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I am in a gaming group in which we alternate DMs - I run one week, the other DM runs the next week, and so on.
In my game, two of the players are playing Magi (including the other DM), and in his game, I am playing a Magus. I reminded both players during the last game that they are allowed to use Spell Combat and Spellstrike in concert with each other, essentially getting a weapon attack with a channeled spell, and an offhand spell attack, each round, if they don't mind the quick spell burn. Turns out, they had both been interpreting the rules as if they could only do one or the other in any given round, not both. So the other DM is thinking about house-ruling that the magus cannot use Spell Combat and Spellstrike in the same round.
First, I want to make sure I am interpreting the RAW correctly. My interpretation is that a magus of at least 2nd level can make two attacks in each round, providing that he is in Full Attack mode, one of which is a Spellstrike (weapon damage, plus spell effect), and one of which is Spell Combat (spell effect only, must have one hand free).
The other DM believes that this is unbalancing, so I need some arguments to show how it is not. I already pointed out that most of the spells will require defensive casting or a spell-burn like Warding Weapon, each attack suffers the same -2 penalty, and that the magus burns through spells much more quickly than a traditional spell caster, thus the concerted use of both abilities is not well-advised in situations where the party is likely to have several encounters in a day, such as a dungeon crawl. Does anyone have any other good arguments for why Spellstrike and Spell Combat in concert is not an unbalancing feature?
You can make one normal attack per turn and cast one spell. If the spell you cast is a touch spell you can choose if you want to deliver it with a touch attack OR you can choose to deliver it as a weapon attack vs normal AC.
You can not cast two spells unless one of them is a swift action.
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You can make one normal attack per turn and cast one spell. If the spell you cast is a touch spell you can choose if you want to deliver it with a touch attack OR you can choose to deliver it as a weapon attack vs normal AC.
You can not cast two spells unless one of them is a swift action.
That's where the RAW is vague. As it is written, "If the magus makes this attack (Spellstrike) in concert with Spell Combat ...", which seems to imply that the entire spellstrike (not just a held spell in subsequent rounds after the casting) can be used in concert with spell combat. It may be that it is just poorly worded, but the way it is explicitly written, it would seem to allow for two spells in the same round.
Had the intention been to only allow one spell, and that it could be delivered either via an offhand attack or a weapon attack, it would have been much better served to simply make that part of the spell combat feature, with a caveat that "at 2nd level or higher, the magus can choose to deliver this spell through his weapon at his highest BAB, instead of an offhand attack." That would have been much simpler and much more precise. The fact that they dedicated an entire new class feature to it suggests that there was more to their intent than just a fancy new Two-Weapon Fighting style in which one weapon is a spell.
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I think I'm starting to see that interpretation now. Still only one spell, but it gives you the option of taking an additional weapon strike instead of a touch attack. Still would have come across much more clear and concise if they had simply added that in as a caveat for the spell combat feature rather than creating a whole new class feature for it. Looking back on it, that has got to be one of the worst, most vague class feature descriptions I've yet come across. That is in dire need of rewording.
other than saying that the class whas always meant to be played this way and that was extensivly playtested and found not umbalanced? not really much...
Spellstrike doesn't give you an extra spell. It gives you an extra attack. If you use normal spell combat, you get a weapon attack, a spell, and the touch attack given by the spell. If you use spell combat + spellstrike, you get a weapon attack, a spell, and the weapon attack given by spellstrike (instead of the touch attack).
Level two magus:
turn summary,
Swift action.... arcane pool use to give weapon a +1/+1,
anounce spell combate and spell strike,
Roll concentration check to make sure spell is castable(assuming yes),
Roll (with -2)for free weapon strike granted by spell strike for the spell granted by spell combate (weapon damage pulse spell damage if hits)(assuming a hit),
Roll for BaB granted attack (with-2).
thats how a good round goes.
Now if he missis the concentration check he gets only the bab granted attack but still at a -2.
If he gets the concentration check and misses with the granted melee attack he can use his bab granted attack to try again but still at a -2.
If he misses both attacks he still has the spell in his hand.
He has two choices next round.
One he can use a standard action to deliver the touch attack.
Two he can use just the bab granted attack to try and deliver the spell but without the -2; unless he states that he is going to use spell combate after the bab granted attack at witch time you have him roll a new concentration check (and loss the held spell if he missed) granting him a new attack for a new touch spell if the spell is a touch spell.
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There was a recent thread that discussed the use of the Arcane Mark cantrip with Spell Combat and Spellstrike. This allows Magi an extra attack each round, even though the attacks are at -2. There are other options that garner the Magus a cantrip that is actually useful in battle, but the Arcane Mark works as it is written. The benfit to using a cantrip is, obviously, that it is never depleted, granting an extra melee attack anytime the Magus makes a full attack and accepts the penalty.
As to the OP, the Spellstrike feature grants a free melee weapon attack that delivers a touch spell. This melee attack is in addition to any other attacks that the Magus may have when making a full attack. If a touch spell is being held at the start of a round, the Magus does not gain an extra attack to deliver it. So a Magus who casts Shocking Grasp in round 1 but misses with the attack to deliver the spell, still has that same Shocking Grasp on Round 2. The Magus gets his normal attacks only on round 2, and if successful may deliver the Shocking Grasp then. If the Magus misses again on round 2, the Shocking Grasp can be carried over from round to round until it is discharged by a successful melee attack or the Magus chooses to cast another spell, which then dissapates the held Shocking Grasp. After the Shocking Grasp has been successfully discharged, the Magus may use Spell Combat to cast another spell and Spellstrike to deliver it if it was a touch spell. This can be done even in the same round that the Shocking Grasp was finally discharged as long as all attacks during the round accepted the -2 penalty for two weapon fighting.
Neither feature allows a Magus to cast two spells in one round, though one spell may be cast and one that was cast earlier may be discharged in one round.
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Spell strike and spell combat can be used in concert. you can still only cast 1 spell a round.
At 2nd level, whenever a magus casts a spell with a range of “touch” from the magus spell list, he can deliver the spell through any weapon he is wielding as part of a melee attack. Instead of the free melee touch attack normally allowed to deliver the spell, a magus can make one free melee attack with his weapon (at his highest base attack bonus) as part of casting this spell. If successful, this melee attack deals its normal damage as well as the effects of the spell. If the magus makes this attack in concert with spell combat, this melee attack takes all the penalties accrued by spell combat melee attacks.
At 1st level, a magus learns to cast spells and wield his weapons at the same time. This functions much like two-weapon fighting, but the off-hand weapon is a spell that is being cast. To use this ability, the magus must have one hand free (even if the spell being cast does not have somatic components), while wielding a light or one-handed melee weapon in the other hand. As a full-round action, he can make all of his attacks with his melee weapon at a –2 penalty and can also cast any spell from the magus spell list with a casting time of 1 standard action (any attack roll made as part of this spell also takes this penalty). If he casts this spell defensively, he can decide to take an additional penalty on his attack rolls, up to his Intelligence bonus, and add the same amount as a circumstance bonus on his concentration check. If the check fails, the spell is wasted, but the attacks still take the penalty. A magus can choose to cast the spell first or make the weapon attacks first, but if he has more than one attack, he cannot cast the spell between weapon attacks.
Untill you get a BAB of 6 or better its
cast+free attack (melee touch or regular melee at-2), Regular Melee attack at -2