Creating a Malconvoker

[MiniMalconvoker]

I have played D&D for a long time but stopped at 2.0 Just a few months ago my friends finally convinced me to join one of there campaigns. It's for 6th level characters of 3.5. I have become efficiently familiar with the rules but have little to no actual experience. I am building a summoning oriented cleric and was intrigued by the Malconvoker prestige class which i can have one level of at lvl 6. Information and advice for building a strong base for this character would be much appreciated

[Eldariel]

There isn't much to it. Get Augment Summoning, preferably some way to Quicken your Summons (Divine Metamagic: Rapid Spell functions, for example), appropriate domains, go to town. Mastering the Malconvoker could be a good source.

[Doc Roc]

I cannot emphasize how useful that guide is enough. +1 to Eld.
If you need more help after that, I suggest posting in the guide's thread or on the WotCO boards.

[Brom]

Clerics are good for summon monster goodness, but I do Malconvoker for the Planar Binding. Note: Planar Binding, not Planar Ally. Planar Ally summons a minion of your diety and requires XP to cast. I'd recommend a Sorcerer or Wizard if you were going Malconvoker.

[Tukka]

I have played D&D for a long time but stopped at 2.0 Just a few months ago my friends finally convinced me to join one of there campaigns. It's for 6th level characters of 3.5. I have become efficiently familiar with the rules but have little to no actual experience. I am building a summoning oriented cleric and was intrigued by the Malconvoker prestige class which i can have one level of at lvl 6. Information and advice for building a strong base for this character would be much appreciated

I'm playing a level 7 archivist/malconvoker in one of my games presently. Unfortunately malconvoker doesn't really give you anything very good until character level 9 (Malconvoker 4), and doesn't become truly worthwhile until character level 10 (Malconvoker 5).

Treantmonk's guide is awesome, though (as he is willing to concede) it is focused on the wizard-conjurer rather than divine malconvokers. Divine malconvokers have their charm though, especially the archivist -- with its access to the summon nature's ally line -- which is generally superior to the summon monster line at low levels (before malconvokers get their awesome class abilities) and the dark knowledge special ability that synergizes well with summons. Access to the level 2 druid spell, mass snake's swiftness (SpC) is an incredible boon (possibly broken) for a summoner (wizards get access to it at spell level 3, but unfortunately clerics can't get it at all, I don't think).

As noted, you will need to pick up some means of casting your summons as something other than a full-round action, without incurring metamagic costs. Rapid Spell (CD) in conjunction with Metamagic School Focus (CM) is the usual method (edit: or I suppose powering with turn undead attempts using divine metamagic would be, for a cleric).

One nice item for a lower level malconvoker/summoner is a chronocharm of the uncaring archmage (MIC). It's a cheap additional standard action summon in addition to what you get with Rapid Spell/Metamagic School Focus, but eventually becomes less valuable because it only works on level 3 spells and below. Then you can invest in a metamagic/greater metamagic rod of rapid spell if necessary.

Edit:

Clerics are good for summon monster goodness, but I do Malconvoker for the Planar Binding. Note: Planar Binding, not Planar Ally. Planar Ally summons a minion of your diety and requires XP to cast. I'd recommend a Sorcerer or Wizard if you were going Malconvoker.

Note that all malconvokers get access to the planar binding spells at the same spell levels as a wizard -- it's a class feature.