I am having trouble deciding which meta magiced spell to use with magical lineage. My caster is a magus, and i will probably get the meta magic feat at level 5. magical lineage would make it very cheap to recall these spells.
right now I am looking at one of the following three:
1. shocking grasp with intensified spell. this would let me dish out a lot of damage. most enemies also tend to have metal armor or weapons, which gives me a +3 to hit. i can see why this is a common choice. however, is the more i can do to help the party out besides damage?
2. magic missile with toppling spell (also might be used with opening volley). This would allow free trips against multiple targets. if i also took opening volley, it would give me a +4 to my next melee attack against one of them. i like the idea of this combo, but i worry that the tripping numbers will not hold up at higher level.
3. frostbite with rime spell. this one would do little damage. however, if the attack lands, the enemy will be entangled for one round and fatigued. The attack also appears to allow multiple attacks per spell. i am a little confused as to when the entangled status goes away. I assume it is at the beginning of my next turn, before I get a chance to attack again. the two debufs could help me survive counter attacks and help my party though.
has anyone tried any of these combos with a magus, or other class for that matter?
I wonder if it would be better to use one of the other combos with magical lineage though. intensified shocking grasp seems to really shine at higher levels. By level 7, it would be strong and i should be able to spare resources to use it as a level two spell without too much trouble.
Would either of the other two options still hold up at higher level? i figure both would do well at lower level.
1. I feel that shocking grasp is in general the best selection for the magus mainly because of the 3/4 bab the iterative attacks won't have the best chance to hit. So being able to hit really hard on one of them is a decent way to make up for it. Anything beyond your big strike is gravy.
2. Magic Missile with toppling is a good selection to hamper enemies at low to mid ranges but at higher levels it will likely lag and you will see the strategy become less useful except against enemies that would be susceptible. If you plan to make a Magus that will be taking the trip feat chain any way it will increase the longevity of this strategy and provide added benefit when it is successful with greater trip feat.
3. Frostbite seem to be a compromise between 1 and 2 by providing a decent increase in damage for the magus while also potentially inflicting multiple status effects to hamper your enemies making them less of a threat.. It also dovetails nicely with the enforcer feat to add frighten and or shaken to possible conditions you can inflict on a successful hit. Frostbite can save on resources in a fight since it will provide multiple hits per casting at the same time you need to evaluate every round weather or not casting something else and losing your remaining uses is going to be worth it.
The one you choose should best mesh with your typical combat strategy and role in the party.
well, charisma was going to be a dumb stat...i would need to adjust my stats a little to avoid a negative mod to intimated. would also need to rework my feats to pick up enforcer, since it seems like a good fit with rime spell.
would grabbing them at level five be too late? my level one and two slots are going to dervish dancer and weapon finesse right now.
looks like i can get by changing my stats from:
str 11
dex 19
con 12
int 16
wis 10
chr 7
to
str 12
dex 18
con 11
int 16
wis 10
chr 10
or
str 11
dex 17
con 12
int 16
wis 10
chr 12
oh, this character is an elf. i might have failed to mention that. my fourth level ability increase would go to con and the next two to int. it is kinda a waste to have the 12 str going dervish dancer, but would help with my carrying capacity. having just a ten makes it really hard at low levels to carry basic gear, unless i drop the emergency shortbow and arrows.
if I went with the second option, my carrying capacity calculations stay the same and my con starts off higher. my dex would lag until fourth. not sure if upping chr is worth lowering my AC at the beginning.
The 7 in charisma may put a damper on the build but a -1 shouldn't be to bad you would be rolling a d20 +7 vs HD + wisdom at 5th level so unless the target has a high wisdom you are likely to have a little better then equal chance to make it stick that coupled with the weight of multiple attempts should win the day. So once it hits it will stick for many rounds. Obviously though the more bonuses you can put into the skill the better off you are.
5th level should be fine at that point adding another negative condition to a already good debuff is just one more feather in your cape.
the shaken and entangled only last a round, does that mean the debuf ends on my next turn before my attacks?
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The Entangled only lasts a round, the shaken lasts for a number of rounds equal to the non-lethal damage done.
The 7 charisma is going to give you a -2 on that intimidate check making the first 3 levels of this trick quite a bit more difficult to pull off. Not a big deal once you can afford a Circlet of Persuasion (which uses a different slot then a Headband of Int by the way) but bumping your Cha to a 10 is definitely going to help.
The Entangled only lasts a round, the shaken lasts for a number of rounds equal to the non-lethal damage done.
The 7 charisma is going to give you a -2 on that intimidate check making the first 3 levels of this trick quite a bit more difficult to pull off. Not a big deal once you can afford a Circlet of Persuasion (which uses a different slot then a Headband of Int by the way) but bumping your Cha to a 10 is definitely going to help.
+1
if i fail the intimate on the first strike, does the dc go up by 5 on the next strike?
may not be best, but i might keep the 7 charisma, but take the adopted trait to get tge half orc brute trait from the taldor book. it says i worked as an enforcer for a crime lord and gain a +2 on intimidate, which would cancel out the minus from low charisma.
since intimidate is 10 + hit dice + wisdom mod, how high do i need my intimidate check to be to realistically make it stick at mid to high level?
ill play around with the numbers some more. was avoiding dropping wisdom due tobthe hit to my will save. was hoping to have a 20 dex at level four since that would give me +1 to ac, to hit, and damage compared to an 18. but that probably isnt a huge difference in practice. seems like i am always short 2 points.
i will probably keep the trait though, kinda like the idea of an elf hating elf raised by half orc thugs/mafia.