What should be the summoners main method of attacking?

ArchivedUser

Lets assume this is for people that are choosing summoner as their main class.

ArchivedUser

Double-speccing and only off-speccing are a whole different discussion lol.

ArchivedUser

I am unfamiliar with Summoners from other MMO's. That said, I think having access to a Magic Staff that functioned as a ranged weapon would be nice. IS could control damage, there wouldn't be a perma-summon, and the Staff could have a similar attack time/damage as a Mages basic attack.

In closing; ranged, similar to Mage.

ArchivedUser

A summoner without a summon seems silly. 

ArchivedUser

Sintu said:

A summoner without a summon seems silly. 

All the poll options are summons. Just some games have constant familiars while others have shorter term, more powerful ones. Some games allow you to have as many summons as your mana pool can support.

ArchivedUser

I think most of the summoner's damage and abilities will be based around their summons, so I think it is almost imperative that they always have a summoned creature with them.

ArchivedUser

I agree with @Zastro as I believe it will depend on the Summons as there from what we know at the moment that there are 2 different ways that can affect a person Summon, it is the Sub-Class choice and the Racial Choice. Some of the community think this may affect the Mob that is summoned but I don't know if this is a real thing they are planning. 

ArchivedUser

Summoners should have a whole smattering of pets/summons.  Some permanent, and some momentary.  A summoner shouldn't be at any more of a disadvantage than anyone else.

ArchivedUser

If summoners "summoned" weapons or stuff that's practical (like summoning a bunch of "prepared" stuff earlier, so you don't have to lug it around), then I might be interested.

Maybe if they had the ability to summon people from another place, too.  Almost sounds like kidnapping, though, which could be funny.

But I kind of fundamentally disagree with everything about summoning entities from other realms, whether they're elemental or demons.  Just seems pure evil in every sense.

And I don't think it really fits in to the lore very well, unless they somehow summoned "pets" that they found or discovered and then somehow befriended them and applied magic to them to summon them or whatnot.

ArchivedUser

Warkov said:

Summoners should have a whole smattering of pets/summons.  Some permanent, and some momentary.  A summoner should be at any more of a disadvantage than anyone else.

Listen to this man, his brain is the goodest

ArchivedUser

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ArchivedUser

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ArchivedUser

Loyheta said:

Sintu said:

A summoner without a summon seems silly. 

All the poll options are summons. Just some games have constant familiars while others have shorter term, more powerful ones. Some games allow you to have as many summons as your mana pool can support.

I was just showing my support for all three. I think a summoner should have one out at all times that does little damage but with options of medium and high damage summons that only last a limited amount of time. This could include a summoned triceratops that runs at the target and rams them, but to disappear after doing so while all along their is a summon that is constantly there doing a little bit of damage. 

ArchivedUser

Why limit to just one, more options means for more play styles

ArchivedUser

The problem i see in most games with permanent pets/summons, they are unbalanced.
They are to weak or to strong, and they often stuck at terrain.
So in my opinion a short summon is easier to handle and balance.
(so tbh idc if its 1-5 sec and a lot of dmg or just 5-10 and average dmg)

ArchivedUser

Not only should a summoner have a summon that lasts the life of that summoned creature, the summoner should have a choice between different types of creatures. They should also be able to summon temporary allies as well. The summoned ally should have an auto attack and maybe a few of its own abilities where you can set AI to use them or you can use them as you see fit. The summoner should have their own sets of skills, some that support the summoned ally, some that deal dps, and some that support the player.

ArchivedUser

I was more interested in what the MAIN method should be.

For example in wow the warlock can have a permanent summon no matter what spec it is. The spec that focuses on summons has attacks which summon temporary demons to attack. They also get exclusive summons for choosing this spec and an even more specialized version of the warlock can summon greater versions of its summons (example is instead of a voidwalker, they can summon a voidlord) or even permanently summon a demon that before, was on a medium length cooldown.

So from that I am just curious if the summoner should focus on attacking with temporary summons or if they should just have a little sidekick that does damage while they shoot fireballs or something with their staff... or maybe a combination of the two (temp and perm summons)

ArchivedUser

Lol after all the thought I put into this... I don't know why I didn't put a poll option for a temporary summon attacks coupled with a permanent summon... I feel like this was an obvious option that I overlooked.

ArchivedUser

I will be playing a summoner. i want to be able to summon my necro pets and boost their effectiveness with my spells. I dont they should be weak but strong and we should be able to make them stronger. So if you see a mob coming you crap yourself and know your soul is about to be consumed. 

ArchivedUser

"A short summon (5-10s) that does fair damage" and "a momentary summon/channel (1-5s) that does high damage" would be fine with me, I'm not a particular fan of pet classes.

ArchivedUser

I'd like summoners to work as mesmers in gw2. They should be able to attack by themselves but also summon their clones/phantasms/other summons and keep them alive to get their max dps potential. I also liked to idea of sacrificing summons for a burst or stun etc.

It's a fun gamestyle and easier to balance than normal summons. AI pets are usually OP or completely ****. The summoner should be able to fight on his own too. Or choose to sacrifice/burst summons for his own protection/some cc if theire actng **** anyway.

ArchivedUser

Why do summons have to be pets? If the combat is meant to be about positioning, have the summoner be a field engineer. Have them throwing down magic turrets for range, flaming swords for controlling a choke point, fire to guide the enemy players to traps, etc. 

ArchivedUser

I'd rather have a permanent summon that deals small damage. But to be honest I'd rather it did a normal amount of damage. Even better multiple permanent summons that deals small damage adding up to normal damage.

ArchivedUser

Caelron said:

" If summoners "summoned" weapons or stuff that's practical (like summoning a bunch of "prepared" stuff earlier, so you don't have to lug it around), then I might be interested. ... "

Seems like a Summoner/Fighter or Fighter/Summoner ? 

ArchivedUser

tugowar said:

" Why do summons have to be pets? ... "

I never quite understood the Term " Pets " either. Whats the Different from a mount and actual pet to breed ... same thing ?

I ask because, i get confused every time i see the word used 

ArchivedUser

It would be cool if he could summon blades like gilgamesh.

ArchivedUser

I don't plan on touching summoner but I decided to weigh in with my weighty answer which Intrepid will take weighty note of my choice that carries great weight.

ArchivedUser

I'm personally not in love (or even like) with pet classes. I played a Necro in DII and it was my favorite class since I was playing HC mode making him pretty safe but I just don't like all the pet maintenance.

ArchivedUser

What if... summoners summoned summon summed a sum of summoners summons by summing summoners summing summons summoned on some summoners summoning?

ArchivedUser

Multiple summons, possibly a slow drain on your mana. Or just have a secundary system. The more of a summoner you are (Skill points put in summoning) The more summoning points you have. So you can have a small army of weak things. Or a little group of stronger things. 

ArchivedUser

I really do want something elaborate and WoW's newest iteration of demonologist is pretty interesting albeit very tedious and underwhelming.

You get a choice of a normal perm summon. Then your attacks deal damage and summon more demons that really stack up the damage.

I'd like something like this but less tedious. Longer lifespan on the attack summons and better immediate damage. I do also like the idea of a bit of mesmer from gw2 where you can detonate your summons to deal aoe damage and status effects.