I'm contemplating getting some of these spells but I'm not sure how good/situational they are. Could you please take a look and write a word or two about the following spells and what you think of them for a Bard (only spell caster in the group)
Dimensional Anchor
Resilient Sphere
Mirror Image
Phantasmal Killer
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Dimensional Anchor- Can be great if you know you are up against a foe which uses teleporting, as them teleporting can both cause problems for your party position, and they can use it to escape and cause problems for the party later. However it’s useless against anything else, and Bards only get 3, LV4 spells max (well four if you pick up Deep Lore, but that’s a level 18 feat.), so you do not have a lot of wiggle room for a spell which could be very situational. Could be good for in a spellbook with Esoteric Polymath, so you prepare it for when you need it, or a wand so you can always keep it on hand just encase.
Resiliencant Sphere- Its an interesting case. On the one hand, there is a size restriction, and you cannot heighten it to increase its HP or hardness, meaning at higher levels, it will fall sooner then later. However, it does still have 40hp and 10 hardness, which at lower levels can take a couple of actions to break, and even the most powerful foe will still need to spend an action breaking it. It also uses Ref for its saving throw, a save which is a bit hard to find on the Bard/Occult list. And, if need be, you can use it on an ally to protect them, or on yourself for the same.
Mirror Image- Not a bad LV2 spell for protection. If your role as a spell caster is to buff and such, then ‘Invisibility’ is the better choice. If however you play style would break Invisibility, then Mirror is a good substitute, as any hit they take for you not only saves you damage, but ‘wastes’ that foes action. However, the images can break pretty easily (ie, they break on an actual miss, as long as It was not a crit fail) so this is less a run into the middle of battle spell, and more of a take the occasion attack that may come your way while the actual tanks are tanking.
Phantasmal Killer- Good range, decently good damage that can be heighten (*note heightening the spell does not increase its damage on a successful save) With the exception of a crit success, it will inflict the Frightened condition, to varying degrees depending on the save. The crit failure effect is very good, even though this part has the ‘incapacitation’ trait. If they fail there save, the target dies, which means problem solved. If they save, the creature is still pretty boned, taking a good deal of damage, gaining Frightened 4, and have to waste there next turn fleeing. Can be really good at messing up a single living target, such as bosses, or as a way to quickly deal with one of its minions. Just keep note that it needs to be a living target, and the various traits on the spell can make creatures immune to its effects.
Domensional anchor is imo a must have for a spontaneous spellcaster.
Recall knowledge in order to understand if the enemy has teleportation and then anchoring him is definitely great.
Resilient sphere has been ruined.
Mirror image could be nice but I would take some extra support stuff.
Phantasmal killer is ok.
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Anchor: Scroll or Wand material. Great when you need it but unlikely to be super important multiple times per day. Or often enough to warrant spending one of your spells known on.
Resilient Sphere: Pretty good disabling spell. A Balor needs more than one attack to get out on a failed save. And even on a successful save, the sphere will at the very least eat the first attack of the enemy, which is usually by far the most dangerous one. A caster most likely needs to waste a turn to get out since he won't have enough actions left to do much after escaping (via dispel, teleport or daamge). The fact that it also serves as an emergency shield for an injured companion (or yourself) adds a great deal of flexibility. It's also one of the VERY few Occult spells with a Reflex Save. The size limitation is pretty much the only real downside of this spell.
Mirror Image: It's decent if you can cast it before the battle starts. I usually wouldn't spend/waste a turn on it unless I'm absolutely desperate for some kind of defense. And even then I'd probably stick to other means of avoiding damage like Dimension Door or simply running away. Maybe put this one on a wand, too. If you can pre-buff before combat, one more action to pull out a wand won't hurt.
Phantasmal Killer: Decent damage with a guaranteed debuff attached (unless they crit success). The debuff becomes devestating on a crit fail and the slim chance to outright kill the target is always fun. Being mental, emotion and fear based does limit it's applications, but since undead lost their blanket immunity to mind-stuff, you have mostly constructs and oozes to worry about.
So bottom line, Sphere and Killer would be among my first picks for an Occult Caster. Anchor is deep in item-territory for me and Mirror Image would be a decent pick if I find nothing better to get.
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Note that because anchor is a continuous counter, I’d consider it a must lv6 more than lv4 - high enough to counter heightened dimension door and most plane shift effect, and at a level where they begin to be a lot more common.
Problem with the question is that in PF2, your spell caster is more mission focused. No longer can you run around with a full panoply of spells for a multitude of opponents. However, you are the only one that can tell if your DM loves to run Demons/Devil monsters etc. (there the caveats are out of the way)
In general, you have 4 (possibly 5) spells per level as your "loadout" so to speak.
Dimensional Anchor - Not top 5 L4 spells. Agree that Dimensional Anchor is item bait. You have the spell on a scroll and pull it out if needed. At higher levels, it MAY become more useful when heightened but other spells are probably more generally useful in those slots
Resilient Sphere - Not top 5 L4 spells. This is a protection spell pure and simple. If you cast it on a creature nothing passes in or out so it does not allow you to wail on it. It allows time to escape, reposition, or protects a skrunchy (squishy or crunched PC). It does not last long enough to allow you to wipe the field of minions
Mirror Image - maybe top 5 L2 spells. Consider that most encounters last about 4-5 rounds at most (yeah yeah I also remember the epic one time 20 round fight where almost everybody died. But that is the exception not the rule). Becomes more powerful if you run a blurred gish
Phantasmal Killer - maybe top 5 L4 spells. Damage and debuff on a save and a fail. Less useful if you are running an intimidate build
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I'm not totally sold on Phantasmal Killer, the reason being it's basically Fear with 8D6 damage and 4D6 damage on a successful save (might as well take Fear). Do I want to pay a 4th level slot for extra damage while I have a group full of damage dealers? I wonder if I should be focusing on the things the party doesn't have like spells that don't deal damage like Resilient Sphere, Hideous Laughter, Slow and the like.
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Ah - you want to focus on non damage and/or henchmen AoE
Nice spells:
Hideous laughter (yes it is a nice spell)
Confusion tends be a stand by.
Calm emotions ( I like this spell as henchman stopper)
Summon Fey
Restoration
Dispel magic
Other options
Haste/heroism
Illusory creature
Suggestion (if the BBEG has a friend or two)
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If that is the case, I would personally take Resilient Sphere {for reasons already mentioned} and Slow {because the Slowed condition can be really damaging to the BBEG, or anything giving your group trouble.} Hideous Laughter can serve the same purpose at a lower spell, but there are more thing going to be immune to it, and its concentration {which to be fair, in general trading one of your actions for one action of the BBEG, still tends to be a net positive for the group as a whole.}
Given you got a group of damage dealer, some of which I assume are up close specialists, you may wish to give 'Fly' some thought. {depending on group composition anyways.}
EDIT= Fear can also be a good one, as it can soften up a group of enemies when cast at LV3 {where I think it shines}. Would not however pick it up if your going to be getting 'Dirge of Doom'. {you don't want to clog up your tactics with do many fear effects, and 'Dirge of Doom' is generally the most solid choice for reliable debuffing, though at the cost of a class feat.}
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