help on chosing the right heavy armor


Advice


im a lvl 12 magus right now wearing a +1 mithrill breastplate so i dont lose my movement and the dex penelty is low.

but the monk is getting whacked to often so wants to play more defensiveley as in running away in combat.

so im thinking on getting a full plate.

what i am still no certain about is what kind of magic i want on it.

right now im thinking
+2
spell storing
adamantine

is 1500 base price
+3 bonus
+15000

but I hear heavy fortification is worth it I just dont have the money to put it on there yet I migth want to upgrade later but right now I certainly dont have the money.

are there anny other magical enchantments that are good for a magus?
spell storing is kinda a must as i can load it up with shocking grasp or frigid touch all day long.


no thoughts? at all?


Kind of confused what you are asking.

Base price for fullplate is 1500, but it has to be Masterwork so thats 1650.

Heavy Fortification can be somewhat circumvented by Jinga of the Fortunate soldier. Its only once a day but I find that tends to be 70% of the crits. Granted depends on your home game (YMMV).

I like the Spellstoring with Frigid Touch, Not sure if this would work on mooks not using natural weapons. You would need to get a DM ruling. Otherwise how good is your AC? It might be worth just putting more enhancements is the better Option.

Dark Archive

What other AC items do you have? What is your total AC?

Dark Archive

What is your dex?
Adamantine full plate is 16,500! The adamantine subsumed the mw cost. Do you have that much money to spend even before magic cost?
As sagotel asked, what other ac items do you have? I hate when someone improves their armor from +1 to +2, a 3K cost instead if just buying a ring or amulet for 2K.

Grand Lodge

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Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

On my magus, my favorite forms of AC are Mirror Image and Displacement.

Shadow Lodge

Slacker2010 wrote:
Heavy Fortification can be somewhat circumvented by Jingasa of the Fortunate soldier. Its only once a day but I find that tends to be 70% of the crits. Granted depends on your home game (YMMV)

Those stupid hats are broke -- for the price of the +5 armor bonus to one suit for Heavy Fort, you could buy five Jingasa, then swap them out of your haversack (Mythic Quick Draw? Hah). On top of that, sunder bosses who smack your hat are only wrecking 5k worth of gear rather than an entire suit of armor.


Sir Thugsalot wrote:
for the price of the +5 armor bonus to one suit for Heavy Fort, you could buy five Jingasa, then swap them out of your haversack (Mythic Quick Draw? Hah).

never thought of that...hell yeah


Sir Thugsalot wrote:
Slacker2010 wrote:
Heavy Fortification can be somewhat circumvented by Jingasa of the Fortunate soldier. Its only once a day but I find that tends to be 70% of the crits. Granted depends on your home game (YMMV)
Those stupid hats are broke -- for the price of the +5 armor bonus to one suit for Heavy Fort, you could buy five Jingasa, then swap them out of your haversack (Mythic Quick Draw? Hah). On top of that, sunder bosses who smack your hat are only wrecking 5k worth of gear rather than an entire suit of armor.

Well, there is the fact that swapping hats mid-combat is probably hard on action economy. Plus Fortification works on sneak attack as well as critical hits.


LararX makes the very valid point that the best way to avoid getting hit as a Magus is not always AC, especially at mid-to-high levels. Mirror Image and Displacement are far more reliable ways to avoid incoming melee damage than a few more points of AC.

In order to give useful advice about gear, you do need to tell us your Dex modifier, current AC, and fighting style. A Dervish Dancing Magus is not going to use the same endgame armor as a Strength Magus.


LazarX wrote:
On my magus, my favorite forms of AC are Mirror Image and Displacement.

Rather than switching out your armor, this is what I would recommend as well.


Darkflame wrote:


im a lvl 12 magus right now wearing a +1 mithrill breastplate so i dont lose my movement and the dex penelty is low.

but the monk is getting whacked to often so wants to play more defensiveley as in running away in combat.

so im thinking on getting a full plate.

what i am still no certain about is what kind of magic i want on it.

right now im thinking
+2
spell storing
adamantine

is 1500 base price
+3 bonus
+15000

but I hear heavy fortification is worth it I just dont have the money to put it on there yet I migth want to upgrade later but right now I certainly dont have the money.

are there anny other magical enchantments that are good for a magus?
spell storing is kinda a must as i can load it up with shocking grasp or frigid touch all day long.

Ok, don't worry about your heavy armor so much, but instead pick up Spell Blending if you can, take Mirror Image if you don't have it and either Blur or Displacement. Stack these, and your defense is amazing.

The base Magus uses spells for defense. This is why it has so many ways to regain them. Armor is more or less the minimum defense for a magus.

If you wanted to be a high AC magus then you should have been a Celestial Mail wearing Kensai with Armor Expert and Armor Mastery while spamming Arcane Armor Mastery to cast spells with no probs.

Liberty's Edge

Darkflame wrote:


im a lvl 12 magus right now wearing a +1 mithrill breastplate so i dont lose my movement and the dex penelty is low.

but the monk is getting whacked to often so wants to play more defensively as in running away in combat.

...

Sounds like the monk should be the one looking for better AC.


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Chengar Qordath wrote:


Well, there is the fact that swapping hats mid-combat is probably hard on action economy.

It takes hard work to stay fashionable.

Shadow Lodge

Chengar Qordath wrote:
Sir Thugsalot wrote:
Those stupid hats are broke -- for the price of the +5 armor bonus to one suit for Heavy Fort, you could buy five Jingasa, then swap them out of your haversack (Mythic Quick Draw? Hah). On top of that, sunder bosses who smack your hat are only wrecking 5k worth of gear rather than an entire suit of armor.
Well, there is the fact that swapping hats mid-combat is probably hard on action economy. Plus Fortification works on sneak attack as well as critical hits.

The hats work on sneaks too.


Of course, the absolute best defense a magus has available is it's offense. At level 12 you have access to the amazing Maximise arcana - stick the Spell Storing enchantment on your Scimitar, have it charged with Vampiric Touch, and release it on a crit with a free maximise! As long as you can punch through any spell resistance the target has, you are hitting for 72 points of life-stealing goodness plus whatever crit damage your weapon is pulling.

If an opponent is dead, it isn't dealing you damage, and you have a nice buffer of hit points with which to shrug off his friend's counter-attack.


Sir Thugsalot wrote:
Chengar Qordath wrote:
Sir Thugsalot wrote:
Those stupid hats are broke -- for the price of the +5 armor bonus to one suit for Heavy Fort, you could buy five Jingasa, then swap them out of your haversack (Mythic Quick Draw? Hah). On top of that, sunder bosses who smack your hat are only wrecking 5k worth of gear rather than an entire suit of armor.
Well, there is the fact that swapping hats mid-combat is probably hard on action economy. Plus Fortification works on sneak attack as well as critical hits.
The hats work on sneaks too.

*Checks the entry* Well that's what I get for working off memory.


im a STr based magus with 12dex
have ring of protection +1 amulet of natural armor+1 (wich ill be upgrading as i got 'craft wonderous item'

i use mirror immage pritty often but it is not perfect
also got a wand of shield and got shield always prepared

i got 4 pearl of power lvl1 and one lvl2 and one lvl3

the problem is my party is a bit gun ho and i hardly get the time to buff upp.

I even got heroism to get my saves up. (this is longer duration so is up most of the time.)

curently i am using a mithril +1 breastplate but want to maxemise my AC

i also use the spell monserous humenoid transformation so i get a load of AC and STR from that.

i would be able to get over 30AC in heavy armor.
as in money im not 13 yet so i would be saving up ofcourse.


Hmm. Already having an enchanted Mithril Breatplate does create a bit of a dilemma. You'll lose quite a bit of speed and the ability to sleep in armor if you do change over to heavy. You also have the ability to get quite a good dex bonus if you have a physical stats belt with a Dex bonus - also contributing to touch AC.

Upgrading the Ring and Necklace is definitely a good idea, and fairly cost efficient. You need "Forge Ring" to upgrade rings though - pay an NPC to do it.

Ultimately - you're not losing a huge amount by using an enchanted Mithril Breastplate if you can get a decent Dex bonus. With Craft Wondrous Item a belt of physical perfection +6 is something you can aim for in the next few levels. If you value AC that highly then go for the full plate, but remember that AC is only one layer of your protection.

Sovereign Court

If you don't want to sacrifice the mobility of your breastplate, buy mithral fullplate and a sash of the war champion.


i think for now im convinced i'll get a belt of phisical perfection instead of heavy armor a better initiative and reflex save is something I better work towards

by now i got the ring of protection +2 found it on some kreeps.
so after crafting my cloak of resistance +3 ill be getting a belt of phisical perfection. its also +3AC and that woudl be what heavy plate give me.

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