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

[fdbryant3]

Spell Scars is in the guide. It's under 3rd Level, Toolbox Arcana.

DOH . My bad, and I'm sorry. I did look but failed my reading roll (shoulda took 20). Can I suggest bolding it to match the rest of the format, makes it easy to miss or overlook (or maybe it is just me).

[Kurald Galain]

DOH . My bad, and I'm sorry. I did look but failed my reading roll (shoulda took 20). Can I suggest bolding it to match the rest of the format, makes it easy to miss or overlook (or maybe it is just me).

Options are bolded if they're legal in PFS, which this one is not.

Also, it doesn't work with spell combat, since activating a spell-completion item is not the same thing as casting a spell. It works with spellstrike just fine, though. It also combos well with the Scroll Mastery arcana.

[khadgar567]

so your commends on last archtype please.

[Kurald Galain]

so your commends on last archtype please.

The Jistkan Artificer? I haven't seen it yet, but given how very bad the esoteric archetype is, this new one seems promising in building an unarmed Magus.

[Kurald Galain]

The Jistkan Artificer? I haven't seen it yet, but given how very bad the esoteric archetype is, this new one seems promising in building an unarmed Magus.

Well, here goes.

You're basically a Magus with a robot arm. The arm auto-scales (essentially giving you a magic weapon for free, similar to Bladebound) and gets monk damage. It can pick up flurry for one extra attack, but that's pretty pointless since spell combat has the same effect. And some decent extra arcana.

The only downside is diminished spellcasting (as opposed to the esoteric, which gets diminished spellcasting AND loses spell recall AND loses bonus feats). The catch is that monk damage is less impressive than it sounds (considering you can start with an 18-20 crit scimitar or an 1d10 waraxe instead). You'd normally capitalize on monk damage by stacking size increases, but those tend to come from Polymorph spells and arguably you'd lose your robot arm while polymorphed (edit: turns out RAW allows this).

So yeah. Lose spells per day, get some numerical bonuses. Tentatively rating this yellow at low levels (where the spell loss huts more), and green at high levels (where the bonuses are bigger).

[g51503john]

In fact, Jistkan Artificer's flurry is still a bit better than spell combat's extra attack. Because he is using monk's flurry of blows ability, so his base attack bonus is "class level -2".

For example, in level 12, his attack bonus is "12-2=10", and original magus's spell combat is "9(BAB)-2=7". As the level get higher, the gap will be greater.

But I agree your color. (yellow at low levels, green at high levels.)

[Kurald Galain]

In fact, Jistkan Artificer's flurry is still a bit better than spell combat's extra attack. Because he is using monk's flurry of blows ability, so his base attack bonus is "class level -2".

Yes, but you generally want to use spell combat to get a spell off At that level you should have plenty of spell slots to cast a touch spell every round. So it's probably not worth an arcana slot to be able to flurry at a higher attack bonus instead of flurrying with a shocking grasp or vamp touch.

[khadgar567]

Yes, but you generally want to use spell combat to get a spell off At that level you should have plenty of spell slots to cast a touch spell every round. So it's probably not worth an arcana slot to be able to flurry at a higher attack bonus instead of flurrying with a shocking grasp or vamp touch.

you know jistkan artificer kinda plays like i think raven from elsworld instead of sasuke uchiha. you have golem arm with decent striking power you have spells which mostly gonna need to use at close to short range like burning hands instead of constantly need augment your attacks with shocking grasp. so jistkan artificer magus needs more of blade dash some sort of close to short range attack then lot of spells to keep him self boosted. its kinda complete style change to original magus which i call "sasuke uchiha magus" due having to much similarities to each other. while artificer magus tries to play like red mage from final fantasy aka real close combat mage with spell casting.

[Kurald Galain]

Listed Jistkan Artificer as yellow (1-13) and green (14-20). That's basically the level where its monk damage (plus size increases, plus free weapon, plus AC bonus) becomes substantially better than baseline.

[Kurald Galain]

I've also added the Shared Training spell (which is pretty good since hours-lasting party buffs are rare) and the Aerial Roll feat (which is an excellent defense comparable to Flamboyant Arcana).

[Ellrin]

I've also added the Shared Training spell (which is pretty good since hours-lasting party buffs are rare) and the Aerial Roll feat (which is an excellent defense comparable to Flamboyant Arcana).

I'm guessing that penalty is cumulative per attempt per turn? Still not too shabby, though.

[Kurald Galain]

I'm guessing that penalty is cumulative per attempt per turn? Still not too shabby, though.

Well you only get one immediate action per round anyway. The main downside is not the -10, but that it eats your next swift action (and the Magus has a lot of competition on that swift action). Negating one attack (as per Opportune Parry & Riposte) is still worth it.

[Ellrin]

Ah, yeah, I was just skimming through the feats so I didn't notice the action. Should have realized it just logically, though.

Turbulent Takeoff seems like a theoretically decent get out of dodge trick for any ranged character, including ranged maguses, though on the other hand if you're a flying ranged character, what the hell are you doing on the ground in the first place?

Maybe not bad for melee polymorphers with long reach and a fly speed, though?

[Kurald Galain]

Turbulent Takeoff seems like a theoretically decent get out of dodge trick for any ranged character, including ranged maguses, though on the other hand if you're a flying ranged character, what the hell are you doing on the ground in the first place?

Meh. As you say, if you're flying why are you on the ground? Plus, even a ranged magus is at least capable at melee, and you've got spells that could get you out of dodge. For instance, defensively cast Vanish or Bladed Dash.

Maybe not bad for melee polymorphers with long reach and a fly speed, though?

It's creatures threatening you, not creatures you threaten.

[Ellrin]

It's creatures threatening you, not creatures you threaten.

I was thinking more in situations where creatures get into their reach, you can use it to retreat to the edge of your own (assuming you want your enemies to trigger AoOs getting to you) or to disengage and charge/pounce other more enticing targets, but yeah, pretty niche.

[Worth]

Morning all. So, after a few questions here and there I've planned out a tentative build and figured I'd see what the experts thought. It's not particularly new or inventive but since I've never played a Magus before I'm going for something a little more tried and true. That said, as I planned out my feats I feel like I might be spreading myself a little thin which is why I'm seeing what other Magus players think. Currently at level 2, most likely progressing to 3 in a session or two.

Dex Based Bladebound

Feats:
1. Weapon Finesse
3. Deadly Agility (Due to some home-brew rulings my Dex is extremely high for level 3. Most 3rd party stuff is not allowed but GM is okay with this)
5. Intensify Spell (Magical Lineage: Shocking Grasp)
5b. Craft Wondrous Item (It seems like it's a low wealth campaign. I'd like to dump this but not sure anyone else will take it. I still might get rid of it though)
7. Rime Spell (MetaMagic Master: Frostbite)
9. Improved Initiative (Probably wouldn't take this since I have a high Dex but it's a pre-req for Eldritch Assault along with the Blind Fight Ioun)
11. Lunge
11b. Dimensional Agility
13. Enforcer (Swap this with Improved Init above?)
15. Empower Spell
17. Eldritch Assault
17b. Spell Perfection
19. ???

Between specializing in two different elements/spells and a Craft feat I'm not sure if I'm setting myself to far back on feat progression. Of course they all are tentative and I can adjust as the campaign progresses depending on the environment but this is what I'm leaning towards as of now.

Thoughts?

[Kurald Galain]

Morning all. So, after a few questions here and there I've planned out a tentative build and figured I'd see what the experts thought.

Right, I do think you're spreading yourself thin. If you want to go primarily for damage, I suggest dropping Rime + Enforcer (moving Lunge to L7 and Eld Assault to L11). On the other hand, if you want a more debuffy build, I'd say take Enforcer at L3, Rime and Agility at L5, and Lunge at L7 (dropping intensify and empower, and consider Chilling Amplification). HTH!

[Worth]

Thanks for the response Kurald.. I had a feeling that's what people would think.

Losing Rime puts me out of contention for Spell Perfection with it's 3 metamagic feat requirements. Is it worth it to slot in something like Elemental Spell feat, which will put me back to 3 metamagics and add some flexibility in the event we come across lightning resistant enemies?

Edit. Or possibly Piercing Spell meta-magic feat for later on down the road when we start facing more enemies with SR?

[Kurald Galain]

Losing Rime puts me out of contention for Spell Perfection with it's 3 metamagic feat requirements.

That's a level 15 feat though, plenty of time to get another metamagic. Piercing is a good choice, as is Dazing and Quicken.

[Worth]

Yea, I wasn't looking at it for the near future. Just trying to get a tentative build in my head and didn't want to get to 15 (years from now, heh) and realize I didn't meet the pre-reqs.

[Kurald Galain]

I just realized I've been advising Lunge for L7 but a Magus actually can't take it until L8. So switch around as needed, or take Lunging Spell Touch instead.

[Worth]

Heh, I saw that. Swapping Improved Initiative (which I need anyways for Eldritch) and Lunge positions takes care of that pretty easily though.

[Kurald Galain]

The Distant Realms splatbook has one notable feat for a Magus, and that is Magic Trick. Since the Floating Disk spell is on your list, this feat effectively gives you a fly speed at-need at level six, quite a lot earlier than Overland Flight comes online.

[Ninjaxenomorph]

My only concern is getting the needed 6 ranks of Fly. You can't put ranks into the Fly skill if you don't have a reliable source of flight. Buy a hangglider I guess?

[Kurald Galain]

My only concern is getting the needed 6 ranks of Fly. You can't put ranks into the Fly skill if you don't have a reliable source of flight. Buy a hangglider I guess?

Raven's Flight spell got you covered.

[the_move]

I've also added the Shared Training spell (which is pretty good since hours-lasting party buffs are rare) and the Aerial Roll feat (which is an excellent defense comparable to Flamboyant Arcana).

I think Shared Training is somewhat underrated, especially since you've left out Improved Outflank (Legacy of the First World, pg. 19).

I am currently in a melee-heavy party with 2 fighters, one of them having the High Guardian archetype with Combat Reflexes relying on strength, 1 halforc melee druid with companion, and myself being a magus (plus an arcanist and an oracle...big party). I am going to acquire Outflank at lvl 7, and Improved Outflank at lvl 9, along with a Rod of Metamagic Extend lesser. So at level 9 I can grant both teamwork feats to 3 other allies for 90minutes/3 hours(extended)...3 times per day.

Improved Outflank also helps with an odd number of flankers as long as they know how to position themselves. Imho even with a smaller party, but with an appropiate party setup, this could go up all the way to skyblue. Also worth mentioning might be Shared Opportunist, because you can get it to work quite easily on medium targets with the help of Improved Outflank. An example:

123
456
789

Enemy is on 5, one flanker is on 2, his partner is on 4. Now 4 is adjacent to 8 (actual flanking position), while also being adjacent to his buddy on position 2. Same with 2, who is adjacent to 6 (actual flanking position), while also being adjacent to his flanking partner.

Nevertheless, thank you for this very helpful guide. Good job!

[Kurald Galain]

I am currently in a melee-heavy party with 2 fighters, one of them having the High Guardian archetype with Combat Reflexes relying on strength, 1 halforc melee druid with companion, and myself being a magus (plus an arcanist and an oracle...big party). I am going to acquire Outflank at lvl 7, and Improved Outflank at lvl 9, along with a Rod of Metamagic Extend lesser. So at level 9 I can grant both teamwork feats to 3 other allies for 90minutes/3 hours(extended)...3 times per day.

I agree that there are some powerful combos here. The reason the feat is green instead of blue, is that it's not going to work on every build; you'd need a melee-heavy party that doesn't have a dedicated buffer (like a bard) and that is unwilling to take the feats for themselves. But in the right party, these feats turn you into a meat grinder. I'd recommend Broken Wing Gambit as well; if the entire party has it then enemies are basically screwed if they attack you.

[Aldrakan]

A suggested update for the prestige class section, it lists the "Souleater" as a green tier option for the evil magus, I think it's actually supposed to refer to the Souldrinker.

Additionally the Souldrinker was reprinted in Book of the Damned 2017, with some changes. The new version involves Fiendish Obedience, has significantly increased entry requirements, and replaces the touch attack with the ability to cast enervation as a spell-like ability several times a day. Unfortunately it seems quite useless to the magus.

[Kurald Galain]

Additionally the Souldrinker was reprinted in Book of the Damned 2017, with some changes.

Good catch. I'll fix that.

[tadkins]

Not sure if this thread is still gaining attention but I'd like to bump anyhow. I came across a Magus archetype that interests me greatly, the Deep Marshal.

It's got a few things that caught my eye as far as character building goes. As my forum avatar might suggest I have a lot of interest in mining and geology. I've also for the longest time wondered if there might be a way to make a weapon like a pickaxe viable in actual combat. The archetype seems to encourage fighting with that weapon as well as investing points in Profession (Miner) and Knowledge Dungeoneering. It's also got a good selection of earth-based spells.

Basically, it seems like this archetype finally gives me the magic combat geologist I've always dreamed about. :D

I noticed the original first post has a mention of this archetype but would you be able to elaborate a little more? Would the tradeoffs be worthwhile? Personally I find the loss of the illusion school to be a little silly as some underworld-dwelling societies are known to rely on confusion and misdirection to survive the horrors that lurk in the depths. Losing Invisibility especially seems like it would hurt a Magus that relies on getting that good first hit in. Figure that might be alleviated a little by investing a bit in UMD though. Anyhow I'm interested in any thoughts you might have Kurald and others (assuming again this thread guide is still gaining attention).