The Spellblade: An Analysis


Advice


As I'm not nearly good or experienced enough to call this a guide, I'll simply say this is more of an in-depth look at the much bemoaned Magus archetype, the Spellblade. I think this archetype is arguably one of the least liked in the Magus line-up, and it's not hard to see why. However, the folks at Paizo put time and effort into making the archetype, and I think it's time we look at it with a bit of love. But first, let's just backup and examine what the archetype is and what we give up to get its abilities.

***The Spellblade***

With perhaps just a tint of inspiration from the Soulknife psionics class, the Spellblade is a magus who can conjure up a blade of force by giving up his/her prepared spells. The force dagger, or Force Athame, gets a bonus to attack and damage, dishes out Force damage (which means very little is going to be able to withstand what you deal them), and can still be enhanced with your Arcane Pool class feature. You also get some extra arcana to select that let you fuel your athame with your arcane pool and do some other tricks with it. Actually a pretty sweet ability, if I may say so. Unfortunately, it comes with a price that many people just can't seem to work past.

In exchange for this Force Athame ability, you give up Spellstrike, AKA, how most magus builds dish out their damage using their spells. It's the only thing you give up, but for many magi, it's the bread and butter of their character, as well as how most of them augment their attacks. And this is where most folks have trouble reconciling the archetype's abilities. They just can't fathom the idea of a magus not using spellstrike, and considering how good of an ability it can be, it's hard to argue with them.

Hard. Not impossible.

***Sans Spellstrike***

The Spellblade gives up such a key piece of the iconic magus build that trying to build it around the archetype is like trying to build a house around an RV - everything is going to fall apart once things start moving. But rather than shore up what we lose, let's focus on what we get and how to make the best out of it.

Firstly, we're without Spellstrike. Yes, it hurts. But it also means we have to chuck out everything we take as conventional wisdom when creating a magus. It just won't work. You'll notice this means the only thing we touch is our usual ability to do damage through our weapon. That's it, really. And that changes the fundamental core of everything we think about when making a magus. We still get Spell Combat, Spell Recall and all our other lovely abilities. Take note that Spell Combat says we can fight with it with one hand free and the other holding a light or one-handed weapon - it doesn't say which hand has to have which. Meanwhile, we KNOW that the athame has to be in our off-hand due to the ability's wording. Which means we can still spell combat, but now, our primary hand carries our spell and our off-hand carries our weapon, in this case, our athame.

I believe this changes EVERYTHING in terms of how a Spellblade magus should work. This implies that our focus in battle should be our spells, not our weaponry.

NOW we have a fundamental angle to approach from. The common trap would be to take two-weapon fighting so that we can wield both our main weapon and our athame at once. But remember, we already HAVE TWF, it's just that our main weapon is spell-casting now. The Spellblade is something of an antithesis of the Soul Forger (another underloved archetype of the magus - maybe I'll tackle that some other time): rather than channel our magic through our weapon, we use magic AS a weapon. This leads us to a very simple conclusion: the Spellblade is a caster first, and a fighter second, and with that in mind, we can now begin to approach the archetype in what I believe is the "correct" way.

***Mind IS Matter***

Everything about the Spellblade assumes you'll have magical power to spare, since your force athame is powered by your sacrificed spell (or arcane pool used, but we'll get there in due time). This leads us to a simple rule: our INT should be ripped, toned, and jacked. Your brain should be hung like a horse, because it is what is going to fuel EVERYTHING that you do. Which means, above all else, your INT should be your highest thing when making your magus. If you can get it to 18, do so, but don't neglect your other stats. You could probably get away with 16 INT, but I wouldn't go any lower.

Secondly, your Arcane Pool should always be stocked. Grab the Extra Arcane Pool feat whenever you can, because it will be the primary workhorse in making you a threat. Pool Sourced Athame should be the first arcana you get as well. It can create your athame, but also enhance it to deal extra damage, along with any other weapons you wield.

Third, you are no longer a one trick pony. Which means you no longer get - or rather, need - to focus on just touch spells. Instead, expand into buffing, debuffing, and other spells to augment battles in your favor. Think of yourself as a wizard who can also rock a greatsword. And you can still use touch, but try to have some more variety. Think about how to break through enemy defenses rather than charge in and hit them with your Shocking Grasp sword.

Lastly, you're going to have to accept that you won't be dealing out huge amounts of damage. Think more like an arrow than a cannonball: a cannonball is a big, round, blunt sphere of metal, which you use to smash your target's defenses to pieces. An arrow, however, can't do that... and frankly shouldn't. An arrow's job is to pierce through defenses, not wreck the defenses themselves. You are no longer the cannonball of magi, but the arrow. You don't need to go through the shield, but around it.

You have a high INT score, I'm sure you can find a way to put it to good use.

***The New and Improved Spellblade***

So that's all well and good, but if you're like me, you learn better through example than going it alone. If you still need help figuring out what a solid Spellblade looks like, I'll try and give you a springboard below.

This is Mike the Magus. Pretty humble fellow, very smart, loves swords (who doesn't), standard stuff. He's opted to go the Spellblade route, so let's try and give a general outline of what he can do at different points in his career.

At level 1, Mike's got a typical 20 point build and arranged his scores as such.

STR 14 DEX 14, CON 14, INT 18, WIS 12 CHA 8

Not a min-max approach, but still pretty handy in a scrap. Probably better to leave negotiations to someone else, but he's not interested in that anyways. He's got himself a set of studded leather and a brand new longsword, giving him a decent AC 15, about 10 HP and a typical 1d8+2 19-20/x2 melee attack. He could likely afford the chain shirt, but we'll cut him some slack for now. He's got the predictable Gifted Adept trait, but instead of Shocking Grasp, he's chosen Chill Touch. Interesting choice, still a touch attack, but interesting. We're also going to give him the River Rat regional trait because... I dunno, he used to go diving for crabs by moonlight. Everyone needs a hobby.

Level 1 Mike the Magus is going to look an awful lot like your standard magus. Perhaps not quite as efficient, but a contender nonetheless. He enters the fray with sword in his main hand and acid splash in the other, augmented by his arcane pool. But let's take a look at his spellbook: instead of shocking grasp and frostbite or corrosive touch, we've got other spells. Chill touch, magic missile, vanish, enlarge person, infernal healing, longarm and more. Looks like Mike is pretty prepared for the most part. A bit more on the buff and debuff side, but still pretty equipped.

After a few outings, Mike has leveled up, and NOW we start to see him heading in a very different direction with his tactics. Level 2 Mike is still using his longsword and acid splash combo, but he's starting to mix it up. When entering the fray against incorporeal and lower AC targets, he's armed with his new force athame in his off-hand and Chill Touch in the other. He still suffers penalties for using both at the same time, but with a +1 BAB and the resolution to touch AC instead of full AC, he's holding his own pretty well. In both cases, he's improving his skill with his arcane pool, giving him an easier time in striking enemies where it hurts. We also take note that because the athame counts as a dagger, he gains a +1 to all attack and damage rolls using it, thanks to his River Rat trait. Most attacks with the athame are going to made with a +5 bonus (assuming he only uses the athame) and do about 1d4+4 force damage each time he hits. Pretty respectable, if you ask me.

Some more questing later, Mike has reached level 3, and he's beginning to look more and more like a true Spellblade. He's picked up Pool Sourced Athame as his first Arcana, and also grabbed Extra Arcane Pool, bringing his total to 7 and allowing him to fuel his athame with his arcane pool, letting him retain his spells for battle. It's around this point that he's started choosing his spell/athame combo over his longsword/acid splash set-up. Not ditching the latter entirely, but definitely using the athame more than the longsword. Take note that it's harder to catch Mike offguard now; without the need to draw his sword, he is pretty much always ready to counter nasty surprises, and if he's forced to part with his longsword and spellbook, he still has his arcane pool and athame at the ready. Breaking out of a cell becomes much easier when you can conjure weapons from your mind itself (not that Mike would do anything to get locked up, I'm sure).

From here on out, how Mike grows as a Spellblade is up to him... or, more accurately, you. You can still use touch spells if you like, but I chose Chill Touch for Mike because he can use it multiple times alongside his athame and it comes with a debuff aspect, giving Mike a better fighting chance when it comes to taking a hit. Odds are, he'll like to cast Shield at lower levels to up his AC in battle, which is a bit lower than I'd prefer, or use Chill Touch to reduce STR damage, OR cast Infernal Healing to keep himself going during a fight. All three are valid strategies and a Spellblade should take all of them into consideration when entering battle. Have a good look through the magus spell list and see what jumps out at you: who knows, you might find a pretty broken combo to pair with your athame!

You'll also notice I didn't mention Mike's first level feat or bonus human feat. This was intentional: it's entirely dependent on the type of Spellblade you like to make and what attack stat you'll want to utilize. For a human, I'd probably go with Power Attack and Toughness. For an elf, however, I'd likely pick up Weapon Finesse or Dodge to take advantage of the higher DEX. It all depends on the type of magus you prefer, so experiment and see which one you think you might like.

***Closing Thoughts***

The Spellblade is a pretty unique archetype that certainly isn't for everyone. It gives up a fairly iconic piece of the standard magus, like a barbarian being forced to trade out his rage ability for something else. But it's certainly not without it's advantages, and it's compatible with every other archetype that I can think of, since it only alters Spellstrike. Perhaps you want a bladebound spellblade who has a dagger for his chosen blade and uses his athame in an attempt to duplicate it (in which case, you might want to actually bite the bullet, pump DEX and pick up TWF by level 3). Maybe a kensai spellblade who favors daggers, in which case, you've already got one when you so desire, and can take full advantage of the class abilities. Or a hexcrafter who debuffs with hexes, then skewers withered foes with the power of his/her mind!

In short, the Spellblade takes away a big chunk of the standard magus, which requires you to start thinking a bit more about how to tackle obstacles. A lot of people aren't fans of that, and it's understandable. But I personally love that about the Spellblade - it effectively wipes away the well-worn path and demands you chart new territories... which is scary, but also exciting! I offer Mike the Magus purely as an example: you can use him as a springboard for your own character, or ditch him entirely for another concept.

Please let me know what you guys think of this assessment, if you have other questions, or simply want to challenge it: I welcome any critiques, since it helps to evolve the analysis even further! I hesitate to call it a guide due to my lack of skill and experience, but I suppose that's sort of what it grew into... kinda... sorta... not really...

And let me know if you think this was helpful - perhaps I'll delve a bit into other underloved archetypes.

-CaptainFord


I think I am missing something here because I cannot see anything special about building a Spellblade this way. Everything written can be emulated to the letter by a normal magus and have more flexibility doing it.
To me Mike sounds like a standard Magus who uses Spellcombat but not Spellstrike. Generally doing less damage (perhaps hitting more, touch) but doing something every magus can do.

In short, if you were to make a pro/con list, I still from your post and the Spellblade description, do not see the pros in the Athame (apart from small stuff like conjuring a weapon), hence I ask if I am missing something.

PS: I love to play underused archetypes such as Spire Defender, Spell Dancer etc.


Errant Mercenary wrote:

I think I am missing something here because I cannot see anything special about building a Spellblade this way. Everything written can be emulated to the letter by a normal magus and have more flexibility doing it.

To me Mike sounds like a standard Magus who uses Spellcombat but not Spellstrike. Generally doing less damage (perhaps hitting more, touch) but doing something every magus can do.

In short, if you were to make a pro/con list, I still from your post and the Spellblade description, do not see the pros in the Athame (apart from small stuff like conjuring a weapon), hence I ask if I am missing something.

PS: I love to play underused archetypes such as Spire Defender, Spell Dancer etc.

A very valid point, and one I forgot to touch on in the analysis. Everything a Spellblade can do, a typical magus could certainly do, and statistically, probably better. But I think most folks tend towards utilizing Spellstrike one they get access to it, whereas a Spellblade simply can't. The analysis assumes that most folks will take the Spellstrike route and optimize towards it (which is a very logical choice).

This little delve was simply meant to help folks try and make the Spellblade as potent as possible, which means ditching a lot of what's considered conventional wisdom about building a magus. I only covered the first 3 levels for Mike because I didn't want it to be a guide for optimization (I am definitely the last person you want to take advice for on that). He's simply an example of how to get started.


while it doesn't exactly make it amazing..
Doesn't spellblade stack with mymidarch?
Mymdiarch gives its own ranged spellstrike at 4. This is a seperate class feature from the leve 2 spellstrike that is replaced by spellblade.

there isn't any reason (i can tell) that would make it unsuauble if you don't have spell strike at level 2. Because Ranged Spell Strike gives you the ability to spellstrike via ranged itself. But only for ranged (i.e. still can not do it in melee). yeah it looks weird and more than a few gms would state you have to have the level 2 version but technically RAW you do not need the level 2 effect.

So I suppose with quicken rods or metamagic you could pull something off.

but ya'kno the cost of doing so is pretty darn high. The force blade ends, you have to cast the spell in the same round you ranged spellstrike, etc.
So it is not really worth it in the least. but it is still worth noting I think. and honestly just sounds really cool.

plus all the fighter weapon buffs focused on a dagger will make your force blade much stronger as well for when you use it.
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Few other archetypes also work with it. Kensai I think does. Could make a dagger specialist and focus on pumping out Force damage.
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It is truly a shame that the thrown force blade is a standard action ir it would combo with ranged spellstrike much better..
As it stands one would have to hold the charge and transfer it (not sure this is possible. i dont' think so) or quicken the spell. Sadly Poolstrike is a standard action (but can be used with spell strike.) or it would be awesome.

Great now I want to play in a home game but see if the gm will allow me to ranged spellstrike with the thrown force blade. despite the action issue.
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Though now I sort of want to play a dager specialized blackblade/mymidach/Kensai/spell blade (off hand I think those stack? I only briefly looked), with a blinkback belt. Though rarely if ever would use the force blade I guess. So that really isn't a big thing anymore. Though the TWF with those two would be pretty fun.
Would have a knife for every occasion and could be heavily INT focused.

granted much better without mymdiach thingy. since a lot of it doesn't work with kensai. so one of the other really. since one is all about armour and theo ther is all about no armour

Spell blade would be much more useful if that blade was throwable without the need for a special action.


Amusingly Spellblade is one of the very few archetypes that will stack with Mindblade.


Spellblade pro: you get a much better weapon than anybody else for the first ten levels or so.

Spellblade con: it's a dagger.

Spellblade pro: you get two enhancements for the price of one when you're holding your athame and another weapon.

Spellblade con: two weapon fighting with a 3/4 BAB class is a trap.

Spellblade pro: you can have a weapon in each hand and still have a hand free to cast spells.

Spellblade con: two weapon fighting with a 3/4 BAB class is a trap.

Deific obedience: Pharasma seems like a worthwhile investment. You could also try to wedge in three levels of unchained rogue to get dex to hit and damage and try to use sneak attack dice in place of shocking grasp dice. Usually a rogue with two weapons is a whirling dervish of missed attacks, but maybe with the enhanced weapons you'd have a better shot.

Let's say Magus Mike grew up as a scrawnier guy and fell in with a bad crowd:

Mike the Knife:
Human
Traits: River rat, Extremely Fashionable

STR 8, DEX 18, CON 12, INT 16, WIS 10, CHA 10

Rogue 1: Two Weapon Fighting, (Human) Combat Expertise
Rogue 2: Weapon training: dagger
Rogue 3: Deific Obedience: Pharasma; Finesse training: dagger
Magus 4: Magus features
Magus 5: Two weapon feint

Mike buys a +1 dagger as soon as he can. His typical combat will see him create a +1 dagger by sacrificing a first level spell, then spend an arcane point to give him two +2 daggers. His full round attacks will have a to-hit bonus of: +3 BAB + 4 dex + 2 pharasma + 1 focus - 2 TWF, or +8 total. Each hit will do 1d4 + 7 in damage. If he has a flanking buddy he gets an additional 2d6 in damage per hit.

That's... ok, I guess? A straight level 5 magus will be able to add 5d6 damage at will with shocking grasp at that point. On the one hand you won't have to deal with concentration checks, but on the other hand you've now started the rogue's perpetual quest for sneak attack dice, which leads down a long and winding road to a world of frustration.

Compared to the average TWF you at least don't have the cash drain of buying two enhanced weapons.


The thing is, Captain Ford, you have now spent more effort on the SpellBlade than the designer ever did.


Well it is a reallly damn cool idea.

had it been throwable without a specific action.

and if you could "burn" your spells in order to get arcane pool back..
Then I would totally love playing a force dagger wielding Pool Strike line user. It would be a ton of fun to be hoenst.

well i would also have ablack blade but switdch depending on the fight. Use the "soul knife" as a representation of the bond between myself and the blade. Ala mahou shoujo of the 90s style.

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