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

[Ninjaxenomorph]

Some tricks I've picked up from playing a few magi in my time: I have never, ever put a rank into Fly on any of my characters. They've used their Int-boosting items to put ranks into it, which works pretty well to max it out. Another one is that, if item crafting is allowed in the game, Craft Magic Arms and Armor is better with you as a magus taking it than a wizard or even a cleric taking it, since you will be directly benefiting from the feat itself.

[Amphetryon]

Longarm gives you another full round of attacks (since it works in spell combat); whereas Enlarge basically gives you +1 to damage while reducing your AC by two, negating some cover, and making you visibly a threat. Both allow you an opportunity attack against enemies that approach you (which you can use to trip them, too).


So, wait, you're telling me that your enemies always have enough spellcraft to know exactly what you're doing, and enough intelligence to counter it? And always have such good defenses that the party can only hit them 35% of the time? Because it sounds to me that either the GM is consistently throwing encounters well above your challenge rate, or your party needs to coordinate better and flank, drop crowd control, use a wand of Bless, and so forth.

An AoO - no room yet for Combat Reflexes - with the aforementioned odds of hitting. It's been small comfort indeed. I did not say the party was only hitting 35% of the time; I said those have been my approximate odds of success against the enemies. One has been using SoL tactics, while the Druid has spec'ed as an LDK who has a Moose for an AC. The Moose hits on lower rolls than I do; so does the sniper-Druid, who is generally at higher ground, and Prone.

Nope, I did not mention Spellcraft at all, to my recollection. I mentioned that enemies will prioritize attacking things that either 1) already engaged them and did damage or 2) appear to be threatening. If, in your experience, it requires a Spellcraft check before the enemy can decide that the foe who got bigger, or whose arms just grew 5', or just somehow conjured a shield crackling with electrical energy from thin air, may be making himself a more obvious threat, that's not a DMing decision I've ever encountered. And, as my 1st Round of combat has, per force, been used with casting a buff, the other party members have had that Round in which to engage, from distance, making themselves threats of various levels of credibility. True, they could wait a Round for me to cast before engaging, but that seems to serve little purpose.

The CR of the Encounters has consistently been reasonable, either because it's a set-piece encounter as designed, or because of aforementioned Random Encounter generation methods.

Asking again for clarification on how Bladed Dash will increase combat viability for more than a single encounter.

[Ravian]

So I'm wondering the viability of an Eldritch Archer using guns. I understand that the spellslinger archetype can probably does this with less fiddling, but I'm looking for something PFS legal. Most likely I'd have to dip a few levels into gunslinger to be effective, but I want to know how well this would work and how far I could dip into the gunslinger without losing too much from the magus.

[Kurald Galain]

So I'm wondering the viability of an Eldritch Archer using guns. I understand that the spellslinger archetype can probably does this with less fiddling, but I'm looking for something PFS legal.

Unfortunately, Eldritch Archer itself isn't PFS legal.

Other than that, the easiest way to play a gun Magus would be to spend a feat on proficiency (and in PFS, a feat on gunsmithing so you can buy guns). Alternatively, get both feats plus deadeye from a one-level dip in gunslinger.

[Ravian]

Unfortunately, Eldritch Archer itself isn't PFS legal.

Other than that, the easiest way to play a gun Magus would be to spend a feat on proficiency (and in PFS, a feat on gunsmithing so you can buy guns). Alternatively, get both feats plus deadeye from a one-level dip in gunslinger.

Seriously? Damn didn't even think to check that, it seemed innocuous enough. Whelp, back to the drawing board, given how garbage myrmidarch is...

Outside of a PFS context though, what's your opinion on going any further into gunslinger otherwise for multi-classing? I understand that it's a bad idea to take away from your spell progression, but gunslinger has the advantage of being able to go up to level 3 with the musket master archetype so that the gun can be reloaded as a move action, and of course five levels gets you gun training. (Not a ton of point going further than that though with multi-classing.) How viable is a magus once you've sacrificed that many levels though?

[Kurald Galain]

Well, gunslinger doesn't have a lot of true class features and Magus does, so I'd recommend taking only one level of dip and using the rapid reload feat. Magus prefers one handed weapons anyway.

[Florian]

Seriously? Damn didn't even think to check that, it seemed innocuous enough. Whelp, back to the drawing board, given how garbage myrmidarch is...

Outside of a PFS context though, what's your opinion on going any further into gunslinger otherwise for multi-classing? I understand that it's a bad idea to take away from your spell progression, but gunslinger has the advantage of being able to go up to level 3 with the musket master archetype so that the gun can be reloaded as a move action, and of course five levels gets you gun training. (Not a ton of point going further than that though with multi-classing.) How viable is a magus once you've sacrificed that many levels though?

Depends on your POV, really.

For me, that would be a tough call: Gunslinger just is great base-damage, all day long. Grit is not tied to class levels, but deeds are, so you will have to weight the pros and cons here carefully.
Coming from that view, picking up Magus levels actually "waters down" the Gunslinger class, as you now have to juggle more attributes to make it work.
I could well imagine going Gunslinger5/Magus(Myrmidarch)10 on a rather low-INT build and mainly supplement using the guns with the arcane pool and self-buffs like Haste instead of a more offensive use of spells.

[Ninjaxenomorph]

Heh. I retired my PFS Magus/Cleric/Mystic Theurge over the weekend, and let me say that even though he wasn't the best frontliner ('I don't know who is playing, so I might as well bring my theurge to cover bases!' and we get a caster bard, a sorcerer, a rogue, and a crypt-breaker alchemist...), he was pretty damn fun to play. Plus, when we fully buffed for the boss battle, he was pretty scary.

[Springjack]

Cool, another magus guide. Kudos to you my friend.

The magus is my favorite and most-played class. More people should learn that it is not a one-trick "shock spam" pony; it's got an entire stable of combat stratagems. I'm partial to the Str builds myself, as they take advantage of all class abilities and can utilize Monstrous Physique extremely well.

So I've been digging around the PF spell list and found some cool magus spells lurking around. See if these strike your fancy:

Level 1
Fallback Strategy (lv 1) (Inner Sea Gods): Lets you re-roll one attack, maneuver or skill check. 1 min/level duration. Good insurance for an important roll.

Level 2
Cauterizing Weapon (PFS Primer): Your weapon negates regeneration. You can already add electric, ice and fire to your blade, but this can shut down silver, cold iron, and alignment regen in the later levels. Situational, but could come in handy at times.

Level 3
Twisted Innards (PFS Field Guide): Essentially grants fortification, giving you 25/50/75 percent chance to negate extra damage from crits and sneak attacks. Can be a lifesaver against the right opponents.

Vomit Twin (ARG): Another nasty, yet effective spell courtesy of goblins. Make a puke clone that moves around when you do. You can switch places with it at the beginning of your turn, no action needed and no AoO. Make it go stand in a corner somewhere and you have yourself an emergency escape button.

Channel Vigor (Inner Sea Gods): This spell right here...is awesome. You get four buffs to choose from (and can switch between them as a move action):

Limbs: self Haste
Mind: +4 ranged attack rolls, +4 Knowledge and Perception rolls,
Spirit: +6 Will saves, +6 Bluff and Intimidate rolls
Torso: +6 Fort saves, +6 concentration checks

It's all competence bonus too.

Also, I value Fire Shield over Dawnflower. To me, it's main benefit is not the damage it does, but the protection it grants. You take half damage and basically gain evasion against fire or ice attacks, which for a class with bad reflex saves is pretty good. If you spell blend Resist Energy or Protection From Energy, you can tank fire/ice blasts like a boss.

Hope my two cents helps!

[Kurald Galain]

For me, that would be a tough call: Gunslinger just is great base-damage, all day long. Grit is not tied to class levels, but deeds are, so you will have to weight the pros and cons here carefully.

Sure, but so is the Magus. And spell progression strikes me as much more useful than those higher level deeds. Gunslingers have a reputation for doing nothing but damage, after all.

Heh. I retired my PFS Magus/Cleric/Mystic Theurge over the weekend,

Are there particular cleric spells that you have good experience with?

Cool, another magus guide. Kudos to you my friend.

Thank you!

More suggestions are always welcome. Fallback Strat was already on my list (I like using a wand to cast it every combat). Cauterizing Weapon is too situational for my tastes, as you can pretty much always deal with regeneration by doing a damage nova. Twisted Innards is less effective than Blur (which negates all sneak attacks automatically).

Vomit Twin is both hilarious and very effective, I'll definitely add that to the list. Aside from the escape button you mention, you can also use it to block passages, and I think many GMs will let you flank with it. And indeed, Channel Vigor is a great find, which I would use mostly for its defensive buffs (+6 to a save is basically saying "LOLnope" whomever is trying to cast at you).

[Florian]

Sure, but so is the Magus. And spell progression strikes me as much more useful than those higher level deeds. Gunslingers have a reputation for doing nothing but damage, after all.

In my experience, it's often more about how many ressources a player has to manage and be confortable with.
Most new player seem to be intimidated by that at first, and tend to experiment with options and multiclassing untill they find the level of micromanagement they are most comfortable with.
Now the Magus, Paladin, Inqusitor, Mesmerist, Bloodrager, those are the classes with the highest level of complexity and micromanagement in PF.

@Cleric spells:
Theurging like that goes well with the usual Sacred Tattoo H-Orc, opportunistic gambler and the traits whose name I forgot that raises sacred boni by 1.
Any spell that gives you a bonus from one of the assiciated types is to be preverred, beginning with Divine Favour.

As for other spell tipps, have you taken a look into Occult Adventures spells? Stunning Armor is a nice trick and Explode Head is just funny >:)

[Ninjaxenomorph]

Ooh boy, Weapon Master's Handbook brings some fun stuff to the table. Mostly for fighters and the like, but Magi can get some good stuff from it. Magi can pick up the Advanced Weapon Training options (Weapon Focus->Martial Focus->Advanced Weapon Training) (EDIT: Actually, looks like Martial Focus only counts as weapon training for picking up weapon mastery feats... darn), and in theory an elf could pick up the Elven Battle Focus to use Int for damage with certain weapons. I'm sure there's other stuff in there, though.

I WILL say that an unarmed magus (or using any close weapon, really, but unarmed is the normal one) can go for the Outslug Style feats for some mobility during spell combat, which is very nice. I'd be completely willing to play an Esoteric taking that.

Edit: I was looking through the equipment recommendations, and I thought I'd put forward Gloves of Elvenkind: 7,500 gp, but provides both a +5 competance bonus on spellcraft checks (ALL of them) and casting defensively. I have had it on my retired Bladebound in PFS, and it was one of the reasons why his spellcraft was pumped through the roof. Even better on someone who takes item crafting feats.

[Kurald Galain]

And for today's additions, a few anti-grapple items; Gloves of Stolen Unlife; Ring of Ferocious Action; Fortunate Charm; Distracting Weapon; Spellstrike Gloves; one more ioun stone; Chillblight Emissary; and the spells mentioned by Springjack above.

Theurging like that goes well with the usual Sacred Tattoo H-Orc, opportunistic gambler and the traits whose name I forgot that raises sacred boni by 1.

Fate's Favored.

As for other spell tipps, have you taken a look into Occult Adventures spells? Stunning Armor is a nice trick and Explode Head is just funny >:)

Explode Head is already on the list as hilarious. By stunning armor, did you mean Stunning Barrier?

Ooh boy, Weapon Master's Handbook brings some fun stuff to the table. Mostly for fighters and the like, but Magi can get some good stuff from it. Magi can pick up the Advanced Weapon Training options (Weapon Focus->Martial Focus->Advanced Weapon Training) (EDIT: Actually, looks like Martial Focus only counts as weapon training for picking up weapon mastery feats... darn), and in theory an elf could pick up the Elven Battle Focus to use Int for damage with certain weapons.

Unfortunately it's int instead of, not in addition to, your other ability. I don't think this is worth three feats, really.

Edit: I was looking through the equipment recommendations, and I thought I'd put forward Gloves of Elvenkind: 7,500 gp, but provides both a +5 competance bonus on spellcraft checks (ALL of them) and casting defensively. I have had it on my retired Bladebound in PFS, and it was one of the reasons why his spellcraft was pumped through the roof. Even better on someone who takes item crafting feats.

On the list

[Ninjaxenomorph]

Oh, didn't see that, thought it would be under 'skill', since I valued the Spellcraft over the concentration bonus. My retired Bladebound also has spellguard braces, since he never, ever wants to fail a concentration check.

A spell that I think might be useful is Reinforce Armaments; a good wand spell, since the only effect is duration and it lasts 10 minutes per level. When used on a normal, non-fragile weapon, it gives it masterwork (not important for us) and doubles the weapon's hardness (which can be really useful, since it really screws over sundering enemies and monsters that deal damage to weapons that hit it). Also, armor, which can be even more useful.

[Florian]

As new books turn up, the Magus can also change a bit. Here are some thoughts:

VMC Monk: This costs you 5 feats and you should pick Ki Arcana, but this nets you at least double your pool at 11th and gives Evasion along the way.

VMC Wizard: Air and Void elementarist school are the prime picks here. Air might be slightly better, as it gives a scaling SLA that could be used to power Arcane Strike and such.

Elven Battle Style/Focus/Torrent: Elf is a good base race for the Magus anyway, this feat chain makes you a very SAD class indeed, as you gain INT2dmg. MC one level into Monk (Master of Many Styles) and also learn the Kirin Style feat chain for enhanced effect. This is indeed brains over brawn then.

Eldritch Scion/Dragon Discipline: This one is very good at dealing base damage. No subtlety there, just kill it.

Evangelist Prestige Class: This PrC is a typical SKR one and broken beyond believe. You spent one feat on Deific Obeisance and you lose one CL, but you turn any caster PrC into a 3/4 class this way.

[Ninjaxenomorph]

You can't power Arcane Strike with a SLA anymore. More importantly, magus is already a caster. Arcane Strike, while useful at low levels, is too swift-action dependant for my tastes. It's better for bloodragers that can pick up Blooded Arcane Strike.

[Florian]

You can't power Arcane Strike with a SLA anymore. More importantly, magus is already a caster. Arcane Strike, while useful at low levels, is too swift-action dependant for my tastes. It's better for bloodragers that can pick up Blooded Arcane Strike.

Right and wrong. The FAQs/Errata mostly follow how things have been exploited in a way they should not have been. If that kind of exploitation doesn´t happen at your table, you do not have to follow the latest changes at all and stick to core.

[TheOneHawk]

Guides are generally written for what the current rules are, however.

[Florian]

Guides are generally written for what the current rules are, however.

What is "Current Rules" changes all the time and is outside of anyones control. More so, that is dependent on understanding what and how the authors understood and meant stuff. That also changes all the time.

In my opinion, a guide should stick as closely to the printed "core" as possible and mention major changes when they differ from the printed source material.

[TheOneHawk]

You say that like there aren't free access websites that are updated regularly with all the changes. Which there are.

[Ninjaxenomorph]

Regardless, unless you are picking up an archetype that alters casting such as mindblade, you are an arcane caster already. You qualify for Arcane Strike right out of the gate!

Also, this guide is frequently used by PFS players, who do live and die by errata. Ignoring it would be counterintuitive.

[Florian]

You say that like there aren't free access websites that are updated regularly with all the changes. Which there are.

I´m just taking a very relaxed view on this. Sometimes things are "go", other times they are not. Mostly, the core stays unchanged from that. Knowing that, I do not advocate using "fringe" rules that can change at a whim, that´s all.

[TheOneHawk]

I´m just taking a very relaxed view on this. Sometimes things are "go", other times they are not. Mostly, the core stays unchanged from that. Knowing that, I do not advocate using "fringe" rules that can change at a whim, that´s all.

And that's great at your table. The issue is, a guide like this has to be a bit more rigid in its interpretation of the rules. That's just the reality of optimizations guides. For example I think it's ludicrous that short range only applies to ray spells, it's needlessly limiting and when I DM I ignore that, especially since it's worded in an unclear manner. Kurald however, has to rate it as written. Most tables houserule, but the rules as written are as close as we can get to a guide being relevant at every table.

[Kurald Galain]

VMC Monk: This costs you 5 feats and you should pick Ki Arcana, but this nets you at least double your pool at 11th and gives Evasion along the way.

If you want pool points that badly, it's more efficient to take Extra Arcane Pool a couple times than to invest six feats in being a monk.

VMC Wizard: Air and Void elementarist school are the prime picks here. Air might be slightly better, as it gives a scaling SLA that could be used to power Arcane Strike and such.

I'll add void school as a great pick for its scaling saving throw bonus. Air school I'm less impressed by; sure, you gain flight at level 10, but the Magus can already fly on its own by level 7 at the latest. As has been pointed out, the Magus doesn't need a scaling SLA considering he has a caster level already (and also, arcane strike is a poor choice for a Magus anyway).

Elven Battle Style/Focus/Torrent: Elf is a good base race for the Magus anyway, this feat chain makes you a very SAD class indeed, as you gain INT2dmg. MC one level into Monk (Master of Many Styles) and also learn the Kirin Style feat chain for enhanced effect. This is indeed brains over brawn then.

The problem with Elven Battle Style is that it doesn't add your int to damage, it replaces your strength by int to damage. That's really not worth spending three feats on. Also, Kirin Style is a trap option for the Magus, because of the action cost involved.

Eldritch Scion/Dragon Discipline: This one is very good at dealing base damage. No subtlety there, just kill it.

Evangelist Prestige Class: This PrC is a typical SKR one and broken beyond believe. You spent one feat on Deific Obeisance and you lose one CL, but you turn any caster PrC into a 3/4 class this way.

Those were already on my list :)

Guides are generally written for what the current rules are, however.

Indeed. The guide is based on the most recent version of the rules, including (1) the newest splatbooks, not just core, and (2) errata where relevant. This is because that is most useful to the target audience. For largely the same reason, I try to exclude things that require controversial readings of the rules, because they probably won't fly on the game table, and are potential errata-bait anyway.

[TheOneHawk]

[*] Spell Perfection - It only shows up at high level, but the ability to add a metamagic feat to your favorite spell for free is amazing. Quickened Disintegrate, anyone? The other bonuses are icing on the cake. Requires level 15 and three other metamagic feats as prerequisite.

Note that you can only Quicken Disintegrate with this if you happen to have Magical Lineage (Disintegrate) otherwise it goes above the level 9 limit imposed by Spell Perfection.

[Ninjaxenomorph]

Some more recommendations. Protection from Energy is a solid spell to poach using Spell Blending; I picked it up with SB along with Heroism when I got 4th level spells.

And, since you mention Path of War classes in the guide, I brainstormed this combination: Hexcrafter with the Martial Training feats, picking up Cursed Razor. Since it uses Spellcraft as the discipline skill, you already have a good bonus to it right off, and your initiating stat is already at least decent. The discipline is supernatural, and focuses on debuffs, with a few pretty awesome damaging maneuvers. It has an interesting system of marking combatants by cursing them; most of the offensive maneuvers inflict the [curse] status, and some of maneuvers deal a lot more damage or have other enhanced effects if the target is cursed. But, what made me look closely at this was that targets under the effects of a curse spell (like all the ones the Hexcrafter added to the list) also count as cursed. It won't really help your action economy, but its maneuvers that refresh every combat, most of which are almost as good as spells. The stances are pretty good, as well; at 5th level, you would gain access to a stance that inflicts a -2 to will saves to all enemies in an aura. Six feats, but lots of fun.

[Kurald Galain]

Ok, so we've got this new Arcane Anthology book that's apparently chock-full of spells and has new archetypes for the Magus. Interesting...

[Serafina]

The new Magus-Archetypes are the Puppetmaster and the Deep Marshal


The Puppetmaster gets
- 4 skill points per level
- adds all Bard-spells to his spell list
- can't enhance his weapon, but can (as a swift action) expend pool points to enhance the DC of Enchantment and Illusion spells by 1 (later higher, up to 4).
- can only use Spell Combat with Enchantment and Illusion spells.
- Doesn't get Spell Strike, but whenever an enemy fails a save against one of his spells he can as a swift action cast a low-level enchantment (1st-level, later up to 3rd) on that foe.
- can have enchanted foes maintain illusions for him, as long as line of sight between him, the foe and the illusion exists. This is limited to one illusion (later two).
- as a capstone, he can take control of illusions he saves against.
- he doesn't gain knowledge pool, greater spell access, spellstrike, fighter training, counterstrike, medium and heavy armor and true magus.


The Deep Marshal gets
- gets medium armor proficiency (and ability to cast in) right away, and heavy armor sooner
- adds several earth- and craft-related spells to her spell list, as well as all Wizard spells of the Abjuration school (of 6th level or lower) - but can not cast any enchantment, illusion or necromancy spells.
- can only use arcane pool, spell combat and spell strike with battleaxes, heavy picks, warhammers and "dwarven" weapons.
- only gains 1/3rd level + Intelligence modifier in her arcane pool.
- at 3rd level, in place of the arcana there, she adds half her weapons (from the list above) enhancement bonus to her caster level, and all of it to her caster level to overcome spell resistance.
- she also automatically gains her level as ranks in Knowledge (dungeoneering) and Profession (miner), and uses Intelligence for the latter instead of Wisdom.


A nifty spell for the Magus is Splinter Spell Resistance. It's a second level spell cast on a weapon, lasts minutes/level and the first time each round it hits an enemy their spell resistance is reduced by five for 1 round.
It's obviously great for any Magus who has trouble with spell resistance - cast it via Spell Combat, and in any subsequent rounds you attack first, then cast - that way, the enemy will likely have 5 SR less.

Find Fault is also nice. Third level Divination that gives you knowledge about an enemy as if you had made a knowledge check with a result equal to your caster level+20. In addition, it also gives +5 to your first attack until the end of your next round.
This one should be cast as an opener of course, mostly to replace a knowledge-check nobody in your group has - the +5 to attack is a nice bonus though.



Then of course we get more rules on preparation rituals, though those are mostly rather minor tricks. Nothing major changed there - you pick one that is in your spellbook each day, and generally gain a boon that you can expend once as a swift action for a generally not-that-strong effect.

[TiaC]

Ok, so we've got this new Arcane Anthology book that's apparently chock-full of spells and has new archetypes for the Magus. Interesting...

I also like the Stabbing Spells trait. It's +2 to overcome an enemy's SR for a round when you hit them. It's a magic trait, so it's competing with a bunch of good traits, but it's nearly Spell Penetration on a Magus.

[Kurald Galain]

Added void wizard VMC, Creative Destruction and Knowledge Is Power discoveries, and point out that elven battle style is a trap. I like splinter spell resist, but it's hampered by the fact that it's save-negates (and multiple hits per round don't force multiple saves). I'm not too impressed by spending an action and a spell slot on a knowledge check (Find Fault) but if your party doesn't have a bard or wizard it's a decent subsitute. I've added force sword as an alternative to instant weapon, and stabbing spells as an alternative to magic's might. The two archetypes will be up later.

Note that you can only Quicken Disintegrate with this if you happen to have Magical Lineage (Disintegrate) otherwise it goes above the level 9 limit imposed by Spell Perfection.

Good point, I've fixed that.

Some more recommendations. Protection from Energy is a solid spell to poach using Spell Blending;

I get the impression that in most situations, the lower level Resist Energy is actually better than Protection.

And, since you mention Path of War classes in the guide, I brainstormed this combination: Hexcrafter with the Martial Training feats, picking up Cursed Razor.

I'm unable to find that online. Is it an item, a feat, a class, or an archetype?

Then of course we get more rules on preparation rituals, though those are mostly rather minor tricks. Nothing major changed there - you pick one that is in your spellbook each day, and generally gain a boon that you can expend once as a swift action for a generally not-that-strong effect.

I'll add a section on prep rituals.