So, I'm new to Pathfinder (and tabletop games in general, though I have passing familiarity with the D20 system from various CRPGs) and will be playing the Rise of the Runelords AP with a Magus. I'm basically just looking for some basic feedback on my build. I've looked at Walter's guide to get a decent idea, but it can be a tad overwhelming for a newer player to take in all at once.
It's pretty standard, I guess, but here's the 1-20 build, since our DM said we'll probably be 20 before the end of the campaign. The other party members are a THF Paladin, some kind of Oracle, and an unknown fourth.
CG Tiefling Magus w/ Prehensile Tail (20 point buy)
STR 10
DEX 18 (+1 at 8, 12, 16, 20)
CON 14
INT 17 (+1 at 4)
WIS 8
CHA 8
Traits:
Reactionary/Outlander (Exile), Magical Lineage (Shocking Grasp)
Feats:
1 Weapon Finesse
3 Dancing Dervish
5 Intensified Spell
5b Weapon Focus (Scimitar)
7 Improved Familiar
9 Lunge
11 Extra Arcana (Spell Blending: Heroism, Resist Energy, Communal)
11b Empower Spell
13 Quicken Spell
15 Spell Perfection (Shocking Grasp)
17 ?
17b ?
19 ?
Magus Arcana:
3 Arcane Accuracy
6 Familiar (Greensting Scorpion)
9 Accurate Strike
12 Maximized Magic
15 ?
18 ?
Obviously, the focus is around casting Shocking Grasp on all of the things as much as possible. I'm pretty uncertain of pretty much everything other than building around Dancing Dervish, so I'd greatly appreciate any feedback anyone can give me.
Unless I'm overlooking some obvious mistake, you've done a fine job with this build. Don't worry too much about those later levels -- they're a long way off and the build chasis is solid.
I'm not crazy about Maximized Magic but there's nothing wrong with it either. Keep in mind that with Improved Familiar you'll lose the +4 to Initiative you were getting with the scorpion. Of course, with high Dex. and Outlander/Reactionary you might not care. The Improved Familiars are, depending on which you pick up, obviously worth it, but it's something to keep in mind.
Consider rearranging points to avoid the hit to your Will save if you like, although other people may well feel that's an acceptable risk.
Overall a solid build though.
I went with Maximized Magic mostly due to lack of other, more attractive options, honestly. The 1/per day isn't great, but I think the ability to really put a hurting on high priority targets when needed could be a useful utility.
Improved Familiar is honestly the choice I'm struggling most with. I definitely like the flavor of the scorpion familiar, but Faerie Dragon just looks too obscenely powerful to ignore. A flying, invisible scout that can stagger and sicken targets while carrying a wand seems like it would be better than +4 initiative.
Should I drop the point in INT for +2 WIS? I was trying to pump INT high enough to easily get a bonus 6th level spell (and also more Arcane Pool), but I guess a +6 INT item would be pretty easy to acquire at 16. I'd read that having decent will saves is important in RotRL, so it seems like a fair trade.
I was wondering if Spell Penetration would be worth fitting in somewhere, since so much of my damage will be coming from elemental spells. I'd probably have to drop Imp. Familiar to get it, which isn't a huge problem.
EDIT: Oh, and I was wondering if my Arcana choices were weak overall. Having two +hit arcana seems redundant, though Accurate Strike seems incredibly useful for high AC targets, while Arcane Accuracy seems to wane in power around then, which makes me wonder if picking up Arcane Strike is worthwhile. I'd prefer to save my Arcane Pool for buffing my weapon and recalling spells, so assuming I do that and use my swifts for Arcane Strike, what would be a suitable Arcana replacement for Arcane Accuracy?
Spell Penetration is always a nice choice. Elemental Spell is pretty great too -- especially for the Shocking Grasp-based magus. Immune to electricity? Not a problem!
Although with spell recall you can just memorize a bunch of fire/ice/force spells and convert them to Shocking Grasps. Not quite as great as Elemental Spell, but if you're looking to save feats it's probably not worth it.
Improved Familiars can be really great -- it's up to you whether or not it's worth it though. Some of that depends on the size of your group, whether you want to mess with Use Magic Device etc. They can be a lot of fun though. (The imp is also nice!)
Honestly, I'm not entirely sure whether dropping Dex. might be better than dropping Int. Those pool points are handy! We almost always roll for stats in my group. Maybe somebody better than I am with point buy will chime in.
High stats are great, but personally I get the heebbie jeebies anytime I see negative will save modifiers.
Then again, maybe I'm crazy due to years of torment at the hands of malicious and diabolical DMs!
I'd say your Arcana choices are just fine -- you basically can't go wrong grabbing all the blue ones you can from the guide!
Build looks solid, do you have a specific plan with improved familiar? For a magus most of the time you want to be the one who delivers your touch spells, so unless you plan on using it for the skills it has I would recommend dropping the familiar (or at least taking improved familiar) and I also noticed that you have yet to take Spell Specialization which is gold for you at lower levels as it allows you to cast a particular spell (namely your Shocking Grasp) at +2 CL (meaning you get 2 extra damage dice that much sooner). Other than that your build is stellar.
Some good advice here. A trait to raise your will save might be an excellent bet. I'm personally a big fan of Arcane Accuracy, but Master Marshmallow has a good point -- it does get expensive. Remember, you don't HAVE to use it all the time. Alternatively, for a dervish dancer, a wand of cat's grace can, at low levels, be just as good if not better.
Also, Iron Will might not be as sexy as Improved Familiar, but it's far more likely to save you from the headache of rolling up a new PC ;)
Thanks for the advice, guys.
Do not forget to use spell recall, it's highly useful as a magus.
I like the build btw, I have a Tiefling Magus myself, though eventually after lvl 7 she converted into a Eldritch Knight... And soon as my BAB hit 9, I grabbed Critical Focus as another feat.
i wouldnt feel to comfortable with 8 wisdom not only doese it lower perception it also decreaes wil saves indeed. however taking a 7 in CHA isnt all that bad think about it.
here is my Human Bladebound magus its a STR build just to compare.
there are yet a few holes to be filled in though
Male Human Blade bound magus 5
CG Medium Humanoid (human)
Init +1; Senses Perception +5
Defense
AC 18, touch 11, flat-footed 17 (+1 Dex)
hp 44 (5d10+10+5)
Fort +6, Ref +2, Will +4
Offense
Speed 30 ft.
Attacks: scimitar +11/ 1d6+9(18-20 x2)
spell combat with spellstrike: Shocking grasp +9/+9 5d6+1d6+5 (18-20/x2)/1d6+5(18-20/x2)
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Statistics (+2 to two ability scores Alt racial dual talented 20 point buy)
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Str 20, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 18, Wis 10, Cha 7
Base Atk +3; CMB +8; CMD 19
Feats weapon Focus Scimitar, extra arcane pool, combat casting, intensified spell
Traits Family Ties(campaign), Magical Lineage
Languages: Common Giant Orc Infernal Sylvan
Equipment:
• +1 chain shirt (1250g)
• +2 scimitar Black blade
• Belt of giant Str +2 (4000g)
• 3 pearls of power (3000g)
• 6 potions of cure light wounds (300g)
• 1 potions of cure moderate wounds (300g)
• Explorer gear worth (75g)
• Wand of vanish (750g)
• Wand of shield (750g)
10425 of 10500
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spells known:
LVL1: Color Spray, Enlarge person, frostbite, grease, obscuring mist, reduce person, shield, Shocking grasp, true strike, unerring weapon, Vanish
LVL2: Bear’s endurance, frigid touch, Mirror image, web
Spells prepared:
lvl0: Detect magic, Ghost sound, Arcane mark , Read magic
lvl1: Shocking grasp X3, True strike, Vanish,
lvl2: Bear's endurance, Frigid touch, Mirror image
1. Extra arcane pool
2. .
3. Combat casting
4. .
5. Weapon focus Scimitar and intensified spell
6. Wand wielder or arcane accuracy
7. Craft wand or extra arcane pool
8. .
9. .elemental spell, accurate strike
10. .
11. quicken spell, extra arcana ghost blade
12. .critical strike
13. .critical focus
14. .
15. .spell perfection: ”shocking grasp”, maximize magic
16. .
17. .Bleeding critical, power attack
18. .
19. .
20. .
This is meant as entirely un-insulting advice, I'm only posting it because you said you're new to tabletop games:
You have an excellent build, however I'd suggest you look into what the other players are playing and make sure that you're on roughly the same power level, possibly scaling back your character a bit if necessary.
Walter's magus builds are on the high end of the optimizing curve and if your fellow players aren't as char-gen savvy as you are you can dominate the party a bit. That can cause some resentment.
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My point of view:
- a negative wisdom is bad. You are already suffering there as perception isn't one of your class skill, lowering it even further can generate problems. As you have good will saves the malus to the will saves can be accepted, even if it is not something I will like;
- from what I have heard ROTL has some long fight/multiple fight in a row. If you routinely use spell recall your Arcane point will end very fast. Invest in some pearl of power.
- about the above point, arcane strike cost 2 arcane points and last until the end of the turn. Pretty costly to use.
- at level 10 you can take weapon specialization 8you count as a 5th level fighter). 2 extra hp of damage that don't cost anything and are multiplied on a critical.
- what will be the 4th character can change the situation a lot. If you are the only arcane caster you will be the only provider of spells like haste, unless the oracle learn Blessing of fervor. Try to coordinate a bit with the oracle, so that he get a few buff spells.
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You'll want to pick up weapon specialization.
What are your options vs demons (or anything else immune to electric damage)?
With low wisdom and charisma your going to spend a lot of time standing around feeling useless unless your campaign is pure hack & slash.
Remember: haste does not stack with spell combat unless your DM is house ruling it.
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Hexcrafter is fantastic.
So is bladebound - but a little better at lower levels where you can't start with a +10 weapon and then be adding more abilities. Unless of course you're of the opinion you can't add vorpal to a +5 +5 equivalent___enchantments weapon for a +15 equivalent. Then it's even better.
One way to be valuable to the party is craft wonderous items/craft magic arms and armor.
The prehensile tail is really good for metamagic rods - perhaps you should consider freeing up 4+ feats for spell perfection?
You can't enchant a weapon above +10, even with temporary effects.
Here are some Arcana I really like:
Bane Blade (15) - Assuming you can ID the foe you're facing, this is a pretty cheap +2 to hit and +2d6 damage bonus.
Devoted Blade (12) - In a typical good PCs vs. evil game, holy is a very strong enhancement.
Enduring Blade (6) - If you expect to have multiple fights in a short span of time, this is a pretty HUGE duration increase, from 1 min. to min/level! Great if using Bane/Devoted Blade to get more bang for your arcana buck out of them.
Familiar - Familiars are always very nice to have.
Quickened Magic (15) - I don't really like 1/day metamagic effects, but Quicken is so good this is probably worth it.
Wand Mastery and Wand Wieler - Take both, or take neither. Can be nice, both to extend your limited spells/day at low levels and later on, to spell combat w/ spells not on your list, like Calcific Touch.
Hasted Assault and Lingering Pain are also decent.
For spells, be sure to pick up Bladed Dash (3rd level) if you can. It will let you move + full attack + attack, and the movement oes not provoke. Great either as pounce-but-better or as a way to slash someone up and then withdraw away so he can't return the favor.
Best Magus spells are Bladed Dash, Frigid Touch, and Shocking Grasp, I think.
EDIT: You're taking Critical Focus at 13, and then no critical feats till 17. Critical Focus is a horrible feat, the whole point of taking it is to then take the critical feat you actually want. I'd hold off on it until a point where you can take a critical feat soon afterwards, or (better yet) never take it at all.
With low wisdom and charisma your going to spend a lot of time standing around feeling useless unless your campaign is pure hack & slash.
I should note that even with a low cha/wisdom you can make up for the low scores by dropping skillpoints and traits into it. They aren't a lost cause and being intellect based can give you a good abundance of skill points to work with. Add in competence and circumstance bonus and you can shore up a bad ability modifier pretty well. I actually kind of enjoy shocking groups with a low charisma character with a high bluff or diplomacy, or who has a decent climb and acrobatics with low strength. Its also great role play to show that your character knows his flaws, or has taken up a profession or position that requires it such as adventuring or business ownership.
With low wisdom and charisma your going to spend a lot of time standing around feeling useless unless your campaign is pure hack & slash.I should note that even with a low cha/wisdom you can make up for the low scores by dropping skillpoints and traits into it. They aren't a lost cause and being intellect based can give you a good abundance of skill points to work with. Add in competence and circumstance bonus and you can shore up a bad ability modifier pretty well. I actually kind of enjoy shocking groups with a low charisma character with a high bluff or diplomacy, or who has a decent climb and acrobatics with low strength. Its also great role play to show that your character knows his flaws, or has taken up a profession or position that requires it such as adventuring or business ownership.
Or you know, bases his skill set on INT based skills.
Memorize dat pokedex!!!!
Well, when I met with the DM to finalize everything, for stats he decided to go with 4d6, drop lowest, and reroll if its 10 or less, so I ended up with the following stats, after racials:
STR 11
DEX 19 (+1 at 4, 8, 12)
CON 12
INT 16 (+1 at 16, 20)
WIS 12
CHA 9
I've decided to focus on using Arcane Pool for enhancing my weapon and recalling spells, so with that in mind, I changed my feats and arcana accordingly:
1 Weapon Finesse
3 Dervish Dance
5 Arcane Strike
5b Weapon Focus (Scimitar)
7 Intensified Spell
9 Lunge
11 Extra Arcane Pool
11b Empower Spell
13 Quicken Spell
15 Spell Perfection (Shocking Grasp)
17 Spell Penetration
17b Combat Reflexes
19 Greater Spell Penetration
3 Familiar
6 Lingering Pain
9 Spell Blending (Touch of Idiocy, Resist Energy)
12 Maximized Magic
15 Quickened Magic
18 Ghost Blade
There's probably better feats than spell penetration that late, but I figured that even before that point, SR would be somewhat common, so overcoming it would be nice.
As for spells, I was going to take the common buffs, touch attacks, utilities, with Bladed Dash and Force Hook Charge for mobility. When dealing with electrical immune opponents, I'd mostly focus on using debilitating touch attacks, and generally helping out the other party members with spells.
If I start taking 1/4 Arcane Pool at 8 for my favored class bonus instead of health, by 11th level I'd have 13 Arcane Pool (5 from stats, 5 from levels, 2 from feats, 1 from favored class), which gives me plenty for enhancing my weapons and recalling Intensified Empowered Shocking Grasps.
I think I'm generally pretty happy with my new build, but I just wanted to run in past the braintrust one more time. Thanks again for the feedback and help, everyone.
EDIT: Oh, equipment question. Besides Pearls of Powers, and stat/armor/save boosters, what should I look at picking up? I was thinking of spell storing on my weapon and boots of speed.
You really can't go wrong with a Magus.
This outlook above looks ballin' out of control.
belt of incredible dex headband of vast int