#character optimization

"Hey, what the Hell is Gestalt?"

I'm glad I made you ask! Gestalt is a variant rule for 3.5th edition from Unearthed Arcana (2004), which catalouged many rule and class variants. Gestalt characters, instead of progressing with 1 class as normal, pick 2 classes every level to progress in. You take all the class abilities and levelled abilities (such as spellcasting, martial maneuvers, or powers, to name a few.), and take the better of the two's BAB, Save bonuses (determined for each save), and Skill points.

So, for example, if one Gestalted Warblade and Factotum, you would take the D12 hit dice of the Warblade, the 6+int Skill points of the Factotum, the Warblade's Good fort save, the Factotum's Good reflex save, and the class abilities of both. (Incidentally, this is a VERY good combination.)

Gestalt characters are universally more powerful than their ungestalted counterparts, and therefore are only played in full Gestalt parties with a campaign tuned for it. UA has recommedations for such Balance, and I believe one should read it themselves.

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A couple quick notes before we get to the Meat of it:

Class Notation:

My table and I use // to signal the divide between sides of the Gestalt. Additionally, I personally like to use "A side" and "B side" to distinguish the halves. So, if the aforementioned Factotum & Warblade took some Psion levels, it would be noted as "Factotum 5/Psion 5//Warblade 10."

Level Adjustments:

UA has no guidance for how to handle Level Adjustments. There are about 4 ways I've seen it done.

LA is divided between both sides. For example, a 4th level character with 2LA would take 1 LA to each side of the Gestalt.

LA is tanked by one side of the gestalt. The above character would have their A side be 4 levels, and their B side be 2 levels.

LA is reduced as per the instructions on CR. The above character would only have to divide 1 LA.

Take full LA to both, with the understanding LA affects exp gain alone.

The same argument applies to Racial Hit Dice.

This is ultimately GM ruling.

Prestige Classes:

You can, RAW, no arguing this or working around it, take 1 PRC at a time. PRCs are already much more powerful in Gestalt for the simple reason one can qualify for them much more easily, or reap more benefit from them.

Later on, we will get some case studies into why PRCs are important to keep in mind.

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The Meat of it.

So, how does one make a good Gestalt character? Well, let's keep these 4 Principles in mind.

Many of these ideas are taken from This Gestalt handbook, which notes down alot of specific classes and is a good place to start

Chasis Optimization.

"Chasis" reffers to the saves, hit dice, and BAB of your character. Due to having the ability to pick the best of these features from each side, you have very little excuse to have poorer BAB traits. Aim to always have a good Fort and/or Will save, >d6 hit dice, 3/4, and >4+int skills. Oftentimes, if you're just focusing on one class (especially a Tier 1 class) you might take your B Side in a class just for Chasis features! Which brings us onto:

Active vs Passive.

You can divide classes into "Active" and "Passive" based on what you're getting from them; Active classes take up your actions and give you Shit to DO. Passive classes give you benefits you needn't activate or will last long when activated. For example; most casting classes tend to be active, and classes like factotum or ranger that give bonuses with no activation are passive. This is not strictly a binary, though! For example; with DMM Persist, Cleric can make a fine Passive class with the ability to make any spell basically a class feature. Note that you also need to manage the feat demands of any Classes or PRCs you're taking; if you have a PRC with a heavy feat cost, or a class that demands alot of feats to work its magic, you might want to consider pairing it with a less demanding class. Or! Taking 2 levels in Fighter or Adventurer Variant Rogue to sneak in a few bonus feat spots. Or the Flaws optional rule, which I recommend you give players 1 of in general. On the topic of dipping...

Straight vs Dip.

You might also want to divide your A side and B side into one you take 20 straight levels/straight levels + PRC of, and one you spam with Dips. This has the advantage of giving you the massive Save bonuses you get from Dipping, without missing out on powerful late level abilities or caster leves. This is not essential, though, and you can very much take a double-dip approach or take 2 classes to 20 levels. Martial adept classes are especially tempting for dipping, due to their levelled abilties scaling with multiclass levels, and there being 1 for each of the focus stats. Speaking of stats...

HyperSAD.

(Single Attribute Dependant) A pretty easy way to ensure Class Synergy is to take one stat and take it to the moon. Picking only classes that rely on one stat can lead to some pretty wild builds as you use stat items, racial bonuses, and tomes to apply a +tenbillion bonus to everything. Say you want to play an Intelligence character? You can basically throw on Factotum to reap insane benefit from you intelligence bonus. If you want to play a Wisdom character, Cleric can be thrown on to give you devotion feats or divine metamagic for free. If you want to play Charisma, the powerful tanking of Crusader or buffs of Bard come in. Although, if one CAN make a MAD character, then the Obligatory Multiclassing of Gestalt can give you this for free. In general, simply be mindful of how you can get the most benefit from the least amount of places. This applies to Feats or Skills/tricks as much as it does the class.

Now that we have some basic principles out of the way,

Let's talk Prestige Classes.

As stated before, you can only take 1 Prestige class at a time. You could hack this by alternating levels, but that's unneeded. PRCs are very powerful in Gestalt because their weaknesses can practically be avoided entirely.

Feat prerequsites can be filled with Fighter/Adventurer Rogue dips or other sources of free feats

Partial Casting progression can be filled in by. Just. Also taking a level in the casting class whenever needed

Dual Progression classes basically give you a free Third Class! This is to the point where Unearthed Arcana hazards against allowing them, though leaving it up to GMs.

Limiting/Suboptimal Chasis can be totally avoided.

Let's take a case study: "Freesia" is a Gestalt character I play currently. She qualified for Master of Nine at the earliest possible level you can take it, 6th. Mo9 is Usually kept in check by alot of prerequesites and a subpar Chasis, meant to be a ~10th level choice for a Swordsage. Instead, Freesia is able to use Mo9 with full BAB, d10 hit dice, and no Initiator levels lost, due to taking 6 straight levels of Crusader on her B side whilst she qualified for Mo9 on her A side. This is not an especially powerful build, and was an essentially a challenge to see if I could.

For a scarier idea: Archivist 5/Psychic Theurge 10/Archivist 5//Psion 5/Warblade 10/Psion 5 will Manifest and Cast at 20th level whilst having 10 levels of D12 hit dice and good fortitude save. Divine Casting and Manifesting both have no ACF, allowing you to do this all in armour. Archivist's wealth of buffs and touch spells make it a natural companion to the Warblade. The Egoist Psion variant can be taken to further buff yourself in melee. Or, one can simply use the Warblade levels for their chasis, and allocate martial maneuvers helping them stay out of melee or defending themself.

So, manage thy PRCs carefully. Especially dual progression ones.

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Better in Gestalt:

Many classes or options that would be overlooked become much more viable in Gestalt. Infact, some already good options become extremely good!

Some examples are as follows, though i will not dedicate half this handbook to specific classes and what they offer (for that, see the above linked handbook.) Ideally, I want to give you the tools to determine what classes work best. With tht being said:

Hunter Barbarian with Lion Totem is already an extremely good 2 level dip (add in Wolf Totem if you can take both Totem ACFs. This is known as the "King of the Junjile" strat) for any martial character, that becomes extraordinary in Gestalt, where you can also progress another class alongside it.

Factotum goes from a pretty good corpse to a perfect way to spice up any Int build, as I keep mentioning.

Warlock, Dragonfire Adept, or any Homebrewed Invoker class can often feel like a "Class Half Full" due to the more passive nature of Invocations. These take on a totally new life as Passive classes in Gestalt. Additionally: Eldritch Glaive with full BAB. Imagine it.

For "Class Half Full" see also: Binder. Many vestiges that would be underwhelming are much more powerful, and good vestiges can be paired with greater power.

Wilder occupies a bit of the opposite end, where it has alot of power, but nothing else. Very good as an Active class.

The Scout's "Riposte" ACF is normally underwhelming, due to Scout being very squishy. If paired with a tankier class, it becomes much more viable. Crusader, Robilar's Gambit, and/or Stormguard Warrior are your friend here.

On the note of Scout; feats like Swift Hunter that make classes progress eachother's benefits take a similar role as Dual Progression classes, in practically giving you a third Gestalt line for free.

Classes giving you unarmoured movement or armour bonuses pair well with casting builds. Monk and Battle Dancer can both be transformed from underwhelming tier 4s to passable dips, especially for self-defense and chasis bonuses.

The Duskblade's Combat Channeling make a class otherwise irrelevant in Gestalt a very worthwhile dip for any Gish build.

The Fighter ACFs "Armoured Mage" and "Armour Savant" become better, though Armoured Mage requires more than a dip, and Armour Savant does not nullify spell failure entirely. Broadly; avoid Arcane Gishes.

"Prescision Damage" classes such as Scout, Ninja, or Rogue improve wildly with full BAB and higher hit dice.

Knowledge Devotion becomes much more powerful when one can place strong Knowledge lists on martial characters.

A number of Prestige Classes, for some reason, do not progress spells, but rather give bonus spells. I do not know why this is, but it does mean they can be combined with a casting class to gain an insane number of spells per day. To understand what I am reffering to, see Blackweave Warlock.

Death Master's lacklustre chasis and scythe proficiency can be slapped onto a stronger chasis.

Fighting styles that aren't Two-Handed Weapons become stronger in Gestalt, simply by virtue of you having more options to cover your gaps. A Two-Weapon Fighting Ranger can also take levels in Swordsage to obtain Tiger Claw, for example.

And, to counter, one must also accept that some abilities are weaker in Gestalt. Statically scaling class abilities, such as Bardic Music or Animal Companions, may have struggle keeping up with increased party power.

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To conclude:

Gestalt is a variant rule I have alot of fun playing, it can very much stretch your mind for how different classes can be used (and, with LA reduction, opens up alot of races and templates normally unviable!), but it can be very hard to wrap one's head around. Even I'm not that good at it.

When building for Gestalt, remember not to focus on stacking a bunch of bullshit, but making your own precious bullshit the best it can.

Ultimately, have fun with it. Alot of fun BS is opened up from Gestalt.