Most of the prestige classes are massive power-downs from base classes. The only ones I'm aware of that are worthwhile mechanically are Horizon Walker and Pathfinder Savant. The former can get crazy high attack and damage bonuses, but only against certain enemies and sucks against anything else. He can mitigate the problem with a wand of Instant Enemy, but that gets expensive. The latter is a caster prestige class that loses a CL (huge negative!) but...gets a whole lot of genuinely awesome class features that make the lost CL sort of worth it.
I suppose I could also note that Shadow Dancer is a decent dip, but terrible beyond the first 1-3 levels.
The Arcane Archer is good for a 3 level dip especially if you're looking to play a ranged EK or something similar, but yes, by in large, it is better to grab an archetype and play a class straight through to 20.
To answer the OP's question, I'm not aware of any compilation of PrCs for comparison and quality analysis. You could, with a bit of searching, find something for each of the PrCs on an individual level.
Horizon Walker, Pathfinder savant, loremaster, Low Templar (so I hear), Master Chymist, Arcane Archer, shadow Dancer, Halfling Opportunist (very GM dependent), Dragon Disciple, Demoniac. Those are "good" to merely "bad".
Everything else is santorum. Paizo hates Prestige Classes, but crunch sells books, and underpowered Prestige Classes are the easiest crunch to s+** out.
Hellknight seems good to me, depending on the class from which you enter to it.
No guides, but I posted some stuff lately. Maybe this gives you some further ideas :-)
- EK, DD, MT, AA, AT
- Some MT notes
- Shadowdancer
Generally speaking, PrC are not more powerful. In fact, they *can* be weaker than staying in a base/core class or even multiclassing. However, there are some advantages to them:
- Combinations of class features, e.g. casting and martial prowess
- Gaining a specific set of abilities and progressing them in a way that cannot be achieved by multiclassing, e.g. shadowdancer, pathfinder chronicler, master spy
- Gaining some unique ability, e.g. the shadow of the shadowdancer, the split personality of the master chymist
- Resemble more closely some kind of fantasy/eastern/... type of character, e.g. the duelist for a d'Artagnan kind of character with parrying
Sometimes the implementation is better, sometimes worse, sometimes equal to the base/core classes.
If you have more specific questions, I could give some more advice :-)
Harrower and Bloatmage aren't bad although Bloatmage is really gross. They both get full caster level and have some cool abilities. There's also the Cyphermage if you have a hard-on for scrolls.
Martial PrCs tend to be better since you're not giving up precious precious spell levels.
If you're going to use them for NPCs they're a lot better. They can provide a lot of flavor and the overly situational abilities many of them have aren't such dead weight. In that case I advise using as many PrCs as you're willing to keep track of.
Prestige Classes are for flavor and unique abilities. More often than not, they aren't that strong, or they get a big payoff after slugging it through a few difficult levels. Taking Prestige Classes is an exercise in patience. You wait to get there, you wait to get good. If you can build this into your character, they are awesome. If you aren't having fun during the wait until you get good, try something else.
Is it worth it? That's up to you.
That being said, there are a few prestige classes out there that are kinda cool if you are willing to try them.
Top of the list: Dragon Disciple. Here's your Guide
Honorable Mentions:
Pathfinder Chronicler: What??? Yes. And I will tell you why. Epic Tales. You know how everyone wants to stack Bardic Performances for Uber buffs? They can. They also save up their Bardic Performances from inactive days. And then they can Inspire Action which allows them to have any melee character in the party to basically pounce. I'm a gonna play one soon.
Horizon Walker: This is a no-brainer for certain single terrain campaigns. Ranger and Rogue can lead into this and Pow! You can track a falcon on a cloudy day.
Living Monolith: I just really want to try it someday. And go Stalwart Defender after I finish off my LM levels...
Are there other good ones? Depends on your tastes. Don't count them out though, because they just might surprise you.
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I prefer the paizo approach to prestige classes. Are they underpowered? No, they are very situational as befits as prestige class. The old 3/3.5 PC's were seriously overpowered! Paizo one are far more balanced.
As for hating prestige classes Rasmus, they have a book of around 30 coming out soon so...
Horizon walker, pathfinder savant and dragon disciple are good. I also like the mystic theurge and the eldritch knight, both of which I've seen produce some real kick-ass characters.
I am also sure that the upcoming paths of prestige will add even more.
As for hating prestige classes Rasmus, they have a book of around 30 coming out soon so...
Crunch sells books, and PrCs are the easiest crunch to write. I predict another 30 Holy Vindicators, steel Falcons and Inner sea Pirates.
What is this book you speak of?
OP: It's all about concept. The prestige classes aren't great on their own, but they can be great for doing a concept right.
I always post an Archer build that uses all 10 levels of Eldritch Knight and 4 levels of Arcane archer. It ends up with 9th level spells AND 17 BAB (meaning full iterative attacks). Of course, it sacrifices many nifty lil abilities that many classes get in order to just simply advance its BAB and it's casting.
As already covered, Dragon Disciple can be done really well. A dragon disciple used as a striker-style character, and not as a real caster, can do a lot of damage while maintaining the versatility that makes casters so good.
Pathfinder Savant can do some awesome stuff, including some serious abuse of spell-completion items.
I've seen a Rage Prophet absolutely rock in a campaign, but that was because it suited the character concept SO well, not because it was mechanically better than anything else.
There are definitely some traps when it comes to the PrCs, but when they work, they can work really well. It really comes down to building out characters and seeing if they do what you want them to do.
Surprisingly the Duelist is a decent prestige class for a pistol using character. I was playing around with a Cavalier with the Musketeer Archetype and going to Duelist after 6th level and the build seems solid. Pistols are a one handed piercing weapon so you can apply precise strike to it. If you use a scimitar and pickup feat dervish dance it can get deadly at booth range and melee.
*I* like the arcane trickster, M8705; it's practically like playing an old 1E/2E mage-thief, with extra added spiffy stuff, to boot!
Surprisingly the Duelist is a decent prestige class for a pistol using character. I was playing around with a Cavalier with the Musketeer Archetype and going to Duelist after 6th level and the build seems solid. Pistols are a one handed piercing weapon so you can apply precise strike to it. If you use a scimitar and pickup feat dervish dance it can get deadly at booth range and melee.Thematically, this shouldn't come as surprise. Duels with pistols are pretty iconic. That the Duelist class is mechanically workable with pistols is a pleasant surprise.
It does make sense. I'm glad to make an adjustment to my guide. I hadn't finished my research, but it is nice I don't have to look for this option anymore.
I'd noticed that too Happy, I was just hoping that someone's search-fu was greater. Oh well. No changes after all.
For many of the class features of the duelist, a requirement is to be using a light or one-handed piercing weapon. This must also be a melee weapon; a duelist cannot use such class abilities with a ranged-only weapon or thrown-only weapon.
For many of the class features of the duelist, a requirement is to be using a light or one-handed piercing weapon. This must also be a melee weapon; a duelist cannot use such class abilities with a ranged-only weapon or thrown-only weapon.
Dagger Pistol and Sword Cane Pistol cover the need for one-handed piercing melee weapon. They can be used as either, and count as double weapons for masterwork/enchanting though. Therefore it is now a melee weapon as well.
Also, can I get a source for that sidebar for the light/one-handed piercing weapon MUST be a melee weapon? With the OGC, for all I know that could be speculation, and not official wording which is what I'll believe :).
If that IS official, then in PFS play you only get it when using the melee components of a Sword Cane/Dagger Pistols, thus making sense for a gunslinger to still take duelist levels (if the pistols are legal for PFS use). On the other hand, at non-official games, it's whatever the hell you want it to be. :)