How many levels is a good dip on Magus?

[Secret Wizard]

Got a concept that requires a level into Magus. What's a good amount of levels for a dip? Might get more later on in the game.

[Helaman]

Depends... on the build.

I've thought of a human Swordlord fighter that starts with a dip in Kensai Magus. Gives you a lot of feats at level 1. You get your exotic weapon and weapon focus free, giving you two additional feats at 1st. Weapon Finesse and Slashing Grace maybe?

[Chess Pwn]

I've heard that 20lvs of magus is a pretty good dip.
But really, what of the magus is it that you're wanting to get? Why dip in the first place?

[Secret Wizard]

Spire Defender Magus for free Dodge without having to get 13 Dex. Trying to make a brutally optimized Student of War.

I'm thinking two levels for Spellstrike and a 4d6 Shocking Grasp with Magical Knack.

[kestral287]

2, 6, 9, or 20.

2: Gets you a smattering of first-level spells and their core combat features. You could push to 3 for an Arcana, but you won't have the points to work with most of them.

6: Necessary to use another class' spell list with Spell Combat

9: The level that the baseline Magus gets its last Really Awesome Thing (the best Arcanas coming online), meaning now it only has to look forward to Awesome Things. At this point you're (hopefully) prestiging out though.

20: Magi are awesome