Hey ya'll,
I would love to get some advice re my Magus build.
We are starting wrath of the righteous shortly, and I have settled on Magus class. (love the combat & magic mix).
At the moment, I am thinking Tiefling Magus. I know it's half demon and could seem a little out of place in the setting, but i was thinking a blade like character. half demon hunting demons.
Any advice on which Archetype?
I was initially looking at blade bound, but through experience have learnt that demons are mostly immune to the damage that it cause i.e.e fire, acid, poison etc. Or am I wrong about that?
I was also contemplating Hex Crafter or Staff Magus.
Any thoughts? or am i barking up the wrong tree?
SlowMo
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General: Kurald Galain's Magus Guide
Flavor: Actually, Tieflings seem to be pretty common in Wrath of the Righteous PbPs that I have seen. They get hit with considerable prejudice from the locals, but the worst of this has (supposedly) passed, and legally they are supposed to have the same rights as everybody else. The Player's Guide does not attempt to discourage playing Tieflings the way the Second Darkness Player's Guide (which you can't get separately as a free document) supposedly discourages Drow.
Mechanics: It's probably not too much of a spoiler to note that Demons are immune to Electricity and Poison and resistant to other types of energy (except Sonic). So specializing in Shocking Grasp is not a good way to go, even if it turns out to be useful on cultists. Demons also usually have Spell Resistance, so spells that don't allow Spell Resistance are better. Note that Hexes are not affected by Spell Resistance, so HexCrafter would be good, and you can combine this with Staff Magus if you want to. However, note that it's hard to make a staff out of Cold Iron, although if you go through a bunch of feat hoops you can make Staff Magus work with polearms (with which they are not normally proficient) -- see this thread and this thread, and note that the building is rather tricky (including feat-intensive).
Another thing to focus on would be Combat Maneuvers and self-buffing. For this, one option is going Myrmidarch to get Weapon Training so that you can open up options for things such as Ace Trip that require it (the normal substitute Martial Focus isn't good enough for that) (also see the next several posts). Unfortunately it doesn't stack with Hexcrafter (they both trade out Spell Recall, which is bad because Myrmidarch does this to get Ranged Spellstrike, which you don't really need for the particular kind of maneuver-based switch-hitting I want to do, although I describe ways to make it moderately useful, chiefly by dipping Gunslinger). The alternative, going VMC Fighter to eventually get Weapon Training, doesn't get it online until level 11 (where fortunately Magus gives you a bonus feat that you can use for this), whereas with Myrmidarch you can get Weapon Training at level 6 and Ace Trip at level 9 (limited by BAB +6 prerequisite). Fortunately, Wrath of the Righteous runs long, so the sting of not having Ace Trip for 2 extra levels isn't as bad as it would normally be (and the VMC consumption of feats doesn't hurt quite as much), while Hexcrafter (which is incompatible with Myrmidarch) continues to be especially attractive. Since Demons (and probably cultists) often use Fear, the normally lacklustre Bravery class feature that VMC Fighter gives at 3rd level is actually useful.
One Magus Arcana you are going to want is Devoted Blade; (assuming you are Good or Lawful); unfortunately you will have to wait until 12th level to qualify for it. You will likely have a Holy weapon by that time, but you still want backup in case something bad happens to it or for some reason you have to use a different weapon (for instance, Grappled and your primary weapon isn't Light).
General: Kurald Galain's Magus Guide
Flavor: Actually, Tieflings seem to be pretty common in Wrath of the Righteous PbPs that I have seen. They get hit with considerable prejudice from the locals, but the worst of this has (supposedly) passed, and legally they are supposed to have the same rights as everybody else. The Player's Guide does not attempt to discourage playing Tieflings the way the Second Darkness Player's Guide (which you can't get separately as a free document) supposedly discourages Drow.
Mechanics: It's probably not too much of a spoiler to note that Demons are immune to Electricity and Poison and resistant to other types of energy (except Sonic). So specializing in Shocking Grasp is not a good way to go, even if it turns out to be useful on cultists. Demons also usually have Spell Resistance, so spells that don't allow Spell Resistance are better. Note that Hexes are not affected by Spell Resistance, so HexCrafter would be good, and you can combine this with Staff Magus if you want to. However, note that it's hard to make a staff out of Cold Iron, although if you go through a bunch of feat hoops you can make Staff Magus work with polearms (with which they are not normally proficient) -- see this thread and this thread, and note that the building is rather tricky (including feat-intensive).
Another thing to focus on would be Combat Maneuvers and self-buffing. For this, one option is going Myrmidarch to get Weapon Training so that you can open up options for things such as Ace Trip that require it (the normal substitute Martial Focus isn't good enough for that) (also see the next several posts). Unfortunately it doesn't stack...
Thanks so much for your response UAE! I really appreciate it. I didn't realise that anyone responded as I was waiting for a notification email. Lots of food for thought here. Hexcrafter looks like a lock for me! have you played Wrath?
If you focus on polymorph spells, such as monstrous physique, you may want to look at the archmage path ability shapeshifting mastery from mythic origins. If you are planning on another path, consider dual path.
I think mythic fireball is one of the best mythic spells. Look over the mythic spells to decide on what to get.
Hey Nicholas,
Thanks for the insight. Your spot, I need to look into the longer term Mythic paths and see what I building towards.
I would hate to have a, doh! Moment later on in the campaign!
Bladebound Kensai is very effective in WOTR, with a focus on straight melee damage and self buffs.
You will want Archemage, but consider dual-pathing into either Guardian or Trickster.
Make sure you pick up mythic improved critical and either Mirror Dodge or Deadly Dodge.
Mythic Spells is a good choice: Mythic Mage Armor rocks on a kensai.
Never underestimate Mythic Paragon - if you have a lot of abilities that scale with tier, this is incredibly powerful.
