Build Advice : Magus Build for Iron God's Campaign

[Cawdor]

Our DM is going to run the Iron Gods campaign and I am looking to build a Magus that will embrace the new technology ( requested by DM ) that will be littered through the campaign. I have put together this build and without any spoilers, i would like to see if there any glaring structural holes in the build that would prevent me from utilizing the technology aspect of the game as well and not gimping myself in the process. Thanks

Savim J'osvar [ Bladebound/Myrmidarch Magus ]

Stat Building : 20-point buy: Str 12 (+1), Dex 16/18 (+3/+4), Con 14 (+2), Int 14/16 (+2/+3), Wis 9(-1), Cha 9/7 (-1/-2)

Points in ??? @ 4, 8, 12,16, 20

Race : Tielfling ( Languages : Common, Abyssal, Draconic, Orc, Elven )

Spell-Lke Ability ( darkness) is replaced with Variant Ability [ You possess spell resistance equal to 10 + 1/2 your Hit Dice. ]

Class : Magus ( Add +1/4 point to Arcane Pool )

Traits : Magical Lineage ( Shocking Grasp ) & Anatomist

Feats
(1) Weapon Finesse
(2) Spellstrike ( Arcane Mark ( attack twice ) & shocking grasp )
(3) Black Blade ( Strike )
(3) Alertness ( Blackblade )
(3) Lunge
(4) Ranged Spellstrike ( Myrm )
(5) Intensified Spell
(5) Extra Arcane Pool (+2 Points in Pool )
(6) Weapon Training (Lt. Blades ) (Myrm)
(7) Fighter Training ( Magus level -3 as fighter level for feats ) (Myrm)
(7) Weapon Focus (Rapier)
(7) Medium Armor Prof. ( Magus)
(8) Armor Training I ( -1 Chk P, +1 Dex B ) (Myrm)
(9) Lingering Pain
(9) Exotic Weaponry Prof. ( Firearms )
(9) Piercing Spell
(11) Point Blank Shot
(11) Technologist
(11) Precise Shot
(12) Weapon Training (Firearms, Lt Blades +2 )
(13) Heavy Armor Prof. (Magus)
(13) Weapon Focus ( Firearms )
(13) Improved Critical ( Rapier )
(14) Armor Training II ( -2 Chk P, +2 Dex B )
(15) Critical Focus
(15) Extra Arcana ( Spell Blending )
(15) Hasted Assault (Can be replaced if I can get Boots of Speed )
(16) Counterstrike
(17) Technology Adept
(17) Greater Weapon Focus (Firearms)
(17) Greater Weapom Foucs (Rapier)
(18) Weapon Training ( ???, Firearms +2, Lt. Blades +3 )
(19) Greater Spell Access
(19) Greater Penetrating Strike
(20) DR 5/- when wearing Armor (Myrm )
(20) Greater Spell Penetration

Skills
Acrobatics
Fly
Intimidate
Knowledge Arcana
Knowledge Dungeoneering
Knowledge Engineering
Knowledge Local
Knowledge Planes
Perception
Ride
Spellcraft
Swim
Linguistics

Starting Spells

0st - All
Prepared : [ Daze, Arcane Mark, Detect Magic ]
1st - Blade Lash, Corrosive Touch, Color Spray, Shocking Grasp, Snowball, Mirror Strike
Prepared : [ Color Spray, Shocking Grasp x2 ]

[Nohwear]

Do you have a plan for dealing with bots with hardness?

[Cawdor]

Since I am unfamiliar with the campaign, I was unaware of robots with hardness

[_Ozy_]

Well, if they have the robot subtype (vulnerable to electricity) and no specific immunity to electricity, shocking grasp should do pretty well.

[Plausible Pseudonym]

You have to beat the hardness before you multiply the electricity damage. A 5d6 Shocking Grasp will average 17.5, 7.5 after hardness, then increase that by 50% and round down. You're better off shocking non-robots until you get an adamantine weapon, high crit chance, or metamagic boosts to push past that hardness hit. Beeline the weapon.

[Cawdor]

What about my enchanted Blackblade (rapier) with Keen and assorted feats ... would that not be a high crit chance weapon?

[_Ozy_]

Plausible Pseudonym wrote:

You have to beat the hardness before you multiply the electricity damage. A 5d6 Shocking Grasp will average 17.5, 7.5 after hardness, then increase that by 50% and round down. You're better off shocking non-robots until you get an adamantine weapon, high crit chance, or metamagic boosts to push past that hardness hit. Beeline the weapon.

Quote:

Some energy types might be particularly effective against certain objects, subject to GM discretion.

Electricity should bypass Robot hardness, given a reasonable GM.

Especially given this later down the page:

Quote:

Vulnerability to Certain Attacks

Certain attacks are especially successful against some objects. In such cases, attacks deal double their normal damage and may ignore the object’s hardness.

[Plausible Pseudonym]

A robot isn't an object. It's a creature with hardness. It flat reduces all damage before you apply anything else, but unlike object hardness you don't halve energy damage first, just subtract the hardness.

It's also intended to work that way. Robots are extra vulnerable to big electrical attacks, but are, well, hardened against all minor damage, including relatively small shocks Go big or adamantine or go home.

[Cawdor]

I understand there is a disagreement on hardness. The question I have is my Blackblade with enchantments and my assorted feats able to fairly counter this?

Also besides hardness, if there anything else standing out on my build?

[Skorn]

Black Blade is both good and bad. Good in that you can enhance the blade in addition to its regular progression so that it will bypass DR/Adamantine for a +5 equivalent at somewhere around level 10. But you will want to be using the black blade all the time and not the cool tech stuff you find.

[Cawdor]

I will be using the new tech through the acquisition of the exotic weapons & firearms weapon feats and the 2 technology feats from the Technology Guide

Also the Myrmidarch's archetype will allow me to Spellstrike with said firearms

[_Ozy_]

Cawdor wrote:

I understand there is a disagreement on hardness. The question I have is my Blackblade with enchantments and my assorted feats able to fairly counter this?

Also besides hardness, if there anything else standing out on my build?

+4 allows you to bypass DR/adamantine, it doesn't let you bypass hardness like adamantine.

[Plausible Pseudonym]

Note that a +4 blade does NOT technically bypass hardness, although I think that's a sensible house rule and possibly RAI. A +4 blade bypasses DR/adamantine, and adamantine bypasses hardness, but those aren't the same thing.

But yes, a Black Blade will do fine, a flat 10 points off your damage to some creatures is no big deal at higher levels and every class has to overcome it.

[Cawdor]

From the Dev - Correct; robots aren't objects and thus take full damage from energy attacks. Their hardness reduces damage done by 10 (or whatever), regardless of if it's energy damage or force damage or slashing/piercing/bludgeoning damage or whatever. That's why it's not DR (which doesn't touch energy damage) or energy resistance (which doesn't touch slashing/bludgeoning/piercing damage).

http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2rez1?Robot-Hardness-Questions#7

[Mathmuse]

Plausible Pseudonym wrote:

A robot isn't an object. It's a creature with hardness. It flat reduces all damage before you apply anything else, but unlike object hardness you don't halve energy damage first, just subtract the hardness.

It's also intended to work that way. Robots are extra vulnerable to big electrical attacks, but are, well, hardened against all minor damage, including relatively small shocks Go big or adamantine or go home.

Big damage is a simple and reliable way a magus can deal with robots. A critical strike with Shocking Grasp is enough to take down the robots of the 3rd module. The 13th-level bladebound magus in my Iron Gods campaign now maximizes his Shocking Grasp against tougher foes. Let the party members without black blades invest in adamantine weapons.

Plans for character development should allow flexibility. You have planned for the common foes of other modules. The foes in Numeria have some unusual strengths, such as hardness on robots and touch-attack lasers, and lack some typical strengths, such as fewer creatures with massive natural armor and fewer foes that cast spells. A proper character will adapt to what he learns about the hazards of Numeria.

[Kurald Galain]

You can't take Lunge at L3, as it requires BAB +6. The earliest you can do is Lunging Spell Touch at L6.

Spell Resistance is problematic on player characters as it prevents your teammates from healing and buffing you.

You appear to try to focus on both firearms and a rapier at the same time; it would be better to specialize your weapon ability on ONE of them, and use your spells for the other.

Don't take Improved Critical on a Magus as you can spend a pool point to make your weapon keen anyway.

You should probably take Hasted Assault at L9 instead of Lingering Pain, unless your party members regularly haste you already.

For more info, check the Magus guide.

[Cawdor]

Thanks , I will relook at the build based on your input. The reason for the dual weapons is because of the campaign. Since I am going with a DEXish build and the request of the DM to have characters embrace tech ... the ranged Spell strike seems a ready vehicle to do so

Also, I took improved critical because of the reduced Arcane Pool the Myrmidarch gets

[_Ozy_]

Cawdor wrote:

Also, I took improved critical because of the reduced Arcane Pool the Myrmidarch gets

You don't plan on using your pool to enchant your weapon in general? Because adding keen when you enchant seems much cheaper than wasting a feat. Heck, you could even use that extra feat to add 2 Arcane Pool points.

[Cawdor]

Updated build :

Savim J'osvar [ Bladebound/Myrmidarch Magus ]

Stat Building

20-point buy: Str 12 (+1), Dex 16/18 (+3/+4), Con 14 (+2), Int 14/16 (+2/+3), Wis 10(0), Cha 9/7 (-1/-2)

Point of Dex @ 4, 8, 12,16, 20

Race : Daemon-Spawn Tielfling ( Languages : Common, Abyssal )

Spell-Lke Ability ( darkness) is replaced with Variant Ability [ You possess spell resistance equal to 10 + 1/2 your Hit Dice. ]

Class : Magus ( Favored class with HP )

Traits : Magical Lineage ( Shocking Grasp ) & Criminal

Feats

(1) Weapon Finesse
(3) Alertness ( Blackblade )
(3) Weapon Focus (Rapier)
(5) Intensified Spell
(5) Extra Arcane Pool (+2 Points in Pool )
(7) Fencing Grace
(9) Hasted assault
(9) Exotic Weaponry Prof. ( Firearms )
(9) Piercing Spell
(11) Point Blank Shot
(11) Technologist
(11) Precise Shot
(13) Weapon Focus ( Firearms )
(13) Lingering Pain
(15) Critical Focus
(15) Extra Arcana ( Spell Blending )
(15) Technology Adept
(17) Deadly Aim
(17) Greater Weapon Focus (Firearms)
(17) Greater Weapon Focus (Rapier)
(19) Greater Spell Access
(19) Greater Penetrating Strike
(20) Greater Spell Penetration

Skills

Acrobatics
Craft Technical
Disable Device
Fly
Intimidate
Knowledge Arcana
Knowledge Dungeoneering
Knowledge Engineering
Knowledge Local
Knowledge Planes
Perception
Ride
Spellcraft
Swim
Linguistics

Starting Spells

0st - All
Prepared : [ Daze, Arcane Mark, Detect Magic ]

1st - Blade Lash, Corrosive Touch, Color Spray, Shocking Grasp, Snowball, Mirror Strike
Prepared : [ Color Spray ]

[Ventnor]

Maybe you could look at the Eldritch Archer archetype and ranged spellstrike with laser guns?

[Cawdor]

The Arcane Pool changes in Eldritch Archer conflict with BladeBound

As for Spellstrike with laser guns , I look at the SpellSlinger Archetype for Wizards and kinda build it along that concept

[WagnerSika]

Can you take Weapon Focus(firearms)? Should it not be Weapon focus(laser pistol) or something similar?

[Cawdor]

WagnerSika wrote:

Can you take Weapon Focus(firearms)? Should it not be Weapon focus(laser pistol) or something similar?

The Technology Guide states that these type of weapons falls under Firearms

[Catharsis]

Isn't that just for proficiency?

[Cawdor]

Page 20 of the Technology Guide : Some GMs may wish to replace Weapon Proficiency ( Firearms ) with Weapon Proficiency ( Technology Firearms )

This means the default RAW is that the weapons listed in the book are classified as Firearms with a allowance for the GM to make a more restrictive change

[nicholas storm]

I don't think bladebound is worth it for this AP. Better off just getting a magic adamantium rapier.

[The Golux]

Firearms has a specific thing where basic proficiency is one feat but improved things like focus and specialization are separate per weapon. Kind of like simple weapon proficiency, though that barely ever comes up.