Advice on building an offensive / support spellcaster

[Michael Grate]

I've never really build a magic user before (I began a campaign with a witch once but that got put on hold at level 1, reset and put on hold again).

I'm looking to build a spell caster who is supportive but can do damage on their own.
I'm not sure what class would be best for this (Wizard or Sorcerer) but the character will be level 13-15
The spells I know I want are the cure spells, probably heal, something protection/damage reduction based and then things like magic missile, maybe inflict spells (other damage spells if possible as well).

I'll already have a Bard and Witch on the team who can buff to varying degrees so I'd like to have a healing ability should I need it (we have a barbarian with Deathless frenzy and low AC so I think I will) but also be able to attack things (range will help since we have pretty much only melee right now. Debuffs for the enemy would be helpful to have too.

Can someone point me in the right direction, maybe give me some spells and feats to consider?

[Renegadeshepherd]

Are you starting at level 13-15 or is that the expected end point? I can tell you there isn't a clear spell caster to take but is more matter of style and level of complexity.

[Michael Grate]

Renegadeshepherd wrote:

Are you starting at level 13-15 or is that the expected end point? I can tell you there isn't a clear spell caster to take but is more matter of style and level of complexity.

Starting point. And just some suggestions on spells to look at would help.

[Renegadeshepherd]

At 13 and up I would say that arcane spells have come to the forefront and are truly awe inspiring. Therefore I'd probably suggest a wizard, sorcerer, or a prestige class that works well with them like eldritch knight or dragon disciple. Those prestige classes are good if you want to Get into melee on the side.

A very short list of great spells are fireball, haste, heroism, protection from energy, dominate X, fire snake, form of dragon, time stop, summon monster X, black tentacles, communal or greater versions of spells (if there is a scaling version of a spell it's likely a good spell) dispel magic, all flight spells, anti-magic field.

[Fruian Thistlefoot]

Full Cleric is fine to Try out.

For Buffs and Heals he will have those spells.

For damage your will have a few options. Spiritual Weapon or Ally can do some solid damage for rounds/Level which usually show more return than a single Blast unless your highly optimized for those blaster spells.

For damage you can easily Use Augmented summoning + Sacred Summoning to get standard action summons. The Bard can easily buff these guys further with his Performance and Haste. Summoning An army of Lantern archon to do a volley of Rays is a pretty nice thing. After combat have them cast aid on everyone for the next fight. Basically getting 4 extra spells for the cost of 1 4th level spell.

The other choice is to try out Mystic Theurge and be both a Cleric and a wizard. I'd focus more on the Cleric side since you have a Wizard already. Just using your wizard spells to blast things.

Shaman can offer you just about everything in 1 package but for a beginner it can be difficult to build one well. This will be a challenge.

Oracle could work similar to the Cleric but runs off Cha and is a Spontaneous caster. The Ancient Lorekeeper is an amazing Archetype and if you grab Life you can be a Healer in Spades and still get a few choice Wizard spells of your Liking. If you are doing a channel focused Build this is the way to go as Channeling for a cleric sucks in comparison and is only worth it on a cleric if your doing the Hangover Build.

The Hangover Cleric could work but might be a bit too Min-maxie and might upset your DM. DMs hate to be AoE stun locked on a regular and you might draw his wrath in being that Optimized.

[CampinCarl9127]

If you want an arcane caster who can also heal, try going conjurer. At that level you can summon creatures who can heal for you.

[Shadowlords]

Druid, Caster Druid with a domain. You get access to all the heals and buff plus a large array of offensive spells, and then on top of that an amazing list of Battlefield control spells and a bunch of RP spells.

[Rashagar]

I would suggest a spontaneous caster over a prepared caster just for the ease of playing. Basically you put all the thought and worry into what spells to pick into the character creation step and then never have to worry about it again during play. It means you as a player don't have to learn a huge amount of spell effects off and can focus on how best to use a (probably recommended by others on the forums) smaller subset of them.

So I'd also say go oracle.

[Rashagar]

So, assuming Oracle.

Some thoughts:
Spirit Guide oracle is great. I'd recommend taking a look through some of the mysteries and pick one you like the revelations/spells of (Nature? wind? dark tapestry? it depends what you want to do), then go life spirit every day for all the healing spells you could ever really want. This frees up your normal spells known choices for fun stuff. Alternatively, you could pick the life mystery and have different spirits you can bind to each day (and different spells), but the life spirit give you pretty much anything you could want from the life mystery (spell list, channel, and a funky curse to stop an enemy from being able to heal for a bit) and means there's less new stuff to look up/balance/care about every time your character rests while playing.
Ignoring Life altogether is perfectly doable too, it's just that it gives you Restoration, Breath of Life, and Heal essentially for free.

At such a high level, I'd say there'll be very few rounds of combat where you won't be casting something, so Haunted curse to get Telekinesis and some illusion spells could be great fun too.

The cleric spell list is a little short on blasting, but at this level, Flamestrike + Empower spell is all the blasting you really need. Throw Blade Barrier into the mix and you're laughing.

There are loads of good single and multitarget debuff spells, great buffs, enough control spells that you'll rarely run out of anything to cast.

Some spells to look at: (grabbed from an oracle I made a while ago so don't take this as an exhaustive list)
Stone Shield
Air Bubble
Communal Protection from Evil
Martyr's Bargain
Pilfering Hand
Silence
Grace
Darklight
Bestow Curse
Greater Stunning Barrier
Communal Resist Energy
Blessing of Fervour
Freedom of Movement
Fleshworm Infestation
Debilitating Portent
Flamestrike

The Reach Spell feat is also really great for oracles, just to mention.