Divine caster class

[Dankus Memakus]

Alrighty so im going to being playing pathfinder for the first time ever. (I have played d&d 4e and 5e quite extensively) and i want a divine caster class preferably able to hold its on in melee however i dont NEED melee prowess if other abilities are cooler. I saw that shaman was a thing but i know literallyt nothing about pathfinder classes so i was just looking for some help on what i should pick (and race suggestions would be nice as well)


Edit: I also looked at alchemist and there is an apperently an apothecary, and also skald interesed me. if they can heal id be interested in those classes too

[noob]

Cleric and druid are simple choices(strong self buff options if you want to melee a bit too).
Furthermore with those classes and due to how pathfinder rebalanced the classes you can just take all the levels straight.
If you want something who Hit people with a random weapon while casting less than a cleric then inquisitor is from what I heard not a bad choice.

[Dankus Memakus]

Cleric and druid are simple choices(strong self buff options if you want to melee a bit too).
Furthermore with those classes and due to how pathfinder rebalanced the classes you can just take all the levels straight.
If you want something who Hit people with a random weapon while casting less than a cleric inquisitor is from what I heard not a bad choice.
Id prefer to take the levels straight

[noob]

You can probably pick any base class and take only levels in that class.
Oracle can do stuff like a cleric if you play half human and then use paragon surge over and over to access the spell you need right now out of battle but most gms do not like this kind of use of spontaneous classes.

[Dankus Memakus]

You can probably pick any base class and take only levels in that class.
Oracle can do stuff like a cleric if you play half human and then use paragon surge over and over to access the spell you need right now out of battle but most gms do not like this kind of use of spontaneous classes.

Im not quite sure what that means....

[Wartex1]

If you want more of a melee-focused divine caster (think halfway between 5E's Paladin and Cleric, slightly closer to Paladin) then you might want to look at the Warpriest.

[Dankus Memakus]

If you want more of a melee-focused divine caster (think halfway between 5E's Paladin and Cleric, slightly closer to Paladin) then you might want to look at the Warpriest.

I do love paladins so that may be a good option for me

[noob]

Paragon surge is a spell that when cast gives you temporarily one feat of your choosing(but you must be half human to do so)
That feat can be bonus spell known.
Now for one minute you can cast one spell you chose from your class list.
Can some playgrounders say who is the best at fighting straight between warpriest and inquisitor?
Based on chassis the inquisitor is better: more skill points same bab same spell slots same saves.
But what about the other class features?

[Wartex1]

I do love paladins so that may be a good option for me

Compared to 5E, PF's Paladin is kind of anemic (still quite strong for a martial though) in terms of magical ability. Warpriest ups that in exchange for iconic Paladin abilities, though it still gets its own martial capabilities that still make it quite a strong melee combatant.

[Kurald Galain]

For a melee-based divine caster you can't go wrong with Warpriest.

Alchemist is either a bomb-tosser or somebody who drinks mutation potions to hulk out (and he's decent at buffing or healing teammates with his homemade potions). Shaman is a "pet class". Skald is primarily interesting if your teammates are mostly melee characters.

[Dankus Memakus]

For a melee-based divine caster you can't go wrong with Warpriest.

Alchemist is either a bomb-tosser or somebody who drinks mutation potions to hulk out (and he's decent at buffing or healing teammates with his homemade potions). Shaman is a "pet class". Skald is primarily interesting if your teammates are mostly melee characters.

My party is mostly melee and im unsure of what a pet class is

[Morphic tide]

My party is mostly melee and im unsure of what a pet class is

A pet class is a class that focuses a lot of class resources on a creature that isn't the PC, like an Animal Companion. They are distinct from minionmancy, like necromancy and Summon spells, in that there's only one "pet," and are distinct from mount classes, like Paladins or Cavaliers, in that the "pet" does little to bolster the capacity of the actual PC directly.

The best pet class, bar none, is Summoner. Because the Summoner's pet, a thing called an Eidolon, is frequently stronger than most full PCs who focus on melee. There's an archetype for Summoner that stacks the Eidolon's capabilities onto the Summoner, excluding mental ability scores. This archetype, and Summoner in general, is typically considered to be bat**** insane in combat.

[Dankus Memakus]

A pet class is a class that focuses a lot of class resources on a creature that isn't the PC, like an Animal Companion. They are distinct from minionmancy, like necromancy and Summon spells, in that there's only one "pet," and are distinct from mount classes, like Paladins or Cavaliers, in that the "pet" does little to bolster the capacity of the actual PC directly.

The best pet class, bar none, is Summoner. Because the Summoner's pet, a thing called an Eidolon, is frequently stronger than most full PCs who focus on melee. There's an archetype for Summoner that stacks the Eidolon's capabilities onto the Summoner, excluding mental ability scores. This archetype, and Summoner in general, is typically considered to be bat**** insane in combat.
Ah i see. Thanks for the explanation

[EldritchWeaver]

The best pet class, bar none, is Summoner. Because the Summoner's pet, a thing called an Eidolon, is frequently stronger than most full PCs who focus on melee. There's an archetype for Summoner that stacks the Eidolon's capabilities onto the Summoner, excluding mental ability scores. This archetype, and Summoner in general, is typically considered to be bat**** insane in combat.

That's why Summoner got nerfed with the Unchained version.

[Ellrin]

There basically aren't any divine casters in Pathfinder that you can't make into respectable melee combatants. Rangers and Paladins are going to be closer to the fighter side of things, with Warpriests and Inquisitors serving as more dedicated gishes, but straight druids and clerics are melee powerhouses with the right selection of feats and spells prepared, and even oracles and shamans can close to melee range pretty well with the right curses/mysteries/archetypes. None of the divine casters have a bad chassis for melee, and they pretty much all have at least class options that can enhance their melee capabilities before even getting into spells.

In short, you really can't go wrong with divine casters if you want to be able to step into melee, though the strongest casters will of course be those with 9th level spellcasting. You can pick pretty nearly any divine casting class you like the look of and function pretty well at your proposed goal, though some may take a little more research than others.

[Coretron03]

A pet class is a class that focuses a lot of class resources on a creature that isn't the PC, like an Animal Companion. They are distinct from minionmancy, like necromancy and Summon spells, in that there's only one "pet," and are distinct from mount classes, like Paladins or Cavaliers, in that the "pet" does little to bolster the capacity of the actual PC directly.

The best pet class, bar none, is Summoner. Because the Summoner's pet, a thing called an Eidolon, is frequently stronger than most full PCs who focus on melee. There's an archetype for Summoner that stacks the Eidolon's capabilities onto the Summoner, excluding mental ability scores. This archetype, and Summoner in general, is typically considered to be bat**** insane in combat.
That archtype however makes them strictly worse then without it because of action economy. It just shows more easily that summoner>lots of other classes.

[Dankus Memakus]

So, since i can make a good melee fighter out of any divine caster what race should i choose? Dwarf for wisdom?


Edit:or possibly aasimar

[Morphic tide]

That archtype however makes them strictly worse then without it because of action economy. It just shows more easily that summoner>lots of other classes.
Action economy is not the be-all, end-all that people tend to think. Having your Eidolon's stats layered over you makes you considerably harder to kill because enemies must go through your Eidolon's health and AC to kill you. Which can easily triple your survivability. There's also the fact that you can use Eidolon Mutations to replace a lot of costly items and substitute for quite a few spells.

Synthesist is so powerful because it manages to be a viable sidegrade to a class that is already edging in on t1 territory of "solve all the problems. Literally all of them." It's powerful because it's close to a flat multiplying of a character's durability by strapping the stats of something meant to be a tank on top of a caster. Yes, you no longer have the beatstick get its own actions separate from the caster who buffs it to hell and back, but instead the caster gets all the beatstick's stuff and becomes a nightmare to actually put down if played intelligently.

[grarrrg]

Paragon surge is a spell that when cast gives you temporarily one feat of your choosing(but you must be half human to do so)
That feat can be bonus spell known.
Now for one minute you can cast one spell you chose from your class list.

Half-elf, not half-Human.
While you can (temporarily) get any feat you qualify for, you are 'stuck' taking the same EXACT feat (http://paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1gh#v5748eaic9s4y) for all other Paragon Surge castings for the rest of the day.
You can also grab any 2 spells (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/expanded-arcana/) from your list, provided they are both not the highest level you can cast.

It is a handy trick, but not something you should rely upon.



Action economy is not the be-all, end-all that people tend to think. Having your Eidolon's stats layered over you makes you considerably harder to kill because enemies must go through your Eidolon's health and AC to kill you. Which can easily triple your survivability. There's also the fact that you can use Eidolon Mutations to replace a lot of costly items and substitute for quite a few spells.
Additionally, there are some builds you just can't do with a 'normal' Eidolon.
Quick example is an Archer/'gunslinger' Eidolon. A straight Eidolon just won't have a feats (at least not until high level, and even then pretty starved). Whereas a Synthesist can go ahead and dip a couple in Fighter/Gunslinger for a quick feat boost and then become a ranged multi-attack horror.

[Florian]

Alrighty so im going to being playing pathfinder for the first time ever. (I have played d&d 4e and 5e quite extensively) and i want a divine caster class preferably able to hold its on in melee however i dont NEED melee prowess if other abilities are cooler. I saw that shaman was a thing but i know literallyt nothing about pathfinder classes so i was just looking for some help on what i should pick (and race suggestions would be nice as well)

PF handles healing, especially in-combat-healing, very differently than 4E D&D, as well as 5E, as the economy of actions and resources is different.

Check out some guides on the so-called "Oradin"-builds, thats a mix of Paladin and Oracle that handles healing similar to your regular 4E Cleric (or if you find an up-to-date Oracle build, check Pei Zin Practitioner, that can make do without the Paladin levels)

In addition, check some Cleric guides for the "Reach Cleric" builds, that´s the 08/15 source for learning how combat with a Cleric works, especially action economy, summonings, using channel energy efficiently, and so on.