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The staff magus has a number of abilities and I just want to confirm my understanding is correct per the rules as they could be good or bad depending on how these work.
Ability 1 - Quarterstaff Defense
At 7th level, while wielding a quarterstaff, the staff magus gains a shield bonus to his Armor Class equal to the enhancement bonus of the quarterstaff, including any enhancement bonus on that staff from his arcane pool class feature. At 13th level, this bonus increases by +3.
Ability 2 - Staff Weapon
At 10th level, a staff magus treats any magical staff he is wielding as a magical quarterstaff with an enhancement bonus to attack and damage equal to the staff’s caster level divided by 4 (minimum +1). The staff must have at least 1 charge for the magus to use this ability. A staff magus can restore 1 charge to a staff by expending a number of points from his arcane pool equal to the level of the highest-level spell cast in the staff, as long as at least one spell in the staff is on the magus spell list. The magus cannot restore charges to more than one staff per day.
My understnading is that these would work as follows . . .
1) Pick up magical staff which wont have an enhancement usually.
2) Sample staff - Staff of feast and famine CL 8.
3) Divide CL 8 by 4 = 2.
4) The staff of feast and famine in a staff magus's hands has an effective enhancement bonus of +2 making it a staff of feast and famine +2.
5) The staff magus then gains a shield bonus of +2 while wielding it or +5 at 13th level.
Is this how these abilities work?
Yes that all sounds correct.
Yep. Staff Magus is good, but the really good abilities don't typically come online until later. So a 9th level Staff Magus could jack the enhancement bonus up another +3 using their Arcane Pool.
Yup. A level 1-6 Staff Magus can use a Quarterstaff as a 1-handed weapon, but otherwise doesn't really have a reason to use a Staff .
At level 7 a Quarterstaff adds to your defence as well as offence, so you have some incentive to use a Quarterstaff.
At level 10+ you don't need a weapon, just a QUIVER full of staves.
Don't forget the Wand Wielder arcana on a Staff Magus.
: The magus can activate a wand or staff in place of casting a spell when using spell combat.
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Yup. A level 1-6 Staff Magus can use a Quarterstaff as a 1-handed weapon, but otherwise doesn't really have a reason to use a Staff .
At level 7 a Quarterstaff adds to your defence as well as offence, so you have some incentive to use a Quarterstaff.
At level 10+ you don't need a weapon, just a QUIVER full of staves.
Don't forget the Wand Wielder arcana on a Staff Magus.
: The magus can activate a wand or staff in place of casting a spell when using spell combat.
Is there something I'm missing that make that an especially good option compared to other options?
Well you can't spell-combat with your staff without it .
There's not a WHOLE lot of point going Staff Magus if you're not going to be using Spell Staff Combat. You're trading away better weapon choices and armour proficiencies for a better shield bonus. I guess you don't bave to, but I would.
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Well you can't spell-combat with your staff without it .
There's not a WHOLE lot of point going Staff Magus if you're not going to be using
SpellStaff Combat. You're trading away better weapon choices and armour proficiencies for a better shield bonus. I guess you don't bave to, but I would.
Oh I didn't realize that, hmmm.
I mean, once you have Wand Wielder you can collect some good wands and some good staves, and it basically expands your spell list.
Any Magus can do that, but as a Staff Magus you save money on weapons, since you don't really have to buy beyond a +1 Quarterstaff. Heck you can sell that +1 Quarterstaff once you hit level 10 and start you magic Staff collection.
The money saved on weapons can be put toward staves, and you can pull out a different staff for every encounter. You could even dual wield staves if you want - one to cast with and one to whack with.
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I mean, once you have Wand Wielder you can collect some good wands and some good staves, and it basically expands your spell list.
Any Magus can do that, but as a Staff Magus you save money on weapons, since you don't really have to buy beyond a +1 Quarterstaff. Heck you can sell that +1 Quarterstaff once you hit level 10 and start you magic Staff collection.
The money saved on weapons can be put toward staves, and you can pull out a different staff for every encounter. You could even dual wield staves if you want - one to cast with and one to whack with.
Hmmm probably wouldn't work via the rules but I'm suddenly picturing someone using a Staff of Eldritch Sovereignity. to hit someone and cast plane shift on them. DC24 save or suddenly find yourself in the elemental plane of fire/negative energy/water.
No that totally works.
It's a touch range spell so it works with spellstrike. It's got provisions for willing creatures, but it's not "Harmless" and it has a will save to resist.
Also remember that staves either use their own save DCs or yours - so if your INT is high enough then you'd increase the save DC. So yeah, plane-shift away!
Huh, now we have an excellent use for Arcane Batteries... turn your staves up to 11!
Why not just make 10 better?
Because this one goes to ELEVEN!
Do Magi have an Arcana to boost the DC and/or CL of wands they wield to use their own instead of the wands? Not unlike the Magician Bard's Wand Mastery at 10 and 16, respectively?
I thought Counterfeit Mage Rogues got something similar with their Signature Wand thingy, but that does not seem to be the case.
Do Magi have an Arcana to boost the DC and/or CL of wands they wield to use their own instead of the wands? Not unlike the Magician Bard's Wand Mastery at 10 and 16, respectively?
Yup: WAND MASTERY. I don't think they have anything to use their own Caster Level though, so the Magician Bard is a little better at that still.
It's also not likely to be suuuper good save DCs anyway, since wands cap out at 4th level spells. Still, since Magi only get to 6th level spells it's not far off their highest spells anyway. I think you could make good use of it.
One more flavour thing you could develop with a staff magus is the feat: Polearm Acrobat. Get a trait that gives you acrobatics as a class skill (Reckless for example) and you can move around the battle much more easily.
Only if you are playing 2e. (I don't see a 1e version of that anywhere).