Dipping Aegis

[the_archduke]

Is it just me, or would any full BAB class be silly not to take a dip in Aegis?

The astral skin form is explicitly allowed to be used in addition to regular armor.

A one level dip gives you:
+1 Bab
+2 Fort
+2 Will
4+ int skill points and class skills in Acrobatics and Use Device

The astral suit which gives
+10 land speed
+2 dex
3 customization points which can be used for things like powerful build, dark vision, a boost to str or con, a third arm to use a shield while two handing a weapon not to mention many other niche abilities that you can swap out each day if you want.

This gets even more powerful with the feat Student of the Astral Suit.

If you take the dip at level 5 and the feat at the same time, you get 8 customization points and incredible options like:
Constant flight with good maneuverability and increased speed options
Damage reduction

What fighter wouldn't be willing to delay his monotonous feat gain for a level to get these kinds of bonuses?
What character wouldn't like to fly all day?

None of these abilities require any stat investment. Just take the level, and maybe a feat, and your options are exponentially multiplied.

[Seerow]

That's a condemnation of the Fighter class, not a problem with the Aegis.

[the_archduke]

I'm not condemning Aegis, I am pointing out how awesome it is for anyone to dip

A slayer archer

A barbarian TWF

A paladin going sword and board.

and yes, a fighter doing literally anything

[Amphetryon]

Between Pathfinder's fairly good capstone abilities for a single-Class Character, and the various Favored Class bonuses, I'd still find dipping Aegis a difficult choice to make in any game I expected to hit 20th.

[PsyBomb]

Between Pathfinder's fairly good capstone abilities for a single-Class Character, and the various Favored Class bonuses, I'd still find dipping Aegis a difficult choice to make in any game I expected to hit 20th.

You are right on all counts... but there are a few classes who would like the above bonuses more than their capstone, and many others who can make GREAT use of it in low-level games. I'll probably try this on my next Guru damage build.

[the_archduke]

And re: favored class bonus, is missing one level of it all that bad?

[Amphetryon]

And re: favored class bonus, is missing one level of it all that bad?

It's included in the consideration that dipping will eliminate access to the capstone, which is why it was prefaced with 'between' and included the listing qualifier 'and' rather than 'or'.

[the_archduke]

So would you rather fly for 15 levels or get something nice at the very end of the game?

It isn't a no brainer, but it is a very nice option for a lot of builds.

[Andreaz]

So would you rather fly for 15 levels or get something nice at the very end of the game?

It isn't a no brainer, but it is a very nice option for a lot of builds.

Your assumption is flawed: From an optimization point of view everyone gets Fly in a way or another. Aegist just gives early, reliable access.
Dipping aegis is not "fly for 15 levels instead of getting something nice at 20". It's "easy fly for 2 or 3 levels, then everyone caught up".

[NightbringerGGZ]

Between Pathfinder's fairly good capstone abilities for a single-Class Character, and the various Favored Class bonuses, I'd still find dipping Aegis a difficult choice to make in any game I expected to hit 20th.

Personally I think people over value the capstones, since Pathfinder lacks Epic levels. The majority of games won't last long enough to reach those capstones and the few that do will end shortly there after

[Mithril Leaf]

You have to take a minimum of 3 levels of Aegis to take Student of the Astral Suit. Common mistake.

[Amphetryon]

So would you rather fly for 15 levels or get something nice at the very end of the game?

It isn't a no brainer, but it is a very nice option for a lot of builds.
I didn't say it wasn't nice; I said it was a difficult choice.

[Sayt]

You also need to be level 5 to get an arm which is useful for anything other than getting items out of your pocket.