Hi there. I am jointing a relatively high optimization game and wanted to make sure my character will be up for the challenge.
The campaign is with very pronounced focus on demonic forces, so they usual "shocking grasp them into oblivion" strategy is a no-go and a bit overdone anyway. Also, in the setting holy and axiomatic weapons are artefact levels (in case you are wandering for the lack of Devoted Blade Arcana).
We are using the feat tax and background skill rules, so free Power Attack and Deadly Aim pretty much. Skill Focus + Orator gives me pretty good social competence for a magus and I'd like to keep that if possible.
My goal is to be able with a bit of luck on my side - to be able to solo a demon of CR equal to my character level in two rounds.
Character:
Half-orc (alternative traits: fey thoughts, shaman apprentice, sacred tattoo)
Mindblade Magus 12 VMC Fighter (traits: fate’s favored, weathered emissary, reactionary)
LE Medium humanoid (human, orc)
Init +10; Senses Perception +19, dark vision 30 ft.
DEFENSE
AC 24 <33 buffed>, touch 15, flat-footed 20 (+9 armor, +4 Dex, +1 deflection)
hp 93 (12d8+36)
Fort +16, Ref +14, Will +14
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +5 keen elven curved sword +25/+20 (1d10+20, 15-20x2)
Special Attacks spell combat, spellstrike
Combat Gear +3 mithral breastplate., gloves of dueling, +1 crystal hilt, crown of conquest, headband of vast intelligence +4 [fly, arcana], belt of physical might +4 [Str, Dex], cloak of resistance +4, wayfinder with opalescent white pyramid, ring of protection +1, spellguard bracers, fortunate charm, wand of bladed dash, runestone of power I & II
I'm quite happy with the character at least on paper and I absolutely love the infinite blade works aesthetics of storm of blades, but while the damage is ok - it is utterly unpractical against anything possessing damage reduction (like demons) to the point it's not even funny. Can someone suggest how with the minimum amounts of changes or resources over the next few levels I can fix that? A solution that works only against demons will be perfectly fine... as long as it does not include making the attacks holly by some means (making them good is ok).
Storm of blades uses a weapon as a material component, not a focus. Lugging around a dozen extra swords sounds like a pain to me. You're sure you want to use this spell?
With the reroll on failure 3/day that spellguard bracers gives you, combat casting is probably a waste of your short supply of feats. I'd suggest spell penetration or piercing spell considering how many demons have SR.
The exemplar trait for magic traits can allow you to use a metamagic'd spell a few times per day. Also VMC sorceror with the arcane bloodline can allow this a certain number of times per day. I don't know that it's worth it to invest that much into it, but if you want to you can do at least some of the traditional intensified shinanigans that the normal magus does
Question. How are you planning on getting around the +10 to concentration checks due to being in melee for thought components?
Storm of blades uses a weapon as a material component, not a focus. Lugging around a dozen extra swords sounds like a pain to me. You're sure you want to use this spell?
I can create a mind blade sword with swift action so the material component part is covered.
baggageboy wrote:
Question. How are you planning on getting around the +10 to concentration checks due to being in melee for thought components?
4 from combat casting, 2 from the bracers, 5 from visualization of the mind leaves me failing only on 3 and bellow and something so together with the reroll from the charm and the roll twice from the bracers - it should hold ok for them I cant just 5ft. out of reach.
Does a sword count as an expensive material component, or does the mindblade get to ignore it as it does all other cheap magical components? Even should it count as an expensive component, psychics can still replace those with something important to themselves.
Stricken Heart isn’t great damage, but on a crit build magus it will have an impact. Strange to be built around a 2 handed weapon before you have access to Spell Combat with it.
Stricken Heart isn’t great damage, but on a crit build magus it will have an impact. Strange to be built around a 2 handed weapon before you have access to Spell Combat with it.
Well, not really. I can freely switch it between scimitar and curved blade with a swift action so I can initiate with bladed dash and then next round go two-handed for more damage, switching back to scimitar for a round if I want to re-position or land a vampiric touch. It's a bit clunky, but @13 it won't be a problem anymore and is much less of a hassle than figuring out how to change my opalescent white pyramid with another one resonating with curved blades a level later.
So your mind blade swords can't be enhanced like a normal magus blade? If not then that's going to be incredibly difficult...Align Weapon is the only thing I can think of.
You're 12th level, you should be able to penetrate any and all DR just by putting all points into enhancement bonuses on the weapon.
Overcoming DR
DR Type - Weapon Enhancement
Bonus - Equivalent
Cold iron / silver - +3
Adamantine - +4
Alignment-based - +5
If you really need a boost, take one level of occultist and use the transmutation thing to slap bane onto the weapon. It also may be an option to trade out your second weapon training for advanced weapon training, or to take the advanced weapon training feat. I'm unsure if VMC fighter allows you to take fighter feats though. If you can do this, then take the warrior spirit advanced weapon option and add bane that way.
Does the spell not use the bonuses of the sword being used? If that's the case the only solution I can think of is casting "force sword" and using that sword as your material component.
Does the spell not use the bonuses of the sword being used? If that's the case the only solution I can think of is casting "force sword" and using that sword as your material component.
Unfortunately I don't think even this will work. Storm of Blades deals damage as a standard sword of the type expended, so the +2 force longsword should be dealing damage as a mundane (that is what standard should mean, no?) longsword of it's type.
I believe a metamagic rod of studied spell and sufficient knowledge (planes) should do the trick, but since mindblades are spontaneus casters - I'm not sure if the metamagic rod is usable with spell combat?
I'm honestly not sure what "standard" means here. If it means that the weapon has no features beyond what's listed in their weapon entry, then I think you're probably right. Maybe using false focus for gargantuan tri-point double edged swords would work, but then sizes other than medium may not be standard either. At least that ruling would permit you to carry around a bunch of fine sized swords of the type you want to save on cost and weight.
Never though about summoning larger than medium swords to be honest:) False focus won't really work (with elven curved blades at least, since a large one will cost 160 gp), but I can summon the thing. Not sure if you can hold larger than large weapon though and if you can use material component that you can't hold.
I went with the tri-point double edged sword due to it being 1d10 and costing only 12gp. Going up to gargantuan puts you at 96gp, so just under the wire. What you can hold is entirely based on your strength, you aren't wielding it. So if you can carry 112lbs, you can carry but not wield the gargantuan sword. 4d8 for every 2 caster levels is pretty intense, but without any means of penetrating DR or combining the damage with clustered shots, it's probably not that great.
But you're slamming your foe with a bunch of gargantuan weapons so it should look pretty intense.
Summoning the weapon with your psychic pool would work as written, you could even go colossal broken-back seax if you're worried about carrying it. However, the mindblade thing is probably not intended to allow you to summon anything other than weapons for your size, and it's unlikely that you are meant to be able to use them for purposes besides attacking such as for a material component or as a tool, or summoning improvised weapons that are just other useful tools. And, of course, I think tech weapons are intended to be unavailable as well. None of that is specified though. There's also no indication as to what type of material a mindblade is mechanically for the purposes of being broken, or their weight. It's a wildly incomplete ability.
just like to add that true strike is a great spell for any magus. not only does it negate concealment the +20 to hit can effect the attack you use in the same round with combat casting AND help with concentration since you can take penalty to hit for a bonus on the concentration roll.
Replace one of the OPs high level spells with mind thrust. You'll need to pick up the close range arcana to use this with spell combat, but it should be worth it considering your up against demons.
Why is this spell good? Like a lot of psychic spells, it can be undercast. So you can dump lower level slots into it for lower level effects. Very efficient. Also it does untyped damage. Unfortunately it is a mind effecting spell and offers a save for half damage so lots of creatures will be immune or take half, but it will effect most demons.
Storm of Blades is certainly a fun and flavorful spell, but in terms of damage it is a really bad choice. Normally it caps at 10d6 damage as a regular attack, whereas other spells deal 10d6 as a touch attack (or more than 10d6).
Even if you use "tricks" like huge weapons or enchanted weapons to boost Storm of Blades (and given the wording on the spell, that arguably doesn't work), it's still not great.
Better damage spells include Irradiate, pre-errata Snowball, and Cosmic Ray. But frankly, as a Magus your best damage is to buff your melee damage to the sky, and full attack with that.
You don't seem to have any spells known from Psychic Spell Access, and your Spell Blending choices aren't on the Psychic spell list, which they must be for a Mindblade.
You don't seem to have any spells known from Psychic Spell Access, and your Spell Blending choices aren't on the Psychic spell list, which they must be for a Mindblade.
just to be annoying, I would argue that Mindblades don’t get the Psychic Access class feature until 4th level so clearly its changes don’t apply to Spell Blending taken as the 3rd level arcana, but Barkskin isn’t on either the Wizard or psychic spell lists so even that sophistry doesn’t help.
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