The latest Unearthed Arcana presents a new version of the Artificer for 5E D&D.  Right from the start, there's a few things to note.

• This is a work in progress. They say at the outset that it's a rough concept that hasn't been refined or fully tested. They're presenting it because they want feedback, not because they think it's perfect.
• This isn't designed for Eberron. The word "Eberron" never comes up in the article or introduction. The existence of an artificer class is obviously useful for Eberron, but this isn't specifically designed with Eberron in mind; it's an artificer that could exist in any setting, and that thus works with the general "magic items are rare" assumption of 5E D&D.
• I haven't tried it out. I'm juggling a lot of projects right now, and I haven't had a chance to review the class in depth.

Having said all of that, I'm not going to go into a detailed analysis of mechanics and balance. They aren't claiming that it's balanced; that's the point of pushing it out into the world. What I'm concerned with is how it fits into Eberron and how it lines up with the original Eberron artificer.

THE GOOD

This is a big step forward from the last version of the artificer we saw in Unearthed Arcana, where it was a wizard subclass. We have a d8 hit die, light and medium armor proficiency, and proficiency with thieves tools... all things missing from the wizard and more in line with the original artificer. Just having it as a standalone class is important, because it allows for subclasses, unique spells, and similar features. I like the Tool Specialist and Magic Item Analysis features. So I like the foundation.

Wondrous Invention and Superior Attunement seem like a reasonable step at blending one of the core concepts of the artificer -- being able to create magic items -- with the low-magic foundation of 5E. You can't make ANY item as a 3.5 Artificer could... but it still provides the artificer with the ability to say "Good thing I made these goggles of night!" I haven't had time to review the item lists and really think about the impact on character balance, but it seems like a good start.

THE BAD

In Eberron, the artificer is presented as a magical engineer -- someone who approaches magic in the same way a technician approaches technology. The artificer's spells are all infusions, and all reflect the artificer's ability to temporarily cobble together short-term magic items. This is most strongly represented by the infusions Armor Augmentation, Weapon Augmentation and Spell-Storing Item. The Augmentations allow the artificer to temporarily infuse weapon or armor with an enchantment -- making your hammer Undead Bane when the vampire shows up, or adding some fire resistance to your armor when things get hot. Spell-Storing Item is the cornerstone of the artificer for me: it allows you to attempt to create a one-shot wand of almost any low-level spell, but with a chance of catastrophic failure. To me, this ties to the concept of the artificer as a magical hacker. The artificer doesn't know the rituals and formulas a wizard uses to reliable create a fireball over and over. But she understands the principles of generating magical fire, and if you give her a moment she can put something together; just hope it doesn't blow up in her face.

The critical point is that this emphasizes the idea of the artificer as someone who works with magic; again, spell-storing item is essentially about creating one-shot wands. One of the protagonists in my Dreaming Dark novels, Lei d'Cannith, is an artificer and I frequently represent her as weaving tapestries of magic to create her tools. She also makes regular use of spell-storing item and the augmentation spells.

By contrast, the foundation of the UA artificer is about magic... but the specialties are not. The alchemist specialty seems like it could be fun at low levels, and I love it as a way to represent a Zil alchemist. We've always said that the Zil were the masters of alchemy and that they manufacture alchemical weapons, and I love the concept of the gnome alchemist darting around and blowing things up. But that's an alchemist, not an artificer. The focus here seems to be as much on science (chemistry) as on magic. Yes, the inexhaustible alchemist's satchel is clearly magical, but the general effect is that the character is running around throwing flasks of acid and fire; it is more mundane than using spell-storing item to create a one-shot wand of fireball.

So: I like the alchemist, but it doesn't feel like a classic artificer to me. On the other hand, for Eberron specifically, I have bigger issues with the gunsmith. Because the gunsmith is presented as USING A GUN: an alchemical device that explicitly fires lead bullets. I've never liked firearms in Eberron because I've always emphasized that people in Eberron solve their problems with magic instead of technology: make a wand of magic missiles or enchant a crossbow, don't invent gunpowder. Next we have the obvious question: If this is a technological device, why is the artificer the only one who can use it? How is it that the Thunder Cannon becomes inert the moment the artificer hands it to a friend? If that's the intent - that it is magical, and that's why the artificer is the only one who can use it - then in my opinion, don't make it a gun. Make it a literal boomstick, a staff that functions as a gun in the hands of the artificer, but which is clearly a magical tool. Or make it about elemental binding - it's a rod with a fire elemental bound into it. In Eberron, I posited the existed of siege staffs instead of gunpowder artillery - essentially, magical staffs the size of tree trunks, enchanted for maximum range and area of effect. They serve the same FUNCTION as cannons, but they are tied to the existing wand/staff "technology" of the world, as opposed to introducing an entirely different paradigm.

Essentially, in Eberron the artificer is a magical engineer who manipulates magic as if it's technology. Both of the UA specialties bring in a degree of mundane science - gunpowder or chemistry - that push them away from the vision of the artificer as the person who understands the principles of MAGIC. It becomes a blending of magic and ACTUAL technology, which is something I generally sought to avoid in Eberron. Warforged aren't steam-powered; they are golems, operating on entirely magical principles.

WITH ALL THAT SAID: I still think that this is a very good start, and I can see that both these specialties work for the idea of the artificer-as-technological-tinker, which might be exactly what you want in most settings. And I think that in Eberron, many problems could be solved by adding additional infusions to the artificer spell and a specialty path that is specifically tied to Eberron. Spell-Storing Item was an infusion, not a class feature; it's something that could easily be added to the artificer spell list in an Eberron sourcebook.

So overall, I'm happy with the article. It creates a general-purpose artificer that I can see fitting into a range of settings, and it's a big step forward from the last version. It creates a foundation that could be adapted to Eberron. I think I'd have fun with an alchemist, at least at low levels. And as for the gunsmith, in MY campaign I'd shift the Thunder Cannon to be an entirely magical tool, but that doesn't invalidate the concept... and I know there are many people who DO like gunpowder in their chocolate, who I'm sure will love it as is.

Update

On consideration, most of my issues are cosmetic. If you shift the appearance of the Gunsmith and Alchemist to a more magical interpretation, I'm happy to give them a try. Rather than having the Alchemist hurl flasks of oil, his "Alchemist's satchel" could be a bandolier of components that he uses to assemble one-use charms and wands. The effects he can produce are identical, it's just a different tone. Likewise, if the Thunder Cannon is a mystical tool - perhaps a weird variant of wand and staff that's the size and weight of a log - I'm happy with the "Wandsmith."

There's still things I'd change. I'm not thrilled about every artificer having a construct companion, and I'm REALLY not thrilled about that companion being a Large creature; I might have a construct owl, but I don't want to be followed around by something the size of a horse. I like the idea that the Mechanical Servant could be a path feature or swapped out for another Wondrous invention. I'd add a few new infusions for Eberron. But I'm certainly interested in playing around with it.

What are your thoughts on the latest UA Artificer?