moritheil
First Post
In considering PrCs for a neutral variant paladin (the Enforcer), the following PrCs came up: War Priest, Occult Slayer, Pious Templar, and Kensai. Each of these has in common the requirement of one feat and some skills. Putting the skills aside, as they are not so much of a problem for a human character, what seems to be the best PrC of these?
My initial analysis was that Kensai would be the best, as given enough levels, it can quickly outstrip other PrCs through the accumulation of bonuses. The abilities are also nice. However, this fails to account for the fact that the character involved will be played from 6th level on - starting at the low end of effectiveness. The Kensai also requires Int 13 by way of Combat Expertise, and the MAD of the paladin makes Int 13 very hard to justify in a typical point buy scheme.
Pious Templar is nice for Mettle, but my impression is that Mettle tends to be more useful at levels above 10. Before that, it's useful in case someone casts conjuration orbs at you, but not much else. Still, PT must be considered because it advances casting and smiting faster than the paladin itself does.
Occult Slayer is, of course, very nice against enemy mages and opposing clerics. The main problem is that a paladin already is well-defended against spells, so perhaps it's overkill to go into Occult Slayer. On the other hand, its requirement feat is arguably the most useful of them all - Improved Initiative.
War Priest is nice in that one gets neat abilities (haste, mass CLW, mass heal, fear aura, etc.) Unfortunately, it's really more designed for clerics than for paladins, as the casting may as well be nonexistent at lower levels. The neat bonus SLAs also do not come into play until several levels are taken (at which point Kensai outshines the class.)
Has anyone run numbers on these?
My initial analysis was that Kensai would be the best, as given enough levels, it can quickly outstrip other PrCs through the accumulation of bonuses. The abilities are also nice. However, this fails to account for the fact that the character involved will be played from 6th level on - starting at the low end of effectiveness. The Kensai also requires Int 13 by way of Combat Expertise, and the MAD of the paladin makes Int 13 very hard to justify in a typical point buy scheme.
Pious Templar is nice for Mettle, but my impression is that Mettle tends to be more useful at levels above 10. Before that, it's useful in case someone casts conjuration orbs at you, but not much else. Still, PT must be considered because it advances casting and smiting faster than the paladin itself does.
Occult Slayer is, of course, very nice against enemy mages and opposing clerics. The main problem is that a paladin already is well-defended against spells, so perhaps it's overkill to go into Occult Slayer. On the other hand, its requirement feat is arguably the most useful of them all - Improved Initiative.
War Priest is nice in that one gets neat abilities (haste, mass CLW, mass heal, fear aura, etc.) Unfortunately, it's really more designed for clerics than for paladins, as the casting may as well be nonexistent at lower levels. The neat bonus SLAs also do not come into play until several levels are taken (at which point Kensai outshines the class.)
Has anyone run numbers on these?
