SA progression/divine progression PRCs

[OdiumNostrum]

The only such class that seems to fit the bill currently is Blackflame Zealot which, I'm sorry to say, is lacklustre and also has the added restriction of being available to nongood only. This makes it somewhat impossible to portray priest/thief and priest/assassin archetypes without severely sacrificing progression in either-or. Since this seems to be a time of big changes in the server I figured, what the hell, I may as well shamelessly propose the following:

Rename BFMZ to 'Zealot', lift alignment restriction, up divine progression by 1 or 2 points and buff sacred flame somewhat. Increase damage by 1 flat, or make it 1d6 perhaps ? Level 10 offers nothing at all - could be a good place to sneak that CL/damage buff into.

Implement Kaedrin's Shadowbane Stalker with the alignment restriction also lifted. The class is pretty much ideal imo, I don't believe any tweaks are necessary. What do you think ?

[Eldebryn]

I suspect the staff is hesitating to add PRCs that might significantly help Favoured Souls and Clerics, which are already pretty strong on their own.
However, I too think we could something more in that front, especially when it comes to paladins. Playing one currently, I came to realize that only paladin-feel prc that has something to offer is Divine Champion, and even that is really boring concept-wise while taking away your spellcasting. For a while I considered making a proposal for Fist of Raziel (smite-focused paladin), and Kaedrin's pack seems to have included the Champion of the Silver Flame which is really close to the Fist. On the other hand I hear that the Solar Channeler will be added in the months to come, which is not bad, but feels a bit too constrained as a theme, like a cleric of Pelor PRC.

As it seems, implementing PrCs is a really difficult job for the scripters/programmers in the team. So... I find it extremely counterproductive to have
A) PRCs for classes/builds that already have plenty of them, or are too strong anyway
B) PRCs that are too "theme specific". Things like alignment restrictions, requirements so high+varied that only 2-3 builds can reach them, abilities that only apply to a certain, solid concept (shadow adept, red wizard) are nice but they are only going to be enjoyed by a small fraction. The focus should be on adding or making prestige classes that can be used and Roleplayed in a different manner, by multiple different PCs, like having a non-alignment-restriction assassin. It can be used by more people, and RP'd differently.
Just my two cents.

I still think we need a decent paladin PRC. For justice.

[Nomster]

Rename BFMZ to 'Zealot', lift alignment restriction, up divine progression by 1 or 2 points and buff sacred flame somewhat. Increase damage by 1 flat, or make it 1d6 perhaps ? Level 10 offers nothing at all - could be a good place to sneak that CL/damage buff into.

I cannot comment on the other changes suggested but I think the class should be renamed. Even if people want to take it right now, it is limited by that it is an very specific class concept.

[thids]

Yes please. To both bfz and shadowbane stalker proposals. Sneak divine options are just horrible currently.

[OdiumNostrum]

Arguably, the strength of FS/Cleric builds lies in being able to solo 90% of the server's endgame PvE content without breaking a sweat. I don't see how adding or improving classes that rely on HiPS/Feint to deliver their payload will increase their power in any regard. It may help clerics or FS/clerics with the trickery domain but the feat cost to make feint worthwhile on the server is too steep to even make it desirable.

No, this proposition is aimed mainly at improving dual wielding DEX cleric builds which are anything -but- PvE powerhouses. I suppose SBS could be brought more in line with the server's power level to be less appealing to favored souls, but BFMZ is simply atrocious and not even worth a second look as it stands currently.