Thoughts on the Cavalier Order of the Green

[Matt Adams 259]

I've been looking around at some options for a cavalier character I'm building for funsies. Something that struck me as rather interesting is the Order of the Green. At first glance, I think the order is rather weak. The skills are okay. Survival works for the hunter of the unnatural that the Order is supposed to specialize in, but Knowledge (nature) does nothing to help you out in finding their weaknesses. But still, and knowledge is nice.

The challenge is a nice boost to accuracy. I could see it working well with a Vital Strike or Overrun/Charge Every Round type of build.

The order abilities seem bad though. Favored terrain, situational. Though it could be good if most of the campaign takes place in one spot. Cut the corruption is good against the right enemies. End of the cycle looks bad....just bad.

Has anyone else looked into this order or had any experience with playing it? It's hasn't even been mentioned in the guides I've seen.

[Matt Adams 259]

Bump

[My Self]

I haven't played Order of the Green, but I'll give my thoughts:

It seems decent if you're in an undead-heavy campaign or if your entire campaign is in a single terrain type. You actually get Favored Terrain sooner than any class but the Ranger (Warden) archetype. Compared to other orders, it's weak, and only seems to draw even when you meet opponents who qualify. End the Cycle is practically just flavor- if you want something to stay dead, you can burn it. Cut the Corruption seems to be a weaker, later, more situational version of the Inquisitor's Bane. Overall, it will only situationally shine, but practically all the class features will turn on at once when you do fight such an enemy.

[Fruian Thistlefoot]

It is hard for me to completely write off Orders for many reasons.

-What level you going to?
-What type of combat are you focusing on?
-What type of AP is it? Dungeon crawl, nature themed, city based?

Favored Terrain to me is very helpful. But a good portion of the Order's abilities favor Fighting Undead and Abjurations in the woods.

If your not fighting those enemies or in the woods then it seems this archetype might not be for you.

If your doing Mounted combat this order does little to improved that style of combat.

All in all I give it about a 1.5/5 because it is hyper specialized towards certain environments/enemies.