Can I get some help with Arcanists?

[inuyasha]

My most recent purchase was the Advanced Class Guide, which, despite a few errors or things that I've found tweakable, I thoroughly enjoy. I like the idea and the mechanics of the Arcanist class, but I just can't seem to figure it out in game. A wizard is someone who knows magic through intense study, a Sorcerer knows it as a gift from their supernatural bloodline, what does this make the Arcanist?!

Are they supposed to be people with spontaneous control over magic, despite not necessarily having a bloodline? Are they potential sorcerers who studied instead of let their powers develop on their own? These sort of work, but they seem to break a bit when an Arcanist multiclasses with either of the other Arcane full casters, which isn't ideal, but could still happen.

So what do you think a Arcanist is?

[Geddy2112]

An arcanist is a hybrid of sorcerer and wizard. So you have a mix of both the natural potential of the sorcerer and the study of a wizard. You focus a bit on both, where a sorcerer eschews study and just tapps their inner potential, and a wizard does not have any raw blood power per say, but from years of study has gained it.

For a sorcerer/arcanist multi class, it would be that the bloodline either became full blown in the arcanist, or that the sorcerer went and hit the books. For a wizard/arcanist multi class, it would be either a wizard awakening something within themselves, or the arcanist going a more academic route with their magic.

The wizard is the trained scholar. The sorcerer is the savant. The arcanist is the savant with training.

[Eldonauran]

I see the arcanist as someone right in the middle of the two classes (wizard/sorcerer). It can be explained many ways, but I think it comes down to a sorcerer that approaches magic from a logical perspective, rather than an intuitive perspective. His bloodline might be too weak to take proper form, but he can feel that power within him. He needs the ordered rituals that a wizard uses to harness and shape his innate power into the spells he desires. His exploits are merely a reflection of his bloodline that have taken a different method of manifestation.

[inuyasha]

Thank you guys for this, it helps a lot!

Now I could easily see an Arcanist as any of the things you described, or maybe even as the descendant of a Sorcerer who decided to do something with very minor and latent powers.

[Psyren]

I personally think Ultimate Magus fluff fits them well:


You possess a fascination with magic and lore greater than that of most wizards. You see magic not as a tool, but as a, natural part of who and what you are. It is a part of the world in which you live, not an implement to be exploited when necessary and discarded. Everything you do, everything you see, and everything you learn is examined and analyzed as it relates to magic first, and to all other concerns second. You know that you possess great power, but you feel certain that secrets and understanding yet elude your grasp.

This doesn't mean that you have no other goals or other loves. You might adventure alongside your friends, serve your king as advisor, or fight on the battlefield for a cause in which you believe, just like any other character might. Even in the midst of all this, however, you learn and study constantly, seeking to understand how magic fits into the events around you and what insight those events can grant you that apply to your magic.


Perhaps you were a born sorcerer, and wished to better understand the nature of your powers. Perhaps you were a wizard, and the discovery of your spontaneous abilities led you to question the knowledge you had already gained. Whatever the case, you are a driven soul with no goal outside a true understanding of arcane magic in all its forms. You spend all your available time advancing your skills and knowledge. Whether this means battling monsters in the dungeon, unearthing ancient lore, or simply reading books at the university, nothing is more important to you.

[inuyasha]

Huh, I'd never read that before. Thanks a bunch! I think that I'm understanding the class a lot better now.

Has anyone compared them to Sorcerers and Wizards individually, to figure out the merits of each class in play?

[Geddy2112]

Compared to wizards and sorcerers, they get all the fun of preparing spells, but none of the hassle of having to prepare in multiple slots. So they can prepare every spell in a level they have access to, but only cast one the number of times they can cast spells like a spontaneous caster. Combined with the quick study metamagic ability, they have a ton of options for casting and come out with a LOT of utility.

Their charisma based sorcerer abilities are mostly garbage, but they are not limited to a bloodline or level for them(other than the greater arcanist exploits) and can pick and choose. They can consume spells to get more arcane resorivoir to power these exploits or just juice their spells.

A specialist wizard still beats them in that specialty, but otherwise they have more utility. They are a better batman wizard than the batman wizard, but are still a jack of all trades to a specialist. They are overall far stronger than the sorcerer with having most of the same options.

[dude123nice]

Fluff wise they are people with sorcerous potential who chose wizard training instead.
Crunch wise they are the strongest T1 in Pathfinder.