Boring time as a Summoner

[Hurkaleez]

Mainly because boss/hero guys kill my pets even with me spamming heal nonstop. Then it becomes me kiting around *yawn* until the timers come off my pets then casting them only to watch them die super fast. I made this character so I could farm for gear dependent chars but finding myself about ready to give up on the game out of pure boredom.

I'm following guides but I suspect they are mostly out of date because of the gameplay changes introduced in AE. Steam Guides are worthless because they do not offer a 'Last Updated' stat. Most guides I find for classes are pre Dec 2021(I'm under impression that is when AE came out).

[MedeaFleecestealer]

AE came out in 2016; it's the 10th anniversary edition of the game which originally came out in 2006.

Summoner should be okay. Pets are usually pretty strong until Acts 3/4 Normal when they struggle a bit, but then recover when they get into Epic difficulty.

[Hurkaleez]

I am in Hades, A4 I believe. Good to know that they get a buff in Epic/Leg.

I was following the Lazy Summoner guide. Any suggestion for an alternative class that is good for farming if you don't have great gear?

[MedeaFleecestealer]

What type do you like to play?

[Hurkaleez]

I enjoy caster and melee chars usually.

Also, OK wow so all guides post 2016 will be accurate? I was quite mistaken on this, thank you for clarifying.

[MedeaFleecestealer]

Well, there have been 3 new expansions since then, the latest released last December which have changed some things in the game. So there may still be changes that aren't in those guides. I would still check to see if they say what expansions they were updated to - Ragnarok, Atlantis and Eternal Embers being their titles with Embers being the newest one.

[Hurkaleez]

I bought Ranarok and Atlantis.

How do you deal with Spirit Syphons (flag with red ring around it) as a summoner? I have no teleport ability to reset my pets so my only option is to run away. Hitting them with my staff does maybe 10% damage which is instantly healed up(even with no pets/player in ring for syphon to leech from). Horrible mechanic to force players to run away and wait for cooldown of enemy skill so I assume there is some way to deal with them?

[nickita.malkov]

Lol. Whats your combo?

[Hurkaleez]

Summoner = Earth + Nature

[chris.ferrantegerard]

Most of the guides made post AE should still largely valid even if they're missing Rag or Atlantis info. Pre-Rag guide will miss throwing weapons and maybe some good drops from that xpac but the general gameplay will be the same. Pre-Atlantis will miss each mastery's two level 40 skills - these skills range from meh, to niche, to globally useful, to build defining.

For summoners, I assume you have maxxed out the summon skill? Pet builds are the exception where leveling your skill is more important than leveling mastery bar as more points in skill = better pet. Also, if you don't have +2 to nature I'd suggest getting that. 18/16 will increase wolf summon limit to 3. You can get +1 skill by farming for a Stonebinder's Cuffs and vendor farm for a +1 Nature amulet.

For summoner (Earth + Nature), wolves are decent DPS/tank pets and Core Dweller is a decent tanky pet. Wolves are decent at staying alive until you to get to Typhon (who destroys them) and a little fragile in late acts (4-5) but still not that bad. Survival Instinct synergy helps keep them alive as well. Dweller is decent at staying alive. Pets get a hp buff mid way through act 3 and get buffs in each difficulty. They scale much better after normal difficulty.

Your pets should generally be able to stay alive. Cast heals when needed. Get CDR so you can resummon dead pets faster. Refresh in Nature helps get wolves out quickly - summon one, cast refresh to remove cooldown, then summon second one. For staying alive, you have Briar Ward which you can hide in and emergency Stone Form which you can escape damage while your pets try to kill enemies or you wait for an Eruption to finish off a foe.

Support your pets with your spells; Earth spells do a mix of fire and physical damage so can be scaled with either Int or Str, Int is more usual through. Eruption is great and you can lob in some Volcanic Orbs.

[Lobo de hielo]

I will be a little different here, by saying pet builds in normal and the majority of epic are boring and not that good.
I do have (must check) 3 legendary hardcore pet builds, so I do play pet builds sometimes.

The thing is I never start as a pet build, but play through normal and most of epic building usually a staff wielder. Once towards the end of epic and I have collected decent pet gear, that is wraithlord jewelry and staff (hopefully all "of immortality" as I like high health pet builds), I will respec to a pet build.

Difficulty is in working out att points at the start as very few go to dex/ str, most are split between int and health. Need 630 int in Legendary. HP pool usually works out at between 12000 to 15000.
Legendary pet builds are OP'ed.

Quite honestly if wanting a farming build for normal/ epic, I would look somewhere else.
I have kept a Legendary pet build for farming in Legendary though.

[nickita.malkov]

summoner its easy. Up pets flat damage by rings+amulet+stuff. Phisical dmg of corse. On normal whey are so-so in 4-5 acts. Need more heal/debuffs. But epic/legendary game is not problem in any places. Just have +4 to skills. This is very important for pets. Stonebinders cuffs easiest way. Also you may take amulet of convocation for self-heal pets. If there are still problems in some places, use scrolls of the stalwart alliance.

[Hurkaleez]

I got wiped at river Styx and had 0 chance as pets were wiped by boss instantly. Started a new character as per other advice. Having much easier time now. I'll revisit Summoner when I get gear for it later.