Alchemist Dedication, does it scale on its own?

This feat seems kinda juicy.
You get a feat, alchemical items,trained in a skill,trained in alchemical bombs...
That last one got me thinking.
If you don't pursue the the rest of the dedication, you never get more than trained in bombs,right?
I think you can make more powerful bombs as you level it but seems like you also are unlikely to hit much.
Am I getting that right?

Other than the bombs, the mutagens seem pretty sucky, poisons seem pretty good and elixir's seem meh, except for healing.

I am mostly interested in this path as a way to get a familiar as a bard.
The Sorcerer Dedication would be my choice, but it doesn't give as much that I want in and of itself, just access to Electric Arc and Tanglefoot cantrips.

You never become more trained in bombs through the alchemist dedication.

Alchemist don't even go beyond expert in bombs.

More or less the alchemist MC path lets you trade some class feats for some interesting versatility. It's good on something like a Wizard, with an INT that will already cover the preq. and have more class feats than great options for some builds. It's also not bad on Thief Rogues who aren't as constrained with ability scores as some other classes.

Also you aren't making stonger items (at least not with infused reagents, you could as a downtime activity) as you level unless you grab Expert Alchemy and Master Alchemy. They increase your advanced alchemy level, which determines the max item level you can make with ingused reagents. The base dedication just lets you make more stuff per day as it scales, not better stuff.

I just wish it had a line in Expert and Master alchemy that gives you maybe 1 formula per level of advanced alchemy or maybe 1 every other level.

As for getting a familiar, Gnome adopted ancestry, Druid MC, Sorcerer MC and Wizard MC are all also options, and if you pick an occult bloodline sorcerer you get 2 cantrips that use your occult proficemcy thst actually scales (not that the occult list has cantrips with attack rolls that much) and training in 2 skills, probably free choice skills as you already have occultism and probably have the other CHA skills.

Your bomb proficiency wont improve, and the free bombs you can make per day wont get any stronger.

Page 544, under the SPLASH chapter ...

For example, if you threw a lesser acid flask and hit your target, that creature would take 1d6 persistent acid damage and 1 acid splash damage. All other creatures within 5 feet of it would take 1 acid splash damage. On a critical hit, the target would take 2d6 persistent acid damage, but the splash damage would still be 1. If you missed, the target would take 1 splash damage. If you critically failed, no one would take any damage.

So, does this mean an acid bomb would inflict 2d6 persistent acid damage per round unless you made your DC 15 Flat check ?

Bombs are martial weapons so many classes will gain increased proficiency with them anyway.

Page 544, under the SPLASH chapter ...

For example, if you threw a lesser acid flask and hit your target, that creature would take 1d6 persistent acid damage and 1 acid splash damage. All other creatures within 5 feet of it would take 1 acid splash damage. On a critical hit, the target would take 2d6 persistent acid damage, but the splash damage would still be 1. If you missed, the target would take 1 splash damage. If you critically failed, no one would take any damage.

So, does this mean an acid bomb would inflict 2d6 persistent acid damage per round unless you made your DC 15 Flat check ?

Yes.

....if you land a critical hit, yes.

I had missed the intelligence requirement,that's a real drawback.

Gnome adopted ancestry seems like the worst,one feat doesn't do anything but let you take the other feat(s).
Not even a Lore skill related to the ancestry.
I think it also commits you to a burrowing animal.
Playing a Gnome does seem like the surest path towards talking to animals at will.
This has me considering a Disney princess build.
Picture a Gnome bard singing to trained animals,plus an animal familiar,and a bonded animal.
Beard optional.

A single extra pair of hands was my goal but even that seems rather resource intensive.
Money is "cheaper" than feats,especially class feats.
I see there is a ritual to create animated objects,but could I buy an animated object?

About the only decent thing Alchemist dedication gets you are elixer's of life. Unfortunately, because you only get 1st level elixers they aren't that great. I believe at lvl 6 you get a feat to upgrade your pots to lvl 3, and at lvl 10 to half your lvl.

Sp, you can't get the lvl 5 healing elixers until you are 10th level unfortunately :(

Yep, though you can have a ton of fairly useful specific use elixirs later. Eagle Eye Elixir is something that is pretty actively useful. If your an alchemist dedication you aren't using those items to survive. So you can have enough to give strong bonuses quite often.

antidote/antiplague has some use, though I believe the armour runes overlap that Item bonus. But honestly it takes a fair while before you get armour res runes, much less enough to over take antiplague/poison. Generally speaking the Item Bonus from these two items will always outclass the rune item bonus. Assuming you snag the improved version at 10, then it outstripes them quite a lot. assuming I remember right anyway. you can get your first resistance rune around 8? and that'll be a +1. While the lv 1 antidote/plauge is a +2. later lv 6? one is like +3 (the armour is around +2 I think if multiclassing). Something like that

Cheetah Elixir are less useful at low level,
Leaper's Elixir has some specific moment uses, not the worst thing to spend a batch on and have in reserve.
Lastwall Soup can be rather useful but is uncommon

Sunrods are nice if you ask me.

1d6 elixirs aren't great (really why is there no static number to that..) but they still make fair out of battle but not enough time for first aid, drink ups for the team.

So even just the initial dedication can net you a lot of useful tools.
Once you can get lv 3 and later lv 5 items, the useful mundane bonuses are a lot neater. anti's are +3 (which'll be 2 better than your armour), some of the generalize elixir buffs start lasting 10's mins or hours. etc