(PATHFINDER) Making a Necromancer and I Need some help.

[Nyan]

So im gonna start a campaign and I wanna play a Necromancer.

My stat array is this: 7, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16

we are gonna start at level 1 and i've been doing some research and I am stunned by how many ways people can make necromancers.

So far the classes i've found mentioned are these

Wizard (Cruoromancer or Undead master archetype)

Clerics (Undead Lord archetype)

Oracle (Ju ju pre-errata and after errata)

Occultist (Neccrocultist Archetype)

Shaman

Witch (Gravewalker)

Or i've seen some mixes with multiclassing. Not even mentioning perstige classes.

So where the heck do I go with this? Im not sure if I wanna go for the max amount of minions or if I wanna make fewer stronger undead. I am open for all suggestions on how to go on about it. Really I have no idea where to even start. Is any option vastly better than another? If you multiclass which should you go?

[Falontani]

I personally enjoy the witch with her Spell Poppet. Combined with all the petty curses and her talent it's just overall fun to play. I personally like role-playing a rather attractive young witch that tries to act like the stereotypical old hag witch.

As for necromancy itself, I suggest either using fewer numbers and more powerful undead, or if you want swarms of undead see if your dm would be willing to work with you on swarm esque or mob rules so that your not using a few dozen small rarely hitting attacks.

[Segev]

PF only or is 3.5 stuff allowed?

PF only, go for the undead subschool of necromancy and get the Undead Master feat. This will require spell focus: necromancy.

The Undead Master archetype for the wizard will help a lot. Yes, there’s a feat and the archetype, and they do different things.


If 3.5 is allowed and you can finagle a couple of flaws, start with precocious apprentice (command undead), spell focus: necromancy, undead master, and fell animate. Hunt down 3 slaymates so you can put Fell Animate onto the Bleed cantrip and keep it a cantrip. Then spam it on dying victims of combats with your party; if you deal the death blow, you get a zombie!

You have Command Undead for your Slaymates and any extra zombies that exceed your cap. Thanks to Undead Master, you count as fifth level for animation FNB and controlling undead, and for Command Undead, which has its duration doubled. So, at level 1, Command Undead lasts 10 days!

[Nyan]

No. Nothing 3.5 never mentioned it in my original post so not sure youd think that?

So ive seen a suggestion for witch and wizard now. But no real explanation how it differs from the others.

Falontani: If you go for the witch any other mechanical reason why you choose that one over the others? Would you multiclass some way?

Segev: Mind going more in depth why, how etc you would do it that way?

[Kurald Galain]

I would go with cleric so you can channel negative to heal all your undead. Find a way to make it also heal yourself.

[Segev]

No. Nothing 3.5 never mentioned it in my original post so not sure youd think that?Because there are options there which, if available, would help. There's a reason I gave "if 3.5 is allowed" and "if it is not allowed" options.

If 3.5 were allowed, there are additional options I hadn't listed which are really cool for minionmancy, from the Enhanced Undead ACF to the Corpsecrafter chain of feats.


So ive seen a suggestion for witch and wizard now. But no real explanation how it differs from the others.Witch is a different class than wizard. They have different powers. Hexes, for example. They're not quite as solid on the overall spellcasting, but they're still full casters. I don't know enough about the witch options to say what makes for a good necromancer witch, sadly.


Segev: Mind going more in depth why, how etc you would do it that way?

Undead Master (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/undead-master) - the feat - will make your Necromancer's Rebuke/Command Undead (which he gets for free as a Necromancer specialist wizard) act as if you're level 5 when you're level 1, making the ability far more potent from the get-go and potentially useful against almost any kind of undead you'll face at that level, while giving you a comfortable control cap of 10 HD. Combined with Undead Master (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/wizard/archetypes/paizo-wizard-archetypes/undead-master-wizard-archetype) - the archetype - which gives you lesser animate dead at wizard level 3 (as a 2nd level spell), you'll have the ability to animate single skeletons and zombies up to 14 HD at 3rd level, and a control cap of 28 HD of them.

The archetype also gives you a skeletal or zombie minion at level 1 which improves with level, unless you choose to take an arcane bonded item (in which case it must include bone in its construction but has no special properties different from the base wizard class feature).

This gives you some of the earliest minionmancy possible in Pathfinder, and definitely the earliest with the wizard spell list at your disposal. If you want, you can also take Idealize (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/wizard/arcane-discoveries/arcane-discoveries-paizo/idealize-su/) in place of a feat (Arcane Discoveries are essentially wizard-only feats) and make your ability to buff your minions with stat-boosting spells all the stronger.

As to why this over witch? I don't know that witch gets comparable options. You can actually get similar minionmancy out of a cleric, and without the Undead Master archetype you get the spells to make your minions earlier. There's even the fact that clerics' negative energy channeling is able to heal undead which edges in a bit. But clerics are beholden to gods as their masters, which always puts me off cleric as my necromancy build. Wizard does have a better spell list for aggressive magic, including the haste spell, and Idealize is wizard-only (and will eventually make bull's strength et al give a +8!).

[Nyan]

Because there are options there which, if available, would help. There's a reason I gave "if 3.5 is allowed" and "if it is not allowed" options.

If 3.5 were allowed, there are additional options I hadn't listed which are really cool for minionmancy, from the Enhanced Undead ACF to the Corpsecrafter chain of feats.

Witch is a different class than wizard. They have different powers. Hexes, for example. They're not quite as solid on the overall spellcasting, but they're still full casters. I don't know enough about the witch options to say what makes for a good necromancer witch, sadly.

Undead Master (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/feats/general-feats/undead-master) - the feat - will make your Necromancer's Rebuke/Command Undead (which he gets for free as a Necromancer specialist wizard) act as if you're level 5 when you're level 1, making the ability far more potent from the get-go and potentially useful against almost any kind of undead you'll face at that level, while giving you a comfortable control cap of 10 HD. Combined with Undead Master (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/wizard/archetypes/paizo-wizard-archetypes/undead-master-wizard-archetype) - the archetype - which gives you lesser animate dead at wizard level 3 (as a 2nd level spell), you'll have the ability to animate single skeletons and zombies up to 14 HD at 3rd level, and a control cap of 28 HD of them.

The archetype also gives you a skeletal or zombie minion at level 1 which improves with level, unless you choose to take an arcane bonded item (in which case it must include bone in its construction but has no special properties different from the base wizard class feature).

This gives you some of the earliest minionmancy possible in Pathfinder, and definitely the earliest with the wizard spell list at your disposal. If you want, you can also take Idealize (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/wizard/arcane-discoveries/arcane-discoveries-paizo/idealize-su/) in place of a feat (Arcane Discoveries are essentially wizard-only feats) and make your ability to buff your minions with stat-boosting spells all the stronger.

As to why this over witch? I don't know that witch gets comparable options. You can actually get similar minionmancy out of a cleric, and without the Undead Master archetype you get the spells to make your minions earlier. There's even the fact that clerics' negative energy channeling is able to heal undead which edges in a bit. But clerics are beholden to gods as their masters, which always puts me off cleric as my necromancy build. Wizard does have a better spell list for aggressive magic, including the haste spell, and Idealize is wizard-only (and will eventually make bull's strength et al give a +8!).

But what about cleric being able to use animate dead earlier? Also the fact they can use desecrate which wizards dont have access too.

And what about juju oracle being able to animate 6hd of undead per level rather than 4hd? Also getting to make Juju zombies which are apparently really good.

[GrayDeath]

Can only speak from eprsonal experience about a Gravewalker Witch and a Juju Oracle in PF.

Both do what they want to do (minionomancer with a side dish of horror) pretty well, but different.
The witches ability to "highjack" her undead made her incredibly good as scout or "exendable negotiator".

The Juju Oracles Juju Zombies on the other hand are likely the best basic undead you will 8aside from stacking circumstances/Feats) ever get.


On a more general note. Recommendations would be easier if you knew what exactly you want aside from necromancer".#

Also, are 3rd Party PF books in? If so, a Death Sphere focussed Sphere caster might also be a good idea, due to much less bookeeping/interesting different mechanics.

[Segev]

But what about cleric being able to use animate dead earlier? Also the fact they can use desecrate which wizards dont have access too.

And what about juju oracle being able to animate 6hd of undead per level rather than 4hd? Also getting to make Juju zombies which are apparently really good.

The Undead Master archetype gets the animation spells at the same level the cleric does. I can't comment on the oracle.

Desecrate can be achieved with Craft Wonderous Item. In PF, you don't have to have the spell in order to make an item of it, as long as it's not a spell completion or spell trigger item. My recommendation is to craft an altar to an evil god, and then enchant it to radiate an aura of desecration continually. This will have a market price of 12,000 gp, and thus cost you 6,000 gp in materials (and the cost of the altar will be subsumed in that).

The rules for creating magic items in PF requre a Spellcraft roll. The DC increases by 5 for each required component you're missing, so not having desecrate as a spell just increases the DC of creating this item by 5. Maxing out your Spellcraft roll should make this pretty easy to handle.

Then, have some undead carry the altar around for you, so you're always able to animate your dead in its aura, and so your undead are always fighting with the relevant bonuses.

Note: you can do that as a cleric, too, and slightly easier. So if you want to run a cleric, you can. I just prefer wizards for their spell access and thematics wrt undead minionmancy.


On the subject of possessing your undead, I don't know when the witch can do it, but a wizard can do the same thing at level 13+ when he gets access to magic jar.

Edit: I also just added a new thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?606054-Teamwork-Feats-on-Undead-Minions&p=24343024#post24343024) on the Charnal Soldiers feat. Teamwork feats might be helpful to your minions. This is class-agnostic; you just have to be able to make and/or control mindless undead and be willing to invest in at least one Teamwork feat you want them to have.

[Nyan]

No third party options sadly


I have had some time to chat with my gm and a few notes about the campaign thus far and to anwser the question of what I want from my necromancer has become more clear.

1. the setting is in a "stuck inside an mmo rpg" kind of deal which makes it so running around with zombie undead minions is not an issue. there wont be any witch burning or hunting me down for doing what my "class" is supposed to do in the context of the game world.

2. he has adviced against activities that will take considerable amount of time so supposedly we will be on the move alot. Lots of dungeon crawling I can imagine. So crafting or something like that is out.

3. There will be ways to farm conventional components say onyx crystals as they respawn. Assuming I can find where its spawned and mine it.

4. He has mentioned as long as I dont take 40min per turn (I'd like to think im pretty efficient) he is fine with large hordes. So both playstyles are open those being many minions or a few strong ones.

5. He says we are aiming for level 20 and we are running fast exp progression.

Some things i've read that seems to be relevant to making a necromancer.

Desecrate: This spell is key to get as much as you can through your use of animate dead. Clerics and oracles get access to this but wizards don't. I know there is an item called a Voidstick that I want to eventually get that lets me basicly have it on hand at all times but its quite far away since we level one.

Command Undead (The 2nd lvl spell): Charm person but for undead. Many has said this is stupid good on the mindless undead you create since you can use this and they get no save. Also no limit to the HD of the creatures and its durration is day per level. however only wizards get use of this or possibly the cleric with the Inevitable Domain.

Juju Oracles Spirit vessel revelation: This increases the HD for animate dead per level from 4 to 6 which seems crazy good.

Command undead (The feat): Lets you use channel divinity to command undead up to your level.

Undead Master (feat): Doubles the duration of the Command undead 2nd lvl spell and you count as 4 levels higher when animating with Animate dead or controlling with Command undead (the feat). But some people say its a trap cause "it doesn't actually improve the max total you can control at any time." According to a popular link i've seen on numerous places when reasearching this.

Charnel Soldiers: Share a teamwork feat you have with all of your undead minions. Dont know if I'd even fit this.

Experimental Caster: Using the Alternate wordcasting rules and picking the undeath word it supposedly works like animate dead but without any material components.

Spell Specialization: Pick animate dead for this and you count as 2 caster levels higher.

Wizard Cruoromancer (Dhampir only): This archetype for wizard gives you a blood Command ability allowing you first 5hd instead of 4hd per level when casting animate dead and then some sort of infusion that allows you to triple it not sure how that works. But again seems crazy good.

Wizard Sin mage gluttony: Gives you 2 extra spell slots for necromancy

wizard necromancy undead school or Undead Master archetype: Gives you the necromancy spells for free and a buff for your undead + some other things.

Negative energy channeling: Being able to channel negative energy to heal your undead is very good.

Mystic Theruge Perstige class: Seen many builds with wizard/cleric/oracle/sorcerer and then this slapped on top to maximize the animate dead. Not sure what to do about it myself

Agent of the grave perstige class: People have mentioned this as the go to thing but then as I read more it sounds more like a trap. It counts its level for double when determining Animate dead HD but you lose a caster level. But there are traits or maybe it was a feat that lets you work around this so not sure if its still good or bad.

Skeleton summoner: Makes you able to summon skeletons with summon monster.

Undead lord cleric Archetype: Some people say its the go to thing but others say its a trap. No idea what to think

So with all of these notes how the F do I slap all of this together in to a character. I dont know what I want at this point with so many things to consider. This is not even everything i've found just the things i've remembered i've seen.

[Segev]

5. He says we are aiming for level 20 and we are running fast exp progression.
Zeroing in on this, I would suggest that you focus more on mid-game power than early-game, if only because you'll be getting to mid-game much faster than you might think. So the Voidstick mentioned under Desecrate might be just fine, even if you have to lose out on desecrate as a spell early on. That does depend on what other powers and abilities you want, though.

Command Undead (The 2nd lvl spell): Charm person but for undead. Many has said this is stupid good on the mindless undead you create since you can use this and they get no save. Also no limit to the HD of the creatures and its durration is day per level. however only wizards get use of this or possibly the cleric with the Inevitable Domain.This is one solid reason to go Necromancer wizard. The PF version of the class gives you the Command Undead feat for free, AND you have this very useful spell for controlling large-HD mindless minions, as well as giving you a solid edge in getting intelligent undead to work for you semi-willingly.

The fact that one casting of command undead (the spell) will control any one mindless undead regardless of its HD for days on end cannot be overestimated. It frees up control caps immensely. With the Undead Master feat, that's 2 days/CL. If you want, you can even Extend it to 3 days per CL, albeit at the cost of another feat and making it cost a 3rd level spell slot.


Juju Oracles Spirit vessel revelation: This increases the HD for animate dead per level from 4 to 6 which seems crazy good. This does sound amazing, but I think it will still fall short of command undead the spell.


Command undead (The feat): Lets you use channel divinity to command undead up to your level.As a cleric, you will want this feat; it will let you both control undead and heal your minions. As a Necromancer wizard, you will get it for free, but won't be able to heal your minions as an alternate use of Channel Negative Energy. I still like Wizard better, though, as the control is more important to me than the healing, and the wizard doesn't spend a feat on it.


Undead Master (feat): Doubles the duration of the Command undead 2nd lvl spell and you count as 4 levels higher when animating with Animate dead or controlling with Command undead (the feat). But some people say its a trap cause "it doesn't actually improve the max total you can control at any time." According to a popular link i've seen on numerous places when reasearching this.This is a "talk to your GM" thing. It seems pretty clear, to me, that it's MEANT to up your CL, HD, etc. for purposes of expanding all undead-related control caps. It's not worded as well as it could be, though. I think it's worth it even if it doesn't increase your control cap, though it seems to, to me.


Charnel Soldiers: Share a teamwork feat you have with all of your undead minions. Dont know if I'd even fit this.Fitting it in is the hardest part, because it's useless on its own. You need at least one more feat, the Teamwork feat to share.

If you go this route, the first Teamwork feat - and the one I'd share - is Bonded Mind. It lets you basically have telepathic communion with your undead minions, at least within line of sight. I'd then add on Share Spells and Special Delivery, if I had one or two more "free" feats to devote, because this lets you first transfer Personal buffs to your minions (which can get pretty insane, especially if you have One Big Guy), and it also lets you turn a minion into a touch spell delivery system. Your minions may well have better attack bonuses than you, and you also would rather they be in melee than you. Chill touch, with its multiple touches per casting, would be very nice to buff a high attack-rate minion with! Remember, too, that they can "hold" touch spells indefinitely, since they're not going to be touching things until they go attack. So stack them on the day before, if you need to.


Spell Specialization: Pick animate dead for this and you count as 2 caster levels higher.This is an interesting one. I'm not sure it's worth it; that's +8 HD to your cap, yes, but that's all it is. You're better off with a PEarl of Power for 2nd level spells, and casting Command Undead on something with 8+ HD. It'll cost you less and be more effective.


Wizard Sin mage gluttony: Gives you 2 extra spell slots for necromancyLosing mage armor hurts a lot. And going from "two spell slots for a restricted school" to "can't cast from them" also hurts. PF is the first edition where I don't usually think very hard before specializing at all, because I can always get the opposed spells in a pinch.


wizard necromancy undead school or Undead Master archetype: Gives you the necromancy spells for free and a buff for your undead + some other things.Why not both? They synergize very nicely. The archetype even lets you cast the animation spells a spell level earlier, which makes it a lot more fun to play a minionmancer, and gives you a freebie minion at level 1!


Negative energy channeling: Being able to channel negative energy to heal your undead is very good.This is one of a couple of reasons cleric might be better than wizard, but I still think wizard is more fun for this.


Mystic Theruge Perstige class: Seen many builds with wizard/cleric/oracle/sorcerer and then this slapped on top to maximize the animate dead. Not sure what to do about it myselfIt...really wouldn't work that way. You're spreading yourself out, and your CL doesn't bump up FASTER with this. Your caps might stack some bonuses from component classes, but the lost CL to other effects will still sting. Nothing in the rules suggests that you have distinct control caps for animate dead cast as a wizard vs. cast as a cleric, either. They're the same cap, and if you're casting at a lower CL with one, the cap that's checked against is that lower one, and you might lose MORE undead.


Agent of the grave perstige class: People have mentioned this as the go to thing but then as I read more it sounds more like a trap. It counts its level for double when determining Animate dead HD but you lose a caster level. But there are traits or maybe it was a feat that lets you work around this so not sure if its still good or bad.I don't know the class, but these elements aren't a trap. You lose a CL, but if you count CLASS LEVEL in it twice, you don't lose a level for cap purposes, and you wind up with your cap going up faster for its duration. Let me go look it up...

...it actually is pretty solid. Losing the CL isn't great, but it closes up gaps in being a wizard or cleric and not having the other's perks. Especially the wizard, though, since EVERY undead a 3rd+ level Agent of the Grave makes is treated as being created in the area of a desecrate spell. Again, not crucial; by this point, you can probably have that voidstick. But nice if you haven't gotten another means to ensure that, yet.


Skeleton summoner: Makes you able to summon skeletons with summon monster.Skeletons aren't appreciably better as summons than anything else on the summon monster lists; I don't think it's worth a feat for making a Conjuration spell thematically necromantic. Just kinda meh, and expensive meh at that.


Undead lord cleric Archetype: Some people say its the go to thing but others say its a trap. No idea what to thinkGives you an undead minion from level 1. The Undead Master wizard archetype does more for you, I think, but the Undead Lord Cleric is going to do a lot to heal his minions. He also is better able than most evil clerics to heal his living allies, since he can make them act like undead for healing purposes for brief periods. It won't be a game-changer, but it will help.


So with all of these notes how the F do I slap all of this together in to a character. I dont know what I want at this point with so many things to consider. This is not even everything i've found just the things i've remembered i've seen.

Personally, I'd go with an Undead Master Necromancer Wizard with the Undead Master feat, and maybe go for Agent of the Grave if I seriously felt the lack of desecrate or found that command undead wasn't letting me ease enough pressure off of my control caps.

If I went Cleric, I'd go Undead Lord and make sure to take Command Undead the feat as well as Undead Master, and I'd go for Agent of the Grave to pick up command undead the spell if it's not on my domain list.

In both cases, I'd go for the Corpse Companion, because that gives you a minion from level 1. Both builds let you start animating your own skeletons and zombies at level 3 (using lesser animate dead), too.

With crafting being iffy to "no," I'd actually consider Bonded Mind (convince allies in the party to take it if possible; the virtual telepathy will always be useful), and then Charnal Soldiers so I could mentally command all my mindless minions. Getting up to Special Delivery is less useful for a cleric than a wizard, but with a wizard, you can make your highest-accuracy minions into some pretty nasty touch-spell delivery systems. If your non-minion allies have Bonded Mind, too, you can offer them personal buffs you couldn't otherwise, and can let them deliver touch spells, too!

[Nyan]

So after some digging ive found the spirit vessel mystery from oracle applies to every kind of casting of animate dead regardless of the class. Following this Faq

Sorcerer: Do the bonuses granted from Bloodline Arcana apply to all of the spells cast by the sorcerer, or just those cast from the sorcerer's spell list?
The Bloodline Arcana powers apply to all of the spells cast by characters of that bloodline, not just those cast using the sorcerer's spell slots.

General rule: If a class ability modifies your spellcasting, it applies to your spells from all classes, not just spells from the class that grants the ability. (The exception is if the class ability specifically says it only applies to spells from that class.)

This means if I get Spirit vessel from oracle and then multiclass in to wizard Cuoromancer you get 6hd per level for both classes, then you can use your blood command ability to make your caster level count as 3 times instead of 2 times when using animate dead.

Then you can go in to Mystic theruge perstige class and then even Agent of the grave for some crazy amount of hit dice for your animate dead. You also get desecrate, command undead spell and feat also the ability to use a channeling ability to control undead. Idk seems like this seems to be the way to go dont know exactly.

Instead of Cuoromancer you could ofc pick the necromancer school undead master wizard and then instead of the blood command you get the improved channel and the corpse companion.

Am I wrong in any of this?

[Psyren]

Agent of the Grave's lost caster level can be patched up with Magical Knack (trait) or Prestigious Spellcaster (two feats). So let's look at what else it gives you:

- Double undead control pool for 5 levels (i.e. at 20 you can control cleric 15+(5*2)=25 worth of undead HD, or 100 HD at 20.)
- Automatic desecrate on undead you create
- Affect some undead with some mind-affecting spells
- Add Int mod necromancy spells from other spell lists to your own
- Can be turned into an undead without becoming a thrall or losing free will, but you should pick an undead that doesn't lose class levels e.g. vampire.

In exchange you lose 5 levels of channel energy progression (assuming Cleric) or 5 levels of whatever other base class you used to enter. Personally I think its worth it, especially if your ultimate goal is to become undead in addition to controlling them - a vampire, lich, skeletal champion or something else that can have class levels.

[Segev]

I think Psyren's got the calculation down. If you want to maximize control cap, and you can single-class Oracle or minimize CL-loss to your primary class while taking the minimum levels of Oracle required to get the bonus to your caps, that sounds pretty good. I don't know what level you get these revelations at.

I think you mentioned a means of getting command undead (the spell) on Oracle, which means it's now pushing your cap higher AND letting you dodge the cap on select undead. So that's probably pretty viable.

The main reason I push so hard against divine casters for my necromancers is that I take the devotion to deity part of the concept seriously. And when I make a necromancer, I usually am making an egoist who feels that worshipping another power to gain his own is a dead-end path. This is purely RP, mind.

You could, in some settings, have a cleric (or, I guess, oracle?) of a "concept of necromancy," who just believes in his necromantic right and might so much that it works.

I don't know oracle fluff too well; they're PF's Favored Soul equivalent, right? A chosen of a god who has power because the god fills him with it so much that it also curses him in some way?

[Kapow]

I don't have anything useful to add about classes - the only necromancer I played in PF was an undead lord cleric and it worked fine for me.

I will suggest dhampir as race though (if allowed), as you can heal yourself as well via negative energy
https://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/other-races/featured-races/arg-dhampir

Also the bloody skeleton template is really nice

And last I recommend reading this campaign journal
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?325177-Cattle-Driving-Necromancers-Bizarre-Campaign-Journal
There are some real good inspirations for necromancers and it is also one of my favourite journals
You have to be careful about flying books if you try to copy it all and your GM isn't Kaveman

[Septimus]

I'd recommend to take a Half-Elf Oracle. As for Mystery, you can take either Bones or Juju, but you'd take the elf racial archetype Ancient Lorekeeper to cherry pick your mandatory and/or favorite wizard spells (such as Command Undead). I recommend a Half-Elf over an elf to be able to cast Paragon Surge to get temporary access to feats, and hence to missing and situational spells in your limited known spell list. You end up with a strong Charisma-based chassis, which is nice for a minionmancy build, with most useful cleric spells, a few mandatory wizard spells (my own character took prestidigitation, charm person, command undead, suggestion, enervation, dominate person...) and the capability to get the missing spell using a 3rd level slot for a few minutes. Even post errata, Paragon Surge is very useful, especially during down-time event such as specific undead creation (isitoq, necrocrafts, skeleton champion...).