Two handed Laughing Shadow Magus is Superior!

[CaffeinatedNinja]

All kidding aside, weirdly, by early mid game you basically have no reason to use a 1 handed sword with laughing shadow if going strength, even though it is the 1 handed sword style.

Laughing shadow encourages you to go 1 handed (with nothing in your other hand, can't even hold a scroll) through arcane cascade. NONE of the feats require it except spell parry, which is way worse than using a shield cantrip. (And magus doesn't really have actions for it.)

Arcane cascade gives more speed it 1handed (5, 10 if unarmored) and extra damage if flanked, 3-5-7 instead of the usual 1-2-3.

But by lvl 7 or so, any magus worth their salt will have a wand of longstrider. 10 speed, doesn't stack with arcane cascade speed.

As for damage, a 2hander will do more damage than a 1hander even with the flanking bonus starting at lvl 4. Before that it does the same. And it applies ALL the time, not just to flanked.

Cool teleporation feats? They don't require you to be using a 1handed weapon.

So use a bastard sword in two hands for more damage and everything else the same. If you really need that free hand, just take a hand off as a free action.'

Weird, but true. Two handed Laughing Shadow reigns supreme!

[WatersLethe]

I think it's good that you're not forced into one weapon style! I don't think the differences are enough to make it a problem either.

It's nice that a dex focused character will have an easier time taking advantage of the 10 foot speed boost and have some extra damage to bring them closer to par.

[Saint Bernard]

I agree with your analysis. I am still going with a dex based Laughing Shadow wielding a rapier.

[Squiggit]

I mean, you still run into the normal issues of 1h vs 2h, so it's more like just the same as always (except your damage bonus is a bit higher if you're 1h + empty hand).

[CaffeinatedNinja]

Squiggit wrote:

I mean, you still run into the normal issues of 1h vs 2h, so it's more like just the same as always (except your damage bonus is a bit higher if you're 1h + empty hand).

I mean yeah, but magus doesn’t really have a huge use for the free hand, Theo soon economy is insanely tight. But if you do need a free hand, ou just drop your grip on the bastard sword.

Fighter has a ton of great feats that benefit from 1handed fighting, magus, not so much.

[Dubious Scholar]

CaffeinatedNinja wrote:

Squiggit wrote:

I mean, you still run into the normal issues of 1h vs 2h, so it's more like just the same as always (except your damage bonus is a bit higher if you're 1h + empty hand).

I mean yeah, but magus doesn’t really have a huge use for the free hand, Theo soon economy is insanely tight. But if you do need a free hand, ou just drop your grip on the bastard sword.

Fighter has a ton of great feats that benefit from 1handed fighting, magus, not so much.

I think I'd rather run Katana in most cases for the Versatile P, but the two-handed trait is wonderful.