Warpriest vs Two-Handed Magus


Magus Class

Horizon Hunters

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So, a cleric of Gorum and a magus walk into a bar... and nobody's surprised when they bring swords to a bar fight.

If both of them use two-handed weapons, it begs the comparison on how they function.

Cleric of Gorum pre-Channel Smite: pretty much like a fighter, i.e. Strike, Strike again, maybe Demoralize. Might also do 'cast True Strike', then Strike, then maybe 'Cast Shield'.

But at level 4, they get Channel Smite. Which lets them burn a heal or harm to do extra damage on a Strike for the low cost of 2 actions. No extra to-hit or resist rolls, no chance for extra crit, just burn a spell slot and get more damage dice, and you have one action left for movement or other useful things like healing or demoralizing.

What does a magus get?
For two actions, prime a Striking Spell, then as a third action, Strike. If you miss, you don't burn the spell and can try again three times next turn. But the spell you cast is probably more reliable if it requires a save because MAP can make it hard to land both the spell and the strike in case of consecutive misses. The magus also gets to do this from level 1. And if they are using a two-hander like the cleric, they also get some temporary hitpoints, at the cost of mobility. At level 10, healer's steel also heals them a little bit. But it's comparable to burning 1-action heals by the cleric, admittedly at the cost of spell slots. Last but not least, a magus can get a lot of mileage from cantrip strikes, whereas the cleric has to burn actual spells for Channel Smite. But Cleric has a lot more slots to burn.

Cleric:
+mobility or flexibility from the third action
+more spell slots
+one stat dependency: strength; +charisma helps for extra spells, dump wisdom
+no double jeopardy on channel smite, just bonus damage dice
+Emblazon Armament, 2nd level feat: can cast 3-action spells without taking hands off weapon
-burns through a lot of spells
-healing isn't free
-all or nothing on channel smite, must burn true strike or a hero point for second chances
-slightly less weapon training in certain level bands (esp after level 14)

Magus:
+cantrip nukes for days
+almost (but not quite) free healing
+second chances on missed attacks
+better weapon training in some level bands
-few spell slots
-needs both high str and int, which means your defenses or other utility will suffer
-double jeopardy: if your strike hit, doesn't mean your spell will
-clunky mobility with a two-hander
-no big heals
-concentrate trait on Striking Spell makes them vulnerable against a specific fighter build with Disruptive Stance feat

Who would win? My money is on the cleric.

With certain feats the two-handed weapon magus can be very tanky, and might even defeat an equal level cleric in a duel if they get overconfident with heals and get spiked down by a crit, but against a mobile enemy the magus may have a hard time, especially if that mobile enemy has ranged attacks.

The cleric has a lot more resources to throw at a problem and can get strong heals on demand, along with better, more flexible action economy. I feel like the cleric would be more enjoyable to play if not outright better in some ways.

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