mips

Thrice: Way I see it, there are basically three(apparently four now that they added a new one) Magus archetypes worth their salt
Thrice: These are Kensai, where you're basically Magic Himura Kenshin; Bladebound, where your sword is sentient and can do cool stuff; Hexcrafter, where you can use Hexes to debuff foes; and some new one called Greensting Slayer that lets you get some Sneak Attack
Thrice: If you're going for Dervish, I recommend Kensai; you'll have a rather friggen high Armor Class with high Dex and the class' Canny Defense ability
Thrice: Note that it completely forgoes all armor, though, so it really evens out
Right, Silver - you can combine archetypes, so long as they don't replace or change the same class feature
Thrice: TECHNICALLY Greensting Slayer and Bladebound both alter the Arcane Pool feature, but all GS does is let you use it for Sneak Attack damage, and all Bladebound does it decreas the points, so....tirk might let it slide if you wanted to take both
Thrice: Now then, Bladebound and Kensai also stack, though this would diminish your magical abilities a bit(bladebound lowers Arcane Pool, Kensai gives up Spell Recall adn lowers the amount of spells/day you can cast)
Thrice: Bladebound and Hex Crafter are ALSO compatible
I typically prefer either white-bread Magus or Bladebound, Kensai has decent defenses, and doesn't at all require armor so that saves money; Canny Defense will probably only give you +3 or +4, compared to armor which would do the same thing but can be upgraded
Techncially upgrading your Intelligence stat(and this modifier) would improve the boost from canny defense, though.
You'd also have a real fuckin' high Initiative as a Kensai, I just don't like them as much because they give up Spell Recall
Thrice: Which is, like, the best ability in all of Pathfinder, esp Improved version, You just get access to your whole goddamned spellbook at once
Thrice: Now then, Hexcrafter is nice; the only thing you give up is Spell Recall, but you do eventually get it later on(you don't lose Improved Spell Recall, and the rules state that if you gain the improved version of a class feature without having the original version, you just gain the original version)
Using hexes would...PROBABLY be seen as pretty evil though, even if all they really are is just magic by another name
Thrice: except for the one that literally lets you cook people in a cauldron and eat them.
Thrice: That one's pretty evil.
Thrice: Note that if you DO go Kensai/Bladebound, you don't need to buy a weapon OR armor upgrades; You -can- upgrade your weapon as an Intelligent Item, far as anyone can tell, but you need the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat, which...well you wouldn't be using for anything but your sword. But considering how GOOD Intelligent Item abilities are, it's probably worth it, and you can always craft for the party


Thrice: As for Traits, no matter WHAT the fuck you go, you definitely, definitely want Magical Lineage: Shocking Grasp
Thrice: Spell Recall is what makes that super deduper amazing since you can prepare and recall Intensified Shocking Grasp as a level 1 spell, but even without it, being able to just prepare it as one is great
Thrice: Other than that, you can take something that gives you an extra class skill, or something banal like Reactionary, that's +2 to initiative
Thrice: Forz and Finne both had Reactionary adn Magical Lineage: SG
Thrice: Harley had ML and Focused Mind, which gives a +2 bonus to Concentration Checks(which come up if you get attacked while trying to cast or something)

Thrice: As a Half-Elf, you have some choice in what you want your last feat to be
Thrice: You can either take the default Skill Focus, or nab Dual Minded which replaces it but gives a +2 on Will saves, or Drow-Blooded, which gets rid of multitalented(which is useless) and Adapability, in exchange for a couple spell-like abilities

For a harf-elf magus, you've got the choice between +1 HP, +1 Skill Point, or this everytime you level up
Thrice: Magus Add +1/4 to the magus's arcane pool.
Thrice: I'd suggest the HP, unless you're a Bladebound in which case you might want the extra AP
Thrice: Oh, right; half-breeds can choose their own, or either of their ancestor's favoured class bonus
Thrice: Human's is the same as Half-Elf's
Thrice: But this is Elfs:  The magus gains 1/6th of a new magus arcana. I'd go for that if you're a Bladebound or a Hexcrafter, Bladebound cause they give up 1 Arcana, Hexcrafter because they have a lot more options
As for Skills, probably gonna want Perception just cause it's fucking Perception, Knowledge (Arcana), Spellcraft, and the other two Knowledges
Thrice: Oh, Fly too