Players: which prestige class did you actually play?

[Felon]

Played a Duelist (which sucked hard before I realized I could model a better Duelist by playing a fighter/rogue and choosing my feats carefully).

Or a fighter/scout, which is even better in many respects.

Poor, crappily-designed Duelist...I empathize with anyone whose given them a shot.

 

[Morrow]

I've never played a prestige class, but that's more a function of not having played enough different characters rather than any dislike for prestige classes. In fact I like prestige classes quite a lot. Clearly they aren't all created equal, but there's some really fun stuff out there.

Morrow

 

[Felon]

I had a player take the arcane archer, but it was obvious to me that she liked the concept but didn't get how it worked in practice. Casting fireballs through arrows is not that special when the spell has a better range than the bow.

Which begs the question: how does an arcane archer work? What is it supposed to be good at that you can't get through another route? Never could figure that out at a glance. A few 1/day abilities, the ability to enchant your own arrows, and the ability to imbue arrows. Imbuing arrows sounds cool, but with a high BAB prereq, you're not likely to have many spellcaster levels going in.

 

[Reese]

The only ones I've ever played are the Archmage, Assassin, Dwarven Defender and the Mystic Theurge.

 

[LogicsFate]

I'm working towards dragon deciple, and have played both Eldritch night and mystic theurage. In the end I lacked power and the massive variety didn't seem to completely make up for it but it was fun.

On a completly related note
Order of the Bow Initiate is God!

 

[Patlin]

I've played the Arcan Trickster (which I loved) and the Arcane Archer (which I didn't.)

Arcane Archer was from my very first 3rd Edition character, and I've had a lot since then. In retrospect, any class with access to Greater Magic Weapon can do the Arcane Archer's schtick as well or better than the Arcane Archer. A cleric, for example, who concentrated on Archery could use Greater Magic Weapon and Divine Power to emulate the AA, while having nifty things lie Miracle and Mass Heal in reserve. Somewhat dissatisfied with this PRC.

 

[Thanee]

Hey, the Hierophant is a superb epic class.

I played Arcane Trickster and Eldritch Knight so far (from the DMG PrC).

Interesting, how many have actually played an Arcane Archer. I love the idea, but hate the way it is done. :\ I would rather play an Eldritch Knight Archer instead...

Bye
Thanee

 

[Psion]

Which begs the question: how does an arcane archer work?

The epiphany you must undergo for an arcane archer is to realize that the ability to channel spells through arrows, while nifty and useful in certain circumstances, is not the key ability of arcane archers. Or at the very least, not more central to the arcane archer than any other.

When using that ability, the spells that benefit most are those that have a short range. Otherwise, you could generally cast it at a greater distance more acurately.

 

[Felon]

The epiphany you must undergo for an arcane archer is to realize that the ability to channel spells through arrows, while nifty and useful in certain circumstances, is not the key ability of arcane archers. Or at the very least, not more central to the arcane archer than any other.

Right, so what is the big draw?

When using that ability, the spells that benefit most are those that have a short range. Otherwise, you could generally cast it at a greater distance more acurately.

"Heads up! Here comes a bull's strength!"

 

[Greybar]

I answered for myself as a player, which is biases since the once campaign I am in as a PC is only 7th level and I haven't had much reason to PrC out of Paladin.

In the group I GM for we have a Dedicated Defender (or whatever its called) and two custom PrCs. So no DMG PrCs there either.

For badguys, I've used Assasin, Blackguard, and Shadowdancer. There are Loremasters, Archmages, and Mystic Theurges in the background. Outside of the DMG I've used a couple as well. Using PrCs is part of the fun of constructing NPCs for me, I think.