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I vote Bard... usually play a race with access to the Human FCB, and trade said FCB spells for Masterpieces... Arrowsong's Lament (@ 4,7,11,13,16), Pageant of the Peacock @ 5, Hymn of Restorative Harmonics @ 10, Blazing Rondo @ 12, Life Budding in Salted Earth @ 14... You can really cover a lot of ground with Arrowsong's Lament for spell levels 1-5 (could always trade a 6th-level spell or feat to get that last spell level, too), Mnemonic Vestments, and a Ring of Spell Knowledge. I do really like the Hymn of Restorative Harmonics, and grab it as soon as I can get it for free with my FCB spells... conditon removal is legit.
I do find myself loading up on healing spells and condition delay/removal spells... such spells are not especially common for arcane spellcasters, so I almost feel obligated to learn them. Also, I have found that literally saving someone's life is greatly appreciated. I take pride in being useful in every situation I can. I genuinely enjoy being helpful, if for nothing else, I am seldom bored at the table. Obviously, grab all the Finale spells and Inspiration spells, too. Sometimes I even learn the spells necessary to craft my toys. Good Hope is something I can go without learning on my typical Flagbearer/Banner of Ancient Kings combination... the bonuses for me just being armed and awake within 30 feet of my allies basically duplicates Good Hope as a constant effect... no spells or even actions necessary on my behalf.
At Level 13, a Bard's Inspire Courage with Flagbearer/Banner of Ancient Kings, and Dervish Sikke:
+5 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects. +5 competence bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls.
+2 morale bonus on attack rolls, and weapon damage rolls.
+2 resistance bonus on all saving throws against mind-affecting effects.
With Master/Grand Master Performer:
+7 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects. +7 competence bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls.
+2 morale bonus on attack rolls, and weapon damage rolls.
+2 resistance bonus on all saving throws against mind-affecting effects.
Force. Multiplier.
PS. I shamelessly copied and pasted most of this reply from a reply of mine to my own thread elsewhere.
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If you really want to buff as many allies as you can, you should consider a Skald. Inspired Rage grants all characters who can hear it a bonus to STR, CON and Will saves. Clarion Call is a 1st level Skald spell that allows them to be heard over great distances. It does not give exact details on how far you can be heard but it does lower the DC to hear you by 15. The spell last 10 minutes per level so 1 casting will probably last longer than your raging song. Skalds also gain Rage powers and can grant those to anyone under their inspired rage. Being able to turn an entire army into barbarians is kind of hard to beat.
Skalds also get Bards spells. Bards have some of the best buff spells in the game and often get early access to them. In addition to buffs, they also get a lot of illusion spells, which can be very helpful for confusing the enemy. Spell Kenning gives the skald the skald access to any bard, cleric or wizard spell of the level they can cast. You don’t get a lot of them, but the ability to cast any spell of off the two most powerful lists in addition to your own list is very useful.
Skalds also get proficiency in all martial weapons and medium armor and can do not have to deal with arcane spell failure when wearing medium armor.
At 13th level a skald can grant +4 to STR, CON and Will save (-1 to AC) and 4 Rage Powers as a swift action and cast Haste in the first round of combat. Since the morale bonuses they stack with enchantment bonuses from spells and belts.
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Another vote on Skald for army buffing.
Maxing out Inspire Courage as a bard is rewarding for your party (although Flagbearer is only within 30 ft) but buffing out low-lv grunts with +Att/+Dmg isn't a gamechanger.
As a lv 13 Skald you could grant everyone fast healing 6 (Three Reasons to Live, Greater Skald's Vigor), delay death by a round (Deathless Frenzy), make them sprout an automatic negative energy slam attack (Lesser Spirit Totem, they use your Cha), keep performing for an entire day (Bacchanal Skald, Internal Fortitude), in addition to the +6 Str/Con and +5 to will saves.
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The STR and CON bonus for raging song increases at 8th and 16th level. So, at 13 they are only +4.
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Three Reasons to Live increases effective level by 6, so at lv 13 you count as being 19.
The bard above could also use it, but they're already at the max cap for Inspire Courage with the banner.
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late to the party here, but off the top of my head i'd say anything bard or bard-esque (bard, skald, evangelist cleric, oath of the people's council paladin...)
particularly the divine ones include a lot of party options such as solid spells (cleric) and auras (paladin), so it really depends on how deeply you're trying to go into party buffing, since bard and skald's bardic knowledge lets them go a bit more into the "strategy" aspect you might want.
voodistmonk lists a lot of really helpful numeric increases, but another i'd toss in to consider might be:
Poet's Cloak - skalds get some bard songs (inspire courage and inspire competence as 4th level), bards or bard-likes get a skald song (raging song as 4th level +1 rage power that they have or thats attached to the cloak)--neither advance beyond that, but it's a good bit of added utility earlier on in a campaign.
also iirc the Lingering Performance feat and Memorable trait (quests and campaigns) allow you to triple your song duration in an encounter (if you're not keeping a performance up constantly for allegro or a finale spell)
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If your Bard happened to be a Grippli, their FCB allows them to add 5 feet to the range of a Performance... so at level 13, the range of Inspire Courage could be 95'... radius... or a 190' circle of influence.
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Cavalier/Bard focusing on maximizing the banner can honestly be an incredible buffer, and it would be highly thematic.
Also if you want to be a strategist/leader I suggest archetypes that not only let you buff, but that let you share teamwork feats. This way you can change the tide of battle using more than just raw numbers. (Also teamwork feats are highly underrated)
VMC cavalier on a bard or vice-versa is kind of nutty (if you go human to somewhat mitigate the feat losses and are very careful with your choices), especially with an order like dragon
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VMC cavalier on a bard or vice-versa is kind of nutty (if you go human to somewhat mitigate the feat losses and are very careful with your choices), especially with an order like dragonCavalier/Bard focusing on maximizing the banner can honestly be an incredible buffer, and it would be highly thematic.
Also if you want to be a strategist/leader I suggest archetypes that not only let you buff, but that let you share teamwork feats. This way you can change the tide of battle using more than just raw numbers. (Also teamwork feats are highly underrated)
I absolutely live Bard VMC Cavalier! Like you said, especially with Order of the Dragon. D@mn good suggestion. I like to VMC Cavalier on pretty much any Bard archetype that gives up Inspire Courage, so you can at least contribute with Tactician. Order of the Staff on a Magician Bard, Order of the Blossom on a Sandman Bard... there are so many good options.