Brilliant Gameologists Forum
The Thinktank => Min/Max It! => : paqqy December 26, 2009, 07:27:30 AM
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There was a similar post, which is old... and so rather than bring up a dead post, I'll start a new one, if that ok.
Old tdiscussion here:http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=3673.0 (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=3673.0)
I'm playing an Archivist and am debating taking a level in Cloistered Cleric before advancing into Archivist. I'm doing this for the extra skill points and the 3 domains the 3 domains. I still have some quirks to figure out though... I'm starting at 4 but need to show my progression up to 20th level... Technically, I'm restricted to 3 books, but I might plead with the DM to use a 4th.
Books in use so far,
- Heroes of Horror (Archivist)
- Unearthed Arcana (Cloistered Cleric) I might argue to the DM that this one shouldn't count because it introduces no new mechanics
Books I want to dip into for spells or feats
- Complete Champion (Knowledge Domain Feat and some spells)
- Complete Divine (Divine Metamagic and a few spells)
Character is definitely going to be a buffer, as there is already a cleric in the party. After buffing, my character will be blasting and healing to relieve the burden from the other cleric. Main goal is to stay away from melee as much as possible.
1) What would be the best domains to take? I'm considering Mind (skill bonuses) and Magic (use scrolls, wands, staves as wiz) in addition to the Knowledge that I get from the Cloistered Cleric. ia the ability to use wands and staves as a wiz 1 useful?
2) I want to trade the Knowledge Domain for Knowledge Devotion feat (a la Complete Champion rules), but the rules for that are somewhat unclear. Do I have to do this as soon as I get the Domain even though I do not meet the prereqs? Or can I perform this trade at any point once I attain the prereqs? This has serious implications, since making the switch at 1st level means that I would lose all the knowledge skills as class skills because I no longer have the domain... leaving me with more skill points than I can spend!
3) What do I do with domain spells after I quit being a cleric? I assume I lose any ability to cast the +1 domain spell above 1st level. But I assume that I can cast the spells if I put them in my prayer book? I think this is somewhat different than the rules for being a non-cleric who gains a domain...
4) I'd like to make my magic a bit stronger. Seeing that Persistent Spell is from Complete Arcane and I am already over the number of permissable books, I need to find other ways of maximing my spellcasting without relying on an additional book. I must keep the Complete Divine and Complete Champion at all costs (for the Knowledge Domain Feat and the spell Lore of the Gods, respectively)
5) Using a 32-point buy system for stats (base 8), where should I allocate my points? I was considering INT 22, WIS 16, CHA 12, STR 10, DEX 10, CON 10, increasing my WIS at 4, 8, 12 (well before I need the WIS 19 to cast 9th level spells) and once again at 16th to bring me up to 20.
6) Hardly optimal, I considered taking a level in Hierophant so that I could get reach touch spells for firing off healing spells... though I guess I can just fire them off with the DMM feat.
7) Speaking of feats... So far, I thinking of the following... Improved Init (Human Feat), Quicken Spell (1st), Divine Metamagic (Noncombatant Flaw), Knowledge Devotion (trade at 2nd), Draconic Archivist (3rd), Trickery Devotion (6th), Extra Turning to quicken another spell (9th).
- I have a slot for skill foc/spell foc/metamagic at Archivist 10 (11th)
- Open slot at 12
- Open slot at 15
- Open slot at 18
Any suggestions on PrCs, Feats, etc appreciated!
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You're group has no controller, with acces to domains and druid spells, you're one of the best battlefield controllers in the game, second only to wizards, use it. Use slime domain to get grease, shugenja list to get glitterdust, adept to get web, druid list to get entangle and plant growth, time domain to get haste, and so on.
If i were you I would drop the cloistered cleric Idea, and get the following books:
Complete divine
Complete champion
Spell compendium
notice the small underline here
Your spells are your strenght, an archivist playing at being a cleric is basically a weaker cleric, an archivist playing at being a wizard.... now we're talking ;)
Sacred exorcist dip will grant you turn undead anyways. COntemplative will grant you domains.
As for stats.
8
12
12
16
16
12
is probly a good call, though higher int and lower cons could be good, too bad about book restriction though... races of dragon would have unlocked dragonwrought kobold.
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Spell Compendium is indeed crucial. Just to be clear, will your character receive ready access to new spells? Don't forget an Archivist can only add Cleric spells when levelling up - it would really suck to end up as a gimped Cleric just because your DM wouldn't let you near other sorts of scrolls... Will there be a magic-mart esque building in your campaign?
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Spell Compendium is a book my DM hates. Anything good, I'm sure he'd nerf.
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Use slime domain to get grease, shugenja list to get glitterdust, adept to get web, druid list to get entangle and plant growth, time domain to get haste, and so on.
Slime Domain would probably get dismissed by the GM as it in no way fits into the campaign. I also want to min/max while still having a coherent character. With that said, I think he will restrict me to core PHB divine spell lists just to keep things simple for us.
If I drop the Cloistered Cleric, I might try to get Spell Compendium added. There's a cleric and if he uses Spell Compendium, I'm sure I could haggle with him to teach me spells from it!
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But you don't get what i mean.
You ALREADY have the clerc spell sheet as a whole, you need spells form OUTSIDE
you don't need to have the slime domain, you just need to learn spells from it by copyingthem from scrolls!!!
Just find a priest of zuggtmoy, god of slimes and jellies, and get him to cast the grease spell on a scroll that you are crafting. IF he resists, torture him first or something.
An archivist's true strenght is to scribe any DIVINE scroll in his spellbook. If you're playing a pseudo core only game, where you only have access to the cleric spell list, you're just gona wish you were a real cleric instead of a back up, diet version.
Why not play a druid instead.
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Even core only you should be fine, just research any spell you need (remember, you're always allowed to research an existing spell). The Adept list will be useful to you, as will the Paladin and Ranger lists. And of course make sure to look through the Clieric Domain lists... those are crucial.
JaronK
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If your DM is ok with researching new spells, then you should be fine - be aware that it takes 1 week to research a spell per level, and 1000gp per week. This could potentially result in a lot of downtime. As always with an Archivist, you should really check with your DM that you won't be gimped before hand - there's no point in playing as one if you're just going to be screwed over as a result. Alternatively, play a Chameleon, and enjoy the fact that you automatically know every single Divine spell in existence, and can cast every single Arcane one.
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Use slime domain to get grease, shugenja list to get glitterdust, adept to get web, druid list to get entangle and plant growth, time domain to get haste, and so on.
Slime Domain would probably get dismissed by the GM as it in no way fits into the campaign. I also want to min/max while still having a coherent character. With that said, I think he will restrict me to core PHB divine spell lists just to keep things simple for us.
If I drop the Cloistered Cleric, I might try to get Spell Compendium added. There's a cleric and if he uses Spell Compendium, I'm sure I could haggle with him to teach me spells from it!
Min/maxing doesn't have to mean your character isn't coherent. Your cleric could easily be blessed by ziggy the god of slimes to advance the cause of slimey kind. Or maybe he likes to use way too much lube during sex. Or he believes in the ideal that slimes are awesome. Sort of like a Japanophile but with slime.
And I back up the Spell Compendium. It's like your most important book.
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DM's words from previous campaign, where I played a druid: "Spell Compendium isn't balanced. I should ban that **** from now on." Given that comment, I'm assuming that if I did take anything from that book, I will have to run it by him.
There were definitely some things in there that broke the game a few times. However, it might not be so bad if I can run the spells by him and have him ok them. I think my spells at each level will have to be core cleric. Anything that is either from another book, I will have to research, which is fine.... Though it also means that I'll be pretty limited in the non-core spells I can learn.
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Try pointing out to him that there are many broken spells in core, some of which are even more broken than what is in the spell compendium like polymorph, shapechange and wall of stone. The spell compendium is really not any less balanced than core.
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Try pointing out to him that there are many broken spells in core, some of which are even more broken than what is in the spell compendium like polymorph, shapechange and wall of stone. The spell compendium is really not any less balanced than core.
true.... though that still leaves the issue of being over the permitted number of books. Given the story backstory restrictions I've had to work through, I think I deserve a bit of leniency on the number of books. None of the other players really face any of these restrictions, after all.
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Another point: I wanted to be able to use Divine Metamagic... for which the cleric (cloistered or otherwise) is a necessity in terms of turning attempts to trade for the metamagic levels. If I go Archivist 20 and don't dip into cleric, I can't take Divine Metamagic.
Is this a sub-optimal use of the archivist?
I was considering using my 4 turn levels to quicken a spell once per day.
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You can get the turning attempts by taking a level of Sacred Exorcist. You'll need the complete divine for it. Also, you'll need 5 turning attempts to quicken a spell. It's spell adjustment + 1 turning attempts.
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So do ony you have this restriction because the DM rains down hate on you cause you optimize or is it a blanket rule nobody else cares about cause their not book saavy or what?
Since your already (spending) an allowed book for DMM you have numerous resources available. As prieviously mentioned sacred exorsist will grant you turn undead, lvl 1 church inquisitor gives you the inquisition domain, contemplative 1 and 6 grant open domains, Oracle 1 grants the oracle domain, Radiant Servant 5 grants a pelor domain, seeker of the misty isle grants the travel domain(very nice) . I left out everything that required losing a spell level since this is an optimization thread. I'm sure champion has some goodies for you too though.
So how exactly do these book restrictions work? Are they permanent? Can you later take feats and spells and such from books other players use? Like, for example; if somebody else plays a Warblade would that open up taking a level of crusader then going into RKV? If so that's a little silly. I can understand at character creation having a limited experience and restricting # of books since each tends to deal with either certain parts of the world or people with certain kinds of abilities. But it's silly if somebody is walking around with say a sharktooth staff and your like "that's so cool I want one" would the dm say "no you didn't pick Savage Species as a book not only can you not take exotic weapon proficiency (sharktooth staff) but you can't buy one and if you take his if will disappear or turn into a greatclub or something."?
If his world has things from outside the books you personally are allowed you should be able to buy scrolls of any spells in those books once the game gets started.
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You can get the turning attempts by taking a level of Sacred Exorcist. You'll need the complete divine for it. Also, you'll need 5 turning attempts to quicken a spell. It's spell adjustment + 1 turning attempts.
Whoops. You're right. That was either a typo or I forgot the +1.
Complete Divine and Champion are the other two books I'm going to bring in besides the Heroes of Horror, so the Sacred Exorcist would be no problem.
However, Sacred Exorcist has the requirement of belonging to a church that ordains them. With a DM who takes those requirements seriously, I'm not sure that I would be able to convince him that Boccob's church ordains Exorcists. Seems more like a Pelor-type thing to do. However, the organization I work for might have someone who might belong to an order that does.
Also, taking a level of this allows me to progress my spellcasting and gain turning, but the saves and bab are pretty bad and exorcism might not be terribly useful? Would it be worth not progrssing my dark knowledge for this? Would it be better to forget about divine metamagic?
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So do ony you have this restriction because the DM rains down hate on you cause you optimize or is it a blanket rule nobody else cares about cause their not book saavy or what?
The restriction is because, in the past, people have grabbed a zillion books and then it's hard for him to keep up with all of our abilitiesand feats... I mean, in a group of 6 or 7, if we each have 3 different books, that's 18 books he needs to keep up with. He's a skilled DM, and his talents really are better suited to running a sweet campaign more than reading our splat books to learn our abilities. Plus it keeps the books on the table down to a manageable stack.
Since your already (spending) an allowed book for DMM you have numerous resources available. As prieviously mentioned sacred exorsist will grant you turn undead, lvl 1 church inquisitor gives you the inquisition domain, contemplative 1 and 6 grant open domains, Oracle 1 grants the oracle domain, Radiant Servant 5 grants a pelor domain, seeker of the misty isle grants the travel domain(very nice) . I left out everything that required losing a spell level since this is an optimization thread. I'm sure champion has some goodies for you too though.
As per the above post, I'm not sure I want to interrupt the archivist special abilities progression once I get going (at least not until Archv 14). I'm not sure if I'd interrupt it for some turning, though maybe I'll have to if I ever want to use DMM...
So how exactly do these book restrictions work? Are they permanent? Can you later take feats and spells and such from books other players use? Like, for example; if somebody else plays a Warblade would that open up taking a level of crusader then going into RKV? If so that's a little silly. I can understand at character creation having a limited experience and restricting # of books since each tends to deal with either certain parts of the world or people with certain kinds of abilities. But it's silly if somebody is walking around with say a sharktooth staff and your like "that's so cool I want one" would the dm say "no you didn't pick Savage Species as a book not only can you not take exotic weapon proficiency (sharktooth staff) but you can't buy one and if you take his if will disappear or turn into a greatclub or something."?
As far as I know, the restrictions might be loosened later, but that will be up to the DM to decide and isn't for sure. I was actually considering trying to haggle for the ability to add a 4th book.
I do think that, perhaps, if the cleric learns a spell from Spell Compendium, that my archivist can learn it from him since it will have been OKed by the DM ahead of time. Likewise, someone else's weapon in my hands would be fine... But the restriction would prevent ME from being the one who brings the item/spell into the campaign. Thus, I could not take something from Savage Species that the aforementioned PC didn't bring.... say some pretend 'Savage Feat.' Likewise, the cleric would not be able to cast spells from Heroes of Horror unless I teach those spells to him.
Really, it adds an extra step or two before being able to introduce something into the game, since you would have to get someone with that source to introduce it and then share it with you.
If his world has things from outside the books you personally are allowed you should be able to buy scrolls of any spells in those books once the game gets started.
True. But those sources, I assume, would need to be researched, translated, or are perhaps trade secrets, experimental, or come from other countries. That would make them available in theory, but rare or unshare-able in practice.
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Why wouldn't a church organization with clerics that turn undead handle exorcisms?
Sacred Exorcist is primarily used for 1 level dips. You get the turn undead to fuel your DMM then get out and be an exorcist. Any type of role play requirements are really really really easy to bypass. Oh, the church that you create for your character that just so happens to give these optimized domains, for the alignment you want, the favored weapon you want, and has how ever many orders/regulations/etc you need. So you were ordained but found that you were a subpar exorcist or you just didn't like dealing with those gloomy priests. You much preferred the quiet and musky tomes of an Archivist so you transferred back over with a bit more knowledge. You can now turn undead like your fellows can.
If you can't make up your own organization, it's still easy. Any good aligned church has turn undead as a class feature for its clerics. That means they exorcise the undead. Why wouldn't they extend that to other things like spirits, demons, devils, and boogie men? Your character was really pumped to be one and well, it didn't work out. They have a mascot of a mangy cat that likes to pee on your books. Your boss has as much personality as the mold on the roof. Everyone else won't stop talking about how they're going to die at the hands of some boogie man. And worst of all, they won't let you read your books! I mean, sure, you're an exorcist now, but it's how you wind down. After banishing the hundredth tormented soul, a man needs a break. What better break than the religious history of the Cannanite people from the years 1500 BC to 230 AD through the perspective of the masses? Now that is Shakespeare. So it didn't work out and after a month or so you transferred back to being an archivist where they talk about interesting things, like the botany's effect on modern gender differences.
Be creative. Create whatever optimized build you want and then come up with the roleplay justifications for it. I can promise you that you'll make something ten times more interesting than if you did it the other way around.
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Why wouldn't a church organization with clerics that turn undead handle exorcisms?
Boccob is neutral. And Boccob is Uncaring... From a roleplay standpoint, wouldn't he not give a darn about exorcisms? It definitely seems to me that exorcisms are something good-aligned and nature-aligned deities would ordain. (This is me playing devil's advocate on behalf of the DM)
Sacred Exorcist is primarily used for 1 level dips. You get the turn undead to fuel your DMM then get out and be an exorcist.
That was my assumption. I still wonder if it's a worthwhile dip. I guess it would be just to use the DMM and not lose the level of spellcasting. The only way I could make this work, story-wise, is to have my organization (a secular one) that is sort of like a fantasy-FBI have me train as an exorcist. It's something my character will probably never do or use, which is why I hesitate to add it. My opinion is that I never add a class or ability that my character won't fit the character just for power. Perhaps this means I am not a min/maxer at heart. lol
Create whatever optimized build you want and then come up with the roleplay justifications for it.
Except I can't. Major elements of getting the adventure started rely on parts of my character's backstory to be fixed. As a result, I've had to flesh out a story around those fixed elements. For example, being in a long line of respected oracles and clerics of Bocob (fixed story element) restricts me to being a cleric of Boccob unless I want to play a social pariah character. I can't be a social pariah because I need to be working for that government agency (fixed story element). See what I mean?
This means that to some extent, I am the only player in the campaign who has to start out making a character around story elements rather than make a character and developing the story around a character.
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Ok so you start off not caring. Then someone possesses a friend OR an undead menace kills a lover OR you need to go on a quest through an undead infested wasteland.
So you ask your order for guidance and they teach you some extra skills and instruct you to use them well. After all, you are seeking knowledge and boccob's brothers love to share that. =D
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Ah now that you must be neutral (if you want that Cleric dip) you wouldn't qualify for Sacred Exorcist.
Also, can you tell us all of these role play requirements? It'll make it easier for us to give suggestions and come up with justifications.
This is just me, but did you ask for those restrictions or is the DM just coming down on you?
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Looks like the Dm has some hate towards you...
Out of curiosity, what spells were ''broken'' in spell compendium?
Oh, also, befriend an npc druid circle, it's so much easier than researching spells to politely ask them to cast a spell in your scroll.
And your church must have adepts, befriend them too.
And the druid circle must have some high level rangers, DEFINITELY be chummy with those too.
What I,m trying to say is.... invest a lot of skill points in diplomacy... and get the guidance of the avatar spell on your spell list....
If you do all I just told you, you'll have a decent spellbook. Oh, and other churches too, specially those with NICE domains, like trickery, travel, celerity, time, slime.
Work it into your backstory, as a researcher of divine magic, you naturally have a wide network of friendly connections, that you go out for a drink with once in a while.
Also, as you face divine spellcasting adversaries, be ruthless. If possible, don't kill them, neutralise them and then torture them for additional spells, they deserve it anyways, and it would fit the ''inquisitorial feel'' of the boccob church.
You: so.... i heard you guys had the madness domain hun? Interesting....
BBEG: I will never talk!..... wait what?
You: Yeah.... madness domain.... that's a nice domain, lotsa good spells in there....
BBEG: .... now i'm kinda lost.... I don't know where you're getting
You, cutting him on the arm with a knife, slowly: I want you to give me those spells boy, and i'm gonna cut you until you do...
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Ah now that you must be neutral (if you want that Cleric dip) you wouldn't qualify for Sacred Exorcist.
Well, I can be within one step. I plan to be Neutral Good. But the problem remains that the 'Church of Boccob of Latter Day Knowledge' wouldn't necessarily be interested in granting turning/exorcism powers. At least not in the same way that a church of Pelor or Hiernoeous would. Or the same way Obad-Hai would (because undead are so unnatural).
Also, can you tell us all of these role play requirements? It'll make it easier for us to give suggestions and come up with justifications.
Some of them I can't say because people in my group might bump into these forums if they start looking for info on the archivist when they find out there is one in the party and bump into this thread, finding out things they shouldn't know.
Anyway, here is what I can tell you.
[spoiler]There was a major catastrophe in the not too-distant past. My grandparents were oracles who were critical to restoring order. My family is a well-respected family (Think of them like the Kennedies or Bushes) an so let's just assume then they are scrutinized by the general population.
A generation passes.
My character, an adult, has had to do his mandatory military time. This is where that backstory level level comes in. I can either have fulfilled my actual military duty or have run to avoid it. Runing to avoid it seems impossible because I later have to work for this very same government, as I'll explain later. Anyway, I opted for something different -- the diplomatic route that noble-types might send their children on so that they don't die in the army with the riff-raff. DM strongly suggested that I would have gotten an adventuring level at this point.
Normal Life
A few years in the past, something mysterious (I actually do not know what) happened to my character. He had to be rescued by the 'FBI'. He was given the option of having his mind erased or working for the organization. Obviously, I didn't choose the former, or I'd be a farmer somewhere. My natural talents can lead me to whichever class I want to apply myself to, but Archivist fits the bill.
[/spoiler]
So as you can see, my military time is what is causing me grief because I couldn't have started off as an archivist, yet feel obliged to create a level for that time spent in service, whether martial or diplomatic. The archivist s an option that only realistically opens up for me when I join the 'FBI' years later. What makes the most sense is that I was off somewhere studying and became an archivist within the past few years when I started to work for this government agency.
This is just me, but did you ask for those restrictions or is the DM just coming down on you?
Originally, my character was supposed to be an NPC, but then the DM had the idea of introducing ME as the NPC so I could play over Skype from time to time (I moved to another state). That then turned into me playing the NPC as a PC for the whole campaign. So all of this is not so much him coming down on me, but rather the price I pay for being an NPC (who had those major elements set in stone) turning into a PC (which means I have to flesh this out). I'm a plot device.
None of the other players have these story restrictions because they were always PCs from the start and they didn't have their part written into the game's exposition. Perhaps a better option would have been to keep the NPC an NPC and I could start from scratch as a PC... then again, now I'm somewhat attached.
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Looks like the Dm has some hate towards you...
Nah. We're good friends. I just posted the rationale behind this in a response to someone else... I was originally a surprise guest playing an NPC, which turned into changing that NPC into a PC for the whole campaign. The book restriction is for everyone.
Out of curiosity, what spells were ''broken'' in spell compendium?
that was like a year ago and I can't remember... :(
Oh, also, befriend an npc druid circle, it's so much easier than researching spells to politely ask them to cast a spell in your scroll. And your church must have adepts, befriend them too. And the druid circle must have some high level rangers, DEFINITELY be chummy with those too.
What I,m trying to say is.... invest a lot of skill points in diplomacy... and get the guidance of the avatar spell on your spell list....
But of course. That advice is not lost on me!
Also, as you face divine spellcasting adversaries, be ruthless. If possible, don't kill them, neutralise them and then torture them for additional spells, they deserve it anyways, and it would fit the ''inquisitorial feel'' of the boccob church.
Torture would be in conflict with my NG alignment. However, I might try to capture them alive so that I can barter with them, perhaps offering the hope of reduced sentencing for their crimes. With that said, my PC won't cast every spell... he would be unable to cast some spells from the generally evil domains, such as Madness. The DM takes that kind of action as an alignment shift, which usually ends up in bad things happening.
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Bleh, bad things, Dnd morale is so biased ;) :P
well then, it sounds to me like it wouldn't be farfetched to ahve retrained your first level anyways as a level of archivist. Because let's face it, being forced rp wise to give up a spell level REALLY sucks!!!
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well then, it sounds to me like it wouldn't be farfetched to ahve retrained your first level anyways as a level of archivist. Because let's face it, being forced rp wise to give up a spell level REALLY sucks!!!
I want to ask the DM if in exchange for these restrictions, if he will let me give up my divine caster level from the cleric to cast as my first level were in archivist... if that makes sense.... then I cast my spells as if I was an archivist, forgoing the loss of a spellcaster level
My only other option is to say I did nothing for 30-something years and never gained a level until I started being an archivist. No matter how unlikely that is.
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Possible fluff you could use to take a level in sacred exorcist could be that your character is a member of an order who specialize in removing possessions, demon infestation, undead infestations and similar problems from places of knowledge so it can be accessed again. Basically Ghostbuster librarians. That would fit the theme of boccob's church and would allow you to do the whole DMM shenanigans.
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I was about to say something similar. In the pursuit of knowledge priests of Boccob go to some nasty places filled with nasty stuff in search of lost knowledge. So just like typical dungeon crawling adventurers they'd find the exorcist's skills worthwhile. You could then easily explain how you weren't a very good exorcist being archivist based instead of cleric based and you gave it up.
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Hi all... Not to bump up an old topic, but I am going to ask for help again.
It's come to my attention that I can only use two books other than the PHB, DMG, and MM 1. :banghead Another book might become an option, but that decision could go either way. This is in contrast to the original notion that I had of three books. *If* we are allowed another book, it won't be until later in the campaign.
With that said, Heroes of Horror counts as one of my two books, which leaves me with only 1 book to play around with. Almost all of my optimization schemes are down the drain and need to optimize given this 1-book constraint.
- Starting Level = 3
- Possible books: Complete Champion, Complete Divine, Spell Compendium
The Spell Compendium is good for grabbing spells from Cleric/Druid/Paladin/Ranger spells and some nice domain spells, but with the ability to copy only a few new spells per level and no sure guarantee that I will be finding many scrolls, this might be the most optimal use of a book. Also, there are no prestige classes or feats available in the Spell Compendium, which leaves me with only PHB feats, which I generally don't find all too helpful.
Divine: Contemplative for Domain Access and Sacred Exorcist for Turning Ability + DMM (Quicken or Extend?). Some OK spells to add to my spellbook.
Champion: Knowledge Devotion feat for attack bonuses, Trickery Devotion feat for simulacrum (RAW... sans errata), Lore of The Gods (second level spell that will give me a +10 to all my knowledge checks for 10 min/lvl, which include Dark Knowledge and Knowledge Devotion), plus a few spells.
I'm also thinking that the further book restrictions make the archivist a less-than-optimal choice.
What do you guys think?
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I agree that given those restrictions archivist would not be the best choice. You might be better just going normal cleric and selecting complete divine and the spell compendium for your books.
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Tome of Magic is another book to consider. Binder 1/Archivist 3/Anima Mage 10/Tenebrous Apostate 5/X1 is a great setup, using the divine adaptation of Anima Mage of course. That lets you have your persistent spells without problems. Unfortunately, it doesn't do much for your spell selection, but maybe you could eventually get Spell Compendium access.
JaronK