Good summoned monsters? Bad?

[floyd]

Anyone have a webpage with stats for summoned monsters? Such as resistances, abilities, etc.? The descriptions ingame are too vague.

And whats everyones 'must have' summoning spell? I've experimented with pretty much all of them up to lvl 8, and 'animate dead' seems to be my choice. At lvl 15 Viconia can memorize it like 7 times, and it summons the Skeletal Warrior. 5 of these dudes are pretty powerful, and immune to those annoying charm, hold, psionics, etc.

For biggest disappointment, I'd have to say all the demon summoning spells. At the stage of the game I'm in, Cacofiend, Fiend, or Pit Fiend all seem to get destroyed easily, not to mention you can't control them. Are they ever very useful?

[Hayashi]

I suppose it depends where you are in the game. I've just finished Chapter 3 but have not yet gone on to the next as I'm finishing off a few quests. My fav summoning is the Fire Elemental (druid version) - it seems to be the best tank amongst the cannon fodder.
I have the horn (upgraded to silver) and the spider figurine but both those summons don't seem to do well at melee.
Spider spawn (mage spell) appears good, but I've only used it once so I'll need a bit more experimentation with it before I make up my mind.
Of course, insect plague is useful for distracting spell casters.

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"Butt-kicking for goodness!" - Minsc
"Cities always teem with evil and decay. Let's give it a good shake and SEE WHAT FALLS OUT!!" - Minsc

[floyd]

Yes, fire elementals are good cannon fodder. If you luck out and get the stronger variant its a good deal.

As for spider spawn, its alot better than the regular 'monster summoning' of the same level. The djinni bottle is nice early in the game, but lately he's been getting trounced pretty bad.

I like invisible stalkers too, they seem to have nice low ac and last awhile. And you don't have to wait forever to summon them like with mage elementals.

[Hayashi]

I don't quite like the mage elemental summoning spells. There's always a chance that it could turn on you, unlike the druid version of the fire elemental. :uhoh: Animal summonings are ok, I suppose.

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"Butt-kicking for goodness!" - Minsc
"Cities always teem with evil and decay. Let's give it a good shake and SEE WHAT FALLS OUT!!" - Minsc

[Nerull]

Originally posted by floyd: Yes, fire elementals are good cannon fodder. If you luck out and get the stronger variant its a good deal. As for spider spawn, its alot better than the regular 'monster summoning' of the same level. The djinni bottle is nice early in the game, but lately he's been getting trounced pretty bad. I like invisible stalkers too, they seem to have nice low ac and last awhile. And you don't have to wait forever to summon them like with mage elementals.

The mountain bears from Conjure Animals work well, too. Summon a fire elemental to tank (immune to normal weapons), then the mountain bears. The bears dish out a LOT of damage, and have quite a few hit points, too. Against mages, try Nishruu (or the more advanced kind). They are immune to magic (in fact, they eat it), so the enemies will stupidly shoot spells at it, and it will just get stronger. Also good is the efreet; you just have to keep him away from the party, since he likes to use a lot of fireballs. He also turns invisible quite a bit, making him effective against spellcasters (they have to dispel the invisibility to target him with spells).


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Death is only the beginning...

[ecko]

aerial servant, hakeashar(the better nishruu)

[Graccus]

Nishruu's against mages, otherwise Mordenkainen's Sword and Fire Elemental.

[Avatar]

Is there a good site that sums it up? I'm sure there is but can't remember the address! Inf Exp will tell you but it's quite confusing!