Theurge-type builds at low levels

[GoatBoy]

I play D&D with my school's gaming club, and most games lately have had two recurring themes: starting at low levels, and inexperienced players. Neither of these are a problem, but it does pose the following challenge.

I pride myself on playing builds which can fill whatever "holes" are in the party, ie. healing, trapmonkey, etc., so the new players and non-optimizers can play whatever they'd like. And while we all know that a rogue with UMD is all the healing most parties will need, it's hard to explain this to the barbarian who just charged into a pack of orcs with a greataxe while raging, and is now at minus seven hit points.

Most of the time, however, builds suffer from a general lack of options before sixth level or so. So my question is, are theurge builds worth it before this time? Is there a sort of "breakpoint" on when these characters have enough features from either class to make up for the two or three levels behind they will be?

I am interested in the following prestige classes in particular, and whether they can be played as anything but dead weight before getting some actual levels in the dual-progression class. Included are the base classes as well. I'd rather avoid early entry tricks, if possible.

Psion 3/Incarnate 2 - Soul Manifestor
Cleric 3/Incarnate 2 - Sapphire Hierarch
Swordsage 2/Cleric 4 - Sacred Fist
Rogue 1/Cloistered Cleric 4 - Shadowbane Stalker
Monk 1/Wizard 4 - Enlightened Fist (with Kung Fu Genius)
Druid 3/Wizard 3/Mystic Theurge 1 - Arcane Hierophant

[Hirax]

Mystic theurge is a trap, and not worth it. IMO, it is only viable if you're able to somehow do this:
arcanecaster5/ur-priest2/mystic theurge8/any full arcane caster prc, such as archmage.

[Tvtyrant]

Your Swordsage 2/Cleric 4 would work fine before it started getting enlightened fist levels; it gets maneuvers and while it will always be one casting level behind a full Cleric the level is not as harsh as it will be between third and fourth (when they get the first really good spells). I don't know about the others but that one would be fine to play.

Mystic Thuerge's can be useful in scenario's that require tons of spell slots; no rest dungeons, psuedo-wars, zombie uprisings, etc. It falls behind other casters in the 15 minute workday, but no more so then anyone else does.

[Godskook]

Thing is, 'viable' is relative, and theurge-types still overpower low-tier classes, despite being behind spell levels. The 'good' ones are ones with class features besides their dual-progression, typically, such as Arcane Hierophant or Ultimate Magus(be sure to get full-progression on your strong side!).

[GoatBoy]

Your Swordsage 2/Cleric 4 would work fine before it started getting enlightened fist levels; it gets maneuvers and while it will always be one casting level behind a full Cleric the level is not as harsh as it will be between third and fourth (when they get the first really good spells). I don't know about the others but that one would be fine to play.

Now that you mention it, you are correct... Sacred Fist appealed to me due to full casting (as per ruling on text-table) and best BAB, but I am now wondering if that's worth the two terrible feats (Combat Casting and Stunning Fist) you need to enter.

[Thespianus]

Now that you mention it, you are correct... Sacred Fist appealed to me due to full casting (as per ruling on text-table) and best BAB, but I am now wondering if that's worth the two terrible feats (Combat Casting and Stunning Fist) you need to enter.

Trouble with Stunning Fist is that you need a BAB of +8 to grab the feat, unless you get it as a class feature (like the Monk). It's not part of the Unarmed Swordsage-package.