You are forgetting a few things;
This was a very informative and useful post for getting a grasp on the real issues. Thank you very much.
1) While you may have 16 uses for your potions (4 each), you only have 4 different potions per session. That's it. 4 different effects in however many scenes can be played out per session. On the other hand, the evocation-wizard has 4 different effects per scene with his evocation. That's an order of magnitude more flexibility than you.
Yes. Although, Evocation is more limited in it's range of effects than the potions are.
2) Regardless of what you do, enchanted item strength (potions included) is limited to twice your Lore, period. That's 10, 9 for you if you don't augment with declarations. A wizard's basic strength at this level can be 8 shifts for his spells but that's only his minimum. He can go up to 11 without any consequences. If required, he could go up to 15 with mild consequences.
I forgot about that when typing the sentence you're referring to. You're right, of course. The limit for the potions is 10 shifts. It might be reasonable to get the GM to say invoking aspects can surpass that limit, but that's a GM's call, and the rules don't say you can. Again, of course, the point about evocation vs. potions. Yes, the wizard can get more shifts, but he can only do evocation-like stuff.
3) Your attacks are based off discipline. That's a +4 attack. Against a ghoul, you have 50% chance of hitting and in an average roll you do 9 stress. A wizard's attack is his control roll, which is about +8, maybe +9 at this refresh. He hits 98% of the time and in an average roll he deals 13 stress. He is nearly 3 times more effective in every attack than you are.
This is a very good point. I'm not quite sure how to address this. Is there a way you can suggest to modify this build to have better attacks, or do you think it's fated to be much less effective than evocation? It is worth noting that the Artificer has 3 free attacks per session before spending mental stress, but it still doesn't make up for the problem you are pointing out.
Scene 1: Graveyard at midnight
The group (wizard, artificer, mortal investigator/scholar, white court socialite) has tracked down an evil cult in the general area and must stop a bad ritual from happening. The investigator begins tracking down the cults movements but soon the group is surrounded by a thick, vision-blocking unnatural mist.
Challenge 1: 12-shift thaumaturgy veil that makes it impossible to move on. The group is pressed for time. The graveyard is a place of much death and horrible emotions - using the sight will trigger +5 backlash each exchange.
Assuming the group manages to pierce the veil or otherwise go forth, the investigator leads you on until two vaguely humanoid lumps of earth rise to block the path.
Challenge 2: 2 golems. Supernatural Strength and Toughness, +5 fists, defend with endurance of +5 vs physical and mental attacks/maneuers. The investigator has effective lore of 7 due to various occultist stunts so quickly recognizes their weakness as crushing attacks.
Assuming the group manages to overcome the golems, the way opens up to a crypt defended by
Challenge 3: over a dozen thugs in covered positions on it. The graves in the ground prevent sprinting. The White Court socialite manages to convince several of them to leave without a fight (social combat) but 8 of them still remain on the crypt, 3 zones away.
Assuming the group gets rid of the mortal thugs, the trail leads to the crypt where there are energies gathering inside. Soon enough the big dark ritual migh be complete. But...
Wow. You have a gift for DFRPG encounter design. This is much cooler and tougher than anything I've thrown at my players. For the first challenge, the Artificer is best off assisting the Wizard. He declares (using Lore) one of his potions to be a "Magical Supercharger"; giving sticky, two free tags "magically supercharged" aspect to the drinker. He lets the Wizard drink one dose, and notes on his sheet what the potion does and his remaining doses. One nice thing about the artificer is that his thaumaturgy potions allow him to play well with others.
The second challenge is easier, as his right ring does force attacks, which could easily be described as crushing. If he needs help hitting the bad guy, he can drink one of the potions he declared in the last challenge. It's worth noting that his protective item works well in protecting him here, as these golems aren't going to beat it's Block strength of 9. Here the Artificer would do as well as the wizard, at least, if it wasn't for the low attack roll problem you already pointed out. Any suggestions for improvement, there?
A quick Thaumaturgy veil over the group makes short work of challenge #3, without spending any resources. Of course, a very high lore wizard has the same option.
Scene 2: The Crypt
Challenge 1: The crypt is protected by a fairly powerful ward of 13 shifts. The group has only a few minutes to get in there and interrupt the ritual; they can either do something fast with the ward and use the rest of the time to catch their breath (healing stress) or they could attempt to do a big enough but slow group thaumaturgy to unravel the ward.
Assuming the group bypasses the ward, they are
Challenge 2: immediately attacked by 3 specters that appear in the same zone coming out of the floor. Supernatural Toughness, inhuman speed poltergeists with a touch that rips apart living things (claws), athletics 5+1 fists 3, endurance 3. They are weak to lightning and spirit attacks.
Big Fight: inside the crypt there are two toad demons summoned by 11-shift spells, an 11-shift ward and inside the ward there is a male and a female warlock working on their ritual. They still need 10 exchanges to finish it and summon the big demon. There is a minor leyline below the crypt - cutting off power with a magic circle is impossible.
Challenge 1 is another situation where the Artificer and the Wizard benefit from Synergy, especially considering the left over supercharging potions. Either method of taking down this ward involves the Wizard and Artificer working together to avoid consequences.
Challenge 2 is like the golem fight. The right ring uses force attacks, which are spirit.
Big fight is interesting. This is, of course, the scene where you beg your GM to let aspects add the full +2 to your potions, but we'll assume he says no. The Toad demons are pretty scary, but my high lore check done as a free action tells me they are very weak against mental attacks. Being non-human, it's not lawbreaking to use a psychic attack potion on them. Down they go, just as easy as the Wizard's 11 shift counterspell, if not easier. Taking down an 11-shift ward in combat time is something beyond this build, which frankly sucks. Luckily, this build still has a use left of the potion to help the wizard do it. Your examples have convinced me that counter-spelling is a major weakness of this build. Any suggestions there?
Disrupting the ritual once the ward is down is easy with his remaining potions, or his force-blast ring. Fallout from disrupting the ritual may get harsh.