Gnome Pale master spells/minion build

[xercen1]

I'm kinda a newbie to DDO. I have a level 12 barb and sorc I made years ago but didn't really do many quests with them.

I plan to a make a normal (non deep) gnome, palemaster spells minion build. I would love to have many minions but i've read that this build isn't so great.

I plan to create this character on Orien. I'm hopeful that I can find many LFG to run dungeons. Could anybody confirm?

Will choosing gnome gimp me in the sense that I cannot carry as much stuff as other races? If so, what other free/paid races are a better choice and pros/cons to gnome and those other races?

Anybody know of a list for negative energy items? Thanks

Any other helpful hints a newbie might need in regards to spells, gears, neg energy etc.

Thanks again! See you all in game!

 

[RobShow]

1. Technically Gnome is the best choice for wizard.

2. Carrying things is only a problem when you create the character, then you equip some strength item and problem solved.

3. For the negative energy list and other lists you have ddowiki.com

4. Summoner is the WORST wizard build, there are people who have a good solo performance with summoner build, but they use permanent hirelings (you can summon 5 vs 1 normal hire) that are much stronger than the common hires and to have them you need to spend a lot of money, especially if you don't get paid in dollars or euros.

5. Technically summoner is the worst choice for a newbie, but play with whatever gives you fun.

 

[xercen1]

Just another question. I would like to do low reaper. I don't need a build that can do reaper 10.

Maybe low to mid reaper comfortably would be nice.

I don't need the best stuff. Been there done that pve and pvp in wow years ago. I was burnt out getting gladiator rogue so I prefer to take it easy but not too easy!

 

[xercen1]

1. Technically Gnome is the best choice for wizard.

2. Carrying things is only a problem when you create the character, then you equip some strength item and problem solved.

3. For the negative energy list and other lists you have ddowiki.com

4. Summoner is the WORST wizard build, there are people who have a good solo performance with summoner build, but they use permanent hirelings (you can summon 5 vs 1 normal hire) that are much stronger than the common hires and to have them you need to spend a lot of money, especially if you don't get paid in dollars or euros.

5. Technically summoner is the worst choice for a newbie, but play with whatever gives you fun.

Thanks for your excellent points. I love summoner builds. Do you know if a summoner build can low/mid reaper using current builds?

I've found useful info on forums but they are usually quite dated. No idea if the same builds apply in this current iteration.

 

[Buddha5440]

1. Technically Gnome is the best choice for wizard.

2. Carrying things is only a problem when you create the character, then you equip some strength item and problem solved.

3. For the negative energy list and other lists you have ddowiki.com

4. Summoner is the WORST wizard build, there are people who have a good solo performance with summoner build, but they use permanent hirelings (you can summon 5 vs 1 normal hire) that are much stronger than the common hires and to have them you need to spend a lot of money, especially if you don't get paid in dollars or euros.

5. Technically summoner is the worst choice for a newbie, but play with whatever gives you fun.

#5 is BY FAR the most important thing!!!

 

[GrayJedi AntiProPaladin]

might be interested to take a look at https://forums.ddo.com/index.php?threads/bunny-build-for-hardcore-reaper-and-epics.4752/

 

[RobShow]

Thanks for your excellent points. I love summoner builds. Do you know if a summoner build can low/mid reaper using current builds?

I've found useful info on forums but they are usually quite dated. No idea if the same builds apply in this current iteration.

I play with summoner build, I do R4 solo using 1 Summon + 1 basic Hire + LGS weapon that you can summon some Ooze creatures. They are so slow that they count as a fixed creature, but they can handle tanking if they manage to hit and retain aggro.

If I had the permanent hires I could play higher solo level, but they cost an amount that I can't afford, I don't get paid in dollars to buy ultimate bundles. I use summons as a shield, not for killing.

Again! This is the WORST wizard build, but I've done all the traditional builds, meta builds, etc... And for the past few years I've been finding games fun that I can conjure minions.
A lot depends on what you aim for and how you see things. I play R10 in a group, many will say that I am dead weight, I disagree because every time I am on several players send me a private message calling me to the group, I don't think that R10 players will be invited a dead weight.

Game at Cannith.

 

[RobShow]

This game screws you with summons and aggro, I'll explain: When you play mainly solo or in a group your minions miss most of the attacks and hold the mob with difficulty, some can tank if you know how to manage, like the skeleton of the pale master.

If you play RAID, magically your minions will steal your tank's aggro no matter how top the players are. So I leave summon creature I charged, because if that happens I cancel summon summoned a rat that dies just breathing. The skeleton you can control.

And remember that it all depends on what you want and how you see things? In a group, the other players for ME are my ́ ́minions''. The Devs don't support summons, they make 1 useful item every 1 year or so, same goes for skills and the A.I is bad, playing summoner is having to make use of APM intensively.

Note: I'm not a top player! I don't know how to speak English, some things will seem strange to read.

 

[Ying]

I plan to a make a normal (non deep) gnome, palemaster spells minion build. I would love to have many minions but i've read that this build isn't so great.

Play the game however you want, but the game doesn't support a "minion build" besides summoning your skeleton. DDO is a far cry from an ARPG minion build like Diablo necromancer.

 

[xercen1]

I play with summoner build, I do R4 solo using 1 Summon + 1 basic Hire + LGS weapon that you can summon some Ooze creatures. They are so slow that they count as a fixed creature, but they can handle tanking if they manage to hit and retain aggro.

If I had the permanent hires I could play higher solo level, but they cost an amount that I can't afford, I don't get paid in dollars to buy ultimate bundles. I use summons as a shield, not for killing.

Again! This is the WORST wizard build, but I've done all the traditional builds, meta builds, etc... And for the past few years I've been finding games fun that I can conjure minions.
A lot depends on what you aim for and how you see things. I play R10 in a group, many will say that I am dead weight, I disagree because every time I am on several players send me a private message calling me to the group, I don't think that R10 players will be invited a dead weight.

Game at Cannith.

That sounds interesting!. Care to share your items/build? I downloaded that DDO character planner, DDO builder

 

[RobShow]

That sounds interesting!. Care to share your items/build? I downloaded that DDO character planner, DDO builder

IMO: here are the things you really need to do a summoner build.

1. Augment Summoning - Improved Augment Summoning FEATS

Your Summons, Charmed Monsters, and Hirelings gain +12 to all Ability Scores


2. Deadly Diabolist [ML:4], Epic Deadly Diabolist [ML:20], Legendary Deadly Diabolist [ML:30] >

2 Pieces Equipped:

• Your Summons, Charmed Monsters, and Hirelings gain +4, +8, +12 to all Ability Scores

3. (The) Cry of Battle

Sentient Weapon/Filigrees​

3 Pieces: Your minions gain (an additional) +8 to all ability scores and +40 Melee Power, Physical Resistance Rating and Magical Resistance Rating


4. Natural Shielding: +10 Maximum Hit Points and +2 Magical Resistance Rating. Your summons, pets and hirelings gain a 60% bonus to Maximum Hitpoints, +30 Magical Resistance Rating, +4 Reflex Saving Throws, and gain the Evasion feat.

5. Mantle of Nature + Shared Mantle: While within your Primal Avatar Destiny Mantle you gain +3 Imbue dice. Your summons and hirelings now also benefit from your Primal Avatar Destiny Mantle, and they gain your current Spell Power Values.
In case you want the summons to do some damage.


6. Magus of the Eclipse

• Grand Summoner: Your summons, pets, and hirelings gain +4 to all ability scores, increased health, 100% Fortification, and a 40% increase to movement speed. Stacks with Augment Summoning and similar effects.

There are those who say you don't need the Improved Augment Summoning feat, but these play with 5 permanent hireling. There are other things that increase the attributes of summons, however one or the other you may not take.

Don't get the Magus of the Eclipse mantle, it's buggy even though the devs said in the patch note that they fixed it. The damage type sucks too

On this site you can find everything I've mentioned here and more: https://ddowiki.com/page/Summons

Play however you want, but to build summon being mostly a newbie is asking to be angry. As the friend above said and it's true: Devs don't support summons

 

[vik]

RobShow gave some good advice: hopefully I can add to it. It is a fun build to play; I wish it wasn't so expensive though.

Not to discourage you from the path of a wizard, but wizards are very reliant on DCs. If you're a first life build you'll probably be running R1s-R2s because your DCs won't be high enough for reliable CC. A few TRs will get you a 36 point build and arcane initiate, which helps. Filling out the thaum reaper tree and getting your sentient xp is a slow grind but essential. With my current summons build I can solo most R6s without perching or kiting for boss fights. R7 is pushing it but is doable depending on the quest. With that said, there are some builds posted here that can solo R8s without any hirelings.

CC is key to keeping your hirelings alive. One thing I don't see mentioned often is dealing with mind-immune enemies (mark of law champs, etc.). I would recommend a specialization in illusion or enchant, then a secondary focus in evo or conjuration. Greater shout and web are important in dealing with those champs. Occasionally teal or the scarecrow will knock down one of these champs, but it's not consistent. More instakills are nice but not as important as CC.

Gold seal hirelings are the key. No matter how much you buff the skele knight, even for a summons-focused build he's the first to die. The best hirelings for a wiz summon build are construct-based, as we have all those repair spells. In tougher boss fights I normally only take the scarecrow and shield golem as I can't keep the rest of the fleshies up. In even tougher boss fights i'll only take the scarecrow as I can't keep the shield golem up. I'll normally have the scarecrow, shield golem, teal, feywild muse, and Albereth (fvs hireling) for regular mobs. If I don't need the healz as much I'll swap out feywild muse for darling for more dps.

Primal avatar is important for the reasons RobShow mentioned. Additionally, I would recommend reborn in fire and spring to summer to help spot heal the fleshies. Normally I take heart nature, then now grow: sky so I can get a mantle of sky. Fatesinger hear my voice friend is also good for some healz during boss fights.

In the interest of pointing out hireling bonuses, harper also has harper leadership if you're trying to eek out more summons power. For legendary feat I would not recommend scion of elysium; you need the DCs more.

In addition to primal avatar, if you're going for a feydark-based build master illusionist is great for bosses: it helps give your hirelings some breathing room to heal. Since you want to go gnome I'd suggest a feydark: 41, pm: 13, then whatever else you want. The pm: 13 lets you get +3 int and +2 enchant and some so-so undead healing with neg energy burst, death aura, and lesser death aura. For epic destinies you'd probably want shadowdancer: 35, primal avatar: 18, and magus for the rest. Alternatively you could go fatesinger: 35, primal avatar: 22 (evasion), and magus for the rest.

Threat management is also important. You want the mobs attacking your hirelings not you. Try to get -90% to -95% spell threat reduction if you can. Even with that there are occasions where I have to use the scarecrow intim button.

Enlarge is very useful for a squishy wiz. Try to get it free, either from feydark, fatesinger, or primal avatar.

For boss fights I also recommend using the legendary wolf whistle before the fight, then swap back to your normal gear. The werewolf is a really nice boost.

For buffs I normally scroll: mass prot from elements, mass bull's strength, mass bear's endurance. Then rage + haste. I will cast resist energy on each hireling if there's a specific type of damage for that boss. You could also scroll adamantine weapons to help with certain boss DR.

Here are the button mappings I use for hirelings:
z: teleport scarecrow (get him away from the veng reaper circles or boss attacks)
x: teleport shield golem (same thing)
caps lock: interact all. focus on an enemy then tell all hirelings to attack it. also good for keeping hirelings focused on the boss.
tab: focus scarecrow so I can heal with reconstruct.
q: focus next enemy (so I can go back to nuking the boss after healing the scarecrow)
windows key: scarecrow intim to get bosses off me
r: reborn in fire (hireling healz)
f: spring to summer (hireling healz)
v: master illusionist (-95% dodge is handy even if it's every 5 min)
3: reconstruct
4: mass repair crit
5: mass repair serious
6: mass repair light

 

[Careall]

This advice is probably not great for high Reapers, but here’s what I’ve figured out over the years trying to make a successful summons build.

1. Get all the augment summons you can from feats, enhancements, destinies, past lives (druid), and gear.
   The more summoning options you have, the more flexibility you’ll gain in different scenarios.
2. Don’t support castable summons with buff spells since they can be recast for less than the buffs.
   There are exceptions to this rule, like when you need your summon to last more than 2 seconds or in specific tactical situations.
3. Buff your pets and hirelings wisely.
   Running out of mana doesn’t help them or you. Be sure to buff your skeleton with ship buffs between quests to keep it resilient and effective.
4. If you’re running a PM summoner, consider picking up Animate Ally.
   This gives them +4 Con, +2 Str (maybe), +10 melee power, +100 Fortification, and immunities as if they were undead, which is a lot of things. They also are healed by your auras. I’ve ordered my hires to kamikaze into early fights so I can animate them. The problem is, when they see a shrine, they run for it to rest and get rid of their shroud. Since Animate Ally has an insanely long cooldown, you’ll generally have only one animated hireling at a time.
5. Early levels, about 1-10, summons are extremely useful.
   After level 10, their usefulness drops. In high heroic levels (15+), they’re barely worth it. In Epic and Legendary content, you can increase their usefulness, but the strategies change, and you need to commit a lot of character-building resources. You also have to use your summons, pets, and hirelings tactically for success.

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Tactical Summoning in Epic/Legendary Content:

One of my favorite tactics for Epic/Legendary is to pick up Primal Avatar’s T5 Primal Ally, Heart. You can cast the Dryad a distance away from you every 20 seconds. It is a great aggro magnet and can do some damage and healing. Target the Dryad and cast AOE dots (Cloud Kill is good) in its area to protect the Dryad a bit and deal damage to enemies. Shared Mantle gives the Dryad your spell power. Evergreen can give you temp SP to keep casting the Dryad and other spells. Natural Shielding gives your summons +30 MRR, +60% HP, +4 Reflex Saves, and Evasion! Keep your Skelli and Animated Hire on Defensive and Guarding you or another party member in case enemies break past the Dryad.

I also enjoy picking up the Lich (aka “Crazy Legs”) from the Magus Tree. He’s also a great aggro magnet but keeps running around defensively.

Running a successful summoner in Epic and Legendary content is a challenging playstyle choice: Not as difficult as a monk, but it still takes concentration and effort.

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Additional Tips:

1. Utilize Contingency Plans:
   Always have a backup plan for when your summons fall quickly. Keeping a quick-cast damage spell or healing ability ready can save you in tough situations.
2. Positioning:
   Proper positioning of your summons can significantly affect their survivability and effectiveness. Use chokepoints and terrain to your advantage, forcing enemies to deal with your summons before reaching you.
3. Gear Optimization:
   Focus on gear that enhances your summons’ survivability and your own spell efficiency. Items that boost summon health, resistances, and your mana pool are particularly valuable.
4. Summoning Rotation:
   Develop a summoning rotation to ensure you always have something on the field. Rotate between different types of summons to maximize their unique abilities and cooldowns.
5. Summons Synergy:
   Pay attention to how different summons interact with each other. For instance, using a tanky summons to hold aggro while ranged or spellcasting summons deal damage from afar can be an effective strategy.

 

[Br4d]

Just be aware that lag spikes can reset hireling/pet AI and effectively pith the activity of the NPC in question. You'll find workarounds that can get them going again however if you get the feeling your "companions" aren't doing anything odds are they aren't doing anything.

Also use the immobilization flag as you move and then call them to you when you need them. Saves a lot of time and effort around useless lava and trap deaths.