Need help picking a spell to focus on (new PFS magus)

[Angel Hunter D]

Hi, like the title says I am a newcomer to Society play and d20 games in general. I decided to play a tiefling magus
(because I had recently watched Hellboy and the magus seems to BE high fantasy in one package, and hexes are
cool so I decided to be a Hexcrafter).

My problem comes with picking a level 1 primary spell. I don't have spell recall until it's almost time to make a new character,
so I can't just spam spells all day. My group usually has a paladin and a witch (2 friends I got to start up with me) in case that helps.

Basically, without spell recall and a base group composition of myself, a 2-H wielding Paladin, and a debuff Witch, which of the
two primary Magus spells will give me the most "Bang for my Buck": Shocking Grasp or Frostbite?

I know frostbite doesn't work on undead, but it has staying power and beats SG for damage longterm. On the other hand, SG hits most things
and get's the face-melting done right away. I can't decide on my own, please help.

[MrRed]

Basically you know all there is to know: Both of them are good choices but the more typical choice is SG with magical lineage (trait), so you can later cast an intensified SG using a 1st level slot. Frostbite is also a good choice, but slightly more limited. If you quickly run out of spells, you can buy some cheap 1st level pearls of power once you have a bit of money. Also have a look at the magus guides in the FAQ- they have detailed discussion on SG vs Frostbite.

[Angel Hunter D]

If I know what I need to know, then the question is: am I likely to survive long enough for Frostbite to pay off? in chainmail I'm dying after 1-2 hits

And could I get a link to that FAQ? my search-fu is also level 1

[Imbicatus]

Magus guides are in the Guide to Guides post. It's stickied at the top of the advice forum.

[Angel Hunter D]

I've read the guides, read the posts, and they don't answer my questions well enough. I suppose I could make this question even simpler though. Non-lethal doesn't work on undead, I play Society. How often will I run into undead in Society play, starting from season 0?

[RainyDayNinja]

Angel Hunter D wrote:

I've read the guides, read the posts, and they don't answer my questions well enough. I suppose I could make this question even simpler though. Non-lethal doesn't work on undead, I play Society. How often will I run into undead in Society play, starting from season 0?

Undead crop up quite a bit (probably once per level or so), but they're rarely that tough, and lots of other classes have stuff to take care of them (Rangers with favored enemy, Clerics channeling energy, etc.). I'd keep one or two shocking grasp on hand for situations like that, but don't give up on frostbite just because of undead.