[DnD 3.5] Looking for advice on what class to play

[theonesin]

Starting a new campaign at level 2, and I'm having problems figuring out what class to play. All books are allowed, except for psionics and incarnum classes, and most races are allowed except for a random few.

The party is made up of a Monk, Rogue, and Paladin, so we've pretty much got melee taken care of. I figure my best bet is a spellcaster of some sort, but I don't know what. My rolled stats are: 17, 15, 15, 14, 12, 9.

[Dragon Elite]

Wizard. Put the 17 in intelligence and dump charisma. Take sleep, color spray, and mage armor, plus whatever else your favorite spells are. Then, you can be a buffer, with a couple of win buttons for when you're stuck.

Or, go warlock. Take the shattering invocation and then be just as good as the rest of your party for the whole day. Take Fell Flight or Walk Unseen at level 6.

[Kylarra]

I'd probably suggest warlock for UMD/crafting or a tier 3 caster like Beguiler. Of course there's also Dragonfire Adept.

[Saint GoH]

Bard. Be the party face as well as focus on Inspire Courage. Make your melee friends love you using Inspirational Boost, Song of Heart, and Dragonfire Inspiration (also obligatory cheese involving Words of Creation).

[Telasi]

Bard is fun and won't overshadow the rest of the party, if you're concerned about that. Plus, it can be a healer, which you seem to lack.

[sonofzeal]

"Whatever you want". Your stats are solid enough to support just about anything. As long as the Pally has a wand, healing's covered, you already have a rogue, so you're free to do whatever. Melee lanes are probably pretty clogged though, so ranged is probably best, or an arcanist of some sort. Possibly both, like Warlock.

[Duncan_Ruadrik]

Archery Ranger with Sword of The Arcane Order feat and Shooting Star substitution levels, all from Champions of Valor. Take care of that ranged bit there that your party appears to lack... and cast divine and arcane wizard spells!

Your rolls are definitely good enough for a MAD character.

[theonesin]

Some updates. The Paladin is now a Knight instead. And the DM is giving us some sort of NPC healer (though he won't go into specifics about it).

I don't think I really want to play a primary buffer kind of class, as I didn't enjoy it much the last time I tried to play one. And I've never bothered trying to learn how Crafting works in this game, so I don't know how beneficial that would be.

[Kylarra]

Well, what are you feeling like playing?

[theonesin]

Well, I have always been interested in trying a Warlock again, as it was my first DnD character ever (back when I didn't know enough to get the most out of him). I tried the similar Dragonfire Adept with good results, but due to a misunderstanding of how cone ranges work, I'm turned off from using the DFA right now.