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Gorr_the_Gastly
2014-03-21, 09:59 PM
Ok I am curious. The archetype sounds cool and fits the fluff for a Samurai very well but.

Canny Defense would make this class suck. It adds 1 point of Int per Magus level. So at level one you lose all Armor profs, you have just Dex and 1 point of Int. Is that not crappy for a class that is a gish?
Yorrin
2014-03-21, 10:09 PM
Pretty much all classes suck at level one. But by, say, level 5 you're looking a lot better.
Gorr_the_Gastly
2014-03-21, 10:14 PM
Yes but that means if you put an 18 in both Dex and Int you have an AC of 15.

Yes at level four it becomes 18 without any feats burnt on armor but still its insanely low for a melee class.
Yorrin
2014-03-21, 10:18 PM
But by that point you're already using Spell Combat to cast Mirror Image on your first round of combat, so your defense is of a higher form than mere AC.
Gorr_the_Gastly
2014-03-21, 10:29 PM
True yes but my point was still for a combat focused archetype it really does nerf you in the opening moments. At level 1 you don't really have much else you can do with it.
Yorrin
2014-03-21, 10:31 PM
Fair enough. But compare that to, say, a Ranger. With the same Dex score he's prolly wearing Leather, so his AC is one higher than you at level one. Equal at level two. Inferior thereafter. This is simply a case of melee never being as good as you think it should be in DnD.
avr
2014-03-21, 10:42 PM
You could possibly cast shield for +4 to AC for a fight even at level 1. Later on a case of potions of mage armor might be a useful investment.

But yeah, the Kensai is heavily slanted to 'strike first, strike hard'.
grarrrg
2014-03-31, 10:00 AM
Fair enough. But compare that to, say, a Ranger. With the same Dex score he's prolly wearing Leather, so his AC is one higher than you at level one. Equal at level two. Inferior thereafter. This is simply a case of melee never being as good as you think it should be in DnD.

In that same vein, go grab yourself a skirt Armored Kilt (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipment---final/armor), +1 AC, no Armor Check Penalty, so you can wear it just fine without proficiency.
Or, going more "Kensai-flavored" there's always the Haramaki (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipment---final/armor/eastern-armor-and-shields) for dirt cheap.