From the sounds of it their party died because they were a man and a half down on what they should have had.
I sec d the alchemist vote such a fun flexible class.
Ranger and a rogue were mentioned I believe
The thing with the alchemist is it's almost impossible to make a party in which they aren't useful in some permiatation, skill monkey, buff caster, rogue type, range damage dealer, brute str fighter.
EDIT: summoners are very strong for what's it's worth but I kinda feel dirty suggesting them.
All three are good options.
You might get some eye-rolls playing a Small Cavalier (they are seriously overplayed); and you need the GM's permission to use an unusual (aka Cool) mount. I've recently become quite fond of Cavaliers, I plan to make one the next time I have the opportunity to build a Martial.
Alchemists can also be a Companion class if you trade almost everything cool about them for it (Promethean Alchemist), Their Homunculus can use your extracts and has a better stat block than you do, so you might as well be playing a Construct with a personal potion-making cohort. :P
I am quite fond of the Unchained Summoner, who else gets a disposable companion and 7+ 9th level spell-like abilities per day as their capstone? I actually like the flavor of the various Eidolon Subtypes. Currently I'm playing a Fey-Caller; who is admittedly probably the weakest kind of Summoner available because their Eidolon doesn't make a good beat-stick.
In a similar vain, the Spiritualist seems pretty cool, as Companion classes goes; getting a more general purpose list of healing spells than the Summoner does, but less appealing class features to me.
NEW CLASS: CAVONERMIST!
If I go summoner, It wont be unchained because our GM has banned the unchained stuff...
Yeah that is just plain funky... but to be fair I can't stand the original Summoner. So I was glad to ban all of the original classes replaced by Unchained (except for the Barbarian, hated the unchained barbarian). Although I do allow Unchained Summoner's to use the Original Eidolon Rules if they take one of the old archetypes that changes the eidolon in a manner incompatible with the Unchained Summoner.
I'd say no to the cavalier. Not because the cavalier is bad as such, but rather the other two options are so good. The alchemist can fill just about any role with the right archetype and if you really want to have a mount then you can use the eidolon which can take any form you want. If the 'knight in shining armour' imagery is particularly appealing to you then go synthesist summoner archetype and wear your eidolon as your suite of shining armour. Except it's armour that's 16ft tall, can teleport, cast spells and be immune to fire. And also has tentacles.
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If I go summoner, It wont be unchained because our GM has banned the unchained stuff (But he likes regular summoner and is all for it)
Do me a favor. Place your open palm on the screen. Now pretend I'm high fiving you through the internet. Give your GM a brofist when you find the time.
While acknowledging my monumental bias, I still strongly recommend the summoner. As your GM is capable of throwing difficult battles at you, a functionally immortal companion may mean the difference between success and... well... situations like this. Your Summon Monster spell-like can provide more emergency aid, and since your party is lacking a dedicated arcane caster, the OG summoner's admitedly unbalanced spell list can fill in.
The alchemist is a strong second favorite, though. Traditionally, their playstyles have a somewhat binary split between Hulk and Mad Bomber, but there's a wide range of fun little tricks, mutations, and bottled sorta-spells to build for both function and flavor.
Can't recommend cavalier, though. The chasis is solid and Orders are great built-in roleplay, but its usual playstyle involves being saddled (hur hur) with a clunky companion that has no dynamic movement and doesn't always fit in crampt dungeons. Plus, GMs have the strangest natural aversion to allowing them into places.
Seriously; I have a character that summons a literal devil to walk around with him, and as long as we're not going to Smitecon 2017 down in Paladinville, there's no problem. But as soon as Mr Ed wants to trot into any place with a roof and at least a couple of standing walls? Nope. If you want to play one but you're still on the fence, try some kind of mounted Summoner instead.
Why ban unchained? Does he hate rogues and monks xD
Anyway with that party composition a cavalier might be a good shout although if your GM is all about dungeons mounted combat might become a pain.
What a weird objection.
Anyway pack flanking + outflank should cover you for when you can't charge, pretty much always having a +4 to hit when mounted and critting provoking for your mount should be pretty strunk. Might even be worth carry a keen cutlass/rapier/scimitar/falchion/Estoc for when you can't charge.
True but the OP wants to be a cavalier I'm just suggesting something that might help for when he can't charge
Spiritualist?
The problem with flying mounts are, They arent wolves.. xD I just realy love wolves, Thats why I want a halfling riding a wolf as my cavalier ^_^ I tend to not go for the best options.. I just pick what seems fun, While trying to not be useless.. xD
Have you considered a Construct Rider Alchemist? You lose mutagen (so you'll probably focus on a Mad Bomber build) and have a reduced number of extracts, but in exchange you get a Construct Mount (which can have the form of a wolf for small characters). Being able to craft other constructs is also pretty nice. So you get a bit of all three classes: a tough, non-standard Companion like a Summoner, a wolf-like mount like a small Cavalier, and alchemy.
It's almost JosMartigan's Cavonermist. ;)
Of those three options, the Alchemist is the best designed, most versatile, and best balanced option.
The summoner is too easy to make awful and too easy to make way too good (Unchained is a lot better here) and the Cavalier is just another limited martial when you can't get a charge lined up.
I agree that Hunter could be a viable alternative to the Cavalier.
How about a halfling summoner who rides their wolflooking eidolon? Halflings have good stats for a summoner, and being small is good for caster types.
Alchemists are one of the best self-buffers around, and they have mutagens to help out with stats and AC. It's definitely doable.
Master Chymist is also an option for the full natural attack mutagen build, though not required.
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Can a Alchemist be durable, And capable of fighting in melee? If so, I might go for the alchemist because they can do so many things, Including making healing potions for the party wich would be super good! Alchemist just seems like pure fun, But I kind of wanna be not too squishy, And capable of hitting things in melee without being too bad at it too..
I've got an freak show Beastmorph Alchemist and she does a pretty good job of staying alive. As mentioned before, a tumor familiar with the Protector archetype adds a ton of longevity to your character. Couple this with the fact that you have Barkskin and Greater Magic Fang on your formulae list means that you're not having to pay money for a third of your key magic items. Orchid's Drop even means your saves will be really good. Plus, once you get Greater Mutagen, you can set the bonus into Con and have a hit point total that rests somewhere between the Fighter and the Barbarian.
And this is before all of your useful in-combat infusions.
Yeah, you'll do juuuuuust fine.
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The Alchemist is one of my absolute favourite classes, and the Construct Rider can make for a grand Cavalier-type anyway.
It can be amazing at range or in melee, and can be good at both. It can heal or buff your party, even with personal-range buffs, and if you specialise in Mutagen discoveries you can basically tailor your stats to the day. You can be a Rogue with sneak-attack or a Cavalier with a mount, or even a substitute Cleric if your party doesn't mind getting healed by way of explosions and stabbing.
Also you get to craft the best assortment of mundane items in the game, so that's pretty fun.
It's hard not to love a Beastmorph/Vivisectionist.