I think this class is disappointing to some because of high expectations and anticipation for a class or archtype that filled this ones conceptual spot.
I think its a great addition but there are some ways it could be improved to make it really do what it seems like its setting out to do.
I'll get it started:
Remove Aura Enhancement - List instead the four aura spells that can be slotted as font spells including malediction and benediction. Allow any other spell that could be considered an aura(including things that should have the trait, emanations that can be sustained) that can be slotted in the wave casting slots or can are by gaining focus spells to benefit from archtype feats like Tandem Onslaught. Allow the class to benefit any aura spell they cast not just the 4
Live the Creed seems like it really isnt a level 20 feat. Not sure how much earlier it should be but a level 20 feat might be one that allows the battle harbinger to cast an aura as a free action when rolling initiative. If living creed were available at a lower level im thinking 14 and level 20 gave the free action on initiative aura then the level 20 battle harbinger could really roll out doing what they do and still get in and fight.
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I think the most basic and fundamental change that has to be made, and that I do't really think most people would disagree or think its too much, its to simply just give them real full martial proficiency. Yes, they now start being trained in martial weapons and they scale like other martials, but the only weapon that goes to master is your deity's favored weapon. If the bard can have scaling proficiencies with all martial weapons I think a clearly martial-y inclined cleric (so inclined it literaly turns into one) should have full scaling martial proficiencies too.
I also think the archetype should have Strength or Dex as KAS and both Weapon Specialization and Greater Weapon Specialization like a martial. Both of them would be ideal, but I think at least one of these is pretty much mandatory for the battle harbinger to be at least an average martial.
The dedication feels...out of place. Receiving trained proficiency in two skills and the Toughness feat when there's stuff that the archetype needs patched ASAP to work is kinda like a waste of page space IMO. As I said in other posts I would probably take the Live the Creed feat, remove the frequency, make it so if you cast a battle aura using the feat it only lasts for 1 round, and bake it into the dedication itself. The current action economy of the BH is really bad so this feels like a must.
The battle font also needs some recharge effect like what alchemists have with their versatile vials. A BH with the current battle font is going to run out of battle aura spells in like one or two encounters. At the very least you should be able to recharge 1 use every 10 minutes by refocusing and whatnot.
This is how I would probably change the Battle Harbinger:
Battle Harbinger Adjustment: Your key attribute is Dexterity or Strength instead of Wisdom. You become trained in your choice of Athletics or Acrobatics. You gain weapon specialization at 7th level instead of 13th level, and greater weapon specialization at 15th level.
Spellcasting Adjustment: Left as is.
Divine Font Adjustment: Change the following line: "Your battle auras use your class DC or spell DC, whichever is higher."
Initial Creed (1st): Left as is.
Lesser Creed (5th): Remove the following line: "Your proficiency rank for your class DC increases to expert."
Moderate Creed (9th): Your proficiency ranks for your class DC, spell attack modifier, and spell DC statistics increase to expert.
Greater Creed (13th): You gain master proficiency with your deity’s favored weapon, martial weapons, simple weapons, and unarmed attacks. Your proficiency rank for Fortitude saves increases to master. When you roll a success on a Fortitude save, you get a critical success instead.
Major Creed (15th): Your proficiency rank for Will saves increases to master.
True Creed (17th): Your proficiency ranks for your class DC, spell attack modifier, and spell DC statistics increase to master.
Final Creed (19th): Remove the following line: "Your proficiency rank for your class DC increases to legendary."
Additional Feat Adjustment: Add the following line: "6th Reactive Strike (Player Core 138)."
Battle Harbinger Dedication Adjustment: You have trained extensively in combat, battlefield tactics, and stamina, focusing on being an exceptional warrior for your faith in exchange for less time studying the traditional spells and scriptures. For every 10 minutes you spend in exploration mode, you regain 2 battle font slots; this doesn't prevent you from participating in other exploration activities. You gain the Battle Blessing action.
Battle Blessing [one-action]
You cast a battle aura, though instead of having its regular duration, it lasts until the end of your next turn.
To repeat what was brought up in another thread, here I think is the bare minimum that the Battle Harbinger needs to become good at their intended niche:
Beyond that, you could give them more "nice to have" base benefits like creed slots, but in my opinion an easy win could be to give them Channel Smite for free at level 1: it's not just that the feat is a perfect thematic and mechanical fit for a divine gish (you smite foes with divine power, and get to bypass your spell's weak save DC with your much stronger weapon attack), in my opinion it's a great asset to have in a larger tabletop gaming environment where some players really love the Paladin's Divine Smite from another popular TTRPG, and want to experience that playstyle when considering switching systems. If someone came to me and asked "I want to play a character that smites enemies with their attacks, just like my favorite Paladin in this other game, does Pathfinder let me do this?", which has happened a few times, I could just point to this version of the Battle Harbinger and offer them a character that does exactly what they want right out of the box.
I was thinking a little bit about this so I made a second pass on my earlier Battle Harbinger draft.
Battle Harbinger Adjustment: Your key attribute is Dexterity or Strength instead of Wisdom. You become trained in your choice of Athletics or Acrobatics. You gain weapon specialization at 7th level instead of 13th level, and greater weapon specialization at 15th level.
Spellcasting Adjustment: Left as is.
Divine Font Adjustment: Instead of preparing heal or harm spells with your divine font, you instead gain the battle font, which allows you to spontaneously cast battle aura spells. You gain 4 additional spell slots each day at your highest rank of cleric spell slots. You can cast only bane, benediction, bless, and malediction in these slots. Any feats and effects that refer to a battle aura refers to these spells, regardless of whether they were cast with your standard spell slots or your divine font spell slots. At 5th level, the number of additional slots increases to 5, and at 15th level, the total number of additional slots increases to 6. Your battle auras use your class DC or spell DC, whichever is higher.
Initial Creed (1st): Change the following line: "You're trained in all armor (light, medium, and heavy), and you have expert proficiency in Fortitude saves."
Change the following line: "At 13th level when you gain the divine fefense class feature, you also gain expert proficiency in light, medium, and heavy armor."
Add the following line: "You gain the Shield Block general feat."
Lesser Creed (5th): Remove the following line: "Your proficiency rank for your class DC increases to expert."
Moderate Creed (9th): Your proficiency ranks for your class DC, spell attack modifier, and spell DC statistics increase to expert.
Greater Creed (13th): You gain master proficiency with your deity’s favored weapon, martial weapons, simple weapons, and unarmed attacks. Your proficiency rank for Fortitude saves increases to master. When you roll a success on a Fortitude save, you get a critical success instead.
Major Creed (15th): Your proficiency rank for Will saves increases to master.
True Creed (17th): Your proficiency ranks for your class DC, spell attack modifier, and spell DC statistics increase to master.
Final Creed (19th): Remove the following line: "Your proficiency rank for your class DC increases to legendary."
Additional Feat: Add the following line: "6th Reactive Strike (Player Core 138)."
Battle Harbinger Dedication Adjustment: You have trained extensively in combat, battlefield tactics, and stamina, focusing on being an exceptional warrior for your faith in exchange for less time studying the traditional spells and scriptures. For every 10 minutes you spend in exploration mode, you regain 2 divine font spell slots; this doesn't prevent you from participating in other exploration activities. You gain the Battle Creed action.
Battle Creed [one-action]
[CLERIC]
You cast a battle aura using one of your divine font slots, though instead of having its regular duration, it lasts until the end of your next turn.
Feats: Remove the Aura Enhancement feat from the list of Battle Harbinger feats.
In a homebrew I wrote, I broke down cleric doctrines into features at every odd level, left the Cloistered Cleric and Warpriest unchanged, and tried to implement the Battle Harbinger under both this structure and that of bounded casters, who get a powerful extra feature at levels 7 and 19: for level 7, I figured adding aura spells to the font could be the benefit, but at level 19, and for a Battle Harbinger specifically, you could get away with giving them avatar as a focus spell. Normally, the spell is 10th-rank, because it lets your zero-Strength Cloistered Cleric fight with approximately martial-grade strength, but when your character already has full martial capabilities, you could even let the Battle Harbinger speak, cast spells, and use their own attack modifier for their deity's favored weapon, and it wouldn't be all that much of an increase from a focus spell.
