Vanilla Magus with wand or Bladebound Magus with Pearls of Power: what allows for more spell recall in PFS?


Advice

Scarab Sages

Hi!

I've got my first 3 sessions of PFS play (also the first 3 sessions of pathfinder) behind me and am reworking my strength magus for level 2.

I've got it all worked out! ...all except whether to take bladebound archetype or not...

I wanted to recall a lot of (level 1) spells and a magus can use his Arcane Pool (AP) points for that: 1 AP / lvl1 spell recall.

But a bladebound magus gets a free up-to-date magic weapon, freeing up a lot of cash for nifty items like Pearls of Power. Which does the same thing. Basically the rate is 1000GP / 1 AP.

Of course, the bladebound magus loses the level 3 Arcana which I might have used for Wand Wielder, allowing a wand to be used through Spell Combat. And wands can be bought with Prestige Points (PP) instead of GP which I have in ready supply. If I use a springloaded wrist sheath I can draw a single wand for a swift and cast it 'free' for a -2 to attack. Almost as good as a Pearl of Power. So that would negate the necessity for investment in Pearls of Power for Shield of which I was planning to get 4-5. But that would still leave Shocking Grasp.. can't use my Shocking Grasp spell-specific traits and feat enhancements with a wand. And can't put more than 1 wand in a Wrist Sheath. So still need Pearls or AP for lvl1 spells like Shocking Grasp and Vanish.

My head is spinning trying to compute all this. Can some experienced player make me an educated estimate to the question: does the Bladebound archetype allow for more or less spell recall, if we assume a single recall is worth 1000K (Pearl of Power) and the vanilla magus uses wands for Shield?

Edit: altered the title a bit. Perhaps my question can also be distilled to: how much money does the bladebound save by not having to buy a magic weapon? That's the bit that's really got me puzzled.


Wands complicate the issue massively, because they're consumable. You would need to decide how many uses of each Wand you're getting per session, as well as a timeframe of total sessions (days, really, but for PFS they're close enough to synonymous).

I.E., if you use Shield once every other session and can get from 1-12 in thirty-six sessions, that's a very different pricing model from Shield twice per session and 1-12 in seventy-two sessions.

EDIT: As a general statement, each charge of a first-level wand costs 15gp and 'saves' one use of Spell Recall.

Each first-level Pearl would need to be used sixty-seven times to exceed that in value.

There are outside advantages to both of course, but if we're looking strictly at spell slots saved, there's some numbers to consider.

Scarab Sages

kestral287 wrote:


EDIT: As a general statement, each charge of a first-level wand costs 15gp and 'saves' one use of Spell Recall.

Ah, but in PFS you can get a free wand for 2 Prestige Points, they won't cost me any money. They are still consumable and I was planning on using them for every encounter. My strength magus has an AC of only 14, yet is a melee fighter. Without shield he's a goner. That's the downside of a strength magus vs dex magus.


*Shrug* How many prestige points is a Pearl of Power?

Otherwise you're looking at two separate sets of currency and that is going to complicate the hell out of any model.

Scarab Sages

kestral287 wrote:

*Shrug* How many prestige points is a Pearl of Power?

PFS gives you a free item worth up to 750 gp for 2 PP. A pearl of power costs 1000GP.

kestral287 wrote:
Otherwise you're looking at two separate sets of currency and that is going to complicate the hell out of any model.

Tell me about it! But you can assume the Prestige Points (I just realized the possible confusion with Platinum Pieces..) to be free. I should be able to get plenty of them. So basically the vanilla magus will have free Shield recalls in combat, which I wanted to use every combat. That will simplify the model.

Scarab Sages

Well, your first prestige point purchase should be a wand of CLW or Infernal Healing (it's on your spell list and is more efficient).

That being said I don't think the bladebound saves any money or if he saves any it's not worth it. The vanilla magus doesn't have to spend a lot on a magic weapon due to his arcane pool enhancement but he can if he wants to (some bonus is a good idea). The problem with the bladebound is that your arcane pool is both smaller and the weapon itself can't be given an enhancement bonus through any other means. So you'll pretty much be using your arcane pool for one thing, enhancing your weapon just to keep your to hit up. Spell Recall would be another drain on the Bladebound's smaller pool.

In my opinion, the Bladebound seems a lot cooler than he actually pans out to be (There are a lot of things like that in Pathfinder).

Of the magus archetypes, I like the hexcrafter and also the kensai, but the vanilla magus is just as good/better.

Two things to mention.
1) You can get a mithril buckler to help pick up your flatfooted AC (after you've got your armor down).
2) You should look for the flamboyant arcana and arcane deed (Precise Strike). That can add a lot to the damage output of a Magus.

Scarab Sages

Infernal healing is certainly going to be my first wand since I can use it well outside combat! I was told I can't get a CLW since it's not on my list.

Once I get to level 3 I can get the Wand Wielder arcana and start to use wands of shield in combat. Or possibly vanish instead for the tougher fights.

I think you're right; for spell recall I'm better of with the vanilla magus.

Scarab Sages

Kensai sounds great! If it wasn't for the spell recall replacement I would have taken it. Perhaps for a different build I will try out Kensai or one of the other archetypes for fun.

Scarab Sages

Nimius Fulmen 2 wrote:

Infernal healing is certainly going to be my first wand since I can use it well outside combat! I was told I can't get a CLW since it's not on my list.

Once I get to level 3 I can get the Wand Wielder arcana and start to use wands of shield in combat. Or possibly vanish instead for the tougher fights.

I think you're right; for spell recall I'm better of with the vanilla magus.

You can get CLW you'd just have to use the Use Magic Device it or hand it to the caster (my Monk even carries one around, and a wand of mage armor). But that being said Infernal Healing is better, some people (Paladins, Clerics of good-aligned gods, etc.) may have "qualms" with using one on you, so most people get the CLW if they can't cast it themselves.


Nimius Fulmen 2 wrote:
kestral287 wrote:

*Shrug* How many prestige points is a Pearl of Power?

PFS gives you a free item worth up to 750 gp for 2 PP. A pearl of power costs 1000GP.

kestral287 wrote:
Otherwise you're looking at two separate sets of currency and that is going to complicate the hell out of any model.

Tell me about it! But you can assume the Prestige Points (I just realized the possible confusion with Platinum Pieces..) to be free. I should be able to get plenty of them. So basically the vanilla magus will have free Shield recalls in combat, which I wanted to use every combat. That will simplify the model.

It really doesn't. This is the current model:

Bladebound: Save 2 Spell Recalls per day at level 3, 8 at level 5, 18 at level 9

Normal: +1 use of Spell Recall over Bladebound at levels 4-7 and 9, +2 uses at level 8 and 10-12

With wands: Undefined, possibly infinite savings of Spell Recall.

Without knowing, at least roughly, how often you use the Wands, it doesn't work. Four per day and you're seriously willing to blow every piece of gold saved by Bladebound on first-level Pearls of Power? Bladebound wins, but you're putting up with a lot of its other crap. Twelve per day, and maybe you'd like to devote half of Bladebound's gold somewhere else? Straight Magus wins.


Realistically, being a Bladebound Magus saves you 8k and costs an Arcana and an Arcane point-and-a-half. The vast majority of your play will be very minimally affected by the loss of the Arcane point. Until lv.4, there is NO DIFFERENCE in your Arcane pool points. From 4 onward, you're down 1 point, until lv.8, when it's 2, then 1 again at 9, then back to 2 at lv.10.

The GP cost savings are 2k at lv.3, 8k at lv.5, and 18k at lv.9.

The sad truth is that you're likely not going to care about having more than a +1 on your weapon. Most Magi will be more than satisfied by spending 11k on an Adamantine +1 keen weapon. They will start with just the +1 Adamantine for 5k, and when lv.5 rolls around, they use their arcane pool to enhance it with keen and another +1 ability, just the same as the Bladebound. The difference is that the Bladebound has +1 attack and damage, while the vanilla magus can bypass hardness. Sure, maybe the Bladebound has another cool magic item (jingasa of the fortunate soldier, maybe?), but the vanilla Magus has +4 initiative from his familiar, or Arcane Accuracy, or even, yes, Wand Wielder.

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