Since there seems to be a suspicion that Dervish Dance will get an errata, making it impossible to use with Spell combat, I was wondering:
Is it possible to make a decent Elf Magus without Dervish Dance?
Okay, I suppose a bow-wielding Magus is possible with Myrmidarch or some other archetype. But the iconic, sword-wielding battle wizard-type magus.
Dervish Dance set you back with 2 feats and all you got was Dex instead of Str to attack and damage. Surely, those can now be used to mitigate a lower attack score. Though, not pursing a really high Dex might hurt you AC too.
Or should one pick up three levels of Unchained Rogue? That gives you Dex to hit and damage, as well as better Reflex save base, Evasion and a rogue talent. And the mobile Magus should have little trouble setting up a flank for 2d6 sneak attack. Or is the loss of spellcasting to heavy?
Three levels is too much for a dip IMO. Not just spellcasting power, but the loss of spells/day, the weapon enhancement bonus, and whatever other abilities your magus has from archetypes or the base class.
Speaking from experience a dex magus without dex to damage still works, especially if you're concentrating on debuffing or don't have a lot of encounters per day.
Depending on the level you're looking at there's the mindblade magus. At 7th level they can TWF with spell combat which might be very effective with the right spells.
First time I played a Elf Magus, I didn't even bother with DEX-to-damage, just finesse. Weapon damage was a little low, but the spell damage more than made up for it.
Since there seems to be a suspicion that Dervish Dance will get an errata, making it impossible to use with Spell combat, I was wondering:
Is it possible to make a decent Elf Magus without Dervish Dance?
Okay, I suppose a bow-wielding Magus is possible with Myrmidarch or some other archetype. But the iconic, sword-wielding battle wizard-type magus.
I'm playing a Half-Elf bladebound magus who's quite effective without a single bit of dervish or scimitar on her. She's one level away from retirement in PFS.
Ive never played a Magus because its too focused as a vanilla character. Normally its the Archetypes that focus one something like duel-wielding a one-handed weapon and a touch attack in the off-hand.
The Core concept of having Martial weapons+armor+arcane spells is good, but it takes you level 11 to have heavy armor, and there are details that can prevent spellcasting even with a 0% spell failure.
Is it possible to have two-handed, two-weapon, ranged, double-shield, sword-and-sheild weapon options?
Alot of trouble for something I don't know if it actually works. classes that have druid or cleric spells dont have this trouble.
Go strength based.
Ive never played a Magus because its too focused as a vanilla character. Normally its the Archetypes that focus one something like duel-wielding a one-handed weapon and a touch attack in the off-hand.
The Core concept of having Martial weapons+armor+arcane spells is good, but it takes you level 11 to have heavy armor, and there are details that can prevent spellcasting even with a 0% spell failure.
Is it possible to have two-handed, two-weapon, ranged, double-shield, sword-and-sheild weapon options?
Alot of trouble for something I don't know if it actually works. classes that have druid or cleric spells dont have this trouble.
Yes, the base, core magus just works. At its simplest you charge up your sword with shocking grasp and attack until it lands and that's a worthwhile thing to do. Or cast shield or mirror image if you're feeling vulnerable. Spell combat and spellstrike let you cast spells and not lose your attacks; casting a touch attack spell will actually give you an extra attack that round.
There are archetypes for ranged (separate ones for thrown or projectile), TWF and shield use at least. THF isn't well supported though a 7th+ level mindblade magus could conjure up a double weapon then swing it two handed.
As regards armor, remember you're a spellcaster and can buff your defences, and have a better action economy to do so than most. Or play the deep marshal archetype (not the armored battlemage, it sucks) and get medium armor from the start, heavy at 9th.
Since there seems to be a suspicion that Dervish Dance will get an errata, making it impossible to use with Spell combat, I was wondering:
Is it possible to make a decent Elf Magus without Dervish Dance?
Okay, I suppose a bow-wielding Magus is possible with Myrmidarch or some other archetype. But the iconic, sword-wielding battle wizard-type magus.
Dervish Dance set you back with 2 feats and all you got was Dex instead of Str to attack and damage. Surely, those can now be used to mitigate a lower attack score. Though, not pursing a really high Dex might hurt you AC too.
Or should one pick up three levels of Unchained Rogue? That gives you Dex to hit and damage, as well as better Reflex save base, Evasion and a rogue talent. And the mobile Magus should have little trouble setting up a flank for 2d6 sneak attack. Or is the loss of spellcasting to heavy?
As mentioned, Str rather than Dex is workable. If you do go Dex, getting an Agile weapon is nice, but not really necessary.
If you were to dip, I'd recommend one level in Occultist rather than three in URogue. You can use Legacy Weapon (the Transmutation Base Focus Power) to add Agile when you need it. You probably have at least a +2 or +3 Int modifier as a Magus. That will give you 3 or 4 points of Mental Focus each of which will get you Agile one minute. You could always take Extra Focus for two more points. Below is a breakdown of the pros and cons that I've posted in previous threads.
Downsides
(1) Legacy Weapon takes a standard action to activate, so instead of diving into battle right away, you are probably spending your first round of combat using a swift for Arcane Pool and a standard for Legacy Weapon, leaving you a with only a move action.
(2) You have set back your Magus progression by one level (spells, BAB, Arcane Pool, etc.). But that isn't as bad as taking three levels in Unchained Rogue.
Upsides
(1) Obviously the primary benefit is that you can add Agile (or any other +1 equivalent ability) to your weapon. Once you can afford to purchase Agile for your weapon, options like Bane can be really good.
(2) You get two Resonant Powers. Transmutation gets you a +2 enhancement bonus to any physical ability score, and that's pretty much always useful. You're probably going to want to put all of your Mental Focus into the Transmutation Implement so the other Resonant Power won't be of use most of the time, but you never know.
(3) You get Spells and Spell Lists for two Implement Schools. Occultists have a lot of spells that you don't get as a Magus, and that's great for using Scrolls and Wands. I like the idea of selecting Conjuration for the healing spells. With a Wand of CLW, scroll of Delay Poison, and the Stabilize cantrip you can be a decent medic. And remember that the spells don't have verbal, somatic, or cheap material components. Being able to cast Mage Hand, Message, or Break while immobilized might prove handy sometime.
(4) You get a lot of new class skills: Appraise (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disable Device (Dex), Disguise (Cha), Knowledge (engineering) (Int), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Linguistics (Int), Perception (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), and Sleight of Hand (Dex).
(5) You get one Focus Power. You are probably going to want to save your Mental Focus for Legacy Weapon, but there are a few that might be worth it in an emergency.
(6) You get proficiency with medium armor which is useful if you want to wear a mithral breastplate before level 7.
(7) You get proficiency with shields. That might prove useful in some circumstances.
(8) As a psychic caster, you get a few little extras like the Psychic Skill Unlocks.
Overall, I don't think it is a bad trade-off.
And then with your agile weapon.. piranha strike!
I've been trying to decide on dex/str for a while for an elf magus I'm building.
It's either:
Str: 12
Dex: 18
Con: 12
Int: 16
Wis: 12
Cha: 7
OR
Str: 16
Dex: 14
Con: 12
Int: 16
Wis: 12
Cha: 7
Both builds are Inspired Blade Swashbuckler 1, Hexcrafter Magus X (I like the deeds for this character). Also this magus' main tactic will be a rime-frostbite so won't be spell-combat-ing every round.
The DEX magus gets a higher attack bonus, & a higher damage when not using spell-combat, the STR magus has an extra feat, and higher damage when he is using spell combat.
I'm actually settled on the STR magus at the moment (I keep going back and forth) because it opens up options for things like wand wielder to become viable (spamming vanish, true strike etc). Also that extra feat can make a pretty big difference.
Considering that the dex magus is getting +1attack & SOMETIMES+1damage for that feat (& sometimes -2damage, which only gets worse as he levels up) I think I can find a better feat.
(Not that I'm saying the dex magus is bad. Like I said I keep going back and forth, but even without dex-damage the elf still gets that +1INT that we all still love)
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Go strength based.
Indeed. Strength Magus is just as viable as dex (and saves you a feat and enchantment money). Here's a guide with more info.