Illusionist

[Mythran]

Hey guys, I was thinking on a wizard arcane exploiter / arcane savant in the future.
Benefit of wizard would be Resilient Illusions and being able to write scrolls at the first level. But I am not sure how effective would this be in the long run.

Since Effortless Trickery does not let you cast a spell while concentrating, but you could for example as a std action attack someone (without spells), seems to me that its not worth it to be gnome just for that since you would be limited to 18 of int. Any other races you think would be a good idea?

Can I mix arcane exploiter with veiled illusionist? Does not seem to me that they conflict with each other.

Is there any better benefits on going school savant instead of wizard?
Maybe School Savant/ Arcane Savant. But I would loose scribe scroll ability...

Would like to know what would be a good choice of subschool as well, // www . d20pfsrd .com /gamemastering/ other-rules/ intrigue/ #TOC-Illusions
Toughts?

[upho]

Hey guys,Hullo Mythran!

I'm far from an expert on illusionists, so take the following with a grain of salt.


I was thinking on a wizard arcane exploiter / arcane savant in the future.
Benefit of wizard would be Resilient Illusions and being able to write scrolls at the first level. But I am not sure how effective would this be in the long run.Hmm... This depends on quite a few things, I think. But very generally speaking, from a pure optimization perspective, the exploiter wizard is great, perhaps especially for illusionists (since they're generally highly dependent on having a high save DC and SR penetration bonus). But since it's quite highly dependent on class level it also tends to lose more than standard wizards by taking PrC levels.

The arcane savant could be nifty if you expect the game will give you access to plenty of scrolls of spells of a higher level than what you can normally cast. But in most games, I don't think it's worth the lost casting progression and archetype features. (This is of course unless you play in a setting and game which includes Spellcaster Guilds and the amazing related "Eclectic Training" and "Esoteric Training" fame awards (Inner Sea Magic, page 22), in which case a lot of otherwise rather weak or "meh" PrCs can become fantastic since you lose no casting progression - and don't need the otherwise nigh mandatory Magical Knack trait - when taking up to three levels which don't progress your wizard casting.)

IME, the scribe scrolls feature is merely a bonus feat and thus rarely particularly vital.


Since Effortless Trickery does not let you cast a spell while concentrating, but you could for example as a std action attack someone (without spells),It does however allow you to concentrate on a second spell as a standard action.


seems to me that its not worth it to be gnome just for that since you would be limited to 18 of int.Well, while Effortless Trickery can indeed be quite nifty, and gnomes have access to some other cool illusion stuff, it's still probably not worth it. Note however that you don't necessarily have to be a gnome to gain access to its racial feats. Notably, a human, aasimar (Peri-Blooded) with the Scion of Humanity ART or tiefling (Daemon-Spawn) with the Pass for Human ART can grab the Racial Heritage feat to count as a gnome. I can't see that it would be worth the feats, but see also below regarding aasimar and tiefling.


Any other races you think would be a good idea?Since aasimars and tieflings can be of any humanoid heritage per RAW, their "count as humanoid (human)" ARTs should arguably exist also for those of non-human humanoid descent, i.e.: for example "Scion of Gnome-ity", "Pass for Gnome" or "Pass for Halfling" should reasonably also be ARTs for such non-human aasimars and tieflings. Talk to your GM about this. If they allow it, you can effectively get Effortless Trickery for one feat less while still getting a more suitable wizard race.

If you're into shadow illusions, wayang (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/other-races/uncommon-races/arg-wayang/) is probably the best choice.

Otherwise, I think basically any race with an Int bonus will do, and those with also a Dex bonus are of course especially well suited. Human is also great for the free feat of course.


Can I mix arcane exploiter with veiled illusionist? Does not seem to me that they conflict with each other.The Veiled Illusionist (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/other-paizo/s-z/veiled-illusionist/) is a PrC, not an archetype, so it mixes with any PC who can meet the entry requirements. Were you thinking of something else?


Is there any better benefits on going school savant instead of wizard?If you'd like to focus on illusions and arcane casting in general, I think you're better off as an exploiter wizard. And if you'd like to focus on shadow illusions more specifically (which can be a great option), I'd go for a wizard Shadowcaster (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/wizard/archetypes/paizo-wizard-archetypes/shadowcaster/) instead of exploiter. With Solid Shadows, the effects of your greater shadow spells can become just as real as the normal spells they emulate, or 60% real in the case of your lower level shadow spells.

HTH!

[Segev]

You may also want to look into School Familiars for the Illusionist. It's expensive, with two feat investments, but it's the only school familiar I think is remotely worth the costs, because it allows you to pass off concentration on your illusions to your familiar.