Anyone know which elementals the best? I'm only level 11 Sorcerer so I'm not to elementals yet

Earth Elementals summoned by a druid are the best. Best elemental for a mage is no elemental, since there's a very good chance they'll turn against you. The only mage summons I really use are Hakeashars and Mordie's Swords. I don't want something that I can't control. : P

Armisael, they are basically very similar except Djinni come from the Elemental Plane of Air and Efreeti from Fire. I suspect it means they have corresponding vulnerabilities as per elementals, but I am not sure. There spells should also reflect their origins, but they don't seem to. I will try to-night to summon some of each and get back to you.

Armisael, did you ever experience a Morden Sword turning on you? Happened to me once when I was fighting a dragon, I cast incendiary cloud on the dragon while the morden was slicing it and all of a sudden the sword turned red and attacked me. Strange.

Summons will always turn on you if you damage them. Best not to use AoE offense spells with any summons around (save Abi-Dalzim's).

genies... i hate genies... first of all when you summon them they are great fighters but when they die they turn into gaseous form... ok with me with that but the thing is they reappear for no good reason and become my enemy ( i always wondered if it is a bug or not) another thing limited wish spell: i wished for a hoard to help me... and you know what he did he gave me a hoard all right a hoard of CHICKENS!! ya hear me CHICKENS... i nearly fell of my seat when that happened and my companions (in the internet game) laughed when we were in a middle of a big battle that time... sheesh ...

I thought that only happened with Efreetis. Never had a Djinni cloud on me. What exactly is the difference between a Djinni and an Efreeti, anyway? Their summons in the same spell circle, the spell descriptions are exactly the same, they look the same... what gives?

Ah, I figured it out. Efreetis have more HP, do more damage, have a better AC, better saving rolls and more spells. Djinnis have one more point of strength. Normally I'd just say, well, alright, the Efreeti is simply the better summon, but they're both in the same spell circle. Theories, anyone?

how come when they die they reappear and turn on me?

They dont mist when they die, they mist when their hitpoints manage to get between 1 and 3. When they come back they turn hostile because the game's effectively creating another Efreeti, only this one wasn't summoned by you.