Everything is the g%%$&!n same except for this line in Spellstrike:
This attack's critical range is 20 (or 19-20 if the weapon is modified by keen or a similar ability), and the it deals ×4 damage on a successful critical hit.
There. Be unchained of your scimitars, kukri, katana, estocs and rapiers. Go out and know the world.
(Also I'd probably make Medium Armor an option at level 1 somehow.)
I read an archtype somewhere that gave medium armor casting at 1st level... don't remember where or what it was called though
Edit: Armoured Battlemage, Armor Master's Handbook
I read an archtype somewhere that gave medium armor casting at 1st level... don't remember where or what it was called though
Edit: Armoured Battlemage, Armor Master's Handbook
Yeah, it's extremely trashy. Deep Marshall is better in this regard.
Magus doesn't really need the boost to damage anyway. So, I wouldn't even bother with the x4. Just limit the spell critical to a natural 20.
Yeah, it's extremely trashy. Deep Marshall is better in this regard.
The Deep Marshal is kinda interesting. I did some spreadsheeting a while back and found that its caster level bonus increased its damage by almost exactly the same amount as it loses by being locked into a weapon with a low critical threat range. Sadly this means it falls behind sharply after caster level 10 when Intensified Shocking Grasp stops improving. As a result, I can only really recommend it in an E6 game or if you can retrain past that point.
However, this might indicate a worthwhile approach to solving the Magus' weapon issues: give spells delivered through spellstrike a caster level bonus based on the critical multiplier of the weapon. You'd have to carefully tweak it to scale from level 1-20, and you'd also need to make the bonus increase the maximum number of damage dice allowable so it doesn't hit a ceiling mid-career. Because traditional Magus weapons are all x2 multiplier they wouldn't be affected and current Magus builds would be neither buffed nor nerfed, and you could then focus on tweaking the numbers so weapons like the battleaxe hit similar benchmarks to the scimitar.
Yeah, it's extremely trashy. Deep Marshall is better in this regard.The Deep Marshal is kinda interesting. I did some spreadsheeting a while back and found that its caster level bonus increased its damage by almost exactly the same amount as it loses by being locked into a weapon with a low critical threat range. Sadly this means it falls behind sharply after caster level 10 when Intensified Shocking Grasp stops improving. As a result, I can only really recommend it in an E6 game or if you can retrain past that point.
However, this might indicate a worthwhile approach to solving the Magus' weapon issues: give spells delivered through spellstrike a caster level bonus based on the critical multiplier of the weapon. You'd have to carefully tweak it to scale from level 1-20, and you'd also need to make the bonus increase the maximum number of damage dice allowable so it doesn't hit a ceiling mid-career. Because traditional Magus weapons are all x2 multiplier they wouldn't be affected and current Magus builds would be neither buffed nor nerfed, and you could then focus on tweaking the numbers so weapons like the battleaxe hit similar benchmarks to the scimitar.
Critical range unbalance in Pathfinder deserves a thread of its own to be honest.
Everything is the g!@!!+n same except for this line in Spellstrike:
This attack's critical range is 20 (or 19-20 if the weapon is modified by keen or a similar ability), and the it deals ×4 damage on a successful critical hit.
There. Be unchained of your scimitars, kukri, katana, estocs and rapiers. Go out and know the world.
(Also I'd probably make Medium Armor an option at level 1 somehow.)
20/x4 is garbage for criticals.
You don't crit often enough to make a difference, and when you do, most of the damage is wasted as overkill.
Yeah, it's extremely trashy. Deep Marshall is better in this regard.The Deep Marshal is kinda interesting. I did some spreadsheeting a while back and found that its caster level bonus increased its damage by almost exactly the same amount as it loses by being locked into a weapon with a low critical threat range. Sadly this means it falls behind sharply after caster level 10 when Intensified Shocking Grasp stops improving. As a result, I can only really recommend it in an E6 game or if you can retrain past that point.
However, this might indicate a worthwhile approach to solving the Magus' weapon issues: give spells delivered through spellstrike a caster level bonus based on the critical multiplier of the weapon. You'd have to carefully tweak it to scale from level 1-20, and you'd also need to make the bonus increase the maximum number of damage dice allowable so it doesn't hit a ceiling mid-career. Because traditional Magus weapons are all x2 multiplier they wouldn't be affected and current Magus builds would be neither buffed nor nerfed, and you could then focus on tweaking the numbers so weapons like the battleaxe hit similar benchmarks to the scimitar.
This is a much better solution.