Occultist Arcanist Exploits

[The Chort]

I decided I wanted to play an Occultist before knowing about the Consume Spells nerf, but here I am, still playing it anyway. I think it'll still be strong. But does it affect my Exploit picks? Do I still prioritize Potent Magic, Dimensional Slide, and Quick Study?

My current thoughts:

Stats at level 1:
Str 6
Dex 16
Con 14
Int 21
Wis 8
Cha 18

Exploits:

1 (Replaced)
3 Familiar
5 School Understanding (Void)
7 (Replaced)

Unsure where to go from there.

This isn't PFS, so I have some flexibility. Heck, if I were super whiny, I bet I could play pre-nerf Arcanist. ...but I don't mind a challenge. How would you build it?

Sidenote: Opportunities for Homebrew:

My character is a student of the Acadamae, as in, the school in question for the Acadamae Graduate feat. Although that feat isn't useful to an occultist. Perhaps it could be rewritten to a relevant benefit? But what kind of benefit would I actually care to get? Maybe my GM would allow me to replace an Exploit with this homebrew ability. I also have an open trait slot.

[edduardco]

I will go with Quick Study at level 3 and Consume Magic Items at level 5, and push Familiar to 9 or take Extra Arcanist Exploit if you want it earlier, ditto for Dimensional Slide

[The Chort]

Oh, I might also be able to make use of the Magic Schools system, which is sort of cool. I might be able to make some homebrew adjustments to make the benefits of enrollment more suitable to my Arcanist, but the Summoning Specialization ability is already pretty cool. (Adding new monsters of equivalent CR to your summon monster list, with GM approval)

edduardco wrote:

I will go with Quick Study at level 3 and Consume Magic Items at level 5, and push Familiar to 9 or take Extra Arcanist Exploit if you want it earlier, ditto for Dimensional Slide

I think Quick Study doesn't really hit it's stride until 4th or 5th level spells, when you have slots to spare and the added versatility can really pay off. Like swapping in Teleport when needed.

Dimensional Slide... I guess I haven't been grappled enough times to really fall in love with it, but more than that it just lets you get ideal positioning to cast your spells. Again, burning precious arcane points makes me nervous, but this is strong.

Consume Magic Items. I didn't like this ability before, I like it less now. Pre-nerf, you had to pay 75g per arcane point, if you were lucky enough to have a wizard with scribe scroll in your party. Now, you're strongly encouraged to pay even more per arcane point, so you can get even more arcane points in a day. Ugh. But I'm sure I'll take this exploit eventually. I'm thinking it'll be level 11+ though. I'll have wizard cohort, so may as well make good use of it.

[swoosh]

You could just take extra reservoir like five times. Does a good job giving you enough points, especially at mid or higher levels.

[The Chort]

Oh, a report! I have played level 1 with this character, and it was awesome! I've played many 1st level wizards before and I just accept that my awesome levels come later. Not so with my Arcanist. Flexibly preparing sleep and grease was very nice, casting just the right spell. (I normally miss out on Sleep since I usually pick Enchantment as an opposition school) Greasing flights of stairs, knocking people to the bottom and ending fights before they began with sleep.

...and then there's Conjurer's Focus. Standard action casting, 1 minute duration, 3 eagle attacks with Augment Summoning... Haha, maybe my true calling is to play a Master Summoner. But I think the Arcanist's full casting and exploits will make for a powerful, flexible character.

swoosh wrote:

You could just take extra reservoir like five times. Does a good job giving you enough points, especially at mid or higher levels.

Believe me, I'm tempted. But there's so many other tempting choices, like Superior Summoning, Evolved Summon Monster, Improved Initiative, Leadership...