Requesting Feat Suggestions for a PFS Sorc 5

[Celestial Pegasus]

This is several adventures off, so I have time to think on it, and I wanted to get input from a variety of players. Could you look at the following Sorc build, my basic plan (feel free to warn me off said plan, too), and offer some thoughts on a good PFS-legal Feat to pick at Level 5? Note that most of the build below cannot be changed, I've already played the character up to level 3 so major rebuilds are impossible.

In short summary: A Celestial Sorcerer built around Summoning, Blasting, Buffing, Terrain Control, and Defense. Also handles Face skills (Diplomacy/Bluff/Intimidate). The character openly revels in their bloodline and seeks out abilities that either directly improve their ability to wield 'holy arcane' magic, or keeps them safer; they're okay with indirect improvements toward their goals, thus. Feats outside this theme will gladly be considered, though!

Build Details:
Human Sorcerer (Celestial), NG Align, Deity is Sarenrae, Faction is Silver Crusade.
HP 18 currently (at level 3); if nothing changes they'll be approx. HP 30 at Level 5.
AC 12
Str 8, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 19 (will become Cha 20 at level 4).

Spells:
0 - Acid Splash, Detect Magic, Light, Mending, Prestidigitation, Read Magic. Level 4 adds UNSURE, Open to Player Advice from Sor/Wiz 0 spell list.

1 - Bless (Bloodline), Grease, Magic Missile, Summon Monster I. Shining Wayfinder grants Detect Evil, plus a 1/day Protection from Evil. Level 5 adds UNSURE, Open to Player Advice from Sor/Wiz 1 spell list but I have a few ideas already (perhaps Feather Fall).

2 - Level 4 adds Summon Monster II. Level 5 adds Burst of Radiance (Champions of Purity). I have ideas for additional spells already.

3 - Level 6 adds Summon Monster III. I have ideas for additional spells already.

Feats:
Human Bonus - Spell Focus (Conjuration)
Level 1 - Augment Summoning
Level 3 - Summon Good Monster (Champions of Purity)

Level 5 - ??? - Want advice! I've already considered Improved Summons but worry it might upset GMs with excessive table-time-taking, so seeking other ideas.

My basic plan from here is...
Level 7 - Skill Focus (any Knowledge) via Bloodline feat, and Eldritch Heritage (Arcane) via Level 7 granted feat.
Level 9 - Improved Familiar (acquiring a Silvanshee Agathion)

So I'm primarily looking for a Level 5 Feat (feel free to talk me out of my Familiar plan if you also have good Feat ideas at levels 7 and 9, too), secondary interest in Sor/Wiz 0 and Sor/Wiz 1 spell suggestions. Thanks for any ideas you can offer!

[Malag]

If you plan to dabble with any offensive spells I recommend Spell Penetration. Often then enough a tougher fight tends to have sometimes a creature with spell resistance.

For spells I recommend Haste. It will buff your summons as well as players. Also, use harder hitting summoned monsters if it helps GM with managing combat.

At higher levels, your only concern should be to survive actually. Some monsters or a single high level damage spell will just remove you from the game. I have seen it happen multiple times.

That's about all I can remember at the moment.

[Celestial Pegasus]

Oh, Haste is definitely high on my list to consider. I am not strapped for ideas on Sor/Wiz 3 spells, no way; that's a case of "So many good options, the problem is picking just one or two at a time!" Sor/Wiz 0 and 1 are a bit more iffy.

The Feat is definitely my issue, and... Spell Penetration is a good idea. I'm definitely going to add that to my list of possible choices. Thank you!

[Trample]

Improved initiative or toughness

[Anonymous Visitor 163 576]

Improved Initiative is solid for a summoner. And nothing wrong with superior summoning., either. If you mostly summon or buff, spell penetration can be skipped, it doesn't apply.

If you're concerned about table variation, I'll remind you that you don't have to use it.

I'd want access to Mage armor, endure elements, and enlarge person, but those are ok as wands.

Liberating command, on the other hand, is a spell you want to know. Not always useful, but GREAT when you need it.

[Mapleswitch]

I always choose Craft Wondrous Items as the L5 feat for my casters - since we can craft while adventuring.

Haste is one of the most useful L2 spells in the game (+30 movement, +1 dodge bonus to reflex (stacks with everything), +1 attack at maximum attack modifier, +1 dodge bonus to ac (stacks with everything) for the whole party, most of the time.

Summon Monster 1 and 2 are completely useless, so that will free up two slots for something else.

[Chris Kenney]

Mapleswitch wrote:

I always choose Craft Wondrous Items as the L5 feat for my casters - since we can craft while adventuring.

PFS - the crafting feats are verbotten.

Quote:

Haste is one of the most useful L2 spells in the game (+30 movement, +1 dodge bonus to reflex (stacks with everything), +1 attack at maximum attack modifier, +1 dodge bonus to ac (stacks with everything) for the whole party, most of the time.

Haste is a third level spell for most classes - I think you're confusing "Sorcerer who summons" with "Summoner"

Quote:

Summon Monster 1 and 2 are completely useless, so that will free up two slots for something else.

The Eagle is amazing for single-target damage early on, and at 2nd level you get a number of nifty control options and a few OK poisons (Or just the option for more eagles, although by this point DR is starting to rear its' ugly head in hard encounters.) Far from "useless" during the range we're talking about. Yes, they see less use afterwards but you have to get there first.

[Chris Kenney]

And actually on-topic for the thread -

1) If you're worried about your summons taking too much time, do what I used to do. I have a printout sheet of every monster available for every Summon Monster spell I have access to at a baseline. This has the statblock at the top, and below a number of HP counter lines - I usually had four to six. If you really want to go all out, print out one of each page and laminate them, then use a dry-erase marker to remove the HP marks as your summons go away. It speeds up the game massively especially once you know what you're going to have on the table most frequently and have those sheets right on top.

2) I would third the recommendation for Spell Penetration if you intend to add blasting, debuffs, or direct controls to your menu of options. It's really not so much a helpful feat as a feat tax for dealing with things you need to target directly. If you intend to stick to indirect effects like buffs and indirect controls (Pit spells) you can skip it.

3) In the same vein as 1, the familiar feels iffy to me if you're planning direct action - You want those DCs and caster level checks high so you don't waste spells.

Of course, all this goes to the heart of what makes a powerful character in 3.X/Pathfinder. Specialization is rewarded, lack of focus tends to be punished. Right now your character feels unfocused on much more than a very general theme of "Look, good guys!" when you'd probably benefit from narrowing things down a bit more. Decide what one thing you want to do with your spells after summoning, then come back and good advice for feats will probably be easier to come by.

[Celestial Pegasus]

And lo, I come back to a pretty good variety of advice. Thanks, all of you! To respond to a few things that came up...

On table time: I actually did something like that; I have all my summons in a searchable file and can just flip right to them. I've... still had GMs complain of 'taking too much time' even though my action declarations were about as fast as they could be. Unsure whether this was a case of some GMs just being grouchy about Summons in general or something else was up, but I've legitimately tried to be fast and accurate about how I play them. I think that's necessary, when it's my character's major gimmick and automatically causes me to take up more map space and turn time; being all "Duhhrrr, let me adjust this stat and that stat..." for each monster would just be insulting to the other players and GM, who have better things to do with their time than sit around watching someone putter around with stuff they should've prepped prior to the game.

Good advice in general, though!

Mapleswitch: Normally a good choice. Crafting is largely illegal in PFS play however, so I cannot use it as Chris has noted. I disagree, strongly, on Summon Monster I and II being 'useless.' I have gotten excellent results out of both, though Summon I is admittedly hard to fit into most builds before it becomes obsolete.

On Haste: I am well aware of Haste's value. It will be on my short-list of Sor/Wiz 3 spells to consider.

Chris: I'm not too worried about feeling 'punished' for spreading out a lot... you're correct that my plan is sub-optimal, though. I mostly want it for a mix of Flavor (having a holy cat around is neat on its own), various 'Tool/Troubleshooting' uses (They have a LOT of useful non-damaging abilities that aren't likely to incur a GM's wrath), and constant convenient access to a translator that can even Speak with Animals all the time... which is really handy when you'll be summoning a lot of Animals!

That said, abandoning the Familiar plan would obviously open up my feat slots (anywhere from 3 to 4 slots over levels 7, 9, and possibly 11) and make for a build where I could easily toss in the stronger feat choices. It's a route I'm considering, and certainly I've got plenty of time to think it over.

In general, I think I now have some good choices to ponder. Improved Initiative has come up multiple times and I have to agree it's a smart call. Spell Penetration might work, though the Summons should partially be dealing with this on their own.

This has given me plenty of stuff to work with. Thanks again, everyone!