An artificer from the Dungeons and Dragons franchise needs to be smart and able to work with their hands. They have to be creative and can overcome many situations and obstacles using their innovation and ingenuity. Some artificers are built more for fighting, while others are geared toward defense.
It is no secret that Marvel’s Tony Stark is a genius character whose constructs have gone on to save the day on countless occasions. So, it might seem obvious that Stark and his Iron Man persona would fall squarely into the artificer class if built in a D&D campaign. However, there are a few other classes that might fit a well-armored fighter like Iron Man.
10 Artificer: He Creates Powerful Constructs
Tony Stark was a billionaire and a genius, which made him the perfect character to build something as powerful and technologically advanced as the Iron Man suit. The artificer is famous for its proficiency with tinker’s tools and its ability to imbue items with magic, which is exactly what the kind of science Tony Stark employs might look like in a fantasy-style game.
Furthermore, subclasses such as the “battle smith” have a construct that can follow them, and the “armorer” subclass from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything has high-powered defenses.
9 Wizard: He Is Extremely Intelligent, Has Powerful Attacks, And Can Fly
The wizard is an intelligence-based class that, while not focusing on magical constructs or scientific achievements, focuses more on the power of magic. Since science and magic are often blurred in Dungeons and Dragons, it makes sense that they could overlap or be used in place of one another for characters who are looking for a more traditional class than artificer.
The wizard class has spells that can achieve a lot of the same powers that Iron Man has, including flying, using blasts of fire or energy, and creating magical defenses to block attacks.
8 Artificer: He Has Steel Defenses
One of the most Iron Man-like things in D&D is the armorer artificer. It can use intelligence for weapon attacks, not unlike how Tony Stark uses the Iron Man suit with his intellect rather than brute force, and they can also pack on the armored defenses without having to pack a high strength.
The armorer can choose between being defense focused or ranged focus, but the tank-like qualities of this artificer subclass are unparalleled and fit incredibly well for those trying to build a D&D character modeled after Iron Man.
7 Paladin: He Never Stops Fighting For Good
Tony Stark may not always do “good,” but he always does things for the good of the world, and this is such a complicated dynamic that it often plagues paladins. Tony Stark found himself wrestling with that question when he built Ultron and when he sacrificed himself on multiple occasions.
The paladin is also afforded great radiant power that can look a lot like Iron Man’s blasts. Furthermore, the paladin often is built with defense and armor in mind (being that they often take on tank roles), which follows the steel defenses thread of character creation.
6 Artificer: He Is A Inventive Genius
One of the artificer’s key features is the “flash of genius,” which is a seventh-level ability that allows the player to add their intelligence modifier to their ability checks and saving throws, adding another moment when intelligence becomes an incredibly important skill for the artificer.
Tony Stark has been struck by flashes of genius on many occasions in the Marvel universe, and it is part of what sees him through so many dangerous situations. He is always able to come up with a solution to a problem at the last moment when the options are no longer so clear.
5 Fighter: He Has Quick-Handed Combat Maneuvers
The ability to make multiple attacks in one turn is a feature that makes the fighter class such a fun class to play, and it translates well to many superheroes who focus more on hand-to-hand combat than other tricks and gimmicks. Iron Man is a quick fighter, despite the clunkiness of armor, so the extra attacks would explain a lot.
However, subclasses such as the eldritch knight would also explain the energy blasts, explosions, and other features that the Iron Man suit is fitted out with. Furthermore, if he took the “heavy armor master” feat, he could maintain those steel defenses.
4 Artificer: He Has Proficiency In Fire Arms
While Iron Man’s attacks are not necessarily a traditional form of firearm, they function similarly, sending out missiles, explosions, beams of energy, and even homing lasers to combat foes. Iron Man has to be proficient in firearms to make adequate use of these abilities.
While the nature of traditional, gunpowder-style weapons are not uniform or even existent across all D&D platforms, modules, and head cannons, for those Dungeon Masters that do use them, the artificer is said to be proficient at the skill.
3 Cleric: He Has Been Able To Heal Himself And Others Against All Odds
Tony Stark has beaten all odds and been able to fabricate a way to heal himself, or at least stave off certain death, with his knowledge. He even created the arc reactor prototype when he was hit with shrapnel. While other intelligence-based classes, such as the wizard or the artificer, do not have great (or sometimes any) healing abilities, the cleric does.
The cleric is also a character known for blasts of radiant energy, packing on armor or shields, and is also able to heal themselves and others. The only caveat is that the cleric functions primarily on wisdom, though that is not to say one could not build an intelligence-heavy cleric.
2 Artificer: He Is Always Able To Figure Something Out In A Pinch
One of Tony Stark’s best qualities is being able to create incredible things out of virtually nothing. Fans saw this in the first Iron Man movie when he was captured in Afghanistan and on many other occasions. He is quick on his feet, and he always knows how to use scraps to build useful things.
The artificer is also known for this, as they can use “right took for the job” to build any artisan’s tool-set using their primarily set of gadgets (either thieves’ or tinkerer’s tools typically). From there, they could craft anything they could conceivably need, and it was all done from scratch at a moment’s notice.
1 Barbarian: He Has Tank Qualities That Can Withstand A Lot Of Damage
Using his suit, Iron Man can take a serious amount of damage, and often, Tony Stark cannot even feel that damage. His armor takes it instead. A class that is famous for its ability to take hit after hit is the barbarian.
The barbarian not only packs an incredibly strong punch, but it can also become resistant to many types of damage just by becoming angry. While the barbarian uses its sheer rage and toughness to take hits while unarmored, though, Iron Man has armor. So, reflavoring would be a must to build Iron Man as a barbarian.
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