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Evening Gents and Ladies, again i want thank you all for helping me with some magus trouble i was having previously a few weeks ago. Since then i have learned a lot and want to go over my build to ask some general advice on how i should proceed. This is a Society Character so i can't make it too crazy with the supplement books. But i still have some note-worthy questions. Build details in spoiler:
(Elf) Magus 5:
STR 12
DEX 19 (after +2 from Belt of Inc. Dex)
CON 12
INT 18
WIS 12
CHA 7
Feats
1st: Weapon Finesse
3rd: Weapon Specialization (Rapier)
5th: Fencing Grace
5th Bonus: Intensified Metamagic
Arcana:
3rd: Flamboyant Arcana
When i hit 6th lvl: Arcane Deed (Precise strike)
Traits:
Magical Lineage (Shocking Grasp) treat CL for meta magic as on lower
Dark Archives (Librarian) +1 to Prof. Librarian and Ling. Chose Linguistics as a class skill.
Noteable gear
Belt of Inc. Dex
Mithral Chain shirt (non-magical, but next on my wishlist)
+1 Magic Rapier
Cloak of Resistance +1
Bag of Holding I
Current Spellstrike with Shockgrasp
Attk: 9 = Dex 4 + BAB 3 + 1 Feat + 1 enhanced weapon
Dmg: 1d6 + 1 STR + 1 Enhanced Weapon + 5d6 Electricity (CL 5 Shocking Grasp)
Questions for you all!
1) My plan was to stack Fencing grace with the Swashbuckler's Precise Strike. But Because of the changes to Fencing Grace, it has come to my attention that i can't apply DEX damage to spellstrike or spell combat because it "Functions like two-weapon fighting" and my off hand is "otherwise occupied". So would it be worth it to retrain that Fencing Grace for something else when i lvl, and get an Agile Weapon? that way i can get my Dex dmg on my Spellstrike. i was going to take Quick Draw for Maximized Spellstrike from UC, but i wanted to make sure i had Intensified Metamagic for when i hit 6th lvl and beyond.
2) While i know i can't apply the Swashbuckler's Precise Strike to Spell Strike and Spell Combat i still plan to take it to supplement my damage when not casting. So my next question what should my next arcana be at 9th lvl? I hear a lot of good things about Close Range (the ability to use ranged touch spells as melee touch), but i don't see the benefits given scorching ray isn't that advantageous to me right now. or is there another spell i'm missing that's good for this?
3) If i cast vanish, then on my next turn cast Shocking Grasp but hold the charge instead of attacking with it does that break the Vanish? Or do i stay invisible until i deliver the spell? This hasn't come up yet in play but depending on the answer here that'll affect part of my next question.
4) Back to the Maximized Spellstrike (UC) for a sec, obviously i'd need Quick Draw feat for it. Which is helpful because i also have a handful of wands i use frequently. But getting my magus in a situation where the target is denied his DEX to AC might be tricky, especially since this a society character and can't always rely on my teammates to otherwise ensnare them. So this is a two parter. 4a) what are some tips and tricks to reliably deny the target's Dex to AC? As a Magus.... 4b) i think this is correct but the Maximized Spellstrike feat says "as if using the Maximize Spell metamagic feat" Soooo what if i crit with my rapier? then spend the 3 arcane points? CLd6 Maxed x2? meaning at this lvl that'd be 10d6 maxed, 60 damage on a crit, from the spell alone? And if i was a higher lvl with a Intensified Shocking Grasp, would the effects stack? I.E. at 7th lvl that'd be (on a crit) 7d6x2 maxed? 72 dmg?
5a) This is a dumb question but since i'm talking about metamagic feats i might as well ask. Magical Lineage for Shocking Grasp, treats CL adjustment for metamagic feats as 1 lower for that one spell. Intensified metamagic is a +1 CL. So could i technically prep Shocking Grasp as a 1st lvl spell still? or am I wrong because i thought i read somewhere that the minimum adjustment is +1. Meaning an intensified shocking grasp would still have to pe prepped as a 2nd lvl spell?
5b) While looking into the Spellstoring Magical Property (not the ring) i noticed it doesn't state if u can store a spell with a metamagic applied to it. While i wouldn't be able to use it with spellstrike (because it's the weapon casting the spell not me) could I still prep an Intensified Shocking Grasp in the weapon?
6) Last question, besides the Spellstoring magic weapon ability and ring, (because in both cases it's the item casting the spell, so no spell strike) is there a way to "store" more Intensified Shocking Grasps. I know that thanks to the Spell Recall ability the magus gets at lvl 4, i can get more shocking grasps. But despite how the ability doesn't specify it, i'm pretty sure i can't spend points to get more Intensified Shocking Grasps. I've heard a couple different tactics in my usual Society sessions, but i can't seem to figure it out on my own, because most of their Magus' were Staff Magus, or used some other loop hole i can't remember.
- Dervish Dance still allows dex-to-damage with spell combat.
- Arcane Deed was nerfed into oblivion - the magus counts as a zero level swashbuckler with no panche pool. (+0 damage from Precise Strike)
- Spellstrike is completely unaffected by anything - it has nothing to do with hands occupied.
- Invisibility does not break until you attack.
- The Grease spell denies dexterity on rounds characters move through or within it.
- Yes, an Intensified Shocking Grasp is a first level spell if you have Magical Lineage
- The spell stored is whatever the caster casts.
- There are Ioun stones that can store 1st level spells. What you want are Pearls of Power I. They allow you to recover previously cast spells as a standard action.
You can spellstrike with Arcane Mark. While it deals no damage itself, it does effectively grant two-weapon fighting, as long as you can make your concentration checks.
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Unfortunately, Arcane Deed was errata'ed to a point where Precise Strike doesn't do anything for a Magus.
Prerequisite(s) Flamboyant arcana
Benefit(s) When a magus takes this arcana, he can pick any one deed from the swashbuckler class feature as long as that deed can be used by a swashbuckler of his magus level. The magus can use that deed by using points from his arcane pool as the panache points required for that deed. Even if he gains a panache pool through another means, the magus is not considered to have at least 1 point in his panache pool for the purpose of deeds selected with arcane deed, and his effective swashbuckler level for determining such a deed's effect is 0.
A magus can take this arcana multiple times, each time gaining a new deed.
Bolded the errata'ed part of the arcana. Basically, even though you can get Precise Strike, Precise Strike only works when you have 1 panache point, and you are not considered to have 1 panache from your Arcane Pool. It makes Precise Strike and a lot of the Swashbuckler Deeds completely useless for a Magus. I was planning to go that same route myself, but decided against it after the errata.
You can do what you're thinking for Fencing Grace, and retrain it at 6th when you can afford/have enough fame to get an Agile weapon. Agile should definitely be the goal, as it's the only way I can think of without dipping another class to get DEX to damage consistently for a Magus. It's up to you to decide whether it's worth the 300 gold and 5 prestige you'll have to spend to retrain Fencing Grace to something else (Intensify Spell is a good choice) just to have DEX to damage a level earlier.
Just to note, Fencing Grace works fine with Spellstrike, as long as you are not using Spell Combat in the same round. Spell strike does not have the restriction on nothing being in your other hand. So, for example, if you Spell Combat for Shocking Grasp one round, but miss, the next round you could make a normal attack using Spellstrike to deliver the held charge and also get Fencing Grace on that attack. You can also cast Shocking Grasp and make a single attack, delivering it through Spellstrike, and still get Fencing Grace. You just don't get Fencing Grace in a round when you use Spell Combat (which will be a large amount of the time).
My understanding of Spell Recall is that you are recalling a spell you had prepared. If you had the spell prepared as an Intensified Shocking Grasp at level 2 (or level 1 with Magical Lineage), then you would recall it as an Intensified Shocking Grasp. That's how I've always seen it work, anyway. Same with Pearls of Power.
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Spell strike only comes into play after you've cast the spell. It works with Fencing/Slashing Grace.
Yes, you can recall Intensified shocking grasp with a Pearl of Power. It returns whatever spell was in that spell slot, including modification by Metamagic.
As for retraining, I know at the time the errata was issued, you were allowed to swap out the Arcana for free. Both Flamboyant Arcana and Arcane Deed received some errata, so I would think that if you were unaware of it, you could probably swap them out for free now. If you're unsure about that, talk to your local Venture Officer.
Your fellow player was probably slightly confused. You can't use Spell Combat with Fencing Grace/Slashing Grace. You can use Spellstrike. A lot of people get the two abilities confused.
You get used to it. Magus is a class with a lot of moving pieces. Those two abilities both have a half-a-dozen FAQ clarifications between them.
So how does one go about getting a hold of my local Venture Officer? or is it just the event coordinator?
There is a list floating around somewhere, or you can just ask over in the PFS Forums about who represents your area.