Alchemist with Mark of Handling/Witherbloom: Mounted Support Build

Hi. This is part 3 of my series of Alchemist builds using GGR/SCC backgrounds and Dragonmark races to add spells to the artificer list.

Disclaimer: I’m not (usually) claiming the Alchemist is the BEST subclass to use these spells, or that other Artificer subclasses can’t do a better job at the same thing. But I am going to try and show how the Alchemist can be built in interesting ways and defend my reasoning.

The Mark of Handling might seem like an odd one to consider or pair with the Alchemist, but it is in fact crucial for a specific spell combo: Beacon of Hope + Wither and Bloom. Mark of Handling gives us Beacon of Hope (otherwise only accessible with 5 levels of Cleric or 9 levels of Devotion Paladin), which maximizes all healing for affected creatures. It requires concentration, but comes with a nice defensive buff and applies to your healing elixirs as well as your spells.

Wither and Bloom allows one creature in the spell’s area to roll a hit die and regain hp equal to the roll + your Spellcasting modifier, and you can apply Alchemical Savant to the necrotic damage starting at level 5. At level 9, Beacon of Hope becomes available to maximize the healing. Starting from Artificer 10, you can replicate a Periapt of Wound Closure, which doubles the hit points regained when you roll a hit die. Finally, at Artificer 11 you can put Wither and Bloom into a Spell Storing Item. You now have a grenade launcher that deals 2d6 + Int necrotic damage and heals somebody in the area for upwards of 24 hp. A nice DM might even let you apply Alchemical Savant to the healing part of the spell, though the logic is a bit shaky (does rolling the hit die to heal count as a “roll of the spell” that restores hit points? It’s a close call, but probably not).

So that is the beautiful core combo of this build. Other nice things include Cure Wounds and Inflict Wounds (also a strong contender for the Spell Storing Item) from Witherbloom. From Mark of Handling there are a few other spells that complement the Alchemist nicely: Beast Sense potentially allowing you to scout using a befriended animal instead of a homunculus, as a ritual to boot; Calm Emotions giving you a bit of inexpensive condition management and sometimes soft control; Conjure Animals - need I say more?; Aura of Life, Dominate Beast, and Awaken are all strong, if situational.

Another niche you can explore with this combination is befriending or charming an animal, then giving it a Transformation Elixir to make its natural weapon magical and give it a +1. Because you get to name the natural weapon created by Alter Self, the beast should still be able to use it with Multiattack if it has it. Just make sure it’s got the same name as the attack mentioned in the beast’s multiattack. Or, you could convince a land-based creature to use the aquatic adaptation. Usually, special traits like Pounce or Charge or Trample mechanically have nothing to do with the environment the animal is in.

That’s pretty much it! I would make a beeline for Artificer 11 to get the combo pieces in place and not delay your spell progression too much. You can build this as a pure Artificer all the way from level 1 to 20, but the usual multiclass options are viable too. A splash of Order Cleric would be a nice synergistic choice IMO since you can trigger Voice of Authority with the healing part of Wither and Bloom.

So while unnecessary, it just feels wrong to make a Mark of Handling build and miss an opportunity to use Mounted Combatant. There are even more fun synergies available to you through this feat, like getting advantage on your attack roll for Inflict Wounds even when casting it through your Homunculus from 120 feet away. Or you can use a Repulsion Shield to bounce away attackers that target your mount by forcing them to target you.

Starting Ability Scores

Str 12, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 15, Wis 13, Cha 8
Racial Boosts: Dex 14, Int 17

Feats/ASIs

4: Skill Expert (Int 18/+4, Animal Handling expertise)

8: Mounted Combatant

12: Int 20/+5

16: Fey-touched (Wis 14/+2, beast bond)

• beast bond is not a great spell, but if you’re ever going to use it it’s probably while mounted. Having a free cast once per long rest via Fey-touched at least makes it an option when you’re running low on resources.

19: I dunno. Con +2? Alert? There are some options.

Infusions

Homunculus Servant is great for delivering Inflict Wounds at range.

Armor of Magical Strength is a good choice when mounted. Forced movement typically happens on a strength save (hence the 12 strength for this build), and if you’re knocked prone you can fall off your mount so this infusion lets you avoid that.

I mentioned the Replicate infusion for Periapt of Wound Closure above. Gauntlets of Ogre Power could be handy just for boosting your strength saves, but they aren’t necessary. A Cloak of Protection is probably just as good or better.

Your remaining infusions are best used to buff your party. For the most part you won’t be able to give any magic items to your mount, but you can ask your DM. The DMG does say that magic items generally expand or shrink to fit the wearer within reason.