Best summoner build?

[Larry Daley]

I like to play pet/summon builds and im wondering what a powerful summoner build is in this game and would appreciate any advice.

[yohoo]

for melee pet build, means battle enemy melee, Shaman+Occultist/Necromancer, shaman point skill is emphasis on physique
for ranged pet build, means u battle enemy ranged, Occultist+Shaman/Necromancer, occultist point skill is emphasizing on spirit
for pure necromancer is also viable, the spooky skeleton lord.

don't take it seriously, bcs I too only just bought and played this game, only 6hrs experienced.

[Larry Daley]

Thanks, by the way do you know anything about how good the oathkeeper summon is?

[Enfild]

Originally posted by yohoo:

don't take it seriously, bcs I too only just bought and played this game, only 6hrs experienced.

It shows, because its terrible advice for new players. You don't do hybrid builds here, you either go full pet or not at all. Granted, if you know how you can pull it off somewhat, but you need experience and very specific gear.
Next you always go into physique, no matter the build, you can spend 10-20 points in cunning or spirit, but wast majority will be in phys.
And necromancer's skellies are not very viable, they require work, for sure. Necro is great for pet builds, but perhaps skellies are not the best for first-time pet build.

Originally posted by Nicias Ancient Athens:

Thanks, by the way do you know anything about how good the oathkeeper summon is?

Its not for pet builds, as it scales with players. Their main appeal is resist reduction though, so it can somewhat work. But if you go fo pets you don't pick oathkeeper, you go for necro, occultist and shaman.

[yohoo]

Originally posted by Enfild:

Next you always go into physique, no matter the build, you can spend 10-20 points in cunning or spirit, but wast majority will be in phys.

does physique scale to the pet attributes too? because occultist/shaman is somewhat spell caster why not prioritize the spirit attribute??

[Childe Roland]

Originally posted by yohoo:

does physique scale to the pet attributes too? because occultist/shaman is somewhat spell caster why not prioritize the spirit attribute??

In order:

No, your attributes don't affect the attributes of pets (maybe player-scaled pets, but I don't think so).

...and...

Because the bonuses that you get from going all or mostly in on either cunning or spirit aren't really enough to make a huge difference for most builds and don't make up for the difference in hp and health regen compared to if you go all physique and only use enough cunning and spirit for item requirements.

There are a few builds that can go all spirit or cunning or do a 50/50 mix of one of those and physique, but unless you're using one of those and you're an experienced player it's by far better to put as many points into physique as you can.

And, since the attributes don't affect your pets anyway, it's obviously the best idea for a summoner to do a phys dump for the extra health to make themselves less squishy for the enemies that don't get distracted by pets right away, as well as to survive AOE and ground effect damage better.

[Larry Daley]

"Its not for pet builds, as it scales with players. "

What does scales with players mean, it scales with your stats?

[Enfild]

Originally posted by Nicias Ancient Athens:

"Its not for pet builds, as it scales with players. "

What does scales with players mean, it scales with your stats?

Yes, its literally written in the skill description.

[Larry Daley]

"Necro is great for pet builds, but perhaps skellies are not the best for first-time pet build."
In that case what necro skills do you recommend?

[gNuff!~©~gNom3™]

skeletons will work for first playthrough, in fact they will wreck things, but they fall off quickly on Elite and specially Ultimate if not built around heavily
the easiest pet build is Conjurer (Occultist+Shaman)
the "strongest" is reap spirit builds, but that's a little more specialized endgame thing than a leveling thing
if you want beginner pet tips you can always look in Maya's guide/mini guide section (scroll down and click the "title") https://forums.crateentertainment.com/t/the-carnival-a-guide-to-pets/81781

that said, any combination of Shaman, Occultist or Necro will carry you through the game easily as long as you focus in your pets - and keep in mind pets need special "bonus to all pet" stat items
^and likewise like players, pets need resistances too(later), so don't neglect that if you reach later parts of Elite/Ultimate

[Enfild]

Originally posted by Nicias Ancient Athens:

"Necro is great for pet builds, but perhaps skellies are not the best for first-time pet build."
In that case what necro skills do you recommend?

Blight fiend is great pet, reap spirit is also good from what i heard, but he isnt permanent, call of the grave and master of death are good pet-oriented skills, everything else depends on your build. Ill omen, mark of torment, spectral binding are all good skills that can help you, but they are not centered around pets.
Want some guidance, you can look into build compendium on crate forums, they have all kinds of builds, some even with step by step leveling guides.

Point about skellies: What i said is true they are not great, but you can have some fun with them on lower difficulties, but they need a lot of defence to be good.