[pathfinder] skull and shackles character and class advice

[Kladius]

Hi guys, this is my first post, though im a new player to pathfinder i played 3.5e a lot. So ill join an AP called skull and shackles, our party consists of
an Arcanist
a bloodrager
a fighter(viking)
and me.

im in between creating a cleric of besmara and witch. im pretty sure i want to play a mainly debuffer alongside with some spells for battlefield control and damage.

if i create a cleric he will be human and ill go for wisdom mostly getting Channel smite/Guided Hand for being a bad touch cleric.

if i go witch ill mainly focus misfortune, will get extra hexes and ability focuses while focusing intelligence.

Male Human Cleric 1
CN medium humanoid
Init +4 Senses: perception +9
Lang: Common
AC:19, 12 touch, 17 flat (+6 armor, +2 shield)
HP: 10
Saves: 3fort, 2reflex, 6will
Abilities: 10, 14, 12, 10, 17 (19 racial), 10
Feats: Channel Smite, Guided hands
Traits: (perception class skill), Reactionary

if i go witch he will be

Male Human Witch 1
CN medium humanoid
Init:+12 senses: perception +6
Lang: common, aquan, orcish, elvish, abyssal
Ac:13 12 touch 11 flat (+1 haramaki)
HP:8
Saves: 1fort, 2reflex, 3will
abilities 10,14,12,17 (19 racial),12, 8
Feats: Extra Hex(misfortune), [ability focus(evil eye or misfortune) or improved initiative]
Traits: (perception class skill), Reactionary

which will help party most in terms of mainly debuffing and secondarily battlefield control and Damage

Im also all ears for any other suggestions, because im a new player to this setting.

[Andry]

If you are going witch since you folks don't seem to have a healer I would take the healing hex. It can be a real life saver especially in the early levels. Warpriest could be fun as well

[Florian]

I´d make the choice dependent on some other factors. This AP uses several sub-systems (naval combat, fleet battles, infamy system). You already have two classes that potentially rely on CHA as a stat, covering the Infamy system and Diplomacy checks. What your party seem to lack is someone who can excel at the necessary Profession: Sailor checks - which are WIS based (as a side note, this is one of the rare cases a character can regularly use siege weapons, as ships come equipped with them and Profession: Siege Engineer is also WIS based).

Personally, I´d not go for a Bad Touch Cleric with this party composition. Viking is my fav. Fighter archetype and the basis for the most destructive fighting styles, Bloodrager is an insanely powerful frontliner and Arcanist is maybe the most powerful arcane class around, at least in the hands of an experienced player. Bad Touch is fun, but a resource hog, which will not necessarily shine in comparison to what the others can pull off.

I´d go at it pretty chilled. Check with your GM whether you're allowed to combine the Cleric archetypes of Angelfire Apostle and Herald Caller and go for a bog-standard Reach/Combat Reflexes/Superior Summoning build based on a Skilled Human.

[Kladius]

I´d make the choice dependent on some other factors. This AP uses several sub-systems (naval combat, fleet battles, infamy system). You already have two classes that potentially rely on CHA as a stat, covering the Infamy system and Diplomacy checks. What your party seem to lack is someone who can excel at the necessary Profession: Sailor checks - which are WIS based (as a side note, this is one of the rare cases a character can regularly use siege weapons, as ships come equipped with them and Profession: Siege Engineer is also WIS based).

Personally, I´d not go for a Bad Touch Cleric with this party composition. Viking is my fav. Fighter archetype and the basis for the most destructive fighting styles, Bloodrager is an insanely powerful frontliner and Arcanist is maybe the most powerful arcane class around, at least in the hands of an experienced player. Bad Touch is fun, but a resource hog, which will not necessarily shine in comparison to what the others can pull off.

I´d go at it pretty chilled. Check with your GM whether you're allowed to combine the Cleric archetypes of Angelfire Apostle and Herald Caller and go for a bog-standard Reach/Combat Reflexes/Superior Summoning build based on a Skilled Human.

i want to preserve my spellcasting, angelfire apostle makes me lose 1 prepared spell per day from every level as far as i know. so that makes me uncomfortable. how about herald caller as an solo archetype of cleric? but if i do so what should be my Stat distribution

[Florian]

i want to preserve my spellcasting, angelfire apostle makes me lose 1 prepared spell per day from every level as far as i know. so that makes me uncomfortable. how about herald caller as an solo archetype of cleric? but if i do so what should be my Stat distribution

*Shrugs*

Some changes in PF don't seem obvious when you're coming from 3.5E. For example, the changes to Lay on Hands are really powerful, making the Paladin class into a prime healer and remover of status effects. The Angelfire Apostle archetype gets that package as a group deal, offsetting the apparent loss in spell slots by shifting them over to Channel, which is basically a net gain around the x2/x3 level, when the going gets tough. (One of the primary healer builds is actually based on this, either Paladin 3/Oracle 1+ (Life) or Oracle 1+ (Life and Pei-Zin Practitioner)

Herald Caller is actually quite easy. Key here is optimizing your economy of actions. Important feats are Combat Reflexes, Warrior Priest, Superior Summons and Summons Good Creature. This is actually a rather low WIS, evenly distributed STR/DEX/CON build, as the goal here is to summon creatures that will provide more magical backup per spell slot spent than a regular Cleric would have available (Ex: Spent one III slot to summon an Angel that can spam the equivalent of III slots....)

[Geddy2112]

Cleric would be strong just to have a divine caster to round out casting support. Besmara's domains are very good to buff your party and help you contribute as a melee character. The tactics subdomain is fairly bonkers for giving party members a chance to roll initiative twice.
I will agree with Florian that with two heavy hitters your combat won't be as impressive or as needed.

If you can't spontaneously cast cure spells, or if you go witch, just grab a wand of cure light wounds. Also a rank in heal, particularly as a cleric, will get you fairly far for mundane healing. Good for those times you need saves against disease or poison and didn't prepare the spell.

[Kladius]

So my character nearly prepared i think about being a middle aged guy in order to have more charisma.

Male Human Cleric 1(herald caller) (middle aged)
CN medium humanoid
Init +2 Senses: perception +9
Lang: Common
AC:16, 12 touch, 14 flat (+4 armor, +2 dex)
HP: 9
Saves: 3fort, 2reflex, 6will
Abilities: 10, 14, 12, 10, 15 (18 racial), 14
Feats: Combat Casting, Spell Focus (necromancy)
Traits: Seeker, Focused Mind
Domain: Water (Ocean)