Archivist ACFs and Feats

[Phelix-Mu]

Alright, so I have read Heroes of Horror, but have extremely limited access to Dragon Mags and only spotty knowledge of what was made available by WotC on the web.

Are there any archivist ACFs or specialized feats worth considering?

As a side note, wizard already gives Scribe Scroll, so I need an ACF trading out this wizard feature or the archivist feature that duplicates it.

As background, we are in a campaign that is going deep into epic levels, and I am currently a grey elf int-based monk 17/conjurer 1/abjurant champion 3. I plan to finish out abjurant champion then, at some point, pick up a level of archivist to get access to buffs and divine spellcasting, necessary for other PrC that I'm looking at. All apparent lack of op-fu here is intentional, and perfectly geared to the difficulty level of the campaign, where I can deal some pretty sick damage with bard buffs and other arcane buffs. The DM isn't very experienced with high-op stuff, let alone epic stuff, and I don't want to totally remove the challenge of combat from the game (perilously close to happening as it is, though we are just starting).

[Gavinfoxx]

Have you seen the handbooks? BG and MMB just came up...

http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=3545

http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=185

[Phelix-Mu]

The feats there are nice, pretty comprehensive approach. Neither handbook seemed to go into ACFs, though, so perhaps none were published.

Bumping the question about wizard ACFs that trade in Scribe Scroll.

[Santra]

The feats there are nice, pretty comprehensive approach. Neither handbook seemed to go into ACFs, though, so perhaps none were published.

Bumping the question about wizard ACFs that trade in Scribe Scroll.

Unearthed Arcana lets you give up your Scribe Scroll feat and wizard bonus feats to choose a feat off the fighter's bonus feat list instead

Wizard
Some wizards trade their knowledge of magic and craft to improve
their combat prowess.
Gain: Bonus feat list (as fighter; bonus feats gained at 1st level
and every five levels as wizard).
Lose: Scribe Scroll, wizard bonus feat list.

Unearthed Arcana pg 59

[Phelix-Mu]

Unearthed Arcana lets you give up your Scribe Scroll feat and wizard bonus feats to choose a feat off the fighter's bonus feat list instead


Well that is very nice. Thanks. Working with an epic level monk/wiz (emphasis on monk), so a nice fighter feat might fit the bill.

[Psyren]

Are there any archivist ACFs or specialized feats worth considering?


The main one tailored for them is Draconic Archivist, which lets them use Dark Knowledge (including the mighty Dread Secret) against dragons and constructs. What's really nice is that you can daze a construct with no save while you cast something else, like creating a wall to keep it at bay.

[Vaz]

Battle Blessing if you have a few Paladins in the setting.

All Paladin spells are cast faster. An archivist gets 4th level spells much earlier than any others, and as a Monk, you are clearly going to want things like Greater Magic Fang, Draconic Might, Hand of Torm etc.

@Santra - that is a Wizard, not an Archivist, unless there is something allowing Archivists to take Wizard ACF's.

[Santra]

Battle Blessing if you have a few Paladins in the setting.

All Paladin spells are cast faster. An archivist gets 4th level spells much earlier than any others, and as a Monk, you are clearly going to want things like Greater Magic Fang, Draconic Might, Hand of Torm etc.

@Santra - that is a Wizard, not an Archivist, unless there is something allowing Archivists to take Wizard ACF's.


If you read the OP again he wanted an ACF to get rid of scribe scroll from either his level of Conjurer or his level of archivist. So gave him exactly what he wanted.


As a side note, wizard already gives Scribe Scroll, so I need an ACF trading out this wizard feature or the archivist feature that duplicates it.

[Vaz]

Haha, woops, missed that.

[Phelix-Mu]

The main one tailored for them is Draconic Archivist, which lets them use Dark Knowledge (including the mighty Dread Secret) against dragons and constructs. What's really nice is that you can daze a construct with no save while you cast something else, like creating a wall to keep it at bay.

Mmm, yeah, I am currently balancing more archivist against PrC out after the first one or two levels. Archivist is really good, and my knowledge checks are getting stupidly high, but I'm the main melee character in the party (sometimes assisted by a druid animal companion), so a bigger HD would be nice. The main draw was the prayerbook. As the campaign is going into epic, saves and BAB no longer function differently for different classes, and so forth. As there really aren't many goodies for epic level monks (nice to kick 'em while they're down, WotC), I'm basically just looking at improving arcane caster level, picking up divine spells, amassing skill points, and so forth.

My primary utility comes from AC (up in the 60s atm, bard buffs push me into the 80s...touch AC also quite high), mighty wallop-enabled strikes, a growing array of teleport abilities combined with Sun School tactical feat, and a crazy speed of 220'. Also some good stealth skills, cause Int-based monk accumulates quite a few skill points over 17 levels.

I'd like to pick up Ardent Diletantte to get access to all skills, allowing me to dump some skill points into Use Psionic Device and such, but the lack of casting advancement at first level is not good. Might just move to Mythic Exemplar, since it seems to me that the Save Bonuses class feature will accumulate even though normal save increases from the PrC are null at epic levels. You can also pick a few skills to add to your skill list.

So many choices.

[Vaz]

How are you doing that with 2nd level spells? I'm quite intrigued. Are you able to post your build? After all, you are... Caster Level 4 basic with a +1 for conjuration.

I am not seeing what is giving you a further 150' move, but i am tired so could be misskng it.

[Phelix-Mu]

Hmm, well the movement calculation currently looks like:

Monk 17
+ 4 monk from monk's tattoo (Magic of Faerun)
+3 monk from Carmendine Monk (Champions of Valor, the foundation of my build)

So monk speed bonus equal to 24th level monk= +80' non-magical enhancement to speed.

Just picked up boots of swiftness epic item, super coolness in boot form, only 256k gp, it doubles your speed, not counting magical stuff. Double 110' equals 220'.

110' was nice. 220' is stupid. She can now walk faster than the cruising speed of our airship. She can run fast enough to keep up with cars on the autobahn.

Boots of swiftness not particularly useful outside of epic levels, unless you talk your DM into the certifiable crazy of allowing purchase of the stuff in there at pre-epic levels. I probably wouldn't let players do that in my campaign, as much to make reaching epic levels special as for game balance. But I've heard some plausible arguments for allowing that stuff at high-levels. I try to keep my world economy balanced, so availability of items worth the GDP of entire countries is very limited. Not that high-level characters can be "limited" in any realistic sense of the word.:smallamused:

[Psyren]

Archivists can also get Phantom Steed (Spider domain of all things!) for an easy 240' speed pre-epic.

[molten_dragon]

Have you seen the handbooks? BG and MMB just came up...

http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=3545

http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=185

This is somewhat off topic I realize, but I don't know where else to ask it. Is anyone else having access to both these sites blocked by their virus software? Kaspersky specifically.

[Phelix-Mu]

This is somewhat off topic I realize, but I don't know where else to ask it. Is anyone else having access to both these sites blocked by their virus software? Kaspersky specifically.

These sites have been hacked in the recent past, I believe, so beware bypassing the virus protection.

Phantom stag from SC can also manage that speed, and a bunch more perks than phantom steed. Sadly, much harder to get access to as a druid 5 spell.

Using your own feet has some advantages, though.

[Psyren]

This is somewhat off topic I realize, but I don't know where else to ask it. Is anyone else having access to both these sites blocked by their virus software? Kaspersky specifically.

WOT is showing both as fine for me.



Using your own feet has some advantages, though.

And using a mount has advantages too - chief among them, it uses its own move action, freeing yours for Dark Knowledge.

[Phelix-Mu]

And using a mount has advantages too - chief among them, it uses its own move action, freeing yours for Dark Knowledge.

Hmm, true. Right now I am typically not at all close to the rest of the party. How does this affect the function of Dark Knowledge, if at all?

My caster level will be terrible for at least a few more levels, as well. So not sure about utility at this point.

[Psyren]

Hmm, true. Right now I am typically not at all close to the rest of the party. How does this affect the function of Dark Knowledge, if at all?

DK is a debuff on the enemy, not a buff to your allies. You have to be within 60 feet of your foe and it lasts for the duration of the encounter. So if you're within range of the enemy it doesn't matter if you're near your team.



My caster level will be terrible for at least a few more levels, as well. So not sure about utility at this point.

Er, how much speed do you need? Most encounters take place within 12-20 squares. Not to mention that PS lets you speed up the entire party.

[Phelix-Mu]

DK is a debuff on the enemy, not a buff to your allies. You have to be within 60 feet of your foe and it lasts for the duration of the encounter. So if you're within range of the enemy it doesn't matter if you're near your team.



Er, how much speed do you need? Most encounters take place within 12-20 squares. Not to mention that PS lets you speed up the entire party.

I often scout ahead via familiar, benign transposition, teleport, wall walker ACF, and so forth. My stealth checks are +40 and I can move 110' without a penalty, as far as I can tell. Enough for scouting the peons, gotta be more careful around the BBEGs, ofc.

It's an epic level campaign, so we haven't really had an encounter yet in which no one has dimdoored or tele'd a significant distance in some manner. Moreover, everyone else in the party is primarily a caster, so I am often fairly alone on the front lines. Not ideal, to be sure, but I have enough artillery backing me up to give me at least a little confidence.

In another level I will have 3rd level arcane spells, and then I'll get CL equal to BAB from Abj Champ, so I can always go in that direction for phantom steed.

[animewatcha]

What does wizard need for that ACF that allows for int mod times per day of immediate action to port 10 feet away? Abrupt jaunt, I think it was called?

[Phelix-Mu]

What does wizard need for that ACF that allows for int mod times per day of immediate action to port 10 feet away? Abrupt jaunt, I think it was called?

I took that, extremely useful with Int-build monk. You need to be a conjurer and you give up familiar class feature. It's in PHB2. I then took Obtain Familiar to get the familiar back. A useful tool, and I can Tongue of Sun and Moon until we get our special language in a few more levels.