Close Range as an Arcana is Biff

[Pendagast]

By the time you can get close range, 3rd level, which would burn your arcana in place of other good choices, you can already cast decent touch spells. By the time you get your second arcana there is nothing you are going to use this on.

Looking at the Magus spell list there is jack and the stuff jack stepped in to use this arcana on.

I'm think this should be a 1st level Magus class ability because its really going to get used on Acid Splash and Ray of Frost early on, and there is so little thats worth it in higher levels, it's hardly unbalancing to have it as a 'free' class ability, rather than an arcanna you have to 'buy', with limited slots.

[Synapse]

...More or less.
It works with Broad Study, so multiclassed and gestalt Magi will see more use of it.
You are also forgetting goodies like Disintegrate(let it crit on 18-20!) and debuffs like Flesh to Stone. The latter may not cause more damage, but rids you of pesky AoOs and the capstone beefs its DC.

[Pendagast]

Synapse wrote:

...More or less.

It works with Broad Study, so multiclassed and gestalt Magi will see more use of it.
You are also forgetting goodies like Disintegrate(let it crit on 18-20!) and debuffs like Flesh to Stone. The latter may not cause more damage, but rids you of pesky AoOs and the capstone beefs its DC.

yea but multiclassing and burning up a broad study and a close range on your arcanna? wa wa... two for the price of poop.

[Synapse]

That's one thing. Higher level games will see that. Fast-casting prestige classes will see that. Gestalt games will see that a lot, and you know they will happen. Rarity is not an excuse to ignore the higher levels. The compatibility terms also mean you can't just ignore previous content either.

Please don't ignore the whole "nasty ranged debuffs no longer provoking" bit.

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Pendagast wrote:

By the time you can get close range, 3rd level, which would burn your arcana in place of other good choices, you can already cast decent touch spells. By the time you get your second arcana there is nothing you are going to use this on.

The way I see it, Maguseses will either get a new 0th-level melee touch spell in UM, or they won't.

If they don't, the Close Range lets you turn Ray of Frost / Acid Orb into a touch spell, and since they're cantrips, you can cast them forever. Thus, any round in which you make a single attack should have +1d3 damage to it, averaging 2, or roughly equivalent with Weapon Specialization.

This also obviates the two AoOs issue of ranged touch spells.

If they do get a 0th-level melee touch spell, then the value of Close Range drops, IMO - probably not to useless, depending on the specific spell, but it will be less useful.

One clarification that might make Close Range better is if, for instance, you could apply it to Scorching Ray so long as all rays target the same target.

[JRutterbush]

Is there something in Spellstrike that prevents the AoO from casting a spell? The free melee attack doesn't provoke, but the casting of the spell still does. So unless you're exactly 5ft. away from your target (5ft. step can interrupt your other actions), you're still taking an AoO.

[Synapse]

JRutterbush wrote:

Is there something in Spellstrike that prevents the AoO from casting a spell? The free melee attack doesn't provoke, but the casting of the spell still does. So unless you're exactly 5ft. away from your target (5ft. step can interrupt your other actions), you're still taking an AoO.

You are correct.

You still have to cast defensively, so a close ranged ranged touch spell provokes once instead of twice.

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

JRutterbush wrote:

Is there something in Spellstrike that prevents the AoO from casting a spell? The free melee attack doesn't provoke, but the casting of the spell still does. So unless you're exactly 5ft. away from your target (5ft. step can interrupt your other actions), you're still taking an AoO.

As Synapse mentions, melee touch attack spells provoke a single AoO - for casting the spell. Ranged touch attack spells provoke two - one for casting, and one for making a ranged attck.

The Close Range arcana turns a ranged touch attack spell into a melee touch attack spell, so you only provoke one AoO, instead of two.

Also, when casting a melee touch spell (whether enhanced with Spellstrike or not), you can be (usually) up to 30' from your opponent and cast without issue. Cast, move your speed, and free-action attack (with a weapon, if you're Spellstriking) is perfectly legal.

[Synapse]

You also don't lose the spell if you miss, which is handy if you have higher str (which you should if you want to use all your class features).