[3.5] Why are the Summon Undead spells so bad?

[DragoonWraith]

So, Summon Undead. Mainstay of the Dread Necromancer, and at the very least thematically appropriate for a Necromancer Wizard, too. So... why on earth are they so awful?

First, there's the "No undead creature you summon can have more Hit Dice than your caster level +1." Meanwhile, here's a nifty chart:
{table=head]Summon Undead... | Min CL+1 | HD's available | Respective CR's
I | 2 | 1, 2 | 1/3, 1/2
II | 4 | 5, 6 | 2, 2
III | 6 | 1, 6, 8 | 1, 3, 3
IV | 8 | 4, 4, 14 | 3, 3, 4
V | 10 | 8, 3, 4, 4 | 5, 3, 4, 3[/table]
Note how you cannot actually use any of the creatures from the SU2 list when you get it, and one of your choices for SU4 is hilariously unusable until CL 13. Note also that there are a grand total of fourteen monsters on the entire list - coincidentally, do you know how many monsters are on the Summon Monster I list? (hint: it's exactly the same number as the entire Summon Undead line)

Can anyone shed any light on why these spells are so bad? Alternatively, can anyone correct me and show me how they're not so bad?

[Starbuck_II]

So, Summon Undead. Mainstay of the Dread Necromancer, and at the very least thematically appropriate for a Necromancer Wizard, too. So... why on earth are they so awful?

First, there's the "No undead creature you summon can have more Hit Dice than your caster level +1." Meanwhile, here's a nifty chart:
{table=head]Summon Undead... | Min CL+1 | HD's available | Respective CR's
I | 2 | 1, 2 | 1/3, 1/2
II | 4 | 5, 6 | 2, 2
III | 6 | 1, 6, 8 | 1, 3, 3
IV | 8 | 4, 4, 14 | 3, 3, 4
V | 10 | 8, 3, 4, 4 | 5, 3, 4, 3[/table]
Note how you cannot actually use any of the creatures from the SU2 list when you get it, and one of your choices for SU4 is hilariously unusable until CL 13. Note also that there are a grand total of fourteen monsters on the entire list - coincidentally, do you know how many monsters are on the Summon Monster I list? (hint: it's exactly the same number as the entire Summon Undead line)

Can anyone shed any light on why these spells are so bad? Alternatively, can anyone correct me and show me how they're not so bad?

Are using the old version?
The new version in Spell compenduim?

[DragoonWraith]

Spell Compendium; sorry, didn't realize they'd changed.

[jiriku]

WOTC, unbalanced...no surprise. If you like them, surely you can tinker with them a bit to produce a version that doesn't suck.

[Boci]

So:
1. Remove the annoying HD cap.
2. Make sure each undead has a CR at least equal to the spell level.
3. Add more.
4. Suggestion: make it so igt can be either a conjuration or necromancer spell.

[PlzBreakMyCmpAn]

Because they want you to rebuke and command not make more silly

[Saph]

Because even if the numbers are low, you can still summon up incorporeal undead like Shadows and Allips which are pretty much a guaranteed kill against about half the creatures in the Monster Manual.

[Dilb]

Apparently you haven't noticed you can summon allips. Incorporeal, and with a WIS drain touch-attack. A surprising number of things can be trivially killed by them.

The rest really aren't that bad compared to the summon monster line, which tends to produce things of (CR = Spell level -1), give or take a couple depending on whether it has any awesome abilities. A kobold zombie at level 1 has triple health compared to most summons, and DR as well. It might not kill anything, but it can soak a lot of damage compared to a celestial dog, for example. Admittedly, this isn't very useful until duration gets longer than 1 round, but still.

So get rid of the HD cap, which was only there because earlier versions of the spell let you summon huge skeletons with SU III, with no limit on the type.