There's nothing wrong with dipping into many classes as long as the abilities you gain at least make up for, and preferably surpass, the abilities you would gain from staying in your main class.
The knee-jerk reaction of 'LOL this build must suck because he didn't stick to one class' is as retarded as 'take vivi dip on everything'.
I at least never said that, just that it is overcomplicating things for little to no reward, and that it rarely does gain as much as you give up in the builds people cite (like NC).
But again, it is fun and it's part of the game.
Do you KNOW that NC's build doesn't gain as much as it gives up? Have you taken the time to do a cost-benefit analysis on the build's multiclassing?
I could be wrong, but it seems to me that people took one look at it and dismissed it out of hand. I'm not saying that NC's builds are perfect, or even great, but he does have good ideas sometimes.
People just love to hate on other people's work. Even InEffect, aka Mr Dip Vivisectionist On Every Class, has some good insights, and his builds can be useful starting points to develop your own. And I've got no love for InEffect, he's an egotistical asshole.
>Have you taken the time to do a cost-benefit analysis on the build's multiclassing?
Yeah I did. Here are my thoughts on NC's build:
>Fighter 4
Four Fighter gives you access to a total of three additional feats(Mostly combat feats, but still useful for martial based characters like monks.) Four levels of Fighter also allows access to weapon specialization which may or may not be important to you. Armor Training is also good if you plan to don heavy armor. As it increases how much DEX to AC gets added when wearing heavy armor. Of course, at that point, if you care about DEX penalty from heavy armor. You're better off investing more levels into Fighter instead of just the four. Bravery on the other hand gets completely outclassed by remove fear. Also, if you invested more levels you would have gotten access to advanced fighter feats and weapon training.
>monk 2
I hate this so much. You're devaluing the awesomeness of monk. Sure, investing one or two levels is fine. One level nets you the ability to convert mental stat to AC. Another level grants you a monk bonus feat. But come on. Have you played Kingmaker? 70+ AC is overkill. Even on Unfair... You can get by with heavy armor + shield + Perfection(Longsword) + accessories. Just fine. Here's the problem, at every four levels of monk you get an additional AC point that stacks with other AC bonuses. On top of that you also get KI Powers. Monk bonus feats. And Unarmed Passives(Only matters if you're playing an unarmed build though... Which.. If you're playing a monk, you better be playing an unarmed build. Weapons are anathema!) Not to mention you're also ruining your flurry of blows progression. Dipping 11 levels is fine. 16 levels if you care about unarmed.
>Vivisectionist 2
One sneak attack die, one bonus feat, but you get access to a buff that stacks with all stat bonuses. However, in Kingmaker you can easily raise stats beyond 20. So is the buff really worth it? Do you really need it? You can already one shot enemies as is on Unfair with just a competently build martial. Moving along, the one sneak attack die isn't worth it in the long run, because it only does 1d-6. That's only 1-6 damage. Chip damage. The bonus feat on the other hand is nice. Feats are power in Pathfinder. They're what truly differentiates your build. Stat optimization pales in comparison to them. But with all that said, you're better off dipping at least 3-4 levels instead. Why? You're at getting a couple more sneak attack die and two additional feats. Those two feats are nice for martial characters because you can pick the feat that allows you to negate the chances of suffering a critical hit.
>Stalwart Defender 2
Stalwart Defender is a very good class. One of the BEST classes for heavy armor users, and even monks too. It gives access to dodge bonuses, AC stance, DR, and Uncanny Dodge. If you're looking for an alternative besides monk dipping, then look into this class. It's very good. However, dipping just two levels is so insignificant that it isn't worth it. Nine levels is usually the sweet spot for me.
>Ranger 1
I don't really understand this one. If you're picking this for the pet, you're fucking yourself over. Unless you pick the feat that allows you still gain pet levels. However, level one freebooter is okay for stacking buff. But then again, if you care about, you would dip more levels instead of just one. Can't really see the point in dipping in other classes. Because you're not getting anything in Flamewarden or Stormwalker besides an additional feat..... Better off spent in something else...
>Magus 3/Bard 2/Dragon Disciple 4
I don't really understand these remaining ones. Mainly because you're butchering spell progression. Bard is CHA based. Magus can be CHA, but is mostly INT based. And Dragon Disciple can still continue spell progression. But which base are you going to pick? Bard or Magus? Why not just go 5 Magus then have spell progression continue with DD? I am not familiar with these ones. Perhaps someone can clarify.
>Elephant in the Room
BAB of course is going to be bothersome. But that can be easily fixed with all kinds of ways. The main problem is that the build is too far spread that it is getting nothing. Here's the problem, Pathfinder incentives long term investment. It disencourages level 1-2 dippers. When you're multi classing or dipping. You first have to have a base. For me that is monk. Then you need to figure how many levels you're going to sacrifice. For me that is pretty easy. I don't care about the last level in monk. I also don't care about the last four levels either. If I really want to power game I can just stop at 11 levels in monk. From there I then go about spending the levels in ways that make my monk more capable than what he could have gained from staying pure. Which is easy, because pure monk doesn't get much. The entire point of multiclassing, in my opinion, is that you're trading mediocre features and abilities for something else that is far better and stronger.
That isn't to say that pure is bad. Lots of classes benefit from staying pure. Such as Fighter, Barbarian, and Rogue. It's all about opportunity cost and trade offs.