Now if you want a real answer, I recommend you read and follow the Posting Guidelines (one of the 1st link in the Important Threads stickied thread).
Plus which, the best gestalt characters even things out to cover their flaws. Consider: Archivist//Psion. Just as MAD, but gives you the ability to actually use your medium armor proficiency. Doesn't cover up your reflex saving throw hole, but if the Psion side goes Psion8/Slayer10, you get full BAB for quite some time.
What about Archivist//Ranger? Now we're cooking. All good saves, full BAB, and archivists actually make good archers (since they can push the ranger spells over to the archivist side and cast them much earlier). Not as much armor coverage, and still MAD.
Frankly, just about any gestalt except for something like Wizard//Beguiler or Wizard//Psion will be MAD to some degree.
Doubling up on casting classes mainly means you've got a LOT of durability, but in a standard environment (one where there's about 4-5 encounters per day), you don't need that durability as much. You still have to deal with the fact that you only get 1 spell a turn. So for gestalt, I prefer builds that synergize better than Wizard/Archivist, especially since resourceful archivists can learn about 70% of the useful wizard spells anyway.
Take divine censure
inqusitiion domain
batllemagic perceptin
and the dispel line of spells
combine with chain spell and you can be the king of dispeling as a free action. Followed by laying down the smack during your standard actions with saves or loses.
Take War Weaver because it's awesome with Archivist (hello level 5 Heal). A one level dip into Sacred Exorcist is also a good idea, since then you can get divine metamagic. Persisting a spell onto the weave is a lot of fun.
After reading Omen_of_Peace suggestion, and the Posting Guidelines, here we go again... (Sorry for the first post, i didn't knew about the guidelines).
I'm going to play in a gestalt campagin, with all the D&D 3.5 book allowed. 28 Points for abilities.
I'd like to make a wizard character, who is specialized in battlefield control and debuffing. He should also be the party face. I don't like (nor care) dealing damage, so my wizard won't use any weapon, nor know any evocation spells, because I won't use them. I think it would be a good idea to be able to create my own wands, and wondrous items, so have available a broad rangs of spells in each encounter.
Now, it's a gestalt campagin, so I can choose another class, to "improve" my wizard, to make him fulfill his role (Battlefiled control, debugging, and party face) in a better way. Which character would you create, to achieve this?
Some restrictions: I don't want to play a psionic (Don't know the rules about those). And I don't want my character to be a Beguiler (I love this class, but i've played it too much, so i'm trying to try new things).
The campaing goes from level 2 to level 10 or a little more possibly... I'd like help in how to "improve" what a normal single class wizard would be, using the help of the "gestalt class", so he is extremely good in what he does, or may be improve the "range" of things he does. May be you can suggest me a gestalt class, that gives my Wizard a combo (of spells or anything), to make him incredible at Battlefield control, and debuffing... I'd love if you could give me a build, with some feats suggestions on what to choose at each level.
Mi original idea was to make a Wizard/Archivist, Int 18, Con 14, Dex 14, and don't have any bonus spells for the archivist. So I would be able to improve my battlefiled control and debuff, with more spells options, from the divine spells. (Also the dark knowleadge ability is nice).
Thanks you very much for your future help!
Wizard//Archivist isn't very good, especially in a 28-point environment. Archivists are already a bit MAD, since they get their bonus spells from wisdom.
Actually, it's freaking awesome. Because you get all of the best spells in the game, and *plenty* of them. You can cover up your weak points with spells.
And you don't need much WIS, since you don't need many bonus spells, since you have a second casting progression.
Plus which, the best gestalt characters even things out to cover their flaws. Consider: Archivist//Psion. Just as MAD, but gives you the ability to actually use your medium armor proficiency. Doesn't cover up your reflex saving throw hole, but if the Psion side goes Psion8/Slayer10, you get full BAB for quite some time.
Man, screw your medium armor proficiency--cast Luminous Armor or something. The Archivist//Psion can wear armor... and he *can't* cast Glitterdust, Slow, Voice/Flight of the Dragon, Fear/Confusion, etc etc. He can't even cast Haste without eating into his 3rd-level Magic Vestment/Mass Conviction/etc. slots, or worse, his 4th-level ones.
Sure, you can wear medium armor. But now you're using powers instead of spells, and powers are, by and large, a whole lot worse than spells.
What about Archivist//Ranger? Now we're cooking. All good saves, full BAB, and archivists actually make good archers (since they can push the ranger spells over to the archivist side and cast them much earlier). Not as much armor coverage, and still MAD.
And now, instead of Wizard casting, with the most powerful spells in the game at your fingertips, you have... archery. WOOOOOOO.
Frankly, just about any gestalt except for something like Wizard//Beguiler or Wizard//Psion will be MAD to some degree.
Doubling up on casting classes mainly means you've got a LOT of durability, but in a standard environment (one where there's about 4-5 encounters per day), you don't need that durability as much. You still have to deal with the fact that you only get 1 spell a turn. So for gestalt, I prefer builds that synergize better than Wizard/Archivist, especially since resourceful archivists can learn about 70% of the useful wizard spells anyway.
It doesn't just mean you've got more durability. You also get twice as many highest-level spell slots, meaning you're throwing them around all the time. And in a gestalt game, you may *need* that durability.
What's more, with more spell slots, you can afford swift/immediate-action, short-duration spells more easily, as well as quickened spells. So you can get more action efficiency.
I could make you a list of wizard spells archivists can't learn, without using unacceptable Warlock 12-scribes-it-as-divine cheese, if you like.
I also wouldn't count out archery from this equation. Dread Secret means your foes will be stunned, and therefore subject to the very high CL hunter's eye volley of arrows you just sent their way. Divine casters have so many ways to pump their CL, it's silly. You can do quite a bit of sneak attack damage this way, especially with a Belt of Battle or other item providing you the move action to call up the Dread Secret.
Luminous Armor is great, if you've got it. BoED is always a questionable source.
I also wouldn't count out the Psionic route - a Kineticist / Anarchic Initiate is among the best blasters in the game, and slapping such a blaster on the other half of a divine caster is also not half-bad either. Especially since it keeps you from having to do as much paperwork: two prepared sides are often annoying to run. I guess, since the Archivist can't afford a wisdom bonus, a lot of those spell slots would end up as Cure FOO Wounds, anyway, unless he's not a healer.
Basically, your argument is that Wizards are strictly better than every other class. While I more-or-less agree with this claim, it's got some issues.
But back to the spirit of my post: Gestalting wizard into archivist adds wizard casting to the character, that's it. It doesn't bump the hitdie, improve the reflex save, improve the BAB, or anything. It does give you the ability to specialize on the wizard side without losing flexibility, and also gives you a lot of PrC options. Being able to pick up good PrCs while still progressing the archivist base is good.
However, if you're in a small-group, gestalt game, I'd still take a look at fleshing out the other half with a good reflex save, hitdie, BAB, etc. They may well add up to some useful stuff, depending on the campaign.
Hmm, adding to the long-and-rambling post, here's another thought. Wiz//Archivist is really good, if you are the party healer. I've played an archivist, and despite their theoretically jam-packed prayerbook, you end up using a sizable number of your daily spells on prepared cures, since you really don't want to be caught without one, and you can't spontaneously convert. So this way, you get the cool class features of the Archivist, a few awesome druid/domain spells, and the casting ability of the wizard. Not bad, not bad. You could probably even get into Dweomerkeeper this way.
Hmm.
Okay, I take it all back. Get dweomerkeeper, although I'm not sure which side to stick it on. You'd have to enter with a cleric1/archivistN, but turning undead for divine feats can't hurt (even if they don't all apply to your archivist spells).
*sorry I meant to edit that in not dual post*
The very first thing I thought of when I saw that build was that it would make a devastating gestalt with Archivist.
I motion that you do that.
Illumian Wizard 5 / War Weaver 5 / Spellguard of Silvery Moon 5 / Legacy Champion 5 // Cloistered Cleric 1 / Archivist 19
Sigil combo that gives you dex to bonus spells... Aeshkrau, if I recall correctly.
18 int, 14 dex, 14 con
Take Knowledge Devotion, Magic of the Land, Divine Metamagic: Persist, and whatever you need to qualify for your prestige classes.
Congratulations, you can cast persistent Divine Power on the entire party.
Otherwise you could just go for early entry with Illumian (UurKrau iirc) and enter Mystic Theurge at lvl 4, and only lose one lvl of casting.... then you can use the whole other side of the gestalt for some more sweetness
What about Archivist//Ranger? Now we're cooking. All good saves, full BAB, and archivists actually make good archers (since they can push the ranger spells over to the archivist side and cast them much earlier). Not as much armor coverage, and still MAD.
What are you smoking? Archvist/Factotum or Wizard/Factotum if you only want casting on one side. Ranger isn't terribly useful for a caster, who can shoot spellfire rather than arrows... warblade for the d12 hitdie would be better.
There's really no good way to optimize gestalts, because gestalting is usually because you're short players. So you've got to look at the role you're playing. Factotums make for excellent trapfinders here, and are all kinds of flexible. It depends on what you're trying to do.
If you need ranged damage dealing, you'd be pretty surprised what an archivist archer can do by himself, let alone one that's got some extra archery feats from either levels of fighter or ranger. The druid/ranger spells the archivist can cast are really helpful - Bite of the Wererat, Hunter's Eye, etc. Of course, a good wizard can cast those as well, I suppose.
I love your oh-so-friendly tone, O_S. You're totally right, though: Factotum is an excellent choice here: good reflex save, better BAB, and INT synergy to boot.
There's really no good way to optimize gestalts, because gestalting is usually because you're short players. So you've got to look at the role you're playing. Factotums make for excellent trapfinders here, and are all kinds of flexible. It depends on what you're trying to do.
If you need ranged damage dealing, you'd be pretty surprised what an archivist archer can do by himself, let alone one that's got some extra archery feats from either levels of fighter or ranger. The druid/ranger spells the archivist can cast are really helpful - Bite of the Wererat, Hunter's Eye, etc. Of course, a good wizard can cast those as well, I suppose.
Sorry about my tone. If I have given offense, I offer apologies.
Interesting point though about the spells. Druids have very good spells for ranged combat.