Best addition to existing group in book 3?

[Ayaki "The Red Fox" Hu]

So i´ll probably be joining a group consisting of:
-dwarfen ftr 2h/pa
-human ranger twf
-human zen archer
-dhampir cleric (reach)
-human monk (support)

Most probably only the monk, a sensei, is fairly optimized and they have a high damage output already.
While totally lacking in the arcane department, i´m not too keen on playing a wizard, but i could be convinced otherwise with some good ideas.

My ideas so far:
-aasimar life oracle of Pharasma. Focussing on channeling and taking that feat that let´s you channel negative and positive energy.
Also the aasimar channel feats and bless equipment from undead slayers handbook. (While a clichee, the cleric might not be able to attend often, so could be a good thing, but totally overlapping if the cleric is there.)
-a chelish diva bard. perhaps using a whip, but maybe dervish dancing with a scimitar and going into the sarenrae flaming crit on undead feat.
Not sure if that works. Buff overlapping with the monk.
-Either rogue/ninja or swashbuckler going into shadow dancer. Probably a halfling then. Shadow companion is cool. Also spring attack with Lepidstad scar or what it´s named maybe.
-If arcane i thought maybe an arcanist, gnome, undead bloodline and mage of the veil subschool. Might be funny.

[Keep Calm and Carrion]

My suggestion is to ask your fellow players what the party’s situation is right now--where they are, what’s happening, how they got there, that sort of thing. Then consider which of your character concepts fit most naturally into their circumstances, and could be expected to join their quest.

With a party that focused on weapon combat, a bard would be a potent force multiplier. Handing out inspire courage, heroism and haste will let the party bulldoze most encounters...though by that point in the adventure path, your fellow players have probably already had some bad experiences with haunts and swarms and other encounters where a full attack isn’t a great solution. An undead bloodline sorceror would give the party more options against those kinds of encounters.

I can think of fun ways your GM could introduce a diva to his or her game early on in book 3, but later in that section it would be harder to justify. A dirge bard might be a better choice thematically, and has many abilities that suit this AP well. Alternately, if your “support monk” is a sensei, an Archivist bard would be a better choice, since it’s one of the few bard archetypes whose bonuses will stack with a sensei’s.

A Pharasman life oracle would be very useful. Check with the cleric in the party to collaborate on a character concept that will let you two play off each other, rather than steal each others’ thunder.

Good luck.

[Prominence]

All of your ideas would work out fine. The shadow dancer might run into some issues, though.

Your group doesn't have anything covering the arcane or int-based skills it seems. A witch would be useful since they get heal spells and buff/debuffs which compliments the party while also being thematically fitting with Carrion Crown. You can also build them pretty sturdy and melee-capable if you're into Orcs at all.

An archeologist bard might suit the party (and book 3). There's a good reason for one to be in those parts, and you get trapfinding which the party lacks.

An alchemist would be quite interesting. Carrion Crown has alchemical elements sprinkled through it. If you're not into bombing, there's a variant that get sneak attack instead of bombs. This might be a good alternative to shadow dancer as the shadow companion tends to be useless at time (and later on) since undead are immune to him.

A second cleric can be very useful, especially of Pharasma.

[Ayaki "The Red Fox" Hu]

Mh, alchemists are not my thing normaly, but i could look into this.
Witch sounds more interesting there.

At the moment i´m focussing on something a bit cheesy^^
Serpentine/Undead Sorcerer 1/ rest oracle of heavens.
Loose some oracle to be able to mind-affect humanoid undead, animals, monstrous humanoids and magical beasts, what is quite good for the all mind-affecting illusion spells.

Friendship Cannon Fire!

Thanks for the hints with the shadow! That was really usefull!