Thank you for reading this Magus class guide for Pathfinder Second Edition. The magus is one of two classes introduced with the release of “Pathfinder: Secrets of Magic” for second edition. The magus is a true hybrid of a martial class and a prepared caster. Their weapon and armor proficiencies enable them to contribute directly to the fight with their strikes, while their ability to prepare spells rewards forethought by enabling them to pick the right spells for the right situations in a given day. They may not exceed specialist martials or casters in their given field, but this blend of martial and magical prowess gives them a flexibility few classes can match and they can find their niche in most party compositions.

Going forward I want to impress upon any readers of this guide that this was written largely from my experience which is, firstly, the experience of one person and, secondly, not by any stretch of the imagination all-encompassing. As human as I am there are bound to be oversights, biases, and angles I did not consider when writing this. While some fellow gamers have told me, and I certainly like to think, that I generally know what I’m talking about, I have never once attempted to write a guide before; much less a guide that has grown to the scale that this one is sitting at. Should something prove to be in need of an update, I will do so.

The discussion thread for this guide can be found here.

Color code

As a gamer I love to see a well-built character pay off, but as a role-player I MUST emphasize that your first priority is to pick options that are the most fun for you. If something is “less optimal” than other choices that doesn’t automatically make it unfun or unplayable. Play the way you want if your GM is cool with it. That said, this is a guide meant to help you mechanically, so the mechanics are at the forefront of the writing of this guide. To help with that, this guide shall be using the color code established by Treantmonk, to provide a quick reference for my general take on a given feature or feat’s effectiveness.

Red (*): A bad option you would be better off avoiding.

Orange (**): Nothing spectacular but it won’t hurt; or it’s situational.

Green (***): Can almost never go wrong picking this. A good option.

Blue (****): An amazing option! Go for it!

Glossary and Abbreviations

Here are a few common terms and abbreviations that are used in this guide.

Attribute: The basic building blocks of any character. They shall be abbreviated as follows.

STR - Strength.
DEX - Dexterity.
CON - Constitution.
INT - Intelligence.
WIS - Wisdom.
CHA - Charisma.

AC: Armor class, how difficult it is for creatures to hit you.

RS: Reactive Strike, a somewhat common, but by no stretch of the imagination universal, reaction that lets anyone who has it make a strike against the triggering creature.

CRB: Core Rulebook. The primary rulebook for Pathfinder 2nd Edition.

DC: Difficulty class. Someone has to roll to meet or beat a given DC to succeed at a dice roll.

GM: Game-Master. They run the campaign you’re playing in, and they’re the one who has the final say on what can and can’t be done. Get along with your GM folks, it makes the game more fun for everyone at the table.

MAD: Multi-attribute Dependent. Meaning that the class depends on more than one attribute to achieve best results. Since the magus is both a martial and a caster, they need to regularly invest in at least two attribute scores on top of other tertiary attributes. As opposed to, say, a wizard who really only needs INT to get their best features while the rest are secondary; thus the wizard would be SAD (Single-attribute Dependent)

MAP: Multiple Attack Penalty. A second use of an action with the “Attack” trait in the same turn will incur a -5 penalty to the dice roll, while a third or later use of an action with the “Attack” trait will incur a -10 penalty.

SoM: Secrets of Magic. The sourcebook that the magus class has come from.

[U]: Uncommon. Uncommon options are, at the GM’s discretion, harder to come by and require the GM’s permission to grab.

[R]: Rare. Rare options are, at the GM’s discretion, much harder to come by and require the GM’s permission to take.

Magus Class Features

Every magus gets these features. Note that any ratings here are purely in comparison to other classes, as there are no options to change any of these. A number of these features will get no rating at all.

Key Attribute: Strength or Dexterity

As a primarily martial class, the magus gets its choice to use strength or dexterity as its key attribute. Pick whichever one is most helpful for your build, details will be covered in the Attributes section of this guide.

Hit Points (**): 8 + CON hit points per level

More hit points than some pure casters but less than most martials. Unless you are the only front-liner in your party you do not want to be the first one to rush into combat. Much like a rogue, you need to let the more durable members of the group go first, go in after them, and lean on other defensive options.

Perception (*):

Starts at trained proficiency. The magus is a bit MAD so you’re not likely to have the boosts to spare for wisdom to help it out at level 1. To add insult to injury, even once you level up and can afford to put attribute boosts into wisdom, the magus caps out at expert proficiency in perception when you get Alertness at level 9. This is a prime candidate for the Canny Acumen General Feat late in the game.

Saving Throws (***): Generally good but not spectacular since no save reaches legendary.

Fortitude (***) starts at expert and increases to master at level 15 when you get Juggernaut, which bumps up your successful fortitude saves to critical successes! Juggernaut comes online a bit late but you should have a decent CON modifier in the meantime.
Reflex (**) is your weakest save, starting at trained proficiency and capping at expert proficiency at level 5 when you get Lightning Reflexes. All that said, DEX-focused magi can still do alright thanks to a strong DEX modifier.
Will (***) starts at expert and increases to master at level 9 when you get Resolve, also bumping your successful will saves to critical successes. Getting will saves to master relatively early helps make up for the fact that you’re likely to start with a lower WIS.

Skills (**): Trained in Arcana, Trained in 2 plus INT Mod.

Just BARELY better than a fighter or a barbarian, and only by dint of you actually investing attribute boosts into your INT throughout your career. But don’t worry, this plus your background will give you the skills you need to cover your bases plus a little bit extra. More details on the individual skills later in the guide.

Attacks (***): Trained in simple and martial weapons. Trained in unarmed attacks.

Starting at trained proficiency, advancing to expert at level 5, and advancing to master at level 13. Surpassed only by the Fighter and Gunslinger, equal to all other martial classes. Only thing they don’t get compared to other martial classes by default is their weapon’s critical specialization effect.

Defenses (***): Trained in light and medium armor. Trained in unarmored defense.

Starting at trained proficiency, advancing to expert at level 11 with Medium Armor Expertise, and advancing to master at level 17 with Medium Armor Mastery. Though they lack heavy armor proficiency by default, and thus have a lower AC cap than a fighter, they still have the same armor progression as a fighter which puts them ahead of other martial classes except for the monk, guardian, and champion.

Class DC (**): The Remaster did clarify that all classes, spellcasters included, get a Class DC. At the early levels the Class DC will be the same as any martial character’s class DC, but unfortunately like all spellcasters the Class DC never improves. It’s rarely used so it’s rarely a problem, but if you get your hands on an item or feature that uses your class DC (such as for certain crit specializations or relics) then the Magus is going to be notably behind. Since the Magus largely functions as a martial class with supplementary spellcasting I sincerely hope this gets addressed in later printings of the Remaster. Maybe you can sweet talk your GM into allowing this to scale like martial’s do in the meantime.

Spells (**): Trained in spell attacks and DCs. Keys off of INT.

Starting at trained proficiency, advancing to expert at level 9 with Expert Spellcaster, and advancing to master at level 17 with Master Spellcaster. This puts your proficiency progression ahead of a Cleric with the Warpriest doctrine, but this advantage is almost nil when you consider that INT is not a key attribute for a magus. The biggest limitation on the Magus is that the Magus is a bounded spellcaster. Most other casting classes get, at least, three spell slots per spell rank, and a single 10th-rank spell slot. The Magus can cast 2 spells per spell rank of ONLY their highest two spell ranks, and never acquire a 10th-rank spell slot. Later on they get a class feature that grants them a few extra low-rank spell slots but only for a limited (but generally useful) selection of spells. Being unable to advance to legendary, and their much more limited number of spell slots means the magus can never equal a full caster in power or versatility. Rest assured, magic is still a versatile tool and a magus would not be complete without their spells!

Heightening Spells:

A vital feature in 2nd edition Pathfinder. All spells gain the benefit of being harder to counteract via heightening, but many of them improve in general power, or in some cases gain additional effects, as they are heightened. Since the magus only has their two-highest spell ranks to prepare spells in, you will often be heightening your spells by default. Note that cantrips and focus spells (covered later) automatically heighten to equal half your character level rounded up.

Cantrips (****):

Like all casters you get to prepare five cantrips, and cantrips can be cast over and over again. These spells are more useful than ever for every spellcaster in 2nd edition thanks to the fact that they automatically heighten to half your level rounded up. Their use is much more pronounced for a magus since they have so few spell slots for other spells, so having these will improve the offensive options for a magus, and even a few utility options. It’s important to coordinate with other party members to see if they can take more utility options so you can make room for your vital offensive options. Casting them normally, they will be one or two steps behind pure casters due to your lower INT; but you don’t have to cast them normally. Offensive cantrips can be paired with Spellstrike.

Spellbook (***):

Your spellbook gives you an edge over spontaneous casters in that, in theory, you can know any arcane spell you learn. Unfortunately, unlike the Cleric or Druid, you do not know all arcane spells by default (not including uncommon or rare spells). You do have to spend time and money learning spells, but the good news is that you learn two spells automatically each time you level up. Additionally there are feats that can save you both time and money in learning spells. Getting the most out of your spellbook means planning ahead of your adventuring day. What location are you going to? What dangers can you expect? What kind of enemies will you face? What can help navigate our path? What can defend us? What can I best use to destroy our enemies? What buffs should I prepare? You may have fewer spell slots than a full caster, but you can know just as many spells as they do, and you can still make the most of what spells you do have.

Spellstrike (****)

The most fun part of playing a Magus. Your biggest asset, and your ball and chain. For two actions, you use the Cast a Spell activity (meaning that if you use a spell with the Manipulate trait you can provoke Reactive Strikes) to cast a spell that requires an attack roll or a saving throw. This will count as two attacks towards your MAP (after you’re done using spellstrike); furthermore, the spell cannot take more than two actions to cast.

With that out of the way, you make a melee strike with your weapon, and if you hit you will deal the combined damage of both your weapon and the spell you cast! If you’re especially lucky and land a critical success while using a spell with the attack trait you’ll double your weapon’s damage and gain the spell’s critical success effect!

If your spell requires a saving throw with no attack roll, then the target of your strike must make a saving throw, even if your strike fails. However there are a few caveats to consider here. The spell won’t go off if your strike critically fails. Additionally, your Spell DCs are at least one step behind other casters. Also, don’t be fooled into thinking landing a critical hit on your strike will help, because when spells don’t have attack rolls they don’t have effects on a critical success with a strike.

Two-actions for incredible potential burst damage! However there is one major limitation on the frequency at which you can use Spellstrike, and that is the fact that after using it, you have to spend one action to recharge it before you can use it again! This means that the Magus’ action-economy is incredibly tight! Not only are you spending two actions to use it, you are also spending one more action to recharge it every time you do use it. Spellstrikes are very powerful and you want to use them, but using them as often as possible means you have to be very careful about how you juggle your actions round-to-round. More on this in a later section of the guide, but for now there are some specifics about spellstrike that I would be remiss to forget mentioning.

One Target:

Only the creature you hit with your weapon will be affected by the spell, even if you cast a spell that can attack multiple enemies or affects an area. Thus spells that target multiple enemies are less valuable when combined with a spellstrike.

Reach:

When you use spellstrike, the spell’s reach equals your weapon’s reach. Awesome if you’re using a touch spell with a reach weapon. But a limitation on spells with range.

Ancillary Effects:

Splash damage spells still deal splash damage, and debuffs from spells with debuffs still affect the target after you deal damage with your strike. Other special effects may be subject to GM discretion.

Multiple Defenses:

If the spell you cast with spellstrike has a saving throw, it still happens normally. Do note that your attack roll, even if it’s a critical hit, has no bearing on the results of the enemy’s saving throw unless the spell you cast specifically says that a critical hit affects their saving throw results.

Invalid or Immune Target:

You still waste the spell if the target is immune to your spell. Luckily if the target is immune to your strike but not the spell, the spell will still affect it if you hit.

Variable Actions:

If a spell, say Blazing Bolt, has varying effects depending on how many actions you spend casting it you can decide whether the spell will have its one-action or two-action effect. But even if the spell has a three-action version you can never choose to apply that to your spellstrike.

Spellshape:

Typically you can’t. Spellshape requires your next action to be “Cast a Spell'' and Spellstrike is considered a combined action, which never qualifies for effects that require a particular action even if one of the component actions is part of the combined action.

Arcane Cascade (**)

A stance that’s unique to the magus. First you have to cast a spell or use spellstrike, and then you spend one action to enter this stance. The stance gives you bonus force damage to melee weapon damage (starts at 1, increases to 2 when you get weapon specialization, and 3 when you get greater weapon specialization) so while that technically means a magus can deal more damage per successful strike than other classes in a white room, the damage bonus is still pretty miniscule and most martial classes have better damage boosting options. However it’s still recommended to enter Arcane Cascade whenever there is an opening to do so. Damage is damage, and if the spell you used to trigger Arcane Cascade deals damage then, instead of force damage, your bonus damage will match that damage type. The variety of damage types your bonus damage can become means that the magus can potentially hit almost any weakness an enemy creature can potentially have with their normal strikes! Enemies with weaknesses aren’t an “every adventure occurrence” so the number of times it actually comes up will be small in the grand scheme of things, but if you run into a troll you’ll be glad to be able to easily give your weapon some extra fire damage at no resource cost to you! There is one more, and more substantial, benefit of Arcane Cascade, and that has to do with…

Hybrid Study

Your hybrid study is your subclass! Whichever one you pick at level one will define how you play your magus and level them up as you go! Each hybrid study modifies your arcane cascade, gains exclusive access to specific class feats (covered in the class feats section), gives you a conflux spell (more on those later), and gives you additional spells for your studious spells class feature (also covered later).

Inexorable Iron (***):

Pick up the biggest weapon you can and wreak devastation upon your foes with powerful strikes imbued with powerful spells! This hybrid study is for the magus that wants to pick up a two-handed weapon and go to town! Reach weapons are especially desirable to reduce the number of enemies you’ll provoke reactive strikes from, and for the synergy gained with one of the Inexorable Iron’s studious spells.

Arcane Cascade Benefit (***):

When you activate arcane cascade or start your turn in arcane cascade while holding your massive two-hander, you gain temporary hit points equal to half your level (minimum 1). A constantly rejuvenating supply of temporary hit points goes a long way towards extending your longevity in a fight.

Conflux Spell: Thunderous Strike

Unique Class Feats: 4th: Devastating Spellstrike, 10th: Sustaining Steel

Studious Spells: 7th: Enlarge; 11th: Earthbind; 13th: Planar Tether

Laughing Shadow (****):

Aided by arcane power you strike swiftly, precisely, and are gone before they even react! This hybrid study is suitable for both DEX-based and STR-based Magi who wield one-handed weapons! The former can make full use of its arcane cascade benefit, while the latter will be able to take advantage of their free hand to make athletics maneuvers to add more versatility to a fight!

Arcane Cascade Benefit (****):

There are actually two benefits to activating arcane cascade here. First, you gain a +5-foot status bonus to any speeds you have, or increase it to a +10-foot status bonus if you’re unarmored. While the unarmored benefit is best saved for later in the game for a DEX-based magus who has at least a +5 DEX mod, so as not to short your AC, the extra movement still means more positioning, and thus more tactical, options. The second benefit is that if you are wielding a one-handed weapon and have the other hand completely (and it does mean COMPLETELY) empty, then your arcane cascade bonus damage increases to a different value against off-guard foes (starting at 3, increasing to 5 if you have weapon specialization, and to 7 if you have greater weapon specialization). Everyone wants to make their foes off-guard so extra damage for it is just icing on the cake!

Conflux Spell: Dimensional Assault

Unique Class Feats: 4th: Distracting Spellstrike, 10th: Dimensional Disappearance

Studious Spells: 7th: Blur; 11th: Shift Blame (or Jump in Pathfinder Society); 13th: Translocate

Sparkling Targe (****):

Who says you can’t be both an unstoppable force and an immovable object? The Sparkling Targe Hybrid study is for the good-old fashioned sword and board builds, gaining bonuses to your shield to grant you increased survivability. As a bonus you also gain the shield block feat.

Arcane Cascade Benefit (***):

Quite a few benefits to using your shield while you’re in arcane cascade. That circumstance bonus that your shield, or the shield spell, gives to your AC now applies to all of your saving throws against spells and other magical effects! A +1 or +2 bonus to all of your saving throws is huge and magical effects encompass a rather large portion of effects you encounter in this game! Second benefit is that you can use shield block on non-physical damage (yes that includes Force Barrage!). Finally if you use shield block against a magical effect you can apply your arcane cascade bonus damage to the shield’s hardness (starting at 1, increasing to 2 if you have weapon specialization, and to 3 if you have greater weapon specialization). It must be emphasized that these benefits apply to a physical shield, the shield spell, or even something that works like a shield. Only reason this isn’t blue is due to the fact that raising a shield to gain these benefits is one more action that puts a strain on the tight action-economy the magus already has to juggle.

Conflux Spell: Shielding Strike

Unique Class Feats: 4th: Emergency Targe, 10th: Dazzling Block

Studious Spells: 7th: Resist Energy; 11th: Warding Aggression; 13th: Mountain Resilience

Starlit Span (****):

Become magical artillery with just a bow and arrow! The Starlit Span favors using ranged weapons over other weapons. The primary benefit of the Starlit Span actually affects Spellstrike directly. When you use Spellstrike, you can use a ranged weapon rather than be restricted to using melee weapons. In order to use spellstrike in this way your target must be within your weapon’s first range increment. This means the Starlit Span has to move significantly less than any other magus in order to use their best feature, in other words this is a massive boon to the magus action economy! Strongly recommended you stick with ranged weapons that have a reload of 0 so you don’t have to spend actions reloading your weapon on top of the actions spent spellstriking and recharging. Thrown weapons are also an option with this, as are more niche ranged options from certain archetypes or ancestries.

Arcane Cascade Benefit (*):

Actually… none. In fact, since nothing in the Starlit Span’s text changes that arcane cascade’s bonus damage only applies to melee damage, the Starlit Span actually doesn’t get arcane cascade’s bonus damage to their ranged weapons. That’s fine though, you’re trading a rather minor damage boost in exchange for the awesome ability to spellstrike with much greater frequency! It should say something that I still rate the Starlit Span as blue despite this being the one time there’s a penalty applied to your Arcane Cascade. You can still enter Arcane Cascade for those cases where you are forced into melee, or in order to benefit from one of the Starlit Span’s unique class feats.

Conflux Spell: Shooting Star

Unique Class Feats: 4th: Starlit Eyes, 10th: Meteoric Spellstrike

Studious Spells: 7th: Darkvision; 11th: Wall of Wind; 13th: Unfettered Movement

Twisting Tree (****):

Wait, you can hit people with a stick AND cast spells through it!? Sign me up! The Twisting Tree Magus favors using a staff, be it a simple weapon staff or a magical caster’s staff; the latter especially is an amazing option that ensures the Twisting Tree Magus is both armed with a solid melee weapon and a tool to expand their spellcasting options. What’s unique is that the Twisting Tree Magus can alter the staff’s traits depending on how they grip the staff. If wielded in two-hands, the staff gains the parry, reach, and trip traits. If wielded in one hand the staff increases its damage die size to 1d6 while gaining the agile trait; this does not grant the finesse trait, so the DEX-Magus need not apply.

Arcane Cascade Benefit (***):

While releasing your grip to go from two-handed to one-handed is a free action, changing your grip from one-handed to two-handed takes one additional action; at least until the Twisting Tree Magus had something to say about it. While in your arcane cascade stance you can change your grip on your staff as a free action just before you make a strike or a spellstrike! You also get a free action triggered at the end of your turn to change your grip as well, ensuring that the twisting tree magus has the right traits at the right moment without a massive tax to their action-economy! Two things to keep in mind; these are all interact actions, and secondly the Magus is largely based on making large single strikes rather than multiple strikes in a turn. Still this gives the Twisting Tree the ability to use an item in their free hand and then immediately go into their next strike without wasting actions adjusting their grip.

Conflux Spell: Spinning Staff

Unique Class Feats: 4th: Student of the Staff, 10th: Lunging Spellstrike

Studious Spells: 7th: Embed Message; 11th: Slow; 13th: Flicker

Aloof Firmament [U] (***):

Magi who come from Tian Xia, or with the GM’s permission, can fly through the air with the greatest of ease! The good news is you won’t have to worry about falls because you gain the Cat Fall general feat, but with the caveat that you must not use shields or wear anything heavier than light armor. This does make it seem as though you’d favor being DEX-based, but due to leaping being associated with athletics, a STR-Based Magus is the better choice for this hybrid study

Arcane Cascade Benefit (***):

This kindly gives you the benefits of the rather useful Quick Jump feat, and then anytime you Fly, Leap, High Jump, or Long Jump, you will not trigger reactions during that movement! That’s a fantastic way to get around the battlefield with relative impunity! As a bonus, after doing one of the above actions, so long as you are using a one-handed weapon from the sword group, and have your other hand COMPLETELY empty your Arcane Cascade damage bonus will increase! Starting at 4, then 6 with weapon specialization, and finally 8 with greater weapon specialization. The problem is that flight isn’t available until 7th level at minimum, and the high jump and long jump actions depend on your athletics check. At low levels this is an obstacle that prevents an Aloof Firmament Magus from zipping around the battlefield with impunity, as even a STR-based Magus’s average roll at low levels won’t let them long jump too far. But once you’re past low-levels, athletics checks to jump become easier, you gain access to flight, if you went DEX-based and took acrobatics you could even take a dip into the acrobat archetype for graceful leaper skill feat if you wanted to; heck acrobat is great just for the acrobatics boost alone. Heck, even at low levels this arcane cascade benefit essentially gives you a 10-foot Step via Leap, or 15 feet if you have a 30 foot movement speed! This benefit has some restrictions for a few levels, but tough it out and it will pay dividends when you can leap or fly around the battlefield while your enemies can only seethe about not being able to hit you in the meantime! This would be rated a solid blue if not for the early game troubles.

Conflux Spell: Sky Laughs at Waves

Unique Class Feats: 4th: Distant Waterbird’s Poise, 10th: Unsheathing The Sword-Light

Studious Spells: 7th: Water Walk; 11th: Wall of Wind; 13th: Variable Gravity

Unfurling Brocade [U] (***):

Magi who come from Tian Xia, or with the GM’s permission, can magically weave a length of cloth of 1 Bulk or less into a weapon that is functionally similar to a Bladed Scarf, but with the additional option of wielding it one-handed to deal d4 damage dice instead of d6 damage dice. Additionally any runes you have on some Handwraps of Mighty Blows you’re wearing will apply to fabric. The potential for one-handed wielding means you can have a hand free for other actions if you like, or even dual-wield these cloth weapons. As odd as it might sound flavor-wise, I find this hybrid study suitable only for a STR-based Magus. Why you may ask? Well…

Arcane Cascade Benefit (**):

In Arcane Cascade you partially animate the fabric to perform a multitude of combat maneuvers with an Athletics check beyond even what you could accomplish with a normal athletics check! Critically succeed a disarm check to bring the weapon to your space instead of dropping it in their space, grapple to pull an enemy five feet closer to you, or trip a foe up to two sizes larger than you! That said these aren’t THAT impressive; critically succeeding a disarm is a heck of a hurdle. Why pull them closer when you can grapple safely from a distance? Titan Wrestler also exists to invalidate the tripping bonus. In complete fairness to this Arcane Cascade benefit, you normally couldn’t grapple with a Bladed Scarf but your arcane cascade makes you able to grapple with your fabric weapon, so giving you a grapple with reach alone is great. Heck you could dual-wield the fabric weapons to grapple and still have a reach weapon in your other hand. Overall this Arcane Cascade benefit grants the Unfurling Brocade Magus options for those off-turn where they can’t spellstrike.

Conflux Spell: Home Among Mulberry Leaves

Unique Class Feats: 4th: Heaven-Earth Encompassing Sleeves, 10th: Vermilion Threads

Studious Spells: 7th: Web; 11th: Whirling Scarves; 13th: Planar Tether

Resurgent Maelstrom [U] (**):

If you got a faydhaan teacher or studied at the Monastery of Unbreaking Waves then you might have access to this hybrid study. This hybrid study makes it so you can use improvised weapons without the usual -2 attack penalty. Furthermore, the magical water that flows over it from you makes it so that, at minimum, it has 1d6 damage, or 1d4 if it’s agile. You also add an additional trait to the improvised weapon, one-handed improvised weapons get the Backstabber trait, while two-handed improvised weapons get the Forceful trait; or if the GM decides your improvised weapon already has the respective trait, it instead improves its damage dice size. Finally, the runes of your handwraps of mighty blows, or another source that improves your unarmed damage, will carry over to the improvised weapon. The problem is that improvised weapons are SO dependent on the GM, the GM has to decide the statistics for everything you use; furthermore many of the feats compatible with this hybrid study break or destroy the weapon, which hinders your action-economy. This is potentially versatile in giving you several traits, but you need enough objects around you or on your person, and the GM has the final say on the statistics of those improvised weapons.

Arcane Cascade Benefit (**):

This grants your improvised weapon the versatile trait for whatever physical damage type it doesn’t have natively. This ensures you have every physical damage type which can help you exploit weaknesses or get around vulnerabilities. I’d rate this a touch higher if it weren’t dependent on having improvised weapons on hand.

Conflux Spell: Turbulent Tide

Unique Class Feats: 4th: Shattering Spellstrike, 6th: Surface Tension, 8th: Whirlpool’s Pull, 10th: Maelstrom Flow

Studious Spells: 7th: Water Walk; 11th: Aqueous Orb; 13th: Unfettered Movement

Conflux Spells

Conflux Spells are the focus spells of the Magus Class and follow all of the same rules as focus spells do ordinarily. Namely that they are automatically heightened to half your character level rounded up, that they cost focus points to use, you can spend 10 minutes refocusing to regain 1 focus point anytime you are in exploration mode, and that your maximum focus pool can never grow to more than 3. One very important feature of all of the conflux spells currently in print though, is that all of them will recharge your spellstrike when used! That means that using a conflux spell is often one of the most action-economy efficient things you can do in an encounter! This is especially true when you consider that, like any spell, you can even opt to drop into Arcane Cascade right after using a conflux spell! Still costs a focus point to do it but given you can renew focus points you can still get a lot of mileage out of this with proper timing during a combat encounter! Because of their action efficiency plus enabling you to keep using spellstrike, conflux spells are MASSIVELY important to the action-rotation of a Magus. I strongly encourage you to use a conflux spell after your first spellstrike in combat and then drop into arcane cascade off of that; after which you won’t have the focus points to do this every turn even late game, but as you get more focus points you can get keep a few conflux spell castings in your back-pocket for an action-economy boost. Bear in mind that you recharge your spellstrike ONLY with conflux spells from the magus class. If you get focus spells from another class they will not recharge your spellstrike. Individual conflux spells will be covered in their own section.

Magus Feats: 2nd level

At second level and every even-numbered level thereafter you get a class feat. Uniquely for a martial class the magus does not get their class feats starting at level 1 but that’s fine.

Skill Feats: 2nd level

At second level and every even level thereafter you get a skill feat. Same progression as every class that isn’t a rogue. I’ll cover a few suggestions in the skill section of this guide.

General Feats: 3rd level

Like literally every other class, you get general feats at 3rd level and every 4 levels thereafter.

Skill Increases: 3rd level

At 3rd level and every odd-numbered level thereafter you gain a skill increase; the same pace as every class except rogue and investigator. Either become trained in a new skill, or increase one skill from trained to expert. At 7th level you can start increasing skills from expert to master. At 15th you can start increasing skills from master to legendary! This means that outside of archetypes, you get 9 skill increases throughout your career, enough to bring three skills up to legendary.

Attribute Boosts: 5th level

At 5th level and every 5 levels thereafter you can apply boosts to 4 attributes. If you apply this to an attribute that’s at +4 or above you only apply a partial boost, and will have to apply another partial boost at a later level to increase it by +1. If you apply a boost to an attribute that’s below +3 or less, you increase it by +1. As a general rule you want to apply each of your boosts to whichever attribute you selected as your key attribute score (STR or DEX), your CON, your INT, and your WIS. Though this may vary slightly depending on how you allotted your level 1 attribute boosts and the specific needs of your build.

Ancestry Feats: 5th level

At 5th level and every 4 levels thereafter you get an ancestry feat like literally everyone else.

Studious Spells (****): 7th level

You gain two additional 2nd-rank spell slots! Bringing the total spell slots you can cast in a day up to six! But wait, there are some limits. You can only prepare a limited selection of spells in these slots. These spells are Gecko Grip, Sure Strike, Water Breathing, and one more spell depending on your hybrid study. At 11th level these bonus slots go from 2nd to 3rd-rank spells, and you can additionally prepare Haste, and one more additional spell depending on your hybrid study. Finally at 13th level these bonus slots go from 3rd to 4th-rank spells, and you can prepare Fly, and one more additional spell depending on your hybrid study. Yes, the spells you can prepare are still limited, but at least the additional spells you can prepare are spells you absolutely want to have as a magus anyways!

Weapon Specialization (***): 7th level

Deal 2 additional damage with any weapon you’re an expert in, 3 additional damage with any weapon you’re a master in, and 4 additional damage with any weapon you’re legendary in (not happening as a magus sadly). With Greater Weapon Specialization at 15th level, you deal 4 additional damage with any weapon you’re an expert in, 6 additional damage with any weapon you’re a master in, and 8 additional damage with any weapon you’re legendary in (again, not happening as a magus). Same progression as any martial; though, as a bonus, both the regular and greater versions of Weapon Specialization will add a teensy-bit more juice to your arcane cascade bonus damage.

Double Spellstrike (****): 19th level

This really goes a long way towards improving the damage output of the Magus in a single fight. When you use a spell slot to use spellstrike, as long as you use spellstrike again within 1 minute, you can use that same spell with spellstrike again without expending another spell slot! Bear in mind that you lose this second use if you choose another spell to spellstrike with in the meantime but, the only reason you’d do this is if you made a mistake and used spellstrike with a spell your target is immune or highly resistant to. Choose the right spell to use with spellstrike, and then go to town with this feature!

Attributes

You generate your attribute modifiers at character creation. Step one; you start out with an attribute modifier of +0 in every attribute, then you choose an ancestry, like human, halfling, elf, etc. Every ancestry will boost (add +1 to the attribute) some attributes, and some will apply flaws (-1 from the attribute) to some attributes.

Step two; you will choose a background. Every background gives you two attribute boosts. One boost chosen from a limited selection (STR or DEX, STR or CON, INT or WIS, etc.) while the second one can be freely applied to any attribute of your choice. In general, try and pick a background that boosts either your key attribute, CON, or INT. More on backgrounds later in this guide.

Step three; you apply four attribute boosts you can apply to any score you like.

Step four; apply one boost to your key attribute. The magus can choose either STR or DEX as their key attribute, so the priorities shift a little depending on which one you choose at character creation. Whichever attribute you pick as your key attribute should influence your choice in hybrid study.

Note that you CANNOT apply more than one boost to a single attribute in the SAME STEP. So this means that you can only get one attribute modifier all the way to +4 at level 1. This also applies to future attribute boosts you gain as you level up so that you can’t keep applying all of your boosts to a single attribute.

At level 5, 10, 15, and 20, you can apply 4 additional attribute boosts. Any attribute below +4 gets boosted by +1 just like during character creation. Any attribute modifier at +4 instead receives a partial boost; once an attribute has received two partial boosts, it will then increase. As an example, say your STR modifier is +4; at level 5 you can apply one partial boost to STR, then at level 10 you can apply a second partial boost to STR, which will bring your STR modifier up to +5.

Since you get four opportunities to apply attribute boosts in a game that is going all the way to level 20, then starting modifiers of +4, +2, and even +0 are going to be the most efficient to apply additional boosts to as you level up.

Strength-based Magus

Strength-based magi fight in melee and deal more damage per hit with their strikes thanks to their strength bonus. A standard, tried, tested, and proven method to mix it up in melee. Every Hybrid Study except for the Starlit Span can be built using a STR-based array.

Strength (STR) (****) - Influences your attack and damage rolls with melee weapons. Start this at +4, and apply every boost you get going forward.
Dexterity (DEX) (**) - You wear medium armor so you don’t need more than a +1 in this to maximize your AC. Drop a single boost into this at character creation then ignore it. If you go for the Sentinel dedication to get heavy armor proficiency you don’t even need to boost it past +0!
Constitution (CON) (***) - Since this influences both your hit points per level and your fortitude saving throw, there is not a single class that can afford to ignore this! Since you only have 8 hit points per level, I strongly recommend you start with +2. Either way you need to invest as many boosts as you can into this as you level up.
Intelligence (INT) (***) - Gives you additional skills, languages, influences spell attack rolls, and the DC’s of your spells. As you will use this to learn new spells, you shouldn’t ignore this, plus having a little bonus to your spell-attack rolls and spell DC’s won’t hurt to have for those niche situations you aren’t in Spellstrike range. At the very least don’t dump this, but starting with a +1 or +2 would be better. Be sure to invest attribute boosts into this as you level up.
Wisdom (WIS) (***) - Influences your will saves and perception. Both of which are very important so don’t ignore this, but don’t prioritize it over your hit points or you’ll struggle to make it past level 1. Anywhere between a 0 to +2 is a good start for this attribute. Either way, put as many attribute boosts into this as you can as you level up!
Charisma (CHA) (*) - Influences your social skills. That’s all. The magus is NOT a party face so you can safely ignore or even dump this. Only exception might be a Laughing Shadow Magus and even then, their one class feat that uses a CHA-based skill probably isn’t worth your precious attribute boosts.

Recommended Attribute Arrays for a STR-Based Magus at level 1 (assuming no ancestry flaws)

A	STR: +4, DEX: +1, CON: +2, INT: +2, WIS: +0, CHA: +0
B	STR: +4, DEX: +1, CON: +2, INT: +1, WIS: +1, CHA: +0
C	STR: +4, DEX: +1, CON: +2, INT: +0, WIS: +2, CHA: +0

By level 20, arrays A and B should look like…

A	STR: +6, DEX: +1, CON: +5, INT: +5, WIS: +4, CHA: +0
B	STR: +6, DEX: +2, CON: +5, INT: +4, WIS: +4, CHA: +1
C	STR: +6, DEX: +1, CON: +5, INT: +4, WIS: +5, CHA: +0

An Aloof Firmament magus who wants to maximize their benefits will want to invest a little bit more in DEX than the above cases. They can use the above recommendations just fine, but for some unique recommendations from level 1… (Assuming no ancestry flaws)

A	STR: +4, DEX: +2, CON: +2, INT: +1, WIS: +0, CHA: +0
B	STR: +4, DEX: +1, CON: +2, INT: +2, WIS: +0, CHA: +0

Then by level 20 these Aloof Firmament arrays could look like…

A or B	STR: +6, DEX: +3, CON: +5, INT: +4, WIS: +4, CHA: +0
A	STR: +6, DEX: +3, CON: +5, INT: +5, WIS: +2, CHA: +0

Dexterity-based Magus

Can use weapons either in melee with finesse weapons or at range. Their strikes will deal less damage-per-hit than a strength-based magus, but they still land strikes just as often, have better reflex saves, and have a little more flexibility in their choice of weapon. Given you don’t need strength for offense anymore a DEX-based Magus usually has a spare attribute boost for a tad more flexibility in their starting attribute scores than a STR-based Magus gets. Virtually any hybrid study can take this array except the Twisting Tree, due to the lack of finesse staves, and Unfurling Brocade, since their main feature depends HEAVILY on Athletics.

Strength (STR) (**) - I wouldn’t dump this but this really only gives you a little extra bonus damage and some carrying capacity. Ignore or invest one boost into this. Aloof Firmament will probably want their leftover attribute boost here.
Dexterity (DEX) (****) - This not only impacts your AC, but your chance to hit as well! Two of the most vital things in 2nd edition Pathfinder. That it also pads your otherwise poor reflex save is additional icing on the cake. Put this at +4 and never stop boosting it!
Constitution (CON) (***) - Still can’t afford to ignore it. If you’re planning to mix it up in melee I still say put it at +2. But if you’re staying at a distance as a Starlit Span, a +1 is excusable. Either way you need to invest as many boosts as you can into this as you level up.
Intelligence (INT) (***) - Gives you additional skills, languages, influences spell attack rolls, and the DC’s of your spells. As you will use this to learn new spells, you shouldn’t ignore this, plus having a little bonus to your spell-attack rolls and spell DC’s won’t hurt to have for those niche situations you aren’t in Spellstrike range. Since the DEX-based Magus has a little more wiggle-room for attributes there is very little reason to not start with a +1 at a minimum. And keep boosting it as you go.
Wisdom (WIS) (***) - Influences your will saves and perception. Both of which are very important so don’t ignore this, but don’t prioritize it over your hit points or you’ll struggle to make it past level 1. With the slightly better wiggle room for attributes being DEX-based grants you, try to start at a minimum of +1.
Charisma (CHA) (*) - Influences your social skills. That’s all. You’re still not a face, but unlike with a strength-based array you may have 1 free boost floating around you’re not doing anything else with, so if you’re going Laughing Shadow you might consider putting that last boost into this.

Recommended arrays change depending on whether you’re still going melee, or if you go into the Starlit Span Hybrid Study.

Recommended for Melee at level 1 (Assuming no ancestry flaws)

A	STR: +0, DEX: +4, CON: +2, INT: +2, WIS: +1, CHA: +0
B	STR: +0, DEX: +4, CON: +2, INT: +1, WIS: +2, CHA: +0
C	STR: +1, DEX: +4, CON: +2, INT: +1, WIS: +1, CHA: +0
D	STR: +0, DEX: +4, CON: +2, INT: +1, WIS: +1, CHA: +1

By level 20, the melee arrays could look like…

A	STR: +1/+0, DEX: +6, CON: +5, INT: +5, WIS: +4, CHA: +1/+0
B	STR: +1/+0, DEX: +6, CON: +5, INT: +4, WIS: +5, CHA: +1/+0
C	STR: +2, DEX: +6, CON: +5, INT: +4, WIS: +4, CHA: +1
D	STR: +1, DEX: +6, CON: +5, INT: +4, WIS: +4, CHA: +2

A Starlit Span can use the above recommendations just fine, but unique recommendations for Starlit Span at level 1 include… (Assuming no ancestry flaws)

A	STR: +0, DEX: +4, CON: +1, INT: +2, WIS: +2, CHA: +0
B	STR: +0, DEX: +4, CON: +1, INT: +3, WIS: +1, CHA: +0

Then by level 20 these Starlit Span arrays could look like…

A	STR: +1, DEX: +6, CON: +4, INT: +5, WIS: +5, CHA: +0
B	STR: +3, DEX: +6, CON: +4, INT: +5, WIS: +4, CHA: +0

Ancestries

Human, halfling, gnome, dwarf, pick what ancestry you belong to! By default, each ancestry lets you choose at least one free attribute boost, and several offer default attribute boosts and one attribute flaw. The general rule for all classes is that the only bad choice for your ancestry is one that applies a flaw to your key attribute. Given the Magus can choose between STR or DEX as their key attribute, that means very few ancestries are a bad choice. That said, as the Magus is a MAD class it can be harder to get more optimal starting attribute with some ancestries than it is with others.

Your GM may or may not allow you to use Alternate Ancestry Boosts; which is to simply ignore your chosen ancestry’s default attribute and just get two free attribute boosts and no flaws, which is absolutely fantastic for any ancestry whose boosts and flaws would otherwise make it difficult for the Magus to get their best starting attribute spread! Be sure to consult with your GM before taking this option.

Some ancestries grant innate cantrips and spells. As the magus naturally progress in Spell Attacks and DCs, so too will these increase. However innate spell key off of CHA rather than INT so they will always be a little weaker than the Magus’s prepared arcane spells, which aren’t that strong to begin with, so innate spells and cantrips that rely on the Magus’s spell DCs are generally less than ideal choices.

In the following section I’ll go over each ancestry’s starting statistics, assuming you go with the default boosts and flaws rather than Alternate Ancestry Boosts, a quick summary of their ancestry heritages, feats, and maybe some potentially interesting combos and builds. I won’t go into the details of each ancestry’s heritage or ancestry feats in this guide, but I will color code each of them. Note that the color-coding is going to be for a Magus in general, and that some hybrid studies may find some more or less useful; Starlit Span Magi are going to find melee-based abilities much less appealing, Sparkling Targes might have better defensive options, Twisting Tree Magi only get their mileage out of one weapon, etc.

Common Ancestries

Dwarf: STR-Based Magus (****), DEX-Based Magus (****)

Hit points: 10; Size: Medium; Speed: 20 feet; Attribute Boosts: CON, WIS, Free; Attribute Flaws: CHA; Senses: Darkvision; Misc.: Clan Dagger.

Other than their slow speed the dwarf has almost perfect starting stats for a magus. Obviously their high hit-points and CON make them good picks for a STR-based Magus but nothing’s stopping them from going DEX-based either.

As far as heritages and ancestry feats go, many of them provide access to and bonuses to the crafting skill, useful for any magus but ESPECIALLY so for a Sparkling Targe. A few of the ancestry feats will help improve your otherwise poor perception as long as you’re interacting with stone. Dwarven Weapon Familiarity gets you access to the Dwarven War Axe. Later feats even give you a few useful innate spells (namely spells that don’t care about your spell DC). Note that even with the bevy of firearm related feats a Starlit Span should probably still give most of them a pass. The Starlit Span’s main strength is being able to spellstrike and recharge without having to spend actions moving. Guns force you to spend that action reloading instead. Though Forge-Blessed Shot is a fantastic feat for Starlit Spans to take!

Heritages: Ancient-Blooded Dwarf (***), Anvil Dwarf (****), Death Warden Dwarf (**), Elemental Heart Dwarf (**), Forge-Blessed Dwarf (*), Forge Dwarf (***), Oathkeeper Dwarf (*), Rock Dwarf (***), Strong-Blooded Dwarf (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Adaptive Vision [U] (**), Avenge in Glory [U] (***), Clan Pistol [U] (*), Clan’s Edge (*), Clan Lore (***), Dongun Education [U] (**), Dwarven Doughtiness (***), Dwarven Lore (***), Dwarven Weapon Familiarity (**), Explosive Savant [U] (*), Eye for Treasure (**), Fire Savvy [U] (**), Forge-Day’s Rest [U] (*), Rivethun Disciple [U] (*), Rock Runner (***), Stonemason’s Eye (***), Surface Culture [U] (**), Unburdened Iron (**), Vengeful Hatred (**)
5th: Blast Resistance [U] (**), Boulder Roll (**), Clan Protector (*), Defy the Darkness (**), Dwarven Reinforcement (*), Protective Sheath (*), Sheltering Slab (**), Spark Fist [U] (*), Tomb-Watcher’s Glare (**)
9th: Batleforger (*), Demolitionist [U] (*), Echoes in Stone (***), Energy Blessed (**), Heroes’ Call (****), Kneel for No God (**), Mountain’s Stoutness (****), Returning Throw (*), Rivethun Spiritual Attunement [U] (**), Smoke Sight [U] (**), Stone Bones (**), Stonewalker (***)
13th: Crafter’s Instinct [U] (*), Dwarven Weapon Expertise (*), Explosive Expert [U] (*), March the Mines (***), Scrutinizing Gaze (**), Telluric Power (**)
17th: Forge-Blessed Shot [U] (***), Stonegate (***), Stonewall (***)

Elf: STR-Based Magus (**), DEX-Based Magus (****)

Hit points: 6; Size: Medium; Speed: 30 feet; Attribute Boosts: DEX, INT, Free; Attribute Flaws: CON; Senses: Low-Light Vision

The low starting hit points and attribute flaw to CON really, really hurts. Fortunately the good really makes up for the bad. Their boosts and excellent speed means the elf can fit into the role of a DEX-based Magus fantastically. The high starting speed especially means the elf could become a FANTASTIC Laughing Shadow Magus. While an elf could still be a STR-based magus, they do so at the risk of not starting with enough CON to make up for their low-starting hit points, so lower-level play will be very risky.

The heritages are all generally useful, though some are more location-dependent than others. For feats there’s always Nimble Elf and Elf Step to greatly improve maneuverability (combine with the Fleet general feat and you can move 40 feet! Wow!) Some feats to gain some innate spells, improve your range of skills. Notably the Elven weapon familiarity feat opens the gate to make a DEX-based magus with the Inexorable Iron hybrid study, and it also gets you the critical specialization effects of certain weapons at level 5.

Heritages: Ancient Elf (****), Arctic Elf (**), Cavern Elf (***), Desert Elf (***), Seer Elf (****), Whisper Elf (***), Woodland Elf (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Ancestral Linguistics (**), Ancestral Longevity (***), Demonbane Warrior (**), Elemental Wrath (**), Elven Aloofness (*), Elven Lore (***), Elven Verve (**), Elven Weapon Familiarity (***), Forlorn (**), Know your Own (**), Nimble Elf (****), Otherworldly Magic (****), Share Thoughts (**), Unwavering Mien (**), Wildborn Magic [U] (***), Woodcraft (**)
5th: Ageless Patience (***), Ancestral Suspicion (**), Defiance Unto Death [U] (**), Elven Instincts (****), Forest Stealth (**), Martial Experience (*), Wildborn Adept (**)
9th: Brightness Seeker (**), Elf Step (****), Expert Longevity (***), Otherworldly Acumen (****), Sense Thoughts [U] (**), Tree Climber (**)
13th: Avenge Ally (**), Elven Weapon Expertise (*), Universal Longevity (***), Wandering Heart (**)
17th: Magic Rider (**)

Gnome: STR-Based Magus (*), DEX-Based Magus (****)

Hit points: 8; Size: Small; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: CON, CHA, Free; Attribute Flaws: STR; Senses: Low-light Vision

The strength-flaw means that a STR-based Magus is pretty much off the table unless you want a STR-based magus that’s a step behind other STR-based Magi. But they can still become a great DEX-based magus!

The best gnome heritages either expand your gnome’s senses or you pick a heritage that grants you an extra cantrip. Some later ancestry feats will even add some more spells. None of the gnome weapons have finesse on them, so you almost have to use Alternate Ancestry Boosts to make the most of them. On a personal note, Project Persona isn’t going to do much if anything for you mechanically (hence the low rating), but I still love it.

Heritages: Chameleon Gnome (**), Fey-Touched Gnome (***), Kijimuna Gnome [U] (**), Sensate Gnome (***), Umbral Gnome (***), Vivacious Gnome (**), Wellspring Gnome (***)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Animal Accomplice (****), Animal Elocutionist (*), Empathetic Plea (*), Fey Fellowship (**), First World Magic (****), Fisheye (**), Gnome Obsession (***), Gnome Polyglot (**), Gnome Weapon Familiarity (**), Grim Insight (***), Illusion Sense (**), Inventive Offensive (*), Life-Giving Magic (***), Natural Performer (*), Razzle-Dazzle (**), Theoretical Acumen (**), Unexpected Shift (**), Vibrant Display (*)
5th: Briny Beverage (**), Eclectic Obsession (**), Energized Font (****), Intuitive Illusions (**), Natural Illusionist (**), Project Persona (*)
9th: Cautious Curiosity (**), First World Adept (**), Fortuitous Shift (***), Life Leap (****), Scarlet Strands (**), Vivacious Conduit (***)
13th: Arboreal Conversationalist [U] (**), Gnome Weapon Expertise (*), Instinctive Obfuscation (****), Kijimuna Whistle (*)
17th: Homeward Bound (**)

Goblin: STR-Based Magus (***), DEX-Based Magus (****)

Hit points: 6; Size: Small; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: DEX, CHA, Free; Attribute Flaws: WIS; Senses: Darkvision

A CHA bonus and WIS penalty is a bit wince-inducing, but nothing that’s unsalvageable. Thankfully that DEX boost does enable a goblin Magus to fit nice and neat into the DEX-based Magus mold. A STR-based Goblin Magus has a bit less flexibility in their starting array of attributes in order to bring that CON up to +2, but it’s still doable.

The Unbreakable Goblin heritage gives you more hit points, and opens up some more useful ancestry feats later down the line, there’s also some that get you energy resistance, and one that makes the sickened condition much more bearable. A number of the heritages and feats from goblins open up the possibility of a variety of unarmed attacks, though the Magus can gain decent unarmed attacks with one of their class feats, though having other damage types is always helpful. Also of note is the feat Burn it! If you plan on favoring fire spells in your offense. Chosen of Lamashtu has a cool effect, but it requires Lamashtu worship which may not mesh with a lot of parties so it’s been knocked down to orange. Tangle of Limbs is only useful if you intend to throw in maneuvers from Athletics, but if you do plan on it Tangle of Limbs will be indispensable to such a build.

Heritages: Charhide Goblin (***), Dokkaebi Goblin [U] (***), Irongut Goblin (***), Razortooth Goblin (**), Snow Goblin (**), Tailed Goblin (**), Treedweller Goblin (**), Unbreakable Goblin (****)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Bouncy Goblin (***), Burn it! (****), City Scavenger (**), Dokkaebi Fire (****), Extra Squishy (**), Fang Sharpener (**), Goblin Lore (**), Goblin Scuttle (***), Goblin Song (*), Goblin Weapon Familiarity (**), Hard Tail (**), Junk Tinker (**), Phantom Visage (***), Rough Rider (**), Tangle of Limbs (**), Twitchy (**), Very Sneaky (**)
5th: Ankle Bite (***), Chosen of Lamashtu (**), Glorious Gamtu (***), Kneecap (*), Loud Singer (*), Phantom Resemblance (****), Tail Spin (**), Torch Goblin (*), Tree Climber (**), Vandal (**),
9th: Cave Climber (**), Cling (***), Freeze it (**), Goblin Club (*), Hungry Goblin (***), Roll with It (****), Scalding Spit (*), Skittering Scuttle (****), Whispers in the Night (**)
13th: Flames of Vision [U] (**), Goblin Weapon Expertise (*), Unbreakable-er Goblin (****), Very, Very Sneaky (**)
17th: Perfected Gamtu (***), Reckless Abandon (****)

Halfling: STR-Based Magus (*), DEX-Based Magus (****)

Hit points: 6; Size: Small; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: DEX, WIS, Free; Attribute Flaws: STR; Senses: Keen Eyes

With low starting hit points and a STR flaw, Halflings aren’t the best choice for a STR-based magus, but as the boosts might’ve clued you in on, they make for great DEX-based Magi.

Most of the heritages are nothing special but they won’t hurt. Only one that might hurt to take is Jinxed Halfling* since that prevents you from taking the amazing Halfling Luck feat and all you get in exchange is something that keys off your relatively lacking spell DC. A fair few halfling feats improve stealth or acrobatics, which works great for a DEX-based magus, but the cream of the crop for halfling ancestry feats definitely goes to the halfling luck line of feats! Re-rolls galore!

Heritages: Gutsy Halfling (**), Hillock Halfling (**), Jinxed Halfling [U] (*), Nomadic Halfling (**), Observant Halfling (***), Twilight Halfling (***), Wildwood Halfling (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Adroit Manipulation [U] (**), Distracting Shadows (**), Folksy Patter (*), Halfling Lore (**), Halfling Luck (****), Halfling Weapon Familiarity (*), Innocuous (**), Intuitive Cooperation [U] (**),Prairie Rider (**), Sure Feet (***), Titan Slinger (*), Unassuming Dedication [U] (**), Unfettered Halfling (***), Watchful Halfling (**)
5th: Cultural Adaptability (****), Easily Dismissed (**), Halfling Ingenuity (***), Shared Luck (****), Step Lively (**)
9th: Cunning Climber (**), Dance Underfoot (**), Fade Away (****), Guiding Luck (****), Helpful Halfling (**), Irrepressible (**), Unhampered Passage (***)
13th: Ceaseless Shadows (**), Cobble Dancer (**), Halfling Weapon Expertise (*), Incredible Luck (****), Toppling Dance (**)
17th: Shadow Self (***)

Human: STR-Based Magus (****), DEX-Based Magus (****)

Hit points: 8; Size: Medium; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: Free, Free; Attribute Flaws: None; Senses: No special senses

Thanks to two free attribute boosts and no flaws, there is not a single class in the game that humans can’t adequately step into the roll of. Humans can either be a STR-based or a DEX-based Magus.

Humans don’t have too many heritages unique to them but you can’t really go wrong picking any of them. Human ancestry feats largely give more feats, skill proficiencies, weapons, or spells. Not exciting but it is practical as heck. Notably their Natural Ambition Feat is currently the only way for a Magus to grab a 1st-level feat at level 1. The martial weapon proficiency of the magus means that Unconventional Weaponry opens up the magus to unique weapon builds that other ancestries get (elves’ two-handed DEX weapons, the (in)famous gnome flickmace, etc.). It might be tempting to think Adaptive Cantrip or Adaptive Adept would be good picks but they’re not particularly. The former replaces one slot you use to prepare cantrips when the arcane list already has most of the cantrips you’ll ever need (except for spirit damage or vitality damage, so some campaigns may like this feat), while the latter lets you prepare spells in a spell slot you won’t even have by the time you get the feat.

Heritages: Skilled Heritage (***), Versatile Heritage (****), Wintertouched Human (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Adapted Cantrip (**), Arcane Tattoos [U] (***), Cooperative Nature (**), Courteous Comeback [U] (*), Dragon Spit (***), General Training (****), Gloomseer (**), Haughty Obstinacy (**), Keep Up Appearances [U] (*), Know Oneself [U] (**), Natural Ambition (****), Natural Skill (**), Quah Bond [U] (**),Saoc Astrology [U] (**), Tupilaq Carver [U] (*), Unconventional Weaponry (***), Viking Shieldbearer [U] (*), Witch Warden (**)
5th: Adaptive Adept (*), Clever Improviser (***), Darkseer (****), Ornate Tattoo (****), Sense Allies (**), Wavetouched Paragon (**)
9th: Cooperative Soul (***), Dragon Prince (*), Group Aid (**), Hardy Traveler (**), Heir of the Saoc (**), Incredible Improvisation (***), Multitalented (***), Shory Aeromancer (****), Virtue-Forged Tattoos (****)
13th: Advanced General Training (***), Bounce Back (**), Irriseni Ice-Witch (***), Shadow Pact (**), Shory Aerialist (***), Stubborn Persistence (**), Unconventional Expertise (*)
17th: Heroic Presence (**)

Leshy: STR-Based Magus (**), DEX-Based Magus (***)

Hit points: 8; Size: Small; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: CON, WIS, Free; Attribute Flaws: INT; Senses: Low-light Vision; Misc.: Plant Nourishment (**)

That INT penalty is less than ideal. But while INT is useful it isn’t a complete deal-breaker as STR-based Magi can bring it up to 10, while DEX-based Magi can easily bring it up to 12.

For feats there are good healing options and at least a few objectively good utilities. Ageless Spirit gives an interchangeable skill daily, and the Leshy Superstition and Lucky Keepsake feats for non-targes. Unfortunately overall the leshy feats don’t synergize with the magus all that well, which, combined with their less than ideal starting attributes, means that you can do adequately as a Leshy, but there are better options.

Heritages: Cactus Leshy (**), Chrysanthemum Leshy (**), Fruit Leshy (***), Fungus Leshy (***), Gourd Leshy (**), Leaf Leshy (**), Lotus Leshy (**), Peachchild Leshy (*), Pine Leshy (**), Root Leshy (***), Seaweed Leshy (**), Vine Leshy (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Ageless Spirit (***), Childlike Plant (**), Grasping Reach (**), Harmlessly Cute (*), Leshy Lore (**), Leshy Superstition (***), Pyrophilic Recovery (**), Seedpod (**), Shadow of the Wilds (**), Undaunted (**)
5th: Anchoring Roots (**), Climate Adaptation (**), Defensive Needles (*), Leshy Glide (**), Noble Bloom [U] (***), Ritual Reversion (**), Speak with Kindred (**), Unassuming Heroes [U] (**)
9th: Bark and Tendril (*), Green Dash (**), Kodama Call [U] (*), Lucky Keepsake (****), Sash of the Wind [U] (****), Solar Rejuvenation (**), Spore Cloud (***), Thorned Seedpod (**), Towering Growth (***)
13th: Call of the Green Man (*), Cloak of Poison (**), Flower Chimera [U] (*)
17th: Flourish and Ruin (**), Regrowth (***), Return to the Seed (***)

Orc: STR-Based Magus (****), DEX-Based Magus (****)

Hit points: 10; Size: Medium; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: Free, Free; Attribute Flaws: None; Senses: Darkvision

Orcs get 10 hit points, darkvision, and two free attribute points. As far as baseline stats go, Orcs are fantastic!

While most orc feats are pretty situational, they still have some great feats geared toward keeping them standing in the fight! The Orc Ferocity feats to keep you fighting even when you’re nearly knocked out, or the Superstition feats to improve your defenses against magic. Overall orcs are a very solid choice for magus play.

Heritages: Badlands Orc (**), Battle-Ready Orc (*), Deep Orc (**), Grave Orc (**), Hold-Scarred Orc (****), Rainfall Orc (**), Winter Orc (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Beast Trainer (**), Hold Mark (**), Iron Fists (*), Orc Ferocity (***), Orc Lore (**), Orc Superstition (***), Orc Warmask (***), Orc Weapon Familiarity (*), Tusks (**)
5th: Athletic Might (**), Bloody Blows (***), Defy Death (**), Demonblood Frenzy [U] (**), Hold Mark (**), Mask of Power (****), Mask of Rejection (**), Scar-Thick Skin (**), Victorious Vigor (**)
9th: Death’s Drums (**), Dragon Grip [U] (*), Mask of Pain (*), Pervasive Superstition (***), Undying Ferocity (***)
13th: Ferocious Beasts (*), Incredible Ferocity (***), Lifeblood’s Call (*), Mask of Fear (**), Orc Weapon Expertise (*), Spell Devourer (***)
17th: Rampaging Ferocity (***)

Uncommon Ancestries

Ancestries that are seen much less commonly on Golarion than the common ancestries above and typically require your GM to sign off on it.

NOTE: The common ancestries above have generally had their ancestral weapon feats consolidated into their first level feats. Other ancestries have not yet been re-published in the remaster and thus still have their entire array of ancestral weapon feats. If you’re interested in those feats consult with your GM whether they’d be willing to follow the current Remaster trend with the as-of-yet not updated ancestries.

Athamaru: STR-Based Magus (**), DEX-Based Magus (**),

Hit points: 8; Size: Medium; Speed: 20 feet, Swim 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: STR, WIS, Free; Attribute Flaws: INT; Senses: Low-light Vision

Fish people who aren’t absolutely required to hydrate themselves daily! The bad news is that INT penalty. The Magus doesn’t need INT for too many offensive purposes, but they still want a positive modifier for the sake of their Arcana skill to learn new spells, and even for those niche cases they do need to make a spell attack fall back on their Spell DC. STR-based Athamaru Magi shouldn’t have too many issues bringing their INT back up to a positive number, but DEX-based ones will have to make some choices.

STR-based Athamaru who don’t plan to dip for heavy armor can get permanent medium armor with Coral Athamaru! The rest of the heritages are situational to the type of build you’re going for; Hopeful if you want to be large instead of Medium, Kaleidoscopic if you have a way of getting concealed easily, and quilled if doing an unarmed build. The Athamaru has by-and-large underwhelming feats, though Coral Symbiotes and related feats can be a life-saver in the right situation. The feats related to swimming or eels are much more useful in an underwater campaign, and the Defensive Odor and related feats are useless given your class DC doesn’t improve. Overall the lack of appealing ancestry feats holds this ancestry back, though still absolutely playable.

Heritages: Coral Athamaru (***), Hopeful Athamaru (**), Kaleidoscopic Athamaru (**), Quilled Athamaru (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Athamaru Lore (***), Athamaru Weapon Familiarity (*), Community-Minded (*), Coral Symbiotes (**), Elver Pet (*), Emit Defensive Odor (*), Ocean Wariness (**), Pheromonal Message (**)
5th: Coral Growth (**), Growing Eel Friend (*), Noxious Odor (*), Riptide Mount (*), Skilled Swimmer (**)
9th: Coral Detoxification (**), Emissary Assistance (**), Moray Eel Mount (**), Persistent Odor (*)
13th: Attuned Electroreceptors (***), Coral Reserve (**), Rapid Pheromone Recovery (*), Swift Eel Mount (**)
17th: Coral Lifeline (**), Moray Ambush (**), Offensive Odor (*)

Azarketi: STR-Based Magus (**), DEX-Based Magus (**),

Hit points: 8; Size: Medium; Speed: 20 feet, Swim 30 feet; Attribute Boosts: CON, CHA, Free; Attribute Flaws: WIS; Senses: Low-light Vision; Misc.: Hydration

Azarketi is the proper name for the Gillmen of 1st edition Pathfinder. Boosts and flaws aren’t the best but they are quite salvageable. The real limitation on the Azarketi is their hydration feature. Unlike the Athamaru above, they have to return to water within a few days or they will begin to suffocate. That and their superior swimming mobility means that Azarketi are built for campaigns that primarily take place near or in water. Only one heritage enables you to play Azarketi in a non-aquatic game and that is…

Mistbreath Azarketi. It’s the only one that doesn’t require you to be near water, at least until you get the Rehydration feat but that one becomes available rather late. Though it enables you to play in a land campaign, most Azarketi ancestry feats still get more mileage when you’re in a body of water so if you’re playing a game set around water, this ancestry will serve you well, otherwise they are nothing special.

Heritages: Ancient Scale Azarketi (**), Benthic Azarketi (**), Inured Azarketi (**), Mistbreath Azarketi (***), Murkeyed Azarketi (**), River Azarketi (**), Spined Azarketi (**), Tactile Azarketi (**), Thalassic Azarketi (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Alghollthu Bound (**), Ancestral Insight (**), Azarketi Lore (**), Azarketi Weapon Familiarity (*), Cynical (**), Hydraulic Deflection (***), Pelagic Aptitude (**), Perfect Dive (**), Striking Retribution (**), Surface Skimmer (**)
5th: Aquatic Conversationalist (*), Azarketi Weapon Aptitude (***), Drag Down (**), Marine Ally (**), Water Conjuration (**)
9th: Aboleth Transmutation (**), Azarketi Purification (**), Replenishing Hydration (**), Riptide (**), Water Dancer (**), Water Strider (**)
13th: Aquatic Adaptation (**), Aquatic Camouflage (**), Azarketi Weapon Expertise (*), Hydraulic Maneuvers (**), Mist Strider (***), Rehydration (**),
17th: Underwater Volcano (**),

Catfolk: STR-Based Magus (***), DEX-Based Magus (****)

Hit points: 8; Size: Medium; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: DEX, CHA, Free; Attribute Flaws: WIS; Senses: Low-light vision; Misc.: Land on Your Feet

Catfolk are yet another ancestry that more snugly fit into the DEX-based Magus mold, though STR can still be done albeit with a bit less flexibility in starting attributes. Land on Your Feet makes a nice touch in the event that you fall from a height.

Among the heritages, Clawed Catfolk won’t do too much that Arcane Fists doesn’t already do, but it at least adds another damage type and opens up a decent feat later in the Catfolk ancestry feats. There’s a few heritages to enhance your senses as well. Among the feats, Catfolk Weapon Familiarity really isn’t any better than just getting Clawed Catfolk, though the Whip Claw can be used for DEX-based Inexorable Irons if you don’t mind the lower weapon damage. Catfolk feats really lean on DEX-based skill checks, though Springing Leaper can help with jumping with the athletics skill if you like using the leaps and jumps from that skill. There’s also the really useful Cat’s Luck tree of feats.

Heritages: Clawed Catfolk (**), Flexible Catfolk (**), Hunting Catfolk (***), Jungle Catfolk (**), Liminal Catfolk (***), Nine-Lives Catfolk (***), Sharp-Eared Catfolk (***), Winter Catfolk (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Cat Nap (**), Cat’s Luck (***), Catfolk Dance (***), Catfolk Lore (**), Catfolk Weapon Familiarity (***), Saber teeth (**), Well-Met Traveler (*), Winter Cat Senses (**),
5th: Climbing Claws (**), Focused Cat Nap (**), Graceful Guidance (**), Light Paws (**), Lucky Break (****), Pride Hunter (**), Springing Leaper (**), Well-Groomed (**)
9th: Aggravating Scratch (***), Evade Doom (**), Luck of the Clowder (***), No Evidence (**), Predator’s Growl (*), Sense for Trouble (***), Silent Step (**), Wary Skulker (**)
13th: Black Cat Curse (****), Caterwaul (**), Inspirit Hazard (**)
17th: Elude Trouble (***), Reliable Luck (****), Ten Lives (**)

Centaur: STR-Based Magus (****), DEX-Based Magus (***)

Hit points: 8; Size: Large; Speed: 30 feet; Attribute Boosts: STR, WIS, Free; Attribute Flaws: CHA; Senses: Darkvision; Misc.: Mount, Robust

Not half-bad to be half-horse. Good speed, and great attributes for a STR-Based Magus. DEX-Magi will be less flexible with their starting boosts but still completely doable. Yes you can be someone’s mount but bear in mind that it takes actions away from you so that’s less ideal for the Magus’s tight action economy. Though it can still come in handy if you absolutely must carry someone out of a situation.

Heritages and feats don’t feature much that’s too special, but there’s still some good choices; do note the Ponygait Centaur if your campaign makes your default large size cumbersome. Unarmed builds can get pretty powerful strikes, while Starlit Spans can get crit specialization via Centaur Weapon Familiarity! There are also innate spells, and heritages to alter your starting statistics as a centaur! Nothing too special, but this is pretty good!

Heritages: Budding Centaur Speaker (***), Fleetwind Centaur (****), Ironhoof Centaur (**), Mottle-Coat Centaur (**), Ponygait Centaur (***), Stoutheart Centaur (***)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Centaur Lore (**), Centaur Weapon Familiarity (***), Practiced Brawn (**), Skilled Herbalist (***), Steelhoof (**)
5th: Accommodating Mount (*), Distant Archer (**), Proud Mentor (**), Speaker in Training (***)
9th: Herbal Forager (**), Fierce Competitor (**), Mentor of Legends (***), Ride On (**), Speaker’s Defense (**), Stubborn Defiance (***)
13th: Camouflage Coat (**), Incredible Sprint (**), Miraculous Medic (**), Trample (**)
17th: Merge with the Source (*), Starshot Arrow (**)

Fetchling: STR-Based Magus (***), DEX-Based Magus (****)

Hit points: 8; Size: Medium; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: DEX, Free; Attribute Flaws: None; Senses: Darkvision

It is super easy to make them a DEX-based Magus with the DEX boost they get automatically. STR-based doesn’t allow quite the same flexibility in starting attributes but hey, it’s still perfectly serviceable.

Main thing holding the Fetchling back is that the heritage options and ancestry feats aren’t much to write home about for the most part. Liminal Fetchling is probably the best one for the perception bonus and the reduced DC for targeting concealed and hidden creatures. The others are a bit more situational, though Wisp Fetchling has some NICE synergy with DEX-based builds. Fetchlings ancestry feats mostly offer utility abilities. Handy but nothing that particularly synergizes with being a Magus.

Heritages: Bright Fetchling (**), Deep Fetchling (**), Liminal Fetchling (***), Resolute Fetchling (**), Wisp Fetchling (***)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Fetchling Lore (**), Hard to Fool (**), Shadow Blending (**), Shrouded Magic (***), Shrouded Mien (*), Slink**
5th: Clever Shadow (**), Extinguish Light (**), Lightless Litheness (**), Illusory Disguise**
9th: Hefting Shadow (**), Sculpt Shadows (**), Shadow Sight (**)
13th: Shadow’s Assault (*), Skirt the Light [U] (****)
17th: Pierce the Light [U] (**)

Hobgoblin: STR-Based Magus (****), DEX-Based Magus (****)

Hit points: 8; Size: Medium; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: CON, INT, Free; Attribute Flaws: WIS; Senses: Darkvision

A shame that the lore for Hobgoblins mentions that they have a strong dislike for magic, because they have excellent attribute boosts to become either the DEX-based or STR-based Magus, since it’s easy enough to put in a boost into that WIS score to bring it back up to at least a 10.

Elfbane Hobgoblin is probably the best overall heritage (except for Sparkling Targe), but the bevy of fire using enemies makes Smokeworker Hobgoblin pretty useful too. The early feats for Hobgoblins aren’t too impressive, but some of the later ones are actually pretty useful or cool. Runtsage gives you access to Goblin Feats, like say Burn it! So this further expands your repertoire of feat choices. Rallying Cry may only affect allies and not you but it’s still temporary hit-points and haste on all your allies! Wow! As a disclaimer, Hobgoblin Weapon Familiarity isn’t going to do anything for you at first level, but the crit specialization effects of the weapons make it a decent pick at a later level.

Heritages: Elfbane Hobgoblin (***), Runtboss Hobgoblin (*), Shortshanks Hobgoblin (**), Smokeworker Hobgoblin (***), Steelskin Hobgoblin (**), Warmarch Hobgoblin (**), Warrenbred Hobgoblin (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Alchemical Scholar (**), Cantorian Reinforcement (**), Hobgoblin Lore (***), Hobgoblin Weapon Familiarity (***), Leech-Clip (**), Remorseless Lash (**), Sneaky (**), Stone Face (**), Vigorous Health (**)
5th: Agonizing Rebuke (*), Expert Drill Sergeant (**), Formation Training (*), Recognize Ambush (****), Runtsage (****),
9th: Cantorian Rejuvenation (***), Fell Rider (*), Pride in Arms (**), Squad Tactics (***)
13th: Can’t Fall Here (**), Formation Master (**), War Conditioning (**), We March On (**)
17th: Azaersi’s Roads [R] (**), Cantorian Restoration (***), Rallying Cry (****)

Kitsune: STR-Based Magus (*), DEX-Based Magus (**)

Hit points: 8; Size: Medium; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: CHA, Free; Attribute Flaws: None; Senses: Low-Light Vision; Misc.: Change Shape

The Kitsune’s mandatory CHA boost does mean that you aren’t going to have full flexibility for attribute arrays regardless of whether you go STR-based or DEX-based, but you can still make a good attribute array regardless of this problem.

The lack of boosts isn’t what really holds the Kitsune back. Empty Sky Kitsune (and by extension Kitsune Spell Familiarity) does give you some cantrips that are pretty useful, but may be either situational or taxing on the Magus’ already taxed Action-economy. Even more unfortunately, the Kitsune’s few ancestry feats seem to take what would otherwise be decent features (unarmed attacks, familiars) and then forcibly narrow their scope. The majority of spells depend on the Magus’s poor spell DCs, and are even worse due to keying off of Charisma. Fox Arson does persistent damage to the (short) ranged strike of Foxfire, so there’s a niche build for a more monk-styled Starlit Span but overall the Kitsune doesn’t really add much to the Magus.

Heritages: Celestial Envoy Kitsune (**), Dark Fields Kitsune (*), Earthly Wilds Kitsune (**), Empty Sky Kitsune (**), Frozen Wind Kitsune (**), Palace Echoes Kitsune (*)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Foxfire (**), Kitsune Lore (*), Kitsune Spell Familiarity (**), Retractable Claws (*), Seven Changes Performance (*), Shapechanger’s Intuition (**), Star Orb (**)
5th: Hybrid Form (*), Kitsune Spell Mysteries (*), Myriad Forms (**), Rekindled Light (**), Shifting Faces (***), Vulpine Scamper (**)
9th: Fox Arson (**), Fox Trick (**), Many Guises (***)
13th: Killing Stone (*), Kitsune Spell Expertise (*), Larger than Life (**)
17th: Fox Possession (*), Rampaging Form (*)

Kholo: STR-Based Magus (****), DEX-Based Magus (****)

Hit points: 8; Size: Medium; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: STR, INT, Free; Attribute Flaws: WIS; Senses: Low-Light Vision; Misc.: Bite

Note: Archives of Nethys still has this listed as its pre-Remaster name of Gnoll.

I could kiss those attribute boosts. Put your free ancestry boost into WIS and you have the ideal array for a STR-based Magus. Put the free ancestry boost into DEX, and one of your four free boosts into WIS and voila you have an ideal array for a DEX-based magus!

Kholo have a few useful heritages, Cave Kholo grants darkvision, while Great Kholo is more robust with some bonuses to athletics, and Witch Kholo can help with creating distractions. The weapons granted by Kholo Weapon Familiarity won’t do anything for you, but their crit specializations are nice. Note that if you want the Sensitive Nose feat you must take it at level 1 or you can never take it. Dog Kholo combined with Crunch and the Rabid Sprint feat can make for an interesting unarmed build that will have very few problems closing the distance to enemies, though it’s certainly build specific. In fact, many of the feats are largely build specific, but the starting stats are amazing.

Heritages: Ant Kholo (*), Cave Kholo (****), Dog Kholo (**), Great Kholo (***), Sweetbreath Kholo (*), Winter Kholo (**), Witch Kholo (***)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Ask the Bones (**), Crunch (**), Hyena Familiar (****), Kholo Lore (**), Kholo Weapon Familiarity (***), Pack Hunter (**), Sensitive Nose (***)
5th: Absorb Strength [U] (**), Affliction Resistance (**), Distant Cackle (*), Left-Hand Blood (**), Pack Stalker (**), Rabid Sprint (**), Right-Hand Blood (**)
9th: Ambush Hunter (**), Breath Like Honey (*), Grandmother’s Wisdom (**), Laughing Kholo (*)
13th: Ancestor’s Rage (*), Bonekeeper’s Bane (**)
17th: First to Strike, First to Fall (**), Impaling Bone (**), Legendary Laugh (*)

Kobold: STR-Based Magus (**), DEX-Based Magus (***)

Hit points: 6; Size: Small; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: DEX, CHA, Free; Attribute Flaws: CON; Senses: Darkvision

Oh those boosts and flaws hurt. Just as squishy as an elf but unlike the elf they don’t have the INT boost to compensate, instead having a not-so-useful CHA boost. This makes STR-based very risky for low-level play, and costs you some potential flexibility in your starting array for a DEX-based Magus. You could build a better STR-based Kobold if you have access to the uncommon Mightyfall Kobold, however you’ll be a bit shorter on INT than you would be before.

While for the most part everything else about the kobold is situational, there is the Spellhorn Kobold heritage, and the Spellhorn line of ancestry feats. The text says they key off of CHA so they’re not quite as powerful as they would be if they keyed off of INT, but at those levels the spells you want are utility spells anyways (Like Sure Strike, invisibility, Haste, or Mountain Resilience!). There are also the Winglet line of feats that culminate in Wyrmling Flight for a permanent fly speed! So the Kobold isn’t without great options to make for a good Magus, but you’ll have to be careful with your lower hit points so that you live long enough to get those options.

Heritages: Caveclimber Kobold (**), Cavernstalker Kobold (**), Dragonscaled Kobold (***), Elementheart Kobold (***), Heavenscribe Kobold (*), Mightyfall Kobold [U] (***), Spellhorn Kobold (***), Strongjaw Kobold (**), Tunnelflood Kobold (**), Venomtail Kobold (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Benefactor’s Resistance (***), Cringe (**), Draconic Sycophant (**), Dragon’s Presence (**), Dragonscaled Lore (**), Hoarder’s Craw (**), Kobold Breath (**), Kobold Lore (**), Kobold Weapon Familiarity (**), Koi Secrets [U] (**), Scamper (**), Slither (**), Snare Setter (**)
5th: Ally’s Shelter (**), Benefactor’s Strike (**), Duck! (***), Friend of the Family (***), Grovel (**), Kobold Momentum (**), Snare Genius (**), Tip the Scales (***), Winglets (**)
9th: Between the Scales (**), Breath Unleashed (**), Briar Battler (**), Close Quarters (**), Dracomancer (****), Draconic Paragon (***), Evolved Spellhorn (****), Dragonblood Paragon (***), Dragon’s Breath (***), Fleeing Shriek (**), Snare Commando (*), Winglet Flight (***),
13th: Elite Dracomancer (****), Imperial Dragon Potion (**), Kaiju’s Footfalls (***), Resplendent Spellhorn (****), Tumbling Diversion (*), Vicious Snares (**)
17th: Benefactor’s Majesty (***), Wyrmling Flight (****)

Lizardfolk: STR-Based Magus (***), DEX-Based Magus (**)

Hit points: 8; Size: Medium; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: STR, WIS, Free; Attribute Flaws: INT; Senses: No special senses; Misc.: Aquatic Adaptation, Claws

Proper name Iruxi thank you very much! That INT flaw is less than ideal, but salvageable thanks to otherwise having good boosts. You don’t have as much flexibility in your starting attributes with a DEX-based Magus but it’s still playable.

Iruxi armaments does add more damage types to your unarmed strikes if you want to do a STR-based unarmed Magus with Arcane Fists. While there’s a handful of interesting skill utilities, most Lizardfolk feats are pretty situational.

Heritages: Bakuwa Lizardfolk [U] (***), Cliffscale Lizardfolk (**), Cloudleaper Lizardfolk (**), Frilled Lizardfolk (*), Makari Lizardfolk [U] (**), Sandstrider Lizardfolk (***), Unseen Lizardfolk (**), Wetlander Lizardfolk (**), Woodstalker Lizardfolk (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Bone Magic (***), Consult the Stars (***), Crocodile’s Twin (****), Iruxi Armaments (**), Lightning Tongue (**), Lizardfolk Lore (**), Marsh Runner (**), Parthenogenic Hatchling (**), Reptile Rider (**), Spirit Coffin [U] (**), Reptile Speaker (*)
5th: Envenom Fangs (**), Flexible Tail (*), Gecko’s Grip (**), Guided by the Stars (***), Iruxi Glide (**), Shed Tail (***), Swift Swimmer (**), Tongue Disarm (**)
9th: Ancestral Form (*), Bone Caller (**), Dangle (**), Hone Claws (**), Read the Stars (**), River Adaptation (**), Terrain Advantage (**)
13th: Bone Investiture (*), Ferry Through Waves (**), Iruxi Spirit Strike (**), Primal Rampage (****), Spiritual Headhunter (**)
17th: Fossil Rider (*), Mooneater (**), Scion Transformation (**)

Merfolk: STR-Based Magus (*), DEX-Based Magus (**)

Hit points: 8; Size: Medium; Speed: 5 feet, Swim 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: DEX, CHA, Free; Attribute Flaws: CON; Senses: Low-Light Vision; Misc.: Aquatic Grace, Hydration

This is actually a worse version of the Azarketi. Not only do the merfolk have the same problem of not being able to be away from water for too long, their swim speed is worse, and their land speed is ATROCIOUS! Even discounting those problems, their boost to CHA and flaw to CON makes a STR-based Magus build a very risky proposition, thankfully the DEX boost makes a DEX-based build a bit more manageable.

The heritages and feats aren’t an improvement. Some of them get more value in an aquatic campaign, while the ones that would enable a merfolk to even be something close to playable in a land campaign don’t come online until later. They can get darkvision and a pretty nice reaction, which saves this from being complete garbage for the magus. I can’t recommend you play this one from a mechanical perspective; if you’re doing an oceanic campaign there’s an argument to be made for this, and if you’re dead set on playing one in a land campaign see if you can sweet-talk your GM into letting you take Strong Tail, Shore Gift, or even have a Supramarine chair.

Heritages: Abyssal Merfolk (****), Carcharodon Merfolk (***), Pelagic Merfolk (**), Reef Merfolk (**), Sailfish Merfolk (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Merfolk Lore (***), Merfolk Weapon Familiarity (**), Ocean’s Bite (**), Seasong (*), Swimmer’s Guidance, Wave Speaker (*)
5th: Apprentice Sea Witch (**), Fishblooded (**), Healing Flesh (**), Strong Tail (**)
9th: Ill Tide (****), Shore Gift (**), Siren Song (*), Tears of Pearl (**)
13th: Pummeling Whirlpool (**), Sea Witch (*)
17th: Doom of Sailors (**), Kraken’s Call (*)

Minotaur: STR-Based Magus (****), DEX-Based Magus (****)

Hit points: 10; Size: Large; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: STR, CON, Free; Attribute Flaws: CHA; Senses: Darkvision; Misc.: Horns

Don’t take the bull by the horns, BE the bull behind the horns! Starting attributes are overall fantastic. The large size does come with its own pros and cons, but the attributes are amazing, you get darkvision, and dwarves only WISH they were as fast as you! A+ for attributes!

Which is a pretty good thing since the heritages are fairly situational. There are a handful of useful feats to the Minotaur, a few extra spells, the ability to yeet your allies across the field, tragically the much coveted Stretching Reach feat isn’t ideal for the Magus since, as a stance per the errata, it would interfere with the Magus’s ability to use Arcane Cascade. Still later feats do offer some options to help your allies reposition which makes you quite the team player!

Heritages: Ghost Bull Minotaur (**), Glacier Cavern Minotaur (**), Littlehorn Minotaur (**), Roaming Minotaur (**), Slabsoul Minotaur (**), Stalker Minotaur (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Artisanal Crafter (***), Cattle Speech (*), Eye for Masonry (**), Friendly Nudge (**), Keen Nose (***), Minotaur Lore (**), Minotaur Weapon Familiarity (**), Pantheon Magic (***)
5th: Alarming Disappearance (**), Beast of Burden (**), Labyrinthine Echoes (**), Natural Orienteering (**), Puzzle Solver (**), Stretching Reach (*)
9th: Friendly Fling (***), Goring Charge (**), Siphon Torment (**), Stone Passage (**)
13th: Phantom Charm (**), Shift the Little Ones (***), Threatening Pursuit (*)
17th: Begin Stampede (***), Into the Labyrinth (*)

Nagaji: STR-Based Magus (***), DEX-Based Magus (***)

Hit points: 10; Size: Medium; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: STR, Free; Attribute Flaws: None; Senses: Low-light vision; Misc.: Fangs

Back to reptiles now! However in contrast to the Lizardfolk, these reptiles lack an INT flaw. Now the STR boost does mean they’ve a bit more flexibility in their starting attributes as a STR-based magi, they can still be built for DEX-based with no real issues.

The heritages are nothing special, but by and large don’t hurt to have, Sacred and Titan ever-so-slightly edging out the others. Beyond the first level feats the Nagaji ancestry feats are a bit lacking in oomph until the 13th level ones become available and you get access to some decent spells. Overall Nagaji are pretty good, but their ancestry options won’t make them really excel as a Magus.

Heritages: Hooded Nagaji (*), Sacred Nagaji (**), Shimmertongue Nagaji (**), Titan Nagaji (**), Venomshield Nagaji (**), Whipfang Nagaji (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Cold Minded (**), It Takes a Village (***), Nagaji Lore (***), Nagaji Spell Familiarity (****), Nalinivati’s Light (****), Serpent’s Tongue (***), Throat Pocket (**), Water Nagaji (**)
5th: Hypnotic Lure (**), Metabolic Control (**), Nagaji Spell Mysteries (***), Skin Split (**), Venom Gulp (*), Venom Spit (*)
9th: Hypnotic Gaze (**), Envenom Strike (*), Guarded Thoughts (**), Serpentcoil Slam (**), Serpentine Swimmer (**)
13th: Disruptive Stare (***), Nagaji Spell Expertise (***), Pit of Snakes (***), Synchronous Slither (***)
17th: Breath of Calamity (**), Form of the Beloved Mother (*), Prismatic Scales (***)

Ratfolk: STR-Based Magus (*), DEX-Based Magus (****)

Hit points: 6; Size: Small; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: DEX, INT, Free; Attribute Flaws: STR; Senses: Low-Light Vision

Also known as Ysoki, these furballs are excellent DEX-based magi, but the STR penalty makes them subpar for going STR-based.

Heritages provide some chances to improve your senses, or other situational abilities. Most of the feats are sadly situational, but you can get an easy familiar, and the cheek pouch feats are fun if nothing more than an additional utility. Taking note of another feat, Ratfolk Roll sounds like a ton of fun, but it’s definitely situational.

Heritages: Deep Rat (****), Desert Rat (**), Longsnout Rat (***), Sewer Rat (**), Shadow Rat (*), Snow Rat (**), Tunnel Rat (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Cheek Pouches (**), Pack Rat (**), Rat Familiar (****), Ratfolk Lore (**), Ratspeak (*), Skull Creeper (*), Tinkering Fingers (***), Vicious Incisors (**), Warren Friend (**), Warren Navigator (**)
5th: Cornered Fury (**), Gnaw (**), Lab Rat (**), Plague Sniffer (**), Quick Stow (**), Rat Magic (**), Ratfolk Roll (**)
9th: Big Mouth (**), Overcrowd (**), Rat Form (**), Uncanny Cheeks (***)
13th: Shinstabber (**), Skittering Sneak (**), Warren Digger (**)
17th: Call the Swarm (***), Greater than the Sum (***)

Samsaran: STR-Based Magus (****), DEX-Based Magus (****)

Hit points: 8; Size: Medium; Speed 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: CON, WIS, Free; Attribute Flaws: CHA; Senses: Low-Light Vision; Misc.: Cryptomnesia, Wanderer’s Soul

Reincarnation and enlightenment have granted the Samsaran ancestry a bonus to CON and WIS but a flaw to CHA, which is an excellent range of abilities to start off with as a Magus. Cryptomnesia pairs nicely with the untrained improvisation general feat.

Oracular Samsaran gets a free innate cantrip, while Sanctuary Samsaran lets you avoid making critical fails on recall knowledge checks once per day. Remnants of the Past and Samsaran Weapon Memory are nice since they are both flexible and let you choose ancestry feats and weapons, respectively, from nearly any ancestry. The line of feats All This Will Happen Again, And Will Do So Once More, This Too Shall Pass, will let you reroll disastrous saving throws while Water to Water grants you Translocate twice per day. The Samsarans are overall a very strong ancestry for the Magus.

Heritages: Healer Samsaran (**), Mountaineer Samsaran (**), Oracular Samsaran (****), Sanctuary Samsaran (***), Wilderness Samsaran (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: All This Will Happen Again (***), Elucidating Vision (****), Innate Understanding (**), Remnants of the Past (****), Samsaran Lore (***), Samsaran Weapon Memory (****)
5th: All This Has Happened Before (***), And Will Do So Once More (****), Blood Like Water (***), Thousand-Year Grudge (*)
9th: I Will Return (***), Life’s Blood (**), Memory of Skill (**), Secrets of the Past (**)
13th: Memory of Mastery (***), Water to Water (****)
17th: The Cycle Continues (***), This Too Shall Pass (****)

Tanuki: STR-Based Magus (***), DEX-Based Magus (***)

Hit points: 10; Size: Small; Speed 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: CON, CHA, Free; Attribute Flaws: WIS; Senses: No special senses; Misc.: Change Shape

As a rotund racoon-dog you get a bonus CHA and a flaw to WIS, which is a pain but still salvageable whether as a STR-based or DEX-based Magus. The change shape option has its niche uses but that might depend on how many raccoon-dogs you’d find in the area.

The transformation powers and some of the illusions are pretty handy, but outside of that nothing stand-out. Combined Form sounds awesome but you lose out on your actions whenever you use it and it also depends on your ally using a Polymorph effect.

Heritages: Ascetic Tanuki (***), Even-Tempered Tanuki (**), Courageous Tanuki (**), Steadfast Tanuki (***), Virtuous Tanuki (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Everyday Form (***), Iron Belly (**), Scorched on the Crackling Mountain (**), Tanuki Lore (*), Teakettle Form (***)
5th: False Priest Form (**), Hasty Celebration (**), Leaf Transformation [U] (*), Ponpoko (**), Statue Form (**)
9th: Many Faces (****), Mud Boat’s Passage (**), Phantom Orchestra (*), Rolling White Bottle Form (***)
13th: Combined Form (**), Ponpoko-Pon! (**), Splendid Illusion (***)
17th: Landscape Form (***), Start the Festival (***)

Tengu: STR-Based Magus (***), DEX-Based Magus (****)

Hit points: 6; Size: Medium; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: DEX, Free; Attribute Flaws: None; Senses: Low-Light Vision; Misc.: Sharp Beak

With an automatic boost to DEX of course these bird people fit into the DEX-based Magus like a glove. STR-based has a bit less flexibility since you DEFINITELY need to pad those poor starting hit points.

The heritages in-and-of-themselves are nothing special, though Skyborn Tengu does eventually grant you flight through the Soaring Flight and, eventually, Soaring Form. While some of the feats do provide you with some innate spells, they don’t key off of your INT, that plus the fact that you need to use a hand to use Tengu Feather Fan means that it and its following feats just aren’t worth the Magus’ time. But hey, flight, forced re-rolls, and crit specialization on swords. Tengus still have plenty of worthy ancestry feats!

Heritages: Dogtooth Tengu (**), Jinxed Tengu (**), Mountainkeeper Tengu (**), Skyborn Tengu (**), Stormtossed Tengu (**), Taloned Tengu (**), Wavediver Tengu (**),

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Mariner’s Fire (***), One-Toed Hop (**), Scavenger’s Search (**), Squawk! (*), Storm’s Lash (**), Tengu Lore (**), Tengu Weapon Familiarity (***), Uncanny Agility (**), Waxed Feathers (**)
5th: Dogfang Bite (**), Eat Fortune (**), Long-Nosed Form (**), Magpie Snatch (**), Soaring Flight (****), Tengu Feather Fan (*)
9th: Soaring Form (****), Wind God’s Fan (*)
13th: Harbinger’s Caw (****), Jinx Glutton (**), Tengu Weapon Expertise (*), Thunder God’s Fan (*)
17th: Favor of Heaven (*), Great Tengu Form (***), Hurricane Swing (**), Trickster Tengu (*)

Tripkee: STR-Based Magus (*), DEX-Based Magus (****)

Hit points: 6; Size: Small; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: DEX, WIS, Free; Attribute Flaws: STR; Senses: Low-Light Vision; Misc.: Natural Climber

As the boosts make obvious, these little frog people are well suited to DEX-based Magi. Some feats that the Tripkee have benefit from a strong athletics though so there’s an argument to be made for using alternate ability boosts, and if you do go for it!

Most Tripkee heritages are situational, but Thickskin Tripkee is a good default pick if you don’t have anything build-specific in mind due to the bump in hit points. Later they get some feats to make leaping a lot more fun and practical which, while not sterling until the Unbound Leaper feat, can help with maneuverability.

Heritages: Poisonhide Tripkee (**), Riverside Tripkee (**), Snaptongue Tripkee (**), Stickytoe Tripkee (**), Thickskin Tripkee (***), Windweb Gripplie (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Croak Talker (*), Hunter’s Defense (*), Jungle Strider (**), Nocturnal Tripkee (****), Terrifying Croak (*), Tripkee Lore (**), Tripkee Weapon Familiarity (**),
5th: Fantastic Leaps (***), Long Tongue (**), Prodigious Climber (**), Tenacious Net (*), Tripkee Glide (**), Vomit Stomach (**)
9th: Absorb Toxin (**), Moisture Bath (**), Ricocheting Leap (**), Tongue Tether (**)
13th: Envenomed Edge (***), Hop Up (***)
17th: Unbound Leaper (****)

Vanara: STR-Based Magus (**), DEX-Based Magus (***)

Hit points: 6; Size: Medium; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: DEX, Free; Attribute Flaws: None; Senses: No special senses; Misc.: Prehensile Tail

These monkeys are naturally inclined to a DEX-based magus, but like the tengu before you’ll have a bit less flexibility with your STR-based attribute array since you want to pad those hit points.

The heritages and ancestry feats have a few good ones, but by and large are lacking anything with a whole lot of impact. They do get a few interesting options for maneuverability, notably climbing tail actually makes it possible for two-handed weapon users to climb and remain fully combat-capable. But even that’s a bit niche.

Heritages: Bandaagee Vanara (*), Lahkgyan Vanara (**), Ragdyan Vanara (***), Wajaghand Vanara (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Canopy Sight (***), Climbing Tail (***), Sudden Mindfulness (**),Vanara Lore (**), Vanara Weapon Familiarity (**), Whitecape (***)
5th: Darting Monkey (**), Jungle Runner (**), Ragdya’s Revelry (*), Skillful Climber (**), Tail Snatch (**), Vanara Weapon Trickery (**)
9th: Dangle (**), Legendary Size (***), Ragdya’s Dance (**), Rakshasa Ravaged (**)
13th: Monkey Spirits (*), Unbound Freedom (**), Vanara Battle Clarity (***), Vanara Weapon Expertise (*)
17th: Unfettering Prankster (**)

Wayang: STR-Based Magus (**), DEX-Based Magus (***)

Hit points: 8; Size: Small; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: DEX, CHA, Free; Attribute Flaws: CON; Senses: Darkvision

These shadowy people have a CON penalty and CHA boost that makes playing a STR-based Magus risky, but if you go DEX based that free DEX boost will let you salvage your CON. Still not ideal thanks to that CHA boost but it’s better than nothing.

A lot of the class feats depend on you being in darkness, but there’s some solid heritages and feats that allow you to make your own flanking partner. There’s some interesting tricks here if you can set up the scenarios needed to make them work. The Darkness spell could help you a lot here.

Heritages: Shadow of the Courtier (*), Shadow of the Hermit (****), Shadow of the Sailor (**), Shadow of the Smith (**), Shadow of the Wanderer (****)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Aegis of the Dissolution (**), Dance of the Mousedeer (*), Inherit the Dreaming Heirloom (**), Refined Motion in Darkness (***), Wayang Lore (***), Wayang Weapon Familiarity (***)
5th: Dissolution’s Clarity (***), Shadow Play (**)
9th: Dance of the Tiger (*), Dissolution’s Sight (**), Rouse the Dreaming Relic (**), Shadow Tempo (***)
13th: Dalang’s Ally (***), Dance of the Jester (*), Palm-Leaf Silhouette (***), Slay Giants Unseen (**)
17th: Dissolution’s Sovereignty (**), Sever the Dreaming Shadow (**)

Rare Ancestries

Rare ancestries are those that are VERY seldomly seen. Some may be located in only small portions of the larger world, others hide away for various reasons. No matter the reason, rare ancestries absolutely will require your GM to sign off on them before you use them.

Anadi: STR-Based Magus (**), DEX-Based Magus (***)

Hit points: 8; Size: Medium; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: DEX, WIS, Free; Attribute Flaws: CON; Senses: No special senses; Misc.: Change Shape, Fangs

You are an abnormally large spider that is intelligent, and able to magically shapeshift into a human. The CON flaw does mean that a STR-based Magus will be notably squishier, but the DEX-Magi will be able to spare a boost to help pad that just a bit.

Anadi’s have rather few ancestry feats, but taking the Adaptive Anadi heritage immediately gives you adoptive ancestry so you can grab more ancestry feats right from the get go! Wow! And you just might need them seeing how few there are, though Studious Magic and Studious Adept deserve some recognition.

Heritages: Adaptive Anadi (****), Polychromatic Anadi (*), Snaring Anadi (**), Spindly Anadi (***), Venomous Anadi (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Anadi Lore (***), Reassuring Presence (**), Skittertalk (*), Studious Magic (****), Web Walker (**), Web Weaver (**)
5th: Friendform (**), Hunter’s Fangs (*), Hybrid Shape (**)
9th: Disorienting Venom (**), Strand Strider (**), Studious Adept (***), Web Hunter (***)
13th: Webslinger (**)
17th:

Android: STR-Based Magus (****), DEX-Based Magus (****)

Hit points: 8; Size: Medium; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: DEX, INT, Free; Attribute Flaws: CHA; Senses: Low-Light Vision; Misc.: Constructed, Emotionally Unaware

DEX boost? INT boost!? CHA FLAW!? It’s like the android was built (ha-ha) to be a magus! Those attribute boosts and flaws are perfect!

But in a show that no ancestry is truly perfect the android’s heritages are a bit lackluster, though Artisan Android giving you crafting and specialty crafting is really nice! But the lack of heritage options and the lack of ancestry feats is made up for by the quality of the ancestry feats! While only one actually gives you an innate spell, others effectively act like spells and spells that a magus would love to have! (Nanite Shroud substituting for blur as an example). Nanite Surge in particular unlocks a rather useful line of feats for a magus to take (though mind that it uses your reaction).

Heritages: Artisan Android (***), Impersonator Android (**), Laborer Android (**), Polyglot Android (**), Warrior Android (*)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Android Lore (***), Cleansing Subroutine (**), Emotionless (**), Internal Compartment (**), Nanite Surge (***), Nightvision Adaptation (****), Proximity Alert (****), Radiant Circuitry (***)
5th: Advanced Targeting System (****), Inoculation Subroutine (**), Nanite Shroud (****), Protective Subroutine (****)
9th: Internal Respirator (**), Offensive Subroutine (***), Repair Module (***)
13th: Consistent Surge (****), Revivification Protocol (**)
17th:

Automaton: STR-Based Magus (****), DEX-Based Magus (***)

Hit points: 8; Size: Medium or Small; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: STR, Free; Attribute Flaws: None; Senses: Low-Light Vision; Misc.: Automaton Core, Constructed Body

Wow! It’s almost like Automatons were built (ha-ha, again!) for STR-based magi! DEX-based is going to lack flexibility but it is still acceptable.

Among the heritages Mage Automaton is the only one of particular interest to you, but the Ancestry Feats have quite a few interesting options, including some that grant you innate spells. Automatons are unique in that their ancestry feats all come with the ability to receive an Enhancement from either the Lesser Augmentation or Greater Augmentation feats. Most of these were rated largely on their initial effects so I highly encourage you to explore the augmentations to see if any catch your interest.

Heritages: Hunter Automaton (**), Mage Automaton (****), Sharpshooter Automaton (**), Warrior Automaton (*)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Arcane Communication (**), Arcane Eye (****), Automaton Armament (**), Automaton Lore (***), Energy Beam (**), Reinforced Chassis (***)
5th: Arcane Safeguards (***), Integrated Armament (***), Magical Resistance (**),
9th: Arcane Camouflage (***), Arcane Propulsion (****), Arcane Slam (**), Core Attunement (****), Lesser Augmentation (***), Rain of Bolts (**)
13th: Arcane Locomotion (**), Astral Blink (****), Core Rejuvenation (**), Enlarged Chassis (**)
17th: Axial Recall [U] (**), Core Cannon (**), Greater Augmentation (***)

Awakened Animal: STR-Based Magus (****), DEX-Based Magus (****)

Hit points: Varies; Size: Varies; Speed: Varies; Attribute Boosts: CON, WIS, Free; Attribute Flaws: INT; Senses: No special senses; Misc.: Awakened Form, Awakened Mind

There you are one day, minding your own business and grazing, or NOT minding your own business and hunting, when some rude jerk suddenly makes you able to contemplate time, life, the universe, and everything! Being burdened with a conscience somehow makes it so you effectively have two usable hands, while standing on hind ‘legs.’ Yes this does have an INT penalty, but the CON and WIS bonus means you can easily bring that INT back up to a positive and still have room for your key attribute, so that INT penalty becomes mitigated. When you choose this ancestry you choose an animal you’d like to be and then choose a size appropriate to that animal. You can choose to be tiny or small with 6 starting hit points, medium with 8 starting hit points, or large with 10 starting hit points.

Despite the ratings I’m giving each heritage, your choice of heritage should be based on what animal you choose to be, and each one comes with their own movement speeds and unarmed strikes. Don’t get too excited about Flying Animal, it can’t fly right away without feats, but it does make those feats available to you. Natural Senses is potentially cool but mind that it’s limited by your choice of animal (and I’m struggling to think of an animal that can see clearly in pitch darkness as I’m writing this). Not too many feats of interest but there are still some good ones. This ancestry has unparalleled flexibility in how it can be built, and its starting attributes plus decent feats make this a fantastic option if your GM will allow it.

Heritages: Climbing Animal (**), Flying Animal (****), Running Animal (***), Swimming Animal (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Awakened Animal Lore (**), Awakened Magic (***), Fascinated by Society (**), Land Legs (**), Learn by Watching (***), Natural Senses (***), Sea Legs (**), Take Flight (**), Tooth and Claw (**), You’re So Cute! (*)
5th: Fierce Grasp (**), Late Awakener (**), Natural Ambassador (*), Scurry! (***), Strong of Wing (***), Urban Jungle (**), Wild Stride (**)
9th: Animal Summoner (*), Full Flight (***)
13th: Awaken Others [U] (**), Digger (**), Sharpened Senses (***),
17th: Awakened Stride (**), Fearsome Form (**), True Senses (***)

Conrasu: STR-Based Magus (***), DEX-Based Magus (***)

Hit points: 10; Size: Medium; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: CON, WIS, Free; Attribute Flaws: CHA; Senses: No special senses; Misc.: Sunlight Healing

Wow it’s almost like Conrasus were built (ha-h-okay I’ll stop) to take a beating! 10 hit points and a CON bonus, and a WIS bonus on the side with a CHA flaw means that Conrasus can flexibly fit into either STR-based or DEX-based magus molds. If you want to play as a spiritual essence that rides around on a plant construct in service to the aeons (that’s a sentence) then Conrasu is right for you!

Three of their five heritages are actually pretty helpful to a Magus. Their highly ceremonious ancestry feats provide some useful defensive options, or knowledge bolstering options. It’s too bad there aren’t many options though.

Heritages: Rite of Invocation (****), Rite of Knowing (***), Rite of Light (**), Rite of Passage (**), Rite of Reinforcement (***)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Ceremony of Protection (**), Ceremony of the Evened Hand (*), Conrasu Lore (***), Conrasu Weapon Familiarity (*)
5th: Ceremony of Knowledge (***), Ceremony of Sunlight (**), Conrasu Weapon Understanding (***)
9th: Ceremony of Aeon’s Guidance (**), Ceremony of Aeon’s Shield (**), Ceremony of Fortification (***), Ceremony of the Strengthened Hand (*)
13th: Ceremony of Growth (***), Conrasu Weapon Expertise (*)
17th: Ceremony of Sun’s Gift (**)

Dragonet: STR-Based Magus (*), DEX-Based Magus (***)

Hit points: 8; Size: Tiny; Speed: 20 feet; Attribute Boosts: DEX, CHA, Free; Attribute Flaws: CON; Senses: Darkvision; Misc.: Big Sharp Teeth, Wings

You may have lost your ability to fly, but at least you’re not anyone’s familiar! The Dragonet Ancestry being tiny sized and getting a bonus to DEX along with a penalty to CON makes a STR-based build hard for them, at least not without suffering in hit points compared to other melee fighters. DEX-based Magi will still work, and Starlit Span will be especially appealing.

I consider most of the heritages and feats situational for the Dragonet due to the class DC and spell DC limitations of the magus, but they do get access to permanent flight, always a bonus!

Heritages: Fey Dragonet (***), Homing Drake (*), House Drake (**), Pearl Dragonet (***), Tidepool Drake (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Covet Hoard (**), Dragonet Breath (**), Dragonet Resistances (**), Mighty Dragonet (***), My Claws are Daggers (**), Scales of Steel (**), Take Wing (***)
5th: Ascended Dragonet Heritage (*), Inhale, Exhale (**), Jealous Grip (**), Zip! Zoom! (***)
9th: Bond Companion (**), Ferocious Will (**), Into the Sky (****)
13th: Form a Flock (***), Luring Chomp (**)
17th: Dazzling Dragonet Disappearance (****), Dragonet Immunities (**)

Fleshwarp: STR-Based Magus (**), DEX-Based Magus (**)

Hit points: 10; Size: Medium or Small; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: CON, Free; Attribute Flaws: None; Senses: Low-Light Vision; Misc.: Unusual Anatomy

Having your flesh warped and twisted apparently makes you hardier. The only mandatory boost fleshwarps have is a boost into CON which is great! That free boost can go into STR or DEX for equally viable STR-based or DEX-based magic builds!

Unfortunately for the fleshwarp, most of its heritages and the majority of its ancestry feats are situational, with only a few gems you can find in the whole lot; such as the combination of Cataphract Fleshwarp and Embodied Legionary Subjectivity giving you some extra skills. If you want to play a Magus, there’s better you can do than this ancestry cursed with a face(s) that only a mother could love.

Heritages: Cataphract Fleshwarp (**), Created Fleshwarp (**), Discarded Fleshwarp (**), Mutated Fleshwarp (**), Shapewrought Fleshwarp (**), Surgewise Fleshwarp (**), Technological Fleshwarp (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Aberration Kinship (*), Deepvision (****), Embodied Legionary Subjectivity [U] (**), Living Weapon (*), Startling Appearance (*)
5th: Embodied Dreadnought Subjectivity [U] (**), Finned Ridges (**), Gaping Flesh (**), Mutate Weapon (*), Powerful Guts (**), Transposable Compliance (**), Uncanny Awareness (***)
9th: Captivating Curiosity (*), Coating of Slime (***), Eerie Compression (**), Embodied Dragoon Subjectivity (**), Gripping Limbs (**), Slip the Grasp (**)
13th: Augment Senses (**), Spew Tentacles (*)
17th:

Ghoran: STR-Based Magus (***), DEX-Based Magus (***)

Hit points: 8; Size: Medium; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: CON, Free; Attribute Flaws: None; Senses: Low-Light Vision; Misc.: Photosynthesis

Think leshys but taller, tastier, and with starting stats much better suited for the Magus! With CON being their only mandatory boost, Ghoran’s can easily be STR-based or DEX-based.

Thanks to their unique longevity, Ghorans can either flexibly trade out skills as necessary, gain a unique unarmed attack, or a few innate spells. Most of the innate spells aren’t going to be particularly useful to the Magus but the capstone Ghoran’s Wrath does give the Magus a useful crowd-control spell.

Heritages: Ancient Ash (***), Enchanting Lily (*), Strong Oak (**), Thorned Rose (***)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Ancient Memories (***), Flexible Form (**), Ghoran Lore (**), Ghoran Weapon Familiarity (**), Hidden Thorn (**)
5th: Ghoran Weapon Practice (***), Murderous Thorns (**), Speak with Flowers (*), Tree’s Ward (**)
9th: Endless Memories (***), Flower Magic (*), Perfume Cloud (***), Solar Rejuvenation (**)
13th: Eternal Memories (***), Ghoran Weapon Expertise (*), Look But Don’t Touch (*), Violent Vines (*)
17th: Ghoran’s Wrath (***)

Goloma: STR-Based Magus (***), DEX-Based Magus (***)

Hit points: 8; Size: Medium; Speed: 30 feet; Attribute Boosts: WIS, Free; Attribute Flaws: None; Senses: Eyes in Back

I’m not sure how an ancestry who has “I am prey” defining their whole psychology goes about becoming an adventurer but here it is. With a mandatory WIS boost, Goloma don’t have as much flexibility in their starting attribute arrays as other ancestries but they can be serviceable with either STR or DEX.

Unfortunately, beyond some sensory abilities you could pick up at first level, the Golomas don’t have much of anything you couldn’t get from general feats or just casting a cantrip. Though on the note of cantrips, Vigilant Goloma does give you detect magic for free! True Gaze would be rated higher if the Magus didn’t have poor perception.

Heritages: Farsight Goloma (***), Frightful Goloma (*), Insightful Goloma (**), Vicious Goloma (**), Vigilant Goloma (****)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Catch the details (*), Goloma Courage (**), Goloma Lore (**), Pierce the Darkness (****), Watchful Gaze (**)
5th: Ambush Awareness (****), Protective Claws (**)
9th: Constant Gaze (***), Defensive Instincts (**)
13th: Arcane Sight (*), See the Unseen (**)
17th: True Gaze (**)

Jotunborn: STR-Based Magus (****), DEX-Based Magus (****)

Hit points: 10; Size: Large; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: STR, WIS, Free; Attribute Flaws: CHA; Senses: Low-Light Vision; Misc.: Iivlar Weaving

Giants from beyond the Universe, the Godsrain has drawn you and your contemporaries back to the Universe, and they’d better make some space for you because you’re large size! You also have pretty great attributes on the whole and it’s possible to be STR or DEX-based, though obviously STR-based is the most straightforward to put together.

Plane-Hopper Jotunborn is available if you’d rather play medium sized, which is situational but it comes with an occult cantrip, always a nice boon! Weaver gets free training in crafting and gives you a slight bonus to detect doors and traps. The rest of the heritages are situational. Now you could always go for darkvision via Jotun’s Eyes, but the Plane-Stepping Dash and subsequent feats do offer ways to move without triggering reactions for varying amounts of actions and cooldown times. Some other ancestry feats recreate effects similar to spells, while others would probably be more useful to pure martial classes that don’t have the action tax of Spellstriking. If becoming huge isn't too impractical for your campaign, and you don’t mind having a stance that’d be impractical to use on the Magus, the combination of Jotun’s Battle Stance and Jotun’s Heart gives you more hitpoints plus native reach.

Heritages: Keeper Jotunborn (**), Plane-Hopper Jotunborn (***), Sage Jotunborn (**), Warrior Jotunborn (**), Weaver Jotunborn (***)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Caretaker’s Intuition (**), Caretaker’s Restoration (**), Jotun’s Eyes (****), Jotunborn Grappler (***), Jotunborn Lore (**), Jotunborn Weapon Familiarity (*), Plane-Stepping Dash (****)
5th: Call the First Tools (**), Jotun’s Battle Stance (*), Jotun’s Grasp (***), Planar Resilience (****), Pounding Leap (**)
9th: Build the First Walls (***), Iivlar’s Deflection (**), Jotun’s Boost (***), Plane Step (**)
13th: Iivlar’s Boundary Break (***), Jotun’s Restoration (**), Plane Hop (***), Smoothing Stomp (***)
17th: Jotun’s Heart (**), Jotun’s Transposition [U] (**), Plane Hop (****)

Kashrishi: STR-Based Magus (****), DEX-Based Magus (****)

Hit points: 8; Size: Small; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: CON, Free; Attribute Flaws: None; Senses: Empathic Sense; Misc.: Glowing Horn

I never knew that I needed short psychic rhinos in my life until now. While the glowing horn means that unless you carry around a cap for your horn, you’re going to be terrible at hiding, the mandatory CON boost means you can flexibly take the role of a STR-based or DEX-based Magus.

While you could make an unarmed build centered around using your horn, and the xyloshi heritage plus puncturing horn feat grants a better unarmed attack than most ancestries ever get, the real winners are the feats that grant innate occult spells! The occult list has plenty of spells the Magus adores that don’t care about spell DC; Sure Strike, Haste, or Heroism just to name a few. Plus you can eventually teleport your party or dazzle enemies with no save! Most of the rest are situational, but holy Christmas can you make a great Magus out these empathic rhinos!

Heritages: Athamasi (**), Lethoci (**), Nascent (****),Trogloshi (***), Xyloshi (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Community Knowledge (**), Crystal Luminescence (***), Emotional Partitions (**), Mental Sustenance (**), Open Mind (****), Puncturing Horn (**), Scuttle Up (**), Tough Skin (***)
5th: Empathic Calm (*), Fighting Horn (**), Skilled Climber (**), Unlock Secret (****), Well of Potential (**)
9th: Fortified Mind (**), Telekinetic Slip (**), Transcendent Realization (****)
13th: Kashrishi Revivification (**), Reimagine (**)
17th: Bend Space [U] (****), Cleansing Light (****)

Poppet: STR-Based Magus (*), DEX-Based Magus (*)

Hit points: 6; Size: Small; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: CON, CHA, Free; Attribute Flaws: DEX; Senses: Darkvision; Misc.: Constructed, Flammable

So let me get this straight… 6 starting hit points, CHA boost, DEX penalty? A weakness to THE most common energy damage type in the game!? The starting stats on these living dolls are horrendous! With a DEX penalty the DEX-based Magus is obviously out, but even for STR based that creates a problem since the only way to bring your DEX up to the minimum of 12 you’ll have to sacrifice a boost you put into INT. Either that or go Sentinel dedication for heavy-armor proficiency. Armor class is way too important to short yourself on in this game, don’t ignore it.

None of the heritages offer anything more than situational bonuses (though the idea of a tiny toy striking with the strength of a grown person is hilarious!) with one exception; the uncommon Tsukumogami Poppet gets you trained in a skill and might change your elemental weakness, so it’s a slight improvement. As for ancestry feats, all the good ones are early on, (and even sealed/insulated poppet is just making up for you being weak to fire), or tail end with nothing exciting in between. Even the capstone ancestry feats include one defensive spell, and one feat that’s decidedly worse than any other ancestry’s ability to fly. The Magus can do so much better than Poppets.

Heritages: Ghost Poppet (**), Stuffed Poppet (**), Toy Poppet (**), Tsukumogami Poppet [U] (**), Windup Poppet (**), Wishbone Poppet (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Harmless Doll (*), Helpful Poppet (**), Made for Combat (**), Minuscule Mentee (****), Quadruped (****), Shiny Button Eyes (****), Sudden Terror (*), Wash Out (**)
5th: Cunning Tinker (**), Histrionic Injury (**), Insulated Poppet (***), No Hands, No Problems (***), Nothing but Fluff (**), Sealed Poppet (****), Spark of Independence (*), Swimming Poppet (**)
9th: Scaling Poppet (**), Solidarity (**), Wheedle and Jig (**)
13th: Awaken the Obake (*), Impossible Gossip (**), Reanimating Spark (**), Squirm Free (**)
17th: Restitch (****), Soaring Poppet (***)

Sarangay: STR-Based Magus (***), DEX-Based Magus (***)

Hit points: 8; Size: Medium; Speed 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: STR, CHA, Free; Attribute Flaws: WIS; Senses: No special senses; Misc.: Horns, Head Gem

These bovines start with a boost to CHA and a flaw to WIS, which hurts but it’s not unsalvageable regardless of whether you do a STR-based or DEX-based Magus. Keeping your soul inside of a gem also means that it’s easier for your pals to carry you around until they can resurrect you; as long as you trust them not to pawn you off at the bazaar.

Some feats can get you some nice occult spells, and while the New Moon Sarangay shrinks a bit they do gain better athletics and hit points. The rest of the feats aren’t anything too special. Not a bad choice on the whole.

Heritages: Full Moon Sarangay (*), Half Moon Sarangay (**), New Moon Sarangay (****), Waning Moon Sarangay (***), Waxing Moon Sarangay (***)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Awakened Jewel (****), Crown of Bone (**), Folk Healer (**), Sarangay Lore (**), Traveler’s Counsel (*)
5th: Deflecting Jewel (**), The Moon Weaver’s Art (***), Smoke Through Bamboo (****), Tikling Bird Twirl (***), Warding Jewel (*)
9th: Ancestral Healer (**), Paralyzing Jewel (**), Spiritual Echo (**)
13th: Light-Bending Jewel (****), Rejuvenating Embrace (**), Sheltering Jewel (**)
17th: Convocation of Earth and Moon (***), Trample (*)

Shisk: STR-Based Magus (***), DEX-Based Magus (***)

Hit points: 8; Size: Medium; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: INT, Free; Attribute Flaws: None; Senses: Darkvision

As far as starting statistics go, the Shisk are great! That free boost lets them invest fully into either STR or DEX while still leaving room to bring CON and INT up to +2.

As for heritages and feats, nothing bad but nothing spectacular either. A few will help you as the party’s font of knowledge, and Spine Stabber plus Piercing Quills can make for an interesting unarmed build. Other than that nothing stand-out.

Heritages: Lorekeeper Shisk (***), Quillcoat Shisk (**), Spellkeeper Shisk (***), Stonestep Shisk (**), Stronggut Shisk (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Eidetic Ear (*), Shisk Lore (**), Spelunker (**), Spine Stabber (**)
5th: Bristle (**), Inured to the Heat (**), Renewing Quills (**)
9th: Dig Up Secrets (**), Piercing Squills (***), Quill Spray (**)
13th: Delver (**), None Shall Know (**), Secret Eyes (***)
17th: Fountain of Secret (**)

Shoony: STR-Based Magus (*), DEX-Based Magus (**)

Hit points: 6; Size: Small; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: DEX, CHA, Free; Attribute Flaws: CON; Senses: Low-Light Vision; Misc.: Blunt Snout

With a CON flaw and starting hitpoints of 6, the Shoony are as squishy as their faces. STR-based builds will not be able to bring themselves up to +2 in CON at level 1, while DEX-based is salvageable but not terribly flexible in your choice of arrays.

Shoonies also lack much in the way of notable heritages or ancestry feats.There’s really nothing these little pug people can add to the class.

Heritages: Bloodhound Shoony (***), Fishseeker Shoony (**), Paddler Shoony (**), Thickcoat Shoony (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Dig Quickly (**), Esteemed Visitor (*), Handy with Your Paws (**), Improvisational Defender (**), Scamper Underfoot (**), Shoony Lore (*)
5th: Loyal Empath (**), Practiced Paddler (**), Tough Tumbler (**)
9th: Improvisational Warrior Sodbuster (**)
13th: Steadfast Ally (***), Unrivaled Builder (**)
17th:

Skeleton: STR-Based Magus (**), DEX-Based Magus (**)

Hit points: 6; Size: Medium; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: DEX, CHA, Free; Attribute Flaws: INT; Senses: Low-Light Vision; Misc.: Basic Undead Benefits

Literally being brainless doesn’t do the Magus class a whole ton of favors. Thankfully that INT can be salvaged, though the DEX bonus does make DEX-based Magi a slightly more attractive proposition. Do note that Basic Undead Benefits has both pros (bonus to resist disease and poison, immunity to dying instantly from Death effects, shorter rest period) and cons (Void healing, can’t be revived by magic normally, a “hunger” for bones in the skeleton’s case).

Sturdy and (ironically) Fodder Skeletons could help the survival of a low-level skeleton Magus immensely. The ancestry feats are a bit of a mixed bag; some are utterly useless to a Magus, but there are some that compliment either a Laughing Shadow or a Starlit Span Magus that can be a serious boon to a DEX-based Skeleton Magus! Just remember that undead may have trouble meshing with typical adventuring parties, hence the situational rating.

Heritages: Compact Skeleton (**), Fodder Skeleton (****), Monstrous Skeleton (**), Shifting Skeleton [R] (*), Sturdy Skeleton (****)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: As in Life, So in Death (****), Collapse (**), Play Dead (*), Undead Empathy (*)
5th: Past Life (**), Well-Armed (****)
9th: Bone Missile (***), Rejuvenation Token [U] (***), Skeletal Resistance (**)
13th: Skeletal Transformation (*), Skeleton Commander [U] (**)
17th: Bone Swarm (**), Necromantic Heir (***)

Sprite: STR-Based Magus (*), DEX-Based Magus (***)

Hit points: 6; Size: Tiny; Speed: 20 feet; Attribute Boosts: DEX, INT, Free; Attribute Flaws: STR; Senses: Low-Light Vision; Misc.: Magical Strike

A Tiny ancestry by default, which creates a problem in that with melee weapons your reach is reduced to 0 feet. But that won’t affect your performance on, say, a Starlit Span. The Tiny size might not have been a huge deal if not for being on the slow side for speed as well. And the STR penalty naturally means they’re a poor fit for STR-based Magi. But they do have the PERFECT boosts for a DEX-based magi, so all is not lost for sprites...

… especially not if they take the Pixie heritage to get bumped up to small size and bring their reach back up to normal. Or if you don’t take Pixie you can grab a Corgi mount, which doubles as a familiar and a source of mobility for your sprite. Getting improved familiar is strongly recommended for this one though since you’re otherwise going to be strapped for abilities. Other than the (hilariously) awesome corgi mount, there’s also some feats to grant you a little extra magic, and notably the Evanescent Wings line of feats, which start out only so-so, but eventually grant you permanent flight by level 9!

Heritages: Dijiang [U] (**), Draxie (**), Gandharva [U] (*), Kanchil [U] (*), Grig (**), Luminous Sprite (**), Leungli [U] (**), Melixie (*), Nyktera (**), Pixie (***)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Charmed Sleep (**), Corgi Mount (***), Evanescent Wings (**), Fey Cantrips (***), Speak with Bats (*), Sprite’s Spark (**)
5th: Animal Speaker (*), Catchy Tune (*), Elemental Spark [U] (**), Energize Wings (***), Fey Disguise (**), Speak with the Sleeping [U] (**)
9th: Fey Magic (***), Hero’s Wings (****)
13th: Fey Skin (**), Invisible Trickster (****),
17th: Along The Deep River [U] (***)

Strix: STR-Based Magus, DEX-Based Magus (****)

Hit points: 8; Size: Medium; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: DEX, Free; Attribute Flaws: None; Senses: Low-Light Vision; Misc.: Wings

With a DEX boost and free boost, it’s no surprise the Strix make great DEX-based magi. They can also perform well as a STR-based Magi even if they don’t have as much flexibility in their starting attribute arrays. As a situational bonus, they never take fall damage.

Unfortunately the Strix join the club of ancestries that are held back by their small selection of heritages and ancestry feats that hold little to nothing of interest to the Magus with just a few exceptions; but what exceptional exceptions they are! Darkvision through Nightglider Strix, and taking the Fledgling Flight feat and its successors will eventually give you permanent flight by 9th level!

Heritages: Nightglider Strix (****), Predator Strix (**), Scavenger Strix (**), Shoreline Strix (**), Songbird Strix (*)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Fledgling Flight (**), Story Crooner (*), Strix Defender (**), Strix Lore (**)
5th: Feathered Cloak (*), Juvenile Flight (***), Strix Vengeance (**), Thrown Voice (*)
9th: Ferocious Gust (**), Fully Flighted (****), Rokoan Arts (*), Wing Step (****)
13th: Ancestor’s Transformation (*)
17th:

Surki: STR-Based Magus (****), DEX-Based Magus (****)

Hit points: 8; Size: Medium; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: CON, Free; Attribute Flaws: None; Senses: Darkvision; Misc.: Magiphage

With CON as their only mandatory boost plus Darkvision, Surki are off to a pretty strong first step. Magiphage does mean you need much less food in most campaigns, but it will also inform some of the abilities you can get later via ancestry feats.

What’s unique about Surki heritages is that they not only have an initial benefit, but they also each come with two evolutions, which you can pick from when you take the Grand Metamorphosis feat. Elytron and Hardshell can get you the Fly spell later and medium armor now respectively. Sequestered Spell basically lets you pick any common cantrip you want in the game. With Unlimited Pluripotency and/or Secondary Adaptation you can change your evolutions as needed! There’s also self-healing and later once-a-day regeneration for extra survival. This is a very flexible ancestry that can be what you need.

Heritages: Breaker Surki (**), Elytron Surki (***), Hardshell Surki (***), Lantern Surki (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Sequestered Spell (****), Small Speak (*), Surki Lore (**), Surki Weapon Familiarity (**), Vestigial Magicsense (**)
5th: Chemical Trail (**), Secondary Adaptation (***), Tunnel Roll (*)
9th: Consume Magic (**), Grand Metamorphosis (***), Nodal Healing (***)
13th: Generation Digger (**), Magitaxis (**)
17th: Unlimited Pluripotency (****), Nodal Regeneration (****)

Vishkanya: STR-Based Magus (***), DEX-Based Magus (***)

Hit points: 8; Size: Medium; Speed: 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: DEX, Free; Attribute Flaws: None; Senses: Low-Light Vision; Misc.: Innate Venom

These serpent-adjacent humanoids have stats to predispose them toward DEX-builds. As always with these cases, STR-Based still does great but has less flexibility in starting attribute arrays.

Were I doing a guide for a martial class with a less tight action-economy budget, Vishkanya would hands-down be one of the best ancestries to pick. But in case you hadn’t noticed, this is a guide for a Magus, and alas, the Magus has a tight action-economy. The Vishkanya’s signature venom is a bit too draining on the action-economy to use too often, but once you get Debilitating Venom, it actually starts becoming worth using thanks to the chance to make enemies off-guard. If you feel confident in your ability to add Innate Venom into your action-economy juggling act then this can serve you well, but if not, the Vishkanya magus won’t have anything to make them stand out from other ancestries.

Heritages: Elusive Vishkanya (**), Keen-Venom Vishkanya (***), Old-Blood Vishkanya (**), Prismatic Vishkanya (*), Scalekeeper Vishkanya (***), Venom-Resistant Vishkanya (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Alabaster Eyes (****), Lesser Enhance Venom (***), Social Camouflage (*), Vishkanya Lore (**), Vishkanya Weapon Familiarity (**)
5th: Debilitating Venom (***), Restoring Blood (***), Vishkanya Weapon Arts (**)
9th: Alluring Performance (*), Moderate Enhance Venom (**), Swift Application (**), Viper Strike (**)
13th: Stronger Debilitating Venom (***), Venom Purge (**), Vishkanya Weapon Expertise (*)
17th: Greater Enhance Venom (**), Vicious Venom (***)

Yaksha: STR-Based Magus (**), DEX-Based Magus (**)

Hit points: 8; Size: Medium; Speed 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: CON, CHA, Free; Attribute Flaws: INT; Senses: Low-Light Vision

Note that right now I’m only assuming these human-looking spirits move at 25 feet, as it seems that the book forgot to print the Yaksha’s speed. The CON bonus is what keeps the INT penalty from being as bad as it could be. As seems to be a trend with most of the ancestries from the Tian-Xia character guide, that CHA bonus holds this ancestry back from having the best possible starting attributes.

Since Yaksha are defined by their primordial vows, each heritage adds an additional edict that they must follow. There are some good heritages but the majority of their ancestry feats are situational or campaign specific.

Heritages: Deny the Firstborn Pursuit (**), Deny Lady Nanbyo’s Charity (**), Deny the Traitor’s Rebirth (****), Respite of Cloudless Paths (**), Respite of Loam and Leaf (****), Respite of a Thousand Roofs (***)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Ash-Piercing Gaze (**), Avowed Insight (**), Bamboo and Silt Repose (**), Howling Aspect (**), Meticulous Restorer (**), Sage of Scattered Leaves (**), Tangle-Tongue’s Wit (**), Unwavering Guide (***)
5th: Colugo’s Traversal (****), Nourishing Symbiosis (**), Stem the Tide (***), Withstand the Storm (***)
9th: Abjure the False Kin (***), Fiend-Trampling Stature (**), Four-Armed Aspect (**), Horn and Bone Incantation (*), Witness of Earth [U] (**), World-Protector’s Hospitality (**)
13th: Adamantine Mantra (**), Germination of Resolve (**), Wild-Haired Fury (**)
17th: Strength of Eight Legions (***), Transcend the Azimuth (*)

Yaoguai: STR-Based Magus (***), DEX-Based Magus (***)

Hit points: 8; Size: Medium; Speed 25 feet; Attribute Boosts: CON, CHA, Free; Attribute Flaws: INT; Senses: No Special Senses; Misc: Change Shape

Ambient energy has transformed you from what you once were, and it could have been just about anything, into a being that has a less than ideal starting attribute array with a boost to CHA and a flaw to INT, but at least the CON bonus saves it from being terrible on attributes alone.

I normally rate heritages that grant cantrips higher but you have to be in your Yaoguai Form, not your humanoid form, so the potential exists for you to not be able to access a given cantrip. There are some interesting ancestry feats here, that most Magus builds should find some use for.

Heritages: Born of Animal (**), Born of Celestial (***), Born of Elements (***), Born of Item (**), Born of Vegetation (**)

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Crawling Form (**), Morphic Strike (**), Natural Mutagen (***), Polymorphic Escape (***), Twilight Dweller (****), Yaoguai Historian (**)
5th: Among Humanity (***), Awakened Yaoguai Heritage (**), Bold Defiance (**), Immobile Form (**), Kin Hunter (**), Signature Weapon (***)
9th: Brilliant Vision (***), Forever Among Humanity (****), Quick Recovery (**), Unleash Yaoguai Might (***)
13th: Elucidation (**), Improved Signature Weapon (**), Unnerving Terror (***)
17th: Gentle Death and Rebirth (**), Legendary Monster (***)

Versatile Heritages

Besides the heritages that are unique to each ancestry, there are also heritages available to all ancestries. Each versatile heritage brings new ancestry feats to the table for each ancestry. These feats include lineage feats, which are feats you can only take at first level and can never retrain out of if you take them at all. Versatile heritages mostly exist to expand options for any ancestry they’re applied to, and only rarely will actually hurt to take them.

Common

Aiuvarin (****):

You have an elven parent (or two Aiuvarin parents)! Your long-lived predecessor grants your base ancestry low-light vision if they did not already have it, and the ability to select both Aiuvarin and elf ancestry feats! And frankly elves have some great feats of interest to the Magus!

Elves having good ancestry feats is a good thing too, since the majority of Aiuvarin exclusive ancestry feats are geared toward social abilities a Magus just isn’t built to capitalize on. But they do get the amazing Pinch Time for a self haste!

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Earned Glory (*), Elf Atavism (***), Round Ears (*), Sociable (*)
5th: Inspire Imitation (**), Supernatural Charm (*)
9th: Pinch Time (****)

Dromaar (***):

Either you have an orc parent, or two Dromaar parents, and thanks to that you get low-light vision, and access to Dromaar and orc feats!

Not that there are all that many Dromaar exclusive feats, and two of the three of them are ill-suited for the magus. But at least one of them grants Darkvision.

Heritages:

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Monstrous Peacemaker (*), Orc Sight (****), Overlooked Mastermind (*)

Uncommon

Ardande (***):

You’re a mortal with the energy of the Elemental Plane of Wood; that’s right, your ancestor may have done more than just hug a tree. But hey, at least you get low-light vision, or darkvision if you already had low-light vision.

Most of the feats in the early levels are situational, some even being limited by the environment you’re in. Flowering Path is notable in that it does have a legitimately interesting crowd-control effect, but difficult terrain is less useful against increasingly common flying enemies. That said, the Ardande does grant access to a fantastic buff spell via Wooden Mantle, and Wood Ward is a decent reaction.

Ancestry Feats:

Lineage: Ambersoul (**), Moldersoul (**), Springsoul (**)
1st: Elemental Eyes (****), Elemental Lore (**), Genie Weapon Familiarity (**), Grove-Harbored (**), Sunlit Vitality (**), Woodworker (**)
5th: Genie Weapon Flourish (**), Noble Resolve (**), Read the Roots (**), Skillful Tail (**), Treespeech (**)
9th: Flowering Path (**), Miraculous Repair (**), Kizidhar Magic (**)
13th: Genie Weapon Expertise (*), Planar Sidestep (***), Summon Wood Elemental (*), Wooden Mantle (***)
17th: Wood Ward (***)

Changeling:

The children of hags, and you have either resisted your mother’s call to become one, or it hasn’t happened yet. Like the others you gain low-light vision or darkvision if you already had low-light vision and access to changeling feats!

Hag Magic is rather situational, but the various feats that grant you claws lead to some interesting feats that grant your unarmed attacks additional utility. Or there’s Invoke the Elements & Stormy Heart to create a simultaneous offensive and defensive tool.

Ancestry Feats:

Lineage: Brine May (**), Callow May (*), Dream May (**), Moon May (***), Slag May (**), Snow May (**), Veil May (*), Virga May (*)
1st: Changeling Lore (**), Hag Claws (**), Hag’s Sight (****), Maiden’s Mending (***)
5th: Called (**), Cunning Hair (**), Favorable Winds (**), Mist Child (***)
9th: Accursed Claws (***), Invoke the Elements (***), Mother’s Mindfulness (**), Occult Resistance (**)
13th: Hag Magic (**), Spiteful Rake (***)
17th: Crone’s Cruelty (*), Stormy Heart (***)

Dhampir (**):

Whether by direct parentage, something horrific befalling your mother, or dark ritual, you have become a half-mortal half-vampire! Dhampirs grant the usual low-light vision, or darkvision if you already had low-light vision, and access to dhampir feats. However they have one serious drawback in that they have the void healing ability that the undead have, meaning that heal spells will hurt you and harm spells will heal you. That makes in-combat recovery a very difficult proposition for you for the overwhelming majority of campaigns.

Even more unfortunately, none of the Dhampir feats particularly make up for this drawback. There’s some unarmed options, and some magic but the magic is largely dependent on your middling spell DCs. The Daywalker feat can suppress Void Healing, but it only becomes available over halfway into your career. Unless you’re in a group that encourages or accommodates void healing Dhampir is probably best avoided.

Ancestry Feats:

Lineage: Adhyabhau (**), Cel Rau (**), Ru-Shi (**), Straveika (**), Svetocher (**)
1st: Eyes of the Night (****), Fangs (**), Nocturnal Charm (*), Old Soul (***), Vampire Lore (**), Voice of the Night (*)
5th: Enthralling Allure (**), Feed on Pain (*), Hopping Stride (*), Necromantic Physiology (**), Taste Blood (*), Undead Companion (*), Undead Slayer (**)
9th: Bloodletting Fangs (***), Night Magic (**), Slip into Shadow (**)
13th: Daywalker (****), Form of the Bat (**)
17th: Symphony of Blood (**), Twist Healing (*)

Dragonblood (***):

No no, you are not Dovahkiin, Dragonborn, you are Dragon “blood!” Don’t go around shouting Fus-Ro-Dah, you’ll look like a weirdo even by Pathfinder’s standards. On the bright side you do get to bump your successes against fear effects to critical successes, as well as access to Dragonblood feats!

The Dragonblood offers some interesting feats to choose from. Many of my favorites either improve your senses, mobility, or your defenses in some way. Most of these would probably better benefit a pure spellcaster than a Magus but it doesn’t hurt to take these.

Ancestry Feats:

Lineage: Aqueous Dragonblood (**), Arcane Dragonblood (***), Divine Dragonblood (***), Occult Dragonblood (**), Primal Dragonblood (**), Summiting Dragonblood (**), Terra Dragonblood (***)
1st: Breath of the Dragon (**), Draconic Aspect (**), Draconic Resistance (***), Draconic Sight (****), Dragon Lore (*), Scaly Hide (**)
5th: Blood and Spirit (**), Deadly Aspect (**), Earthbond (**), Draconic Scent (***), Dragon’s Flight (***), Tenacious Jaws (**), Traditional Resistances (***), Voice of the Elements (*)
9th: Energize Bite (**), Formidable Breath (**), Home in the Deep (**), Mineral Deposits (**), Sheltering Wing (***), True Dragon’s Flight (****), Wing Buffet (***)
13th: Debilitating Breath (**), Draconic Veil (***), Heart of Earth (**), Majestic Presence (***)
17th: Ascendant Blood (**), Form of the Dragon (*), Lingering Breath (**)

Duskwalker (**):

Those who served the cycle of life and death reincarnated to continue that service now find they are free to choose their destinies. As before, you get low-light vision, or darkvision, and Duskwalker feats. What’s unique is that you can’t become undead, a minor thing but on the off-chance you get killed by an enemy necromancer, your buddies might be able to recover your body and raise you without issue.

Duskwalker feats stumble for a bit before they find their stride, and even then it’s only a few of them. Unsurprisingly a few feats are great if you frequently battle undead or frequently meet death effects. Vanth’s Weapon Execution does grant Starlit Spans their critical specialization effect, and Starlit Spans may also love Olethro’s Decree (though they’d be the only Magus to enjoy these benefits, hence the orange rating). Starlit Spans may enjoy this one a lot, though others may find Duskwalkers too situational to get too many benefits from.

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Chance Death (**), Deliberate Death (**), Duskwalker Lore (**), Duskwalker Weapon Familiarity (**), Ghost Hunter (**), Gravesight (****), Nosoi’s Mask (*), Willing Death (**)
5th: Lifesense (**), Shoki’s Argument (*), Spirit Soother (**), Ward Against Corruption (**)
9th: Catrina’s Presence (*), Duskwalker Magic (**), Morrigna’s Spider Affinity (**), Quietus Strikes (***)
13th: Calaca’s Showstopper (***), Resist Ruin (**)
17th: Boneyard’s Call (**), Olethro’s Decree (**), Yamaraj’s Grandeur (**)

Hungerseed (***):

Previously a form of Tiefling before the Remaster, Hungerseed are the offspring of mortals and oni, most commonly from the lands of Tian Xia. Whether you have a third eye on your forehead, whatever your skin color, or even your tooth size may be, you always come with a horn strike that serves as an additional unarmed attack.

Hungry Eyes gives you low-light vision or darkvision if you already have the former. Hungerseeds have a lot to offer an Inexorable Iron Magus, Oni Weapon Familiarity, Greater Transformation and its prerequisite Oni form to get a similar effect to Enlarge. They also have the regenerating temporary hit points to help them survive long enough to gain the nice benefit of Bloodsoaked Dash and the AMAZING haste as a reaction from Oni Rampage, but even other Magus builds will like them. Kishin Rage’s unarmed strike bonus isn’t much, but the temporary hit points and flight is nice, it’s also cool as hell! Just make sure you don’t pop it too soon in a difficult fight or else you’ll be stunned 3 when it ends! Overall Hungerseeds give some nice additional options, which are slightly better for Inexorable Irons.

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Hungry Eyes (****), Oni Weapon Familiarity (**), Oni Form (**)
5th: Bloodsoaked Dash (***), Oni’s Mask (**), Storming Gaze (**)
9th: Blood Must Have Blood (**), Greater Transformation (***)
13th: Tempest Gaze (**), Oni Rampage (****)
17th: Kishin Rage (***)

Naari (***):

Note: Archives of Nethys still has this listed under its pre-remaster name of Ifrit.

Born to a mortal and carrying the lineage of a denizen from the plane of fire, you come with fire resistance equal to half your level, and you treat environmental heat as one degree less severe. Nice! Oh and Naari feats. Those too.

The Naari has a fair few solid ancestry feats to offer. A few magical spells, or magical effects. Notably Blazing Aura damages enemies AND buffs allies (even if only for one turn) so that’s quite a capstone. Regarding the Inner Fire feat, talk to your GM to see if they’ll let you take Ignition instead, as the Ignition cantrip does everything produce flame can do, but better, and is clearly intended to replace produce flame.

Ancestry Feats:

Lineage: Brightsoul (**), Cindersoul (***), Lavasoul (**)
1st: Elemental Eyes (****), Elemental Lore (**), Ember’s Eyes (****), Genie Weapon Familiarity (**), Inner Fire (*), Molten Wit (*), Sinister Appearance (*)
5th: Firesight (**), Genie Weapon Flourish (**), Heatwave (**), Noble Resolve (**)
9th: Charred Remains (*), Efreeti Magic (***), Miraculous Repair (**), Scorching Disarm (**)
13th: Genie Weapon Expertise (*), Planar Sidestep (***), Radiant Burst (***), Summon Fire Elemental (*)
17th: Blazing Aura (****)

Nephilim (***):

An Empyrean descended from holy celestials, a Cambion carrying the blood of fiends, an Aphorite structured from the order of Axis, a Ganzi bursting with the chaos of the Maelstrom, or Kjosa affected by einherjar spirits or even valkyries! No matter the origin of your extraplanar heritage you are granted low-light vision, or darkvision if your ancestry already had low-light vision. And of course you now get Nephilim feats.

A lot of the best feats that Nephilim have to offer give you darkvision, better movement speed, and, the cream of the crop, flight! A lot of feats also depend on spell attacks and DCs, which the Magus isn’t the best in.

Ancestry Feats:

Lineage: Aeonbound (***), Angelkin (**), Battleblooded (*), Faultspawn (***), Grimspawn (***), Hellspawn (*), Lawbringer (**), Musetouched (**), Pitborn (***), Proteankin (**)
1st: Creative Prodigy (*), Bestial Manifestation (**), Halo (***), Intuitive Crafting (***), Irrepressible (**), Nephilim Eyes (****), Nephilim Lore (*), Nimble Hooves (****), Sublime Mobility (**)
5th: Amorphous Aspect (**), Bestial Brutality (**), Blessed Blood (**), Call to Battle (**), Extraplanar Haze (***), Extraplanar Supplication (***), Nephilim Resistance (***), Resilient Physiology (**), Scion of Many Planes (**), Skillful Tail (**), Towering Presence (***)
9th: Anarchic Arcana (*), Celestial Magic (**), Divine Wings (****), Divine Countermeasures (**), Extraplanar Cloud (**), Fiendish Magic (***), Glory and Valor! (***), Larcenous Tail (**), Methodical Magic (**), Preemptive Reconfiguration (**)
13th: Alter Resistance (**), Arise, ye Worthy! (***), Celestial Mercy (**), Impose Order (**), Slip Sideways (****), Summon Nephilim Kin (*)
17th: Channel the Godmind (***), Divine Declaration (*), Eternal Wings (****), Pandemonium Eruption (**)

As clarified in Paizo’s errata, former Aasimar and Tiefling feats can be taken by Nephilim, but your ability to do so is subject to GM discretion. Many “fiendish” ancestors are no longer going to be categorized as fiends according to the updated lore, so feats that did not have a clear translation to the Remaster have been separated and listed below so that you know which feats to ask your GM about. I have also included former Aphorite and Ganzi feats in this list.

Lineage: Beastbrood (**), Emberkin (**), Idyllkin (**), Plumekith (**), Riftmarked, Shackleborn (**)
1st: Axiomatic Lore (**), Smashing Tail (**), Vestigal Wings (***)
5th: Devil in Plain Sight (**), Devilish Wiles (*), Garuda’s Squall (**), Healer’s Halo (**), Offensive Analysis (****), Reveal Hidden Self (*), Tranquil Sanctuary (*)
9th: Analyze Information (**), Ancillary Motes (***), Light from Darkness (**)
13th: Finest Trick (**), Flame Jump (**), Idol Threat (*), Mischievous Tail (**), Purge Sins (**), Truespeech [U] (**)
17th: Dominion Aura (**), Final Form (**), Radiate Glory (***)

Oread (**):

Mortals with the blood(???) of the Plane of Earth. Unfortunately rock-like skin doesn’t automatically make you harder to hit, but it does grant you low-light vision or darkvision if you already had the former. And of course you also get access to Oread ancestry feats.

While I can’t help but chuckle at how Dustsoul lets you safely eat dirt, it is rather niche. Elemental Trade enables you to be a better blacksmith, something handy for every magus but ESPECIALLY so for Sparkling Targes. In fact, Sparkling Targes will find a lot to love here with Fortify Shield. Other than Sparkling Targes and a few special gems (ha-ha), Oreads are a bit situational.

Ancestry Feats:

Lineage: Dustsoul (**), Gemsoul (*), Miresoul (**)
1st: Elemental Eyes (****), Elemental Lore (**), Elemental Trade (***), Genie Weapon Familiarity (**), Silent Stone (**), Steady on Stone (**)
5th: Fortify Shield (**), Genie Weapon Flourish (**), Noble Resolve (**), Skillful Tail (**), Treacherous Earth (**)
9th: Earthsense (**), Miraculous Repair (**), Shaitan Magic (***)
13th: Genie Weapon Expertise (*), Metal-Veined Strikes (**), One with Earth (**), Planar Sidestep (***), Shaitan Skin (****), Summon Earth Elemental (*)
17th: Stone Form (*)

Suli (***):

Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, your ancestors scored with a Janni (or other multi-elemental being). Because of that you now have the powers of multiple elements… which really just manifests as low-light vision or darkvision when you first take this heritage. But you do get access to Suli feats.

Which are actually pretty good. They provide a way for you to supplement your damage, which gets better with more feats, and Suli Amir can even free up a cantrip slot and give you 4th-rank invisibility! Note that while the elemental resistances from Dualborn can be nice, it will limit your options for elemental assault.

Ancestry Feats:

Lineage: Dualborn (**), Suli-Jann (**)
1st: Elemental Assault (***), Elemental Embellish (*), Elemental Eyes (****), Elemental Lore (**), Genie Weapon Familiarity (**), Scholar’s Inheritance (***),
5th: Elemental Bulwark (***), Genie Weapon Flourish (**), Noble Resolve (**)
9th: Janni Hospitality (**), Janni Magic (**), Miraculous Repair (**), Tetraelemental Assault (***)
13th: Continuous Assault (***), Genie Weapon Expertise (*), Improved Elemental Bulwark (***), Planar Sidestep (***), Suli Amir [U] (****)
17th:

Sylph (***):

A mortal descended from some variety of air elemental, you are hereby granted the ability to see with low-light vision, or darkvision. And of course you get some Sylph exclusive feats!

Most of said feats aren’t anything special, but Sylphs do get some great options to improve their maneuverability, which is FANTASTIC if your base-ancestry lacks such options. Besides that though not much else is going for the Sylph feats.

Ancestry Feats:

Lineage: Fumesoul (**), Smokesoul (**), Stormsoul (**)
1st: Elemental Eyes (****), Elemental Lore (**), Genie Weapon Familiarity (**), Swift (****), Wind Pillow (***), Wind Tempered (**)
5th: Cloud Gazer (**), Genie Weapon Flourish (**), Noble Resolve (**), Slip with the Breeze (***)
9th: Djinni Magic (***), Inner Breath (**), Miraculous Repair (**), Wings of Air (****)
13th: Airy Step (**), Genie Weapon Expertise (*), Planar Sidestep (***), Summon Air Elemental (*)
17th: Eternal Wings (****), Storm Form (*)

Talos (***):

A mortal with more than just a little amount of metal in your veins! But rather than suffer heavy metal poisoning or hemochromatosis, your ancestry from a denizen of the Plane of Metal means you can invoke their power over metal! Which at first level means resistance to electricity equal to half your level, and free access to the Detect Metal (**) cantrip.

Some feats, like Reflective Defense, provide additional defensive options, but the capstone ancestry feat Metallic Skin is a hefty bonus to both AC, and damage resistance on top of this! It does reduce your speed, but by this level you have several methods of bolstering your speed or even just using a different movement type.

Ancestry Feats:

Lineage: Ferrousoul (**), Gildedsoul (**), Quicksoul (***)
1st: Elemental Eyes (****), Elemental Lore (**), Genie Weapon Familiarity (**), Reflective Defense (**)
5th: Conductor’s Redirection (**), Genie Weapon Flourish (**), Noble Resolve (**), Precious Alloys (**)
9th: Miraculous Repair (**), Natural Magnetism (*)
13th: Genie Weapon Expertise (*), Planar Sidestep (***), Summon Metal Elemental (*)
17th: Metallic Skin (****)

Undine (**):

Just when you thought living beings couldn’t be made of more water, you have this heritage, which gives you the amphibious trait so that you can breathe in both water and air. Now onto the ancestry feats!

A lot of abilities to make you better equipped to handle water or cold, and to get around aquatic environments makes the Undine a great choice for aquatic adventures, but otherwise just not really adding or taking anything from your base ancestry, though Tidal Shield has some use.

Ancestry Feats:

Lineage: Brinesoul (**), Mistsoul (**), Rimesoul (**),
1st: Aquatic Eyes (****), Elemental Eyes (****), Elemental Lore (**), Genie Weapon Familiarity (**), Native Waters (**), Tide-Hardened (**)
5th: Fluid Contortionist (**), Genie Weapon Flourish (**), Noble Resolve (**), Steam Spell (*)
9th: Marid Magic (**), Miraculous Repair (**), Strong Swimmer (**)
13th: Genie Weapon Expertise (*), Summon Water Elemental (*), Planar Sidestep (***), Translucent Skin (**)
17th: Tidal Shield (***)

Rare

Beastkin (***):

Most beastkin are descended from werecreatures, and you can only take this heritage if you have the humanoid trait (and if your GM will let you have a rare heritage too of course). You pick an animal-like form, get the change shape ability to go with it, and an unarmed jaws attack as well.

Beastkin don’t have too many options for feats but they do have some that improve your senses, combat power, and mobility so despite the small selection there’s some good ones in here.

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Animal Senses (****), Critter Shape (**), Quick Shape (**)
5th: Animalistic Resistance (**), Greater Animal Senses (***)
9th: Animal Magic (*), Pack Tactics (***)
13th: Dire Form (***), Gift of the Moon (**)
17th: Animal Shape (*), Animal Swiftness (****)

Reflection (**):

You aren’t the original, you’re just a clone! The initial heritage benefit is nothing, it’s more a role-playing choice than anything else; just hope you don’t run into anyone who knows the original or you’re likely to be in trouble with your poor CHA.

Many options are selectively useful; a large number of feats can really help you with infiltration-based challenges. Mirror-Risen grants you a mind-bogglingly amazing reaction to make the result of an enemy’s attack check one step worse! It alone practically carries the entire heritage!

Ancestry Feats:

Lineage: Clone-Risen (**), Mirror-Risen (****), Morph-Risen (**)
1st: Progenitor Lore (***), Warped Reflection (**)
5th: Mistaken Identity (**), Reflective Pocket (**), Replicate (**), Warp Likeness (***)
9th: Mirror Refuge (**), Two-Truths (**), Unyielding Disguise (**)
13th: Malleable Form (*), Redirect Attention (**)
17th: Reflect Foe (*)

All Ancestries [R]

Some feats are considered ancestry feats and yet are available to all ancestries. All of the ones currently available are rare though and will require your GM to sign off on them. There are a few interesting options, from skills and skill feats to either granting innate spells or powers that greatly resemble spells. That said there aren’t many to write home about, except for maybe Indomitable Spirit if you and your party can coordinate.

Ancestry Feats:

1st: Let’s Try That Again (***), Like a Roach (**), Weight of Experience (***), Wisdom from Another Life (***)
5th: Animal Soul Siblings (*), Empathy Incarnate (*), Fey Influence (*), I’ve Had Many Jobs (*), Reincarnated Ridiculer (*), Sleep of the Reborn (*)
9th: Drain Emotion (*), Fey Ascension (**), Lingering Echoes (**), Plant Soul Siblings (*), Rapid Retraining (**), You Seem Somewhat Familiar (***)
13th: Cannibalize Magic (**), Clinging to Life (***), Eldritch Calm (**), Glamour (**), I Sense Malevolence (**), Linguistic Revival (**), Pain is Temporary (***), Stone Soul Siblings (*), Unbreakable Resolve (***)
17th: Boneyard Acquaintance (*), Fey Transcendence (**), Indomitable Spirit (****), Release the Light (**), See You in Hell (**), This Time, Bring the Body

Backgrounds

There are three considerations to make when selecting your background. First, your character’s backstory! Whichever one inspires the other you should have a backstory that matches your background. But that’s not what this guide is here to advise you on.

The second consideration is attribute boosts. Majority of backgrounds (except for some “Rare” ones) give you two attribute boosts; one boost must go to one of two choices determined by your background, and the second boost can be freely applied to any of the others you didn’t pick. A Magus typically needs either STR or DEX, then INT, and finally CON to start the game on a good footing so your background should be picked so you can apply a boost to any two of the above.

The third consideration is skills. Each background (again, except for some “Rare” ones) trains you in one skill, grants you one skill feat related to that skill, and then gives you a lore skill. The lore skill you don’t have to sweat too much, they’re niche by design. But the other skill and skill feat are more worth considering. I’ll be covering the specific skills (and some skill feat recommendations) in the next section.

So with those factors in mind, here are some recommended backgrounds. You can see details on these backgrounds and others here.

Academy Dropout, Acrobat, Archaeologist, Artisan, Criminal, Deckhand, Detective, Eidolon Contact, Farmhand, Hermit, Hired Killer, Hounded Thief, Junk Collector, Junker, Laborer, Magical Merchant, Magical Misfit, Martial Disciple, Mechanic, Noble, Printer, Prisoner, Refugee, Scholar, Spell Seeker, Student of Magic, Teacher, Tinker, Toymaker, Translator

Skills

Think you know the definition of Spiritual essence? Think you can push that rock loose to send it tumbling down the trail? Think you can juggle that sword, torch, and cheese wheel? Then roll me the appropriate skill check! These determine what you know, how well you jump, etc.

Each skill can have its capabilities expanded upon by acquiring skill feats at every even level, and you can improve your skills by investing in skill increases. Like every class, the Magus’ initial skill proficiencies and attributes pre-dispose the Magus toward certain skills more than others. As mentioned in the Class Features section, the Magus has enough skill increases to bring three skills up to legendary, just like the vast majority of classes.

In the following section, I will go over each skill, rate them by build, and recommend a few skill feats that would be particularly useful to the Magus; this will not cover all skill feats, but links are provided to the skill feats on AoN for the respective skills.

Acrobatics: DEX-based Magus (***), STR-based Magus (**)

Acrobatics is going to be the physical skill of choice for a DEX-based Magus. It’s used to balance, which seldom comes up but every time it’s come up for me I’m glad if my character can do it. Used to Tumble Through which increases some tactical options. Squeeze, which also comes up seldomly. It is also one of three options to escape from grabs and snares, which every character wants to be able to do so DEX-based Magi may find this easier to use than their unarmed attack modifier depending on how many skill increases you invest in Acrobatics.

Finally it is used for flight in the event something difficult comes up to hamper your ability to fly, which becomes MUCH more important as the game goes on, and is why even STR-based Magi will want to at least become trained in it later in their career, possibly using the skill you gain from your 5th-level INT boost. DEX-based Magi may want to consider making Acrobatics one of the skills you invest skill increases into as you level, though it’s not priority number one in that regard.

Acrobatics Skill Feats:

Cat Fall (**) (1st; Trained): Falling from heights sucks, and reducing fall damage isn’t something every character can do with an acrobatics roll anymore. But this skill feat is here to help with that.
Kip Up (****) (7th; Master): Stand up from prone as a FREE ACTION!!! Without triggering reactions to boot! This is amazing for anyone who invests this far into their Acrobatics.

Arcana: All Magus Builds (****)

As a Magus you become trained in this automatically. You can use this skill to recall knowledge on arcane matters, decipher arcane writings, identify magic (especially arcane), borrow spells from another caster’s spellbook, and most importantly, learn new spells. While the Magus may not have as many spells as other spellcasters they are still prepared casters, and the more spells you know, the better prepared you can be.

Expecting fire elementals? Have Resist Energy prepared. Expecting to be on a boat where river pirates have been active? Walk on water, or jump, or anything to improve your limited mobility. Spelunking in a cave? Have a light spell, or a Translocate. The possible situations you can run into are varied, and having a solution in your pocket, be it through preparing the correct spell or knowing the correct spell to make a scroll for, knowledge is power! Strongly recommended you continue to apply your skill increases to this skill.

Arcana Skill Feats:

Arcane Sense (***) (1st; Trained): It’s a way to get the always useful detect magic cantrip while freeing up your cantrip spell slots. Though the heightening of this spell is tied to hitting master and legendary proficiency in Arcana, which is delayed compared to just preparing the spell.
Trick Magic Item (***) (1st; Expert): While it’ll require skill checks to cast them, this does allow you to use scrolls and wands from the other three spell lists.
Magical Shorthand (***) (2nd; Expert): Add spells to your spellbook in 10 minutes regardless of the spell’s rank! That means you can learn a new spell while your team’s medic is bandaging you up! It also lets you learn spells as a downtime activity to potentially save money on the resource costs. Great to save time mid-adventure, and potentially money.
Unified Theory (****) (15th; Legendary): Require Identify magic from other traditions? Use a scroll from other traditions with Trick Magic Item? By taking this feat, you can use Arcana for all of that instead of the other skills! This can’t replace the non-magical checks for those skills, but for the most part you only need to worry about putting your skill increases into Arcana to understand magic!

Athletics: DEX-based Magus (**), STR-based Magus (***), Aloof Firmament (****), Unfurling Brocade (****)

Used for jumping, forcing open doors, escape checks, climbing, swimming, and various combat maneuvers! Climbing and swimming tend to be situational, swimming especially so, but the other uses of this skill are practically guaranteed to come up in a given campaign. A STR-based Magus will naturally have the strength to be really good at this.

Unfortunately the Magus may not always have the actions to spare for combat maneuvers. The Magus mainly wants to use spellstrike, and has to spend an action afterward to recharge that spellstrike. You also need a hand free, or a weapon with the appropriate trait to use combat maneuvers. Unfurling Brocade in particular seems designed around using combat maneuvers during off-turns without their spellstrike and thus they will find this skill mandatory. However athletics is another skill you can use to escape from grapples, and jumping remains useful to everyone. If you’re STR-based you may consider this a worthwhile skill to invest skill increases into. Since this skill governs the High Jump and Long Jump actions, Magi of the Aloof Firmament Hybrid Study will absolutely want to train themselves in this skill and keep investing skill increases into it, and take the skill feats that improve their jumping whenever possible!

Athletics Skill Feats:

Quick Jump (***) (1st; Trained): This is actually a way to circumvent difficult terrain, or to make those tight jumps when you don’t have room or time for a running start (which seems to happen a LOT, but that may just be my experience). The Aloof Firmament gains the benefits of this feat while in Arcane Cascade but they can still take the feat, though the uses outside of combat are more niche.
Titan Wrestler (**) (1st; Trained): Situational given your tight action-economy and that not all hybrid studies are going to even be able to use combat maneuvers, but if you find that you are using them regularly, you NEED to take this feat or you’ll find combat maneuvers on particularly large creatures impossible. Unfurling Brocade in particular will find this an absolute must pick!
Powerful Leap (***) (2nd; Expert)/Cloud Jump (****) (15th; Legendary): Yeah you have access to the Fly spell, but you won’t always have it available. These two feats will improve your maneuverability options a lot!

Crafting: Sparkling Targe (****), Other Hybrid Studies (***)

Used to craft items, earn income, repair items, recall knowledge on subjects related to craftsmanship and architecture, and identify alchemy. Crafting ensures that, as long as you have the appropriate formula, time, and funds, you will be able to get the items you need.

While you’re not ever going to equal the alchemist in crafting, you still have a good INT and you can cast spells so you can do some magical crafting to boot! If nothing else, being able to make scrolls and wands will ensure you can keep getting mileage out of some low-rank utility spells even as you out-level those spell slots. This skill is practically mandatory for Sparkling Targes, since they’ll want to repair their shields if they use shield block frequently.

Crafting Skill Feats:

Quick Repair (**) (1st; Trained): It doesn’t do much when it’s first available, and other hybrid studies rarely are in a hurry to repair their stuff, the Sparkling Targe will find this a must-pick if they choose to advance to Master and then Legendary in crafting, since that will enable them to repair the shield in the midst of combat.
Magical Crafting (****) (2nd; Expert): If you want to craft magical items, and if you’re invested in crafting items you do, then you want this feat. Scrolls, wands, magic items. Grab this feat and the appropriate formula and you are good to go!

Deception: Laughing Shadow (**), Other Hybrid Studies (*)

Deception lets you bluff, disguise yourself through mundane means, and feint others in combat. Most of these are great for certain social situations or games of intrigue, while feinting in combat is one of the most consistent ways of debuffing enemies.

But you have no room to invest in CHA given that other attributes are much more sorely needed. Only Hybrid Study that may want to train in this is the Laughing Shadow since they get a class feat that lets them feint every time they do a spellstrike, and even then it’s questionable that it will be worth putting skill increases into this skill.

Deception Skill Feats:

None (*): Really, don’t bother.

Diplomacy: All Magus Builds (**)

Use this to either make creatures more helpful to you, request something of them, or to gather information about a subject. In pure social situations, diplomacy is generally considered the most helpful skill since this can potentially avoid fights and make your characters more allies and fewer enemies.

However the Magus is not a face. A Magus should not concern itself with CHA given the other attribute that Magus must pay more attention to. If you get enough free skills and you have literally nothing better to give it to, then diplomacy would be it, but odds are you do have better things to invest in.

Diplomacy Skill Feats:

None (*): I mean it, don’t bother.

Intimidation: All Magus Builds (*)

Use this skill to either coerce someone into doing something for you, or to frighten foes in combat and lower ALL of their checks and DCs for a short period of time. Too bad demoralize can only be done once every 10 minutes.

Even more unfortunate is that the Magus, as stated before, just doesn’t have the attribute boosts to spare for CHA. Compared to diplomacy, intimidation just gets you short-term benefits whereas diplomacy makes you allies. Compared to deception, demoralize can only be done once per enemy in a typical fight while feinting can be done more than once in combat and the Laughing Shadow Magus can at least combine feinting with spellstrike. Pass on this.

Intimidation Skill Feats:

None (*): Stop it!!!

Lore: All Magus Builds (**)

The other knowledge skills cover a broad umbrella of subjects and thus you can safely use them for most things you encounter in a game session. But sometimes you happen to know more about a more specific subject. That’s where lore comes in. You might know about baking, pottery, masonry, the criminal underworld, the abyss, heaven, sailing, etc. In such cases where you have an appropriate lore skill, the GM should give you a lower DC to hit compared to rolling the broader skills.

You do have the INT to make use of whatever lore skills you might have, but lore skills are situational by design so you seldomly need to go out of your way to get lore skills beyond what you get from your background, or maybe your campaign is laser-focused on a particular thing so maybe picking up a lore skill relevant to your campaign could also help.

Lore Skill Feats:

Additional Lore (**) (1st; Trained): If you do feel like getting an extra lore skill you feel is appropriate to your campaign, this is the feat to do it with rather than wasting your precious skill increases. This not only gets you a lore skill, but automatically improves your proficiency in it as you level up.

Medicine: All Magus Builds (**)

Medicine is arguably the best skill in the whole game, since it is monumentally important to keeping your party alive and in fighting shape throughout the adventuring day. With it you can recover hit points with treat wounds, treat disease or poison, or administer first aid to stabilize someone or remove a persistent bleed effect.

At the start of the game the Magus isn’t going to have the WIS score to be particularly good at this skill, so you’re probably better off leaving this to party members better equipped to train in medicine. Later in the game you might use the skill you get from an INT boost to at least reach trained proficiency here, that way you can at least wake up the main medic in your party should something unfortunate happen, or provide aid to them when the party needs to stop to recover.

Medicine Skill Feats:

Battle Medicine (***) (1st; Trained): Not something you want to rely on, in-combat healing should primarily be done through spells and items; but it can be a good emergency action and might help stretch those resources throughout the day.
Continual Recovery (****) (2nd; Expert): Taking this one means the difference between an adventuring day going two rooms into a dungeon, or going eight rooms. Practically mandatory for anyone who invests in the medicine skill.
Ward Medic (****) (2nd; Expert): Without Continual Recovery, it’ll save some time but not a lot. With Continual Recovery, you might just clear the entire dungeon and still have time for lunch!

Nature: All Magus Builds (***)

Nature is one of the four magic based skills, and primarily used for primal magic. Besides that, you can also use it to Command an animal and to command riding animals to do something other than follow the road. Naturally it’s also used to recall knowledge on animals, the natural world, fey, the first world, the elemental planes, and elemental beings.

In the early game, you want as many of the magical skills trained as possible so you can identify magic from the corresponding tradition; in general it’s good to have the knowledge based skills that can help you identify enemies and possibly sus out a weakness you can exploit with Arcane Cascade, or what spell to avoid using so you don’t waste a Spellstrike; though your WIS is going to be weaker than your INT. With Unified Theory you may not need to invest skill increases into this.

Nature Skill Feats:

Natural Medicine (**) (1st; Trained): In the early game it’s a way to use Treat Wounds with a more broadly useful skill for the Magus, but your WIS is still kinda weak, and you still need to be trained in Medicine to access Medicine’s skill feats which truly make the skill shine. I can’t recommend this one too strongly but it might not necessarily hurt to have.

Occultism: All Magus Builds (****)

Occultism is a knowledge skill that deals with obscure or ancient philosophies, esoteric lore, the less commonly traveled planes (namely Creation’s Forge, The Void, Netherworld, Astral, and Ethereal Planes), and as a skill tied to a tradition of magic you use it for any magic related skill check pertaining to occult magic.

Occultism is INT-based so up until the point you start applying skill boosts to Arcana you will be just as good at Occultism as you are at Arcana. A greater breadth of knowledge skills means more creatures you can learn about, and more mysteries you can solve. Given you are not an occult caster though, you don’t have much reason to invest skill boosts into it. Still definitely recommend taking this as one of the first skills you’re trained in.

Occultism Skill Feats:

Oddity Identification (**) (1st; Trained): A +2 bonus is really nice in this edition of Pathfinder, but it might not be worth your skill feat that you could put to better use.
Break Curse (***) (7th; Master): For the odd Magus who invests this far into Occultism, Break Curse is a spell slot free way to remove curses from your allies, and some of the long-term curses can get NASTY! It’s slightly better to use the INT-based Occultism skill for this than the WIS-based Religion skill, barring the odd Magus who invested more into their wisdom than their intelligence.

Performance: All Magus Builds (*)

You do a performance, acting, dancing, play an instrument, orate, sing, whatever. Outside of earning income it’s rarely used on its own but it can supplement a distraction, or improve your odds of impressing people in social situations.

And it has NO place in the repertoire of skills for a Magus! None! You have little to no reason to invest in CHA, and your other social skills aren’t so hot either! So what good will a skill that supplements the other skills you don’t actually use afford you? Nothing! Skip this! Never invest in it!

Performance Skill Feats:

None (*): Hey! What did I just say!?

Religion: All Magus Builds (***)

Another WIS-based knowledge skill for knowing about the gods, their faiths, their servants (celestials, fiends, and monitors), the planes of the outer sphere, and of course make any magic checks that involve divine magic.

Not being a WIS-based class, this won’t ever equal your INT-based knowledge skills, but divine magic is a whole fourth of the spell-casting system and successfully knowing about this magic can only help you. Until you’re high-enough level to get Unified Theory, this is probably going to be easier than trying to roll Arcana at a higher DC. And of course knowing the non-magic divine topics (such as knowledge of fiends you encounter) is always helpful.

Religion Skill Feats:

Break Curse (**) (7th; Master): For the odd Magus who invests this far into Religion, Break Curse is a spell slot free way to remove curses from your allies, and some of the long-term curses can get NASTY! It’s slightly better to use the INT-based Occultism skill for this than the WIS-based Religion skill, barring the odd Magus who invested more into their wisdom than their intelligence.

Society: All Magus Builds (***)

An INT-based knowledge check to know about a given topic’s history, about the city or town you’re in, important figures in a settlement, local laws, humanoids, etc. You can also create forgeries with this skill if you have downtime, which is useful for social campaigns.

It’s another INT-based knowledge skill so you have the potential to be good at using it. Depending on your skill feat selection it can even pick up some of the slack in some social situations. May not be worth putting skill increases into, unless you are the only “knowledge broker” in your group, but it’s absolutely worth at least taking trained proficiency in it.

Society Skill Feats:

Courtly Graces (**) (1st; Trained): Closest the Magus can really get to a social skill, allowing them to use the INT-based Society to make an impression on the nobility rather than the CHA-based Diplomacy. If you expect to interact with high society in your game semi-regularly, this will help.
Streetwise (**) (1st; Trained): Another skill feat that lets you use your INT-based society skill in lieu of the CHA-based Diplomacy. You might even get to know the info you seek without going out to gather it, though that check is usually harder.
Multilingual (**) (1st; Trained): While you’ll automatically learn one new language every time you increase your INT, sometimes you may just need to learn something more uncommon. Depending on how prevalent certain languages are, this might give you some extra clues to use in your campaign, or it might just give you some cool insight into the story of the campaign.

Stealth: DEX-based Magus (***), STR-based Magus (**)

Be sneaky with this skill by concealing an object on your person, hiding from others, or while hidden sneak to another location by moving half your speed. You can potentially avoid conflicts, or catch enemies off-guard in combat. If the GM determines you might be able to get the jump on an enemy, they may even allow you to roll stealth for initiative.

A DEX-based Magus has the potential to be really good at Stealth, and they even get a feat to grant a bonus to concealing weapons of 1 bulk or lighter. Stealth is also a potentially better initiative roll than your perception (though don’t count on it always being an option for initiative). In-combat there are probably more action-efficient ways to get an enemy off-guard but out of combat stealth is very useful for scouting purposes or avoiding confrontations entirely if played right. If you don’t have anyone better at stealth in your party it may be worth investing skill increases into.

Stealth Skill Feats:

Foil Senses (****) (7th; Master): By default stealth can be foiled by enemies smelling you or sensing your lifeforce, this negates that making them no more (or less) perceptive to your attempts to hide or sneak.
Swift Sneak (****) (7th; Master): Sneaking cuts your movement speed(s) in half, this prevents that and makes sneaking in combat much more viable.

Survival: All Magus Builds (**)

Survival is useful for subsisting in the wilderness, making sure you don’t get lost, covering your tracks, and tracking others.

As both a wisdom-based skill and one that involves checks that can be circumvented in other ways, this one is highly situational, even for the characters who are good at survival, much less the Magus. In a game centered on wilderness exploration it might be worth taking, but otherwise pass and leave it to other people in the party.

Survival Skill Feats:

Forager (**) (1st; Trained): Makes it so that one person can gather food for the entire party. Useful in campaigns that revolve around wilderness exploration, and not much else.
Planar Survival (**) (7th; Master): Useful in a campaign that involves a lot of planar travel, and not much else.

Thievery: DEX-based Magus (***), STR-based Magus (**)

You can swipe unattended objects or take something small from someone else with this skill. Most vital is this skill’s use in picking locks, and disabling traps. Picking locks gets you through doors or access to treasure, while disabling traps keeps you alive. It’s generally accepted that someone capable of dealing with traps is one of the most vital party roles in this game, alongside a medic and a frontliner.

However the role of designated trap disarmer doesn’t have to be the role of the Magus. DEX-based builds have the potential to be good at this, but other skills may take priority. Take this and invest skill boosts into this only if you don’t have someone else taking this skill.

Thievery Skill Feats:

Wary Disarmament (**) (2nd; Expert): As of this writing this is the only skill feat that helps with trap disarmament; or rather, it helps you MAYBE survive the trap blowing up in your face with a +2 to your AC or saving throw against the trap you accidentally tripped when you failed to disarm it.

Feats

Feats are the building blocks of every character in Pathfinder 2nd Edition, and the Magus is no exception! Skill feats, touched on above, help expand your skills and customize how you can apply those skills. General Feats can improve a character’s performance in, often simple but, practical ways. Finally the class feats, the way in which you customize your class features to enhance the way the Magus performs.

General Feats

Below I’ll cover the general feats very briefly, but if you require more details please check out Archives of Nethys at the link above. In general most of the best ones are available right at first level. Rarely are those options exciting, but they are undeniably useful.

Adopted Ancestry (***) (1st): This opens up your options for ancestry feats, some of which are amazing. Only too bad this one doesn’t give you one as a bonus feat.

Armor Proficiency (*) (1st): This is a trap. Yes you get heavy armor, but your proficiency in medium armor will hit expert at level 11, while the heavy armor proficiency you gain from this feat doesn’t bump to expert until 13. Your medium armor proficiency will eventually hit master at 17, by which point the heavy armor will never catch up. This is more for squishy spellcasters who don’t already get armor.

Breath Control (**) (1st): Situational option here. It’ll help if you find yourself getting swallowed whole a lot, or frequently getting thrown overboard in a pirate game. Though the +1 bonus to inhaled threats does help keep this from being so situational as to be useless.

Canny Acumen (****) (1st): Become an expert in one saving throw or perception. You’ll eventually hit expert in all of these like every class, but the real reason this is blue is that at 17th level, this feat will boost your choice to master proficiency. I strongly recommend applying this to perception but you can also choose Reflex. I’d choose this feat later in the game.

Diehard (***) (1st): Pathfinder 2e is deadly! Giving yourself an extra round gives you either time to recover, or time for your allies to stabilize you.

Different Worlds (**) (1st): The only Uncommon feat in here and also pretty selective. You either have to have Adopted Ancestry, have a Half-Human Heritage, or a Versatile Heritage (maybe? Ask your GM) in order to select this. Probably only useful if you regularly disguise yourself.

Fast Recovery (**) (1st): The hit point recovery is nothing, what might make this worthwhile is the enhanced recovery against diseases, poisons, and the drained condition. If you hit those conditions regularly this might be for you.

Feather Step (**) (1st): I’ve put this to good use on a character with the elf step ancestry feat once, but even then the difficult terrain didn’t come up that much. Still if you’re heading somewhere with difficult terrain this could be the difference between eating an RS or not.

Fleet (****) (1st): Improve speed by 5 feet. It’s not even a bonus, just a straight increase. So that means it stacks with other speed bonuses or increases unless the game specifically says otherwise.

Incredible Initiative (****) (1st): A +2 bonus to initiative checks is nothing to sneeze at, especially since your starting perception is going to be terrible. Going sooner in combat means getting your buffs started before the enemy can act. I’d say this is a strong candidate for a first general feat!

Pet (**) (1st): Pets are budget familiars, with fewer abilities to choose from, and no way to swap out their abilities day-to-day. So they’re less effective. Still probably act as a competent scout or messenger but nothing special.

Ride (**) (1st): Makes it easier to ride animals that you use as a mount, even in combat. But mounted combat probably isn’t your priority with your tight action economy.

Shield Block (*) (1st): Sparkling Targes get this for free, but the other Magus Hybrid Studies use weapons or gain bonuses that preclude using a shield. It’s a great feat in-and-of-itself and there’s a good reason that Sparkling Targes get it for free; but there is no reason to pick this as one of your general feats.

Toughness (****) (1st): 1 more hit point per level and an easier check to reduce your dying condition! This is a fantastic improvement to any class’s survivability. Pick this one up as early as you can! Strong competitor for first general feat!

Weapon Proficiency (**) (1st): This gets you a whole “one” advanced weapon and your proficiency in it caps out at Expert by level 11, a whole six levels later than when you got expert proficiency in martial weapons; and in only two more levels your proficiency in martial weapons will become master. Pass on this one for most builds. If you really want an Advanced Weapon, take ancestry feats or certain dedication feats for it since at least those will give you avenues to improve your proficiency in them. That said, this feat can still be useful to get trained in an Advanced Weapon you might need in order to qualify for an archetype, which is the primary reason this isn’t rated red.

Ancestral Paragon (**) (3rd): Obviously how good this feat is will depend on if your ancestry has some good 1st-level ancestry feats you’re interested in.

Hireling Manager (*) (3rd): You aren’t going to have the CHA to pull this one off, and I’ve yet to hit a scenario where going out of your way for hirelings to help will be particularly helpful.

Improvised Repair (*) (3rd): The Magus isn’t using too many tools that are easily broken, and you DEFINITELY shouldn’t try this with a shield, you’re just asking to destroy the poor thing with this.

Keen Follower (**) (3rd): Maybe if you Follow the Expert often this might be worthwhile; but truth be told, Follow the Expert already gives you good bonuses.

Pick up the Pace (*) (3rd): So… like… how does hustling for a few minutes make a measurable dent on what are hours-long travel times? I can’t say I understand this feat or the Hustle action to begin with.

Prescient Planner (**) (3rd): The flavor for this feat is amazing! You knew this would happen so you procured what you needed ahead of time! While yes this absolutely could help, oftentimes I’ve found that a party of four or more PCs can usually figure out a solution anyways; even if it’s not always the SANE solution…

Skitter (*) (3rd): I really can’t see the use of this. Crawling still provokes RS's and you still aren’t moving terribly far. If you’re in that compromising of a situation you may as well risk standing up and then striding your full speed.

Thorough Search (***) (3rd): Sometimes being thorough helps if you need to search a room, and your perception mod does need all the help it can get.

Untrained Improvisation (**) (3rd): Apply your level -2 to any untrained use of a skill you don’t have proficiency in. Then your level -1 at 5th level, and finally your whole level at 7th level. This would be much better if you could use this for trained uses of skills like a certain human ancestry feat… but even then, the Magus is going to have the INT to get all the skills they’ll ever really need eventually.

Expeditious Search (*) (7th): Applying Canny Acumen to Perception at 17th level is the only way a Magus can even meet the prerequisite to get this feat in the first place. Even then you rarely need to save THAT much in-game time.

Numb to Death (**) (7th): A rare case where you hope you don’t even meet the prerequisite considering said prerequisites includes having DIED!!! Still could be useful if you have died once, as it makes you slightly harder to kill.

Prescient Consumable (***) (7th): Even at just half your level there are some very useful consumable items out there! Too bad you can only use this once-a-day.

Supertaster (*) (7th): Again, you need Canny Acumen on perception at 17th level to even meet the prerequisite! Not to mention this is INCREDIBLY situational.

A Home in Every Port (*) (11th): It’s a convenient feat for sure but you WILL NOT have the CHA score to pull this off.

Caravan Leader (*) (11th): Again, does hustling for a few extra minutes REALLY impact travel times in a measurable way?

Incredible Investiture (*) (11th): Ah… I can remember when during the playtest Paizo tried to tie magic item use directly to the CHA stat. Thankfully that didn’t stick but I can’t help but feel this feat is a relic of that old plan for the game. Regardless, you aren’t going to have the CHA to make use of this.

Incredible Scout (*) (11th): 17th level. Canny Acumen. Perception. Those three things together are the only way a Magus can get this feat. Now to be fair a +2 circumstance bonus to the entire party’s initiative is pretty good, if some members of the party don’t already have a circumstance bonus from, oh I don’t know… maybe, incredible initiative!

True Perception (*) (19th): Literally impossible for a Magus to meet the prerequisite legendary in perception. It’s too bad too, because this is a pretty useful effect.

Class Feats

Be honest, you skipped straight to this part of the guide didn’t you? Well if you didn’t skip straight here then congratulations, the moment you have been waiting for is here! It is time for the Magus Class Feats! Class feats are the most important building blocks to a character, so strap in and let’s analyze what the Magus has to offer!

1st Level Feats

Worth noting is that the Magus does not get a class feat at 1st level. Thus the Magus must either choose these at a later level, or pick one through other methods like the human’s Natural Ambition Ancestry Feat.

Arcane Fists: Laughing Shadow (***), Resurgent Maelstrom (****), Sparkling Targe (***), Unfurling Brocade (***), Other Magus Builds (**)

Bump your fists up to a D6 instead of D4s, can make lethal attacks at no penalty, becomes magical strikes, and you get Critical Specialization with brawling attacks; this feat thankfully ties the DC for the critical specialization to your Spell DC rather than your non-scaling class DC. Most Hybrid Studies are married to particular weapon groups, so for them the unarmed attack would be a backup weapon at best. If you wanted to fight unarmed you could certainly do worse.

Since they’re not quite as restricted on weapon choice, The Laughing Shadow and Sparkling Targe can make use of this, but it’s slightly better for the Unfurling Brocade since they rely on Handwraps of Mighty Blows anyways, and now their stronger fist gives them a reason to reel in an opponent they grapple from a distance! I consider this feat practically mandatory for the Resurgent Maelstrom since they also rely on Handwraps of Mighty Blows for their runes, and also because many of their feats will temporarily leave them without a usable weapon without this feat.

Familiar: All Magus Builds (****)

More than just a pet, familiars are versatile companions that can have their exact abilities swapped out on a daily basis to suit the situation ahead. They can be a competent scout, assist you in a lab, carry small stuff for you, act as a living battery for your focus points, or if nothing else give you an extra cantrip and/or spell slot. Due to tight action economy you probably won’t use it much in combat but as squishy as they are they’re probably safer away from the danger of battle anyways. Requires a bit of forethought to get the most out of it but man is this versatile!

Magus’s Analysis: All Magus Builds (**)

On the one hand these are two useful actions, Recall Knowledge and Recharge Spellstrike, for the price of one. On the other hand it is gambling your successful recharge of your spellstrike on rolling a successful knowledge check. The potential waste of an action that gets spellstrike back online doesn’t appeal to me personally but for you gamblers out there you can potentially save yourself some actions.

Raise a Tome: Sparkling Targe (**), Other Magus Builds (*)

Instead of a shield, you defend yourself with a magically reinforced book. A book used with Raise a Tome has the same stats as a wooden shield, meaning it grants the same +2 bonus to AC but will break sooner under pressure when used with Shield Block. Whatever book you use also gives you a +1 bonus to recall knowledge about what you’re fighting. You’d have to carry quite a few books to get the most out of this, and it’s debatable whether a minor bonus to recall knowledge is worth the less durable shield, though strictly speaking the +2 to AC is fantastic by itself. For the love of all things good and wholesome DO NOT USE YOUR SPELLBOOK WITH THIS FEAT! That spellbook is way too valuable to risk destroying in combat.

2nd Level Feats

Cantrip Expansion: All Magus Builds (**)

You can prepare two more cantrips. Cantrips are great but as a prepared caster you can swap them out during your daily preparations unlike spontaneous casters. But the real reason this isn’t getting a higher rating is that most multiclass dedication feats for spell-casters will get you this same benefit and more. Only reason to take this over a spell-caster’s dedication feat is if you are REALLY committed to going pure Magus.

Convergent Tides [U]: All Magus Builds (**)

While in Arcane Cascade, you become immune to difficult terrain caused by water. As you might have figured, the value of this depends strongly on how often you’re in water.

Enhanced Familiar: All Magus Builds (****)

Instead of two abilities you can grant your familiar four of them instead, making them much more versatile and taking some of the guesswork out of what you might need your familiar for on a given day.

Expansive Spellstrike: Starlit Span (***), Other Magus Builds (**)

Spells that affect more than one creature are wasted on spellstrike right? Well not anymore! This makes it so spells with an area of burst, cone, or line can affect that area rather than only the target. Mind that spells with an area have some restrictions on the placement of the area of effect; it is tied directly to the target of your spellstrike so you don’t have the freedom of placement you’d normally have (READ: Don’t blow yourself up with burst area effects!); Starlit Spans get a bit more out of this than other hybrid studies since they can attack at range and have more freedom to set the area of the effect, the area must still include the target of their strike.

Force Fang: All Magus Builds (***)

See Focus Spells for details. The main draw is getting a second focus point as soon as level 2 so you can use your amazing conflux spells more often in combat. This is even better for some of the hybrid studies. Inexorable Iron’s default conflux spell can potentially do more damage but it’s not guaranteed (and also better for clustered groups of enemies), Starlit Span’s default conflux spell only works against concealed enemies or enemies in cover, while Twisting Tree’s conflux spell only works if more than one enemy is in reach.

Spell Parry: Aloof Firmament (***), Inexorable Iron (*), Laughing Shadow (***), Sparkling Targe (*), Starlit Span (**), Twisting Tree (***), Unfurling Brocade (**)

Shield will give you the same bonus to AC with the added bonus of being able to Shield Block with it. However Spell Parry does also provide that same bonus to saving throws against spells while also freeing up that cantrip slot for another cantrip. Of course nothing says you can’t still prepare Shield, so you can pick and choose which one to use as the situation warrants. Plus if you DO shield block you pretty much won’t have the spell for the rest of the fight so Spell Parry then becomes a nice fallback. Note that since this requires having at least one hand free, thus Inexorable Irons and Sparkling Targes will find this feat utterly useless.

Spirit Sheath: DEX-based Magus (***), STR-based Magus (**), Starlit Span (**)

Sometimes that masquerade ball or that underground meeting of all the city’s biggest crime bosses won’t allow weapons, this will help with smuggling one in. Laughing Shadow will get the most out of this since they prefer one-handed weapons and are the most likely to have the DEX to smuggle an item in. Targes like those same weapons but STR-based ones will have a lower DEX (a problem the Inexorable Iron and Twisting Tree Magi also have), Starlit Spans bows technically count but hiding ammo will be a different story. Inexorable Irons have a few weapons they can sneak in with this but two-handers of 1 bulk or less usually aren’t their best weapons. That you can draw your weapon with the same action that you use a spellstrike on is just gravy!

4th Level Feats

Devastating Spellstrike: Inexorable Iron (**)

Exclusive to the Inexorable Iron Hybrid Study, this makes it so enemies adjacent to your target take splash damage. The splash damage improves with your Arcane Cascade bonus. It’s not much but it takes absolutely nothing to use, and there’s always the chance you might proc weaknesses to splash damage. The text does not make it clear if this works like normal Splash damage in that your initial target is affected (though in that case I’d probably rule that it only takes that extra 2 damage and not take the arcane cascade damage bonus twice). Be sure to consult your GM; if they say yes, this is green (***), if they say no, this is orange (**).

Distant Waterbird’s Poise: Aloof Firmament (****)

As a reaction you get to reposition yourself after making a spellstrike with a Leap, High Jump, or Long Jump. Even with just Leap alone this lets you make hit and run strikes, or reposition yourself to flank with an ally who goes after you. Tactical movement is critical in PF2E and this increases your options for tactical movement!

Distracting Spellstrike: Laughing Shadow (***)

Exclusive to the Laughing Shadow Hybrid Study, you get a free feint attempt when you Spellstrike. The Magus’s poor CHA does mean that it’s not always going to work, and can in-fact backfire if your feint critically fails. But the feint attempt is completely free and if you advance your proficiency in the skill, such proficiency will outstrip any bonus your CHA could’ve given you anyways.

Emergency Targe: Sparkling Targe (****)

This Sparkling Targe exclusive grants you a reaction to raise your shield, or cast the shield cantrip, in response to getting hit by a strike, spell, or failing a save against a spell! You can then use the bonus you get from raising a shield to determine the result of the triggering effect! This can mean the difference between taking a (critical) hit or not! Or the difference between a (critical) failure or not! Incredible! This can help free up the Sparkling Targe’s action-economy to boot! A must-pick for Sparkling Targes!

Heaven-Earth Encompassing Sleeves: Unfurling Brocade (***)

Sleeves of Storage for the cost of Fine or high-fashioned fine clothing. Sleeves of Storage are handy to have for carrying a lot of 1 bulk or less items, and quickly retrieving the stored items!

Irezoko Tattoo [U]: All Magus Builds (**)

This is an uncommon feat available to those who are members of the College of Mysteries in Absalom (so… setting specific). But it allows you to regain a focus point by spending 3 actions. The 3 actions to regain a focus point mid-fight is a bit painful, but Conflux spells are also among the most action-efficient things in the Magus’s arsenal. Getting to use them again is undeniably sweet!

Shattering Spellstrike [U]: Resurgent Maelstrom (**)

If you’re wielding an improvised weapon and in arcane cascade, you can essentially add an additional 2d6 force damage to your spellstrike at the cost of breaking your improvised weapon. And no you can’t cheat by using an improvised weapon that has a hardness greater than your level or otherwise can’t be broken. It’s more damage which is always nice, but now you’re going to have to replace your improvised weapon, or else just not have it for a conflux spell to recharge your spell strike with.

Starlit Eyes: Starlit Span (***)

Exclusive to the Starlit Span, this reduces the DC for attacking concealed or hidden creatures, and Shooting Star also gets upgraded! This won’t do anything to an enemy that isn’t concealed or hidden, but you’re almost guaranteed to fight something that uses these conditions at some point! Straight upgrade to the Starlit Span with no drawbacks!

Steady Spellcasting: Starlit Span (*), Other Magus Builds (**)

It’s tempting to think this is a must-pick since most Magi are going to be in the thick of a fight where their Spellstrike will provoke RS’s; but RS’s are not universally held by enemies, they only interrupt your spellstrike on a critical success with the strike, and you want to start implementing tactics to avoid provoking them in the first place once you know that they are a factor. This could still help a Magus that fights in melee (read: NOT Starlit Span), but given the flat DC is actually pretty hard to hit on top of the above reasons there are better options.

Striker’s Scroll: All Magus Builds (**)

Affix a scroll to a weapon and bam! You can use the spell on the scroll for your spellstrike instead of one of your spells. Of course, how useful this feat is depends directly on how often you’ll have scrolls that are compatible with Spellstrike, which isn’t a short list by any means, but by no means all that there is. You’ll need cash, a generous GM, or the Scroll Trickster archetype to make regular use out of this.

Student of the Staff: Twisting Tree (****)

This Twisting Tree exclusive feat grants not just the critical specialization effect of staff weapons, but you also gain the deadly d6 trait for even more damage when you land a critical hit! This also allows you to inscribe property runes into magical staffs which normally can’t hold property runes! There are some limits to what property runes you can put on your staff but this means you can get a magical staff and still have the customizability of any other weapon! A fantastic pick for the Twisting Tree Magus!

6th Level Feats

Reactive Strike: Aloof Firmament (***), Inexorable Iron (****), Laughing Shadow (***), Sparkling Targe (**), Starlit Span (*), Twisting Tree (****), Unfurling Brocade (****)

NOTE: The Secrets of Magic Book and Archives still refers to this as Attack of Opportunity.

This is the favorite feat of almost any martial character! With their reach weapons the Inexorable Iron, Twisting Tree, and Unfurling Brocade Magi will love this one the most, while Aloof Firmament and Laughing Shadow Magi will also find it very handy! Sparkling Targes would like this one too but one reaction per round means that this feat faces really stiff competition from Emergency Targe and/or Shield Block. Starlit Spans will get no use out of this one.

Cascade Countermeasure: All Magus Builds (**)

Add 1 more focus point to your focus pool and get another Conflux Spell. Like all Conflux spells it will recharge your spellstrike when you use it. See Conflux Spells for the details.

Knowledge is Power: All Magus Builds (**)

Getting a +1 bonus to you and your allies against an enemy’s next attack roll and its next ability that requires a saving throw is nice. Getting a +1 bonus to you and your allies’ next attack roll against that enemy is even better! The catch? You have to critically succeed on a recall knowledge check against an enemy. Recall knowledge is useful but critically succeeding at the recall knowledge check isn’t something to count on.

Shielded Tome: Sparkling Targe (**), Other Magus Builds (*)

This allows you to fuse a more durable shield to a tome in order to make whatever book you’re blocking with much more durable while still getting the benefits of Raise a Tome’s knowledge bonus. You can also change your shield back to its shield form in order to activate any special magical abilities it may have. Even when you consider that a book might seem innocuous enough to go beneath notice, the benefits of this feat and its predecessor feat are still rather niche for the cost of two class feats.

Surface Tension [U]: Resurgent Maelstrom (**)

All those times you broke your improvised weapon? Well now you can give it a temporary lease on life by temporarily suppressing its broken condition and even granting bonus bludgeoning damage plus the very nice deadly d8 trait (or increasing the size of the damage dice on any pre-existing deadly trait). It does take one action, one action you’d probably use to replace your broken weapon anyways plus this does have the niche bonus of you not needing to find a new improvised weapon. However the next time you spellstrike with this weapon or land a critical hit, the weapon is completely destroyed! If you try to cheat with a more durable object, you will only gain the above benefits for 1 round, so not worth it.

8th Level Feats

Capture Magic: Sparkling Targe (*), Starlit Span (*), Other Magus Builds (**)

If you succeed a save against a spell, or an enemy misses you with a spell, you can spend a reaction to enter Arcane Cascade or temporarily empower it until the end of your next turn. Ideally you’ll be entering Arcane Cascade on your own once you have an opening, plus a later feat greatly encourages you to use your own spells to enter Arcane Cascade. The main reason to take this is to temporarily boost your arcane cascade’s bonus damage. And this applies to EVERY instance of arcane cascade’s bonus damage. Inexorable Iron’s can boost the splash damage of their Devastating Spellstrike thanks to this. In theory a Sparkling Targe could add to their shield’s hardness against spells but the bonus wears off too fast for that to matter. Meanwhile Starlit Spans still don’t get bonus damage from Arcane Cascade so this doesn’t benefit them at all. Hybrid studies that can make use of Spell Parry can increase their chances of triggering this reaction. Overall it takes a lot of moving parts lining up to get the most out of this reaction for a very temporary boost to damage.

Crosscurrent Counter [U]: STR-Based Magus (***), DEX-Based Magus (*)

Depending on what you’re encountering at this point in the game this might honestly deserve a lower rating, but the number of creatures able to efficiently grapple you goes up as you progress through the game, and possibly turning the tables on them as a reaction is honestly pretty sweet if you’ve been investing in your Athletics skill appropriately.

Fused Staff: Aloof Firmament (**), Inexorable Iron (***), Laughing Shadow (**), Sparkling Targe (**), Starlit Span (***), Twisting Tree (*), Unfurling Brocade (***)

You fuse your staff to your weapon and can swap forms with a single action. While in weapon form the only spells that can be cast are those that are used in conjunction with spellstrike. Now this is obviously useless to the Twisting Tree since the staff IS their weapon. For a lot of published magical staves in the game this feat is rather situational without Expansive Spellstrike, since many staves feature area targeting spells; however the Spellstriker Staff does make this feat a more practical choice for the Inexorable Iron, Starlit Spans, and Unfurling Brocades. Hybrid studies who rely on one-handed weapons will still only find this feat situational, as the Spellstriker Staff natively has the Shifting Weapon property on it and can thus become any one-handed melee weapon by itself without Fused Staff.

Runic Impression: All Magus Builds (***)

Give yourself another Focus Point and learn another Conflux Spell! Like all the others it will recharge your spellstrike when you cast it. See Conflux Spells for details. Note that this is less useful if you already have as many property runes as your weapon allows you to have.

Spell Swipe: Starlit Span (*), Other Magus Builds (**)

Basically a cleave with a spellstrike, and not a particularly effective one at that. In order for both targets to be affected by the spell you’re spell-striking with, it must be able to hit more than one target, and this also takes three actions as opposed to the normal two actions spellstrike normally takes. Unfortunately this can be difficult to pull off for melee magi. Starlit Spans cannot even use this feat since it only works with melee weapons.

Standby Spell: All Magus Builds (***)

Pick a spell you use frequently and then you can cast it without actually preparing it ahead of time by expending the appropriate rank spell slot. While this doesn’t increase your available spell slots, it does free you to prepare different spells in your spell slots rather than let your favorite spell constantly hog that space, and thus you can prepare for one or two more different situations you might encounter.

Whirlpool’s Pull [U]: Resurgent Maelstrom (****)

I wouldn’t rate this blue if I didn’t consider this feat absolutely mandatory for the Resurgent Maelstrom. For one action you grab any unattended object that could serve as an improvised weapon, and then cast either a 1-action spell or conflux spell. This is action efficient, and immediately gets you another improvised weapon to use with your Resurgent Maelstrom feats. If you’re in an environment with enough objects, or you decide to chuck a bunch of them into the field before you start the fight, you can set up a loop of breaking and restocking your weapons many times over the course of a fight. This feat is what elevates the rest of the Maelstrom’s gameplay to around the same level of the other Hybrid Studies, just sorry that it took an 8th level feat to do it.

10th Level Feats

Cascading Ray: All Magus Builds (**)

If you succeed at a spellstrike with a spell that deals energy damage you can spend an additional action to send a ray of that same energy at a target you didn’t damage with spellstrike using your spell attack modifier and the same multiple attack penalty you were at with your spellstrike. The damage is pretty modest if used with a cantrip or another source but if you used one of your spell slots the damage improves notably. Given your lower INT and the lack of an item bonus to your spell attacks this is still a lower attack roll, but you can always aim it at one of the minions on the battlefield to soften them up. This is nothing spectacular, especially against the stiff competition of other 10th-level feats depending on your hybrid study, but this isn’t bad.

Dazzling Block: Sparkling Targe (****)

I think this is a bit stronger than a sparkle. With this Sparkling Targe exclusive feat comes a new effect you can choose to use whenever you use shield block. The unfortunate chump who hit your shield, and others in a 15 foot cone must make a save against being dazzled for a good amount of time, and possibly even blinded for 1 round. Dazzled is basically making everyone concealed so this will help not only your survivability, but your team’s survivability as well!

Dimensional Disappearance: Laughing Shadow (****)

Instead of striking when you teleport you can instead choose to go invisible like a 2nd-rank invisibility spell. This gives you a much more effective escape tool after using spellstrike, especially since this feat lets you zip to your allies without attacking them! This enables you to hit-and-run, catch enemies off-guard next turn, and generally reposition yourself; all while you’re still recharging your spellstrike to boot! Way to make teleporting even more versatile!

Lunging Spellstrike: Twisting Tree (****)

Sun Wukong would be proud. Your spellstrike makes your staff’s reach extend to 5 feet per spell rank of the spell you cast! That’s an incredible amount of reach! Too bad it doesn’t work with cantrips or focus spells but this is still a great positioning tool that possibly saves you actions you’d otherwise spend to play catch-up with enemies that won’t stay still!

Maelstrom Flow [U]: Maelstrom Flow (**)

For one action you add the effect of the astral, corrosive, extending, or frost rune to your improvised weapon for one minute, crucially without counting against your usual property rune limit, though you can’t apply this effect more than once to the same improvised weapon. This lasts for 1 minute unless you try to cheat with an especially durable or impossible to break object, in which case it only lasts for one round. It is then completely destroyed after the duration expires. It’s a way to get extra damage or a particularly long ranged strike if you don’t mind completely destroying your improvised weapons, or as long as you don’t run out of improvised weapons.

Meteoric Spellstrike: Starlit Span (**)

Ready to cause a mass extinction event? Sadly this isn’t the feat to do it with, but it’s still awesome to look at! This Starlit Span exclusive feat lets you make a Spellstrike with your ranged attack, and anyone in a line between you and the target of your spellstrike takes damage equal to double the rank of the spell you used. Unfortunately this costs a spell slot to use, but if there’s a situation to deal some damage to both a big bad and his squishier mooks this feat can help with that.

Rapid Recharge: All Magus Builds (**)

If ONLY this weren’t just once a day. This would be so amazing, but as it is this gets completely outdone by one of the level 20 feats, and thus you’d need to retrain out of this, and if you’re making use of the quickened condition for striding then you’re already saving actions and this loses some of its appeal. Doesn’t help that the Hybrid Study Exclusive feats REALLY take off at this level!

Sustaining Steel: Inexorable Iron (***)

As if the regenerating temp hit points weren’t enough, now you really can be inexorable! When you are in Arcane Cascade and you cast a spell using one of your spell-slots, you regain hit points equal to double the rank of the spell! In a big fight any amount of healing you can get is good. The actual hit points gained is a bit low, but combined with the regenerating temporary hit points can help sustain the Inexorable Iron; odds are your spell slot is a resource you were going to use anyways, may as well get some extra benefit from it. Combine this with a defensive reaction spell like wooden double for best results (shout-out to AntiChri5 for highlighting this combination). The chance to end persistent void damage is a bit circumstantial.

Unsheathing the Sword-Light: Aloof Firmament (*)

This Aloof Firmament exclusive feat is visually spectacular, but it requires you use a spellstrike via a spell slot, and it will damage all creatures in a 10-foot emanation of your target, except for you and the target in question, this includes any of your allies standing around the target. So to get any use out of this you have to have enemies crowding the target of your spellstrike, but no allies attempting to do the same thing. Too many moving parts are needed to make this feat worthwhile.

Vermillion Threads: Unfurling Brocade (***)

If you delay activating arcane cascade until your enemies are closer, or if you find yourself in a situation where the enemy has little choice but to come to you, you can create difficult terrain for everyone except yourself in a 15-foot burst! Even better, you can basically fly inside of that 15-foot burst as long as you don’t leave it! This is decent crowd-control as long as your allies are mindful of it. There is also a minor benefit that casting a spell from a spell slot will make the threads do minor damage to anyone who moves through the web, but the damage is so piddling and comes with a basic reflex save so it’s not really worth casting a spell just for this particular benefit, the crowd-control alone is good as is.

12th Level Feats

Conflux Focus: Focus Point Magus Builds (**), Non-Focus Point Magus Builds (*)

Regain 2 focus points instead of 1 when you refocus. Truly though, this just saves you some in-game time. If your party, or your GM, likes to keep rests between encounters short this will be useful, but if not an extra 10 or 20 in-universe minutes will still fill your focus pool back up just fine. Pre-remaster, when you could only regain one focus point from refocusing, this feat would have been a top pick (****).

Note: Classes that use a Focus Pool that have been reprinted for the remaster thus far have only a single feat that can recharge their entire focus pool. Discuss this with your Gamemaster and see if they will allow you to do the same, making this feat better!

Magic Sense: All Magus Builds (*)

You get to use a weaker detect magic every time you seek. But why wouldn’t you just prepare the cantrip? Or even use the Arcane Sense Skill Feat? Pass on this, there are better options.

Overwhelming Spellstrike: All Magus Builds (**)

Ignoring resistance is pretty sweet. But the Magus has a wide selection of cantrips and damaging spells such that the easiest way to bypass a resistance would be to just use a different damage type.

14th Level Feats

Arcane Shroud: All Magus Builds (**)

Step one, cast a spell (or use Spellstrike) that uses a spell slot. Step two, use Arcane Shroud to enter Arcane Cascade. Step three, briefly gain a buff spell! When you first take the feat, choose three from following list:

Mountain Resilience (****)
Flicker (***)
See the Unseen (**)
Fire Shield (**)
Invisibility (***)
False Vitality (***)
Fleet Step (***)

Strike an enemy with a powerful spellstrike, and then give yourself resistance to reduce retaliation! Or start combat by buffing yourself and then get a burst of movement to position yourself! Or turn invisible to minimize retaliation! Depending on which three spells you pick when you first take the feat the possibilities are myriad! Unfortunately this does come with a fair few drawbacks. As with some prior feats, this doesn’t work with cantrips or any other source that doesn’t consume your spell slots, and the associated spells not listing what spell rank they are at means that each spell is cast at their lowest spell ranks possible, but the worst limitation is that each spell will only last until the end of your next turn meaning that these buffs are exceptionally short-lived.

Hasted Assault: Aloof Firmament (***), Laughing Shadow (***), Starlit Span (***), Other Magus Builds (**)

1 focus point and a conflux spell, see Conflux Spells for more details. If you haven’t acquired up to three focus points by now, then this or another Conflux spell feat comes highly recommended at this level!

Preternatural Parry: Aloof Firmament (***), Inexorable Iron (*), Laughing Shadow (***), Sparkling Targe (*), Starlit Span (**), Twisting Tree (***), Unfurling Brocade (**)

An improved version of the prerequisite Spell Parry but as a reaction instead! A slight bit more valuable to the Aloof Firmament and Laughing Shadow than Twisting Tree since Twisting Tree has other defensive options while simultaneously leaving chances open for an Reactive Strike, but anything that boosts AC can’t be disregarded out of hand.

16th Level Feats

Dispelling Spellstrike: Starlit Span (****), Other Magus Builds (***)

You deliver your spellstrike and attempt to counteract a spell on your target! Say goodbye to that annoying buff the enemy has on them! Only reason this isn’t blue for the melee-based Magus is that this costs 3 actions to use and thus melee builds may have a harder time pulling it off consistently.

Resounding Cascade: All Magus Builds (**)

How useful this one is depends entirely on how many melee characters are in your party. If you only have one person who fights in melee, this may not be worth your class feat. Two or more melee attackers and this goes up in use significantly. Either way, your nearby party members will appreciate the damage bonus from Arcane Cascade. Note that the damage bonus is the ONLY thing they get from Arcane Cascade, none of the other hybrid study specific bonuses or other bonuses you gain from it. Note that since using Arcane Shroud is its own action that it might not trigger Resounding Cascade by RAW, speak with your GM.

18th Level Feats

Conflux Wellspring: Focus Point Magus Builds (**), Non-Focus Point Magus Builds (*)

Much like Conflux Focus before it, this feat really just saves you some in-universe time. Useful depending on how fast your party or GM likes things to move in-universe, but possibly not necessary. Pre-remaster, when you could only regain one focus point from refocusing, this feat would have been a top pick (****).

Note: Classes with a Focus Pool that have been reprinted for the Remaster no longer have an 18th level feat to recharge their entire focus pool, as this ability has been replaced by a lower-level feat. Discuss with your gamemaster if this feat is even necessary anymore.

Versatile Spellstrike: All Magus Builds (**)

Not quite as versatile as this might seem at first. The spell must still be something compatible with Spellstrike, which raises the question of “why not just prepare a 9th rank spell instead of swapping down for a weaker spellstrike?” Still it does have its perks in that you could use it with a compatible spell with a purpose other than just straight damage, or use it to hit a weakness you might not have otherwise hit.

20th Level Feats

Supreme Spellstrike: All Magus Builds (****)

You are permanently quickened. One of the actions you can use is a Strike. Okay cool. The other action you can take is to RECHARGE YOUR SPELLSTRIKE!!! Cue the Hallelujah Chorus! The biggest limitation on you has just been lifted, and now virtually nothing is stopping you from Spellstriking every turn! Go nuts young Magus! You have earned this!

Whirlwind Spell: Aloof Firmament (**), Inexorable Iron (***), Laughing Shadow (**), Sparkling Targe (**), Starlit Span (*), Twisting Tree (***), Unfurling Brocade (***)

Spell Swipe’s talented older sibling that all of the adults greatly admire and constantly compares them to. This still requires Expansive Spellstrike to get the most out of, but this no longer requires foes to be adjacent to each other and works on every enemy in reach, thus Hybrid Studies with reach weapons may love this feat. Still doesn’t work for Starlit Span though. If you picked up Spell Swipe on your way up to this feat, time to retrain out of it.

Magus Tactics

Let’s make no bones about it, compared to other classes the Magus is notably more complicated to play. The class’s defining feature takes up not just actions to use, but also influences what actions you’ll take next in order to ensure that you can keep using said defining feature. This puts the Magus on a tight action-economy budget and so it bears an examination of its tactics.

Why Spellstrike?

If Spellstrike is so demanding of the Magus’s action economy, then why not just drop into Arcane Cascade for some bonus damage and go to work from there? Because outside of situational instances where you’ve run into an enemy with a weakness to your arcane cascade’s chosen damage type, you’re going to be behind other martials without using Spellstrike.

At level 1, a fighter has a +2 greater bonus to hit, and an equally greater chance to land a critical hit. A raging barbarian is dealing anywhere between +1 to +5 more damage per hit than you are depending on their barbarian instinct. A rogue and a precision ranger, under the correct circumstances, are adding an average of 3.5 or 4.5 precision damage respectively to their strikes. A Monk and a Flurry Ranger are getting to attack twice for the price of one action. Thus the real gap closer for damage is spellstrike.

Why Arcane Cascade?

So if the damage is such a pittance why use Arcane Cascade when Spellstrike is much more important? No mistake about it, Spellstrike is the Magus’s most important feature and if the circumstances of a combat round give you a choice between Spellstriking right now or entering Arcane Cascade right now Spellstrike is the clear winner.

As you’ll see soon though, you’re not always going to have the chance to spellstrike. Arcane Cascade’s primary benefit isn’t in the bonus damage it provides you, but rather in the varying buffs it will grant you depending on your Hybrid Study. We’ll cover the exact benefits they grant you later in this section; in general the buffs they grant may not be particularly impactful moment-to-moment, but they do serve to help the Magus over the course of the whole fight. Besides, extra damage is still extra damage and it will add up over the course of the battle.

Thus Arcane Cascade is useful to enter right away if an enemy isn’t in spellstriking reach on your first turn. Otherwise you should opt for a spellstrike on turn 1, then on your second turn use a conflux spell to recharge your spellstrike and then enter Arcane Cascade in most general scenarios.

One exception to Arcane Cascade’s bonus damage being a minor bonus is if you encounter an enemy with a weakness to a particular damage type. Say, a plant creature with weakness 10 to fire. If you cast a fire spell and then enter Arcane Cascade off of that spell your weapon will now deal fire damage on top of its normal damage. It doesn’t matter how small that fire damage is, weakness 10 means that you’ll deal 10 extra damage each time you strike them. Similarly this is a way to reliably keep an enemy’s regeneration from activating if you have a damage type that deactivates their regeneration. So scenarios such as this serve as an exception for the typical strategy of entering arcane cascade off of your shield spell or a conflux spell; instead feel free to cast a spell that will give you an appropriate damage type to key weaknesses, even if the spell itself doesn’t work out. Any Magus will be happy to have this bonus damage whenever it comes up, but it must be stressed that such weaknesses do not occur all the time so you can’t always count on this to make up the difference in damage.

Using Spellstrike

Spellstrike in-and-of-itself requires you to use two-actions, and if you succeed, even just using cantrips, you’re dealing anywhere between 4.5 to 5.5 average extra damage at level 1 with your one strike; and against level appropriate enemies that can kill them in one hit if you’re lucky (take THAT Akata! Ha!). However once you’ve used Spellstrike you can’t use it again until you’ve spent one action recharging it. You will have to do this EVERY time you use your spellstrike, unlike the barbarian popping rage once and then just getting to go to town, or the rogue who gets sneak attack on every strike against an off-guard enemy.

Since so much of your damage potential rides on your spellstrike, and since you have to recharge it to use it again, you really want to do everything in your power to ensure it lands. Never use Spellstrike if you’re suffering from a multiple attack penalty. Try and use it against enemies that are suffering a penalty to their AC whenever you can (off-guard, clumsy, frightened, sickened, etc.). If you ever have the actions to spare for it, casting Sure Strike before using your big-spell Spellstrike is quite possibly the best thing you could ever do. Speaking of re-rolls, your Spellstrikes are prime candidates for hero point usage and other abilities you can use to re-roll the attack check.

One important detail is that Spellstrike has the Cast a Spell action as part of its use. Cast a spell means that your spell can, and most of the time does, include both the concentrate and manipulate traits. Spells with the manipulate trait trigger RS's. So yes, that means that using Spellstrike can trigger Reactive Strikes. Worse yet, if you’re really unlucky and the enemy critically succeeds, the action is interrupted.

General Round-by-round Breakdown

To speak very broadly about how combat goes round-to-round, scenario A1 covers an enemy that has moved within reach of your Spellstrike and saved you the legwork. Scenario B1 is a case where you have to do the moving yourself.

A1	B1
Use Spellstrike “___________” Recharge Spellstrike	Stride to reach enemy Use Spellstrike “___________”

Now if the enemy (assuming they survived) stays still, great! Just recharge and spellstrike. However, a number of enemies are smarter than zombies (hey, they’ve been asking for brains for a while now, can you blame them?) and are not just going to stand still; thus they will endeavor to escape you now. Thus A2 and B2 look like…

A2	B2
Stride/Step to reach enemy Use Spellstrike “___________”	Stride/Step to reach enemy Recharge Spellstrike Regular Strike

Assuming the battle isn’t over by now, either due to the Magus’s victim surviving or there being more enemies to keep the battle going, scenario A needs to recharge, stride, and is left only with enough actions to strike. While scenario B gets to stride and spellstrike. Because most Magi must move, both scenarios fall into a pattern where they can only use Spellstrike every other turn at best while recharging and doing regular strikes in their off-turns.

So with the main limiting factors identified, your goal as a Magus is to Spellstrike at least every other turn in a typical combat scenario. If you’re doing this, you are playing the class correctly. If you are not doing this, and no factors outside of your control are stopping you, then you need to adjust your actions.

A very general good early turn for most Magi is to spellstrike an enemy during your first turn, then use a conflux spell followed by entering arcane cascade on your second turn, and then getting into a pattern of spell-striking and recharging either manually or with your conflux spell as the situation warrants. Alternatively, if your first turn of combat doesn’t allow you to spellstrike for some reason, enter arcane cascade as soon as possible using shield or another one-action spell. These are just in general and specific combat scenarios may require you to do something different, or your hybrid study may alter your priorities.

Action-Economy Complications

The above breakdown is only for very general scenarios. A number of things could happen in combat that prevent you from moving, or require you to spend extra actions than you would otherwise like to spend. Meaning that there are cases where you won’t be able to Spellstrike as often as you intend to through no fault of your own.

Conditions are one such complication. There are conditions that prevent you from moving, such as being grabbed or otherwise immobilized. These require you to spend actions to escape until you succeed. The escape action has the attack trait on it so this means that even if you do succeed in escaping, your Spellstrike will be suffering from a multiple attack penalty. Given you have to recharge it whether you hit or miss, it’s best to wait for your next chance.

There are conditions that affect your attack bonus. Frightened, sickened, and, depending on whether you’re STR-based or DEX-based, enfeebled or clumsy directly impact your attack bonus. There are also cases where enemies may be concealed or hidden from you, requiring you to make a flat-check to even try and roll your attack.

More simply, an enemy can opt to just move further away than you can reach in a single stride, so even if you reach them you won’t have enough actions to spellstrike them. Or maybe it’s in your best interest to pad your own AC with a shield spell, spell parry, or raise a shield; all of which takes one action to do. And what about enemies with RS’s?

So there are factors that you can’t control that may prevent you from using Spellstrike. Best thing to do? Focus on what you can control. First and foremost, make sure your spellstrike is recharged. Don’t get so caught up in the above complications that you forget to have your best asset at the ready. Before you attempt to escape or before you run after your foe make sure your spellstrike is charged for that glorious turn when you can finally use it!

Once that is done, the next step is to do what you can about any conditions. You’re not a healer so your options are limited, but some conditions fade naturally over the course of combat or you can roll additional saves against to remove. Or get a teammate to help you out with this. Sometimes you may be stuck with a condition for the duration of the combat, so you will have to just live with it, but you can tilt the scale back in the other direction by flanking or otherwise rendering them off-guard. Some Hybrid Studies and spells have the ability to negate or lessen the concealed condition so use those as appropriate.

For RS’s you could always take your chances with provoking them when you use Spellstrike, but risking it getting interrupted, or getting yourself reduced to 0 hit points prevents you from making as many Spellstrikes as you can over the course of a fight. Pad your defense in some way; out-reach the enemy if it’s possible. If it’s not, bolster your AC before going for a spellstrike. Maybe you or an ally can lure the enemy into expending their RS before you make your Spellstrike.

And what about cases where you must spend more actions striding or defending yourself? That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It might stink that you won’t get to spellstrike the second you reach your enemy, but you’ll never get to spellstrike in the first place if you never try to stay in reach of them. And AC is vital to your survival in this game, against many opponents you could almost never consider it a waste to pad your AC; it keeps you alive long enough to use your next spellstrike after all. As long as you are taking actions towards using spellstrike as soon as possible, you are doing your job.

Action-Economy Boons

Of course there are ways to tweak the action-economy greatly in your favor as well. The first and foremost option being the use of your Conflux Spells. Every Conflux Spell published in SoM costs only a single action, and not only do you gain the benefit of the Conflux Spell, you also recharge your spellstrike. For the price of 1 Focus Point, and 1 action, you are doing two or three actions! One of those actions being vital to ensuring your continued use of Spellstrike!

Once you are able to cast 3rd-rank spells, the other thing you can do is cast Haste on yourself. Haste gives you the Quickened Condition, and you can use that extra action to either strike or stride! As we covered in the General Round-by-Round breakdown, movement is the key limitation that prevents you from Spellstriking every single round. Getting an extra action just to move removes that limitation! Haste isn’t the only means by which you can get an extra action to move (Propulsive Boots and potions of quickness come to mind).

Beyond that it bears mentioning that there may even be cases where an enemy has taken enough of a beating that there is an entirely reasonable expectation that they don’t need something as powerful as a spellstrike to finish them off. That’s fine, as long as your spellstrike is charged and it's ready for the next instance that you need it.

There are also feats and features that can alleviate the need to recharge the spellstrike or make spellstrike more efficient in general. You can go back to those sections of this guide to check those out.

Hybrid Study Variations

The hybrid studies, having their own weapons, unique focus spells, Arcane Cascade bonuses, and play styles have their own effect on their overall action economy. Some have natural advantages over other hybrid studies in certain areas, but each hybrid study is still a spellcaster and can still create advantages that way.

Inexorable Iron

Inexorable Irons favor big two-handed weapons, which includes a lot of reach weapons. This can help alleviate issues of reaching an enemy in time in order to spellstrike them, or in cases of enemies with RS’s that have only a five-foot reach can help them to dodge RS’s entirely. Inexorable Irons also automatically learn the Enlarge Spell as part of their Studious Spells to enhance these advantages; though bear in mind that enlarge gives you clumsy and thus you get a lower AC for using it.

The Inexorable Iron’s Arcane Cascade benefit is basically regenerating temporary hit points at the start of each turn. If you are the main front-liner of your party there’s a solid argument to be made that your first turn should be spent casting shield and entering your Arcane Cascade to bolster your survival. Otherwise, the usual starting rotation of spellstrike, conflux spell, Arcane Cascade suits the Inexorable Iron just fine, but bear in mind that their default conflux spell is really only mostly efficient against clustered groups of weaker enemies, strongly consider picking up other conflux spells for other purposes.

Laughing Shadow & Aloof Firmament

Laughing Shadows stride faster than other hybrid studies and so have fewer problems reaching an enemy than most, while the Aloof Firmament is capable of maneuvering around enemies without provoking reactions. While the way they function absolutely has distinctions, at their core they are both built for hit-and-run tactics thanks to their conflux spells allowing them a way to move, strike, and recharge spellstrike all in one go. However since few of the particularly good one-handed weapons have reach on them they’re probably the most vulnerable to provoking an RS with their spellstrike compared to other hybrid studies. They’re not without options though, especially when you consider that the shield spell is available to every hybrid study, and that Laughing Shadows and Aloof Firmaments are a natural fit for Spell Parry.

The Laughing Shadow’s Arcane Cascade bonus provides a speed bonus and bonus damage if you catch enemies off-guard, while the Aloof Firmament’s Arcane Cascade bonus lets them leap or fly with impunity, and also boosting their arcane cascade bonus damage if they strike after leaping or flying. Their conflux spells also allow both hybrid studies to move to an enemy and strike while recharging their spellstrike, so this enables both hybrid studies to spellstrike, make some distance, and then close the distance back. The above recommendation of opening with spellstrike and then using a conflux spell to enter arcane cascade next turn works wonderfully with both hybrid studies. Plus, if Reactive Strikes do make spellstrikes too risky, both hybrid studies have fallback options in boosting the damage they gain from arcane cascade.

Sparkling Targe

Sparkling Targes might have it the roughest of the hybrid studies so far as getting frequent spellstrikes. The Sparkling Targe’s main benefit from Arcane Cascade incentivises them to raise their shield, or cast shield, in order to bolster their survivability. So often a Sparkling Targe has an additional consideration each round of “is raising my shield my best move right now?” One step to answering that question is asking yourself, are there enemies with magical effects you’ll need to save against? If there are then you want to bolster your saving throws against them ASAP. Early game this is less common so they might get away with not needing that bonus to their saves, but magical effects become much more common later on so in the interest of your survival you’ll find dropping into Arcane Cascade and raising your shield a better and better idea.

Fortunately Sparkling Targe’s first conflux spell lets them strike, raise shield, and recharge their spellstrike all at once so with enough focus points a Sparkling Targe can stay recharged and keep defending themselves. This action economy tax also lightens once Emergency Targe becomes available to delegate raising their shield to a reaction; however the question then goes from “do I raise my shield this turn?” to “Do I save my reaction for raising my shield, or do I raise my shield so I can block with my reaction?”

Starlit Span

Starlit Spans on the other hand, have it easiest for their action economy. As long as their target is within their first range increment they can spellstrike. In theory they can just stand in one place and perpetually spellstrike and recharge, and be WELL out of reach of any RS’s enemies could throw at them. Of course they may find situations where they still want to move, such as running away, closing the distance if an enemy moves beyond the first range increment, or getting a better angle to avoid cover. Small price to pay overall and even the cover problem is greatly alleviated by some of their exclusive abilities. Heck, aside from needing it for one of their exclusive feats they don’t really even get anything out of Arcane Cascade so that’s one less thing they need to worry about.

Twisting Tree

Twisting Trees are in a similar boat to the Inexorable Iron seeing as their staff gains reach thanks to their main feature. They can also use the parry trait of their weapon to gain some defensive benefit in the event they can’t outright avoid an RS. By 10th level Twisting Tree Magi gain access to Lunging Spellstrike to pull their best Sun Wukong impression by bashing the enemy from a great distance away! While it only works with Spellstrikes that cost spell slots, it still means that their best strike is also beyond any reproach.

Twisting Tree’s Arcane Cascade bonus is a bit of an odd duck. The Magus’s emphasis on making single spellstrikes for huge bursts of damage means that the Twisting Tree seldom needs to switch a one-handed grip for an agile strike. Later on though, their Student of the Staff feat gives their staff the Deadly d6 trait for some extra damage on their crits at which point Arcane Cascade’s benefits are much better. The Twisting Tree’s conflux spell gets most of its value if there is more than one enemy in reach, so if you lack that consider using other conflux spells on your off-turn to regain your spellstrike.

Spellcasting

It cannot be forgotten that the Magus is still a spellcaster. Spellstrike might be their best tool, but far from their only one, and magic is a valuable tool indeed. Buff spells aren’t just for the Magus, they can prepare buff spells for their own team like Resist Energy, or a heightened haste. Have invisibility available for the party’s scout. With lower spell attacks and DCs than other spellcasters they’ll have limited success casting offensive spells but there are spells that control the battlefield without DCs, such as the various wall spells, some of the fog spells, etc.

With your limited spell slots you can’t prepare for every single situation you’ll encounter. Rather you will need to plan ahead. Consider the location where you’re going; with the appropriate knowledge check you can know some general terrain dangers or what kind of creatures are common in the area. This lets you know what spells you can prepare ahead of time to circumvent terrain dangers, or what enemies might be weak to.

Spells

So having touched on spells briefly let’s actually dive into reviewing the spells. As Arcane casters, the Magus gains access to the Arcane Spell list. Unlike most they can never gain 10th-rank spells. But Cantrips are based on your character level so those remain as effective as any other caster’s cantrips (aside from your lower spell attacks and DCs). Besides cantrips there are the many spells you gain as you level up. Do note that given the Magus has a lower spell attack roll and spell DCs a lot of spells that would be amazing for full casters will be middling for a Magus.

Worth noting is that even as you lose your lower rank spell slots, you don’t stop knowing the spells you prepared in them. In fact you can freely prepare those old spells into higher rank spell slots for heightened effects. So the knowledge you gain from learning spells is never truly wasted.

By a similar token, you never stop being an arcane spellcaster. So you can still use scrolls and wands of lower rank spell slots. Or get yourself a Ring of Wizardry to get you some lower-rank spell slots. Even without having all the spell slots of a full caster you can still provide a lot of utility to your group.

Conflux Spells

Dimensional Assault (****) (1st): Teleport half your speed (so a modest 10 to 15 feet for most Laughing Shadows at level 1) and then strike! It also comes with the handy benefit of recharging your spellstrike so it's a great three actions for the price of one! It only gets better as you get faster, and later get a feat that lets you turn invisible in lieu of striking for more defensive utility.

Force Fang (***) (1st): Basically a weapon-ranged, 1-action Force Barrage. It’s a small amount of damage, but it’s guaranteed damage. And it still recharges your spellstrike, so this is still action-economy efficient. You can use this spell to follow-up a spellstrike so that you can squeeze in some more damage without having to worry about the MAP penalty Spellstrike gave you and/or in the event your Hybrid Study’s default Conflux Spell isn’t appropriate for the situation.

Home Among Mulberry Leaves (***) (1st): As always this will recharge your spellstrike, but this will also let you make a strike against an enemy with your fabric, and if it hits it will even immobilize them! Given that your fabric comes with reach this will force your enemy to waste actions trying to get to you to retaliate! On a critical success it will even briefly give them enfeebled 1 or clumsy 1! Short duration and it depending entirely on your successful strike are the only things keeping this from being blue!

Shielding Strike (****) (1st): For one action you strike, raise your shield (or cast the Shield cantrip), and recharge your spellstrike. Another three-for-one deal and one that pads your AC (and saving throws while in Arcane Cascade) to boot! What’s not to love?

Shooting Star (***) (1st): Strike, recharge, and negate your target’s concealed condition, or reduce their cover by one step! The concealment negation will also last until the start of your next turn so this gives your allies a chance to lay down the hurt on this baddy! Concealment doesn’t always come up and it won’t work on the hidden condition but this is still a greatly action-efficient use of your one action!

Sky Laughs at Waves (****) (1st): As long as you are wielding a one-handed weapon from the sword group you can fly up to your movement speed, and then make a strike at the end of that movement! This synergizes perfectly with the Aloof Firmament’s arcane cascade benefit by granting you versatile movement free from reactions, a bonus to your strike’s damage, and like all Conflux spells this will recharge your spellstrike! Three actions for the cost of one, and those actions come with nifty extras as long as you’re in your Arcane Cascade!

Spinning Staff (***) (1st): Strike one target in your reach, and then strike a second target in your reach, all while recharging your spellstrike! Another three-for-one special brought to you by the Twisting Tree Hybrid Study! May not always be enemies within your reach to use this one but it’s still fantastic!

Thunderous Strike (***) (1st): Strike your target, and then the target plus every other creature within a 15-foot cone in front of you must make a basic fort-save against 2 Sonic damage (which heightens by +1 every spell rank). Yeah that’s super-small potatoes, but the main thing you’re fishing for is one or more of them to get a critical failure so that they fall prone! Still damage plus a recharge, and there’s a chance you can knock more than one enemy prone! Save it for groups of enemies.

Turbulent Tide (**) (1st): You must be using an improvised weapon to cast this one. When you cast it, you make a strike, and then every creature adjacent to you rolls a fortitude save against being shoved. Recharging a spellstrike, striking, and shoving in an area is action efficient, but the catch is that this destroys your improvised weapon, which means spending an action to get another weapon, hurting the action-economy efficiency of this conflux spell. Also don’t try to be sneaky by getting something with a hardness greater than your level or otherwise difficult to break, because then this spell loses the area shove effect.

Cascade Countermeasure (**) (3rd): Gain resistance 5 (later 10 at spell rank 6, and 15 at spell rank 9) against damage from spells that lasts for as long as you’re in Arcane Cascade. While damage from spells is a broad category, it’s still not going to be THE most numerous source of damage. Most of the danger from spellcasters comes from not the damage they do, but the ways they can control the fight, something damage mitigation won’t help with.

Runic Impression (***) (4th): In the same action that you recharge your spellstrike, you also add the effects of a property rune to your weapon. The runes you can choose are corrosive, flaming, frost, ghost touch, returning, shock, or thundering. When heightened to 8th rank you add keen and can choose the greater versions of the elemental damage runes. If you don’t already have a damage rune on your weapon this can be a solid-combat-long buff to your damage per swing, and you also don’t have to worry about covering all damage types with your cantrips anymore. Though this is a lot less useful if you’re maxed out on property runes.

Hasted Assault (**) (7th): With one action you recharge your spellstrike, and then get the quickened condition… but only for making a strike. Unfortunately, as we reviewed in the tactics section above, the main thing holding the Magus back from destroying everything in its path isn’t being able to make strikes, it’s having to move before they can spellstrike. That said, this still has its uses if you are having difficulty using Spellstrike due to RS's, and some Hybrid Studies will like this more than others. Laughing Shadows with their bonus damage to off-guard targets can benefit from this greatly if an enemy proves too hard to Spellstrike safely. The Starlit Span, not needing to move as often, can more readily afford to take an extra strike. The Aloof Firmament gets bonus damage to their regular strikes as long as they Fly, Leap, High Jump, or Long Jump first so their relatively stronger strikes also benefit from having more available in a round.

Arcane Spells

It is important to note that some spells introduced in the Remaster of Second Edition may fulfill a similar purpose to a pre-Remaster spell, but sometimes do not fully replace the old spell’s function. Stand out examples being that some Post-Remaster spells without the Attack trait seem to be otherwise similar to Pre-Remaster spells that did have the Attack trait. The Attack trait fulfills a function for the Magus that the Post-Remaster spells do not and as such should still be considered on their own merits rather than tossed out. I strongly encourage any Magus players to bring this up with any GMs who are inclined to draw a hard-line between Pre and Post Remaster spells.

Note going forward. All spells are rated through the lens of the Magus Class and are not a rating of the spells in general.

Cantrips

Acid Splash (**): At 1st level Acid Splash is adequate, and it’s an easily available source of splash damage for those pesky swarms. But gone are the days where splash damage was necessary to even HURT swarms; the real thing holding this spell back is the bizarre scaling. Its damage only scales up every odd spell rank.

Ancient Dust [U] (**): It affects an area, which is pretty neat for a cantrip. However the damage is absolutely pathetic; it also scales unevenly.

Approximate (*): Much as I love the thought that some spell-casting bean counter somewhere invented this spell to help with their job, this is pretty useless to a player. I’ve yet to meet the GM that’s going to force the whole group to actually sit down and count-out every coin. At worst they’ll just tell you time passed while you tallied up your loot.

Bullhorn (*): This one’s MUCH better for characters who actually have charisma. Save your fantasy metal band dreams for one of those characters.

Caustic Blast (*): Its somewhat low damage being entirely depending on enemy reflex saves against your Spell DC doesn’t bode well for this spell.

Daze (*): If the enemy critically fails against this spell they are stunned 1 for the round. Unfortunately your lower INT than most spellcasters practically hamstrings the damage and the stun chance. The uneven scaling of damage at every odd rank doesn’t help matters.

Deep Breath (**): It only takes a single action to cast so it is a quick way to enter Arcane Cascade, however since you are likely to lose the already situational ability to hold your breath for ten minutes the next time you need to cast a spell that requires you to speak. At 2nd and 4th rank the duration goes up to 1 hour and 8 hours respectively and only lose 10 minutes when speaking so this might be useful in locations where you might have less air to breathe.

Detect Magic (****): For two actions you ping your surroundings for magic. At first it will only tell you whether any exists or not. But at spell ranks 3rd and then 4th, this gets more precise and helps you better identify the kind of magic you sense! Vital for sniffing out magic items for you to loot, and possibly detect other hidden secrets.

Detect Metal (**): It functions similarly to Detect Magic in that at first it will just ping for the presence or absence of metal, and at 3rd rank it can even discern the types of metal. However unlike magic, metal is usually obvious at a glance so it’s less useful for outright locating metal objects (though it might still work on metal traps). Now it can help if you can’t identify specific metals but that’s usually not a problem for those with sufficient crafting skill.

Draw Moisture (**): While this has some house-keeping use, for adventuring purposes, the only use this has is to draw drinkable water from sources of moisture, and this straight up won’t work without pre-existing moisture.

Eat Fire (**): If you are going up against enemies that deal fire damage then doing your best Natsu Dragneel impression isn’t a bad use of a cantrip slot. It’s just a reaction to gain fire resistance, and you have the option of spending an action to grant concealment as well. It’s useless if you’re not up against anyone using fire damage though.

Electric Arc (**): Oh how the mighty have fallen. Boasting an unremarkable (1d4*rank)+1d4 damage, it does hit targets over a wider area. Not completely useless but not ideal with the Magus’s poor Spell DC.

Elemental Counter [U] (*): Basically the counterspell reaction that full spellcasters can get but it requires you use a spell with a given elemental trait to counter a different elemental trait. The Magus does not have enough spell slots to make use of this.

Frostbite (**): It’s a save-based cantrip without an attack roll so it can still force an enemy to roll a save even if you miss your strike, and the damage isn’t anything special for a cantrip. If an enemy crit fails it does become vulnerable to bludgeoning damage but with your save DCs that is unlikely to take.

Gale Blast (**): Unless you’re a Starlit Span, you don’t particularly care if enemies are getting in melee reach of you; easier to spellstrike that way. Now if you did get surrounded I could see the use in pushing away enemies to give yourself room to move, but it’s a bit niche and the damage isn’t particularly impressive either, partly due to its uneven damage scaling.

Figment (***): A favorite spell for those looking to cause a distraction or create a signal. And barring situations where the GM might call for an actual check to distract, you’re no worse at using this spell than anyone else is.

Glamorize (*): I mean I’ve always allowed PCs to do the same thing with Prestidigitation in my game, albeit without a defined mechanical benefit. Glamorize does come with a designated bonus to certain tasks like impersonate or perform.

Glass Shield (**): The gist is that this is like the shield spell, except it has reduced hardness in exchange for the ability to deal some damage when destroyed based on the destroying enemy’s reflex save. However, there are a few caveats. It really functions exactly like shield in all other respects, which would include the clause of not being able to use it for 10 minutes after being used to block, so this is not going to be a source of free damage. Plus your spell DC isn’t that great. That said it is still a one-action spell and nothing says you can’t prepare both this and the regular shield spell. Is it worth it to do so? Your-mileage-may-vary.

Gouging Claw (****): This spell was MADE for the Magus. An attack cantrip that does (1d6*spell rank)+1d6 damage as either piercing or slashing damage, as well as Spell Rank*1 persistent bleed damage! On a critical success, double both the up-front and persistent bleed damage! This is the best cantrip to use with Spellstrike! Only time it won’t work so well is if you encounter something resistant to slashing/piercing damage. Prepare it, and love it.

Ignition (****): Deal (1d4*Spell Rank)+1d4 fire damage at a modest range of 30 feet. If you critically succeed you’ll double the damage and deal (1d4*Spell rank) persistent fire damage. Or, hear me out, cast this spell in melee range to increase all those d4 damage dice into d6’s! Fire is one of the more common enemy weaknesses you can encounter so having this spell, and subsequently having it for arcane cascade, is a great idea. On its own merits it’s just behind Gouging Claw on potential damage and potentially useful for ranged attacking if you can’t get within melee reach.

Illuminate (**): I mean the spell does its job of lighting torches and stuff but flint & steel do the same thing and unless you’re in a hurry… plus the light spell can be used without needing a preexisting object.

Infectious Enthusiasm (*): You really don’t have the actions to spare to cast a two-action spell for a +1 bonus that will only last you 1 round. If it had an appreciable duration it’d be a different story but alas.

Invoke True Name [R] (*): It’s a rare spell to begin with so good luck even having access to it. But even if you did, you’d still have to actually KNOW the true name of the target to get this to work.

Light (***): Darkness impending your vision? Not anymore! For the low-low cost of two actions, you can make a light either hover near you or a willing party member, or you can send it ahead of you to get a sense for how large the dark space you’re in is!

Live Wire (****): At its base rank it’s actually a little worse than Ignition when used for a spellstrike in melee, being saved by the fact that even a miss will result in dealing at least a little electricity damage. The spell only increases in damage every two spell ranks, but its damage scales appropriately. While I’d put it behind Ignition and Gouging Claw, I still rate it highly for the fact that even a miss will produce some damage, and it also gives the Magus easy access to electricity damage for Arcane Cascade without having to rely on Electric Arc.

Message (***): Speak covertly with a single target. A great way to maintain covert communications among your allies if you ever need to stay undetected, or if you want to subtly suggest tactics across battle.

Musical Accompaniment (*): “Bluff bluff bluff the stupid ogre~!” Well this isn’t the spell for you my friend, leave the social skills, and the instrumentation, to the experts.

Needle Darts (****): With a starting damage of 3d4, the up-front damage is a hair better than a melee range Ignition or Gouging Claw, minus Gouging Claw’s persistent bleed damage, As a bonus, the metal will have the properties of the chunk of metal you use to generate the needles so it can potentially trip weaknesses to, say, silver or cold iron. This does fall behind Gouging Claw and Ignition in damage come later spell ranks, but with a 60 foot range it can double as a ranged attack if you have no other option to attack at range.

Phase Bolt (**): The damage is a decent 3d4 (+1d4 for every spell rank after rank 1); its main gimmick is that the spell attack roll reduces circumstance bonuses to AC by 2. Useful but not every enemy you face can use a shield or similar to give itself circumstance bonuses to AC, and in the case of cover most Magi are going to be in melee where that’s moot. Now the text says that this is for the spell attack roll, so a strict reading of the text may mean this doesn’t carry over to spellstrikes; consult your GM.

Prestidigitation (*): I like this spell so much, in fact anytime I find my spell-casters don’t particularly need one cantrip slot I prepare this one anyways because why wouldn’t they use magic to tidy up or make something more palatable? But there just aren’t that many mechanical uses for this spell during the adventuring day. I have seen someone dust off the wall to reveal ancient writing, make a tiny object to prop a light door open, or to throw it to distract guards. So it’s not 100% useless, but there’s little it can do that another tool or spell can’t do.

Protect Companion (*): You shouldn’t be using minions or eidolons in combat (except maybe occasionally having a familiar cast a spell or restore your focus point depending on what abilities you gave it) so you shouldn’t have any need for this spell.

Puff of Poison (*): You can kick social distancing to the curb with this spell, as you can literally poison someone by breathing on them! That said the initial damage, and the persistent damage that follows, is utterly unimpressive and also dependent on their fort save. Something a lot of enemies tend to be pretty good at.

Ray of Frost (***): Cold damage is one of the more common energy weaknesses, so spellstriking with this or using it to add cold damage to your arcane cascade is a decent idea, though the damage isn’t particularly impressive at (1d4*Spell rank)+1d4 cold damage. On a crit it can reduce enemy speeds for a bit but what is standout about the spell is that incredible 120 foot range! While ideally you’ll never actually need that much range, sometimes you may encounter someone who doesn’t want to engage you in melee, but very few things can engage you at range to any practical effect and outrange this spell. This spell is a worthy addition to any Magus’s spellbook.

Read Aura (*): So at first this gives you more detail than Detect Magic does. But once Detect Magic starts heightening, it takes over Read Aura’s primary use while working much faster.

Root Reading (**): Decent for reducing your chances of getting ambushed in an area with plenty of trees and shrubbery. But in other locales, not so much.

Scatter Scree (**): A fairly sad amount of damage in a small area. Part of what saves this spell from being almost useless is that you create two squares of difficult terrain in the area you cast it in. This can become a useful, if imperfect, tool for controlling the battlefield. Prevent enemies from stepping, if well placed you can force them to adjust their movement or slow it down. Sometimes an enemy may elect to waste one of their actions removing the rubble.

Shield (****): +1 to your AC for the turn. And you can “shield block” with it, though if you do you can’t cast it again for 10 minutes. Is it worth it? Depends on the spell rank. At 1st, it has a hardness of 5. Then a hardness of 10 at spell rank 3rd. Hardness 15 at 5th. Hardness 20 at 7th. Capping at hardness 25 at 9th. What really makes this blue, is that this is one of the few spells that takes only a single action to cast, so you can cast it, drop into Arcane Cascade, and still have one action leftover. This is available to every Magus, and the efficiency it brings for entering Arcane Cascade should be exploited to the hilt!

Sigil (*): While I can see some good times being had with magical graffiti, this really isn’t that useful for a Magus.

Slashing Gust (*): Good news, it can target up to two enemies like electric arc, and from further away. Bad news, you need one hand free per target so this could be limited by your choice in hybrid study. This even carries over to spellstriking since Spellstrike doesn’t magically (ha-ha) eliminate the casting requirement of having a hand free, so this spell is impractical for all hybrid studies except the Laughing Shadow. And even then the Laughing Shadow has better damaging cantrips than this.

Spout (**): If you’re fighting in or around a body of water, this spell is pretty powerful, given it can affect up to four creatures in water. However outside of water it will only affect one space, though it is still an area effect and works well against swarms and troops. Outside of that though, it’s based on your Spell DCs and not that great, even the critical failure effect of putting enemies off-guard is unlikely to take.

Summon Instrument (*): Put that thing away and get off the stage you uncharismatic hack!

Take Root (**): It’s like the shield cantrip except it can work on multiple allies, and the bonus is against attempts to shove, disarm, or trip. All things you probably want to avoid having happen but it’s usually more imperative to defend yourself from enemy strikes.

Tangle Vine (**): As a spell with the attack trait it's immediately usable with spellstrike. It just doesn’t do any damage. What it does do, is impose a movement speed penalty, or possibly even immobilize them for a round. I’d prepare this on a day where I’m expecting to need to capture someone, but otherwise not a regular preparation in my cantrip’s slots.

Telekinetic Hand (***): Grab and move light objects at a distance. At spell rank 3rd it can move objects up to 1 bulk. At 5th, it can reach objects 60 feet away. At 7th it can move objects of 2 bulk or less. Can be a useful utility if for any reason going over to physically retrieve an object seems less than ideal.

Telekinetic Projectile (***): At (1d6*spell rank)+1d6 damage, it does as much initial damage as gouging claw. However it lacks Gouging Claw’s or Ignition’s ability to deal persistent damage which gives it a lower damage potential than those two spells. However what it lacks there it gains instead in versatility. It can deal bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage, ensuring that you have every physical damage type covered! Not a bad spell to put in your spellbook. That it has a 30 foot range for the odd situation you might need it doesn’t hurt.

Timber (*): Not even being able to shout this spell’s name at the top of your lungs is able to save this spell from a red rating. It’s a line area spell as a cantrip. Both the area and damage on the cantrip are pretty sad.

Time Sense (***): Essentially a self-bless with the added benefit of knowing exactly what time it is. Plus it’s a one-action spell so it’s easy to drop into Arcane Cascade with! Shield might still be better for having its main function be more readily available, but this isn’t a bad spell at all.

Torturous Trauma [U] (**): There’s nothing really special about this spell. Can’t spellstrike with it, and you’re not likely to get the fatigued condition to land with your spell DCs.

Tremor Signs (*): It’s like the Message spell. Except that it can’t send actual words. And it requires your target to share an earthen surface with you. And there are some creatures capable of eavesdropping on it. So… yeah it’s a worse version of Message.

Void Warp (**): 30 foot range for (1d4*Spell rank) + 1d4, and a Fortitude Save. Pretty meh, it’s usable but there are plenty of cantrips that do as much damage or more than this one.

Warp Step (***): For a cantrip this is a pretty powerful positioning spell. Unfortunately it does take two actions so there’s little else you can do this turn with your action economy but this has its uses if you need to close a large distance, or if you need to beat a hasty retreat. Useless for a Laughing Shadow since the Laughing Shadow already gets a status bonus to their speed via Arcane Cascade.

1st-rank Spells

Acidic Burst (**): It does as much damage as Breathe Fire but in a smaller area. Getting the most out of this means getting surrounded by enemies. A bit difficult to use effectively.

Admonishing Ray (**): Damage is a bit weak for a first rank single target spell, but it deals nonlethal damage so in cases where you absolutely have to take someone alive, this can be a boon.

Agitate (**): Even on a success the target is forced to take mental damage, or spend one of its actions moving in some way to avoid taking that mental damage. In theory this is free damage or a way to make them waste actions. However there’s always the chance that the enemy in question will have to move this turn anyways, either to pursue someone, or to stay flying.

Air Bubble (**): This is one of those spells you prepare knowing ahead of time you might be going somewhere you’re expecting to lose oxygen. Situational.

Airburst [U] (*): This Uncommon spell is basically the Gale Blast Cantrip taking only 1 action, but dealing no damage, and taking up one of your preciously limited spell slots. When heightened to 4th, it gets a bit of a large area and pushes them farther, but that’s certainly not going to be worth one of your 4th rank spells. If you really are concerned with pushing a multitude of foes away from you, and as a Magus you rarely are, just use Gale Blast.

Alarm (***): While you can just set up a watch rotation to get mostly the same level of security, sometimes the person you’ve set on watch rolls badly on perception and this spell serves as a fallback, and this spell can subvert any attempt to sneak up on you. Other spellcasters probably have more room for this spell than you will, but nothing’s stopping you from getting this on a scroll or wand.

Animate Rope (**): With your spell attack rolls and DCs you’re not likely to bind a creature in combat with it (and the speed penalty may not be worth the effort even if you had better attack rolls/DCs). This does have a use in remotely tying a rope to a distant anchor without any fuss. However I’ve found that having the party’s main climber climb ahead and secure the rope themselves is just as effective.

Ant Haul (*): In the early game a DEX-based Magus or another party member might have some trouble carrying all of their gear. Huge emphasis on might. Even from level 1 a backpack can usually handle your bulk needs and later on you and the party will get magical containers for all your bulk needs. Unlikely to need this.

Anticipate Peril (*): Yes you really do have to do what the spell name says in order to even use it effectively. And the +1 bonus you gain isn’t worth the spell slot either. Now as the spell heightens it does cap off at an impressive +4 bonus to initiative at spell rank 7th, but that’s still a rank 7 spell slot for a one-off bonus when there are other ways to get bonuses to initiative.

Aqueous Blast [R] (*): This just makes it so you can use your remaining actions in a round to make ranged attacks with water blasts. Since the attacks you make with this spell aren’t part of casting the spell, you can’t use this with Spellstrike and so you have to rely on using your weaker spell attack rolls for each blast. This spell is for the full spell-casters. Not you.

Befuddle (*): The one-round duration on this spell would make it a hard sell even to full caster classes, much less you, your few spell slots, and your lower save DC’s. Good conditions to inflict on a caster, but they just don’t last long enough to be super impactful.

Breadcrumbs (**): Never split the party! But if you ever break this rule you can do worse than this spell. If you ever need to keep track of someone for any reason this can help with tracking them down. Of course it might be hard to pull off subterfuge with this since the trail is visible to everyone.

Breathe Fire (**): A decent area damage spell for the first two spell-ranks, but without expansive spellstrike you can only hurt one enemy with it. Even if I had Expansive Spellstrike I would only prepare this if I had a reasonable expectation of being in an enclosed space where enemies are likely to be grouped up. Becomes COMPLETELY overshadowed by other blast spells by third rank.

Briny Bolt (***): Your spellstrike can now splash sea water in someone’s face! At first the damage is only marginally better than a same-rank cantrip, but at least it comes with a temporary blinding condition which is nice. If you keep heightening the spell its damage will grow to out-pace your damaging cantrips while still carrying the 1-round blinding effect, or possibly even dazzling them on a critical success!

Buoyant Bubbles (**): This spell adds alliterative appeal, and also prevents creatures from sinking or diving beneath the water. Might have its uses, but obviously only in an aquatic environment.

Camel Spit (*): Since you only “cast a spell” on the initial casting and the rest of the attacks aren’t “cast a spell” this is only compatible with spellstrike on the first go and you’re stuck with spell attacks for the rest of its duration. Sure it can dazzle on a hit, but gouging claw does more damage at no cost to your spell slots. Hard pass on this.

Carryall (**): This pack mule spell can help at lower levels until you get magical containers to carry all of your stuff for you instead. When heightened to 4th-rank, you can start toting around party members on it too!

Charm (**): Lacking much of an effect even on a success the incapacitation tag makes this spell even less charming (See what I did there?) than it would already be due to your lower spell DC. Still in a social situation there might be use for this, if you’re not afraid to risk a faux pas.

Chilling Spray (**): It’s like Breathe Fire but less damage and the chance of inflicting a speed penalty on the targets hit by this spell. Even more situational than Breathe Fire.

Command (**): Another spell dependent entirely on a saving throw to get the most out of. Now at 5th rank (***) the spell does affect 10 targets, and as they say, cast a wide-enough net and you’re bound to catch something. You could potentially make mooks waste at least 2 actions. Is it worth a 5th-rank slot? Maaaaybe.

Conductive Weapon (**): While the +1 bonus to attack will only work right up until you or another martial get a +1 weapon, the shock bonus will always be available, which is especially nice against metal (wearing) enemies. Probably not worth the spell slot outside of those situations though.

Create Water (**): Pretty much a spell you only prepare if you expect to be on the road for a long time without a plentiful water source. Great for that situation and that situation alone.

Dehydrate (**): Inflict persistent damage in a small area, and there’s a chance to enfeeble them as well. It does involve a lot of fortitude saves to get that far though.

Deja Vu (*): With only a success and failure condition, your spell DC will hold you back here, not to mention the enemy basically chooses how it acts anyways so it’s not like you can time this to make them waste actions.

Disguise Magic (**): If you’re trying to fool someone who can detect magic then this is the spell to do it with. Though it’s not good for anything else.

Dizzying Colors (**): The chance to blind and stun a small group of people is pretty cool. Sadly it’s not likely given your DC’s, but it at least has a small boon for one round even on a successful save.

Draw Ire (**): The hardy Inexorable Iron and iron-walled Sparkling Targe hybrid studies might get some use out of this one. Even if they succeed the enemy will be forced to attack you or take mental damage and suffer a penalty to attack anyone else. Other Magus Hybrid Studies can give this one a pass.

Echoing Weapon (*): Bonus damage of 1 sonic damage per successful strike this turn. You are probably only going to be making one strike a round, while other classes are unlikely to get more than 2 due to MAP. Pretty pitiful and there is a significantly better weapon buff at this rank.

Elysian Whimsy [U] (*): Bring a little more chaos into the world by casting a randomized effect on your target that ranges from movement speed penalties to wasting one action. Some of the effects will cause them to waste a whole turn on a critical failure, but the spell has the incapacitation tag which, when mixed with your lower spell DC, makes the critical failure unlikely to happen. The same rank Command spell is better for wasting actions than this one, and Command can also be heightened for additional effect.

Endure (**): False Vitality’s younger sibling that only lasts one minute. It can actually grant more temporary hit points than false vitality, which makes this more applicable in combat, though it can’t be cast ahead of time the same way false vitality can be.

Enfeeble (**): On the off-chance you can get a failure or critical failure out of the enemy this will HAMSTRING enemies that rely on Strength. But that’s depending on them rolling against your rather pitiful Spell DC.

Exchange Image [U] (**): Fantastic for infiltrating a location, but you aren’t going to have the deception to keep up the ruse for long.

Fashionista [U] (**): Be the Fairy Godmother to a poor girl who just wanted to go to the ball! That said other than being a quick way to get ready for the ball, it leans on using a social skill. Useless for yourself? Sure, unless MAYBE you’re a Laughing Shadow. But you can cast this on another party member so if you need a distraction this can be selectively useful.

Fear (**): Frightened is a nasty condition, and this spell works even on a success. But targeting only 1 creature limits its versatility. That goes away once this spell is heightened to spell rank 3 (***)! Then you can hit 5 targets and potentially reduce their saves and checks! If you wind up with 3rd rank spell slots that are free this is a great spell to put in there.

Flashy Disappearance [U] (***): For our next trick! Watch as we use an uncommon spell to disappear in a puff of smoke! Sadly this only lasts until you end the movement associated with this but it’s a good stop-gap between now and the invisibility spell.

Fleet Step (***): It only lasts 1 minute but this gives you an absolutely MASSIVE increase to your movement speed for the duration of whatever challenge is right in front of you. Notably this spell is an option for Arcane Shroud if you take that feat at level 14, so you can buff, and then get into the fight incredibly quickly! At low levels this is a pretty good spell to have as a movement buff.

Flense [U] (***): Two of its three uses require a spell attack roll so you can use it for spellstrike. At rank 1 the average damage is only one or two hit-points better than Gouging Claw’s average damage, which isn’t worth one of your spell-slots.

Flourishing Flora (*): The damage is about par with cantrips and the additional effects that would make this spell worth using only happen if the enemy gets a critical failure. Pass.

Fold Metal (*): Maaaaaaaybe to smuggle metal weapons past someone? Though smart enough guards who notice the smooth metal orbs are probably still going to be asking questions.

Force Barrage (**): It is guaranteed damage. Not much damage but it is guaranteed damage. Given that the Magus’s lower spell attacks and DCs make no difference here I’d normally rate this higher but the Magus doesn’t necessarily have the spell slots to spare for this.

Friendfetch [U] (***): Requires some coordination with your party but this actually has some potential in basically giving up to 2 teammates a fourth action to move towards you. Pull them out of danger, move your melee strikers into melee with you. There’s tactical potential here if you know how to use it. It is uncommon though so it will take some effort to add to your book most of the time.

Gentle Landing (**): Were you a full caster you might have left this one in your lower-rank spell slots “just in case.” But you are not. Maybe have this ready in the event you go mountain climbing.

Goblin Pox (**): Sickened is a pretty sick (I regret nothing) condition, but with your spell DC it won’t last too long. Still if this can get them to waste actions trying to remove it, it’s not bad.

Gravitational Pull (**): If you’re built for melee this spell’s effect is pretty nice, except you won’t have the best spell DC for them to roll against and they may resist you entirely. Note that unless the enemy is perched on a cliff or unless you have the actions to spare to pull more than 1 target, you’re probably better off just striding to your target.

Grease (***): With your DC you’re not likely to actually trip anyone or, my personal favorite, make that humanoid boss take a penalty to use their weapon, but you can still make squares the equivalent of difficult terrain, slowing their movement greatly, or provide an ally an easier chance to escape grabs. Still a versatile spell.

Grim Tendrils (*): With your spell DC the damage is going to be pitiful, and the bleed isn’t likely to take either. Unfortunate.

Gritty Wheeze [U] (**): Force the experts to re-evaluate what constitutes proper social distancing with this spell by breathing out a 15-foot cone at your foes! Less damage than Breathe Fire, but the failure conditions also inflict the dazzled condition, which you are sadly not likely to hit with your save DC’s, except against water or plant creatures.

Gust of Wind (**): Disperse clouds, and for 1 round you can possibly prevent multiple creatures from moving where they want to if you place this spell particularly well.

Helpful Steps (**): It’s not a combat spell, but if you need to scale a cliff, descend a steep drop, or infiltrate a multi-story building this might just be the actual best spell for those specific purposes! Keep it in your spellbook for those ‘just in case’ moments and consider getting a wand for this spell.

Hippocampus Retreat (**): So same upfront damage as gouging claw but no persistent damage. However it DOES come with a built in option to hit and run as part of your spellstrike if it’s REALLY necessary. Oh did I say hit and run? I meant hit and SWIM. Selective use, but that’s better than no use.

Horizon Thunder Sphere (**): Though it has the Attack trait, this actually pairs poorly with Spellstrike. It deals less damage than Shocking Grasp, and it only deals the dazzled condition if you critically hit. Not to mention the spell gets more versatile the more actions you’re willing to invest into it, and spellstrike doesn’t allow you to use the 3 or more action version of this spell.

Hydraulic Push (****): Deals less damage than Shocking Grasp, but in exchange for that lesser damage you get to push the target back 5 feet. If for some reason electricity damage isn’t cutting it, you can do worse than this spell as a fallback.

Illusory Disguise (**): Whether you can’t be seen in public, whether you’re infiltrating a place, this is the go-to spell to do it with. You probably won’t have the deception to keep up the ruse for too long under intense scrutiny, but under casual observation you might do alright. If your campaign requires you to disguise yourself frequently, consider getting a Hat of Disguise instead. At higher ranks you can even disguise the rest of your party.

Illusory Object (**): The versatility of this spell depends on your own creativity. If used well, the illusion may not ever come under the scrutiny that would make your spell DC a problem. The Spell gets much better when heightened (***), the 2nd-rank version working on more senses than just vision, and the 5th-rank version lasting for an unlimited amount of time.

Interposing Earth (**): With more spell slots this would be an okay spell to have to cast as a reaction. Without more spell slots though, you have other viable defensive options.

Invisible Item (**): If you NEED to hide an object, you can do so with this spell. Whether you need to hide it from anyone coming to look for it, or you need to carry it without it being seen on your person. It won’t convey any real combat advantage, except to hide your position if you use the invisible weapon as a throwing weapon, which will last for exactly one use; so still not a practical spell for combat purposes, but espionage purposes this could be quite useful.

Item Facade (*): I mean I guess a used chariot salesman might get a use out of this…? Oh wait, a chariot is probably too big. But yeah hard to find too much practical value out of this spell.

Instant Pottery (*): Maybe if you need to hide something in a pot and one isn’t available? But is it going to even do that much if said pot is obviously a product of magic? And you can’t even make it a particularly artistic looking pot which sounds like that would have been half the fun of this spell. Like… why?

Jump (****): Prepare to make Link REALLY jealous. It was already a fantastic movement spell for a 1st-rank spell, but this spell takes only one action and so you can actually use this to drop straight into Arcane Cascade right away, and move in closer to an enemy for a quick opening strike to boot! Heck, at 3rd-Rank it lasts for one whole minute so that you or whoever you touch can leap around obstacles for a good long while!

Kinetic Ram (**): While the two-action version has decent range and can push enemies back further, it still depends on their saving throw against your lower spell DC; plus Hydraulic Push can be combined with Spellstrike.

Leaden Steps (*): This can render a target encumbered, which is clumsy 1 and a penalty to their speed. This would be pretty good except that it has a duration of sustained! So unfortunately this spell is going to be relegated to being only useful if you’re up for some slapstick humor.

Lock (**): If your campaign has you operate out of a regular home or base of operations this spell could come in handy.

Tailwind (***): While a Laughing Shadow Magus already gets a status bonus to speed, other varieties of Magi will like this one, ESPECIALLY the 2nd-rank version. I’d recommend sticking the 2nd-rank version on a wand.

Mending (*): You already have the potential to be pretty good at the crafting skill, you don’t need this spell.

Message Rune (**): In case you ever needed to tell Obi-Wan Kenobi you needed help. Leave a message behind you for someone to find and activate.

Mindlink (**): The range of situations that this is useful in is fairly narrow.

Mud Pit (***): Takes more actions to cast, and it’s less versatile than grease. But as far as creating difficult terrain is concerned it definitely beats out Grease in that regard.

Mystic Armor: This spell actually sits in an odd place for the Magus. At 1st level it’s a terrible (*) waste of a spell slot, as a Magus can just wear armor to match or exceed what they could get from this spell. However, once a DEX-Magus gets +5 to DEX, it is actually cheaper to upgrade a Wand of Mystic Armor to the appropriate rank (***) than it is to purchase and upgrade armor potency and resilience runes. Now of course Mystic Armor can be dispelled but under most circumstances that’d be rather meta-gamey on your GM’s part. Of course once you hit Level 20 this spell becomes useless (*) again because you don’t have 10-Rank slots, and 10th-Rank wands don’t exist in the game, so back to shelling out for a +3 Major Resilient Armor for you at this point!

Necromancer’s Generosity (*): You really aren’t going to have the actions to be a minion master type of spellcaster, so spells to supplement minions aren’t of use to you. Though if you want to continue the trend of giving your Pharasmin party member a conniption then by all means.

Negate Aroma (*): This is soooooo specific…

Noxious Vapors (*): Though you’d be doing your allies a favor using the previous spell after you cast this one! Not that you should bother with Noxious Vapors. The damage is pitiful and you’re not likely to get enemies who critically fail to justify using this spell for the sickened condition. Concealment in cloud effects is always a double-edged sword.

Nudge the Odds [U] (*): This only helps you with using one specific lore skill, and it also has a built-in means of giving you away so it’s not even that good at the thing the spell is made to do. It’s more likely to get you thrown out of the casino and beaten up by bouncers. And you’d deserve it. You dirty cheater.

Overselling Flourish [U] (**): Fake an injury in the most unsportsmanlike and extra way you possibly can and hope they fall for it. Sadly the duration is very short and with your spell DC’s they might not even fail to begin with.

Penumbral Shroud (*): Make it so a single target perceives light as one step weaker. Against opponents without the appropriate senses this can make others concealed to them, but that’s it. Not any real use against a target whose senses are already adapted for the lower light conditions. The other use is if you have a vampire in the party… man you really are trying to kill your Pharasmin party member aren’t you?

Personal Rain Cloud [U] (*): This one’s just mean. Okay sure someone gets some minor fire resistance, and you can damage creatures weak to water… of which there aren’t many at all. Really the only use for this one is to make someone absolutely miserable for one minute.

Pest Form (**): Overall a downgrade to your physical stats, except if you’re STR-based and you don’t have a better scout available in your party. Then you can turn into an innocuous animal to go and spy with their impressive stealth mod. At spell rank 4th it gets a fly speed but by that point that +10 stealth mod means nothing.

Pet Cache (**): It’s more secure than your backpack whenever you encounter danger, but not by much. Your familiar will generally be okay.

Phantasmal Minion (**): I mean maybe if you needed to clean a room in a hurry? Well okay it still has some utility in going down that obviously trapped hall to check it out, but there’s less costly ways to check for traps. (Pst… send the barbarian first.)

Pocket Library (**): Hopefully there’s no late fees with this. While the bonus to knowledge checks could be helpful, I’d put this on a scroll and save it for a scenario in which you have to do some in-depth research.

Pummeling Rubble (**): Less damage than Breathe Fire, but it has a chance to push creatures back who fail the save. Might be better if your save DCs could realistically rival a full-caster’s.

Quick Sort (*): Between this spell and the Approximate cantrip it makes you wonder if the Accountant Archetype is in the works. How about it, Paizo? Anyways yeah, unless you’re in a game that has you playing the part of a magical office worker you’re really not going to get much use out of this.

Restyle (*): Despite the rating I love this spell. The fact that someone was conscientious enough to make this spell alone is fantastic. Anyways, not sure I’d ever put this on a scroll or a wand, but might be worth adding to your spellbook just as a spell you cast at some point over your downtime. If you’re going adventuring, may as well go stylin’!

Runic Body: It is EXACTLY like Runic Weapon below, only for unarmed strikes instead of weapons. That means this spell shares the same period of incredible use (****)! Followed by the same pitfalls at later levels (**).

Runic Weapon: At character levels 1 to 3, this might be the best spell in the whole game (****). This not only improves your chance to hit with the weapon you enchant, but it also adds one more damage die. At the early levels this makes a DEVASTATING impact on your damage output. By character level 4, you should have much easier access to +1 striking weapons. From then on the heightened versions of this spell at 6th Rank and 9th Rank wind up becoming more like stop-gaps for a single level before you get the next tier of striking rune. Useful for those short periods (**) but not by too terribly much. Prepare it and love it for a short while, but don’t get too attached as you grow young adventurer; but at least you’ll always remember the good times.

Schadenfreude (*): I don’t know about you, but if the trigger reads “You critically fail a saving throw against a foe’s effect,” I’d much rather that the reaction be something to help me survive getting cooked/mind-controlled/banished to another dimension rather than make my enemies indulge in evil laughter. Unfortunately the effect you fail against must come from a spell-caster or the like because the crit fail condition is unlikely, and stupefied only gets best results against casters.

Scorching Blast [R] (*): Everything I’ve said about Aqueous Blast applies here as well.

Scouring Sand [U] (*): Tired of making your Pharasmin foam at the mouth? How about your druid instead? Kill non-magical plantlife smaller than a tree in a 10-foot burst, and then try to counteract any magical plant effects in that area like entangle. This can potentially clear some difficult terrain and if you’re fortunate you might counteract plant-based crowd control abilities or even dazzle enemies. But the latter are not super likely with your spell attacks and DC’s. Worse yet the sustained duration eats into your actions.

Seashell of Stolen Sound (**): This is amazing in a game of spies and subterfuge. Outside of that though there’s little else it can be of practical use for. Also there is the tricky bit of having seashells on hand so this is further situational thanks to that.

Share Lore (**): Maybe on a scroll? Lore skills are situational by design and making everyone trained in your lore skill is really just so everyone can make a roll and hope someone gets a success.

Shattering Gem (*): There are faster ways to deal damage and more reliable ways to block damage without using up one of your spell slots. Pass.

Shielded Arm (**): Okay let’s face it, blocking a sword with your bare arm would be TOTALLY boss! For non-targes in melee this can be an excellent way to get a +2 circumstance bonus to your AC when you raise a shield. The AC bonus is nice enough that you shouldn’t dismiss it out of hand, however this does create an additional action economy consideration on you so this spell will require some expertise on your part to use effectively.

Shocking Grasp (****): The favorite spell of the Magus since 1st Edition. This does the most damage of any spell at this rank, and indeed it has few rivals in damage even as you keep heightening it. It will even continue doing persistent damage against targets wearing metal or are made of metal. It is unclear if the +1 circumstance bonus to attack applies to the Spellstrike or not, ask your GM. Either way the only time this spell will fail you is if you run into enemies highly resistant, or immune, to electricity damage.

Shockwave (***): Even on a success, but not a critical success, you can render anyone in a 15-foot cone off-guard until the start of their turn! Make sure you time this spell so that your allies get a turn before the enemies you targeted with this spell.

Signal Skyrocket (*): There are better things to do with your scant-few 1st level spell slots than use it for an emergency flare. Using it indoors is even worse since the damage is pretty pitiful, and the restrictions on the spell’s direction and radius means that the odds are good that you will have no choice but to catch yourself and/or your own team in the blast radius along with your enemies. Just go buy your own fireworks, much more fun than this spell.

Sleep (**): I can’t recommend this one for combat, even heightened to 4th rank the duration is pretty short, but this is still a useful spell in case you need to avoid combat. Though your lower DC’s is going to make this weaker than if another spellcaster used it.

Snowball (**): The damage is pretty pitiful and the speed penalty is less useful to you than it would be to someone who was trying to avoid melee with this target.

Spider Sting (**): The poison damage is a paltry bonus compared to the enfeebled condition they get from this poison… if it takes, which isn’t as likely as we’d like it to be.

Summon Animal (*): I generally find on-level summon spells to be useful for spellcasters. But the Magus isn’t one of those casters. If a Magus is going to spellstrike as often as possible, they cannot afford to spend an action every turn sustaining a summon. Your familiar is a much cooler pet anyways, don’t waste actions you don’t have to spare trying to make this one work.

Summon Construct (*): Oh come on! What did I just say?

Summon Undead (*): Considering the above point the only use left for this spell is to give the party’s devotee of Pharasma a conniption; and why would you want to do that?

Sure Strike (****): One of the most valuable spells available to a Magus and the primary reason to get a Ring of Wizardry! Negate concealed AND hidden. Ignore circumstance penalties to your attack check, and you get to roll TWICE and take the better result! Even only being able to cast this once-per-combat this is still a valuable way to make sure this lands that crucial spellstrike!

Synchronize (*): A magical timer. I’ve yet to join the game group that requires super precise timing on stuff that this spell would be necessary for.

Synchronize Steps [U] (**): If ONLY this weren’t a sustained spell, this would add so many tactical options for a group, even at the cost of reactions just having the option to move or step outside of your turn is AMAZING! Unfortunately the sustained duration makes this difficult for a Magus to use consistently.

Temporary Tool (*): The simple tools (and NOT KITS!!!) that this would conjure up are trivial to pick up beforehand.

Tether (**): It can prevent enemies from getting too far from you, but it’s still imperfect and they shouldn’t have too hard a time escaping.

Thicket of Knives (**): Not much use to most Magi, but the bonus to feinting can be good for the Laughing Shadow Magus. The Laughing Shadow Magus may wish to keep this spell on a wand.

Thoughtful Gift (**): If you’re prone to carrying a lot of consumables you can pass them to a party member with this spell, but you don’t have the spell slots to really justify this song and dance.

Threefold Limb [U] (***): Initially it’s not any more powerful than an offensive cantrip. However it scales significantly better than one, and you can flexibly choose among cold, bludgeoning, or fire damage as appropriate. Furthermore the strike does an additional useful effect on a successful strike. It’s an overall solid offensive spell to use with your spellstrike.

Thunderstrike (***): Okay so it’s based on the enemy’s save, but if you hit something wearing or made of metal, they suffer a penalty to that save, and as long as they took damage from the spell they’re clumsy 1 for the round. Not a bad spell to pair with spellstrike at all.

Ventriloquism (**): Could be useful if you were looking to hide your exact position from someone who’s onto you. But worth a spell slot? Might’ve already had some better infiltration or subterfuge spells.

Wall of Shrubs (**): Sadly you can’t cheat at your gardening contest with spell as the duration is too short. But you can create lesser cover with this spell. Good for parties who like their ranged attacks. At 3rd-rank and 5th-rank the shrubs get taller as well as providing cover and greater cover respectively.

Weaken Earth (**): Maybe if you need to break through something, or if you’re running into earth or stone enemies on the regular.

Weave Wood (**): It can be a way to get some wood-based supplies for yourself. But if you’ve memorized this spell I have to ask, why are you an adventurer!? You could open your own business with this spell!

Wooden Fists (**): Get as swoll as Popeye the Sailor Man with no Spinach required! Admittedly you can get most of the benefits of this once-and-done spell just from taking the Arcane Fists feat, but it does also give your unarmed strikes reach so there’s that. Even heightening the spell doesn’t change that thanks to hand wraps of mighty blows.

2nd-rank Spells

Acid Grip (***): Combined with spellstrike you can potentially do some damage as well as giving them a speed debuff and reposition even when they get a success on a fort save.

Animated Assault (*): Another spell whose damage depends entirely on your weaker spell DC. It’s also a sustained duration spell which you can’t really afford to keep using.

Ash Cloud (**): Potential crowd control against flying creatures, though the negation of the scent imprecise sense is probably not going to be too reliable. As always, concealment via fog is a double-edged sword and requires careful use to exploit to full effect.

Befitting Attire (**): Takes less time than standing still for the fitter! Obviously more useful for huge social situations where noble characters are more likely to judge you for what you’re wearing, the snobs!

Blazing Armory (***): When you first get it, Runic Weapon is still going to outclass it. But once heightened to 4th-rank you can start outfitting any of your martial fighters with +1 Striking weapons that deal fire damage in a single cast of this spell! The ranks this spell gains a heightened effect will be slightly behind weapon potency runes, but they will keep one step ahead of striking runes for the most part. This spell serves as a nice back-up option if your team runs into enemies that are either weak to fire, or up against an enemy that resists their physical damage type.

Blazing Bolt (**): So yes it is an attack spell and thus it can be used with Spellstrike by default. The problem is that using it with Spellstrike is a waste of Blazing Bolt. Blazing Bolt’s main strength lies in the fact that it fires at one target per action spent casting it at no increase to your MAP until all the rays have been fired. Spellstrike only affects a single target. Only way Blazing Bolt can use its potential with Spellstrike is with Spell Swipe and/or Whirlwind Strike. And of course your spell attack rolls will be a bit low to have that much luck casting the spell normally.

Blood Duplicate [U] (*): So… you create something non-magical, non-valuable, that’s obviously fake to the touch, and can’t go more than five feet from you. WHAT PRACTICAL USE does this have over just picking up and using the item you had to touch to cast this spell in the first place!?

Blood Vendetta (**): It takes your reaction on top of your spell slot and they get a will save, but the amount of bleed damage that this spell can inflict is absolutely disgusting (no really, they’re bleeding all over the place now)! This might be worth preparing at least in the earlier parts of the game.

Blur (****): Give yourself or an ally the concealed condition. We’ve thrown around this word a lot but now’s as good a time as any to explain what that means; targeting a concealed creature requires one to pass a DC5 flat check or else the action is wasted. That means you effectively reduce the number of hits you take by one fifth! This is worth putting on a wand as you leave your second-rank spells behind.

Bone Spray (**): Less up front damage than a same-rank Breathe Fire, but the sharp, pointy bones you eject from your hands like a freak of nature will cause persistent bleed damage.

Boneshaker (**): Single target damage and, if you spend three actions, forced movement. Requires that they fail their save to make this particularly worthwhile, and not terribly action-efficient for a single-target spell either.

Brine Dragon Bile (**): It’s a way to inflict persistent damage using only a reaction, but it also depends on your middling spell attack roll.

Burrow Ward (*): This would already be a situational, if situationally great, method of crowd-control against burrowing enemies. Sadly the sustained duration eats into the Magus’s precious actions.

Cauterize Wounds (**): In the unlikely event multiple party members suffer from persistent bleed damage, this can be an effective method of getting rid of it. It’s not guaranteed but it’s still better odds then hoping you get a lucky flat-check against the standard DC.

Charitable Urge (**): Even on a success the creature will be stunned for 1 round, maybe not worth two of your actions but better than nothing. I could also see this being used to make someone give you something you know it has but it won’t hand over willingly. Unfortunately this does have the incapacitation trait.

Clad in Metal (**): It’s useful to have if you really need a certain metal to trigger weaknesses or bypass resistances to certain metals, but this isn’t going to be too frequent a necessity.

Cleanse Air (**): Situational enough to warrant maybe a scroll, but not to prepare in one of your few spell slots.

Cloud Dragon’s Cloak (*): Hidden is an amazing buff to have. Alas this can only be triggered by enemies using ranged attacks and it only lasts one round.

Confetti Cloud [U] (**): Be that annoying neighbor who won’t stop the party! But really this spell is basically a smaller Mist with an additional perception interference effect. All the same bonuses and drawbacks of Mist.

Create Food (**): This is the spell for if you didn’t bring rations or lack someone able to procure food with survival.

Dancing Shield [U] (**): Only situation I can think of this spell, and its heightened version at 4th, being useful is if you are on your last legs but another martial character isn’t, so you can maybe provide them some cover while you back out. But that’s a niche use.

Darkness (**): If absolutely everyone in your party can see in the dark while you have enemies who can’t, this spell makes for amazing crowd control! However if you don’t meet either of those conditions then you’re going to have problems. The 4th-rank of this spell is probably more of a detriment to you since it is exceptionally difficult to get greater darkvision as a PC.

Darkvision (**): Normally it’s more resource efficient to just use the light cantrip or other mundane sources of light rather than dedicate a spell slot to this spell. But making it a scroll or wand isn’t a terrible idea at all since this is much better suited for stealth than carrying a mote of bright light with you everywhere. The wand especially becomes a good idea at 5th-Rank (****) since the spell’s duration will now last until your next daily preparations.

Deafness (**): This is usually only a hindrance to spellcasters, but if the enemy is a dedicated spellcaster their fort save is usually weaker so your chance of deafening them for a meaningful length of time isn’t zero.

Dismantle (*): Do locks count? If so this becomes orange (**) instead.

Dispel Magic (***): You may not have the spellcasting modifier to be as good at using this as the dedicated spellcasters, but here’s the important thing about counteract checks; even if you roll a normal failure, you can dispel any magic that is at least 1 rank lower than the spell rank of dispel magic! Oftentimes buff spells are left in their base-rank spell slots so this is still useful to you if you’re anticipating troublesome spellcasters!

Elemental Zone (**): Could be worthy on a wand, scroll or on spare lower rank spell slots if you acquire them somehow. It’s a way to give your elemental spells a minor damage boost for one fight where the damage boost could really come in handy. Though I wouldn’t recommend the heightened versions, the damage scales too slowly to be worth it.

Embed Message (*): Leave a short message in a location. Yeah… not really a whole lot you’re likely to use this spell for. The number of situations where this is more useful than leaving a note is VERY small.

Empathic Link [U] (**): Could be useful in keeping rough tabs on how your scout or someone you’re watching over is doing. Not as powerful as the spells that grant some form of telepathic communication but those won’t be for a few levels yet.

Empty Pack (**): Not a perfect smuggling spell, but for its spell rank it’s still pretty good; making casual observations to find stuff in the pack fail, and making determined attempts to search that pack a lot harder.

Enlarge (***): The clumsy condition makes this a risky proposition for your AC, but you do gain additional reach and melee damage! The reach especially is nice! The 4th-rank version of the spell gives you even more damage and reach without any further penalty! Obviously not that good a spell for DEX-based Magus.

Entangling Flora (***): So the odds of them failing against your Spell DC and taking a speed penalty or being immobilized is pretty low, but you still create difficult terrain with this spell and that’s some pretty effective crowd control.

Environmental Endurance (**): At lower levels you can just make sure your character wears appropriate attire instead; but heightened to 5th rank this becomes very useful in the event you need to travel to a location with extreme weather conditions. Still not a spell to prepare until you need it; I’d recommend putting it on a scroll for when you need it.

Everlight (**): Maybe to decorate your home if you have one, but otherwise if you need a constant light source you can just cast the light spell. Or if you really don’t want to use that cantrip slot for light, you could cast Everlight on the gem in question, stow it when you don’t need it, and retrieve it when you do. Though this means you won’t need the spell but once in theory.

Expeditious Excavation (**): Truth told, the ability to dig that much dirt that fast is probably the most useful part of this spell, especially with your spell DCs. Maybe your Pharasmin party member will forgive you if you help them dig a grave?

Exploding Earth (**): Wait, no don’t do that! I live on Earth! Oh wait… it’s just a 2nd-rank spell. Phew… Anyhoo. I’d give this a higher rating (***) for Starlit spans or any Magus that uses a reach weapon. The damage against a single target is a bit behind Shocking Grasp, but it also does splash damage, hence why I recommend it for anyone who spellstrikes with reach, so in situations where enemies are grouped or you’re up against swarms or troops this spell can deal some respectable damage.

Extract Poison (**): I could see this in a subterfuge game but given you have to be aware of poison on an object this is very situational.

False Vitality (***): A decent amount of temporary hit points, and you can safely cast far ahead of time before any danger makes it to you.

Falsify Heat (*): This is a… very specific thing to want to disguise for an absurdly narrow range of situations where this might be useful.

Fear the Sun (**): The spell’s got it all wrong, you’re supposed to praise the sun! But if you REALLY want to stab your sunbro in the back you can risk them being dazzled or even blinded. Dazzled is more likely, and given the likelihood of operating with a light source this is likely to come up more than Penumbral Shroud.

Feast of Ashes (*): There are better ways to reduce enemy saves and AC, and the damage won’t even tick off for you since the damage takes place over days. No this spell is more meant to be used against players than NPC’s. Maybe there’s a case where you let an enemy go so they can suffer but most encounters with NPC’s aren’t likely to have you run into them again.

Final Sacrifice (*): You’re not the type of class to lean on minions or summons in battle. So going through the trouble of summoning a minion and then blowing it up is just a waste of actions. Wait? Your familiar!? You monster…

Fireproof (*): No you don’t become fireproof. An object does. Very narrow range of situations where this comes up.

Flame Wisp (**): Not sure if it’s worth a spell slot but if you’re spell-striking with produce flame a lot then this can add up the damage you deal per strike.

Floating Flame (*): A sustained spell, that doesn’t even cover that good of a range when you do sustain it? Pass.

Gecko Grip (**): At first this is a handy way to improve your movement in more than two-dimensions, at least until you get other spells that can also improve your mobility in more interesting ways. CoughFlyCough!

Ghostly Carrier (*): Spellstrike doesn’t really incentivise you to prepare touch range spells without an attack roll, and even the ones that do require an attack roll will be worse off for relying on your weaker spell attack roll. I wouldn’t prepare this on a Magus.

Heat Metal (**): If you can land the persistent damage this spell is alright, but it’s not the most likely outcome with your saving throws.

Helpful Wood Spirits (*): They’re not THAT helpful. They’re worse at doing chores than Phantasmal Minion, and using them in combat requires sustaining the spell. You don’t need their help!

Hidebound (***): For a reaction you can potentially save yourself or your tanking ally a lot of pain until the start of their next turn. It will use up a precious spell slot though.

Horrifying Blood Loss [U] (**): Awaken someone’s inner-hemophobic with this spell! The only advantage this spell has over a basic fear spell is that the target’s frightened value won’t drop below a certain threshold, which would be a pretty sweet bonus, except the target MUST be suffering persistent bleed damage. You can get largely the same effect via a fear spell without the target restrictions.

Humanoid Form (**): The duration is a bit too short to be too useful for infiltration, Illusory disguise will serve you better in that regard, but it could still have its uses.

Ignite Fireworks (**): Not bad as both a damage spell and a debuff, but you don’t really have the spell DC to use it to best effect. Although I suppose you could always load up a ton of scrolls with this spell and put on one heck of a fireworks show!

Illusory Creature (*): A worse version of any of the summon spells which are already bad for you to be using. Hard pass.

Illusory Shroud [U] (*): Just use invisibility. This spell has a shorter duration and a weaker effect.

Impeccable Flow [U] (***): A one minute buff to your perception checks, skill checks, and saving throws. The bonuses get better when you heighten this spell to 5th-rank and 8th-rank. Not the best buff out there but a status bonus to your saving throws will stack with the other ways the Magus can pad their saving throws against spells.

Instant Armor (**): Going somewhere with a dress code? No worries! In just a moment you can armor up and be ready for ambush! Situational but useful for those situations.

Instant Parade [U] (*): I’m not sure I see how this is better than just rolling to blend in with the crowd to begin with. Or if there isn’t a crowd, invisibility!

Invisibility (***): If you’re DEX-based you’ll love using this for scouting or escape purposes. If you’re not DEX-based your rogue will love you for this. And if you heighten this spell to its 4th-rank version (****) then congratulations! You have access to one of the best defensive spells in the game; useful for attacking with lesser impunity than you would otherwise, or reducing your chances of being seen to begin with! Amazing spell that belongs in any spellbook of the Magus!

Iron Gut (**): Hey everyone! Want to see something gross!? Well here it is! Use your stomach as a backpack! Okay so this has some use if you need to smuggle something small enough to fit into your stomach. Otherwise, just get a backpack and let the rest of us keep our lunch.

Knock (**): Kicking down the door didn’t work? Welp, use this spell instead! That is a REALLY big bonus to pick the lock or break down the door, but hopefully your group is good enough at opening doors that you don’t need this one.

Laughing Fit (*): While slowing your enemy is nice, they have to fail the save and then you have to sustain it from there, you can’t afford the actions it would take to maintain this. There are other ways to spread laughter, my friend.

Lock Item [U]: STR-based Magi will find that their spell DC will typically outstrip their Reflex DC, while DEX-based Magi will find the difference negligible. So if enemies disarming you is a concern you might find this useful for yourself. And of course also the cases where you don’t want someone to let go of something, niche as they are.

Loose Time’s Arrow (***): A short-lived version of Haste that has its uses if you time it well. Think of it as a preview of things to come.

Lucky Number (***): Feeling lucky? Roll a d20, and remember the number that comes up. The next time you roll that same number on an attack roll, saving throw, or skill check, you can activate it and re-roll (just try not to roll the same number again or it’ll go badly for you!). This one actually works better if low roll on the initial roll. Re-rolls are powerful, so make use of them!

Magnetic Attraction (**): Disarm with your spell-attack roll instead of your athletics. This does solve the fact that most Magus builds aren’t really going to have the hands free for disarming, but this takes up a spell slot and uses your weaker spell attack roll. Disarm also is the most situational of the combat maneuvers.

Magnetic Repulsion (*): The no save debuff would be pretty nice (if a bit situational or campaign dependent) but the penalties for using metal yourself (read: your best equipment options) make this absolutely unacceptable. Repulse this spell from your spellbook!

Marvelous Mount (**): While this can help cut down on travel times immensely until your group gets access to teleportation, you aren’t going to have the spell slots to spare for providing for the whole group. Best saved for a full caster in the group if you really need to get somewhere in a hurry, or the occasional scroll.

Mind Games [U] (*): Cast it and then sustain it to try and make the enemy stunned 1 or stunned 2. This is going to constantly cost you one action to maybe rob one of their actions if you’re lucky, nevermind how lucky you’d need to be for stunned 2.

Mirror Image (***): Create illusory images of yourself that get popped if an enemy misses (but not critically misses) you, or if you get hit the enemy rolls another die to see if they hit you or one of your illusory duplicates. Because of this, Mirror Image is actually worse against weaker enemies and better against stronger enemies since the stronger ones have a better chance to actually hit or critically hit you, and thus you have a chance to negate the attack entirely!

Misdirection (*): Maaaaaaybe in some kind of intrigue-type game? Not a whole lot of use for most adventuring parties for disguising auras though.

Mist (**): Create some fog that acts as concealment. Double-edged sword since this doesn’t discriminate.

Noise Blast (*): Annoy your neighbors by keeping them up at night with this spell. The damage isn’t THAT good, really you’d want to try deafening someone with this and that’s unlikely with your Spell DC.

Oaken Resilience (**): So if you go up against enemies with non-slashing damage, and not dealing fire damage, this will tide you over until you get some REAL resistance.

Pave Ground (*): Hey I don’t get paid to pave. Or write this guide… ahem. This only clears difficult terrain in a straight line, and you probably have more than a single straight line of difficult terrain to deal with. To add insult to injury, this spell also has a sustained duration.

Peaceful Rest (**): Someone in your party died? Or there’s another body you need to preserve? Then this is the spell to keep the corpse fresh with! I’m sure your Pharasmin party member will appreciate you respecting the dead for once.

Penumbral Disguise (**): You are the terror that flaps in the night! At least as far as anyone who can’t see in the dark can tell. Probably more useful in situations where you’re trying to infiltrate a location so that at least if someone sees you they won’t be able to tell who you are easily.

Persistent Servant (*): I mean I guess if you want to keep your house clean while you’re out adventuring.

Phantasmal Treasure (*): Fascinated isn’t the best condition to inflict in a fight (unless it's against a spellcaster) and your save DC isn’t going to be that great.

Phantom Crowd (*): You’d mostly be using a spell like this if you’re trying to use social skills to influence a situation, and as a Magus your social skills are not great.

Propulsive Breeze (**): Sadly once-and-done for a single ally when you have few spell slots to spare. A little extra movement is useful but you might have better options.

Radiant Field (*): You create a field of bright light, which you can do with cantrips. The only other thing this affects are creatures with Light Blindness, which isn’t that big a list.

Rapid Adaptation (*): This isn’t for you, it’s for people with eidolons or animal companions.

Resist Energy (***): This makes fights against dragons and elementals a lot less stressful. The heightened versions at 4th-rank (***) and 7th-rank (****) boast not just greater resistance but can also target more members of your party!

Revealing Light (**): The potential to temporarily reduce invisible creatures to merely concealed is great, and the attached dazzled condition is just gravy! With your save DCs you might not get this to last for more than two rounds though so this is best saved for the pure spellcasters while you find other ways to deal with invisible enemies.

Rime Slick [U] (**): The cold damage isn’t much, and your spell DC means that it’s not likely to do even its normal damage either. It does create difficult terrain in an area, though so does the lower-rank Mud Pit. When Heightened Rime Slick causes a bit more damage and also turns a larger area into difficult terrain. Though too large an area will be a hindrance to you too.

Rubble Step (**): This could create some crowd-control opportunities if you slap it on a melee-fighter who isn’t as bogged down by their action-economy as you are. However this does have the potential of backfiring on you if you aren’t super well coordinated with your party.

Sea Surge [U] (**): Potential way to knock more than one target prone, assuming they fail the fortitude save.

See The Unseen (**): One of those ones you’ll be VERY glad to have when it comes up it just won’t come up all that much. While it only knocks them down from hidden to concealed, the good part about this spell is that it does so automatically rather than require any check on your part. Keep a scroll or wand of this handy.

Shape Wood (**): The wood must be unworked so this limits the locations you can use the spell, but creating cover, hiding spots, or what else you might need never hurts when you can use it.

Shrink (*): This is almost a debuff that only works on your own team. You can only use it on your team and what do they gain? 0 reach. That’s all. In theory they could fit into smaller spaces but how often does that even come up?

Slough Skin (**): Hey everyone! Want to see something else gross!? Try peeling off your own skin just to lose a burn! Persistent damage is nasty so the sooner you lose it the better, but it’s not really worth a spell slot.

Splinter Volley (*): It deals less damage than Shocking Grasp does overall. The one thing it does have going for it, adding a third action to target a second creature in range, is incompatible with spellstrike.

Spy’s Mark (***): For a rank 2 spell this is REALLY good at what it does. Namely it can spy on a location much like clairaudience and clairvoyance. Main difference is that Spy’s Mark must be set up ahead of time, and unless you hide it really well, it can be more easily detected than clairaudience or clairvoyance’s sensors. Still if you can hide it well enough you have a useful scrying spell here.

Stupefy (**): One way to make a spellcaster hate you is to give them stupefied, and that’s all this spell does. Straight and to the point. Unfortunately it still is saving against your spell DC.

Sudden Bolt [U] (**): While it doesn’t do persistent damage, it does more initial damage than Shocking Grasp, but the enemy gets a saving throw against your spell DC holding it back from reaching its full damage potential.

Summon Elemental (*): No! Bad Magus! No summons for you!

Summoner’s Precaution (*): You don’t have an eidolon to use this with unless you took Summoner Dedication, and if you did, why did you invest in that much CHA as a Magus!?

Summoner’s Visage (*): No…

Telekinetic Maneuver (***): It’s much more versatile than Magnetic Attraction above, given you can use any combat maneuver, but it still has the problem of relying on your weaker spell attack roll… UNLESS you combine it with Spellstrike! Yes, instead of dealing extra damage with your spellstrike, you can choose to disarm, trip, or shove a target! Tripping is especially nasty if you or anyone in your party has an Reactive Strike to go with it!

Thermal Remedy (*): You can make it so food gives you and some very minor, to the point of being practically insignificant, benefits. Is there a plus to this spell? I don’t know, the spell description doesn’t make it clear if it’s just the right level of bitterness.

Timely Tutor (**): If you opt for a familiar this spell is a way for it to have access to any lore skill suitable for your situation; but lore skills are, by design, niche, and usually your bases are covered by other checks that can use the Recall Knowledge action.

Translate (**): One of those spells that you don’t need until you need it. Worth keeping on a scroll.

Tremorsense (**): This can be a boon against invisible enemies or anything trying to hide from you, plus the duration is pretty long. It won’t work on flying enemies though.

Umbral Extraction (*): In fairness to this spell there is something to be said about taking away one of the enemy’s spells so they can’t cast it. But that’s all this spell really has going for it. You have no way of determining what spell you take from an enemy exactly, which means that you will gain a spell you may or may not be able to use this combat, and basically trading a spell slot for a random spell 1 rank lower. You’re a prepared caster, in theory you can get any spell you want, you don’t need to gamble on some random enemy’s spells. All of this assumes you even succeed in the thievery check too.

Voice on the Breeze (**): Basically send someone a message 10 miles away, with no guarantee that your intended recipient is even in the spot to receive your message. If you’re scouting for a well coordinated group this could be useful but otherwise… meh. Could be worth a scroll for those situations.

Vomit Swarm (**): Hey everyone! Want to see something else REALLY gross!? It’s so gross you’ll make your enemies sick! Well… if they fail the saving throw. It also deals some damage.

Warrior’s Regret (**): While it has a pretty decent effect even if they successfully save, the damage the curse deals depends on how many creatures the target damages in a turn, not how many times they deal damage that turn. So it doesn’t do much to actually dissuade an enemy from doing violence this turn.

Water Breathing (**): I’ll give you three guesses as to why this is situational, and what situation it would be useful for. And the first two don’t count. But seriously, only grab this one if you expect an underwater adventure.

Water Walk (**): Maybe a bit more broadly useful than water breathing if you’re fighting in an area that has a lot of water around, but still situational.

Waterproof (**): Protect your cell phone! Or… your parchment piece I guess. Not likely to come up often but not impossible. Especially on nautical adventures.

Web (***): The circumstance penalty to their movement speed isn’t likely to stick (I regret nothing…) it’s nice if it does land, and you still create difficult terrain with this spell. Even if the enemy gets tired of the difficult terrain they have to spend actions to get rid of it. Heightened to 4th-rank this spell will create difficult terrain in an even larger area.

3rd-rank Spells

Agonizing Despair (**): As far as inflicting the frightened condition goes, heightening the Fear spell to this rank will be far more efficient at the task.

Aqueous Orb (*): A sustained spell so that already is a major point against it, the other point is that even if they do fail against your spell DC, they can just break out with a DC10 athletics check. Only creatures that have NO athletics modifier have even a CHANCE at failing that. I guess it would be useful in that you could just trap them again and again while sustaining the spell except for the fact that as a Magus sustained spells aren’t your bag, and that your save DC to catch them still isn’t great.

Bind Undead (*): Well besides the fact that you’re now ruining the peace you made with your Pharasmin party member, this spell also has the problem of the creature’s level having to equal the rank of the spell. That means that any mindless undead you use this on can be no higher than level 3, and the level gap grows massively as you level up. Pass on this one hard.

Blastback (*): This only works in the VERY specific scenario of you falling from a height where you are also surrounded by enemies, who also get a reflex save against the damage you would deal. Save your spellslots for something else.

Blazing Dive (***): Make a Tales series protagonist proud by rising into the air and then diving towards the action in a blaze of glory! The damage is a bit shy of a fireball but this moves you twice (or more) of your movement speed for most Magi and circumvents any ground-based obstacles you might encounter on the way.

Blindness (**): Even on a success the target becomes blinded for one round, which would normally make this a green even with your save DC except that this also has the incapacitation trait. Would be great if you had the power of a full caster but alas…

Bottomless Stomach (*): Hey everyone! Want to see something gross, the sequel!? This spell grants you a stomach of holding. It’s actually less stealthy than Iron Gut since the inside of your mouth shimmers from the extradimensional entryway. Just get a bag of holding.

Bracing Tendrils (*): Ideally your Fortitude DC will surpass or equal your Spell DC; the only benefit this provides you is if you encounter an enemy that can force move you without rolling against your Fort DC, but in my experience those aren’t particularly common.

Caster’s Imposition [U] (**): If you need to stop a ritual this COULD help, but the situation is rather narrow.

Cave Fangs (***): While the description saying the protrusions come from the ceiling or ground means it can’t be as flexibly placed as a Fireball spell, the fact that it creates difficult terrain on top of dealing damage means that this spell can double as crowd-control.

Clairaudience (***): One of the best spying spells in the game. Now as long as you’re aware of the meeting, and as long as no one checks for your scrying, then you can gather a fair bit of information.

Coral Scourge (*): As terrifying as this would be to apply to your enemies, your spell DC, coupled with the incapacitation trait, thrown into a blender with the fact that the enemy can spend an action to get rid of the condition means this isn’t going to get you a whole lot of mileage.

Cozy Cabin (**): While it doesn’t have enough cots for a typically sized adventuring party, there is still enough space for the other party member’s sleeping bags. Of course this is really best saved for if you have to travel through, and then camp in, regions with bad climate conditions that might make normal camping more hazardous. One of the more situational travel aides.

Crashing Wave (**): It’s a cone-based damage spell that deals bludgeoning damage. Nothing more, nothing less.

Croak Voice (**): This is a pretty decent anti-spellcaster option since it accomplishes its primary goal even on a successful save, the damage on failure or critical failure is just a bonus. It is only single target though and 3rd-Rank spells are competing HARD for space in your limited spell slots.

Cup of Dust (*): Basically Feast of Ashes but in hourly intervals. Which makes no functional difference for most cases.

Curse of Lost Time (**): Entirely save based so your mileage is going to be limited. Besides, do YOU want to create one more person to tell you what life was like “back in my day”?

Day’s Weight (**): Once again, save based. Though temporarily fatiguing and enfeebling someone is pretty sweet.

Distracting Chatter (**): Making someone off-guard, and giving spell-casters greater difficulty casting, are pretty sweet conditions. Though it being save-based makes it less valuable for you.

Dive and Breach (***): It’s basically a 60 foot teleport (though you are vulnerable to reactions triggered by movement for the first and last 10 feet of it) that might deal some damage while you’re at it. Even if the damage doesn’t go off, teleporting is a nice repositioning tool! Plus, swan dive!

Diving Trench [U] (*): As an obstacle, it’s worthless, as a means of generating cover, it cuts both ways as opposed to Shape Stone in one more spell-rank. There are significantly better spells to slow enemy movement or divide the battlefield into more manageable pieces than this. Pass.

Dream Message (**): If you’re not in a particular hurry to get a message to someone this is the spell to do it with.

Earthbind (**): Considering it brings targets down to the ground even on a success this is a pretty handy spell to have for the melee-fighting Magus. Though eventually you can cast fly on yourself and this becomes a bit less useful.

Elemental Absorption (**): Unlike resist energy this keys off of traits attached to the effect you’re resisting rather than an energy damage type; though that makes no difference for fire damage and choosing water also gives you cold resistance. You can then spend two more actions unleashing the damage you resisted. Which may not be handy if the source of fire damage is immune to fire…

Elemental Annihilation Wave (*): Rather underwhelming for a spell with such a boss name. Casting the spell regularly gives you a 30-foot cone that deals less damage than most damaging spells of this rank. You have to spend another action to get a shove effect on a failed save. Or spend two rounds to increase the area to a 60-foot cone and create an effect like the gust of wind spell in that area. The last effect isn’t too bad but 2-round cast-time is incredibly inefficient.

Enthrall (**): Close to the only way a Magus MIGHT be able to draw and hold attention in a big social situation, but that’s the kind of thing you leave to your party’s face most of the time.

Excise Lexicon [U] (*): While I can imagine how awful it would be to make a wizard forget “spellbook” or a cleric “prayer,” you’re going to be hard-pressed to find a more immediate benefit for this spell outside of very specific circumstances. Plus how long they forget the word for is dependent on their saving throw.

Familiar’s Face (**): If you got a familiar this makes them even more useful for scouting than they were before since now YOU are viewing the world through your familiar’s eyes. Might be worth keeping on a scroll or wand.

Feet to Fins (**): So… how does this work for people wearing their big, serious, armored boots? So kidding aside, this is strictly for if you have to fight in the water. Heightened to 6th rank, the spell has a SIGNIFICANTLY better duration.

Fireball (**): The ol’ reliable of blasting spells. Your spell DC isn’t high enough to be as threatening with this as a full-caster, and if you’re a melee magus you need to avoid using this with Expansive Spellstrike. Unless you LIKE blowing yourself up, who am I to judge? Oh wait, the person writing this guide, that’s who!

Firework Blast [U] (**): Not as powerful as fireball, but it makes up for it by additionally having a chance of blinding and deafening targets for a short period of time. Really you’d be using this in the same situations you’d be using fireball so it comes down to your personal preference on how much celebrating you like to do as you incinerate your foes. Well… if you HAVE this uncommon spell that is.

Gasping Marsh [U] (*): In an attempt to jack Stinking Cloud’s style, this cloud got a sustained duration, poison damage, and a reduced chance of inflicting the sickened condition. Pass on this one.

Ghostly Weapon (**): So incorporeal creatures, rather than being untouchable except to certain types of attacks, just have a really high resistance to all damage types. The resistance is increased against non-magical attacks, and bypassed entirely by force or ghost touch weapons. You can do magic attacks from level 1 thanks to Arcane Cascade, and you can even set the bonus damage to force damage to make sure your bonus damage hurts it at all. This isn’t completely useless since it means all of your damage goes through rather than your damage minus their resistance, but it’s hard to justify using a spell slot on this when you have so few of them. Probably worth a scroll though.

Glyph of Warding (**): This turns any lower-rank spell that takes 3 or fewer actions to cast into a trap. When you need to set a trap this will absolutely come in handy, but if not then it’s not going to get much use.

Gravity Well (**): Watch as your enemies try defying gravity! Well given your spell DC the odds tend to favor them a bit, but at least they still scooch five-feet on a regular success.

Haste (****): Do you like to use Spellstrike!? Do you want to use Spellstrike more often!? If you answered no to either of those questions, why are you playing a Magus!? Haste is the buff spell you have been waiting for since you started using Spellstrike! You give yourself an extra action that you can use only to stride or strike. You’ll mostly be using the stride in order to keep pace with your enemies while you recharge and then spellstrike, but there are still cases where it can’t hurt to have an extra strike handy. At 7th-rank you can buff your whole party at once with this as well. Whether you prepare it at 3rd or 7th-rank, staple this into your prepared spells!

Heatvision [U] (**): No you can’t shoot lasers out of your eyes, so your Superman fantasies will have to wait. This DOES let you see heat signatures which can be useful in dark locations or locations you can’t otherwise see in. Though note that undead and constructs “typically” won’t get spotted by this, and undead are a pretty common enemy type.

Hypnotize (*): Fascinated isn’t that handy of a condition in combat but if you place this spell well you can inflict dazzled on enemies. Problem is that you have to sustain this spell so pass on taking this one.

Impending Doom (**): off-guard and frightened are great status effects to place on an enemy, but it doesn’t happen all at once and what exactly they do suffer depends on the result of their saving throw.

Insect Form (*): Battle forms are a waste of spell slots for a Magus. Squish this spell out from your memory.

Lashing Rope (*): You are already capable of making strikes that are, one, more damaging. Two, don’t require you to waste an action sustaining a spell. If you’ve two-actions to spare, use it for spellstrike rather than give yourself a weaker attack option than what you natively have.

Levitate (**): If you REALLY don’t feel like climbing an obstacle this can help with that.

Lightning Bolt (**): The slightly less famous brother of fireball. It does the same damage upfront as a shocking grasp at this rank, lacks the persistent damage, strikes along a VERY long line, and requires a reflex save. It does work better with expansive spellstrike than fireball thanks to the lack of risk of blowing yourself up but it still keys off your weaker spell DC.

Locate [U] (**): I feel kinda dirty giving this an orange rating because this spell is AMAZING at the thing it does, but it has a pretty major condition in that if you’re looking for something, or someone when heightened to 5th-rank, specific then you have to have observed, or met, the target in question personally. Though if you know what an object, or person, generally is and there isn’t another like it around this spell might still prove useful.

Lotus Walk (**): Kinda cheating at the whole walk on water thing, but this spell, especially when heightened, does make it so that others can follow you. A single spell to get your whole party over a body of water is pretty efficient.

Magical Fetters [U] (**): A bevy of nasty conditions against a single target, unfortunately it is both depending on your spell DC, and an incapacitation effect.

Magnetic Acceleration (****): What!? Your GM has seen through your brilliant and totally unorthodox strategy of “Spellstrike with Shocking Grasp!?” Well don’t worry, this spell will do the job instead! It’s a small step behind Shocking Grasp in damage but it deals bludgeoning and piercing damage rather than electricity damage, while also retaining Shocking Grasp’s +1 bonus to the attack roll against a metal, or metal-wearing, target. Again it is unclear if this attack bonus works with Spellstrike so ask your GM. Either way it does solid single target damage and works well for a Magus.

Mind of Menace (**): This would be an amazing way to protect yourself from mental effects at a relatively low level, except that it depends on them failing against your spell DC. Not the likeliest thing in the world.

Mind Reading [U] (**): Now you know that they know that you know. Sort of. On a successful will save from the target you just find out if their INT mod is equal to, greater than, or less than your INT mod. They have to fail their save for you to actually read their surface thoughts.

Nothing Up My Sleeve [U] (*): For your weapon you get a feat that can do this. Otherwise this is a worse version of the Sleeves of Storing item.

Noxious Metals (**): Almost gave this a red rating due to dealing absolutely pathetic damage for its level, but it is situationally useful if you’re up against enemies with the plant or wood trait, or if the enemy has an anathema to metal in that even the success condition on the save inflicts sickened.

One With Stone (**): A situationally useful way to hide or lose pursuers given that very few would think to check the stones for you. Alternatively, stay hidden for eight hours by straight up turning into stone!

Oneiric Mire (**): Creates illusory difficult terrain that has a chance of inflicting a speed penalty or immobilizing them; though the latter effects depend on their saves. Even if they disbelieve the illusion the area is still considered difficult terrain to them (for some reason…?).

Ooze Form (*): You are already a martial combatant, you don’t need a battleform.

Organsight (**): One more reason to at least get trained in medicine at some point in your career. If you succeed at the medicine (or lore) skill that you make as part of casting the spell, then you deal an incredible 4d6 precision damage with your next piercing or slashing strike. Unfortunately you have to spend an action using recall knowledge on every turn you want this precision damage which holds the spell back from being too powerful in a Magus’s hands.

Paralyze (**): The enemy has to get a failure to make the trade in actions worth it and that’s quite a thing to gamble on when your DC is lower than a full caster’s and when this spell has the Incapacitation trait. Now once it gets heightened to 7th-rank (***) the spell can at least target enough targets that you’ll probably get some favorable results.

Percussive Impact (**): You can combine it with spellstrike, but it doesn’t do double damage on a crit, instead deafening an opponent. Deafening isn’t much of a status effect on non-spellcasters and you have better spells for dealing damage with spellstrike.

Perseis’s Precautions [U] (**): If you’re positive that danger is around the corner then this spell will help you or one of your teammates get a better initiative roll. The duration is a bit short and you might not have the spell slots to spare though so consider putting this on a scroll or wand if you want to use this spell.

Phantom Prison (**): While this can remove someone from the fight temporarily, it depends on them failing the save. The incapacitation trait also hurts. But heightening to 8th-rank (***) does allow it to target multiple enemies.

Pillar of Water [U] (***): This can serve as an unconventional means of traversing heights of 60 feet, a modest area of difficult terrain, an exploit of the cover-rules for water while still on dry land, or even a source of water (though I wouldn’t cast the spell JUST for fresh water).

Pyrotechnics [U] (**): Requires there to be a flame source to use it but using this you can either attempt to blind or sicken targets in a burst around that source of fire. Blinding them with fireworks is slightly better given it has a minor effect even on a success. Either way it’s tough to recommend this spell for its sustained duration.

Rally Point (**): A spell you cast and then spend an action to instantly go back to that point you cast. Given its 1 minute duration and the relatively short maximum distance you can be from the beacon, it’s hard to use as an escape spell. At 7th-rank you can affect multiple party members with it.

Roaring Applause (**): The flamboyant cousin of the slow spell; on a success the target loses reactions, on a failure they’re slowed 1 and in fact trigger reactions that react to them using the manipulate trait, while the critical failure effect adds the fascinated condition to the failure effect. At least the best affliction doesn’t require a critical failure on the target’s part. Becomes multi-target when heightened to 6th-rank (***).

Rouse Skeletons (*): Create difficult terrain and deal damage in the same area each time you sustain the spell. Unfortunately sustaining spells costs actions so pass on this one and stop making life so hard on your Pharasmin party member! Yeesh!

Safe Passage (**): Hazards are super deadly in 2nd ed. Getting protection against them for a short trip is pretty great, but this is contingent on you noticing traps in the first place and having this spell handy just in case when there are more broadly useful things you could prepare. Maybe worthy of being on a scroll or wand.

Sand Form (**): Next time you tell your enemies to go pound sand, you or an ally can be the sand! And you’ll be well-equipped for a pounding with piercing and slashing resistance. This spell is even better in sandy terrain since anyone with this spell can hide with it even if in the open. The resistance is pretty modest, but if you’re in a desert or similarly sandy environment, stealthy characters will love it. Though perhaps not as much as a second-level invisibility.

Scrying Ripples (**): Peek into one water-source, and look out the other. This can be useful if you’re spying on someone you know to be near a source of water; just be forewarned this scrying can be a bit easier for the target to detect than most such spells.

Sea of Thought (***): Difficult terrain with an additional chance (albeit lower chance with your Spell DCs) of additionally hindering their movement. Not a bad spell at all.

Secret Page (**): Definitely one of those spells that’s more for intrigue than anything else. If that’s the kind of game you’re in, go nuts!

Shadow Projectile (**): Uses your reaction to cast and it depends on the target’s will save. But there are worse things you could do than make the target off-guard against your ally’s attack. Of course this is held back by the aforementioned requirement to save, and who knows, your ally might not need the help with the attack roll that triggered this.

Shared Invisibility (***): May not be needed all of the time but the generous emanation radius and the fact that you and your party can still perceive each other makes this a very useful tool if the whole party needs to sneak by a location. The duration and number of creatures both increase greatly when heightened to 5th-rank.

Shift Blame (**): This is a pure social spell, and one way to avoid you or your allies making a faux pas.

Shifting Sand (*): This would be SO much better if you were a full caster, but as it is you are spending three actions to cast it, 1 action per-turn to sustain it, relying on their saving throw to even be affected by the difficult terrain and other penalties. That’s all assuming you’re even casting it in an area considered valid by the spell.

Shrink Item (**): Useful if you need to transport something big without being noticed.

Slow (**): You cast the spell and depending on the result of your target’s saving throw they become slowed for a certain duration. With your middling spell DC you run the risk of wasting more of your actions than you wasting theirs. Heighten this to 6th-rank (***) and you can hit up to 10 targets and make this much more likely to cost the targets their actions.

Sparkleskin [U] (**): I am begging you not to reintroduce Twilight cosplay into the world. Please don’t do this! But… if you REALLY need a distraction, you can cast this on your teammates to give them a bonus to cause a distraction.

Stinking Cloud (**): The cloud this spell creates offers concealment like Mist, but everyone inside it at the end of their turn needs to make a saving throw or become sickened, or even slowed if they’re unlucky.

Tempest Cloak (**): Against enemies that rely on bows or other physical ranged attacks this is a solid bonus to your AC. The other bonuses are a bit more circumstantial.

Temporal Twin [U] (**): I mean if YOU want to risk destabilizing time by having your ally meet themselves then by all means! Basically you can have this duplicate do a basic action your ally took as long as the ally has a reaction to spend. Good to have an ally flank with themselves or to pull identical switches. Of course, given that as a Magus you are also capable of basic actions that other spellcasters would struggle with, this spell may not be worth a spell slot (or… you know… creating a reality-breaking paradox… just sayin’).

Time Jump (***): A single-action spell that lets you move twice. This can greatly improve your maneuverability.

Time Pocket (**): This might be one of the best ways to smuggle a smaller item ever. As this makes it so the item is never even on their person until significantly later. Of course that’s about ALL it’s good for but if you do need to smuggle something, this is an AMAZING spell to do it with.

Transcribe Conflict [R] (**): While your biographer is sure to love you for this, the spell will only serve you in situations where you’re facing the exact same kind of enemy in multiple combats. Which does happen more often than not but is never a guarantee. You might face ghouls in one room and then ghoul priests in the next and you won’t get your bonus.

Unseasonable Squall [U] (**): This would be a pretty sweet crowd-control spell but it’s held back by your middling spell DC. Still if you do knock someone prone with this, take advantage of it!

Vampiric Feast (***): Since its damage is based on the enemy’s fortitude save you may not see it do too much damage, but the temporary hit points are what help make this spell worth it.

Veil of Privacy [U] (**): If you have to hide something or someone from scrying attempts this is the spell to do it with. As with all spells that rely on counteraction, the higher the spell rank, the better. Doesn’t come up too frequently though so this is probably one for a scroll.

Wall of Radiance (**): A wall spell that deals damage to anyone who tries to walk through it, and anyone standing right next to it is dazzled. While there’s no save to resist the dazzling effect, all they have to do to lose the condition is not stand next to it. In just one more spell rank this spell becomes better (***) and actually lives up to the description in that creatures on the other side are concealed so this can provide some additional protection.

Wall of Shadow (**): Better than the Darkness spell in that you have greater control over who is and isn’t hidden by the darkness. Though whether anyone can successfully hide on the other side of the wall is dependent on who does and doesn’t have darkvision. Heightened versions can give you concealment from darkvision (***), and then even greater darkvision (***). Note that nothing stops anyone, yourself included, from passing through the wall.

Wall of Thorns (***): While it doesn’t stop anyone or anything outright, it provides cover and difficult terrain, and moving through it makes whoever tries it pay for it with some piercing damage.

Wall of Virtue [U] (**): Like Wall of Radiance, this wall sheds light and does damage. The damage being split between vitality (no healing) and good damage means that this wall will only damage undead, evil creatures, and undead evil creatures. It also doesn’t actually stop anyone or anything from crossing it.

Wall of Water (***): Outright stops bludgeoning and slashing projectiles, halves the range increment of piercing projectiles and TREMENDOUSLY slows down anyone passing through. Why? Because they have to SWIM. That means they have to stride up to the wall with one action, spend another action to swim, and then spend another action to stride to you or your team. This allows you some control over the number of enemies you engage at once. Only two reasons this isn’t blue; one is that the same movement restrictions apply to you if you need to cross the wall to finish the battle, and the second is that it won’t stop non-fire magic from passing through (the wall will try to counteract the magical fire but it could always fail given your INT mod).

Wall of Wind (**): Stops all small physical projectiles, creates difficult terrain for others passing through, and flying creatures have to make a fortitude save to try and get through. It’s a great way to stop enemy archers from contributing to a fight but that’s about the only situation it’s especially useful for.

Warding Aggression (***): When you cast the spell you make a strike with a melee weapon, and depending on the result of your attack you gain anywhere between a +1 to a whopping +3 status bonus to your AC! From then on you maintain a +1 or +2 status bonus to your AC every turn you keep striking that enemy! This is a status bonus, the other methods you have of boosting your AC are circumstance bonuses. THEY! STACK! The longevity of the spell is dependent entirely on you successfully striking a target, hence why it’s not blue, but if you can keep landing strikes this is a MASSIVE boost to your survivability!

Web of Eyes (**): Useful if you’re in battle with anyone who has a penchant for hiding to make sure the whole team can keep track of their enemy.

Wooden Double (***): If you get critically hit you can spend a reaction to basically reduce the damage by 25 and step. Each rank you heighten this spell increases the amount of damage absorbed by 10! Critical hits from strong enemies HURT, and reducing the damage while stepping away from them, hopefully out of their reach, is a good use of a spell.

4th-rank Spells

Aerial Form (*): While the forms provide some impressive fly speeds, the duration is not as impressive as Fly, which also matches your land speed, and you don’t need a battle form to be capable in combat.

Airlift (**): With your spell DCs you are unlikely to carry any unwilling targets off with you, but this can still be a decent positioning tool for both you and your party members, if you are able to coordinate well with them. Unfortunately it’s a once-and-done spell so it’s a little less useful than the fly spell in and of itself but it could be worth having on a scroll or wand, (especially the 6th rank version) so that you can clear obstacles together or get a quick positioning tool at the start of a battle.

Aromatic Lure [R] (*): Accessing this rare spell will likely be difficult as-is. The incapacitation tag and it being reliant on your spell DC double up to further make this spell unappealing to you, as even the success condition of stupefied 1 for 1 round isn’t that great.

Bestial Curse (**): Turn someone into a were(wolf/deer/bear/boar/horse/platypus), only without much in the way of awesome stuff. Even on a success they become clumsy 1 for 1 round which is exploitable. The weakness 1 to silver on a (crit) failure is nothing.

Call the Blood [U] (**): Hey everyone! Want to see something ABSOLUTELY REVOLTING!? After hemorrhaging the target’s face, the blood flies into your mouth! Yuuuuuck! And if you’re not undead (or living with the Void Healing ability) your Magus will agree with me on how disgusting this is and become sickened 2. But if you are undead, or otherwise have void healing, you can choose to get temporary hit points, or become quickened! So yeah if you’re a dhampir or undead this is absolutely amazing. If you’re not, you are free to retch now.

Chromatic Armor (**): Resistance 5 to any two or three elements is pretty nice. Unfortunately the elements are randomly determined on a table and may not give you the resistance you need. It also has the benefit of possibly dazzling enemies who attack the colorful crusader, though that depends on their will save.

Chromatic Ray (**): Two of the four rays deal more damage than an average damage roll from shocking grasp at the same rank (not accounting for any potential persistent damage). The fire ray is weaker and the green ray gives the enemy a fortitude save; unfortunately it’s all randomly determined. The damaging rays do not increase as you heighten the spell; instead when you heighten the spell to 6th rank, four more options get added, but three of them give the enemy more saving throws. Not bad but random.

Cinder Swarm (*): While I understand the temptation to sic insects of your choice upon your enemies and laugh maniacally while you do so, sadly this is a sustained duration spell that relies on your Spell DCs.

Clairvoyance (***): Clairaudience’s twin. While not quite as useful for the secret meeting among the crime bosses, what it can do is look ahead of you in a dungeon or serve as a lookout for a few minutes. Information is power, and this spell plus clairaudience are great at gathering information for you.

Clownish Curse [U] (*): You would curse someone to be like a clown!? You monster. You horrible, irredeemable monster! The main afflictions of the curse are more debilitating to PC’s than they are to NPC’s you’re not likely to meet again. So pass on this unless you just WANT to make the world suffer more clowns (you disgust me…).

Compel True Name [R] (*): Since it’s a rare spell you’re going to have a heck of a time finding it, and you might not even know the creature’s true name anyways. A lot of effort for an incapacitation effect dependent on their will save. Pass.

Confusion (**): Much like Slow just a spell-rank ago, this does have an effect of taking away actions even on a success, but not enough actions to justify the two you spent to cast it unless they fail the saving throw. Also like Slow, the spell gets better at a heightened rank; though in this case the spell targets multiple creatures at Spell rank 8 (***).

Containment (**): This spell would be SO much better if it didn’t require you to target a creature with it… or if a reflex save didn’t also somehow destabilize a force construct? No really, explain that one to me please. As it is, you can still use it as a barrier between the enemies and your squishier party members, ideally a spell-caster who just needs line of sight with their spells. Or offensively use it on an enemy that can’t do their thing through the sphere (if their reflex save doesn’t save them that is).

Coral Eruption (***): So yeah your enemies gain a basic reflex save against the initial damage, but the real benefit is that for 1 minute you create difficult terrain that also damages them automatically to walk through. Plus you make two areas, that creates a lot of flexible placement to maximize the effect of this spell!

Countless Eyes (**): Hey everyone! Want to see something really creepy!? You make a person grow a lot more eyeballs! This has the benefit of preventing flanking, and improving the area they can see in. Best defense against flanking is to try and avoid it in the first place though.

Creation (**): Make a block to climb up on to get an extra boost over that wall. Make a table to hide under. Make something to block that door behind you. Make a colored sheet to make a hiding place in a dark alley. Getting the most out of this spell requires being creative and more about thinking about things from in-universe, and not about raw mechanics.

Daydreamer’s Curse [U] (*): Cheer up sleepy Jean~! Oh, what can it mean~, to a~ daydream believer~ okay I’ll stop. But really most of the worst parts of this curse aren’t going to come up that often in the moment and would be much more of a hindrance against a PC than an NPC (at least as far as you know).

Detect Creator [R] (**): If you ever wanted to find that vampire spawn’s sire, this spell will help with that. This is a bit more task-specific than other spells, and tragically a rare spell too.

Detect Scrying [U] (**): So remember Clairaudience and Clairvoyance? Yeah this spell lets someone know you’re using those spells. You can use it too, though you’re a bit less likely to have someone scrying you. Unless the BBEG is some powerful wizard and you landed on their radar during the last leg of the adventure… wait a minute…

Discern Lies [U] (**): This will improve your odds of seeing through someone’s lies. Though your perception is pretty poor to start with.

Dispelling Globe [U] (**): Tries to counteract any spells that enter its area, which is a pretty sweet effect except that it counteracts at a spell rank lower than its actual spell rank; since spell rank is super important for counteract checks this is quite the handicap. Plus you’re basically immobile if you want to benefit from this.

Draw the Lightning (***): Shazam! Okay no you don’t become a member of the Marvel family, let’s keep this game balanced after all, but the bolt does deal some initial damage, that they get a reflex save against, and your first weapon strike each turn deals an extra 1d12 electricity damage for the next minute. The initial bolt doesn’t compare to other blast spells at this rank, especially not with your spell DC’s, but the real jelly is the minute-long 6.5 average damage you’ll be doing per round with your weapon! Much like with Shocking Grasp, this will only truly fail you against electricity immune enemies. And let’s face it, drawing lightning to your weapon is totally awesome!

Dull Ambition (*): Leave them stuck in that 9-5 with this curse. Much more impactful when cast on a PC than when cast on an NPC… at least as far as your little bubble is concerned, you probably just ruined that NPC’s life now.

Elemental Sense (**): This spell can flexibly give you a variety of imprecise senses, or in specific circumstances even a precise sense, suitable to your needs. Heightened to 6th-rank (***) the spell lasts a whole 8 hours and you can even change which sense you use with 1 minute of concentration, increasing the flexibility massively!

Enervation (***): Even if the enemy gets a success on their saving throw, they’ll still suffer a not insignificant amount of persistent void damage. And you can hit more than one enemy with this spell!

Enhance Senses [U] (**): If seeing in lower-light conditions is a concern there’s the light cantrip or the darkvision spell. While the ability to enhance imprecise senses is something the others can’t do, PC’s gaining imprecise senses is relatively uncommon.

False Nature (**): Decent way to hide an item or trick someone into mistaking one object for another. Situational but it has its uses.

Favorable Review [U] (**): I now cast this spell upon you for “Martial Magicks,” and you shall not speak badly about this guide! Really you would have to either be self-conscious (as I apparently am) or in a social game where your progression depends heavily on your show being a success. Very situational.

Fire Shield (***): This literally gives you a shield of fire that you can use just like a shield! It also happens to give you some cold resistance. It takes some actions to use but you basically get to reduce incoming damage and simultaneously punish enemies with some fire damage! I’d staple this spell to my spellbook in a campaign set in cold regions, but even outside of that it is still quite useful. This naturally has even better synergy with the Sparkling Targe.

Flicker (***): Resistance 5 to all damage (except force) is huge! But the randomized teleportation is both a blessing and a curse; on one hand this can get you out of retaliatory reach so that enemies have to come for you, on the other, there’s always a chance you’ll teleport into an unfavorable position. Gotta say though, it’s so thematic to the Laughing Shadow Magus it hurts. Every two-spell ranks you heighten this, the resistances increase.

Fly (****): You fly~ through the air~ with the greatest of ease~! For five minutes you can fly as fast as you can move on the ground! Mind that staying aloft means spending one action every turn you’re in the air or else you’ll fall, but this is a small price to pay for moving in three dimensions. At 7th rank the spell lasts 1 hour.

Forgotten Lines [R] (**): Give the middle finger to political censorship with this spell! You need a scrap of a destroyed piece of text but you can learn some information from it with this spell. Heightened versions give you even more information, the 9th-rank version even making it so that you learn info the author never committed to paper! Obviously more useful in games that revolve around intrigue. Also being a rare spell means you’re probably not going to find it except in those exact kinds of games.

Vapor Form (*): You had better be really close to some cracks you can slip through, because if you need to use this to get out of danger the spell itself is not going to protect you, plus you are REALLY slow.

Glass Form (**): Have you ever tried to tell your overprotective mom that you’re not made of glass? Well you are now! This spell does give you concealed plus quite a few resistances with a respectable duration, albeit one that gets reduced every time the resistance applies. That said it also comes with weaknesses to the Shatter spell, sonic damage, and, most crucially, bludgeoning damage! Ouch… bludgeoning damage is pretty common, but if you run into an encounter where it isn’t a factor, a scroll with this spell could be quite useful.

Grasp of the Deep (**): Do you find your target’s lack of faith disturbing? Or perhaps they have failed you for the last time? Sadly this is entirely dependent on them failing a Will save against your spell DC. Now heightened to 6th-rank (***), the spell targets enough creatures that you might get some use out of this. Grappling is pretty useful after all, and grappling potentially multiple targets is even better!

Grasping Earth (*): An earth-themed Slither! Neat! Though it has a smaller radius and… a SUSTAINED duration!? Nooooooope.

Ice Storm (**): It’s a smaller area of difficult terrain than a few lower-rank spells, and the concealment it provides is a double-edged sword. The cold damage adds up if you can keep an enemy trapped in the storm but otherwise isn’t much.

Invisibility Curtain (**): If you need to hide the entire party to wait for the danger to pass you by, or to set an ambush, provide cover to escape, etc. then you can do so much worse than this spell. However if an enemy passes through the other side of the curtain you will be immediately found out, and the duration is also sustained, cutting into your actions.

Life-Draining Roots (**): Damage in a 30 foot line plus temporary hit points. The damage is par for area spells of this rank, but the trick is getting enough people in a 30-foot line so that you can maximize that damage and the temporary hit points gained, as the amount you gain is directly influenced by the number of creatures you hit with this.

Liminal Doorway [U] (**): Make a somewhat safe space for camping. Though you don’t really have the spell slots to spare for that sort of thing. Though maybe a scroll or wand.

Magic Mailbox [U] (**): Man if Amazon could cast this spell… though you do need 1 hour and both containers to actually cast the spell, for the rest of the day the two containers can magically move content from one box to the other. Good if you need to move items discreetly.

Mercurial Stride (***): Double your movement and have a decent chance of inflicting the enemy with the sickened condition.This can either waste their actions or set them up for easier spellstrikes due to their lowered AC.

Mirage [U] (**): Soooooo close to being green but the way the spell is worded means that it is almost guaranteed that someone will get a chance to disbelieve your illusion against your Spell DC. Still if you can get away with it, this is a powerful illusion to use.

Mirror’s Misfortune (**): Given your relatively low Spell DC enemies will be able to either see through the duplicate, or succeed at the will save after shattering it. If you can get the ruse to work somehow and they fail to resist the will save, you are SEVERELY crippling their ability to make attacks!

Misty Memory [U] (**): While getting a bunch of mist to replay events is a cool visual, the fact that it depends on something happening near five-square feet of water, and having a hard time limit of 24 hours severely limits the use of this spell.

Morass of Ages (*): The effect is pretty sweet; but it’s save-based, sustained duration, and is going to require some careful positioning to not catch your teammates in it to boot.

Mountain Resilience (****): Resistance 5 against all physical damage (which heightens to 10 at 6th-rank, 15 at 8th-rank, and… oh wait you don’t get 10th-rank) except adamantine, with a duration long enough that you can pre-buff before an encounter. Time it well and you might even get the spell for two battles; not likely given it loses duration every time it reduces damage but this is still a fantastic boost to your survivability.

Necrotic Radiation [U] (***): Either you contaminate an area with void energy, or you contaminate an object with void energy, the latter of which grants a save to anyone carrying the object in question. However even on a success the spell will last for 1 minute and there is no save to reduce the damage they’ll take over the following rounds.

Nightmare (*): I can maybe think of some very specific instances a PC might get practical use for this but they’re so few and far between.

Ocular Overload (*): While I love the concept, it’s dependent on the saving throw of the triggering enemy, there are better and longer-lasting ways to give yourself concealment, and it has the incapacitation trait to boot.

Outcast’s Curse (**): You want to make an opponent be forced to sit alone at the lunch table? Well this is the curse to do it with. Maaaaaybe in a game of political intrigue? Like most long-lasting curses, it's much more impactful when used on a PC rather than an NPC you may never see again unless you want to punish them long-term?

Peaceful Bubble [U] (***): While the massive dome of iridescent runes is a giveaway to your position through mundane means, magical means of finding you are fruitless! No counteract check, just cast this and every scrying spell that tries to find you gets a huge “Nope!”

Planar Tether (**): BBEG keeps teleporting away? How is an adventurer supposed to save the world like this? You, my friend, need… Planar Tether! Your target does get a will save, but considering will save just determines the duration of the Planar Tether and not whether it works, even on a success this will last 1 minute, usually enough for a single combat encounter. Once affected the spell makes a counteract check against Planar Tether; in order to get the most out of this you’ll need to heighten this to at least 1 rank higher than the teleport effect you don’t want them to use due to how counteracting rules work. You’ll love having this for the enemies that can teleport, but not every enemy can do this.

Procyal Philosophy [U] (***): The wise raccoon appears on your friend’s shoulder, and offers them a free aid check for 1 whole minute. Combat? Hazard disarming? A series of checks needed to get over an obstacle? This guy can help with it all. Two actions for a 1 minute long aid check is great!

Ravenous Portal (**): Why bar the door when you can make the door eat your pursuers? The mimic is a rather weak creature by the time you’re able to cast this so its ability to actually eat pursuers will be limited but at least they will be utterly unable to open the door for the duration the door stays transformed.

Rebounding Barrier [R] (**): Resistance 10 against any physical damage type is nice, and dealing half of that back to the enemy is gravy. However your hybrid study may have other means of staying alive that don’t cost you a once-and-done spell slot.

Reflective Scales (**): This one’s going to be hard to use to its full effect. If a damage type is obvious enough that you can prepare this just before engaging an enemy, then usually the enemy is resistant to or immune to that damage so the explosion may not work as intended. Still if you run into some thematic spellcasters this could be a devastating counter to them.

Replicate (**): Besides doing your chores the illusory copy can make for a distraction, create witnesses, and other feats of misdirection. Because it’s limited to only basic tasks, deception is the main reason to use this spell. Don’t bother with this in combat; not just because it can’t actually fight but also because it’s a sustained duration spell.

Rigid Form (**): You would have to know ahead of time that your opponent likes to use polymorph effects since the duration is so short. Just hope that the effect you’re going to try to counteract isn’t too high of a spell rank.

Rust Cloud (**): Another cloud spell where the concealment cuts both ways, and deals damage to anyone standing in the cloud. It can get bigger and deal persistent damage to metal enemies. Still not great damage with your fortitude saves.

Sanguine Mist (*): This would be lovely if it didn’t require you to sustain it to keep it going every round.

Savant’s Curse [U] (*): Make someone feel dumber with this curse! Once again, another curse that has a negative impact on skill usage over the long-term. Not one that’s going to help with NPC’s too much for most games.

Seal Fate (**): This depends on the target’s fortitude save. However all this gives them is a rather pitiable weakness 2 to your chosen damage type. If they fail the save the weakness sticks to them long enough that it will add up but not too impressive.

Shape Stone (***): If descending into dungeons, this one’s a very versatile spell. Make passageways in walls, seal off doors, create walls/cover or other obstacles, possibly trip enemies (though that depends on their reflex/acrobatics save and not something to count on).

Sliding Blocks (**): As fun as it would be to get your earthbender game on, the three action cast and sustained duration make this unsuitable in a combat situation for you. Now this could still be used for navigating some obstacles but there are probably better spells for that purpose too.

Soft Landing (**): It’s in a similar position as the lower-rank Gentle Landing spell in that you might want it handy if you’re traversing an area where falling is a realistically possible danger. Thus this spell is rather niche in its use.

Solid Fog (**): I almost rated this green; it creates difficult terrain in the area and makes you concealed to anything inside of it, but it also makes them concealed from you without the proper measures. But if you place it well this spell can control the flow of enemies you have to deal with.

Spell Immunity (**): A good way to protect yourself from something especially nasty but you’d have to know exactly what spell to protect yourself against. It is also dependent on your counteract check.

Steal Voice [U] (**): Ursula is cornering this market no longer! You can steal some poor fool’s voice depending on their save result. This could be useful in certain campaigns requiring subterfuge and intrigue, but otherwise the incapacitation trait put together with your spell DC’s make this impractical to use in combat.

Stifling Stillness (*): Maaaaaaybe if you ran into something literally lacking the instinct to hold its breath? Yeah…

Suggestion (**): Hey maybe you should tell all your friends about how great this guide is… what do you say? What’s that? My spell DC is low enough that you think you can succeed at the will save? And your level is high enough that the incapacitation trait boosts your result up a step!? Well darn! At least the 8th-rank version (***) of this spell targets enough creatures that you might get a few minions to stop fighting for now.

Swarming Wasp Stings [U] (**): Enemies roll their fortitude save. If they succeed they’ll just get a rather pitiful amount of poison damage. If they fail they’ll get inflicted with Swarming Wasp Venom, which they’ll have plenty of chances to recover from against your Spell DC, but there’s always a chance that the clumsy condition on the venom takes hold for long enough for you to take advantage of that.

Telepathy (**): You become able to communicate with creatures with your mind. This would make for some great in-team communication if it weren’t for the fact that all mental communication must happen through you so it will be a bit slow if following the core rulebook’s bit on talking during combat.

Translocate (***): The most accessible teleportation spell in the game. The 120 foot range is pretty humble compared to other such effects but can help you reposition in battle, cross that chasm, or get a head start on getting the heck out of Dodge! I’d rate it blue if it wasn’t once-and-done like some other movement boosting options. Now 5th-rank Translocate does get a blue rating since this is THE way to escape a confrontation if things get dicey. No really, 5th-rank is practically ubiquitous on the spell lists of enemy spellcasters you run into.

Umbral Graft (**): You’ll have to identify that the enemy is benefiting from a spell you’d find helpful but if you pull it off you give yourself a buff while taking away an enemy’s buff. Bolster yourself at the expense of your enemies!

Unfettered Movement (***): Ignore effects that give you a speed penalty, and automatically escape anything that keeps you immobilized, grabbed, or restrained without needing to roll a check for it (you still have to spend the action). Only time you don’t auto-succeed is if the effect is magical and higher rank than the Unfettered Movement spell. This is useful for grabs alone as the number of enemies that can grab you on a successful strike goes up.

Vampiric Maiden (**): While it deals as much damage as a same-rank Vampiric Feast, it doesn’t grant as many temporary hit points, and the conditions Vampiric Maiden inflicts that make the trade-off worth it require enemies to fail their fort save.

Variable Gravity (**): High gravity’s trade off isn’t particularly worth it, but low-gravity actually brings some decent maneuverability to the table. Though the fly spell is strictly better in that regard.

Vision of Beauty [R] (*): It costs a single enemy some of their actions, and unfortunately it has the Incapacitation trait and so it’s unlikely you’ll get the result that you need to merit the actions casting it. Though one thing in this spell’s favor… you don’t have to be subjected to whatever the marsh giant finds attractive. Eeeeeeewwwwwwww…

Vision of Death (**): It deals a LOT of mental damage and inflicts the frightened condition. As single target spells go this is pretty amazing but your save DC’s are a bit weak so it might not be a good fit for the Magus.

Wall of Fire (***): Provides concealment and deals more damage than a same-rank Wall of Radiance (and Wall of Fire is a common spell to boot!). Only thing Wall of Radiance does that Wall of Fire can’t, is make adjacent creatures dazzled and that’s rather easily avoided. You can even make it a ring of fire rather than just a wall!

Weapon Storm (**): Even with a d12 weapon this won’t come out to be the most powerful blast you can conjure up, but it’s flexible in that you can use it either as a cone or an emanation around you. Plus let’s face it, combining this with spellstrike (via Expansive Spellstrike) makes for the most awesome storm of weapons ever!

Web of Influence [U] (**): Worth noting, it would seem that this spell erroneously lacks any spell traditions, so for all I know this may not even be an arcane spell. But if it is, I can’t recommend this one outside of the specific, but not unheard of, case where you’re investigating some conspiracy where the conspirators are bound by magic in some way shape or form.

Winning Streak (**): So this is an AMAZING effect, quickening you or an ally is always amazing, but whether this lasts for any meaningful amount of time depends entirely on how lucky you are with crits. The odds are tilted a bit more in your favor if you have a fighter in the party, but other than that this spell may not last long enough to be particularly impactful.

Ymeri’s Mark (**): Useful if you’ve caught someone and you need to keep track of them. But with your spell DC you might have trouble getting it to stick for an appreciable period of time.

Zephyr Slip (*): Unless you’re a Starlit Span, being in melee range isn’t a huge concern for you. Besides, you can cast a spell that lets you fly for more than just a single brief movement.

5th-rank Spells

Acid Storm (**): Continuous damage over 1 minute would be pretty boss, but the trick is finding a way to keep them inside the radius of the spell and hope they don’t make their basic reflex saves.

Bandit’s Doom (**): Really it’s more of a way to give a middle-finger to anyone who tries to take your stuff than a particularly practical ability. Unless you’re leaving your stuff unsupervised for a period of time there isn’t much use for this spell.

Banishment (**): If you are expecting extraplanar entities at a location that is not their home plane then having this handy could help. It is an incapacitation effect though, so maybe keep your best scroll of this spell handy.

Belittling Boast [U] (*): Buffing yourself and nerfing your enemies at the same time is REALLY sweet. Unfortunately, this relies on making an intimidation check, and the Magus is not cut out for social skills. MAYBE the Laughing Shadow could get a tad bit of mileage out of this but the Laughing Shadow gets to feint for free with spellstrike by this point, not demoralize at the cost of a precious spell slot.

Black Tentacles (**): Maybe not AS effective for you as it would be for a full caster, but this still gives a big middle-finger to enemy casters who have weaker Fort saves to target with this spell.

Blazing Fissure (***): Deals as much damage as a same-rank fireball along a long line, with the bonus that you knock them prone if they fail. Save depending of course.

Blind Eye [U] (*): Most people who are going to use magic to spy on you are FAR away from you. And you have to touch the object in question. Maaaaaybe in some magical spy versus spy campaign?

Blinding Foam [U] (**): Splash ‘em and slash ‘em! If you can reliably land this, this is solid damage combined with a blinding effect that they’ll either have to suffer, or they’ll have to waste 3 whole actions to get rid of! Problem is that this does have the incapacitation tag on it so your spell attack is going to be one degree worse against stronger enemies.

Blink Charge (****): Teleport, strike, and deal additional damage on your strike!? Yes please!

Blister (**): This bizarre spell actually does not harm the target in any way, except for ruining their yearbook picture. Rather it grows a number of blisters (ew) on them dependent on their fortitude save. And then you spend an action to concentrate to pop that blister (eeeewww…), and then everyone in a 15-foot cone in a direction of your choice from the target gets sprayed with popped-blister acid (eeeewwww…!!!). The damage from that last, charming, step depends on the most assuredly disgusted victim’s reflex saves.

Blood Feast [U] (****): Hey everyone! Want to see something that will give you nightmares!? You make a spell-attack roll, so yes it combines with spellstrike, deal 12d6 piercing damage, and get temporary hit points equal to half the damage you deal with the spell. So what’s nightmarish about this? Only that YOUR HEAD SPLITS VERTICALLY TO TURN INTO A MAW!!! Flavor-wise this is pretty disturbing, but it hits really hard and gives you temp hit points so mechanically this is so amazing I’m surprised this hasn’t been errata’d. Though it’s an uncommon spell from an AP, so don’t be surprised if your GM never lets you have this spell; I know I wouldn’t be that nice.

Chromatic Wall (**): While this opaque wall will prevent enemies on the other side of the wall from harassing you until they take a chance and cross the wall, the problem is twofold in that the effects of the wall are random, and all of them grant saving throws to the ones crossing it. None of the effects at 5th-rank are particularly strong either; at 6th-rank some more powerful options for wall colors get added but there’s still a chance that you won’t get to use them.

Cloak of Colors (***): Don’t just dress to impress, dress to dazzle! Literally. Creatures adjacent to you become dazzled, which is a fantastic boost to your survivability. Even in the event you face someone who out-reaches you, if they attack you they still have to roll a will save or risk being blinded or stunned for 1 round. That save has the incapacitation trait but they’ll potentially have to make the save multiple times or become discouraged from doing so at some point. Not a perfect defense but it’s a great one!

Corrosive Muck (***): Two puddles of greater difficult terrain are great for crowd control! The fact that you might deal some additional acid damage is really just gravy.

Toxic Cloud (**): A fog that deals poison damage and creeps away from you slowly. Sadly the fort save means the damage may not amount to much and as always, that concealed effect cuts both ways.

Control Water (**): Oh the environmental disasters you could cause if you’re not careful (though most GMs PROBABLY don’t feel like getting into those details). But given most PCs don’t have swim speeds, your uses for this are a bit limited. Though if you do encounter some water creatures, auto-slowing them in an area is pretty sweet.

Desperate Repair [U] (**): This spell is situational, but if your Sparkling Targe (or a shield-wielding ally) ever finds themselves in a situation where their shield is almost toast, then this is a spell you’d be glad to have. Though there are readily accessible ways to get the same effect, or otherwise save your shield, that don’t require a spell slot.

Drop Dead [U] (***): Save yourself or an ally within range a saving grace by turning them invisible while their illusory body-double falls dead (RIP illusory body). This gives them time to reposition, recover, or even just one more round to stay in the fight.

Elemental Breath (**): The element you randomly exhale out (what on EARTH did you eat!?) can either be below par, or above par with a same level fireball. The elements that deal damage usually have some other effect, such as knocking them prone, or pushing them back. You can also spend an extra action to remove the randomness from the spell. It’s an area blast spell so save it for the mooks.

Elemental Form (*): You are the battle form, you don’t need to transform into one. Additionally, some of the elemental forms have absolutely pitiful attacks.

Engrave Memory [U] (**): Okay, I have to comment on the potential this spell has for story-telling; the gamemaster in me is salivating… ahem! Anyways, for actual use for a Magus, this could be useful for cases where you need to pass one important information to someone somewhat secretly.

Entwined Roots (***): Due to the 1 minute cast time you’ll need to cast it before you enter a room where you suspect an encounter to happen, but resistance to bludgeoning and piercing damage to your whole team is a nice buff to give! It can even steal enemy ammo from you if your enemies use any! The resistance even goes up as you heighten the spell to 7th-rank and 9th-rank (****).

Etheric Shards (***): You think walking on broken glass sucks? Try walking/flying/swimming through broken force shards! Difficult terrain for all movement types in an area, plus a little extra damage? Gravy!

False Vision [U] (**): This spell is only orange due to the relative rarity that you will be scryed upon yourself. But if you ever do feel like a given area is going to be scryed upon it is guaranteed to prevent them from getting information! If your spell rank is high enough you can even fool them with false information entirely!

Fire’s Pathway [U] (***): Just hop in the fire and say “Diagon Ally!” It’s a teleportation spell, albeit one limited to blazing fires that are ongoing so mind that limitation.

Flame Dancer (**): You can give yourself or your ally extra unarmed strike damage, though whether there is a benefit to using performance instead of intimidation depends on the build of your buddy… or you if you’ve COMPLETELY disregarded my advice on the social skills above.

Flames of Ego (**): While it can tie up enemy actions, you need them to get a failure to make this worth the actions spent casting this spell. With that in mind there are three drawbacks to the spell. One, they are rolling a will save against your middling spell DC. Two, it’s an incapacitation spell. Three, the enemy becomes a completely unbearable narcissist who won’t shut up about how awesome they are.

Flammable Fumes (**): Given the cloud is hard to detect by default there’s a good chance anyone inside will take the poison damage with no saving throw at least once. And then a turn later you can cast produce flame on the cloud and watch it light up! Once again, no save is provided by the spell oddly enough. Requires a bit of set-up to really get it right though, as an enemy will know they’re in the cloud the moment they take damage from it and can just leave before you light it up.

Flowing Strike (****): Surf on the water for an eye-popping 50 feet and make a strike at any point during your movement! If you hit you deal even more damage than your strike normally would while pushing them 10 feet in any direction you choose! Three actions seems a small price to pay for enhanced movement, enhanced damage, and crowd-control.

Forceful Hand (**): This is an amazingly versatile spell that only gets more versatile as you heighten it, and just not of interest to the Magus. The main thing holding it back is the fact that you have to sustain this spell every turn if you want to keep using it and that’s a massive drain on your resources.

Freezing Rain (*): This rainy day is temporary. Very temporary. This is a sustained spell that depends on them rolling a reflex save so… yeah, pass.

Geyser (**): If the enemy fails the reflex save then they’ll end up taking about the same amount of damage as they would from a same-rank fireball while landing prone (unless they can fly); however the area then gains concealment 1 round so it’s more difficult to really take advantage of that prone condition.

Glimmer of Charm (*): A sustained incapacitation effect that can pause hostilities while it’s sustained. Not much use in combat for a Magus, and too short a duration to be of much use in social situations either.

Grisly Growths (**): Hey everyone! Still not tired of seeing something gross!? Well you can cause new body-parts to painfully erupt from your target (with a basic save) for some damage before the new body-parts rapidly rot away and disappear. But this one is SO GROSS that your victim and all creatures within 30 feet of the poor sap have to roll will saves to avoid being sickened. Too bad there’s no effect on a success but the potential double-whammy is worth considering.

Hallucination (***): This powerful illusion lets you dictate what the target senses. Your spell DC is going to be lower so attempts to disbelieve are more likely, but even on a success they have to seek or interact to disbelieve it rather than automatically disbelieving it on a successful will save. The heightened versions at 6th and 8th (****) allow you to target more creatures or extend its duration! Give your team invisibility. Make them think they have more allies. Make them see structures that aren’t there. Use your imagination and this spell will serve you very well!

Howling Blizzard (**): Pretty decent amount of cold damage in a cone, and for a third action you can even extend the range and change it to a burst. Of course there’s the issue of the reflex save.

Illusory Scene (***): Complimenting Mirage, this spell helps create elaborate scenes that you can use to distract or misdirect observers. Only problem is that scenes like this are guaranteed to come under scrutiny to the point where your lower spell DC will be a problem.

Imaginary Lockbox (**): It’s a way to hide any belongings you keep in a backpack or other container on your person without anyone ever finding it, while at the same time reducing your bulk by the amount of that container (if it’s 10 bulk or less). The long duration does lend itself nicely to putting on a wand if you’d like to carry more stuff. Downside is that you can’t put any new items in the storage unit until you dismiss the spell or its duration runs out.

Impaling Spike (*): Crank stepping on Legos up to eleven with this spell. Unfortunately it’s entirely save-dependent, single-target, and you need them to fail to get the most out of this spell.

Incendiary Fog [R] (**): Mist, with the option of setting it on fire for the same amount of damage as a 5th-rank fireball on the next round. Both spells are average but non-optimal choices for the Magus. However this would be better if your party’s primary arcane or primal caster cast this spell, and then you ignite it for them. Teamwork makes dreamwork!

Invoke Spirits (*): A sustained 10-foot burst that does pitiable amounts of damage and will only inflict any conditions to make up for the low damage if the living creatures in the burst critically fail. Let the spirits, and your Pharasmin party member, rest and give this spell a hard pass.

Lashunta’s Life Bubble [U] (**): Environmental Endurance is superior for protecting you from temperature extremes at this rank, but to get decent temperature protection AND a long-lasting air supply, this spell will cover both needs. Really only a concern if you’re going deep sea diving or exploring space which isn’t common in Pathfinder, but being able to breathe is pretty important so having this handy for those situations will help.

Mantle of the Frozen Heart (***): You’re as cold as ice to your foes with this amazingly flexible buff. You can pick two of four options (cold resistance, enemies who touch you take cold damage, a status bonus to your speed, an unarmed strike with cold damage), and can even spend a single action to change one of them to another one if it doesn’t work for you. If you know you’re getting into a situation where dealing cold damage or you need to resist cold damage this will be great boon! Even outside of that specific instance the speed bonus and ability to hurt melee enemies is still amazing!

Mantle of the Magma Heart (***): Take hot-blooded to a whole new level with this spell! It’s ever-so-slightly less broadly applicable than its frozen cousin just above, but you still can choose two from a list of four buffs (2nd rank enlarge, unarmed strike with fire damage, enemies who touch you take fire damage, and a little resistance against fire and cold) and can swap one out for another one with a single action. The enlarge effect is more interesting to STR-based builds who don’t rely on DEX as much but this is still a really flexible buff that will ruin the day of anyone vulnerable to fire damage.

Mantle of the Melting Heart (**): Still hot-blooded, but tragically not as versatile. Yes you still pick two buffs from a list of four buffs, but said buffs in this case (electricity resistance, disease and poison immunity, damage any metal that touches you, and a reaching unarmed attack) are a bit more situational than the prior spells.

Mantle of the Unwavering Heart (***): Uh… okay I can’t think of a reference to a Foreigner single for this one, but I promise it’s a good spell! Much like the prior mantle spells above, you cast this spell and gain two buffs from a list of four (Fast Healing along with poison and disease resistance, cloying cloud of perfume, 2nd-rank enlarge, modest bonus against mental effects and immunity to fascination). Three of the four buffs are of interest to a Magus that mixes it up in melee, and two of them for a DEX-based Magus. As long as the enemy can smell, the Overwhelming perfume automatically sickens enemies in the aura so that’s a FANTASTIC debuff!

Mariner’s Curse (**): At last a curse with more immediate use to the Magus, it even has an effect on a success. But sickened 1 to a single opponent is probably not the most efficient use of your 5th-rank spell slots.

Mind Probe [U] (**): While it may not take what with your spell DCs, it is a useful spell to find the information you want from a target.

Mirror Malefactors (*): A sustained duration spell that is immediately ended once it succeeds at a will save so you’re just risking wasting actions. The frightened value that never goes down until the spell ends would be nice if it weren’t so likely for the spell to end early.

Magic Passage [U] (**): Make tunnels in any structure that isn’t metal. It’s a useful trick to bypass some obstacles to be sure but that’s all it can do and even a little bit of metal is enough to stop it from working.

Pillars of Sand [U] (**): Create 1 to 3 pillars but you must be on natural earthen terrain, and the spell must be sustained. Not quite as versatile as Shape Stone either. It has its uses but not much.

Pressure Zone (**): Clumsy is a solid condition to inflict on enemies, but a three-action cast time, combined with your middling class DC, means that the odds are against you getting to exploit it yourself. The rest of your team might still get that chance which saves this from a red rating but there are better spells for your limited spell slots.

Quicken Time (**): Imagine the concealment effect and duration of a cloud spell, and now everything that starts its turn inside the “cloud” also gets haste for that round. This is a double-edged spell if ever there was a double-edged spell. You can potentially give your team some impressive buffs, but savvy enemies can benefit from it as well.

Return Beacon [U] (**): Initially this spell is more so you can get into a location, and get back out relatively quickly (but not quick enough to escape a combat scenario). The range gets better at 7th and 8th rank. At 9th rank (***) the spell lets you take your whole party when you teleport back. Still by that rank it seems teleporting would be the simpler option, but both this and teleport are uncommon so it’s up to the GM which you would gain access to..

Rewinding Step (***): While the duration isn’t near as long as Return Beacon (so it’s less ideal for potentially time-consuming sneaky infiltrations) it can call you back to your return point as a single action rather than taking 1 minute so it’s possible to use it to bail out of a fight that’s going south. Not as good as a same rank Translocate but still useful.

Ritual Obstruction [U] (**): If you know that a ritual is going to be cast in a specific area, then this can be useful. But as seems to be a trend with spells from its source adventure path, it’s super-specific.

Scouring Pulse (**): To date the only spell on the arcane list that does vitality damage. It’s still a blast spell though so its use to the Magus is there, but limited.

Secret Chest (**): If you want to hide something why not throw it into the dumping ground of the multiverse! The ethereal plane! The chances of your chest being disturbed there is almost (but not quite) zero, and you can call the chest back to you at any time. Just be sure that you DO call it back to you or else you will lose the contents of that chest forever!

Scouting Eye (***): Now THIS is a scouting spell! For 10 minutes you can send this eye ahead of you to scout an area! In more open areas this is a god-send. In more indoor settings this will hit a wall (quite literally in some cases) when it runs into a solid obstacle, but it’s still worth keeping handy if you find yourself in a suspicious-looking hallway or maze-like section to find your way ahead.

Sending (**): Ah yes, the ever-so-famous sending spell with its 25 word limit, but hey at least standard messaging rates do not apply! If you need to send a message to someone you will absolutely get use out of this spell!

Shadow Siphon (**): While this reaction could potentially save you from a disastrous saving throw against a damage spell, this will do absolutely nothing to any other effects the spell might have; plus damage spells aren’t usually the most threatening thing a spellcaster has.

Slither (**): This seems to be the non OGL replacement for Black Tentacles, and unlike Black Tentacles this doesn’t seem to require being next to a flat surface; unfortunately this targets Reflex which even pure spell-casting enemies can have a decent saving throw in.

Stagnate Time (**): Slow in an area of effect. Useful? Absolutely. Problem is that it’s in an area that the targets are NOT going to willingly remain in, so you’re not likely to get more than a round out of this. Also, unlike slow, you don’t even get an effect if they succeed the saving throw.

Subconscious Suggestion (**): I really can’t say anything about this spell that I haven’t already said about its cousin one spell-rank lower, suggestion.

Summon Dragon (*): Look, I know dragons are awesome but summoning one is a big responsibility. You have to spend actions to sustain it every turn and you can barely sustain yourself with your actions. I’m sorry but I just don’t think you’re responsible enough to keep a dragon.

Telekinetic Haul (**): If you have to move something massively heavy this is the spell to do it with.

Telepathic Bond [U] (***): Now you all get mental walkie-talkies! No better way to stay in covert contact with someone.

Temporary Glyph (*): Okay hold up. Two spell ranks higher than Glyph of Warding. The spell you store in it can’t take more than two-actions to cast as opposed to Glyph of Warding’s up-to-three-action spells. Lasts 1 minute as opposed to Glyph of Warding’s unlimited duration!? Only thing this thing has over Glyph of Warding is the three-action cast and the 30 foot range which is not even remotely a hindrance to Glyph of Warding since that spell is cast for setting a trap. I get that this spell is for setting a trap mid-fight but then why wouldn’t you just cast the spell!?

Transmute Rock and Mud (***): Pretty good actually. While Mud to Rock gives enemies in the mud a saving throw they’ll trip and fall prone even on a success so you leave an enemy vulnerable and forced to spend actions unless they crit succeed. Rock to Mud on the other hand creates difficult terrain or even creates pits the target has to swim through. If underground you can create difficult terrain and possibly deal damage in one go. Given the size and flexibility of placing the areas you’ve got quite a good spell as long as there’s stone about.

Truespeech [U] (**): Much like Translate, this is one of those spells you don’t need until you need it. Keeping Translate on a scroll or wand is cheaper than this but Truespeech could still work if you cannot identify the language you need to understand.

Umbral Journey [U] (***): Almost like teleport given how fast you can go, however rather than instantaneous travel your trip is shortened to a few minutes instead. There is also the danger of running into denizens of the Netherworld. Be sure that your party members who traveled with you are nearby before you dismiss the spell. Stranding them in the Netherworld wouldn’t be very nice on your part at all.

Wall of Ice (***): You can pretty flexibly form this wall, either in a straight line, or into a dome, and the wall doesn’t even have to be vertical as long as it’s anchored on both edges. Each section of the wall will take some time to destroy (though vastly shortened if they have fire), block line-of-sight in the meantime so you can effectively control enemy traffic by placing this spell well.

Wall of Stone (****): Of course this one beats out Wall of Ice both in terms of the flexibility of its placement, and its durability. Make literal walls, make stairs, make bridges, aw just go nuts with this one. This is definitely one of the best spells a Magus can use.

Wave of Despair (**): While being able to hit multiple enemies with the slowed condition saves this from being red, the problem is that a creature gets SO… MANY SAVING THROWS to avoid being slowed by crippling depression. Not to mention the worst they’ll get is slowed 1.

Wisdom of the Winds [U] (***): If the spirits of air know how to help you, this is guaranteed to point you in the right direction one way or another. It is uncommon so access might be an issue.

Wyvern Sting [U] (**): Little bit of damage and possibly more damage if they fail the save against the poison but that’s banking on them failing against your spell DC multiple times.

6th-rank Spells

Arrow Salvo (**): The damage is pretty good in a decent area. Enemies can also get knocked prone if they crit fail but that’s not the most likely outcome with your spell DC’s.

Aura of the Unremarkable [U] (**): Oh don’t mind me, I’m just getting ready to raise an army of undead. However your Pharasmin teammate is likely to succeed the will save necessary to notice you are up to something bad.

Awaken Entropy (*): Groetus awaits us with this spell! Well… not when you cast it. It’s a blast so it’s already an automatically middling spell for the Magus, but the area and damage are also pretty sad for its rank. At least if you just cast it and leave it alone. But getting more benefits out of the spell requires sustaining it, which you really aren’t keen on doing as a Magus.

Cursed Metamorphosis (**): The effect is pretty devastating if they get a failure, but even a success will at least sicken them. Main thing keeping the rating at orange is the fact that it is an incapacitation effect.

Bound in Death [U] (*): The effect is pretty cool, but it’s sustained and each time you try to split the damage between you and your target, said target gets a will save. Problem is, all but the critical failure condition mean that the target will only take damage from this spell once in a round. Between the action-economy demands of sustaining it, and your weaker spell DC’s, you can safely pass on this one.

Cast into Time (**): Show your foes the future of Sonic the Hedgehog with this spell! It possesses a small area, a modest amount of damage, and the sickened condition if they fail the save. Meh, it’s alright.

Catch Your Name [R] (*): Like… don’t the other spells that work on the true name stuff require you to know someone’s true name? This spell doesn’t even get you that.

Chain Lightning (**): Blasting your enemies but not your allies is pretty sweet. Be certain to pick and choose your targets carefully because the spell will end prematurely if any target gets a critical success on their reflex saves; a bigger concern for you thanks to your lower spell DC.

Chromatic Image (***): It functions exactly like Mirror Image as described above, but each time an image gets popped the enemy takes some additional damage depending on what color got popped.

Collective Transposition (***): Repositioning your enemies would be nice but the real strength is teleporting yourself and a teammate, or two teammates, into more advantageous positions!

Daemon Form (*): So there are some technically decent buffs but the major benefits of the spell are largely wasted on you since you’re already quite combat capable yourself.

Demon Form (*): Second verse, same as the first.

Devil Form (*): Third verse, same as the second and first.

Disintegrate (****): So while this does allow a Fortitude saving throw, the damage this spell does is DISGUSTING! Still reliably out-damaging attack cantrips and some (but not all) damage spells you could prepare here even on a save. Worth noting is that if you score a critical hit then their saving throw result is treated as one step worse! Pair this with Sure Strike for best effect.

Dominate [U] (*): A single target effect that has the incapacitation trait. Not likely to make this work to best effect.

Dragon Form (*): Look just because you couldn’t keep a dragon doesn’t mean you can just turn into one. As always with these transformation spells you are already plenty dangerous without spending spell slots on battle forms.

Elemental Confluence (*): While it’s versatile, it’s also sustained and most of the effects are something you can out-perform with cantrips.

Field of Razors (***): Create difficult terrain that does slashing damage and you can even spend reactions making the field bigger when they do take that damage. You can additionally trigger weaknesses to certain metals if you use an appropriate chunk of metal (don’t worry, you get it back).

Flame Vortex (*): There’s a limit to where you can cast this spell and you have to sustain it to make the damage worthwhile.

Frost Pillar (*): A sustained single target spell that has more than a few ways out even on the off-chance they do fail the reflex save? Yeah… pass. You have access to spells that can potentially grab multiple targets by this point if you really need to be doing crowd control.

Halcyon Infusion [R]: You really don’t have the spell slots to make this worthwhile. Just cast the spells yourself.

Lignify (**): You’ll need to get the failure condition to make this worth your actions spent, and the ongoing effect has the incapacitation trait. Great if you can pull it off but it’s unlikely.

Mislead (**): An illusory version of yourself while you’re invisible would be fantastic if you didn’t have to sustain the spell every round.

Necrotize (**): The spell does respectable damage and a debilitating effect. The effect will only last 1 round if they get a success so make it count.

Never Mind (**): An incapacitation effect with a deceptively innocuous name, but even the success condition can be very annoying for spell-casters.

Personal Ocean (***): If you’re using a piercing weapon while your enemy isn’t, and you’re not depending on fire spells, this is a really solid defensive buff. Since this functions as a circumstance penalty against enemies, you can apply your own bonuses to make you even harder to hit!

Petrify (**): This spell is EXACTLY the same as Lignify, just replace all references to wood with stone.

Phantasmal Calamity (*): Does less damage than other blasts at this rank and the balancing factor to make up for that shortcoming is gated behind a critical failure and then they get to make another saving throw. The only calamity here is any Magus that prepares this spell expecting results.

Phantom Orchestra (*): I’m afraid your dreams of having a band accompany you to play your theme song will have to wait, because this sustained spell that allows basic fortitude saves really does not harmonize well with the Magus’s playstyle.

Poltergeist’s Fury (*): Being the epicenter of a tornado of objects is sweet and awesome to visualize; too bad this is a sustained save-based spell. The fairly large emanation also makes you dangerous to your allies (although less so than your enemies).

Purple Worm Sting (**): While you’re not likely to get the most out of this spell, it being dependent on their saving throw, if you can get it to work then it will make enemies enfeebled 2, which is pretty devastating for melee enemies.

Ravenous Darkness [U] (**): It has all the potential to hinder you as a 4th-rank Darkness spell, and it lets you make a spell attack everything in the area (against their Fort DC). While the damage is poor, the additional effects bring it back up to acceptable, follow up is going to be difficult due to the globe of darkness hiding everything, plus any allies brave enough to enter are at risk of being damaged.

Repulsion (**): This spell isn’t for the Magus, except for Starlit Span. Other Hybrid Studies mixing it up in melee are going to possibly be as much a hindrance to their own teammates as they are any enemies who fail the will save. That’s even assuming the enemies and your team all fail the Will save in the first place.

Rose’s Thorns [U] (*): Enemies coming directly at you? Make them change their mind with far more than two-dozen roses with this spell! They do get their usual save against the initial damage, but they now have to contend with difficult and hazardous terrain. This would be a fine effect on its own but the problem is the sustained duration. You can get the same effect with Coral Eruption and not have to sustain it.

Scrying [U] (**): The first half of the scry-and-die team has seen better days. The spell outright will not work if they get a success on their Will save, and unless you’ve met the target of your spell in person the DC is even worse than it would already be for you. Still if you manage to make this work you can possibly learn a bit about the target… up until the target moves. Unless they crit fail.

Spellwrack (***): Make enemies with their magical buffs hurt for those buffs, shortening the duration of the spell to boot! Considering you get basically the full effect of the spell even on a success that’s fantastic! How long it lasts depends on if they have a decent rating in the Arcana skill or not so try not to waste using this on a wizard.

Suffocate [U] (*): It pains me to rate a spell that lets us do our best Darth Vader impressions this low. Alas, the spell has both a sustained duration, and the incapacitation trait, and only the critical failure and failure conditions result in anything more than a glorified damage spell.

Tangling Creepers (**): This creates a massive area of difficult terrain, which has its perks. Its secondary function of pulling in creatures close to it depends on you making a spell-attack roll which is less than ideal for the Magus.

Teleport [U] (****): Long-range travel spells really don’t get much better than this. While the spell isn’t precise enough for you to land exactly at your destination it’s rarely a problem in the long-run. The distance you can teleport increases as you heighten the spell.

Temporal Ward [R] (*): I mean I guess in combat this could be useful for covering a retreat but it’s not the most action-efficient way to escape combat. To add insult to injury you don’t even get access to the much more broadly applicable 10th-rank version of this spell.

Truesight (***): While it does require a counteract check, the fact that you can see through potential illusions or transformations is greatly beneficial! Too bad it’s only 10 minutes a pop.

Unexpected Transposition (***): You’re not the squishiest thing on the battlefield, but you’re nowhere near the sturdiest either, sometimes swapping places with your hardier teammate is the best call, or if you’re lucky you can even swap places with an enemy, though this eats your reaction and the enemy can always resist. Don’t just use this spell on impulse, use it incorrectly and you could make things worse for yourself or your team; used well this can be a life-saver and a tactical positioning tool.

Vampiric Exsanguination (**): When a 30-foot cone and Vampiric Feast love each other very much, they make a whole new spell! Vampiric Exsanguination just adds an area to Vampiric Feast and thus deals more damage and increases your chances of getting a good chunk of temporary hit points! Still based on your save DCs though.

Vibrant Pattern (*): While it automatically dazzles everyone in the area, that includes you and your teammates. Further the blinding effect has the incapacitation trait and requires them to fail so you may not get to blind too many enemies. Plus it’s sustained. Pass.

Vitrifying Blast (**): This is basically a better version of Petrify, sadly the additions this spell has does nothing to fix the fact that it’s most devastating effect has the incapacitation trait, nor does it change your middling spell DC’s.

Wall of Force (****): Wall of Force’s placement isn’t as flexible as Wall of Stone or even Wall of Ice or Fire. But it makes up for it by being by and FAR the most durable wall of the bunch. Even the hardest hitting creatures in the game are going to struggle to do more than scratch damage to the wall for a few levels yet. Plus any dedicated spell casters in your party can still cast spells that require line of sight as long as the spell doesn’t have to physically travel through the wall. Even ethereal or incorporeal beings can’t pass through it (as long as they’re not smart enough to try passing under or around it). While I can imagine cases where the flexible placement of Wall of Stone (plus its respectable durability in its own right) could be more useful than Wall of Force; but if what you need is the strongest wall you can conjure up, this is the spell to do it with!

Wall of Metal (*): It’s neither the most durable wall at this spell rank, nor can its placement be particularly flexible. You can do so much better than this spell.

Word of Revision [R] (***): This is the “Oh snap!” spell for when something goes badly wrong, giving the target of this spell a chance to stay on their feet. Probably better on a full caster than you due to limited spell slots, but this can still save lives and that can’t be disregarded.

Zero Gravity [U] (*): It has no saving throw! And the cost for having no saving throw? By having a sustained duration and being LAUGHABLY easy to escape from! Hard pass.

7th-rank Spells

Beheading Buzz Saw (*): Slow your roll before you get too caught up in your best Krillin impressions. This is not a basic save, so they will take NO damage even on a regular success, the damage isn’t great, and the critical failure effect allows an additional save if you can even trigger the critical failure to begin with.

Blightburn Blast [U] (*): Based on the description I’m guessing this is REALLY specific to the adventure path it comes from. The disease this inflicts creatures with has long periods of time before they save against the next stage so this would be a rather disappointing once-and-done even if you had a better spell DC.

Contingency (***): I’d rate this higher were it not for the fact that the Magus has few spell slots to spare for this. Still this is a very flexible spell and one that if you do find you can spare the spell slot then there are lots of ways to get out of danger or keep a buff going in a fight. Experiment and have fun! Due to its long duration you can stick this spell on a wand and get good value out of it, though you’ll still need to provide the spell from your spell slots.

Control Sand [U] (*): The rage of the desert seems less potent when you use it. You either gain a shield that provides no AC bonus (but you can shield block with it), a reflex save attack against a single creature, or increase the area to 30 feet around you to deal some sad amount of damage. All of which you choose each time you SUSTAIN the spell. Pass on this, you have more efficient ways of defending yourself or doing damage.

Corrosive Body (**): Be as corrosive as your soul… (disclaimer: the author of this guide is not liable for any false claims about the contents of your soul). The acid immunity this spell grants is rarely going to come up but the temporary hit points and the free damage you’ll deal on anything that touches you, or strikes you while adjacent to you, is a nice perk. If you want to take full advantage of this you’ll want to prepare other acid spells (except acid splash since that comes with the spell), though most acid spells aren’t famous for their up-front damage anyways. The text doesn’t seem to indicate there’s an improvement to persistent damage, but it’s unclear so ask your GM.

Dancing Fountain (*): As amazing a spectacle as this is, it’s still a sustained spell that relies on enemies rolling their saving throws so it’s going to be all flash and no substance for you.

Planar Seal [U] (**): Whereas dimensional anchor is really just to prevent targets from escaping, Planar Seal does that and prevents other effects that involve planar travel in a pretty large area. It will attempt to counteract you and your allies though same as your enemies; because of this it may be better to stick with Dimensional Anchor.

Duplicate Foe (*): While this generates a minion with better offensive stats compared to what another summon spell could generate, this still eats your actions and the created minion has almost no hit points for its level. Pass on this.

Eclipse Burst (**): It’s a blast spell, and one you’d better aim at living creatures if you’re using it at all because only the cold damage is going to affect any undead you try to hit with it, and that’s assuming they aren’t resistant to or immune to cold damage. Against living creatures it actually does some pretty hefty damage, just mind the absolutely massive burst area so you don’t hurt yourself and your teammates.

Energy Aegis (***): On one hand, the resistance it offers is weaker than Resist Energy, and can only ever affect one target. On the other hand, it offers resistance 5 against EVERY TYPE OF ENERGY DAMAGE for a whopping 24 HOURS! At 9th rank the energy resistance goes up to 10. I’d prepare this if I had no idea what kind of energy damage to expect, or if I’m expecting a lot of different kinds of energy damage. Or even better, stick it on a WAND!

Entrancing Eyes [U] (*): A sustained spell that is entirely save-based and the main use for this is a condition that would only affect spellcasters who tend to have good will saves. Blech…

Fiery Body (***): Don’t use this against anything packing cold damage or anything immune to fire, but other than that this spell is great! Flight speed, additional damage die on your fire spells, a one-action produce flame, you deal fire damage to anything that touches you. Solid all-around buff.

Frigid Flurry (***): The spell deals a pretty respectable amount of damage in a line while also moving you to the other end of the line. You’ll rarely want to extend the line up to the maximum 120 feet as that will just put you out of position. Frigid Flurry’s movement utility on top of its damage gives it a leg-up over other blasting spells.

Heaving Earth (**): This depends on enemies being on the ground in a straight line; by this level flight is not particularly uncommon among enemies. Further, it only does damage, plus some admittedly nice crowd control, to the actual target of the spell, while the rest are pushed back 10 feet on a failure. It’s okay, but not spectacular, when it works but it’s not always going to work with your relatively poor spell DC.

Hungry Depths (*): Scylla is that you!?! Well, don’t try to prepare this spell to ask, because it is another sustained spell that requires your enemies to make saving throws.

Interplanar Teleport [U] (**): What was once both a save-or-suck spell and a traveling spell has now become only a traveling spell. This spell is used for hopping to another plane of existence. It’s orange because you’re only ever going to use it for that purpose but if your adventure does ask you to hop planes this is the ONLY spell you’re probably going to be using for that purpose.

Inexhaustible Cynicism (**): Pft, I don’t need to prepare a spell for this, I can just show people the news to get the same effect! Another problem is that this may not necessarily impact enemy actions in a meaningful way, and even if it does you’d need them to at least get a failure for it to impact their actions more than yours.

Leng Sting [U] (**): As with every poison spell, this depends on the fortitude save of your target.

Lifewood Cage (*): Tempting to rate it higher but given that whether you catch any enemies or not depends entirely on their failed reflex save, plus its sustained duration, makes it a lot less appealing for a Magus. Really this just leaves you with a weaker wall of force that is weak to void damage.

Mask of Terror (**): Frightened is a nice condition, it just stinks that it requires them to fail their will saving throw to actually become frightened. But at least you get multiple chances to frighten an enemy so long as they use hostile actions against you or whomever you cast it on. Heightened to 8th-rank (***) is basically going to force someone to make that save every other round that they attack you or your teammates, so something is bound to stick.

Maze of Locked Doors [U] (**): Even the success condition will get an enemy to waste their whole turn; though this does have the incapacitation trait on it.

Momentary Recovery (**): A short range teleport with effectively no actions. Why only orange then? Because it makes you slowed 1 during your next turn. That is a TERRIBLE condition to have as a Magus. If you’re really careful about your timing you can squeeze some use out of it but it’s hard to imagine a scenario where you can’t do something else just as productive without making yourself slowed.

Planar Palace [U] (***): Now this is a camping spell. It has everything. Nourishment, a place to sleep, and security, all for the cost of a 1 minute cast time. Heck if you’re in a dungeon crawl you can even use this as a base to fall back to if you ever need to retreat and recover. Wand this spell, and spend every night in luxury!

Pollen Pods (**): You set five traps around the field. The damage isn’t fantastic per pod, but enemies who succeed get dazzled for 1 round, and suffer worse effects if they fail or crit fail. But this depends on you and your team not accidentally tripping your own trap, and it depends on your spell DC as well.

Power Word Blind [U] (****): Against a same-rank or weaker opponent (assuming you keep heightening this) this will automatically blind the target for at least 1 minute. No save. Nothing. Absolutely amazing. Against higher level opponents this will “only” dazzle them for 1 minute but again, no save and that’s still a flat chance for them to miss you AND your team if they opt to attack. And the spell only takes one-action to cast! Fantastic!

Prismatic Armor (***): Much improved over chromatic armor in that it gives you resistance to multiple damage types at once rather than just a random source. Plus an aggressive enemy risks dazzling themselves or even blinding themselves if they’re particularly unlucky even against your saves. Heightened to 9 increases the damage resistance even further.

Prismatic Spray (*): A full caster can force their enemies to taste the rainbow and expect results ranging from “Okay” to “Fantastic!” but with your save DCs the odds of them failing any given effect is not as good as for a full-caster, and that’s before factoring in the random nature of the spell.

Project Image (*): Bad Magus! Not for you! The most you’re going to get out of this is making “beside myself” jokes! You don’t have the actions to sustain this, and your priority is using weapons in tandem with spells, not exclusively spells.

Retrocognition (**): And now your dream of becoming an occult detective can come through with this spell! No it doesn’t show exactly what happened in the past but it can give you some vital clues!

Return to Essence [R] (*): You counteract spells that are somehow guarding a doorway (oddly specific) in order to replenish a lower-rank spell slot of 3rd-rank or lower… which you don’t even have at this level outside of archetypes or other means of granting extra spell slots. The heightened versions at least make it so you can potentially restore 4th-rank slots which you do have.

Reverse Gravity [U] (***): While this can lock down an area, you’re usually only going to stall enemies for about a round at best. But that is a round your allies can use to tactically prepare themselves. While enemies will get out of it easily enough, the only save they can make is to grab a ledge if there even is anything to grab.

Shadow Raid (**): The great thing about this spell is that the effects will ONLY affect the enemies in the area. Unfortunately the damage is humble, and they can spend an action to disbelieve the illusion to remove the concealed condition it would otherwise provide, or just exit the space since nothing is really keeping them in the area of effect.

Spell Riposte [U] (**): Generally an amazing defense against spells, especially since you can return said spell to sender, but the spells you’d want to use this on tend to be higher rank spells that your counteract check might struggle to overcome.

Telekinetic Bombardment (**): Solid blast that has a chance of knocking enemies prone, and the flexibility of its area of effect (depending on what’s around to throw).

Tempest of Shades (**): Drained and Frightened are both terrible conditions, which means you’ll LOVE inflicting them on your enemies! I’d rate it higher if the Magus’ save DCs were better; but nonetheless the large area means that your enemies, and your Pharasmin party member, will hate you.

Time Beacon (**): If you’re anticipating something bad happening to you next turn then this can get you out of it, but this also means any harm you did to your enemies during that turn will be undone.

True Target (****): No need to keep Sure Strike all to yourself. Up to 4 creatures can benefit from it with a single casting of this spell; ideally you and 3 teammates who are on the offensive.

Vacuum (*): No, you can’t use this to clean your floors, that’s what Phantasmal Minion is for. In theory you can use it to suffocate enemies in a 15-foot emanation around you. But your spell DC isn’t going to make failure likely, plus this is sustained. Pass on this.

Warp Mind (*): A will save incapacitation effect whose success condition isn’t worth the actions you spent casting the spell in the first place. Bleugh…

8th-rank Spells

All is One, One is All [R] (***): This mantra of wisd-I’m sorry I meant spell. Ahem. This spell can let you tactically reposition your allies, and reallocate hit points to ensure the ones who need it the most get it. This requires you to be aware of who needs what amount of hit points but this spell really rewards a tactical mind.

Antimagic Field [R] (*): A sustained duration spell that shuts off your main asset while your foes can just run away to escape the effect easily enough. Hard pass on this one.

Arctic Rift (**): Cold damage in a line with a chance for some crowd control. Sadly the crowd control is gated behind failure and critical failure conditions so unless you use this against some hapless mooks you’re best off giving this spell the cold shoulder.

Boil Blood (**): The damage in-and-of-itself is more what you could expect from a fireball of this rank, on a failure it also inflicts drained 2. Unfortunately they do have to get a failure to suffer even that much.

Burning Blossoms (**): The sakura tree isn’t out of season yet with this spell. Despite the potential for damage over time and forcing enemies to waste actions, the spell gives the enemies A LOT of chances to roll their will save against your relatively poor spell DC.

Confusing Colors (*): Sustained? Check. Incapacitation? Check. No effect on a successful save? Check. All points against you ever adding this spell to your spellbook.

Deluge [U] (**): Flying creatures get no save against this and are immediately knocked prone while taking up to 50 hit points of damage if they hit the ground. Creatures on the ground get pushed away from the center of the burst on a failed reflex save. This spell is fantastic if you expect to encounter a lot of flying creatures, otherwise meh. Also, mind that you don’t accidentally destroy any homes.

Desiccate (**): Technically you target individual creatures within 500 feet of you for a respectable amount of void damage. It’s a great blast spell, but blast spells aren’t your bag. Not to mention there are plenty of creatures who are going to be outright immune to this spell (but also a few that take even more damage from it).

Disappearance (****): Imagine 4th-rank invisibility with the duration of regular invisibility, and the fact that you are considered invisible to EVERY sense an enemy could have. Yes… imagine the possibilities… and all the boot laces you can tie together!

Dream Council (**): If you absolutely must send a message to a group of people this is the spell to do it with.

Earthquake (**): This has the power to alter terrain, but such power is unwieldy and it’s going to be difficult not to affect you or your own team with this spell; not to mention the area you just devastated with a natural disaster.

Falling Sky (***): Cast this spell to not only vindicate Chicken Little, but automatically ground and damage flying enemies in a pretty decent sized area! Amazing! There’s more to the spell though the rest is gated behind a saving throw with the incapacitation trait; but the good news is that even on a success (but not a critical success), enemies in the area are still knocked prone! Rob enemies of actions AND make them more vulnerable to your team? Absolutely amazing!

Ferrous Form (***): Is that 1 hour duration a typo!? Even if it is a typo wow! Resistance to non-adamantine physical damage, a good chunk of immunities, and a one-action version of Needle Darts. Plus your metal spells deal one-extra die of damage. Only drawback is that you can’t receive healing and you automatically sink in water, so you may not really get to enjoy the full hour duration, but this is a solid buff overall.

Hidden Mind [U] (***): Not outright immunity to mental effects, but a +4 bonus to saves against such effects is MASSIVE! The fact that Hidden Mind treats its own spell rank as one higher to counteract detection, revelation, and scrying effects is extra icing on the cake. Its all-day duration makes it a fantastic spell to put on a wand!

Quandary (*): This would be an amazing spell to remove one enemy from the fight for just a little bit if you didn’t have to sustain the spell. As it is they will likely escape after just a round or two depending on who you target and you can’t spare the actions to sustain this.

Monstrosity Form (*): Another battle form you don’t really need the help from and thus don’t need to spend the spell slot on.

Pinpoint [U] (***): Never lose a game of hide-and-seek ever again (though with a 10-minute cast time the person you’re looking for will probably get bored after a bit). You will now know the exact location of your target as long as you meet the conditions to try the spell on them in the first place; and as long as they don’t have divination protections of the same spell rank or higher.

Polar Ray (****): This spell not only does damage, but inflicts drained on the creature you hit, which basically amounts to more damage and it weakens their Fort save to boot. If you can spare the spell slots to do so, you can be extra nasty by using Disintegrate for your next spellstrike.

Power Word Stun [U] (***): Against same or lower-ranked opponents you are robbing them of their actions for 1 to 6 rounds. Against higher level opponents you’re trading your 1 action for 1 of their actions. Really gets the most impact only on weaker opponents, but getting rid of actions is a worthwhile use of your own.

Prismatic Wall (****): While it’s possible to dazzle or blind your teammates for 1 round, that’s all that will happen, and your enemies will suffer the same effect. But the main benefits to this wall are that it stops almost everything but creatures from passing through it, and the sheer number of effects they have to roll against on crossing the wall almost guarantees they are going to be in worse shape for trying. A great way to partition the battlefield into something more manageable, or given its long duration, act as a buffer while you sound the retreat.

Prying Survey [U] (**): This really doesn’t do a whole lot more than save you in-game time searching an area.

Rainbow Fumarole (**): As amazing a visual as this is, the damage isn’t that great regardless of the result you roll, and while the additional effects are potentially nice, this spell’s incapacitation trait hurts your chances against enemies you don’t keep heightening this for.

Summon Archmage (**): This spell is AMAZING against enemy spell-casters, at least if they fail the will-save, since the mass stupefy and mass dispel magic can REALLY shift the tide of a fight. Otherwise the Archmage will only do a piddling amount of damage to enemies and give your active buff spells one more round.

Summon Irii [R] (***): I mean are you REALLY summoning them? They were already there and always will be. Well regardless of whether you “summon” a Fate Irii or a Fortune Irii, they will give your team a buff on certain dice rolls on their “arrival,” and then debuff enemy dice rolls on their “departure.”

Uncontrollable Dance (**): The spell can only affect one creature and it has the incapacitation trait, but at least the success condition guarantees that an enemy is off-guard and must spend actions it might otherwise use to harm you to dance.

Undermine Reality [U] (**): Okay, who divided by zero!? Was it those tentacles? Must be. Anyways, the reduced damage on its strikes and inability to critically succeed on its skill checks is nice, but the real gravy is that anything your target uses that requires a saving throw, makes the target’s result one degree better! Too bad it’s an incapacitation spell and you’ll be lucky to get more than the success condition.

Unrelenting Observation (**): This would be pretty good against a creature that likes to go invisible but other than that not a whole ton of use for this spell.

Whirlpool (*): Yet ANOTHER water-based spell that requires you to sustain the spell and hope your enemies fail. Pass on this one, same as the others.

9th-rank Spells

Astral Labyrinth [U] (**): Protect an area from mental effects and possibly dictate how it teleports (though that depends on their will save). This works on your teleportation spells and other extradimensional effects too so use cautiously.

Bilocation (****): Be your own best friend with a spell that can be used for scouting, for going into dangerous situations and just being able to “nope” right out without consequence, provide yourself a flanking buddy, provide your team with two flanking buddies, cover your squishy teammates while simultaneously charging into the fray. There are numerous uses for this spell! Some caution and micromanaging is required since you and your copy share hit points, and you need to juggle your three actions between yourselves (though if one moves you can both move), but this is still amazingly versatile!

Detonate Magic [U] (***): When Dispel Magic just doesn’t have enough style, spice it up with a bang! This is basically dispel magic but it also creates an explosion from the magic getting dispersed! Really, counteracting is the main point of the spell so Dispel Magic would do that just the same, but Detonate Magic will add in some damage at no extra cost so it is technically the better spell.

Divinity Leech [R] (*): The effect is pretty good but it’s a sustained spell targeting a divine caster’s will save, not a great combination for your struggling spell DCs.

Foresight (****): Whether you use it on yourself or on another teammate this is a great defensive buff. You are harder to catch off-guard, gain a bonus to initiative, and a reaction to either roll a saving throw twice and take the better result, or force an enemy to roll twice and take the worst result. The 1 hour duration ensures that this will see use across multiple dangers.

Implosion (*): A sustained duration spell that allows a basic fortitude save. If it were just a blast that hit everyone at once this would be a higher rating but alas.

Linnorm Sting (**): Another poison spell; nice if you can get it to work reliably, but not terribly likely with your spell DC.

Magnetic Dominion (*): For any other caster this would be a powerful crowd-control and team positioning spell. For you, it’s a sustained duration spell in which the enemy will likely succeed the reflex save.

Massacre (*): While this does a very impressive amount of damage on a failed save (and though unlikely instantly killing anything that critically fails), on a success it won’t even do half that damage, and worse yet if you fail to kill a creature with it YOU will take damage as well (though creatures in the line take the same damage you take). This is a gamble that your Spell DC isn’t really up for.

Metamorphosis (***): Literally every polymorph spell you know wrapped up in one spell. Not all of them are that useful to you, but some are and being able to choose any of them is amazingly flexible!

Falling Stars (**): Shout out to the dinosaurs! What? Too soon? It’s a powerful burst with great range, damage type you can select, and flexibility on placement (though the size of the bursts can sometimes make it hard not to hit your own team). Unfortunately it’s still a blast spell and your spell DC holds it back from its full potential.

Phantasmagoria (**): Cause mass information overload to pretty much any target you want within 120 feet of you! Sadly your spell DC does mean that you’re unlikely to make the confusion effect land.

Power Word Kill [U] (**): Give some more ‘oomph’ to your words when you tell someone ‘why don’t you just drop dead!?’ As for how effective it is… well if there’s a 15th-rank or lower enemy that you REALLY need out of your way right the heck now (it can totally happen) then this spell will do it. But it’s not really worth using this spell on any targets higher level than that since by the time you get their hit points down to 50 you can probably just go the rest of the way yourself. Still you may just barely get a particularly high level target that low and decide the rest of the effort isn’t worth it so in which case you could just tell them to drop dead.

Prismatic Shield [R] (***): Melee attacks against you hit a colored shard instead that has the effect of prismatic spray. Javelins and smaller are automatically blocked, you get a +2 bonus to your AC against larger projectiles, and spells that target you have to succeed a counteract check to affect you. All around great way to ensure your safety for one round. Yes you read that correctly. Unfortunately the spell only lasts one round.

Prismatic Sphere (***): It has the same effects as Prismatic Wall, but given it’s a relatively smaller area it’s less useful for controlling/partitioning the battlefield. But if you really have to protect an area, or isolate yourself with a troublesome enemy (and then just walk through your own dome to leave them by their lonesome), this spell still has its uses.

Proliferating Eyes (**): Create an unwitting spy network by casting this spell on a creature. How far this spreads depends entirely on the target you tag with this spell but used well this can potentially get you a lot of information.

Resplendent Mansion (**): It definitely provides food and shelter, and grants an alarm spell at every conceivable entryway into the mansion, but the best defense in camping is not being found in the first place and you are absolutely going to be discovered in a big mansion. Because of this, the spell is actually less useful than the lower-ranked Planar Palace.

Summon Ancient Fleshforged [R]: If you manage to get access to this spell you can summon a massive Fleshforged weapon; one of four choices in fact. Bone Breaker (***) enfeebles and damages enemies, Thorn Caller (****) dazzles and flat-foots enemies (with no save!) before trying to damage them, The Thousand (***) will frighten and then try to damage enemies, while the Scion of Desiccation (***) will damage and then try to drain your enemies. Overall solid spell… IF you can pry it out from the secret lore of Nex.

Summon Draconic Legion (***): Looks like you can summon dragons after all. This is basically a flexibly placed blast that hits enemies twice before departing. Powerful and flexible but still a blast spell.

Summon Elemental Herald (**): Summon the herald of an elemental lord! Like all incarnate spells, all of the beings you can summon this way do something on arrival, and then do one more thing when they exit the next round. Air (**) will deal a respectable amount of damage over a massive area to enemies only, and then potentially knock enemies prone in a line as it departs. Earth (**) is capable of dealing an overall hefty amount of damage upon arrival and departure; the arrival effect can also potentially cause enemies to waste action but that requires them to critically fail, and the potential deafened condition isn’t much. Fire (**), appropriately enough, will do the combined damage of a same-level fireball on both arrival and departure, but it can also deal persistent damage. Metal (**) will sadly only deal its full potential to metal enemies. Water (**) deals a respectable amount of damage and can potentially push enemies on a departure. Wood (**) deals a lot of damage, potentially inflicting speed penalties and bleed, but it always leaves difficult terrain, though do note that at 50 feet that’s potentially a problem for you and your team without proper placement.

Telepathic Demand (**): Besides being an incapacitation spell, the main limiting factor is the fact that you have to have telepathically contacted your target before. Getting someone to do something from you at a large distance has its situational uses though.

Unspeakable Shadow (**): It’s basically Vision of Death, only replace the damage with the potential to make an enemy waste an action on every turn that it is frightened. It’s still single target and thus outdone by another spell at this same spell rank.

Upheaval [U] (*): The massive area that this affects makes this spell unwieldy and just as hazardous for your team.

Weird (***): Frighten and damage basically any creature you want within range. It’s unlikely you’ll kill anyone outright with your spell DC but this is still a great way to inflict the frightened condition on multiple enemies.

Magic Items

Who doesn’t like magic items? This section won’t be a comprehensive list of magic items, but rather just highlight some useful, and/or stand out, magic items for the Magus.

Arms, Armor, & Runes

Armor & Runes

Besides the fundamental armor potency and resilient runes that every character should be upgrading as they go, consider the following for the Magus.

Raiment (**) - This rune can be surprisingly useful in certain situations. Society party but you don’t want to go unarmored? Need to better blend into a crowd? Do you change flags often? Outside of those situations it can serve as something of a vanity rune, though certainly not necessary.

Winged (***) - This rune can free up one of your spell slots that you’d normally reserve for the fly spell. While the Winged rune can be used once per hour, its flight speed tops out at 25 feet so it’s slower than other methods of flight. Still flight is incredibly useful.

Shields & Runes

Reinforcing Rune (****) - The only rune that can be applied to shields. This grants the shield additional hardness, hit points, and a higher broken threshold. This durability increase only goes up to a certain maximum so it won’t be worth using on a same-level Sturdy Shield. The minor reinforcing rune grants a steel shield the same durability as a minor sturdy shield, past that the Sturdy Shield will be the better shield if durability is your only concern, but the reinforcing rune remains a solid option in that it makes the myriad specific magic shields sturdier while also allowing you to benefit from the unique effects of the specific shields.

Sturdy Shield (****) - If durability and maximum damage mitigation is what you want, you can’t beat the Sturdy Shield, boasting the best hardness for shield blocking, and high health so that it can survive a few blows. The trade-off for this sheer durability is the lack of extra effects that other specific magic shields can provide.

Floating Shield [U] (**) - It’s not any good for shield blocking so I wouldn’t bother putting reinforcing runes on it. non-targes can use this to, once per day, get a +1 AC for one minute without actually wielding the shield or spending an action on the shield cantrip, effectively making this a once-per-day buff to AC for those bigger encounters. The Greater (****) version can be used any number of times per day!

Force Shield [U] (***) - It gives you a once-a-day resistance to all physical damage 5 for 1 minute. This falls off a bit at higher levels but it’s still damage mitigation, and the Reinforcing Rune can give it respectable hardness.

Spellguard Shield (*) - Not worth using as a Sparkling Targe, as the Sparkling Targe’s arcane cascade benefit does everything this shield does. This is for non-targes, not you.

Weapons & Runes

Like any good martial character, a Magus should be upgrading their weapon potency and striking runes as they go. Most property runes add an additional damage type for an extra 1d6 damage, so which of those you like to get will vary by your preference or campaign. Note that a Magus with the Runic Impression (***) Conflux Spell can add a property rune on their weapon with a single action, but it will suppress an existing property rune if Runic Impression would push you past your maximum.

Grievous - With the exception of certain class feats or via ancestry feats, the Magus does not naturally acquire the critical specialization effect of their weapon. If you do manage to get the critical specialization effect of your weapon this can give you additional effects. Stand-out specialization effects include Bow (***), Spear (***), and Sword (***).

Shifting (****) - This versatile property rune can make it so that your melee weapon can turn into another melee weapon that requires the same number of hands to wield (a bastard sword can turn into a longsword but not a greatsword, or a greatsword can turn into a falchion but not a scimitar). This essentially lets you swap out weapon traits as you desire or switch to a different damage type to account for enemy weaknesses, resistances, or immunities!

Wounding (***) - When etched onto a piercing or slashing weapon you will always deal persistent bleed damage. As long as your target isn’t immune to bleed this can really add up.

Consumables

Alchemical Elixirs - Not a lot that’s any better for a Magus than it is for any other character, which is to say that there are a fair few VERY handy elixirs. Some favorite elixirs of mine are the Cat’s Eye Elixir for dealing with concealed or hidden foes, Darkvision Elixir if you lack darkvision, and Mistform Elixir for concealment! And of course I don’t know the player who will say “no” to an Elixir of Life.

Potions - Everyone appreciates a Healing Potion, and like most people the Magus will like the Potion of Flying (***) for an impressive 40 foot fly speed, and the Greater version (****) which lasts for 1 hour. I also like the Potion of Leaping (***) for improved tactical maneuverability in combat. But of course the stand-out potion for a Magus is the Potion of Quickness (****)! Another source of haste!

Scrolls - Scrolls have a single spell on them that you can cast once without using up your spell slots. Scrolls are a fantastic place to keep some spells for those “just in case” situations you won’t run into all the time, and if your game has enough downtime you can craft scrolls for yourself to stretch out your resources. Any arcane scrolls you find in game you can use, and you can also attempt to learn a spell from a scroll to add to your spellbook!

Permanent Items

Apex Items

Apex Items are high-level items you’re not likely to get until near the end of a campaign, but they’re worth the wait! In addition to a permanent bonus (such as a hefty item bonus to a skill), and an activated ability, an Apex Item will either let you add +1 to a designated attribute, or boost that attribute to a total of +4, whichever one gets you a higher bonus!

Given the Magus’s spell DC won’t ever catch up with full casters, INT boosting items such as the Crown of Intellect (**) are not recommended. Though there is certainly no shame in wearing the Belt of Long Life (***) for more robust hit points and survivability. The best thing to do would be to try going for whichever attribute you selected as your key attribute at character creation. A STR-based Magus will want Apex Items like the Bracers of Strength (****), while the DEX-based Magus will want something like the Cloak of Swiftness (****).

Held Items

Many Held Items are things that are nice to have no matter what your class is. Some of my personal favorites are the Spacious Pouch (****) for carrying capacity, Everlight Crystal (**) for characters who lack darkvision, and an Explorer’s Yurt (***) for easy camping. If you’ve become the designated lock-picker of the group, a Skeleton Key (***) is handy to have.

Staves

Staves grant a few more spells to cast in a given day and are thus useful for any Magus, but they are a special consideration for the Twisting Tree Magus, who uses a staff as their primary weapon. As the spells on a staff key off of your Spell DC you’re better off going for staves that don’t rely on your spell DC all that much.

Staff of Fire (**) does come with the highly useful Ignition cantrip, but the remaining spells are dependent on your Spell DC, Staff of Phantasms (***) has some useful illusion spells if you’re the creative type to rely on misdirection. Staff of Protection (***) comes with some very useful defensive spells including the always useful Shield cantrip and Resist Energy spells. Staff of Arcane Might [R] (***) has a variety of useful spells for both offense and utility, but no small number of them rely on Spell DC. A real prize pick for a Magus is the Staff of the Unblinking Eye [U] (****), with Detect Magic, a number of highly useful scrying spells, and most importantly Sure Strike, every Magus will want this staff if they can get it.

You should also strongly consider the Spellstriker’s Staff (****), which has virtually everything the Magus wants, and its Shifting Rune makes it convenient to carry around for most Magi.

Wands

Wands are essentially spell slots that cost money. That being said wands can get pretty expensive and they occupy a hand to use so the best spells to place on wands are spells that have long durations that you are likely to use every single day. The Specialty Wands are a bit less desirable since they either emulate Spellshape feats, which the Magus isn’t the best equipped to use, or occupy a hand that the current hybrid studies generally don’t want to remain occupied.

Worn

There are a myriad of items that are helpful to anybody, either providing item bonuses to specific skills, providing a movement speed boost, granting an innate spell, or other special effects. But the most stand-out items include the Charlatan’s Cape [U] (***) for providing an extra Translocate once-per-day, and the deception bonus is nice for Laughing Shadows. I also adore the Masquerade Scarf (Greater) (****) for changing your appearance on demand. Last but not least there are the Propulsive Boots (****) which not only gives you a small bonus to your movement speed passively, but can be activated to grant you the quickened condition for striding! This is a perfect item for any Magus!

Archetypes

Want to customize your character in ways your class feats aren’t quite able to satisfy? Well then give archetypes a try! Archetypes add extra class feats you can select as you level up. All of them are gated behind Archetype dedication feats, which you have to select at level 2 (or higher in some cases) before you can choose any of the related archetype feats. As an example you have to choose the Sentinel dedication feat before you can select Sentinel feats. Most of the time, you also cannot select a second dedication feat until you select two other feats from the first archetype.

Archetypes are expansions of your abilities, not replacements. So choose the ones you think will supplement your class abilities. A popular one for the Magus is to take a spellcasting archetype in order to grant it more spell slots. The feats to do that are usually…

Basic [Class] Spellcasting (grants a 1st, 2nd, & 3rd rank slot as you level up)
[Something] Breadth (grants one more spell slot for each archetype spell-rank except your two highest.)
Expert [Class] Spellcasting (grants expert proficiency, a 4th, 5th, & 6th rank slot as you level up).
Master [Class] Spellcasting (grants master proficiency, a 7th & 8th rank spell slot).

It is possible to gain additional focus spells from archetypes, many of which are powerful renewable additions to the Magus’s capabilities. However it must be emphasized that these additional focus spells are not Conflux Spells and as such they will NOT recharge spellstrike as part of casting them. Additional focus spells are great to have, but don’t treat them as outright replacements for Conflux Spells and their sheer action-economy efficiency.

Besides spellcasting archetypes there are plenty of other archetypes that may enhance their martial prowess, grant them access to faction-exclusive stuff, or otherwise add capabilities a Magus doesn’t have that could benefit them greatly.

This guide will cover the multiclass archetypes, as well as Class archetypes; the former should provide a general guide on considerations to make when choosing archetypes, while the latter have the potential to alter what are otherwise fundamental features of a class and thus require examination.

Multiclass Archetypes

Multiclass archetypes allow you to borrow a few abilities from other classes. Since you can never fully adapt another class this way, you’ll generally still want to pick them based on how they can supplement your native abilities.

Alchemist: Requires +2 INT - All Magus Builds (****)

Weapons, magic, and alchemy! Be like a witcher, and be ready for anything! The alchemist feats aren’t really of interest to most Magus builds, but the crafting skill is nice. The main benefit lies in Advanced Alchemy (****) and then Voluminous Vials (****) granting you access to some nice alchemical items to buff you and the party with each day without expending your limited spell slots!

Animist: Requires +2 WIS - All Magus Builds (***)

If you’ve got enough points in Wisdom you could certainly do worse than the Animist. It opens up the divine spell list as well as allowing you to be trained in two lore skills based on which apparition you form a bond with. Uniquely you can spend a day of downtime to friendzone your old apparition and welcome a new one into your life and thusly replace those lore skills. Each apparition also adds spells to the divine list you can prepare in those animist spell slots. Personal favorite would be the Witness to Ancient Battles (****) which grants you Sure Strike and low-rank slots to prepare it in!

Barbarian: Requires +2 STR, +2 CON - All Magus Builds (*)

The main problem with this archetype is that the Rage action is fundamentally incompatible with the spellcasting that the Magus relies on both for Spellstrike and for utility/buffs. The feats also rely heavily on the Rage feature so this is one archetype you can safely pass on.

Bard: Requires +2 CHA - All Magus Builds (*)

Frankly you would LOVE to have the spell-casting feats from here, the occult list has some nice buffs on it. But the feats either require social skills or give you access to focus spells that, while useful abilities for most classes, eat into your precious actions that you’re ill-equipped to spare. You’re not likely to have the CHA to even qualify for this archetype anyways.

Champion: Requires +2 STR, +2 CHA - All Magus Builds (**)

This gets you proficiency in heavy armor, religion, and one more skill but the CHA requirement is tough to meet for a Magus. If you can meet the requirements the initial benefits, Champion Resiliency, Devotion spells, and Champion’s Reaction are all really nice benefits to take!

Cleric: Requires +2 WIS - All Magus Builds (***)

If you feel like investing in your WIS, the divine spell list does have some buff and recovery options the Magus doesn’t normally have access to. As campaign-specific niche benefits, the Disrupt Undead cantrip give the Magus access to vitality damage for their Arcane Cascade; divine lance will not grant holy/unholy damage to arcane cascade as arcane cascade lacks the sanctified trait. Through Basic Dogma you can take the Domain Initiate feat to acquire a large variety of focus spells (restricted by your choice in deity). For mobility there’s Agile Feet (**) and Athletic Rush (****). Some Focus Spells you can combine with Spellstrike such as Fire Ray (****), Hurtling Stone (***), and Moonbeam (**). There are also buffs like Bit of Luck (****), Sudden Shift (***), and Weapon Surge (****). So even just grabbing a good focus spell from this archetype could make for some nice builds.

Druid: Requires +2 WIS - All Magus Builds (***)

Again, for those who are more WIS-inclined. The primal spell list has very little that you don’t already have, except some healing options, but it can’t hurt to have more of those spells available to you in a day. While the druid has less variety in focus spells than the Cleric above, you can still alleviate your few spell slots with a well-chosen spell. The best offensive option would be to be a Stone Order druid when you take the dedication feat, get Basic Wilding, and then Advanced Elemental Spell for Stone Lance (****) if you don’t mind the feat investment.

Exemplar [R]: Requires +2 STR or +2 DEX - All Magus Builds (****)

This grants you any one Ikon available to the Exemplar class. For Exemplars, Ikons are the bulk of their class features, for you, it’s a powerful bonus on top of your existing class features. The Victor’s Wreath (****) gives you a near-permanent bless, that’s +1 to you and allies within 15 feet! But really most of the Ikons have useful passive Immanence abilities, and active Transcendence Sparks that can help you out tremendously. The Ikon alone would make this a fantastic Archetype, but it also comes with a Resiliency feat for more hit points, and some of the Exemplar Feats are highly useful, like Flow of War (****), which you can take by Advanced Glory at level 12, which grants you a once-per-hour extra action to stride or strike!

Fighter: Requires +2 STR, +2 DEX - All Magus Builds (**)

The STR and DEX requirements are a teensy bit difficult given how MAD the Magus is, but some of the lower-level fighter feats offer some solid options for a Magus who, for some reason or another, is finding it difficult to spellstrike consistently or is in a rare situation where spellstriking is a bad idea. It does offer a resiliency feat to help bolster your hit points, but the weapon proficiencies are useless to the Magus. If you’re looking for feats that compliment a specific weapon style, you may want to consider looking into a combat-style archetype instead.

Gunslinger [U]: Requires +2 DEX - All Magus Builds (*)

If my biases show nowhere else in this guide, they will be on full display here. I loathe guns in my fantasy games with VERY few exceptions! But there is still a legitimate reason to call this a bad archetype for the Magus, yes even the Starlit Span; guns and crossbows take more actions to reload that you could otherwise spend on recharging your spellstrike. And various Slinger’s Reloads don’t alleviate this, as none of them let you recharge and reload at the same time. This is also an uncommon archetype so you’ll need GM permission.

Inventor [U]: Requires +2 INT - All Magus Builds (**)

Main things this uncommon archetype offers is access to the crafting skill with some, admittedly nice, bonuses and an innovation. Unfortunately the innovation you make is going to have much more limited customization options than with a true inventor. Also try to avoid the Construct Companion, that’s just more actions you’re taking away from yourself.

Investigator: Requires +2 INT - All Magus Builds (****)

The investigator offers skills and abilities to make tracking and recall knowledge easier, which synergizes nicely with some of the Magus’s own feats to recall knowledge. The main draw here is the Investigator’s Stratagem (****) feat so you know ahead of time whether to chance a spellstrike or take a swing (on any turn that actions allow it of course). It’s also got Master Spotter (****) to salvage your poor perception proficiency, and Skill Mastery (***) to grant you greater versatility in your skills. Among the multi-class archetypes, this is the best non-spellcasting archetype.

Kineticist: Requires +2 CON - All Magus Builds (*)

As Elemental Blasts do not involve the Cast a Spell activity, they are not able to be used with Spellstrike, and given you only ever get up to Expert proficiency with Kineticist Class DC and Impulse attack rolls it sure as heck isn’t worth taking this archetype for the Elemental Blast. Now the impulses you can potentially get depending on your choice of element do effectively act as reusable spells but the bag of tricks is shallower than you can get via learning new spells for your spellbook.

Monk: Requires +2 STR, +2 DEX - Laughing Shadow (**), Sparkling Targe (**), Unfurling Brocade (**), Other Magus Builds (*)

The dedication feat doesn’t give you much of anything you can’t already get from the Arcane Fists feat, and the best Monk feats usually require stances or flurry of blows; the former you can’t use with Arcane Cascade, the latter you need a separate feat for. Plus the stat requirements are hard to meet for a Magus.

Oracle: Requires +2 CHA - All Magus Builds (*)

Another CHA-based caster with ever-so-useful extra spells, but as before, you don’t have the CHA to really qualify for this.

Psychic: Requires +2 INT or +2 CHA - All Magus Builds (***)

The dedication feat (***) isn’t as good as other spellcasting archetype dedication feats as it only gives you one cantrip compared to the usual two, but it still gives you Occultism. The cantrip you can pick is based on your choice of Conscious Mind; winners here are The Distant Grasp (***) (Telekinetic Projectile), and The Oscillating Wave (***) (Ignition and Frostbite). Or, you can take The Tangible Dream Conscious Mind (getting Shield), then at level 6 take the PSI Development (***) feat to get Imaginary Weapon (***) for a 1d6/rank+1d6 cantrip for your spellstrike. However that isn’t really better than just using Gouging Claw.

The updated language in the Remaster doesn’t make it completely clear if Amps are compatible with Spellstrike anymore. The fact that Amps only work if your next action is “Cast a Cantrip” it seems likely they meant “Cast a Spell,” which would mean it doesn’t work with Spellstrike; this is how I would rule it.

However, “Cast is a Spell” is a designated action in PF2E’s rules, “Cast a Cantrip” isn’t explicitly an action, if the GM finds that vague enough to allow you to amp psychic cantrips with Spellstrike, then Imaginary Weapon actually would be more devastating than Gouging Claw… if you don’t mind using a focus point for a spell that doesn’t restore your spellstrike with Conflux spells.

All of that aside, this archetype has the spellcasting feats of other archetypes except for a “breadth” feat. Not bad but if you’re looking purely to improve your available spells, other casting archetypes are strictly better.

Ranger: Requires +2 DEX - DEX-based Magus Builds (**), STR-based Magus Builds (*)

Most of the abilities you get from this rely on Hunt Prey, which is one more action a Magus really doesn’t need to spend time on. At least it has Master Spotter (****) going for it.

Rogue: Requires +2 DEX - Laughing Shadow (***), Other Magus Builds (**)

Some of the feats and skill bonuses can help a Laughing Shadow really fit into the role of the rogue, be it trap-spotting, or gang up to improve your ability to leave enemies off-guard, two skill increases for one feat. Some of the abilities nicely compliment the playstyle of the laughing shadow; other Magi will probably only find one or two things here they’d like.

Sorcerer: Requires +2 CHA - All Magus Builds (*)

Having the flexibility to choose your spell list would be amazing! But this one is a CHA-based caster and you won’t have the CHA to access this without going against type. Too bad since as long as you picked up Bloodline Breadth you could have flexibly cast any lower-rank spell you like more than once a day.

Summoner: Requires +2 CHA - All Magus Builds (*)

Just don’t. Aside from the usual problems of being CHA-based and thus not likely to qualify anyways, you don’t even get the “Act Together” ability that helps make the eidolon something more than a glorified minion. Don’t take precious actions away from your Spellstrike.

Swashbuckler: Requires +2 DEX, +2 CHA - All Magus Builds (*)

The way of the Swashbuckler is as much finesse as it is style, and you my intelligent spell-casting friend, just don’t have the style. Too bad, because this archetype does have some feats that would be of moderate use to a Laughing Shadow.

Thaumaturge: Requires +2 CHA - All Magus Builds (*)

Another one with CHA as a prerequisite. Ouch. Further you gain a VASTLY watered down version of Exploit Vulnerability (called Glimpse Vulnerability) which removes the main reason a Magus might like Exploit Vulnerability. A good chunk of the feats also do things a Magus can already do. Pass.

Witch: Requires +2 INT - All Magus Builds (****)

An INT based caster from which you can choose any spell list. You also get a free familiar (not as good as a full-on witch’s familiar), two cantrips (though you can only prepare one additional one). When it comes to learning new spells, try and treat the familiar as a second spellbook; the spells in your spellbook and the spells your familiar knows are entirely separate. If you’re interested in improving your familiar, using Basic Witchcraft to get Enhanced Familiar (****) rather than taking it from your class will get it both its enhanced abilities and a bonus ability in one fell swoop! You can also take Basic Witchcraft for Basic Lesson and get the amazing Life Boost (****) focus spell.

Wizard: Requires +2 INT - All Magus Builds (****)

The other INT-based caster and the most obvious choice if you want to enhance your Magus’ spellcasting prowess. It doesn’t get a free familiar, but it does start you off with four cantrips (and you can prepare two more) and training in another skill. The nice thing is that your wizard spell books and Magus spell books are considered one-and-the-same so you don’t have to juggle which knows what like with the Witch’s familiar. While the focus spells aren’t of particular interest to the Magus, you can combine Bespell Strikes (***) (Via Advanced Arcana) with Sure Strike to add even more oomph to your Spellstrike for those REALLY big strikes.

Class Archetypes

Class Archetypes work a bit differently from other archetypes in that they alter a few of the fundamental abilities of a given class on top of offering new options for class feats. As of this writing, the Magus only meets the prerequisites for one Class Archetype; Runelord and Spellshot are exclusive to the Wizard and Gunslinger respectively, Flexible Spellcaster requires you be able to prepare the same number of spells per day as a Cleric/Druid/Witch/Wizard, and Wellspring Mage requires you have a Spell Repertoire rather than prepared spells.

Elementalist: All Magus Builds (*)

The level 1 adjustment is replacing the spell list you learn spells from with the Elemental Spell List… which, whether you choose the Elemental Cycle or Inner Sea Elementalism philosophies, is a straight downgrade! The elementalist spell list lacks the Magus’ hardest hitting attack spells (Shocking Grasp, Polar Ray, and Disintegrate), stupendously useful buffs (Sure Strike, Invisibility, and Haste), and a VAST number of utility spells.

Now, not all hope is lost for the spell list as it still retains enough good attack spells that the Magus can still spellstrike frequently, and it still has some very useful spells (Mountain Resilience, Wall of Stone, etc.) and the Magus will technically still learn a few spells automatically as part of the Studious Spells class feature (thankfully restoring Sure Strike and Haste) even if you learn them a bit later than you normally would. But those handful of spells are still just that, a small handful of spells compared to the several you’ll lose by taking this archetype.

The feats you can select don’t really make up for it either. While the 2nd-level dedication feat’s all day resistance is decent, the rest of them are spellshape feats, feats you could already get, or dependent on your enemies taking a rather narrow range of actions. Despite the red rating, the Elementalist Class archetype is playable, but it is a straight downgrade compared to the base Magus.

Other Archetypes

There are many other archetypes available to the Magus beyond the ones covered above. Some can expand their martial capabilities; while the Magus is a martial class, beyond their Hybrid Study giving them a weapon-preference the Magus doesn’t natively have too many abilities to improve their raw martial power without magical influence, which is absolutely fine for the class; but sometimes you might just want to swing that sword a little better.

Others can expand their spell-casting options. Like the spell-casting multiclass archetypes, they may offer additional spell slots for your feats. Others may instead offer different abilities to support the party, provide useful buffs and focus spells, or debilitate the enemy.

One general consideration to make for any archetypes is your Hybrid Study. Whatever choice of Hybrid Study you make for your Magus is going to marry a specific type of weapon to your Magus. With that in mind it wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense to pick a combat-style archetype that supplements two-handed weapons if you chose Starlit Span as your Hybrid Study. Similarly, archetypes that are primarily focused on a weapon type or style that the Magus can’t use are also a bad choice; Most hybrid studies can’t use dual-weapons so the Dual-Weapon Warrior (*) Archetype is a poor choice. Similarly guns are a bad weapon for the Magus due to action-economy demands and so archetypes like Bullet Dancer (*) are a poor choice as well.

Another important consideration are archetypes that grant stances. Arcane Cascade is considered a stance, and thus any archetypes that depend on entering certain stances are going to clash with your usage of Arcane Cascade. The exact use of Arcane Cascade varies by Hybrid Study and so before selecting a stance-dependent archetype, you need to weigh the benefits of Arcane Cascade against the benefits of the stance(s) the archetype offers. As an example, the Martial Artist (*) archetype grants stances that bring decidedly fewer benefits compared to the Laughing Shadow’s and Sparkling Targe’s Arcane Cascade benefits.

Of course some hybrid studies benefit greatly from a given archetype. The Sparkling Targe benefits tremendously from the Bastion archetype’s Quick Shield Block (****) feat to both increase the efficiency of their action-economy and boost survivability. Inexorable Irons and Twisting Trees can actually use those (potentially) hefty athletics modifiers in combat with the help of the Mauler (***) archetype. The Archer (***) archetype offers the Starlit Span a more impactful stance than their almost worthless Arcane Cascade. The Aloof Firmament and Laughing Shadow pairs very well with archetypes that use one-handed weapons or rely on stealth (namely Aldori Duelist (***), Assassin (***), and Duelist (***) as quick examples).

There are other stand-out examples. One archetype suitable for any Magus that builds around DEX, would be the Eldritch Archer (****). The archetype offers spell-casting benefit feats to expand the Magus’ spell slots, a method of, effectively, using spell-strike at range on top of your melee options, and some useful utilities to boot to tremendously boost your flexibility! Another unusual combination to have a melee/ranged hybrid Magus would be a Starlit Span Magus with Starlit Sentinel Archetype [R] (****), as the Starlit Transformation grants you a ranged strike on a melee weapon, a weak strike but it would still work with Spellstrike, it even comes with a handy healing focus spell and flight while you’re transformed! Features useful for any Magus but the ranged strike won’t carry a spellstrike unless you’re a Starlit Span.

Another notable archetype is the Sentinel Archetype (****), which grants the Magus advancing proficiency in Heavy Armor which not only provides STR-based Magi with an excuse to ignore their DEX modifier entirely, but also grants the Magus +1 extra AC than they’d normally be able to achieve. For a Magus that wields one-handed weapons, the Spirit Warrior Archetype [U] (***) has some interesting options for off-turns where you’re not able to use Spellstrike

A few archetypes offer animal companions or companions that, while not animals strictly speaking, still function the same as an animal companion mechanically. At first blush these are less than ideal, a Magus has few actions to spare for commanding a minion. However, if you took a companion with the Mount ability, and then took a feat to gain a Mature Animal Companion (****), then suddenly your minion gains one action every round it can use to move you somewhere else! Much like haste, this frees up actions you’d normally spend moving to recharge your spellstrike and use it more often!

Credits

HumbleGamer - Highlighted additional utilities for Dimensional Disappearance that had previously gone unmentioned.
Gortle - Highlighted useful focus spells from other sources for the Magus.
Blave - Highlighted additional tactical considerations of Spellstrike vs. Arcane Cascade.
SuperBidi - Highlighted the value of re-rolls for Spellstrike.
The Raven Black - Highlighted miscellaneous errors or overlooked details throughout the guide.
Dubious Scholar - Highlighted a use for Force Fang.
Gayel Nord - Pointed out an error regarding the description of the Tempest of Shades spell.
UnArcaneElection - Provided a useful formatting suggestion.
VestOfHolding - Author of Pathfinder 2E Guide to Writing and Formatting Guides
AntiChri5 - Highlighted minor corrections and pointed out a good combination with Sustaining Steel.
Luggs1 - Pointed out an error regarding Grievous Rune.

Changelog

Version 1.0.0 - 03/21/2022 - Published guide for public viewing.
Version 1.0.1 - 03/21/2022 - Added Bone Spray and Boneshaker spells. Added Credits. Updated description of Dimensional Disappearance. Added link to the guide’s discussion thread on the Paizo forums. Updated descriptions and/or ratings of the Bard, Champion, and Cleric Multi-class archetypes, particularly in relation to focus spells.
Version 1.0.2 - 03/22/2022 - Updated Leshy with ratings for the Pine Leshy heritage and other new feats published from the same book.
Version 1.0.3 - 03/22/2022 - Added sections to Magus Tactics and revised other sections. Updated rating of Twisting Tree’s Arcane Cascade benefits. Edited descriptions of certain class features.
Version 1.0.4 - 03/24/2022 - Added additional advice regarding Focus spells to Druid and Witch Archetypes. Added a suggested feat to pick up from the Wizard Archetype.
Version 1.0.5 - 03/26/2022 - Updated description and rating of Twisting Tree’s Arcane Cascade benefit. Updated descriptions regarding Optional Flaws, Cleric Multiclass dedication, Expansive Spellstrike.
Version 1.0.6 - 03/28/2022 - Added additional information to the Force Fang Conflux Spell.
Version 1.0.7 - 03/30/2022 - Corrected an error regarding the Tempest of Shades spell.
Version 1.0.8 - 04/15/2022 - Added Incendiary Fog spell. Revised rating for Chain Lightning.
Version 2.0.0 - 04/28/2022 - Added Faction Archetypes.
Version 2.1.0 - 04/30/2022 - Added the Rare Skeleton Ancestry
Version 2.1.1 - 04/30/2022 - Revised sections of the guide regarding unarmed attacks to include ratings of Sparkling Targe Magus where appropriate.
Version 2.2.0 - 05/01/2022 - Added Elementalist Class Archetype, and Class Archetype’s section
Version 2.3.0 - 05/05/2022 - Added Combat Style Archetype’s section. Added Aldori Duelist Archetype.
Version 2.3.1 - 05/06/2022 - Added Archer Archetype.
Version 2.3.2 - 05/15/2022 - Added Assassin and Bastion Archetypes.
Version 2.3.3 - 05/25/2022 - Added Bullet Dancer and Demolitionist Archetypes.
Version 2.4.0 - 05/30/2022

Added the following spells: Dancing Shield, Desperate Repair, Detect Creator, Dividing Trench, Enhance Senses, Lock Item, Scouring Pulse, Synchronize Steps, Wall of Virtue.
Updated the following Archetypes: Archer, Assassin, Bastion, Knight Vigilant, Knight Reclaimant, and Lastwall Sentry.
Added the following Combat Style Archetypes: Drow Shootist, Dual-Weapon Warrior, Duelist

Version 2.4.1 - 06/02/2022 - Added Eldritch Archer archetype.
Version 2.4.2 - 06/10/2022 - Added Magic Warrior, Martial Artist, and Mauler archetypes
Version 2.4.3 - 06/20/2022 - Added Overwatch archetype.
Version 2.4.4 - 06/22/2022 - Added Pistol Phenom, Provocator, and Sixth Pillar archetypes.
Version 2.4.5 - 06/27/2022 - Added Sniping Duo and Staff Acrobat archetypes.
Version 2.4.6 - 06/28/2022 - Added Sterling Dynamo and Trapsmith archetypes.
Version 2.4.7 - 06/30/2022 - Adjusted rating for “Draw the Lightning” 4th-level spell.
Version 2.5.0 - 07/10/2022 - Combat Style Archetypes complete
Version 2.5.1 - 07/11/2022 - Updated Tactics section on “Hybrid Study Variations” and Hasted Assault Conflux Spell to highlight additional tactical options for the Laughing Shadow Hybrid Study.
Version 2.6.0 - 07/27/2022 - Divided Versatile Heritages into Uncommon and Rare. Added Reflection Versatile Heritage. Added Arcane Spells from Dark Archives to the Spells Section.
Version 2.7.0 - 08/02/2022 - Several changes to the Archtypes section.

Due to the overwhelming number of archetypes, and the ways they can alter how you build a character, the archetypes section will no longer rate each individual feat within each archetype. Going forward, archetypes will…

List prerequisites
Provide links to their respective pages on the Archives of Nethys.
Be given a summary that may mention some highlight feats or focus spells.

Existing Archetype entries have been edited to reflect the above changes.
Added Psychic and Thaumaturge Multiclass archetypes.
Added note about Focus Spells in introduction to Archetypes section.

Version 2.7.1 - 08/08/2022 - Given most area-of-effect blast spells are targeted at lower-level creatures who still have a reasonable chance of failure, most area-of-effect blast spells have received a higher rating.
Version 2.7.2 - 08/17/2022 - Added Mythical Archetypes section. Added Beast Gunner and Beastmaster archetypes.
Version 2.7.3 - 08/26/2022 - Added Blessed One and Captivator Archetypes.
Version 2.7.4 - 08/29/2022 - Updated ratings and descriptions for Ward Medic Skill feat in the skills section, and Archer Archetype under Combat Style Archetypes.
Version 2.7.5 - 09/06/2022 - Added Cathartic Mage and Chronoskimmer under Mystical Archetypes.
Version 2.7.6 - 09/09/2022 - Added the Web of Influence spell until it is determined if this spell is meant to be an arcane spell or not.
Version 2.7.7 - 09/22/2022 - Added the Horrifying Blood Loss 2nd-level spell.
Version 2.7.8 - 10/21/2022 - Added Elysium Whimsy 1st-level spell, and Procyal Philosophy 4th-level spell.
Version 2.7.9 - 10/28/2022 - Added Clockwork Reanimator Archetype.
Version 2.8.0 - 10/29/2022 - Added Curse Maelstrom Dedication.
Version 2.8.1 - 11/04/2022 - Updated ratings for the Distracting Spellstrike 4th-level Class feat and the 9th-level spell Summon Draconic Legion.
Version 3.0.0 - 11/20/2022 - Added content from Pathfinder Lost Omens Impossible Lands.

Added ancestries, heritages, and ancestry feats.
Created section for Fey Influence and its related feats.
Updated Faction Archetypes with Jalmeri Heavenseeker
Added Summon Ancient Fleshforge 9th-level spell.

Version 3.0.1 - 11/21/2022 - Added Eldritch Researcher archetype.
Version 3.1.0 - 11/21/2022 - As it’s growing increasingly apparent that I lack the expertise and time to offer specific advice on the ever-increasing number of archetypes, the archetypes section is being downsized to just providing some general advice.
Version 3.1.1 - 11/21/2022 - Corrected a few minor errors in the guide, as well as updated the formatting of the ancestries section to show a clearer division of senses from misc. ancestry features.
Version 3.1.2 - 11/21/2022 - Added Aqueous Blast, Scorching Blast, Transcribe Conflict, Vision of Beauty, and Word of Revision spells.
Version 3.1.3 - 11/23/2022 - Updated Horrid Wilting’s rating to bring its rating in line with other multi-target blasts.
Version 3.1.4 - 11/28/2022 - Updated the guide’s formatting to make this guide more accessible for color-blind individuals.
Version 3.1.5 - 01/04/2023 - Updated the opening paragraphs of the Ancestries section to reflect recent Errata that grants additional options for an ancestry’s starting ability scores.
Version 3.1.6 - 01/18/2023 - Added Ancient Dust, Bound in Death, Excise Lexicon, Flense, Ravenous Darkness, Steal Voice, Suffocate, and Torturous Trauma spells with ratings.
Version 3.1.7 - 02/17/2023 - Updated rating of the Figher Multi-class archetype.
Version 3.1.8 - 02/20/2023 - Added Lashunta’s Life Bubble 5th-level spell.
Version 3.1.9 - 03/09/2023 - Added Briny Bolt and Lashing Rope spells.
Version 3.1.10 - 03/16/2023 - Updated rating for Arcane Sense skill feat.
Version 3.2.0 - 04/04/2023 - Updated guide with arcane spells from the Firebrands book.
Version 3.2.1 - 04/08/2023 - Updated Fuse Staff class feat to account for the publication of the Spellstriker’s Staff.
Version 3.2.2 - 07/23/2023 - Updated Dwarf ancestry with options from Pathfinder Lost Omens: Highhelm.
Version 3.3.0 - 08/03/2023 - Added some, but currently not all, content from Pathfinder Rage of Elements.

Ardande and Talos versatile heritages. Changed Ifrit to Naari.
Mantle of the Unwavering Heart 5th rank spell. Added Detect Metal Cantrip.
Added notice that this guide will attempt to update terminology for the Remaster of PF2E’s rules.

Version 3.3.1 - 08/04/2023 - Added more content from Pathfinder Rage of Elements, As well as some changes to terminology as per the Remaster.

Kineticist multiclass archetype added. Minor note of elemental philosophies added to Elementalist archetype, but rating remains unchanged.
Elemental Counter cantrip.
Replaced most references to spell levels with spell ranks.
Replaced references to Metamagic with Spellshape.
Replaced references to ability scores/modifiers with attribute (modifiers).

Version 3.3.2 - 08/07/2023 - Updated more terms following the Remaster.

Changed references of Attack of Opportunity (AoO) to Reactive Strike (RS).
Changed references of Flat-footed to Off-guard.
Changed references to Negative energy and negative healing to void and void healing.
Updated the names of the planes of existence under the occultism skill.
Changed references to positive energy with vitality.

Version 3.3.3 - 08/08/2023 - Added spells from Pathfinder Rage of Elements. Made more changes based on the Remaster.

Added Airlift, Blastback, Cleanse Air, Cloud Dragon’s Cloak, Deep Breath.
Removed further references to spell level in favor of spell rank.
Added notes about changes that are expected to come with the Remaster to Focus Points, Arcane Cascade, Arcane Shroud, Conflux Focus, and Conflux Wellspring.

Version 3.3.4 - 08/10/2023 - Added remaining spells with the Air trait from Pathfinder Rage of Elements.
Version 3.3.5 - 08/15/2023 - Added spells with the Earth trait from Pathfinder Rage of Elements. Additionally added Elemental Breath, Elemental Sense, and Summon Elemental Herald.
Version 3.3.6 - 08/16/2023 - Added spells with the Fire trait from Pathfinder Rage of Elements.
Version 3.3.7 - 08/17/2023 - Added spells with the Metal trait from Pathfinder Rage of Elements.
Version 3.3.8 - 08/19/2023 - Added spells with the Water trait from Pathfinder Rage of Elements.
Version 3.3.9 - 08/21/2023 - Added spells with the Wood trait from Pathfinder Rage of Elements.
Version 3.4.0 - 11/15/2023 - Added announcement that fully converting this guide to the Remaster is now a work-in-progress.

Minor updates to the common ancestries, moved Leshy and Orc ancestries to the common ancestries. Minor updates to Orc ancestry. Corrections made to Leshy ancestry.
Half-Elf and Half-Orc heritages replaced by the Aiuvarin and Dromaar versatile heritages respectively.
Aasimar and Tieflings removed.
Nephilim added to Uncommon versatile heritages.

Version 3.4.1 - 11/16/2023

Updated Arcane Cascade and Arcane Shroud according to Remaster Compatibility Errata.
Updated Arcane Shroud’s rating to reflect its change in duration post-Remaster Compatibility Errata.
Updated notes on Conflux Focus and Conflux Wellspring feats to highlight current trends with reprinted classes that have Focus Pools.
Updated their ratings to reflect how the changes to refocusing makes these feats no longer strictly necessary.
Updated attributes section, reflecting how INT is no longer necessary for boosting cantrip damage.

Version 3.4.2 - 11/16/2023

Updated ratings and some text for uncommon and rare ancestries to reflect changes in the importance of certain attributes.
Minor updates to skill feats and general feats. Added Pet General Feat.
Added paragraph at the top of the Ancestries section to talk about unified spell DC’s and Spell Attack rolls. Removed references to advancement, or lack-thereof, in non-Arcane spell traditions since that is no longer applicable.

Version 3.4.3 - 11/16/2023

Changed Archetype ability score requirements to attribute requirements.
Updated ratings, and very little text, regarding the cantrips gained from the Psychic Multiclass archetype.
Updating spells to reflect the Remaster.

Renamed False Life to False Vitality.
Renamed, replaced, and/or updated cantrips as necessary based on Remaster Compatibility Errata or inclusion in Player Core.
Certain spells are receiving a lower rating from previous versions of this guide since the Magus does not necessarily need as much INT anymore, and thus their use becomes more build dependent.

Updated note about the Remaster Work-in-progress.

Version 3.4.4 - 11/17/2023

Spells up to Petrify have been updated as necessary for the Remaster.
Added note about Pre and Post Remaster spells with similarities at the top of the Spells section.

Version 3.5.0 - 11/17/2023 - Spells section has been updated to the Remaster.
Version 3.5.1 - 11/26/2023 - Slight update to the text of the Dhampir versatile heritage.
Version 3.5.2 - 11/29/2023 - Minor text corrections and adjustments. Added note about ancestry feat trends the remaster that might be worth discussing regarding the uncommon or rarer ancestries.
Version 3.5.3 - 12/16/2023 - Adjusted rating of Noxious Metals spell, having re-read the spell and realized that I had previously misunderstood the selective nature of some of its effects.
Version 3.5.4 - 12/24/2023 - Adjusted rating for Expansive Spellstrike feat to account for how most Magi do not require as much INT to invest, adding another point in favor of this being a better feat for Starlit Spans.
Version 3.5.5 - 01/02/2024 - Minor text clean-up, and corrections to align the guide with the Remaster that were missed in earlier updates to the Remaster.
Version 3.5.6 - 02/24/2024 - Changed Boots of Speed to Propulsive Boots to reflect the Remaster.
Version 3.5.7 - 03/20/2024 - Updated the abbreviation for Reactive Strike.
Version 3.5.8 - 03/23/2024 - Added notes to Conflux Focus and Conflux Wellspring feats to indicate their pre-remaster ratings.
Version 3.6.0 - 04/17/2024 - Began work on a section for useful magic items. Magic Items section is still WIP.
Version 3.6.1 - 04/17/2024 - Updated description of Mystic Armor 1st-Rank spell.
Version 3.6.2 - 04/19/2024 - Added a short section about Apex Items to the Magic Items section.
Version 3.6.3 - 04/21/2024 - A few updates.

Added Held Items, Staves, and Wands to the Magic Items section.
Updated a few spell’s descriptions.

Version 3.6.4 - 04/22/2024 - Added Worn items and a few additions to Staves and Wands.
Version 3.6.5 - 05/11/2024 - Renamed Gnoll to Kholo.
Version 3.6.6 - 05/17/2024 - Updates based on latest errata from Paizo.

Minor text updates to some spells.
Updated some text regarding the Nephilim versatile heritage.
Updated Ancestry feats that grant flight for both the Sprite and Strix ancestries.

Version 3.6.7 - 05/22/2024 - Begun adding ancestries from Howl of the Wild.

Added Athamaru Uncommon ancestry.
Added Awakened Animal Rare ancestry.
Added Centaur Uncommon ancestry.

Version 3.6.8 - 05/23/2024 - Cleaning up minor errors in the Ancestries section. Added arcane spells from Howl of the Wild. Added remaining ancestries from Howl of the Wild.

Added Merfolk Uncommon ancestry.
Added Minotaur Uncommon ancestry.
Added Surki Rare ancestry.

Version 3.6.9 - 05/23/2024 - Added note about Class DC and adjusted ratings for features that would rely on Class DC.
Version 3.7.0 - 06/10/2024 - Added Break Curse skill feat under Occultism and Religion skills in the Skills section.
Version 3.7.1 - 06/15/2024 - Very minor additional text to the Magus tactics section.
Version 3.7.2 - 06/23/2024 - A few minor updates and fixes.

Replaced Fey Transcendance section under Ancestry feats with a section that covers feats for All Ancestries.
Fixed or added links to the Archives of Nethys for various ancestries and heritages. Links for the Howl of the Wild ancestries are pending their addition to Archives of Nethys.

Version 3.7.3 - 07/25/2024 - Added links to the heritages and ancestry feats for the Howl of the Wild ancestries.
Version 3.7.4 - 08/01/2024 - Updated Catfolk, Kobolds, and Kholo according to Player Core 2. Other Player Core 2 updates are still pending.
Version 3.7.5 - 08/02/2024 - A few updates.

Updated Lizardfolk, Ratfolk, Tengu, and Tripkee (formerly Grippli) according to Player Core 2.
Separated out the Nephilim legacy feats that did not have a clear translation to the Remaster for easier readability.
Remembered to separate the Dhampir’s lineage feats from other 1st-level feats.

Version 3.7.6 - 08/03/2024 - Added Dragonblood versatile heritage and updated Duskwalker to Player Core 2.
Version 3.7.7 - 08/04/2024 - Updated spell list according to Player Core 2.
Version 3.7.8 - 08/15/2024 - Forgot to actually finish separating the old Aasimar and Tiefling feats from the Nephilim feats. Fixed.
Version 3.7.9 - 08/16/2024 - Updated rating of Weapon Proficiency general feat to reflect its situational use in qualifying for certain archetypes.
Version 3.8.0 - 08/26/2024 - Minor updates to text and an update to the description of the Laughing Shadow Hybrid study’s potential suitability to athletics maneuvers.
Version 3.8.1 - 08/29/2024 - Added Heritages and related feats from the Tian Xia Character Guide.

New Heritage options and Ancestry feats for Goblin, Gnome, Kobold, Leshy, Lizardfolk, Sprite, Poppet, Kitsune, and Nagaji Ancestries.
Added Hungerseed versatile heritage and related feats.

Version 3.8.2 - 08/31/2024 - Added Samsaran, Sarangay, Tanuki, Wayang, Yaksha, and Yaoguai ancestries.
Version 3.8.3 - 09/01/2024 - Added notes about the Spirit Warrior and Starlit Sentinel archetypes to the Archetypes section.
Version 3.8.4 - 09/02/2024 - Added the Hybrid Studies, conflux spells, class feats, and notes about the Hybrid Studies under the Athletics Skill. I also updated certain feats with ratings and descriptions for the new Hybrid Studies. The tactics section of the guide for the Hybrid Studies are still TBA. Also updated certain multiclass archetypes’ descriptions.
Version 3.8.5 - 09/11/2024 - Updated the ratings for numerous class feats to include the Aloof Firmament and Unfurling Brocade.
Version 3.8.6 - 09/16/2024 - Adjusted rating of Meteoric Spellstrike.
Version 3.8.7 - 11/01/2024 - Removed Aphorite and Ganzi as separate versatile heritages and moved their feats to the entry for Nephilim.
Version 3.8.8 - 11/06/2024 - Added the Animist to Multiclass archetypes.
Version 3.8.9 - 11/08/2024 - Added the Exemplar to Multiclass archetypes.
Version 3.9.0 - 11/21/2024 - Added additional notes to Distracting Spellstrike, updated rating for a DEX-based Kitsune Magus.
Version 3.9.1 - 11/23/2024 - Updated spells based on Lost Omens: Divine Mysteries.
Version 3.9.2 - 12/07/2024 - Finished cleaning up the ancestries and heritages section with grammar and formatting corrections and a few rating updates.
Version 3.9.3 - 12/16/2024 - Begun updating text to reflect the fall 2024 errata. Spellstrike and Expansive Spellstrike text updated. Other feats that reference Expansive Spellstrike in my descriptions of them are updated. Cantrips have been updated. Spells likely to see updates in the future.
Version 3.9.4 - 12/26/2024 - Updated some ratings to some class feats.
Version 3.9.5 - 03/01/2025 - Realized that without the sanctified trait, arcane cascade will not grant holy/unholy damage, updated the cleric multiclass archetype description with this note. Also removed Acid Arrow.
Version 3.9.6 - 03/05/2025 - Added Resurgent Maelstrom Hybrid Study. Still early in analyzing this archetype so ratings are far from set in stone.
Version 3.9.7 - 03/09/2025 - Added remaining Magus feats from the Rival Academies book as well as the Threefold Limb spell.
Version 3.9.8 - 04/27/2025 - Added Archives of Nethys links to Animist and Exemplar.
Version 3.9.9 - 06/28/2025 - Made minor corrections based on posts from discussion forum, updated credits.
Version 4.0.0 - 10/19/2025 - Updated attributes section with specific recommendations for Aloof Firmament, as well as some text about the hybrid study itself. Fixed minor typos.
Version 4.0.1 - 10/20/2025 - Added rare Jotunborn Ancestry.
Version 4.0.2 - 01/14/2026 - Updating advice throughout guide regarding conflux spells and arcane cascade that really should have been made explicit much sooner.
Version 4.0.3 - 02/03/2026 - Added Dragonet rare ancestry. Updated Kobold ancestry feats as well as the Dragonblood versatile heritage’s ancestry feats.
Version 4.0.4 - 02/04/2026 - Updated Psychic Archetype to reflect the Remastered update to Dark Archive.
Version 4.0.5 - 05/12/2026 - Attempted to further clarify some potential drawbacks with the Psychic Archetype that may be an issue depending on how the rules are interpreted.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Color code

Glossary and Abbreviations

Magus Class Features

Spellstrike (****)

Arcane Cascade (**)

Hybrid Study

Inexorable Iron (***):

Laughing Shadow (****):

Sparkling Targe (****):

Starlit Span (****):

Twisting Tree (****):

Aloof Firmament [U] (***):

Unfurling Brocade [U] (***):

Resurgent Maelstrom [U] (**):

Conflux Spells

Attributes

Strength-based Magus

Dexterity-based Magus

Ancestries

Common Ancestries

Uncommon Ancestries

Rare Ancestries

Versatile Heritages

Common

Uncommon

Rare

All Ancestries [R]

Backgrounds

Skills

Feats

General Feats

Class Feats

1st Level Feats

2nd Level Feats

4th Level Feats

6th Level Feats

8th Level Feats

10th Level Feats

12th Level Feats

14th Level Feats

16th Level Feats

18th Level Feats

20th Level Feats

Magus Tactics

Why Spellstrike?

Why Arcane Cascade?

Using Spellstrike

General Round-by-round Breakdown

Action-Economy Complications

Action-Economy Boons

Hybrid Study Variations

Inexorable Iron

Laughing Shadow & Aloof Firmament

Sparkling Targe

Starlit Span

Twisting Tree

Spellcasting

Spells

Conflux Spells

Arcane Spells

Cantrips

1st-rank Spells

2nd-rank Spells

3rd-rank Spells

4th-rank Spells

5th-rank Spells

6th-rank Spells

7th-rank Spells

8th-rank Spells

9th-rank Spells

Magic Items

Arms, Armor, & Runes

Armor & Runes

Shields & Runes

Weapons & Runes

Consumables

Permanent Items

Apex Items