Why would you summon elementals?

[Pielorinho]

I think I read in Dragon #302 the suggestion that elementals are some of the most powerful creatures you could summon at their respective levels, that they should probably be one level higher on each Summon Monster (or Summon Nature's Ally) spell list.

But when I look at their stats, they look horribly weak to me. There's no way a medium elemental can compete in damage outlay with a brown bear or a tiger -- and that's before you slap any templates onto the creatures.

Do elementals ever become useful? Am I ignoring some cool benefit to summoning them? Or am I right, and they're some of the wimpiest monsters for each level of the summoning spells?

Daniel

 

[Shard O'Glase]

I think you're right, it sounds like dragon 302 has some weird ideas of powerful.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Do elementals ever become useful? Am I ignoring some cool benefit to summoning them?

Fly 100 ft. (perfect)

-Hyp.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Oh, and we summoned a Small Earth Elemental and used it as a battering ram, once...

-Hyp.

 

[RigaMortus]

Can't earth elementals pass through rock, mud, dirt, etc. (ie earth)? And the higher level ones start to get damage reduction.

 

[Celebrim]

We've had several threads before discussing the possibility of bumping down the smaller elementals by a list. Bumping them up is ridiculous.

I think the really big ones are pretty decent choices, but the small ones don't have a whole lot of utility. They don't have nearly the damage dealing capabilities of the dire animals, have no more defensive abilities than a larger celestial/infernal animal, and don't have nearly the toolbox of abilities that a summoned outer planar outsider will have.

I can only assume that they will take a second look at the lists in 3.5, especially if all the fiends are going to get a general boost the way the pit fiend did.

 

[Pielorinho]

Can't earth elementals pass through rock, mud, dirt, etc. (ie earth)? And the higher level ones start to get damage reduction.

Nope to your question -- as Caliban pointed out in a different thread, this would make them much more powerful (possibly even powerful enough to be worth summoning ).

They do start to get DR at higher levels, and for a druid, this is certainly an advantage. For anyone else, however, it's no great shakes: by the time that elementals start to get DR, other spellcasters will be summoning celestial or fiendish creatures that also have DR.
The ability to fly is useful, definitely. And I guess an earth elemental might make a good battering ram. But would it be a better battering ram than, say, a bison?

Daniel

 

[Dingleberry]

My party's druid and cleric frequently summon small water elementals to put out the fires that result from the sorcerer's itchy fireball trigger finger. They've also used small fire elementals to help cremate enemy remains.

 

[Hypersmurf]

And I guess an earth elemental might make a good battering ram. But would it be a better battering ram than, say, a bison?

Bisons are too heavy to lift.

-Hyp.

 

[Shard O'Glase]

Nope to your question -- as Caliban pointed out in a different thread, this would make them much more powerful (possibly even powerful enough to be worth summoning ).

Unless there is an errata I'm unaware of I think earth elementals can pass through earth. i may be forgeting things but I'm fairly sure it is explicetly mentioned under their description.