Which Summoned Monsters are best?

[Adelair]

I can't help but wonder if some of the lower level ones prove more useful than higher level ones.

Been playing a Druid lately so I'm curious how to best utilize summoned monsters.

[bartharok]

Teleporting monsters can be useful.

[Phaeton_Seraph]

Teleporting monsters can be useful.

Orthons rock, yeah.



Druid summons are different from the Arcane summons. In many cases, the choice option to use from which spell, can depend on the nature of the quest.

The lion was a great one at lower levels, because it tripped all kinds of things. But, generally, you won't go back down to a lower level summon. The exception is the Air Ellie.

[oradafu]

Personally, I find that the summons haven't been worth wasting the spell points on 99% of the time since they were "fixed" to "scale" with players when MOTU came out. Prior to MOTU, the higher level summons could hold their own against many of the epic mobs, yet now die almost instantly at level.

With that said, the summons still have their uses. If you are in a quest that has timed spawns (such as Kobold Assault or Devil Assault or protecting Coyle), summons are great for aggroing on mobs as they spawn, so you know when and where the mobs are spawning. Generally, they are great for grabbing aggro.

Teleporting summons (Devil and Herzou) are great at getting at mobs before the mobs get to you and grabbing aggro. Teleporting summons are also good at teleporting to places players typically can't access right away also.

Ice-based summons are good for doing some quick damage and/or aggro for fire mobs. The same is true with fire-based summons against ice mobs.

Earth Elements and Air elementals can help with some CC. Since MOTU, Air elementals aren't as useful, in my opinion, as they used to be since they are weaker than before and can still blow out friendly flames and discoballs.

The various canines and feline summons can also help with the CC by tripping, but I'd personally prefer a different summon since these tend to die quickly.

A special place goes to the Lantern Archon summon. Archons are great to summon if you are doing Rainbow and aren't carrying the light source. Unfortunately, the summon from the spell gets kill pretty quickly in there since the changes when MOTU came out. That's not to say that the Archon was great before the MOTU changes, but don't expect the Archon to survive very long.

The Shard of Xoriat is a great item for summons also. Two of the best summons can only be gotten with this item: the Chaos Beholder and Mindflayer. Both are great for CC. Again, they aren't as good as they used to be before MOTU, but they didn't become totally junk like most of the summons after the MOTU changes.

[burningwind]

dryad elder is the best imo.. she heal you~~ she buff you... and she cast lightning.. totally love it..

p.s. the wiz destiny summon are also nice.. though they are not so strong, but they are free of cost.. yea they are free.

[Daitengu]

As a melee I really hate Hezrous cause they are constantly blocking my sight.

[sirgog]

In a quest that's full of Devils, the Barbazu and the Orthon are a lot of fun. Cast them, and watch your party members swing wildly at them.

Ditto elementals, particularly ones that aren't encountered often. A Fire Elemental on VON6 fire base is perfect.

[Qaliya]

The best summon I've ever used was the living meteor swarm from the Magister ED. The thing is a walking... well, floating... death machine. Useful even in epic content. Only problem is that it spams spells so quickly that you need to resummon it constantly.

[FranOhmsford]

Arcane/Divine Summons
----------------------
Caster Lvls

1 - DOG>Rat>Spider

3 - BAT>Widow>Scorpion

5 - WINTER WOLF>Hell Hound in most situations - Only a Yoghurt would summon the Air Mephit!

7 - GREATER ICE MEPHIT is a Fantastic Summon at these Levels - Lantern Archon has as been mentioned comes in useful in ONE High Lvl Quest!
The Fiendish Spider is a Joke!

9 - BEARDIE WEIRDO rules the roost - Earth Ele is OK - Umbral Worg is nigh on Useless!

11 - I personally like the WATER ELE a Lot - The Troll is terrible and I've had little success with the Eladrin: Bralani - BEARDIE WEIRDO is STILL Good!

13 - All Poor in my experience - Keep using the Water Ele or Beardie Weirdo!

15 - Yay for BEZZIE!
I don't like the Air Ele personally and haven't been impressed the Ortho either.

17 - HEZZIE is pretty good, Eladrin Ghaele and Fire Ele aren't far behind BUT I prefer to stick with BEZZIE!

As others have/will mention/ed the Trinket from Reign of Madness {Sane Asylum I believe} gives you TWO Amazing Summons {Mind Flayer and Chaos Beholder} and THREE Lesser Summons {Eye, Xorian Render and Taken}.
Random Chance - 3 Charges Per Rest!

NOT TO FORGET - Create Undead - Usable from Lvl 11
MUMMY LORD is SUPERB!
Wight is Useful
Dread Wraith isn't!

Ranger/Druid Summons
---------------------

Nature's Ally 1

Druid 1, Ranger 4

Gray Wolf and Brown Rat are Both useful for Lvl 1-2 Druids but NOT for Rangers at Lvl 4!

Nature's Ally 2

Druid 3, Ranger 8

Hyena is OK at Lvl 3-5 BUT nowhere near good enough come Lvl 8!

Nature's Ally 3

Druid 5, Ranger 11

WINTER WOLF is great at Lvl 5 - Becomes too squishy later on though.
Lioness is basically just an Aggro Magnet.

Nature's Ally 4

Druid 7, Ranger 14

Young Razor Cat - Really this should be a FULL GROWN Razor Cat!
Basically just a slightly more durable Lioness.

Poor Rangers!

Nature's Ally 5-9

Druid 9,11,13,15,17

I have no real knowledge of I'm afraid.

[Havok.cry]

The best summon I've ever used was the living meteor swarm from the Magister ED. The thing is a walking... well, floating... death machine. Useful even in epic content. Only problem is that it spams spells so quickly that you need to resummon it constantly.

Yep, but it's free., and last time I checked (which was a long time ago) it had a pretty short cooldown. I would just resummon it between encounters.