| Derklord |
The problem with Arcane Strike on Spell Dancer is swift action starvation. You need to activate Spell Dance as a swift action, and I assume every spell dancer makes use of the swift action Dimension Door coupled with Dimensional Agility; you may also want to use the 5th level ability. And that is in addition to activating Magus Arcanae, which sometimes take a swift action, and which you can use more frequently than a regular Magus due to not spending points from your Arcane Pool to enchant your weapon.
I'd say it depends on which Magus Arcanae you take. Arcane Accuracy, Accurate Strike, and Hasted Assault are popular choices that compete for swift actions. If you don't go for those, Arcane Strike should be fine.
Kurald Galain
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
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Due to the fact that the archtype loses it's ability to enchant its weapon in exchange for increased mobility?
No. Arcane Strike is not worth it for any Magus because you have so many other things to use your swift action for. In addition to what Derklord said, there are also good spells (like Deivon's Parry) and items (e.g. Armor of Spell Storing) that have an action conflict with Arcane Strike.
The better deal is Weapon Specialization (a flat +2 damage for no action cost) and even that isn't a great feat on a Magus.
| Mysterious Stranger |
The only time Arcane Strike is going to be useful for a Magus is when their arcane pool is depleted or the threat, they are fighting is not worth using your arcane pool. Most campaigns will not have that situation come up that often. I see this being more useful for an NPC magus who faces a lot of lower-level threats. For example, a magus serving in an army where he might end up fighting for hours at a time would find it useful when he has exhausted his arcane pool and spells, or the foes he is fighting is not worth using them.