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Well, you have two basic options, caster-Oracle and melee-Oracle.
As a caster-Oracle you'll cast spells that mess people up, and probably not be much use in physical combat. Your Mystery spells favor this path, actually.
As a melee-Oracle you'll use your spells primarily to enhance your own capabilities or those of allies and will engage in, well, melee combat. Possibly in animal form, given your Mystery. Many of your Mystery Revelations favor this path.
You could also try and do both, though you'll likely not be as good at either as if you specialize in one. Though Prophetic Armor helps quite a lot in mixing the two.
A build that does both, as a Human, might be:
Str 16 Dex 7 Con 12 Int 10 Wis 10 Cha 17 (Or Str 17, Cha 16)
Feats: Extra Revelation, Improved Initiative,
Revelations: Prophetic Armor, Primal Companion (Tiger),
For Feats, at 3rd you grab Power Attack, thereafter you'd likely go caster-specific Feats.
Spell selection depends a lot on what build you go with.
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A build that does both, as a Human, might be:
Str 16 Dex 7 Con 12 Int 10 Wis 10 Cha 17 (Or Str 17, Cha 16)
Feats: Extra Revelation, Improved Initiative,
Revelations: Prophetic Armor, Primal Companion (Tiger),
For Feats, at 3rd you grab Power Attack, thereafter you'd likely go caster-specific Feats.
Spell selection depends a lot on what build you go with.
I would disagree with the feat selection on this build. Improved initiative will grant you a +4 on top of your -2, for a +2 net gain. If you were to take Noble Scion: War at first level, however, you will use your (theoretically) always improving Charisma as your initiative stat, granting you a starting initiative mod of at least +3. The Lunar Oracle already allows for you to maximize your charisma benefits, might as well go all in.
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I would disagree with the feat selection on this build. Improved initiative will grant you a +4 on top of your -2, for a +2 net gain. If you were to take Noble Scion: War at first level, however, you will use your (theoretically) always improving Charisma as your initiative stat, granting you a starting initiative mod of at least +3. The Lunar Oracle already allows for you to maximize your charisma benefits, might as well go all in.
This is an excellent point, I totally space that Feat for a moment there. Definitely go with that instead.
Remember, if you go half-elf or aasmir you can take advantage of their fcb and boost your animal companions level! They capped it to your level + 1= acs hd, which is still really awesome. They also have a feat that grants your ac the celestial template, giving it smite, energy resist and dr! It also grants sr (which is actually a bane) but you should be able.to overcome it the majority of the time.
I went with a melee oracle for my lunar, as I already had two caster oracles. I had a 20 point build making it easier and I went with aasmir. If your gm allows retraining this is much better.
S. 17 (19)
D. 7
C. 14
I. 10
W. 7
C. 16 (18)
Prophetic armor and animal companion
Feats
1) extra revelations
3) pick prophetic armor and extra revelations to power attack
3) celestial companion one.
5) furious focus
By three your companion will be equal to 4, and by 5th he'll equal a 7th level ac with dr 5/evil, energy resist 10, darkvision and a smite!
With a 15 point.build I'd probably lean more to a caster build because monostating is great for low point buy games. You could still have a decent strength so you can switch it.up when needed. For extra fun you can be deaf and rock a -4 to initiative!
I'm thinking about being a more melee based character, now that it seems like a more feasible option, and it's more like my normal playstyle.
What are your opinions on the revelation that grants the wildshape-like ability?
I would say to avoid it. It looks like Wildshape, but isn't. So that means you can't take the feats to speak or cast in your form, so good luck with that, and you have it once per day so once you use it you are committed if you want your expensive Amulet of Mighty Fists to still be useful for the rest of the day.
I have to agree with chaos effect, its just not worth it. If the duration could.be split up I'd say it could be useful enough for niche situations (like when you go swimming or flying without expecting combat) but as it is I don't think.its worth a revelation. The one that grants natural attacks will probably give you more mileage.
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I have to agree with Under a Bleeding Sun for pretty much everything. Avoid Form of the Beast (the wildshape revelation). It's too limited. That being said if you're going melee I would recommend Primal Companion (tiger), Prophetic Armor, and Gift of Claw and Horn from the Lunar mysteries. Will your GM allow 3rd party feats? If so you may want to grab Strange Revelations and grab some revelations from Battle or Metal, especially Armor Mastery (if you can get heavy armor either through a dip or another feat). Touch of the Moon is also useful if you use inflict spells and want to be a bad touch Oracle. However I would almost certainly start with Prophetic Armor and Primal Companion.
As for race I would say Half-elf would probably outweigh Aasimar. The reason is not only can you grab the Elves fcb (and boost that companion right up), but you can also use the Ancient Lorekeeper archetype from the elves. This can allow you to grab some useful spells from the Sorcer/Wizard list that can buff you (Haste, Monstrous Physique, and Enlarge Person all come to mind). You may get them later than a wizard would , but they'll still come in handy.
I had a melee oracle that I played with those options that I had tons of fun with.
As for race I would say Half-elf would probably outweigh Aasimar. The reason is not only can you grab the Elves fcb (and boost that companion right up), but you can also use the Ancient Lorekeeper archetype from the elves. This can allow you to grab some useful spells from the Sorcer/Wizard list that can buff you (Haste, Monstrous Physique, and Enlarge Person all come to mind). You may get them later than a wizard would , but they'll still come in handy.
I had a melee oracle that I played with those options that I had tons of fun with.
Aasimar has variant heritages though, so you could get +2 Str/Cha which is awesome. I never really considered Lorekeeper; it's interesting and could have a lot of potnential, but adding +1 to the spell level of the wizard spell hurts a lot. One thing that kinda amused me was you mentioned he could get Haste as a 4th level spell, the same level spell as Blessings of Fervor which is kinda Haste+.
Speaking of archetypes: Dual-Cursed. Oh wow is it good. Misfortune makes it worthwhile alone; the extra Revelations as you level is just a bonus. Wolf-scarred Face + Deaf is an interesting combo, as it nets you a bite attack and free Silent Spell, but minuses to initiative hurt. Then again you could have Deaf be your dominant curse to negate that eventually. Not sure if I would necessarily go that route, but has potential.
I have three oracles right now I'm playing in society:) Both races can take advantage of the awesome FCB, outside of that they have a few distinct advantages.
Aasmir Pluses:
Celestial Animal Companion (This really makes your companion much stronger DR/ Evil is great, and consequentially if someone can overcome his DR chances are he gets to over come theirs. Since he's several levels ahead this will make him a beast, and the other things it grants are just gravy)
Darkvision (ranges from hardly important to very very important depending on your GM and the medium you play on)
Can get bonuses to Strength and Charisma!
Half-Elf:
Elf stuff (Lorekeeper for instance if you want it)
Paragon Surge - Oracle is the best paragon surge class IMHO in the entire game. Use it to take expanded arcana, and BAM, you have every cleric/oracle spell in the game. If you take Eldritch Heritage (Arcane) at level 11 you can use paragon surge to grant you improved eldritch heritage, which will grant you every spell on the Sorcerer/wizard list. Pretty much, you can get any spell you want ever! And Half-elves already get Skill Focus for free, YA!
Both are very solid choices, for very different reasons. I lean towards the Aasmir for a Martial Lunar build both because your companion is much stronger, and you can't monostat as hard. My life oracle though who is monostatted hard is an Half-elf. Also, darkvision is more important to a martial than a caster.
I also REALLY like Dual cursed. Misfortune Revelation is VERY powerful, and can save lives, both by rerolling failed saves and rerolling crits on allys! I like tongues/Legalistic as there's almost no negative side effect. Make everyone drop one point in linguistics and BAM, no negative side effect...unless your summoning monsters:(
Oh, and you may want to consider Fates Fortune trait. Gives a +1 to all luck bonuses, which includes divine favor/power! Also Jingasa of the fortunate soldier and luckstones!
Here is the one I went with recently. Not sure if I should had switched 14 in Intelligence for 12 in Strength. Also, not sure if celestial is best choice for my tiger. Ive seen people say yes while others say no.
Hjeleaux
Male Aasimar Oracle (Dual-Cursed Oracle) 2
CG Medium outsider (native)
Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +8
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Defense
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AC 14, touch 8, flat-footed 14 (+5 armor, +1 shield, -2 Dex)
hp 15 (2d8+2)
Fort +2, Ref -2, Will +3
Resist oracle's curses (legalistic, tongues), acid 5, cold 5, electricity 5
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Offense
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Speed 20 ft.
Melee heavy mace +2 (1d8+1)
Aasimar Spell-Like Abilities (CL 2nd; concentration +7)
1/day—daylight
Oracle (Dual-Cursed Oracle) Spells Known (CL 2nd; concentration +7):
1st (6/day)— cure light wounds, ill omen, murderous command (DC 16), shield of faith
0 (at will)— create water, detect magic, guidance, read magic, stabilize
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Statistics
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Str 12, Dex 7, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 20
Base Atk +1; CMB +2; CMD 10
Feats Noble Scion of War
Traits resilient, tomb raider
Skills Diplomacy +11, Handle Animal +6, Heal +4, Knowledge (history) +6, Knowledge (nobility) +8,
Knowledge (planes) +6, Knowledge (religion) +6, Perception +8, Sense Motive +4, Spellcraft +7, Use
Magic Device +6; Racial Modifiers +2 Diplomacy, +2 Perception
Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Elven, Gnome
SQ mysteries (mystery [lunar]), revelations (primal companion), vow to self
Other Gear kikko armor, buckler, heavy mace, wayfinder, oracle's kit, 1,375 gp
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Special Abilities
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Animal Companion Link (Ex) You have a link with your Animal Companion.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Energy Resistance, Acid (5) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Acid attacks.
Energy Resistance, Cold (5) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Cold attacks.
Energy Resistance, Electricity (5) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Electricity attacks.
Legalistic The shackles of Hell impose savage consequences should you violate a covenant, but also
imbue you with remarkable guile. Whenever you break your word (either purposefully or unintentionally),
you become sickened for 24 hours or until you meet your ob
Share Spells with Companion (Ex) Can cast spells with a target of "you" on animal companion, as
touch spells.
Tongues (Abyssal) You can only understand and speak one language in combat.
Vow to Self (1/day) +4 morale bonus to one role to keep a promise.
How is the wildshape form too limited? Dweomer Cat much?
The limitation I see mentioned the most is that you can not speak in wildshape form and cannot cast spells.
It depends on what you take "results" to mean. If you take it as "I rolled in secret; do you wish to make me re-roll" it is a joke ability, but if you take it as "Enemy rolled a 10. Reroll it or shall I apply modifiers and announce the result?" it makes a lot more sense.
If you go melee, the spell Divine Favor synergizes nicely with the Fate's Favored trait.
Misfortune - You don't know what the result is, but you can have a pretty good idea. If an enemy is swinging a pick at you, and rolls a 20 on the dice, you know thats a great time to misfortune. If its a katana and he rolls an 18, that's probably a pretty good time to misfortune, though its possible he may roll higher (its happened to my oracle before) its a statistically small portion of the time.
The same holds true when using misfortune defensively. If your ally just rolled a 1 on his save, you know he failed. If he rolled a 3 he probably failed too. Its not a science, and you may make mistakes, and sometimes it doesn't matter (enemy still rolls high enough to hit, ally still rolls low enough to fail save) but roughly half the time it comes out beneficial, which is good.
Fates fortune: oh ya, forgot to bring this up! Divine favor and power become very good with this. At higher levels you get to start stacking on things like jingasa of the fortunate soldier and luckstone as well for really pretty powerful effects.
Does Fate's favored trait extend to bound animal companion?
I would say no, but if your gm allows it there is nothing mechanically stopping an animal companion from taking additional traits.
I wonder if Improved Share Spell would be a good feat to pick up with this?