I know that in 2e, for a Magus to Spellstrike it takes 2 actions and they can use a 1-2 action spell for this. If the player misses the free melee Strike action they get with Spellstrike, does the Spell or Spellstrike disappear and they lose that spell?
I know that after a Magus Spellstrikes they need to recharge it with either an action, or using a conflux (focus) spell, but if they miss does it just disappear?
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Yes, the spell and the spellstrike charge are both used up, regardless of whether you hit with it or not.
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Yeah, when you Spellstrike you commit to casting that spell. How well the spell works depends on the Strike. full text here
It's good to keep in mind what kind of a spellcaster a magus is. You don't get a lot of spell slots, but you do get the normal amount of cantrips. You typically have 4 spell slots that you could put offensive spells in to use with spellstrike, and the rest of your spellstrikes would be powered by cantrips.
But it might be better to actually use those spell slots to prepare some non-offensive spells, like Haste, or Jump, or Time Jump, that help you deal with other problems. Maybe keep one slot for a big offensive spell, but mostly use cantrips for the spellstriking.
Yeah, spell strike is honestly intended (or maybe unintentionally most effective) when used primarily with cantrips.
You simply don't have enough spell slots to do otherwise.
I also find the spellstrike recharge mechanics to be annoying, and personally wouldn't end up playing a magus aside from starlit span magus (because they generally don't need their 3rd action and can use it to recharge and cantrip spellstrike every turn).
Yeah, spell strike is honestly intended (or maybe unintentionally most effective) when used primarily with cantrips.
Mmmm... Focus spells.
Sorcerer Dedication at level 2 (which also gives 2 more cantrip slots) and Basic Bloodline Spell at level 4. That will give you something like Elemental Toss, Flurry of Claws, or Glutton's Jaws that you can use at least twice per battle. Three times if you get a third Focus Point.
Other archetypes can give different Focus spells that can be used in the same way.
I personally find focus spells to be somewhat of risky proposition, depending on your group. It depends on how much downtime you have between combats and what other people are doing. Under average circumstances, you're likely to get 1 focus point between combats. Sometimes you might get none, and sometimes you might be able to get more.
It's a difficult dynamic that varies a lot group to group in my opinion. In my group, you're generally only going to be able to count on getting one focus point back.
It's a difficult dynamic that varies a lot group to group in my opinion. In my group, you're generally only going to be able to count on getting one focus point back.
I'll agree that the amount of time you have to Refocus after a battle can vary from group to group or even from encounter to encounter.
But I don't see how that shows that it is better to not have the Focus spells at all. Or how that means that using Spellstrike with Cantrips is better than Spellstrike with a Focus spell.
I guess I should reword my statement for clarity.
Things other than cantrips will be more damaging to spell strike with, for sure. That's the tradeoff with cantrips, they're unlimited by less powerful than basically anything else.
Of course a focus spell or actual spell slots will be better (do more damage) assuming everything else is the same.
Focus spells have the nice benefit of (in theory) being able to use 1 each combat. So save that for the "boss" of each combat. Stick to cantrips for most rounds of spell strike, or you'll deplete your resources more than you can replenish.
So when I said most effective, I meant it in the sense of "this is your expected baseline power that you should be using on any generic round". Which now that I think on it, is probably confusing. But yeah, what I meant is players should mostly be using cantrips with spellstrike, except that you can probably use 1 focus spell per combat (save it for the "boss" of the fight). And you might use 1 actual spell slot per day for an actual boss battle.
So I guess my response to your statement about focus spells was along the lines, it's good to have 1 good focus spell to use with spellstrike. And more focus spells can be nice (for adding utility to your character, but not necessarily for spellstrike). But that I wouldn't count on using them frequently with spell strike. Finding a way to get 3 focus points (including picking up additional focus spells) can be nice to give you some extra power for like 1 encounter a day.
Roll that into the thought (poorly expressed) that if you think of spellstrike's baseline power as being used with actual spellslots or focus spells you're going to be quickly disappointed when you've run out of those for the day.
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I can agree with that - expectation management is always a good thing. A baseline expectation of Spellstrike with a cantrip and using either Focus spells or spell slot spells for special occasions is a good idea.
I do also find it a bit strange that a Magus has to go to archetypes to get damage dealing Focus spells that they can use with Spellstrike. A lot of the in-class focus spells already involve a weapon attack (Dimensional Assault, Shielding Strike, Shooting Star, Spinning Staff, etc) and I don't really know if those work well with Spellstrike. Do they make multiple Strikes as a result of Spellstrike with them? Others don't qualify because they don't target an enemy (Cascade Countermeasure, Runic Impression, Hasted Assault). Force Fang might work... or it may be ruled to be a weapon attack already like Dimensional Assault.
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Magus focus spells don't interact with spellstrike because casting them recharges your spellstrike. Focus fang is really nice for this because if you don't have to move you can Focus Fang and then spellstrike as your three actions without MAP on a turn.
They also don't meet the spell attack roll or saving throw requirement of spellstrike.
I can agree with that - expectation management is always a good thing. A baseline expectation of Spellstrike with a cantrip and using either Focus spells or spell slot spells for special occasions is a good idea.
I do also find it a bit strange that a Magus has to go to archetypes to get damage dealing Focus spells that they can use with Spellstrike. A lot of the in-class focus spells already involve a weapon attack (Dimensional Assault, Shielding Strike, Shooting Star, Spinning Staff, etc) and I don't really know if those work well with Spellstrike. Do they make multiple Strikes as a result of Spellstrike with them? Others don't qualify because they don't target an enemy (Cascade Countermeasure, Runic Impression, Hasted Assault). Force Fang might work... or it may be ruled to be a weapon attack already like Dimensional Assault.
Yeah, it is...disappointing to me that probably one of the best things a magus can do is take a dedication to another spell casting class with good focus spells, so you can take better advantage of spellstrike. Sure, pick up more spell slots and and focus spells. It just feels...unintuitive at first glance that a "pure" magus is going to be worse at being a magus than a magus that picks up say sorcerer or psychic dedication.*
*I remember psychic having some nice focus spells, but don't know how well they work with spellstrike or how many spells from the occult list could work with spellstrike either.
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*I remember psychic having some nice focus spells, but don't know how well they work with spellstrike or how many spells from the occult list could work with spellstrike either.
I don't know all of the details either. I expect that the Occult list will have less options overall than the Arcane list will. With some compensation in that there are more options for Spellstrike with Vitality/Void/Mental damage that wouldn't be as readily available on the Arcane list. Plus the Occult list is better at buffs and debuffs that are useful in lower Rank spell slots that you get from archetype casting.
For Psychic Focus spells, Imaginary Weapon is the outlier. 2d8 +1d8/Rank is pretty nice and that is the free version. 2d8 +2d8/Rank for a Focus point is better than just about any other Focus spell as far as damage goes. Amped Ignition also looks pretty nice.