Arcanist verses Wizard, which to use.

[Mel]

Arcanist of School Savant, verses a Wizard specializing in that same school.

Please help me weight the pros and cons of these two. This also might help me get a handle on how arcanists pool works and other aspects to it.
Yes, I know Arcanist is one magic tier lower then Wizard as far as higher spells go, besides that.

I will also probably be mixing for Arcane trickster, but I want to know how these two compare aside from that too.

[Psyren]

What it likely comes down to is playstyle. Are you good at estimating how many copies of {spell} you will need on any given day? If so, you will get more mileage out of the Wizard, especially with its faster spell level access. Are you bad at estimating that or don't like doing it? Then you will likely have more fun with the Arcanist, even though it accesses new spell levels a little more slowly.

Power-wise they are roughly equal - the Wizard gets a bump on the odd levels when it pulls ahead, while the arcanist has more tricks it can do with its reservoir and exploits.

[avr]

The main difference is how good you are at guessing which spells you will need and how many. Arcanist is more forgiving when you guess slightly wrong, Wizard is better when you guess right.

The half-spell level Arcanist loses is made up for by exploits. AT does not advance or add exploits; this is not the best mix.

[Incorrect]

Have you played a wizard before? If so, try an arcanist, it's a fun class.

While technically behind on spells, the arcanist can add +2 CL or +2 DC to his spells on the fly, which helps to make up for it. Many of the other exploits are pretty good for utility.

Personally I don't feel that school savant is worth it, but I like exploits and very diverse generalist casters, YMMV.

[Mel]

School specialist illusion (8 levels) with AT for the win! Blinding em with my free bonus attacks, and going into greater invisibility at will. Sneak attack, sneak attack, oh yeah, sneak attack! They will never see it coming!

Extra spells prep for illusion spells and extended illusion time for certain illusions is a bonus too.