The Court Mage

[Kitty]

The Court Mage
Another fan favorite, the Court Mage is coming back to Solasta II. Magic-wielding bodyguards, they are proficient with Shields and can use their reaction to increase a nearby ally’s AC when they get attacked. Their signature feature is their Spell Shield which can be cast on an ally to absorb a large amount of damage before breaking, protecting them (and the Court Mage) from harm. 

Solasta II’s version of the archetype has also been heavily reworked at higher levels to fit the Sourcebook version of the Court Mage. Their level 6 feature becomes Vigilant Protector instead of Counterspell Mastery, allowing the Court Mage to teleport next to whoever is protected by their Spell Shield with a bonus action and granting them bonus AC while next to them, while their level 10 feature Shield Resonance allows them to select a damage type whenever they create a Spell Shield to gain resistance against it while protected by it. 

Most of those changes were to give the Court Mage a more unique identity playing around their Spell Shield, instead of leaning too much into Counterspell / Resistance to Magic. While the latter thematically fits an anti-magic bodyguard, it also infringes a little too much on the playground of the official Abjuration Wizard to our liking.