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Either Twisting Tree or unarmed Laughing Shadow.
Why? Staves of course.
I need those Jumps / Utility Stuff on fighting.
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Probably Laughing Shadow (mobility can be very strong and I like the extra movement).
Quite possibly paired with a 2 handed weapon anyway.
Either that or a cheesy Yoyo of DOOM (Gnome Flick Mace) for a backstabbing reach build :-). Gotta abuse that silly weapon with a non paladin (although the temptation for this character to multiclass into paladin is most definitely there :-))
I've really warmed up to Twisting Tree, being able to cast from your staff and strike with it really fulfills that class fantasy for me.
Plus, getting 3+ true strikes from divination staff rocks.
Twisting Tree is fun. Having your staff always there without having to worry about fused staff stuff and being able to switch between agile and reach at will are both pretty cool. I like lunging spellstrike too.
Laughing Shadow is also really cool, but it feels very squishy if you're fighting enemies with AoO and I'm not a huge fan of the feinting part of its first feat (feels hard to build around with the magus' MAD).
Before the book came out I was pretty interested in Starlit. Mechanically ranged spellstrike is still really good, but idk there's nothing about it that feels exciting to me.
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Easily Inexorable Iron or Laughing Shadow. Two handed weapons are my favorite kind (big damage dice make brain happy) but the teleportation that the Laughing Shadow has access to just seems so fun. Really the only one I'm not interested in is Starlit Span, mostly because it doesn't have a super interesting focus spell and seems to have a very standard action routine.
For me it's between Twisting Tree, with the ability to shift between reach and agile, to wield a Staff of Divination and to go full Goku from level 10 onwards and Inexorable Iron for a strong basis that can go well with a d12 damage weapon.
Starlit and Twisting Tree. For starlit, it's the ability to fire off a shot 100' way and then set off a ray, burst or cone off there. Twisting Tree just has nifty stuff in it.
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Laughing Shadow. Teleportation is awesome, and at 1st level you get a teleportation focus spell that rivals what a Conjuration Specialist Wizard can get at 8th level.
Wizard: 1 focus point to teleport 20ft at 8th level, distance increases at higher levels. Action is somatic, meaning you trigger AoOs and grapple can interfere with it.
Magus: 1 focus point to teleport 1/2 speed at 1st level plus get an attack in the same action. Laughing Shadow includes a speed boost with Arcane Cascade, allowing you to get 15ft-20ft teleport at first level. Action is verbal rather than somatic, meaning no provoking AoOs or having difficulty using while grappled. Only downside is restriction on teleporting must be within reach of a creature.
Outside of the rare campaigns that reach very high levels, I'd take the Magus focus spell teleport over the Wizard's version any day no contest.
Ehh. Starlit span is probably the best mechanically but is also the most boring.
Twisting tree and laughing shadow would probably be my choice if I actually played one. Though in the end they'd probably have very minor build differences.
Favourite from a power standpoint? Starlit by far.
Actual favourite? Either Laughing Shadow or Twisting Tree. One teleports, the other beats things up with magic stick. Nothing much to say.
Sparkling Targe for me with Twisting Tree right behind it. Both are well rounded in a way the others aren't.
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I love that each has been mentioned by at least two people (pretty sure at least). There's no overwhelmingly obvious choice, either mechanically or for cool character building.
Going to take a sec and enjoy how rare that is.
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I was running a playtest bow magus before SoM dropped, and my first read-through left me unimpressed with Starlit Span. Once I converted the character, however, and started playing, it became abundantly clear how powerful it was and what a wealth of options I had compared to the playtest.
Starlit Span, by a wide margin - especially with guns coming next month.
So far Starlit. Player is converting their Ranger/Wizard/Eldritch Archer to Magus and they seem very excited at having that concept all in one place, which is a big plus for me because my player is stoked. Whenever a popular character concept can be online from level 1 I'm happy to see it, and in this case it's easy to convert a level 9 character straight over.
They are currently deciding if they want to go Magus/Wizard for a bunch of extra utility slots, or just pick up a bunch of relevant Magus class feats.
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Another thing that stands out to me is how good designed the Magus MC archetype is. You can get Spellstrike OR the hybrid study spell. Even if you don't want spellstrike you can get some fighting-magic on your martial for your favourite hybrid study.
Edit: For me Inexorable Iron because it goes full on heavy weapon mage. Followed by Twisting Tree because it has some cool stuff.
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I'm surprised Starlit still gets rated so high for power even though you don't get Cascade on your ranged attacks. But yeah, not having to move helps a lot with the recharge action economy.
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I really like the Tree, but I like all of them. I'm sad the Targe misses out on some of the fighter/champion shield feats. OTOH at least you can easily be good enough at Crafting to repair.
I liked Slide Casting from the playtest. It looks like the best part was moved to Laughing Shadow's Conflux Spell, though still as a relative beginner I'm not sure how similar they are in the long run. I don't know how to describe it, but that ability conjures specific images in my head that really capture my imagination. It's not something I immediately need in a mystic knight class, but it works together with one beautifully.
I like all the Hybrid Studies in their own ways and like the breadth they cover. I'm always glad to see shields getting to defend in amazing ways, and Sparkling Targe captures that. I think my main honorable mention though would have to be Twisting Tree. While the spellsword element is what I was looking forward to in the class, I have a soft spot for staves being a serious part of a magician's arsenal and appreciate the ability to make them more than just a focus here.
I will be looking closely at Inexorable Iron and starlit span.
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I'm surprised Starlit still gets rated so high for power even though you don't get Cascade on your ranged attacks. But yeah, not having to move helps a lot with the recharge action economy.
The damage from cascade is so laughably small that the added dpr you get from being a stationary spellstrike turret vastly outperforms it. Not to mention that since you don't need to be in it, that's another action saved for something else. Could be as simple as other magi spending a whole turn setting up and moving in while you pop illusory object from a staff, free action release, and shoot from behind your illusory fortification. Average damage from that alone especially as you level is more than what cascade will provide.
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Starlit Span, by a wide margin - especially with guns coming next month.
I forgot how soon guns are coming. That will definitely make me like Starlit Span more.
So, what's your favorite Hybrid Study?
Why is that?At first I was for Inexorable Iron, because I love polearms and Dimensional anchor as bonus spell got my attention ( after 2 years of 2e I can say for sure that I hate enemies which teleport themselves ), but I admit that now Sparkling Targe got my entirely attention.
I like the fact it's excellent in terms of action management, in part because of its focus spell and the shield sinergy with arcane cascade.
Starting from lvl 12, being able to use twice per fight the focus spell completes your character.
I considered damaging spells with my spellcasting slots, but given how cantrips are good, I started looking to utility and supportive spells, which might drastically change my approach to the fight.
Do you have a build ? (Haven’t looked at the build thread yet)
Personally, my favorite flavor of martial is "ranged character with trick ammo" and starlit span fulfills the fantasy really well; tanglefoot is good for a bola arrow/net launcher, poison puff for poison, elemental ammuniton for the elemental cantrips, etc.
Second favorite is staff magus, since I have a soft spot for staff fighters, and feels a like a martial artist wizard. Reach is nice, and you get a lot of traits. Notnthe hughest damage, but you get utility
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I'm surprised Starlit still gets rated so high for power even though you don't get Cascade on your ranged attacks. But yeah, not having to move helps a lot with the recharge action economy.
Cascade doesn't matter all that much. It's a really small damage increase.
The biggest problem with ranged combat is the raw damage output and Spellstrike gives you some great damage modifiers via the spells you're attaching to your attacks and it plays around really nicely with the magus' action economy.
I am a little tepid on Starlit because I think it's boring (your hybrid feature does nothing except make your playstyle functional, you can't use cascade at all without a feat and that feat is weirdly similar in design space to your focus spell which isn't super exciting either, then your first bonus spell is darkvision too, so cool), but it's undeniably really effective.