After searching through the different guides in the druid forum I noticed a lack of a pure summoner guide. Even though there already is a guide by Lothric (which is very good I might add) the guide I am about to make will focus completely on summons rather then employing different skills to compliment them.
Introduction
Summoning druids are one of the greatest builds to play out there. They focus completely on their mercenary and summons to decimate their enemies. Even though they will not destroy everything in sight, they are much more fun to play then other MvP builds. With the right equipment you can give your summons a host of auras to further help them along the way and make them into an effective killing unit. A summoner “draws his power from others” as a necromancer would put it. However even though you will not have as many summons as a necromancer, you will be able to summon your pets out of thin air, making your playing style less restrictive and more adaptable.
First I will discuss your stat points and how to allocate them. This will give you a general idea on what you should accomplish but will leave some room to customize your build.
Strength- since you’re a summoner you wont really need many points in here. I would suggest putting enough points in here to wear your heaviest armor.
Dexterity- you can decide whether to put 0 points in here or to put enough to get max block. If you like to be in the thick of things, I'd highly advise max block. But if you'd rather have higher life then you can leave this at base or enough for gear.
Vitality- everything else, more life is always better for any build.
Energy- none, you don’t really need energy because your summoning will be in town. When you run out of mana simply go to the town healer and fill up your bulb to continue to summon. If however you want to be more versatile 10 points in here is the maximum points you should allocate.
Next I will discuss the build and the differences between this guide and Lothric’s guide.
Skills
As you would imagine all your skill points will be put into summoning but I would also advise a few points in one other tree. This will give you more life and be able to help out your summons in a way.
You may only have the following summoned at one time.
1-5 Ravens
1 Vine
1 Spirit
1 Grizzly, 3 dire wolves or 5 spirit wolves.
There are many different opinions on what is the best combination to have. Some people argue for grizzly and some people argue for dire wolf. I will explain the pros and cons of each so you can make your own deductions about what’s best.
Grizzly (pro)- This summon is the strongest one you have. A fully synergized grizzly will have life in the thousands rather then hundreds. He also has knock back, which is great for keeping monsters off your other summons/merc. He does great damage (1k and up) and combined with some good auras will be able to tank and kill any monster you come across.
Grizzly (con)- You will only be allowed to have one grizzly out at a time, which means less summons and less crowd control.
I found the Grizzly to be a huge help to me for Act bosses and against smaller packs of stronger monsters. However I found him to be less help when dealing with larger crowds.
Dire wolves (pro)- These guys do double the damage when they eat corpses. They are also much stronger then spirit wolves but there are more of them then one grizzly. These guys are very powerful and are my personal favorite because of their great crowd control.
Dire wolves (con)- Against Act bosses and stronger packs of monsters these guys usually get their butts handed to them.
Spirit wolves (pro)- These guys use teleport to offensively attack monsters and kill them even before you come across them. You can also have five of them, which is much more then one grizzly or three dire wolves.
Spirit wolves (con)- Even though there are more of these guys then the other choices their power is greatly diminished because it is split 5 ways. This means that in hell these guys will last only a minute or two before being destroyed. Also they do teleport a lot, which separates them from the rest of the party. This way they cant get the bonuses from your spirit or mercenary and become even weaker.
In my personal experience I relied on spirit wolves only through normal, then I moved on to dire wolves, which I used almost exclusively, even through hell. However in hell I found myself using grizzly on a lot of random uniques because he could handle them much better then my dire wolves.
Spirits
Oak sage- This spirit gives you more life. The basic principle is life over damage. I will not bore you will mathematical calculations because I think they aren’t needed. All you have to do is decide which one you think is better and max it.
HOW- This spirit gives you more damage and AR. This is my personal favorite because summons have had their life increased greatly in 1.10. Also if your pet does die they can quickly be resummned without any further duress. One more thing to note, a maxed Oak sage has lower life then a maxed HOW. This means that your spirit will survive longer which in turn will allow the rest of your party to survive longer.
A special thing I wanted to note is that Lothric had a very good point. I would like to quote him because; after all he is the one who originally said it.
“One final point on the debate: Spirits die quickly in Hell. No matter where you cast them they will wander right back into the middle of combat, roll over and die. When you’re in the middle of combat and this happens to your Oak Sage the sudden loss of life can be fatal to both you and your minions. On the other hand, having your HoW killed in Hell is less serious as you and your minions are only losing out on a few seconds of additional damage.”
Again however it is all up to you to decide what’s best. I am merely presenting you with the necessary information to make that conclusion.
Vines- I used only one vine the entire time I played my summoner. Poison creeper was very useful to me to stop monster healing in hell and just to add that little bit of damage to help finish off annoying creatures. Also in 8 person hell games the damage per poison mat is insane, because of the way the damage is calculated through the number of monsters spawned.
Now since I have given you a basic overview of the differences in this build and the summons it employs I will give you how many points you should actually put into these skills.
Ravens- 1 point. These guys cannot be hit but their damage is pathetic. There is no reason why you should put more then 1 point in here because anymore would be a huge waste. They would be much better if their AI wasn’t so poor. +skills should bring this up high enough where you can get the full 5 ravens. Its a pain in the butt but they can be semi-useful for distracting ranged monsters.
Poison creeper- 1-20 points. If you plan to play with many of your friends you should consider maxing this since the damage is insane with 8 party members. However, if you play solo alot then I would advise only putting one point into here as your points are better spent elsewhere. This should really be the only vine you use. While his life is low he rarely gets into trouble because he's under ground. Despite this though he will be the pet you have to resummon the most. He's also extremely useful for stopping monsters from healing in hell.
Carrion vine- 0-1 point. This vine I only used a few times to get my life full. This vine isn’t actually needed so if you want to use it put only one point. If not then don’t put any points in here.
Oak sage- 1-20 points. I decided to max HOW instead of this so I only put one point in here. If however you disagree with me then this should be maxed.
HOW- 0-20 points. I think you should max this but others think life is more important so it’s up to you. This spirit gives you a huge bonus in AR and damage so that your summons can actually kill monsters in hell. What good is having summons that never die, but struggle to kill monsters anyway?
Spirit wolves- 20 points. This skill is a must. Even though Lothric made a good point about defense being less of an issue I found it very difficult for my summons to hit monsters in hell even with my HOW. If you max this skill you will get a healthy AR bonus to your Grizzly and Dire wolves.
Dire wolves- 20 points. These guys will be your main killing source in nightmare and hell. They also give passive bonuses to your grizzly and spirit wolves so you cant lose when maxing this. If you do not max this, your summons will be to weak to make it in hell mode the way monsters are in 1.11.
Grizzly- 20 points. This guy is the best summon of all the character classes because of the skills he uses. I used him almost as much as I did Dire wolves in hell because of his knock back effect. He is a great companion and is a very tough animal to kill even for something like a super unique venom lord.
Shape shifting
The points you will spend in here are more then necessary to help your pets kill in hell. I went down the WereBear path so I could have more life and so I could have access to a stun skill. I advise this if you plan to MAX poison creeper.
Werewolf- 1 point- needed prerequisite.
Lycanthropy- 1 point- gives you more life while in werebear form.
Werebear- 1 point- needed to actually change into a bear. You get a good life bonus, which will help you to stay alive in the later difficulties of hell.
Maul- 1 point- prerequisite/secondary skill.
Shockwave- 1 point- with you plus skills you can stun for a couple of seconds. What danger are monsters to you or your minions if they can’t attack?
If you do not plan to max poison creeper or simply want to deal with PI's easier I'd advise this...
Lycanthropy- 1 point- Adds life when in werewolf form.
Werewolf - 1 point- Needed to change into a werewolf
Feral rage- 1 point- Needed to get to rabies/semi-useful to life leach
Rabies- 20 points- If you plan to play solo, want to be more active in your play or want to deal with PI's easier I'd advise maxing this. It will deal huge damage at higher levels and is fun to use.
While I do advocate this be maxed keep in mind that you are a summoner so they are always more important then you. Your rabies is a supplemental skill only.
Some people might say you could go down other paths to make yourself more versatile later on in hell, such as going elemental. Since you are a pure summoner the damage you would do is insignificant in hell and therefore a waste if you were to do that. The other options I've listed are sufficient.
Equipment
I will not give you low level or mid level options because I think you should focus on the end result of your build rather then its lower stages. I will suggest only the best weapons and armor to make you a better summoner. If however you cannot afford what I propose you need not worry because your killing power is based on your summons rather then equipment (unlike a barbarian who relies solely on equipment to be good). Also to save space and time I will only suggest three equipment choices (except for armor and weapons). One ideal mage choice, one ideal melee choice and one “wild card” that I feel has good mods.
Helmet
Jalal’s Mane (+2 druid skills, +2 shapeshifting, +20 Str/Energy, +20% AR, Resists)
Harlequin Crest (+2 skills, +1.5 life per level, +1.5 mana per level, 10% PDR, +2 stats)
Crown of Ages (+1 skills, 10-15% PDR, +20-30 resistances, 1-2 sockets)
Armor
Arkaine’s Valor (+1-2 Skills, 30% FHR, +0.5 Vitality per level)
Chains of Honor Rune word (+2 skills, +20 Str, Replenish Life, +65% Resist all)
Stone (2k+ defense, +15 all resistances, 16 to strength, 16 vitality, 10 energy, 60% FHR, lvl 16 clay golem charges)
Belts
Arachnid Mesh (+1 Skills, 20% FCR, Slows Target 10%, +5% Max Mana)
Verdungo’s Hearty Cord (10% FHR, 10-15% PDR, +30-40 Vitality, Replenish Life)
Trang-Oul’s Girth (Cannot Be Frozen, +25-50 Mana, +66 Life, Replenish Life)
Gloves
Frostburn (Maximum Mana 40%, Adds 1-6 Cold Damage)
Dracul’s grasp (8% life leech, 25% OW, +13 Str)
Trang gloves (25% poison damage, +30% Cold damage)
Boots
Aldurs advance (40% faster r/w, +50 to life, 43% fire resist)
Gore rider (30% faster r/w, 10% chance of OW, 15% chance of CB, -25% reqs)
Sandstorm trek (20% faster r/w, +12 strength, +10 vitality, 20% FHR. +50% Poison resist)
Amulets
Mara’s Kaleidoscope (+2 skills, +5 all stats, +20-30% Resistances)
Good rare/crafted/magic amulet
Highlords wrath (+1 skills, 20% IAS, %chance for Deadly strike)
Rings
Bul-Katho’s Wedding Band (+1 skills, +0.5 life per level, 3-5% LL)
Stone of Jordan (+1 skills, Increase Max Mana 25%, +20 Mana)
Ravenfrost (+250 AR, cannot be frozen, +20 DEX, cold absorb)
Shields
Stormshield (35% PDR, +60% Cold Resist, +25% Lightning Resist, +30 Str 75% chance to block)
Lidless wall (+1 skills, 20% FCR, Increased max mana 10%)
Spirit (+2 skills, 30% FCR, 55% FHR, 22 to vitality, cold, lightning, poison resists +35%, 111 to mana)
Weapons
Heart of the Oak Runeword (+3 Skills, 40% FCR, 7% ML, +10 Dex, Increase Max Mana 15%, +30-40% Resistances, Level 4 Oak Sage, Level 14 Raven)
Beast Runeword (Level 9 Fanaticism Aura, 40% IAS, 20%CB, 25% OW, 240-270% ED, +3 Werebear, +3 Lycanthropy, PMH, +25-40 Str, +10 Energy, Level 13 Summon Grizzly)
Call to Arms Runeword (+1 Skills, +40% IAS, +250-290%, 7% LL, +2-6 Battle Command, +1-6 Battle Orders, +1-4 Battle Cry, PMH, 30% MF)
Doom Runeword (+2 Skills, Level 12 Holy Freeze Aura, +45% IAS, +330%-370% ED, -40%-60% Enemy Cold Resistance, 20% DS, 25% OW, PMH, Freezes Target)
Wizardspike (+75 all resists, 50% FCR, Mana regeneration 15%)
These are all great choices and you CANNOT go wrong with any of them. Also against PI’s I suggest carrying around a gimmershed or some other form (bow) of elemental damage. This way you and your merc can do the killing while your other summons tank.
Ideal weapon setup for melee summoners
Crown of Ages (+1 skills, 10-15% PDR, +20-30 resistances, 1-2 sockets)
Stone (2k+ defense, +15 all resistances, 16 to strength, 16 vitality, 10 energy, 60% FHR, lvl 16 clay golem charges)
String of ears (10% DR, 8% life leech)
Dracul’s grasp (8% life leech, 25% OW, +13 Str)
Highlords wrath (+1 skills, 20% IAS, %chance for Deadly strike)
Bul-Katho’s Wedding Band (+1 skills, +0.5 life per level, 3-5% LL)
Stormshield (35% PDR, +60% Cold Resist, +25% Lightning Resist, +30 Str 75% chance to block)
Beast Runeword (Level 9 Fanaticism Aura, 40% IAS, 20%CB, 25% OW, 240-270% ED, +3 Werebear, +3 Lycanthropy, PMH, +25-40 Str, +10 Energy, Level 13 Summon Grizzly)
Gore riders (30% Faster r/w, 15% CB, 10% OW, 15% deadly strike)
This setup is aiming for as much damage reduction as you can possibly get. Also there are many different items that grant crushing blow or deadly strike to further help you kill monsters. Maximum block is a MUST for this build because you will be right next to your summons doing all the dirty work.
Ideal setup for a mage summoner/aura summoner
Jalal’s Mane (+2 druid skills, +2 shapeshifting, +20 Str/Energy, +20% AR, Resists)
Chains of Honor Rune word (+2 skills, +20 Str, Replenish Life, +65% Resist all) or Bramble (lvl 15 thorns aura when equipped, 50% FHR, Increase maximum mana 5%, Mana regeneration 15%, Lvl 13 spirit of barbs charges, +resists)
Arachnid Mesh (+1 Skills, 20% FCR, Slows Target 10%, +5% Max Mana)
Frostburn (Maximum Mana 40%, Adds 1-6 Cold Damage)
Good rare/crafted/magic amulet or Mara’s Kaleidoscope (+2 skills, +5 all stats, +20-30% Resistances)
Stone of Jordan (+1 skills, Increase Max Mana 25%, +20 Mana)
Spirit (+2 skills, 30% FCR, 55% FHR, 22 to vitality, cold, lightning, poison resists +35%, 111 to mana)
Beast Runeword (Level 9 Fanaticism Aura, 40% IAS, 20%CB, 25% OW, 240-270% ED, +3 Werebear, +3 Lycanthropy, PMH, +25-40 Str, +10 Energy, Level 13 Summon Grizzly) or Heart of the Oak Runeword (+3 Skills, 40% FCR, 7% ML, +10 Dex, Increase Max Mana 15%, +30-40% Resistances, Level 4 Oak Sage, Level 14 Raven)
This setup tries to give you as much +skills or auras as possible. This way you can make your summons much stronger then they already are and better able to kill/survive in hell. Your job is then of less importance, as all you do is sit back and re-summon dead minions. You also cast shockwave a lot so FCR is very important, and blocking is of less importance for obvious reasons.
Mercenary Act 2
Ideal choices for these are pretty standard. The mercenaries in nightmare Act 2 are probably the best. A defensive one has a nice holy freeze aura that makes monsters much easier to deal with. If you decide to go with Oak sage though I would strongly advise getting yourself a might mercenary as your summons will need the extra boost in damage. Again, it really depends on your playing style but all three are pretty good options.
Armor
Eth Stone (4k+ defense, +15 all resistances, 16 to strength, 16 vitality, 10 energy, 60% FHR)
Chains of Honor Rune word (+2 skills, +20 Str, Replenish Life, +65% Resist all)
Eth Gbane (2k defense, cannot be frozen, 30% FHR)
Weapon
Eth doom (lvl 12Holy freeze aura, +2 skills, prevent monster heal, 45% IAS, 20% deadly strike, -43% enemy cold resistance)
EBOTD war pike (1k damage, 60% IAS, 12% life leech, -25% target defense, +30 all attributes)
Infinity (lvl 12 conviction aura, -50% enemy lightning resistance, prevent monster heal, 40% chance of CB, 35% faster r/w)
Helmets
Gaze (8% life leech, 20% DR)
Stealskull (5% life leech, 10% IAS and FHR, 227% enhanced defense)
Rockstopper (30% FHR, 15 to vitality, 10% DR, Good cold, lighting, and fire resists)
These are the ideal setup for your merc and will provide him with a lot of killing power and survivability in hell. There are other equipment choices (like reapers toll) that have their own benefits. Just try to get your mercenary high life, defense, damage reduction, and maxed resists. You can either choose to go defense or offense (aura) when choosing a merc. Again this is all up to you and both are good choices.
Another thing I found through experimenting is that you can use other mercs with greater effect! Want even more PI killing power? Go with the Act 1 rouge that shoots fire, and cold enchanted arrows. Want a mage to give you some help while you wail on monsters? Go for the Act 3 lightning merc. Miss the knock back of your grizzly but cant stand to let your wolves go? Choose an Act 5 merc for that extra boost your party needs! Just remember to experiment on your own and see what you like best. There is NO right or wrong answer when looking for a merc. If you do not choose and Act 2 merc be prepared to loss out on valuable auras though.
** One thing I would like to say before I finish up is that with the introduction of 1.11 charges on items have become more prominent. You should definitely take advantage of this to further compliment your party. For example, my summoner druid is wearing the rune word Stone for its clay golem charges (lvl 16). This is great because I have yet another pet to compliment the rest of my party.|||Conclusion
I would like to thank Lothric and everyone else that pitched in to my last summoning guide. I got a lot of my information from Lothric�s guide and he was the basis for my first summoner. I gave a basic overview of what you need to do to accomplish a very fun and effective animal party. I hope you have as much fun as I did building and playing this summoner. Good luck to you and if anyone has any comments or suggestions fell free to leave them!
Other people that left helpful advice�
ElJefeII
Zigot_HD
Stoutewolf
Cppo-The-Wild
Shaperla
As you might have noticed I used A LOT of abbreviations throughout this guide. Below I will give the more common ones so no one is confused.
OW= Open wounds
FHR= Faster hit recovery
FCR= Faster cast rate
Merc= Mercenary
CB= Crushing blow
LL= Life leech
STR= strength
DEX= dexterity
VIT= vitality
ETH= Ethereal
DR= damage reduction
IAS= increased attack speed
R/w= run/walk
PI�s= Physical immunes|||no feedback
I was so proud of this version..... its 10 times better then my other two.....
*sigh*|||cooollllll~~~~~ lol I think maybe the abbreviations should be on the top, that's what I've seen in most guides, but if you like different, I bow to you.
PS: FIRST POST AGAIN!!!
|||makes me wanna get a new summoner up and running! great job!|||Quote:cooollllll~~~~~ lol I think maybe the abbreviations should be on the top, that's what I've seen in most guides, but if you like different, I bow to you.
PS: FIRST POST AGAIN!!!
I love being different. Man im proud of this guide, and i appreciate the great feedback i've been getting! I hope that more people make summoner druids so they can have just as much fun as i did.|||Eth Pride Polearm looks pretty good for merc too since conc aura boosts damage by alot!! and uninterrupted attack for melee summoner is even better!!!
Great Job on this one|||Took this out......|||I'm not sure how banning works right now, but I know that in previous versions the cd key that was made the account that was using a hack was banned and all other accounts that were made with that cd key were banned. I don't know if it has changed to banning the key that the game was installed with while using the map hack but I would doubt it.
Just to be safe, transfer important items to a friends account, wait a week and if you're not banned it's unlikely you will ever be banned.|||Quote:
I'm not sure how banning works right now, but I know that in previous versions the cd key that was made the account that was using a hack was banned and all other accounts that were made with that cd key were banned. I don't know if it has changed to banning the key that the game was installed with while using the map hack but I would doubt it.
Just to be safe, transfer important items to a friends account, wait a week and if you're not banned it's unlikely you will ever be banned.
O i doubt it will be banned any time soon because it had very up to date software to hide it. Im just nervous that sometime (lets say 6 months-year) my account/computer/CD key or whatever they scan will be flagged and i wont be able to play anymore.
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