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That is a large party.
A bard would power-charge the melees and would probably be the strongest option. I play one and enjoy boosting my group a lot, and add some damage with my short bow.
A sorcerer is also possible, of course, adding some blasting power, for example.
If you're set on a caster, I'd pick bard, but you really shouldn't need a 3rd spellcaster at all.
Do you know if you're playing with free archetype? I suspect not, but it would be good to know before giving any actual build advice.
Bard. Both are strong classes in a standard party, but a Bard's Compositions increase in value the more allies they have. And you have a lot. Plus, as a new player, their durability allows for more tactical errors. A Sorcerer (as do other 6 h.p. classes) has to play wiser, while you're already tackling a learning curve. Unlike in 3.X/PF1/5.0, in PF2 tactics & party synergy matter more than builds (esp. auto-win builds). Bard have the most natural synergy, so yeah, Bard.
One plus of playing a Sorcerer here is it is a party w/ two Clerics and a Guardian, meaning you'd be quite protected if you did need to scratch that itch. Emphasis on "need" as you don't yet know what difficulty level your GM runs at or how they address adjustments for party size.
Since both the casters are Divine, I think a 3rd caster works fine (and avoids frontline clutter, esp. if that Minotaur will be Large. There are plenty of effective & tricky Occult spells you'll have access to that they won't.
As mentioned, you can grab a bow to spend spare actions on, though often you'll want to cast a Cantrip + Composition (or Demoralize, Recall Knowledge, etc.). Check with the Rogue & Investigator what skills they're both covering (between them they'll likely cover all the important ones once already, so it's to avoid tripling up). Likely there will be a Cha skill you can call your own.
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Both would work well so I think the key question is what would you find more fun.
To massively oversimplify, a bard is primarily a buffer/debuffer. Their play style revolves almost completely around buffing your party and hampering your opponents. Which means you very, very rarely get to do significant damage and if you're not paying attention your contribution to the party can be overlooked. Note, you WILL be contributing significantly but its not as obvious as a 50 pt heal or a 50 pt crit.
A sorcerer, especially for this group, is probably best built as a blaster. Your contribution will be very obvious as you do damage to lots of enemies or lots of damage to one enemy.
Net contribution about the same.
One other minor point. One of the main Bard contributions is Inspire Courage. With 2 clerics in the party one of them throwing bless is going to be an option. While this isn't as good as Inspire Courage its a pretty darn good alternative. So, at least for awhile, your main contribution as a bard is a bit lower in this party than it would be in others. But once you get Dirge of Doom that issue goes away (Bless+Dirge of Doom is an awesome combination).
I know Shades of Blood is undead heavy (especially vampires)
This is kind of the only downside on Bards. A lot of undead have immunities that are a problem for the Occult spell list. It won't matter if you're buffing and you can pick spells that are reliable enough to deal with it, but you will have to think about those selections.
If your goal is to use your spells to attack directly, Sorcerer is probably the better pick. But in general Bard is a very strong class in a large party with how many people they can buff with their songs. The +1 from Courageous Anthem increases both chance to hit and chance to crit, so it's a lot more powerful than it sounds.
In terms of something else... if that Investigator is ranged then another melee like Fighter/Barbarian would bring some big frontline offense to the table. If not, having 4 melee can run into issues of tripping over each other in narrow spaces, so it'd depend on how big the maps are in Shades of Blood. You could use a reach weapon to help get around this, and Fighter with a reach weapon is really good due to reactive strike anyway. Trip stuff (either via Athletics or Slam Down) and they're gonna have a bad time.
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I think you really need to know what the Clerics will bring to the table. Are they casters or more melee-oriented? Does their deity grant them access to specific spells they plan to make good use of?
Also does anyone already has ideas like taking an archetype in the future?
Myself, I would go with a heavy hitter. Likely a Spirit Barbarian, maybe with Champion Multiclass dedication (but not Holy alas).
I'd recommend sorcerer over bard. It's the simplest caster in the game, and is a cut above the rest when it comes to damage and healing.
A bard's spell list is rife with mind influencing spells, which are of limited use against undead. Your buffs are unlikely to amount to much either, what with a primarily defensive guardian, a rogue who can't deal precision damage against many undead, and an investigator who is unlikely to be all that affective in melee to begin with.
So be a sorcerer and blow everything up. Just watch out for your allies.
Bard is best if you like being a buff bot that everyone looks at sideways when they don't get their buffs.
Sorc is versatile. You can build a blaster that does good casting damage.
Not sure why you were told to avoid the magus or oracle. Both are strong options. If you don't have an archer, a starlit span magus is an amazing archer.
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Bard is best if you like being a buff bot that everyone looks at sideways when they don't get their buffs.
Sorc is versatile. You can build a blaster that does good casting damage.
Not sure why you were told to avoid the magus or oracle. Both are strong options. If you don't have an archer, a starlit span magus is an amazing archer.
Because they're complex for a 1st PC, not because they're weak. Though IMO an archer is about as simple as it gets so Starlit Span Magus isn't that complex on most rounds. I too would recommend against one in melee (at least until after playing a melee PC, maybe a caster PC too).
Starlit Span magus is super easy.
Remastered oracle is pretty easy to run. Sorc is easier, but bard is harder to run than a Remaster Oracle unless you hit the courageous anthem button and do the same thing over and over.
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Not sure why you were told to avoid the magus or oracle. Both are strong options. If you don't have an archer, a starlit span magus is an amazing archer.
Likely either the perception of difficulty (which was true of premaster Oracle but is much less so now), or that the GM just doesn't know the classes well enough to be able to help a new player out (which is a totally valid decision at a table of new folks).
Because they're complex for a 1st PC, not because they're weak. Though IMO an archer is about as simple as it gets so Starlit Span Magus isn't that complex on most rounds. I too would recommend against one in melee (at least until after playing a melee PC, maybe a caster PC too).
Yeah, melee Magus is difficult to play well with the action economy and the risks of being in melee. Starlit Span Magus, OTOH, is straight up one of the easiest things in the game to play. Take a bunch of different damage types for your cantrips, pick up a good focus spell via Archetype, and Spellstrike pretty much every turn you don't have to move. Profit.
I would vote bard over sorcerer, but a single target melee damage bro seems like the best pick.
Your party has 2 divine casters, so there would be a lot of overlap with a Bard's occult tradition (or a primal Sorcerer's tradition). An arcane caster is a better choice in this regard, bringing useful blasts and utility to the party.
While the Imperial Sorcerer is always a strong choice, I'd recommend the Draconic Sorcerer with a Time Dragon as the Draconic Benefactor here - and have your focus spells changed accordingly, e.g. Dragon Breath is force damage vs Will save. You might prefer reliable damaging focus spells (like Flurry of Claws & Dragon Breath) over the Imperial ones throughout the campaign. Afaik PFS games do use the changed draconic options, from what they list on their website for Draconic Options, though that table is outdated with the appearance of Draconic Codex two weeks ago.
The arcane spell-list has great Reflex-save AoE blasts, while the divine casters have the stronger Fortitude-save AoE blasts (especially vs the many undead), while a (non-mental) Will-save AoE blast is pretty unique (and amazing vs most swarms); force damage also ignores any resistances/immunities that might come up.
The Time Dragon's bonus spells are also very useful for the entirety of the campaign: Fear, Loose Time's Arrow, Haste, Fly, Banishment. Loose Time's Arrow in particular is one of the strongest 2nd-rank spells in the game, and with a huge party it's even more effective; triggering the Draconic bloodmagic on that spell is a wonderful way of opening up combat and sending your Guardian with that +1 status to AC into the fray, especially as many Guardians have difficulties with movement (heavy armor, potentially carrying fortress shields). To be honest, it's stronger than Haste here.
A Time Dragon tied to ancient Azlant (instead of an Imperial bloodline) is also very thematic.
p.s.: I would recommend the Ancient Elf heritage and grabbing the Psychic dedication. The archetype is much easier than the class, so there should be no problem, you basically just get a focus point (+ focus spell), which helps a lot with few spell-slots early game. The Unbound Step's Warp Step is a good choice here, as you don't really want a strong focus spell (you have already strong Sorcerer focus spells) but having the 1-action double-stride option available is your "get out of bad situations"-card and is also flavorful for a Time Sorcerer since it's basically just the Time Jump spell (especially once it heightens to 4th rank).
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At the risk of suggesting extra work, you could prepare a Bard and a Sorcerer, and pick the one that compliments your party best when you actually meet them.
I mean, what if one of your clerics is a Pharasman Warpriest? That changes the dynamics of the party quite a bit.
If you don't want to go through the extra work, then I suggest a Sorcerer with the Primal spell list. It has a lot of 'blammy', and magical blammy is what your party seems to need. I suggest Primal rather than Arcane for one simple reason: Vitality Lash is Divine/Primal. It's 2d6 of vitality damage vs fort save, leaving you open to cast guidance/shield or use a bow/javelin for 0 reload ranged weaponry. Or movement, of course.
Also note: a Sorcerer gets Signature Spells. Something like Thunderstrike scales up well. Also Fireball and Holy Light.
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Another option is an Wood Kineticist, or Wood/____ Kineticist. Wood brings an Elemental Blast with vitality damage.
This also allows for the repeated usage of AoE blasts. They won't be as powerfull as a full Caster's AoE, but you could use them all day long. This ability becomes much more usefull at 4th level, when you take Safe Elements. That ability let's you exclude up to your Con modifier of people from the effects of your AoE, letting you blast away, despite your 3+ melee allies being mixed up with enemies.