casters are uber here so are sneakers.
How are sneaks uber? Practically every monster is sneak immune, so the only use for them is unlocking stuff and disabling traps.. Which is fine, but I definitely wouldn't call them uber. The fact that they can sneak doesn't make them uber; you can just hit the + button next spot or listen when you level up. Congrats, you can now beat the "uber" sneakers. The rogues have d6 hp, more than easy enough to cleave through in a few hits.
I'm not saying they suck, but to say they're "uber" is an extreme overstatement.
Not really. The Environment, is geared, towards Casters, then sneaks, then demi casters, then finally at the bottom of the food chain, the fighter. It's all about the gear and until recently the sneaks had the gear. Also, yes people can use your method to catch up to the sneaks. Provided you are a Class that has the skill points to toss in those skills in huge amounts to beat the sneaks on the race (which usually means, it's a sneak class).
The only sneak immune monster I have run into is an Ooze. Just about everything else my Sneak can shuffle past and He's not even a GOOD sneak. More of a Trap Guy. Of course, if you are a Pick Pocket type sneak or a Trap guy the rest of the Uber Sneaks (Those are the guys that like to stand out in the open between two people like the invisible man and send those folks tells crowing about how uber sneaky they are) tend not to want anything to do with those guys because well, not uber enough.
As for hitting the rogue. Let's see. Otto's pretty good with a sword. Like +17 AB on the first hit. That means he misses half the monsters equal to his CR half the time. But if he hits, he lands a solid amount of damage. My Sneak, is half Otto's level, Hits as Hard without sneak attack, and more then three times as hard with it. The Crits aren't even comparable. Otto's Max damage from a Crit (we'll give him a steel bastard sword for this) is like, 44. The Sneaks, 74 with one weapon, 102 with the other. That Sneak can hit Otto's non Turtled AC (proper sneak attack planning does nasty things to AC's). Otto goes to swing back the sneak disengages from combat, stealths, then comes back for another Sneak attack alpha strike. The Sneaks AC isn't stellar like a few of the others I know (seen ranges from 39 to 50), So if Otto is lucky, the sneak could be in for a world of hurt, but that sneak is tough enough to take a hit or two and run like hell, leading Otto across a pile of Traps that Otto even with his 10 levels of spot, can't see.
That's where Sneaks are Uber comes from.
Now with the gear being flushed, It's not really an issue until about 8th level. Removing the gear has put the 2-5th level sneaks on a more equal playing field, but that gear is going to come back. With that, even more Uber sneaks. Further explanation to be moved to another thread.
As for the starting area now, I'll have to make a New PC and hop in to take a look at the differences I suppose.
~Rex