Persistent damage is calculated as if it proc’s 3 times on average. Extra damage on a critical hit is not factored in.
| Normally | Expansive Spellstrike | Spell Swipe | Easily accessible for Magus | Ranking | Why? | Level | Damage type | Average Damage on success | Average heightening damage bonus per level on success | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Divine Lance | ✅ | ❌ | Likely not | The damage is poor, but it can be desirable to pick up Spirit damage. | Cantrip | spirit | 5 | 2.5 | ||
| Gouging Claw | ✅ | ✅ | Yes | It’s your highest damage cantrip option for Spellstriking | Cantrip | slashing or piercing, plus persistent bleed | 13 | 3.5 | ||
| Ignition | ✅ | ✅ | Yes | Decent backup option for Gouging Claw. Careful for Starlit Span, targets are not in your melee range, so this spell deals less damage for you. | Cantrip | fire | 7 | 3.5 | ||
| Needle Darts | ✅ | ✅ | No | Gouging Claw is better. | Cantrip | piercing | 7.5 | 2.5 | ||
| Slashing Gust | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | No | With one hand and without Spell Swipe, Gouging Claw is better. With Spell Swipe, you likely can’t afford to have two hands free, and you likely want to invest to get access to Imaginary Weapon. | Cantrip | slashing | 5 | 2.5 | |
| Tangle Vine | ✅ | ✅ | Likely not | Good control option to keep enemies out of melee, but you’re a martial. You’re already in melee. You also likely don’t have the Spell DC to make this work. Slightly better for the Starlit Span. | Cantrip | - | - | - | ||
| Telekinetic Projectile | ✅ | ✅ | Likely not | Gouging Claw and Ignition deal more damage, and you likely don’t need the extra bludgeoning damage type. | Cantrip | bludgeoning, piercing, slashing | 7 | 3.5 | ||
| Fire Ray | ✅ | ❌ | Yes | Highest damage, does area control that works with Reactive Strike. You have to pick up Cleric Dedication. | Focus 1 | |||||
| Hand of the Apprentice | ✅ | ❌ | Maybe? | Weapon scaling is great, but your spellcasting modifier isn’t. Good way to gain access to critical specialization effects though, and Wizard Archetype is good anyways. And you also want runes for additional damage on your weapon. | Focus 1 | |||||
| Hurtling Stone | ✅ | ❌ | No | Adds a little bit of a control option, but the damage isn’t great | Focus 1 | |||||
| Moonbeam | ✅ | ❌ | Likely not | The damage isn’t great, but silver damage is kinda nice in the right campaign. Dazzling is only a minor bonus. | Focus 1 | |||||
| Malicious Shadow | ❔ | ❌ | No | Unknown how - and if - this works with Spellstrike. Technically it fullfills all the requirements for a valid target for Spellstriking (requires spell attack roll, targets 1, 2 actions), but requires GM fiat if the shadow is just flavour or not (in my opinion, it’s not flavour). If it isn’t, you’re not the one making the spell attacks, so it’s not valid. But really, you don’t have the actions to sustain ánd continue Spellstriking, so if you really want this, just play a Witch. | Focus 3 | |||||
| Hydraulic Push | ✅ | Yes | Good damage. | |||||||
| Blazing Bolt | ✅ | |||||||||
| Exploding Earth | ✅ | |||||||||
| Spiritual Armament | ✅ | |||||||||
| Splinter Volley | ✅ | |||||||||
| Chilling Darkness | ✅ | |||||||||
| Holy Light | ✅ | |||||||||
| Disintegrate | ✅ | |||||||||
| Blazing Bolt | ✅ | |||||||||
| Exploding Earth | ✅ | |||||||||
| Spiritual Armament | ✅ | |||||||||
| Splinter Volley | ✅ | |||||||||
| Chilling Darkness | ✅ | |||||||||
| Holy Light | ✅ | |||||||||
| Disintegrate | ✅ |