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View Full Version : Starting an archivist - What should I look out for?



Glyde
2009-08-25, 11:26 AM
As the title says, I'm starting an Archivist (Warforged, if you're curious. Humanity through knowledge yadda yadda) at first level. I'm wondering if there's anything special I should be on the look out for in terms of items/feats/what-have-you. This is probably one of the only classes I have no experience with, so I'm kind of excited - But at the same time I don't want to accidentally break myself for the worse.

Power level of the party will be medium-ish, so nothing too crazy.

Leon
2009-08-25, 11:44 AM
Books you have access too?

A Really neat feat for Archivists is Knowledge Devotion from Complete Champion, it gives you a extra knowledge skill and allows you to do more damage against things that full under your knowledge base (which can be a very large base)
Its not available at 1st level but can be gotten easily at 3rd

Other help cant really start till you give me a rough idea of what the PC is going to be like and what area's you may want to try - Buffing, Summons, Debuffing are all things that a Archivists is good at with a big selection of spells once you start learning other Divine casters spells

Grey Knight
2009-08-25, 11:46 AM
The thing that stuck in my mind most about a Skarn Archivist I once played was that his horse consistently made better Charisma checks than he did. :smallsmile: My advice to you: get a horse!

Glyde
2009-08-25, 12:01 PM
I have access to pretty much all books except for a few setting specific ones and Dragon Magic (have never been able to find that thing...)

He's going to probably end up being a Healer/Debuffer/Buffer, but we'll see what the party needs. I'm not too keen on summoning (The most summoning I've done is Dread Necromancer, and that was enjoyable, but I don't see myself doing it again.) Definitely going to grab Knowledge Devotion as soon as I can.

Anything else I should be made aware of?



Also, I don't think I'll be getting a mount... But the Paladin's mount and I may have some interesting conversations.

Eldariel
2009-08-25, 12:27 PM
Do you wanna fight or not? You can be an incredible fighter as an Archivist if you so choose to. Otherwise, pick battlefield control like Web, Glitterdust, Grease, etc. through Domains, Adept-list, etc. and profit.

Glyde
2009-08-25, 12:37 PM
The character will probably be fragile, hanging with the party in a support role rather than front-liner. I had forgotten that Adepts were divine casters.

Shenjua(spelling, bleh), Druids, Rangers, Paladins, Adepts... What else has unique spells and casts divine?

Nohwl
2009-08-25, 12:40 PM
domain spells, divine bard for bard spells, hexer for wizard spells, there are a few variants for most of the wizard spells if its not allowed.

JeenLeen
2009-08-25, 03:20 PM
Domain spells are a (sometimes) cheesy way to get obscure and usually arcane spells.

There's also a trick of learning the Paladin or Ranger form of Cleric spells, which usually has them at a lower level. Of course, that such is possible is up to the DM.

Slayer of Domiel PrC from BoED, and probably some other PrC, give some divine spells. It's unlikely, but possible, that one of them took Scribe Scroll. If a medium power game, though, I doubt the DM will allow it.

Tukka
2009-08-25, 04:02 PM
Check with your DM on what methods of acquiring new spells are allowed, as that will either open up or close down various strategies and avenues of advancement.

In my games, for example, I allow archivists to freely acquire spells (via scrolls) from the cleric, druid, paladin and ranger lists, but if a spell appears on the paladin or ranger list and the cleric or druid list, it can normally only be acquired at the cleric or druid spell-level. I allow semi-limited access to domain spells -- they can be purchased readily as scrolls if there is a nearby place of worship devoted to a god that has that domain. Spells not on those lists might end up as loot in dungeons (in the form of divine scrolls, steles, tablets, etc.) but otherwise aren't readily available without some effort on the PC's part.

Lore of the gods (CC) is a great spell for archivists, and makes hitting 35/36 on those Dark Knowledge/Knowledge Devotion checks a lot easier. That's probably the best spell I know of that is especially suited for archivists. The lorecall spells are also nice, especially since archivists have the skill points and Int (unlike clerics, much of the time) to take advantage of them.

Check out cleric and druid guides to get an idea of what the other good spells on those lists are (and it can't hurt either to check out the domain lists in the back of the Spell Compendium, which is pretty comprehensive). Same goes for the ranger/paladin lists, which has some good stuff (especially in non-core), particularly when it comes to self-buffs for combat.

I'm playing an archivist/malconvoker now, which is great, but that's the summoning thing that you've had your fill of, so a lot of my experience probably isn't very applicable to your situation.

If you can pick up Turn Undead as a class feature to utilize Divine Metamagic, that of course, kicks up your character's awesomeness a few notches. (Sacred Exorcist is perhaps the easiest one to qualify for with a minimum of sacrifice, with the main impediment possibly being the roleplay/alignment/flavor requirements.)

Glyde
2009-08-25, 05:00 PM
Ah, excellent advice all around. I'll bring up the issue of getting new spells with the DM when I get a chance. Thanks!

Mauril Everleaf
2009-08-25, 05:48 PM
I too am starting an Archivist soon and I hear good things about Knowledge Devotion. Why exactly can't I take this feat until 3rd level? I don't see any prerequisites on it.

tyckspoon
2009-08-25, 05:56 PM
I too am starting an Archivist soon and I hear good things about Knowledge Devotion. Why exactly can't I take this feat until 3rd level? I don't see any prerequisites on it.

Requires 5 ranks in any 1 Knowledge. You can get it at level 2 if you engage in some bonus feat chicanery with multiclassing. Under normal progression, your next available feat is level 3.


Slayer of Domiel PrC from BoED, and probably some other PrC, give some divine spells. It's unlikely, but possible, that one of them took Scribe Scroll. If a medium power game, though, I doubt the DM will allow it.

Archivists get Scribe Scroll as a bonus feat. You can collaborate on a magic item- as long as all the prerequisites are met, it doesn't matter who actually has which prereq. The hard part of getting Slayer spells wouldn't be making the scroll, it'd be finding a Slayer of Domiel to work with at all (collaborating on making scrolls is why it's hard to justify restricting core-class spells; they're as common as any sort of higher-level adventurer can be, so all you have to do is go find one and pay him for a couple of days of his time while you copy some of his spells into scrolls.)

Tukka
2009-08-25, 06:08 PM
Also, the Collector of Stories skill trick is a popular choice for archivists and a good thematic fit, though by RAW I don't think it helps you get the bonuses from Dark Knowledge and Knowledge Devotion. It's still handy for making sure you know the pertinent info about a dangerous enemy though.