If you look at the numbers again you will se that the to hit is only one behind a normal magus and with weapon focus and arcane pool he will have a fine to hit remember he wont be using power attack. And at level 11 1d6+9 before magic items (agile amulet pehaps?) is fine. Remember that he also have magic like frost bite to top it up with. 2d6+20 before items and arcane pool is decent at level 11 especially if he get a AoO every time somebody miss him in melee.First you're taking a MaD class like monk...mixing it with a class like Kensai, Int based, and then finishing it off with a gimic PrC.
Ever heard of spreading yourself too thin?
I feel you're going to spread yourself thin and not be satisfied by this character. Other than his saves I feel this character is rather weak.
+13 to hit...+11 if Spell striking on a 11th level character. Yikes. And the damage a kind of poor.
I feel your trying to cram too many concepts into a build. Shorten that list abit and then see what options there are to better your remaining Options. You're not specializing into 1 thing but instead go with 2-3 things you can do well.
Thanks, Cap. Darling. That's what I was thinking as well.
Vital strike actually turns my damage into 2d6+7 before we pile spell damage into the mix. Of course, if anything's too massive to hit full on, I can always just try touching with the spell and target that lower touch AC.
I really appreciate all the input on this build.
i would avoid vital strike since it dosent combine with spell combat or and from level 9 you Can get weapon specialisation that stack with every thing.
Edit : the damage from my example was 1d6 +9 in damage from unarmed strike with vital strike and 1d6+11 with frost bite and magic knack trait, with weapon spec and a agile amulet it Will be higher.
Benefit: When you use the attack action, you can make one attack at your highest base attack bonus that deals additional damage. Roll the weapon’s damage dice for the attack twice and add the results together before adding bonuses from Strength, weapon abilities (such as flaming), precision-based damage, and other damage bonuses. These extra weapon damage dice are not multiplied on a critical hit, but are added to the total.
Vital Strike: Can I use this with Spring Attack, or on a charge?
No. Vital Strike can only be used as part of an attack action, which is a specific kind of standard action. Spring Attack is a special kind of full-round action that includes the ability to make one melee attack, not one attack action. Charging uses similar language and can also not be used in combination with Vital Strike.
Basically, Vital Strike allows you to use your Move Action to move up to your total Speed and then make an Attack whose base damage totals what would amount to your Full Attack Action sans all other bonuses, instead of just one single Attack.
Normal: You use your Move Action to move in a manner that isn't a Charge (so, say, ducking and weaving), and you can take a Standard Action to make one Attack as the Attack Action.
With Vital Strike: You use your Move Action to move, ducking and weaving, and then use your Attack Action as a Standard Action to make a Vital Strike.
If you can make a single Full Round Action, you can still use Vital Strike, BUT that uses up a Standard Action, meaning all you're left with in that round is a Move Action; therefore, when you CAN make a Full Round Action to Attack, you're better off making a Full Attack.
Think of it as kind of a free Critical, but not actually, and kinda worse, because you tally all your weapon damage together BEFORE adding things like your Strength Bonus, Enhancement Bonuses, etc.
Okay, so it seems you're saying vital strike is not optimal, I get how it's inconvenient in the number of things it doesn't do, but I guess I'm still not clear as Cap. Darling was expressing that it doesn't stack with spell combat. According to the write up for Vital Strike:
Simply put:
Spell Combat is Two-Weapon Fighting, but your Off-Hand Weapon is a Spell instead of a Weapon.
Can you Two-Weapon Fight when making a Standard Action?
No, because Two-Weapon Fighting is a Full Attack Action (you could in 3.5 with a certain feat, but not in PF)
Since Vital Strike modifies an Attack Action, which is a Standard Action, you cannot TWF, thus you cannot use Spell Combat.
And before you ask, yes, Spellstrike would KIND OF work with it.
On Round 1 you Cast and Hold Charge a spell as a Standard Action.
On Round 2, you move and attack with Vital Strike as a Standard Action, simultaneously casting your Charged spell through your weapon once you've calculated out Vital Strike.
Spellstrike + Spell Combat doesn't grant two spells, either; rather, it allows you to make a pseudo-TWF maneuver, and, like a Monk's Flurry, allows you to make both attacks with the same weapon.
You Charge the spell in your hand(s) via Spell Combat as a Free Action, and then release it when you successfully hit your opponent with your weapon via Spellstrike, though like Flurry you still take -2 to every Attack you make in that round.
So because Spellstrike + Spell Combat still utilizes a Full Attack Action by replicating a pseudo-TWF maneuver, you cannot do Spellstrike + Spell Combat + Vital Strike.
Okay, so it seems you're saying vital strike is not optimal, I get how it's inconvenient in the number of things it doesn't do...
Well... it's not as cut-and-dry as that.
If you're swinging with a sword or any other manufactured weapon, utilizing your BAB, then no, it's not extremely optimal.
The instances where Vital Strike is more optimal than a Charge or single Full Attack are fairly few and far between, but you CAN actually make it fairly useful.
If, say, you are using something OTHER than a typical Weapon as your primary mode of Attack - say, a Natural Weapon - then Vital Strike is actually pretty sick.
Mind you, having more than one Natural Attack PLUS Weapons is usually better, but there are cases where that's not an option.
Say, for example, you have an Enlarged lv12 Barbarian who has Animal Fury, Lesser Fiend Totem, Lesser Draconic Bloodline, Brawler, and Greater Brawler as rage powers.
That's 3(!) Primary Natural Attacks (Claws and Gore), and 1 Secondary Natural Attack, with the option of adding in Two-Weapon Fighting with Unarmed Strikes while Raging to a Full Attack Action.
During a Full Attack Action, he can make a Full Attack either at +12/+12/+12/+7 with only Natural Attacks, or with everything at +10/+10/+7/+7/+7/+7/+5/+0 (TWF only affects Main and Offhand weapons, not Natural Attacks, so they're registered as higher than second-iteration attacks)
Now, say this Barbarian is out of attack range of his opponent. He could Charge, sure, but he's only going to get one attack off, and his strongest attack is a 1d8 Gore, upped to 2d6 because he's Enlarged.
This Enlarged lv12 Barbarian would positively LOVE to deal 6d6+4+8(Power Attack)+Str+Enhancement damage on a single Gore attack, even foregoing the Charge Bonus, because... sweet mama-may that is a LOT of damage right there.
So... sub-optimal 90% of the time? Yes.
Is it good in very specific builds or under VERY specific circumstances? Basically, yes.
Should you TRY to make a build or put yourself into situations where it's necessary? Ehhh... probably not, no. With Unarmed stuff, Pummeling Strike is just... SO much better normally (but, again, requires a Full Round Action to pull off, even if you have Pummeling Charge)
Then again, if you're going to be doing stuff that would make Vital Strike better, anyway, then you may as well take at least up to Improved Vital Strike and Devastating Strike, just to bring the hurt.