I wanted to open floor discussion on this one. With so many base classes and archtypes, I've started to have players (including myself) refer to Prestige Classes as unappealing.
My own reasoning is generally abilities. I only very rarely multiclass at all since most abilities tend to have either limited uses or only a small bonus that goes up every 4-5 levels or so.
There are a few Prestige Classes that kind of address this, like any of the spellcaster "gain 1 level of spellcasting class" ones, which is why I ended up dabbling in a Wizard 7/Loremaster X, and I have a player going the road of Bloodrager 5/Dragon Disciple 10 since the Dragon Disciple continues not only the Bloodrager's spells (albeit slightly staggered), but also their bloodline ability.
Most though are simply... Bleh. I don't know how to describe it, especially when taking the Prestige Class as early as possible. I did a level up path for a Cavalier Sister-in-arms 5/Sanguine Angel 10/Cavalier Sister-in-arms X to endgame. The result was that the first 5 levels was all getting prereqs for the prestige class, 10 levels of being the character I wanted to make, equivalently starting from level 1 with feat selections to work towards the build I was going for, and then just nothing past level 15.
Returning to Cavalier was just getting class abilities that had no more utility anymore at that high a level (you likely wouldn't see most of them in your average AP), and it basically lends to the feeling that the character has hit their apex at level 15, so if the AP goes to say 18, then your next 3 level ups are going to be pretty boring. If it goes to 20 then your big capstone is +1 use of Challenge and your 5th attribute bonus. Taking a new class for those last levels can sometimes offer some front-loaded power but overall it's level 1 abilities at level 16. Not many are going to be that breathtaking.
Not to mention, Prestige Classes have no favored class bonus. So you're losing 10 skill/hit points or some other benefit to go down this route.
I dunno. Feels like Prestige Classes lose out to alternate classes and archtypes. The Duelist at this point is a watered down 10 level Swashbuckler. The Assassin is an inferior Ninja. If Dragon Disciple didn't work with Bloodrager it would be Bloodrager classic...
I dunno. Maybe I'm giving them a bad rap? But in 15 created characters I used a Prestige class once, and had to read through all of them to find a few I liked to try and practice building around. If more functioned like spellcaster prestige classes and supplemented your base class a bit I don't think it would be so bad. The Sanguine Angel actually had one optional ability that could be taken twice to continue Fighter Weapon Training, as well as Armor training and strangely enough Dreadnought Barbarian rage. Unfortunately the Weapon Training one was actually locked unless you already had Weapon Training, and since I didn't build a Fighter it was just a dead option which made me think maybe Fighter 5th should have been a prerequisite.
Which if Prestige Classes were like that; alternative paths you could take for 10 levels, on top of Archtypes,that supplemented the prerequisite class abilities I'd probably like them more. But yeah... Archtypes seem to with out 85% of the time, even on multiclass characters, a frontloaded Archtype for 3-5 levrls is a better investment than 10 levels of a prestige class.
I think one of Paizo's early decisions was to focus on Archetypes over Prestige Classes.
A common complaint about late 3.5 DnD was that there was no reason to continue a base class when you could get the same abilities from a Prestige Class that also gave you other abilities. Pathfinder tried to counter this by giving most classes scaling abilities that wouldn't be advanced by a Prestige Class (other than spell-casting). The problem then was that you were locked into one class with little customization, but Paizo's answer to that was Archetypes. Essentially this meant you could play a character in the style of a Prestige-Class without having to go outside your base class.
Also some of the old Prestige Classes were included for the sake of backwards compatability with 3.5 - Duelist is a great example. This was never a good class, so Paizo made the Swashbuckler to do what the Duelist was trying to do.
Long story short: You're right. If you know when your game will finish you can plan accordingly, but if the game goes beyond the levels of your prestige class you might have to look at something new. Your Cavalier could have taken levels in Bard (support), Fighter (bonus feats) or Paladin (Divine Grace). You likely wouldn't be looking at any capstone abilities, but most prestige classes have their own capstone. Knowing the game you're going into helps a lot.
EDIT: Just to clarify I don't work for Paizo or anything, this is just my understanding of their decisions. If I'm wrong about anything hopefully someone will let us know.
It depends a bit on where your endgame is in levels. If your game finishes at level 10 then a prestige class isn't missing out on anything, if 15 then the capstone is likely the end of the PrC and it's the single class which misses out. Surveys I remember seeing suggest that 8-10 is about the most likely level for a Pathfinder game to end, and in PFS level 11 is the usual end as I understand it.
Also you're going for a PrC then it's often better to enter with a couple levels of this, a couple levels of that, one or two levels of yet another class rather than entering off a single class. You might do something similar after finishing, or even start another PrC.
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I think one of Paizo's early decisions was to focus on Archetypes over Prestige Classes.
A common complaint about late 3.5 DnD was that there was no reason to continue a base class when you could get the same abilities from a Prestige Class that also gave you other abilities.
The (paraphrased) quotes from James Jacobs answering a panel question years ago are "We want prestige classes to be something people take because they are different, not because they are powerful" and "We don't want people to feel that a prestige class is mandatory."
I personally play a LOT of prestige classes, specifically because I want to do that "something different." So I don't mind that my Pathfinder Chronicler gave up later levels of bard spellcasting. I like my deep pockets and really love inspiring people to take additional actions. I kinda wish my Magaambyan Arcanist (arcanist) got the higher level arcanist exploits, but casting druid spells as an arcanist is pretty cool.
As to the OP's point, I agree. Some of the earlier prestige classes feel particularly "bleh" nowadays in light of what's been published. With the swashbuckler and magus as base classes, the duelist and eldritch knight lost their uniqueness. There's still a ton of things you can only do with Prestige Classes, and those are the things I look for.
Mr Charisma- I think you are right and have heard similar views several times.
It may be that the game developers wanted simple character creation to be a good choice, start with a base class and follow it to level 20. And I think that is a good choice.
But in my opinion the Paizo design team take it to excess. Imho what Zephyr says is an understatement, perhaps a gross understatement. Imho if you care about the power of your character you will avoid prestige classes like the plague nearly all the time. You may as well take 95% or more of the prestige classes printed and use the paper as kindling for fires to warm the playing area. What is the point of printing them in the first place?
Some prestige classes hark back to earlier editions of D&D. Mystic Theurge was a prestige class in 3.5 but is also very like a Magic User Cleric from Advanced Dungeons and Dragons which was around back in 1979 when I started playing. Likewise a Arcane Trickster is a Magic User Thief.
There are a fair number of players who want to revisit their favourite types of characters from earlier years. And Pathfinder does not support it, which I think is a bit sad.
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And you are correct about the power of prestige classes being completely dependent on your particular game, Isaac. So much depends on the question of "what level will you be playing to?"
The Rage Prophet is an absolutely amazing "save or suck" caster. But only once they get to Rage Prophet 7 and get the ability to add their con modifier to the save DC of their spells. So a minimum character level of 13.
I play an Evangelist who is now a 12th level character (7 evangelist levels). I essentially gave up a character level for . . . well, not much. I did it anyway, because I really enjoy RPing my evangelist of Irori. But if he eventually gets up to 14th or 15th level, the third boon and spiritual form are pretty good abilities.
Mammoth Riders are so flavorful and cool. But you can't even enter the class until at least character level 10. They can be powerful too, but the really good abilities don't become available until Mammoth Rider level 8+.
I've been playing Pathfinder for a while and prestige classes are basically a complete non-starter for our group. Nobody really cares about them or uses them, which is fine. It's a welcome course correction from 3.5 that "staying with 1 class all the time is a good idea".
Personally, I think PF2's method of multiclassing works much better for prestige classes. Very rarely does a PF1 PRC have enough going for it that it's worth giving up class progression.
As stated, archetypes were created so that prestige classes were no longer the "default choice" for customizing a character the way it was in 3.x. One of the main complaints against prestige classes in 3.x was that players had to "wait 5-7 levels until they could play the class they wanted to."
As a design objective, archetypes exist to allow a character to be a variation of a "standard" class starting at 1st level, without needing to jump through a bunch of prerequisites to qualify. Prestige classes still have a place, but it's a different one than the "doing what a base class can do, just better/more" paradigm of 3.x.
Prestige classes in Pathfinder focus more on unique abilities (arcane archer, living monolith), enhancing specific class features (dragon disciple, horizon walker, mammoth rider, master chymist), or combining two classes (arcane trickster, eldritch knight, mystic theurge, rage prophet) in ways that are not (at the time of publication) possible with other options (or to the same extent). The prestige classes outside of the Core Rulebook and Advanced Players Guide also tend to be tied to the Golarion setting; this was also a design objective.
As an example, eldritch knight is still a viable option after the publication of the magus. Eldritch knights don't get to full attack and cast, but (with blade adept arcanist or sword binder wizard) they can still cast a spell and have it take effect in addition to a weapon attack, plus retain 9-level casting.