What is an ideal 3rd-5th level spell for an oracle to poach from the sorcerer/wizard spell list? [closed]

Question

The Improved Eldritch Heritage feat allows any character who meets the prerequisites to gain the 3rd- or 9th-level power of a sorcerer bloodline. The 9th-level power of the arcane bloodline allows a character to add 3 spells (eventually) to their spells known from the sorcerer/wizard spell list.

I have an oracle (divine charisma-based spontaneous caster) who has taken this feat. What spell(s) should I be looking to acquire with the first spell gained this way? I currently have access to 5th-level spells, so answers should focus on 5th-level spells, or especially good 3rd- or 4th-level spells that are worth taking over a 5th-level spell.

To clarify, the focus should be on utility. Spells that are useful in most combat situations, or that aid in bypassing/resolving many non-combat situations, are ideal. These should be spells that will be useful pretty much every day while adventuring. Broadly applicable battlefield control spells like Acid Fog, or mobility spells like Fly, are the kind of spells I would like to focus on.

About the character & the rest of the party: The character is an aasimar with a wolf animal companion mount that is stronger than normal (I'm using the aasimar favored class bonus to boost my effective level for the companion-granting revelation, since that bonus does not say it caps at your character level). The character is highly focused on charisma. Since one of the party members really wants to become a lich, the DM will soon be allowing all of us to acquire CR+2 templates; my template will include a +8 to charisma, giving me a 34 charisma. My save DC boosting efforts are likely to focus on the necromancy school, as my current main save-or-lose spells are Bestow Curse and Blindness/Deafness. The typical approach to combat is to buff the wolf with cleric buffs then ride it into combat, using additional spells as needed. Some of the main antagonists in this campaign are undead, so spells that are not ineffective against undead would be best.

Other party members include a fairly standard cleric, a sorcerer focused on mind-affecting spells, a bard focused on melee combat & buffing, a magus, and a druid focused on wild-shape & natural attacks. Bard buffs are already covered, and ranged DPS is primarily in the form of the occasional blaster spell cast by the druid & sorcerer. I'm not interested in any spells on the bard list, any mind-affecting spells, or spells that simply deal damage.

Spells that are available in the Core Rulebook, Advanced Race Guide, or Advanced Player's Guide are preferred, but other Paizo sources are acceptable.

A good answer should lay out multiple options and explain why each is a good choice.

Answer 1

There is really not much we can do without listing our favourite spells for every level. Since you are looking for utility, there are many good candidates for different reasons (that's why they are "utility"). But here is my top (in no particular order) favorite wizard/sorcerer spells for each of those three spell levels:

Third Level

• Fly: Fly is a game-changer ability (said so by the devs), so whenever you have the option to not-fly and fly, take the option to fly and your game will change;
• Sleet Storm: Fantastic battlefield control that will suddenly end combat. Note how many creatures lack ranks in Acrobatics or are so large that their size gives them a huge penalty on those checks;
• Halt Undead: This is a powerful spell against undeads, as it immobilizes them long enough so your party can handle them. Mindless undeads get no save and affects up to three creatures at once;

Fourth Level

• Dimension Door: This is your "get out of jail" card for nearly all situations. This is as useful as Freedom of Movement (already on oracle's list), but for those situations where simply moving away isn't enough, teleport away;
• Black Tentacles: This is probably the worst spell to be targeted by at this level. You will get wrecked by this and you won't have a chance to complain about it. Extra powerful and recommended against casters;
• Elemental Body: This spell grants you with several different abilities depending on your situation, darkvision, fly, burrow, swim, resistances, etc. You can get several buffs for one cast;

Fifth Level

Things are a little different here, you have one option that outperforms all others by a vast margin:

• Permanency: This spell has a huge potential of utility, you can make several spells permanent on your character, being removed only if they are dispelled. This also allows you to buy scrolls or pay the services of another spellcaster to have that spell cast on you. At this level you already have Arcane Sight as an option, for example, and it will only get better as you level up;

But, should you decide to not take it, here are my picks:

• Teleport: This is another game-changing ability that opens a huge potential for your group. This allow semi-suicidal tactics with a free "get back to town" card, or quickly resupplying in the middle of nowhere. It also allows tactics such as scry+teleport;
• Overland Flight: Remember everything I said about Fly? Yes, now 24/7, have fun and just be aware of dispels, have a contingency plan;
• Telekinesis: Just by the wall-of-text on this spell you can tell it is good utility. The limits of what you can do here is your imagination and the GM's patience;
• Monstrous Physique III: The first spell isn't that good, the second spell brings you several utility abilities. But the third spell? Look at this list:

If the form you assume has any of the following abilities, you gain the listed ability: burrow 30 feet, climb 90 feet, fly 90 feet (good maneuverability), swim 90 feet, all-around vision, blindsense 30 feet, darkvision 60 feet, low-light vision, scent, blood frenzy, cold vigor, constrict, ferocity, freeze, grab, horrific appearance, jet, leap attack, mimicry, natural cunning, overwhelming, poison, pounce, rake, sound mimicry, speak with sharks, trample, trip, and web. If the creature has the undersized weapons special quality, you gain that quality.

Answer 2

If you're fighting undead a lot and you're specialized in necromancy, it seems like the second-level spell command undead would be an unusually good choice. This spell is normally restricted to wizards (and the "inevitable" domain); it's especially valuable because nonintelligent undead receive no save against it.

You should also consider teleport, which isn't super valuable to you personally but is game-changing for the party. A surprising number of otherwise-very-difficult problems can be solved using scrying followed by teleport.

The potential objection to both of these spells is: "okay, clearly somebody in the group needs to know these, but it doesn't need to be you specifically. Maybe your group's sorceror could learn these, and you could take something with more of a combat focus?"

If you're looking for combat stuff, resilient sphere and wall of force are both good crowd control, don't underestimate fireball for massed enemies, and I agree with you that fly is a good choice.