New to 3.5 build help!

[Nemenia]

I'm coming from 5e to do a 3.5 campaign with some friends and from what I understand this is *the* edition to build and customize your character pretty much any way you want it too, so I really want to build a demon-summoner character for the campaign as it's not really an option in 5e.

I don't know alot about 3.5, but I do have some knowledge of the books and rules. From what I understand, I need to start with a conjuration wizard specialist, but with such a huge number of subclasses and prestige, I have no idea where to go from there. The only summon focused spell I see is "summon monster 1-6".

Our characters start level 5 and all books besides psionics are open to us.

Any advice would be appreciated! Even a specific guide. Thanks!

[Inevitability]

Wizard is indeed a very good option for this kind of thing, though do note that it requires a bit of optimization knowledge to pull off well. Conjuration as a favored school isn't really something you can go wrong with: I recommend banning two of illusion, necromancy, enchantment and evocation (you probably want to keep one of the latter two, though).

The summoning spells are neat, but more of a short-term combat thing. For long-duration summons, check out the Planar Binding line of spells. It's not quite accessible at level 5, but fact is that very little of the summons are.

Prestige classes aren't that important on a wizard. If you do pick something, make sure it advances your spellcasting at all (or all but one) levels. Archmage is always good, though it may require some planning ahead to make sure you meet the prerequisites.

[BloodSnake'sCha]

Look at this reply I got here when I wanted to build a Demon/Devil summoner.

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21431076&postcount=9

[Bullet06320]

Look at this reply I got here when I wanted to build a Demon/Devil summoner.

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21431076&postcount=9

some of those links are dead, here are good ones

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?528090-Mastering-the-Malconvoker

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?527203-Summoning-Handbook

also
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?175570-Practical-Demonkeeping-A-Summoner-s-Guide-to-the-Lower-Planes/page1

conjuration specialist is the way to start, taking the Rapid Summoning ACF and Enhanced Summoning ACF here http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/specialistWizardVariants.htm#rapidSummoning

do not ban abjuration, you need that for magic circle for planar binding spells
banning evocation and either illusion or necromancy are the usually the best routes. all 3 if you choose the focused specialist ACF
you cant ban diviniation, and transmutation has a lot of buffs and utility

take master specialist prestige class as soon as possible, then go into malconvoker as soon as possible, that's one of the few casting classes its ok to loose a casting level, the benefits are worth it in the long run, then after that, thaumaturge or arc mage are possibilities later on down the round

but first read the above guides, knowing what to summon and when to summon can be very tricky, the best advice I can give, is use index cards with your most common summons with all adjusted stats on it to speed up game play, so your not constantly book diving mid combat.
im my experience, there is no problem that cant be solved with the proper summons

[Eldariel]

I wouldn't ban Illusion: Shadow Evocation gives you limited access to some of the good spells you gave up, Simulacrum is one of the best spells in the game for producing spell-like using underlings, and lower on the versatility of Invisibility-line and Image-line goes unmatched. Greater Mirror Image is also one of the best defensive combat spells. Compared to Enchantment, Evocation and even Necromancy, I find the difference obvious even if Illusion is quite shallow.

As for Summoner, Malconvoker [Complete Scoundrel] is THE PRC for it. Gets you doubled devil summons. Add Thaumaturgist [DMG] for contingent summon and you're looking good. Finally Master Specialist [Complete Mage] is a solid finisher for the build - quite good on Conjurers.

Rapid Summoning is a must; the other trade is whatever as you can just pick Augment Summoning as a feat and Spell Focus: Conjuration is quite necessary as a prerequisite anyways. Other summoning boosting feats include Ashbound [Eberron Campaign Settings], Beckon the Frozen [Frostburn] and such, but those aren't quite as important. Summon Monster III is the first summon spell that's really good so you're in luck.

Familiarize yourself with particularly the Spell-Likes your summons know (on this level Dretch is notable; Stinking Cloud blocks vision making it a good readied action to block line of sight preventing spells/attacks and targets failing saves are screwed) and one aquatic/landbound/flying bruiser for each level. Don't forget the Aid Another action: Great to help party martials when you summon a lot of weak things. Summoner's Desk Reference (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?255219-The-Summoner-s-Desk-Reference-D-amp-D-3-5) is a superb tool for studying all your summon options. I recommend printing out cheat sheets with the Augment Summoning modified stats for the things you mostly use.

[Nemenia]

some of those links are dead, here are good ones

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?528090-Mastering-the-Malconvoker

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?527203-Summoning-Handbook

also
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?175570-Practical-Demonkeeping-A-Summoner-s-Guide-to-the-Lower-Planes/page1

conjuration specialist is the way to start, taking the Rapid Summoning ACF and Enhanced Summoning ACF here http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/specialistWizardVariants.htm#rapidSummoning

do not ban abjuration, you need that for magic circle for planar binding spells
banning evocation and either illusion or necromancy are the usually the best routes. all 3 if you choose the focused specialist ACF
you cant ban diviniation, and transmutation has a lot of buffs and utility

take master specialist prestige class as soon as possible, then go into malconvoker as soon as possible, that's one of the few casting classes its ok to loose a casting level, the benefits are worth it in the long run, then after that, thaumaturge or arc mage are possibilities later on down the round

but first read the above guides, knowing what to summon and when to summon can be very tricky, the best advice I can give, is use index cards with your most common summons with all adjusted stats on it to speed up game play, so your not constantly book diving mid combat.
im my experience, there is no problem that cant be solved with the proper summons

Alot of that went waaay over my head. Are ACFs feats? When do I take the prestige classes and how many levels? How does summoning level work? Thanks for the links though

[Eldariel]

Alot of that went waaay over my head. Are ACFs feats? When do I take the prestige classes and how many levels? How does summoning level work? Thanks for the links though

ACF are alternative class features. You trade something your class grants for something else. In this case you lose your access to a familiar (though you can pick it up with a feat later) and gain the ability to summon things as a standard action instead of a full round action. This is great.

Prestige Class is a class you can switch to. Many of them advance your old spellcasting, while requiring something (feats, skills, class features) before you can enter them. Thus there's minimum level of entry; e.g. Malconvoker requires skills meaning you need to be level 5 before you can take a level of it. In 3.5, every level is nominally worth the same - whenever you gain a level-up you can take a level in any base class, or any prestige class you qualify for. You take more levels in such a class to get further. Since base classes like Wizard or Cleric get few class features, they generally switch to prestige classes granting full casting progression ASAP. Characters become epic at character level 20, or when they have 20 levels in any combination of racial HD (some stronger races count as "levels") and class levels.

Summoning works...well, you cast the spell (Summon Monster 1 (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/summonMonsterI.htm), pick one creature from the level appropriate list (or 1d3 creatures from 1 level lower list, or 1d4+1 creatures from the list 2 levels lower) and it appears at the location of your choosing within spell range, and takes action. Normally they take 1 round to cast (so you start casting on your turn spending all your actions on it, and finish at the start of your next when the creature appears and immediately after that you can take another full round of actions) but with Rapid Summoning ACF you can do it as a standard action: that is, you just cast the spell on your turn and the creature immediately appears in your designated place. Normally you have a standard action and a move action and a swift action each turn. Swift action can do things like cast a spell affected by the Quicken Spell (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#quickenSpell) metamagic feat (you can prepare a Quickened first level spell in a fifth level slot).

Note, you can only summon creatures to locations that can support them - generally on ground, though air works for flyers (creatures with fly speed) and water for swimmers (creatures with swim speed). This makes dropping whales on enemies tricky, even if the mental image is funny.

[Nemenia]

ACF are alternative class features. You trade something your class grants for something else. In this case you lose your access to a familiar (though you can pick it up with a feat later) and gain the ability to summon things as a standard action instead of a full round action. This is great.

Prestige Class is a class you can switch to. Many of them advance your old spellcasting, while requiring something (feats, skills, class features) before you can enter them. Thus there's minimum level of entry; e.g. Malconvoker requires skills meaning you need to be level 5 before you can take a level of it. In 3.5, every level is nominally worth the same - whenever you gain a level-up you can take a level in any base class, or any prestige class you qualify for. You take more levels in such a class to get further. Since base classes like Wizard or Cleric get few class features, they generally switch to prestige classes granting full casting progression ASAP. Characters become epic at character level 20, or when they have 20 levels in any combination of racial HD (some stronger races count as "levels") and class levels.

Summoning works...well, you cast the spell (Summon Monster 1 (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/summonMonsterI.htm), pick one creature from the level appropriate list (or 1d3 creatures from 1 level lower list, or 1d4+1 creatures from the list 2 levels lower) and it appears at the location of your choosing within spell range, and takes action. Normally they take 1 round to cast (so you start casting on your turn spending all your actions on it, and finish at the start of your next when the creature appears and immediately after that you can take another full round of actions) but with Rapid Summoning ACF you can do it as a standard action: that is, you just cast the spell on your turn and the creature immediately appears in your designated place. Normally you have a standard action and a move action and a swift action each turn. Swift action can do things like cast a spell affected by the Quicken Spell (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#quickenSpell) metamagic feat (you can prepare a Quickened first level spell in a fifth level slot).

Note, you can only summon creatures to locations that can support them - generally on ground, though air works for flyers (creatures with fly speed) and water for swimmers (creatures with swim speed). This makes dropping whales on enemies tricky, even if the mental image is funny.

So I've done some reading and learned some new things and ran into a problem. The build I want to run is conjure wiz 6/malc9/thaum5, however, you have to be wiz 8 to take a level in malconvoker because bluff requires a rank 4 and its a CrossClass skill, meaning its total can only be as high as half your level. thaumaturge also doesnt allow it to be raised, and that requires me to take the feat Arcane Disciple to get the cleric spell Lesser Planar Ally to begin that subclass, so the builds on the guide seem impossible in some situations. Can you explain if I'm doing something wrong?

[ATHATH]

So I've done some reading and learned some new things and ran into a problem. The build I want to run is conjure wiz 6/malc9/thaum5, however, you have to be wiz 8 to take a level in malconvoker because bluff requires a rank 4 and its a CrossClass skill, meaning its total can only be as high as half your level. thaumaturge also doesnt allow it to be raised, and that requires me to take the feat Arcane Disciple to get the cleric spell Lesser Planar Ally to begin that subclass, so the builds on the guide seem impossible in some situations. Can you explain if I'm doing something wrong?
There are ways to get cross-class skills onto your class list. I think the Apprentice Feat (Criminal) from the DMG 2 would work for your purposes.

[Nemenia]

There are ways to get cross-class skills onto your class list. I think the Apprentice Feat (Criminal) from the DMG 2 would work for your purposes.

I don't see where in the PHB it lists that you get feats and how many, could you help me out?

And on that note, if I were to go archivist instead of conjuration wizard for the first 5-6 levels, how would I get Spell Focus: Conjuration, rapid summoning and augmented summoning to PrC into Malconvoker?

3.5 is so confusing x.x

[Zaq]

You'll probably want to very carefully read the section on leveling up, which I believe is at the end of the class chapter. But for a short answer, you get one feat at level 1, and then you get another feat at every level divisible by 3 (3/6/9/12/15/18). Unlike 5e, this is tied to your overall character level, not your level in a specific class (though some classes grant bonus feats as class features at certain levels).

[Nemenia]

You'll probably want to very carefully read the section on leveling up, which I believe is at the end of the class chapter. But for a short answer, you get one feat at level 1, and then you get another feat at every level divisible by 3 (3/6/9/12/15/18). Unlike 5e, this is tied to your overall character level, not your level in a specific class (though some classes grant bonus feats as class features at certain levels).

So according to that, I get one feat at level one, one at 3, and one at 5 because wizard gives a bonus feat, so I start the game with 3 feats?

[Bullet06320]

I don't see where in the PHB it lists that you get feats and how many, could you help me out?

first off, read through the player handbook, 2nd, talk to the people your gonna be playing with. whoever is gonna be DMing will have ultimate say on what is and what is not allowed
you get 1 feat at first level, 1 feat at 3rd, and every 3 levels there after
depending on what race you chose can give you another
by choosing 2 flaws you can get 2 more feats at first level, most of them are here http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/characterFlaws.htm , but there are a few more scattered throughout several dragon mag issues



And on that note, if I were to go archivist instead of conjuration wizard for the first 5-6 levels, how would I get Spell Focus: Conjuration, rapid summoning and augmented summoning to PrC into Malconvoker?

Spell focus Conjuration is a feat
rapid summoning and augmented summoning(which gives you spell focus conjuration instead of scribe scroll) are ACFs available for conjuror specialist only
an archivist can do a good summonor, but a dedicated conjuration specialist build can do it better


3.5 is so confusing x.x

that's why we love it. give it time, you'll get the hang of it


There are ways to get cross-class skills onto your class list. I think the Apprentice Feat (Criminal) from the DMG 2 would work for your purposes.
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?491181-Alternative-ways-to-get-new-Class-skills
this thread covers getting skills as class skills


I wouldn't ban Illusion: Shadow Evocation gives you limited access to some of the good spells you gave up, Simulacrum is one of the best spells in the game for producing spell-like using underlings, and lower on the versatility of Invisibility-line and Image-line goes unmatched. Greater Mirror Image is also one of the best defensive combat spells. Compared to Enchantment, Evocation and even Necromancy, I find the difference obvious even if Illusion is quite shallow.

I was never a big fan of illusions, ive never played with shadow evocation and only occasionally with illusions, but the more and more I think about it and see it posted about, it seems like it might have some good options
and enchantment has a lot of utility for planar binding
it comes down to play style and what options you want to have

[Nemenia]

first off, read through the player handbook, 2nd, talk to the people your gonna be playing with. whoever is gonna be DMing will have ultimate say on what is and what is not allowed
you get 1 feat at first level, 1 feat at 3rd, and every 3 levels there after
depending on what race you chose can give you another
by choosing 2 flaws you can get 2 more feats at first level, most of them are here http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/characterFlaws.htm , but there are a few more scattered throughout several dragon mag issues




Spell focus Conjuration is a feat
rapid summoning and augmented summoning(which gives you spell focus conjuration instead of scribe scroll) are ACFs available for conjuror specialist only
an archivist can do a good summonor, but a dedicated conjuration specialist build can do it better



that's why we love it. give it time, you'll get the hang of it


http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?491181-Alternative-ways-to-get-new-Class-skills
this thread covers getting skills as class skills



I was never a big fan of illusions, ive never played with shadow evocation and only occasionally with illusions, but the more and more I think about it and see it posted about, it seems like it might have some good options
and enchantment has a lot of utility for planar binding
it comes down to play style and what options you want to have

I like illusion, so I chose necromancy and evocation. Looks like I'll be taking rapid summoning as ACF, spell focus: conjuration, augmented summoning and apprentice criminal as my first 3 feats, then arcane disciple to get thaumaturgist as 4. That leaves me with... 5 feats left. Suggestions?

[Eldariel]

Your max rank in class skills is 3+Level. In cross-class skills it's (3+level)/2. Thus on level 5 you can have (3+5)/2=4 ranks in Bluff. Thus you can go Wizard 5/Malconvoker 9/Thaumaturgist 5 is doable. Or Wizard 3/Master Specialist 2/Malconvoker 5/Thaumaturgist 5. Or such.

[Bullet06320]

if you take master specialist PRC first, you can use the spell knowledge to get any spell of your specialty school, and can grab lesser planar ally that way, as long as your using whats printed in the book and not using the errata, falls in the ask DM territory

also taking the enchanced summoning ACF gets you augmented summoning while losing scribe scroll, so it opens up another feat slot

summon elemental reserve feat is a good one to go for

[DrKerosene]

Everything seems to have been covered, except for why the "Focused Specialist" Wizard is better than a normal specialist. https://web.archive.org/web/20150906175350/http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1145491

If you want to summon monsters, then this just gives you an extra spell slot of each level you can cast, for banning one more school.

I think it might be worth mentioning you'll lose some BAB, and maybe have weirder Save Bonuses, as a result of hitting a couple prestige classes in a row. So just avoid using Ray spells I guess.

[Nemenia]

if you take master specialist PRC first, you can use the spell knowledge to get any spell of your specialty school, and can grab lesser planar ally that way, as long as your using whats printed in the book and not using the errata, falls in the ask DM territory

also taking the enchanced summoning ACF gets you augmented summoning while losing scribe scroll, so it opens up another feat slot

summon elemental reserve feat is a good one to go for

I plan on going wiz6/malc9/thaum5. No room for specialist unless I take it over some base wizard levels. I didn't know enhanced summoning, but isn't scribe scroll useful? Also where would I find elemental reserve? Thanks!

[Nemenia]

Your max rank in class skills is 3+Level. In cross-class skills it's (3+level)/2. Thus on level 5 you can have (3+5)/2=4 ranks in Bluff. Thus you can go Wizard 5/Malconvoker 9/Thaumaturgist 5 is doable. Or Wizard 3/Master Specialist 2/Malconvoker 5/Thaumaturgist 5. Or such.

Is it worth taking MS for just two levels? Also, I don't see the 3+ rule, just a flat "half your class level". Could you tell me where that is?

Final build if you are correct would be something like

Wiz5/specialist1/malc9/thaum5 or wiz3/spec3/malc9/thaum5

If I took that and the variant, I would only need one feat for spell focus. What to do with the other 8?

[Elkad]

Wizard Feats.
Low level. Improved Initiative, Cloudy Conjuration.
If you trade out your Familiar for Rapid Summoning, buy it back with Obtain Familiar (and then Improved Familiar too - a flying invisible wand-shooting outsider is a great Wizard buddy)
Metamagic feats like Extend Spell (double duration) and Quicken Spell
Item Creation feats, especially if you are in slower-paced campaigns with downtime, or if you suspect the DM won't let you shop for anything you want.
Lots more.
hit your favorite search engine and put in "d&d 3.5 Wizard Handbook". There are many great ones to fish through for ideas.

Scribe Scroll is one of the biggest power expanders a Wizard has. You don't necessarily need it at L1 (when you normally get it free unless you trade it away), but you'll want it soon after (L3 or 5).
All those spells you might want but aren't sure about go on scrolls. You don't want to spend one of your few L3 slots per day on an Extended Rope Trick at L5, but when you really need to hide the whole party for 10 hours, you just pull out the scroll. Same with other utility spells you'll rarely need. Knock, Locate Object, Protection from Arrows, Arcane Lock, Tiny Hut, a backup Phantom Steed in case your primary one dies, a stack of Water Breathing and/or Mount scrolls so you can cover the whole party on short notice, etc.

[Eldariel]

Is it worth taking MS for just two levels? Also, I don't see the 3+ rule, just a flat "half your class level". Could you tell me where that is?

Final build if you are correct would be something like

Wiz5/specialist1/malc9/thaum5 or wiz3/spec3/malc9/thaum5

If I took that and the variant, I would only need one feat for spell focus. What to do with the other 8?

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/skillsSummary.htm

Class skills 3+Level. Cross class is half that. Also, no reason to take 6 levels of Wizard. 5 qualifies you for Malconvoker and it gives you actual class features over standard Wizard.

Master Specialist also has class features so it's probably worth taking as soon as you can. In general, PRCs as soon as possible on casters, though the Wizard 5 binus feat is worth considering.

[Nemenia]

Wizard Feats.
Low level. Improved Initiative, Cloudy Conjuration.
If you trade out your Familiar for Rapid Summoning, buy it back with Obtain Familiar (and then Improved Familiar too - a flying invisible wand-shooting outsider is a great Wizard buddy)
Metamagic feats like Extend Spell (double duration) and Quicken Spell
Item Creation feats, especially if you are in slower-paced campaigns with downtime, or if you suspect the DM won't let you shop for anything you want.
Lots more.
hit your favorite search engine and put in "d&d 3.5 Wizard Handbook". There are many great ones to fish through for ideas.

Scribe Scroll is one of the biggest power expanders a Wizard has. You don't necessarily need it at L1 (when you normally get it free unless you trade it away), but you'll want it soon after (L3 or 5).
All those spells you might want but aren't sure about go on scrolls. You don't want to spend one of your few L3 slots per day on an Extended Rope Trick at L5, but when you really need to hide the whole party for 10 hours, you just pull out the scroll. Same with other utility spells you'll rarely need. Knock, Locate Object, Protection from Arrows, Arcane Lock, Tiny Hut, a backup Phantom Steed in case your primary one dies, a stack of Water Breathing and/or Mount scrolls so you can cover the whole party on short notice, etc.

Good advice! Thanks for the suggestions. How do metamagic feats work exactly? are they just permanent spell buffs or do they have some kind of cost or rules with them? Also, how would I get SS again after I lose it?

[Eldariel]

Good advice! Thanks for the suggestions. How do metamagic feats work exactly? are they just permanent spell buffs or do they have some kind of cost or rules with them? Also, how would I get SS again after I lose it?

You prepare them in higher level slots. Grease takes a 1st level slot, Extended Grease (Extend is a +1 metamagic) takes a level 2 slot. It's identical to the first level Grease except doubled duration.

[Nemenia]

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/skillsSummary.htm

Class skills 3+Level. Cross class is half that. Also, no reason to take 6 levels of Wizard. 5 qualifies you for Malconvoker and it gives you actual class features over standard Wizard.

Master Specialist also has class features so it's probably worth taking as soon as you can. In general, PRCs as soon as possible on casters, though the Wizard 5 binus feat is worth considering.

Neither of those says I'm going to take six levels of wizard right away, but after I have thaum and malconvoker done, if I went into them both as a level 3 wiz, then I would only be level 17, that leaves 3 levels for specialist wizard.

[Eldariel]

Neither of those says I'm going to take six levels of wizard right away, but after I have thaum and malconvoker done, if I went into them both as a level 3 wiz, then I would only be level 17, that leaves 3 levels for specialist wizard.

Something like Archmage or Mindbender (Telepathy is nice for communicating with summons for instance) is way better last level than Wizard 6. Generally you don't want more than min level in base class.

[Nemenia]

Something like Archmage or Mindbender (Telepathy is nice for communicating with summons for instance) is way better last level than Wizard 6. Generally you don't want more than min level in base class.

Thaumaturge gives a permanent planar ally, and malcon makes it easy and powerful to summon and bind demons. I'm trying to build a certain character, and he doesn't have telepathy or high magic. He's basically a hedge mage with an extremely practiced talent for conjuring and binding demons because he finds outsmarting them amusing. He prefers avoiding combat entirely and wants to help people, but is willing to get his own hands dirty for the greater good. He likes backup plans, such as runes and contingency magic. Is there a prc class for anything along those lines? I was originally going to mix him with truenamer but found out it was pretty bad

[Eldariel]

Thaumaturge gives a permanent planar ally, and malcon makes it easy and powerful to summon and bind demons. I'm trying to build a certain character, and he doesn't have telepathy or high magic. He's basically a hedge mage with an extremely practiced talent for conjuring and binding demons because he finds outsmarting them amusing. He prefers avoiding combat entirely and wants to help people, but is willing to get his own hands dirty for the greater good. He likes backup plans, such as runes and contingency magic. Is there a prc class for anything along those lines? I was originally going to mix him with truenamer but found out it was pretty bad

Eh, you only get 1 more level. Wizard 5/Malconvoker 9/Thaumaturgist 5 leaves you with 1 class; I'd recommend getting something generically useful. Archmage is always good and you practically have the prerequisites if you take Master Specialist (gets you the Skill Focus and the Spell Focus); extra 9th level slots for example never hurts and neither does Spell Power. Same with Mindbender; mostly for communication with your summons. It's more a matter of PRCs being a carte blanche of abilities and you being able to pick the ones that suit your character concept; even if you don't see yourself as an Archmage or a Mindbender, those single abilities can be a great addition to your Summoner/Binder extraordinaire. In 3.5 in general, you're best suited by thinking of classes as collections of abilities and taking the ones that best allow you to implement the character concept you desire.

But Master Specialist is a good alternative. And there's little reason not to take it, except Wizard 5 feat. I recommend either:
Wizard 5/Malconvoker 9/Thaumaturgist 1/Mindbender 1

Wizard 3/Master Specialist 2/Malconvoker 9/Thaumaturgist 5/Archmage 1

OR

Wizard 3/Master Specialist 3/Malconvoker 9/Thaumaturgist 5


Both seem quite good. You don't have room for a 3rd long PRC so stick to the ones that give you good abilities on low levels.

[Nemenia]

I'm actually beginning to think thaumaturgist is a bad idea. I already have augment summoning, I already get to double the length of my summon spells that are evil thanks to malconvoker. Does it work on planar binding spells? Even the planar cohort has problems, can the cohort betray you if you don't do what it wants? That seems to be the implication. Are there other good conjure prcs?

[Eldariel]

I'm actually beginning to think thaumaturgist is a bad idea. I already have augment summoning, I already get to double the length of my summon spells that are evil thanks to malconvoker. Does it work on planar binding spells? Even the planar cohort has problems, can the cohort betray you if you don't do what it wants? That seems to be the implication. Are there other good conjure prcs?

PHBII has rules for retraining. You can retrain the redundant Augment Summoning for any feat you'd have qualified for at the time you first took the feat. Do this once you get the feat from Thaumaturgist. This way the class feature essentially turns into a generic bonus feat.

Doubled duration doubled again is great! Every doubling enhances the value of previous ones. Normally the summons only last long enough to fight once but with two doublings at caster level 15, they already last 60 rounds or 6 minutes. Use a Rod of Extend Spell (explicitly stacks with Thaumaturgist) for 12 minute summons; easily long enough for multiple fights or short dungeon delves or projects like digging tunnel networks (e.g. Thoqqua from SM3 is excellently suited for this), fortifications, spamming some utility spell-likes or such. And buffing your caster level, gaining more levels, etc. just further enhances this.

Contingent Summons is the best ability of the class though. It just gives you an extra summon you can use as a free action; tie it to mouthing some word, making some hand signal or whatever. Talking is a free action that can be taken out of turn order - mouthing the word makes Silence and such unambiguously irrelevant too.

And the Planar Cohort is more than fine. Just pick one with matching alignment - as long as you act according to yours, they'll likely serve you willingly and with fervour. It's hard to overstate how huge a powerhouse an outsider cohort with various at will spell-likes and great combat prowess can be.

[Nemenia]

PHBII has rules for retraining. You can retrain the redundant Augment Summoning for any feat you'd have qualified for at the time you first took the feat. Do this once you get the feat from Thaumaturgist. This way the class feature essentially turns into a generic bonus feat.

Doubled duration doubled again is great! Every doubling enhances the value of previous ones. Normally the summons only last long enough to fight once but with two doublings at caster level 15, they already last 60 rounds or 6 minutes. Use a Rod of Extend Spell (explicitly stacks with Thaumaturgist) for 12 minute summons; easily long enough for multiple fights or short dungeon delves or projects like digging tunnel networks (e.g. Thoqqua from SM3 is excellently suited for this), fortifications, spamming some utility spell-likes or such. And buffing your caster level, gaining more levels, etc. just further enhances this.

Contingent Summons is the best ability of the class though. It just gives you an extra summon you can use as a free action; tie it to mouthing some word, making some hand signal or whatever. Talking is a free action that can be taken out of turn order - mouthing the word makes Silence and such unambiguously irrelevant too.

And the Planar Cohort is more than fine. Just pick one with matching alignment - as long as you act according to yours, they'll likely serve you willingly and with fervour. It's hard to overstate how huge a powerhouse an outsider cohort with various at will spell-likes and great combat prowess can be.

Is there a list of planar cohorts with alignments I could look at? And I'm still curious if the doubled duration of thaumaturgist lasts for planar binding too, since they're technically conjuration spells. The feat information is really helpful though, thanks!

[Eldariel]

Is there a list of planar cohorts with alignments I could look at? And I'm still curious if the doubled duration of thaumaturgist lasts for planar binding too, since they're technically conjuration spells. The feat information is really helpful though, thanks!

Extended summoning specifies the summoning subschool, while Planar Binding & co. are calling. So no.

As for a list of Planar Allies, any Outsider within the HD limits is fair game so the list would be huge. The Malconvoker Handbook touches on the topic a bit, but you're probably best off deciding your alignment and looking up the Outsiders of that alignment.

[Bullet06320]

for planar allies, if you playing a malconvoker, your non evil, most likely good
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?527527-Rising-Above-(A-Summoner-s-Guide-to-the-Upper-Planes)
heres a mostly complete list of possible options from the upper planes

[Nemenia]

for planar allies, if you playing a malconvoker, your non evil, most likely good
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?527527-Rising-Above-(A-Summoner-s-Guide-to-the-Upper-Planes)
heres a mostly complete list of possible options from the upper planes

I'm lawful neutral. :/ Also I'm alittle confused about the difference between ecl-2 and hit dice is for the cohort?

[Bullet06320]

Level Adjustment and Effective Character Level

To determine the effective character level (ECL) of a monster character, add its level adjustment to its racial Hit Dice and character class levels.

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monstersAsRaces.htm#startingLevelofaMonsterPC

[Eldariel]

I'm lawful neutral. :/ Also I'm alittle confused about the difference between ecl-2 and hit dice is for the cohort?

Lawful Neutral means you should look into Inevitables, though Modrons (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20010921a) are the original Lawful Neutral race and as this web supplement is official, I recommend using it with DM purview. Lawful Good (Archons) can also work with you as long as you're willing to make some allowances to grace. Lawful Evil is probably not a good idea since they'll most likely try to get you to sign some documents you really shouldn't sign.

The difference between ECL and hit die is:
- ECL = Effective Character Level. This means Level Adjustment + HD (some creatures have Cohort-only Level Adjustment; if so, use that).
- HD = Hit Dice. How many dice the creature rolled to determine its HP, basically. Combination of class levels and creature's natural Hit Dice.

Frankly, I don't understand why the latter limitation even exists since the former will always be higher. You could ask your DM to let you run a creature with CR = your ECL - 2 and up to your HD. That makes a bit more sense and is a bit easier to adjudicate while at it (not all Outsiders have Level Adjustment at all making it impossible to calculate ECL).