I wanted to post this before the magus playtest ends so it will be considered. I have tested the magus at 3 different levels, 3rd, 13th and 20th. Overall this is a good class with the noted problems with spell strike and spell combat both of which I am sure Jason will fix. Even assuming these would get fixed I felt mildly disappointed in the class which strange since I have been one of many wanting such a blended class. So I sat back and tried to dissect why it wasn’t what I was looking for. During most of OD&D, 1e and 3e I mainly played elven fighter-magic users and Jason very much got the feel for how they played in earlier editions down and even threw in one of the bladesinger tricks with spell combat. I finally realized the magus is not a particularly good tactical class. It shares the strength of the wizard of being a good strategic class in being able to prepare spells but that strength is a weakness for the magus as a melee class it needs tactical flexibility. Comparing the magus to its closest counterparts, the arcane duelist and Dreamscarred’s psychic warrior, both have greater tactical flexibility in spell use. If given the opportunity to play one of these 3 classes I would go psychic warrior, arcane duelist then the magus.
My suggestion is to use the hybrid spell casting of the spirit shaman which prepares a number of spells per day and then can cast those spells spontaneously. Effectively combining the strategic strength of the wizard with the tactical strength of the sorcerer and being unique amoung Pathfinder spell casters without adding a new spell casting mechanism like we would for psionics.
Thanks,
Doug