dose any one cross-class or did it go the way of the dodo?
if so how and why because i cant see any advantage in doing it any more all the classes are so squared off there you seem to all ways be losing some thing in doing it
cross classing is great for non-spellcasters.
A barbarian/fighter combo is awesome to behold and a rouge/assasin combo is nice as well.
A primary spellcaster with a non casting class in my opinion simply doesn't work. You weaken the main advantage of a spellcatser by denying them their spells at higher level.
Our game susually cap out at around 16-18th level we dont do epic, so when the module or the DM is expecting you to have access to 9th lvl magic and your stuck at 8th or even 7th because you wanted to play fightr or cleric cross class then you end up costeing more than you helped.
I am mostly talking wizards here but the main reason that I have heard of people cross classing is because of the low(d4) hit dice. In my current game I have the second highest HP of all the other charecters.
1. the highest is the barbarian/fighter.
2. I put a 17 in my CON.
3. None of the other players have a con mod.
4. We role our HD and then our DM roles and we get to take the best of the 2. So far I am at max HP useing that system.
5. Improved Toughness or any of the 3.0 feats that give HP can help.
There are ways to mitigate the weakness of a class with out haveing to pick up another class.
Granted some class comboes work well. Ranger/druid is awesome.
Cleric/paladin is nice as well.
All others just weaken the spellcaster too much. For non casters do as you will.
All of the above statements apply to 3.0/3.5 not pathfinder.
If you mean in 3.5; I am not sure if you consider this cross classing; but I like druid or chaos monk or that one ranger who gets wildshape then going to Master of Shapes; depending upon how much the gm gimps you; this combination can be awesome though your spellcasting is limited to mostly buffs and minor heals; going ranger gives you really nice BA bonus and buffs; and monk has all kinds of advantages; mix with those feats everyone hates like poverty and whatnot and omg your awesome at all kinds of stuff from penetrating a lair to tearing stuff up; hiding and stealth. But, as I said; not sure if this is cross class. Crossing any of these three classes as long as you end up with wildshape by level 10 just gives you a mix of some nice benefits like special abilities; spells or saves.
The big thing with cross classing with a spellcasting class is you loose the option of your most powerful spells. Monk cant crossclass with Barbarians; or that would be omg tuff. Rogue and ranger I see sometimes for better BA and hps as both can do fairly well with light armor; but that is about it.
if you are human and have the able learner feat, than rogue/fighter works too. just stick with light armor and your standard rogue weapons. the fighter levels can qualify you for weapon specialization, which can get you melee weapon mastery. remember to start rogue and get those 4 fighter levels early on. if you take 4 fighter levels before your 7th rogue level, than you can get melee weapon mastery at level 12. melee mastery is a feat in PHB2. it makes those twin shortswords your best friend. you lose 2d6 sneak attack and 12 skill points, but you have a chance at that magic 4th attack, a +3 to hit and +4 damage that will always apply, and multiplies on a crit. which is actually better than 7 situational damage that can't multiply on a crit.