Wynn Summoner guide: Wynn Summoner, Goddess of Destruction
Wynn Summoner class guide for Lineage 2 Goddess of Destruction: how to complete the Awakening, which skills to take, what to wear and where to level.
Contents |
Introduction
The summoner is a peculiar, versatile and interesting class. A great many people appreciated all its charms only many months after GoD launched. In these chronicles, the summoner can put out more melee DPS (damage per second) than any other profession. You're the one who will kill raid bosses in instances for your party, and it's on you and your character to do it as fast as possible.
In this guide I'll pay a lot of attention to getting your summoner's DPS as high as possible. You are the main damage dealer in PvE! If you can do anything that raises your damage even a little, do it.
Let me say right away that most of the summoner's advantages only open up at 95+. The 95- period is just a preparatory, transitional stage.
Why 95? Because at this level the summoner at once gets:
- the ability to summon 4 servitors; - the last level of ability splitting; - higher servitor levels; - the ability to wear R95 items.
That's why a level 95 summoner is about twice as strong as a level 94 one.
In the current chronicles, a summoner has a place in almost any party; it's now the strongest single-target damage dealer (all else being equal). A profession almost entirely independent of mana.
New summons of the new summoner
Servitors are mobs that a summoner can control. Before rebirth, a summoner could summon only one servitor.
After the 4th class change: 3 to 4 servitors at once.
All of the summoner's attribute (defense and attack) is transferred to all of his servitors.
The number of servitors you can summon depends on the number of available summon points, given by the passive "Greater Summoning Mastery". There are three kinds of new servitors:
Saber Tooth Cougar (cat): 2 summon points. Grim Reaper (reaper): 2 summon points. Cute Bear Cub (bear): 3 summon points.
Summon points growth by level +
From 95 the summoner can already summon 4 cats/reapers, and from then on puts out a lot of DPS.
The new servitors don't disappear for a long time after dying (about 30 seconds). Until the corpse disappears, you can't summon a new servitor in its place.
Besides, until the dead servitor with TP (if you don't know what that is, see below) disappears, TP doesn't switch to another one.
More about the new servitors.
1. Saber Tooth Cougar.
A servitor for melee DPS. It's with cats that the summoner can put out very good DPS against raid bosses, mobs or a standing opponent. Requires 2 summon points.
Cats have high P. Atk., critical rate, attack speed and plenty of M. Def. They run slowly.
Weapon type: none. No crafter buff has any effect.
It has two skills:
Cougar Leap: the cat jumps, dealing AoE damage and applying a slowing debuff (-50% run speed for 5 seconds) to the target and everyone within a small radius.
If 3-4 cats jump, the debuff lands almost every time.
It lets you close the distance to the enemy faster and slow them enough to deal good damage.
Cougar Bite: a completely useless skill, since a regular crit is much bigger.
Cats are mainly used in the melee build. Crowd control doesn't work on cougars (unlike other servitors); possibly a bug.
2. Grim Reaper
A servitor with short-range physical attack and magic skills.
Fairly high P. Atk. (higher than the cougars'). Low critical rate. Decent M. Atk.
Requires two summon points.
Weapon type: bow. The crafter buff "Overdraw" increases P. Atk. and shooting range. The archer's RT (the "Aiming" skill) also works.
It has little M. Def.
Skills:
Reaper's Power: an AoE magic attack with low power. Has the fire attribute.
Reaper's Touch: a nuke; part of the damage returns to the reaper as HP. No attribute.
The main use of reapers is dealing damage in the magic build. Also useful when you need to deal damage at range (the target runs around or has too strong AoE attacks/debuffs).
Not a very good option against mages, since this servitor has about half the M. Def. of the other servitors.
3. Cute Bear Cub.
Summon points: 3. A tank servitor. Fairly low P. Atk. and critical rate, but high P. Def./M. Def. and lots of HP.
It has the passive +10 attractiveness to girls.
Weapon type: none. Just like with cats, no crafter buff has any effect.
A well-armored barrel of HP that lets you survive hard times.
It has two physical skills.
Bear Claw. Puts a debuff that keeps the target from switching target (aggro) for 5 seconds, with a reuse of about 10 seconds.
Bear Stomp. Targets around the bear lose mobility for a few seconds and take damage. The debuff rarely lands.
Besides that, the old servitors from the second and third professions remain. However, an old servitor can't be summoned together with new ones (and vice versa). So you have a choice: summon an old servitor (for example, to get the cat's crit buff) or summon several new ones.
New skills of the new summoner
Transfer Pain (TP): transfers 70% (at cap 75%) of damage from the summoner to the first summoned (main) servitor.
It lets you survive and not die. One of the reasons the summoner is one of the very hardest classes to kill.
By and large, as long as the TP servitor has HP, the summoner will live.
As soon as the servitor doesn't have enough HP to absorb the damage passed through TP, the summoner starts taking full damage.
In many Olympiad fights, the summoner's opponents try to kill the first servitor first, to make killing the summoner himself easier later.
Tips.
1. If the TP servitor is petrified/under celestial/in a cage, the summoner is practically invulnerable at that moment (most of the damage goes nowhere).
2. If you see the TP servitor has taken a lot of damage, it makes sense to use balance or heal it somehow. The new TP skill replaces the old TP. In some cases it may make sense not to take the new TP and keep the old one (it transfers 50% of damage).
Rage: when the summoner takes damage (100 or more), there is a chance that the servitors get the 20-second "Majesty" buff. It gives the critters a bit more P. Atk., a lot of M. Atk., +43 critical rate and, most importantly, increases crits by about 30%.
It is part of the passive skill "Greater Summoning Mastery"
"Increases INT by 2 and gives 6 summon points. The servitor goes into a rage if its master is harmed."
In short, when rage is on the servitors, they deal more damage.
Tips.
1. One way to push DPS while leveling/in instances is to have a healer's or archer's servitor beat the summoner. That way rage can be kept on the servitors nonstop. The downside is a constant "flag" on the party.
2. Another option is for the summoner to hit mobs himself while transformed. Then the mobs hit the summoner with attacks/AoE and so trigger rage. However, this option doesn't guarantee constant rage procs.
3. The third option is for the transformed summoner to hit someone with reflect (even his own servitor) and trigger rage that way.
Ultimate Servitor Share
"The character passes part of their abilities to the servitor. 60% (70% at cap) P. Atk./P. Def., 30% M. Atk./M. Def., 15% max HP/MP, 30% Critical Rate, 10% Speed, 3% Casting Spd. Duration: 30 min. "
One of the key skills that make a summoner a summoner.
The transfer of 60-70% P. Atk./Def. matters to us most. It means the summoner's own P. Atk. (defense) has a huge effect on the servitors' attack (and P. Def.). That's why summoners usually try to push P. Atk. as high as possible with gear and buffs. P. Def. can also be pushed a lot, for example by putting the summoner in a heavy set.
Be sure to rebuff this buff before transforming.
I'll write about pushing the summoner's DPS in more detail below.
Servitor Major Heal: a targeted servitor heal. If possible, heal the servitor that TP works on first.
Personally, this skill makes me sad. There's usually enough to worry about without having to target a beaten-up servitor in the heat of battle and heal it. It's especially fun doing this under the enemy tank's aggro.
And the Koreans simply didn't think of making the heal go to the TP servitor when your own servitor isn't targeted.
On the other hand, you can keep the old heal. It heals less than the new one, but it doesn't need a target and always heals the first servitor.
Servitor Balance Life - Equalizes the character's HP and the servitor's HP. Available from 91.
It solves the HP problem of the servitors and the summoner. It makes sense to use when either the summoner himself or a servitor has taken heavy damage. In party PvP it lets you save either your own life or a servitor's (especially the TP one) without being distracted by targeted heals.
The TP servitor must be within the summoner's line of sight (there must be no obstacle between it and the character).
Summon Barrier - "The character takes energy from their servitor and becomes invulnerable. Also increases the HP recovery bonus while the skill is active. Requires a servitor."
A celestial (full protection) on the summoner. It can only be cast if there is at least one servitor (alive or dead). It lasts about 10 seconds (the duration can be enhanced) with a reuse of several minutes. It is broken by any action of the summoner.
It makes sense to use when big damage is coming (or expected) at the summoner himself. Or just in tough situations, for example to find a BSoE in your inventory.
Mass Servitor Ultimate Defense - "For 60 sec. increases P. Def. of all servitors by 4680 and M. Def. by 4212."
A mobile UD on all servitors for a minute. Servitors become harder to kill, especially cats/bears with magic.
However, this doesn't stop the TP servitor from dying from damage coming into the summoner."
Mass Servitor Blessing. "Removes debuffs from all servitors."
A mass cleanse that removes all debuffs from all servitors.
The TP servitor must be within the summoner's line of sight (there must be no obstacle between them).
Summon Punishing Cubic - "Summons a Punishing Cubic. The cubic removes debuffs. It also removes buffs from the character's target. Additionally lowers Speed."
A new cubic. It removes debuffs from the summoner (about once every five seconds), removes buffs (1-2 at a time with a long reuse) from the summoner's target, and roots the target for 1-2 seconds (very rarely). It makes sense to keep the old "smart cubic" up to level 90-92.
In a long fight, for example in the Olympiad against a tank, the cubic cancels the enemy's buffs quite well. The longer the fight, the better. :)
Thirst - "Absorbs HP and restores 200-230 MP. Removes debuffs and hold."
It restores a laughable amount of MP (and the reuse is quite long), but it removes debuffs. And you can use this self-cleanse even while in a cage, stunned or suspended in the air.
These skills let the summoner survive himself and save his servitors from being killed.
The cubic removes debuffs from the summoner (and if it's slow, you can remove them with Thirst). The summoner removes debuffs from the servitors with his cleanse. Besides, the summoner can be invulnerable for a while thanks to celestial, and the servitors can run under UD for a minute.
Buffs on servitors
When first summoned, a servitor automatically gets all the buffs the summoner has.
It's enough to keep the buffs on the summoner himself (don't forget to buff Noblesse), and the servitors will have the buffs.
When you log in (or relog) and on any action of the summoner, the servitors that were out before the relog are resummoned. The state of their buffs is also remembered.
This often means that when the summoner logs in where aggressive mobs are and the party's enchanter has given the summoner SD, any action of the summoner makes the servitors appear without SD and aggro the mobs on themselves (and after dying, on the summoner).
The reborn summoner still has servitor buffs. They have now become mass buffs.
However, they are mostly useless and used very rarely, since the summoner can do little on his own without buffs, and the enchanter's/healer's buffs replace the matching servitor buffs.
Still, servitor buffs can sometimes be useful in the Olympiad.
One separate note. Sometimes (at 90, 95+) it makes sense to remove the drum from a low-level enchanter or the Olympiad manager from the servitors and put on "Giant's Blessing" (the summoner's drum). This gives a decent boost to the servitors' movement speed (the lower the drum's level, the bigger the run speed penalty).
Standard information about buffs +
Marks
These are debuffs with DoT effects (dealing damage over time). Besides, these marks can be "torn off" the target in exchange for dealing good damage.
Each mark has its own duration on the target. Whom to throw them at and in what order is far from a simple question.
Mark success is little (or not at all) affected by the summoner's M. Atk. and the target's M. Def. The debuffs are not mental.
A magic crit with a mark means the mark is applied to the target and, on top of that, damage is dealt by the formula: mark damage per second * 10.
What marks are there?
Mark of Weakness. A yellow mark. Takes 269-294 HP per second, lasts 10 seconds and increases the success rate of debuffs on the target by 5-30%
It usually makes sense to throw it first. It not only lasts quite long but also increases the success rate of the other marks.
Mark of Plague: a green mark. Cuts the target's incoming healing by 5-30%, lasts 15 seconds, takes 370-404 HP per second.
Mark of Trick: a red mark. Takes 303-328 HP, lasts 5 seconds. Prevents the target from using skills.
A mark that's very useful for control.
Mark of Void: a blue mark. Takes 336-363 HP per second, lasts only 4 seconds.
Mark tearing doesn't work on this mark. It usually makes sense to use it separately from the others.
Damage to the target's HP from this mark restores HP and MP to the summoner and all his servitors.
If you put this mark on a servitor, its HP stays the same, while the other servitors and the summoner himself recover HP/MP. Very often it's more profitable to throw it on your own servitors rather than on enemies (on whom it may not land).
So a summoner very rarely has mana problems.
Erase Mark - "Removes Mark of Weakness, Mark of Plague and Mark of Trick and deals damage proportional to the number of marks."
This is the mark tearing. Removing each mark deals damage roughly equal to a magic nuke. The damage depends on the summoner's M. Atk. and the target's M. Def.
Control skills
Skills that take an enemy out of the fight for a while.
Banish - "Sends the target to another world. A banished enemy can't move, attack or use skills. The enemy becomes immune to debuffs and loses 353-438 HP every second."
Mass Banish - "Sends enemies around the target to another world. A banished enemy can't move, attack or use skills. The enemy becomes immune to debuffs and loses 282-350 HP every second."
Single and mass cages. A target in a cage takes a little damage, meanwhile it can't do anything and is completely invulnerable.
Tips.
1. Marks + cage: when the target comes out of the cage, it will have little HP.
2. If you're getting hit hard, it helps to cage the TP servitor, and you'll live longer.
Dimensional Binding (from level 93) - "Sends an enemy to another world and immobilizes it."
A lift like the mages have. The enemy is lifted into the air and can't do anything.
It has a fairly long reuse, so it makes sense to use it not just like that, but at the right moment on the right target.
Success rate is almost 100%. It lifts for 10 seconds or less, and the summoner also can't do anything for most of that time.
But in the last 2 seconds of the lift you can land a combo hit: "cats on sticks".
The upside is that a lifted enemy stops running, and the servitors can quickly kill it at that moment.
Theoretically (at the level of spherical cows in a vacuum), a very skilled summoner can win a 7x7 PvP for his party by controlling the enemy healers: say, caging one healer and lifting the second into the air. During that time the damage dealers have to kill the enemy party.
Another option is to kill one healer and control the other.
But in practice such things are extremely hard to pull off: the cage and the lift may not land, and enemies may be immune to debuffs (MI/celestial/Angel's Touch/mass cleanse).
An option you can always use: cage the tank so he stays out of the way at least for a while.
Cages in themselves are a very specific thing that can even get in the way. For example, if you put one on the target your damage dealers are assisting on, you'll learn a lot of interesting things about yourself.
In 1x1 PvP (for example in the Olympiad), cages are a chance to pause and calmly heal your servitors.
Nukes
Mark Fire - "Brands the target. Deals extra magic damage. Power 168-199."
A single-target magic nuke. No attribute. It has a reuse, but a short one.
Invoke (from level 87) - "summons a helper from the heavens, dealing extra damage to the target and enemies around it. Power 147-172."
An AoE nuke with a decent reuse and a pretty animation. No attribute.
When enhanced (from level 99) to +1 and higher, its power grows a lot: from 380.
Other skills
Summon Party Member - "Summons the selected party member to the character".
A new party member summon. Much better than the old, second-profession one. It casts and resets much faster. And it doesn't need any consumables to summon a party member.
Summon Soulshots - Summons 1 900 Beast Spiritshots with a 80% chance and 380 Blessed Beast Soulshots with a 20% chance. Consumes 1 R-grade Crystal.
Summoning shots for the servitors. The shots weigh nothing, so you can summon a lot of them.
Spirit of Naviarope (95) - The character becomes like Naviarope. For 5-10 min. lets you use Naviarope's skills.
A transformation with good stats for melee leveling or PvP. The skills are not very usable. Reuse: 60 minutes.
Exchange Places (97) - Swaps places with the servitor.
A not very useful, though quite pretty skill.
You can use it, for example, to catch a fleeing enemy (if the servitors are closer to them than the summoner) and cage/lift them. Or use it to kite melee classes in the Olympiad.
Summon Death Gate (99) - Summons the Death Gate, which holds enemies in place and deals damage.
Something pretty but rather pointless. The root lands very rarely.
Choosing a race
There can be two kinds of reborn summoners.
1 A "hereditary" summoner is reborn: from humans, dark elves and elves.
The summoner will have the old servitors of the previous profession.
2. Someone of any race/class is reborn as a summoner using the item given when GoD was installed.
In this case the summoner will have the old servitors of the human summoner, the cat breeder (warlock).
The difference is mainly in the remaining old servitors. Dark elves can also keep the bone.
What races are there?
Humans
Clear Aim - "Increases Accuracy by 3 and reduces the enemy's Critical Rate by 3%."
Strong Mind - "Increases M. Def. by 18, P. Atk. by 31 and M. Atk. by 32."
Activity - "Increases the HP recovery bonus by 1 and the MP recovery bonus by 1."
Not very useful, penny-sized bonuses.
Endurance - "Removes poison/bleed/hold/stun effects and makes the character immune to these effects for 10 seconds."
A not very useful skill, though usable in the Olympiad.
Of the old servitors, the useful one is the queen . Especially for the Olympiad.
It can buff haste, blessings and crit buffs (35% critical rate, 25% critical power). The crit buff is replaced by sonatas.
Elves
Swiftness - "Increases Atk. Spd. by 4, Casting Spd. by 3 and Speed by 13."
Useful, especially for the Olympiad.
Blessed Water - "Increases water attack by 10, water resistance by 10 and the MP recovery bonus by 2."
Foresight - "For 15 sec. increases P. Evasion and M. Evasion by 30."
Similar to UE. Useful.
Keenness - "Increases Critical Rate by 15 and Magic Critical Rate by 10."
A useful passive: even in transformation the elf will have more crit chance himself (by 15), and his cats will have a bit more too (by 5).
Of the old servitors, the useful one is the seraphim horse . It gives Acumen, Clarity, WM and reuse buffs. The reuse buff is especially interesting. It reduces the reuse of magic skills by 35%.
That's what gives former horse breeders a huge advantage in the Olympiad.
As a rule, the elf has the best chance of becoming hero.
If an elf was reborn as a summoner from another class using the item given when GoD was installed, his old servitors will be cats. Same as a human's.
Besides, elves traditionally have low STR and M. Atk., but high casting speed.
Dark Elves
Night Perception - "Increases attack accuracy at night by 3."
Sharpness - "Increases Critical Damage and Magic Critical Damage by 208."
Dark Presence - "Increases STR and INT by 1 at night."
Blessed Wind - "Increases wind magic damage by 10 and wind resistance by 10."
Disparition - "Removes all debuffs and increases Speed by 30 for 5 sec. Can't be used on enemies."
Life Drain - converts 1% of the damage dealt to the enemy into HP.
Dark elves have the highest base STR and INT.
Disparition is a very useful skill. It's a cleanse, a speed-up and protection from being targeted all in one. 5 seconds of god mode.
It will come in handy in PvP, PvE and the Olympiad alike.
A born dark elf summoner has old servitors left over from the phantom summoner.
From the "Moloch" you can take buffs: accuracy, strength and crit chance. You can also heal with it. It's quite usable in the Olympiad.
If a dark elf was reborn as a summoner from another class using the item given when GoD was installed, his old servitors will be cats. Same as a human's.
Orcs
An orc can be reborn as a summoner only with the item given when GoD was installed, or as a dual class.
Fortitude - "Increases resistance to Hold, Sleep and Poison by 20."
Steel Body - "Fall damage is reduced by 40%."
Ferocity - "For 60 sec. increases Atk. Spd. by 17% and reduces P. Def. by 15%."
A very useful skill, especially in the Olympiad against healers and mages.
Fire Power - "Increases fire magic damage by 10 and fire resistance by 10."
Strong Energy - "Increases the HP recovery bonus by 3."
Immortal Fortitude - "when taking damage while HP is below 20%, grants invulnerability for 5 sec. The effect triggers once every 5 minutes."
Also a very useful one that will let you survive a tough situation.
Ferocity and Immortal Fortitude are very useful skills both in the Olympiad and in PvP/PvE.
Old summons left over from the 2-3 classes — cats, like cat summoners have.
Dwarves
A dwarf can be reborn as a summoner only with the item given when GoD was installed, or as a dual class.
Weight Limit - "Doubles your weight limit."
Dwarven Craft - "Lets you read the Dwarven recipe book."
Dexterity - "Increases the effectiveness of attack skills by 2%."
Not bad, but not crucial.
Stamina - "For 5 sec. reflects 50% of damage received back to the enemy and restores 92 HP every second."
Quite useful, especially in the Olympiad.
Blessed Earth - "Increases earth damage by 10 and earth resistance by 10."
Tremor - "Knocks down enemies around the character for 3 sec."
A mass knockdown. A useful thing, but unfortunately, because of the reuse and the less than 100% success rate, almost useless.
Summon Siege Golem - "Summons a siege weapon. Summoning requires 400 R.-grade Crystals The Dwarf race automatically gets the skill at level 85."
Summon Steel Boar - "Summons a siege weapon. In normal mode the weapon can only move, and in siege mode it attacks from long range. Changing modes takes 30 sec. Summoning requires 600 R.-grade Crystals The Dwarf race automatically gets the skill at level 85.
Summon Assault Cannon - "Summons an Assault Cannon. Summoning requires 500 R.-grade Crystals The Dwarf race automatically gets the skill at level 85."
The old servitors left from professions 2-3 are cats, like the cat breeders'.
The dwarf's racial skills aren't all that useful.
However, a little dwarf girl surrounded by a herd of servitors looks very interesting and unusual. So this option is more for those who appreciate looks.
Kamael
A Kamael can be reborn as a summoner only with the item given when GoD was installed.
Battle Instinct - "Increases damage in PvP by 1%. Also reduces MP consumption by skills by 5%."
Not a significant bonus, especially for a summoner. But it doesn't hurt either.
Dark Silence - "Increases dark magic damage by 10 and resistance to dark magic by 10. Also increases resistance to silence and fear by 20."
Spirit Guard - "For 20 sec. lets you block 2 debuffs."
A useful skill, especially for the Olympiad.
Final Form (FF) - "Transforms into the ultimate combat form for 5 min."
An especially nice thing that makes summoners of other races fiercely jealous.
The transformation has very good stats and doubled P. Atk./M. Atk./P. Def./M. Def.
It's usually used whenever it's off cooldown
Final Flying Form - "Transforms into the ultimate combat form while flying."
Old summons left over from the 2-3 classes — cats, like cat summoners have.
A Kamael summoner is a very rare situation. It's only possible if the item was received when GoD was installed. It can't be done with a new character, and a Kamael can't take summoner as a dual class either.
The special advantage of the Kamael girl is FF. In this transformation, for 5 minutes an hour the summoner can push both her own stats and her servitors' to huge values, and the attack speed penalty with a bow doesn't apply.
In PvP a summoner in FF is extremely hard to kill (it has lots of P. Def. and M. Def.), and enemies will have a hard time.
Plus, the transformation has a rush that lets you close in on the target fast. It's the only transformation of all that exist with such abilities.
We draw conclusions and choose...
Humans are one of the most useless races for a summoner (unfortunately, my character is a human).
The elf is the most interesting for the Olympiad.
Dark elves and orcs are also very strong; both in the Olympiad and in other situations their racial skills/stats let them be stronger than others and survive longer. And the orc celestial saves its owner's life even in transformation.
A dwarf girl summoner has a very funny and unexpected look.
The Kamael is a very strong damage dealer, the best farmer of mobs/instances and wars because of FF. But also the rarest race for a summoner.
If you DPS mobs in melee style (cats + bow + transformation), the choice of race doesn't matter much (except Kamael), since transformations have their own stats.
Builds
The summoner is a class that can use a wide variety of builds (servitor types, gear, buffs, tattoos). A well-chosen build lets you "sharpen" your character for a specific goal.
What builds a summoner can have.
1. Maximum melee DPS.
Bow + light set + cats + Warrior's Harmony + transformation (sometimes without transformation) + a P. Atk. hat (+ STR +15 tattoos). Damage is dealt melee style.
The build's goal is to deal as much melee damage as possible. Especially if the target is stationary.
More details below.
Used for leveling and in instances.
Sometimes PvP.
The most vulnerable option, since the summoner in transformation is very limited in skill use and TP doesn't work.
2. Magic build.
Magic weapon + robe set + reapers + Wizard's Harmony (+ maybe INT and WIT tattoos and an M. Atk. hat).
Nukes, marks and controls are used. The reapers' magic skills are used whenever they're off cooldown.
Having TP on and healing/balancing the servitors lets you survive.
The build's goal is to deal maximum magic damage both to single targets and to areas.
Mainly used for AoE leveling and in mass PvP. Sometimes in 7x7 PvP.
Or in PvP in a party with ranged damage dealers. In the Olympiad against melee classes.
It lets you deal area damage and generally deal damage with magic.
Sometimes the "Anakim" transformation is used, which lets the summoner himself become a very strong AoE magic damage dealer.
3. Other options.
A whole heap of all kinds of options.
Some of the most interesting options:
1. A summoner in a heavy set. Lets you survive against physical classes (for example, in the Olympiad) or mobs.
2. Melee build + reapers: Bow + light + Warrior's Harmony + reapers. Effective against weak mobs; the reapers kill the target in a second from range.
3. Mixed PvP buff: Warrior's Harmony on the cats, Wizard's Harmony on the summoner. More effective in solo PvP.
4. Mixed PvE buff: Knight's Harmony on the summoner, Warrior's Harmony on the cats (or vice versa). Lets you survive against mobs with high P. Atk., for example in the lower gardens or the Harnak ruins.
The summoner in transformation and boosting DPS
One of the summoner's most important tasks in a party is to squeeze out as much DPS as possible on mobs, raid bosses in instances and enemies.
What lets us put out so much DPS?
The main reason is that there are many servitors, and each of them gets part of the summoner's stats.
Thanks to the self-buff "Final Sharing of Fate", which transfers many of the summoner's parameters. It's especially important that 70% of P. Atk. and 30% of critical rate are transferred (at 95).
So first of all we should push the summoner's own P. Atk. and critical.
Since the summoner comes with 3-4 servitors, even a small P. Atk. bonus is multiplied by 4 bodies.
Besides, cats have high base P. Atk. and critical on their own.
So, we push the summoner's own P. Atk. and crit chance.
1. Wear a bow.
Of all weapon types, the bow has the highest P. Atk. The SA in the bow is Focus.
So the servitors get a good deal of crit chance.
2. Use transformations
In warrior transformations, a mystic's base parameters become like a warrior's and even higher.
With a bow, P. Atk. becomes very high.
Besides, raid boss transformations (Zaken, Kechi, Gordon, Ranku, Benom, Demon Prince) have even higher STR than warriors. And Zaken has the highest of all. Raid boss transformations also have quite a lot of HP.
You can use these transformations if you get single-use scrolls. They come from events and chests.
Simple transformations (Onyx Beast, Doom Wraith, Grail Apostle, Saber Tooth Tiger, Unicorn, Sphinx, Lilim Knight, Vengeful Doll, Guard Golem, Inferno Drake, Dragon Bomber) have little HP and very little CP. But they are free and can be used without limit (apart from a 4-hour reuse each)
Each transformation has its own skills, and some may come in handy. For example, the Dragon Bomber has invisibility to mobs, and the Inferno Drake, Sphinx and Demon Prince have UD (though it immobilizes you).
3. Light set.
A light set gives the biggest DPS boost to the servitors.
For example, the Seraph light set enhancement:
2 pieces: STR +3, CON -2, P. Atk. +214
3 pieces: MP consumption for skills -4%, Hold Resistance +10
4 pieces: bonus to mental attacks +20, HP +511
5 pieces: Atk. Spd. +3%, Resistance to all four elements +15, P. Atk. +7%.
4. A +5% P. Atk. hat and STR +15 tattoos.
Put on any STR +15 tattoo and wear a +5% P. Atk. hat. This gives even more P. Atk.
5. Jewelry and pants.
Istina's ring gives a fixed bonus to crit chance: Critical Rate +54.4. From this the servitors get 16 and a bit of critical, which isn't bad.
OE pants (especially blessed) give a non-fixed (boosted by buffs) bonus to crit chance.
By the way, the summoner himself in transformation has very decent stats and can add extra DPS with his own hits. The summoner can have a higher crit multiplier (thanks to rings) and working skill mastery, plenty of P. Atk. and crit chance. But attack speed in a regular transformation isn't high because of the passive that halves attack speed with a bow in transformation.
There are two transformations that don't reduce attack speed with a bow: the Kamael FF and the summoner transformation "Spirit of Naviarope". In them the summoner can put out very, very good DPS himself in addition to the cats.
Next is a very important point. To push DPS, you need to trigger rage on the cats (it gives a small P. Atk. boost to the cats and a big boost to their critical damage). For that, the summoner must take 100 or more damage.
Usually, to do this, an archer's or healer's servitors are "hung" on the summoner. That means the party will constantly have a "flag" on, making it easier for a party competing for the spot to take it.
Another, more exotic option is for the transformed summoner to hit his own servitors (no flag) or one of the party members (for an archer it's even useful for triggering skill mastery). The damage coming back from reflect will trigger rage on the cats.
Using a transformation lets the summoner squeeze maximum DPS out for his party. However, transformations have limitations you need to know about.
1. The summoner can't use his "native" skills.
Only the transformation's skills are available.
This means that in transformation you can't summon new servitors (if one of the existing ones dies), buff yourself with sharing (it must be rebuffed before transforming), or buff yourself with Noblesse after death (and if no one in the party buffs it on you, dying again will cost you both your buffs and the transformation).
2. Limited use of other features.
Of course, you may be quite upset that in transformation you can't dance or use other social actions. That's nonsense, of course.
But not being able to put markers (stars/hearts/crosses) on targets and target by marker is a serious oversight by the developers.
3. A summoner in transformation is vulnerable, especially in PvP.
In transformation not only does TP not work, there's also little CP.
The "simple" transformations, available for free periodic use, also have very little HP.
Old skills after Awakening
Which skills are worth thinking about before replacing them with new ones?
There will be no way back.
1. Summon Smart Cubic: the new "Punishing Cubic" is clearly worse than the old one up to level 90-92. It's slower and doesn't heal.
The only BUT. The old cubic needs ore to summon, and the new one doesn't.
2. Share Pain (the old TP). Some people don't like that the new TP transfers 70+% of damage to the servitor (not 50% like the old one) and suggest not learning the new "Transfer Pain". Supposedly it's way too much, and the poor servitor dies fast.
It's up to you what's better: that the servitor dies before you, or that you die yourself...
3. Servitor Heal: the old servitor heal heals the first summoned servitor (usually the TP one) and doesn't need a target. Although the old heal is weaker than the new one, it's much more convenient.
4. Servitor Hero: the old "CoV", unlike the new drum, doesn't reduce crits by 30%, but it gives +20% HP and heals those 20%. It's put on the first summoned servitor. Can be useful in the Olympiad: it's both more HP for the TP servitor and another targetless heal.
That's all for now.
Sections in progress: 1. Olympiad. 2. Talismans and augmentation. 3. PvP tactics. 4. Sub skills. 5. Summoner gear. 6. More detailed information about transformations.
This article was copied from the forum thread GoHa.Ru - Guide to Wynn Summoner --Altum 19:35, 17 June 2012 (MSD)
