Hey guys!
For a while I've wanted to build a two weapon wand fighter. Basically a fighter/Mage that fights with two wands in melee but blasts or heals with wands early on in combat.
Now I'm not the type who knows a ton of the obscure rules and feats and such, so I ask you guys, how would YOU build this character?
Edit: for stupid auto correct phone
That's a cool idea as well! What would the draw backs be to the build? I'm at work right now so I really can't dig for answers myself :)
The Monk of the Empty hands ability to Flurry with improvised weapons does not include activating wands. He could wield two sticks as weapons, and those weapons could just happen to wands. But he would be using them as sticks, not wands.
Activating a wand is a standard aciton, there is nothing I am aware of that lets you circumvent this.
Edit: If you goal is not to activate two wands in your turn ignore my comment, but that is the way I initially understood your goal.
The only thing I know of that fits this concept is the Wand Wielder magus arcana that lets you activate a wand with spell combat instead of casting a spell (so you activate the wand and attack in the same round).
You can have some fun with this arcana and the Weaponwand spell, which lets you insert a wand into a weapon, and each round you can choose to activate the wand or use the weapon. That would let you have two wands and two weapons on hand, and each round you choose what combination you want to use them in. (Note that even with this trick, you still can only cast one spell a turn.)
These are all grat ideas! Thanks so much guys. And the plan was only to be able to cast one spell at a time, say some buffs or fire ball or something. Then charge in behind the damage rag and start mixing it up in melee. After I deal with the threat if my friends are still in danger maybe a heal or another buff. Rinse, repeat.
Most my characters are based off a role playing idea. This will be the first time I make a character for combat. Just need a cool back story for him (or her) now.
One guy in our Skull and Shackles group has a wand wielding Magus with a rogue dip. He usually puts a wand of Truestrike in one weapon and a wand of Vanish in the other. His usually round goes Vanish->five foot step->Attack the now flatfooted enemy or Attack->Five foot step->Vanish (and now the enemy can't attack back).
The Truestrike is there when he's already flanking, if he needs to hit someone with concealment, or just really, really wants to hit this guy.
One guy in our Skull and Shackles group has a wand wielding Magus with a rogue dip. He usually puts a wand of Truestrike in one weapon and a wand of Vanish in the other. His usually round goes Vanish->five foot step->Attack the now flatfooted enemy or Attack->Five foot step->Vanish (and now the enemy can't attack back).
The Truestrike is there when he's already flanking, if he needs to hit someone with concealment, or just really, really wants to hit this guy.
Did you find that this build was effective? Can you post it for me so I can get a good look at it?
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Hey, that's me! ;-)
I'm still tweaking it, and just got to that particular point recently, but I can say that it was quite effective in our last scenario. (This is PFS, if it matters.)
Here is the current build:
Rogue 1 / Magus 4 (Spire defender, but that's for flavor and really doesn't affect this conversation)
Level 3 arcana: Wand Wielder
Level 3 feat: Shadow Strike
Level 5 feat: Extra Arcana: Familiar (Monkey)
Primary weapon: +1 Trident
Secondary weapons: Net, Hooked Axe
Skill points heavily invested in Acrobatics, Stealth, and Disable Device; future plans include increasing Climb.
My main tactic is to enter combat with the Vanish Wand and the Trident. The "Attack / Vanish" combo allows me to attack from invisibility (after round 1) then go invisible again. (Bonus: Activating a wand does not provoke AoO, so no concentration check required!)
If the target is hard to hit, or has a concealment effect, I swap Vanish for True Strike ("Monkey, take this wand from my hand so I can grab another!") For a mere 15gp a round, I ignore the miss chance, and with Shadow Strike still get my sneak attack (assuming I have a flanking buddy). I consider that money well spent to see the looks on their faces. It doesn't usually take that many hits. ;-)
If I know I'm heading into a difficult combat, I'll do the Weaponwand trick so I can have two wands in hand at once. I haven't yet actually done the dual-weaponwand trick, but I've talked about it. Since I never intend to actually attack with two weapons, I'm not concerned about TWF penalties.
I have a variety of special purpose wands as well. Infernal healing, Shield, Disguise Self; even a partially charged Mirror Image I was able to get. Also, using the monkey to grab wands I'm done with means I can swap without leaving a wand behind to be stolen or lost.
I've been theorycrafting a swashbuckler/magus doing something similar. Though I'm not sure if I'd use a monkey (wands would likely just be dropped).
I just imagine table variance when 'passing off' a wand to a familiar.
Also I don't think level 1 vanish works that way - would be visible from the end of your turn to the start of your next one. A strong defensive trick to be sure, but not an offensive one. If you were casting vanish (lasting more than one round) it would do what you describe.
My idea is more of spell-striking from a wand by using Chill Touch/Shocking Grasp/Frostbite wands early then using a Frigid Touch wand later.
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My argument (that so far my gms have accepted) is that I start my next round with the attack, meaning that even though the vanish drops before I physically swing, the target is still unaware of my attack until I am making it. It is the same as starting the round in a hidden position and moving into an attack position to get sneak attack. I think at worst a Stealth/Perception opposed check might be required, but so far no one I've had as a GM has required it.