Had a thought on the whole spell combat thing
its a bit of a design shift but I think it might give the Magus a greater sense of self.
Spellstrike and Spell Combat are now both gained at level 1
roll them into one ability if you want and they'd need rewritting
but here's the shift
ALL spells must be channeled through your weapon, in fact you can't cast a spell unless it goes through your weapon
there is no longer a 1 hand free requirement you can use any weapon can use shield and can two weapon fight.
remains 3/4BAB
all spells you cast target the end of your weapon.
for self spells your holding the weapon so they can be applied to you, offensive spells are all channed through your weapon and therefore must hit in melee to be used
AOE spells like a cones start in the square you hit the monster and go out as normal
AOE circles like fireball change slightly and still blast out in a circle from your weapon end BUT they do not effect the area of a cone pointed backwards towards you so bascilly its a 3/4 of a circle blast centered on you bu missing you and the 1/4 behind you.
AOE acid clouds, black tenaltes do the same as the above fireball except the back cone left emtpy is filled up after a number of rounds of your choosing allowing you to freely walk out of the area before the circle is filled in.
AOE spells targeting multiple but discrete targets still work as long as your hit touches the first target the other targets are effected noramlly
in the case of walls as long as part of the wall is created touching your weapon
instead of targeting a monster you can target the floor to cast spells
please keep in mind being such a significant shift many of the abilities would be redesigned to accompany this.
but in a nut shell the Magus is a melee caster who spell range is always within his weapon range for ALL spells