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I only have one so far (and I love her so much!), so this won't be an exhaustive list of their capabilities.
First up, I'm playing Carrion Crown (lots of undead/etc), so that influenced my choices. Also I'm playing in a 3 person party, my companions are a Sorcerer and a Ranger. I really wanted to play support, but needed to be able to contribute to combat, preferably on the front-line so the Ranger didn't have to tank everything.
Deciding on Combat-Style: The Reach Cleric guide really applies well to this class - There are some great swift/immediate action powers, but there are enough standard actions that having the ability to attack on someone else's turn is really appealing. So a reach weapon it is.
Implements: Transmutation for melee (Legacy weapon = Bane at level 6, which is too powerful to ignore). For defense I took Abjuration. Next I took Conjuration, I wanted a haunted Implement and the resonant power for Conjurarion is totally useless, while the spells are great. Finally I took Divination because I love the flavour of it. Divination is often called the most powerful option, and realistically it probably is.
Combat: I've put a lot into knowledge skills, since identifying my enemies allows me to make the best use of Legacy Weapon (That's a Warewolf? Well then Warewolf Bane weapon it is). My defensive options tend to be swift/immediate actions. I try to only take one standard action buff before moving in to help, but occasionally 2 are needed if we're surprised. If I can't identify the enemy or can't fight as effectively for some other reason I buff the Ranger and occasionally summon (Conjuration Focus Power). I've found that I've had something useful to contribute in every round of combat so far (just hit level 7).
Non-Combat: With 18 INT and 4+INT skill points per level I'm the party skill-monkey. When my skills don't cut it I have plenty of spells to fall back on. I've also taken some healing options since this campaign has some serious saves and the Sorcerer and Ranger are less likely to deal with status effects.
Stats: S-14, D-14, C-14, I-17, W-12, C-7 (+1 INT at level 4 brings it to 18, Transmutation Resonant Power brings her STR to 18).
Archetype: Haunt Collector. Thematic for Carrion Crown, but I discovered this is a great power choice as well. Haunted Conjuration implement with the Champion spirit.
Implements: Transmutation, Abjuration, Conjuration (haunted), Divination. My level 10 Implement will likely be Illusion or Necromancy, depending more on flavour than anything else.
Feats: Combat Reflexes, Craft Wondrous Item, Extra Mental Focus, Extra Focus Power.
Focus Powers: Sudden Speed, Energy Shield, Purge Corruption, Mind Eye, Side Step.
Spells: Abjuration - Resistance, Shield, Resist energy, Dispel magic.
Transmutation - Mending, Liberating command, Spider climb, Gaseous form.
Conjuration - Create water, Cure light wounds, Glitterdust, Pernicious pranksters.
Divination - Read magic, Heightened awareness, See invisibility, Akashic communion.
Typical Mental Focus distribution (16 points): Abjurarion - 4 points (+2 to all saves, Energy Shield is a life saver).
Transmutation - 6 points (+4 STR, Legacy Weapon all day, and occasionally Sudden Speed is useful).
Conjuration - 4 points (+2 non-spell damage every hit from Haunted Implement, +2 to hit and damage for 4 rounds per day from Haunted implement, Side-Step or Purge Corruption when needed).
Divination - 2 points (+1 perception, Mind Eye when needed).
(This is a combat ready loadout. For downtime/exploration days I'd put more in Divination and less in Transmutation.)
I hated Occultists at first glance, and have only ever played one for any length of time.
The one I did end up running made almost no use of the Martial Weapons, Shield, or Armor proficiencies the class offers- She was a Talisman Crafter, who played kind of like an Expert with some supernatural oomph- in combat, she mostly plastered talismans to her allies and took potshots with a light crossbow. If enemies got close, she'd try to tag them with harmful talismans, but would also do everything she could to avoid that possibility.
Out of combat, she was a secondary skill monkey, since her high intelligence meant she had plenty of options. Focused mostly on Knowledges and Linguistics, with a little sideline in some of the other skills because she had ten to choose from (Human, favored class bonus, profit!)
A respectable dexterity for the touch attacks her spellbound talismans could require, sky-high Intelligence, decent Charisma, a Strength of 8... Rose was not at all interested in direct combat if she could avoid it, but wasn't sneaky like a rogue- she just liked to be informed.
A lot depends on what I want to focus on, but occultists can fill the melee combatant role very well: half-elf (for Ancestral Arms (Falcata) and the elf +1/2 point of mental focus per level favored class bonus) 16+ Str and 14+ Int to start (depending on generation method), Extra Mental Focus feat at 1st, Abjuration (buckler or light shield) and Transmutation (falcata) implements at 1st, Trappings of the Warrior panoply (basically full BAB with the falcata at every level except 1st and either 8th or 9th, with appropriate allocation of mental focus) at 2nd, Divination (goggles or lenses) at 6th (for the constant see invisibility at 7th+). Advancements go to Int and use the Transmutation resonant power to boost Str. For an archer, go with elf or half-elf, 16+ Dex instead of Str, buckler for the Abjuration implement and bow for the Transmutation implement, and boost Dex with the Transmutation resonant power.
Casting is rather constrained by limited spell selection; however, the sha'ir archetype can gain extra spells known (but can't use panoplies).
Occultists also make good skill monkeys.
I like to build Occultists leaning towards the martial side of things because (barring something like the Silksworn) your collection of spells known is incredibly limited. So you're better off leaning on your martial weapons and medium armor proficiency, and hands free casting than you are trying to make 6-level casting your main schtick. You also can get pseudo-full BAB with the Trappings of the Warrior panoply, you are an Int based class with a ton of skills, you are the best at Use Magic Device, and traits like "Pragmatic Activator" and "Student of Philosophy" can let you leverage your INT even more for certain skills.
Probably the most powerful occultist I played was a haunt collector with an orcish hornbow (and buckler) using the trappings of the warrior. Elf or Half-Elf is highly recommended because the elf FCB is just so much better than the other choices.
But if I'm building an Occultist I'm probably starting with a bow or a polearm (use it with Shield Brace for the Panoply).
I’ve been playing a Duskwalker Neccroccultist lately in one campaign, and it has been interesting though far more challenging than it should be due to campaign setting... we’re in a custom setting and necromancy is outlawed across most of the land, so her capabilities have been highly suppressed in most encounters due to an inability to raise undead creatures thus far... however, several of her abilities have still come in quite handy. In her first combat (she joined the party at level 13) she hit a dragon with a critical enervation and delivered it 9 levels, on round 1... it was an exciting moment... since then enervation has become a bit of a signature spell for her.
Originally I was goin to have her act as a bit of a front liner with a shield and dagger utilizing rimespell and icicle dagger to entangle foes for her allies to take down, but it became apparent early on that she lacked the attack bonus to reliably land hits on anything we were going to face any time soon... even with transmutation and legacy weapon...
Her most recent level was actually taken in Medium with the Reanimated Medium archetype... she died in the final round of combat against a pair of dragons to a death effect... go figure a Duskwalker with bonuses against death effects does to a death effect (rolled a nat 1)... Because of the background information on Duskwalkers and her past dealings with undead, her protection from becoming an undead had been eroded away, as a result she became a lingering spirit and possessed her own body...
I look forwards to unleashing her true potential when I get the chance, which I believe she might get with the location we are headed to next.
I should point out a couple of other things (opinions, so I expect some of this to be argued).
Winifred has kept up with DPR with only a single combat feat (Combat Reflexes). I've done the calculations, and if I put points in STR at levels 8 and 12 (bringing her base STR up to 16) she'll continue to keep up (I *might* have to take Improved Critical at 11 to keep up, I can't remember). This is with a character who starts with 14 STR and doesn't up it till 12, and who takes only 1 (or possibly 2 eventually) combat feat.
Second, although the Fauchard is - in my opinion - the best weapon in the game, I don't think the Occultist needs it. The Fauchard is just a slightly better Bardiche, and you can probably do more with your feats than slightly increase your crit-range (I'm using a Bardiche with Winifred, but I've been thinking of switching to a Lucerne Hammer or something - being able to spontaneously add Disruption has it's advantages). Also, although the crit-range of the Fauchard is amazing, it doesn't multiply the extra dice from Bane, so the crit-range is less important (it does multiply the static +2 from Bane, just not the dice). Fauchard is definitely a good option, but even as a Half-Elf I went for +2 to Will saves over exotic proficiency (Psychic casters want a good Will save).
I don't think you NEED Trappings of the Warrior as an Occultist, but if you want to be a primary front-liner (or archer or whatever) it's definitely a powerful option. I would wait till level 6 to take Trappings though - at level 2 it's just giving you +1 to hit, but at level 6 it's giving you +2 to hit and an iterative attack. You can take it earlier, but I think other Implement choices will serve you better at pevel 2.
For feats, Power Attack seems like the obvious choice, but any time you get Bane active the penalty to accuracy is actually more detrimental than the bonus damage (it is for me anyway, this probably depends on your accuracy, so it's probably worth doing some calculations). At later levels Power Attack will probably outshine Bane for damage, especially if you take Trappings. If I were going all out I'd go Combat Reflexes, Shield Focus, Shield Brace (Darkwood Large Shield has 0-ACP), then maybe Power Attack, Furious Focus and Improved Critical. However you do it, try to fit in Extra Mental Focus somewhere (I have 18 INT, +3 Mental Focus from FCB and I STILL felt I needed Extra Mental Focus). Extra Mental Focus can only he taken once, but you want to take it more =P
Spell selection on the Occultist is limited to begin with, but because of the way you get new spells you actually end up with moree spells known than a sorcerer (most classes are additive, the Occultist is multiplicative). There's a huge jump at level 10 where you go from 16 spells known to 25 spells known.
You could definitely build a more support focused Occultist without focusing on combat feats or Trappings, it might be worth looking at the other Panoplies. I think it would be worth looking at some fictional characters (Dr Strange, John Constantine, etc) to see what kind of flavour you moght like and play accordingly.
I've found that archery is a bit too feat-intensive for the occultist, and TWF isn't a good choice, so I'm more drawn to reach melee weapons (even as dex-based). Transmutation Implement for Bane on the fly is the obvious choice for any martial Occultist, but since it can be applied to an ally's weapon it's a good choice for support builds, too.
The one Occultist I did play straight was a Half-Elf Reliquarian Occultist of Yig (CN), one of the Great Old Ones.
It's one of those character ideas that start out simple, then you start jumping through hoops to make everything work. Half-Elf because Reliquarian loses a bunch of mental focus. Worshiper of one of the Great Old Ones because I wanted Dreamed Secrets. Then Yig because I needed an Animal Companion with the Share Spells feature (Scalykind domain), and a non-evil Deity.
I went with Transmutation (1st), Abjuration (2nd) and Illusion (6th), postponing Trappings because I wanted Mirror Image for my Constrictor Snake. The plan was to get a Horsemaster's Saddle and Improved Spell Sharing, but the game ended before that.
It was a fairly good mounted build while it lasted though. Casting Enlarge Person on my snake was often enough to let it dominate.
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Casting is rather constrained by limited spell selection; however, the sha'ir archetype can gain extra spells known (but can't use panoplies).
Extra spells known?
A normal Occultist gets seven sets of spells known over their career, while the Sha'ir only gets six sets of known spells. Two at level 1, 6, and 14.
The one Occultist I did play straight was a Half-Elf Reliquarian Occultist of Yig (CN), one of the Great Old Ones.
It's one of those character ideas that start out simple, then you start jumping through hoops to make everything work. Half-Elf because Reliquarian loses a bunch of mental focus. Worshiper of one of the Great Old Ones because I wanted Dreamed Secrets.
That sounds amazing. I love the flavour of this class so much ^_^
Casting is rather constrained by limited spell selection; however, the sha'ir archetype can gain extra spells known (but can't use panoplies).Extra spells known?
A normal Occultist gets seven sets of spells known over their career, while the Sha'ir only gets six sets of known spells. Two at level 1, 6, and 14.
Proably meant Silksworn - gets 2 extra "Implements" at level 1, for a total of 9 at level 18 (which is 63 spells known, the same as a sorcerer with the human FCB, or 20 more than a sorcerer without the human FCB).