Need help choosing 2 feats and / or magus arcana


Advice


So the ACG errata nerfed two of my Magus' arcana (Flamboyant Arcana & Arcane Deed:Precise Strike) so I want to replace them. They were both gained by the Extra Arcana feat so I can replace them with either another Magus arcana or another feat altogether. But I've been having trouble finding ones that feel very interesting, helpful, or in line with the character concept.

My character is level 8 (Magus/Hexcrafter 7, Bard/DawnflowerDervish 1). He's a scimitar-wielding, dex-based, shocking-grasping tiefling (I know, a pretty common build, but I didn't know that when I made him).

His current feats are: Armor of the Pit (tiefling racial feat that gives +2 natural armor), Harmonic Spell (lets him save his very limited bardic performance rounds by spell-casting and lets him switch from Battle Dance (like Inspire Courage) to Countersong or Bardic Distraction as a swift), Dervish Dance (bonus feat from Bard archetype) and Intensified Spell (Magus bonus feat). Traits: Maestro of the Society (gives me 3 extra rounds of bardic performance) & Magical Lineage:Shocking Grasp. Hex: Flight. Magus Arcana: Wand Wielder and Wand Mastery.

So I've been looking through the various options and am having trouble finding anything that I feel that excited about. Some possibilities:

* Grasping Tail "Benefit: You can use your tail to grab stowed items. While you cannot wield weapons with your tail, you can use it to retrieve small, stowed objects carried on your person as a swift action. Special: If you have the prehensile tail racial trait, you can use your tail to grab unattended items within 5 feet as a swift action as well as to grab stowed objects carried on your person; you can hold such objects with your tail, though you cannot manipulate them with your tail (other than to put them in your hand)."
This is probably the one that seems the most likely so far because GMs have told me that he can't hold a rod with the tiefling prehensile tail and this seems like it would allow that, which would allow him to use a rod of spell penetration or of elemental metamagic. (Using both dervish dance and spell combat means that he needs to keep one hand free). On the other hand if there's any reason why Grasping Tail *still* won't let him use rods then this feat wouldn't be much use.

* Improved Init - he's at +6 now but +10 is even better.

* Extra Arcana:Hex:Aura of Purity - very situational, but nice when you need it.

* Extra Arcana:Lingering Pain "Benefit: The magus can expend 1 point from his arcane pool as an immediate action after hitting a target with a weapon attack. All damage from that attack (including damage from a spell cast using the spellstrike ability) is considered continuous damage for the purposes of any concentration checks made by the target prior to the beginning of the magus’s next turn."
This seems like it could be great for shutting down enemy spell-casters but I don't think I've ever seen someone take this so I'm wondering if it's less useful than it seems.

* Extra Arcana:Spell Blending: I go back and forth on this one because I feel like I don't have enough spell slots for all the Magus spells I want to cast and there aren't any Wiz spells that I feel like he really needs, though I'm very open to suggestions.

* Extra Arcana:Arcane Accuracy "Benefit: The magus can expend 1 point from his arcane pool as a swift action to grant himself an insight bonus equal to his Intelligence bonus on all attack rolls until the end of his turn."
- Ok, could be nice, but realistically not sure that I actually have enough swifts or arcane pool to really take advantage of it.

* Extra Arcana:Spell Shield "Benefit: The magus can expend a point from his arcane pool as an immediate action to grant himself a shield bonus to AC equal to his Intelligence bonus until the end of his next turn."

So these are my main contenders at the moment but I'm very open to other suggestions. Right now I'm leaning towards Grasping Tail unless it's not going to allow me to use rods. And for the second feat/arcana I'm genuinely stumped. Many thanks in advance for any suggestions you may have.

Grand Lodge

Grasping Tail is about the best feat you can take as a tiefling magus once you have enough money to buy rods. To use a metamagic you just need to hold it--that's exactly what grasping tail does.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

Spell blending is very good, but I'd wait until level 10 before taking it, so you can pick up two L3 spells.

I find Lunge (or Lunging Spell Touch) to be excellent on a Magus, and tricks like Step Up come in handy when dealing with enemy casters or archers.

Also, have you considered a familiar?

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