Summoner, a new class introduced in Episode 4, commands an army of cannibalistic kleptomaniacs. These vicious creatures, known simply as “pets”, are bent to a Summoner’s will via an awe-inspiring 100 TATK Tact. They revel in mass slaughter, grow stronger by devouring the eggs of their own kind, and hoard candy without eating them for some reason.
In missions, the Summoner is a balanced class that can handle both mobs and bosses well… as long as there’s a pet still standing. Here’s a quick rundown of what to expect as a Summoner.
Strengths:
- Versatile. Individual pets are specialized for wide area crowd control or high single target damage. With a full stable, a Summoner can choose the right pet for the job.
- Economical. Due to unique pet-raising mechanics, Summoners are not subject to the mercy of Dudu or the player shop market for their endgame, and the same pet can be used from start to level cap, unlike weapons that need to be constantly replaced.
- Easy to play. The vast majority of Summoner gameplay involves standing in one spot while the pet does all the work.
Weaknesses:
- Maintenance required: Summoners are the only class in the game whose main way of doing damage can be completely disabled for a time due to pets getting KOed.
- Terrible early game: Pets take a while to raise up, and low level pets are about as durable and threatening as an Arkuma plushie.
- Incompetent subordinates: Pets have no sense of self-preservation, attack with the precision of a Stormtrooper and think lightning rods are ferocious enemies to be destroyed with extreme prejudice. They need to be constantly micromanaged to do what they’re supposed to.
Still on board? This guide will go through how to build a Summoner, choose a subclass, gear up and play as one. First off, a look at Summoner’s core, must-take skills before going through the rest of the skill tree:
Core Skills
A Summoner’s core skills come from three sources. One is a passive damage booster, the other two are activated.
All Attack Bonus 1 and 2
Two 10% boosts to damage. This is a no-brainer. Take them.
Point Assist, Support Fire
Paint a target and the pet will do more damage to that target for a time. Support fire allows the pet to do even more damage as long as it hits the enemy, doesn’t have to be the target. This is pretty much free damage vs. bosses.
Alter Ego
Temporarily makes the player take a portion of damage incurred by the pet, as well as buffing the pet’s damage. In other words, get more damage by pressing a button.
Other Skills
These are the rest of Summoner’s skills.
Pet Sympathy, Harmonize Up, Sympathy Time, Easy Sympathy
Recommended. The basic Pet Sympathy mechanic will make a pet occasionally as for Shifta when fighting a boss, during an emergency code or when attacking a tough enemy, or Resta when it needs healing.
The other skills will make Sympathy requests occur more often, increase their duration and increase the window for a player to give the requested buff.
A gimmicky mechanic, but free damage if it happens.
Pet Switch Shoot, Pet Switch Strike
Situational. If the Summoner’s subclass happens to have a lot of Striking Up or Shooting Up skills, take the appropriate skill to get more mileage out of the subclass.
Pet Element Weak Hit, Pet Element PP Restorate
Situational. Gain benefits by targeting an enemy’s elemental weakness. This entails raising an army of duplicate pets for each element, which skyrockets the gearing costs for a small gain of 10%.
Without a rainbow set, The first point in Pet Element Weak Hit gives 6%, which is pretty good for 1SP when it works. The full 10% also works when specializing pets for a specific element, like Light, where the extra damage can help in Tower Defense and Profound quests.
Dear Master
Optional. If the player gets KOed, there is a chance for the pet to take one for the team so its master may live. A fairly cheap Iron Will if such a crutch is desired.
All Attack Up, All Attack High Up
Optional. Take these after running out of other skills to take.
HP High Up, All Defense & Dex Up, All Defense & Dex High Up
Optional. Survivability buffs on a class with high HP that stands back. The first point in HP High Up and All Defense & Dex Up aren’t too bad at 20 a pop, but more is frivolous.
HP Restorate, Massive Mate
Not Recommended. Back row character with Resta access. Does it really need this?
Not Recommended. The player recovers from status effects, Weak Bullet and Jellen faster. Status effects can be Anti’d, while Weak Bullet and Jellen don’t happen often enough for this to be worth the points.
Not Recommended. Increases damage of Photon Blasts. If they charged as fast and hit as hard as compound techs, this could be worth considering, but they don’t.
