Some prestige classes seem outdated. There are flaws being a multiclass such as weaker class features. Being by default a multiclass means you do not get the Favored Class Bonus for all your(probably 3) classes. Half-elves can pick two class favored bonuses, but it might be a minor reason to pick that race.
Some prestige classes actually seem a unique combination that hasnt come out as a hybrid class yet. Allowing the player to pick which combination of two primary classes means you can pick whether you want to focus on the physical or caster side of the combination. Some particular interesting ones combine physical class and merges it with a caster class. Arcane Trickster in particular popped up when I wanted to make a Rogue with magic to complement itself.
So what are some prestige classes that still work without being outdated by a hybrid?
Edit: also what are some ways to get past the muticlassing problem(besides Half-elf race mentioned above)?
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I really like the horizon walker.
They have an immense list of features they can gain for fighter types is impressive.
Dimension door, ethereal jaunt, fly, and a ton more.
The ability to give these abilities to a class that normally can not do these things is pretty huge.
I personally think any of them could work though, with enough investment.
Investing in EK pays off huge when you later have full power 9th level casting plus combat prowess. Magical knack traut helps, and you can play as a normal wizard.
Rage Prophet lends itself to rage cycling when properly supplemented with extra rage power.
Mystic Theurge... Okay that one sucks. FAQs ruined it.
Although, prestige classes were a lot more important in older editions. I don't think they had any additional core classes so prestige was necessary for specific concepts.
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Reported on these boards to work
Agent of the Grave -- reportedly good (er, actually EeeEeevvvviilll) for a villain.
Arcane Archer, but usually only wnat it for a dip of 2 to 4 levels.
Arcane Trickster -- actually works better if you can use Pathfinder Unchained material with it -- can even get single class entry into it (delayed unless you start dual class and then do retraining).
Battle Herald -- has also gotten better with Pathfinder Unchained.
Diabolist has gotten some favorable attention.
Dragon Disciple -- seems to be a perennial favorite, even for people starting from a non-optimal base class.
Eldritch Knight -- despite the presence and general preferability of the Magus, you can actually do a little bit of stuff with an Eldritch Knight that you can't do with a Magus. This kicks in at higher levels, so not really a good option for PFS.
Evangelist, which starting at 2nd level progresses ALL of your class abilities except for Saves, BAB, and HD, is a favorite.
Halfling Opportunist can be pretty good for a Rogue if you use Pathfinder Unchained Fractional Base Bonuses (if not, you get hosed too badly on BAB), and if you actually get all 5 levels of it -- being able to make ALL of your Attacks of Opportunity be Sneak Attacks is pretty good.
Hellknight works.
Hellknight Signifer still works with 9/9 spellcasting classes that don't depend too much upon class features other than spells.
Holy Vindicator (uncommon).
Horizon Walker (uncommon).
Inheritor's Crusader has the unusual distinction of working well with both a 4/9 caster (Paladin) and a 9/9 caster (Cleric), although the capstone ability is brokenly powerful, so I haven't heard of it actually being used much.
Loremaster, although it needs an update -- in D&D 3.5 it was good, but everything else got better around it while it stayed about the same.
Magaambyan Arcanist (Collegiate Arcanist on www.d20pfsrd.com) -- for a long time, nobody paid attention to this, but now an archetype of the Arcanist base class (Magaambyan Initiate, or Collegiate Initiate on www.d20pfsrd.com) came out that can actually use this, so a few people are giving it a second look (note that when Magaambyan Arcanist was written, the Arcanist base class didn't exist yet).
Master Chymist -- hadn't heard of people using it for a long time, but recently a few people have started posting about it, so maybe some people are giving it a second look.
Red Mantis Assassin (Crimson Assassin on www.d20pfsrd.com) has gotten a bit of attention.
Shadowdancer -- has generally been considered mostly bad, but recently a few people have started posting about it, so maybe some people are giving it a second look.
Winter Witch works, although what it does raises a strong question of why this wasn't just condensed into the Witch archetype of the same name.
The main "solution" to multiclassing is going with classes that grant useful features at lower levels. The Slayer's Study ability scales slowly and doesn't become a swift-action until level 7, so it's typically a poor multiclass choice; Barbarian grants Rage from level 1, and it's easy to have a fair deal of rage/day with an Extra Rage or two.
The Eldritch Knight has it's limitations, but ultimately it's a class that has both full BAB and nearly full progression spellcasting (plus Magical Knack means full CL). With a bit of system mastery, you can make a pretty straight-out dangerous combat oriented EK; the spellcasting will always lag behind a full caster, though full-caster minus one level of spells is still a whole lot of spellcasting. Really working EK to full potential requires careful use of both starting classes; for instance, having Barbarian and Strength Patron Witch means you can have Rage (+Furious Weapon), Divine Favor (+Fate's Favored), Arcane Strike and Heroism, which by level 9 amounts to around +9 to attack and damage even if you're a dex-based character. A Dervish Dance scimitar can be doing over 25 damage at 9 if you throw in everything available.
Living Monolith and Divine Scion come to mind as other interesting options; things like the Scion's possible +4 to CMB might be really useful.
What do people tink of the harrower? I imagine like loremaster it's better for high spells, low class features.
Mystic Theurge can work well, but it requires string at high level, because it's too much pain in the entry. I think equipment trick light rod is a legal-ish way to enter.
Veiled Illusionist is really good as well.
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Chevalier; non-LG paladin.
Cyphermage; for when you really like scrolls.
Lantern Bearer; I don't really see how, but some say this is useful.
Mammoth Rider; how else are you going to get a huge tiger?
Spherewalker; I really want to use this with the swarm form some day.
Any of the above are arguably competitive and don't seem to have been mentioned by others above.
Although, prestige classes were a lot more important in older editions. I don't think they had any additional core classes so prestige was necessary for specific concepts.
No, 3.X had plenty of core classes and a few alternate class features (like archetypes), and some racial substitution levels (kinda like racial archetypes). The big difference was that most class features didn't scale much if at all with level, so there was little obstacle to taking a prestige class or two (or more) later on.
rage prophet is strictly worse than barbarian 1 / Oracle X.
The Rage Prophet does have one advantage, in that level-based Rage Power effects get to increase. For something like Strength Surge (which is easy to use with rage cycle on an O/B) that's pretty huge.
I dont know all the prestige classes and some of those mentioned may be third-partty. Here are some Ive thought about pros-and-cons, though they lean towards spellcasting.
Eldritch Knight isnt actually outdated by Magus. It provides a solid 100% BAB and 90% spellcasting. Eldritch knight with a combination of 1 Fighter/9 Wizard/10 Eldritch Knight ends up with 15 BAB and level 18 Wizard spellcasting. It loses out of many class features and armor but that ends up casting much higher tier spells than the Magus. The question isnt if its a bad class but if its worth lowering your Arcane Caster feats and spells for some BAB and combat feats. A Sorcerer(of the sage wildblood) also works in particular as it has sponatenous spells and doesnt miss out on learning new spells per level. Wizard doesnt learn any new spells in its Spellbook so you have to manually learn alot of missing spells.
Arcane Trickster feels like an actual upgrade as I dont value Rogue talents much. It gets 50% BAB, 100% Spellcasting, and 100% Sneak Attack for the levels it takes. Working it out a 3 Unchained Rogue/7 Wizard/10 Arcane Trickster gets you a 10 BAB, level 17 spellcasting and keep 7d6 Sneak Attack. The Arcane Tricker unique class features, Tricky spells and Surprise Spells help alot both in general and with the Sneak attack/spell combination. Sneak Attack with a Silent+Still Delayed Blast Fireball for example. It ends up a few levels weaker than a Wizard would be, but any spellcasting gives alot of advantages to any Rogue, from the aforementioned Sneak Attack Spells, buffs, and just roguish spells like Invisibility.
Note: the Eldritch Scoundrel Rogue Archetype only gets tier 6 spells at most and cuts the Rogue's sneak attack, skill points, rogue talents by half. Arcane Trickster feels significantly better.
Rage Prophet is far more tricky to plan out. Barbarian require many levels to get enough rage rounds and some key Rage Powers such as Dragon and Beast Totems. Oracle levels also need to be fairly high to reach even tier 6 spells. The Rage Prophet provides a low 70% BAB and 70% spellcasting so isnt efficient. It doesnt gain any additional rage rounds, Rage Powers or Oracle Revelations. Its unique abilities make it so you can cast somewhat better while raging, but it doesnt mean there are no problems with Rage/Casting. It feels like a Divine Bloodrager done wrong.
I'm still looking forward into building a Lantern Bearer some day.
Lantern Bearer; I don't really see how, but some say this is useful.
I see it working very well with a Ranger based build. There's a lot of synergy there.
Hellknight, Red Mantis Assassin, Living Monolith, Evangelist and Mammoth Rider are all pretty good.
Pain Taster can be pretty awesome, with the right build.
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Veiled Illusionist is really good as well.I've got a Cleric (of Sivanah, of course) 5/Veiled Illusionist 5 that is a crap-ton of fun to play. Getting otherwise unavailable sorc/wiz Illusion spells onto a cleric chassis is pretty sweet.
Now that's clever! I've not even considered adding that to a cleric chassis. Now, I'm off to check that out!
The Horizon Walker specialized in Favored Terrain bonuses. It does work very well with the Barbarian as 3 levels into the Horizon Walker gives the Barbarian Immunity to Fatigue, a major weakness to the Barbarian's Rage ability. Some rage powers work "each rage" so this allows you to cycle Rage on and off to repeatedly trigger them. a Barbarian normally requires level 17 for that, but a Barbarian/Horizon Walker gets it at 9. It also doesnt hurt that the Horizon Walker gives extra class skills and it has Full BAB so you dont lose progress there.
The Dragon Disciple unfortunately loses 3 levels of spellcasting(still can be a tier 9 caster). It gains additional strength, constitution, intelligence, natural armor, increased hit points, free flight eventually, and keeps the Bloodline powers and feats. If it didnt lose spellcasting it would be an automatic choice for a Sorcerer with the Draconic Bloodline. Oddly it doesnt actually require a Sorcerer as the base class. It can also work with a Draconic Bloodrager, which may be the better option as all those bonuses work very well with a physical class.
Bloodrager/ Dragon Disciple is a completely different character than Sorcerer/ Disciple. Bloodrager loses spellcasting levels and BAB when going Disciple, so it's a pretty harsh trade.
If I had to pick the 'best' Dragon Disciple setup, I would probably go Martial Class 1/ Sorcerer 4/ Dragon Disciple 4/ Eldritch Knight.
The bloodline powers of the draconic bloodline - for either class - are pretty meh. You might find something like weapon master fighter 4 / arcane duelist bard 1 to be as good an entry to draconic disciple as a bloodrager.
And yes, JaM's veiled illusionist setup sounds pretty sweet.
Battle Herald for best buffing martial in the game. Eldritch Knight is still the best chassis for a full-casting gish and can be quite competitive. Dragon Disciple is pretty neat, especially when you add Kobolds who can qualify with Divine casting. Arcane Trickster and Eldritch Scoundrel Rogue are in a similar position to Eldritch Knight and Magus, given that both are full-casting classes with 2/3-casting base class options. Stalwart Defender is just as cool as it's ever been.
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Bloodrager/ Dragon Disciple is a completely different character than Sorcerer/ Disciple. Bloodrager loses spellcasting levels and BAB when going Disciple, so it's a pretty harsh trade.
If I had to pick the 'best' Dragon Disciple setup, I would probably go Martial Class 1/ Sorcerer 4/ Dragon Disciple 4/ Eldritch Knight.
Losing the BAB isn't so bad when you are a Natural Weapon fighter, and the strength bonus makes up for it. So you are actually getting added damage and a + strength and a half bite out of it. I'd say that is a net win for the Bloodrager / Dragon Disciple.
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Losing the BAB isn't so bad when you are a Natural Weapon fighter, and the strength bonus makes up for it. So you are actually getting added damage and a + strength and a half bite out of it. I'd say that is a net win for the Bloodrager / Dragon Disciple.Bloodrager/ Dragon Disciple is a completely different character than Sorcerer/ Disciple. Bloodrager loses spellcasting levels and BAB when going Disciple, so it's a pretty harsh trade.
If I had to pick the 'best' Dragon Disciple setup, I would probably go Martial Class 1/ Sorcerer 4/ Dragon Disciple 4/ Eldritch Knight.
It depends on a lot of factors really. I'm just saying, if you're losing out on things like Greater Arcane Bloodrage plus attack bonus plus spellcasting levels, it's not going to be an easy trade even if it may be a net win for some builds.
actually, I have a cleric in one of my games that is trying to become a holy Vindicator so they can actually deal damage in combat. Stigma is an amazing ability.Reported on these boards to work
Holy Vindicator (uncommon).
It's pretty good for Oradins too. That d12 hit die...
The Dragon Disciple unfortunately loses 3 levels of spellcasting(still can be a tier 9 caster).
Since a Dragon Disciple has to be a spontaneous caster, you cannot take all 10 levels of that class and still cast 9th level spells.
It depends on a lot of factors really. I'm just saying, if you're losing out on things like Greater Arcane Bloodrage plus attack bonus plus spellcasting levels, it's not going to be an easy trade even if it may be a net win for some builds.
1 A Bloodrager would have to be Draconic bloodline, so Youve already lost all arcane bloodline powers.
It is a point that with a 70% BAB and 70% Spellcasting from Dragon Disciple hurts the Sorcerer and Bloodrager. Bloodrager is a minimal Caster already with only 3 slots for tier 4 spells as maximum, so youre gaining alot of physical abilities that complement a Draconic Bloodrager. Arguably that is an improvement . For a Sorcerer they instead make you a hybrid that is worse at spellcasting but a better at melee.
2 Eldritch Knight, If you make it more balance between physical and caster then it does seem like a worse Magus as The Eldritch knight itself has almost no class features that the Magus has plenty of. It isnt worse if you stick to a caster build as you still heavily benefit from casting up to tier 8-9 spells.
3 Mystic Theurge seems like it could be an amazing build by having spells in both Arcane and Divine areas. Its complicated and you wont be able to get a 100% caster in either area. a Sorcerer/Oracle/Mystic Theurge can end up at effectively 16/14 Arcane/Divine respectively. That hurts the effects of many spells and limits your spell available to always be several levels behind everyone else. You would never be able to Learn the arcane spell Wish or the divine Miracle. Good idea, bad execution.
You lose out of spellcasting. That is the key weakness of Multiclassing and Prestige Classes. Some are meant to be gimmicks like casting illusions, not efficient combat builds. If There is any prestige class that doesnt inflict a penalty to spellcasters, either by not requiring multiclassing a non-caster or gain a spellcaster level every prestige level then that would be a highly desirable prestige class.
Physical class like the Rogue or Fighter can gain special abilities the wouldnt normally have but spellcasters really suffer.
Hemotheurge is loads of fun -- about as powerful as a wizard, with more staying power and plenty of flavor. Feats are a bit tight, of course, but that's about it.
One thing I try to keep in mind with prestige classes is: how will they play at levels 5-10. I don't worry about capstone abilities or "how powerful can I be at level 20", because in 30 years of play I've had exactly one character get to level 20 (in the Savage Tide adventure path), and much much more playtime is spent in the mid-levels.
I have been considering the Furious Guardian / Ulfen Guard PrC for a slightly more social barbarian. For a barbarian, it slightly delays greater rage, but offers you a few extra class skills, a boost to your will save, and some nice options to your rage powers (and it counts to your barbarian levels for selecting rage powers). You also get a few other tricks, including the option to follow your ward, moving as an immediate action, or using AoOs to attack anyone who moves near or attacks your ward.
It may be also interesting for fighters who can thus get rage and greater rage. Actually, I think the wording of formal training means that the guardian levels count as fighter levels for extra Advanced Weapon/Armor training.
I have been considering the Furious Guardian / Ulfen Guard PrC for a slightly more social barbarian. For a barbarian, it slightly delays greater rage, but offers you a few extra class skills, a boost to your will save, and some nice options to your rage powers (and it counts to your barbarian levels for selecting rage powers). You also get a few other tricks, including the option to follow your ward, moving as an immediate action, or using AoOs to attack anyone who moves near or attacks your ward.
It may be also interesting for fighters who can thus get rage and greater rage. Actually, I think the wording of formal training means that the guardian levels count as fighter levels for extra Advanced Weapon/Armor training.
Try comboing it with the Viking fighter archetype. It combines really well on both a thematic and mechanical level.
I thought about it, but the beauty of it is it does not even need the viking and in fact works well with other fighters who can make use of the advanced trainings.
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All of them; if you're looking at prestige classes as a reflection of your character in a story. The ones specific to Golarion even more so. If it's just for a build, then some of them aren't super in comparison to your archetype single or one or two dip multiclass builds. Frankly to me, looking at a class just for its build possibilities is rather boring in comparison to advancement via story. Theorycrafting gets old quick.
I might be wrong but the Furious Guardian seems like its meant to make a Fighter into a Bodyguard Pseudo-barbarian. It can stack somewhat with a barbarian levels, but there are several redundancies. If you really want to bodyguard someone that seems pretty good with several benefits. Just being able to MOVE every time your ally moves it hugely useful.
All of them; if you're looking at prestige classes as a reflection of your character in a story. The ones specific to Golarion even more so. If it's just for a build, then some of them aren't super in comparison to your archetype single or one or two dip multiclass builds. Frankly to me, looking at a class just for its build possibilities is rather boring in comparison to advancement via story. Theorycrafting gets old quick.
That is why "competitive" is a key word in the title. You may like story reasons, others go for effectiveness.
I went Viking archetype into Ulfen Guard. Works very well. I forgot to include Ulfen Guard in my earliest post about effective PrC. You just can't go wrong with Golarion's Varangian Guard.
Agent of the Grave -- reportedly good (er, actually EeeEeevvvviilll) for a villain.
Absolutely terrible for a PC though, at least for a Spontaeous caster. That lost caster level bit me way harder than any of the class features helped.
OT: The Chevalier is a great 3 level PrC for any pure martial like a Fighter or Barbarian who wants to shore up some of their major weaknesses really quickly.
The Grand Marshal/Shieldmarshal is also a really neat class that gives Gunslingers actual class features.
The Grand Marshal/Shieldmarshal is also a really neat class that gives Gunslingers actual class features.
Grand Marshal actually seems like an improvement to the Gunslinger as it gives Inquisitor Judgements. Its not as powerful as a full Inquisitor(especially missing magic) but mostly it just loses bonus combat feats.
1 A Bloodrager would have to be Draconic bloodline, so Youve already lost all arcane bloodline powers.
It is a point that with a 70% BAB and 70% Spellcasting from Dragon Disciple hurts the Sorcerer and Bloodrager. Bloodrager is a minimal Caster already with only 3 slots for tier 4 spells as maximum, so youre gaining alot of physical abilities that complement a Draconic Bloodrager. Arguably that is an improvement . For a Sorcerer they instead make you a hybrid that is worse at spellcasting but a better at melee.
2 Eldritch Knight, If you make it more balance between physical and caster then it does seem like a worse Magus as The Eldritch knight itself has almost no class features that the Magus has plenty of. It isnt worse if you stick to a caster build as you still heavily benefit from casting up to tier 8-9 spells.
A Bloodrager that doesn't go Dragon Disciple doesn't have to go Draconic Bloodline... but even if we're talking about going Draconic Bloodline, you're losing out on Greater Bloodrage and eventually Mighty Bloodrage (for whatever relevance level 20 has); you're also losing out on possible archetype features like the awesome Primalist, or possibly Crossblooded features (like gaining claws and bonus AC, then grabbing Greater Arcane Bloodrage instead of breath weapon).
For general melee purposes, losing 3 BAB and improved Bloodrage strength to gain some bonus strength and a few powers isn't that great a trade. The 'transform into a dragon' thing could have a fair deal of value for specific builds, but it's a specialized thing with a very limited and delayed payoff.
The reason I prefer Barbarian1/ Sorcerer4/ Disciple4/ Eldritch Knight is that you can maximize Rage and Disciple strength bonuses within a few levels, while grabbing as much spellcasting as possible. More Sorcerer spell levels on a hybrid means more buffing spells like Heroism, Haste and Monstrous Physique, as well as potentially more specialized spells, like using the right Sorcerer features and metamagic feats to get a couple of really powerful enchantment spells even if you're combat-focused.
As far as any kind of 'optimization' goes, any character that goes into Eldritch Knight (or Dragon Disciple for that matter) should be doing it to be a solid melee combatant; otherwise they're trading away spellcasting ability for nothing more than ineffectually fiddling around with a weapon. The Magus is a simple, straightforward way to create a hybrid character, and it tends to play like a Fighter with some fireworks; the value of Spell Combat and Magus spellcasting declines as you go up levels. Eldritch Knight (and to a degree Dragon Disciple) generally get better over time and require more system mastery to do well; you're weaving together different class features and using broader spellcasting lists, so you have to figure out your own synergy between casting and fighting resources instead of having it handed to you.
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As a Counterpoint to Badbird-
For a Natural Weapon build Bloodrager, Dragon Disciple plays to all your strengths at the cost of BAB (which you aren't dependent on for iterative attacks) and some spells (I've played several bloodragers, from the playtest on. It is not a primary caster class). What you get in trade is higher stats, more natural armor, more natural attacks, extra breath weapon uses, and more. Your bloodline continues to progress, and if you use the Rageshaper archetype (it's great for natural weapon fighters) it synergizes with abilities gained from the PRC.
It's also dead simple to get into.
Your millage may vary, but I would argue it is a stronger combo than Sorc/Barb/Disc/Eld. Knight
Although, prestige classes were a lot more important in older editions. I don't think they had any additional core classes so prestige was necessary for specific concepts.No, 3.X had plenty of core classes and a few alternate class features (like archetypes), and some racial substitution levels (kinda like racial archetypes). The big difference was that most class features didn't scale much if at all with level, so there was little obstacle to taking a prestige class or two (or more) later on.
3.5 didn't start out with alternate class features or racial substitutions. They also didn't start out with 52 base classes. Prestige classes were there from the start. And as you said, many classes didn't give you a lot of extra stuff. sorcerer didn't give anything beyond spellcasting levels and will save. Any prestige class with full spellcasting was a better pick.
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rage prophet is strictly worse than barbarian 1 / Oracle X.
[pedantic]Well.. The word "strictly" when used in a comparison means you are comparing two items that have the same definable base quantities and qualities. "$50 is strictly less than $60." "4 skill points, rage, and full BAB is strictly worse than 4 skill points, rage, and 3/4 BAB." Since class features diverge, it's not possible to make a strict comparison, though having an opinion favoring one or the other is certainly valid.[/pedantic]
Having said that, there's one facet where the Rage Prophet has always gleamed for me. If you build as a caster you can get the highest save DC in the game at Rage Prophet level 7. Because you can add your Con modifier to the DC. You won't get the highest level spells, but you can make the ones you do have count!
As a Counterpoint to Badbird-
For a Natural Weapon build Bloodrager, Dragon Disciple plays to all your strengths at the cost of BAB (which you aren't dependent on for iterative attacks) and some spells (I've played several bloodragers, from the playtest on. It is not a primary caster class). What you get in trade is higher stats, more natural armor, more natural attacks, extra breath weapon uses, and more. Your bloodline continues to progress, and if you use the Rageshaper archetype (it's great for natural weapon fighters) it synergizes with abilities gained from the PRC.
It's also dead simple to get into.
Your millage may vary, but I would argue it is a stronger combo than Sorc/Barb/Disc/Eld. Knight
Natural weapon stuff is the area where I could see Bloodrager/Disciple being useful. Comparing that to a true hybrid rather than a diminished-casting Bloodrager is very much apples/oranges; they're totally different concepts.
However, I would point out that that a B1/S4/DD4/EK6 ends up with the same BAB and strength bonus as the BR5/DD10, while having 6/6/6/6/5/3 for spellcasting power instead of 2/2/1; that kind of spellcasting ability is a huge pool of possible combat buffing, among other things. When I say that's the kind of Disciple I would consider 'best', it's due to having so much power on both sides of the equation. If one were to, say, use a Crossblooded Draconic/Fey Sorcerer to begin with and then maintain a solid secondary charisma score, they could start battles by throwing Persistent Confusion or Persistent Heightened Hideous Laughter at a dangerous DC, before wading into combat with a huge assortment of potential combat buffs.
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As a Counterpoint to Badbird-
For a Natural Weapon build Bloodrager, Dragon Disciple plays to all your strengths at the cost of BAB (which you aren't dependent on for iterative attacks) and some spells (I've played several bloodragers, from the playtest on. It is not a primary caster class). What you get in trade is higher stats, more natural armor, more natural attacks, extra breath weapon uses, and more. Your bloodline continues to progress, and if you use the Rageshaper archetype (it's great for natural weapon fighters) it synergizes with abilities gained from the PRC.
It's also dead simple to get into.
Your millage may vary, but I would argue it is a stronger combo than Sorc/Barb/Disc/Eld. Knight
Natural weapon stuff is the area where I could see Bloodrager/Disciple being useful. Comparing that to a true hybrid rather than a diminished-casting Bloodrager is very much apples/oranges; they're totally different concepts.
However, I would point out that that a B1/S4/DD4/EK6 ends up with the same BAB and strength bonus as the BR5/DD10, while having 6/6/6/6/5/3 for spellcasting power instead of 2/2/1; that kind of spellcasting ability is a huge pool of possible combat buffing, among other things. When I say that's the kind of Disciple I would consider 'best', it's due to having so much power on both sides of the equation. If one were to, say, use a Crossblooded Draconic/Fey Sorcerer to begin with and then maintain a solid secondary charisma score, they could start battles by throwing Persistent Confusion or Persistent Heightened Hideous Laughter at a dangerous DC, before wading into combat with a huge assortment of potential combat buffs.
While the Arcane and Fated bloodlines are really strong, especially when you can cherry pick from them with Crossblooded, I find taking that archetype to be a real gamble. Sinking your Will save when it is already poor is not optimal. Everyone has heard the story about the dominated barbarian that killed the rest of the party.
But, we've probably wondered somewhat far afield here. Truth be told, I think both builds can be fun and are just better for different play styles.