How does Summoner builds feel to play?

[Conlan]

Hey guys. Soon im gonna try a petbuild for the first time as my 6th character (all below level 100, still experimenting the game)

I have a 2hander Death Knight which used to summon skeletons, but they were weak. You guys said either go full pet or none, so i switched him to full 2 handed. He is super strong now.

So as in all good Arpg games, i have to at least try some generic things, in this case, a summoner.

I'll most likely go for Occultist cause i never played that class.

TLDR: Anyways my question; what are my overall pet options? (Thinking of Occultist though) And most importantly, how does summoner classes play? Are they just standing there doing nothing since every stat goes to pet buffs? Are they just occasionally debuffing enemies without even casting damage spells? Can i have a powerful Chaos Bolt spell for offense while my pets do most of dirty work?

Note that im a casual and don't assume i want a super optimized lvl 100 build.

Thank you!

[MedeaFleecestealer]

Depends on how you want to play it. Maya's pet builds on the forum are lazy ones where the pets do all/most of the work while you do little/none. Sigatrev's are more active.

[Conlan]

I like to play active. Who is Maya or Sigartrev though?

[MedeaFleecestealer]

They are the current pet experts on the forum. If you want a pet build their's are the ones you look at.

[kekkuli]

They are either a hit or miss, it's totally up to you. Personally i'm not a fan. But in terms of efficiency they can be very strong.

[andrew.thiele]

Oh man, I've made like 10+ different Conjurer (Occultist + Shaman) builds...which was weird cuz I didn't play a pet build until like 2k hours in and then immediately spent the next 5-6 hundred hours experimenting with pet builds. Conjurer was and is my favourite of the bunch.

[Faust Wither]

can be complicated or simple. you can be an active summoner if using ghol set or diviner set.

[Millions of Bees]

Currently running a casual Necromancer/Occultist build (currently around level 28) and, if you're going for a pet build, Occultist is good to start with as you'll get Summon Familiar (who can heal the whole group when you get the Mend Flesh skill) and Summon Hellhound fairly early. Both skill lines have passive group buff skills too.

I actually found the Skeletons pretty useful. While on the weaker side, they got numbers going for them, especially since Undead Legion raises the cap. More on the Necromancer line, Summon Blight Fiend is a good walking punching bag to get and I plan of getting Reap Spirit once I reach it as it looks good despite the short lifespan of the Wraith.

As for non-summoning skills, buffs and debuffs are, of course, useful (Blood of Dreeg and Curse of Frailty, while I'm not using them yet, stand out) but you can go for using attack-oriented skills and ranged weapons to make your dude less of a buffbot. Sigil of Consumption can be of use if you're finding yourself a bit too fragile. Being able to tank hits via life-drain has been kinda funny for me.

Bonds of Bysmiel, while fairly late in the Occultist tree, is good for adding survivability and offensive ability to the pets. Master of Death (at the end of the Necromancer tree) buffs both the player and pets so that's a thing to get too. The two of them being toggle skills helps as you won't need to reapply them every now and then.

Gearwise, I personally used ranged weapons to soften up the enemy until I lucked out at getting a rare dagger that offered +2 to Summon Familiar and Summon Hellhound, + 1 to Summon Blight Fiend and granted the skill "Call Forth the Harbinger" which summons Salazar's Harbinger for less than half a minute (it's pretty bulky tho). Don't think I'll find anything that specifically useful again.

Other than that, my luck's been kinda bad when finding gear that offers pet buffs so I've been using gear that have skills that proc on hit or when getting hit and melting enemies as my minions blend them in the meantime since I'm in melee range now.

This wound up being a much longer post than I expected so... yeah. You can be a buff/debuff summoner or take on a more active role alongside your pets. You just need to plan your skill and devotion points accordingly and hope you get gear that either matches your playstyle or alters it slightly enough that it won't be an issue.

[TheSuit]

You could go Shaman \ Occultist its not Main Stream but its more of a 50 \ 50 workload. Pet can work as an Agro tank while you fight.

Instead of Necros AFK build style.

[bchrac]

If you wiling to wait for pets, the NightBlade Blade Spirit comes on late in the game (level 50) and if you have a correct amulet you can have 3 of them instead of just 2. Plus the Nemesis relic gives gives you a Nemesis pet at level 60 (NightBlade all skills plus 1). These pets are all invincible and strong, while supporting you very,very well. Having four impervious dogs of war working for you can really support your efforts. A Shaman 2 handed weapon with Seal of Skies (lvl75) is a great combo because chain lighting is a fantastic spell, left mouse ranged weapon (no default weapon proc like savagery or cadence required) . Tie elemental seeker to it in devotions and let your fun begin. :)