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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Norfleet" data-source="post: 1105616" data-attributes="member: 11581">My rating system here is very self explanatory, but I'll explain anyway: It's the noises I made when I was considering these as characters: "Ooh", "Hmm", "Eh", and "Bleah", roughly corresponding to Good, Okay, Bad, and Terrible.Arcane Trickster: Seems to have been nerfed. I recall the version from S&S was an initial +3d6 SA at L2, which helped nicely to cover for the SA levels lost from having to take 5-6 levels of arcane casting. This new one doesn't do that, so it sharply curtails your sneak attack progression. Kinda "eh" now, as it sorta shoots the rogue/mage idea in the foot nicely. An at least 3 level delay in spellcasting ability, or a 5 level delay in sneak attacks, depending on which you value more, and no catchup in SA. I give it an "Eh".Archmage: Okay, I think everything anyone's cared to say about it has been said. I give it an "Ooh".Blackguard: A cool concept in practice, but the execution falls a bit short. For one, the amount of cross-class Hide involved for a skill which is really rather useless to Fighter/ex-Pals tends to put it out of reach, or makes becoming one a very premeditated move. That means, despite its intended appeal towards being a fighter or ex-Pal class, it's actually a rogue PrC. Emphasis also on the fact that it grants sneak attack progression, but in such low doses that it wouldn't mean anything unless you already HAD sneak attack. For a Rogue, it's an option to consider. I give it a rating of "Hmm". For everyone else, I rate it an "Eh".Dragon Disciple....what exactly is this class trying to do? Give sorcerors or bards a way to shoot themselves in the foot, spellcastingwise? I give it a "Bleah."Duellist: The original v1.0 Duellist with Precise Strike starting at +1d6 at L2, +1d6/4 lvls was good. The new 3.5E Duellist with only +1 and +2d6 at 5 and 10 is kinda "eh". The price of entry remains Dodge and Mobility: Unless you're planning to go all the way with the Spring Attack + Whirlwind branch, these feats are essentially useless, particularly since the class also demands tumble, which means you *HAVE* tumble.Dwarven Defender: It's like barbarian, but for dwarves. I give it a "Hmm".Eldritch Knight: For mages who like swords? I give it an "Eh".Hierophant: Cherrypick class. I give it a "Hmm" simply for that alone. As an actual full-progression, I give it an "Bleah".Horizon Walker: I think it's for rangers or fighters. Nobody else would have a feat spare for...Endurance, is it? I don't even know what that does off the top of my head. Must not be terribly useful, because if it did, I'd remember it. Seems kinda like a cherrypick. I give it an "Eh".Loremaster: Skill focus(Knowledge)? I'm supposed to burn a feat for this? I'll pass, thanks. I give it a "Bleah".Mystic Theurge: This is much better for NPCs or created high-level PCs. It could be really cool, if you shoehorned it with some of the 3.0 splatbook PrCs. I give it an "Eh" for that, or if you're an NPC. Otherwise, "Bleah".Shadowdancer: It's a rogue without sneak attack. It has special magicalish powers. That's usually called a "bard". Aside from those special powers, everything else it gains is just an overlap of the rogue, and it demands two useless feats as price of entry: Dodge, Mobility. Once again, without Spring/Whirl, Dodge and Mobility are crappy wastes of two feats. And this class demands hide and and move silently ranks. Lots of them! Which means fighters need not apply, since they get neither of these. So that reduces the Shadowdancer to a cherrypick for HIPS, at the cost of 2 feats and a level. I rate this a "Bleah", overall. But you can cherrypick anyway. It's still available for you in 3.5.Red Wizard, read literally, requires "Human from Thay", which means that outside of FR, it's impossible to actually meet that prerequisite, which means it doesn't exist. Assuming your DM ignores that, and has a Red Wizardoid group in the campaign, then it becomes a decent choice. I give it a "Hmm". Otherwise, as it stands, it's FR-only still(makes you wonder why it's now in core), and evaluated from an FR-only standpoint, against other FR stuff, it's kinda "eh".Thaumaturgist: Oh, look, a summoning PrC. Maybe it's just me, but I have a strongly negative opinion of summoned help. I see them as crutches of the weak, which, admittedly, mages are, but still, they do tend to suck, being as they summon monsters you've probably killed before, or would certainly be able to kill at the level you summoned them. Besides, summoners are too much like telemarketers for my taste, particularly if you're a summonable critter. I'm probably overly biased on this, so I'm not going to rate it.</blockquote>

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