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So, let's say I'm a magus and I want to use my arcane pool to enhance a double weapon, like, say... a quarterstaff. How exactly does that work? The ability description doesn't call out double weapons as an exception to the general "spend a point, get an enhancement bonus" rules, but double weapons...
Uh... waitasecond.
Did the whole "double weapons cost double" thing get dropped from the Pathfinder RPG entirely? 'Cause the table it was on in the 3.5 SRD doesn't exist in the PRD...
Okay, so still: do I get a full +1/+1 enhancement for my quarterstaff for one arcane pool point? And while I'm at it, how much does a +1 quarterstaff cost these days anyway?
So, let's say I'm a magus and I want to use my arcane pool to enhance a double weapon, like, say... a quarterstaff. How exactly does that work? The ability description doesn't call out double weapons as an exception to the general "spend a point, get an enhancement bonus" rules, but double weapons...
Uh... waitasecond.
Did the whole "double weapons cost double" thing get dropped from the Pathfinder RPG entirely? 'Cause the table it was on in the 3.5 SRD doesn't exist in the PRD...
Okay, so still: do I get a full +1/+1 enhancement for my quarterstaff for one arcane pool point? And while I'm at it, how much does a +1 quarterstaff cost these days anyway?
After some searching, I found the rule.
In 'creating magic weapons' it states "Creating magic double-headed weapons is treated as creating two weapons when determining cost, time, and special abilities."
While it does not state it directly, I have always understood this, as 'the two ends of the weapon is enchanted seperately' so you can enchant one while to other is unmagical.
I would rule that the same apply to arcane pool.
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So, let's say I'm a magus and I want to use my arcane pool to enhance a double weapon, like, say... a quarterstaff. How exactly does that work? The ability description doesn't call out double weapons as an exception to the general "spend a point, get an enhancement bonus" rules, but double weapons...
Uh... waitasecond.
Did the whole "double weapons cost double" thing get dropped from the Pathfinder RPG entirely? 'Cause the table it was on in the 3.5 SRD doesn't exist in the PRD...
Okay, so still: do I get a full +1/+1 enhancement for my quarterstaff for one arcane pool point? And while I'm at it, how much does a +1 quarterstaff cost these days anyway?
After some searching, I found the rule.
In 'creating magic weapons' it states "Creating magic double-headed weapons is treated as creating two weapons when determining cost, time, and special abilities."
Okay, good. I was afraid I'd somehow missed another PF change for the last two years.
While it does not state it directly, I have always understood this, as 'the two ends of the weapon is enchanted seperately' so you can enchant one while to other is unmagical.
I would rule that the same apply to arcane pool.
There are two problems with that, though it's still possible that that's the intent. The first is that, if I apply that reading as strictly as possible - a double weapon is treated as two weapons for the purposes of enchantment - then it becomes impossible to use your arcane pool to enhance more than one end of your quarterstaff. According to the magus arcane pool ability, "A magus can only enhance one weapon in this way at one time. If he uses this ability again, the first use immediately ends." So double weapon = two weapons means one end only, which pretty much sucks.
I suppose you could argue that you can enchant it all at once but still pay twice, but that's definitely making a rule up at that point; there's nothing in the text to suggest it's a possibility. If we're going to make up rules, there are other ways I would rather go.
The second problem is that, regardless of whether you decide that means you can't enhance the second end or you have to pay double, it's further weakening an already suboptimal design choice. A double weapon is basically flavor without Two-Weapon Fighting, but getting your Dex up high enough to buy the required feats increases the stress on an already MAD class. If you skip TWF, though, you're basically saying, "I'd use a scimitar, but I don't see the need for that extra crit chance - topping out at 19-20/x2 is good enough for me!" (This is also where "you can only enhance one end of the quarterstaff" leaves you, because damned if I'm going to bother paying for TWF if I'm only ever going to use one end of the staff anyway - but then, why the heck am I not using a scimitar again?) If I am already paying for a weaker ability for the sake of character concept, I would really prefer not to have my arcane pool effectively halved by having to pay twice to enhance my weapon.
I don't think that a staff magus what the rules are written for. Their main shtick is essentially Two Weapon Fighting, where the off-hand weapon is a spell. Quarterstaffs are for TWF, where the off-hand weapon is the other end of the staff.
Unfortunately, your build is sort of like trying to build a rogue for high damage output without using sneak attack. The rules allow you to try to do it, but you are not going to be very successful.
The premise of the staff magus is that, thanks to quarterstaff mastery, they use that quarterstaff one-handed. They don't use both ends. Essentially, you are selecting a sub-optimal build in order to access some neat flavor, as they do gain some nifty AC bonuses and the ability to use a magical staff as a quarterstaff.
So...yeah. The reason you're not choosing a scimitar is that you're saving up for your later abilities. It's all about the flavor.
-The Beast
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I'd still like to know whether it's even possible to use the arcane pool to enhance both ends of a quarterstaff, though, and if so how much it costs to do so.
With every other magus build I've messed with, I've used basically the same tactic: one-handed weapon, used one-handed for spell combat and two-handed otherwise, for max damage. The staff magus seems to suggest a similar approach, going TWF when not using spell combat, but the feasibility of that idea depends pretty heavily on the core question of cost/legality for the arcane pool.
It doesn't need an official answer. Magus only gets to enhance a single weapon (or one end of a double weapon). See sacred weapon or this feat to compare. I think dual enhancement is especially telling as if they wanted magus to dual enhance they could have added it in like they did divine bond.