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To survive in melee, you generally need a decent HP and an AC high enough to avoid being hit all the time. Since you already stated you want to use a d6 half BAB full arcane caster which makes that a little difficult. To get your HP up you are going to need to pump your CON. DEX and playing a small character can help with the AC. I would recommend using a gnome sorcerer. They get a bonus to both CON and CHAR so that should boost your HP fortitude save and your casting stat.
The Aberrant bloodline means your polymorph spells last longer. Turning into other creatures can give you better survivability. The feat scale and skin can boost up your AC when under a transformation spell and increases if your caster level is higher than 10. You can also use some of your feats to boost your defenses. Things like dodge or other AC boosting feats may keep you alive.
Another option for race would be a Kyton spawn Tiefling. The get the boost to CON and CHA. Armor of the pit will give you a +2 bonus to your natural AC. The Abyssal bloodline gives you a boost to STR at higher level and would take advantage of fiendish sorcery. You can trade your spell like ability for a bite to get 3 natural attacks per round. If you can manage to get to 13 level, you can pick up transformation which will really boost your ability to fight in melee.
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Brown-Fur Transmuter Arcanist + Monstrous Physique + Deathsnatcher
Pre-erratta scarred witch doctor if you have a gm that allows it. As an honorable mention how about an empyreal bloodline sorcerer with a one level dip into sohei monk to go into eldritch knight?
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A protector familiar would eventually have your full hp as his total hp and can take half your damage. it can also gain fast healing 5 if you take the right feat. that kinda double your hp total and give you fast healing 5 up to half that total.
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I've played a white-haired witch up to Seeker level in PFS, but keeping her effective in melee has been a challenge for her entire career. In particular, her AC has never been as high as I wish it could be. Her build includes things like: king crab familiar for the +2 to grapple; Weapon Finesse for accuracy; false life to offset damage; extended mage armor (using a metamagic rod); spite spell to punish those who do hit her; corrosive amulet of mighty fists for extra damage (and spell storing later for extra effects); Arcane Strike for extra damage (and not having spend for +1 on the amulet); and keeping her Int as maxed out as possible (because the hair uses Int for damage and CMB).
By the time she reached around 7th-8th level, her spells had vastly outpaced her melee abilities, so she rarely entered melee except to threaten enemies with her hair's extra reach, provide flanking for the better melee strikers, and deliver the occasional touch spell from a safe distance.
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A gnome with fell magic specializing in touch spells could be fairly effective. There are a decent amount of necromancy touch spells. Blindness is only a second level spell and has duration of permanent. Vampiric Touch is 3rd level and will give you some temporary HP to continue the fight. Bestow Curse is 4th level and also has a duration of permanent.
The undead bloodlines grave touch can cause a shaken character to become frightened for one round if its HD are fewer than your caster level. There is no save vs grave touch. There also does not seem to be anything from preventing you from using it multiple times. This would allow you to touch a creature to give it the shaken condition and then the next round touch it again to give it the frightened condition. This seems to be one of the few offensive bloodline powers that remain useful at higher levels.
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My group has got a Transmutation specialist Wizard in one of our games who spends the majority of his time engaged in melee combat… oddly enough he has one of the highest Str scores in the party, beaten only by the barbarian…. He relies on miss chance and AC boosting spells to survive ip close, often even using polymorph too.
Arcanist can be a very effective melee caster. Bewteen Armored Mask, Wooden Flesh, Shadow Veil, and Arcane Barrier, an Arcanist can be fairly tanky… add in Dimensional Slide and getting in or out of combat becomes a breeze. At this point you only need to sort out melee damage… the Stonefists spell will let you make unarmed attacks as if you were armed and deal more lethal damage, several weapons that the Arcanist is proficient with are finesse weapons, so a dec build can be very effective… a 1 level dip into kinetic knight will get you a weapon that targets touch AC… the Magaambyan Initiate archetype would allow you to learn Flame Blade, and with the arcanists high charisma for their exploits you can make effective use of the flame blade dervish feat to add your charisma to damage… a Samsaran w/ Mystic Past Life could also add Flame Blade to the spell list… and the Arcanist has the Arcane Weapon exploit too for enhancing their weapon… the Blade Adept archetype is also another good option for a melee Arcanist, effectively turning them into a full caster Bladebound Magus…
I've had good luck with an Arcanist Blade Adept.
What is exciting about a familiar with a wand of truestrike?
I've had good luck with an Arcanist Blade Adept.Yeah the blade adept is a good concept but every time i look at it the same question comes to mind....why not just play a bladebound magus?
(Greater) Exploits and 9th level casting from one of the best spell lists (rather than the truncated magus list). The real choice is whether you want a pre-built package that gets started right away, or do you want a highly customizable, high octane performer that takes a little bit to fine tune.
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(Greater) Exploits and 9th level casting from one of the best spell lists (rather than the truncated magus list). The real choice is whether you want a pre-built package that gets started right away, or do you want a highly customizable, high octane performer that takes a little bit to fine tune.I've had good luck with an Arcanist Blade Adept.Yeah the blade adept is a good concept but every time i look at it the same question comes to mind....why not just play a bladebound magus?
Thats pretty much the deal breaker for me, for me a character needs to be functional by level 3, online by level 7 and at full power by 13. Any slower then that is just gonna lead to problems
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How does your familiar cast true strike on you, from a wand? Is there some way to use an item delivered personal spell on another that I have been missing?
Thats pretty much the deal breaker for me, for me a character needs to be functional by level 3, online by level 7 and at full power by 13. Any slower then that is just gonna lead to problems
Perhaps the concept you are going for is not going to be modeled well in this system with the specifications you've outlined. If your playstyle is as limited as you described, it might be better to play a magus.
The big problem with the blade adept is that it can't get spell strike till level 5 at the earliest, because it doesn't get its first exploit till level 5. That makes the end text for its weapon specialization exploit particularly hilarious.
But I would say the blade adept is fairly functional from level 1. In very low level, the BAB difference is small. As you get to higher level, the BAB difference can be made up with spells and exploits. The weird thing may be how you want to stat it. It feels so weird to prioritize your dexterity over your casting stat when making a full caster.
PS: It's super tempting to take a 1 level dip of inspired blade swashbuckler, but I don't know if that matters for this conversation, since it seems to imply a pure caster
I've had good luck with an Arcanist Blade Adept.Yeah the blade adept is a good concept but every time i look at it the same question comes to mind....why not just play a bladebound magus?
I agree, but the magus did not fill the OP request.
The object of this build is to have a 9th level full arcane caster that operates on the front line. That does not mean they have to be focusing on melee attacks, touch attacks would be the best way to go. Don’t forget this is still a full 9th level arcane caster. Why are you attacking with a weapon or natural attack when you can use a spell?
What you need to do is to make sure you have a good concentration bonus so you can cast without provoking an AoO. Weapon finesse will allow you to use DEX to hit even with spells. So, just make sure to take combat casting, and weapon finesse. Weapon finesse can probably wait till you start having trouble hitting.
Trying to use actual attacks makes the character weaker than it needs to. The Ghoul bloodline would actually work really well for a gnome with fell magic. The claws might not do much damage, but they can paralyze the target if they fail their save. It also gets weapon finesse as a bonus feat.
If you just want to do casty things more safely from melee range, then most witch hexes don't provoke. At the same time, that's not really a reason to "want to get in close up melee range".
The key is to make a high strength natural attack build. Transmutation should be your primary school. I would suggest taking a protector archetype familiar.
The safest bet is wizard. You can just stop preparing spells that are no longer appropriate to your current play style. At low levels you can be a support caster with a nasty surprise if someone goes for the "squishy." At higher levels you will have the spells like false life and heroism to boost your survivability and then you can switch to a more in your face type role.
If you were to be an Instructor Wizard, you could essentially have TWO transmuter Wizards! And they share teamwork feats, which probably adds to their viability as effective melee combatants. Having another Wizard has to be better than just having a Protector Familiar. Lol.
If you were to be an Instructor Wizard, you could essentially have TWO transmuter Wizards! And they share teamwork feats, which probably adds to their viability as effective melee combatants. Having another Wizard has to be better than just having a Protector Familiar. Lol.
It can get a little more ridiculous than that… your apprentice still gets arcane bond, so they can still have a familiar… the Valet familiar also shares teamwork feats allowing you some greater flexibility on positioning… or you can go with any of the typical Protector or Sage familiar setups…
Can't remember the name of it, but there is a Feat that gives you your Int bonus to hit, but it only works if you are going last in Initiative.
Nevermind I found it, it's 3rd party
Can't remember the name of it, but there is a Feat that gives you your Int bonus to hit, but it only works if you are going last in Initiative.
Nevermind I found it, it's 3rd party
One could still take Kirin Strike or Elven Battle Focus if they were concerned with using Intelligence for attack or damages... or, at least, damages.
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I put did a quick build of a 12th level gnome sorcerer with the ghoul bloodline to see how it came out and it worked out pretty well. I took weapon finesse as a bloodline feat at 7th level. The rest of the feats are Ability focus paralysis, combat casting, eschew materials, spell focus and greater spell focus necromancy, weapon focus claw, and slashing grace. I took a necromancy touch spell for each spell level (chill touch, Blindness/deafness, vampiric touch, blood boil, and wither limb). I used the ABP instead of taking the time to equip the character. This gave the following stats STR 8, DEX 18, CON 16, INT 10, WIS 10, CHA 25.
He has an AC 28 with mage armor and shield, 98 HP and two claw attack at +12 that do 1d4+4 damage + paralysis (DC 21). He has a +12 bonus to hit with touch attacks. He gets the benefits of haste for 12 rounds per day from Ravenous Frenzy. The character is functional from level 1 and 90% online by 7th level. By 11th level he is at full power.
Take a few more necromancy spells like envervation to round out the character. The character is not so much about doing damage as he is disabling the target. Many of the characters attacks have permanent effects on the target.
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The whole idea is never going to produce an optimal character.
If you want to be a pure full arcane caster and go into melee regularly the best idea I can think of is Witch [Ashtifah].
Choose a race with a natural attack and take -
"Hex Strike (Combat)
Chanting and cursing, you put a hex on your enemy as part of your unarmed strike.
Prerequisite: Hex class feature, Improved Unarmed Strike.
Benefit: When you gain this feat, choose one hex that you can use to affect no more than one opponent. If you make a successful unarmed strike against an opponent, in addition to dealing your unarmed strike damage, you can use a swift action to deliver the effects of the chosen hex to that opponent. Doing so does not provoke attacks of opportunity."
You want the natural attack to save the need to spend a feat. At level 2 you get this-
Ghostwalk (Su): Starting at 2nd level, as a move action after using a hex, an ashiftah can become invisible as per vanish APG and can then take a 5-foot step. Using ghostwalk doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity.
This allows you to hit and vanish. Then do it again.
The bad news is your HP and BaB still suck. One level of swashbuckler for oportune parry and repost will help.
Remember if you try all this and die anyway I did tell you it is a long way from optimal.
Ability focus might be a monster feat, but I would allow it in a game I run. At higher level the claws would mainly be used on things you don’t want to waste spells on. Against powerful creature you would be using touch spells. Minions can still mess up a character especially an arcane caster who is in melee combat, having a way to deal with minions without wasting spells is a good thing. So, even if you can’t take ability focus the character is still able to do what he needs. You pick up Vampiric Touch one level after you gain paralysis.
The big problem with the blade adept is that it can't get spell strike till level 5 at the earliest, because it doesn't get its first exploit till level 5. That makes the end text for its weapon specialization exploit particularly hilarious.
But I would say the blade adept is fairly functional from level 1. In very low level, the BAB difference is small. As you get to higher level, the BAB difference can be made up with spells and exploits. The weird thing may be how you want to stat it. It feels so weird to prioritize your dexterity over your casting stat when making a full caster.
PS: It's super tempting to take a 1 level dip of inspired blade swashbuckler, but I don't know if that matters for this conversation, since it seems to imply a pure caster
I find it even more tempting to VMC Magus, honestly.
Blade Adept gets their first Exploits at 5,7, and 11... VMC Magus gets Spellstrike at 11, so it's no further behind than your 3rd Exploit. It's a little more limited in spell selection, but you could still take it as an Exploit if you wanted to use your full Arcanist spell list with it.
It's all about that Arcane Pool and Magus Arcana, though. Sure, you can pick from a select few Arcana as Exploits... but you get access to the full list of Magus Arcana with VMC. And having an Arcane Pool is a huge plus when you're sharing your Arcane Reservoir with your weapon.
Being a Human or Half-Elf, you could start with a 2D6 one-handed Split-Blade Sword.
I think it might be cheating, though. Lol.
The issue with VMC is how feat intensive dexterity combat is. And because of the black blade, you can’t rely on the agile magic weapon ability. So, you’ll need 3 feats to get your dex to damage online. A big part of suggesting the inspired blade swashbuckler is for the bonus first level weapon finesse and focus.
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Tree-Born Gathlain don't have the normal Con penalty, so just you just get the +2 Dex and +2 Cha... that's right, no Strength penalty even though you're Small (+1 AC, +1 attack)... and you can fly. Gathlain already have +1 natural armor, and can get scaling DR/cold iron via an alternative racial feature.
Arcanists, Sorcerers, and Witches all have simple weapon proficiency, allowing a very basic reach build with a Longspear... having no Strength penalty helps here. Combat Reflexes isn't gated behind BAB, so you're "set" from level 1. Using reach and flight should increase your survivability, somewhat making up for your overwhelming lack of options when it comes to armor.
Speaking of armor... good old Sunsilk Ceremonial Armor is probably as good as it gets. No ACP or ASF chance, and provides DR2/bludgeoning. It doesn't beat Mage Armor until it's enchanted to +3 (or higher), but it's also always on/doesn't cost a spell slot... and it can be enchanted as armor with special armor effects. Combined with a Mithral Buckler, and you're about as armored up as a squishy mage can get. Special note goes to that corset for Witches, adding a +4 armor bonus.
Gathlain FCB for Witches allows you to steal Druid spells, for what that's worth...
Wyrwood Witches could make use of Hex Strike and Magical Heart... not at the same time, sadly, as both require swift actions, but still... your BAB is going to suck regardless, and your unarmed strike damage likely will not increase without shenanigans. However, your unarmed strikes can deliver Hexes, or give you temp HP when imbued with Arcane Strike... this means they also deal the extra damage associated with Arcane Strike, which is kind of like scaling damage dice but not really.
I suppose this Wyrwood Witch could VMC Monk for increased unarmed strike damages, and some extra drfense. That corset doesn't count as armor, so the Monk stuff should still work.
Not, at all, optimal... but it might work in a setting that doesn't require optimization... a slightly less lethal campaign... our Wyrwood Witch boxer could probably do alright.
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Back to the Blade Adept Arcanist... as it really is [probably] the best chassis for this topic... they gain proficiency with their Black Blade within the martial weapons catagory. Races that treat racial weapons as martial, or straight provide extra weapon proficiencies, really shine here. Like, a Dwarf with a Black Battleaxe, and a decent FCB for Arcane Barrier/Weapon. Elves using Black Thornblades. Lashvine Leshies with Black Scorpion Whips.
Having access to the Arcane Accuracy Magus Arcana as an Exploit immediately puts the Blade Adept a step above most other options, me-thinks.
And because of the black blade, you can’t rely on the agile magic weapon ability.
What makes you think that? As far as I can tell, nothing prevents you from enchanting a Black Blade like any other weapon. Sure it gets its own enhancement bonus progression and can be enhanced with arcane pool, but you aren’t explicitly restricted to those options. If you want to add Agile to the weapon you absolute still can, so long as the weapon type qualifies.
There’s an FAQ.
https://paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1fz#v5748eaic9qux
Magus, Black Blade: Can I use Craft Magic Arms and Armor to increase my blade's enhancement bonus?
No, nor can you use that feat to add other properties (such as flaming) to the black blade. You can use your arcane pool to temporarily add abilities to your black blade.
So the black blade can’t be agile.
There’s an FAQ.
https://paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1fz#v5748eaic9quxSo the black blade can’t be agile.Magus, Black Blade: Can I use Craft Magic Arms and Armor to increase my blade's enhancement bonus?
No, nor can you use that feat to add other properties (such as flaming) to the black blade. You can use your arcane pool to temporarily add abilities to your black blade.
I hate FAQs like that one… there is no rule anywhere in the books that applies that restriction or even implies it… that FAQ exists merely to create a rule where there was none. I understand the need for an answer regarding the enhancement bonus, given the black blade has its own progression confusion exists there and a ruling was needed… but per RAW special abilities should have been fine. Well now I know another FAQ to throw out the window if I ever get around to DMing…
FAQs should answer questions within the rules and clear up confusions or rules contradictions… they shouldn’t have ever been used to create new rules… errata is for new rules and rule changes…. FAQs are for clarifications.
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I certainly get the irritation with that particular FAQ. A Magus should be able to pick and choose the progression of their Blackblade abilities.
However, a lot of people are intent on turning a Magus into a dex based character despite their level progression towards heavy armor. Do you really need that additional damage from dexterity when you are already getting spell damage on top of it? There are other ways to get it if you really want it.