’s obviously magical and disappears if you use it to hit someone, so this ability is mostly meant to have fun and find experimental solutions to problems!

You can also learn two more spells: Disguise Self can be good to glamor up, and Feather Fall is always good in a pinch.

LEVEL 8 - WIZARD 3

3rd level Wizards get to learn 2nd level spells like Hold Person for our Storm Grenade’s stun. Other than that I’d recommend Misty Step for Flash, but the good thing about being a Wizard is that you can always add more spells as long as you find them out in the wild. So go out and do some research for better choices to occupy your 7 available prepared spells!

(Artwork by Jem Flores. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 9 - ARTIFICER 6

6th level Artificers get more Infusions and since you have 3rd level slots now grabbing a Spell-Refueling Ring would be a smart idea to get even more tech on the field! Other than that? A Lantern of Revealing could be useful but we don’t need much until the higher levels.

Additionally you can prepare another spell like See Invisibility for a Sweeper Lens, and you get Tool Expertise; for expertise with tools.

LEVEL 10 - ARTIFICER 7

7th level Artificers can inspire their friends’ brilliance with a Flash of Genius. When you or another creature you can see within 30 feet makes an ability check or saving throw, you can use your reaction to add your Intelligence modifier to the roll. You can do this a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier, regaining all expended uses when you finish a long rest. Remember that a mentor is only as good as the pupils he inspires and even if you can help yourself be amazing it’s good to help your allies out where you can!

LEVEL 11 - ARTIFICER 8

8th level Artificers get another Ability Score Improvement so cap off your Intelligence modifier to be the most brilliant mind Piltover has ever seen! And you were there when it was founded too; no wonder the city was made for progress!

Speaking of progress: you can progress your knowledge of spells, but why settle for second level magics when you can get...

LEVEL 12 - ARTIFICER 9

9th level Artificers get Explosive Cannons! Along with increasing the damage (or shielding) of your Eldritch Cannons by an extra d8 you can detonate the cannon if you’re within 60 feet of it, forcing everyone within 20 feet of it to make a Dexterity saving throw or take 3d8 Force damage. I doubt Heimerdinger would willingly destroy his turrets but if they’re getting close to death anyways why not send them off with a bang?

Speaking of bangs you get Fireball as an Artillerist spell, and while it may not do Lightning damage it sure is a powerful Hexplosive! Additionally you get some Ionian technology with Wind Wall, and can learn spells like Haste to upgrade your students and Tiny Servant for more quick useful tech!

(Artwork made by SixMoreVodka Studios. Made for Legends of Runeterra by Riot Games.)

LEVEL 13 - ARTIFICER 10

10th level Artificers get a lot to enjoy. For one you’re now a Magic Item Adept which means that along with being able to craft Common and Uncommon magic items you can break attunement rules to attune to 4 total magic items! That’s good because you can also add two more Infusions to your list of possible inventions such as the Helm of Awareness and the Cloak of Protection. I will say that there’s a lot of good infusions unlocked at 10th level so if you want to replace some of your older infusions (like your Bag of Holding which you’ve probably found one in the wild to replace) here’s some good pickups to play with:

Eyes of the Eagle

Gauntlets of Ogre Power (Atlas Gauntlets, anyone?)

Hat of Disguise

Headband of Intellect

Winged Boots

You can also prepare another spell like Revivify, to fix really big mistakes. But most importantly you learn another cantrip! You’ve likely been rather defenseless in melee so Shocking Grasp will give you a nasty surprise to dish out to anyone who gets too close.

LEVEL 14 - ARTIFICER 11

11th level Artificers can pass out their tech within a Spell-Storing Item, which can cast any 1st or 2nd level Artificer spell which takes one action to cast. Up to 10 times!

Now there are a lot of useful spells you can put into this and normally I’d give a long speech about the importance of opting for utility spells as opposed to damage because by total level 14 damage spells won’t be doing much but honestly Strixhaven made it simple for us: take Vortex Warp. Trust me just... take Vortex Warp. The only thing more useful than one person being able to cast Vortex Warp 10 times without spending a spell slot is someone in the party who doesn’t even have casting abilities doing it for you. But I mean there are other good spells to consider too and a good scientist never limits their options.

LEVEL 15 - ARTIFICER 12

12th level Artificers get another Ability Score Improvement and now that you have the intelligence that only a yordle could hope for it’s time to put that yordle magic to use! The Warcaster feat gives you advantage on saving throws to maintain concentration (meaning that you have about a 1% chance to fail a DC 10 Concentration check!) but more important if someone tries to run past you and provokes an opportunity attack you can strike back with science! Instead of... hitting them in the back of the head with a wrench or something.

There’s a lot of great spells you can cast at someone who gets too close: Hold Person, Vortex Warp... other spells that aren’t AoE (and therefor won’t blow you up.) Speaking of other spells you can prepare more of them, or you could wait a level because...

(Artwork by Suke “hugehugesword” Su. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 16 - ARTIFICER 13

13th level Artificers learn 4th level spells like Ice Storm and Wall of Fire, both of which are good for committing Rune War-tier atrocities while controlling a battlefield.

Additionally you may be wondering where our big turret is: I tell you we were simply outfitting it with the ability to walk. Summon Construct lets you create T-Hex! You can make it out of Clay to lash out at your foes, Stone to slow them down, or Metal to be a giant flaming robot dinosaur! Is your DM not going to let you summon a robot dinosaur? Fooey! Well Summon Construct is still very good to both tank damage and dish it out!

LEVEL 17 - ARTIFICER 14

14th level Artificers become Magic Item Savants. For one you can attune to 5 magic items total, but you also notably can use any magic item regardless of race or class restrictions! It’s only natural that a yordle know their way around magic, and there’s no-doubt plenty of interesting tools that you can use if you get your hands on them.

Such as the new Infusions you can create, such as an Amulet of Health to make a friend (nearly) immortal, or a Ring of Protection to be immortal against bullets* (citation needed.) Artificers don’t get many other 14th level Infusions but remember that it’s still good to look at what you can make, as there may be something useful that one of your friends may like, or just something that fits your campaign better.

Speaking of fits your campaign better you get one more known spell like  Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere for protection during a time out. But who cares about that you get your 4th cantrip! Take Acid Splash to deal with multiple enemies keeping close to each-other, or if they have lots of armor but low magic resistance. (And by “magic resistance” I mean Dexterity.)

LEVEL 18 - ARTIFICER 15

We’ve been stuck only building one turret for so long. Why not go further? Level 15th Artillerists have a Fortified Position, allowing them to have a grand total of two turrets on the battlefield! Your turrets also give half cover (+2 AC) to anyone within 10 feet of them for some Hextech Affinity.

LEVEL 19 - ARTIFICER 16

16th level Artificers get our last Ability Score Improvement and honestly by this point you can make your own discoveries and pick your own feats. Go out and make the world a better place! Or just take Lucky, because chances are you aren’t going to hit total level 19 anyways.

But if you end up hitting level 20 you can look forward to...

LEVEL 20 - ARTIFICER 17

5th level spells! Artillerists get Cone of Cold and Wall of Force which are both great options for controlling the battlefield, and Artificers in general can prepare spells like Animate Objects, for allllllllll the turrets!

By total level 20 you should probably look to higher level spells instead of keeping your low-level stuff prepared, but the only other spell I really like at 5th level Artificer is Bigby's Hand. Sure you could probably get some use out of Greater Restoration or Transmute Rock I guess but for the most part 5th level Artificer spells are kinda sucky.

FINAL BUILD

PROS

Order, entropy; a never-ending cycle - Your spell slots go up to 6th level and your spells known go up to 5th, with great battlefield control and utility spells at every level!

Rise, my creation! - More DPS is always helpful, and turrets can dish out great DPS! Not only that but many of your Concentration spells will provide a constant threat for enemies to deal with, having to either shoot them down or take the damage.

One step closer to greater understanding! - You know I don’t take Warcaster enough. Advantage on a +8 Concentration check (assuming you don’t nab that Amulet of Health for yourself) makes it very likely that your best toys won’t be stopping prematurely.

CONS

Not enough variables... not nearly enough variables - 3 levels in Wizard means you don’t get level 20 in Artificer for +6 to all your saves and 6 total attunement slots. But even if you aren’t hitting level 20 those 3 levels will stall your best abilities. And for what? Some missiles?

Did I leave the Tridyminiumobulator on? - While most Artificers can augment their weaker stats with science I elected to ignore that and focus on the brains. This does mean that your stats are middling at best with 14s and 12s all around.

Aha 42; I knew it! Now... er, what was the question again? - It’s always good to have a genius in the party but that’s about all you offer. Your skills are in combat and while you can obviously prepare spells to help outside of that Heimerdinger doesn’t have enough lore outside of Arcane for me to justify playing him as anything other than a funny turret guy.

But a teacher is only truly successful when their students shine. Lead those around you to greatness and show why Piltover was the city of progress founded in your name! And remember that while the Rune Wars may have left you scarred the Geneva Convention is more like suggestions as opposed to rules. I mean, who are they to tell you that you can’t make a giant robot dinosaur?