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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Brother MacLaren" data-source="post: 3482686" data-attributes="member: 15999">I think the orb spells are horribly overpowered and add a capability to the conjuration school that it didn't need; it was already quite powerful.At the levels you're talking about, save-or-die spells are fairly common.  These are your high-risk gambles, whereas summons tend to be more reliable for less effect (they almost always do SOMETHING, even if just forcing the enemy to waste actions).  Save-or die spells might end the fight quickly, or they might do nothing.  Against a bone devil, a Dismissal spell from your 20-Int 10th-level caster with Spell Penetration has a 60% chance to beat the SR, and a 45% chance to beat the saving throw.  So better than a 1-in-4 chance of putting the creature away with a single spell.  If I were playing a caster, I'd consider those good odds and take the shot.  If you don't like this gamble, then as others have said you can use battlefield control, buffing, or summoning.  Feeblemind, Baleful Polymorph, and Confusion are also excellent spells where if a target fails its save it is severely incapacitated.  No-save spells should NOT have comparable power; it occurs to me that Enervation is a bit too strong compared to Bestow Curse, so perhaps the latter should be 3rd-level.</blockquote>