Uses for the summoner

[JustinK]

I am quite happy with my summoner, but am not utilizing my character to his maximum capacity. As of now my eidolon and summon monster II absolutely dominate the battlefield, but I find my character just hanging out in the back. I originally wanted to do some back to back fighting with my eidolon,(after I buff of course) but this will not be happening. I have a few ideas of how I could utilize him, but am also open to ideas.PS. my ediolon specializes in tripping with AOO's so attacking prones with ranged weapon will have a -4 if I was to use a x-bow. Here are some of my ideas....

1)Carry manacles (500 gp) and cuff people that my Summon Monster II's grapples and pins, this completely removes them from the fight (gets expensive though)

2)Just hang out and strike cool poses as the fight progresses.

3)In some way assist after the tripping??

4)Eventually at 10th level get evolution points to add legs to myself and have a biped eidolon (with a hat of disguise to make him look like me of course) mount me and ride around the battle field, just as the experience, not creating a strong character in any practical way.... Unless I can have pounce for my eidolon and full attack after a mounted charge.

Any more ideas????

[Mistral]

Definitely 2!

[james maissen]

JustinK wrote:

I am quite happy with my summoner, but am not utilizing my character to his maximum capacity. As of now my eidolon and summon monster II absolutely dominate the battlefield, but I find my character just hanging out in the back.

Any more ideas????

I would suggest investing in UMD to open up options as a backup support character.

When your summon is dropped you bring in another. This is a main part of what you are.

After you've brought in your summon, you have options to buff the eidolon, the summon or another PC. This should be a main option for you and sometimes even pre-empt bringing in another summon.

You also have some control spells (grease, glitterdust, etc). This should be a strong option for you.

You can use UMD to have a few staves, wands, scrolls of other spells. You could have a wand of healing, etc to lessen the burden on the party cleric (if there is one). Or perform other support type roles in combat.

In general you don't need to be able to do a full new thing, as what you have will take up a decent amount of your rounds. But having a few side things will flesh this out.

I strongly suggest that you go the route of secondary support rather than trying to offer some direct damage yourself. It will conflict with your other main options and as such be intermittent. The investment to deliver a reasonable amount during that intermittent time isn't worth the return (as it won't deliver round after round, but only a scattered amount of rounds/combat).

Meanwhile being able to be a 5th wheel support will transfer your action to whomever was going to perform a similar one. It seems a reasonable economy of actions there,

James

[LazarX]

Use your spells! I can't think of a single reason for a summoner to learn the summon monster spells, given how many SLA uses he has, but you've got battlefield control and aid spells to use. You don't have the breath and options of a conjurer but you've got a lot of options with the spells avaialable. and of course you have the option of developing your Use Magic Device skill as well.

[JustinK]

LazarX wrote:

Use your spells! I can't think of a single reason for a summoner to learn the summon monster spells, given how many SLA uses he has, but you've got battlefield control and aid spells to use. You don't have the breath and options of a conjurer but you've got a lot of options with the spells avaialable. and of course you have the option of developing your Use Magic Device skill as well.

Well I am using quite a good amount of spells. I don't know why I had never thought of spells outside of my class though (DC 20 may be hard to break though.)

Current Buffs:
Eidolon-Enlarge(to large),Mage Armor(Wand),Shield(Wand), Protection from evil(wand), Extra: Magic fang(if needed for damage)
Summon-Mage Armor(Wand)
(Ability to cast personal spells on eidolon is class feature)
When I can get to 4th level summoner, I hope to open up cat's grace, and bull's strength most importantly, I have an AOO eidolon with 20 ft reach bite

I have been staying away from saving throw spells because my spell pool is so small, I didn't want to waste a spell that would have a sure benefit to the eidolon.

What spells do you recommend, including something for swarms which always stops our party??

Also... is there a table for determining cost of wands because I want more than just 1st level spells.

OH and PS- my eidolon can have a higher umd bonus than me, so maybe he should cast a little too?