Can an Alchemist combine their subclass bonus with an Enhanced Arcane Focus?

Question

Enhanced Arcane Focus is an artificer infusion that's applied to a rod, staff, or wand, and adds +1 to spell attack rolls.

Alchemist artificers also get the Alchemical Savant feature, which lets them add their Intelligence modifier to healing and elemental damage rolls when they use alchemist's supplies as the focus.

On the surface, it seems like these features can't be combined: Enhanced Arcane Focus can't apply to the specific focus needed for Alchemical Savant. But artificers have a lot of versatility in the foci they use, and I know there are magic items out there that can improve this versatility further (like the Ruby of the War Mage).

Is there any way to use the attack bonus of Enhanced Arcane Focus (or any similar bonus to spell attack rolls, like a Wand of the War Mage) and the damage bonus of Alchemical Savant on the same spell?

Answer 1

You just have to be holding the Infused Item

Enhanced Arcane Focus says:

Item: A rod, staff or wand (requires attunement) . . . While holding this item, a creature gains +1 bonus to spell attack rolls.

It doesn't require you to cast spells through it, in fact the rod, staff or ward doesn't even need to be an Arcane Focus, just that you've infused an item of those three categories and are holding it (and are attuned!).

Then you proceed to, while holding it, cast spells holding in your other hand with your Alchemical Supplies, giving you the +1 (or +2 at 10th level) benefit.

Answer 2

Enhanced Arcane Focus cannot be used in conjunction with Alchemical Savant

The simple fact is that the Alchemical Savant feature requires the Artificer to be using their Alchemy Supplies as the spellcasting focus in order to gain the healing/damage bonus, but the Enhanced Arcane Focus infusion cannot be applied to Alchemy Supplies. So unless there exists a non-magical wand/staff/rod that can, somehow, double as a set of alchemy supplies (which there is no such item Rules as Written), it's not possible to benefit from both these features at once.

Answer 3

Been a while since anyone answered this but I just started playing an artificer/alchemist and just found it. I think you'll find if you look at the list of items in the Alchemist's kit, one of the listed items is a small glass rod for stirring. Which means, of course, that you can totally use it as a focus, and benefit from Alchemical Savant at the same time.