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 s in the Downpour DLC. They begin the game in, with a variety of unique mechanics, including launching themself through the air with controlled explosions, being unable to die from any kind of explosion (with the exception of s, as even if the explosion does no damage, the spear does), 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 es. With less than 5 maximum Karma, echoes can only be encountered when at the highest Karma level possible and with 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 decreases by 1 level each cycle.
 * Initial Passage options are limited, as Artificer must visit four Echoes to have enough Karma to gain The Survivor. If the Remix option 'Passage progress without Survivor' is enabled, two passages count progress: The Wanderer and The Dragon Slayer. The Pilgrim always counts progress.
 * Artificer has very low lung capacity and drowns very quickly. Drowning causes their body to explode, instantly killing them.
 * The shock of a also causes Artificer to explode.
 * s are extremely common and always aggressive towards Artificer.
 * Any dead creature can be eaten for food.
 * Smaller creatures and plants only fill 0.25 food pips.
 * burns up and becomes used immediately when held.
 * Even if the Remix option "Pull spears from walls" is disabled, Artificer can pull staked out of walls.

World Changes

 * Predators are more common and more difficult.
 * Scavengers are more frequent and spawn in areas that they normally would not, notably on the path up The Wall to Five Pebbles.
 * 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 in better condition and no longer a dead end, instead connecting to the rest of the Waterfront Facility.
 * The Unfortunate Development part of Five Pebbles contains much less rot.

Stats
Artificer uses Hunter's stats.

[*] Artificer's breath interaction is hardcoded somewhere else; in practice, they have a lung capacity of ≈0.2x standard.

[†] Throwing skill affects velocity and trajectory.

Walking
Artificer runs at the same speed as the, allowing for tighter control while moving.

Bomb Jump
Pressing Jump and Grab while airborne causes Artificer to launch in the held direction. Once the bomb jump is performed, another cannot be performed until in contact with a floor or wall (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.

By default, Artificer starts smoking after performing 5 jumps in a row. The 6th causes them to drop held items and the 7th makes them fall over to the crouched state. The 8th and 9th stun them and the 10th jump causes a big explosion that kills them. The number of jumps Artificer can perform can be changed under the settings in the More Slugcats Expansion Remix menu.

Concussive Blast
If Down is held while initiating a bomb jump, Artificer instead creates a large explosion around themself, stunning creatures and disarming nearby s. Without any other inputs, Artificer lands from a blast in the crouched state.

Concussive blasts overheat Artificer about twice as fast as bomb jumps. However, the stun time is longer, allowing them to perform 7 of them before dying. This can be changed through the same setting as bomb jumps.

Mauling
Pressing and holding Grab while grabbing onto any live creature causes Artificer to maul it, dealing around 0.25 damage. This easily kills smaller creatures such as s and Grappling Worms. Creatures such as and s must be stunned first. Larger targets can be taken down by chaining a stun into a maul repeatedly, but this is risky and leaves Artificer open to other predators or overheating. It can also be used to demask a, despite not reaching the damage requirement.

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

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

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 within Garbage Wastes.
 * Avoid large groups of Scavengers, especially tolls. Despite Artificer's combat proficiency, large Scavenger parties can easily kill them.
 * Craft explosive Spears and Grenades 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 s. Despite their size, s and their variants are stunnable, and are extremely easy to defend against as a result.
 * When fighting Scavengers, avoid open ground; their superior range and throwing angles makes combat 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. Explosive spears are generally no more useful than standard spears, as both kill Scavengers in a single hit. Grenades, however, are extremely effective against groups.
 * Be wary of using Grenades at point-blank range. Although the Artificer does not take lethal damage, the stun period is usually long enough for other creatures to kill the Artificer.

Trivia

 * Artificer creates their explosives by coating objects with an explosive substance, which is produced from their mouth.
 * Artificer's scar is actually a recolored mushroom in-game.
 * Artificer was originally going to have a tutorial on their mauling ability, however this isn't seen in game and can only be found in the code.


 * The background story of the Artificer is revealed in dreams during hibernation.
 * A few of these are playable, though doing anything does not have any consequences.
 * They once took care of two Slugpups, but they were both killed by Scavengers due to one taking a pearl from a Toll. Because of this, the Artificer has taken perpetual revenge on the Scavengers. This also caused the scar on their face.