The Artificer is the only new class added to Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition across its near-decade of existence. Fortunately, it’s an excellent core addition, being a unique and well-made class that more than justifies its inclusion.

Side note: Artificer is my favourite class in D&D 5e. This article is not going to be unbiased.

The D&D 5e Artificer isn’t overpowered, but it has many niches it can do very well. Base class options alone can make it an effective utility, support, or even tank character if built properly.

Race and lineage are as important for a D&D 5e Artificer build as they are for any class, perhaps more so for players looking to optimise. The class already has so many moving parts, but that doesn’t make something so foundational less important.

Any lineage can make for a good build. However, if you want to make a stronger character, some do stand out as the best races for Artificer in D&D 5e.

Updated October 17th, 2024: The best Artificer races in D&D 5e are largely the same, but I have higher standards for this blog. As a result, I’ve updated this post to bring it in line with recent content, both technically and in terms of its content.

Variant Human and Custom Lineage Work Here as Well

Time to eat your D&D 5e character creation vegetables.

It’s almost redundant to highlight the Variant Human and Custom Lineage as two of the best races for Artificers in D&D 5e (or any other class). The same applies to almost any build in the game. Nonetheless, this article wouldn’t be complete without them.

A free feat is a godsend for any D&D 5e character. Feats are both expensive and unbalanced, meaning a character can get significantly ahead of the curve with the right choice.

Variant Human and Custom Lineage offer feats from first level, allowing players to pick and choose what most benefits their specific D&D 5e Artificer build.

An Alchemist Artificer might begin the game with Elemental Adept to double down on Fire or Acid Damage. The Armourer or Battle Smith D&D 5e Artificer subclasses get a lot of mileage out of Fighting Adept to better use their weapons. Anyone benefits from feats like Skill Expert, Lucky, or Fey Touched.

Even though Artificers aren’t as feat-starved as other classes, this is a top-tier boon. Other Variant Human and Custom Lineage features, such as a free skill proficiency, go well with the class’ generalist and versatile approach.

Unlike many other builds, the Custom Lineage’s Darkvision isn’t as tempting, if only because the Artificer can craft Goggles of Night with an Infusion. Basically, weigh up if you want a skill proficiency or an infusion more for your D&D 5e Artificer build.

Warforged Make Artificers Even Tankier

The Artificer is an unexpectedly top-tier tank class in D&D 5e. Even though they peak at d8 hit die and medium armour (except for Armourers), they can be their party’s most resilient character.

Buff spells, magic items, and especially D&D 5e Artificer Infusions can all skyrocket defence through the ceiling. The Warforged is one of the best Artificer races in D&D 5e because it doubles down on this focus.

A +1 bonus to Armor Class may seem minimal. However, Armor Class scales exponentially. An enemy will likely hit a character whether they have 11 or 12 AC (after low levels, anyway). If a +1 is the difference between 22 and 23 Armor Class in D&D 5e, it’ll matter a lot more often.

An Artificer build pouring their equipment, spells and Infusions into boosting their Armor Class could do well to choose the Warforged. They’ll be almost untouchable with regular attacks.

The other benefits help make the Warforged an excellent D&D 5e Artificer race. Resistance to Poison damage and protection from many forms of harm (including magical sleep) add even more to the character’s resilience.

Free skill and tool proficiencies suit those D&D 5e Artificer builds that like utility as much as they like tanking. It also makes Tool Expertise even better.

Also, crucially, you’re a robot who can build other robots. What’s not to love?

Hobgoblin Makes a Failure-Free Melee Artificer

Neither the martial, ordered flavour of D&D 5e Hobgoblin nor the more traditional, helpful, fey folklore version suit Artificers all that well thematically. However, you may be able to forgive this with how well they work mechanically.

The Hobgoblin better suits a melee D&D 5e Artificer build due to its resilience and close-range supportive abilities. However, you can make it work for longer-range Artificers, just less naturally.

Fey Gift suits the D&D 5e Artificer’s support build potential and an Armorer or Battle Smith’s ability to stand on the front lines. Help your allies when they’re under threat while being able to handle the danger yourself. The buffs and debuffs of Fey Gift are great bonuses.

The only downside is that it uses the Artificer’s bonus action, which is very competitive. Save it for when your ally really needs help, or your Homunculus/Eldritch Cannon/Steel Defender is out of commission.

Fortune from the Many shouldn’t be overlooked. Well-built Artificers don’t get hit often and have good Constitution saving throws. Nonetheless, you will take damage on the front lines. You don’t want to lose your powerful Concentration support spells when you do.

Alternatively, Gift from the Many can help with weak areas like Wisdom and Charisma saving throws. It doesn’t use a reaction, so it can stack with Flash of Genius if you roll really poorly. Alternatively, you can have one resource for yourself and another for friends.

Fairy Suits Long-Range Artificers Well

Fairy is one of the best races for any caster in D&D 5e. Artificer is no different in this regard. Artificers can use high-level Infusions to gain flight, but what if they got it innately, from the very first level, without that cost?

Some Artificer builds in D&D 5e want to fight up close. The Fairy is a poor choice for them and a top-tier D&D 5e race for literally anyone else.

Alchemists, Artillerists, and long-rage Armorer and Battle Smith Artificers all benefit from the near-total immunity to melee enemies that being forty feet in the air gives. It’s also invaluable out of combat, allowing players to bypass many different obstacles.

Furthermore, the Fairy’s spellcasting frees up other options. Faerie Fire and Enlarge/Reduce are already spells the Artificer can cast in D&D 5e. However, they’re also both useful options that don’t need to be prepared and get one free cast per day.

The only downside of the Fairy as one of the best races for Artificer in D&D 5e is the armour restriction. Fairies can only fly in light or no armour. This does cut into the defensive potential of a D&D 5e Artificer build and forces them to invest in some Dexterity.

Flying diminishes the risk of low Armor Class somewhat. Even if the Artificer doesn’t patch up the gap with spells, magic items, and D&D 5e Artificer Infusions, they won’t suffer too badly from light armour.

Astral Elf Adds Plenty of Versatility

Artificers can suit the pulpy, higher-tech tone of Spelljammer surprisingly well. Fittingly, they also work perfectly with Spelljammer’s unique Elf lineage, the Astral Elf.

Unlike many of the other best races for Artificer in D&D 5e, the Astral Elf doesn’t provide any direct combat benefits. Instead, it helps the Artificer further harness its immense versatility.

The cantrip choices are more limited than for other races. Nonetheless, with how few the Artificer gets despite relying on spellcasting, any free option is invaluable.

Furthermore, Starlight Step helps compensate for the Artificer’s lack of Misty Step on its spell list. It’s not something to spam, given its limited uses and the hefty competition for the Artificer’s bonus action in D&D 5e, but it’s yet another option in the toolbox.

Astral Trance is the main reason to pick Astral Elf for a D&D 5e Artificer build. Artificers get immense value from their skill and tool proficiencies. Changing these with every long rest is a game-changer. The Artificer can assess the situation and come back with the perfect tool (literally) in hand.

This is on top of getting Perception, D&D 5e‘s best skill, for free.

Earth Genasi Fill Some Unique Roles

Earth Genasi, in their Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse incarnation, are not a go-to for every Artificer build in the way some other D&D 5e races are. Instead, they offer potent abilities for specific builds.

Earth Walk is reasonable for any character. Artificers can make it a little less pressing with mobility-increasing infusions, but even they can’t have access to every solution every hour of the day.

Instead, it’s Merge with Stone that makes Earth Genasi competitive as the best race for Artificers in D&D 5e.

Blade Ward as a bonus action is excellent for more tank-oriented D&D 5e Artificer builds, such as Guardian Armourers and Battle Smiths. Even if enemies can hit, their weapons might only do single-digit damage. It’s also a valuable panic button for more ranged builds.

Pass Without Trace is slightly more niche in that only one Artificer build (Infiltrator Armourer) prioritises Stealth. Given how it’s a huge boon for the party’s Stealth checks and almost an automatic success for the Infiltrator, however, few people will complain.

Githyanki Add Skills and Spellcasting

Githyanki bear a lot of similarities to Astral Elves in D&D 5e, likely due to their shared home. This makes them similarly effective as a D&D 5e race for Artificers.

Astral Knowledge is every bit as good as Astral Trance, allowing a D&D 5e Artificer to give themselves proficiency in any skill and (eventually) Expertise in any tool they like every short rest. Its weapon proficiency is less useful but may find some niche play in early levels.

Psychic Resilience will rarely come up in D&D 5e combat. However, it will prove its worth many times over against foes like Mind Flayers.

Githyanki Psionics add invaluable options to the Artificer’s spellcasting. Mage Hand is one of D&D 5e‘s best cantrips that alleviates the very small number low-level Artificers get. Jump is more niche but has its uses.

Misty Step remains one of D&D 5e‘s best spells and a notable absence from the Artificer’s spell list. Even though it competes with bonus actions like firing Eldritch Cannons or attacking with a Steel Defender, it’s well worth having.

Autognome Artificers Almost Never Fail

The Autognome looks and sounds slightly more ridiculous than most D&D 5e races, but this masks how very effective they are. This is doubly true when used with the Artificer, something that matches it for versatility.

The combination of Flash of Genius and Built for Success (which stack) effectively means failure on an ability check or saving throw is voluntary for a D&D 5e Autognome Artificer build. With the game’s relatively flat maths, adding a d4+5 to any roll is almost guaranteed victory.

Much like the Hobgoblin, support-oriented Autognome Artificers can also reserve Flash of Genius for their allies while using Built for Success to keep themelves from falling behind. The beauty of having two different resource pools for very similar abilities comes from how much flexibility they give.

Two tool proficiencies are also obscene on a D&D 5e Artificer. If you’re finding use for your tools, having Expertise on two more of them is perfect for a creative player.

Healing Machine lets an Artificer use Mending to heal themselves as well as their inventions. It does require hit dice, but can effectively circumvent the need for short rests (or allow healing when there isn’t time to take one).

Armoured Casing is more of a mixed bag, considering it doesn’t apply if the Artificer wants to wear armour with infusions. However, it’s far from a weakness. It does nothing to stop the Autognome from being one of the best Artificer races in D&D 5e.

Yuan-Ti Add More Resilience and Spellcasting

Yuan-Ti are infamous as one of D&D 5e‘s best races, and they combo very well with the Artificer’s abilities. In their Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse incarnation, they provide top-tier defensive and spellcasting abilities.

Artificers get a lot of ways to increase their Armor Class, but fewer saving throw bonuses (at low levels). Magic Resistance makes a well-built D&D 5e Artificer almost impossible to kill with either magical or martial means.

Magic Resistance is particularly obscene with Flash of Genius and the 20th-level Soul of Artifice ability. Advantage on saving throws with an automatic +6 bonus (and the potential for more) makes magic a non-threat.

The best version of this combination only unlocks in the D&D 5e endgame, it’s true. Nonetheless, Flash of Genius makes it potent at low levels.

Poison is also a common damage type, so the Yuan-Ti further proves itself as a good Artificer race in D&D 5e by negating damage.

The Yuan-Ti’s spells in D&D 5e are unconventional for the Artificer, but all the better for it. Poison Spray can be a vicious short-range damage boost for an Alchemist, whilst Animal Friendship and Suggestion let Artificers contribute in one of the few areas they’re usually bad at.

These have been eight of the best Artificer races in D&D 5e. These are good, but they’re far from the only viable or optimal choices. What are some of your favourites for the class?

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Plenty of character concepts suit any table, far beyond the suggestions in this article. However, read ‘D&D 5e Character Ideas and Tropes That Don’t Work‘ if you want to see the few that don’t.

If you want to be both effective and unpredictable as the Artificer or any other D&D 5e spellcaster, check out ‘Underrated Spells in D&D 5e‘.