hunter 1st lvl spell choice

[Merm7th]

I'm playing a verminous hunter with a mantis mount. Mostly I stay above the reach of the melee and charge with my lance. I'm strength based with a 0 dexterity mod. My current 1st lvl spells are produce flame, ray of sickening, mudball, and the free summon natures ally 1. I've chosen offensive spells with different effects that are ranged touch to compensate for my poor dex. Now that I'm third level I get another spell to choose. I'm keeping pre-fight buffs and protection to scrolls because of my limited # of spells. I want another useful in combat spell but can't seem to find one I like. Any suggestions?

[Paladin of Baha-who?]

Entangle is one of the best 1st-level offensive spells in the game. Yes, it does no damage, but it can shut encounters down very effectively. Lead blades would be effective with your lance. (4d6 damage when you charge is very tempting.) Thunderstomp is effective if you are facing a lot of two-legged opponents (who don't fly).

[Merm7th]

I have a wand of lead blades. I don't realy use buffs in combat. I'm missing out on a round of attacking which is big when combat is 4 rounds. When I can attack or charge, I do, if I can't, I hit them with the ranged spells. Entangle is nice, but it forces them to switch to ranged weapons and the will most likely focus on me.

[avr]

Isn't Mudball goblin-only? If you can bypass racial requisites you might like Blend as an out-of-combat buff. If that's a one-off Heightened Awareness or Longstrider are other out-of-combat buffs you might like.

[Imbicatus]

Ant Haul is a good option to give your mount more carry capacity. Flying mounts always need more.

Faerie Fire is a great anti-concealment tool.