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If you're asking from a perspective of what will be the most generally useful to the rest of the party and generally flexible in terms of what they can do then the answer to this question will always be Bard, every single time. From a "quality/tier" perspective there are exactly two Classes that rise above the rest for the niche they fit into, Fighters are the cream of the crop S tier Martial Class and Bard is the best and brightest of Spellcasters all things considered.
They have the easiest-to-understand format for Spellcasting with Spontaneous Spells + Focus Spells + Signature Spells, the best Spell Tradition, the best Buffs, the best Debuffs, adequate Skill functionality, and just generally make everything the rest of the party does BETTER for the minor cost of 1 Action every one to two Rounds depending on their build choices. They can pick up a few OKAY heals (and like anyone else in the party grab the awesome Medicine Skill Healing functions easily), can do limited blasting, and can usually even talk their way out of problems and encounters that the Gun, Barb, and Rogue will almost never be able to hack even if they wanted to play a Charismatic flavored version of their PC.
My intent is not so much to push the player towards the best option as it is to have a generalized idea of what all the casters can contribute so I can help him make his options more easily digestible and easier to understand, if that makes sense. Your description of Bards is very helpful for that!