Artificer

''A fierce combatant, master of pyrotechnics and explosives. Keen to move up in the foodchain, your journey will surely be one lined with constant bloodshed and warfare.''

The Artificer is one of five playable Slugcats in the Downpour DLC. They begin the game in Garbage Wastes, with a variety of unique mechanics, including launching themself through air with controlled explosions, being unable to die from said explosions, turning s and into  in exchange for one food pip each, and holding s' corpses to temporarily gain higher Karma. Artificer is also accompanied by a small golden drone with a red eye.

For the main Slugcats page, see Slugcat.

Food
6 food pips are required to hibernate, while up to 3 may be stored for the next cycle.

Opening
The Artificer's opening fades in to show Artificer in Garbage Wastes, in the Scavenger Stronghold. After eating a dead Scavenger, Artificer approaches a small floating golden Drone, which activates and begins following them.

====Food:         ====

General Changes

 * Artificer is immune to damage from Explosives, but can still be stunned by them.
 * Scavengers attempt to kill Artificer on sight and Scavenger reputation cannot be increased. Kill squads are regularly sent out.
 * Artificer begins with 1 maximum Karma, which can be increased by meeting Echoes. With less than 5 maximum Karma, echoes can only be encountered when at the highest Karma level possible and having protection.
 * Scavengers now spawn with their own Karma levels and their corpses must be carried into Karma Gates to pass them. A dead Scavenger's Karma level will decrease by 1 level each cycle.
 * Scavengers are more frequent and spawn in areas that they normally would not, notably on the path from The Wall to Five Pebbles.
 * The Hunter and The Outlaw achievements are disabled. Combined with their gameplay, this severely limits passage opportunities.
 * Artificer has very low lung capacity and will drown quickly. Drowning will cause their body to explode.
 * Predators are more common and more difficult.
 * s are extremely common and always aggressive towards Artificer.
 * Any dead creature can be eaten for food.
 * Smaller creatures and plants only fill ¼ food pips.
 * burns up and becomes used immediately when held.

World Changes

 * Hard mode enemies are enabled. Several new enemies also appear.
 * is much more dangerous, with blue rot,, and some rooms filled with lethal acid instead of water. Some entirely new rooms can be accessed.
 * 's structures are in better condition, instead named.
 * is inaccessible, but can read colored pearls if they're brought to him.
 * The Precipice is no longer a dead end, instead connected to.
 * The Unfortunate Development part of Five Pebbles contains much less rot.

Walking
Artificer is much faster than, at around 2x speed.

Bomb Jump
Pressing Jump and Grab while airborne will cause Artificer to get launched in the held direction. Once the bomb jump is performed, another cannot be performed until in contact with a surface (with the exception of zero gravity and low gravity environments, where it can be used multiple times until exhausted). Artificer can throw objects downward and upward while bomb jumping. This ability is disabled while holding a. If Down is held while initiating a bomb jump, Artificer will instead create a large explosion around themself, stunning creatures and disarms nearby s. Since this requires both Down and Grab to be held, Artificer will drop their held item after doing this. Artificer starts smoking after performing several explosions of either kind in a row; performing another in this state will cause them to be stunned, dropping anything they were holding.

By default, Artificer can perform 10 bomb jumps in succession before dying. This can be changed under the settings in the More Slugcats Expansion remix menu.

Mauling
Pressing and holding Grab while grabbing onto any live creature causes the Artificer to maul it, dealing around 0.25 damage. This can be used to easily kill passive creatures such as s and Grappling Worms for food. Squidcadas can be killed this way if they are stunned. It can also be efficiently combined with their self-explosion while holding down to dispatch stunned creatures such as s. Chaining a stun into a maul repeatedly can be used to kill larger targets, but it can be risky and leaves Artificer open to other predators or overexertion.

Crafting
Artificer can make any s explosive at the cost of one food pip by holding the Grab button. turns into s and Flashbangs into Lanterns when swallowed at 1 or more hunger, consuming 1 food pip in the process.

Sofanthiel
Sofanthiel is the 's companion drone. It's a golden floating device with a single red eye.

If the Artificer meets, he reveals that Sofanthiel is a citizen ID drone that once belonged to one of the Ancients that created him. After re-syncing it with his systems, he returns it to Artificer and informs them of the Scavenger infestation in his. As the device effectively allows them to masquerade as a citizen, they're able to enter it and wipe out the Scavengers ransacking its ruins.

Tips

 * Going left from the starting zone is strongly discouraged, except for highly experienced players. Besides a very dangerous scavenger toll blocking passage, far harder enemies await the player deeper in and will likely cause a player to quit before even getting the hang of things.
 * Avoid large groups of scavengers, especially tolls. Despite Artificer's combat proficiency, the sheer number of Scavengers will easily overwhelm them.
 * Craft explosive spears and bombs liberally; creatures can be hunted and killed with them to gain back spent food.
 * Use Artificer's explosive abilities whenever possible; the cooldown is short and both the mobility and defense can dispatch foes easily and allow for extremely fast travel and evasion.
 * A well-timed stun can counter a leaping attack, especially from.
 * When fighting Scavengers, avoid open ground; their superior range and throwing angles will make combat more difficult. Try to get close as they can be stunned to drop their weapons and easily dispatched. A well timed bomb jump can be used to dodge a thrown spear, possibly even letting it hit a scavenger behind you. Don't bother making them explosive, as they are generally no more useful than a standard spear in this scenario. Bombs, however, are an extremely effective way of dealing with scavengers.
 * Be wary of using bombs at point-blank range when there are Scavengers nearby or in the next room. Although the Artificer does not take lethal damage from the explosion, the stun period is usually long enough for a Scavenger to come in and kill the Artificer.