why does EVERY build have to have an 18 at the cost of a 5 cha? yea i wouldnt allow that point spread as a GM , too min max
you'll want the craft staff feat and the wand wielder arcana, for sure. you may wanna stick to the caster role until you get to 7th (quarterstaff defense) though, for your own safety.
hexcrafter is compatible with it as well.
or works very nicely as a trip build with the maneuver mastery arcana and the tripping staff feat (it's got a lot of prereqs though).
you might also want to keep an efficient quiver on you--it can hold tons of wands (60), rods/scroll cases (18), and staves (6).
the warding weapon spell may be of interest to you as well (you'll wanna keep a basic boring quarterstaff in hand at the start of combat to uee with it, then move-draw your real staff).
you can potentially have three staves readily available with it: one in main hand wielded one-handed via quarterstaff master feat, one in off-hand via the same and useable for casting via the wand wielder arcana, and one floating nearby via warding weapon (an unseen servant can pick it up when the spell ends, etc.)
purely aesthetic, mind you, but I always liked mystogun/mistgun/etc.
The -2 Cha hurts a bit, since it keeps you from easily qualifying for Eldritch Heritage (Arcane bloodline) to pick up Arcane Bond with your staff (allowing you to use the Craft Magical Arms and Armor and Craft Staff feats with your bonded item, as well as being able to cast one spell from you spellbook without preparing it).
That said, Craft Staff is pretty much a must have for a staff magus. Being able to upgrade the caster level of your staff as you go up in levels is critical to gaining the maximum benefit from Quarterstaff Defense and Staff Weapon. You will also want the Wand Wielder arcana to "activate a wand or staff in place of casting a spell when using spell combat." A staff magus is less about spiking damage from criticals and more about lasting longer in combat (Quarterstaff Defense) while generating more consistent damage (mixing staff charges and prepared spells with Spell Combat/Spellstrike).
Is it worth spending a standard action (and preparing that spell in one of my spell slots for the day) just to avoid having to make a concentration check?
That quiver does sound like it would be a pretty awesome item to have. I was talking with my GM earlier today about how swapping between staves in combat would have to work if I wanted to sheathe and draw in the same round and still get some sort of standard action off.
well quicken is possible, but probably not be worth it without a quicken metamagic rod or something (which is better used for other spells, honestly).
you'd want quickdraw for sure for something like what you're talking about, and maybe keep an unseen servant spell with orders to put dropped items of yours back into your quiver for later quickdrawing.
Sorry to revive a dead thread, but a friend and I were discussing Magus archetypes - specifically the Bladebound and the Staff Magus - and he raised a good question: when a Magus uses arcane points to enhance his weapon as a Staff Magus, does normal expenditure of points enhance both ends of the staff (double weapon) or does he have to spend twice as many to achieve that end? I've been searching the forums for some insight on this but it doesn't seem to have come up. Anyone out there dealt with this before? Any (on topic, constructive) thoughts or comments would be welcome.
I would think just the one end. The staff magus can only attack with one end while using the staff one-handed. To attack with both ends (using it as a double weapon) would require two hands and thus you couldn't use spell combat. You could enchant both ends, like you said, paying double and taking two actions and two weapon fight when you weren't using spell combat.
I would think just the one end. The staff magus can only attack with one end while using the staff one-handed. To attack with both ends (using it as a double weapon) would require two hands and thus you couldn't use spell combat. You could enchant both ends, like you said, paying double and taking two actions and two weapon fight when you weren't using spell combat.
Thanks for your input, Dungrun - that was one side of the argument, but it's nice to know I'm not the only one taking that view.
I would think just the one end. The staff magus can only attack with one end while using the staff one-handed. To attack with both ends (using it as a double weapon) would require two hands and thus you couldn't use spell combat. You could enchant both ends, like you said, paying double and taking two actions and two weapon fight when you weren't using spell combat.
True. It's why the Staff Magus gets Quarterstaff Master for free. However, you can still wield it as two hands to get that nice 1.5x damage bonus, which, when combined with Weapon Specialization (you qualify for free), can get you some hefty static damage.
I have been thinking about transitioning my Magus into a Staff user...it's an argument between having the crit possibilities or just having straight damage...