Reading the ability, the occultist gets access to the true name of 1 (or more) Outsiders with 3 HD or less, and then can hire those outsiders to do info gathering and minor tasks.
That makes sense, the part I'm not quite getting is since Outside contact implies that you have to use your own magic circle to do the summoning, does that mean an Occultist can never conjure up an Outsider that matches their alignment?
like a LG Occultist can never summon a Lantern Archon, or whatever the 3 HD angel is since the occultist cannot make Magic Circles against law or good.
this seems like an oversight, why wouldn't an Occultist want to be able to conjure an outsider that embodies their own personal morality?
so am I right? the only Occultist that can conjure any Outsider (barring Aeons which i don't think you can bind with a magic circle anyway) is a true neutral one?
The "Outside Contact" class feature is not planar binding. There is no restriction that the magic circle has to be the of the same type as the creature to be conjured.
Oh yeah, i guess that makes sense.
I just realized that the Magic Circle class ability also prohibits inward focused magic circles, so the requirement is not really a concern and it's more a magic circle made specifically for that one creature.