Greetings everyone.
Our current campaign has an interesting setup of classes going on: Wizard/Pathfinder Savant, Zen Archer Monk, Paladin, and Ranger.
I swore I'd never play a Wizard, but after multiple poor players and characters in the arcanist role over the past three campaigns I've bit the bullet to make sure we have at least one solid one.
Anyway, we've just hit level 6, so 7 is on the horizon. My eventual goal is to have a ton of scrolls and use the scroll master class feature to have ridiculous versatility. But I get this lovely little Esoteric Magic feature along the way, and I'm having trouble deciding what's good.
Heal and Breath of Life seem like must haves later on, and Sacred Bond could be okay, but isn't worth it yet. Barkskin would be awesome, but we have a Ranger going to pick it up shortly.
What'd be most nice is a level 1 or 2 spell so I can actually cast it right away (since it's at +1 level for non-wizard spells), and then after a couple of those I can look into higher tier stuff.
Any ideas?
So you are currently Wizard 5/Pathfinder Savant 1? Honestly, I think Pathfinder Savant is one of the only prestige classes you are better of trying to enter late than early. Because, you want to make sure every single out-of-class spell you take really counts, and most 2nd and 1st-level spells are pretty underwhelming.
Also, if your GM playing strict RAW? Like, Heal as a 6th-level spell (from Adept 5 + 1 out-of-class), Summon Monster VIII as a 6th-level (from Bard 6 + 0 in-class), and Overwhelming Presence as a 6th-level spell (from Bard 6 + 0 in-class)? I ask because my GM has ruled that it works like scrolls - if they are on the wizard or cleric list, you must use that one first, etc. This could affect what type of spells might be attractive - like, Summon Monster IV as a 3rd-level spell (Summoner 3 + 0 in-class) might be a nice option if you are playing it RAW. (edit: Archon's Trumpet as a 4th-level spell off the paladin list could be great as well.)
Also, what sort of spells does your wizard like to cast?
Align weapon and remove paralysis maybe? Useful at least to give you accesss to scroll versions, at a minimum. The paladin's "bless weapon" doesn't help with chaotic, lawful etc DR.
...Entering late is a good point and one I hadn't considered. There's nothing stopping me from taking a few more Wizard levels right now before taking more Savant.
GM is pretty strict rules enforcement but he's not beyond saying "no" if he doesn't agree. However, he trusts the players to not cheat (we've been playing together for a long time) and police ourselves, so as long as nothing seems broken there will be no issues.
I assume you mean Summon 8 from Summoner, not Bard. I hadn't even read the ability that way; I read it as if its on the Wizard list its as normal on the Wizard list. Interesting. GM is fairly anti-Summoner, so if I wanted to try and pull that I'd likely be better off using the Unchained spell list, which is still Summon 7 as a 6th. This is something I'd discuss with the other rules-savvy player before even attempting.
I think my solution though is to delay further PRC advancement for a few more levels.
Thanks everyone.