Arcanist build advice (Mummy's Mask)

[Jiggy]

I'm going to be starting Mummy's Mask in about a week, and I'm playing an arcanist. The rest of the party isn't quite settled yet; there's gonna be a crossbow ranger (emulating a character from fiction with whom I'm unfamiliar) and an urban/invulnerable barbarian, probably both human. Two other PCs still unknown, and then me as an arcanist.

Note that I'm talking about the Arcanist class from the Advanced Class Guide.

My concept is a tinkerer, both magical and mundane. He'll have the campaign trait that lets him disarm magical traps like a rogue (as well as Seeker to get Perception as a class skill), so he'll be the "trap guy". He'll also have some custom spells of dubious reliability, in support of his tinkering/experimenting theme. The first is change-up of burning hands—basically the same thing except the damage scales more slowly and it's a smaller area (5ft radius burst) in exchange for being at Close range. The spell is called definitely on purpose explosion, or "DOPE" for short.

My stats (20pt buy) will be something like this, pre-racial:

STR 08
DEX 14
CON 12
INT 16
WIS 14
CHA 10

I'm a little unsure about those stats. Obviously INT is the most important, but I also need CON for HP/Fort, DEX for Disable Device, WIS for Perception, and possibly a little CHA in case updates to the arcanist increase its relevance as a secondary stat.

Another possibility would be:

STR 09
DEX 14
CON 12
INT 16
WIS 12
CHA 12

That has me fairly well-covered, I think, and also gives me a tad more carrying capacity—gotta haul that loot!

My first arcanist exploit will be a bloodline, specifically draconic for the damage boost to fire spells (some fire blasting seems on-theme for the concept).

I'm a little torn on race and feats.

My earliest thought was human, so I could take Spell Focus --> Spell Specialization right off the bat, which is helpful if I'm dabbling in blasting. I then had the idea of maybe taking Scribe Scroll at 1st; that could be helpful, but also means SpellSpec doesn't come online until 5th. Although, if I did go human, 1st could be ScrScr and SpellFcs, then SpellSpec at 3rd.

On the other hand, half-elf could be good too. Same ability to bump INT, a juicy racial boost to Perception, Skill Focus (boosting Disable Device wouldn't be a waste, since you can't just T20 to disarm a trap!), low-light vision, immunity to magical sleep and a +2 versus enchantments. That's not a bad package by any stretch.

On the other hand, that means only 1 feat at 1st level. So if I take Scribe Scroll, 5th is the earliest I could get SpellSpec.

So, I'm a bit torn. Thoughts? Thanks!

[Velix Okah]

If your DM is trap-happy, I'd say go Half Elf. The racial bonuses to Perception and Skill focus is a boon. Low-light vision will help in the couple hundred dozen dark places you'll be in, and that bonus versus enchantments will come into play ;)

Definitely stick with scribe scroll, so you can make scrolls of spells you won't use as often, just in case. Heck make a scroll book.

Don't forget the cheesy goodness of Paragon Surge for half-elves either; a free feat at any time is incredibly powerful. Heck, there's a whole guide on it.

[Jiggy]

I honestly don't know how many traps there will be, but the whole AP is themed around exploring Egyptian-style tombs, so... yeah, half-elf might be lookin' good.

[Jiggy]

Bump?

[Jiggy]

Been working on this some more.

First, definitely going with half-elf. Getting bonuses to two of my primary skills (Perception and Disable Device) plus low-light vision and +2 against enchantments is just too sweet to pass up. Besides, the party already has two humans.

Second, after a little feedback from the GM, I'm gonna hold off on Scribe Scroll. He's not sure how much downtime there will be, and thinking about it more I wonder if managing downtime in order to craft will feel more like work than fun.

So I need to pick a feat.

Maybe Toughness? Having only 8 HP (I went with 9/14/12/18/12/12 for stats) feels really fragile.

Or, I could go with Spell Focus (evocation), with the intention of getting Spell Specialization later. Worth it?

Or some other idea?

[LuniasM]

I'm running a Kingmaker campaign for a party with an Arcanist right now, so I know a couple things about them from experience.

First off, they don't get many spells prepared each day, and you don't get bonus spells prep'd for a high Int score (though you do get bonus spell slots). This means that you'll be stuck with 2 spells to choose from out of your spell book to be able to cast each day until 3rd level. This caused no end of grief from my player who ended up taking Burning Hands for swarms and Charm Person / Color Spray / Grease for control. This problem fixes itself once you get 2nd-level spells and pick up some wands, but be prepared to encounter this issue. Scribe Scroll might seem like a bad idea at first, but for those first few levels the versatility is a godsend.

Secondly, the Potent Magic exploit is absolutely amazing, allowing you to spend 1 point for either +2 DC or +2 CL. It doesn't seem like much at first, but it turns out that not many creatures can resist a DC 17 Will save early in the game, much less survive a good damage roll on a 3d4 Burning Hands. This exploit carried the arcanist to 4th level.

As for your stat array, consider switching your Constitution and Wisdom scores around. A +2 Con modifier mitigates some of those health concerns you mention and shores up a weak save. I'd expect Poison to come into play in a desert / tomb environment - scorpions could be common, and traps even more so.

Good luck!

[Jiggy]

LuniasM wrote:

I'm running a Kingmaker campaign for a party with an Arcanist right now, so I know a couple things about them from experience.

Thanks for commenting!

Quote:

First off, they don't get many spells prepared each day, and you don't get bonus spells prep'd for a high Int score (though you do get bonus spell slots). This means that you'll be stuck with 2 spells to choose from out of your spell book to be able to cast each day until 3rd level. This caused no end of grief from my player who ended up taking Burning Hands for swarms and Charm Person / Color Spray / Grease for control. This problem fixes itself once you get 2nd-level spells and pick up some wands, but be prepared to encounter this issue. Scribe Scroll might seem like a bad idea at first, but for those first few levels the versatility is a godsend.

Note that the spells prepared progression is identical to the sorcerer's spells known. So basically it's like being a sorcerer who can change his spells known each morning. That doesn't seem that bad, does it?

Quote:

Secondly, the Potent Magic exploit is absolutely amazing, allowing you to spend 1 point for either +2 DC or +2 CL. It doesn't seem like much at first, but it turns out that not many creatures can resist a DC 17 Will save early in the game, much less survive a good damage roll on a 3d4 Burning Hands. This exploit carried the arcanist to 4th level.

My main blast at level 1 is doing 2d4 anyway, so the +2 from Bloodline is about the same as adding another 1d4. But thanks for the reminder, as I'll definitely want that exploit at some point!

Quote:

As for your stat array, consider switching your Constitution and Wisdom scores around. A +2 Con modifier mitigates some of those health concerns you mention and shores up a weak save. I'd expect Poison to come into play in a desert / tomb environment - scorpions could be common, and traps even more so.

Good luck!

Note my updated stat array:

STR 09
DEX 14
CON 12
INT 18
WIS 12
CHA 12

So, switching CON and WIS won't accomplish much right now. ;)

Seriously though, I have been considering a 14 CON. I'm just not sure what to lower. I'm not too keen on taking STR all the way to 7, plus I want DEX for Disable Device, WIS for Perception/Will and CHA for UMD and potentially some class features.

Hence why I'm thinking about Toughness. Thoughts?

[Farrindor]

Remember that items under 250 I think it is craft in 2 hours work and you can field craft at like 1 or 2 effective hours for 4 hours work, with ways to improve that... so low level scrolls are doable alongside adventuring.

Just something to think about.

[Jiggy]

Okay, so I'm super indecisive.

I've once again changed my stats:

Jex Bartek, Half-Elf Arcanist
STR 08
DEX 14
CON 14
INT 18
WIS 12
CHA 10

With the higher CON, Toughness is looking less appealing.

So, here are the feats I'm looking at:
Spell Focus (evocation) as a prereq for Spell Specialization
Elven Spirit
Improved Initiative

Thoughts?

[andreww]

Elven Spirit feels like a bit of a waste. You wont encounter much with SR this early in your career. I would simply take spell penetration later on. If you want a more generic caster level boost then a Varisian Tattoo would give you +1CL for the entire evocation school. There is a trait which increases caster level for a small number of spells as well. 3d4+3 from burning hands isn't a bad option. You could take spell specialisation instead of the tattoo but obviously it only affects one spell. You could drop improved initiative and go for the tattoo, specialisation and a trait for 5d5+5 per burning hands or 3d4+3 for magic missile. Magic Missile obviously has the benefit of much longer range but is single target.

[Jiggy]

andreww wrote:

Elven Spirit feels like a bit of a waste. You wont encounter much with SR this early in your career. I would simply take spell penetration later on. If you want a more generic caster level boost then a Varisian Tattoo would give you +1CL for the entire evocation school. There is a trait which increases caster level for a small number of spells as well. 3d4+3 from burning hands isn't a bad option. You could take spell specialisation instead of the tattoo but obviously it only affects one spell. You could drop improved initiative and go for the tattoo, specialisation and a trait for 5d5+5 per burning hands or 3d4+3 for magic missile. Magic Missile obviously has the benefit of much longer range but is single target.

Traits are already spoken for: Seeker and Trapfinder.

Also, I mentioned a custom spell in the OP that I'll be using instead of burning hands.

I've also thought of Varisian Tattoo; it too has a Spell Focus prereq, so that's a solid vote in that direction.

So yeah, I might end up going Spell Focus at level 1, then boosting my CL from there.

Ooooh, but on the other hand, my next Exploit could be Potent Spells, letting me spend a point to get +2 CL. Hm, should that be instead of feat boosts, or in addition to them? Hrm...

[andreww]

If you are going into evocation then yes you want to stack the caster level boosts. Are you fixed on Draconic for your Bloodline ability? Orc would give you the damage bonus to any spell. That would let you skip admixture as a school knowledge and grab foresight or teleportation instead.

[Jiggy]

I will not defile myself with the Orc bloodline. It is an aberration and an abomination. I will game as though it did not exist.

[mikkelibob]

maybe additional traits feat:
Magical Lineage for heightened burning hands at later levels; or Precocious Spellcaster to maximize early effectiveness.

And then maybe an initiative trait, or another skill (bluff, diplomacy, or stealth) trait?

[Jiggy]

mikkelibob wrote:

maybe additional traits feat:

Magical Lineage for heightened burning hands at later levels; or Precocious Spellcaster to maximize early effectiveness.

I'm not familiar with Precocious Spellcaster; where's it from and what does it do?

Quote:

And then maybe an initiative trait, or another skill (bluff, diplomacy, or stealth) trait?

Skills are a little tight as it is, seeing as I'm investing in anti-trap stuff while still trying to do the usual Knowledges and Spellcraft skills that tend to be expected of INT-based casters. I don't need to be adding other roles on top of that.