Fochulan Lyricist: Worth it?

[TechnOkami]

I've been trying to figure out whether it would be more worth making a Wildshaping Druid God (Druid + Planar Shepherd + Master of Many Forms + Nature's Warrior + More Druid) or the interesting Fochulan Lyricist (Druid + Bard + Ranger/Rogue + Fochulan Lyricist).

I know that the wildshaping druid build by far would be much more powerful, so I want to know any and every advantage you gain to being a Fochulan Lyricist.

[Machiavellian]

I've been trying to figure out whether it would be more worth making a Wildshaping Druid God (Druid + Planar Shepherd + Master of Many Forms + Nature's Warrior + More Druid) or the interesting Fochulan Lyricist (Druid + Bard + Ranger/Rogue + Fochulan Lyricist).

I know that the wildshaping druid build by far would be much more powerful, so I want to know any and every advantage you gain to being a Fochulan Lyricist.

I'll be first to say that I've played both versions to epic, and I'll say that it was less cheap to play the Fochulan Lyricist. Instead of Wildshaping to suit the situation, I had to think outside the box. The good news is that Fochulan Lyrist is more adaptable than a straight druid.

Here's the bad news: You will not get max casting in both, you will be worse than a full druid in wildshaping, and you really are limited in alignment (NG, TN, NE, CN)

However, I never see players openly play the Fochulan Lyrist, so I suggest playing it.

[TechnOkami]

So would you recommend Ranger or Rogue with the Fochulan Lyricist?

[Weezer]

I'd go with rogue, it only requires a two level dip as opposed to a whole 9 levels that ranger requires.

[Darrin]

I know that the wildshaping druid build by far would be much more powerful, so I want to know any and every advantage you gain to being a Fochulan Lyricist.

Fochlucan Lyrist builds tend to be hamstrung mostly because any advantage you could get out of it tends to be offset by the bizarre hoops you have to jump through just to qualify for it.

The PrC looks somewhat like it was designed for a dual-caster gish, but to get any kind of dual-casting going, you have to severely ding up your BAB, not to mention pick up evasion somewhere along the way without really borking up your (multiple) caster levels.

A Mystic Ranger/Sword of the Arcane Order build might have some promise, but still needs to fix the problem of picking up Druidic (Soulspeaker Circlet? Pearl of Speech?) and Evasion (Impulse Boots? Spelldancer?).

[ErrantX]

Here's a guide for them.

I like the Lyrist, myself. Its one of my favorite prestige classes. Just understand that you're going to have to make a decision on which class you want to max out 9th on. You can even mix wizard into this or mix bard/sublime chord fun into it. It's possible to get 9th in both, but you just need to get clever.

-X

[TechnOkami]

Accurse you link. Now I'm even more confused. TT_________TT

[gbprime]

The Lyricist has one major problem, though. You have to have a little of this and a little of that to get in, which means that by 10th level you have a lot of nothing and aren't very effective at anything. By 20th level you're fine, but levels 7 to 13 are particularly painful.

That's called a backloaded class. If you're playing under level 13, it's a major drag, because everyone else is good at what they do, but you have to wait.

My advice, don't play the Lyricist unless you're coming in at 15th level or later.

[Escheton]

It is a wonderfull wonderfull prestigeclass that is full of wonder...on a gestalt.
Otherwise its fun, versatile and full of flavor but not as powerfull as the first glance would suggest.
I still highly recommend it though.

[Amphetryon]

Rilkan Rogue 3/Wizard 2/Druid 5 should be considered as an entrant if you can swing it with the DM.

[El Dorado]

It's for the player who wants to run a 1st edition style bard in 3.5.

[Endarire]

Having played a gish (Conjurer/Swordsage/Incantatrix and soon to be Jade Phoenix Mage), the multi-role part only happens in mid to late game. If you're going for more than 2 roles, it comes later.

How long will you wait for a spiffy class feature or spell that others got a level or few ago? Most likely your DM will adapt, but I'd rather have teleport NOW, not in 2 or 3 levels.

You can usually get creative with low-level spells, but if you're level 12, why not have solid class features and spells of a level 12 class (Druid, Wizard, Cleric, etc.) instead of the class features of a level 3 this and a level 8 that?

[Zaq]

It's worth mentioning that Evasion can be had for the cost of two feats (Shape Soulmeld: Impulse Boots and Open Least Chakra: feet) and your foot slot. (This also nets you uncanny dodge, and if you have any essentia for whatever reason, a bonus to Reflex saves). Feats are expensive, but lost caster levels are often even worse.