How good/bad are summons/companions?

[wolfy42]

Me and my friends are just starting to play again. I have played alot in the past, and do have 1 epic character. I have never reincarnated though.

Curious if the defender for Artificers, Wolf for druids or Skelly for Pale masters can actually get fairly decent at all.

Is it every worth taking augment summon for instance, especially as an artificer who gets so many feats (pale master gets alot too).

We will probably be doing all the quests with just 3 of us, so it would be useful to have decent backup companions.

I may also run (if we don't end up playing them in our party) a solo (mostly) artificer, going dragonborn and Spell based (lightning), so having a defender that can tank and do some physical damage would really help (figure I'll use a repeating xbow as backup on lightning resist/immune enemies).

We might go with 3 pale masters (all with auras) for instance, which in theory will heal the skelly's we summon from all 3 auras...helping them (and us) stay alive. Question becomes is it worth it to grab feats that boost our summons at all.....or do they just become worthless later on?

[nolifer1]

companions are usless, cleric hirelings are handy but completl usless end game, i only use hirelings to pull levers that are trapped or 2 levers that need to pull same time, there is also 1 handy hireling with ddroor. but taking augment summoning feats are complete waste to your character (even as arti or wizard), way to gimp your toon, there are more important feats. only place augment summoning is handy is hound of xoriat raid...but nobody runs that anyway
summons companions on raid are alwys trouble they aggroing stuff or killing stuff that is not needed( shroud crystals or titan pillars) summons have literally 0 dps, exept very low levels barb hire can actually kill stuff

[Tyrande]

No, no, not get Augment Summoning feat or its derivative.

Either use an item or get 3 druid past lives. Those are better than the feat.

Summons/Companions can be useful depending on what difficulty you and your team play. if you play on Elite or Reaper then you can pretty much forget them. They can be probably tank if you equip them well; but be ready to re-summon them often.

Also, you cannot put any equipment on any summons or the PM skeleton. Only the druid dog and artificer mechanical dog can have equipment and feats.

... and welcome back!

P.S. you can try this build here (https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/469914-Champion-of-Jubilex-a-comedy-approach-for-the-lolz) if you are really into summoning.

[Tyrande]

video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vELPbxP6soY

[SpiritofAlba]

I am playing a pure wizard pale master summoner / enchanter build at the moment, and have it up to L11. Have maxed out Skelly in PM tree, have one past druid life (+2 to summons), taken augment summoning, and the summons enhancements in the Harper tree. I am being true to the flavour, using only non-damaging spells (with the exception of the death auras, which are also for healing) - mix of charms, holds, webs, depending on quest and who I am running with.

At very low levels, your melee hires will be potent, and Skelly not so much. By L11, the good news is that Skelly is pretty resilient and can cope with quite intense mobs. Also, the toon itself is pretty survivable, as you are keeping away from aggro, and have the auras ticking loads of heals. The bad news is that Skelly DPS is fairly feeble. Summoned creature / summoned undead adds a bit, but not much. Solo, the trick is charming and letting the mobs fight it out - can work, but real SLOW. Pugging, my only real contribution is crowd control.

In brief, if you go wizard, its quite nice to have Skelly along, but its is mainly an extra. Multiple PMs can work well together, but you definitely need a mix of damage spells, some kind of melee, instakill, as well as summons and CC.

I haven't played a summons oriented druid or artificer, but from what I have played of those classes, the common view on the forums that summon build don't really work in DDO, unless you want to go all out for the flavour, seems right to me.

[Amundir]

I've found in lower level non-elite difficulties that the artificer dog is nice if you just use him for the passive repair for constructs. A guildie that I run with on Thelanis loves Artificer, but the closer we get to epics, he always stops spawning his dog unless he needs a lever puller, so take that for what it's worth.

Hirelings are decent if soloing and you make them stay put until you need a heal. Even then you have to watch them because if you get low health and your hireling is on "stay" and "defend", they will suddenly ignore the 'stay' part and try to run to you. So you have to make them passive.

ymmv

[Hobgoblin]

not saying its bad, but would rather have ana or coyle right now then most of the hires......

[Amundir]

Also if you are an enchanter running reaper, I would think the augment summons might be a consideration. Given that charmed monsters gain the benefits of augment summons while under the effect. This would include reapers, :)

[Enoach]

Here is my take on the summons/companions and the accompanying feats/enhancements

First I'm going to say this - They are NOT I repeat NOT useless, as some would have you believe.

That being said I will also state they are not going to rival a player character in power either.

As a Note when I'm not in the mood to deal with other people I will regularly do a R3 or R4 with 5 Hirelings, they don't complain about me leading the kill count, or link what they think is uber gear that everyone should have or talk about how everyone else is playing the game wrong hehehe

Also, on my wizard and artificer I have used the pets to "tank" quest bosses.

Now things to understand...

1. Hireling AI has its flaws. Understand them, be willing to micro manage them. If you don't enjoy micro-management then hirelings/pets will not be a fun playstyle for you
2. Feats/Enhancements that boost Hire/Summons also boost creatures under charm effects. This is important to understand in how you utilize these boosts. Now there are some items/gear in game that can provide the Augment Summon Feat and if your build is "Feat Poor" these are options for getting around that.
3. This investment couples well with a build that works around Charm/Control (It can be fun to charm all the additional mobs in a boss fight and watch them kill the boss for you, while you loot and scoot )


My advice with hirelings/pets use them to supplement abilities you don't have or have easy access to. Use them like "red shirts" in a Star Trek episode. Don't use them as your core.

[wolfy42]

Thanks for all the great responses.

I can switch out a feat later, if I did take augment summoning now, but so far I have needed all my feats.

It sounds like investing in summons might not work over all, or at least only one of us should do it, and that one should focus on charm etc as well (so that the charmed monsters get boosts).

Am really enjoying Artificer, but mainly for the SLA spells. Did not know that augment summon could be gotten from eq...that is aweomse, thanks!!

[Zenako]

Playing most in Heroic or Normal Epic quests I find the Arti Dog quite useful as an attention sink and it can take a pounding while I shred the enemies. Similar obervations with the Druid Companion. Since I do not run Reaper, cannot speak to how they work in those settings.

[Antheal]

Either use an item or get 3 druid past lives.

Oh, just get triple completionist and triple racial completionist and max out your Reaper points. Problem solved.

Right?

[kmoustakas]

Oh, just get triple completionist and triple racial completionist and max out your Reaper points. Problem solved.

Right?

I am actually in the process of getting 3 druid past lives combined with 3 pdk past lives. My main is an artificer and I find the dog absolutely fantastic as a support partner. The pet is not meant to be dps or tank or any role that a player would cover. It's there to help you do what you do. With augment summon, 3 druid past lives, ship buff to hires/pets and harper boost to hires/pets the artificer dog along with the summon from chronoscope docent and the level 1 barbarian wf hire or later the level 6 bard warforged hire, you have a party that matches most pugs. Plus you can use activate every lever/rune in the game.

I'd also point out that I use ooze repeater and legendary ooze repeater a lot and that schews my oppinion heavily. Still don't have an epic wolf whistle though, still trying.

[SirValentine]

Oh, just get triple completionist and triple racial completionist and max out your Reaper points. Problem solved.

Right?

Maybe pets & summons should share the benefits of my Reaper points?

[SirValentine]

Curious if the defender for Artificers, Wolf for druids or Skelly for Pale masters can actually get fairly decent at all.


It depends on the difficulty you're running, of course, but with a lot of investment, pets can get all the way up to "OK". They are still squishy and do stupid things, though. Hirelings the same. They're worth using if you have them as class features, but don't expect too much.

I guess you're not actually asking about monsters from Summon spells, though? Because it seems like they're nothing but a 1-hit speed-bump no matter how much investment in buffing them you have. I maybe summon one just before I rest at a shrine, but I don't really expect it do live or do anything but be a brief distraction to the enemies.

[HastyPudding]

Hmm. They're not useless, but they're not that useful.

Hirelings - In low levels the fighter, barbarian, and paladin hirelings are useful enough if you can keep them alive (a few of the wizards and sorcerers are decent). Cleric and favored soul hirelings (and a few of the bards) are useful throughout heroics but take a severe drop in usefulness in epics. Rogue hirelings are useful if you need a trapper, as they have almost fail-proof trapping abilities for quests around their level, but for damage they're pretty horrible as they don't know how to manage threat and hostility.

Summons - Semi-useful in the lower levels, useful for a few hits and a distraction in upper heroics, and nothing more than cannon fodder in epics. The magister summons are only slightly more survivable than the spell summons.

Companion Pets:
The iron defender for artificers is fairly tanky, but tends to bug out very quickly and do nothing but run up to enemies and stare at them, hovering in mid-air. I use mine on my artificer but only because it provides a minor repair aura around it and gives me spellpower, so I put it on passive and occasionally use it to pull switches and levers. If you really push for it, it can have a pretty surprising amount of hit points and survivability, but its damage is always going to be terrible.

The druid's wolf pup is less survivable than the iron defender and doesn't provide much in the way of damage, although it bugs out far less. It's useful in the lower-mid heroics, but once you hit 14 or so it starts to become more a hindrance than a helper. I usually stop summoning it around level 15~17 as it dies too quickly.

The wizard's skeleton knight is tanky, but lacks damage and has a pretty bad AI. It's useful for a distraction but really doesn't provide anything meaningful other than pulling levers.

[wolfy42]

Thanks!!

I have been playing around with my defender. He has the repair aura (heals both of us...which is nice, no random healing from me needed, just emergency healing). This makes him extremely tanky (also gave him all the enhancements that add AC/DR/Reflex saves and max hp.

I'm running on Reaper 1 mostly and while he can take down a single enemy one on one pretty fast, I found giving him a bunch of, do damage when hit or missed) effects works the best. He runs around and gathers all the enemies for my spells to obliterate that way as well hehe.

I must be lucky (knock on virtual wood) as he hasn't bugged out on me yet, or at least, I didn't notice (perhaps everything is dying too much), also perhaps since he is doing so much damage from being attacked, I wouldn't even notice it.

Right now on level 9 quests on elite/R1, he seems very useful, and I don't have augment summon or anything. Between his self healing, buffs I give him (50 over max hp, bulls strength, bears endurance etc), Ship buffs, his eq bonus, resist spells etc....he can really take a beating.

I can see how that won't end up improving much though, while the enemies will do more and more damage.

No way I can take any of the epic bonuses to summons (already feat starved in epic levels), so not gonna waste a feat boosting his stats a bit more, it's such a small difference compared to what he already gets from everything (buffs etc), that it doesn't seem like it would be worth it at all. I do take the enhancements though because it also gives me spell power, so that may be affecting things some.

Love his healing aura though....it's not really that slow...and we kill most things before they can hurt us...but it sure is convienent not to need to top yourself off all the time. Saves a ton on SP although honestly in reaper 1.....I am always on full between super cheap SLA's and getting those 25 sp orbs all the time, even if I cast a few non-sla's with max/empower/quicken on them....I top off again after the fight.

[voxson5]

Thanks!!

I have been playing around with my defender. He has the repair aura (heals both of us...which is nice, no random healing from me needed, just emergency healing). This makes him extremely tanky (also gave him all the enhancements that add AC/DR/Reflex saves and max hp.

I'm running on Reaper 1 mostly and while he can take down a single enemy one on one pretty fast, I found giving him a bunch of, do damage when hit or missed) effects works the best. He runs around and gathers all the enemies for my spells to obliterate that way as well hehe.

I must be lucky (knock on virtual wood) as he hasn't bugged out on me yet, or at least, I didn't notice (perhaps everything is dying too much), also perhaps since he is doing so much damage from being attacked, I wouldn't even notice it.

Right now on level 9 quests on elite/R1, he seems very useful, and I don't have augment summon or anything. Between his self healing, buffs I give him (50 over max hp, bulls strength, bears endurance etc), Ship buffs, his eq bonus, resist spells etc....he can really take a beating.

I can see how that won't end up improving much though, while the enemies will do more and more damage.

No way I can take any of the epic bonuses to summons (already feat starved in epic levels), so not gonna waste a feat boosting his stats a bit more, it's such a small difference compared to what he already gets from everything (buffs etc), that it doesn't seem like it would be worth it at all. I do take the enhancements though because it also gives me spell power, so that may be affecting things some.

Love his healing aura though....it's not really that slow...and we kill most things before they can hurt us...but it sure is convienent not to need to top yourself off all the time. Saves a ton on SP although honestly in reaper 1.....I am always on full between super cheap SLA's and getting those 25 sp orbs all the time, even if I cast a few non-sla's with max/empower/quicken on them....I top off again after the fight.

If you want some lols, pick up Larafey when you hit lv 15 :D

[Dalris_Thane]

DISCLAIMER = I'm a poor player, with health issues, frequent AFKs, dismal learning curve, and low play time. I only do Casuals. If you don't struggle soloing on Casual, then this post isn't for you.

Counterpoint the people here.

I find Hirelings very useful (but dumb as a post, as some have said), for soloing.

I bought the top tier expansions purely for the permanent hirelings. Those owlbears saved my life more times than I can count. I'm waiting / hoping for a 75% sale in a year or so for Ravenloft because $130 is too pricy for me.

The expansions allow for permanent fighters. You can buy clerics for plat. If, like me, you play a rogue, you got a full party right there.

Heck, I even got the starter Catacombs pack for a permanent L3 cleric lever puller for those times when the rest of the party has to fight while levers are pulled.

I saw a difference with Augment Summonings. If/when I TR, it will be a Druid / Rogue combo 12/8 or something like that for the extra +6.

NOTE = Owlbears have trouble knowing that a door has been opened. Presumably, non humanoids don't understand about doors (or the graphics render means they think they can't fit) so be prepared to summon them when you go through doors...

...each...

...and every...

...single...

...time.

Other than that, they are great... for people like me... on Casual.

TLDR = Situationally, Hirelings are great for soloing on Casual if you can't group with others and have poor skills like me. If you're totally fine with Normal+ content, see the above posts.

[Niminae]

Me and my friends are just starting to play again.

Welcome back.


[snippage]
Curious if the defender for Artificers, Wolf for druids or Skelly for Pale masters can actually get fairly decent at all.

Is it every worth taking augment summon for instance, especially as an artificer who gets so many feats (pale master gets alot too).

Question becomes is it worth it to grab feats that boost our summons at all.....or do they just become worthless later on?

There has recently been a change to Druids and Artificers so that there is no longer any HP or mana loss when the homunculus or wolf dies. So at least now there is no harm is having them out. And they have also increased the number of free raises from 1 to 3, so when they do die they can be revived for free more often.

That said, I still spend almost all of the pet AP on defensive and aggro avoidance abilities, so that they function more like a very low damage DOT. The devs also threw a band-aid in itemization out there for the pets with Ravenloft loot, so you can equip them with a piece of armor that increases their unconsciousness range by a few hundred HP. Check out the Kindred Spirit (http://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Kindred_Spirit) (there's an identical Docent, but the Kindred Spirit can also go on an Iron Defender or a Wolf, so why keep two around?). And there is a L29 version also if you've got a pure build. It's a bit sad that you'll have that ML10 item on the pet from 10th through 28th, but there's no other way to get +400 effective HP for the pet, so there it is. The pet will do it's thing as a DOT, and if it eats a cleave or is in the AOE of some spell it'll just lie there and recover in about a minute, and then go back at it. Even that won't prevent them from dying, but it makes them require a lot less attention and resources.

IMO it is not worthwhile at all to spend a feat on Augment Summoning, or any AP on hireling/pet/summons boosting effects.

All the above is in the context of playing on Elite or higher levels. If you play on Normal or Hard the pet will be a lot more durable and useful, but IMO will still not be worthwhile spending feats or AP on to improve. Spend those feats and AP on making your character more effective, that will go a lot farther in the long run.

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PS: When you log on, summon your pet. Then hit the ammenity bar on your guild airship. The pet will automatically pick up all of the airship buffs. The pet can also use the resistance amenities in the cargo hold. All of them go away if the pet dies and is raised (or more commonly, bugs out and has to be dismissed and resummoned), but they don't go away if the pet recovers from being knocked to -1 through -400 HP and recovers.

[MasterKernel]

Oh, just get triple completionist and triple racial completionist and max out your Reaper points. Problem solved.

Right?

Oh, just get triple completionist and triple racial completionist and max out your Reaper points and don't use pets. Problem solved.
Fixed it for ya.
:-P

[MasterKernel]

Summons are not completely useless — someone need to pull that lever, all right ?
But the dumb piece of AI of theirs is a huge pain.

[Niminae]

I'm waiting / hoping for a 75% sale in a year or so for [U]Ravenloft because $130 is too pricy for me.


They have put Ravenloft on sale something like 5 times now, but never the base package which costs $40. There's really nothing compelling in the higher priced bundles, and it would take a 75% sale to get that down below the price of the basic bundle. So just buy the basic bundle! No waiting a year or more hoping for a sale that might not come, and you'll get to enjoy the content immediately. Or if you've bought store points or just accumulated them over time you can buy the dungeon pack for points instead. The $40 basic bundle comes with the aasimar race and a couple other very minor things, and the price in store points for the dungeon pack the the race is about the same.

[gwonbush]

Hmm. They're not useless, but they're not that useful.

Hirelings - In low levels the fighter, barbarian, and paladin hirelings are useful enough if you can keep them alive (a few of the wizards and sorcerers are decent). Cleric and favored soul hirelings (and a few of the bards) are useful throughout heroics but take a severe drop in usefulness in epics. Rogue hirelings are useful if you need a trapper, as they have almost fail-proof trapping abilities for quests around their level, but for damage they're pretty horrible as they don't know how to manage threat and hostility.

Summons - Semi-useful in the lower levels, useful for a few hits and a distraction in upper heroics, and nothing more than cannon fodder in epics. The magister summons are only slightly more survivable than the spell summons.

Companion Pets:
The iron defender for artificers is fairly tanky, but tends to bug out very quickly and do nothing but run up to enemies and stare at them, hovering in mid-air. I use mine on my artificer but only because it provides a minor repair aura around it and gives me spellpower, so I put it on passive and occasionally use it to pull switches and levers. If you really push for it, it can have a pretty surprising amount of hit points and survivability, but its damage is always going to be terrible.

The druid's wolf pup is less survivable than the iron defender and doesn't provide much in the way of damage, although it bugs out far less. It's useful in the lower-mid heroics, but once you hit 14 or so it starts to become more a hindrance than a helper. I usually stop summoning it around level 15~17 as it dies too quickly.

The wizard's skeleton knight is tanky, but lacks damage and has a pretty bad AI. It's useful for a distraction but really doesn't provide anything meaningful other than pulling levers.

Keep the wolf pet out as a druid and have it attack in your CC zones. The dog can trigger essence of the shrike when it crits, so that's free SP you are potentially missing out on.

[LightBear]

Summon+companion+hire are a must have when defending the crystal on snowy side of Kortos.

It's fun to see a hire cleric run around as tho he has 3 wolfs.

[nolifer1]

Summon+companion+hire are a must have when defending the crystal on snowy side of Kortos.

It's fun to see a hire cleric run around as tho he has 3 wolfs.
not must at all, all u need is 1 lvl 1 barbarian hire no need augment summoning or anything, just go afk and wait till quest done, 1 do it every life when i tr caster

[Dalris_Thane]

They have put Ravenloft on sale something like 5 times now, but never the base package which costs $40. There's really nothing compelling in the higher priced bundles, and it would take a 75% sale to get that down below the price of the basic bundle. So just buy the basic bundle! No waiting a year or more hoping for a sale that might not come, and you'll get to enjoy the content immediately. Or if you've bought store points or just accumulated them over time you can buy the dungeon pack for points instead. The $40 basic bundle comes with the aasimar race and a couple other very minor things, and the price in store points for the dungeon pack the the race is about the same.

Thanks but, as a new player, I actually have enough content. I'm sure that will change, but for now, I'm not hurting for the Ravenloft content.

Ravenloft being on sale 10-25% isn't what I'm looking for. I want the ultimate for the 2 hirelings. I read your post. I know you don't care about that. Me? I just want the hirelings.

All of the other expansions so far, and the starter pack, have at some time been at 75% off. That's what I'm waiting for. If it never happens at 75% for the Ultimate Ravenloft, I'll never buy Ravenloft in any form. Simple as that.

Side Note = If the store sold permanent hirelings of any level, I'd buy those instead. I actually don't like playing a rogue. I'd TR to a fighter, buy a permanent rogue, and never look back.

[wolfy42]

A perma rogue hireling that levels up with you (IE is always = player level) would actually be REALLY useful tbh. It might make people less inclined to party though, but it would sure be nice.

I generally only do the quests on Elite or reaper still, even solo, which is probably going to mean the pets are always meh. If me and my friends to run with 3 artificers or 3 PMs, that may change a tiny bit though. I mean 3 Skelly's might keep the enemies away from us at least, and they would be very hard to kill with 3 auras going. 3 Doggo's might not be TOO bad at staying up if they are all healing each other (and us) constantly either, at least through heroic content.

Me and my friends will not be playing every day, and will be going through all the quests in order (since they have not played them before) so that is ALOT of time in heroic content. They are completionists so we will also be running all the wilderness areas etc (probably not getting full slayer, but everything else). The summons might be somewhat useful for that at least, although I do think the augment summon is probably not worth it.

You do get 1 free feat swap though, so I could grab it (we all could) and then replace it with something later on. Still, with so many other bonuses to the pets, it doesn't really seem worth it even for the short term, or at least perhaps only for like the first 10 levels (when the stat bonuses are still relevent and would make an actual noticable difference).

Even on Elite/Reaper 1 right now my defender (with damage boosting eq/buffs from ship, buff from me (bulls etc), can take down single enemies fairly fast. I'm sure that will change, and soon, but for now he is making a difference. I could see an argument for taking Augment Summon initially, especially if soloing on a TR char, since it could help.

My TR'd Artificer for instance...is doing damage mostly with his repeating xbox, which he isn't specced in at all, because his spell damage (even with maximize/empower for his static SLA...he doesn't have the second one yet) does so little damage. 1 3 shot from the xbow = the damage of the empowered/maximized SLA anyway...and there is less of a cooldown, enemies don't resist the xbow damage sometime etc.

I know (from playing an artificer before TRing the char (tested it out first) that the SLA's quickly will do way more damage and rock, but for the first 5-6 TR levels....it almost might have made sense to go with say augment summon instead of empower initially.....so my defender could take things out even faster (he has not died yet....so I guess defenses are not that important currently...I do put the +50 max hp thing on him and keep it on, which may be why, along with resists etc).

Harder to actually boost repeating xbow damage with feats, although pbs might be another option to take initially and then switch out of later (don't think I have the dex for it though). My starting dex was actually 6...so it's pretty amazing I'm doing so well with the repeating xbow on elite/reaper tbh.

Anyway, thanks for all the discussions/posts everyone. Such a great community here.

[Whitering]

They are useful in certain situations, but not nearly as useful as they used to be.

Something happened to the AI, probably trying to make them more useful when they are running around with you, but it untethered them. You cannot stick Larafay on the ramp in Caantith or Cove challenge anymore without her teleporting to you randomly anymore.

But they are a bit more useful beside you. do not count on them to heal you or use mana efficiently.

However!

When facing beholders, I pull out my bear or whatever, It allows me to survive as they do pull aggro. In Ghosts of Perdition I used to fail that unless I had immunity, like I made BF just to run such quests. Now I pull out the bear and I can muddle through it. In the beholder portion of Von, I send in the bear then try to insta kill and they get drained, not me.

[Niminae]

I want the ultimate for the 2 hirelings. I read your post. I know you don't care about that. Me? I just want the hirelings.

I hear you. I don't think the scarecrows are very useful, especially the epic level one, because I have the Owlbears and they aren't very useful, and the scarecrows are constructs and so more difficult for most to heal. But we want what we want.


Side Note = If the store sold permanent hirelings of any level, I'd buy those instead. I actually don't like playing a rogue. I'd TR to a fighter, buy a permanent rogue, and never look back.

Here are the permanent hirelings you can buy. All are Market purchases.

- The Starter Pack. Permanent Elieri Thistledown, L3 Cleric with Divine Vitality so she can restore both HP and mana. Well worth the standard price of $10, and has once been put on sale for 75% off at $2.50.
- The Legendary Upgrade to Shadowfell Conspiracy, 2 permanent Owlbear Defenders. Both too fat to fit through most doors, so they take constant micromanaging. And both so large that they get hit by multiple spikes and possibly other traps as well. Summonable 2 levels under their level, and so a perfect way for trolls to break a BB runs, or break their own BB runs out of ignorance.

And of course the $130 RL bundle for the scarecrows you are already aware of.

The Onyx panther was exclusive to the pre-order of MotU and so if you missed that you missed it, and the Obsidian panther lawyerese violation of the Onyx panthers exclusivity was a gift for buying at least a 1 month VIP subscription which may or may not ever be repeated. It can also break BB since it is a L20 fighter and can be summoned at L18.

[Silverleafeon]

The legendary scarecrow is pretty awesome, likely the best of the whole lot.
I recommended saving up for the highest level of ravenloft if you like summons.

Cyber Monday (Monday after American holiday Thanksgiving) is the most likely day to find the expansions on sale.

Went afk once (3 druid pl) to help family during Elite Weapons Shipment, came back to find Scarecrow at 30% health finishing off the battle.
Wolf companion, Epic Owlbear, both panthers, and level 27 cleric along with my druid all dead.
Sweeper party when you have four gold seals, your dog/wolf, cleric hire, and soloing fun.

If you want real summons fun, switch to the Magistar ED and get grand summoner (requires augment summoning feat).
With a single shrine visit, this group will easily complete EN Devil's Assault for you.

However, summons & pets (save the scarecrow) are pretty much cannon fodder in Legendary Reaper which is popular for earning reaper points.
At the time (or before), one does gravitate away from hires.

I have run into players that used SM7 scrolls right before opening any major door in Reaper 8 (along with scrolling sleet storm)...


Pets and summons are generally unwelcome in most all raids, save wolf/dog with controlled actions.


The epic wolf whistle will use cyclonic blast which will blow away cc clouds.
Ditto with air elements via gust of wind.
Hezzy block player vision.
Fire elementals burn away webs and can block player vision especially while using body of sun.
Devils like to teleport, possibly drawing unwanted/wanted agro back to party.

If you summon monsters, carry SM I scrolls to "dispel" unwanted summons.


Ozze summoner builds are actually interesting and possibly worthwhile investigating for you.

[Niminae]

The legendary scarecrow is pretty awesome, likely the best of the whole lot.
I recommended saving up for the highest level of ravenloft if you like summons.

Went afk once (3 druid pl) to help family during Elite Weapons Shipment, came back to find Scarecrow at 30% health finishing off the battle.
Wolf companion, Epic Owlbear, both panthers, and level 27 cleric along with my druid all dead.


So you're saying that a L25 Owlbear, two L20 Panthers, a L30 Scarecrow, a L27 NPC Cleric, and an at least L28 wolf, all boosted by your 3 Druid past lives, were almost able to finish a heroic adjusted L21 quest that your at least L28 Druid had started? Hot ****, sign me up for that hireling goodness! LOL

And I wonder if the Scarecrow wasn't there if the rest would have been able to finish it entirely, since the Cleric wouldn't have wasted any mana trying to heal the Scarecrow. Because as soon as the Scarecrow is a candidate for receiving a heal, the NPC Cleric is going to empty their blue bar into it despite never healing a single HP on it, since the NPC AI just doesn't understand how healing works (or doesn't work) on a construct.

[Silverleafeon]

So you're saying that a L25 Owlbear, two L20 Panthers, a L30 Scarecrow, a L27 NPC Cleric, and an at least L28 wolf, all boosted by your 3 Druid past lives, were almost able to finish a heroic adjusted L21 quest that your at least L28 Druid had started? Hot ****, sign me up for that hireling goodness! LOL

When I returned the scarecrow was mopping up the three remaining monsters in weapon shipment.
So technically they did the end fight all by themselves.
If I had stayed away longer, the end fight boss would have arrived and been dealt with by the warjuggernaut.

I used a jibbers, raised the cleric who did not have enough sp to raise me.
So, I used a cake and finished off the boss then looted.


And I wonder if the Scarecrow wasn't there if the rest would have been able to finish it entirely, since the Cleric wouldn't have wasted any mana trying to heal the Scarecrow. Because as soon as the Scarecrow is a candidate for receiving a heal, the NPC Cleric is going to empty their blue bar into it despite never healing a single HP on it, since the NPC AI just doesn't understand how healing works (or doesn't work) on a construct.

Uncertain on that point.

I have found that if I go afk for about 1-3 minutes on a quest like that then return using a mass regenerate, renewing extended body of sun, then I can go afk again.
My legendary druid has plenty of healing power to take care of the scarecrow.


I have done most all of weapon shipment with very little actual playing before.
By taking augment summons, you can go to Magistar for Grand Summoner (which makes your summons much much faster attacking than typical).
By doing so, one can target said NPC with the protect command, buff everyone, set everything to "attack" mode, than start the quest.
Going afk, the NPC ends up at the shrine waiting for your next imput.

Of course, as typical the Owlbears always get "stuck" part way thru (guess I should bug report that again) where the wall is too narrow.
Owlbears simply cannot move thru any sort of narrow spaces (including doorways).

Then I can start the massive end battle and go afk (sometimes I play Pokémon TCG online coming back between turns to heal/cc/body of sun) with occasional healz etc...


Another one of interest that this group can do is The Last Stand on epic elite.
Augment summoning is not needed here, but an occasional heal and other spellcasting is helpful.
You can again set to defend NPC, with occasional dragging (I like to refer to it as sweeping thru the dungeon) to various places.
Like Devil's Assault the Cleric requires a reshrine to make it to the end.


Now a quest like the pre raid Against the Demon Queen, Epic Elite is a bit rough on the hires.
The poison traps and sonic traps are instant death for them.
However they do pretty well mopping up the trash and saving sp.
A few well placed Energy Burst/Mass Frog/Body of Sun/Finger and they clean up the rest for you.


Bear in mind that these quest are low epic levels being approached be a toon at level 28-30.
If you are doing normal, its pretty much a no brainer move forward go afk for a minute or two, move forward, etc...
On elite an occasion heal/mass frog/body of sun is appreciated to help the cleric make it thru.

Whether you invest in augment summon (which grants precious fortification) or other things depends upon your playstyle and goals.

Pretty much any summons/hire is cannon fodder in reaper, and your friends might desire you to have exceptional DCs via spending feats.
Hires are not allowed in raids, but the Wolf/Elder Dryad will preform well in EE Demon Queen 2 raid.

So, its a matter of balancing your expectations.
A solo king farming up Baubles and flagging for raids could have a lot of fun.


During the last Mabar event, I used Druid at cap in magistar with wolf out, casting extended body of sun, along with living meteor storm occasionally moving around and killing things.
Wolf was set for maximum hate.
Overall, very efficient while I played some TCG Pokémon at the same time.

[Silverleafeon]

Stack all the hire hot bars together and use the control key while clicking "come to me" "stay here" "aggressive" "defend npc" "activate shrine/lever".

Remember hires need time to do things.
They don't cast while moving.
Their heal spells have several seconds between cooldowns.

Some hires are better than others.
Level 27 cleric > level 25 favored soul.


The epic rouges can be purchased with plat, but are limited to low-mid epic dungeons for trapping.



Have seen two friends both pull healing hires which seem to support the party much better than a single hire.


Hires are slow, hence they are always moving to catch up with a zerging party and seldom heal as well as they might.


Expired hireling contracts sometimes bug out, so leaving a wilderness or starting a new plat hire helps.


Don't be afraid to park hires and move forward then pull foes into CC/hireling mob kill zones.

[kmoustakas]

The epic dryad from primal avatar tree is pretty good too. She casts animal growth on you if you are a bear <3 (and death ward actually)