So, I've been hoping to play a "Mage of the third eye/Arclord of nex". My regular optimization research kinda snowballed, and I had enough noted down that I though, why not start working towards a guide? I have my preliminaries here, and I plan to make a cleaner version once I get some feedback. I will also integrate this within my own construct crafter guide , since this PrC is tied to construct crafting. Let’s go:
Requirements :
Feats : Craft Construct, Craft Wondrous Item, Eldritch eye: This is one of the few PrCs without feat taxes: all of them are useful to the PrC and to players in general. However, the high amount of feats required makes earliest entry at level 8…
Skills : All of the skills (save diplomacy) are useful to a caster & crafter.
Special 1 : Casting Arcane Sight is no problem, though the need to have 2 spells from every school of magic closes off the possibility of being a thassilonion specialist.
Special 2 : You MUST have an arcane school (not too hard) & a 3+int school power, with bonuses if the power is “hand of the apprentice”. This is a bit unpleasant (since it cuts off thematically appropriate schools like “arcane crafter), but it essential for the PrCs abilities.
POWER
As for the Arclord itself, ithas some interesting power:
- Mystic Pedagogue: A basic spellcraft bonus, useful for crafting.
- Third eye (improved, greater) : of moderate use. It scales well (max 7/day at 9th), and allows arcane sight (& greater), see invisibility and true seeing, and a weird aid another boost to caster level.
- Artificer’s touch: mending don’t work on construct, so this is of doubtful use.
- Scholiast: Bonus school powers by consuming you hand of the apprentice, at your caster level rather than wizard level. The best powers I could find are "Reveal weakness" (void school), “Protective ward” (abjuration school), “Prescience” (divination-foresight school), “versatile evocation” (evocation-admixture school), “Augment” (transmutation-enhancement), “Iron Skin” (metal school).
- Arcane architect: a GREAT option (especially when combined with the “valet” familiar archetype) if you actually get to craft constructs. Doesn’t reduce the cost, but it reduce the crafting time to ¼, which is HUGE.
- Extradimensional extension : a weird power that makes rope trick moderately more useful. Not the most interesting to be honest.
- Call for aid : If you have construct defenders, this can end up being quite useful. Can also help the mobility of some PCs.
Base class considerations :
Obviously, the base HAS to be wizard. No other class will do. The only question is which schools work best? Are certain archetypes permissible?
Schools :
You are required for entry into the PrC to have a 3+int use per day power. Here are those I consider.
- Universalist school : This seems to be the intended path to the prestige class, as it synergizes best with scholiast.
- Any other (spell class) school : ideally, a school who’se power doesn’t scale by level. A good example would be versatile evocation (evocation-admixture school). You do however need to consider you need spells of every school in you spellbook, and this can make it harder.
- Any other (elemental) school : these are nice, since you can get spells from pretty much all spell classes without too much trouble. One 3+int powers, Iron Skin (metal school), scales with caster level and not wizard level, which is quite useful here.
Note: It costs 2 uses of “hand of the apprentice” (require universalist school) or 3 of any other power (thus giving you the regular bonus spell from a specialized school). I don’t know if that extra spell per level is worth the extra cost for scholiast, or whether it’s worth it at all.
Archetypes
While certain archetypes are allowed (primalist, scrollmaster, shadowcaster, spellbinder & cruoromancer), none of them give any advantages, and can actually make entry into the PrC harder since you lose wizard bonus feats.
Race considerations :
There are 3 races that have stood out most strongly for me:
Human : humans are always great. The extra feat isnt actually useful for reaching the PrC (since all the feats have to be taken after level 3). However, it allows a few extra defensive considerations, like toughness, or extra metamagic.
Elves : the boost to intelligence & dex are always useful, as well as the usual elven bells & whistles. The favored class bonus can be used to give a minor boost to the 3+int powers, getting more versatility out of scholiast.
Tieflings : The can get similar stat boosts as the elves, as well as an identical favored class bonus. Less interesting than elves, but you can avoid the con minus.
Quickest entry :
From a build perspective, it could look as follows. This is the quickest I can see anyone getting into the PrC.
1 (1 or 2 feats depending on race, unimportant for PrC qualification)
2
3 Craft wondrous item
4
5 Craft Magic Arms & Armor, Craft construct
6
7 Eldritch eye
8: Entry to Arclord of Nex
So, I was wondering if some folks have better ideas. Quicker ways to get into the class (current earliest is level 8), best archetypes/schools/etc (for the moment, my best is universal school, though other schools could be nice).
If we get enough stuff, I'll make an arclord guide. I’ve already got the basics in a word file, I’ll just be a bit of formatting away from a new guide.