Summoner/Frost Mage Build Help

[lady2beetle]

Hey there! I need some advice on a character build, specifically in the way of feats. I'm trying to put together a summoner/Frost mage, but there are a few things that have me worried.

Campaign rules:
28 point buy
3.5 Core Rule books
Complete books allowed (except Psionics); some classes forbidden
Pathfinder 3.5 campaign additions (a few feats, etc.) - We're playing the Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign

Our party has about 8 PCs, so there's no niche that desperately needs filling. We already have a wizard and a sorcerer. I was playing a bard, but she died in the last boss fight, so I'm working on a replacement character. My thought was that since most cold spells appear to be conjuration spells, I could have both a summoner and an Elsa-like character (for anyone who has seen Frozen). My character is a 5th level wizard. Here are the feats I'm looking at:

Acadamae Graduate (CotCT Player's Guide)
Augment Summoning (PHB)
Spell Focus (Conjuration) (PHB)
Extend Spell (PHB)
Metamagic School Focus (Conjuration) (Complete Mage)
Energy Substitution [Cold] (Complete Arcane)
Winter's Blast [Reserve] (Complete Mage)
Summon Elemental [Reserve] (Complete Mage)

We are using Traits/Flaws, I'm human, and I am starting at 5th level, so that gives me 6 feats (2 normal+1 human+2 flaws+1 bonus wizard). I can't take Summon Elemental until 7th level anyway, but it's on my wish list.

Here are my concerns:

1. The Acadamae Graduate feat allows me to cast Summon Monster spells as a standard action, but I have to make a Fort DC15+spell level to avoid fatigue. Wizard fort saves aren't exactly phenomenal... I could put an emphasis in my wizard's con and get the added bonus of having decent HP, which might also help with Winter's Blast (see below).

2. Extend Spell: Useful for summon monster at low levels, but am I more likely to see my monsters die before their time is up anyway? And if I don't take Extend Spell, is Metamagic School Focus pretty useless too? That said, I need a metamagic feat for qualify for Energy Substitution. Would Heighten be a better choice? Or...

3. Is Energy Substitution even worth getting? Thanks to the extra spells in the Complete books, I have a [cold] spell for every level except 0. It would be nice to have the flexibility of turning other spells to cold spells, but most of those energy spells are evocation, so I would lose my spell focus bonus unless I take Spell Focus (Conjuration) AND Spell Focus (Evocation). Thoughts?

4. Winter's Blast is sadly not nearly as cool as Fiery Burst. It deals less damage (d4 vs. d6) and requires you to be within 15 feet of the target instead of 30 feet (and that you be in the front row unless you want to blast your allies). I'm wary of throwing myself forward like that, but our other wizard has really saved our hide by having a reserve feat. Should I hang tight for 2 levels and then just take Summon Elemental?

5. Lastly, tell me honestly - am I stretching my character too thin? Should I focus entirely on summoning or focus entirely on being a frost mage?

As a last note, I know this is not the absolute most min/max'd character. I know cold tends not do as much damage as fire, but it's something new and I want to try new. I don't have to do lots and lots of damage, but I'd rather not die and bonus points for having something to do almost every round (even if it's move summoned minions around).

[Pluto!]

Energy Sub isn't usually great -especially if you're burning a lot of spells on summons - except as a prerequisite for other things. In this case, Energy Sub (cold) opens The Lord of the Uttercold feat in CArc, which might be an interesting enough feat to make an exception.

The way you could make it work is by preparing a few Summon Undead spells (the incorporeal options are often pretty useful) and keeping a couple sturdy zombies or skeletons around (a pair of dragons or other meaty beasties will usually be both useful out of combat and able to trade blows with baddies). That way, you'll be able to open fights by sicking a couple undead monsters at enemies and spending the rest of the fights using multithreaded blasting spells like Frost Breath and Great Thunderclap to simultaneously damage and weaken enemies and to heal your summons/minions as they do their thing.

Cold Subtype monsters and some outsiders also have cold immunity, so if you can pick those options off the Summon Monster list and possibly mix in a Conjure Ice Beast or two (not usually ideal, but their damage is often okay), you can open some other summon options that can survive your blasting.

I'd avoid the reserve feat though. Most of those (the ones not called Summon Elemental, Minor Shapeshift or Holy Warrior) are really bad - especially when you aren't doing something seedy like wrestling level 3 spells onto a level 1 character.