Reserving a post, just in case.

I'm sticking the spell list, still in progress, here. Always happy to have input, ideas, suggestions, or criticism (however harsh).

0th Level
Your orisons are all random utility spells. Detect Magic, Light, and one of Cure Minor Wounds or Guidance should do the job most days.

Create Water: Never run out of water. Plus, you can make a scrying pool.
Cure Minor Wounds: One point isn't a lot, but this can stabilize a dying ally.
Detect Magic: One of the most powerful and versatile zero-level spells, for any caster.
Guidance: Tell your rogue to ask for "guidance" prior to every trap he attempts to disarms or UMD roll he has to make (outside of combat). That +1 bonus can be critical. This doesn't stack with Inspire Competence or pretty much any skill-boosting magic item, however.
Light: This is just too incredibly handy to have around. Never underestimate the utility of being able to see.

1st Level
At first level, you're going to rely on spells that give you many actions of combat from one cast. If your physical stats are decent or you're playing a core-only game, this means Shillelagh is your best bet. Otherwise, try Magic Stone or Aspect of the Wolf^SC. At about third or fourth level, you'll want to switch to Produce Flame in this role until you can routinely cast Flaming Sphere or Call Lightning.

Aspect of the Wolf^{SC 16}: This is an alternative melee self-buff for early levels, instead of going the wooden club route with Shillelagh.
Magic Stone: At first and second level, this is better than Produce Flame for spirit shamans who aren't melee-inclined. Before long, however, regular AC will outscale touch AC and Produce Flame will do more damage.
Produce Flame: Once you've got three or four levels under your belt, this will be the attack spell of choice at this level.
Shillelagh: It's pronounced "shi-lay-lee." Dramatically increases club/quarterstaff damage (to the point where you'll actually want to wield a club or quarterstaff).

Beyond these staples, you have a couple of effective battlefield control spells in Entangle, Spore Field^CSc and Obscuring Mist. Lesser Vigor^SC is your healing staple, and while it probably isn't worth an in-combat cast, it is an awful lot of healing out of combat. Cure Light Wounds is the core healing alternative, and while healing isn't a great use of an in-combat action, one does what one must.

Cure Light Wounds: Your core healing spell. You don't want to cast this unless you have to, but sometimes there's not much choice.
Entangle: A best-in-class battlefield control spell.
Lessor Vigor^{SC 229}: This spell actually outperforms Cure Light Wounds, especially out of combat. Wands of Lesser Vigor are great for healing between fights.
Obscuring Mist: The next best thing to invisibility, when it comes time to get out of a fight. Cast Mist, walk 5 feet backwards, and run away in a different direction.
Spore Field^{CSc 104}: A useful battlefield control spell, especially when the GM restricts use of Entangle.

The remainder of the worthwhile first-level spells are all utility spells of varying utility. Some utility spells worth a routine prep are Omen of Peril^SC, Wood Wose^SC, and Spider Hand^BoVD (once you have the caster level to make it useful). It may be worth making a separate list of outdoor traveling spells, since some of them are shockingly effective situationally, like Calm Animals and Endure Elements.

Calm Animals: It's like a save or lose, except that only dire animals or animals trained to attack or guard even get to save.
Camouflage^{SC 43}: +10 to Hide for 10 min/level, and it works in any environment.
Endure Elements: A great travelling spell, and especially handy in any game that takes you into harsh environments.
Eyes of the Avoral^{BoED 99}: 10 min/level for a big Spot bonus.
Longstrider: +10' movement for hour/level.  It's not a big bonus, but you can easily have it all the time.
Omen of Peril^{SC 149}: Poor man's Augury. Quite possibly the most versatile first-level divination in the game, and doesn't even have a costly component or XP cost, like many similar divinations.
Pass Without Trace: Situationally handy at low levels, and at mid to high levels there's no reason not to have this on the party all the time with its caster level targets and hour/level duration.
Speak With Animals: Does what it says on the tin, for min/level.
Spider Hand^{BoVD 105}: Best. Scouting. Spell. Ever. Send out a nondescript spider to do all the scouting, with only negligible consequences if it dies? Yeah, I'll take that. It's not even an evil spell, and you can hand off control to the spirit guide at higher levels.
Wood Wose^{SC 242}: Unseen Servant for hour/level, only druidic. It just can't handle doorknobs.

2nd Level
At third and fourth level, you're starting to see some bigger spell effects. In particular, you're starting to see some real combat buffs for other party members and single-target blasts worth casting. However, you're also first running into a real shortage of options at any given time, so you'll need to pick a second-level spell that really makes a difference to be worth casting three or four times a day. Here on out, you're going to be focusing on powerful and/or versatile spells at your highest level. Some good choices for your one second-level spell at levels 3-5:

Animalistic Power^{PHB2 101}: This is tailor-made for a spirit shaman, since nearly everyone can benefit from at least part of this spell at these levels, even if they've bought a stat-boosting item already.
Blinding Spittle^{SC 32}: Blindness with no save, with a ranged touch attack at -4. Why do they keep reprinting this overpowered spell? It levels beautifully; you'll keep coming back to this spell for your entire career, if it's allowed.
Flaming Sphere: This isn't a very potent blast, and blasting isn't very potent to begin with. However, it is round/level duration, and the move action to direct it to attack a new target leaves your standard action open. It's very efficient, but not quite as dramatic as some of the non-core alternatives.
Kelpstrand^{SC 128}: I like to think of this spell as webshooters. If it's not huge or larger, it's pretty much just screwed. Your grapple DC will exceed that of most enemies who aren't grappling specialists or very large and very strong, and even if they are they'll need to spend at least one round bursting each strand of kelp. This spell levels beautifully and is silly broken.
Mass Snake's Swiftness^{SC 193}: The lower-level, single-target version of this spell isn't anything special, but giving a free attack to all of your party members plus any summons you have nearby is just too fun.
Summon Nature's Ally II: The first Summon Nature's Ally worth casting. d3 wolves or a crocodile are your best combat choices, but a hippogriff or elemental may have some situational utility.

Spirit shamans can also blast, and while I can't recommend it as a general strategy, they have some decent non-core blast spells in Desiccate^Sand and Splinterbolt^SC.

Creeping Cold^{SC 55}: Ah, the old Masters of the Wild staple. Stylish, but not terribly powerful. I only mention it because its overall damage beats the alternatives for a couple of levels (6d6 total, fort save for half), as long as you don't mind the time it takes to work.
Desiccate^{Sand 114}: d6/level (max 5d6) on a single target, with a weird damage type that ignores DR and energy resistance. This spell can even cause dehydration (which is fatigue on steroids).
Splinterbolt^{SC 203}: It's druidic Scorching Ray. Three 4d6 damage bolts with a 18-20 threat range isn't half bad.


Barkskin: Excellent for use while Wild Shaped, since your AC will often be pretty poor.
Bear's Endurance and Bull's Strength: As useful as it is for everyone. Bear's Endurance will be your main in-combat healing spell for low levels; just keep people alive until you can use Vigor.
Blood Snow^Frost: Only prep it during the winter or when in an arctic or otherwise frozen area, but d2 Con drain/round is awesome when you combine it with battlefield control spells or flight effects to make sure your enemies have to stand in it.
Briar Web^SC: A handy entangling spell that may also cause damage.
Embrace the Wild^SC and Listening Lorecall^SC: These are very nearly the same spell, and both are quite handy. Use Embrace the Wild until you have 12 ranks in Listen, then switch over to Listening Lorecall. Blindsight^SC is more potent but is higher level and shorter duration.
Gust of Wind: Very underrated utility spell. Clears fogs, blows away small foes, extinguishes torches, and disperses swarms.
Halo of Sand^Sand: Yet another druid AC buff. This one is deflection, though, so it stacks with Barkskin and armor.
Lesser Restoration: Very handy for healing ability damage.
Luminous Armor^BoED: An AC boost while you're Wild Shaping, plus light and another -4 for enemies to hit you in melee. Stacks with Barkskin, but not Wilding armor. Mind the Str damage, though.
Resist Energy: Fairly handy when you know a certain type of energy damage is in the offing.
Wild Instincts^RoE: +1 to spot and listen just for preparing it. Casting it is kind of useless; a min/level ability to give you Uncanny Dodge is only useful when you know you're going to be surprised.

3rd Level
Alter Fortune^PHB2: Fantastic spell. Great for emergencies (reroll a save!)
Arctic Haze^Frost and Haboob^{Sand 117}: Damaging and opaque fog. Useful as battlefield control. Tremor^SC: can be used similarly, but it doesn't damage and doesn't block line of sight.
Attune Form^SC: Immunity to planar effects for caster level/3 characters. A handy spell for planehopping games, and much more useful than the lower-level Avoid Planar Effects^SC, due to the longer duration.
Bite of the Werewolf^SC: Again, a variety of nifty stat buffs and a spare bite attack.
Blindsight^SC: 30' Blindsight. Who needs See Invisibility?
Call Lightning: This is a good lead-off for long or unchallenging fights, as it gives you lots of turns of attacks with okay damage. Prep one or two a day and use it as your fallback when your specialty (be it summoning, melee, whatever) isn't the best tactic.
Crumble^SC: Apparently druids get Shatter at third level. It's still handy.
Entanging Staff^SC: After the Spell Compendium rewrite of this spell, it's now a way to add an extra entangling effect onto hitting someone with your Shillelagh. The constrict after the grab is extra damage, but you probably don't want to stay grappling with them. This is no longer very useful with club-wielding Legendary Ape cheese, though, as continuing the grapple now requires normal actions.
Evard's Menacing Tentacles^PHB2: Assuming you have a good strength bonus from a Wild Shape form, this spell provides some battlefield control, metes out some damage, and gives a climbing bonus to boot.
Forestfold^SC: +10 on Hide and Move Silently checks in a natural environment of your choice.
Giant's Wrath^SC: An interesting alternative to Call Lightning. At early levels, the lack of a need for an attack roll, the lack of DR issues, and the greater number of uses per cast makes Call Lightning the better choice. At higher levels, though, the high strength of Wild Shape forms, the caster-level based damage bonus, and the lack of SR on Giant's Wrath helps it catch up.
Greater Magic Fang: Handy self-buff and good to share with your Animal Companion.
Heart of Water^CM: The winner in a so-so spell family. The main effect of swimming/gills is handy when you get the spell, and on-demand swift-action Freedom of Movement is perfect for a bad grapple or failed save.
Plant Growth: This is druidic Solid Fog, as long as there's some undergrowth. Alternately, make yourself every farmer's friend.
Poison: Con damage is always handy, and the DC scales upward as you increase in level. A much-overlooked spell.
Primal Form^SC: This spell isn't overwhelmingly powerful, but it's a versatile self-buff. Flight and swim speed are easy to get with Wild Shape, but this spell is available before plentiful Wild Shape uses, and you can choose on the fly among a melee buff, a defensive buff, or a source of flight.
Primal Instinct^{DrM 72}: +5 to Survival and initiative(!!!), with a 24-hour duration. Toss on Primal Hunter^{DrM 71} for Uncanny Dodge on top of that. The other Primal spells from that book aren't worth fooling with.
Protection From Energy: A versatile, effective defensive buff. You'll rarely regret prepping it.
Remove Disease: Not something you're going to prep every day, but handy when you need it.
Sleet Storm: Handy battlefield control. Great for covering an escape. Not as good as Arctic Fog or Haboob, though.
Spiderskin^SC: Barkskin, plus a save bonus against poison and a Hide bonus. Use it on the party sneak, or when you're fighting monstrous vermin or Yuan-Ti.
Spritjaws^SC: I love this spell, and it's one of a druid's few good force spells. Throw this spell out there and it's a combination of Spiritual Weapon and Telekinesis's grapple option. It damages and confounds enemies, doing an especially good job of pinning down spellcasters and incorporeal foes.
Stone Shape: Good for making your own entrance or exit. Great for throwing the GM a loop in a dungeon crawl.
Swift Lion's Charge^MiniHB/Lion's Charge^SC: Pouncing is very handy, but this spell can start to eat up spell slots pretty quickly. A similar, overpowered spell named Lion's Charge is in Savage Species, and, while it isn't swift, it gives the Pounce ability for a duration.
Touch of Jubilex^BoVD: Evil. A great early save-or-die. Whatever it is, in four turns, it'll be dead. Not something you can safely use repeatedly, though, because of the Corruption cost.
Venomfire^SK:
Vigor and Mass Lesser Vigor^SC: Both can be better than Cure Moderate Wounds at low levels, but only outside of combat. It works when you can't summon Unicorns yet and you don't have that handy wand of Cure Light Wounds. Doesn't work with Extend Spell (see CD FAQ), but Mass Lesser Vigor does work with Persistent Spell.
Wind Wall: Another highly underrated spell, this stops archers, swarms, and foes size Tiny or smaller cold.

4th Level
Arc of Lightning^SC, Blast of Sand^{Sand 112}, and Flame Strike: The last blast spells worth casting. Flame Strike is a staple and core. Arc of Lightning and Blast of Sand have more-specialized areas of effect (Arc of Lightning is sure to hit two guys and pretty much nobody else, whereas Blast of Sand's 30' cone is Very Large), ignore SR and benefit from Spell Focus (Conjuration). Blast of Sand is probably the most useful due to its large AOE, but it caps out at 10d6 whereas the others cap at 15d6. All of them have situational advantages (and not a one of them is more potent than Boreal Wind), so choose the one best-suited to your game.
Aspect of the Werebeast^RoE: Nothing about this Shifter-only self-buff says it only works when you're in a humanoid form, but it is severely limited by its round/level duration. Prep it instead of Bite of the Wereboar anyway, and use Tiger aspect exclusively. Round/level pounce that you can share with your pet is delicious.
Bite of the Wereboar^SC: Useful stat buffs, a spare bite attack, and one of the better AC buffs around.
Boreal Wind^Frost: This is a mix of Gust of Wind and an AOE blast. In a fight, the damage is okay but lasts for multiple turns and enemies who don't save have a hard time approaching you, and out of a fight, this has a bunch of interesting utility and RP uses. This is a stylish, versatile, and powerful spell.
Freedom of Movement: Makes you immune to grapples, able to fight underwater, and immune to spells that impede movement. A very handy defensive spell.
Frostfell Slide^Frost: The first of the [blank]stride spells. This is probably the most situational, but use it in winter in even a temperate climate and it's almost as good as Teleport.
Giant Vermin: Ridiculously powerful at high levels: at level 20 you can make a 40 HD monster.
Greater Luminous Armor^BoED: As Luminous Armor, only +8 AC instead of +5. Again, mind the Sacrifice cost.
Hibernal Healing^Frost: Self-only Heal...as long as you're in a frostfell area, anyway.
Last Breath^SC: In Complete Divine, this is druidic Revivify, but with a caster-damaging side effect. In Spell Compendium, this is a no-level-loss Reincarnate that must be cast immediately. Both are useful as an emergency option.
Miasma of Entropy^SC: This is one of the Spell Compendium stinkers, with issues like having a saving throw in the statblock but no explanation of what that saving throw does in the spell description. However, as written, everyone in the area who isn't wearing metal or magic clothing or armor ends up naked. And, really, isn't that worth a fourth-level spell slot?
Moonbolt^SC: Anti-undead save-or-die that won't make you feel bad for prepping it on a day where you meet no undead. Note that it can hit two targets if they are within 15' of each other.
Murderous Mist^SC: AOE save-or-lose, with a gigantic area and targeting reflex? That's worth it.
Passage of the Shifting Sands^{DrM 70}: Druidic Gaseous Form, but with an actual move speed, the ability to blind people, and other bennies.
Scrying: The gold standard in sneaky divinations.
Sheltered Vitality^SC: Immunity to ability damage or drain is situational, but very powerful when you need it. Cast this before fighting yuan-ti, giant vermin, undead, or anything else with a nasty ability damage or poison attack. The immunity to fatigue can also be handy for the party barbarian.
Unholy Beast^CoR: This is an odd one. It's a lesser, single-target Animal Growth...but with a Dominate Animal effect tossed in. Great for stealing Animal Companions, but still usable as a general-purpose buff.
Vortex of Teeth^SC: A spell that does force damage, and can tear apart anything that can't get away. This makes a mess of anyone caught in Entangle.
Wall of Salt^{Sand 127}: Not quite Wall of Stone, but effective for battlefield control and deterring pursuit.
Wind at Back^SC: It lets you double the party's overland speed, lasts 12 hours and can let you speed up multiple beasts of burden, as well.

5th Level
Animal Growth: Multiple animals (your pet and any summons running around) get bigger and get some nice bonuses. One of the best buffs in the game, let alone in core.
Anticold Sphere^SC: Immunity to cold and great protection from anything with the Cold subtype, with a nice long duration and an area large enough to protect the whole party.
Baleful Polymorph: Turn your opponent into something inoffensive. Toad is a classic form that offers no advantage to your target. This is the core option for transporting Animal Companions in cramped quarters or inappropriate environments Pokemon-style, since, as a permanent spell, it's dispellable. Classy tricks include polymorphing your Roc Animal Companion into a raven for cramped quarters, or polymorphing your T-Rex companion into a frog to go underwater.
Bite of the Weretiger^SC: A very high str boost, a variety of other boosts, extra attacks, and free Power Attack.
Blizzard^Frost: Instant battle ender. Great for buying some time to parley or obscuring your plans. Huge area of effect.
Call Avalanche^Frost While it doesn't cause overwhelming damage (only 8d6), it can bury many opponents in its huge area (size of creatures you can bury scales up as well). It only works outdoors, but it does damage and potential immobilization at long range. For a good trick trick, follow it up with Blood Snow and all the poor buried victims start taking CON drain while trying futilely to escape.
Cloak of the Sea^SC: When you're underwater, it's Water Breathing, Freedom of Movement, and Blur, all in one neat little (long-duration!) package. A must-have for any underwater adventures.
Control Winds: Gets you a minimum of hurricane force winds (assuming no wind when you cast it) at caster level 13, which covers a 520ft radius, lasts for over 2 hours, and slaughters medium enemies while stopping anything smaller then gargantuan from doing anything useful. And again as soon as you hit 15 its gets even worse, cause you get tornado winds, which will stop anything and destroy cities and non fortified structures.
Death Ward: Powerful, if conditional, defensive buff.
Owl's Insight^SC: A long-duration scaling boost to Wisdom with an unusual bonus type? A must for focused druidic casters, although summoners and wild shapers can give this a pass, since it doesn't do anything but raise spell DCs.
Pancaea^SC: A broad-based restoration spell, removing pretty much any condition other than ability damage/drain, disease, or death.
Phantom Stag^SC: Phantom Steed, only two spell levels higher and with slightly beefier stats. Since druids already have always-on flight at this level from Wild Shape, this is mainly useful for the Etherealness ability it gains at 18th level.
Rejuvenation Coccoon^SC: A decent out-of-combat Heal alternative.
Tree Stride: Teleport, but self-only and your GM can arbitrarily limit your use of it, since you need a chain of trees to travel long distances. It's still good.
Wall of Thorns: This is a nice battlefield control/stop pursuers/obstruct sight spell, with nice size and a nice duration.  Not always useful, but sometimes key.  Of course, if you're summoning Greenbound creatures, choose something else.

6th Level
Antilife Shell: Exceedingly powerful defensive spell. Anything living without SR just can't touch you.
Bite of the Werebear^SC: Bite of the Weretiger only moreso. You'll probably be fine simply prepping Bite of the Weretiger instead; this spell offers relatively small benefits over that spell.
Chasing Perfection^PHB2: Handy as a self-buff, since it's hard to use magic items in Wild Shape. Won't be terribly useful to the rest of the party at level 13, though.
Drown^SC: Save or dying (0 hp). Handy for capturing enemies alive. Not death magic, but obviously doesn't work on non-living creatures, water-breathers, or creatures with no lungs. This has replaced the repeatedly-nerfed Miasma^SC.
Energy Immunity^SC: Powerful, of a bit situational, defensive buff. Has a long enough duration to have it on all the time.
Enveloping Cocoon^SC: A reflex-based save-or-lose, force-based to boot. Unfortunately, it doesn't work on anyone who can cast Dimension Door (or any similar non-somatic escape spell), and it merely slows down anyone who has a natural weapon or a light weapon in hand. On top of that, unless you just want to trap them for caster level/rounds, you'll need to follow it up with another spell (like Baleful Polymorph).
Find the Path: Never, ever, EVER be lost.
Fires of Purity^SC: A hefty melee damage buff, plus Flame Shield lite. Note that, while this spell is three levels higher than Venomfire and only adds one point per caster level instead of d6, it's still a good spell. That's how silly Venomfire is.
Greater Dispel Magic: Unlike mages and clerics, druids very rarely lose caster levels, so this is often a worthwhile spell to prep.
Liveoak: Handy if you need a Treant to guard your camp or home. The casting time and casting limitations limit its general usefulness, though.
Mummify^{Sand 118}: Save or die. Plus, it's not death magic.
Spellstaff: One extra spell slot, of whatever level you can cast. Clerics with Miracle have no reason not to duplicate this very handy spell.
Stormwalk^SC: The best of the various druidic teleports. It's strictly worse than the usual sorc/wiz Teleport, but unlike all of the other druidic teleport spells it works on the whole party and doesn't require pre-planning or a tree/pool/snowdrift/whatever.
Superior Resistance^SC: +6 on all saves, all day. Its utility is obvious. (Spell Compendium upped the level, but also the duration. It's still worth it, unlike the pounding Major Resistance took.)
Valiant Steed^BoED: Calls a Unicorn or Pegasus that serves you for an entire year.

7th Level
Cloudwalkers^SC: 10 min./level flight for the entire group. This is getting into the "If you can't fly you can't play" levels, but it is handy for anyone who hasn't gotten their wings yet.
Constricting Chains^BoED: Whatever it is, it's entangled and can't move. No save, no SR. Unless it has at least a +20 Escape Artist mod or a 34 Strength, it's staying stuck unless it wears down the chains with attacks (and half of that damage is in turn redirected to the chained target). Mind the Sacrifice cost, though (which doesn't take effect until the spell ends).
Cry of Ysgard^BoED: Calls 2d4 defenders of Ysgard that serve for a year.
Death By Thorns^BoVD: The Corruption cost is very painful, but this will take the target out of the fight, no matter what. Obviously an evil spell.
Heal: Its uses are obvious.
Master Earth^SC: Quite nice as it allows teleportation, a rarity for druids, unerringly to any location touching the earth. As it doesn't have the teleportation descriptor, it can thwart problems such as Forbiddance, Dimensional Anchor/Lock, etc.
Rain of Roses^BoED: Continuing Wisdom damage over an area, to evil creatures only. Great if you can limit the target's mobility, as the Wis damage doesn't allow a save.
True Seeing: Magic bullet for illusions, invisibility, and shapechanging.
Word of Balance^SC: Somewhat unreliable because of the odd alignment restrictions, but very powerful when it works.


8th Level
Cocoon^SC: Lets your Cleric buddy cast true resurrection 2 levels earlier, or if you don't have friends lets you reincarnate with no level loss a week later; it has an XP cost, but it's negligible at best at this level.
Frostfell^Frost: Caster level/20' cubes freeze, and anyone in this area rolls a Fort save or turns to ice (and still takes caster/d6 frostburn damage if they save). Think of it as shapable super druid Wail of the Banshee, with an extra heaping helping of awesome.
Leonal's Roar^BoED: Druidic Holy Word, plus some sonic damage. Sweet.
Red Tide^SC: Save, and you're prone and have a -2 to pretty much everything. Don't save, and you're limited to move actions and poisoned with a nasty strength-damage poison. Save-and-you-suck-anyway is always a good choice, and this is a huge 30' radius burst.
Stormrage^SC: Flight, the ability to throw respectable lightning bolts, and immunity to projectile ranged attacks and wind effects of all kinds. This is more of a spirit shaman or cleric spell due to the flight, but the immunities are helpful.
Word of Recall: A quick escape spell, and one of the very few teleportation spells available to druids.

9th Level
Nature's Avatar^SC: Very, very powerful animal buff, and now a swift spell. Cast it on your Animal Companion, and go to town.
Shapechange: Broken spell, but you already know that. Ridiculously powerful, even if you don't abuse the Chronotyryn^FF or Choker or Efreeti or Zodar^FF or...well. You get the idea.
Summon Elemental Monolith^SC: The elemental monoliths are ridiculously powerful, especially given the very high save DCs of the whirlwind and vortex abilities of air and water monoliths. Unlike previous Concentration-duration summons, these are worthwhile even if you can't cheat on the concentration requirement. (And no, Swift Concentration from Complete Scoundrel doesn't work.) Obviously, this is a spirit shaman's ultimate spell.
Tsunami^SC: The fight is over. This spell will end anyone smaller than Gargantuan who can't immediately get out of the way of the 40-ft-high wave. The spell component is rather expensive, however.
Undermaster^SC: Awesome power indeed. This gives you a whole variety of great spell-likes, some of which aren't even on the druid list.

Also this.

May want to mention the ability  (some bonus from mergeing with your spirit thing I think) added by the Dead Levels internet supplement.

Mmkay. I assume you mean this?

One thing I always figured needed to be added to the Spirit Shaman Handbook is the option to dump CHA.  By ensuring the right spells are in your "retrieved spells" (aka: spells that don't require a saving throw, ex. Summoning or Utility), you can make a very effective Spirit Shaman and not worry about a high CHA.  (allowing a higher Dex and Con - always nice).

Spirit Shamans are certainly one of the best summoners in the game, and it's a focus that is completely non-reliant on CHA score.

Quote from: Treantmonklvl20 on October 22, 2009, 01:24:50 AM

One thing I always figured needed to be added to the Spirit Shaman Handbook is the option to dump CHA.  By ensuring the right spells are in your "retrieved spells" (aka: spells that don't require a saving throw, ex. Summoning or Utility), you can make a very effective Spirit Shaman and not worry about a high CHA.  (allowing a higher Dex and Con - always nice).

Spirit Shamans are certainly one of the best summoners in the game, and it's a focus that is completely non-reliant on CHA score.

I think I'd want to playtest that first, unless someone had some first-hand impressions. Cutting yourself off from a large chunk of the weakest full-caster list strikes me as unwise.

I've seen firsthand a spirit shaman summoner played with low CHA.  It worked very nicely.  Bite of the X for personal combat (added to superior physical stats) backed up by summoned creatures.

Does anyone else have any firsthand experience(I guess my experience is technically secondhand) in this regard?