The Magaambyan Arcanist is a solid different path to take a wizard.
Others like the Horizon Walker or Pathfinder Chronicler offer more by their ability to allow for unique multiclass options. (I'm presently playing a character with a goal of going Inquisitor/Skald/PFC right now).
The Dragon Disciple and Shadowdancer from the CRB have both been fun and quite useful in my experience.
Another one to look at would be the Evangelist from Inner Sea Gods, though I'm still a level away from taking it for the first time.
Our Pathfinder Lodge has an...infamous Bloat Mage...
I am obliged to say Mystic Theurge.
Beyond that, I have played or played with a horizon walker, mammoth rider, veiled illusionist, diabolist, arcane archer, dragon disciple, arcane trickster, champion of irori, bloatmage, harrower, evangelist, living monolith (both the old and new versions), shadowdancer, stalwart defender, ulfen guard, and winter witch.
Every single one of the characters I saw using a prestige class pulled their weight and more. Prestige classes depend entirely on what you do with them, but most of them can be used to do amazing things in the right hands.
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Stargazer is great for almost any spellcaster.
Evangelist for any divine spellcaster.
Divine Scion for blast-oriented clerics.
Dragon Disciple for Str-based Bloodragers, Bards and, eventually, Sorcerers (or Oracle Kobolds with the Scaled Disciple feat if you really hate yourself).
A dip in Loremaster is great for Human Int-based casters with the Focused Study alternate racial trait to convert the 8th level Skill Focus into another feat. Otherwise is good in general if you can fulfill the prerequisites.
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Forget capstones; they're too far into the future to matter. So very few campaigns ever reach that level.
This list is subjective and incomplete :P
Arcane Trickster (due to Accomplished Sneak Attacker feat)
Bloatmage
Champion of Irori
Chevalier (reprint in PF rules plz!)
Diabolist
Dragon Disciple
Enchanting Courtesan (easily hide casting)
Evangelist (make any class high-skilled)
Feysworn
Hellknight
Hellknight Signifer
Heritor Knight
Hinterlander
Horizon Walker
Inheritor's Crusader
Living Monolith
Loremaster
Magaambyan Arcanist (Burst of Radiance!)
Mammoth Rider
Pathfinder Savant
Riftwarden
Rose Warden
Shadowdancer
Shieldmarshal
Tattooed Mystic
Technomancer
Ulfen Guard
Winter Witch
The new Pathfinder [Arcane] Savant is basically a straight up monster compared to most casters, with Prestigious Spellcaster to fix that one level loss you have a one-way ticket to Prestige Town.
That being said, if it adds a unique flavour or benefit to your character its always worth looking at.
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Stargazer, Source: Paths of the Righteous.
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I have only theory-crafted it, but I feel that a Goliath Druid going into Mammoth Rider could be fun.
I mean, all day long, the Druid can be in Large giant form riding his/her Huge mammoth. And, if needed, can Animal Growth (or Enlarge Person, depending on slots available, since Goliath Druid allows it) the Mammoth to Gargantuan and take the form of a Huge giant.
You can't stack multiple size-changing effects, so huge druids won't happen soon.
But yeah, I'm basically playing this in PFS; just got to level 8. Eventually planning to be a troll with a chainsaw on a huge dire tiger.
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I really enjoyed playing a Nature Warden in a Kingmaker campaign. (By starting with the World Walker druid archetype, I avoided the need for a dip into ranger to pick up favored terrain.) The campaign dissolved before I reached level 9 and Guarded Lands, but it was still a fun, flavorful class. Prestigious Spellcaster (which wasn't written at the time) would have made it even better.
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I think the battle herald is at least worth a look. I'm toying with the idea of entering it with a Brawler (Exemplar) VMC cavalier.
Related question: Are there any prestige classes that, on original blush, were only okay, but later class/archetype options improved the possibility of them?
Example: I'm looking into using bloodrager/blade adept arcanist to qualify for an Eldritch Knight. There are more synergies that can be had than with the traditional fighter/wizard combo.
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Related question: Are there any prestige classes that, on original blush, were only okay, but later class/archetype options improved the possibility of them?
Example: I'm looking into using bloodrager/blade adept arcanist to qualify for an Eldritch Knight. There are more synergies that can be had than with the traditional fighter/wizard combo.
If I recall correctly, some people were pretty excited about the Eldritch Archer Magus archetype, because it can transition directly into Arcane Archer without multi-classing.
The World Walker druid to Nature Warden progression that I mentioned earlier is another example. The flavor text for Nature Warden even mentioned that many wardens had started their careers as single-class druids, but World Walker was printed at least a year after Nature Warden.
Some people seem to feel that the Prestigious Spellcaster and Favored Prestige Class feats have "redeemed" prestige classes in Pathfinder. I'm not sure I would go that far, but they are nice.
When it was ruled (briefly) that Spell Like Abilities counted as spell casting requirements for Prestige Classes, Mystic Theurge was pretty good. Back then, it was possible to start Mystic Theurge at 5th level if you picked the right race and class combination (as opposed to 7th level being the earliest you can start now). It made a surprisingly large amount of difference to get in those two levels early.Related question: Are there any prestige classes that, on original blush, were only okay, but later class/archetype options improved the possibility of them?
Example: I'm looking into using bloodrager/blade adept arcanist to qualify for an Eldritch Knight. There are more synergies that can be had than with the traditional fighter/wizard combo.
On the other hand, as a half-elf you can now boost CL for both base classes in two ways: Multidisciplined alternate racial trait and Bifurcated Magic race trait. If you want to go fully Cha based, druid with feyspeaker archetype is an alternative to oracle. For solely Wis based sorcerer with wildblooded: empyreal is around for a while already.
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You can't stack multiple size-changing effects, so huge druids won't happen soon.I have only theory-crafted it, but I feel that a Goliath Druid going into Mammoth Rider could be fun.
I mean, all day long, the Druid can be in Large giant form riding his/her Huge mammoth. And, if needed, can Animal Growth (or Enlarge Person, depending on slots available, since Goliath Druid allows it) the Mammoth to Gargantuan and take the form of a Huge giant.
Um.
Goliath Druid says, "At 14th level, the goliath druid can also use wild shape to change into a Huge giant. When taking the form of a giant, the goliath druid’s wild shape functions as giant form II."
Obviously doesn't happen in PFS, but pretty much every published AP goes to lvl 16-18. You only need one level of Mammoth Rider to get the Huge AC, then you can switch right back to Druid.
Fair enough. Mine's PFS so it's not so applicable.
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Related question: Are there any prestige classes that, on original blush, were only okay, but later class/archetype options improved the possibility of them?
I think Dragon Disciple got a revival when the Bloodrager became a thing.
If it is suited for your game/campaign, the Crimson Templar looks pretty good. Full BAB kill all evil outsiders PrC.