Need help choosing class (noob)

[Vinny_P]

So I have a conundrum, playing Pathfinder (using 6th printing rulebook) campaign soon where players will be able to drop in or out, I'll be one of the people that comes to the campaign every time so I sort of feel like I want to be the guy who can be the pillar of the team no matter who he's with, so any recommendations on class/build?

I'm sort of new to Pathfinder.

to be more specific, there's gonna be like 15 people and we have nights and anyone who is there can come and it doesn't matter if they can't type thing.

[Secret Wizard]

I'd recommend you play a Bard.

This is why:

- They can fill different slots in the party. As needed, they can help frontline or backline.

- They have several skills which they can use to help the party in diverse ways.

- The Bard is extremely social so it can serve as a party leader or someone who keeps tabs of the NPCs.

- Knowledge skills are always useful too.

[HyperMissingno]

Gonna second the notion of bard. Are you rolling or doing point buy?

[Vinny_P]

sort of both, I plan to build the character, thouh all the guides I see have different perks or feats that don't exist at all? We're all using the PCGen 6.06.00 program with the "Pathfinder RPG for players" source loaded.

I think we're already gonna have a bard though so I'm not sure if more than 1 is a good plan? (our bard player is always around too so it's not like he'll be missing any missions)

[Secret Wizard]

In that case I recommend two things:

1. Learn how to make characters without tools. It's not too hard after you get the gist of it.

2. I recommend you make a cleric then. You'll be able to support and blast very well. I recommend a mental stat heavy build with the knowledge domain.

[Vinny_P]

I don't know what that means, sorry I'm a huge noob at this, I'm guessing by mental stat heavy you mean like high cha/wis/int?

Also which is the knowledge domain and what do you mean by blast?

[Vinny_P]

Ahahaha, Nethys has knowledge domain but also has Magic domain which has that special skill that lets you throw your weapon and have it appear back to my hand? OK that sounds amazing, Nethys ftw

[HyperMissingno]

Bard's one of the most versatile classes in the entire game. You can have a freaking party of bards and it will work out perfectly fine.

But if you're still concerned about class matching there's a few things you can bring out. The first that comes to mind is an alchemist wit the grenader archetype. They can switch hit pretty easily, just grab a good two-handed martial weapon, point blank shot, and precise shot and you'll be good. This lets you blast at sort range, smash things up close, and if you grab infusion spread buffs and heal around the party.

And don't worry, it's beginner friendly. I know because I basically learned how to play the game with that class.

[Vinny_P]

Are bards capable of sort of being an all rounder in a sense? I prefer to be able to be unrestricted in what I want to do or how I want to help you know?

[HyperMissingno]

Bards can take on any role, especially with the tons of archetypes they have. Since there's another bard you can take an archetype that replaces inspire courage, like the archivist that provides an AC boost or a court bard who can debuff the enemies.

[My Self]

Bard, Inquisitor, or Cleric would best fill the roles you're thinking about. Bard and Inquisitor spells are very straightforward, Cleric spell selection is very forgiving. Cleric has the most reliable AOE heal in the game, and all three classes can use wands of Cure Light Wounds just in case. All three are d8 2-good save (tough to kill) 3/4 BAB (good at hitting stuff) classes that can group and self-buff. Inquisitor and Bard are better at being face-types, Bard and Cleric are dedicated buffers, and Inquisitor and Bard have more offensive spells than the Cleric.

Regular Bards are excellent all-rounders, although they lack some of the better weapon/armor proficiencies that Clerics and Inquisitors get, they make up for it with the best team-buffing in the game and a decent offensive spell selection. Multiple Bards in a party can be slightly redundant because Bardic Performance buffs don't stack.

Inquisitors are more martially oriented than Clerics or Bards. Like Bards, they are great at skill checks. They have better weapons and armor and are better at frontline and second-line combat than Bards, can self-buff well, but are not as good as Bards at team-buffing. Multiple Inquisitors in a party might have overlap in spellcasting, but Inquisitors can synergize well in combat.

Clerics are full casters. Full casting basically means they are great at problem-solving and excellent at team-buffing. They have better armor than Bards, but are much worse at skill checks than both the Inquisitor and the Bard. However, full casting covers a lot of what skill checks might be needed for. Multiple Clerics might overlap in spellcasting on the first day they are together, but since they can change their lists from day to day, the overlap will not persist. Any real combat ability in addition to full casting is all gravy.

The classes to avoid most are:
Fighter - Easy to play, hard to make, performs well. Only hits stuff.
Rogue - Easy to play, easy to make, performs awfully. Either hits or uses skills, but not very well.
Summoner - Easy to play, hard to make, performs incredibly. Like playing two characters, slows down games if you don't know how to play.
Wizard - Hard to play, hard to make, performs decently or incredibly. Requires you to know way too many spells to be effective.
Monk - Hard to play, hard to make, performs awfully. Tries to hit stuff, but misses.
Vigilante - Easy to play, hard to make, performs well. Basically build-a-class.

[Air-Alan]

Clerics are awesome. They can do great things, and can be support or frontline as needed. You might consider a war priest. He's a fighter/cleric hybrid class. Makes him a little more frontline, and I like the holy weapon. You could also pick up the Avatar archetype and get two domains, and deity boons.