True Magus Cap stone needs to be fixed

[Straph]

I wrote something similar about the Greater Spell Combat that seemed to be broken. I have a similar feeling about this capstone feat.

After looking through all the capstones it would seem the Magus gets the stinker one. DR 10/evil for a paladin? Versus a +2 on of the following... Normal feats do +2. Capstone feats don't do +2 to an option of things. Some capstones are stop aging. Yet Magus gets a +2. Hmmm lets get this addressed by Paizo shall we?

The wording used in the capstone feat isn't backed up by the bonus provided.

At 20th level, the magus becomes a master of spells and combat.

I'm still taking a -2 to any melee attack while using spell combat (doesn't sound like a master of combat to me taking that penalty).

Whenever he uses his spell combat ability, he does not need to make a concentration check to cast the spell defensively.

I already can't fail my concentration checks with my +30 (+32 during spell combat) at level 20 with a DC 27 for my highest level spell. I'm actually over by 3, or 5. Looks like I wasted a feat early on due to bad scaling of concentration.

Whenever the magus uses spell combat and his spell targets the same creature as his melee attacks, he can choose to either increase the DC to resist the spell by +2,

Magus aren't a DC focused class since the idea was spell combat which means focusing on strength, or dexterity to hit rather than maximizing your intelligence for spells, with no possibility to hit with a weapon. So the DC +2 is useless on all the spells that don't have DC's on them. Useless for my spell list. As I don't have many combat spells with DC on them. The magus list only has a few as is.

grant himself a +2 circumstance bonus on any checks made to overcome spell resistance,

+2 spell pen is nice but underwhelming at level 20. 24 spell penetration at level 20 if you take both feats for more spell pen. Also both the spell pen feats are +2 capstone shouldn't be the same as a regular feat.

or grant himself a +2 circumstance bonus on all attack rolls made against the target during his turn.

This +2 bonus on all attacks should have been addressed during Greater Spell Combat per my other post about how useless Greater Spell Combat feat is. Also a +2 to attack on all rolls is underwhelming by itself as a capstone feat since you can only choose one of the options.

The following should be the Magus Capstone feat. Something that backs up the wording used in the first sentence.

At 20th level, the magus becomes a master of spells and combat. Whenever he uses his spell combat ability he gains a +2 circumstance bonus to all attack rolls, a +2 to spell penetration, and +2 DC to any spell cast.

This would reflect true master of spells and combat. If the magus can only choose one option he is either master of spells, or combat not both. Not to mention the first item is completely useless.

Fixing this as well as greater spell combat would free up 2 feats wasted on combat casting, and improved spell combat to not lose your spell for the round.

Thank you for your time.

[Xethik]

The Magus is a strong class, I don't see a need to rework this or the level 14 ability. If you want to complain about weak capstones, take a look at Clerics.

You can talk with your GM about swapping these out a la a custom archetype, but reworking a class like this is essentially unheard of and other classes could use that sort of attention much more (Rogue and Monk)

[Elicoor]

The 20th level capstone is good. You just seem to think you have to choose once and for all one of the 3 abilities when you get to level 20. This is not the case : each time you use spell combat, you get to choose. You get versatility : bonus to DCs to avoid your spells to be saved against, bonus to attack rolls to be sure to hit, or bonus to spell pen to be sure that your spell hits.

You're still master of spells and combat. But you still have to focus. And the first item is not useless, if you plan accordingly, use retraining rules, or do not take feats like combat casting.

And don't forget that even masters of dual wielding still have their -2 penalty to attack rolls. Same for the magus, you're just dual wielding a weapon in one hand and a spell in the other...

[Cap. Darling]

I think, just like i did in your greater Spell combat thread, that you are missing some points. You want the magus to be stronger. Ok. But this is the rules question forum.
But that aside i think the magus capstone is ok and the level 19 class feature is amazing. So the magis is good in my book.

[Cyrad]

The magus is my favorite class, and I think true magus is fine. It goes exceedingly well with Riving Strike, which basically gives you a +4 on your spell DC. Greater spell access is absolutely amazing -- the magus basically has two capstone abilities.

Out of curiosity, have you ever played a high level magus?

[NikolaiJuno]

Please note that the following statement is coming from someone who never intends to reach level 20 with a single class character.

Capstones are pointless.

[kestral287]

I love the Magus. It's my favorite class in the game, and in my humble opinion the best class (9th level casters are fun, but /Magus/). I would run a Magus to level 20 in a heartbeat.

And you're right. Past about level 9, their abilities start to drop off. Fighter Training is mediocre, Greater Spell Combat sucks, True Magus is useful but not earth-shattering. A couple bonus feats and new arcanas, but that's really just extending on previous class features. Greater Spell Access is a very nice trick but almost comes too late to matter; if you're not set in your spell tactics before level 19 you probably never will be.

And that's... totally okay. The Magus is honestly a very front-loaded class. We get Spell Combat at level 1. I would, frankly, be pressed to find a class ability more powerful than "cast a spell every time you full attack". The Magus blows action economies out of the water, and frankly if Spell Combat was the capstone ability of another class it wouldn't look out of place.

Looking at abilities for a single level is pointless. The Magus, on the whole, is a class with some exceptionally strong abilities from its very start. The fact that its later abilities are less impressive is, honestly, all but irrelevant.