Thanks for the input guys!
Actually, one of my friends did most of the alchemist discoveries. I think my only contributions there were the Greater Tanglefoot Bag and all the ones at the bottom patterned off the Mephistopheles Kiss invocation. Haven't even begun looking at 5th level spells for the artificer list yet, mainly because there's so much on my plate already and 17th level is quite a ways off.
I'm not that concerned about Strong Arm breaking the conventions for thrown weapon range because to my mind, alchemist formulas are more like reskinned cantrips with better scaling. You don't track weight or ammunition, you just keep using them at-will so long as you have your
spell component pouch alchemist's satchel. As cantrips, 30' is absurdly poor range, and alchemists don't get any other offensive abilities or spells so they really need something to make up the difference. I might consider dropping Strong Arm down to 60' or re-fluffing it as a special alchemist's slingshot for the sake of verisimilitude, though.
Will definitely consider those suggestions about Agonizing Alchemy, Swift Alchemy, and Greater Swiftstride.
As for Sacred Ward, I did skim through the books looking for similar spells to use for reference but apparently missed Hallow? I remember it from earlier editions but didn't see it in this one. Looking it up though, Hallow is massively more powerful than Sacred Ward. It's got twice the radius, is
permanent until dispelled, works on bunch of other creatures types instead of just undead, doesn't offer a save, and has a ton of extra effects added on. Sacred Ward is literally just Turn Undead (a second level ability) with a longer duration and activation time.
I do agree I might have "underpriced" Sacred Ward, though. The duration is increased a lot more than the casting time, and the fact that it doesn't use resources could be an issue if someone decides to spend their downtime plastering these all over town. I wouldn't say it's anywhere near equivalent to a 5th level spell, but it definitely needs something else to balance it down if I want to keep it in the same ballpark as Turn Undead.
Ironically, thanks to some input from the player I'm going to have to start over on that one anyway.
The concept we're going for now is for the ability to craft a kind of divinely-infused incense that wards against undead... (Like a citronella candle for zombies) ...with the downside that breathing it for too long can have unfortunate consequences on the living as well.
Basically, they're Holy Smokes that gives you the Holy Sh--s.
This version's going to be a little tougher to balance. The side effects are intended to discourage using it for extended periods, but it's only a matter of time before someone tries to weaponize that "drawback." Add to the fact that an ongoing Turning effect usable as an action is flat out better than Turn Undead, and I really wanted to keep these abilities roughly equivalent. The player has said they'd
like it to be something they could craft during downtime and give out to other people (like town guards), but that isn't an absolute requirement. They're also okay with having it require spell slots to use, so maybe a ritual spell that can be cast in combat or done as a ritual between fights, that infuses a stick of incense with this effect? I think I'd definitely prefer this be something like a spell or a craftable than a class feature, because I'd feel weird having it be something only the custom monster-hunter class I'm making can do and not, for example, Clerics--who basically specialize in this kind of thing.
Honestly I could use some suggestions, because I'm a little out of brain at the moment.