Spells to build a pretender around?

[Micah]

I usually try to make sure I have access to earth and astral for my nation as far as diversity paths on my pretender, while earth and air are great buffing paths.

I wouldn't ever design a pretender for a late-game spell like Wish or Utterdark.

The booster rings and dwarven hammers are the main reasons I'd want my pretender to open up E/S...E is less important if trading is open, since hammers are usually easy to get in trade, the rings much less so.