Gambit

How effective would a magus with the new Card Caster archetype play with Staff magus?

I am a big fan of Staff/Hexcrafter... would Gambit be as ideal/wonderful?

What is the best build for a Staff/Card Caster magus? Assume 20pt, level 10.

Here's what I'm going with. Still tweeking though, and I'm thinking of possibly adding Rogue 2 and Monk 1. Not sure.

I'm waiting for the acg to work out some kind of magus/swashbuckler build. Using a race with a sla so arcane strike will progress with it.

You rang?

I too always wanted to play the likes of Gambit from X-Men.

But reviewing the Card Caster mechanics and the Staff Magus mechanics, they don't mesh together too well, if at all.

The Card Caster's empowering effects only work on ranged weapons, which a Quarterstaff (or even an actual Staff item) is not. It also boils down to having to use two separate weapons for attack rolls, something which a Magus is tried for doing since he already has a 3/4 BAB scale and becomes MAD with needing bonuses to-hit from both Strength (Staff) and Dexterity (Cards), not to mention the difficulty of having to deal with restocking ammunition (cards) and maintaining the fighting power of your staff.

That being said, I personally wouldn't do it, since giving up proficiencies and such for an ability that doesn't synchronize with the rest of your kit doesn't seem like a worthwhile trade.

However, the Card Caster archetype by itself could benefit from Dexterity quite a bit, guaranteeing hits, although there is no way for you to add Dexterity to damage. It can be a gamebreaker, but if your party is good enough they'll cover your slack.

Twisted Fate from League of Legends shares a remarkable resemblance from Gambit and best fits the Card Caster archetype.