Magus: A Request Suggestions On How to Use A Magus


Advice


Hello everyone in the community. Thanks for taking the time to school a newbie to the Pathfinder World.
If you haven't guessed it yet, yes I'm playing a Magus which, after reading some of the forums on the difference between Eldritch Knight (EK) and Magus, either you love'em or you hate'em.

I'm loving the Magus for the first 2 months of playing I'm currently at CL6, but just a wee bit lost on how to play him during combat scenarios. I've been doing well so far using the Spell Strike Feat, but not sure on how or what else to use Feat, Arcana, and Melee wise. What plays out in my head attacking doesn't seem to pan out well "sometimes" when rolling.

Appreciate if anyone can give a suggestive guideline as there are so many avenues to use but not know exactly where to go. I know I want to be up front and personal during encounters with the epic martial prowess stylings of a Donnie Yen Hong Kong action film with a hint of Snake Eyes from the G.I. Joe Movie.(of course instead of a gun, he's casting magic. :D)
Again appreciate any and all feedback or suggestion from the community, and thanks for having me here. Cheers. :)


First of all you know that the magus class has two weapon fighting built in right? Spellstrike + Spell Combat

Other than that the best advice is to be able to full attacking (with spell combat + spellstrike) all the time, make correct use of your spells, use your arcane pool points wisely, pick arcanas that help you the way you have built your character, manage well your swift actions (the magus has a lot of things to do with his swift actions but like everyone else has only one swift action per turn).

To more specific advices:
The best way to be able to use spellstrike at early levels is to use the spell arcane mark, be aware that some people don't think that this combo is legal, the way i see it it ok with RAW (Rules As Written).
Another way to do it is to spam the 1st level spell shocking grasp and return it to your memory through cheap 1st level pearl of powers, there is a way to increase the effectiveness of this combo by picking the magical knack (shocking grasp) trait and taking the intinsfied spell metamagic feat.
Also the best weapon for a standard magus is the scimitar, everything else is below that, some weapons a little below that and some weapons a lot below that, the reason for this is that when using spellstrike the spell is using the weapon's critical threat range.

For more advice i think that we might need to see your character.


I'll skip the "most important ability scores" part, since the character is already done.

One of the most important magus arcanae (arcanas?) is Close Range! If you don't have it, get it at the very next opportunity, if not sooner! It allows you to use ray spells as touch attack spells, and thus with your Spell Combat and Spellstrike abilities.

One of the most basic boons for that is unlimited spellstrikes (not per round, but per day), as you can now use ray of frost (a cantrip and thus castable at will) with spellstrike. Never mind that the spell only does 1d3 cold damage, it's an extra attack.

Plus, there are a number of really nice ray spells out there that add really nice (or nasty, if you consider your victims' point of view) effects to your spellstrike: Ray of enfeeblement, for example, will weaken the other guy considerably.

Beyond that, if you find yourself out of magus arcanae you want, get some more spells via Spell Blending, preferably touch or ray spells, like touch of idiocy or enervation.

The general consensus is that frequent criticals are extremely desirable. For that reason, one-handed weapons with a high critical range (like the scimitar or rapier) are probably the best choice for magi.

The reason is, of course, the fact that when you get a critical with a spell strike, both the weapon and the spell deals critical damage.

Improve the crit range as soon as possible. That can be done with a weapon that is keen by itself (or adding it with your arcane pool ability) or getting improved critical as soon as you can take it.

For higher levels, look at the Dimensional Agility feat chain from Ultimate Combat. It lets you act directly after casting dimension door, and later you can cast dimension door as a free action and then jump about as often as you want (in five-foot increments) for up to double your speed and make your attacks between those jumps. And you can combine it with spell combat. Talk about a spring attack with bite!

The rest depends, as always, on the circumstances. If you don't have a spellcaster with blaster capability, prepare the occasional area spell like fireball to take care of crowds. If there is already one doing "crowd control", keep to spells you can spellstrike.

Beyond that, of course, keep some defence spells ready. You should be alright in the AC department (with a decent armour), so concentrate on stuff like mirror image, displacement, invisibility (including greater).

Generally, you'll combine a decent AC with straight concealment to stay hard to hit while devastating enemies with both sword and spell.


I've been considering the experimental wordcaster feat instead of close range arcana, will give a damaging touch cantrip as does close range, and some unique options for your one word per spell level. Wouldn't want to go full wordcasting on a magus, but just the dabble looks promising.

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / Advice / Magus: A Request Suggestions On How to Use A Magus All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.