So, summon dragon and cure poison, right?

Noob here.

Playing a DDEE because I hear they are pretty simple spellcasters, but I am wondering what kind of spells I should be working towards.

It would seem the early stages of the dungeon have become a great deal harder in .1, am I crazy? Some of it may be because of increased medium armour AC, but I will also see ogres on floor 1, and other crazy stuff.