This isn't a character I'll be building right away, more of a thought experiment.
I really like the idea of a light-based mage, and when I saw the Lightbringer trait for elves, I started trying to think up the best way to make such a character in Pathfinder. For those who don't know, Lightbringer in full:
Many elves revere the sun, moon, and stars, but some are literally infused with the radiant power of the heavens. Elves with this racial trait are immune to light-based blindness and dazzle effects, and are treated as one level higher when determining the effects of any light-based spell or effect they cast (including spell-like and supernatural abilities). Elves with Intelligence scores of 10 or higher may use light at will as a spell-like ability. This racial trait replaces the elven immunities and elven magic racial traits.
The immunity to blindness and dazzling really helps negate the "bright light!" effect of some of the light spells blinding you when you cast them, and the level boost could be useful for, say, light-based damage spells. The free light-at-will could easily replace a level 0 slot.
What I'm left wondering is what class to use for this type of character. Sun domain cleric seems like an obvious choice, but there are certainly other choices that I haven't fully explored. Anyone have suggestions on classes, archetypes, and spells?
Lamplighter Investigator is thematic, and a very good archetype.
Thanks for the suggestion, looks cool! I was kinda thinking of something a bit more "mage-y" though.
Reviewing spells with the light descriptor, you can see a few theme options. Cleric seems to be the best choice, but Druid or Paladin could be interesting. I've dumped the list with level & identification of whether a spell is unique to that class.
Alchemist
- [4] Unbearable Brightness
Bard
- [0] Dancing Lights
[0] Flare
[0] Light
[1] Dancing Lantern
[2] Discovery Torch
[2] Light Prison
[2] Snapdragon Fireworks
[3] Campfire Wall
[3] Daylight
[4] Shield Of The Dawnflower
[4] Wandering Star Motes
[6] Shield Of The Dawnflower, Greater
Cleric/Oracle
- [0] Light
[1] Dancing Lantern
[1] Unwelcome Halo
[2] Blinding Ray
[2] Burst Of Radiance
[2] Light Prison
[3] Continual Flame
[3] Dark-Light
[3] Daybreak Arrow
[3] Daylight
[3] Discovery Torch
[3] Light of Iomedae
[3] Wrathful Mantle
[4] Burst With Light
[4] Shield Of The Dawnflower
[5] Pillar Of Life (unique)
[6] Shield Of The Dawnflower, Greater
Druid
- [0] Flare
[0] Light
[1] Faerie Fire (unique)
[2] Burst Of Radiance
[2] Campfire Wall
[3] Dark-Light
[3] Daylight
[5] Wall Of Light
[6] Blazing Rainbow (unique)
[7] Sunbeam
[8] Sunburst
Inquisitor
- [0] Light
[2] Discovery Torch
[2] Light Prison
[3] Blinding Ray
[3] Continual Flame
[3] Daybreak Arrow
[3] Daylight
[3] Light of Iomedae
[4] Judgment Light (unique)
Paladin
- [1] Unwelcome Halo
[2] Blinding Ray
[2] Light Lance (unique)
[2] Light of Iomedae
[3] Daybreak Arrow
[3] Daylight
[3] Wrathful Mantle
[4] Burst With Light
[4] Shield Of The Dawnflower
Shaman
- [0] Dancing Lights
[0] Light
[1] Dancing Lantern
[3] Daylight
[4] Wandering Star Motes
[7] Sunbeam
[8] Sunburst