Half-giant Hexcrafter Magus

[Unbalanced]

Starting as a lone player in a solo campaign very soon.

I've decided on a Hexcrafter Magus, and I'm taking Half-Giant to take advantage of the "powerful build" ability.

Not looking for optimization, but looking for any help to prevent me from making any stupid feat choices etc.
So any advice/hints/tips, helpful feats, best spells, nifty tricks, feel free to fill me in!


STR 18 (+2)
DEX 12 (-2)
CON 16
INT 18
WIS 10 (+2)
CHA 10

Languages:
Common, Draconic, Giant, Gnoll, and Ignan

Traits:
Seeker: You gain a +1 trait bonus on perception checks, and perception is always a class skill for
you.
Arcane Temper: You gain a +1 trait bonus on concentration and initiative checks.

Hexcrafter Magus 1-
HP: 12
Initiative: +2 (+1 Dex, Arcane Temper +1)
Attack: +4 (BAB +0, Str +4)
Damage: 2d6+4 (Warhammer, large)
AC: 15 (Chain shirt +4, Dex +1)
FORT: +5 (Magus +2, Con +3)
REF: +1 (Dex +1)
WILL: +2 (Magus +2)
Arcane Pool: 5 points
Feat: ???? Suggestions please

Spells:
0 level spells – 3/day
1st level spells – 1/day

Skills:
Intimidate- +4 (+1 rank, +3 class skill)
Knowledge (arcana)- +8 (+1 rank, +3 class skill, +4 Int)
Knowledge (planes)- +8 (+1 rank, +3 class skill, +4 Int)
Perception- +5 (+1 rank, +3 class skill, +1 seeker)
Spellcraft- +8 (+1 rank, +3 class skill, +4 Int)
Survival- +5 (+1 rank, +4 racial bonus)

[Abd al-Azrad]

One would be remiss not to direct you to a full guide on the Hexcrafter Magus (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fSJuL1O4hs15NMk-y4MXbH9D_qt9V7iwhY2y9HDrs74/edit).

You have a considerable number of options, but you are correct to believe you should plan them out from the beginning to give you a good focus.

Right off, I do not feel the Half-Giant will be as valuable to you compared to other warrior types. Most Magi must fight one-handed so as to fully benefit from Spell Combat (Note: (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/magus) "To use this ability, the magus must have one hand free (even if the spell being cast does not have somatic components), while wielding a light or one-handed melee weapon in the other hand."). You will still likely want to use a high-crit weapon, due to the power of Spellstrike, which limits you to generally low-damage-die weapons like the Rapier. Powerful Build on a d6 weapon can only give you so much benefit, and beyond that, your racial ability modifiers are only partially useful. High Str is great, no doubt, but without a racial Int boost to fuel your casting, arcana, DCs and Hexes, you might be working uphill a bit.

What you could do to work around this, is to largely ignore your Spell Combat ability altogether. Pick up a big ol' two-hander with a high crit range, and alternate between casting rounds and fighting rounds. This does eliminate one of your primary Magus tricks, but it might be worth it to crit an Intensified Shocking Grasp through an Enlarged, Power Attacking, Powerfully Built Two-Handed Greatsword.

And then, general advice: use your Hexes to slow down foes while you use your Magus spells and attacks to kill your primary target. Pick a Fort- and a Will-targeting disabling Hex to supplement your combat repertoire. Magi can be great at either damage, or disabling effects, so pick one of these and focus a fair number of your choices on it.

[Psyren]

I'm not sure if these are in the PFSRD yet, but half-giants have alternate racial traits too - for your Magus I would recommend either Juggernaut (+1 racial bonus to CMB for trip, bull rush and overrun, replaces half-giant psionics and survivor) and/or Liberty or Death (+2 racial bonus to saves vs. mind-affecting, replaces fire-acclimated.)

Warhammers are not too impressive. Yeah there's the x3 crit, but it's only one damage type and both the die and threat range are miniscule.

The most obvious level 1 feat is Power Attack. Other good choices are Weapon Focus (will help you both early on and to land spellstrikes later), Improved Initiative, Arcane Strike, and possibly Combat Casting.

[Unbalanced]

One would be remiss not to direct you to a full guide on the Hexcrafter Magus (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fSJuL1O4hs15NMk-y4MXbH9D_qt9V7iwhY2y9HDrs74/edit).
Cheers, I have read it, but I don't like the idea of following someone else's build or taking advantage of any exploits. It was certainly somewhat useful though.


Right off, I do not feel the Half-Giant will be as valuable to you compared to other warrior types. Most Magi must fight one-handed so as to fully benefit from Spell Combat (Note: (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/magus) "To use this ability, the magus must have one hand free (even if the spell being cast does not have somatic components), while wielding a light or one-handed melee weapon in the other hand."). You will still likely want to use a high-crit weapon, due to the power of Spellstrike, which limits you to generally low-damage-die weapons like the Rapier. Powerful Build on a d6 weapon can only give you so much benefit, and beyond that, your racial ability modifiers are only partially useful. High Str is great, no doubt, but without a racial Int boost to fuel your casting, arcana, DCs and Hexes, you might be working uphill a bit.
My DM, as I'll be tackling it solo, is very flexible with my base ability scores. So race doesn't really effect that. I just like the idea of a half-giant for powerful build and the flavour.
I did consider somewhat burning a feat straight up for exotic weapon proficiency and grabbing a large bastard sword, but I thought it wasn't really worth it...


And then, general advice: use your Hexes to slow down foes while you use your Magus spells and attacks to kill your primary target. Pick a Fort- and a Will-targeting disabling Hex to supplement your combat repertoire. Magi can be great at either damage, or disabling effects, so pick one of these and focus a fair number of your choices on it.
The plan was to debuff/control with hexes, and deal damage with spells+melee or just melee. And, when needed, use spells for utility as well.

[Unbalanced]

I'm not sure if these are in the PFSRD yet, but half-giants have alternate racial traits too - for your Magus I would recommend either Juggernaut (+1 racial bonus to CMB for trip, bull rush and overrun, replaces half-giant psionics and survivor) and/or Liberty or Death (+2 racial bonus to saves vs. mind-affecting, replaces fire-acclimated.)
That's great. Thanks. What book do I find these in??


Warhammers are not too impressive. Yeah there's the x3 crit, but it's only one damage type and both the die and threat range are miniscule.
I know they're nothing great, but I just like the idea of hitting people in the face with a large hammer. Haha.
I considered taking exotic weapon proficiency and picking up a bastards sword or katana, but I thought that might be a waste of a feat...


The most obvious level 1 feat is Power Attack. Other good choices are Weapon Focus (will help you both early on and to land spellstrikes later), Improved Initiative, Arcane Strike, and possibly Combat Casting.
Power attack and weapon focus both ask for BAB +1, so they're out (at level 1), and improved initiative is handy, but I feel like I should be boosting my melee abilities..
Arcane strike and combat casting both seem like good ideas.




Thanks for help guys. Very much appreciated!

[Ninjaxenomorph]

For a magus, I have found in the early levels Power Attack isn't strictly necessary, since you are just trying to get your to-hit high enough to be reliably attacking with Spell Combat/Spellstrike. Or in your case, Hex Strike. As for weapons, the cheesy, obvious choice is a scimitar. Warhammers literally do nothing for you; a high crit range is better.

[Psyren]

My bad on the feats.
Warhammer isn't terrible, just... nothing special either. But you can hit things with it and they will fall down... I suppose that's all that is really needed in the end.


That's great. Thanks. What book do I find these in??

Ultimate Psionics

[Unbalanced]

Maybe I'm better off going human (my DM will probably prefer that) and using my extra feat to grab exotic weapon proficiency for a bastard sword...
I can always make myself 7ft tall, hah.

[Ninjaxenomorph]

Exotic Weapon Proficiency requires a +1 BAB. So, unless you are a half-elf with Ancestral Arms, it won't fly at 1st level. On the other hand, a half-elf is probably better, since you get the Exotic proficiency, plus, you know, half-elf stuff. If you plan to take the feat, either way, I would recommend picking up a katana, rather than a bastard sword. Basically the same thing, but with slightly more useful stats; at a certain point, the size of your damage dice are less important than your crit range. Think about it; a Keen katana/scimitar/rapier has a 15-20 crit range. If you are not keen (heh) on a katana, the Rhoka and Urumi have almost identical stats. Rhoka being basically an urdefhan bastard sword with a slit down the middle, and an Urumi basically being a sharpened metal belt.

If, though, you are set on a huge guy wielding an equally huge sword, I endorse the half-giant; just use a longsword for the first few levels, then consider switching to a slightly more optimal weapons. I mean, just thinking about Enlarge Person/Monstrous Physique on a half-giant kinda makes me salivate.

[Unbalanced]

Exotic Weapon Proficiency requires a +1 BAB.
Oh, whoops. True...


If, though, you are set on a huge guy wielding an equally huge sword, I endorse the half-giant; just use a longsword for the first few levels, then consider switching to a slightly more optimal weapons. I mean, just thinking about Enlarge Person/Monstrous Physique on a half-giant kinda makes me salivate.

That idea does appeal!
A large humanoid wielding a "huge" sword? Yes!
But there's probably going to be plenty of occasions when that's not practical and I don't want to shoot myself in the foot just for one nifty party trick.



The alternative:


Half-elf
(Ancestral arms & Drow magic)

STR 18
DEX 12
CON 16
INT 18
WIS 10
CHA 10

Languages:
Common, Elven, Abyssal, Draconic, Sylvan, Undercommon

Traits:
Seeker: You gain a +1 trait bonus on perception checks, and perception is always a class skill for
you.
Arcane Temper: You gain a +1 trait bonus on concentration and initiative checks.

Magus 1-
HP: 12
Initiative: +2 (+1 Dex, Arcane Temper +1)
Attack: +4 (BAB +0, Str +4)
Damage: 1d8+4 (Katana)
AC: 15 (Chain shirt +4, Dex +1)
FORT: +5 (Magus +2, Con +3)
REF: +1 (Dex +1)
WILL: +2 (Magus +2)
Arcane pool: 5 points
Feat: Arcane Strike

Spells:
Drow magic – Dancing lights, darkness, and faerie fire – 1/day each
0 level spells – 3/day
1st level spells – 1/day

Skills:
Intimidate- +4 (+1 rank, +3 class skill)
Knowledge (arcana)- +8 (+1 rank, +3 class skill, +4 Int)
Knowledge (planes)- +8 (+1 rank, +3 class skill, +4 Int)
Perception- +7 (+1 rank, +3 class skill, +1 seeker, +2 keen senses)
Spellcraft- +8 (+1 rank, +3 class skill, +4 Int)
Stealth- +1 (+1 rank, +1 Dex, -2 ACP

[Abd al-Azrad]

So is the plan to eventually pick up EWP (Katana), use the weapon one-handed when you want to Spell Combat or two-handed when you want to Power Attack?

Your first couple levels will be rather tricky without Spell Combat, but once you hit Level 3 this looks like a fairly decent setup. Half-elf, half-giant, either would work with this basic outline of a build. It will exacerbate your lack of feats, but you can address that problem by your rather low-investment combat style (THF).

I might refrain from Arcane Strike, to be honest. It will help your damage output a bit, but magi are probably one of the highest damage classes in the game without it. More to the point, it will create further competition for your Swift actions, which may not be a problem early on, but later in the game you'll likely want your Swifts for activating Arcana options (like the Intelligence Bonus to Attack Rolls one), or casting Quickened Spells (Regular Spellstrike Shocking Grasp + Quickened Spellstrike Shocking Grasp + Spell Storing Weapon's Shocking Grasp = enough voltage to keep out a Dinosaur).

I know it's a huge investment, but if you can spare the four (4!!) feats needed, Spell Perfection on a Magus can be pretty nuts. A Quickened Spellstrike Bestow Curse or Major Curse will probably remove an enemy from the fray entirely. Or any of a number of other really cool options - Spell Perfection is amazing.

[Ninjaxenomorph]

Yeah, Arcane Strike isn't really worth it. Unless you are going Mythic, where the mythic version of the feat lasts about a minute. I'd say Toughness, since you are a frontliner with 12 HP.

[Unbalanced]

So is the plan to eventually pick up EWP (Katana), use the weapon one-handed when you want to Spell Combat or two-handed when you want to Power Attack?
Pretty much decided on half-elf and pick up katana straight off the bat.
And yes, fight the way you suggest.



Yeah, Arcane Strike isn't really worth it. Unless you are going Mythic, where the mythic version of the feat lasts about a minute. I'd say Toughness, since you are a frontliner with 12 HP.
Thanks for the advice. Definitely valid. I'll have a look through the feats and see what appeals.


I'm going to carry on my write up for a few levels and see how it plays out.