Gestalting the Tiers

[MarkusWolfe]

I was reading this last night and I glanced upon the seconds solution they offered for tier balance: Partial Gestalt. Tier 5s gestalt with other tier 5s, tiers 3 and 4 gestalt with NPC classes, and tiers 1 and 2 don't gestalt at all.

I can see this working with various level of effectiveness. A monk would gain a lot from the bonus feats, full BAB and larger hitdie of the fighter. A rogue would also benefit from the larger hitdie, good fortitude save and full BAB of a warrior. But I can also see it not working sometimes. For example, if I went in with a barbarian, I would gain absolutely nothing from gestalting with warrior or commoner (then again, no one can gain anything from gestalting with commoner). Gestalting with Aristocrat, Adept or Expert gives me a higher will save....but I get nothing else from Aristocrat, and the divine spells from Adept would put a little MAD pressure on me, in addition to being worthless during a rage. So I'd take Expert, which gets me 2 more skill points per level. A higher will save and 2 extra skill points per level isn't bad for a barbarian, but it's a lot less than what the rogue gets from gestalting with a warrior.

TLDR; does this method really work for class balance?

PS: And if it was revised so that 4s and 5s gestalted together, how would the other tiers gestalt? I'd love to play a barbarian/fighter gestalt or a rogue/swashbuckler gestalt someday......

[Havelock]

Everything that makes something more balanced helps. Still leaves tier 1's and 2's with the abilities that makes them tier 1's and 2's.

I prefer multiclassing upwards through the tiers to deal with balance.

[Eldan]

In most cases, a tier five gestalted with another tier five is still far weaker than even most tier 3s. Double the amount of useless class features (or lack of them, Fighter), still doesn't help.

I'd recommend not gestalting tier 1 and 2, gestalting tier 3 with tier 5 and tier 4 with more tier 4. That sounds a bit more balanced.

[Haarkla]

PS: And if it was revised so that 4s and 5s gestalted together, how would the other tiers gestalt? I'd love to play a barbarian/fighter gestalt or a rogue/swashbuckler gestalt someday......

I would reccommend Tiers 4 and 5s gestalting with other tiers 4 and 5s, tier 3 gestalt with NPC classes, and tiers 1 and 2 don't gestalt at all.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Adept is actually extremely good. Start with Wisdom 13 or 14, pick up a +2 or +4 item later on when it won't be any significant portion of your wealth. Cast Bull's Strength or Mirror Image or Polymorph before you rage and spend the fight buffed. Get a Circlet of Rapid Casting to buff yourself without sacrificing any attacks. You'll have See Invisibility, Daylight, and True Seeing, and you'll get Remove Curse, Remove Disease, Restoration, Heal, and Break Enchantment, so it adds a lot of self-sufficiency. You'll be able to sacrifice divine spell slots to use relics such as a Belt of the Champion, which stacks with Armbands of Might. Get some pieces of the Raiment of the Four set and you'll be able to cast Freedom of Movement and Teleport. Spellcasting adds self-buffing, versatility, independence, and makes you considerably more self-sufficient. You can even get Improved Familiar (CW version) and have a highly capable companion, possibly even a flying mount.