Opinions on Artificer?

[Rideps]

The damage output POTENTIAL seems really good, but with the low range I haven't been able to make a run stick yet. Maybe I'm crazy and imagining it, but it feels like she's got lower movement speed too, which... Feels really bad with that range.

[Maxenfelter]

Flamethrower is bananas, and when Flame Chakrams work they do REALLY work, but I just don't have the patience for them in the early stages without drones or some other kind of passive damage to handle single enemies. Probably not a good sign that my first thought when using them was "Please god tell me there's an alt for this"

[Juicy Pork Chop]

I gave her a quick try and felt like I didn't "get" it. Probably some knack to make it work but I couldn't see it

[Bill_Clinton_Supreme]

I just unlocked her and haven't played her yet. But I do not hear very good things about her.

Something like her hover returning holding space would be nice as a movement option since she needs it.

[DigitalSquirrel]

I've found the best way to make the flame chakrams work is when you use an ice wall to hold the enemies in place and space the chakrams so they spin right on top of where the enemies are standing. Issue is, this takes enough time to set up that it feels awful to play, and when half of your kit is designed to work in tandem with one ability to do perfectly average damage, it's probably not gonna be a fun time to play.

[StylusKnight]

Her secondary 4th ability is pretty good you're able to destroy flying enemies easily and most any other enemy at a range while staying out of danger. You probably want to keep ice wall over the jump boost because it helps u keep max damage with your chakram, It almost feels like they made her rely on ice wall too much to keep distance/spacing for chakram.

Currently nano bomb seems worthless over the alternative ability it feels horrible to use

I was hoping they give her the ability to hover still tho kinda sad she can't.

Edit: after using her for longer I come to the conclusion that chakram are just bad and i don't think taking icewall to make them work is worth it, because tectonic surge is her only mobility option you're actually locked out from getting some chests not bringing it. Along with the other utility it brings being pretty good (reduced gravity/stun) though, I think the cooldown is rly long for what it does.

This being the case the only viable option for decent reliable damage is flamethrower, since localized sun it very hard to control and chakrams are super reliant on spacing (even with optimal spacing they Feel weak) and nanobomb needing really good spacing but the damage still feels bad.
In the end I wound up using all alternate abilities but kept her 4th flamethrower relying on it to kill most enemies using it whenever available off cooldown, that usually works for me. She ends up being a character that relies on her cooldowns being up.

[Zeon]

Artificer sucks its a major insult to RoR2 Artificer & all the abilities feel awful.
WHY ISNT THERE AN ALT PRIMARY ATTACK? THE FIRE CHAKRAMS ARE THE WORST.
What is the obsession with limiting artificer's primary attack in both games at least in RoR2 the fire bolt had range? The game basically forces you to use the ice wall and the ice wall is terrible too not to mention the tectonic surge is appallingly bad though it might be better with a lower CD. All in all her kit sucks to play with & feels like im constantly running away with no pay off.

[A.J.]

The primary attack is the sole reason I'm not liking her right now. Just make it a straight flying projectile like in 2. Not sure why they changed it.

[Gaelabreaha]

I enjoyed her, the potential for her damage is immense. I almost feel like you can't be used to a certain playstyle to really "get" her though.

[Foostini]

I think she's a good translation from 2 but she's definitely flawed. Her role as a glass cannon just isn't there, her Nanobomb doesn't nuke like it really should and I'd be fine with her chakrams doing terrible damage if they worked more like Chef's cleavers. Her Flamethrower also not being invincible or giving armor also feels really bad. All in all though "flawed" is better than "completely unusable" so i look forward to some balance passes.

[Bandit🐶🥛]

I personally very much enjoy playing as Artificer, though her ice wall is very clunky and very weird to use and forces her to a very slow and methodical playstyle which doesn't really work in this game because standing still means certain death. Her Alternative to the Ice Wall is a great mobility tool, especially if you have a hopoo feather, because it gives you moon gravity until you hit the ground. Her Alt Secondary skill is also good, though it's only marginally better than the nanobomb. Her flamethrower skill is has immense damage potential with the right items, but by itself it's just a glorified floating ability with some damage potential. Her chakrams are kinda cringe, but they work when the enemy stands still or they're up against a ledge they can't jump over.

[Patchy (sick)]

She's kinda hot ngl

[DrunkHobo]

Buff her chakrams they are so miserable.

[Rideps]

After trying her out more, I think my BIGGEST gripe is that the Chakrams can't even be consistent with landing space, to the point that sometimes if, like a crab or something, is one ledge level away so can't get to you, you can't hit 100% of the time trying to just wail on it from the safe spot. I had a few times where I'd only hit half of them doing that. The range being so short is bad enough without even being able to punish the more braindead enemies consistently.

On paper I love her kit, but it just feels so... Wrong

[ThisWasSparta]

She's my favourite character of them all so far, just like in RoR2. Her skill rotation is a lot of fun. That said, her primary fire's damage is kind of inconsistent. If those chakrams aren't dead on they do almost nothing.

[Toxi The Vagrant]

I wrote this elsewhere, but :

These statements aren't entirely final, as I spent more time trying to find a drone scrapper yesterday than anything else. Primary isn't toooo bad when you're used to it's range working like a tipper and get used to that range, though it's weaknesses are helped by it being decidedly hard to whiff it's tipper against any boss but Providence. I like the rock jump (aside from the ten second cooldown, WHOOF), but I think the ice wall might be able to provide more combat utility, once I'm done labbing, I theorize you can use the ice wall so you can guarantee tippers on foes who can't ignore terrain. The lance toss... It feels like it's just flat out too situational due to it's mechanics. It's good if you have a lengthy line of singular enemies, but having to repress for each pierce isn't that good if they're too grouped up to beat out nano bomb's explosion. Small sun is STRICTLY the better option over flamethrower due to it's range, vertical coverage and not basically erasing your mobility for it's duration. Flamethrower is better for procs, but just like in 2, the second you forsake the meme damage option, your runs will generally feel better.

As far as my assessment of her capabilities... I feel like she's not the worst survivor (for me), right now I lean on that being either Han-D or sniper (specifically in any stage where the birds show up since they counter sniper so ridiculously hard), she feels like the sole B tier in a game where 70% of the survivors sit in A tier or higher, though she could be a high skill cap which would make her placement in any tier list tricky, as HSC's are either top tier in good hands or near bottom in inexperienced hands (a la the Vergil, Dante, Zero comp in UMVC3). There isn't any question that flamethrower is JUST bad in this one though.