Drakhanis
2012-11-02, 11:25 AM
Hi all.
I'm working on building / preparing the following character:
Strongheart Halfling Druid 4/ Conjurer 3 (specialist Wizard)/ Arcane Hierophant 6.
Druids by their very nature are game-breakable. I haven't even gotten to choosing spells yet and already I've statted out a couple of Wild Shape forms that are just gross. And they get worse when I add a couple of spells (like Bite of [insert werebeast] or Venomfire).
The point of this character is that he is the primary (only) caster for a group of optimized front-liners. I've got the capacity to enter melee, but there are 3 other characters that are built to do it better, so that's not my focus.
I'm currently trying to pick apart the different things the character can do and figure out the most efficient way to do them. Today's project is Summoning creatures.
Basically, I'm looking to see if anybody has compiled or knows where I can find a compiled list of "Legal" summons for a Neutral good caster with access to both the SNA and SM trees (up to level 5 for SM, level 6 for SNA (with the Ring of the Beast)).
Barring that, if anyone has insight as to the "best" summons at the appropriate levels (again, for a Good caster). I know that terms like "Best" are subjective, so to clarify what I'm looking for:
1) Summons that could heal allies (like the Unicorn) or even provide buffs.
2) Utility-type SLAs
3) Battlefield control / herding enemies (Elementals, I think, are good for this, but creatures that can manipulate the environment or are themselves environmental hazards)
4) creatures with caster levels (I have wands and stuff, and it would be cool to be able to hand some stuff off to a summoned minion so I can "multitask"
5) "escape" summons: a strict reading of the rules means nothing that relies on teleport or plane shift, but anything that can effectively GTHO (get the heck out) of losing situations via other means.
I'm not all that interested in "combat" summons because, like I said, the party has 3 optimized front-liners, so short of summoning big punching bags to buy the party time to get into position, I'm looking for summons that are more utility, or do indirect combat-type things while I use other spells and stuff to focus on battlefield control. However, if there are some solid ranged-combat summons, they might be useful if we find ourselves outclassed.
I know that as a druid/wizard I have access to a lot of the types of spells I'm looking for (like teleport), but I want to avoid loading my spell list daily with spells that I "might" need at some point during the day. If it's feasible, I'd rather be able to prepare a summoning spell or two and just change what needs to be summoned based on the situation, so that I can use the rest of my spell slots for other things.
Sorry if this post is a little unorganized and chaotic. The character is sort of an amorphous blob in my head that is fairly slowly taking shape. After I actually play the character I'll have a better idea of where to focus on his abilities, but until then, I'm trying to make him as good as possible in as many areas as possible. It's all about efficiency.
Thanks in advance for any advice anyone can provide. And again, if anyone could just point me to an FAQ or something, that works fine as well. My needs are specific enough that I'm not even sure where to start in my own searching.
I'm working on building / preparing the following character:
Strongheart Halfling Druid 4/ Conjurer 3 (specialist Wizard)/ Arcane Hierophant 6.
Druids by their very nature are game-breakable. I haven't even gotten to choosing spells yet and already I've statted out a couple of Wild Shape forms that are just gross. And they get worse when I add a couple of spells (like Bite of [insert werebeast] or Venomfire).
The point of this character is that he is the primary (only) caster for a group of optimized front-liners. I've got the capacity to enter melee, but there are 3 other characters that are built to do it better, so that's not my focus.
I'm currently trying to pick apart the different things the character can do and figure out the most efficient way to do them. Today's project is Summoning creatures.
Basically, I'm looking to see if anybody has compiled or knows where I can find a compiled list of "Legal" summons for a Neutral good caster with access to both the SNA and SM trees (up to level 5 for SM, level 6 for SNA (with the Ring of the Beast)).
Barring that, if anyone has insight as to the "best" summons at the appropriate levels (again, for a Good caster). I know that terms like "Best" are subjective, so to clarify what I'm looking for:
1) Summons that could heal allies (like the Unicorn) or even provide buffs.
2) Utility-type SLAs
3) Battlefield control / herding enemies (Elementals, I think, are good for this, but creatures that can manipulate the environment or are themselves environmental hazards)
4) creatures with caster levels (I have wands and stuff, and it would be cool to be able to hand some stuff off to a summoned minion so I can "multitask"
5) "escape" summons: a strict reading of the rules means nothing that relies on teleport or plane shift, but anything that can effectively GTHO (get the heck out) of losing situations via other means.
I'm not all that interested in "combat" summons because, like I said, the party has 3 optimized front-liners, so short of summoning big punching bags to buy the party time to get into position, I'm looking for summons that are more utility, or do indirect combat-type things while I use other spells and stuff to focus on battlefield control. However, if there are some solid ranged-combat summons, they might be useful if we find ourselves outclassed.
I know that as a druid/wizard I have access to a lot of the types of spells I'm looking for (like teleport), but I want to avoid loading my spell list daily with spells that I "might" need at some point during the day. If it's feasible, I'd rather be able to prepare a summoning spell or two and just change what needs to be summoned based on the situation, so that I can use the rest of my spell slots for other things.
Sorry if this post is a little unorganized and chaotic. The character is sort of an amorphous blob in my head that is fairly slowly taking shape. After I actually play the character I'll have a better idea of where to focus on his abilities, but until then, I'm trying to make him as good as possible in as many areas as possible. It's all about efficiency.
Thanks in advance for any advice anyone can provide. And again, if anyone could just point me to an FAQ or something, that works fine as well. My needs are specific enough that I'm not even sure where to start in my own searching.