Hail and well met adventurers! XD
I'm looking for advice on what class would mechanically benefit the party I'm joining. It's going to be a three man group, with the other two players playing a tiefling melee unchained rogue, and a human shield specialist fighter (who uses antagonize to great effect). They are third level.
I'm thinking bard, magus, or 3rd party "Machinesmith" class from NeoExodus (our GM allows 3rd party as long as it is well reviewed).
I would prefer to stay in melee (not a fan of natural and unarmed attacks though for style reasons), hence I'd rather not go straight wizard (I have the most fun describing my attacks in combat). I know they're missing magical versatility but too much book-keeping and powers checking makes my head spin, and I'll tend to start missing points or forgetting how many add-ons I have equipped or modifiers to count (hence I'm not automatically playing as a wizard or summoner. Even the alchemist might be too much).
Any suggestions would be great! Thank you in advance!
Well I would go with a full caster, and since you want to melee that would push a divine caster forward. Cleric or druid. If magus and bard are not too much mechanically you should be able to find a build for one of these that suits.
Magus or Warpriest or Inquisitor ?
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When in doubt, almost always the best answer is bard.
In this case though, bard is the second choice. I would make an evangelist reach cleric.
Right now, your group only has strikers. That means they need someone to buff, and someone to control the battlefield. Evangelist cleric can do both, although doing both at the same time is difficult to accomplish, but at least you will have a variety of options. And you will have the all important condition removal spells.
If you take the feather domain, you can get an animal companion, I probably wouldn't both with boon companion, I'd just use it as a mount for mobility (staying back with reach and your companion not really attacking means it is likely to live even with a bit less HD than a full companion would have). Another option is growth domain to get enlarge, but I think you will find even swift actions to be precious, and mobility while taking other options is awesome.
Your reach will help your rogue flank, and when you don't need to cast a spell you can melee with it.
I'd plan on mostly summon monster for battlefield control, that way you can have an ok, but not super wis and still afford to have good physical stats.
The one downside, is this does have a lot of moving parts, which you said you don't love. If you can master it though, it will be incredibly effective and pretty much fill all the holes in your groups makeup.
I will also put in a vote for Oradin. Life mystery will help keep your team alive while you're smacking people down from reach distance.
I like characters with flexible options, and I'd also double down on spellcasting, given the other party members aren't providing any.
Maybe go full caster Shaman and use Wandering Hex for the Lore Spirit to cherry pick some wizard spells on a day-to-day basis. Then either use Human FCB to get spells off the Cleric list, or consider going Samsaran to do something similar at the front end using Mystic Past Life.
Another option might be to approach it from the opposite end and use a Spirit Guide Oracle to get some extra spell flexibility there.
Ultimately, you're likely going to want to have condition removal and utility spells, and either of the options I've suggested give you that, as well as additional flexibility to do lots of other things (especially depending on the base Spirit or Mystery you choose).
EDIT: Actually, I looked back and saw you don't like the extra book keeping associated with a wizard, etc., so the Shaman option is probably not really that workable. Oracle remains a viable choice though, as spontaneous casters are a lot easier to manage than prepared casters.
I'm feeling Battle Oracle, myself, but Bard is an excellent suggestion.
Wow, these are all fantastic suggestions, amd I will endeavor to research them all to the fullest. Thank you!
Also, one of my friends suggested a reach Warpriest, and I was curious if that was a contender for Oracle? It seems like warpriest is more melee, with memorized spells, and the oracle is more spells, with spontaneous access? (I've never played an oracle, so I have no frame of reference)
Is there a reason to go oracle over bard?
I've also heard that reach bloodragers can get pretty control-y, but haven't really dabbled in any form of barbarism, class wise.
I have to say, for a 3 person party you are making your lives more difficult then it needs to be. A straight rogue and a straight fighter are pretty bad choices. You want more flexible characters that give action economy benefits.
Best choices are the ones that bring a whole other set of actions to the table: Druid, Summoner, Hunter
Second best are character with mixed specialties and some action economy bonus (usually good use of swift actions)
Magus, Inquisitor, Warpries, Paladin, bard.
Then characters that are just a mixed focus
ALchemist, Slayer, Ranger, Bard, Blood Rager, Battle clerics/oracles, witch
Last are the effective but highly focused characters:
Wizard, casty Clerics/Oracles, sorcerers
And bottom rung for a small party are the highly focused and limited effectiveness classes:
Fighter, rogue, monk
I am sure I have forgotten a few in each category, but I hope its clear why each category is where it is. Assuming a normal spread of adventure challenges, with only 3 people you need more flexible characters, and with a small party, you have fewer actions then normal, regardless of your potential power. You need to cover as many bases as possible and try to make up for your limits in action economy.