What are the strongest summons?

Vaetti hag with a nature pick is hardly an elite mage, and neither is a druid. And dryads, bards and even daughters of avalon could be used. And a five-gem Vine crown is not very difficult to make.

Oh, does anyone know what creatures you summon in different terrains using Summon Animals? I have summoned giant spiders (NOT machaka ones!), black hawks, lions and wolves in many places, bears and boars in forests and some kind of snakes at swamps... I think I got bears from mountains, but am not sure. Has anyone researched this? Oh, and if luck affects the quality (as it does for crossbreeds) Summon Animals becomes number one mass summon spell for turmoil-heavy Pangaea, in the start at least.

EDIT: Sorry, I didn't realize you meant vine ogres... Still, nature-2 mages can cast it with a 10-gem item they can forge, and more than 100 hps for 2 gems is quite good.

Druids are great for it if you want to spend that many gems doing it (Which isn't unreasonable, but 15+1 per cast is alot in my book, but it depends on the incomes and game and everything)

Think about Mothers/Daughters is they are Capital only. I build only Crones at the capital and they are also capital only and as many as I can; ADDICTED TO CRONES am I

If I was ever crazy enough to put a Treelord Staff on a noncombat/ritual mage I'd put it on a Bard though; and a crown too But 40 Gems is too much for 2 extra fodder. Better and more effective spells/summons for that.

[ December 14, 2003, 12:54: Message edited by: Zen ]