How do you play the Artificer at higher difficulties?

Question

After playing RoR2 for a while, I'm hitting this wall whenever I try to boot up the Artificer.
She's the only character that lacks any kind of mobility or defensive power, and instead has a ton of cooldown-based attack powers, the intent being that she unloads all of her attacks on a target and kills them before they can damage her.  She's also known for being a "boss slayer".
However, a full rotation of her powers is unlikely to deal more than 50% of the boss's HP, and that's after including her melee-range flamethrower.
In most instances, I'm finding myself getting killed during the boss fights on the first and second levels on Normal, and I can't seem to progress more than that.  I'm not sure if it's a lack of experience either, as when I play the melee Mercenary, I can survive several loops without breaking a sweat.
When the artificer isn't able to burst down a target before it becomes a threat, what does she do to survive?

CDClarke · Accepted Answer

The general gameplay goal for playing Artificer is similar to the rest of the cast, you just have to play it even more carefully - never stop moving, and be efficient with your skill usage.
For Artificer, this means always jumping and strafing even while unloading your damage into your target. In addition, you need to juggle your cooldowns carefully to ensure you have as little "downtime" as possible - if you're stuck at any point with all your skills on cooldown, you're doing something wrong.
The pattern I like to follow is -

Unload all four fireballs at just under top speed
Fully charge a nano-bomb and throw it
Fireballs are now recharged, unload those at just under top speed
Unload flamethrower on the target (this restricts your sprinting but you can still jump and strafe for safety)
Repeat

This pattern generally should mean you always have damage to output. You'll need to practice also throwing ice walls out for more damage/buying more time for cooldowns/controlling crowds in between your regular cycle of skill usage.
It should also be noted that your top priority early-game with Artificer will be to get movement items - Hopoo Feather, Wax Quail and Paul's Goat Hoof are extremely important, more so than for other characters. Once you can move properly, survivability will be the next priority (Personal Shield Generator, etc.), then damage items. Artificer has plenty enough damage to deal with early game enemies, so those items are a bit lower priority until you reach the mid-game.

How do you play the Artificer at higher difficulties?

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