If you were a Malconvoker...

[evil-frosty]

What feats would you take? And what are feats to avoid in general? I'm making a character for a friend who wants to be the ultimate summoner type so malconvoker seemed the way to go. Ultimate build will probably look like wiz 5/malconvoker 9/wiz 6. So what are some good feats I should suggest to him?

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

What level are you starting out at?

Rapid Summoning (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/specialistWizardVariants.htm#conjurerVariants). Also get Enhanced Summoning if starting out lower than 9th level. If you get Enhanced Summoning, see if you can still get the Domain Granted Power ACF in CC at Wizard 5 for Summoner in place of the increased dispel DC.

If you get Domain Granted Power, go Wizard 5/ Malconvoker 3/ Thaumaturgist 5/ Malconvoker 7. If you can't get the Domain Granted Power ACF, go Wizard 3/ Master Specialist 4/ Thaumaturgist 5/ Malconvoker 8. You're qualifying for Thaumaturgist via Arcane Disciple: Summoner, which means you need at least Wis 14, or Wis 12 and to know the spell Owl's Wisdom. Your Planar Cohort should be a Ghaele Eladrin (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/ghaele.htm). If you got Augment Summoning a second time from Thaumaturgist, use Embrace the Dark Chaos (FC1) to switch it to something useful.

A completely different direction would be something like Spirit Shaman 5/ Seeker of the Misty Isle 1/ Paragnostic Apostle or Divine Oracle 4/ Contemplative 10. Get Ashbound (ECS), Greenbound Summoning (LEoF), Spell Focus: Conjuration, Augment Summoning, Rashemi Elemental Summoning (UE), and a Ring of the Beast (CC). Summon Nature's Ally is considerably better than Summon Monster with just one of those first two feats and the ring, everything combined makes it the go-to for summoning. With divine casting you can even get a standard Strand of Prayer Beads (with the Bead of Smiting removed it's only 9,000 gp per DMG pricing) for +4 CL for when you're buffing or just expecting a hard fight.

You get access to the Druid spell list, which contains tons of potent crowd controls and damaging spells (Lesser Rod of Extended Creeping Cold), plus any Greenbound Animal you summon can immediately use its Wall of Thorns and even spam Entangle. Also consider picking up Wild Cohort (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031118a), and definitely get the Summon Elemental reserve feat (CM) and Versatile Spellcaster (RotD). Work in a visit to the Frog God's Fane detailed in Complete Scoundrel to get the Skill Focus: Knowledge prerequisite for Divine Oracle so you won't have to spend a feat on it, you can even do it prior to play or during downtime without playing it out at a cost of 2,000 gp. With Paragnostic Apostle your fist ability should be Spatial Awareness, so you can use (Lesser Rod of Extended) Longstrider every day for +20 ft.

[Answerer]

Seconding Conjuror with Rapid Summoning and Enhanced Summoning. Those are pretty must-have.

Anyway, Infernal Bargainer (Races of Faerûn) is great: it stacks with the Malconvoker class feature to all Planar Binding et al. to work with creatures 4 HD higher than usual.

Taking levels of Master Conjuror (Complete Mage). Imbued Summoning (Player's Handbook II) is pretty solid. Cloudy Conjuration (Complete Mage) is also fairly excellent. Paragnostic Apostle (also Complete Mage) has a pretty solid summoning-related class feature that gives your summons quite a bit of extra health.

[Jacque]

With divine casting you can even get a standard Strand of Prayer Beads (with the Bead of Smiting removed it's only 9,000 gp per DMG pricing)

Note that this is obviously (IMO) an error which was never corrected. But if you go by RAW I guess its legit.

If I'm not mistaken, Magic Item Compendium lists the standard strand of prayer beads at 45,800gp.

[gorfnab]

Mastering the Malconvoker Handbook (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=289.0)

Summon Elemental (CM) reserve is quite useful.

[Krulack]

Anyway, Infernal Bargainer (Races of Faerûn) is great: it stacks with the Malconvoker class feature to all Planar Binding et al. to work with creatures 4 HD higher than usual

Answerer: I just checked the feat infernal Bargainer and i believe it requires the character to be an outsider. Am I missing something?

[Answerer]

Answerer: I just checked the feat infernal Bargainer and i believe it requires the character to be an outsider. Am I missing something?
It does; that can be somewhat tricky, but there are LA +0 Outsider races available. Hellbred, IIRC. And Neraphs.

[Madara]

Archevists make great summoners, since they have access to all the summoning spells. :smallamused:

[Answerer]

Archevists make great summoners, since they have access to all the summoning spells. :smallamused:
Doesn't even begin to make up for the Rapid Conjuror ACF, though. If you're going for Malconvoker, Summon Nature's Ally isn't that great a spell anyway. Sure, if you want to be a summoner from level 1-20, it might be worth it, but probably not even then, since the 1 round casting time is just brutal. By the time you can afford a Metamagic Rod of Rapid Spell, you'd be better off just sticking with Summon Monster anyway.

[Madcrafter]

Eh, but who wants to summon puny animals when you can have demons? If they are starting high enough level to actually have levels in malcovoker, than the SM spells have already started to pull ahead of SNA, to say nothing of the rapid summoning; even mores so if he's got double summoning already.

But yeah, read the handbook, it's all in there, as usual.

EDIT: And swordsaged

[Madara]

Doesn't even begin to make up for the Rapid Conjuror ACF, though. If you're going for Malconvoker, Summon Nature's Ally isn't that great a spell anyway. Sure, if you want to be a summoner from level 1-20, it might be worth it, but probably not even then, since the 1 round casting time is just brutal. By the time you can afford a Metamagic Rod of Rapid Spell, you'd be better off just sticking with Summon Monster anyway.

But, you get

Summon Monster
Summon Nature's Ally
Summon Ice Beast
Summon Desert Ally

Plus all the fun from being an Archevist.

[Answerer]

You missed Summon Undead at the very least. Not that the spells are worth a damn other than SU2 for Allips. I honestly have never heard of anyone (online or IRL) ever casting Summon Desert Ally or Summon Ice Beast. And I've played a Sand Shaper, so I had the former spell available to me.

But anyway, only Summon Monster interacts with Malconvoker's class features, and an Archivist cannot get the Rapid Conjuror ACF. Without it, summoning is rarely a good use of actions – you just don't get much for the very high cost of casting one of those spells.

By the time you can afford an alternative to Rapid Conjuror (which will always be dramatically more limited), all summoning spells are going to be decidedly sub-optimal (Greenbond Summoning Summon Nature's Ally may remain quality for a few levels; can Archivist even qualify for the feat, though?). Only by going into Malconvoker and powering up Summon Monster is summoning going to remain a potent ability, and then those spells are worthless to a Malconvoker.


I mean, don't get me wrong. Archivist is a very powerful class, and certainly in a low-op area summoning can still get used. It's just very distant from anything optimal.

[Madara]

Ice beast” is a template that can be added to any corporeal
creature (other than an undead or a creature with the fire
subtype), hereafter referred to as the base creature.


Ice Beast is actually quite good. Summon Undead is very nice at low levels. Archevist will be able to pick the best summons at all levels until they get into Malconvoker.

[Garwain]

read the handbook linked earlier. Seriously, it has top notch advice.

[Feralventas]

Augment Summoning.
Skill-focus Bluff.
Leadership for an army of confused fiends.
Skill-focus Truenaming in preperation for my inevitable fall and transition into Fiendbinder.

Gosh I'm terrible at this.