Arcane Hierophant questions

[Croix]

If I'm reading it right, Banning say... Evocation as a Specialist Wizard could lead to not being able to cast Light as one of your Divine spells. Is that correct?

Also... when reading to find ways to get early entry into Arcane Hierophant, I see people say they did Wiz1/Dru3/MT2(3?)/AH#, how are they gaining access to AH at level 7 as opposed to level 9, where at Wiz1/Dru3/MT2(3?) they only have 3 BAB... am I missing something?

Edit: Yes, I know of the way to step around the Spell Level requirement, but how are some people stepping around the BAB requirement?

[KillianHawkeye]

If I'm reading it right, Banning say... Evocation as a Specialist Wizard could lead to not being able to cast Light as one of your Divine spells. Is that correct?

No. Being a specialist wizard only affects the schools you have access to as a wizard. Other spellcasting classes you might also take are completely unaffected by that choice.

[Shadroth]

Also... when reading to find ways to get early entry into Arcane Hierophant, I see people say they did Wiz1/Dru3/MT2(3?)/AH#, how are they gaining access to AH at level 7 as opposed to level 9, where at Wiz1/Dru3/MT2(3?) they only have 3 BAB... am I missing something?

I'd assume they're using fractional rules for Base Attack.

Wizard 1 (0.5) + Druid 3 (3x0.75) + Mystic Theurge 3 (3x0.5) = 4.25

If your DM doesn't use fractional rules found in Unearthed Arcana (p73), then you'd have to do it slightly differently.

[Thrice Dead Cat]

I'd assume they're using fractional rules for Base Attack.

Wizard 1 (0.5) + Druid 3 (3x0.75) + Mystic Theurge 3 (3x0.5) = 4.25

If your DM doesn't use fractional rules found in Unearthed Arcana (p73), then you'd have to do it slightly differently.

Delaying Arcane Hierophant by one level due to another in Mystic Theurge isn't too terrible. Sure, it'd be better to get in and out of AH sooner than later, but sometimes that's just not possible.

As for the build, I'd consider grabbing Natural Bond to help offset the levels lost to Mystic Theurge.

[Shadroth]

Delaying Arcane Hierophant by one level due to another in Mystic Theurge isn't too terrible.

Quite true. Builds I've looked at might be something like Wizard1/Druid4/Theurge2/Arcane Heirophant. Natural Bond then covers the gap quite nicely for your Animal Companion.

As opposed to Wizard1/Druid3/Theurge4/Arcane Heirophant, which gets into the prestige class one level later, Natural Bond still leaves you behind one level on your Animal Companion, traded off for one extra level of Wizard casting.

In both cases, I'd recommend picking up a Wildshape Amulet (Magic of Faerun, p167). It gives your Wildshape ability a boost by +4 effective levels. Although a tad expensive at 40k gold.

[Thrice Dead Cat]

Quite true. Builds I've looked at might be something like Wizard1/Druid4/Theurge2/Arcane Heirophant. Natural Bond then covers the gap quite nicely for your Animal Companion.

As opposed to Wizard1/Druid3/Theurge4/Arcane Heirophant, which gets into the prestige class one level later, Natural Bond still leaves you behind one level on your Animal Companion, traded off for one extra level of Wizard casting.

In both cases, I'd recommend picking up a Wildshape Amulet (Magic of Faerun, p167). It gives your Wildshape ability a boost by +4 effective levels. Although a tad expensive at 40k gold.

Honestly, I'd take the latter every time if only because it means the eventual double 9s pre-epic.