A high burst damage mage who excels at eliminating large groups and single bosses alike. Artificer's ENV Suit passive lets her hover in the air for positional advantage, and her Charged Nano-Bomb and Flamethrower deal some of the highest single-window damage of any survivor. She has no natural mobility skill and fragile HP - position carefully and burst hard before enemies close the gap.
Artificer's damage comes in two modes: burst from Charged Nano-Bomb (up to 2000% with full charge) and sustained from Flamethrower (1700% over 3 seconds). Everything else in her kit supports these two damage windows. Snapfreeze freezes enemies to make Flamethrower safer. Flame Bolts fill gaps between secondary cooldowns.
Artificer is unlocked by completing the Pause challenge - freeing her from a crystal in the Bazaar Between Time using Lunar Coins. The in-game hint only says "free the survivor suspended in time," making this one of the most cryptic unlocks in the game.
Collect 11 Lunar Coins by playing the game. Lunar Coins drop randomly from defeated enemies and persist between runs.
On any stage, find and activate a Newt Altar (a blue rocky shrine) by spending 1 Lunar Coin. You will see 'a blue orb has appeared' in chat.
Complete the teleporter event normally. A Blue Portal will appear near the teleporter. Enter it instead of taking the standard exit.
Inside the Bazaar Between Time, find the Artificer trapped in a crystal to the right of the Newt shopkeeper.
Pay 10 Lunar Coins to free her. This completes the Pause challenge and permanently unlocks Artificer.
Lunar Coins persist between runs and accumulate over time. You do not need 11 coins in a single run. Play normally across multiple sessions and you will naturally gather enough. Obliterating at the Obelisk at the end of a run grants 5 Lunar Coins at once, which speeds the process significantly.
Massacre: as Artificer, perform a multikill of 20 enemies. Group enemies near a teleporter event or use Artifact of Swarms to double spawns. A fully charged Nano-Bomb on a dense group completes this quickly.
Chunked!: defeat a teleporter boss in a single one-second burst. Use Artifact of Command to stack Crowbars, then open with a fully charged Nano-Bomb at full HP. Artifact of Glass dramatically helps.
Orbital Bombardment: kill 15 enemies while airborne in a single run. Use ENV Suit to hover and fire Flame Bolts and Nano-Bombs downward. Any enemy killed while you are off the ground counts.
Artificer's item priorities center on her secondary skills. Backup Magazine doubles her Nano-Bomb output. Kjaro's and Runald's Bands proc on every secondary cast since both start at 400% minimum. Soldier's Syringe speeds up charge time and increases Flamethrower tick count. Paul's Goat Hoof is mandatory given her total lack of a mobility skill.
Adds an extra Charged Nano-Bomb or Cast Nano-Spear charge. Firing two Nano-Bombs back to back is Artificer's highest burst window. Two secondary charges also let you proc Kjaro's and Runald's Bands twice per cooldown cycle.
Hits above 400% trigger a flame tornado. Every Charged Nano-Bomb (400%-2000%) and Cast Nano-Spear (400%-1200%) exceeds the threshold at minimum charge. Procs on each cast for guaranteed high-damage AoE on top of the spell.
Hits above 400% trigger an ice blast and 80% slow. Pairs directly with Kjaro's Band on every secondary cast. The slow is especially powerful for Artificer since it makes Flamethrower safer to use on slowed targets.
Attack speed decreases Nano-Bomb and Nano-Spear charge time, increases Flamethrower tick count and total damage, and decreases the cooldown per charge on Flame Bolt and Plasma Bolt since the SotS update.
10% crit per stack. Artificer's secondary crits deal double damage on the full charge (up to 4000% on Nano-Bomb at 100% crit). With Flamethrower, a single crit roll at the start makes all ticks critical for the full duration.
Artificer has no mobility skill by default. Movement speed is her only way to outrun enemies during Flamethrower's 3-second lockout and between cooldowns. Priority pickup every run.
18% chance on kill to drop an ammo pack that resets all cooldowns. Artificer's kills from Nano-Bomb and Flamethrower can trigger Bandolier resets, letting her cycle back to secondary and special faster.
Rerolls proc chances for favorable outcomes. Increases Kjaro's and Runald's Band proc frequency on every secondary cast, and boosts Flamethrower's ignite tick chances on every hit.
Artificer's combat rotation: hover with ENV Suit to gain height, fire Flame Bolts at targets to ignite while secondary recharges, launch a fully-charged Nano-Bomb at elites or groups, use Snapfreeze if enemies close in, then follow with Flamethrower while they are frozen. Repeat. Cooldown management is the core skill - never fire your secondary uncharged against important targets.
Primary: Flame Bolt - the ignite synergies and single-target consistency outperform Plasma Bolt in most situations. Secondary: Charged Nano-Bomb for more reliable AoE and higher max damage than Cast Nano-Spear. Special: Flamethrower - Ion Surge's 800% trades too much damage for the mobility benefit in most runs.
Snapfreeze into Flamethrower: Freeze enemies with Snapfreeze, then activate Flamethrower immediately. Frozen enemies cannot move into Flamethrower's close range, making the 3-second duration entirely safe. This is Artificer's most important combo for surviving close-range fights.
Sprint-charging Nano-Bomb: Start charging Charged Nano-Bomb, then immediately tap sprint to maintain movement. You can fully charge the bomb while running. This is essential for maintaining mobility without sacrificing secondary damage.
Flamethrower early cancel: Sprint or use any other skill to cancel Flamethrower mid-animation. This lets you recover mobility faster when threatened without waiting the full 3 seconds. You still deal all ticks up to the cancel point.
ENV Suit airtime management: Airtime is a resource. Using it to hover above combat is free positioning advantage, but Lesser Wisps and Brass Contraptions can still hit you while airborne. Descend quickly when flying enemies appear in large numbers.
Collect 11 Lunar Coins across any number of runs. Spend 1 on a Newt Altar to open a Blue Portal after the teleporter event, enter the Bazaar Between Time, and pay 10 Lunar Coins to free Artificer from the crystal to the right of the shopkeeper. Lunar Coins persist between runs so you do not need all 11 in one session.
Charged Nano-Bomb is generally stronger. It deals 400%-2000% versus Cast Nano-Spear's 400%-1200% and has a larger AoE blast radius that hits multiple enemies. Cast Nano-Spear's freezing effect and execute threshold are powerful against elites and can pierce through lines of enemies, making it stronger in specific situations and against Mithrix. For general play, Nano-Bomb wins on damage.
Backup Magazine first for double secondary charges, then Kjaro's and Runald's Bands which proc on every secondary cast, then Soldier's Syringe to speed up charge time and Flamethrower ticks, then Lens-Maker's Glasses for crit scaling on charged shots. Paul's Goat Hoof is mandatory early since Artificer has no mobility skill. Bandolier can reset secondary cooldowns off kills.
Flamethrower is stronger for damage output in the vast majority of situations - 1700% versus Ion Surge's 800%, plus Flamethrower stacks Kjaro's and Runald's Band procs across multiple ticks. Ion Surge is worth considering specifically against Mithrix where staying high in the air limits his ability to hit you, or in runs where you find good mobility items and want the repositioning tool.
No. Bosses are immune to the freeze effect from both Snapfreeze and Cast Nano-Spear. Snapfreeze deals its 100% damage to bosses but has no freezing effect on them. Cast Nano-Spear damages bosses but does not freeze them. The execute threshold from frozen enemies also does not apply to bosses.