Epic Mystic Theurge: Why is it so weak?

[Vanye]

The ELHB explains why there are epic progression for PrCs. But why shouldn't they be? PrCs are just classes that are harder to get into. And from a mechanics standpoint, class abilities that are tied to class level would not be worth much at epic levels if your class level was capped at 10.

It all ties into my feelings that prestige classes are something that should enhance you, and may become a title you have (Archmage, for example) but one should be more than just the prestige class. For that reason, I tend to like prestige classes that don't progress endlessly.

 

[ruleslawyer]

Hmm; that's the exact opposite of how I feel about PrCs. I feel (as does the ELH, apparently) that a wizard with ten levels of loremaster is a loremaster, not a wizard. Likewise, a fighter with several levels in duelist is a duelist rather than a "mere" fighter.

Of course, if you just want PrCs to be otherwise unduplicable-by-feats ability kits that you graft onto core-class characters, that's fine too, but I prefer the in-depth option.

 

[Michael Tree]

The point was to keep people from abusing it - if it allowed full advancement in both caster levels it would eventually become way more powerful than a single-classed epic wizard or cleric.

That's perfectly understandable. The real question to me is why they gave bonus feats every 6 levels instead of every 3? Wizards and Clerics both get epic feats every 3 levels, and the epic MT doesn't get more than those classes get. Both get +1 to one caster level each level.

 

[Jaerom Darkwind]

I don't see a balance problem at all. Whether you're 17/13 or 15/15 at level 20, you're forever going to be lagging behind other spellcasters in CL, a weakness you can't easily overcome, that only becomes more pronounced the higher you go, when beating a creature's SR is increasingly the biggest challenge a spellcaster faces. Even with full avancement, you'll never "catch up" to the straight-up casters. That coupled with the ridiculously slow epic feat progression makes the class more than balanced with full bonuses. I'd say that even bumping the bonus feats to every 5 levels wouldn't overpower it. As written, it's utterly worthless, a class fit only for epic masochists.