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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 3426938" data-attributes="member: 4937">This is my experience: YMMV.Levels 1st-6th: Fighters and rogues are dominating classes.  Spellcasters don't have enough spells per day, the spells tend to be fairly weak, and they don't compared to the potential damage output of fighter build.  Arcane casters in particular are very fragile and easily broken and are difficult to protect.Levels 7th-12th: Spell-casting classes begin to compete on equal terms with non-spellcasting classes, and when they 'unload' they are the stars of the show.  They've got sufficient spells and more importantly a few very big spells.  Arcane casters have enough items that they can protect themselves and can stay active every round by expending wand charges.  Levels 13th+: I don't have alot of experience at these heights, but my sense based on what I have and what has been reported is at these levels, spell-casting classes begin to dominate play and that fighters and rogues begin to fall behind.  Some thoughts:* The problem should ideally be partially offset by the fact that spell-casting classes are spending XP on spells and crafting feats, so that they lag the non-spell casting classes slightly in advancement.  In practice this is not usually the case because of the easy access to items by simply purchasing them, and in any event it would probably never be more than a 1/2 level or so - not enough to really make a difference.* The problem is partially offset by 'fixing' non-spell casting classes by giving them more feats and better feats at higher levels.  For example, I believe the fighter should have a 2:3 advancement on bonus feats rather than 1:2, which gives them like three extra feats.  With the right sort of feats available only to those with a high BAB, this partially offsets.* The problem could be partially offset by tweaking the levels of certain spells slightly, a process started in 3.X but which needs further refining.* To a certain extent, the problem of spell-casters really shining at high level is not so much a problem as a feature given that in my experience they sorta suck (by comparison) at low level.  In a way, its only fair that after suffering through low levels they shine at high level play.  3rd edition went a long way toward given a 1st level wizard something to do at 1st level, but believe me when I tell you that against any sort of harsh DM its still almost impossible to get a wizard up to 6th level to begin with.  I've had players take to multiclassing into 'useless' fighter type classes at low level purely to have the hit points to survive to get a wizard to survive to higher levels.  This effectively implements the requirement that they take a certain amount of non-spellcaster levels that some are making.* Even at high levels, arcane spell casters can be extremely fragile - especially without alot of protective items and CON boosting equipment.  They can take crafting feats to make these, but that's again spending XP.  And, even so, I suspect that they are still going to want 'meat shields'.  An arcane caster is probably the most powerful class when prepared, but they are extremely vulnerable to suprise, to being worn down, and to a random critical hit.</blockquote>

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