Playtest Report: Arcanist 4


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Sovereign Court

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Hi folks,
Yesterday we arranged a 3-table-organisation in Istanbul to test new advanced classes. All participants played with a 4th level advanced class. We used PFS senarios to test the characters. On my table, we were Arcanist(me), Bloodrager, Brawler and Warpriest.

Briefly my character;

Tiefling Arcanist Level 4

Spoiler:
Ablity Scores:
Str: 8
Dex: 14
Con: 14
Int: 19
Wis: 10
Cha: 12
Saving Throws:
Fort: +4
Ref: +3
Will: +4

Exploits:
-Potent Magic
-Dimensional Slide

Feats:
-Spell Focus(Illusion)
-Combat Casting

Traits:
-Resilient: +1 to Fortitude saves
-Suspicious: +1 on Sense Motive, and becomes class skill

Ranked Skills:
Appraise +8, Bluff +7, Fly +6, Kn(Arcana) +11, Kn(Planes) +9, Kn(Dungeoneering/Nature/Religion) +8, Linguistics +8, Perception +2, Sense Motive +5, Spellcraft +11, Stealth +5

Prepared Spells: (level- spell name, DC)
Cantrips: Daze, Detect Magic, Disrupt Undead, Ghost Sound, Mage Hand, Read Magic

1- Colour Spray, 16
1- Grease, 15
1- Vanish, -

2- Minor Image, 17

My idea for preparing the spells is; for living creatures I will use colour spray to lock them and for mindless creatures I will use grease to make them fall prone. These both spells are good for spamming.

With starting money, I bought scrolls of mage armour (for lack of protection) and a wand of magic missile (if everything fails, this spell hits!).

I really like the idea of having a spellbook like a wizard with a little prepared spells per day like a sorcerer. This makes her a flexible sorcerer. In my opinion, this class needs scribe scroll feat. She has a spellbook but her prepared spells per day is very limited.

During the game, I spammed colour spray for minions. And for tough guys I boost my spells with spending arcane reservoir points. +2 to DC is an incredible boost (potent magic exploit). In addition, dimensional slide literally saved my life, I suppose this exploit should be taken in every arcanist build. I had 4 arcane reservoir points per day, so it is nice to burn a spell slot to gain reservoir points.

Like other spellcasters, combat casting feat is a must (especially if you use very close range spells like me, colour spray).

The revision of arcanist made her better. As I tested, this exploit idea is fantastic and very useful. However arcanist seems lost her sorcerer features. In Pathfinder, bloodline defines the characteristics of sorcerer but arcanist has no bloodline related stuff.

As a seperate arcane class, I really like arcanist. However she does not give me the feel of wizard/sorcerer. I would like to see some bloodline features.

---

Lastly, my observations about the other classes on my table:

Bloodrager: Seems like a very enjoyable class, the bloodline adds him a new delight. Also the powers that he gains does not obsolete the original barbarian class.

Brawler: I did not feel anything special about this one. He was like an unarmed fighter during the game. Gaining feats as a move action is an useful feature.

Warpriest: A typical battle cleric, no interesting fusion like bloodrager. As a divine class fanatic, I am disappointed.

Thanks for reading!


Shouldn't you have had 3 arcane reservoir uses per day? I thought it was 1 + half your level, so you'd start out at 3.

Sovereign Court

Yes, you are right. Seems I mistyped.
Correcting it right now.

Edit: I cannot edit the first post, anyway the arcane reservoir points should be 3 as you mentioned, not 4.

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