Prepared: Witches, hexes are amazing and their spell list feels like it's more reigned in than wizards, which I kinda like.
Spontaneous: Sorc, if you have to pick only very few spells, pick em from the best list, also Charisma casting is fun (honourable mention to oracles for being able to do anything)
I may be talking out of my rear, because I've actually played so little PF
but prepared would be Wizard, out of habit, I've loved them since AD&D.
OTOH, I've had great fun with an alchemist, and I like those greatly too
Spontanelous... I hesitate between sorc and oracle. the two being the spontaneous sides of the wizard/cleric coin
Top 3
1) Oracle- Strong Chassis, tons of RP potential, and you can build it to do anything.
2) Witch- Hexes remove the issue with "what do I do if I run out of spells" or "what if I prepare the wrong ones" that has haunted me since the red box.
3) Psychic- In an intrigue game, you can be the subtlest caster of all time, which is great fun.
the award for spontaneous spellcasting has to go to the sorcerer, if you want to play a destructive powerhouse they're a wonderful choice. Mesmerist comes in a close second purely thanks to their stare mind you. As for prepared, I have to chose the druid. They are great support characters, can turn into elephants, and have an obscene number of wildly different archetypes.
I really like the arcanist for being low stress. You never have to worry about making a mistake when choosing your spells, because you can always change them.
I really like the arcanist for being low stress. You never have to worry about making a mistake when choosing your spells, because you can always change them.
That's why I rue having so little actual play time, It sure *looks* interesting, but I have no idea how it actually works out.
I like oracle as a GM more than as a player. Prepared casting and so the ability to swap spells around is something I want with a character I use long term. It doesn't have to be a full caster - investigator is an excellent choice.
As a GM, oracles are easy, thematic and effective to make and use.
Eh? Is that a trick question?
Anyway, I have a preference for spontaneous casters over prepared casters, and arcane over divine. In a vacuum (having to pick primarily on spellcasting alone), I'd probably gravitate to the Sorcerer on the Arcane side and the Oracle on the Divine.
If we took everything into consideration (archetypes, feats, class abilities, etc), I'd pick Arcanist (arcane) and Oracle (divine). Druid would be a close second in either category.
Pure caster? Wizard with an honorable mention for Oracle. Sorcerers are nice from a GM perspective.
3/4th caster goes to magus for just being a blast to play. As a GM I really like warpriest but I haven't gotten to play one as a PC yet.
Shaman. More interesting hexes to play around with than the Witch, and a very eclectic spell list. At first it seems like a grab-bag of random Witch and Cleric spells, but there's also a few Druid spells in there as well, and also some weird omissions (why no Communal spells?). It has most of the Cleric's buffing spells, some of the Witch's debuffing and AoE spells, and a few Druid-nature themed spells. It doesn't completely overshadow or remove the need for any one of those classes, but can reliably pull off doing double duty for all three of them.
Also, as I like playing support, Bards get an amazing "make everyone better" spell list, with some spells specifically for them alone.
Also, props to the Occultist. Their spell list is just a random collection from mainly the Wizard spell list, but I love the moving parts it has.
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1. Psychic
2. Occultist
3. Mesmerist
I have a problem, and I can admit that.
Vanilla Summoner. Or vanilla summoner with the unchained spell list, if I get to mix.
Wizard, Earth School, Conjuration focus.
Second favorite is Bladebound Kensai.
9th: Druid & Sorcerer.
6h: Bard & Inquisitor.
4th: Paladin & Ranger.
First Party Stuff: Sorcerer or Oracle, depending if I'm going arcane or divine.
Third Party Stuff: Vanguard or Magister, depending if I want martial with a side of casting, or pure casting.
I only play spontaneous casters. It bugs me that a mighty 20th level wizard doesn't actually KNOW any spells.
The one I’m playing currently.
Mesmerist. With one feat, you have flexible immediate action defenses. You get good mileage out of low-level spells due to freebie debuffs, and with some useful condition removal. Painful Stare makes falling back on combat much less troublesome than for other 6/9 casters.
Oracle: THE way to run a character off a single stat [Cha].
Druid. Very versatile. They might not have the best spells, but they have all the kinds of spells. They can heal, blast, buff, debuff, move, battlefield control, summon, remove negative conditions, scout, tank, skirmish, and so much more.
I like that witches never run out of magic because of hexes. I want to try out a shaman sometime. They have lots of moving parts and seem very versatile.
Inquisitors, though admittedly more for their other class features over casting.
Witches, because hexes are awesome.
Changing the topic a bit.
The rarest character - both in my local gaming area and in the cons is a Wizard. It has been something like 11 years since I sat down at gencon at a table with 2 wizards.
Why?
Wizards die easy.
5 Bodaks in the surprise round. Saves please?
The require effort to choose a spell buildout - and it takes experience to choose spells day by day.
Finally, Wizards are a delayed gratification class. You are outshined by martials through .. call it level 6. Parity 7-8. You only really start to shine thereafter - and your PFS life is done....
Sorcerer. Great spell list. Spont casting. Cha focused.
Lots of different builds too, it's why I keep coming back to it. Also has an easy mode variant called picking summoning spells.
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You'll have to guess my favorite. ;)
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Clerics. You are always useful and can learn any spell on your list each time you rest or leave an open spell slot.
You don't have to deal with limited spells known, retraining spells or having to deal with a spell book. Also no familiars to kill off and leave you without spells.
Also clerics still have some of the best domain powers that other classes cannot replicate. Luck, Travel, Glory and Liberation domains are good examples.
Shamans are on equal footing, cos while they are more complex, they can be very powerful and versatile.
You'll have to guess my favorite. ;)
I'll say a gingerbread witch or a Tatterdemalion. Both of them make me smile: One has a familiar that literally an emergency food supply and enchants candy and pies [and can swallow whole!!!] while the other one can pimp slam you with their cloak, learns bondage weapons/ability and has an attack that destroys clothing...
Seems like we just had something like this thread, although it was split into more subdivisions and also covered non-casters. My answer is in this post (amended here).