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I'm thinking of grabbing mage armor as a dedication spell. Heightening it as I level up.
One of my fellow players feels that mage armor is kinda pointless in PF2. Feeling that even a caster can grab a simple +1 magic armor and get just as much AC, without wasting a precious spell known and slot.
I'm feeling that while it is weak at lower levels, it does gain more benefits as you level up. It's also last 24 hrs, which is great for a dedication spell, given 1 slot you get for each level.
Does anyone have any experience with mage armor? Is it worth getting as a spell known? Or are there better level 1 spells out there? (for a bard dedication)
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Mage Armor is really bad as a dedication spell.
For a full caster, it's borderline considerable. Trading your best slot in order to not need to invest in armour isn't ideal, since as a caster, it's not like you're investing into a weapon anyway and can afford it comfortably. I'd only personally use it as an Abjuration Wizard.
Via dedications, it's just too far behind the curve. Let's look at the breakpoints. Against your intuition, it actually gets weaker at higher levels.
As a 1st level spell, it's decent. It's equivalent to +1 Explorer's Clothing, a 5th level item. You're getting this at 4th level, and it stays competitive for a bit.
As a 4th level spell, it's equivalent to +1 resilient Explorer's clothing, an 8th level item. You don't get this until 12th level though, by which point you can access +2 resilient Explorer's clothing.
As a 6th level spell, it's equivalent to +2 resilient Explorer's clothing, an 11th level item. You don't get this until 16th level, by which point you can access +2 greater resilient Explorer's clothing.
As an 8th level spell, it's equivalent to +2 greater resilient Explorer's clothing. Except you're waiting until 20th level to get this via dedication, by which point +3 major resilient Explorer's clothing is available.
In short, you'll always be behind on AC by at least two or three levels by using Mage Armor via dedication. And would also be investing class feats into this. AND not using those highest level slots for something better.
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@TheGentlemanDM,
Sorry I'm really new to this, so please help me understand how dedication spell casting works.
I know you can heighten one dedication spell per feat. Does this heighten not equal your character level? Or it's based off which spell caster dedication feat you currently have and that progression? Lv 4 = lv1 spell, lv 6 = lv 2 spell etc..
I'm having trouble finding the rules on heightened dedication spells...
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@TheGentlemanDM,
Sorry I'm really new to this, so please help me understand how dedication spell casting works.
I know you can heighten one dedication spell per feat. Does this heighten not equal your character level? Or it's based off which spell caster dedication feat you currently have and that progression? Lv 4 = lv1 spell, lv 6 = lv 2 spell etc..
I'm having trouble finding the rules on heightened dedication spells...
I think I see your confusion. What we now get from the errata to spontaneous dedication casting is the ability to pick signature spells. As an example, I'd read about Spell Repertoire and Signature Spells for Sorcerers, on pg 193 of the book. For dedication casters, it works exactly the same way. You just get your slots at a slower rate, and only one Signature Spell per dedication casting feat.
The important point is that *the heightening isn't free*. You are just allowed to cast it out of a higher level slot while only knowing the lower level version of the spell. For Mage Armor, this isn't all that valuable, as you'd probably always want to cast it at only it's highest level, so you can just swap out the lower level spell whenever you get a higher level slot.
A good guide and break down of some items and such... But they do a very good job at covering spells.
https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1TOd9-spwBjst13NRHEr1fl8AyrK3trsofTH zfEJy30E/mobilebasic#
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I like it, the money saved is huge and you can always retrain it if you are feeling the sting.
Selling magical armour is harder and it isn't something you can rely upon always having access to.
Also, nothing states you HAVE to heighten it to your highest level so there is extra flexibility.
A good guide and break down of some items and such... But they do a very good job at covering spells.
https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1TOd9-spwBjst13NRHEr1fl8AyrK3trsofTH zfEJy30E/mobilebasic#
Sorry, link doesn't work.
Can you give website and page name so I can find this?| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I like it, the money saved is huge and you can always retrain it if you are feeling the sting.
Selling magical armour is harder and it isn't something you can rely upon always having access to.
Also, nothing states you HAVE to heighten it to your highest level so there is extra flexibility.
This. Keeping Mage Armour a few levels behind gets you pretty much the same armour you'd buy (because let's face it, you'd rather spend money on a staff) and doesn't hurt your spells that much.
A good guide and break down of some items and such... But they do a very good job at covering spells.
https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1TOd9-spwBjst13NRHEr1fl8AyrK3trsofTH zfEJy30E/mobilebasic#
Sorry, link doesn't work.
Can you give website and page name so I can find this?
That's because there's a space in it.
(Why does that happen? I see it all the time.)
Here's a working link: https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1TOd9-spwBjst13NRHEr1fl8AyrK3trsofTH zfEJy30E/mobilebasic#