Malconvoker Questions

[sirpercival]

I'm working on a conjurer/malconvoker build starting at ECL 6:

Conjurer 3/Master Specialist 2/Malconvoker 1  (+4 or 5/MS +8/Paragnostic Apostle 1? Incantatrix 2?)
ACFs: Focused Specialist, Enhanced Summons, Rapid Summons

My questions are:
1) I've never played around with Planar Binding et al. before.  Is it worth taking level 6 in Malconvoker to improve it?
2) What schools do I give up?  Mastering the Malconvoker says I should keep enchantment if I'm going to use Planar Binding (that's usually a school I ban)... so is it Evocation, Necromancy, and Illusion?  I really hate to lose both Illusion and Necromancy, but I need Abjuration for Magic Circle and Dismissal (just in case), and how could I give up Transmutation?
3) Is there something better to take than SNAs (would be SNAIII at ECL 6) with my expanded spellbook from MS?  Planar Ally kind of goes against the ideal of a Malconvoker, and I can't get it anyway for the first expansion.
4) Is it worth taking a dip into Cleric of some sort for the Summoning domain granted power?  I don't think I can get the ACF from complete champion because I already "swapped out" my feats for the Enhanced Summons line, even though I only really wanted the Level 1 ability. 
5) If I do take a dip for domains, which do I take?  The Charm domain ability would also be nice for Planar Binding, and the Competition Domain would be useful for all the deceptive abilities of the Malconvoker.  Or, of course, the Planning Domain for a feat I would have taken anyway.  Ack!  Maybe 1 level in cleric and 1 in contemplative would be best, for Summoning and two more.

Help..?  Thanks!

[CantripN]

If you can take ANY Conjuration spell, up to 3rd, some good options are:

Black Tentacles - 3rd (Blackwater Domain)
Kelpstrand - 2nd (Druid)
Lesser Planar Binding - 3rd (Demonoligist)
Recitation - 3rd (Purification) = Best, in my opinion.
Restoration - 3rd (Healer)

[sirpercival]

I like the Recitation suggestion - the idea being to use it to buff my summons?

[X-Codes]

I like the Recitation suggestion - the idea being to use it to buff my summons?

Yourself and the party at the very least.  It's Persistable, too, so if you've got an Incantatrix or something in the party...

[CantripN]

Enchantment is VERY powerful as a school, except it doesn't work on some targets. You don't really have enough of DC focus to use it well, though (you don't otherwise care about DC).

I'd keep Illusion. Think of your Planar Bound Demons, and then think of Veil. There's the obvious uses, too.

DO NOT LOSE ANY MORE SPELLCASTING LEVELS!!!

[X-Codes]

The solution to prohibiting Enchantment is the Voice of the Dragon spell.  One of Diplomancy, lying your ass off, or scaring the crap out of people can satisfy whatever you need in terms of the Planar Binding spell.  If not, then hit them with a Suggestion, anyway.

So there are your schools: Enchantment, Evocation, and Necromancy.

Of course, NOT being a Focused Specialist and keeping Enchantment is not a bad idea, either.

[rot42]

I'm working on a conjurer/malconvoker build starting at ECL 6:

Conjurer 3/Master Specialist 2/Malconvoker 1  (+4 or 5/MS +8/Paragnostic Apostle 1? Incantatrix 2?)
ACFs: Focused Specialist, Enhanced Summons, Rapid Summons

My questions are:
1) I've never played around with Planar Binding et al. before.  Is it worth taking level 6 in Malconvoker to improve it?
2) What schools do I give up?  Mastering the Malconvoker says I should keep enchantment if I'm going to use Planar Binding (that's usually a school I ban)... so is it Evocation, Necromancy, and Illusion?  I really hate to lose both Illusion and Necromancy, but I need Abjuration for Magic Circle and Dismissal (just in case), and how could I give up Transmutation?
3) Is there something better to take than SNAs (would be SNAIII at ECL 6) with my expanded spellbook from MS?  Planar Ally kind of goes against the ideal of a Malconvoker, and I can't get it anyway for the first expansion.
4) Is it worth taking a dip into Cleric of some sort for the Summoning domain granted power?  I don't think I can get the ACF from complete champion because I already "swapped out" my feats for the Enhanced Summons line, even though I only really wanted the Level 1 ability.  
5) If I do take a dip for domains, which do I take?  The Charm domain ability would also be nice for Planar Binding, and the Competition Domain would be useful for all the deceptive abilities of the Malconvoker.  Or, of course, the Planning Domain for a feat I would have taken anyway.  Ack!  Maybe 1 level in cleric and 1 in contemplative would be best, for Summoning and two more.

Help..?  Thanks!

1) If your goal for the game is to spend as much time as possible collating obscure sources and bookkeeping a large number of stats (and since you are playing a Malconvoker then it is), then yes, I think so. The ability is not quite as good as it looks at first blush simply due to the nature of iterative probability (as a rule of thumb, it is worth about a +3 difficulty to avoid needing to reroll), but it puts your tricked-out maximized Bluff to good use. If you can find a way to take ten on this, even better. Do make sure though that you and your DM are on the same page with respect to the kind of game you want to play. If they do not want to deal with a bunch of evil outsiders wandering around subverting your bidding, just go back to Master Specialist (or something else if their capstone is already covered by your ACFs).

2) One of the celestial somethings on SMIV gets Dismissal at CL 20 (with some restrictions), but playing a summoner without Magic Circle just plain breaks the conceptual fluff; having more protections available mitigates the risk of binding a bigger creature, so it is mechanically key to your central character concept, too. I would drop Necromancy on the principle that it takes more investment to get good mileage out of it. Summoning and binding can fill the same role as an undead army and make effective debuffers (in the sense that your opponents' turns are not as effective when the board is full of your demons as well as literally applying debuffing effects). Remember to look at the vast array of SLAs you will have at your beck and call - that should ease the pain of giving up another school.

4-5) I would not. In the long run, losing a second caster level (and delaying your Fiendish Legion) will hurt more than just taking the Planar Touchstone feat. Add Mind (SpC) to the list of domains to consider if you do go that route, though. I am also not sure that you need Extend spell. Most of your slots should be going towards Summon Monster, which Malconvoker already doubles in duration. How many 15 round encounters are you expecting? With the way SM scales, I think that the metamagic cost is unusually steep for the return, and for everything else there are metamagic rods.

edit: Wait, +2 CL on summoning and calling at the cost of a caster level and delayed spell progression? Definitely do not do this, I remembered it wrongly as an Augment Summons style effect that some build that was not already losing a caster level might consider.

[sirpercival]

Thank you all for your replies!  I'm going to forget about domains, then.  No more lost caster levels! 

With that in mind (and the fact that I don't really feel like doing even MORE bookkeeping than I have to already for the summon lists), I'll exit Malconvoker at 5 and do something like:

FocusedConj 3/MS 2/Malconvoker 5/MS +8/Archmage or Paragnostic Apostle 2

And I'll take recitation as my MS2 Expanded Spellbook, and find even more fun things for later.  I'll ban Enchantment, Evocation, and Necromancy.

You're also right that at start I'm already rocking the free extend from Malconvoker 1, so I don't need Extend Spell.  With 2 flaws, I think I'm looking at (for ECL 6):

1 Spell Focus: Conjuration
Wiz1 Augment Summoning
Flaw Improved Initiative
Flaw Cloudy Conjuration
3 Item Familiar
MS1(4) Skill Focus: Spellcraft
6 Fiendish Summoning Specialist

And at level 9 I'll take Demon Mastery.  Sound good?

[Endarire]

Cloudy Conjuration, for me, has never been worth it.  It's saved me at least once, but that was in a niche situation where the GM was blatantly out to kill us and we were about done with the characters anyway.

Consider the Aggressive and Spellgifted: Conjuration traits.  If you take Spellgifted, Practiced Spellcaster comes with it.

I like Wiz5 in a Malconvoker build for the extra feat.  RAW-wise, I see nothing against swapping out my Wiz5 feat for an ACF when I have another ACF which normally replaces my feats.  Ask your GM.

[sirpercival]

What would you replace Cloudy Conjuration with?  I'm not sure what other feats will really help my build, to be honest.  Enlarge spell, to have greater range on my summons?  I really don't know...