Minkle's page

Wall Spells are indeed Awesome. Battlefield control effects can cut off groups of enemies, or get a squishy character out of harms way. (Readied actions to cast walls spells can be really effective, making an opponent waste an attack. Even a Red Dragon's Breath Weapon can't burn through a wall of force, and you might have just saved your party from 200+ collective damage)

I know you want to keep this focused on spells, but a not for Clerics:

Often I find it annoying trying to get the healing where it needs to go as a Cleric, combat can get muddled, so I like to bring along Reaching Spell. Since Cure spells are spontaneous for clerics, you can take a full round casting to put a meta-magic effect on it. Reaching spell will make your touch spells close ranged for the cost of one spell level (often 1d8 of healing) & you still have use of the feat for things like communal spells. (Normally touch range, but with Reaching spell you can communal resist energy, delay poison etc mid fight)

Okay, back to spells!

@ Finlanderboy:
but that's the beauty of it, the spell is limited by your creativity, and what your GM will allow, making it a potentially highly useful spell.

I do like the armor removing use, though. That's exactly what I'm talking about. ^_^

Gaseous form (3rd level) Almost useless as far as combat stats go, but I keep a potion on my rogue anyway (2PA), cause who knows? Maybe I'll get cornered, and need an unconventional escape, or perhaps I want to sneak up on an enemy position using the flight aspect, or the part where I can now seep through door cracks, arrow slits, broken windows, etc. to get in position before the fighter charges in.

As far as control spells go:
Suggestion is my fave (2nd level for bards, 3rd for wizards) Suggestion is a save negates spell, and only useful against certain creatures. All this said, it is the Swiss Army Knife of low level enchantment. All you need is for the thing to have a mind, and a shared language. Beyond that just make your suggestion sound reasonable. (It doesn't have to make sense, just seem to.)
"You can't win, so you should run away." (Cause fear with no HD limit, phrased right you can make them run 1 hour/level)

"Everything's quiet tonight, why don't you take a nap?" (Sleep)

"I am your best friend, we go way back and you totally owe me." (Charm Person)

"These are not the droids you are looking for."

"You should go home and rethink your life."

"Your boss says you should give me that [insert magic item here]."

"I've cast a spell that makes you think you're a fish!"

"Here, Drink this free sample of whiskey/healing potion." [Hands NPC a vial of poison, or worse Acid](Cause what does 1d6 of chemical burns do to the inside of your throat?)

"You want to kill us with your bare fists." (Rage, case on anyone, but especially that wizard in the back, and watch him wade into melee)

"You should kill our big stupid fighter first, he's the most dangerous." (Taunt type effect for the fighter)

"Your partner's totally about to betray you. You should betray him first." (Murderous command)

"Kneel before me! I am a great and powerful Wizard!" (Ego boost & disable 1 enemy)

Basically, as long as you can get your GM to buy it, the uses are pretty widely varied.

A list of spells you want to have as scrolls as well as prepared is really useful. Spells like the above mentioned wind wall really don't come up every session, but when they do can make encounters significantly easier.

Haste (3rd level) is a spell that I'd suggest anyone have, if they can get it.

Fireball (3rd level) is often underwhelming, but if you can spare a slot for it, it has its moments of glory. Don't expect it to be useful every fight, but it is one of the best mook killers of its level. Also, Long range (400+40/level) Minimum 600'. Ever had a boss fleeing the scene? Here's your solution to put the last 20 point of damage on him. How about all those ship battles? Fireball may not kill the captain, but it's a 40' Explosion of fire in their rigging. 1 spell and they're dead in the water, with a burning ship.

Fly (3rd level) is an awesome spell. Difficult terrain means nothing to the subject of this spell, whether its yourself, the fighter in full plate, or that rogue/ranger who just wants to get in position. Also, great for ranged attackers & killing flying opponents.

Glitter Dust (2nd level) Once you can get it, do so. It's a 10' explosion will save vs blindness. Wont last long, but everyone who makes attack rolls will love you if it works, the rogue may even kiss you.
Also: once it is cast all invisibility within the radius is ruined, and any stealth checks take a -40. Solves a whole mess of problems

Invisibility Spells (1st-4th) These spells are game changers. Most of them require you to remain at most indirectly violent, but they allow free movement, and at least once much enhanced attack. Rogues may love you for this spell, but I find that a passive cleric/oracle/wizard is the best target. If they spend their time healing & summoning then they can now do this all fight long without being targeted.

Phantom steed (3rd level) Ever had mobility problems on your wizard? Ever thought you might? Think again with this spell!

Arcane sight (3rd level) See Magical auras at up to 120'. Make a spell craft check on any active spell you see, spend a standard action to tell is someone can cast spells, or is the simple old beggar they appear to be. Someone Invisible/stealthed? If they have a magical effect on them, they are now glowing (Note: Full concealment will still apply for invisible creatures!)
Also identifies magical items as per a detect magic.

Create pit Spells (2nd-5th?)
Save or be removed from combat, higher level spells are harder to escape from, and cause more pain. Note: These spells also create a 5' ring around them. Ending your turn on the edge of a pit, you must save or fall in. (With a +2 bonus.)

Grease (1st) Never gets old. Save of fall prone (major melee advantage), makes difficult, movement hampering space. Or cast on an item for reflex save or drop it. (Note: Clerics suck at ref saves, and need their holy symbols) Or cast on someone's armor / clothing to get a +10 CMD vs grapples and a +10 to escape grapples.

Magic Missile (1st) Direct Damage, with very little to be done about it. best uses: Wand of magic missile with your 1st 2 PA, now your wizard can always do something, and saves your spell slots for interesting spells.
Note: also a great spell to ready vs another spell caster. they cast a spell, you magic missile, assuming they don't have shield up, chances are they just lost their spell. Worst case, you delt them damage anyway.

Scorching Ray (2nd) If you want Direct Damage that scales well, scorching ray is a good call. Will loose usefulness later on, but for a 2nd level spell, being able to shoot 4/8/12d6 of fire on a touch attack, no save, isn't a bad thing to have around. especially in the mid levels.

Summon monster/nature's ally (1st-9th) WIN. Such epic win. No save, No SR (though protection/circle vs alignment can protect a creature) The early levels of these spells are underwhelming, but at spell level 3+, they can really shine. You get a Miniature Paladin, it takes hits for you, takes up space to help you control the battle field, it attacks for you, and can smite. Every time an enemy attacks it instead of an ally, they spell was worth it.

These are personal favorites, and mostly Arcane caster focused. Hope it helps!

A good rule of thumb: Any spell you pick should either have multiple uses, be especially good at what it does, or have fewer chances to fail (eg. Attack rolls, Save negates, spell resistance, energy resistance, creature type immunities. etc)

Darkness & Deeper Darkness can be fought in many ways:

1. Countered or dispelled by dispel magic
2. Covered by anything that normally stops a non-magical light source (Blankets, piles of rock, sand, dense foliage etc)
3. Countered by readying an action with a light spell (Equal or higher level)
4. Casting a equal or higher light spell on the source of the darkness to dispel it. (Returning you to normal light levels)
5. Daylight. (Will eat darkness, and it will cancel out deeper darkness while canceling out itself, returning you to normal light levels)
6. Heightened light spells (Light, Daylight, Continual Flame) which are above the level of the darkness spell in question (usually 4th level and up is all you need) will shine through the darkness like its not even there.

Other options likely exist, this is just what I have on the top of my head.

Produce flame itself is a range 0ft spell, not touch.

Once the spell is cast it allows you to treat the flames as a touch attack, on future rounds.

I will note reading the spell, it never says these attacks take a standard action, suggesting that if you full attack and have a higher bab, you could make multiple flame attacks. Can anyone give a ruling on this?

http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/spells/produceFlame.html#_produce-flame

I don't think that is it a bad thing that a preparation caster can spend money to help reduce a weakness of his class. Reducing weaknesses is one of the great things you can use magic items for.

The other is increasing your strengths, but that's the property of meta magic rods. (I could go either way on these, really)

Many "Utility" or niche items serve the purpose of helping to pad out the sore spots, and allow you to develop your character to be more prepared for a wider variety of threats. (eg. a fighter who gets boots of flying for more mobility & dealing with flying creatures.)

These boots would allow a melee fighter to do what he does best (his "Strength" as a class) more often. It doesn't make his attack bonus of damage higher, just reduces the number of fights he is using lesser options (or relying on someone else to remove the obstacle for him)

Pearls of power provide a similar role to a prepared spell caster. Often in most normal loot progressions, you're unlikely to get many Pearls of power, or any of your highest spell casting level. They give you a bit more wiggle room, but they don't remove the weakness (Unless you're rolling in the damn things, but again, that's why you keep party wealth in check.)

A character who has a few of these can prepare a wider variety of spells, and experiment more with their daily spell selection and can better react to surprising circumstances. I think this makes your character more fun to play, and still only covers one of the many weaknesses of primary spell caster (Especially a Wizard: almost anything besides magic is a weakness.)