Mage Summons (Again)

So, I brought this up a while back, regarding the mage elemental summons and if they were going to get any better. When they released the effective % level for each summons, I decided to raise my current elemental (Ice at the time) to 100%+ to see if there was any difference to what it could handle or HP/Focus/Damage; come to find out that after getting to my goal, there wasn't any change. Now, I haven't touched magic, or at least the summoning aspect since I attempted that, and went for a melee build. I haven't really been on lately and with the final wipe coming up on us pretty soon, I was wanting to know if anyone has seen any difference in their elemental summons lately or at least heard if they have been worked on/fixed?

 

I have not noticed any difference in effectiveness of summons, though it might be hard to tell because I level them slowly, but it seems that high level summons are not any better than low level ones, which is really a shame. I hope they will change it, and make the high level summons worth it and competitive with similar level tamed animals. So level 1 summons, are mostly like cats and dogs, just for looking cool at parties, while GM 100+ summons are feared beasts in any zone (like those tamed ferrocious spiders).

 

Completely agree. As mentioned, I did the 100%+ and it didn't do anything...except what it had been doing since level 1. I really want this to be fixed as well, mainly so that I can make a pure mage build and it actually be viable without me having to run/heal/cast/repeat on every mob because I'm not wearing plate. And sadly, I haven't seen any mention from devs or from anyone quoting the devs, regarding whether or not this will be fixed by final wipe. I know they said at some point (not sure where) they were going to look at it, but that was all I remember seeing on it, that they'd look at it.

 

Before the Pickpocket bug cleared out MPO, I noticed quite of few people running around with Fire, Air, and Water Elementals doing the PvE grind.
So maybe some people have found a use for them.

 

and when multiple summons?

 

I don't think they will add multiple summons, though I really wish they would. I mean, it's not really that much of an advantage, seeing as how each summons takes a chunk from your Focus, multiple would make it that much more, meaning you can't cast as much. I will say, I would actually rather have multiple summons over increased "actual" effectiveness any day.

 

@Berek Can you find out if this change is scheduled to happen? This is probably the 3rd release in a row we've had an equivalent thread and i don't know that we ever got any dev feedback. I understand it might be months away from being implemented, but we'd still like to know whether (or not) it is planned.

 

YES!!! Please @Berek find out the use of that 'effective' value in the skill, or if it plans to be tied to the skill or strength of the summon! Why would we level up summon skills if it does nothing?

 

@Berek don't forget to look into multiple summons as well!! =D

 

Still wishing for summons that only fight for you for a short amount of time but much more powerful than they are now..
Summons aren't usless now though, I couldn't manage without my water elemental. I play mostly alone so the healing helps a lot =)

 

Thank-you so much @Chris !! Little things like this is where clarification is very much appreciated!

 

I'd like to see a few things for taming and mage summons:

I'd like to see more statistical information for pets and summoned creatures so you can see the progression of the pet as it gains skill. Maybe right click on the pets health bar or the creature itself to bring up a "View Stats" option.

Also - Similar to the way the avatar's skill monitoring feature works, I'd like to see some type of indicator in this 'view stats' interface that shows the pet's progression during your play session. eg: STR 23.8 (+1.25) Claw Attack 15.3 (+3.4) highlighted in green

I'd also like to see special attacks or abilities unlocked as the creature gets more powerful.

Now that I've read Chris' post a lot of this doesn't seem to apply heh

 

Thanks @Chris for the information on that one. So if that is the case, what does the "effectiveness" actually do then? I see what you're saying and understand all of that, but I don't see where the effectiveness comes into play. Also, removing the "lets make them more powerful" argument, any thought on maybe upping the creature count by 1 so that I could run with 2 pets? I say this for soloing reasons. In a group, the pet is nice and lasts longer/does more to help out. While I'm solo, the pet dies....pretty fast actually, and then I'm swarmed and soon having to buy repairs for my gear. To put it in easier terms: Are we going to be able to solo as a pure mage w/summons or will we need to find alternate paths/skills/etc. to be able to do so?

 

I completely agree with that last part. I see it all the time: People focus on taming, get the best tames they can, and then sell them out to everyone and then all of a sudden, we have everyone under adventure level 30 running around with a ferocious spider. At the same time, I use my Ice summon I just got, and it does nothing compared to that.

Thinking of my last note, I think I would be alright with summons if they could at least "cap off" at ferocious spider, or maybe a few creatures shy of that even. Doing that would not make summons overpowered, and still not the best in the game like the ferocious tames.

 

@Chris might i suggest removing the " % effective “ from the tooltip of summons if there is no impact?

 

So, @Chris , is there some form of ideal or goal we can expect for summons for post-final wipe? I know a lot is still being worked on, but can we get an idea of what we will be looking at once said workings are finished as far as summons are concerned?

**EDIT** Just thought of this, but I wouldn't mind a UO type feel to summons/taming. The more powerful the tame/summon, the fewer you get of them. With the summons, just make it the better they get or more of them you have, the greater the focus drain/hold while they are out.

 

I'd be all for 7 companions and 8 pets as long as it is reserved for SP offline mode.

 

I wouldn't mind it in MPO either. Besides, currently, each summon takes away your Focus, so if we up the focus drain per/effective level, with 2-3 summons using this method, you'd be damned near drained, let alone be able to cast non-stop. You would really just be able to cast a few offensive/support spells to help the summons you have out, that's about it.

 

How so for the summoning aspect? Not being a smartass or anything, just curious.