A Highly Regarded Expert's Guide to the Arcane Trickster

Playing the Magical Rogue

An Optimization Guide for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game

For Core and APG, mostly

Revised and expanded 10/31/ 2017

I will follow what has become the standard format for PF guides, and try to dispense with too much wordery. This is still really long, though. The AT is different enough from other classes to warrant a long look.

Red: Icky. This is a poor option and should be avoided, unless you have it in a scroll or wand, or some other item. Then it could even be blue!

Orange: Maybe, but there are usually better options. I'm not recommending it, but it's not bad.

Green: A good choice, but not necessarily the best.

Blue: Very effective. Few downsides compared to other choices.

A word about this guide and your options:

Any combination of races, classes and features can work for you, depending on your playstyle and the other people in your game. A three-armed vivisectionist is a horrifying freak in some games. However, if your tank is an ogre paladin, your wizard’s a flumph, and your oracle is a vampiric drow half-dragon, you won’t really stand out at all.

You know what you can and can’t do in your game. You know the books, classes, races, 3rd party materials, house rules and other parameters that apply, and you can settle on the AT that works best for you and your group better than I can.  

The AT is a PrC (Prestige Class), and you can only play one with your GM’s approval (like any class, really). It’s on you to discuss it in advance with him or her, and how your character came to become both magical and roguish before you begin play. If you play three levels of rogue, for example, then suddenly announce you’re taking levels in wizard, he may ask you to explain how you got yourself a spellbook, an arcane bond, and learned all that magic overnight. Oops! Your bad!

Stop problems before they start, and work it into your character’s story. Those items could be part of found treasure, or maybe you had them all along, inherited from your wizard grandfather. You studied in your free time, and finally came to understand the rudiments of wizardry. Communicate, lest thou be screwed.

I can’t cover every conceivable combination of things without a novel-length guide, and this is a labor of love from a guy who likes to play standard races and classes in fairly standard Golarion-esque games. That’s the baseline, so take it that way.

There are more ways to build a character, and more combinations of skills and spells than any guide can thoroughly cover. This should give you some idea of how an AT works best in a party, and maybe inspire some ideas of your own. My advice is my opinion, so take what you like and leave the rest.

A brief history of the AT:

The AT first appeared in 3.0 in one of the numerous splat books called Tome and Blood in 2001. It was later put in the 3.5 Dungeon Master's Guide in 2003. Back then, you needed 7 ranks in 3 skills, and had to be able to cast 3rd level spells, so the earliest you could enter the class was at 8th or 9th level. Like sorcerers and wizards, it got a d4 for hit dice, and lacked many of the features the PF trickster gets now. To further complicate things, there were comparable PrCs like the Spellwarp Sniper and Unseen Seer, which were preferred by most munchkins, who made power builds incorporating any or all of those classes.

The PF version of this game is more player-centric, with the intent of making single classes able to stand alone without the need to dip 6 different classes to get the game-breaking character of your dreams, and the trickster was not overlooked when it was decided to give all the basic classes more oomph.

People may complain about the rogue, but it's much improved, mechanically speaking. The revised skill system is what made it less special.

Now, anybody can be a good bluffer or lock picker, if they invest the ranks. Still, having those things as class skills is to your advantage, and the trickster gets more class skills than anybody.

So, you’re thinking about playing an Arcane Trickster...

Okay, so you looked over your party's makeup and decided that you could use a stealthy character and a strong dose of arcane magic. The Trickster may be a good choice.

Why not play a straight bard, you say? There are reasons why this PrC exists, you know. Bards will never end up with 8th or 9th level spell slots. Most of them don't get much, if any, sneak attack. A well-played trickster is a nigh-undetectable sneaker and striker, and rivals or exceeds the bard and the rogue for overall utility, but it comes at a price.

When to not play a trickster:

Any game that won’t get into high levels. In Pathfinder Society games, or groups that don’t get up at least into the mid teens, the trickster never really comes into his own. That’s true of any multiclassed PrC. His neatest tricks don’t come into play until he’s way up there, and I don’t just mean the trickster abilities. If your campaigns fall apart after 10th level or so, there’s no point to playing a trickster at all. You don’t really get good until then. So, if your group never gets up to 15th-20th level play, you’ll never do the awesome things a great trickster can do, and you suffered so much just to get there...

If your GM thinks by-the-book character wealth makes the game too easy, and likes low-magic, low-treasure games, this class is again not for you. Tricksters really blossom with quite a few (fairly expensive) toys you may never see, and if you can’t have them, you’ll be frustrated, and always just short of your deserved greatness.  

When to play a trickster:

Whenever your party's got no skilled or wizard-type characters, and you’re taking it to 20th. If you're starting at a higher level than first, some of your early pain is avoidable. The higher the better, frankly. If you've got two fighters and a cleric, you're a good fourth guy. Not much spell overlap, and you'll eventually be casting the game-changers and making those crunch-time skill checks no one else can.

That’s the boring and bored trickster, though: Half rogue, half caster, and not enough of either. He’s trying to be two people at once, and nobody does that very well. He has to cast the spells a sor/wiz would cast to help the party, and since he’s 2 or 3 levels behind a straight caster, he’s always coming up short, and doesn’t have the slots left over to cast the spells that help him to be unique and exciting. On the roguish side, he’s got the skills, but his combat contributions are weak, and he’s too fragile to really get in there and mix it up like a roguish character can.

It's a whole different ball game, though, if you have a single-classed sorcerer, witch or wizard in the party. She's got her tricks. Now, you can really have yours.

Role: You fill in the rogue's place.

In a 4 or 5-character party with an arcane caster, divine caster, and a fighter-type or 2 (the base assumption for this guide), your role is the rogue's. Sneaking, scouting, striking, skill-monkey, utility and backup tricks are your game. If they see you coming, you're doing it wrong. You do all this by taking advantage of your generous skill set and the most powerful spell list in the game.

You’re not a walking miracle just yet, though. It takes a while to get to the levels where the trickster is truly effective in those roles, but he will often outshine comparable types more and more as he levels. A magic-enhanced rogue is an effective character, but this class requires a lot of thought, patience, and rules mastery to pull off. It’s a class that handsomely rewards “outside the box” thinking and creative skill and spell use. This class has more than one approach to most challenges, and a savvy player will use them all. The suggestions here are only a few of all the possibilities for such a multi-talented character.

First of all, leave the “god wizard” stuff to the god wizard, or his hot sorcerer  sister, or the witch, and/or any other full casters in the party. Got it? You get in, do your thing, and get out of the way. Then, you do more of your thing. Rob ‘em blind!

You're no substitute for a single-classed full caster, and shouldn't try to be. You can augment other casters with an occasional party buff or utility spell, but most of your magic should be spent on you, and you alone. The more you help yourself, the more you help your party. Your apparent selfishness is actually generosity: Instead of relying on other casters to cast Blur, etc. on you, you save them their resources by doing that yourself.

The trickster is not an effective fighter. Much, much, much better than a typical sor/wiz, but that still isn't saying a lot. At all levels, you will be able to flank your buddies and help take down some enemies, but since you have the BAB and hit points of a sor/wiz, you'll never be really good at it, and taking a bigger risk than a comparable rogue. Your bonus with light, magical weapons is about character level.

Just the same, unless your party has three raging barbarians handling all the combat, you’ll probably do some flanking now and then, especially early on. Thanks to sneak attack, you’ll do fairly respectable damage on those joyous occasions when you hit. Even when you don’t, flanking provides your ally with a +2 to hit, which is especially helpful when he’s full attacking. Time your entrance, and tumble.  

You’re only really bad at toe-to-toe melee, which is to be expected, but even then, you’ll do better than most any sor/wiz. Once you have more magic to bring to bear, the melee picture starts to look a lot better. Not your first choice, but...

Base Classes:

You can qualify to be an arcane trickster by combining levels of the ninja or rogue classes with either the bard, magus, sorcerer, summoner or wizard.

Some archetypes and PrCs, like the assassin, deep sea pirate, master spy, sandman bard, sleepless detective and vivisectionist get sneak attack and can thus also qualify. Did I miss any?

To enter the class, you must be nonlawful and have 4 ranks each in the Disable Device, Escape Artist, and Knowledge (arcana) skills. You also need 2d6 sneak attack, and must be able to cast 2nd level arcane spells.

You must also know the Mage Hand cantrip. You might get that with a racial ability or SLA, so you can play a witch trickster, for example, but the witch spell list is nowhere near as powerful as that of a sor/wiz, so you lose more than you gain.

There are many paths up Trickster Mountain, and they all have their strengths and weaknesses. For most of you, rogue is available to any player, makes a good choice for the sneaky class to take, and is the baseline for this screed. If it says “rogue,” it usually means “whatever sneaky class or archetype you’re using.”

Classes with Sneak Attack: 

If your GM isn’t averse to cherry-picking, you can get 2d6 sneak attack in a lot of ways. A level of any class that gets sneak attack at level 1, and a level of assassin will get you there. You have to be evil, though, and murder someone just to become an assassin, and that may not fly in your game. If it does, and you relish the thought of being an evil trickster, you’ll have one more caster level than the other options, and you could get a 9th level sorcerer spell someday.

The sleepless detective PrC, like the assassin, is also very attractive for players wanting to have an extra caster level. Having detect magic as an at-will SLA that works better than the normal cantrip is incredible for a trickster. Adding your int bonus to perception, sense motive and diplomacy to gather information checks is also good. If your GM only allows one PrC per character, I don’t blame him.

This is a stronger magical route, but denies you the second level abilities of your first sneaky class, which are all pretty darn good, and help you survive in the long run. It may also obligate your assassin or sleepless trickster to work for a guild or something, which may or may not bother you. So, take a level of your sneaky class, 4 levels of your casty class, and then you can take assassin or sleepless and be qualified to enter AT at 7th level. Be aware that your fort save and BAB will fall behind that way. Nothing’s free to you.

Two levels of halfling opportunist and a level of your sneaky class will make your halfling trickster tougher and also a superior trap spotter, at the cost of one BAB. With your size bonus and naturally high dex, that’s not a big loss. Go, Frodo!

The Master Spy PrC can’t be entered until 8th level, requires two feats that the AT doesn’t need, and other than a level of sneak attack, it just offers two abilities that only improve with more levels in the same class. Don’t do that to yourself.

What you want to look for is a stabby class that meshes well with your casty class.

Ninja, for example, works well with sorcerer, because your high charisma gives you mo’ better spells and mo’ better ki. If ninjas are cool in your game, check it out.

Since most wizard ATs won’t have a good charisma modifier, they won’t have much of a ki pool, if any, and can only increase it by raising cha as they level by various means when they could be bumping their int, instead. Rogue is a good choice for a wizard AT: Straight, vanilla CRB rogue. Evasion is a great ability the ninja doesn’t get, and the fewer hit points you have, trickster, the nicer it is. If you’re the scout/thief/rogue replacement in your party (and this guide presumes you are), you’ll be rolling reflex saves to avoid traps, fireballs, dragon’s breath, etc. It comes with the territory. Sneaky as you may be, some things are lying in wait, or otherwise see you coming.

A ring of evasion can make up for lacking evasion, but they go for 25,000 gp, take up a ring slot, and you can’t get one at second level.

Casting Classes:

The most effective tricksters are wizards, followed by sorcerers. Bard tricksters really are a waste of time. Just play a sneaky archetype bard and be done with it. Combining bard with rogue in the trickster class doesn't do much of anything for either side of that combination, except reduce your hit points, BAB, and cancel your progression in the unique talents of both classes. What good targeted blast spells does a bard get? He could take the Arcane Blast feat at 10th caster level, but it’s pathetic, even with sneak damage. His other spells are equally unimpressive.

Think about it: A 20th level character with the sneak attack of a 13th level rogue, a BAB of 12, one rogue talent, minor bardic abilities, fewer skill and hit points, and the earth-shaking spellcasting of a 17th level bard. What, if anything, is he good at?

A 20th level sor/wiz trickster laughs at him, and not because he’s funny, then turns him to dust out of pity. If you want to play an AT in some sort of intrigue campaign, the sorcerer AT gets all the class skills a bard does, and will be more effective overall. Just because a bard can be a trickster, that doesn't mean he should.

I’m not knocking bards. PF bards are great, and they shouldn’t bother with this PrC.

This is also true of the magus and summoner. They qualify, technically, because they can cast Mage Hand. But, they lose advancement in their key abilities; their  arcane pool and their eidolon, respectively, and are rewarded with lower hit points and BAB, just for a little sneak attack and some class skills, and lose two or three caster levels in their 3/4 casting class. No. Just no.

Go sorcerer or wizard only. We’re optimizing, here.

I won’t go into the other classes that can get into the trickster. If you’re not playing a roguish stealthy class, you won’t see many of the class skills and other abilities that the trickster relies on from the very start until you enter the PrC, and you’ll be missing a few, and not focusing on what an AT really does best. Think about your role. What do you bring to your party? What do they expect you to be good at?

Be honest. You’re basically trying to play another role: Blast-focused sneak attacker. Some people seem to think that’s all the trickster is. If you read some of the threads on the Paizo boards about the class, it’s almost all anyone talks about.

If you want to just be a stealthy blaster, I’d suggest taking the Stealthy feat and/or the Slippery trait and a high dex, keep bumping Stealth, play a straight caster, and enjoy the three-level casting advantage you have over the AT. That should make up for not having sneak attack, not to mention getting the feats, favored class bonus, and other goodies a full caster gets that the AT doesn’t.

Sneak-blasting is a much-hyped part of the AT class, but it’s only one part of what makes it effective and fun to play. It’s the part that gets the theorycrafters fired up, though! XD 

Sorcerer or Wizard?

Wizard tricksters are always better than sorcerer tricksters for many good reasons. It's just true. Scroll down to the bottom and compare them at 11th level.

First, they qualify to enter the class earlier than sorcerers, so they start getting good earlier. 3/3/PrC is always better than 3/4/PrC.

Second, the synergy of a high intelligence score gives them mo' better spells and mo' better skill ranks, which are important to any character, but doubly so for the trickster. In the 4 or 5-person party described above, most skill checks will fall on you, or they can’t really be done. All but four skills are class skills for a rogue/wizard, and versatility is this class's best feature, not sneak-blasting (although that’s fun, too). Smart rogues are better at everything than dumb ones.

Raising your intelligence stat gives you more spells, better DCs, and more skill ranks, all at once. Charisma only gives a sorcerer the first two, thus the wizard trickster isn’t as MAD as the sorcerer version. That’s a huge advantage. I can’t emphasize enough how important skills are to this PrC. Play one and see.

Third, wizards can customize their daily spells according to what they're up to, and can scribe scrolls for extra spells. Sorcerers? Not without a feat, and even then, only the spells they know. Need to spy on the Duke? A wizard can use the right spells tomorrow, if they’re in his book. Having lots of roguish skills makes it that much easier. Need to know the vulnerabilities of a certain monster? Wizards can  make the knowledge check pretty easily and come up with something. Their flexibility works with this class. It ain’t all sneak blasting. Don’t believe the hype.  

Sorcerer ATs get more spells per day, of course, so they're better, if less versatile blasters. A high cha means you're one charming little trickster, too, so you're more persuasive (and deceptive) than your wizard counterpart. Not as versatile with the skills as the wizard trickster, and fewer ranks, but not horrible either. And, like the wizard trickster, you can do things that a straight rogue or caster just can’t. Magic and stealth go together like, well, sorcerers and ninjas.

Races:

Any race that bumps your casting stat and dex is blue. So, elves and halflings are the best, followed by gnomes and the races that can bump any one stat, then dwarves. Darkvision makes half orcs very attractive for this class, too, just because you’ll never need the spell.    

Humans, of course, are always a solid choice for any class, including this one. That extra feat and skill point per level come in handy for this feat-and-skill-hungry PrC. Half elves can have two favored classes, but only get three more levels of that than the others, so it's not all that great. Your casting class is your favored class for all others in the typical build. You’ll restart in it, hypothetically, and have 7 levels.

Stats:

Your casting stat, then dex, then con, then everything else. Get those first two as high as you can. Don't ignore con, either, since you have lousy hit points and a lousier fortitude save progression. You can dump wisdom without too much pain. You're not as MAD as a rogue, but not as SAD as a wizard or sorcerer.

You can dump strength and/or your non-casting mental stats for higher numbers in your more important stats, but in-game, a trickster plays a more physical role than a caster, and a more cerebral role than a sneak, says this “highly regarded expert.”

Unadjusted 15-point buy Arcane Tricksters:

Sorcerer Trickster: Str 10, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 7, Cha 16

Gnome or halfling. Gnomes get low-light vision and some other features that work well for this class. Halflings get higher dex and +1 to all saves, which is always nice. Both races are blue for sorcerer tricksters. The AT in the CRB is a gnome, or else a human with a very weird head. If you get more than 15 points, raise your int, too.

Wizard Trickster: Str 10, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 17, Wis 7, Cha 9

This screams elf. I’d drop the cha, and raise the con by 2, then adjust.  You need hit points and a +1 to your fort save, Elfy. All green races should bump int.

I wouldn’t go below a 12 con with a 10 point buy. You don’t hide behind the fighter like a straight sor/wiz does, and you’re not averse to getting up-close-and-personal with most opponents when you have the advantage. Hit points, laddy... Get ‘em.

Got it? On paper, the greatest AT that ever lived or ever will be is an elf wizard trickster. The worst in all the history of all the worlds is a dwarf bard trickster. Any other race your game allows should give you benefits that up your two most important stats, and help your magic and/or sneakiness. Ratfolk make excellent wizard ATs, for example, if you’re able to play one.

Sorcerer Bloodlines:

The blasty ones. Either add +1 to each damage die of all or some damage spells (orc or draconic), or find some other feature you can use frequently in your role, like ranged attack SLAs. A +1 to each of your spell damage dice is mahvelous. 

I like the orc bloodline with a half orc sorcerer AT. A few fire spells, and you can sneak attack with any of them at your capstone, and 90’ of darkvision is better than what most monsters get. Very handy for the party scout. Light sensitivity sucks, but it’s not crippling. If you play one, see if your GM will let you take the rare Penumbra cantrip, and you can use that when you’re wandering the burning desert.

The sage bloodline offers int-based casting, which lets the sorcerer match the wizard’s skill points, and has a very nice ranged attack SLA, too. See if your GM is open to that idea. I’m not, but I’m not your GM, either.

Again, you only get 4 levels of sorcerer, so you only get the early features. The bloodlines that work for stealthy characters grant trickster-friendly bonus spells way too late for my taste. You need them now, not two levels from now.

Remember that your bloodline powers sign off at third sorcerer level, and won’t be seen again, so pick something that will give you useful benefits your whole career, and bonus spells that work for a roguish caster.

Wizard Schools:  

Evocation works, now. Adding sneak damage makes blasting even better. Take the Admixture school from the APG, and watch Scorching Ray become your best blast-for-the-buck. You'll only have 3 wizard levels until 17th character level, so Intense Spells only nets you +1 to damage, but it's better than what most of the other schools offer. The best part, of course, is having an extra blast per spell level.

You’ll use it, preferably while adding sneak attack damage. Treantmonk rated evocation green in core. Professor Q rated it blue. I agree, and I’m highly regarded.  

You may not want to emphasize damage so much, so Illusion is great for extra invisibility, sneakiness and deception in those low, painful levels before you can be invisible basically at will. The spells that involve will saves aren’t always your best bet, but that’s true of any caster. The Blinding Ray SLA makes one opponent an easy target for one round, for both you and your friends. Tricky! We like tricky.

The other schools bring three levels of nothing to the table that’s much use to the trickster, other than ranged attack SLAs, which are superior to cantrips for an AT, since they’re always silent and stilled, but not unlimited. They’ll be truly useful to a trickster far longer than they will be to a straight caster.

Elemental schools lack elemental variety. There are more alternate and subschool options than I want to address. If they’re allowed in your game, read up on them. You want versatile magic enhancements and/or stealth, so choose accordingly. Same goes for other options, like alternate racial traits.

The point is that most schools have some features that can work with the trickster class, but their bonus slots aren’t in schools that a trickster is guaranteed to use practically every day, except elemental schools, which are already explained.

Blasts and illusions are sure to be used. A divination trickster, for example, would eventually see a +3 to initiative at 20th level, but he won’t be casting nine divinations in a typical adventuring day, and his SLA is nigh-worthless to a trickster.

He is never surprised in a surprise round, but the Surprise Attack rogue talent/ninja trick is the big one I recommend for this class, because surprised or not, you can sneak attack anyone in a surprise round. It gets better and better for you, too. Wizard tricksters want many of those spells, to be sure, but they can prep them when they’re needed.

Opposition Schools: Whatever you choose as your opposed schools, divination shouldn’t be one of them. You can spy in more ways than one. Enchantment spells involve a lot of will saves, and aren’t vital to the trickster’s role. Sleep is pretty useless by the time you would take it, and becomes entirely useless in two more levels. Let the full casters do the charming. That’s not your job.  

Choosing your prohibited schools has a lot to do with the spells your teammates can cast and prepare, so keep that in mind. Abjuration gives you Shield, and lots of other spells like Mind Blank, that you will want easy access to once you can use them. Conjuration gives you summoning, Acid Splash, and Acid Arrow, which is one of the trickster’s best blasts at any level. Sneak attack Acid Fog! Funny...

My wizard AT would take Evocation as his Arcane School, and Enchantment and Necromancy as his opposed schools. He’d opt for the Admixture School. He’d drop the SLA that doesn’t allow him sneak attack for an ability that lets him switch energy types, so his Scorching Ray can be a Freezing Ray when it suits him better. All his evo-damage spells become four spells in one, 3 (+ his int mod) times a day.

While you’re good at surprise round sneak blasting, you’ll do that less than you may think. You’re the scout, and blasting is rarely your first move in a normal game. You want to inform the party, and get them ready for whatever you saw before they did. You’ll blast when you can add sneak attack, and the party is ready and close enough to back you up. You kill whatever they’re having trouble with.      

Skills:

Pathfinder made skills a whole lot better than they were in 3.x. You may remember that cross-class skills in 3.x cost you one skill point for half a rank in any skill not on your class list. If a fighter wanted to have good diplomacy, for example, he could get 10 points at a cost of 20. Not a great deal. Rogues were desirable then because they got more class skills than other classes, and more points to put into them. They were useful to a party due to that, alone.

The PF trickster got a lot of improvements over the old one, but fixing how skill points are gained was inarguably the best boon for the AT. The lower entry requirement is a close second. The improved abilities and d6 hit die are sweet, too.

You get 8 skill points per rogue or ninja level, 2 per wizard or sorcerer level, and 4 per trickster level. A character with an 18 int. adds 4 more per level, and the wizard gets more class skills that don't overlap with the rogue class than the sorcerer.

It's smart to put at least one rank into every knowledge skill, because that would net a smart wizard trickster 8 total points for an investment of 1 rank each. You'll have all that and more by the time you take your first level in trickster. The AT gets all knowledge skills as class skills, but the sorcerer version won't see them until 8th level, and won't be adding a lot of points per level for a high int. As he goes up in levels and bumps his int even more, the wizard version just pulls farther ahead of the sorcerer. Skills are a big part of what makes this class. You can do things a sor/wiz needs magic to do, and some things a rogue or bard will never be good at. MacGyver with spells.

Skills? Disable Device and Sleight of Hand top your list. The DC to do it at up to 30’ away with Ranged Legerdemain is 5 higher, but that shouldn't be a problem to a dextrous trickster with maxed ranks. A failed check means less to you at 30’.

Sorcerers probably won’t have a lot of ranks for these skills, but at least one will turn them on for you. If you’re the rogue substitute, your friends will appreciate it if you disable the traps for them, or at least set them off from a safe distance.  

What if your target notices you trying to pick his pocket? Hey, it wasn't me! I was thirty feet away! Even if another player has those class skills, they can't do it as safely as you can. It's your thing, man. Rock it. Steal.

Stealth should be obvious. Max it out. Perception is crucial to the party scout (that's you, BTW), so keep it maxed.

Spellcraft and Knowledge (arcana) are as important to you as they are to any other caster. Max them out, if you can.

Escape Artist You need four ranks to qualify, so you’ll take it. It lets you do a lot of things you can eventually do with magic. All the same, much of your charm comes from the fact that you don't always need a spell to escape bonds, a grappler, or to get down a narrow chimney. The DCs for all of those things are very high, so it's a considerable investment to get to where you can use it with a consistent chance of success. There are other skills you need more that help you right away, and see much more frequent use (a headband helps here, too).

Acrobatics gives you options when it's time to either get into the fight, or get away from it. Sure, you'll be flying later on, sometimes, but not at all for the first 8 levels, at least. Again, one rank buys you 6 or so points, so bump it regularly if you can.

Bluff This is blue for sorcerers, though wizards get the same benefits, but with  fewer points. Along with the obvious advantages of being a sociopathic liar, you can often feint in combat and succeed. Get away from Aunty Antipaladin so you don’t have to take her full attack, roll a bluff check, and if you make it, your next attack will add all those neat d6s you like so much. If you have a spell-storing weapon, add some more. If you have some pluses on your weapon, even better. Hit her!

You’re probably better off casting a spell in most situations,  but they’re few and far between at times. Bluff gives you options, and options are good, in or out of combat. This is another good skill for a Headband.

Disguise is good. I know what you’re thinking: “I’m the invisible rogue. What do I need a disguise for?”  (Headband, wizards.)

You usually don’t. But, reread the True Seeing spell. You’ll want Disguise, sooner or later. Like I said before, not all problems are solved by magic. Sorcerers rule, here.

Use Magic Device is so useful to a character like you, whatever your charisma, that you should max it out, regardless. At low levels, it’s not very useful, though, so wizard ATs might wait until they get a headband, and get their ranks that way.  

Linguistics and a high int. score make you the party polyglot, and the decrypter of mysterious codes. Make yourself useful, and be a cunning linguist. You won't be able to cast permanent Tongues on yourself for a long time, and Tongues doesn't let you read anything, so it's still useful, if infrequent.

Like so many skills, it doesn’t come up that often in most games, but when it does, you really need it! Relax. The trickster’s got this. Versatility is your middle name: Gnome Versatility Chomsky. If your party is the Scooby-doo gang, you’re Velma.  

Fly is a dex-based class skill. Again, a single rank gives you a nice bump for when a check is needed, so put a rank or two in it once you're flying on a regular basis.

So, in summary, your first level of rogue should net you from 9 to 12 skill points. You want Acrobatics, Disable Device, Escape Artist, Perception, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, and UMD (unless you’re a 7 cha wizard).

“Hey! That's only 7 skills! I still get to pick 5 more because I'm a genius!”

Darn tootin', Elfy. Climb and Swim have their uses. Sense Motive and the cha-based skills will find good use, too. How about Appraise?  See what your party lacks, and pick some skills they don't have. Fighter types and full casters generally don't have a lot, even if they're smart, so you take up the skill slack as best you can.

Sorcerer ATs will have fewer points to play with, but the basic 7 rogue skills work for them, too. With their high cha, all the social skills should be great, so put some ranks in those, you disarming little scamp.For your first caster level, you'll want Knowledge (arcana) and Spellcraft maxed. Burn all your points getting them to Character Level, then hit the other Knowledge skills as you level up.

Charisma skills are blue for sorcerer ATs. You’re a much better party face than that dowdy old cleric, and you’ll be quite persuasive with a few ranks in each. Let the bard worry about knowing it all. You’re too pretty to bother with knowing stuff. When you enter the PrC, though, some ranks in knowledge skills won’t hurt.

You don't have to (and can’t) max out everything all the time, and just a rank or two in some skills using your best stats is good enough for a long time.

You'll have respectable points in everything you care about by the time you hit your first level of AT, especially if you took wizard.

Take at least one rank in all the roguey skills. One rank in Sense Motive turns your -2 to a +2. Think of it as a free Skill Focus at the cost of one rank.

Feats:

You don’t get a lot. Choose wisely. I won’t go through every feat in every book, but there are several in the CRB you’ll want for the first half of your career.

You want: Toughness, Weapon Finesse, Improved Initiative and Arcane Armor Training, probably in that order. Greater Fortitude is also strongly advised. You can choose to not wear armor, but amulets, bracers and rings aren't cheap, and can't be had at the lowest levels. Your other feats should help your magic.

A Mithral Chain Shirt has a 10% spell failure chance, which sucks, but until you can afford another way to get an armor bonus, it will have to do. You won’t have that many spells per day starting out, so it shouldn’t come up that often. If your GM allows eastern armors, there are some that offer no spell failure chance, but also very low AC. You need a good AC as much as any rogue does, so get it somehow.

About Metamagic feats in general: There are lots of good ones. Pick a few at higher levels that work for the spells you use most, and make sure they work.

Arcane Armor Training- No spell failure chance for casting in light armor, which you are already proficient with. I took a lot of grief for making this blue, but if you want to make it through the low and mid levels, good armor is the cheapest way to help you avoid getting killed before you ever see the higher levels. You can eventually afford to not wear armor when you’re fabulously wealthy. This feat will keep you going while you spend gold on all that other stuff you need to stay alive. The downside is that casting spells with a somatic component in armor costs you a swift action, as does casting a Quickened spell with a feat or a rod.

Once you have the money for a Quicken rod(s), (35,000 or 75,500) and the ring (64,000), and you’re 16th level, you’ll maybe want to say goodbye to the trusty +5 Mithral Shirt (+9 armor AC; 26,100) you’ve had for five levels. You’ll be getting other protective items, too, along the way, none of which are cheap. As a forward scout with the hit points of a sor/wiz, you can’t afford to get hit too often.

Starting at 16th level, you could ignore some of the recommended feats, including this one. Mage Armor takes a slot or an item and a standard action, and you won’t have it 24/7. The AT needs his +4 AC up all the time. This guide is about playing an AT at all levels, in the role of a recon specialist, caster, sniper and not-so-infrequent flanker, not just what works starting with a fresh character sheet and 315,000 gp.

If you don’t want that feat, I can see your point. I can also see you dying a lot because your AC could have been 4+ higher from levels 3-10, when other items that raise your AC are still quite costly. Scouting, flanking and spellcasting will be considerably more dangerous for you in the early levels, when you can’t take much of a beating, and your spells can fizzle at random. Just something to think about. It’ll be a long haul before you get your Ph.D. in Arcane Trickery.

And, even once you have +8 bracers, you might want to keep the armor for those sneaky jobs where you don’t want to cast quickened spells, but merely go undetected. The Shadow, greater ability will add +15 to your stealth for 33,750 gp.

Arcane Strike- This is for bards and gish characters. You are neither, and since your caster level will likely be behind your character level, you don't get enough benefit for its marginal utility, and you'll never see +5 damage. Skip it. To do good damage with weapons, sneak attack or go home!

Crafting Feats- Not for an AT. You need too many other feats. The only crafting you should do is on your bonded item, like making it into that Ring of Invisibility you want so bad. Let the full casters handle crafting. Be nice to them, and save their lives once in a while. Get whatever it is they can make for you at half price or so. You may know spells your crafter doesn’t, so you can help her craft that way, too.

Empower Spell- Two slots higher for 50% more damage. Get a rod. Rods are good. Intensified is better for most blast spells, if you can get that.

Eschew Materials- Losing your components isn't as devastating to you as it is to a single-classed wizard, anyway. Spells are half your shtick, not all of it. Sorcerers get this free, and that’s good.

Great Fortitude- Not sexy, but your fort save sucks. One failed save can ruin your whole day. Fortunately, your other two saves will eventually be pretty good.

Improved Initiative- Take this early on. Surprise and going first are your best friends in combat. More so for you than a caster, more so for you than a rogue.

Intensified Spell- This gives you up to five more levels of bang for a lot of your blast spells at +1 to spell level, resulting in better spell economy. Particularly effective when you get your capstone ability and all your blasts can add sneak damage. Take it later on. A rod would be fantastic, too.

Point Blank Shot, Precise shot, and Weapon Focus (Ray)- Even ranged touch attacks miss. The question is, how often do they miss by exactly 1 or 2? How often do you use them? Is it worth two or three feats? Considering all the feats that will do far more for you to keep you alive and contributing, the answer is no. Big creatures have horrible touch ACs as a general rule, and even at a minus, you can usually hit. It isn’t like the old days, when a miss could hurt your allies. You got, or will get a belt, right?

Better to miss with a ray, than hit and watch it not work (Spell Penetration), or fail a fort save (Greater Fortitude), or get slaughtered because you thought you’d make it to 16th level without any armor (Arcane Armor Training). Sneak blasting is a fun feature of your character, but it’s not your raison d'être. It’s not that great.

If your buddy’s fighting and you want to attack from a distance, use Magic Missile. Sorcerers can spam it, and wizards have one or two in their 1st level slots, once it does 3 to 5d4. Or, just eat the miss chance and blast.

Or, turn invisible, flat-foot it, and sneak it next round at +2.  

If worse comes to worst, you can tumble in and flank. You can do that, you know. Give Fighty and yourself a +2 on all your attacks, the same bonus those two feats give you, and watch him hit more with his iteratives. You might hit, too!

These feats work slightly better for straight blaster casters. They have feats to burn that you don’t. Ranged touch blasting is far from the only thing you do in your role,  and your character shouldn’t be built around it.

Selective Spell- This is great for any blaster caster, but nobody gets more out of it than you. Your surprise spells capstone ability to add sneak damage with area effect spells lets you put an average of 24.5 more points of hurt on the things you don't like, while the creatures you do like are coddled in the perfect safety of your loving arcane compassion. You kill, and yet you care. Bask in your party's undying adoration. You worked for it. Feat, rod, or even both.

Spell Focus- +1 to DC for one school, probably evocation. You don't want enemies saving for half damage. Get it some time along the way.

Greater Spell Focus- That’s one more. Full damage when they don’t save. Good.

Spell Mastery- A trickster, due to his role in the game, is more likely to find himself without his spellbook than a regular wizard, either by getting captured or robbed, or on purpose, working undercover and not wanting to be seen as a spellcaster. If you take it, wait until you're higher level. Escape spells like Gaseous Form or Dimension Door can save your hide in a pinch.

Spell Penetration- SR is more and more common as you level up. Take it when it starts to become common. This applies to every spell you cast, all the time.

Greater Spell Penetration- You have fewer spells to toss around than a standard sor/wiz of your level, and they're often blasts. They have to work. CL+6, Elfy!  

Silent Spell- Yes, you get tricky spells 3/day at 11th or 12th character level, but you'll want it before then. Once you can afford a minor rod, get one, and save your feat slot for something else. That rod will always be useful to you.

Still Spell- If you want to cast a still spell, be invisible first, then you won't need this. If they can see you, anyway, it isn't much help.

Toughness- Get it at first level. You have to get within 30’ of enemies to sneak attack them (until you get sniper goggles), and many of them will still be standing when it's their turn to attack you. You’ll also be flanking in melee at many points in your career. You need hit points from day one. PF made it worth taking.

Two-Weapon Fighting- You fight with the sor/wiz's BAB. You'll miss often enough with one weapon, let alone adding a -2 for two. Play a straight rogue if you want to go that route. One really magical weapon is better than two so-so magic weapons you can’t hit with, and gives your effective attack bonus near-parity with the TWF rogue until just past the mid levels. And, keep a hand free for casting, doofus!

Later on, when you have a few items that make you crazy-good, bump your weapon pluses, and ignore strength and certain DR. You’re a trickster, and tumbling and flanking can help Fighty when he needs it, and you, too. Once your foe’s down, give it a nice coup de grace if there’s time, just for giggles, and permadeath.

Weapon Finesse- Take this at 3rd or 5th level. It’s a bigger help than you may think. This helps the trickster hit with light weapons. If your dex is pretty high (as it should be), it helps considerably. Still, you fight like a sor/wiz, which means you'll miss a lot, and you'll never see more than 2 attacks per round without magic.

Your attitude towards melee should not be that of the sor/wiz, though: “No magic can help me now! OMG! Melee! GAAA! We’re all gonna die!”  Maybe him. Not you.

It should be; “Okay, but only if I’m flanking.” Cast Shield on yourself, if there’s time, and help Fighty Fighterson put that beast down. Save your spells for trickier foes.

As you level and get items that help you

hit, and gain ranks in Acrobatics, you'll be so much more useful in melee than a sor/wiz, it's not funny.

More on Feats:

From levels 1-20, you get ten feats. You get another one you didn’t choose from your casting class at first level, then another one at very high level at sor 7/wiz 5. You get some abilities from your sneaky class, one of which is, or is like, a feat. That’s thirteen feats for twenty levels. I sometimes wonder, when people recommend feats, if they ever counted how many the character can actually have? There are lots of feats that could be good, but an AT doesn’t get lots of feats.      

As you can see, combining two classes and playing the roguish role forces you to make tough choices, and you’ll never have enough feats to be both the scrappiest rogue and the most powerful sor/wiz. That’s why I often say “get a rod,” or “use a scroll.” But, how many rods and scrolls can you afford?  Not all of them.

You’ll have to determine which roguish feats do you the most good, and what metamagic does for your spells, and how often you’ll really use it. There won’t always be time for full-round spells, scout. You want feats that benefit both aspects of your role at the same time, like Toughness and Improved Initiative do, whenever possible. You’ll want items that synergize benefits: A Belt of Incredible Dexterity raises many important numbers for you; one more, if you have Weapon Finesse.

Some people recommend Extend Spell for sor/wizs. At lower levels, it makes a lot of sense for spells like Mage Armor or Rope Trick. You’ll be wearing armor well into the highest levels, though, if not all of them, and all you need Mage Armor for is for fighting incorporeals, if you get that close. A scroll will do the job, if you have one. Your god caster can handle Rope Trick, if she’s so inclined. Nice as it is, I’ve been in lots of games where no one ever cast it, and we lived.  

You won’t be using magic feats in the first half of your career, because you won’t have enough spells or spell levels to do much with it without a rod, and raising your fort save will look more attractive for your immediate survival. Once you have most of the blue feats, you’ll be in a position to determine what feats and items give you the best boosts for your job in the party. It’s easy to build your character from 20th level down, but playing it from 1st level up is a very different thing, and you may end up choosing feats and items that aren’t even mentioned here.

Look, you play Pathfinder and you’re reading this guide, so you’re clearly an intelligent person. Your game may be very different from what I’m used to, and you may or may not be able to do what you want for your vision of your AT. This is a friendly guide, not holy writ.

Traits:

Most GMs allow 2. You need this one:

Magical Knack- Mandatory. If your GM doesn't allow traits, beg for this one, anyway. Your spell power becomes seriously gimped without it.

Benefit: Pick a class when you gain this trait—your caster level in that class gains a +2 trait bonus as long as this bonus doesn’t increase your caster level higher than your current Hit Dice.

The Reactionary trait bumps your initiative by +2, and should be your other choice, if you can get it. Bump your fort save, if, for some reason, you can’t do that.

Rogue Talents/Ninja Tricks:

You only get one (if you go the assassin route, then you get none, and miss out on your second sneaky class-level bennies, too). I like Surprise Attack, for ninja or rogue, for obvious reasons. All opponents are flat-footed to you in any surprise round, even if they’ve already acted. I'll take it. Surprise rounds happen when you’re out in front scouting, and you'll be happy to add d6s to any attack you use in all of them. This will help you at all levels, forever.

Finesse Rogue gives you a feat you’ll want anyway, early in your career when you’ll use it most. Trap Spotter is undeniably good, too. 

Party Role:

You're the ninja/rogue with something extra. It bears repeating.

In one discussion of the AT on the Paizo boards, someone referred to an AT he played in 3.x as “MacGyver with spells.” This is an excellent description of how the AT works, and how he contributes. Regardless of your party's makeup, the AT can fill the stealthy skill-monkey role of the ninja or rogue, and has the magic to solve or bypass some problems that they can't. He can also cast arcane spells like a sor/wiz, and can fill that role to some degree, if needed. He's more effective, though, if there's another dedicated full caster taking care of the “god” role. The AT is a secondary party buffer at best, but by coordinating with your other caster(s),  you can cover a lot of bases.

Rogues can use magic items like wands and scrolls, etc., but that gets expensive, fast, and they have to roll a check every time. The AT can reliably use the best spell list in the game, essentially for free.

So, when it's time for somebody to turn invisible, climb silently over the wall, knock out the guards, kill the one guard who made his save with a single cantrip, coup de grace the others while they're still knocked out, find and disable the pit trap, then unlock and open the gates from the inside, there's just one character in the group who can do all of that by himself without breaking much of a sweat, or expending a fortune in spells or magic items. It was all you, dog. At seventh level.

A rogue could do all that with the right scrolls and a few successful UMD checks (he's hosed if he fails one, though). A wizard could do most of that, by using a lot more magic than the AT needed (assuming he had it prepared), though he might not do so well with the trap.

The AT did it with the lowest expenditure of resources, and has plenty left over for whatever happens next. He needed two low-level spells, a cantrip, two climb checks, some stealth rolls at +20, a weapon and a tool kit. Take a bow, young Skywalker. The force is with you!

He could have also managed all that in other ways than the methods used here, depending on his spell and skill selection. The point is, “Arcane Trickster” is the name of the class, and having tricks up your sleeve is what makes you fun to play.

Your Tools:

As a trickster, you have a “bag of tricks” that equals that of any character in the game. Many will argue that the sor/wiz, by having 3 more spell levels, has more tricks than you, and is thus a better character.

She's got more spells than you, that's a fact. But, by virtue of your broader range of skills and unique abilities, you're not the one trick pony a sor/wiz is. Take away a sor/wiz's magic, and you've basically got a charming or smart commoner with a good will save.

Take away your magic, and you have a host of abilities you can still rely on. It’s important for a trickster to remember that not all problems are solved by spells, and if a skill check can do the job, that's your first choice. Tricksters don't need magic for every situation, but they have that, too (usually).

Look at the chassis you get: Two good saves, lousy hit points, lousy BAB, sneak attack, and a lot of class skills and unique abilities. A lot. Enough to get you out of fixes a full caster can’t hope to match, without the right spells. Unlike a full sor/wiz, you’re reasonably good at getting out of trouble with skill checks. You’re drawing your most basic talents from a minimum of two classes. Use them both, scout.  

When I get into a fix, I bust out my bag of tricks!        

Your Weapons:

You get rogue weapons. A rapier is the best melee weapon for you, if you take Weapon Finesse (and you surely will). Short swords are for TWFers. Without Weapon Finesse, a morningstar is cheap, does decent damage, covers two damage types, and a dagger can handle the third. Why carry a dagger? Ever been swallowed? A sap gives you a non-lethal option, if you don’t want to kill outright.

Ninjas get some eastern weapons, and the coveted katana. It’s not a light weapon, though, so a wakizashi is a great choice for them.

You're a fair shot with a bow, too, but you'll never be a great one. Still, at low levels, your best option will sometimes be to take potshots at out-of-reach foes, so grab one off a dead enemy at 1st level. You’ll dump it before you enter the PrC.  

The AT's best ranged attacks are spells. His best melee attacks are also spells, but he can't use them all day. Good thing he has some decent weapons, huh? 10% of your budget can go into your sword. 5%, if you’re lucky.

If you find yourself a little low on options, a serious weapon with a spell stored in it is a friend, indeed. You may go levels without using it, but it’s there when you need  it. Hand it to the ranger archer, if she isn’t hitting with her sub-par melee weapon. Or, flank her and roll a buttload of d6s. Your weapon does real good damage, whoever uses it.        

A +5 spell storing, adamantine rapier costs 75,320 gp. A wakizashi is even better. That’s all you’ll ever need. If an ally can craft it for you, get it sooner, rather than later. You can flank at any level. It’s true. Save your magic for the bigger fights.Your Trickster Abilities:

Over the ten levels of the class, the trickster gains ranged legerdemain, impromptu sneak attack, tricky spells, invisible thief and surprise spells. Most of these abilities are gained rather late in your career, but they all make you better in the role of the roguish caster.

Ranged Legerdemain lets you use your Disable Device or Sleight of Hand skills at a distance of up to 30’. This bodes well for disabling traps (including magical ones), since you can avoid many of their effects at that distance if you fail the check. Stealing items from across the room can leave your enemies without any one object they have on them, such as a gem, weapon or even an amulet, as long as it weighs 5 lbs or less.

Impromptu Sneak Attack is gained 1/day at 3rd level, then scales up to 2/day at 7th. That’s right. You can declare any attack within 30’ a sneak attack, even though conditions wouldn’t normally allow it. You’ll use this every day. On a Scorching Ray.

Tricky Spells lets you cast spells as though they were Stilled and Silent, starting at 3/day at 5th, and scaling to 5/day at 9th. You don’t move or speak, then boom! This lets you use a Quicken rod, since Stilled spells don’t require a swift action to cast in armor. Use it to cast a second Disintegrate, instead.

Invisible Thief is good because it’s a free action. Greater Invisibility at will.

Surprise Spells is your capstone. 7d6 added to Magic Missile?  Bye, mook.

Sneak Attack and You:

As exciting as it sounds, the most sneak attack you'll ever have is 7d6 (24.5 avg.), or the same sneak attack as a 13th-level rogue. Unless your GM will let you continue in the AT class (easy to do) after you cap it, that's it, unless you go back to rogue levels instead of caster levels. Not what I'd do.

Rogues manage to do lots of damage by progressing faster than you with sneak attack, getting multiple attacks, and using combat feats to get more attacks in. If a rogue gets four attacks in a round, hits with only half of them, and does 14d6 sneak damage, she's putting out some good hurt.

Your sneak attacks with weapons will never be as impressive as the rogue's. You can use them to take out weaker enemies, but you don't hit well enough or do enough damage to take out level-appropriate mooks like a regular rogue can. You’re still a big help to others when you flank, though, so you can do (or at least facilitate) good damage with that.

But, if your tank ain’t tankin’, you ain’t flankin’.  

What you can do that the rogue can't, is make yourself invisible or concealed cheaply and with ever-increasing frequency and duration. You can sneak attack in lots of situations where the rogue is visible, not flanking, and just doing mediocre melee damage, hoping she can flank sometime during this fight.

An unmodified Scorching Ray cast by an AT does 4d6 per ray that hits, and adds some d6 to one of them if it’s a sneak attack. That will hurt, but it won’t take out the big bad. It'll kill a henchman (or three), more often than not, and let the  fighter close with the big bad quicker, so that's a valid move on your part. The truly devastating three-round dragon kills won't come until much later. Be patient, padawan, and play the sneaky, opportunistic scout for now. The path to trickster greatness is a long and demanding one.

Starting out:

You'll take your first level in ninja or rogue, of course, just for the hit points and higher starting gold. It's fine to take three levels of rogue, then your caster levels. Your role is clear at the start, and even if there's a bard, rogue or ninja in the party, your focus is different. I'm going to suggest 2 levels of rogue, then a level of your casting class, a 3rd rogue level, then the casting class again until you enter AT.

Why? Because you took the Magical Knack trait. With one caster level, you will cast those few spells as a third level caster. Vanish will last you three rounds, not one. Shocking Grasp will do 3d6, not 1d6. You will also bump your will save to something more tolerable (you dumped wisdom, right?), and be able to use many magic items without a UMD check.

Wizards, you can start padding your spellbooks right away, too, if you happen upon some scrolls, get your hands on somebody’s spellbook, or have another wizard in the party. Just like a pure wizard, you want as many spells as you can stuff in there, for the same reasons: Options, baby. Options.

Sorcerers, you can take Shield and Shocking Grasp or Vanish, if you don’t have it as a ninja. They’re all good, so pick two spells and enjoy your 3rd level casting with your 1st level list. Enjoy your cantrips, too. It’s all discussed under Spells, below.

Your spell failure chance with the armor you have is tolerable, for now. Live with it, until you get another feat or two. You’re not at all wholly dependent on your spells, and you never will be. You’re not just another full caster.

Levels 4-7 are the painful levels, and you won't really be that effective until you're in the double digits, level-wise. A nin or rog 3/sor or wiz 3 is a fragile creature. Rely on your skills and the few spells you know to avoid getting splattered early on. I suggest the best light armor you can afford, along with the Shield spell when things get heavy. Shocking Grasp hits more easily and does more damage than your weapon, once you can cast it. Fortunately, since you have lots of class skills, your out-of-combat contributions will be useful, so do lots of that.

About Scouting:

Zoe: First rule of battle, little one: Don't ever let them know where you are.

Mal: with guns blazing: I'm right here! I'm right here! You wanna come in? Yeah you do! C'mon! C'mon!

Zoe: Course there's other schools of thought.

Mal: That was bracing! They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself.

We hear it all the time: “Don’t split the party!” 

This is good advice, yet people can and do use scouting to find out what’s ahead in real life and in the game. One of the AT’s jobs is to do just that. In a dungeon, trying to find out where the princess is tied up, or going into the tavern in disguise to find out if Burly McBarbrawl and his ruffian crew are waiting to ambush you, it’s all scouting.

In the real world, scouts go into dangerous territory undetected, then report back what they found. They don’t think they’re Rambo, and they don’t kill sentries unless they’re spotted, and the sentry will call down more trouble on them before they can get away. You’re one screaming orc away from waking up the whole tribe.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can take on the enemy all by yourself. Just because you can add a few d6s to a sneak blast doesn’t mean no one will notice if you off a guard. Use Message to tell the party what they need to know, and either wait for them, or back off and do a little planning in relative safety.

Knowing what’s just ahead is a great advantage, but if you give yourself away, you just lost it, and then some. A good rule of thumb is: Never exceed the range of your Message spell, in space or duration, and try to stay well within that. Of course, scouting takes many forms, and the cantrip isn’t foolproof or always useful, so play it smart. Once you hit 8th level or so, your magic and your stealth make you the best scout there is in the game, until some splat book makes you otherwise.

Spell Economy:

A first level wiz/AT has the spells of a fourth level caster, casts them as a sixth level caster, and has all of 2d6 sneak attack. He can cast a handful of spells, and has a lot of skill points where he most needs them.

A spell is a terrible thing to waste, and he doesn’t have many. He’ll need to use his mix of skills and magic judiciously.

He sneaks up close to the bad guy. He casts Scorching Ray, and if it hits, he gets 6d6 (avg. 21) damage. A seventh level sor/wiz could do 8d6 with the same spell, and from a safer distance. So, where's the advantage?

It hasn't shown up, yet. The AT doesn't come into his own until you get into the double-digit levels. When the AT levels again, he, too, will be able to cast two rays, and add sneak attack, sometimes. Most of the time, at higher levels.

Spells:

There are a lot of spells out there, and there are plenty of guides for sorcerer-y, wizard-y folks, already. Rather than go through them all, let's look at a few trickster-style bread-and-butter spells, and how they work for him. The color code is for having these spells prepared in slots. A wand or scroll  of any of them can be useful, so that’s always blue. Options are good.

Attack Cantrips: Most casters pooh-pooh them because of the weak damage. You love them, though. ATs with a ranged touch attack SLA can normally ignore these cantrips.

Adding 2d6 to 1d3 can be a convenient all-day mook-killer, and it only costs you a cantrip slot, not a “real” spell, or even an arrow. Their best function is for sniping enemies who are close to dead, and who you don’t want to waste slots on.  Particularly at the lower levels, attack cantrips work for you because they can be used all day for ranged touch sneak attacks within 30’. You won't be using a bow for anything but standard (no sneak) ranged attacks.

Acid Splash: It allows no save and no SR. Few creatures are acid-resistant, so it's a solid cantrip. The best for most tricksters, especially the ones who get +1 damage.

Ray of Frost: Allows for SR, so it's not as good as Acid Splash. But, for an evoker, the +1 to damage and changing energy types is always appreciated. By the time your enemies have SR with any real frequency, you won't be using this one on any but the very weakest of mooks, anyway, or to finish off almost-dead foes.

Both spells replace and surpass the hand crossbow, so you saved some gold, there. Use one or the other, but you don’t need both. Be aware that they have vocal and somatic components, so they’re best used from concealment (like from Blur). Snipe away, but have your weapon ready in case you get spotted. Hit whoever looks easiest to kill. Fighty Fighterson will love it.

Other cantrips: Part of your role is that of auxiliary caster. Try to not duplicate cantrips at any level, especially at low levels, and as the scout, you should pick your spells first, then let others pick theirs. You don’t need 3 people detecting magic.

Disrupt Undead: Very situational. If you know you'll be running into some undead you can sneak attack, it's good at low levels, wizards. Sorcerers, skip it.

Mage Hand: You need this to qualify for the class, but not to use your ranged legerdemain ability. It's a handy spell, and fits your Jedi image, but not memorizing it today won't hurt your class ability to disable devices. You will need it to ranged-steal items, though. Just not magical ones. The duchess’s pearls? Yes!  

Dancing Lights: This cantrip doesn’t get enough credit. It’s awesome. Being able to cast it all day makes it more awesome, even if you have darkvision. Light up that monster 100+ feet away so your archer can ventilate it before it reaches you. Shape it into a vaguely humanoid form to light your way when you're invisible-scouting through the spooky darkness. Dumber monsters will react to it before they notice you (hopefully), giving you a chance to either kill them, or, if you’re smart, call for backup with...

Message: You're the best scout there is, once you get your roll on. Use your walkie-talkie to quietly report what you see before the party gets to you. Or, to beg for help when something else gets to you first... This is a good cantrip, particularly for you, and it improves with level. Don’t scout without it. Read the spell again and see why the scouting character benefits most by casting it himself.

Detect Magic: Is the chest magically trapped? Find out before you open it. Spots magic items and the like, too. Good stuff. Wizards, take this, and tell wizzy-pants to take Read Magic. It does more for you than anyone else in the party.

Ghost Sound: People love this spell. It’s great for anybody who isn’t out front, scouting and trying to be quiet. If there was no verbal component, a trickster could use it. Message serves you far, far better. This is for god casters, not you. Gnomes can do it once a day as an SLA, so that’s good for them.

Open/Close: Use this after you used ranged legerdemain to pick that lock from 30’ away. Open the door and spring that spear trap before somebody gets hurt.

Prestidigitation: A very useful spell, which someone else in the party probably already has. Sorcerer ATs should pick it up sometime after taking the blue ones.

Read Magic: All casters can know this spell, so wizard ATs don’t usually need to prep it unless they’re expecting to encounter a Glyph of Warding or a Symbol spell. Sorcerers need it, too, but take the blue ones first.

Other Spells:

Spells that require attack rolls can also do sneak damage. Necromantic spells like Ray of Enfeeblement and Enervation can add negative energy sneak attack damage on a hit, so they work, too. Just be careful you don't inadvertently heal a vampire.

Spells that allow a saving throw of any kind are also not so great for you. The AT can be a decent bluffer/diplomacy guy (or a great one, if he’s a sorcerer AT), but charm spells are too far behind a sorcerer's caster level curve to rely on. You can hang with a bard, though, but why bother? You’re good at other things bards can only sing about. They’re support. You’re the forward spy. Very different roles.

Acid Arrow: While this spell doesn't seem all that great for the spell slot, it's of great use to the trickster.

Ranged touch attack so you can add sneak damage? Check. No save? Check. No SR? Check. Long range? Check. Force spellcasters to make concentration checks to cast spells in the next round(s) due to continuous damage they can't do anything about? Check.

Behold the mighty power of continuous damage! If you hit a caster before he casts a spell, he has to make a concentration check. The DC is 10 + damage taken + level of the spell he’s casting. If you add a few d6s to the 2d4 of that spell, he’ll need a good roll to cast this round. About a 50/50 chance for him if he’s the baddest thing on the map, worse for him if he’s not. He’ll have to check vs. half your damage next round, too. Even more, if you follow up with another sneak Acid Arrow. Then, it’s 4d4 + the same d6. See where this is going? Two should do it.

You’re not just a good blaster caster, you’re the world’s greatest caster blaster, too. Sorcerer ATs can spam it easily, sneaking or not, and just a few of these in a row will mess up some of Mr. High-and-Mighty full caster’s spells for an encounter-ending length of time.

Casting this spell with some sniper goggles can mess up a charging army if you hit the right guy and fizzle his big battle buff. It should be in your arsenal, one way or another. Wizards, scribe some scrolls of it for when you go up against that spell-resistant necromancer, and watch him squirm.

You, of all people, should understand the agony of not getting a spell off when you really need it. If you cause a caster to lose a spell, congratulations! You did some legitimate damage and counterspelled with a second level spell, you trickster, you!

Alter Self: Need to pick a lock in total darkness? Become a goblin and get a dex bonus, too. Need to swim fast and cast spells underwater? Become a sahuagin. Need to turn into someone else to throw off the guys chasing you? Become... You get the idea. You can do more with this spell than other casters because you have way more skills than they do. Curious what it feels like to be the opposite sex? Become... Some scrolls of this can do wonders for you. You want it, perv.

Chain Lightning: This is a great blast for a trickster. Long range, so you can use your goggles from hiding and add some sneak damage to it, too. Particularly good for admixture evokers. I don’t recommend high level blasts, as a rule (you need those slots for other things), but this can do some nice damage to a lot of enemies.  

Chill Touch: Use this when flanking for multiple rounds. On a failed save, your opponent loses one point of strength, along with his 1d6 hit points, plus your sneak damage. If he's undead, a failed will save makes him run away. Shocking Grasp is better, but if you can flank multiple undead foes over a few rounds, this does the job, too, for the cost of one slot.

Color Spray: Lots of things have low will saves. This spell does what Grease can't: It grants you sneak attack on whatever it affects, for at least a round, usually longer. You have to get close to cast it, but using coup de grace on a gaggle of unconscious hobgoblins makes me feel like a big stud. Not very useful after about sixth level. Wizards will know it and not use it, and sorcerers will drop it at sor 4.

Darkvision: Having this as a racial ability is a major plus for the party scout. If you don’t, you’ll want this spell. Eventually, you can get yourself some goggles of night, but you’ll want sniper goggles, too, so make this a permanent ability once you can cast Permanency (see below).

Ideally, having both low-light vision and darkvision is the best way to go, so you elves and gnomes out there in Tricksterland will see better at high levels than other characters (and enemies) with just one or the other. For another temporary route to seeing in the dark, there’s Alter Self, too.

Disintegrate: You won't be able to get this until you're a 14th or 15th level character, but get it you should. It targets fort saves rather than reflex saves, so use it on enemy arcane casters, rogues (who are denied evasion by the fort save), aberrations, constructs, fey, monstrous humanoids, oozes, undead, and anything else with a crappy fort save.

This spell is your .50 cal sniper rifle, your one-shot kill, and it's best used with careful planning. Sneak up, cast True Strike with your wand, fire, and hope they don't make their save against your awesome DC. If they do, they take 5d6 plus half your sneak damage, which sucks a little less than just 5d6. If they fail their save, your sneak dice add some insult to the injury.

For extra fun, cast it twice with a Quicken rod. Empower it, when you have a way. Play a little game with yourself to see how much damage you can do in a round! Keep reaching for that personal best...

Cast it again while you still have initiative after the surprise round, and finish the job. If your target’s still standing, the rest of the party can one-round it.

Displacement: Who doesn't like this? The big nasty who can hit you on a 3 now has to roll a 50% miss chance. You're not likely to have this prepared, but a scroll is nice. You can cast it on your front-liners and double their single-encounter life expectancy, but buffing others isn't your forte. That's the god caster's job.

Ethereal Jaunt: It's a 7th level spell, but a scroll of this means you can go bye-bye whenever you want to, or just hide out in a wall for a while. It also makes your other spells work as normal on ethereal creatures, though they can also hurt you. Again, you can do more with this spell than a sor/wiz can, because you have more skills, and can even melee with a modicum of competence, if you took my advice.

Gaseous Form: Waft through the keyhole, and reform once you've floated over the lava floor in the room of certain death. Grab all the best goodies before you let your buddies in. This is an AT spell, for sure. You can cast it on your friends, too, dispel it at will, and bypass lots of trouble with it. A real hide-saver. Get it.

Grease: I know, I know, Grease is awesome. It sometimes makes things fall down, It always slows them down a little, but it doesn't always make them flat-footed. It's a useful spell, but it doesn't do much for you. Let god-boy use it.

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Invisibility spells: You want them all. You are the scout, and invisibility works better for you than anyone else in a party you're likely to be a member of.

Even sorcerer ATs shouldn't drop Vanish right away. Five rounds will be all you need, for you or an ally, much of the time, so save your higher slots for bigger things. Mass Invisibility, however, is best left to your full arcane caster, if you have one. Wizard ATs should have it in their spellbooks, if possible, but your invisibility magic is mostly a thing for you, alone. You have stealth a sor/wiz can only dream of, and invisibility isn't always needed because of that. Still, these spells are as important to you as any you can get. Take them, and don't let them go. Your god caster shouldn’t have to worry about who can make people invisible most of the time.

Naturally, Greater Invisibility is the go-to spell for stealth combat and almost-guaranteed sneak attacks, but you won't get it until 10th level, at the earliest. You'll be buying (or stealing) scrolls or getting it from a full caster until then. A wand of that spell is ridiculously expensive (21,000, minimum), but may just be worth it now and then. At 420 gp a pop, though, it better be important. Keep it in your daily spells, maybe with a scroll or two, and try to not need backup. Resource management is as important to you as any other character. It's easily the first 4th level spell any AT should take, along with Dimension Door.

Once you get the Invisible Thief ability, and have a ring of invisibility, you won’t have much need for your invisibility spell slots, so wizard tricksters can change out plenty of slots for other spells. Sorcerers, not so much. They still have them, though, and can bestow them as needed on their allies, letting the god caster use other spells.

As awesome as invisibility is, it’s useless against a lot of creatures, and that gets more common the higher up you go. At low levels, dogs will smell you and start barking. Foes with blindsight, blindsense, tremorsense, and the ability to see invisibility or use True Seeing all happen, increasingly. Your GM will gladly provide you with many situations where you’re going to have to use other tricks.

Spells like Arcane Eye, Prying Eyes, and the Greater version can do your scouting for you, as can Scrying.  Clairaudience/Clairvoyance can work, too. The eye spells can be detected and destroyed, but that tells you something, too.  

These are higher level and not something you’d use every day, but either you or your god caster can use them via scroll or spellbook. Sometimes Alter Self can make you look like someone to ignore, or a simple disguise with Disguise Self.

Polymorph, the Beast Shape spells, and even Form of the Dragon I can make you and/or your friends appear non-threatening or very threatening, depending, and you can learn what you need to. They’re great for scouting in certain environments, too.

True Seeing will give you away, but it only extends to what the user can see normally. Walls, normal disguises, etc., don’t reveal you. Your roguish skills still work the same way when you’re visible, too. Used creatively, scouting with magic and a little luck can get you the intel you need without getting killed instantly. Not all scouting has to be done in person, though that’s not impossible, either. Mix it up.

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Magic Missile: Suboptimal from a trickster's perspective, since you don't roll to hit, and thus can't add sneak dice to it (until you get your capstone, that is, then it's blue). It's one of the few spells that can reliably hurt incorporeal creatures, and outperforms any non-sneak bowshot you'll ever take, so you'll want it on your list.

Mind Blank: 8th level, but you’ll want it as soon as you can get it, either by yourself or from your god caster when she can cast it. It keeps invisibility relevant at high levels, where a lot of your enemies can see invisibility as easily as you can. It even foils True Seeing. One of the best spells a scout/spy/sneaky type will ever use.  

Mirror Image: This lets you jump into melee with a good chance of not being hurt, or face a hail of arrows and still have a few hit points left. Blur gives you concealment, though, so you can sneak attack from a distance. Situational. ______________________________________________________________

Permanency: The day may come when you can do this (12-13th). It's easier for wizard ATs than sorcerer ATs, since it can be in their spellbooks, but any AT can start doing it once they can cast 5th level spells, except for bard ATs. We don't care about them, anyway. The ability to do this for yourself and others at mid/high levels is just one more reason why sor/wiz casters are what’s optimal for this PrC.

What to get? Let's go down the list:

Arcane Sight This is better than Detect Magic. Not so much better you’d burn a 3rd level slot on it, usually, but as a permanent ability? Sure. The problem is that your eyes glow when you use it, so it's not exactly discreet. As the party scout, you can do it while you're invisible, and know a lot more about whatever magic is in the area than anybody else in the room, unless they have the same spell up. Your GM might get tired of it if you use it all the time, but you won't, anyway. It takes time he won't always let you have.

Comprehend Languages This lets you read any language, and understand any spoken language, but it doesn't let you speak it. It makes you very useful, but if you have another sor/wiz in the party, make her take it. Tongues is better.

Darkvision Yes, unless, of course, you already have it, Halforcky Halforcowitz. Better for you than the sor/wiz, since you have more need for it. You scout ahead in the dark. She hides in the back.

ATs with low-light vision get a double benefit. They can spot things others will simply miss, with or without light. Low-light and darkvision are different things, and having both forms of vision 24/7 makes you one scouty scout.

Detect Magic Never memorize it again. Unless, of course, someone dispels it. Arcane Sight costs more, but it does more, too. A bit of a toss-up, but I like Arcane Sight a lot. When it matters, you can be invisible, or just tricky cast Detect Magic.

Magic Fang This is a good way to improve the natural attacks of any creature in your party that has any (including you, if you have natural attacks). Use the Greater version to give Bitey Barbarian some real teeth with a 9th level scroll (or a friendly 20th level druid).

Read magic See above. Making these cantrips permanent lets you memorize other ones, so there's an ancillary benefit, too, for wizard ATs. Make the straight caster take this, and cast it on yourself when you’re obscenely rich.

See Invisibility Yes! Too good to miss, especially for you, scout. When you spot an invisible enemy, cast Glitterdust, so you can maybe blind it, and your buddies can help you shred it to pieces.

Tongues Eavesdrop on any conversation, whenever. Talk to any creature with a language, whenever. You are most likely the best (or at least the first) party member to initiate contact with strangers. Since you have at least a few ranks in the social skills by now, you can try them while having complete understanding with the objects of your attention.  Nadie gana más que Ud. por este hechizo. (See what I did there? An auto-translator in your head is nice, indeed.)

As we've come to learn, the AT can do more with many permanent spells than his sor/wiz counterparts because he’s got mad skills, while the single-classed casters cower and tremble in the back, needing the security of the party to be effective.

You’re squishy, too, but you’re hard to detect, and if you get in over your head, spells like Obscuring Mist, Expeditious Retreat, Alter Self, Gaseous Form or Dimension Door can all get you out of trouble. You can cast any one of these using your bonded object.

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Scorching Ray: Simply your best sneak blast for many, many levels. SR, but no save. Use a knowledge skill to suss out fire resistance, and switch to another energy type, if you can. Always have at least one ready, at any level, whatever you can do with it. There’s usually something you can blast for full effect in your adventuring day, particularly at lower levels.

Sorcerer ATs should get this spell early, and use it either from concealment (Blur), or with Vanish, whether they get it from a spell or a ninja trick. Even when you can't add sneak dice, it hurts things at close range if you hit, and that means you're helping. It’s nice to help.

See Invisibility: Great when you need it, but it’s reactive, not proactive. That turns around once you can make it Permanent. Who can do that? Sorcerers, wizards, and a few sor/wiz prestige classes. Sorry, bard. Go sing a dirge.

Shield: If you wear light armor, Mage Armor doesn't help you much. Shield does, though, so you want it. Carry some scrolls, or a wand of this, and use as needed. You'll use it a lot for those low-level melees. You'll use it at high levels because a +4 Magic Missile-immune force shield bonus is just plain sweet. You certainly didn’t take shield proficiency, did you?

Shocking Grasp: Better than a weapon for melee. Use it on the BBEG, flanking your fighter. As your sneak damage improves and you are able to add Intensified Spell, it gets even better. If you can change the energy type, it's again that much better.

Touch attacks > weapon attacks for you, so go all Mr. Spock if you deign to flank a Klingon. If you take Spell Mastery, this is one to consider for the short list, along with Gaseous Form, Invisibility, and Dimension Door. Put an Intensified or Empowered version of this in your spell-storing weapon, and roll a whole bunch of d6's on your next flank attack.

Snowball: The best 1st level blast in the game, particularly for tricksters. Druids, summoners and witches will all be taking it, too. The new “orb” spell. Totally broken, IMO, but my opinion doesn’t mean squat in your game. Take it, if you can.  

EDIT: There’s a newer version that’s an evocation spell. It seems more balanced, and because it’s an evocation, an admixture wizard can change the energy type.  

Stoneskin: A great, if pricey buff. That's why you don't cast it much, if at all. Let the god wizard or his hot sister buff your fighters and go to town on the dragon. You'll be spell-sniping from a safer distance, and big dragons have awful touch ACs.

Dragons compensate for their abysmal touch ACs by having high saves, DR, SR, resistances, and immunities, so take the recommended feats, do your homework, and have a hope.

Summon Monster III-IX: These are fine spells, and summoning yourself a flanking partner is appealing. You’re more the sneaky type, though, and summoned creatures aren’t usually very quiet. There are plenty of other casters who can summon creatures, so wait until the party catches up to you and let someone else do it. You’ll use enough magic just finding out what’s ahead and blasting what the summoned monsters can’t hurt, and you’ll conserve others’ spells by doing so.

Transformation: Most sor/wizs don’t like this spell, and for good reason. You, however, can benefit more from it than Tenser ever did.

Let’s say you’re up against a mithral golem near the end of a hard day, and you’re fresh out of Acid Arrow, or any other spells that would help. What to do?

Whip out your scroll, and cast this on yourself while your full caster puts Displacement on you. 16th level Elfy now gets the BAB and 4 attacks/round of a 16th level fighter, and some other bonuses that help him fight.

You can go flank Fighty, and with Weapon Finesse and 7d6 sneak attack, you can tumble and help him destroy it before it destroys him, even if you don’t have an adamantine or +4 weapon (much better if you do, though). You can’t cast or activate magic items while under the influence, but Impromptu Sneak Attack works as normal. You and Fighty would both benefit greatly from a Haste spell here, too.

Not something you’d do all the time, but it’s an avenue to  pretty competent melee that you can, once again, do a lot more with than most sor/wiz casters, since you’re capable of decent melee DPR, and they aren’t. Options, baby. Options.

True Strike: +20 to hit is awesome, but it costs you a spell, and if you don't attack in the next round, it's wasted. There are situations where it's a good idea, such as absolutely, positively needing to hit Genghis Gottadie for serious damage, or all is lost. A few scrolls or a wand of this is the way to go. It doesn't improve with caster level, so a wand is always cheap. Don't waste a slot on it. You don’t have time for it in the heat of battle. Use it when you’re prepping your sneak attack, and let your blast be the “go” signal for your party to start the surprise round. Hello, bitches!

Twilight Knife: Get yourself a flanking partner that can sneak attack with you. This spell seems to be made with ATs in mind. It's orange because there are some uses for it, and it may be worth having on a scroll of your caster level, but you usually have better things to do with a third level slot. This could be useful on a solo adventure, though, silent killer. It’s great when you’re working alone, or using Transformation without a flank buddy.

Vampiric Touch: This is nice. A wiz 3/rog 3/AT5 can do 5d6 damage, add 4d6 for sneak attack, and give himself that 9d6 in temporary hit points. Not something every trickster is likely to use often, but it doesn't suck. This is a good spell to put into a spell storing weapon. If you find yourself in melee, a hit hurts your foe (no save, but SR) and helps you (you probably need it). It’s untyped damage, not negative energy damage. It can hurt anything, including undead.

There are far more spells than I’m inclined to cover here. One thing to ask yourself when considering spells is what you can do with them that a typical sor/wiz can’t?

About your Blasts:

There are lots of them, and there will no doubt be more as new books come out. For sorcerer ATs, you want a variety of targeted touch blasts like Scorching Ray, but also pay attention to damage spells’ shapes, ranges and energy types, and pick up a variety of them. You don’t want to cast spells that won’t affect your foes.

Trickster Toys:

Magic items are part and parcel of the game, and you benefit from anything that helps you with magical or roguish activities. Any item a sor/wiz likes, you like. Any item a ninja/rogue likes, you like. There are many obvious ones, like belts of dex, and later, dex/con, headbands of your casting stat, pearls of power, rings of wizardry and invisibility, etc. They help you as much as any caster or rogue.

If you have the Arcane Bond feature, a ring or amulet is your best bet. Some GMs aren't mean to familiars, but you're in harm's way far more often than a sor/wiz, and dead familiars happen. An extra spell of your choice per day is a big help (Feather Fall!), and a ring under a glove or an amulet under your shirt isn't likely to go missing.

I’ve never lost a bonded item, but I don’t use wielded ones. Most wizard guides make bonded objects out to be a horrible choice, and they can be, if you aren’t as wary as a rogue, and are obviously a wizard-type to everyone who can see you.

Tricksters are not straight sor/wizs. They don’t look like them, with their light armor and fine blades, and they have more need for a get-out spell than other casters by a country mile, due to their role.

Your call, but familiars don't do it for me in this class. The best ones require a feat, and you don't get a lot of those. They're better for sor/wizs than for loners like you. A well-timed Dimension Door will get you out of a purple worm’s gut, while your wand-wielding familiar will just sit there wielding whatever weak-@$$ wands you bought for it with your hard-earned gold. I don’t believe it gets sneak attack.  

This is a little wishlist:

It’ll be a long time, if ever, until you can afford it all. Just stuff to think about. Your preferences for items may be very different from my tastes, and that’s OK. I’m not about to cover them all. The most desirable items are also the most expensive...

Belt of Incredible Dexterity:  Get the best one you can, as soon as you can. When you can afford it, get the +6 Belt of Physical Might and raise your con, too. Adding strength to that is too expensive, until you’re 20th level or so. Add bonuses to your rapier or wakizashi, instead. Your strength-dependent skills are pretty good, if not spectacular, and you’ll have magic to compensate for their uses, if needed.

Blessed Book: Wizards love them, and wizard ATs do, too, for all the same reasons. At 12,500 gp, it pays for itself. Sorcerer ATs save themselves 12,500 gp!

Boots of Speed: 10 rounds of the Haste spell per day as a free action, cut up however you like. You know what Haste does for you, right? Use them to run away when you get spotted scouting, or add another sneak attack while flanking Fighty, and do some righteous damage. These make you both safer and more dangerous. Perfect. Make your god caster use Haste. Wizard tricksters want it in their spellbooks, for sure, but you only have so many slots. You need them for you.

Other Boots: The Winged ones are nice, but they take a standard action to activate, and unless everybody’s flying, they’re best for flying over obstacles, but the non-flyers are kinda borked. If you’re feeling rich, get both enchantments on your boots.

You’re the scout. If you need to Fly, use a scroll, or cast Overland Flight and fly all day, invisibly, if you want. Some adventurers fly just so they don’t make noise walking, but you don’t have that problem.  

Potions: When you can afford it, a Potion of Cure Serious Wounds can be a lifesaver. Use it when you don’t have multiple rounds to waste healing up, and your healer’s too busy to help you. Get out, drink one (or two), and get back in the action and save the day.

Rings: There are plenty to like. A Ring of Invisibility frees up your slots and lets you be invisible whenever you want with a standard action, no AoOs. It lets you be you!

Robe of Stars: A Cloak of Etherealness is a fine item, but for 3000 more gold (58,000, to be precise), you can have this, and it's better. A Cloak of Resistance is a good choice for your cloak slot, scout (both Resistance and Ethereal are good cloak abilities if you can afford to combine them). The Robe of Stars gives you a +1 luck bonus to saves (which stacks with the resistance bonus of a Cloak of Resistance).

It also gives you six +5 shuriken you can use for ranged attacks when you're low on spells, or when they're not working for you (the BBEG just cast Globe of Invulnerability on himself, for example).

Remember, +5 makes you much more likely to hit, gets past all kinds of DR, and adding sneak damage, if you can, just sweetens the deal. Not your first choice for sneak attacks, but a nice fallback, just the same.

The best feature is being able to slip into the astral plane at will, for as long as you want, whenever you want. Unless your enemies can follow you there, you have a ready escape when things go south. While you can't cast spells across the boundaries, you're not so far from the prime material that you can't return after healing up, casting some spells on yourself, or whatever it is you have to do to go back and win. This is an expensive item, with a CL of 15, so you're likely to pay retail for it, but it does more for you than practically any other character who can put it on. It opens up many possibilities for a sneaky caster.

Rods: Metamagic rods are your friends, particularly because you don't have the feats or higher spell slots of sor/wizs of your level to put lots of metamagic into. Silent, Empowered, Intensified, Quickened, Dazing, Reach; they're all good. Steal them whenever you can.

Scrolls: A wizard trickster can, and should, scribe lots of scrolls. There are so many spells out there that may be useful, but aren't worth a slot, your strategy should be like that of any caster: There aren’t many useless scrolls. Even a cantrip can make short work of a sticky problem. An orison, like Create Water, may be just the ticket in the right situation. Hoard them, and scribe a few when you have the time and the gold. Don't ignore the spell lists of other casters, like clerics or druids, either.

Sniper goggles: Works for adding sneak damage to ranged spells just as well as ranged weapons, near or far. Get them as soon as you can, and be awesome with a side of spectacular. Even after you get your capstone and all your damage spells can do sneak damage at normal range, you still get a welcome sneak damage bonus within 30’, so they’re still useful to you. Greater are nice, too.

Spell-storing rapier or wakizashi: You can put spells in it yourself, and, when things get violent, you can hit for extra damage, with or without sneak attacking. A sor/wiz wouldn't invest much in a melee weapon, but for you, the sor/wiz with Weapon Finesse and Sneak Attack, it's useful. High bonuses to hit and damage also bypass various DRs, giving you a way to hurt otherwise unhurtable enemies.

You don't have unlimited spell slots, so while it's expensive, a spell-storing weapon gives you a fair shot at stabbing your less powerful foes to death, and saving your spells for the tougher encounters. Remember that CR-appropriate encounters often consist of multiple enemies who individually aren’t that hard to hit, and in spite of your wishes to the contrary, melee happens. Activate your boots, and whack ‘em.

Get a spell-storing weapon and add bonuses all the way to +5, when you have what you need and you can afford to. Vampiric Touch is a good spell for it, or an Intensified Shocking Grasp. If you end up with a magic dagger, as so many adventurers seem to do, hang on to it, and maybe trade up for the same upgrade on that, too. Extra damage is nice, however you can get it. Use the Force!

There are other enhancements you might like, depending on your game. If you can use the PFS rules, the agile enhancement lets you add your dex bonus to damage, rather than strength. Nice, but extended melee is not your thing. You want sneak attack damage, and/or an extra 10d6, so you can do the job quickly. Everyone loves a tricked-out blade. Unlike most sor/wizs, you can actually use one.  

Vest of Escape: +4 to Disable Device and +6 to Escape Artist checks. Good stuff.

Wands: With Use Magic Device, there aren't many wands you couldn't find a creative use for. A Wand of Acid Arrow is going to get used. Cure Light Wounds? Of course. Shield is a +4 shield bonus to AC that stops Magic Missiles and helps block touchy-feely wraiths. More often than not, a minute of it is long enough, so spending 15 gold might be worth more to you than burning a slot for a few more minutes of the same thing. True Strike is a good deal, too, and you'll use it whenever you can.

There are many, many magic items out there. I just pointed out a few I would want for my ultimate trickster. If it helps you be a better rogue, you like it. If it helps you be a better spellcaster, you like it. If it does both at the same time, even better. Raise your dex, your casting stat, and your AC, and scribe or buy lots of scrolls.

A Few Final Thoughts:

I’ve no doubt that people will disagree with many of the opinions expressed here. That’s fine. Anyone can write a class guide, but ultimately, the player is his own guide, and should play the character the way he wants to, subject to GM approval.

Some people pan the AT, because it's weak at low levels, and isn't as powerful as a full caster. It is, however, a class that holds its own in the role of the skill-monkey, scout and sneak-thief. The spellcasting is weak at first, but improves beyond what the most comparable skilled casters (bards and inquisitors) can do, and never looks back. At higher levels, it’s surprisingly versatile, and makes a good, self-reliant solo character, too; an excellent detective, assassin, spy, scout, or even a sage.

Many rogues start with average or dumped intelligence, to make room for high physical scores for combat builds. That's a smart strategy, and I'm not knocking it. I've read many a poster on the boards say “You can dump int. You've got enough skill ranks without it.”

A 20th level rogue with average intelligence has 160 skill ranks. A rog 3/wiz 7/AT 10 with 18 intelligence has 158. He can match or surpass the rogue in many, if not most skill categories, even before his spells come into play. And what wizard doesn't bump his int at every opportunity? Realistically, he'd have way over 200 ranks. The sample 17th level AT wizard at the bottom of this guide has 225, for a total of 527 points distributed among 28 skills (an average of 18.8 per skill).

But, comparing the AT to sor/wizs, nin/rogs, or brd/inqs doesn't really do the class justice. An Arcane Trickster, if we envision one, is a clever problem solver, an amazing detective/scout/spy and a capable spellcaster who can really hurt you if you don’t know he’s there. Chances are, you don’t. He’s patient.

MacGyver with spells, or, if you prefer, James Bond with spells. He's cool like that.

Other builds:

I presume here that most players will want to go rogue or ninja 3/casting class 7/AT 10. That's a versatile and magical build, but it's far from the only way to go. I've seen some intriguing builds using other classes, arcane archer levels, and even one with a level in duelist. I don’t discuss them.

I see the class as a versatile rogue substitute, which plays the rogue’s role in a party, and becomes quite powerful as it levels, but can’t match an equal-level blaster caster in total damage output because it’s 3 casting levels behind! 

A straight caster has more spells, and more ways to pile on the hurt with the ability to boost and specialize in such spells, than an AT played in a real game from 1-20 will ever see. If you want to just do spell damage, play a blaster caster. You’ll get more toys that way. You’ll even average more hit points.

I think that if playing the rogue’s role with some cool differences isn’t really your plan, you’ll be happier playing something else. Sneak blasting is a fun but overrated feature, not the real role of the class. It merely gives the AT some parity with same-level blasters if he sneak attacks. He’s woefully behind them when he can’t.  

The AT isn't the only class that benefits from high int/cha and dexterity, however. Whatever you do, have fun with it!

Opinions:

If I could change one thing about the class, I'd give it the medium BAB. +12 at 20th is slightly better than a wizard's BAB (10), but not as good as a rogue's (15). That's where it should be.

If I could change two things, I'd also scale the tricky spells ability so that it starts at 1/day at first level, 2/day at third, etc. I can understand why PF made some AT abilities only come in at higher levels, but if you don’t have level-dipping munchkins in your game, it’s fair to a committed trickster to let him have this stuff.

Third Party Stuff:

Obviously, you need GM approval, but I’ll add this list of optional  AT feats  available from Louis Porter Jr. Design: http://paizo.com/products/btpy8djt/discuss?Undefeatable-11-Arcane-Trickster#0

Street Mage is particularly good.

A Tale of Two Tricksters:

This is long, but let's compare two 11th level tricksters: A wizard, then a sorcerer.

Elfy Elferton, Elf Rogue 3/Admixture Evoker 3/Arcane Trickster 5

Init +11; Senses low-light vision; Perception +14

Defense 

AC 24, touch 17, flat-footed 19 (+7 armor, +2 deflection, +5 dex)

hp 70 (3d8+8d6+11+11+3)

Saves Fort +9 Ref +14 Will +7 (Base: 4, 7, 7)

Defensive Abilities evasion, trap sense +1 Immune magic sleep effects

Offense

Speed 30

Melee +1 rapier +11 (1d6+1/18-20x2), masterwork dagger +11 (1d4/19-20x2)

Ranged  masterwork dagger +11 (1d4/19-20x2), ranged touch +10

Special Attacks sneak attack +4d6

Statistics

Str 10 Dex 20 Con 12 Int 22 Wis 7 Cha 9

Base Atk +5 CMB +5 CMD +20

Feats Arcane Armor Training, Greater Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Scribe Scroll, Spell Penetration, Toughness, Weapon Finesse

Skills (Base: 50) acrobatics +19, appraise +10, bluff +7, climb +4, diplomacy +7, disable device +21, escape artist +19, fly +9, knowledge (arcana) +20, knowledge (all other knowledge skills) +10, linguistics +10, perception +14, sense motive +5, sleight of hand +19, spellcraft +20, stealth +24, swim +4, use magic device +13

Traits Magical Knack, Reactionary

Languages Celestial, Common, Elf, Draconic, Dwarf, Goblin, Orc, Sylvan, Varisian  

SQ elven magic, impromptu sneak attack 1/day, ranged legerdemain, rogue talent (surprise attack), trapfinding +1, tricky spells 3/day, weapon familiarity

Wands Cure Light Wounds, Shield, True Strike, 25 charges (1125)

Rods Silent Spell (minor) (3,000)

Potions Cure Serious Wounds (750)

Scrolls Comprehend Languages (x3), Glitterdust (x2), Displacement, Mage Armor, Wind Wall (x2), Twilight Knife (CL 8)

Other Gear Belt of Dexterity +4 (16,000) Blessed Book (12,500), Boots of Speed (12,000), Cloak of Resistance +2 (4,000), Handy Haversack (2,000), Headband of Vast Intelligence +2 (4,000), Mithral Chain Shirt +3, Shadow (14,850), Rapier +1 (2320), Ring of Invisibility and Protection +2 (16,000)

MW Dagger (302), MW Thieves’ tools (100), Explorer's Outfit, Spell Component Pouch (5) Spellbook Spells (3,500?) (Total: 95,552)

Arcane Bond If Elfy attempts to cast a spell without his ring, he must make a concentration check (DC 20 + the spell’s level) or lose the spell. Once per day, Elfy may use his ring to cast any single spell from his spellbook, even if it is not prepared, as if he had memorized it that morning.

Elven Magic, Spell Penetration Elfy adds a +4 bonus to all caster level checks to overcome spell resistance.

Versatile Evocation (Su) When Elfy casts an evocation spell that does acid, cold, electricity, or fire damage, he may change the damage dealt to one of the other four energy types 9/day.

Elfy is somewhere near the middle of 11th level.

Today, Elfy is planning to sneak into Morbid Manor, home of the notorious Viscount Vainglory. Reputed to be a powerful mage, and possibly a vampire, the Viscount has been difficult to scry, and Elfy's intel makes him very uneasy about the rumors of extremely loyal servants and undead guardians of trapped, hidden, valuable treasures in the dungeon complex below the main building, and he doesn't know what he might find.

This is just a solo recon mission to scope the place out. If he's detected, he'll bug out immediately, and hopefully can’t be identified. Between pre-casting a number of spells beforehand, his Rod of Silent Spell, his Tricky Spells ability, and his Ring of Invisibility, he thinks he can pull it off without being seen or heard, and may not need to cast any spells at all while he's there. If there are any secrets there worth knowing, he's determined to learn them. No blasts. Just sneaky spells.

Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 10; concentration +16)

4th- (3+1) Dimension Door (x2), Improved Invisibility, Resilient Sphere*

3rd- (4+1) Arcane Sight, Dispel Magic, Gaseous Form, Nondetection, Twilight Knife*

2nd- (5+1) Alter Self, Darkness*, Darkvision, Detect Thoughts, Misdirection, See Invisibility

1st- (6+1) Detect Secret Doors (x2), Detect Undead (x2), Mage Armor, Magic Missile*, Shield    

0- (4) Dancing Lights, Mage Hand, Open/Close, Read Magic

______________________________________________________________

Tomorrow, Elfy's party is teleporting to one of the most dangerous places in the region (he’ll use the scrolls they were given). There's an open war going on, and on top of that, they've been recruited for a risky search and rescue op to retrieve the rebel commander's wife from a band of human zealots and mercenary ogres led by a mysterious leader (actually a vicious rakshasa), “by any means necessary.”

Violence is certain. The cleric and witch will handle the support and control magic. Elfy will take point invisibly and spot. If they get to the compound where she's being held, Elfy's the best in the group for finding out where she is, and assessing (and maybe removing) the obstacles to her rescue. If they succeed, they'll be very close to 12th level, and considerably wealthier. Never a dull moment!

Wizard Spells Prepared

4th- (DC 20) Improved Invisibility (x2), Dimension Door, Ice Storm*

3rd- (DC 19) Fireball (x2)*, Fly (x2)

2nd- (DC 18) Acid Arrow (x2), See Invisibility, Scorching Ray (x3)*

1st- (DC 17) Magic Missile (x4)* Shocking Grasp (x2)*

0- (DC 16) Dancing Lights*, Detect Magic, Message, Ray of Frost*,

* Evocation, +1 damage

Different job, different magic.

He's ready to level. He'll then be able to cast 5th level spells, and finally get +6 BAB and more sneak attack. He's starting to get good at his job.

What I haven’t mentioned yet is Elfy’s ability to leave a few slots open, and fill them with spells appropriate to his situation, if he learns new intel before he engages.

Being the scout, he’s the first to know. He can back off and take a little time to prep spells in his empty slots, and come in blazing with the whole party, or just tell the party behind him to wait awhile. If he’s confident he can prep unnoticed, he might do that, and try to learn a little more.

Cats, curiosity, your friends getting bored because you’re the only one playing...

Let's take a look at a sorcerer, now:

Sorcey Sorcalot, Ninja 3/ Gold Dragon Sorcerer 4/ Arcane Trickster 4 

NG F Human 

Init +10 Senses Perception +12

Defense

AC 20, touch 17, flat-footed 16 (+2 armor, +3 deflection, +4 dex, +1 natural)

hp 71 (3d8+8d6+11+11+4)

Saves Fort +8, Ref +12, Will +7 (Base: 3, 6, 7)

Offense

Speed 30 ft.

Melee 2 claws +9 (1d4) or MW wakizashi (1d6/18-20x2) +10

Ranged ranged touch +9

Special Attacks sneak attack 4d6

Sorcerer Spells per Day 1st/8, 2nd/8, 3rd/6, 4th/4

Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 10th; concentration +17)

4th (DC 21) improved invisibility

3rd (DC 20) fireball#, fly*, gaseous form

2nd (DC 19) darkvision, glitterdust, resist energy*, scorching ray#

1st (DC 18) burning hands#, mage armor*, magic missile#, shocking grasp#, shield, silent image

0 (DC 17) acid splash, dancing lights, detect magic, mage hand, message, open/close, prestidigitation, read magic

*Bloodline Spell; #+1 DC evocation, +1 damage per die for fire spells.

Statistics 

Str 10 Dex 18 Con 12 Int 12 Wis 7 Cha 25

Base Atk +5 CMB +5 CMD +20

Feats Empower Spell, Eschew Materials, Greater Fortitude, Improved Initiative,  Spell Focus, Spell Penetration, Toughness, Weapon Finesse  

Skills (Base: 48) acrobatics +16, bluff +21, climb +4, diplomacy +21, disable device +8, disguise +10, escape artist +4, fly +8, intimidate +11, knowledge (arcana) +9, perception +12, sleight of hand +8, spellcraft +9, stealth +18, use magic device +21

Traits Magical Knack, Reactionary

Languages Common, Varisian

SQ impromptu sneak attack 1/day, ki pool (8), ninja trick (vanishing trick), no trace, poison use, ranged legerdemain

Wands If you drop the headband to +2, that's 8,000 for wands and scrolls, which she's great with! More work than I want to do for this, though...

Rods Extend Spell (minor), Silent Spell (minor) (6,000)

Potions Cure Serious Wounds (750)

Scrolls See above^

Other Gear Belt of Dexterity +4 (16,000), Boots of Speed (12,000), Bracers of Armor +2 (4000), Cloak of Resistance +2 (4,000), Handy Haversack (2,000), Headband of Alluring Charisma +4 (16,000), Ring of Invisibility (20,000), Ring of Protection +3 (18,000) MW wakizashi (335), MW Thieves’ tools, Performer's Outfit  (Total: 95,078)

Spell Penetration Sorcey adds a +2 bonus to all caster level checks to overcome spell resistance.

Spell Focus Sorcey adds +1 to the DC of evocation spells.

This is just a baseline for comparison, using only the CRB. You might do very different things with these two than I did, depending on your taste and what's available, but any game will likely have this stuff, and it’s fine for just a look.

Both of these tricksters are 11th level, and are just starting to get really good at what they do. Sorcey's a fantastic party face, and with her bloodline and empower feat, she can dish out fire damage Elfy can't match. With her claws, she gets two attacks, not just one, and can thus cast shocking grasp, do a full attack on a later round, and have a chance to do more sneak damage that way: 5d6+4d6, +4d6 again, if she hits on both attacks. They would be melee attacks, though, not touch attacks, so flanking is advised. A single touch attack would still work as normal.

Sorcey eschewed armor, as well as materials, so she spent more and got less for her AC budget. Like Elfy, though, she picked skills, feats and items that helped her get to this level, though she's well behind him in most skills, since she lacks his 22 int (I added her human bonus to skills, rather than her hit points. I think the math is right...). With her lower AC, she’s pretty vulnerable when things go wrong.

At any rate, she’s neither as versatile nor as skilled as Elfy, even with 11 more skill ranks than non-humans get, and the scout role is much more dangerous to her. She charms her way through a lot of things, though.

She could attempt Elfy's first spooky exploratory adventure, but it would be more dangerous to her without the right scrolls or wands. If she replaced Elfy on his second foray, she'd have more damage spells at her command, and as long as her enemies weren't fire-resistant or immune, she'd kick major @$$.

She's ready to level, too. She'll get what Elfy got when he hit AT 5, and pick up 3 more spells known (plus her 9th level bonus spell), though her first 5th level spell will have to wait another level. She’ll be looking to diversify spells and damage types.

Now, an assassin trickster!

Halforcky Halforcowitz Rogue1/Orc Blooded Sorcerer4/Assassin1/Arcane Trickster 5

NE M Half Orc

Init +10; Senses Perception +12, Darkvision 90', Light Sensitivity

Defense

AC 24, touch 16, flat-footed 20 (+7 armor,+2 deflection,+4 dex,+1 natural)

hp 70 (2d8+9d6+11+11+4)

Fort +8 Ref +12 Will +7; +11 vs. fear effects (Base: 3, 6, 7)

Offense

Speed 30 ft.

Melee +1 rapier (1d6+1/18-20x2), +9 or MW dagger (1d4/19-20 x2) +9

Ranged MW dagger (1d4/19-20x2) +9 or ranged touch +8

Special Attacks sneak attack 4d6. death attack (DC 12)

Sorcerer Spells per Day: 1st/8, 2nd/8, 3rd/7, 4th/5

Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 11th; concentration +17)

4th— dimension door, improved invisibility, wall of fire*#

3rd— gaseous form, fireball#, rage*, vampiric touch#

2nd— acid arrow#, blur, bull's strength*, glitterdust, scorching ray#

1st— burning hands*#, magic missile#, obscuring mist, shocking grasp#, shield

0 (at will)— acid splash#, dancing lights, detect magic, mage hand, message,  open/close, prestidigitation, read magic

*Bloodline Spell, #+1 to damage dice

Statistics 

Str 10 Dex 18 Con 12 Int 12 Wis 7 Cha 25

Base Atk +4 CMB +4 CMD +18

Feats Arcane Armor Training, Eschew Materials, Greater Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Spell Penetration, Toughness, Weapon Finesse

Skills (Base: 42) acrobatics +7, bluff +10, climb +4, disable device +12, disguise +15, intimidate +12, knowledge (arcana) +5, perception +12 sleight of hand +12, spellcraft +10, stealth +23, swim +4, use magic device +20

Traits Magical Knack, Reactionary

Languages Common, Abyssal, Orc

SQ poison use, impromptu sneak attack 1/day, ranged legerdemain, trapfinding +1, tricky spells 3/day, weapon familiarity

Wands If you drop the headband to +2, that's 12,000 for wands and scrolls, which he's also great with. More work than I want to do for this, though...

Rods  Silent Spell (minor) (3,000)

Potions Cure Serious Wounds (750)

Scrolls See above^ 

Other Gear Belt of Dexterity +4 (16,000), Boots of Speed (12,000), Cloak of Resistance +2 (4,000), Handy Haversack (2,000), Headband of Alluring Charisma +4 (16,000), Mithral Chain Shirt +3, Shadow (14,850) Rapier +1 (2320), Ring of Invisibility (20,000), Ring of Protection +2 (8,000) MW dagger (302), MW Thieves’ Tools (100), Explorer's Outfit (total 95,322)

Spell Penetration Halforcky adds a +2 bonus to all caster level checks to overcome spell resistance.

Halforcky’s got more spells than Sorcey, but pays for it with a little more vulnerability, a poorer BAB and fort save, and weaker skills. He’s not that good at many of the trickster’s tricks. He can, however, eventually cast spells as an 18th level caster at CL 20.

This guy’s bad news. He can get the drop on practically anyone in the dark. Three levels of the orc bloodline give him 90’ darkvision with light sensitivity, +1 natural armor bonus, +4 vs. fear effects, and +1 to all damage dice from his spells. His SLA is pretty useless unless he’s attacking physically, but the spell damage bonus makes up for that. He could also take ranks in Craft (alchemy) and make poisons at no risk to himself, due to his level in assassin. An invisible poisoner could do a lot of harm without using much magic. A great villain.

Like Sorcey, he’ll need to diversify his spells, now that he’s got some blasts, and cover more bases without becoming too dependent on scrolls and such. Metamagic will soon be part of his repertoire.

Elfy at 17th level

There was a 17th level PbP recruiting for players, so I added levels to Elfy, and this is the trickster I submitted, using a 25 pt. buy. A number of crafted items were permitted, so I combined the effects of some items. That was expensive, so he’s missing some items I’d have gotten otherwise.

CN M Elf Rogue 3/Admixture Evoker 4/Arcane Trickster 10

Init +13; Senses low-light vision, darkvision 60'; Perception +20

Defense

AC 32, touch 22, flat-footed 25 (+8 armor, +5 deflection, +7 dex, +2 natural)

hp 129 (3d8+14d6+34+17+4)

Saves Fort +14 Ref +21 Will +13 (Base: 5, 9, 10)

Defensive Abilities evasion, trap sense +1, Immune magic sleep effects

Offense

Speed 30

Melee +5 agile, spell-storing, adamantine rapier +21/+16 (1d6+12/18-20x2)

MW dagger +16, +11 (1d4/19-20x2), sap +15/+10

Ranged +5 shuriken (6) +21/+16 (1d2+5), ranged touch +16

Special Attacks sneak attack +7d6

Statistics

Str 10 Dex 24 Con 14 Int 28 Wis 7 Cha 9

Base Atk +9/+4 CMB +9 CMD +26

Feats Arcane Armor Training, Greater Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Intensified Spell, Selective Spell, Scribe Scroll, Spell Focus (evocation), Spell Penetration, Toughness, Weapon Finesse

Skills (Base: 72) acrobatics +27, appraise +13, bluff +19, climb +8, diplomacy +7, disguise +19, disable device +33, escape artist +33, fly +17, intimidate +8, knowledge (arcana) +29, knowledge (dungeoneering) +13, knowledge (engineering) +13, knowledge (geography) +13, knowledge (history) +13, knowledge (local) +13, knowledge (nature) +29, knowledge (nobility) +13, knowledge (planes) +23, knowledge (religion) +13,  linguistics +29, perception +20, sense motive +6, sleight of hand +27, spellcraft +29, stealth +32, swim +8, use magic device +19

Traits Magical Knack, Reactionary

Languages All  

SQ elven magic, impromptu sneak attack 2/day, ranged legerdemain, rogue talent (surprise attack), surprise spells, trapfinding +1, tricky spells 5/day, weapon familiarity

Permanent Abilities Arcane Sight, Darkvision, See Invisibility (17,500)

Wands Cure Light Wounds, Shield, True Strike, 50 charges (2,250)

Rods Extend (lesser)(3000), Intensified (lesser)(3,000), Quicken (lesser)(35,000) Silent (minor)(3,000), Silent (normal)(11,000)

Potions Cure Serious Wounds (2) (1500)

Scrolls Glitterdust (x2), Displacement, Endure Elements (x4), Mage Armor, Resist Energy (cold) (x4), Transformation (x2), Wind Wall (x2) (3425)

Other Gear Amulet of Natural Armor +2 (8,000), Belt of Incredible Dexterity +6 (36,000) Blessed Book (12,500), Boots of Speed/Winged* (7,875), Bracers of Armor +8 (64,000), Cloak of Elvenkind/Resistance +5* (14,375), Handy Haversack(2,000), Headband of Vast Intelligence +6 (36,000), Sniper Goggles (20,000), Rapier "Hornet"; Adamantine, Agile, Spell Storing +5* (52,320), Robe of Stars* (29,000) Ring of Invisibility and Protection +5**(self-crafted) (35,000), Ring of Sustenance (2500), Vest of Escape (5,200) (*crafted 61,570)

MW Dagger (302), MW Thieves’ tools (100), Explorer's Outfit, Cold Weather outfit (8) Spell Component Pouch (5) (Total: 362,360) Cash: 2 diamonds (3000), 1 diamond (5,000) 16,640gp

Arcane Bond If Elfy attempts to cast a spell without his ring, he must make a concentration check (DC 20 + the spell’s level) or lose the spell. Once per day, Elfy may use his ring to cast any single spell from his spellbook, even if it is not prepared, as if he had memorized it that morning.

Elven Magic, Spell Penetration Elfy adds a +4 bonus to all caster level checks to overcome spell resistance.

Versatile Evocation (Su) When Elfy casts an evocation spell that does acid, cold, electricity, or fire damage, he may change the damage dealt to one of the other four energy types 12/day.

Intense Spells (Su) Elfy adds +2 damage to any evocation spell that deals hit point damage.

Spells per Day (CL 16) 0: 4, 1: 7+1, 2: 6+1, 3: 6+1, 4: 6+1, 5: 5+1, 6: 4+1, 7: 3+1

Haughty? You’d be haughty, too.

At this level, Elfy’s got 225 skill points to throw around before he adds his insane  modifiers. He maxes 3 more skills with his headband, and gets other bonuses from a number of items to a lot of other numbers; so many, it’s hard to keep it all straight.  He’s got 527 skill points in 28 skills, for an average of 18.8 in each.

We’re now really seeing what he gets in exchange for giving up levels of wizard. What he’s lost in spellcasting, he gains in effectiveness in other areas. Even without his spells, he’s a very capable skill-monkey, if not a tough one. He’s no melee machine, but he’s a free action and a spell away from a +29/+29/+24/+19/+14 full attack routine, if that’s what he wants to do. Not bad for a scout.

Of course, with the ability to add 7d6 to any damage spell he casts, why bother to get close? He can be invisible, or flit in and out of the astral plane, or simply attack from concealment as he likes. Naturally, he’s working with other powerful characters, so keeping them informed and prepared remains his first priority. It’s not that hard for him, now. He may be fragile, but he’s also hard to catch (or even see).

Now, let’s check out a sucky 6th level wannabe trickster:

Gnomsky Chomsky, Ninja 3/ Elemental (Earth) Sorcerer 3

CG F Gnome

Init +9 Senses low-light vision; Perception +9

Defense

AC 18, touch 14, flat-footed 15  (+4 armor, +3 dex, +1 size)

hp 45 (3d8+3d6+12+3)

Saves Fort +4, Ref +7, Will +2 (+4 vs. illusions) (Base: 2, 4, 4)

Offense

Speed 20 ft.

Melee wakizashi (1d4-2/18-20x2) +6, dagger (1d3-2/19-20x2) +6

Ranged dagger (1d3-2/19-20x2) +6, ranged touch +6

Special Attacks sneak attack 2d6, Elemental Ray; (1d6+1, 7/day)

Sorcerer Spells per Day 1st/6

Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 5th; concentration +9)

1st (DC 15) burning hands (acid)*, magic missile, shield, silent image#

0 (DC 14) dancing lights, detect magic, ghost sound#, message, read magic

*Bloodline Spell, # +1 DC to illusion spells

Statistics

Str 6 Dex 16 Con 14 Int 12 Wis 7 Cha 18

Base Atk +3 CMB 0 CMD +13

Feats Arcane Armor Training, Eschew Materials, Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse

Skills (Base: 30) acrobatics +9, bluff +8, climb +2, diplomacy +8, disable device +12, escape artist +12, intimidate +8, knowledge (arcana) +7, perception +9, sleight of hand +9, spellcraft +7, stealth +16, swim +2, use magic device +10

Traits Magical Knack, Reactionary

Languages Common, Draconic, Gnome, Sylvan

SQ ki pool (5), ninja trick (vanishing trick), no trace, poison use

Gnome Magic: Gnomes add +1 to the DC of any saving throws against illusion spells that they cast. Gnomes with Charisma scores of 11 or higher also gain the following spell-like abilities: 1/day—dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation, and speak with animals.

Potions Cure Light Wounds x2 (100)

Other Gear dagger (2), wakizashi (35), MW Thieves’ tools, mithral shirt (1,100), etc.

Gnomsky's just a helpless little gnome in a big, dangerous world. Nin 3/sor 3 (or, more accurately, rog 3/wiz 3) is, to quote Treantmonk, “Terrible. Terrible.”

That's true, if your goal is to be a “god” caster. Gnomsky's not trying to do that, though. She wants to be a great trickster, and she's well on her way.

Her Gnome Magic abilities are nice, but she likes Dancing Lights and Ghost Sound (as an SLA) so much, she added them to her cantrips. When scouting gets tricky, she uses them now in conjunction with Silent Image to make a “fake Gnomsky,” which scouts ahead of the real Gnomsky, who tags along well behind the fake, just out of range of others' darkvision.

When the baddies attack the fake, the real Gnomsky vanishes, and alerts her comrades with Message. She's got 3 rounds to retreat, or concentrate on the image and position herself for a sneak attack with her poisoned weapon or Elemental Ray, once her buddies get there. With her good stealth, neither option is that scary to her.

When she hit Sor 3, she took Magic Missile (at CL 5), and sold her dinky little crossbow for beer money. Firing into melee is easy, now, and does reliable, if not awesome damage. With only 6 spells per day, she can't spam them carelessly, but all her magic will just keep getting better from here.

This is Gnomsky at her weakest (well, last level was weaker), but she's an effective scout, and has plenty of tricks to help her survive and be useful to her party.

Next level, she'll take Mage Hand and Blur, and at 8th, she'll enter the AT class with Invisibility and (acid) Scorching Ray. Terrible? Terribly fun, maybe. I'd play her as is, right now. Well, actually, I'd spend most of her gold (16,000), then play her. I’d get her a silent metamagic rod, and magic up that armor, then see what’s left.

Eventually, if she can survive this terrible, terrible level, she’ll be able to cast the Elemental Body spells, which will add new dimensions to her already impressive scouting abilities.

You may have noticed that I rated Ghost Sound as a bad choice in the spells section, yet here I am with a gnome who uses it as a part of her main trick. Given that Gnomsky has it as a SLA, she can save it for when she has to be silent, and cast it normally when she’s preparing to scout. As stated in the color-coding at the top, many spell choices are so specific to certain strategies, that I rate them as memorized spells. SLAs, wands, rods, etc., can alter what’s optimal in no time.

There are lots of ways to make tricksters useful. Like any character, you should play to your strengths, and try to mitigate your weaknesses, insofar as you can.

One more trickster, who I play in a tabletop game:

Otso Lesee, Elf Rogue 1/Admixture Evoker 5/Arcane Trickster 1

Init +6; Senses low-light vision; Perception +5

Defense

AC 18, touch 15, flat-footed 14 (+2 armor, +1 deflection, +1 natural, +4 dex)

hp 55 (1d8+6d6+5+7+7)

Saves Fort +4 Ref +9 Will +4 (Base: 1, 4, 5)

Defensive Abilities trapfinding Immune magic sleep effects

Offense

Speed 30

Melee masterwork rapier +7 (1d6/18-20x2), masterwork dagger +7 (1d4/19-20x2)

Ranged masterwork dagger +7 (1d4/19-20x2), ranged touch +6

Special Attacks sneak attack +2d6

Statistics (20 pt. buy)

Str 10 Dex 18 Con 12 Int 20 Wis 7 Cha 7

Base Atk +2 CMB +2 CMD +16

Feats Intensified Spell, Scribe Scroll, Spell Focus (evocation), Street Mage, Toughness, Weapon Finesse

Skills (Base: 22) acrobatics +14, appraise +9, climb +4, craft (ship) +9, craft (sails) +9, craft (siege engine) +9, disable device +16, escape artist +11, knowledge (arcana) +15, knowledge (all other knowledge skills) +9, linguistics +9, perception +5, profession (sailor) +2, sleight of hand +8, spellcraft +15, stealth +14, swim +4

Traits Peg Leg, Reactionary

Languages Aquan, Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Elf, Draconic, Goblin, Sylvan

SQ elven magic, ranged legerdemain, trapfinding +1, weapon familiarity

Gear Amulet of Natural Armor +1, Bracers of Armor +2, Cloak of Resistance +1, Ring of Protection +1

MW Dagger (302), MW rapier (320), MW Thieves’ tools (100), Explorer's Outfit, Spell Component Pouch (5)

Arcane Bond If Otso attempts to cast a spell without his ring, he must make a concentration check (DC 20 + the spell’s level) or lose the spell. Once per day, Otso may use his ring to cast any single spell from his spellbook, even if it is not prepared, as if he had memorized it that morning.

Elven Magic Otso adds a +2 bonus to all caster level checks to overcome spell resistance.

Intense Spells (Su) Otso adds +2 damage to any evocation spell that deals hit point damage.

Versatile Evocation (Su) When Otso casts an evocation spell that does acid, cold, electricity, or fire damage, he may change the damage dealt to one of the other four energy types 8/day.

Wizard Spells 3rd- 3+1. 2nd- 4+1, 1st- 5+1, 0- 4

Peg leg not shown

Otso “LeSay” Lesee is a character I'm playing in a Skull and Shackles campaign. He's different from most tricksters in that I used the Street Mage feat, and only gave him one level of rogue.

I was originally going to just play a wizard. The first levels were full of physical challenges, which he often failed spectacularly. With the GM's permission, I changed his approach with a rogue level, the feat, and min-maxing his stats.

After some characters left or were replaced, Otso became the only arcane caster, and had to focus more on support. Now that we don't have a buff-bard, LeSay has to spend time buffing the party (Haste and Displacement, mostly), rather than just himself, and acts more like a regular wizard than a trickster.

Since he's lacking rogue levels, his skills aren't all that strong, but they're still pretty solid for the role he plays. He's the ship's repairman, lock picker and main knower of stuff, among his other duties.

Still, with his skills and a fair number of spells per day, he manages to do some pretty cool things. In our last underwater encounter, the cleric got her Water Breathing dispelled, so he used his bonded item to cast it on her again, and kept her in the fight. He also flanked a difficult enemy and did 9d6+2 damage with an Intensified (acid) Shocking Grasp. That was fun. Killed him next turn, with a Magic Missile (3d4+5) as he was swimming away. That was fun, too.

For the price of a feat and a caster level, LeSay became a more skilled, athletic, swashbuckle-y sort of wizard. He’s very fun to play. Arr!

All Tricksters:

Regardless of the ways in which they vary, ATs share a basic competence in many roguish skills and powerful arcane magic. They can take the rogue’s place in most parties, and use their magic for both espionage and offensive targeted blasts. They   pay for that with often-frustrating weakness at low levels.

Don’t be bold, be patient. If you’re the only arcane caster in the party, don’t play a trickster. I’d say wizard, if you think you’ll go past 9th.  

Working with the other members of the party, they’re best at scouting, spying,  and initiating combat with sneak attack spells, leaving the “god” magic to more dedicated casters.

They’re almost as squishy as a sor/wiz, so getting caught in the open without backup is as much a problem for them as for any d6-based character, although, because of their broad range of skills, they’re rarely helpless.

In that role, they are incredibly fun to play, and once they gain access to high level  spells, arcane tricksters become able to cast game-changing magic, coordinating with other characters to creatively end encounters in stunning fashion.  

I hope this guide, while it’s a bit chatty, has helped you reconsider what the trickster is capable of, played with some imagination and the due caution good spies always practice.

I revisit this page now and then to revise it. If you play a trickster, I’d love to hear about your experiences, and use them to add to the body of knowledge available to those Rare and Clever few who dare brave the Trickster path. 

If you have any comments, please PM me on the Paizo boards, or post here: http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2o2tl? Guide-to-the-Arcane-Trickster.

Happy gaming!  

Update:

I haven't updated this guide since 2013, and Pathfinder, predictably, has added many options for classes. There are a couple that really change what a trickster can do. I use them when I play a trickster, so they're worthy of mention.

The first is the Unchained Rogue, Pathfinder's attempt at making the rogue a little better, and yes, it's a little better. Much better for the trickster, due to the fact that you get “finesse training,” which is simply the weapon finesse feat, at first level. Great! You will start with Toughness and Weapon Finesse. Your feat-starved trickster is a little less feat-starved.

At third level, you get “more finesse training,” which lets you add your dex to damage, instead of your strength. That's a real boon to your 7 strength halfling. The little guy will be able to do almost decent damage, finally, when forced into melee. Unless your GM is a real dink, you should be able to take that class for your rogue levels, and you should.

I think it outclasses the ninja class, too, especially since you're only taking one to three levels of it.

The real game changer for the trickster is the Accomplished Sneak Attacker feat.

You can now take a single level of rogue, and qualify to enter Arcane Trickster at fifth or sixth level using this feat. Now, you can take a single level of Unchained Rogue, picking up a useful feat, three or four levels of your casting class, take Accomplished Sneak Attacker, and be only one level behind a full caster your whole career.

You can still take 2 or 3 levels of rogue if you like, but let's face it: Caster levels are more powerful than rogue levels. Compared to the original rogue 3/caster 3 or 4 this guide discusses, you lose evasion, finesse training, 2 hit points, 12 skill points, and one BAB. You can eliminate the loss of BAB, if your GM allows the variant rule called Fractional Base Bonus, which he should, unless of course, he's a real dink. (Find another GM, dude!) I'm not sure if that's permissible in PFS, but even without it, the loss of a single BAB is no big deal, you dexy mofo.

What you gain is caster levels. Pure win, in my opinion. You'll be invisible and sneak attacking with spells much sooner, and with a decent intelligence, you'll still be able to have the most important skills you need to be an effective scout.