Help with encounter design

[EldritchWeaver]

I have a building used by a druglord, but all underlings I've thought of are basically martials. So I need some magical support for the time when my players infiltrate the base. What kind of casters are useful for the close quarter combat? Buffers? Debuffers? What ideas do you have?

The rules: Pathfinder, Path of War and Spheres of Power. The casters should be 4th or 5th level.

[Geddy2112]

Any full caster will do the job. If you want ones that can hold up in melee, use clerics/druids/other divine casters.

For 5th level casters, you can't beat snowball for a 1st level spam spell. 5d6 damage and a chance to stagger.

If they are 5th level arcane casters, give somebody the ability to cast haste-it makes even the mookiest mook a threat to the party and swings action economy against the players. All arcane casters should have mage armor up unless the players sneak up on them undetected. Blindness/deafness is a pretty powerful debuff, as it is permanent. Don't spam it unless your party has a way to heal it(although spamming it might force the players to retreat).

Hold person is a pretty strong spell against the players. You can setup obscuring mist/fog cloud to trap the players or make them go in blind to rooms.

[Fitz10019]

Invisible summoners

[EldritchWeaver]

Any full caster will do the job. If you want ones that can hold up in melee, use clerics/druids/other divine casters.

For 5th level casters, you can't beat snowball for a 1st level spam spell. 5d6 damage and a chance to stagger.

If they are 5th level arcane casters, give somebody the ability to cast haste-it makes even the mookiest mook a threat to the party and swings action economy against the players. All arcane casters should have mage armor up unless the players sneak up on them undetected. Blindness/deafness is a pretty powerful debuff, as it is permanent. Don't spam it unless your party has a way to heal it(although spamming it might force the players to retreat).

Hold person is a pretty strong spell against the players. You can setup obscuring mist/fog cloud to trap the players or make them go in blind to rooms.

I'm going to use at least partially these suggestions.


Invisible summoners

There are already a number of enemies, that might be too much in this encounter. But I'll keep it in mind. That could work in the following encounter.

[Manyasone]

Question: SoP seems allowed. Vancian also allowed?

[EldritchWeaver]

Question: SoP seems allowed. Vancian also allowed?

In this encounter, having a mixture of both is not a problem.