I've been thinking more about 5e lately, and didn't notice that I hadn't responded in 3 pages. Thanks for the others backing me up on the dead levels and skills system still not being where it needs to be. As much flak as 3e's skills get, they required surprisingly little adjusting when I fix all of 3e. For instance, whatever attribute is supposed to boost playing a modern/complex instrument should matter far, far less than a person's years of training with said instrument. 3e got this right, it just needed more of that rather than less (as 5e)
Uneven compared to what?
Any other class with a different progression.
Paladin casting in 3e was weak because their caster level and spell DC was low, and they were much worse than the fighter at fightery things. None of those are an issue anymore, so I don't know what your problem is.[/quote]Considering the fighter wasn't very good at fightery things, at the same level of optimization (dungeon crasher acf vs centaur paladin acf), 3e paladins are just as good in combat before the dead levels become overwhelming. But its the low level spells that make it get into a higher tier. The CL can be boosted in multiple ways and the DC is going to be just as high as a sorc per the same level spells. Paladins don't have DC penalties.
You are quite confused about comparing casting in 3e. Perhaps you should go through my caster class index thread to see how variable the rate of next level spells or as well as the variability in the highest level spells available.