I know that people generally accept that spellstrike can be used with a two handed weapon, but what about spell combat with a one handed weapon that you use a free action after casting the spell in your off hand to grip with both hands, gaining a 1.5x strength bonus.
Perhaps I'm missing something, but would it work for a Magus to use spell combat to cast a spell with their off hand (which is free), use a free action to grab their one handed weapon with two hands after casting the spell (so in between the full round action), and attacking with 1.5x str. Basically, is the casting of the spell in spell combat simultaneous with the attack, and could I interrupt it with a free action to grab my sword with two hands?
Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere, but when looking for it, I couldn't find an accepted conclusion.
Yes, you could use spellstrike with a 2h weapon. However you cannot use spell combat with a 2h weapon since that ability functions as two-weapon fighting, so I would definitely not recommend it.
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Spell combat is its own full round action that requires you have a one-handed weapon and your other hand free. Period.
Wielding a one-handed weapon with two hands is not having one hand free, thus you cannot use it with spell combat.
Spell combat is its own full round action that requires you have a one-handed weapon and your other hand free. Period.
Wielding a one-handed weapon with two hands is not having one hand free, thus you cannot use it with spell combat.
The question was in regards to spellstrike, not spell combat. Spell combat can very clearly not be used with a 2h weapon, but I don't see why spellstrike cannot.
The question was in regards to spellstrike, not spell combat. Spell combat can very clearly not be used with a 2h weapon, but I don't see why spellstrike cannot.Spell combat is its own full round action that requires you have a one-handed weapon and your other hand free. Period.
Wielding a one-handed weapon with two hands is not having one hand free, thus you cannot use it with spell combat.
The question is only in regards to spellstrike if you only read the first 8 words of OP's post =/
Indeed haha, I'm very awake today.
You can use spellstrike with a 2h weapon. You cannot use spell combat with a 2h weapon because it functions as two-weapon fighting where the spell has to be one of your weapons.
I know that people generally accept that spellstrike can be used with a two handed weapon, but what about spell combat with a one handed weapon that you use a free action after casting the spell in your off hand to grip with both hands, gaining a 1.5x strength bonus.
Perhaps I'm missing something, but would it work for a Magus to use spell combat to cast a spell with their off hand (which is free), use a free action to grab their one handed weapon with two hands after casting the spell (so in between the full round action), and attacking with 1.5x str. Basically, is the casting of the spell in spell combat simultaneous with the attack, and could I interrupt it with a free action to grab my sword with two hands?
Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere, but when looking for it, I couldn't find an accepted conclusion.
You know how initiative order doesn't make much sense? You and I are fighting a troll and a hobgoblin. I make my iterative attacks against the troll while the rest of you just stand there waiting. Then you cast Acid Arrow at the troll while the rest of us just hang around, and so on. We each sequentially use 6 seconds, yet we are all using up the same 6 second round.
It doesn't make any sense. It's just a game mechanic that settles issues of sequence. In the game, the characters are supposed to be acting simultaneously throughout the entire round, but the initiative order makes it possible to actually play the game in an orderly fashion. And that makes sense until you think about it too deeply. Because the only reason your character decided to cast the Acid Arrow at the troll instead of magic missile at the goblin is because you knew that all of my attacks had failed to kill the troll. Which means I really did complete my actions before you even began to cast so we really aren't acting simultaneously... and at some point your brain will explode. It is impossible to keep the "in game" experience and the "metagaming" experience separate or coherent.
I think that Spell Combat is kind of like that. Johnny Devo correctly pointed out that you must keep your hand free during the entirety of the full-round action that is Spell Combat. That is because, regardless of whether the spell is cast before or after your attacks, you are spending the entire full-round action casting the spell. But why would I need to keeping casting a spell if I deliver it before I attack, you ask? You wouldn't, but the casting of the spell and the attacks are actually simultaneous in the same sense that all characters act simultaneously during a combat round. Mechanically the spell is cast before or after the attacks, but like initiative order that is just a game mechanic to resolve action sequences. There is no way to reconcile the "in game" explanation and the "metagaming" one. Just don't look at it too closely. ;)
*coughcough* Mindblade does it but has to explicitly state it can and only at level 13 or beyond. Sort of the exception that proves the rule maybe.
Yes, because they get the Dual Manifest ability which no other Magus gets. And it is different than the "remove a hand to cast" scenario that Euryale asked about. The Mindblade can even keep both hands on the weapon during the entire Spell Combat if they want.
Spell Combat (Ex): At 1st level, a magus learns to cast spells and wield his weapons at the same time. This functions much like two-weapon fighting, but the off-hand weapon is a spell that is being cast. To use this ability, the magus must have one hand free (even if the spell being cast does not have somatic components), while wielding a light or one-handed melee weapon in the other hand. ...
The rules for Spell Combat are quite specific. One hand is empty and one hand wields a weapon.
A free action during Spell Combat still counts as during Spell Combat, so it must follow the restrictions for Spell Combat. Pathfinder has no rules that interrupting an action frees you from the restrictions.
On the other hand, if you cast a spell that grants a touch attack, you wait until after the Spell Combat full action to use the free action to deliver the touch spell. Switch the one-handed weapon to the two-handed grip, use Spellstrike to turn the touch attack to a weapon attack, and swing away with both hands on the same turn as Spell Combat. It would be after Spell Combat, so the restrictions of Spell Combat no longer apply. For example, start Spell Combat, attack one-handed with a longsword, cast Shocking Grasp defensively, end Spell Combat, grip the longsword two-handed, and deliver Shocking Grasp via a two-handed attack with the longsword.
Still doesn't work. Spell combat requires the weapon to be wielded in a single hand.two handed weapon, but what about spell combatDo you have three arms? If so, ask your GM.
Otherwise you just said "Can I use my off-hand to wield an THW and my second off-hand to cast a spell."
No, you only have one off-hand.
No, it requires you to have a light or one handed weapon in at least one other hand. It's worded the way it is based on the assumption that a PC will have two hands at most.
You are effectively casting the spell for the entire action, while taking your attacks as part of the same action. During said action, you must have 1 hand free and wield a weapon in the other hand.
Don't be too sad though, it's because of this that the Magus can Spell Combat and Dimension Door for his own version of Dimension Dervish.
Thanks guys :)
The spell combat FAQs and designer commentary specify that it is a single weapon associated with a single hand. "a light or one-handed weapon in your other hand" is strictly interpreted.No, it requires you to have a light or one handed weapon in at least one other hand. It's worded the way it is based on the assumption that a PC will have two hands at most.Still doesn't work. Spell combat requires the weapon to be wielded in a single hand.two handed weapon, but what about spell combatDo you have three arms? If so, ask your GM.
Otherwise you just said "Can I use my off-hand to wield an THW and my second off-hand to cast a spell."
No, you only have one off-hand.
That's not in the FAQ I read. The closest it comes to saying that is the weapon strikes have to use the light/one handed weapon in your other hand, so a Marilith Magus, for example, couldn't use her other three arms or her tail slap, but there is nothing expressly forbidding her from wielding a longsword in two hands while a third is used to cast.
She has a free hand (several, in theory), and is wielding a one handed or light weapon in another hand(s). She can Spell Combat