Myrrh, Frankincense, and Steel: Kurald Galain's Guide to the Magus

[upho]

However, the "unarmed atrike or natural weapon?" FAQ makes it clear that one of the properties of SC is that you can only ever attack with your one hand-associated attack.

And I kept looking for exactly this - a clarification on SC and attacks unquestionably not related to TWF or hands - while it was right there under my nose and staring back at me practically the whole time! I really do feel my brain really has gotten older sometimes, and not in a good way...

Thanks a lot, and sorry 'bout my obviously hazy old grognard perception causing walls of text!

I suggest looking into the Natural Spell Combat arcana to get more attacks with spell combat.

Unfortunately the ranged part is a kinda big deal in this case, but thanks for the tip.

Empowered Intensified Snowball is pretty good against high CR, particularly if you dip into sorcerer (as it bypasses saves, SR, and DR). Not many monsters are cold-resistant. The Magus's enchant weapon ability makes him very good at piercing DR in general.

Yeah, I think I've already found ways to use snowball effectively without really having to worry 'bout cold resistance, immunities or DR (standard WBL really does give you a huge pile of gold to spend on nifty stuff when starting at 15th). Speaking of, especially in comparison to options with similar effects, Urea seems pretty darn fantastic for really cool magi, having a ridiculously low cost and no action loss.

Same as a wizard: Spell Focus and int boosts, basically. The Magus is generally better off maxing his strength (or dex) and not using spells that require a save. At level 15, you're already three points behind a full caster (because he's casting higher level spells than you) and the caster can afford a higher primary stat due to SADness.

So basically I should be prepared to spam snowball against high CR enemies? I guess that's not the end of the world, since I'll most probably get to mix my snowball fighting and gunning with at least one or two control or buff spells and some interesting maneuvers here and there anyways.

But due to the no-go on RSC and MWF, I think I should check out alternatives to the magus if I'm going to do the whole four-armed machine-gun mage freak thing, since using RSC would result in a net loss of two gun attacks in comparison to a regular full attack. And bladecaster would still allow me to basically spellstrike and RSC as a swift, adding a ranged touch or touch spell to a ranged strike. Otherwise, it seems as if a single pistol and maybe a dip into spellslinger wizard might be a good magus gunner concept, with or without the bladecaster. What's your take on this?

Ideas and tips are most welcome!