i do intend to get alof of arcane pool with feats to be able to cast shocking grasp all day long
also i am thinking of taking wand wielder arcana and craft wand
wich would alows me to craft a wand for less than 3k gold at CL5 and do 5d6 on each strike all day long stil keeping all my spell slots.
while every strike I could do with spellcombat would be with 5d6 and stil keeping the most powerfull shocking grasps at higher lvl's to fit them to the target when needed (elemental spell quickened spell intensefied spell maxemized spell empowerd spell)
as I intend to take spell perfection "shocking grasp" at lvl 15 and I already am using magical liniage "shocking grasp" i could cast a quickened intensefied shocking grasp as a lvl 1 spell!
i do want to say rhime spell frigid touch can be nice i dont realy feel it beeing that powerfull but might be nice in certain party's i do think the usefullnes is alot less if you already have a full spellcaster in the party (as we do)as they are mostly doing batlefield controll.
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On a related but opposite note if you want to smack more guys with Shocking Grasp I would suggest picking up Mnemonic Enhancer to sacrifice a 4th level spell to cast 3 more shocking grasps.
I was considering taking preferred spell at 11th level, allowing more versatility in spell selection while still permitting shocking grasp spam as necessary.
in the end, a simple frostburn, when you do HALF the attacks you can do with it, compared to a intensified shocking comes down to 5d6+50 vs 10d6. ALL metamagic, crits, etc should use this number, not the number of a shocking vs a single attack with frost, making a superior choice imo.
Action economy. You're using multiple rounds worth of full attacks - during which you can't use spell combat - to achieve your damage. Frostbite, especially a Rimed Frostbite is useful, especially if you need to conserve spells, or want to build an AoO based build to get lots of extra chances to touch enemies on their turns, but it's not anywhere near the DPR capability of single touch, high dice spells.
thats what i mean with shocking grasp the mobs die ALOT faster so they cant do damage to you in the time they love longer as I burts then to death in 1 round you have to do it in 3-4 when you are still hitting your first mob im at my 4th.
if i see i got time and dont need to burts i can just hit em with arcane mark is i see i need to hurry i burst ALOT of damage in 1 round.
Yes.
But you are delivering the spell with the scabbard rather than the sword.
Just like all magus should wear a cestus.
A 19-20 backup weapon to deliver shocking grasps with if you lose or cannot draw you sword.
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in the end, a simple frostburn, when you do HALF the attacks you can do with it, compared to a intensified shocking comes down to 5d6+50 vs 10d6. ALL metamagic, crits, etc should use this number, not the number of a shocking vs a single attack with frost, making a superior choice imo.Action economy. You're using multiple rounds worth of full attacks - during which you can't use spell combat - to achieve your damage. Frostbite, especially a Rimed Frostbite is useful, especially if you need to conserve spells, or want to build an AoO based build to get lots of extra chances to touch enemies on their turns, but it's not anywhere near the DPR capability of single touch, high dice spells.
With the current ruling on haste, forgoing spell combat after casting frostbite becomes an option.
If the magus, or another caster, as already hasted the group, conserve spells and take the consistent damage.
Impossible to tell if this has been mentioned yet in this thread, but I am multi-classing with a Youxia Monk.
Dervish with the Scimitar as his Wushu weapon.
2nd level gets Ki Pool and talents.
Arcane Arts (Su): As a swift action, the youxia can spend one ki point while casting a spell. The youxia's caster level is treated as 4 higher when determining the effects of the spell.
So Level 2 Monk, Level 1 Magus doing 5D6 with Shocking Grasp.
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Intensify spell wouldn't be applicable until you hit level 4 magus, as you can't take Magical Lineage, so you'll have to wait a bit. Using this particular route, the damage is capped at 5d6 until minimum character level 6, at which point you can Intensify it for 8d6, although you may be able to eke out another 2d6 from Spell Specialization, capping it at 10d6 at level 6. Personally, I'm not sure if it's worth it in the long run, but you can switch your Spell Specialization once you hit 10d6 without it.
Edit: I believe I forgot what Wayang Spell Hunter does, but I think I remember now. Carry on, and ignore what I've said. What I've said applies only to non-wayangs.
Snowball makes a myrmidarch a much more attractive option than it has been in the past. An intensified snowball out damages scorching ray until 11th level - the point where the myrmidarch can spellstrike all three rays.
Just picked up Ultimate Campaign and there are some interesting magus specific traits in it. Three I have found interesting so far are Arcane Revitalization, Arcane Temper, and Bladed Magic. Part of the new rule subsystem is your background determines which traits you have access to, no more cherry picking. I will post an analysis of the new traits later in the week.
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This thread is a couple of years old... is there some sort of archieve or something for this?
But since I'm posting I might as well add my two cents. Improved Familiars with the magus seems to be a really good idea. For the arcana and feat, you gain alertness, and a PseudoDragon (thats what I'm looking at right now).
Fail an arcana check? Have the Pseudragon roll his own, using your ranks (it's ability score bonus and it's race skill for ALOT of skills), what? Need a scout? Get UMD and it can cast spells on you while you are fighting full fledged? Not to mention that it can attack from your square, with it'l tail, and possibly put then enemy to sleep. It has blindsense 60, dark vision 60, low light vision with telepathy, making it an excellent warning system... I think thats worth an arcana and a feat :).
Runing a bladebound kensai tiefling right now
Stats are a bit high because we did random roll
15 str
14 con
20 dex
13 wis
18 int
12 char
Feats
1. Armor of the pit
Weapon focus rapier
3. Weapon finesse
Blackblade
5. Combat exp ( think thats the name)
Imp called shot ( dm allowed)
6. Empowered magic
7. Demonic blood ( custom dm feat essentualy angel blood)
9. Critical focus
Critical perfection
11. Demon wings ( essentualy angel wings)
Improved critical
Not sure what to give him after 11 but this is my plan so far. Lvl3 atm
This thread is a couple of years old... is there some sort of archieve or something for this?
But since I'm posting I might as well add my two cents. Improved Familiars with the magus seems to be a really good idea. For the arcana and feat, you gain alertness, and a PseudoDragon (thats what I'm looking at right now).
Fail an arcana check? Have the Pseudragon roll his own, using your ranks (it's ability score bonus and it's race skill for ALOT of skills), what? Need a scout? Get UMD and it can cast spells on you while you are fighting full fledged? Not to mention that it can attack from your square, with it'l tail, and possibly put then enemy to sleep. It has blindsense 60, dark vision 60, low light vision with telepathy, making it an excellent warning system... I think thats worth an arcana and a feat :).
A faerie dragon is best. It is considered a 3rd level sorcerer.
No umd checks for sor/wiz wands.Plus at will invis.
anyone did a tuneup on the guide with haste and all the other stuff?
I know I'm rather late to the party, but ... in the original guide, Walter says that Magus 7/Cleric 3/Mystic Theurge 10 is a scary thing. I'm kind of new to Pathfinder, so ... could some please enlighten me on just what makes this so scary?
I know I'm rather late to the party, but ... in the original guide, Walter says that Magus 7/Cleric 3/Mystic Theurge 10 is a scary thing. I'm kind of new to Pathfinder, so ... could some please enlighten me on just what makes this so scary?
It can make for a pretty mean self-sufficient brute. You get some solid buff spells like Divine Favor/Power, as well as most of the offensive perks of the magus. I would still prefer a straight magus, but the build has some potential.
Lots of fun buffs and utility spells, plus a few more touch spells. Also more spells per day total (lose a half dozen Magus spell slots to gain at thirty something cleric slots)
Ah, I figured there was more to it ... specific domains or feat combos or such. :)
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I have a PFS Dervish Dancer magus who is multiclassed to cleric, mostly so he doesn't play exactly the same as my other magus. Might start taking Mystic Theurge levels.
The Luck domain would be a huge boon. Roll ALL D20s twice and pick the highest. However, my magus took Sun and Glory to have channeling buffs.
I like Spire magus 7 / Cleric of Calistria 3 (Luck, Trickery)
It hasn't been updated in a LONG time.
Anyway, I have been running a Half-Elf whip magus, with good results. I'm having lots of fun with Frostbite, its a fun spell for crowd control. It basically doubles my whip damage for an entire fight.
I admit to spending less time theory crafting/playing PBP and focusing on Family, Competitive Crossfit and work.
I wrote it when I was working fly in/fly out at the mines and had nothing to fill my time with while away.I still PBP but haven't bought a splatbook in awhile (re:over a year) so no new options have really hit me.
The snowball spell seemed ok but no one has proven it better than Rime Frostbite Enforcer or Intensified SG so I have not added it.
Speaking of such does anyone want to mention any new spell/feat combos or Hexes that are good enough to add to the guide?
Ooops sorry, it's late. Thought this was my HEXCRAFTER thread.
well im realy thinking about taking that!!
Holy Taking the Extra Traits feat, Batman. o.O
For level dipping : How about one level of Wizard - Evocation (admixture) school? It lets shocking grasp beat elemental immunity a lot more often (since lightning is a very common immunity among denizens of the Abyss I hear) This one level dip also nets you the always-chosen-for-valid-RP-purposes familiar, the greensting scorpion, earlier access to Mage Armor, and +1 damage to shocking grasp and the rest of your damaging spells. Not to mention Scribe Scroll (or Spell Focus for the PFS crowd).
It's not the best dip for a vanilla magus due to spell failure and armor, but if you're a Kensai it's worth considering. Being able to tailor Shocking Grasp on the fly to take advantage of vulnerabilities and get around immunities is pretty solid I think. Being able to chuck an icy fireball at a crowd of devils is pretty satisfying too.
I couldn't help but notice a serious lack of Bladed Dash in the spell section. Spell is awesome since it let's you move and still get a full round action of attacks using spell combat.
i have added to it in a later lvl its great when you get multiple attacks at lvl 8 when you sont want to move and attack anny more but want to use spellcombat each time you can!
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Little note: I was reading through the spells recently, and I think there might be an inconsistency. In the guide, the spell "force punch" is noted as a ranged touch attack, while it is a melee touch attack, eligible for spellstrike. While it doesnt have the raw poer of shocking grasp, it can still go up to 10d4 (with no metamagic), and it's ALL force damage, so it's very unlikely anything will resist the damage. I think it should at the very least it should be yellow, not red.
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It SEEMS devastating (and I'm building up a theoretical Kensai bladebound elven magus with spell perfection to see if it works), but it's very possible it's underwhelming. It's the problem when all you use is dice and not flat damage. Spell perfection will be used to apply the "maximized" metamagic in all likelyhood.
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Well, I've done the calculations and, at level 15 (when you can get spell perfection), if I take: maximized, empowered & intensified as metamagic feats, AND take the maximized & empowered magus arcana, I could get 78 damage (on average) for a single force punch. If I crit, I can use the kensai "perfect strike" ability to boost the crit range to x3 and do 233 damage in a hit. (note: if you consider the "empowered" dice are also maximized, the base force punch damage would go up to 22d4 (max)=88 damage).
It's a decent nova, VERY hard to resist (since it's force) and kinda silly. With some finagling & quicken spell, you could get 2 of these off every round. (for like 2 rounds)
This is an interesting experiment in min-maxing, but in the long term it just isnt viable.
Hey All,
I've been reading up on Magus for the last few months and found Walter's Guide to be quite a large asset for learning how to play this class.
I'm still green when it comes to Pathfinder, but I wanted to get some advice and ideas for level progression.
The GM has allowed that at level 2 and every "even" level after the players in our campaign can gain 1 additional feat. And from level 3, and every "odd" level after, they get 1 attribute point.
At 6th level this is what I currently have as my setup:
Slyph Magus (the below stats are including the Slyph attribute modifications, and my attribute disbursements)
STR: 12
DEX: 16
CON: 12
INT: 20
WIS: 12
CHA: 10
Current Listing of Feats:
Toughness (Acquired at Level 1)
Weapon Finesse (Granted by GM at Level 1)
Dervish Dance (Picked up at level 2)
Airy Step (Picked up at level 4)
****Empty (The class allows for one feat to be acquired)****
Special Abilities:
Breeze Kissed (race): +2 AC vs non-magical projectiles, Also channeled into "Gust of Wind" for Bull Rush cone attack 1/day (the GM modded this)
Like the Wind (race): +5 Bonus movement speed
Spell-Like Ability (race): Feather Fall 1/day (25ft + 5ft per caster lvl)
Darkvision (race): 60'
Spellstrike (class)
Spell Recall (class)
Arcane Accuracy (Class, Magus Arcana)
Dragon Slave Curse Rune (in-game accident): One of my fingers has a permanent rune on it and can cast like Scorching Ray but the D6 is based on level. (Also, the more I use it, the more I'm taken over... but it's slow)
Background Traits:
Pragmatic Activator - Use INT instead of CHA for UMD
Death Touched
Reactionary Combat - +2 Initiative
Scarred Descendant - +1 attacks to confirm crit on humans (GM modded)
Equipment (Important Gear):
Witches Robes +2
Amulet of Natural Armor +2
Cloak of Resistance +2
Featherstep Boots
Scimitar +1 Keen
Now, I understand I've been given some really cool bonuses, which is great (the Gust of Wind Bull Rush Cone, and the perks for the levels)
But I'm trying to figure out the most effective way to build myself in a party. We usually have one or two tanks in the group and one full time cleric healer, with a ninja (who has consistently rolled 1s and has shouted out loud in quiet areas.... smh), and a gunslinger for the range dps, and sometimes a wizard (who apparently only wants to cast magic missile all the time).
So I figure my role is burst DPS and being backup-backup-tank.
My standard attempts are at range to use Scorching Ray, and if I get up close I usually cast Shield and Spellstrike with Shocking Grasp.
I'm a little confused though with Walter's guide on one part (and I know it's not updated, but I wanted clarity on this part). Under the Level 6 Dervish Dancing Magus, it states:
"Since he is spellstriking his touch spells, they all get a +1 to hit from Weapon Focus. Now his Arcane Accuracy pool enhanced scimitar is keen, and when he takes attacks with spell combat, after arcane strike, he hits for two attacks at +14/+14, both that can crit on a 15-20, with one hitting for 1d6+7 and the other hitting for 6d6+7 (including shocking grip). "
How do I get a 15-20 crit range??? Shouldn't that 16-20? Or am I missing something?
Also, should I get lunge as my extra feat at lvl 5? Or is there something else with my setup that I should focus on? I'm decent dps, but the main Tanks are just destroying monsters, so I'm trying to think of ways to increase my dps. My AC is fantastic in our group and usually stays in the low 20s, but I just want to know what is the right process for making attacks.
As I said, I'm still very green, and any advice and constructive words of wisdom are greatly appreciated.
My sincerest apologies for the super long post.
Thank you.
A scimitar has an 18-20 range. Improved Critical / Keen doubles that to 15-20.
Ah, so it is the numbers themselves not the difference.
So 18, 19, and 20 are three numbers, so that means the additional three of 15, 16, and 17.
Ok, that's great to know. That means that on each of my attacks, standard and spellstrike I have a 25% chance of critical threat!
So what about play through, am I ok with with going with Range attacks of Scorching Ray and up-close with Shocking Grasp? I am considering the Frigid Touch too, but in Walter's guide he was able to bump the dies up for Shocking Grasp... I'm still trying to figure out that
Also, I'm a little fuzzy on the details on my overall plus to attack:
Using the +1 Keen Scimitar, does the magic on the weapon the (+1) and the (Keen) give me a +2 on attack and damage? or Does the (+1) only grant that benefit?
Level 6:
BAB: 4
Dervish Dance adds Dex Mod to Attack and Damage: 3
Arcane Accuracy: 5
The +1 Keen Scimitar grants: 1 or 2?
So is the total: 13 or 14 to attack?
Also, when the actual attack occurs, because it's still part of spell combat, that's minus 2 on the attack roll. so does that make it: 11 or 12 to attack?
Keen only affects the threat range, not attack or damage rolls. So the weapon would only add +1 to attack and damage.
Understood. So I'm trying to figure out Walter's numbers for the Dex Magus at Level 6:
Now let’s do a quick breakdown of what this character’s capable of, using the 15 point buy listed above (Str 11, Dex 16 (18), Con 13 (11), Int 14 (16), Wis 10, Cha 7) and assuming 1 over half for health.
STR: 11 (+0)
DEX: 18 (+4)
CON: 11 (+0)
INT: 16 (+3)
WIS: 10 (+0)
CHA: 7 (-2)
Level 1: He’s got 9 HP, which is a little less than his Str based counterpart, but his AC is notably higher, 18 instead of 15, which is more than a fair trade. His basic attack is a +4 for 1d6+0, and his spell combat is +2 for 1d6+0 and another spell, again probably Color Spray or something non-touch based. Alternatively, he can choose to attack with a Longbow from range with a +4 to hit for 1d8+0 damage. Not too shabby at all, and the saves on his spells are slightly higher than the Str magus. Good stuff.
Level 3: He’s got more health now, 21, about what a wizard has. He’s also picked up Dervish Dance and spellstrike; now his basic attack is a +6 to hit (+9 with arcane accuracy) for 1d6+4, and his spell combat allows him to make two attacks at a +8/+8 if he expends a point from his pool. The first is an attack with his scimitar that hits for 1d6+6, while second (via spellstrike) hits for 3d6 with Shocking Grasp, plus another 1d6+6 from his sword. Better than his Strength based counterpart. His AC is also statically higher still, at an 18.
Level 6: At level 4 he increased his Constitution to 12 to help his weak HP pool and by now he probably has a +1 weapon. His health is comparable to the Str magus, 45, and he has picked up Spell Penetration and Weapon Focus. Since he is spellstriking his touch spells, they all get a +1 to hit from Weapon Focus. Now his Arcane Accuracy pool enhanced scimitar is keen, and when he takes attacks with spell combat, after arcane strike, he hits for two attacks at +14/+14, both that can crit on a 15-20, with one hitting for 1d6+7 and the other hitting for 6d6+7 (including shocking grip). Again, this is a pretty hefty damage output, especially on a crit. He can also power attack now to pump those numbers higher. Also his defenses have gone up, with the addition of Mirror Image and probably a deflection or natural armor bonus, making his AC around a 20 or 21, not to mention his images.
I'm confused how he has hits at 14:
BAB: 4
Dervish Dance: 4
Arcane Accuracy: 3
Weapon Focus: 1
+1 Keen Scimitar: 1
I count 13, unless I'm missing something. But what I also don't understand is that if he is Spellstriking (which is the only way for him to get two attacks) wouldn't those also be -2 lower?
Can somebody clarify? As I said, I want to make sure I'm understanding mine and Walter's numbers accurately. Thanks.