So I play a magus in a Monday night game, been playing him for 8-9 weeks. Applied the podcast changes last week, and the revised magus this week.
Caladrel Calderon, Elven Bladesinger
Neutral Good Elven Magus 5
Str 16
Dex 14
Con 10
Int 16 (+2)
Wis 10
Cha 8
Acrobatics +7 (-2 ACP)
Knowledge (Arcana) +11
Perception +6
Perform (Sing) +3
Perform (Dance) +3
Spellcraft +12
Use Magic Device +7
Classically Schooled (+1 Spellcraft)
Warrior of Old (+2 Initiative)
Combat Casting
Weapon Focus (Longsword)
Dodge
Improved Initative
Close-Range Arcana (Changed from Concentration from before the revision)
Chain Shirt +2
Ring of Protection +1
Sword of Bladesong (Longsword +2, gain +2 to attack when using Spell Combat)
Comendation of Yassar (Belt of Vast Intellect +2, UMD +HD ranks)
Spells Known
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0-Level: All
1st-Level: Chill Touch, Color Spray, Feather Fall, Flare Burst, Grease, Jump, Magic Missile, Magic Weapon, Obscuring Mist, Shield, Shocking Grasp
2nd-Level: Acid Arrow, Bear's Endurance, Blur, Bull's Strength, Cat's Grace, Invisibility, Mirror Image, Scorching Ray, Spider Climb, Web
The Rest of the Party
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Stabitha
Chaotic Neutral Human Inquisitor 5
Breastplate +1, 5 cold resistance
Brightflame (Dagger +2)
Spiderfang Shortsword +1 (+1d8 damage when coated with poison, do not risk accidentally poisoning self when applying poison to the blade)
Shortbow
Variel
Chaotic Neutral Elven Sniper (APG) Rogue 5
Leather armor
Masterwork Longbow
Spiderfang Rapier +1 (See above)
Sascrunch
Dwarven Druid 5
Just joined last night
So last week with the reduced Spell Combat penalties, and adding a version of the spell pool from the message boards, I felt a lot more useful. I was actually able to pull off most of my Spell Combats. The -2 to attacks feels about right, though honestly, I think the Concentration check is a bit too easy, at least at this level and with the combat casting feat. Maybe a -2 to concentration as well, so it's a -2/-2, like a proficient two-weapon fighter with a light off hand weapon.
I was dissapointed to see that the attack penalty doesn't go down to zero at high levels anymore, but I guess I can understand, a two-weapon fighter can't ever get rid of his -2 either. Makes sense.
Now that spellstrike has been re-worded, I can actually use it, to good effect a few times last night.
The number of Arcana points seems perfect to me. Then again, our characters often go through only 1 or 2 encounters in a day, though I've always tried to budget for 4 or 5, and it seems to be working fine so far. At this level I only really find myself spending one or two arcana points in a single fight. I see this going up as I gain new Magus Arcana, and higher spell levels, but at 5th level it's perfect.
With the Arcane Pool, the rewording of the Spellstrike ability, and the reduced penalty to Spell Combat, I no longer feel like I'm just spamming Color Spray at everything, I've actually got options now, and it's fun to play around with them.
The low level arcana you can pick don't really seem to be that useful, just things to help you flavor your character (Does he like to use Spellstrike alot, then Close-Range or Elemental Touch are your tickets. You could get a Familiar, which, while a useful tool, can also be a liability, since they're so weak. I only decided to change to Close-Range cause I didn't really need the Concentration ability with the change in Spell Combat, and thought it'd be cool to scorching ray someone through my sword.
Also, some people in the Discussion board were saying that the Magus doesn't have the damage potential. I don't see it. I mean, I guess I'm not in a group with any full melee character, but I've found that I've been getting about even damage with my party members, and often out damaging them. Stabitha and I deal with our melee concerns pretty damn well, and I've been fulfilling our need for an arcane caster in battle so far. The spell list is still pretty small and restrictive, but Spell Blending and Greater Spell Pool are a great step in the right direction. I would have taken Spell Blending as my Arcana actually, but for just one spell, it didn't really seem worth it. Maybe 2 spells, or 3 if they're lower then the highest level spell you can cast. I'd like to see Greater Spell Pool come in earlier.
And I still don't really care for the Medium and Heavy Armor being automatic additions. I'd rather they were Arcana, and we got more arcana choices instead.