Hi - I’m doing some rewiring and got to thinking about this. Latest NEC code requires all junction boxes (JBs) to have a neutral in them, but does not require a live. In the case of a two way switch you’ll have both neutral and live in your JB by default. But for a 3 way switch you’re likely to end up without live in one of the JBs. Can smart switches deal with this? To be clear - one of the travelers for the 3 way/4 way would always be hot - but it would toggle between when is hot and which isn’t as the switch gets toggled.
Thank you!
Don’t overthink it. Place a smart switch (dimmer/three or four way) in the location that has constant power (and a neutral of course). The other locations just regular three way switches, nothing ‘smart’ is needed there. Use your favorite home automation ’service’ to control everything. In my case Alexa. I have switches I haven’t physically touched in months.
If desired, you can still physically turn on/off from any (three way) location, just set to whatever dimmer level the main happens to be at. If you want to dimming level either touch the main, or call out something like; ‘Alexa dim hallway to 80%’