Alchemists are OK at debuffing enemies and at buffing themselves, but even with the infusion discovery they have trouble buffing others - the action economy and their limited spell slots are against them.
At level 2 you only have one discovery, so you can choose buffing others or debuffing, not both. Tanglefoot bomb gives you basic debuffing, or infusion allows you to give your extracts away if you choose. I'd go with tanglefoot at this time. If you take the grenadier archetype you'll have precise bombs as well which makes using that easier.
If you choose to play a dhampir note that alchemists get cure light wounds but not inflict light wounds - you'll need others to heal you.
Hi! Welcome to Pathfinder. Hope you like it here.
Interestingly, the Alchemist is a bit odd as it pertains to buffing and debuffing.
On one hand, there are spells/extracts that usually can only effect the caster, but that the alchemist can use on other people using the Infusion Discovery. (These are called "personal range" spells.)
Examples of these spells include Shield, True Strike, Expeditious Retreat, Blend and more.
However, the bad news is that like avr mentioned above, the Alchemist is a bit weird regarding the action economy of buffing.
There are ways around this, but it depends on your table and how comfortable you are with the system.
Eventually getting "Poisoner's Gloves" is an example of a good idea for buffing. The Tinkerer archetype is another. Having a familiar use Poisoner's Gloves is even better.
Alchemist is not the best party buffer.
There are ways to do it (via Infusion or some comparable archetype abilities) but it's mosty if not exclusively single target. Not ideal, at best.
There's a potentially positive thing, in that your party mates will have to use their own actions - with the right selection of extracts, that's better for everyone, freeing you for something else. Although, it can just as well become a hindrance if handled poorly.
Debuffing might be easier, in that bombs can have relevant side effects. Some archetypes either specialise in that or open other options.
All in all, if that's what you want to do... How attached are you to the idea of playing an alchemist ? Others might do a better job of the whole buff/debuff thing.
One thing that I just discovered is the alchemist archetype Perfumer"
This is a big deal, since it eliminates the usual problems surrounding alchemist buffing.
One thing that I just discovered is the alchemist archetype Perfumer"
This is a big deal, since it eliminates the usual problems surrounding alchemist buffing.
Well, it effectively gives the infusion discovery for free and lets the alchemist use their actions to apply the buffs rather than the actions of the person buffed. It does nothing to improve the limited spell/extract slots of the alchemist (which is a serious limit to their buffing), cripples their mutagen and weakens their bombs (touch attacks are better at connecting than reflex save effects are, and a lot of bomb discoveries depend on a direct hit to take full effect, besides the d6 to d4 damage and losing Int to damage).
You have a point, but I put this up here because this might be the most powerful alchemist archetype at 1st level.
You get to cast True Strike on someone else with a standard action. That applies to combat maneuvers.
Obviously, the potency of this falls off after a while.
Personally, I would rather have an archetype that's based entirely around the "Poisoner's Gloves" magic item. AKA, starting off with one like the gunslinger class, and slowly improving it.