| Eigengrau |
I spent $3 and got a PDF of the Vanguard class today. It seems very much like the Magus in all respects but a few differences.
1. the spell channeling through your weapon doesn't have to be a one handed melee weapon, it can be ranged as well.
2. Channeling a touch spell through the weapon is a Supernatural ability that doesn't provoke AoO's. It's a standard action to do so no full attacks while channeling for a very long time.
3. Your weapon has to be an Arcane Bond weapon to you.
4. You can't use metamagic feats on the spells you channel, unless you take the Feat they include in the PDF.
5. It doesn't give you Use Magic Device, but you do have Perception, Stealth, Spellcraft and Knowledge Arcana several more plus 4+INT for skills.
6. There are a few more cool things, like they're a CHA based spontaneous caster, they can use any Sorcerer/Wizard spells, they have a Magic Missile like spell-like ability that does different types of elemental damage or Force and scales with level usable 3+ CHA mod/day, and lastly at level 6 you can start casting a few times a day a spell as a swift action. By 18th level you get 5/day spells as swift actions.
Its light armor & shields ,all simple/martial weapons, d8 hit die and 3/4 BAB.
My question is, I haven't played an arcane class since DnD 3.5/4th ed, and I'm curious as to what you folks would pick as a Race, 25pt buy, feats and traits. Starting at 9th level.
I assuming it should be built like most Magus builds, but should I focus on Dex to hit/damage for melee? It seem like I'd have to have decent stats all over the place if I wanted to go STR based melee. Or would a Ranged Weapon be better?
It has other class abilities that give you a bonus feat at 4th and 7th, and I get Arcane Strike & Combat Casting for free as well. They include in the PDF a few feats that I do want, one gives you the ability to use your Swift Action spell 2 more times/day, and another allows you to use any metamagic feats on your channeled spells w/out increasing the casting time.
The more I think about it, the more I think this class is more powerful than the Magus, maybe OP even.