I have asked a question about comparing the Arcanist with an Exploiter Wizard.
It got closed quickly, then reopened, now it's getting closed again. Before a full close-reopen war starts, I'd like to discuss the possible problems related to this question here on Meta.
I ask everyone who sees any problems with the question to state them so they can be fixed as quickly as possible: I'd like to actually play my character on Sunday. :)
This is a really straightforward question: the two classes are nigh-identical, so you really only need to compare a few details, the faster progression of the wizard vs. the arcanist’s greater spontaneity being the big one.
Neither has any particular impact on “what you want to do with it,” and therefore the questions asking for those details—normally crucial to questions like this—are wrong-headed in this case. It makes me wonder if perhaps the question is being treated generically by people who are not familiar with the material, rather than experts who should be weighing in here.
I’ve voted to reopen, personally.
While the two classes are similar, they play differently. It is unclear what you consider to be "more powerful" and that could conflict with my (or the next person's) view of what is "more powerful". While one may be more powerful in one aspect of the game, the other may be more powerful in another.
You could start by describing what are your goals with that character, or how you think that this choice would impact your gameplay, or how that would interact with the group.
As it stands, we cannot possibly answer that question without injecting our own opinion into it (compare your question to this other: Is this question too opinion-based). While I could easily answer that question, because I would have to rely on my opinion about the rules, it may not be exactly the kind of answer you were looking for, and thus we need clarification.
If you asked us "what is an optimal choice for a controller spellcaster" or "what class gives the highest spell DCs" or "what class has the highest damage potential", those would all be fine and not based on opinions.
