I like a Paladin, because they are the most durable class in the game and have some of the best DPR, making them the ideal tank.
Archaeologists get trap finding and stupid good perception checks, plus access to healing, same thing with urban rangers, sans the perception thing. The access to healing is really what sets them above the standard rogue types. Rangers are better combat wise, so I would say stick with the urban ranger. This person really needs to fill the scout role along with being the skill guy, and being half a healer is pretty good.
Lastly I vote wizard, but not just any wizard. A healing wizard. You are not reading crazy talk. Still had plans on making the build myself, but a samsaran can (by borrowing from the bard or witch lists) gain access to up to 6 of the healing spells. Since they are all touch spells (mostly) you can deliver them through your familiar to your allies. AND, doing the teleportation conjuration subschool lets you get to your allies a lot faster and heal them. Also, all those healing spells are conjurations and can be prepared in your specialization school slot. Personally I prefer the bard list over the witch list for access to Bardic Teleport (or whatever it's called) and Good Hope. Not to mention that the Cure spells aren't one level higher than standard spell circles. The witch does have access to the spells Heal and Status, so really it depends on what you care about.
The main thing here is that all the party members have access to about half a dedicated healer's level of healing, which overall makes up for not having a dedicated healer in the party.
That little ol' band from Texas
*Derails thread. Leaves the room*.
Sorcerer, Pladin and Cleric. There you've got healing, arcane magic and a heavy hitting tank that can deal serious damage.
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Druid with AC, Druid with AC, and Druid with AC
Half-Orc Barbarian/Cavalier with the Amplified Rage teamwork feat + any Skald + a Summoner or conjuration-focused Wizard. Summoned creatures can take the Skald's Rage and the Cavalier's Amplified Rage for +8 Strength and Constitution if you keep them in a group together, not to mention the additional bonuses from Augmented Summoning and tons of buffs. The Skald has condition removal and buffs, the Barb/Cav is a pure martial powerhouse, and your Summoner or Wizard can bring in support and control the battlefield. Pretty solid, I think.
3 druids...
1 druid is playing Carnivorous Crystal Monster.
1 Druid plays BFC caster guy
1 Druid plays as "scout" type.
OR
3 Clerics
1 Battle Cleric
1 Buff Bot Cleric
1 Cleric Raining rightous hell on your ungrateful ass
OR
3 Summoners....
1 Synthesist Summoner Making the DM cry
2 Master Summoners Making the DM cry even more
I tend to have a pretty regular 3-man side game going with my wife and another couple for when the main game can't get together for a while.
We had the most luck with Paladin-Wizard-Bard. Enough healing to get by, buffing from the Bard, blasting (my wife likes evokers) and non-combat spells from the Wizard, raw damage and tanking from the Paladin, plenty of skills between the Wizard and Bard, two high Charisma characters. The only real hole that we missed was trap finding, but that never really became a problem in our campaign.
The key to a 3-man group is generous ability scores (our GM tends to let us make uber characters for these groups) and careful selection of magic gear. Leadership also makes a good choice for these types of parties if someone can afford to use a feat on it.
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I found our Kingmaker game was built with the possibility of 3, and the ones who really served their roles were:
Summoner, Alchemist (Mine, where I focused on healing, bombing, and melee combat), and a Druid w/ Animal companion.
Obviously we're cheating a little by having 2 pet classes, but thats the kind of thinking that can be helpful in 3 man games.
Pathfinder is based on the idea of a four+ man group, but on sometimes you wind up with only three. My question to you is this:
What combination of characters makes up the best three man party? Assume a modest level 5, if that in any way effects your judgement.
Two monks and a dwarf rogue.
Try it.
Or just go three bardarians (yes, bard/barbarian) covering different areas and weapons (one goes ranged).
A small party of clerics is also very cheesy, or two clerics and a melee.
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Or just go three bardarians (yes, bard/barbarian) covering different areas and weapons (one goes ranged).
Skalds.... Just saying.
ACG got you covered.
Obvious answer would be (human) Cleric (for extra skills), Druid and Wizard. Not only they are all full casters, they can easily cover different areas and have enough skills for the party to be effective in every situation. Don't even have to be too optimized.
I think Inquisitor, Magus and Bard would be more fun, though.
I'm playing in a 3 man party in Council of Thieves.
Paladin - Scimitar and Shield (not TWF)
Urban Ranger - Takes care of traps and other skills, also has an AC with Boon Companion
Wizard - bufferFights can be hard, but we manage it.
Similar party to this.
Paladins self heal.Rangers get access to wands without UMD and get spells to heal.
having two half healers can be just as good as having your fourth person dedicated to buffing and healing.
Wizards because wizard. To add comedy, have him be a Samsaran taking all of the cure spells from the bard list, take the Conjuration (Teleportation) school, and see him act as both a healer and a blaster/battlefield controller. Improved familiar to grab a Fairy Dragon to turn invisible and deliver touch heals to your allies in combat is also nice.
Ideally the paladin will be a BFS build, and the ranger will be the urban variant switch hitter who covers all the skill stuffs that aren't party face related or knowledge based.
Without a Cleric or Life oracle, you will have issues with Condition removal, Raise dead, etc.
Paladin is your obvious Tank, then Wizard, then Life oracle.
I'd have to say that what makes a good 3 man party is largely dependent on the campaign. Obviously, casters are practically useless against a construct heavy dungeon
Absolutely not the case. You can still buff your party members and use no-SR battlefield control spells like the Create Pit line, or a Dazing spell tacked onto something like Acid Arrow or Pellet Blast.
My vote for the best 3-man party would be Oradin/Wizard/Druid.
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Pathfinder is based on the idea of a four+ man group, but on sometimes you wind up with only three. My question to you is this:
What combination of characters makes up the best three man party? Assume a modest level 5, if that in any way effects your judgement.
Cleric and two druids.
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Forsigth diviner
Teleportation conjurer
Admixture evoker
Would be my suggestion. It is gonna be high profit and high risk.
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You need a melee character, an offensive caster, some healing, and a good range of skills. Ranged attacks are nice, too, though not precisely required. How these are arranged is really up to you.
Some randomly chosen good arrangements:
Melee Druid
Archer Bard
Witch
Melee Cleric
Ranger
Wizard
Hospitaler Paladin
Inquisitor
Save-or-Die Oracle of the Heavens
And so on and so forth. Those first two can have trapfinding if they need it, too.
I'd go with Paladin, Monk, Grenadier Alchemist. Paladins and Alchemists can both heal, Alchemist and Monk cover a lot of skill and utility between them, Monk and Paladin can cover melee combat well, and Grenadier can cover them from range.
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For a three man party you have to maximize roles coverage. Every character has to be able to fill at least two roles, in case the main one goes down.
For condition removal, you'll need a cleric or life oracle. There's really no way around this. THe cleric is probably more ideal because as a prepared caster he can change his role emphasis from support to control to face to front liner every day as needed.
You need a front liner of some sort. Ideal is the paladin, who has built in healing, immunities, condition removal via mercies, a spell list, can use wands, and will have the Cha to be a decent party face.
For skills, you're probably going to want an urban ranger, if a second damage dealer is important, or an archeologist bard, if you want more skills/support/magic. Both perform the anti-traps role perfectly, have the skill points to invest in whatever your other two don't, and can be marvelously versatile, with options from animal companions to bardsong and other things.
Very key is that all three characters can use healing magic and wands without problems.
The Inquisitor and Magus get honorable mentions as excellent multi-role, but the first doesn't have the pure tanking ability of a paladin, quite, and the Magus isn't a nine level caster or a skill monkey. They would have to go into the paladin's niche, and it would change the nature of the party, but it could be done.
All that said, cleric-cleric-cleric with wise domains and spell loadouts can also do the job without too much problem. The combination of that much healing and condition removal with spell buffs will do the job without a problem.
==Aelryinth
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Half-Orc Drunken Brute Barbarian, Half-Elf Drunken Master Monk, and a Dwarven alchemist with max ranks in Craft (Booze)....
I would go with urban ranger archer, paladin healer/UMD trait user, druid w/ animal companion. All can use wands of CLW, and all 3 can tank in emergencies.
I've seen an Inquisitor, Bard, and Ranger party that was insanely powerful. The buffs from the BARD on the Ranger and Inquisitor made they very very tough.
Master summoner, Evangelist, Wizard
Summon a ton and buff your way thru anything
EDIT: to be blunt with those spell lists it does not matter if it is a normal summoner either, and I have seen it done with a normal one and by the time 5th level and 3rd level spells they were set with so many options and abilities.
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Druid, Bard, and Summoner is probably your best combo since you can effectively field a full team with your companions and have all the spells and skills you could ask for.
Alternatively Bard, Inquisitor, Alchemist, with the Bard going Arcane Duelist and playing frontliner. Probably not as much combat power as the first group, but super high adaptability.
What combination of characters makes up the best three man party? Assume a modest level 5, if that in any way effects your judgement.
This would seem to be at least in part level-dependent... but I have to say, the most powerful 3-man group I've ever seen or been a part of was:
Half-Elven Summoner, built to fight alongside or astride her eidolon.
Half-Elven Master Summoner, eidolon build as a flying scout.
Half-Elven Master Summoner, eidolon built as a gremlinesque skill monkey.
The group was obviously strong combat-wise in all environments and had all their bases covered skill-wise. They were weak in healing and condition removal, but using stealth and summoning creatively, it was rarely a problem.
It was actually a pretty great group with some cool backstory - half-elven twins with an estranged half brother who was also half-orc, all sharing the same ancestral magics. They made pretty short work of the Second Darkness campaign they played in.
Paladin, cleric, and full arcane caster would be my choice.
Hospitaler Paladin
Teleport Subschool Conjurer (wizard)
....your seasoning of choice.....