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Been thinking about making a Thornblade wielding Half-Elf Bladebound Kensai Magus for PFS, but I'm a bit unsure of what to do feat-wise.
I was leaning towards a dex based build, since I won't be wearing armor. Stat wise I was thinking Str: 8, Dex: 17, Con: 14, Int: 16, Wis: 10, Cha: 10, putting all level ups into Dex.
Half-Elf would give me access to both the extra arcana and extra arcane pool FCB options, I'd probably use the arcana bonus from 1-6, then switch to the bonus pool to make up for losing some of each of those from the archetypes.
Feats...Weapon Finesse is an obvious one...with a high dex, then later the bonus AoOs from the archetype, Combat Reflexes seems like a solid choice. Intensified Spell to supercharge Shocking Grasp or other low level damage spells. Any other must haves?
Level 6 I would get 2 Arcana, I was thinking Flamboyant Arcana to take advantage of all those AoOs...and probably Spell Blending to add in Mage Armor and maybe Touch of Blindness?
Any special magic items that might benefit this build? I should have a good amount of cash to spend, since I won't have to purchase either a weapon, nor armor. Dex belt, Int headband, ring of prot., amulet of nat armor, cloak of res, all the usual suspects are pretty obvious.
I've never played a Magus, any tips for during play? Optimal turn sequences, etc? Best and worst spells? I've looked over a couple guides, but a lot of new material has come out since the last update to any of them.
Thanks
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I don't think you can start taking the extra arcana FCB until you have a magus arcana from the class. No idea why you'd want mage armor as a spell at level 6 though, a mithral shirt doesn't weigh much, has the same basic AC and can be enchanted further. And it doesn't cost spell slots.
Kurald's guide is up to date and should be able to answer many of your questions.
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No idea why you'd want mage armor as a spell at level 6 though, a mithral shirt doesn't weigh much, has the same basic AC ...
Kensai
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Oh, right. Duh.
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The Kensai Archetype gives up armor to gain Canny Defense (Int to AC), which is why I want Mage Armor. I'll probably carry a wand of it until I get it as an actual spell, then I can use a lesser extend rod to cast it once and have it last nearly all day instead of using a charge before most combats.
As for the FCB, I've never heard anyone say you can't take a fractional FCB option like that to prep for when you get an ability. That would make the first several levels of a lot of FCB options dead and useless...especially the 1/6th options like the Arcana one.
I'll give that guide another read through, didn't realize he had updated it so recently. The guide to guides page said it was last updated in 2017
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As for the FCB, I've never heard anyone say you can't take a fractional FCB option like that to prep for when you get an ability. That would make the first several levels of a lot of FCB options dead and useless...especially the 1/6th options like the Arcana one.
I know this to be true, but I'm struggling to find the reference. I know it was an addition/errata (it wasn't always explicit).
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OK. Found it, and it looks like you CAN take the 1/6 additional arcana FCB. It looks like it's one of those notrattas that comes about when the design team says "It's clear to us so it doesn't need an FAQ." Unfortunately that means the explicit clarification ends up buried in a messageboard thread somewhere.
Related Point: Can I apply the aasimar or elf oracle's favored class bonus to a revelation I do not yet have? Can I do so for the aasimar bard’s favored class bonus?
No, when choosing which class feature’s effective level to increase, you can only select a feature that you already have. For example, an aasimar flame oracle cannot choose to improve the wings of fire revelation with her favored class bonus until she actually gains the revelation at 7th level or beyond; she could not start augmenting it at 1st level.
Which is where "you can't take the FCB until you have the feature" came from. But much later in the thread, designer Mark Seifter made another clarification:
If we did a FAQ, it'd be possible to separate out gaining a fraction of a new thing you don't have any of yet from modifying something you don't have.
For instance, with this hypothetical FAQ, gaining 1/6th of a revelation and then using that to at level 7 pick up a revelation that requires level 7 would be fine, but giving yourself bonuses preemptively with the revelation you don't have yet wouldn't.
His example isn't great - and refers to a FAQ that was never published - but it seems that you CAN take an FCB to get 1/6 of a new arcana even if you don't have the arcana class feature yet. But you couldn't choose one that modifies an arcana (such as the dwarf FCB to increase the number of uses of a specific arcana).
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When I get the Mage Armor spell at level 6, casting it with a lesser metamagic rod of extend, I'll get a 12 hour duration (which will just get longer each level after that). So I'll cast it at the beginning of the day and not worry about it again until either it gets dispelled or the timer runs out.
I might look into some lightweight armor for the first few levels, after double checking canny defense works in "light or no armor" I thought it was strictly no armor like the monk AC bonus. I might need to rethink my stats if I do that though...26 lb light load does not leave much room for armor.