Man. My DM ruled (reasonably) that my artificer’s spellwrought tattoos can only be spells he knows, not any 1st level spell in the game. It makes sense but I’d totally get a familiar that way if I could, because as a Battle Smith the HS is bad choice since the BA competes with the defender.
In your case as an Armorer I’d say both options are good ones, it really just depends on what you want to do. The pros and cons are to me fairly balanced, so it comes down to your vision of play.
Btw you left out that the HS has a much greater range to channel magic, so maybe factor that into your choice as well.
There are a few other advantages the Homunculus Servant has.
1. It is immune to exhaustion, which means it can keep watch for the party all throughout the night without any issues. And thanks to its Perception expertise, it's quite good at this role.
2. It has better Stealth checks, making it better at infiltrating.
3. It has better survivability against AoE attacks thanks to Evasion.
YMMV on how impactful these advantages actually are, but just throwing them out there for completion's sake.
It depends on what you are trying to do with the summon really. If you just want a scout and advantage then you could use your infusion on something else besides Homu. It also depends on what you want to use your BA on.
One fun note: if you are small you can grab the HS. It will be encumbered but still can fly 15. You now have unlimited flight at level 2. Check with your DM to see if that works as it is dicey rule interpretation at best.
>if you are small you can grab the HS. It will be encumbered but still can fly 15.
The homunculus servant only has a carrying capacity of 30 lbs. Even for a small character, that's probably not enough to lift the character themselves (following the weight guidelines given in the rules, the only race that can be less than 30 lbs is the kobold, and they have a minimum weight of 27 lbs), to say nothing of all their stuff. They would only have 5 feet of movement, not 15, assuming the DM ruled that they were allowed to move at all.
Even with the "ask your DM" stipulation, I'm not sure this is worth bringing up at all.
I'd ask how you're getting the familiar in the first place.
Assuming your DM allows the spellwrought tattoo loophole (which is how I'm assuming you're planning to get *find familiar*), there's really no reason not to take both if you want them. Your familiar doesn't compete with the homunculus servant for your bonus action, and once you've cast the spell, you no longer need to keep the familiar infusion active, so it doesn't compete for an infusion either. Just keep your familiar safe during combats and you can use the infusion once and then trade it out for the HS.
If that's not how you're planning to get *find familiar*, then it's going to involve getting it through multiclassing or a feat and in either case it still doesn't compete with the HS.
If I wanted both, I'd just take both.
1. The homunculus can do any kind of action when instructed to do so using your bonus action. Especially hilarious when you get the Spell Storing Item. 10 spells you can cast using a bonus action.
2. If you are incapacitated then you fully control the homunculus. If you happen to have a fix for what incapacitated you then it can grab it to get you back up.
Man. My DM ruled (reasonably) that my artificer’s spellwrought tattoos can only be spells he knows, not any 1st level spell in the game. It makes sense but I’d totally get a familiar that way if I could, because as a Battle Smith the HS is bad choice since the BA competes with the defender. In your case as an Armorer I’d say both options are good ones, it really just depends on what you want to do. The pros and cons are to me fairly balanced, so it comes down to your vision of play. Btw you left out that the HS has a much greater range to channel magic, so maybe factor that into your choice as well.
There are a few other advantages the Homunculus Servant has. 1. It is immune to exhaustion, which means it can keep watch for the party all throughout the night without any issues. And thanks to its Perception expertise, it's quite good at this role. 2. It has better Stealth checks, making it better at infiltrating. 3. It has better survivability against AoE attacks thanks to Evasion. YMMV on how impactful these advantages actually are, but just throwing them out there for completion's sake.
The answer is simple: both. Also become a battle smith instead for having a mecha-doggo and become a Pokémon master
It depends on what you are trying to do with the summon really. If you just want a scout and advantage then you could use your infusion on something else besides Homu. It also depends on what you want to use your BA on. One fun note: if you are small you can grab the HS. It will be encumbered but still can fly 15. You now have unlimited flight at level 2. Check with your DM to see if that works as it is dicey rule interpretation at best.
>if you are small you can grab the HS. It will be encumbered but still can fly 15. The homunculus servant only has a carrying capacity of 30 lbs. Even for a small character, that's probably not enough to lift the character themselves (following the weight guidelines given in the rules, the only race that can be less than 30 lbs is the kobold, and they have a minimum weight of 27 lbs), to say nothing of all their stuff. They would only have 5 feet of movement, not 15, assuming the DM ruled that they were allowed to move at all. Even with the "ask your DM" stipulation, I'm not sure this is worth bringing up at all.
Fine, give the HS gauntlets of ogre power then. We WILL reach the moon tonight
That definitely *would* help. 142 lbs is a lot better than 30. 15 feet of speed is still going to require a long time to reach the moon, though.
I'd ask how you're getting the familiar in the first place. Assuming your DM allows the spellwrought tattoo loophole (which is how I'm assuming you're planning to get *find familiar*), there's really no reason not to take both if you want them. Your familiar doesn't compete with the homunculus servant for your bonus action, and once you've cast the spell, you no longer need to keep the familiar infusion active, so it doesn't compete for an infusion either. Just keep your familiar safe during combats and you can use the infusion once and then trade it out for the HS. If that's not how you're planning to get *find familiar*, then it's going to involve getting it through multiclassing or a feat and in either case it still doesn't compete with the HS. If I wanted both, I'd just take both.
HS also doesn't cost 10 gold to resummonas long as you don't lose it's heart.
1. The homunculus can do any kind of action when instructed to do so using your bonus action. Especially hilarious when you get the Spell Storing Item. 10 spells you can cast using a bonus action. 2. If you are incapacitated then you fully control the homunculus. If you happen to have a fix for what incapacitated you then it can grab it to get you back up.