I have a 5th level Alchemist that took craft wondrous items this level. Now the requirements for Belt of Incredible Dexterity include Cat’s Grace. I'm kinda new to magic item creation (first time I've taken craft wondrous as this is only the 2nd campaign I've been in that's gotten to 5th level.) and had a question Can I use dexterity mutagen instead of Cat’s Grace?
That said if I don't use cat's grace and dexterity mutagen doesn't work it's just a +5 to the DC of the craft check right and I can still make the belt correct?
Unless you house rule it, alchemists don't qualify for crafting feats and prereqs any more than any non-casting class that takes Master Craftsman first. In my game I allow it, but as written not so much.
Dex mutagen does not equal Cat's Grace extract. If you're house ruling that alchemists count as casters for crafting, then you'd be able to use the Cat's Grace extract to qualify for the spell known. Otherwise, as you said, ignore the spell prereq for +5 DC, but it's probably worth the gold to buy and scribe the formula anyways.
I got tripped up by this as well. By the rules-as-written (RAW), Alchemists do not have a caster level. They use their alchemist level as caster level for the purposes of Extracts and the Brew Potion feat, but that's it. Thus, they do not meet the prequisites of the other Item Crafting feats.
I got tripped up by this as well. By the rules-as-written (RAW), Alchemists do not have a caster level. They use their alchemist level as caster level for the purposes of Extracts and the Brew Potion feat, but that's it. Thus, they do not meet the prequisites of the other Item Crafting feats.
That's actually wrong. In the alchemist page it says:
"The alchemist uses his level as the caster level to determine any effect based on caster level."However if you want to argue that an alchemist isn't a caster perhaps you could explain why a non-caster has class skills for knowledge arcana and spell craft.
I got tripped up by this as well. By the rules-as-written (RAW), Alchemists do not have a caster level. They use their alchemist level as caster level for the purposes of Extracts and the Brew Potion feat, but that's it. Thus, they do not meet the prequisites of the other Item Crafting feats.That's actually wrong. In the alchemist page it says:
"The alchemist uses his level as the caster level to determine any effect based on caster level."However if you want to argue that an alchemist isn't a caster perhaps you could explain why a non-caster has class skills for knowledge arcana and spell craft.
You may want to read the first sentence in that paragraph.
APG, pg. 27: "Although the alchemist doesn't actually cast spells..."
The sentence you quoted is also pretty clearly limited to extracts, since the sentence right before it states: "An extract is "cast" by drinking it, as if imbibing a potion--the effects for an extract exactly duplicate the spell upon which its formula is based, save that the spell always effects only the drinking alchemist." In context, it's stating that the effects of an extract are based on the alchemist level, since an alchemist lacks a true "caster level."
As to why they have Knowledge (Arcana) and Spellcraft as class skills, they are researchers of the magical effects of alchemy. Heck, an NPC expert can have Knowledge (Arcana) and Spellcraft as class skills.
That said, an alchemist with Master Craftsman and Craft Wondrous Item can be useful, if somewhat limited by the Craft skill used. Even with the Craft (Alchemy) skill as the basis, there is a fairly decent range of dusts, elixirs, restorative ointment, salve of slipperiness, silversheen, sovereign glue, stone salve, ungent of timelessness, and universal solvent before getting into historical interpretations of alchemical transformation of gems, plants, and animal parts for various amulets, beads of force, elemental gems, feather tokens, gems of brightness, gems of seeing, ioun stones, necklace of fireballs, periapts, etc.