nsthtz's page

I'm not saying there is no benefit. But there is a cost especially an opportunity cost. A potion is often going to be enough.

Right, and that was pretty much the root of my confusion in the guide. Archetypes like Runescarred, Osatia Skysage, Red Mantis(?) being rated blue when the description implies that the significant thing they give is the ability to cast some very specific subset of spells from another list with the old proficiency mechanic. Compared to Captivator, for instance, which gives much better spell progression (rate of acquisition, faster than class archetypes even) alongside some really good feats. Just seems to me like there is a significant gap in potential between the former and the latter, but there might be other perks I've missed!

Edit: I suppose being able to cast with charisma might be a part of the rating for some of these, but you can also achieve that more flexibly with some of the class archetypes (Oracle/Bard for Divine/Occult+Breadth). While Oracle is blue too, Bard is just green.

I'll go back and look at them again, but give me a week. There is a lot of text I never revised. I'm not sure it is possible to be totally objective about these things. The point of my guide is to say what I think works and what doesn't. Really to point you towards a few highlights that I think work well. Whether something is 3 or 4 stars is often just an opinion.
That I like multiclass Psychic more than Bard or Druid more than Cleric is reasonable even if others would disagree.

Oh, absolutely, no worries. I just wanted to double check these things in particular as I'm somewhat of a pf2 noob. This and the spell guide is pretty much my bible when it comes to building practical understanding, so just wanted to address some of the cognitive dissonance I experienced when going through it, especially regarding the more "obscure" archetypes that just doesn't look that good anymore. There might of course be something I'm missing, but at least now I'm aware that there might in fact be some artifacts from pre-remaster left in the text that could throw me off :)

Is that what you are concerned about?

I'm just having a "difficult" time navigating the relative strength of the various archetypes, maybe a bit confused by some of the texts in the guide which seem to imply that ratings are based upon the old system. Like Runescarred, Red Mantis Assassin (?), Halcyon Speaker being mentioned for their innate spells when they give only as good or worse rate of spell slots/spells known than you would get through simply picking Bard or Oracle. Captivator seems to be the only archetype that actually grants things quicker + higher potential (lvl 9).

So, I guess my question becomes whether or not these things still hold water. Is Bard still green even though it gives more occult spells/slots than blue rated alternatives? Isn't innate casting nearly strictly worse than regular casting proficiency now (as long as you're able to cast from the right attribute) due to the latter giving access to scrolls, wands, spellhearts, etc.?

Has anything changed regarding archetype ratings? With the changes to casting proficiency and additions like exemplar? Seems like a lot of the blues emphasize the old style of spell DC progression.