Talk to your GM about the class. Find out how he interprets Magus to work on those multiple interpretation points.
I've been playing a hexcrafter magus through 12th level in Curse of the Crimson Throne, and am having a blast.
I didn't go with the metamagic traits most people recommend, instead I went with +2 concentration and took combat casting. I don't need to make concentration checks to cast during spell combat (I'd need to roll a -2 or so atm to fail)
There have been some issues with things I pulled out in combat, like getting +int for arcane accuracy and using spellcombat to cast bladed dash, granting another +int of a different type to the first attack I made on the opponent I was moving to flank, and could then finish my spell combat full attack against.
honestly, spellstrike is the class feature I use the least, though that is more due to our party composition and lack of a controller wizard influencing my spell selection.
What's confusing?
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I don't really understand what's confusing. What happens in Magus threads is generally that a group of people terrified by the potential burst damage of critting on an intensified shocking grasp 30% of the time overreact to everything, and fight every single thing, assuming Magi "can't really be that strong" (for example, they wrongly claim you can't get a bonus attack with Arcane Mark, or that you can't Spellstrike with Frostbite/Chill Touch on all your iterative attacks, or that you only get extended crit on spells on the first attack or dozens of other absurd things), even though Magi are just about middle of the road on the power scale.
Here's the way it works:
1) Spellcombat lets you take a full round action to cast a spell and make all your normal attacks. This can be any spell at all.
2) Spellstrike lets you deliver touch spells with a weapon instead of a touch, and that means the free touch you get as part of casting a spell gets you a bonus attack with your weapon.
That means at level 2, you can make one weapon attack (at -2) and cast a touch spell which gives you a second melee attack to deliver said spell (also at -2). And, no, having two one-handed weapon attacks and delivering spell in one turn at level 2 is not overpowered.
That's pretty much the gist of what Magus does.
I am playing a Magus in the Shackles, love it, no complications from us, we are pretty firm on RAW interpretations unless it's just obscure as hell... Also, have no problems making it effective, useful and fun... but then again I can have fun with virtually any class as well as make them contributors to the party.
In my opinion there are two schools of thought on almost every class and rule setup.
1. What is used in actual play with real gamers. Be they Powergamers, munchkins, E6 style, old school, or just average. The rules work fine for everyone in those groups. Where you have issues is when a munchkin joins an E6 group or a heavy RP character is in a combat heavy group. All the players at a table should have a similar play style within reason and then the rules and the game work wonderfully. The issues in game play at the table come from the players themselves more often than not.
2. The Internet. When you get into theorycrafting, rules lawyering, or experimental builds you can have problems. Don't get me wrong... as a point of discussion or mental exercise this can be great. But this is also where most major issues that are not player driven come up on the forums and it is usually not real for actual table play in my experience of about 30 years.
So, in actual table play the Magus is great and not any harder to use then a monk, archer built, or other two weapon fighter. But on the internet there is a lot of wiggle room to mess with when you have a class that is built around combat, spells, and swift actions.
Magus is the most elegant Gish class I've ever seen in 3.X, so I think it gets a lot of flak because it upsets a lot of player's preconceived notions about martial/caster disparity.
That said, it works so well because it's features lend towards cookie cutter optimization(Dervish Magi w/ Magical Lineage for example). That bugs some people too.
That said, it's not particularly over powered, it's not even that amazing. If PF had tiers, it'd be a tier 3 class imo.
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Bad rolls will kill any class. There's a guy in our party who is notorious for it, and no matter what he plays, he has nights where he can't hit the broad side of a barn...more than any of the rest of us.
The magus does lag a bit at levels 1-3, especially if you eschew using Arcane Mark (as I did). It takes him a couple levels to get all his base abilities in place.
But even at those low levels my AC was decent and I could Color Spray a few foes in an encounter to contribute. Just not as well as I eventually will be able to.
Like you, I'm new to PF and chose magus as my first character. Coming from a long 3.5 background (last campaign lasted 2 years real time, 1-20) wherein I played the most complicated character in our group (paladin with a cleric cohort, so nearly a full spellcaster, a 4-level spellcaster, plus he was a mounted lance jockey.)
I've always been drawn to fighter-mages, so magus just seemed perfect for me, and at level 4 I have been enjoying the experience. I'm definitely looking forward to mid- to high-levels, where I'll likely match or exceed the party monk in mobility, be able to drop an insane nova now and again, and still have a few fun toys like Black Tentacles and Intensified Fireball to toss around as well.
There are definitely new mechanics I've never encountered before, but once you've gotten a handle on them they become intuitive. It's merely the unfamiliarity that can trip you up at first.
Take spellstrike, for instance. It was only recently that I learned I could use it to make a single attack in a round and move. For some reason I'd only been thinking of it as combined with Spell Combat. But you can use it to deliver a pretty mean single attack. So even if you aren't getting your full round nova routine, you're still not doing too badly.
And of course there's the resource management part of the class. That's actually one of the things that attracted me to the class. I like tactical decision-making. It makes the game more challenging and fun for me. Deciding when to nova, how many Shield and Mirror Images to pack in a single day, how many arcane pool points you can afford to spend on Arcane Accuracy in a single encounter...there's definite complication there.
But once you start getting a handle on what your magus can do and how much in resources any given strategy costs, you can basically tailor your abilities to nearly any scenario.
Lots of mooks with no apparent "main threat"? Shift into your Monstrous Physique, pop a Frostbite and get to work.
No mooks and one big nasty? Mirror Image, and double intensified shocking grasps until cooked.
Flying foes? No problem.
Trapped behind a Wall of Force? Not an issue.
Forced into ranged combat? Swap your arcane pool enhancement from your melee weapon to your ranged weapon, instant +5 longbow (or gun in my case), go!
I love the magus. I love the plethora of options. I feel like I have even more options than a straight wizard, even if the wizard has more ways to handle certain tasks (like crowd control) I have more tasks I can accomplish in combat at any given time.
At high-level I can even dabble in summoning if I so choose.
Here's a question, albeit a kind of silly one. If Mage is singular for Magi, what is the plural of Magus?
Magus' plural is Magi.
Mage's plural is Mages.
Well, I'm quite fond of the magus, though mainly for flavor reasons. I do find the "arcane mark" overuse a bit cheesy, but I love being able to wack something in the face with a sword and magic. My DM likes to be descriptive, so when I critted on the final boss of a session with a frigid touch spellstrike, he said I cut the cyclops in 2 while freezing his body, so no blood was spilled.
In any case, this class can be as complicated as you want it. You knwo what I do? Arcane point to boost the sword, rush to the biggest guy, then spellstrike with spell combat. Occasionally I give other enchants to my sword just for the heck of it. All in all, I'm basically just a magical bruiser.
BTW: 2 super useful (and Flavorful) traits are pragmatic activator (let's you use int for Use Magic Device) and Student of philosophy (Let's you use int for diplomacy & bluff checks to persuade people). They're both SUPER useful, and they fit well with the background of most int-based classes.
BTW: 2 super useful (and Flavorful) traits are pragmatic activator (let's you use int for Use Magic Device) and Student of philosophy (Let's you use int for diplomacy & bluff checks to persuade people). They're both SUPER useful, and they fit well with the background of most int-based classes.
Bear in mind you can only ever have one trait from any single category, though, so to pick up Pragmatic Activator you'd have to give up Magical Lineage.
BTW: 2 super useful (and Flavorful) traits are pragmatic activator (let's you use int for Use Magic Device) and Student of philosophy (Let's you use int for diplomacy & bluff checks to persuade people). They're both SUPER useful, and they fit well with the background of most int-based classes.Bear in mind you can only ever have one trait from any single category, though, so to pick up Pragmatic Activator you'd have to give up Magical Lineage.
True. But Magical lineage is always just a mechanical choice anyway, so I dont mind giving it up.
Here's the way it works:
1) Spellcombat lets you take a full round action to cast a spell and make all your normal attacks. This can be any spell at all.
2) Spellstrike lets you deliver touch spells with a weapon instead of a touch, and that means the free touch you get as part of casting a spell gets you a bonus attack with your weapon.
That means at level 2, you can make one weapon attack (at -2) and cast a touch spell which gives you a second melee attack to deliver said spell (also at -2). And, no, having two one-handed weapon attacks and delivering spell in one turn at level 2 is not overpowered.
You can cast the touch spell with your first attack - then if your first attack misses you can still deliver the spell if your second attack connects. (I think. I find the magus confusing.)
You can't use Haste to get an extra attack while using Spell Combat.
Wands don't count. If you take 'Wand Wielder' you can use a wand with spell combat, but not to get an extra attack with Spellstrike.
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Yes you can, just like if you're flurrying, or using two weapon fighting.
You can't use Haste to get an extra attack while using Spell Combat.
Spell combat is a full round action, not a full attack, and haste to give you a extra attack require specifically the use of a full attack action.
See FAQ:
Magus: Does spell combat count as making a full attack action for the purpose of haste and other effects?
No. Spell combat is its own kind of full-round action, and is not a full attack action.
—Pathfinder Design Team, 04/05/13
You can cast the touch spell with your first attack - then if your first attack misses you can still deliver the spell if your second attack connects. (I think. I find the magus confusing.)
That's just the holding the charge rules. If you miss with a touch spell, you hold the charge and can deliver it with either an unarmed/natural attack or a subsequent touch attack. That's in the core rules of spell casters. I guess nobody really used offensive touch spells before Magus?
Anyway, since you can make your normal attacks and cast a spell in the same round, and you can deliver touch spells with a melee weapon via Spellstrike, of course you can deliver the held charge on subsequent attacks that same round.
You can't use Haste to get an extra attack while using Spell Combat.
Because Haste adds attacks to a full attack action, and Spell Combat is not a full attack action.
That said, I think 90% of GMs ignore that, because it's stupid ;)
Wands don't count. If you take 'Wand Wielder' you can use a wand with spell combat, but not to get an extra attack with Spellstrike.
Spellstrike requires you to cast the spell, not activate it through an item.
Yes, it should last for 5 successful attacks. Oddly, the debated aspect of this is not whether or not you can deliver the 5 touches with your weapon (you definitely can), but rather whether or not you can cast spells during that time.
Some, thanks to some comments made by James Jacobs, think that the spell does not involve "holding the charge," so it would not be dispelled upon casting.