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I just recently made a Staff Magus for a game. It was the first Magus I have created and I decided to do it as a way to test out the new rules for the class. This build is at level 7 with two traits and a 20 point buy.
Stats:
STR 14
DEX 14 +2(belt) = 16
CON 14
INT 16
WIS 12
CHA 10Feats(not in order of level taken):
QuarterStaff Master
Weapon Focus(Quarterstaff)
Weapon Specialization(Quarterstaff)
Arcane Strike
Combat Casting
Craft Magic Arms and Armor
Improved Familiar
Alertness(when familiar is nearby)Traits:
Poverty Stricken
Focused MindMagus Arcana:
Familiar
Close Range
Interesting build, I used it as a base for a sample build of mine. Her it is in case you're interested - and to address the topic of this thread :-)
STAFF MAGUS CR 11
Male Human Magus (Staff Magus) 12
NG Medium Humanoid (Human)
Init +5; Senses Perception +10
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DEFENSE
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AC 22, touch 13, flat-footed 19 (+9 armor, +3 Dex)
hp 99 (12d8+36)
Fort +14, Ref +10, Will +12
Defensive Abilities Spell Shield +4
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OFFENSE
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Spd 30 ft.
Melee Staff - see below...
Melee Gauntlet (from Armor) +13/+8 (1d3+4/20/x2)
Unarmed Strike +13/+8 (1d3+4/20/x2)
Special Attacks Dispelling Strike, Spellstrike
Magus (Staff Magus) Spells Known (CL 12, 13 melee touch, 12 ranged touch):
[SPELLS NOT SELECTED]
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STATISTICS
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Str 16/18, Dex 14/16, Con 14/16, Int 16/18, Wis 12, Cha 10
Base Atk +9; CMB +13 (+18 Tripping); CMD 26 (31 vs. Trip)
Feats Arcane Blast (Su), Arcane Strike, Combat Casting, Combat Expertise +/-3, Combat Reflexes (4 AoO/round), Improved Trip, Intensified Spell, Power Attack -3/+6, Quarterstaff Master, Weapon Focus: Quarterstaff
Traits Magical Lineage: Shocking Grasp, Reactionary
Skills Acrobatics +10, Climb +6, Diplomacy +1, Escape Artist +13, Fly +5, Heal +5, Intimidate +5, Knowledge (Arcana) +19, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +19, Knowledge (Geography) +5, Knowledge (History) +5, Knowledge (Nature) +5, Knowledge (Nobility) +5, Knowledge (Planes) +10, Knowledge (Religion) +5, Perception +10, Ride +5, Spellcraft +19, Stealth +1, Swim +2, Use Magic Device +15
Languages Common, Dwarven, Elven, Giant
SQ Arcane Pool (+3) (10/day) (Su), Close Range (Ex), Improved Spell Combat (Ex), Improved Spell Recall (Su), Knowledge Pool (Su), Quarterstaff Defense (Ex), Staff Weapon (Su)
Combat Gear Celestial Armor; Other Gear Belt of Physical Perfection, +2, Blessed Book, Cloak of Resistance, +3, Headband of Vast Intelligence, +2: Escape Artist, Staff of Cackling Wrath
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SPECIAL ABILITIES
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Arcane Blast (Su) Convert a level 1+ spell into a 30' ranged touch attack dealing 2d6+1d6/spell level
Arcane Pool (+3) (10/day) (Su) At 1st level, the magus gains a reservoir of mystical arcane energy that he can draw upon to fuel his powers and enhance his weapon. This arcane pool has a number of points equal to 1/2 his magus level (minimum 1) + his Intelligence modifier. The poo
Arcane Strike As a swift action, add +1 damage, +1 per 5 caster levels and your weapons are treated as magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Close Range (Ex) Using spellstrike, deliver ranged touch spells as melee touch spells.
Combat Casting +4 to Concentration checks to cast while on the defensive.
Combat Expertise +/-3 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Combat Reflexes (4 AoO/round) You may make up to 4 attacks of opportunity per round, and may make them while flat-footed.
Dispelling Strike (Su) Sacrifice a prepared slot to use a targeted dispel magic against a creature you hit with a melee weapon.
Improved Spell Combat (Ex) Use a weapon with one hand at -2 and cast a spell with the other.
Improved Spell Recall (Su) Spend your Arcane Pool to recall spells you have already cast.
Improved Trip You Trip at +2 and don't cause an attack of opportunity.
Intensified Spell You can cast a spell that can exceed its normal damage die cap by 5 (if you have the caster level to reach beyond that cap).
Knowledge Pool (Su) You can spend Arcane Pool points to treat a spell you do not know as being in your spellbook, for you to prepare spells with.
Magical Lineage: Shocking Grasp A chosen spell counts as 1 level lower when metamagic feats are applied to it.
Power Attack -3/+6 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Quarterstaff Defense (Ex) At 7th level, while wielding a quarterstaff, the staff magus gains a shield bonus to his Armor Class equal to the enhancement bonus of the quarterstaff, including any enhancement bonus on that staff from his arcane pool class feature. At 13th level,
Quarterstaff Master Use a quarterstaff one-handed
Spell Shield +4 (Su) 1 Arcane Pool: +4 to AC until the end of your next turn.
Spellstrike (Su) Deliver touch spells as part of a melee attack.
Staff Weapon (Su) At 10th level, a staff magus treats any magical staff he is wielding as a magical quarterstaff with an enhancement bonus to attack and damage equal to the staff 's caster level divided by 4 (minimum +1). The staff must have at least 1 charge for the
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Hero Lab does not calculate the staff values, so this should be correct:
Melee Staff of Cackling Wrath (CL 8) +16/+11 (1d6+6) -> this can be boosted by various abilities
Melee Trip with Staff of Cackling Wrath (CL 8) +21/+16 -> also boostable
I am not sure about the caster level of the staff, though. Does your own caster level count (since that is one of the features of a staff), or is really the standard CL of the staff the used one? If the first holds true, the bonuses go even higher.
@Oxlar: If the build you're going for is Magus 7/ElK 7/Sorcerer 1 then you should at least consider changing that to Magus 8 / ElK 6 / Sorcerer 1. You'd gain +1 Arcane Pool point, +1 Will Save, the Improved Spell Combat class feature, and two extra Magus spells in your spellbook for free. The only downside at all would be counting as a level 6 Fighter for the purposes of qualifying for Feats instead of a level 7 Fighter. Everything else (BAB, Fortitude and Reflex saves, average Hit Points, Skill points) would remain exactly the same.
Of course, as a Fighter 1/Wizard 5/ElK 9 you'd have the same BAB, be casting level 7 spells instead of level 5 spells (I've heard tell that people sometimes find those limited wish and greater teleport spells handy, but YMMV...), and count as a level 10 Fighter and a level 14 Wizard for the purposes of qualifying for Feats (instead of as a level 7 Fighter and level 14 Magus). Your base saves would be a pretty comparable Fort +8, Ref +4, Will +7 (as opposed to your Fort +9, Ref +4, Will +7, assuming cross-blooded Sorcerer archetype). You'd also have four bonus combat Feats, and Scribe Scroll, as opposed to your two bonus combat Feats, one bonus Magus Feat, and Eschew Materials.
None of which is relevant to the Staff Magus anyway, but there you go... ;)
How did you get improved spell recall by being magus 8/EK 6?
How did you get improved spell recall by being magus 8/EK 6?Re-read that and get back to me... ;)
(Improved Spell Combat is what I wrote - which you get at Magus 8, not Improved Spell Recall).
Sorry....
I'm still trying to figure out how those saying the staff magus isn't what its cracked up to be is also saying that the ONLY build worthwhile is the dex based dervish. I know I never said that. I think you could go with a str based bastard sword build if you wanted as well. You could go with a lot of weapons.
My only issue with a staff archtype build is the limited decent range in which to crit the spell. And to me, that is the bread and butter of this class. Being able to use your weapon crit range for your spells while striking with the weapon at the same time.
I thought of another build that could also work. I a half elf using ancestral arms to get an urumi wihch is a 1d8 18-20 exotic weapon and being strength based.
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My only issue with a staff archtype build is the limited decent range in which to crit the spell. And to me, that is the bread and butter of this class. Being able to use your weapon crit range for your spells while striking with the weapon at the same time.
I would have agreed with you back during the days of the playtest, but thankfully by the time Ultimate Magic was released there were archetypes, new Feats, and new spells in place to prevent the Magus from being a one-trick class. Ultimate Combat expanded that diversity too, adding some much needed new arcana, amongst other things. Now the weapon critical range on your spellstrikes effect is more icing on the cake of the class - it's something you can effectively build your Magus around if you want to, but it's not the only thing you can use to build an effective Magus.
I thought of another build that could also work. I a half elf using ancestral arms to get an urumi wihch is a 1d8 18-20 exotic weapon and being strength based.
Yes - the wakizashi and katana from Ultimate Combat are also good choices if you're going the exotic weapon route and want to focus on being a crit-based Magus (the Kensai Magus archetype with a katana would be a classic, naturally).
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Another promising build for a staff magus is to also be a spellblade. That way you cn go crazy with TWF, be able to still cast spells with your offhand, and eventually just use your arcana to make more daggers. THen once you get to high levels and you start using magic staves as uarterstaffs you can then focus on using your pool to and feats to fight with your blade using your dex and be able to constantly disrupt your enemies attack while using spells from your staves to wreak havock. It especially gets to game breaver levels once you get the powerful staves such as a Staff of Power or even better a Staff of the Magi.
Conversly you can also be a half elf with Ancestral arms to get prficiany with a Sawtooth Sabre (or other such weapon) and play with a Staff magus/Soul forger, thus netting you with a masterwork exotic weapon for free along with your normal staff then you could take the wand mastery arcana to cast with your staff and...well I think you can get the drift.
All in all the Staff magus is in my opinion an interesting build, kinda like the old Quadratic wizards of the AD&D day: you start of as semiweak, but eventually you get to the point where you rule the battle field with an arcane fist.
...on a side note combining Kensai with the Half-elf Ancestral Arms and netting yourself both a Sawtooth saber and Aldori Dueling sword (or rapier or other such thing) is perfect for a TWF dervish build.