[PF] Magus - what do you think of the final version?

[acid_ninja]

Personally, I like it. I don't think its the most powerful class (I'd say its a solid tier 3, maybe low tier 2) but it looks fun to play.

The only thing I don't like is the heavy armor prof. By the time you get it you should already have mithril full plate or (better yet) made your own celestial armor.

[Arutema]

By Pathfinder rules, you need heavy armor proficiency to wear mithral full plate and not suffer non-proficiency penalties.

[CTrees]

I see the Magus as a solid (possibly definitive) Tier 3 - it's capped at level six spells (though it can swap them out), and is a straight up gish-in-a-can. The heavy armor thing bothers me, but otherwise it seems like a pretty nicely balanced class. Useful but not glaringly broken on cursory examination. Still... one can make much better gishes (the basic fighter2/wizard8/eldritch knight 10 gets ninth level spells, slightly more average/max HP and +16BAB, and while he loses all the nifty class features... he gets the EK spell critical capstone and ninth level spells). Heck, I'd do a Synthesist Summoner a long time before I did a Magus (discounted spell levels and the chassis from hell go a long way to sway me)

[El Dorado]

I like it. Magus seems much more streamlined than fighter/wizard/EK, especially if your EK wears armor. Been thinking about converting my wizard/fighter. It's hard to give up the full wiz/sorc spell list. :smallsmile:

[TheCIASentMe]

I like it. Magus seems much more streamlined than fighter/wizard/EK, especially if your EK wears armor. Been thinking about converting my wizard/fighter. It's hard to give up the full wiz/sorc spell list. :smallsmile:

Don't think of it as giving up the full wiz/sorc spell list. Think of it as making a bard without perform or bardic music abilities in exchange for direct damage.

[subject42]

Pathfinder nerfed power attack, therefore the Magus sucks.

I'm kidding.



More seriously, the class doesn't look too bad. My only gripe is that the spell combat mechanic is going to require a lot of dice rolls per turn, thus slowing down combat if the player doesn't have a knack for arithmetic.

A quick look at the spell list didn't show any 6th level spells that qualify for Spellstrike. Am I missing one, or is the assumption that you will take the Close Range arcana?

[Corlindale]

Magus seems like a fun class. I guess I would have preferred a spontaneous caster for their iconic gish character, but at least the Magus gets some nice semi-spontaneous abilities.

I do think the Arcana list seems a bit underwhelming - a lot of the stuff there is 1/day abilities which don't quite seem worth it.

And as with many of the partial casters, it could be useful late-game to get the Spell Perfection feat, which effectively allows you to metamagic a spell all the way up to 9th level despite having only 6th level slots. That might be a nice way to keep your blasting potent despite not being a full caster, if you pick a base spell that's powerful and versatile enough.


A quick look at the spell list didn't show any 6th level spells that qualify for Spellstrike. Am I missing one, or is the assumption that you will take the Close Range arcana?

There doesn't seem to be one. He can get suitable spells through his ability to eventually learn some spells from the wizard list, but there aren't many good touch spells overall at that level - he'd probably be better off sticking to lower lvl stuff like Corrosive Consumption.

[Luckmann]

It looks solid to me. If I ever get to run a game, it's going to be in a world with no access to Wizards, Sorcerers, Clerics and Druids, making the Magus a much-welcomed alternative.

[Starbuck_II]

Really, achetypes are your friend. Hexes give Water Breathing/Flight all day is nice.

[acid_ninja]

Pathfinder nerfed power attack, therefore the Magus sucks.

I'm kidding.


I was going to give you crap for that until I saw the sneaky bit. :smallbiggrin:

The thing about EK is that you have to spend levels 3-7 essentially being a wizard who is one level behind the party. You ultimately end up stronger but you have to spend about a third of your career not being a gish, which is clearly what you wanted to do in the first place.

As far as higher level spellstrike, it does kind of suck that you have to use one of your arcana to make the most out of one of your signature abilities but close range is pretty good, allowing you to essentially have TWF at low levels (by combing it with a ray of frost for unlimited spell combat/spellstrike full attacks). Having a few wizard spells will be almost a must at higer levels (calcific touch, I'm looking at you).

One thing I'm not sure about: what about touch spells with a duration, like the aforementioned calcific touch? It allows you to make one touch per round but what happens when you get iteratives? Or Haste? Does only one attack per round get the spell? I guess its up to the DM, but I'd probably allow you to make multiple attacks but each one 'costs' one round of duration.