Orithilaen's page

In PF1E, the standard magus tactic was spell combat + spellstrike + spell slots loaded with touch attack spells. A typical combat round might be a full attack together with spellstrike with shocking grasp. What strikes me for this version of the magus is that, even though there is a superficial affinity, this is a suboptimal tactic here.

There are two reasons, which have already been widely noted. The first is action economy: when you use a full round to use Striking Spell and Strike, you only get off one spell (if it's a standard 2-action spell) and one Strike, just as if you were a fighter with the multiclass wizard archetype. The second is that, if your spell has a spell attack roll or a saving throw, you have to roll twice to succeed, both for the weapon attack and the spell. The compensations Striking Spell in itself gives you for these disadvantages are pretty weak. You lose the MAP for the spell attack but with weaker proficiencies and lower Int than the wizard you would never want to cast a spell attack with a MAP anyway. You get one degree of success better with the spell attack or save if you crit with your weapon, but that requires you to crit with your weapon, which isn't reliable enough for a character that isn't a fighter. Your spell isn't wasted if you miss with the weapon attack, but (1) you only get one more round to use it, in which you can't use Striking Spell again and (2) it's still a pretty big issue that you couldn't place the spell in the round you wanted to place it.

Does that mean Striking Spell is useless, or that the playtest magus is bad? No. It will require playtesting to find out for sure, but there are potentially very good ways to get around these disadvantages. They just require breaking from the PF1E way of playing a magus.

1. Don't use spells that require spell attack rolls with Spell Strike. (This was your only option in PF1E.) You want a spell that doesn't require a saving throw or spell attack, or, failing that, requires a saving throw with an effect on a success that you would still find useful. My cantrip of choice would be chill touch. My slots spell of choice would be magic missile--or, at higher levels, maze.

2. Use Striking Spell in circumstances where you can make really good use of the Magus Synthesis ability. In PF1E, the advantage of spellstrike was that you got off a weapon attack for free. If PF2E, the real advantage is the Magus Synthesis ability. You can cast chill touch, magic missile, or maze without using Striking Spell. But with Striking Spell, you can also Step or Stride, or get 2 temporary hit points per level.

3. Use the other tricks the magus class gives you. It's not just about spellstrike/Striking Spell anymore. Use your spell slots, which now match the highest-level spells other casters of your level can cast, for strong self-buffs that will last a whole combat or longer, or battlefield control that doesn't require a save or spell attack. Use Spell Parry/Capture Spell. Use your focus spells (Runic Impression and Hasted Assault seem especially good).

One of the things I liked most about the PF1E vigilante was its various archetypes, which functioned as subclasses highly distinct both from other vigilante archetypes and from any of the other character classes. Now that we have the vigilante back, but as an archetype rather than a class, I thought I might try converting some of its 1E archetypes into full 2E classes. Here's the warlock: link

Comments and ideas welcome!

I'm trying to figure out exactly how the halcyon spells system in the Lost Omens Character Guide works. The basic mechanic is straightforward: you gain a set of spells from the primal or arcane list that you can cast as if they were on your "native" spell list. But then there are a few complications:

1. How does the cantrip you get for the Magaambyan Attendant Dedication work? At first I thought it was a halcyon spell, but it's not called out as one like the others. Now I'm wondering if the purpose is to give rudimentary arcane or primal spellcasting even to non-spellcasters, to open up the other Magaambyan Attendant/Halcyon Speaker options. (Is it an at-will cantrip like normal?)

2. How do the halcyon spell slots you get from Halcyon Speaker feats interact with heightened spells? It sounds like a druid who has blink as a 4th level halcyon spell can prepare blink as a 6th level spell in her druid slots, as long as she can cast 6th level halcyon spells. But can she use a 6th level halcyon slot to cast it spontaneously, or is like the sorcerer's spell repertoire such that she'd need to select it also as a 6th level halcyon spell to do that?

3. The description of halcyon spells on page 101 says that you can choose whether to cast a halcyon spell as a primal or an arcane spell. Normally you would want to cast them as the tradition corresponding to your primary spellcasting class, because you'll have the best proficiencies with that tradition. (The halcyon spellcasting feats boost your other proficiency but at a delayed pace.) Am I missing something that gives you a benefit for choosing the "weaker" tradition? I thought earlier it might be the Halcyon Speaker's synergy feats, but those treat halcyon spells as both primal and arcane automatically.