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Those you've specifically called out would be pushing things a bit if made available earlier.
Spell Swipe (8th) is a better Swipe (4th), so 6th is the absolute earliest I'd consider it.
Portal Slide (10th) is teleportation, which isn't ever available early in this edition. I think it needs a buff rather than to be earlier.
Capture Spell (8th) is a very powerful effect that should not be available earlier.
That said, I do agree there is a need for more interesting early options (stances, focus spells, something).
Tho' capture spell, while powerful, is difficult to make use of. You need to be targeted specifically. And to have Spell parry ready. And it seems that most monsters using actual spells are often resistant or immune to their spells. I think it would benefit from a buff, something like "when you succeed a save/an attack roll from a foe's harmful spell against you fails while you benefit from spell parry etc etc". Just removing the "targetting" part to open it up to more possibilities.
Those you've specifically called out would be pushing things a bit if made available earlier.
Spell Swipe (8th) is a better Swipe (4th), so 6th is the absolute earliest I'd consider it.
Portal Slide (10th) is teleportation, which isn't ever available early in this edition. I think it needs a buff rather than to be earlier.
Capture Spell (8th) is a very powerful effect that should not be available earlier.
That said, I do agree there is a need for more interesting early options (stances, focus spells, something).
Monks can get Abundant Step at 6th level, which I think is the earliest teleportation available so far. Transmutation Wizards can get teleportation focus spell at 8th level. So I do think Portal Slide could be lower, but I also wouldn't oppose to it staying at 10th level, but being buffed. Either it lets you teleport your whole movement or lets you teleport half your movement when Striking Spell any spell (cantrips included).
Monks can get Abundant Step at 6th level, which I think is the earliest teleportation available so far. Transmutation Wizards can get teleportation focus spell at 8th level. So I do think Portal Slide could be lower, but I also wouldn't oppose to it staying at 10th level, but being buffed. Either it lets you teleport your whole movement or lets you teleport half your movement when Striking Spell any spell (cantrips included).
Thing is both of those are Focus spells and Portal Slide isn't. You can get a lot more frequency out of Portal Slide teleports (especially if you have Martial Caster or an MCD) and considering that the original ability is already basically a bonus action that makes it pretty powerful.
I personally think Portal Slide is perfectly fine as is and probably doesn't need to be touched for that exact reason. Martial Caster spamming with Portal Slide is pretty dang solid and it's not even an expensive get.
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Capture Spell is not as powerful as it seems IMO. It is an extremely niche ability that requires you:
- Used Spell Parry last round, which as a Magus is already hard to be able to consistently do
- You succeed at the save or they fail the attack roll
- You have your reaction available
- The enemy casts spells
- The enemy casts a spell with a target of you and also decides to target you
As an 8th level Feat with the frequency tethered to all of the above coming together isn't a good one (and it puts the burden on the GM to basically purposely trigger the ability in order for the player to derive value from the choice).
Capture Spell is really powerful when it works.
How often does it work? See above...
Monks can get Abundant Step at 6th level, which I think is the earliest teleportation available so far. Transmutation Wizards can get teleportation focus spell at 8th level. So I do think Portal Slide could be lower, but I also wouldn't oppose to it staying at 10th level, but being buffed. Either it lets you teleport your whole movement or lets you teleport half your movement when Striking Spell any spell (cantrips included).Thing is both of those are Focus spells and Portal Slide isn't. You can get a lot more frequency out of Portal Slide teleports (especially if you have Martial Caster or an MCD) and considering that the original ability is already basically a bonus action that makes it pretty powerful.
I personally think Portal Slide is perfectly fine as is and probably doesn't need to be touched for that exact reason. Martial Caster spamming with Portal Slide is pretty dang solid and it's not even an expensive get.
Portal Slide is comparable to Focus Spell teleports IMO as its fairly infrequent in use (like focus spells). One, in the current incarnation of the Magus (TBD), I'm going to rely on some of my spells just for buffing and not Striking Spell. I'm more likely to use Striking Spell with cantrips. Let's say by 10th level, I have 4 spell slots. Two of them are likely going to be haste and heightened invisibility or some other buff spells wit the other two also being buff spells or maybe offensive spells like Sudden Bolt heightened or something similar. Unless I take the Martial Caster or MCD, that's only 4 spell slots, and at least two of them are going to buffs (no Striking Spell). Even with Martial Caster or MCD, those paths only provide lower level spells, which are more useful for buffs or utility spells (not Striking Spell worthy).
I could be missing something, but Portal Slide seems rare to actually use and more infrequent than focus teleport spells. Considering its feat level (10th) and low range (half your movement speed, so 10ft unless you have fleet or are an ancestry with 30ft speed), I think the feat could be buffed to your regular movement speed or work with cantrips and Striking Spell too.
Well you can get at least 4 Portal Slides a day as a base, all of which could theoretically be used in the same combat (though unlikely).
That's already better than a Focus Spell IMO, and it generally requires 3 Class Feats to get to the Focus Pool size where it averages to be better.
Meanwhile, the Magus can grab a single Class Feat and effectively get 2 additional slots of spell with Martial Caster, thus opening up their original 4 to be used in this way.
And then, we can exploit that further with an MCD into Wizard (which is not altogether uncommon).
I'd also argue that Fleet is pretty cheap, Nimble Elf is pretty cheap, Elves are common Magus, etc. so 30ft movement isn't even altogether difficult to achieve (and if I was a Magus with Portal Slide, I'd probably find a way to achieve that 30ft).
We can't just look at Portal Slide for what it would be on average, we have to look at it for what it can be used to do if choices align. And the choices that align to make Portal Slide exceptional aren't even all that uncommon (Elf is a great choice for Magus, MCD Wizard/Witch is a great choice for Magus, Fleet is a great choice for a Slide Magus, Nimble Elf is a great choice for a Slide Elf Magus, Martial Caster is a great choice for a Magus).
If we go Ancient Elf Slide Magus, grab Martial Caster at 6, Basic casting at 4, Portal Casting at 10, Fleet at 3, Nimble Elf at 1, Arcane Breadth at 8, then we have a Magus who can:
Teleport 20ft (if it's NOT a conjuration/transmutation, which ups it to 40ft) up to 10x per day, theoretically, with Portal Slide (12 Slots include Martial Caster, 10 of which can be used to cast a Striking Spell) and have 2 slots leftover from Martial Caster for buffs.
10 times per day, even with a ridiculous amount of Refocus benefits, familiar, gnome, desperate prayer MCD, just isn't possible with Focus Spells at level 10.
EDIT: Depending on how you read Arcane Breadth, which states "your two highest spell slots per day" the above "10x per day" could be "8x per day", but the strictest reading of Breadth seems to indicate you get those slots since it references Spell Levels and not MCD specific spell levels. RAI probably not intentional to get additional slots for 2/3rd, but I'd consider 8x per day enough on its own to be better than Focus Spells.
Well you can get at least 4 Portal Slides a day as a base, all of which could theoretically be used in the same combat (though unlikely).
That's already better than a Focus Spell IMO, and it generally requires 3 Class Feats to get to the Focus Pool size where it averages to be better.
Meanwhile, the Magus can grab a single Class Feat and effectively get 2 additional slots of spell with Martial Caster, thus opening up their original 4 to be used in this way.
And then, we can exploit that further with an MCD into Wizard (which is not altogether uncommon).
I'd also argue that Fleet is pretty cheap, Nimble Elf is pretty cheap, Elves are common Magus, etc. so 30ft movement isn't even altogether difficult to achieve (and if I was a Magus with Portal Slide, I'd probably find a way to achieve that 30ft).
We can't just look at Portal Slide for what it would be on average, we have to look at it for what it can be used to do if choices align. And the choices that align to make Portal Slide exceptional aren't even all that uncommon (Elf is a great choice for Magus, MCD Wizard/Witch is a great choice for Magus, Fleet is a great choice for a Slide Magus, Nimble Elf is a great choice for a Slide Elf Magus, Martial Caster is a great choice for a Magus).
If we go Ancient Elf Slide Magus, grab Martial Caster at 6, Basic casting at 4, Portal Casting at 10, Fleet at 3, Nimble Elf at 1, Arcane Breadth at 8, then we have a Magus who can:
Teleport 20ft (if it's NOT a conjuration/transmutation, which ups it to 40ft) up to 10x per day, theoretically, with Portal Slide (12 Slots include Martial Caster, 10 of which can be used to cast a Striking Spell) and have 2 slots leftover from Martial Caster for buffs.
10 times per day, even with a ridiculous amount of Refocus benefits, familiar, gnome, desperate prayer MCD, just isn't possible with Focus Spells at level 10.
EDIT: Depending on how you read Arcane Breadth, which states "your two highest spell slots per day" the above "10x per day" could be...
A few things, I wouldn't say elf is an easy choice for Magus. I'm using it for my Magus, but the con penalty does really hurt on a frontline class that only has 8 HP / level. Otherwise, I do agree Elves make decent Magus, and the 30ft plus Nimble Elf is a nice combination. But I also really like elves. However, not everyone likes elves though, so getting 40ft movement is rare, and likely most people will be limited to 25-30ft (fleet), which is 10-15ft range teleport with Slide.
You're right that if you spend all your spell slots on Striking Spell, then Portal Slide is decent. However, that's too much white room analysis IMO. From what I've played of the Magus and what I've read of others, most people aren't using their slots for Striking Spell. Most are using them for buffs with the occasional slot or two for Striking Spell. The same goes for MCD Wizard builds or Martial Caster feat. They give you more slots and hypothetically more teleports, but in reality, those lower level slots won't be much use for offensive spells. Those extra slots will likely go to utility and buffing spells since they are lower level spells.
ObvSome lower level slots can be useful like Fear as offensive Striking Spells, but usually, a caster wants their highest 2 spell levels for offensive spells, and the Magus is no different. So in practice, I don't see Portal teleporting happening that often. In your ancient elf Magus example, that's a very specific build to spam teleporting, which is cool, but niche. Not everyone will want to go elf, a specific elven ancestry, use many of their class feats on dedications, and spam low level spells on Striking Spell.
Now, of course this could all change if the new Magus is really different. As is though, I think Portal Slide is a bit on the weak side given what I discussed above.
It's not "decent" if you spec for it, it's downright exploitable to the point of almost being a problem. On demand 20/40ft teleport, and I say on demand because absolutely nothing states you have to complete a Strike to use Portal Slide, is always good.
If you can spend a single 1st level spell slot to gain a 40ft teleport, that's a pretty big advantage to have, regardless of how or when it gets used. It's significantly less expensive than a Focus Point. You don't have to actually use the spell itself, because you traded the spell (1st level slot so who cares) for a 40/20ft teleport.
Tell me, if there was a 1st level spell that gave you a 20/40ft teleport to anywhere you could see, how many casters do you think would take it? I'd wager a lot.
And that's without even considering if the 1st level spell has any other inherent benefits.
You can go over walls, through bars, behind an enemy with AoO/Reactions, on top of a vantage point, etc.
If you want to downplay the value of a level 1 spell translating to Teleport on demand, by all means, but calling it "decent" is a bit of a disservice. A 1st level spell is not the same cost as a Focus Spell (heck a 2/3rd level spells aren't either by 10th level) and they trigger this very advantageous free action.
If you want it to be re-tuned so it can't be exploited and have more relevance, then sure, but it's not weak by any measure even if you don't spec for it.
An easy way to prevent exploitation is to limit it to only Magus spells. I see your point. In general, 2E's coldness towards teleporting frustrates me, but I understand its part of the system design.