Voss said:
A scout 1/jedi 1/soldier 1 may lose a point of bab and a few hit points, but he has a giant pile of options compared to a jedi 3 or soldier 3. 2 feats and 3 talents compared to 1 feat and 2 talents, a lot more skills, and better defenses.
But is he really more effective? I assume you mean taken in that order. Shall we actually examine that?
Assume the following starting scores:
Scout 1 - Start with: Weapon Proficiency (Pistols, rifles, simple weapons); 1 feat of choice (or two if human), plus "Shake it Off" (if he trains in Endurance and has a 13+ CON); 5 Trained skills (but can't take acrobatics without spending a feat); 24 hit points; Defenses REF +2, WILL +1; and 1 Talent.
Assuming he's human (best case), and we're actually trying to be logical, we can take Force Sensitive and a force training feat. Evasion's a good talent, or we could take one from the generic "force" list. We now have a force sensitive scout - like Luke Skywalker at the start of Episode IV.
Jedi 1 - Adds: Weapon Proficiency (lightsaber) (the only one we don't have); 1d10 hp; jedi skills to available list (but none trained); Defenses FORT +1; and 1 Talent.
Soldier 1 - Adds: Armor Proficiency (light); 1d10 hp; soldier skills to list (still not trained); Defenses FORT +2; 1 Talent; and 1 feat for being 3rd level.
So, our Scout 1/Jedi 1/Soldier 1 has:
Weapon Proficiency (simple, pistols, rifles, lightsabers)
Force Sensitive
Shake it Off*
Armor Proficiency (light)
Two other feats (one of which should be Skill Training (Acrobatics), or he's gonna be a lousy Jedi).
3 Talents - Max of 1 each from the Jedi, Scout or Soldier lists.
Defenses: FORT 15, REF 15, WILL 14
Trained Skills: 6 (plus INT bonus), incl. Use the Force and Acrobatics, if he's picked wisely.
BAB: +2
Hit Points: 24 + 2d10
A Jedi 3 has:
Weapon Proficiency (simple, lightsabers)
Force Sensitive
3 other feats of Choice
2 Talents from the Jedi list.
Defenses: FORT 14, REF 14, WILL 14
Trained Skills: 2 (plus INT bonus), incl. Use the Force and Acrobatics, if he's picked wisely.
BAB: +3
Hit Points: 30 +2d10.
A Soldier 3 has:
Weapon Proficiency (simple, pistols, rifles)
Armor Proficiency (light, medium)
3 other feats of choice
2 Talents from the Soldier list.
Defenses: FORT 15, REF 14, WILL 13
Trained Skills: 3 (plus INT Bonus).
BAB: +3
Hit Points: 30 + 2d10
So your rampant multiclasser has slightly better defenses, but fewer hit points, and he's far less focused. He's gotta blow a feat on Skill Training (Acrobatics) if he wants to use a lightsaber effectively, and if he wants to benefit from that armor proficiency, he's got to use his soldier talent to take armored defense.
It's viable, but now he's gotta pick which class to focus on. And in the end, the only useful things he's gotten are 1 talent and an extra point to each of his defense scores. I don't disagree that the scout level was useful, but all he got for the soldier level was 1 mostly useless feat and a couple more skills he can waste feats to become trained in later.
This character does give things up to acquire his options. I would contend that a focused character is usually MUCH better at his job. Yeah, you can pick carefully to make this guy work, but that soldier level is, IMO, mostly a waste.