How many ranks in climb?

[Extra Anchovies]

How many ranks are worth investing into Climb before the ranks start being useless? Is it worth investing any ranks into Climb? Let's assume you're not the party's main skillmonkey but have ranks left over with no clearly superior choices and already have climb as a class skill.

[AmberVael]

Ranks in climb are basically never worth it.

First, the vast majority of characters will want to acquire a reliable fly speed, which generally means that eventually all ranks invested in climb will be a waste- flying makes climb redundant.

Second, climbing a knotted rope is DC 5. If you're climbing up a wall with a knotted rope, the DC is 0. As long as someone has a method to secure a rope to where you want to go, getting there is easy for anyone. And since the use rope check to secure a grapple never goes above 20, basically every character can manage just throwing it eventually- you can check if the grapple is secure by just holding on the rope right above the ground until it gives in. Or if you're fast enough, just shimmy up the rope before 1d4 rounds is up.

Third, there's a lot of other methods for bypassing the need for climb ranks. Spider climb. Teleportation. Ladders. Getting to where you need to go shouldn't be that difficult even without climb ranks, so long as you're clever about it.

There is basically always going to be a superior choice for your ranks, even if it is a cross class skill.

[Ninjaxenomorph]

Since this is Pathfinder... I recommend at least one rank, which will net you at least a +4 bonus, helping to offset any armor modifier. On the martial types that actually have it as a class skill, I would recommend it. Less so for casters that can a) mooch of others in the early levels and b) find their own ways later on.