Awesome! I’m always in favor of research-based classes, especially if they have continuous purpose throughout the game (meaning, not just researching techs and then they have no point).
So, my thoughts…
Well, like I said, aim for long-lasting purpose in the Class. Researching and wand/staff production is already a good start, but once you have your research done and all the necessary magic tools made, the Class isn’t so useful. Granted, that likely wouldn’t happen until the late-game, but I always like having a reason to keep something I already had for so long all the way to the end. Maybe their active studying can produce a selectable buff to certain units or squads, to take a page out of my old Tactician Class Suggestion Post? Normally, I try to avoid directing to my own threads and suggestions, but since the Arcanist sounds like it could function very similar, I thought some of the concepts from that page could help.
If there’s a way in the future to expand workshops with additional items, be ready to get creative! A bookshelf is nice, but also consider some crazier, fancy objects with glowing sigils or moving parts. Make the workshop look fun (and dangerous) to use!
The table model you currently have already looks nice–great job! I can’t decide whether there should always be a book open in the middle (since it’ll seem like some strange tome the Arcanist never seems to be able to finish); perhaps the book should be part of the crafting animation on the unit instead? I’m not too familiar with models and skeletons and whether items/parts can be easily introduced only for certain animations, so maybe this wouldn’t work.
That’s all I can think of for now, but hopefully this gives you some new food for thought! Keep up the great work!