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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Herremann the Wise" data-source="post: 2492275" data-attributes="member: 11300">In general, I would say that Summon Monster spells are some of the most useful and multi-purpose around. However, having said that, at lower levels, they do not last long enough to be worth considering. At 5th level, you're most probably ready to get some level of value out of them though.Providing flanking for your fighters and sucking up attacks of opportunity are useful jobs for the creatures you summon. I have to be honest though and say that from the first couple of lists, there are not that many creatures to get excited over. Lantern Archons and Howlers as well as some of the vermin can have interesting uses. Realisitically though, it is not until you hit the 5th level list that you get some interesting creatures: giant stag beetles and griffons, achaierai (a personal favourite) and dire apes and boars are cool as are shadow mastiffs.At higher levels - ability to cast Summon Monster VII, you start to get a nice array of creatures with a wide range of uses. In terms of sheer size and power, you cannot go past the multiple Giant Crocodiles (Huge creatures with lots of hit points and very good grapples) at SM-V and the Huge Fire Elemental (Lots of attacks of opportunity) and Bone Devils at SM-VII. Having these guys on the battlefield and being able to communicate with them is great for organising the battlefield to your liking.If you combine this with augment summoning and the alienist prestige class from the Complete Arcane - the psuedonatural template - you have some very interesting creatures with which to summon to battle. If you see the Story Hour in my signature regarding Lucifus Cray - the Alienist that I am currently playing - you might get a few ideas for some really whacky things you can do in terms of summoning creatures.If you want to get the most out of the summoning spells, you should most likely wait until you hit SM IV or V. Having said that, I'm sure you can get some good use out of the lower level ones too if you use them intelligently.Best RegardsHerremann the Wise</blockquote>

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