Bones Mystery Oracle....is it a good necromancer?

[Maho-Tsukai]

As the title. Can a Bones Mystery Oracle be as good a Necromancer as a cleric in pathfinder? I mean, with access to the Cleric List, the ability to command undead and other Necromantic powers it seems that the Bones Oracle could be just as good a necromancer as the pathfinder cleric....but I am not sure and thus want your opinions...

[kestrel404]

Other than the fact that you'll be a Tier 2 caster (like a sorceror) instead of a Tier 1 (like a wizard), a Bones Oracle makes for a fine Necromancer.
The good: As opposed to a cleric with, for instance, the 'undead' and 'souls' domains who gets 4 powers roughly related to undeath, the Bones Oracle gets 8, one of which is a very nice capstone ability.
The bad: You'll have limited spell selection, and after you get done taking all the necromancer 'must have' spells, there will be little room left for customization.
The optimization: The Eldritch Heritage feat. It's a charisma-based feat that lets you in on the Bloodline powers of a sorceror. You might think that the Undead bloodline is the way to go here, but in truth that's not the best option - instead go for the Arcane bloodline. At 11th level, take the Improved Eldritch Heritage feat and go for the 9th level power - which gives you extra spells known off the wizard list! This can get you some much-needed versatility. The 15th level power is also well worth the feat, for a +2 to the DC of Necromancy spells (which stacks with Spell focus & Greater spell focus!)