I mean, any time you can cast Scorching Ray in close proximity seems pretty dang good.
Or, for that matter, casting Plane Shift on the poor bugger who you just hit, because Plane Shift as a 4th Level Spell is available to Paladins following a certain Order.
Be creative in thinking about what sort of havoc you can do with 3rd and 4th-level spells, and I think Wand Wielder will have you giggling for a long, long time (much moreso than Spell Combat usually will)
How useful the Arcana is mainly depends on your campaign - it you have plenty of encounters per day, it becomes more valuable.
I would recommend keeping tabs on how often you run out of spells, if it is to often, the Arcana might be useful. But consider getting some Pearls of Power first!
(Bladed Dash is another awesome Wand spell)
It is basically required if you are a Staff Magus. For archetypes with reduced spells like Kensai and Myrmidarch it can be a good way to supplement your daily casting. At higher levels you will probably find that it is better used with staves than wands.
Combined with the Close Range Arcana, you can cast a ray spell with a wand or staff using Spell Combat, and use Spellstrike to deliver it through your weapon. It can be useful.
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How useful the Arcana is mainly depends on your campaign - it you have plenty of encounters per day, it becomes more valuable.
I would recommend keeping tabs on how often you run out of spells, if it is to often, the Arcana might be useful. But consider getting some Pearls of Power first!
(Bladed Dash is another awesome Wand spell)
Don't forget that it's also a matter of being able to cast spells not on the Magus spell list at all.
Swinging with a weapon, activating your offhand Glove of Storing as a Free Action, using a Wand to cast Inflict Serious Wounds on your opponent, and then returning the Wand to your Glove as a Free Action is quite hilarious.
Vanish would be a good spell to go with Wand Wielder: Either go invisible first to make your attack against flat-footed AC, or make your attack first, and go invisible to keep you safe until your next turn.
A wand of shocking grasp doesn't have to be first level. 50 5d6 attacks is pretty nice.
So am I able to use ANY wands with the wand wielder arcana regardless if they are on the magus class spell list?
Provided you can use the wand. It may require a UMD check.
So am I able to use ANY wands with the wand wielder arcana regardless if they are on the magus class spell list?Provided you can use the wand. It may require a UMD check.
And staves, too.
A wand of shocking grasp doesn't have to be first level. 50 5d6 attacks is pretty nice.Huge waste of money. By the time you can realistically afford that, you should probably be able to cast better Grasps on your own.
Definitely. And your grasps can be delivered through Spellstrike for that extra weapony goodness. Wand grasps can only be delivered through a regular tough attack. :(
Wand of True Strike combined with a combat maneuver of your choice.
Or get like 20 level 1 Pearls of Power. They are pretty cheap, if someone has craft Wondrous Item.
A wand of shocking grasp doesn't have to be first level. 50 5d6 attacks is pretty nice.Huge waste of money. By the time you can realistically afford that, you should probably be able to cast better Grasps on your own.
Really? 2,000gp for 50 5d6 attacks that CAN be spell striked with the wand wielder Arcanna? And no the ones you cast can't be better since Shocking Grasp tops out at 5d6. And even if you can add metamagic to them to make them better, can you get 50 of them? You're looking at most probably 4.
At 5th level WBL says you should have 10.5k, I think you could afford 2k on a wand that would give you 50 shots of a spell, that is just as good as the one you can cast.
If your Grasp is topping out at 5D6, you don't actually care about Shocking Grasp. If you do, you sink the minimal investment of Magical Lineage and Intensify Spell into it.
Which is also using resources. but even so at 5th level it's maybe 7-8d6 vs 5d6. So you could cast 4 8d6 spells per day, or 50 5d6 spells at the cost of 1875. I'd call that a fair trade
2000 gp is also... very wrong. Spell Level x Caster Level x 750. 1*5*750=3750. You can get it under 2000 if you're crafting it yourself, but at that point you're sinking a lot of investment into a trick that's not good for very long.
With the limited casting of a Magus, Crafting Wands is a very smart choice, and adding 5d6 to your weapon damage is useful right up until level 20.
Next, Wand Wielder doesn't have anything to do with Spellstrike; it's related only to Spell Combat. If your GM decides that using a wand = casting the spell, it can be Spellstriked whether you have Wand Wielder or not. If you GM decides that using a wand =/= casting a spell, Wand Wielder isn't doing a thing to grant Spellstrike.
Obviously
Finally... there are a lot of things that the Magus needs more than this. 10.5 gp doesn't leave enough to blow 20% of it on an endurance trick. Base functionality comes first.
Well assuming the Magus' job is DPR, I'd saying adding 5d6 to every attack qualifies as "Base functionality".
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If your Grasp is topping out at 5D6, you don't actually care about Shocking Grasp. If you do, you sink the minimal investment of Magical Lineage and Intensify Spell into it.Which is also using resources. but even so at 5th level it's maybe 7-8d6 vs 5d6. So you could cast 4 8d6 spells per day, or 50 5d6 spells at the cost of 1875. I'd call that a fair trade
2000 gp is also... very wrong. Spell Level x Caster Level x 750. 1*5*750=3750. You can get it under 2000 if you're crafting it yourself, but at that point you're sinking a lot of investment into a trick that's not good for very long.With the limited casting of a Magus, Crafting Wands is a very smart choice, and adding 5d6 to your weapon damage is useful right up until level 20.
Next, Wand Wielder doesn't have anything to do with Spellstrike; it's related only to Spell Combat. If your GM decides that using a wand = casting the spell, it can be Spellstriked whether you have Wand Wielder or not. If you GM decides that using a wand =/= casting a spell, Wand Wielder isn't doing a thing to grant Spellstrike.Obviously
Finally... there are a lot of things that the Magus needs more than this. 10.5 gp doesn't leave enough to blow 20% of it on an endurance trick. Base functionality comes first.Well assuming the Magus' job is DPR, I'd saying adding 5d6 to every attack qualifies as "Base functionality".
You mean 5d6 a round, and even then only when you can use spell combat?
At lower levels, sure this makes some sense. But level 7+ this quickly tapers off in effectiveness.
So, the boards seem to have eaten my post...anyway, here it is again:
There are definitely some niche spells, such as Litany of Sloth, Ill Omen, and my personal favorite, Mudball (NOT PFS legal, unless you've got the boon for goblin).
Someone mentioned it earlier but...
Imagine the carnage you could unleash with a wand of Bladed Dash!
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So what are the RAW arguments for and against using a wand = casting a spell?
And where do people think that most DMs fall on this?
I was thinking of taking wand wielder for my PFS magus to add an spellstrike attack every round (using a clvl 1 wand of shocking grasp or frostbite) but if most people think using a wand =/= casting a spell and that you therefore cannot spellstrike to deliver a wand-cast spell, that's not worthwhile.
I am under the impression that activating a wand =/= casting a spell and doesn't work with spell strike.
I still think it has uses and can be good in the right circumstances. Wands of Shield and True Strike are common and cheap enough to use this tactic with, there are others as well. Quick Draw helps immensely but isn't something most Magi pick up. Spring loaded wrist sheaths can help get the right wand out at the right time, but will run into a swift action logjam on most Magi. And of course at mid level with say a Staff of Fire you find a whole new functionality. So it really isn't optimal, but it isn't that bad and could make for a fun character.
