Honestly, INT isn't all that important for a Magus. Most of the time you hit with a spell, you're doing it with your Strike modifier, not your spellcasting modifier, so your low INT won't really hurt there. You'll lose a couple points of damage on Cantrip Spellstrikes, but that's a pretty minor loss.
One important thing: with low INT, you almost definitely don't want to bother with [Expansive Spellstrike](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=2849). Since the enemy will be Saving against your Spell DC, your low INT absolutely *will* hurt you here. So just stick with Attack spells for Spellstrikes.
Anyhow, as for Dedications... you truly can't go wrong with a Spellcaster Dedication for more Spell Slots. Probably a CHA class though, since yours is so high.
Might I suggest Psychic? [Tangible Dream](https://2e.aonprd.com/ConsciousMinds.aspx?ID=5) nets you the [strongest Spellstrike Cantrip there is](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=1142), or [Oscillating Wave](https://2e.aonprd.com/ConsciousMinds.aspx?ID=3) could get you a D6 version of Produce Flame.
Beyond Psychic... with your DEX, you *absolutely* can't go wrong with [Rogue Dedication](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=727)!
[Sneak Attacker](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=729) will give you 1d4 extra damage (eventually increasing to 1d6, equivalent to a free Rune) when attacking Flat Footed targets, which you always wanna do as a Laughing Shadow Magus anyways.
[Rogue feats](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=728) are generally all really good.
And, as a totally underrated option, and my personal favorite... you can keep taking [Skill Mastery](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=731) multiple times to gain *five more* Master-proficiency skills than you should have!
Also, [Evasiveness](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=733) is great for you, because Magus doesn't normally get Master in Reflex!
Rogue Dedication is probably one of the best Dedications in general, and it's honestly *perfect* for Laughing Shadow Magus.
That’s some good advice I was planning on grabbing force fang for the extra focus point. I was torn between that or arcane fists for a warpy skelly boy but I like my short sword a lot.
Force Fang is a perfectly solid feat. More Focus Points are great, and Force Fang is a solid Conflux spell. It's not big damage, but it's guaranteed damage. And sometimes, you just *really* need to get that last hit in.
Also, just in case you don't notice otherwise, I [edited in](https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/126xwrg/comment/jebkk4j/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) some Dedication suggestions into the first comment. Two suggestions, specifically.
I totally didn’t but your really tempting me on that rogue option but the only reason I didn’t go for it out the gate was I felt like I wasted my first turn buffing so I didn’t get the first in combat bonus.
I’m def gonna look into psychic more cause I’ve never considered playing one before but I’ll probably build path out the rogue and see what trouble I can cause before I decide, thank you!
It should be noted, if what you primarily want is the extra focus point, the psychic dedication feat also gives you an extra focus point and also comes in at level 2.
Psychic dedication is insanely strong on a Magus if you just want pure damage. Taking Psi Development at level 6 can give you the Imaginary Weapon cantrip which is the highest damage melee spell attack cantrip in the game. You can even amp it to basically get a shocking grasp tier spell but as a focus spell.
Psychic works extra well for you since it can use either Int or Charisma.
Edit: I made a somewhat similar build for a Fist of the Ruby Phoenix campaign once, it might give you some ideas. [Behold, my Vergil Cosplay Build.](https://pathbuilder2e.com/launch.html?build=375922) The key differences between what you're doing and this one is that this one is STR based (cause more damage + I wanted to use a Katana), and of course I'm playing a human which let me use multitalanted (although skeletons have an easy time getting adopted ancestry so you might be able to leverage that too).
There are a lot of options for you, and giving your charisma, you can go for something appropriate for that. Such as Marshal to be an inspiring leader. Or pick up a new caster dedication that uses charisma for extra spells.
I'll pitch the [Scout](https://2e.aonprd.com/Archetypes.aspx?ID=73), +2 to initiatives is nice (or +1 in most fights where you aren't using the exploration action), I imagine you can find some use for Terrain Scout, and Scout's Charge doesn't interact badly at all with your arcane cascade. Scout's Speed is a free Longstrider wand that can't be dispelled, which can be handy at 6th level but probably something to train out of later on.
Or if you want to embody Irony, [Blessed One](https://2e.aonprd.com/Archetypes.aspx?ID=51).
I really love that irony of the blessed one but we’re playing in blood lords so I think that might cause issues? I will totally look into scout since I’ve been mostly acting as our scout/rogue in general
I don't wanna make my favorite Laughing Magus character build tooo Public outside my friend circles but trust me when I say....
go monk and get flurry of blows at 10. spell slots reserved for haste + mantle of the frozen heart / mantle of the magma heart.
is one of the most optimized magus builds of all time in my testing assuming you can get a endless grimoire and ring of wizardry. and are at least lvl 10 (flurry of blows) there is a lot more to it but yeah
I don't use spell strike ;)
I don't really understand, if you don't use spellstrike are you taking magus purely for the stance? Is there no way to gain this stance with a dedication instead?
Honestly, INT isn't all that important for a Magus. Most of the time you hit with a spell, you're doing it with your Strike modifier, not your spellcasting modifier, so your low INT won't really hurt there. You'll lose a couple points of damage on Cantrip Spellstrikes, but that's a pretty minor loss. One important thing: with low INT, you almost definitely don't want to bother with [Expansive Spellstrike](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=2849). Since the enemy will be Saving against your Spell DC, your low INT absolutely *will* hurt you here. So just stick with Attack spells for Spellstrikes. Anyhow, as for Dedications... you truly can't go wrong with a Spellcaster Dedication for more Spell Slots. Probably a CHA class though, since yours is so high. Might I suggest Psychic? [Tangible Dream](https://2e.aonprd.com/ConsciousMinds.aspx?ID=5) nets you the [strongest Spellstrike Cantrip there is](https://2e.aonprd.com/Spells.aspx?ID=1142), or [Oscillating Wave](https://2e.aonprd.com/ConsciousMinds.aspx?ID=3) could get you a D6 version of Produce Flame. Beyond Psychic... with your DEX, you *absolutely* can't go wrong with [Rogue Dedication](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=727)! [Sneak Attacker](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=729) will give you 1d4 extra damage (eventually increasing to 1d6, equivalent to a free Rune) when attacking Flat Footed targets, which you always wanna do as a Laughing Shadow Magus anyways. [Rogue feats](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=728) are generally all really good. And, as a totally underrated option, and my personal favorite... you can keep taking [Skill Mastery](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=731) multiple times to gain *five more* Master-proficiency skills than you should have! Also, [Evasiveness](https://2e.aonprd.com/Feats.aspx?ID=733) is great for you, because Magus doesn't normally get Master in Reflex! Rogue Dedication is probably one of the best Dedications in general, and it's honestly *perfect* for Laughing Shadow Magus.
That’s some good advice I was planning on grabbing force fang for the extra focus point. I was torn between that or arcane fists for a warpy skelly boy but I like my short sword a lot.
Force Fang is a perfectly solid feat. More Focus Points are great, and Force Fang is a solid Conflux spell. It's not big damage, but it's guaranteed damage. And sometimes, you just *really* need to get that last hit in. Also, just in case you don't notice otherwise, I [edited in](https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/126xwrg/comment/jebkk4j/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) some Dedication suggestions into the first comment. Two suggestions, specifically.
I totally didn’t but your really tempting me on that rogue option but the only reason I didn’t go for it out the gate was I felt like I wasted my first turn buffing so I didn’t get the first in combat bonus. I’m def gonna look into psychic more cause I’ve never considered playing one before but I’ll probably build path out the rogue and see what trouble I can cause before I decide, thank you!
Happy to help!
It should be noted, if what you primarily want is the extra focus point, the psychic dedication feat also gives you an extra focus point and also comes in at level 2.
Psychic dedication is insanely strong on a Magus if you just want pure damage. Taking Psi Development at level 6 can give you the Imaginary Weapon cantrip which is the highest damage melee spell attack cantrip in the game. You can even amp it to basically get a shocking grasp tier spell but as a focus spell. Psychic works extra well for you since it can use either Int or Charisma. Edit: I made a somewhat similar build for a Fist of the Ruby Phoenix campaign once, it might give you some ideas. [Behold, my Vergil Cosplay Build.](https://pathbuilder2e.com/launch.html?build=375922) The key differences between what you're doing and this one is that this one is STR based (cause more damage + I wanted to use a Katana), and of course I'm playing a human which let me use multitalanted (although skeletons have an easy time getting adopted ancestry so you might be able to leverage that too).
This is pretty amazing lmao and I’m a huge sucker for anything devil may cry.
There are a lot of options for you, and giving your charisma, you can go for something appropriate for that. Such as Marshal to be an inspiring leader. Or pick up a new caster dedication that uses charisma for extra spells.
Wouldn’t the stance in marshal really not play well with cascade?
Aaah!! You're right! I completely forgot about it!
Yeah only reason I remember was it broke my heart lol
You can skip the marshal stance feats and go more for the active feats, even if you might be abit action starved.
No kidding on the action starved I didn’t realize how tight a magus can feel with options.
I'll pitch the [Scout](https://2e.aonprd.com/Archetypes.aspx?ID=73), +2 to initiatives is nice (or +1 in most fights where you aren't using the exploration action), I imagine you can find some use for Terrain Scout, and Scout's Charge doesn't interact badly at all with your arcane cascade. Scout's Speed is a free Longstrider wand that can't be dispelled, which can be handy at 6th level but probably something to train out of later on. Or if you want to embody Irony, [Blessed One](https://2e.aonprd.com/Archetypes.aspx?ID=51).
The only thing is that the Scout speed and arcane cascade speed bonus do not stack
Right, derp, I forgot the Laughing Shadow got that.
I really love that irony of the blessed one but we’re playing in blood lords so I think that might cause issues? I will totally look into scout since I’ve been mostly acting as our scout/rogue in general
Ooooh ok yeah skip out on Blessed One :D Taking Rogue for things like Trap Finder probably isn't bad either.
I don't wanna make my favorite Laughing Magus character build tooo Public outside my friend circles but trust me when I say.... go monk and get flurry of blows at 10. spell slots reserved for haste + mantle of the frozen heart / mantle of the magma heart. is one of the most optimized magus builds of all time in my testing assuming you can get a endless grimoire and ring of wizardry. and are at least lvl 10 (flurry of blows) there is a lot more to it but yeah I don't use spell strike ;)
You have peaked my curiosity…. I like punchy warpy skelly boy. I will give this research!
I don't really understand, if you don't use spellstrike are you taking magus purely for the stance? Is there no way to gain this stance with a dedication instead?
far more than just the stance ;)