Ran a playtest tonight with my regular gaming group as a segment of our on-going campaign. The players are at level 10, though they are a little over strength (high stat array, bonus items, etc.) so we consider the party to be +1 level.
The party tonight consisted of a human paladin and his half-celestial unicorn, a halfling wizard, a half-elf cleric and a human fighter/rogue. The bad guys consisted of 3 advanced Nessian Warhounds and a level 11 elf magus. Stats are in the spoiler.
LE medium humanoid (elf)
Init +6; Senses low-light vision; Perception +14
--------------------
DEFENSE
--------------------
AC 28, touch 18, flat-footed 22 (+9 armor, +6 Dex, +2 deflection, +1 natural) (Buffed 30/16/25)
hp 79 (11d8+11)
Fort +11, Ref +12 (+11), Will +10
--------------------
OFFENSE
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +16/+11 +1 Spell Storing Whip (1d3+3/non-lethal) (+2 from Arcane Weapon) [30' inclusive reach Enlarged]
Spells (Prepared spells in Bold)
0 – Acid Splash, Arcane Mark, Dancing Light, Daze, Detect Magic, Flare, Ghost Sound, Light, Mage Hand, Open/Close, Prestidigitation, Ray of Frost, Read Magic, Spark
1 - Burning Hands, Color Spray, Enlarge Person, Flare Burst, Grease, Hydraulic Push, Magic Missile, Shield, Shocking Grasp, True Strike
2 - Blur, Flaming Sphere, Glitterdust, Mirror Image, Scorching Ray, Web
3 - Fireball, Fly, Haste, Lightning Bolt, Greater Magic Weapon, Slow
4 - Black Tentacles, Dimension Door, Phantasmal Killer, Wall of Fire
Magus Arcana Maneuver Mastery (Trip), Concentrate, Maneuver Mastery (Disarm)
--------------------
STATISTICS
--------------------
Str 12 (14), Dex 22 (20), Con 12, Int 22, Wis 10, Cha 8
Base Atk +8; CMB +12 (+25 trip, disarm); CMD 23 (27 vs trip, disarm)
Feats Agile Maneuvers, Combat Expertise, Enforcer, Greater Trip, Greater Disarm, Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Quicken Spell, Weapon Finesse
Traits Heirloom Weapon, Focused Mind
Skills Intimidate +13, Knowledge (Arcana) +20, Perception +14, Sense Motive +14, Spellcraft +20, UMD +13
Languages Elf, Infernal, Dark Tongue
Gear +1 Spell Storing Whip, +3 Mithral Breastplate, Amulet of Natural Armor +1, Belt of Incredible Dexterity +4, Cloak of Resistance +3, Headband of Vast Intelligence +4 (Intimidate, Sense Motive), Ring of Counterspells (Dispel Magic), Ring of Protection +2, Wand of Shocking Grasp
--------------------
TACTICS
--------------------
Attack Bonus: +16/+11 (+14/+9 when used in Spell Combat) (Buffed +15/+10 or +13/+8)
Trips/Disarms: +25/+20 (+23/+18 when used in Spell Combat) (Buffed +25/+20 or +23/+18)
Concentration: +18 (DCs 15/17/19/21/23)
When seen buff with Enlarge Person and Shield, store Shocking Grasp in whip (5d6 electricity on hit), disarm available weapons and then trip. Use Spell Combat to apply Blur and Mirror Image in the first two rounds.
I also slightly altered the Warhounds, with the advanced template and trading out a couple feats. Stats in the spoiler.
LE Large outsider (evil, extraplanar, fire, lawful)
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., scent; Perception +10
--------------------
DEFENSE
--------------------
AC 28, touch 13, flat-footed 24 (+6 armor, +4 Dex, +9 natural, –1 size)
hp 174 (12d10+84)
Fort +15, Ref +12, Will +7
Immune fire
Weaknesses vulnerability to cold
--------------------
OFFENSE
--------------------
Speed 40 ft.
Melee bite +23 (2d6+15/19–20 plus 2d6 fire)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks breath weapon (30-ft. cone, once every 1d4 rounds, 10d6 fire damage, Reflex DC 23 half)
--------------------
STATISTICS
--------------------
Str 31, Dex 19, Con 25, Int 8, Wis 16, Cha 10
Base Atk +12; CMB +23 (+27 Overrun); CMD 37 (41 vs. overrun and trip)
Feats Improved Critical (bite), Greater Overrun, Improved Initiative, Improved Overrun, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (bite)
Skills Acrobatics +19, Intimidate +15, Perception +18, Stealth +24, Survival +18; Racial Modifiers +5 Stealth
Languages Infernal
--------------------
SPECIAL ABILITIES
--------------------
Overrun Knock target prone if CMB > CMD+5. Target knocked prone provokes AoOs from those that threaten.
Power Attack bite +19 (2d6+27/19-20 plus 2d6 fire)
Combat started in a desert with the combatants about 200 yards apart. Both sides made their perception checks and started towards each other. Initiative was rolled and combat started. Both sides were given basically two rounds before either side was close enough to engage in close combat, where the magus buffed himself with Enlarge Person and Shield. The party mostly just waited for some reason.
Combat details in the spoiler.
In the second round the wizard enlarged the paladin's mount (note: houseruled version of Animal Growth in a 6th level slot) and then the fighter/rogue moved into position behind the magus and pulled off a sneak attack that nearly cut the magus's hp in half. The magus then 5-foot stepped and used Spell Combat to cast Blur on himself (auto-succeed on the concentration check) and substituted his attacks for a disarm and trip attempt on the fighter/rogue; both succeeded very easily. Two of the hellhounds moved up and attacked the mage and cleric, dealing considerable damage while the third ran back to defend the magus. The cleric teleported away and cast a spell (I can't remember which, but it had little or no effect). The paladin and mount both smited and charged one of the hellhounds, cutting a good bit of its hp away.
In the third round, the mage cast fly to get out of reach of the hellhounds and moved away. The fighter/rogue used his full round to retrieve his weapon (I was nice and left it in his square) and stood up. One warhound used its breath weapon on the paladin and mount, dealt minor damage to the paladin but a decent amount to the mount. Another warhound overran the paladin's mount and succeeded enough to knock the mount prone which provoked from the first warhound. The paladin failed the ride check to not get knocked down too. The AoO dropped the mount into the negatives. The third warhound bit the fighter/rogue. The magus used Spell Combat to cast Shocking Grasp (to store in the Spell Storing whip) and tried to connect with a regular attack to deal the shock damage but missed since his regular attack bonus is much lower than his CMB with his favored maneuvers. The cleric dropped a holy smite on the paladin, effecting both the warhounds near him. The paladin stood up (AoO missed) and healed himself.
In round four, the wizard further fled from the warhounds and cast Mage Armor. The fighter/rogue attacked the warhound, dealing moderate damage. One warhound chased the wizard and used its breath weapon, another tried to bite the paladin (and missed) and the third overran the fighter/rogue, knocking him prone. The magus moved and tripped the cleric (applying the damage from Shocking Grasp via Spellstrike). The cleric stood and cast Holy Smite again. The paladin full-attacked the hound in front of him, nearly killing it.
In round five, the wizard tried to Baleful Polymorph the magus to no avail. The rogue again stood and missed with his attack against the hound. One warhound attacked the paladin, bringing him very low on hp. Another breath weaponed the wizard, bringing her pretty low. The last warhound missed the fighter/rogue. The magus used Spell Combat to cast Blur on himself (auto-success) and tripped the fighter/rogue again. The cleric cast Holy Weapon on the magus. The paladin finished off the warhound in front of him.
In round six, the wizard used Magic Missile on the magus (to ignore the miss chances) and cut the magus down to about 1/3 hp. The fighter/rogue full attacked the warhound bringing it very low on hp. One warhound breath weapons the wizard and the other misses the fighter/rogue. The magus tries a Phantasmal Killer on the cleric (those Holy Smites were annoying him) but the cleric saved. Since the spell already offers two saves, the magus didn't use Spell Combat to avoid that low roll that could cause it to not be cast. The cleric dropped another Holy Smite, dusting off one of the warhounds. The paladin charged and killed the remaining warhound.
In the seventh and final round, the wizard Magic Missile'd the magus, finishing off his final 11 hp. Mop up in the rest of the round killing the bad guys dead for good.
End analysis:
At this level, the magus really seemed to shine, at least for this build. His low regular attack rolls would have been really annoying if I hadn't designed him for control rather than damage. Also, if this hadn't be part of a regular on-going campaign, I would have done a little more to optimize his actions and would have killed both the fighter/rogue (Phantasmal Killer vs low will save) and the paladin (disarm+trip+black tentacles). This battle used over half the party's resources. I didn't use any of the "burn a spell slot" abilities and all of the Spell Combat attempts were successful. He seemed rather short on hit points (likely caused by having to prioritize Int and Dex), but that was compensated for with the various miss chances.
If I had intended to build him for damage and direct close combat, I don't think he would have fared as well. His AC would have been very low, making him much easier to hit, and he doesn't have a lot of hit points to absorb that damage (assuming a straight Dex/Str switch).
All in all, though, it feels like a solid class. Extra variety in the magus arcana would be nice and it will be good to see what other spells they get in Ultimate Magic.
You went easy on them. A shield spell would've bumped his AC nicely and stopped those pesky magic missiles.
So, did the warhounds do most of the actual damage to the party or did the magus contribute significantly, do you think?
Actually, he did say he cast Shield in one of the first rounds. It was probably an oversight.
Yeah, Shield blocks magic missile. It's definitely an oversight, I sometimes forget that, too.
Yeah. Completely forgot that he had his Shield up to block Magic Missile. I added it into his AC though, so it did stop some melee attacks.
The stats are a 20 point buy and the gear is for a 11th level PC. Because of the extra gear given to the PCs (each character has a "legacy item" that doesn't count towards their WBL) I didn't consider PC gearing to warrant the CR bump. Against a regular party, I would agree though.
I didn't use more AoE spells because on the rounds where they were close enough together to use them, I needed to activate some defensive spells (Blur, Shield, Mirror Image). Also, as mentioned, I didn't want to kill off the party as this was simply inserted into our ongoing campaign.
The magus, in this scenario, was an excellent controller. With one of his brutes handy, he was a very formidable opponent. Disarmed and prone is a bad place to be when a Nessian Warhound is breathing down your neck. I also wanted to attempt a Spellstrike, which is why he cast Shocking Grasp in one of those rounds rather than dropping a Black Tentacles or something. Since this magus was not particularly designed to deal a hefty amount of damage but rather be a debuffer/controller, the majority of the hit point damage was dealt by the hounds. All but about 20 hp worth, if I am remembering my rolls correctly.