Quote:
Enchanting Smile (Su): You gain a +2 enhancement bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate skill checks. This bonus increases by +1 for every five wizard levels you possess, up to a maximum of +6 at 20th level. At 20th level, whenever you succeed at a saving throw against a spell of the enchantment school, that spell is reflected back at its caster, as per spell turning.
Bonuses to three cross-class skills based on Wizards' second most popular dump stat. You're not the party face. As for the 20th-level ability . . . yeah, as if anyone's going to cast an enchantment spell that allows a save against a 20th-level enchanter. Verdict:
Meh.
Quote:
Dazing Touch (Sp): You can cause a living creature to become dazed for 1 round as a melee touch attack. Creatures with more Hit Dice than your wizard level are unaffected. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier.
So let me get this straight. You go into melee, make a touch attack using your lousy Strength and lousy BAB, and in exchange you get to . . . daze a creature for 1 round if it doesn't have more Hit Dice. Except that if the creature's threatening enough to need dazing, it probably DOES have more Hit Dice. Verdict:
Lame.
Quote:
Aura of Despair (Su): At 8th level, you can emit a 30-foot aura of despair for a number of rounds per day equal to your wizard level. Enemies within this aura take a –2 penalty on ability checks, attack rolls, damage rolls, saving throws, and skill checks. These rounds do not need to be consecutive.
There seems to be a major split of opinion on this one. Lots of people see the -2 to everything and think it’s great. Personally, I think it’s average at best. The big problem is that it's a (Su) ability that doesn't say what kind of action it takes, and by default, that makes it a standard action (check the Pathfinder SRD). Actions in combat are the currency of D&D, and a standard action for a minor debuff is not a great deal. An additional problem is that to get all the enemies within its radius, you have to stand RIGHT in the middle of them, effectively painting a huge target on yourself.
In short, YMMV. If your arcane casters are regularly involved in long battles where you spend a lot of the time within 30’ of lots of enemies, you’ll find Aura of Despair very useful. However, my personal verdict is
Meh.
Overall Verdict: Enchanters kinda got the shaft in Pathfinder. Specialising in enchantment isn't a great deal anyway, and the poor abilities just make things worse. The only reason enchanters aren't right on the bottom of the heap is because, bad as their abilities are, they're still better than the universalist.