I wanted to clarify the rules of how an arcanist would cast their spells.
An arcanist casts arcane spells drawn from the sorcerer/wizard spell list. An arcanist must prepare [their] spells ahead of time, but unlike a wizard, [their] spells are not expended when they’re cast. Instead, [they] can cast any spell that [they have] prepared consuming a spell slot of the appropriate level, assuming [they haven't] yet used up [their] spell slots per day for that level.
Okay so there are a few parts to this, the first being spell prep:
An arcanist must prepare [their] spells ahead of time...
Coming from playing a witch, I get how this mechanic is done (8-hr rest + 1-hr study of certain spells form spell book)
Second is the part that sets arcanists apart from wizards:
...but unlike a wizard, [their] spells are not expended when they’re cast.
So does that mean I can cast the same spell more than once per day?
The third part is the small-print to the above rule:
Instead, [they] can cast any spell that [they have] prepared consuming a spell slot of the appropriate level, assuming [they haven’t] yet used up [their] spell slots per day for that level
So I can cast the same spells for the amount of times equal to the number of spells I know per day?
Here's a scenario based on my understanding, so please correct me if I'm wrong
Let's say I have a level 4 arcanist. that means I've got:
- 6 cantrip spells/day
- 3 level-1 spells/day
- 1 level-2 spell/day
I'll skip over the what cantrip and level-2 spells I prepared and just focus on the level-3 spells. I prepare color spray, gravity bow, and mage armor.
The cantrip spells I prepared can be casted willy-nilly as many times a day based on another rule.
But it's a little different for my level-1 spell, right? Let's say I was at range for a combat. I cast gravity bow to shoot from afar but casted color spray to paralyze a mob. Because of the second part of the rule, I could cast color spray again on another mob that wants to have a go at me. However, because of the third part of the rule, I can't cast anymore level-1 spells.
Because of the restrictions on the number of spells I can cast/level, once I cast my level-2 spells, it's done for the day.
Is that right?
Essentially:
You prepare spells like a wizard.
You cast spells like a sorcerer (using you prepared spells in place of a sorcerer's spells known).
The 6,3,1 is the spells known in your head. You get to cast 4 firsts and 2 second for the day. It is in the first chart
https://www.aonprd.com/ClassDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Arcanist
This makes sense now, thank you!
One thing that wasn't directly addressed in your example.
You can cast more 1st level spells by using your 2nd level spell slots.
Good point. And with the arcanist's lower number of spells per day, I've had to do that many a time.