The arcane pool point enhancements and regular magic enhancements stack, but only to the normal limit of +5 enhancement and +5 weapon properties. So, no, it doesn't let you ignore the +10 (or rather +5/+5) limit.
I noticed your comment on the DR thread, and it raised another magus magic weapon question of my own. My group has a magus in it and we're 10th level. It's pretty standard to find/own either a +2 or +3 magic weapon, and the magus can already add a +3 enhancement bonus from his arcane pool. I'm assuming this means that if my party's magus increases his +2 weapon to +5 using his arcane pool, that he will be able to overcome most types of DR at our level. This is pretty cool, but I also have issues with it. This means he can out-fight our fighter using his magical means even more that I thought was possible, even if it is limited to how many times a day he can do this. At least he can't out-magic my wizard...
The gear dependency of fighters is well known, no need to dwell on it. It's basically an incentive for a fighter to get the strongest enhancement bonus he can, or to grab a Pearl of Power and bum a Greater Magic Weapon off one of the casters.
But yes, the early access to magical enhancement IS a source of power. Yes, he can bypass DR with it. However, you have to look at it in the context of a fighter's weapon training. Is the effect he's going to get going to surpass the power of a fighter's weapon training, esp given the fighter's BAB is better?
The answer is probably not. It might equal it, certainly.
Furthermore, the bonus gets less and less impressive at high levels, until it simply becomes an alternate set of abilities for your sword...better then a fighter being locked into one weapon, but still maxing out at +10.
==Aelryinth
I wasn't dwelling on the fighter's gear dependency. Everyone is dependent on gear. And I know that there are things about the fighter and magus that balance them out at certain levels. My point was that in the "here and now" of my campaign, the magus is looking pretty nice compared to our fighter. He can hit and damage foes just as well, and can even do his all-out attack (a.k.a. intensified shocking grasp) when in a pinch. He even crits more often. I'm sure its just our current party makeup and how we built our characters that is making things seem so out of whack, though. The magus player is an optimizer, and the rest of us build for character flavor. This just makes it even more obvious to me.
As I mentioned earlier, no one in my group has brought up this issue since we're pretty sure our GM will do exactly that. We're just beating him to the punch by ignoring it all together and having the proper weapons/spells with the proper DR.
If the optimized magus outshines the non-optimised fighter it is most likely not the classes fault.
I recommend against nerfing the magus. The class is well balanced. If at all buff the fighter.
You know being able to save wealth with a class ability is hardly a Magus only thing. Sure when it is with ones weapon its obvious. But lets take fly for instance. Any class able to fly without an item is saving money compared to the classes that need a fly item.
As for house ruling enhancements overcoming DR... That is a bit short sited and is going to hurt the fighter too.
Enhancements overcoming some DR was done for a reason. So that the classes that are already the most gear dependent do not have to waste there already strapped budget on back up weapons or weapon oils.
This was part of trying to bring melee and casters closer. Since casters don't have to worry about being wrecked by DR. Yes there is SR and resistances. But they are given ways around that built in (spells of a different element and spells that are not effected by SR.) Melees on the other hand just had to throw more money at the problem.
The Magus need all the help he can - even optimized the classes isn't overpowered like say a syntesist...
Since the magus can deal the same kind of damage as the fighter (w/o using a spell) making him overcome DR isn't a bad thing.
You know being able to save wealth with a class ability is hardly a Magus only thing. Sure when it is with ones weapon its obvious. But lets take fly for instance. Any class able to fly without an item is saving money compared to the classes that need a fly item.
Speaking of free flight, my party's magus is also a hexcrafter with the flight hex. But I'm a 10th level air wizard, and the alchemist morphs into a weird elf-like creature with wings. Sure, saving wealth with class abilities isn't magus-specific, but it sure seems like they can do it better that the rest.
I think this thread officially derailed. =)
@ Submit2me - An optimized Magus will almost always out-fight a Fighter AND out-cast a Wizard unless the Fighter and Wizard are both optimized in very specific ways (Two-Handed Fighters with x4 weapons get pretty stupid, and Battering-Blast is very breakable). Black Blade stacks with basically every other ACF, so a Kensai Black Blade with Dervish Dance and the right combination of feats will be a pretty solid character. High AC, high attack, lots of damage, overcoming all but DR/-.
Then again, with the right feats and gear, you can break just about any class. My current character in a silly overpowered campaign we are running (The DM doesn't care how broken our characters are. He just compensates by making much stronger enemies.)is a Gunslinger/Divine Hunter and against anything I can smite I put out the highest damage in the party bar-none, and near the highest damage without smite.
Back on topic - There is literally no way to have a non-artifact weapon go above +5/+5, through any means whatsoever. Basically, if you have an ability that lets you improve your weapons enhancement bonus or add properties, it's simply a means of saving money and not having to buy a +5/+5 weapon when you can get away with much less.
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I'm not seeing anything in the magus that effectively limits it to t a+5/+5 like you're talking about. Certainly for the enchancement bonus it can't exceed +5, but for adding effects, it certainly looks like you could make a +5 vorporal flaming frosting keen blade of doom. (not an actual example, just a made up one)
I'm not seeing anything in the magus that effectively limits it to t a+5/+5 like you're talking about.
Magic Weapons: "A single weapon cannot have a modified bonus (enhancement bonus plus special ability bonus equivalents, including those from character abilities and spells) higher than +10."