Summoner's Tome of Information (Rebirth)

Summoner's Tome of Information (Rebirth)
By Ultratech87

Table of Contents
    Intro
    Speical Dungeons
    Summoner Skills
    Class Skills
    Summons
    -Contracts
    -Spirits
    -Ordinary Spirits
    EX Passives
    FAQ
    Avatars/Emblems
    Multi-Summoning
    Play Tips
    Helpful Links
    Sacrifice Summoners


Introduction

Congratuations on becoming a Summoner! Or props to you already being one.

Summoners are among one of the most powerful classes in the game and are the undisputed Queens of PvE. Summoners are unlike any other class in the game in that they completely rely on their summons for their damage output. By themselves, Summoners don't amount to much with very little attack options and are very weak defensively. But with their summons, few enemies truly stand a chance of being swarmed and surviving.

Pros and Cons of a Summoner

Pros:
-Can solo about 95% of the Dungeons in the game.
-Can effortlessly mob enemies with multiple summons.
-Can inflict massive damage on enemies (single or multiple) with its swarm of Summons. Best burst DPS in the game with Mark activated on enemies!
-Can walk through dungeons with an entire army of summons. You're never alone unless you're out of MP!

Cons:
-Poor Defense/HP; Very low P.Atk. and very squishy. Hard to take hits in Cloth armor.
-Limited attack options outside of Summons.
-High MP consumption early on.
-First 30 Levels can be annoying...but it gets better after that!
-Can flood the screen with stuff, annoying other Party members who can't see what's going on. Can also slow down their (or your) computer, if it's crap.

For general infomation on Summoners, here's the basics:

-Summoners wear Cloth. Lots of INT/SPI/MP Bonuses! But very poor defense.
-INT is good. Very good. Most summons operate off your Magic Attack.
-Your weapon of choice fall to two options:
*Staff: Highest M.Atk, Slow Attack Speed
*Rod: Lower M.Atk, High INT, Cast Speed Bonus, Fast Attack Speed, usually better Bonuses in general

Staff is generally preferred due to its higher M.Atk., though very few Rods are occasionally better due to great bonuses.


Special Dungeons
These dungeons are worth mentioning since they often present unique challenges to Summoners.
-Tower of Illusion/of the Dead: Summons go away after each floor, so you're forced to resummon at the start of every floor. Can get pretty dicey later on in ToD, as APCs will be poised to strike!
-Scoria Core: Grounded Summons can wander into lava, inflicting the Burn status. This spreads damage amongst all near it, so it can really be a problem!
-Second Spine/Catacombs/Ice Palace/Skasa's Lair: The bosses for these dungeons are stationary, thus the Summons' AI often becomes confused and won't attack. You'll need to lead your summons to the boss' weak point to go for the kill!
-Ancients: Much tougher than your ordinary dungeon, Ancients can be somewhat tricky to solo at first. Once you've gotten some experience though, you'll learn the gimmicks and be able to solo without too much issue (hopefully).
-Otherverse: Endgame PvE dungeons. Much like Ancients, these are much harder than ordinary dungeons and require a 3-4 person Party to complete. Many gimmicks in these dungeons neuter Summoners in a few rooms, so you'll need to learn to adapt quickly and figure out how to contribute to the party without your Summons. Also lots of deathtraps, so stay on your toes!


[QUOTE=Soltis;445812][SIZE="2"][B]Credits to[/B] LHCGreg of super|sword|action dot com(SSA), DFO-world wiki, and myself for pics/gifs.
Thuvian for proposing summon data be added.[/SIZE]
____________________________________________
Summoner Skills

Lasher
Whips an ally for buff and opponent for damage. Allies will receive only 1 damage, but get an increase in Attack and Movement Speed. Summoned monsters will be more aggressive and obtain a Strength and Intelligence bonus. Opponent will receive full damage from whipping. Buff can be given 1 time and last for 20 sec. Will not stack, but can be reapplied through whipping again.

Can be improved considerably with Lasher Upgrade, with a 10% increase in damage and buffs per level.

Notes: Probably the best buff you can possibly use for your Summons and Allies. Maxed, the bonuses are pretty ridiculous. There's a huge difference in your Summons buffed and non-buffed. Lasher Upgrade makes it even more powerful. And of course, it's a VERY potent attack on its own. A must Max if you can fit it in your build.

Summonned Creature Aura
Reinforces the power of friendly summoned creatures around you.
Increases Summons' Attack Strength and Critical Rate.

Note: It's basically a passive Aura that increases your Summons' Attack and Crit Rate. What's not to like about that? Definately Max since you'll need it as a prereq for various summons.

Summon Monster Purification
Removes a certain amount of abnormal status ailments from summoned monsters in range, replenishing MP and increasing cast speed.

Notes: Good for Curing summons of Status Ailments, but the lack of another level keeps it from being truly great at the endgame, since the Status Level limitation stops at Lv69. (Another level would give it 74.) Either Max it or don't. Otherwise, it's not worth using.

Summoner's Train
Commands your summoned creatures to follow you inside a dungeon; increase the physical and magic defenses and vitality of you and your summoned creatures for the duration of this skill. Your creatures will attack any enemy that attacks you.

Notes: Good for keeping Summons close and under control. Best used for PvP, but at least 1 level is reccomended for PvE.

Mark the Target!
Throws a Paint Capsule at an enemy to mark it as a target. The marked enemy receives damage at regular intervals.
If you have summoned creatures near the enemy, they will start attacking it and inflict enhanced damage.
The marks can be stacked up to 3 times on a single target increasing the enahanced damage; previous marks are canceled if another enemy is targeted.
New to Rebirth, you can also use Mark on any object. Handy for some dungeons.

Notes: Awesome for mobbing a single enemy or boss, as it allows your summons to do major damage. If something needs to die quickly, Mark it. Also attracts summons to a mob, so it's great for getting your Summons into the thick of it. Watch the MP usage though if you spam it. Max if you can for best results, but it's reccomended to put some levels in it at least.

**Numbers Game**
Is it worth it to Max Mark at all?

Here's some number crunching for ya:
Lv1 Mark: 50% Bonus Damage (3x: 150% Bonus Damage)
Lv21 Mark: 153% Bonus Damage (3x: 459% Bonus Damage)

As you can see, just 1 application of Mark at Lv21 is equivalent to 3x application of Mark at Lv1. On top of that, you also have much better range and considerably more Bonus Damage your summons are capable of. It's much better to have 12-13 Summons dealing ~459% Bonus Damage as opposed to 14-15 Summons dealing ~150% Bonus Damage.

Zealous Creature
Increases Strength, Intelligence, Attack and Movement Speed of your summoned creatures, reducing their skill Cooldown.
This skill's activation consumes a set amount of Hp from your summoned creatures.
This skill effects all summoned creatures including other team player's summons.

Notes: Good for when you need some extra burst from your summons. One level is usually recommended, as the skill doesn't scale THAT well when leveled, however, the reduced Skill cooldown helps. Helps in a pinch when you need to go all out though.

Spirit Sacrifice
Casts a pentacle in an area ahead of you, and then sacrifices your low-level summoned spirits in the area to cast buffs on allies within the specified area.

Notes: The go-to skill for a Sacrifice Summoner. If using a Sac build, obviously max to get the most benefits out of it. Otherwise, stay away.

Spirit Bond
Decreases Casting Time for Summon Skills and Increases the duration of your summoned monsters.

Notes: Cast Speed boost helps considerably and the extra duration has noticeable effects on Contracts, but far less so for Spirits. But at 30 SP a level, it somewhat expensive. Not recommended unless going for PvP.

**Number Crunching**
For Contracts, the effects are somewhat noticeable. An extra 12% duration would add 24 seconds. Not too bad.
For Spirits, it's much less attractive. An extra 12% duration for a T-1 would add 4.8 seconds. An extra 12% duration for a T2 would add 10.8 seconds. That's kinda meh.

Class Skills

Florae Circle - Get 1 level if using a Wisp Build. (+3 Light Source; 2x if you do Double Florae)
Lantern Firebomb - Get 1 level if using an Ador Build. (+1~2 Fire Source; 2 if you get a lucky hit on 2 enemies at once.)
Aerial Lantern Firebomb - Gimmicky Skill; Slightly useful for Ador Build, but not necessary.
Frosty's Head - Can get if using an Naias build. Not necessary.
Pluto - Automatically get 1 level. (+1 Shadow Source)
Magic Festival - Increase Cast Speed and lower Skill cooldowns and Charge Time. Skip it.
Elemental Burn - Use Elemental Attacks to light up marks that increase your INT. Can be beastly if managed properly, but requires a decent SP sink. Requires a little bit more of a hands-on approach to keep EB going at max, but can be very effective if managed well. (Around an extra ~400 INT at max level with max marks.)
Weapon Uppercut
Cancel - Weapon Uppercut
Dragon Fang
Mana Shield - Automatic 1 level. Reduces damage somewhat, but mitigates some of the damage through MP.
Phase Shift - Get 1 level. Will save from you from dangerous (or otherwise fatal) situations.
Palm Blast - Can be useful in getting enemies away from you. Not necessary though. (Useful in PvP.)
Magic Missile - Automatic 1 level. Useful in the early game, but lacks power later on. Works well for poking in PvP.
Cheeky Doll Shururu - Automatic 1 level. Can help in lowing M.Def of enemies, but shouldn't be relied upon. Semi-useful for getting enemies in a certain spot if necessary.
Disenchant - Useful against those enemies who LOVE to buff themselves. 1 level if you really want it, otherwise, don't get.
Ancient Library - Can be good early on for managing MP issues, but should be dropped upon Awakening.
Indomitable Spirit - Makes it so you can't be interrupted while casting Skills. Uneeded for PvE, but very helpful in PvP.
Ancient Memory - Increases INT for a certain amount of time. Used to be ok, but EB outperforms it in nearly every way imaginable and can be kept up indefinitely.
Magic Critical Hit - Nope.
Magic Rear Attack - Nope.
Throw Mastery - Gimmick skill if you wanna spam items. Not necessary.
Quick Rebound - 1 level is all you need.
Leap - Increase Jumping Strength. Slightly gimmicky, but can be useful in some situations. Not necessary though.
Cancel - Item Throw: See Throw Mastery.



Summons

Things to Know:
Summons are bit more complicated than your normal skills and have several things that apply to them.

-Hostility: The Summon's Aggressiveness towards an enemy. A highly aggressive summon will constantly seek out targets and attack.

-Visual Range: The Summon's Field of Vision. Best described as a Circle emanating from the center of the Summon. Summons will seek out and attack enemies that appear in their Visual Range.

-Stats: While Summons operate primarily off your Magic Attack, they have their own stats as well that can be altered. Use Lasher and Zealous Creature to improve your Summons' stats considerably. Auras can also improve their abilities, but most other equipment bonuses won't.

-Damage: Damage inflicted by summons is considered a Magic Attack, which is further mitigated by an enemy's Magic Defense and Resistances. However, how this damage is done comes in two varieties:
*Percent: Damage inflicted is calculated by a percentage of your Magic Attack. The higher your Magic Attack, the more damage the attack will inflict.
*Fixed: Damage inflicted is calculated by a fixed number with little variation. Level up your Summons to increase damage! This is also slightly affected by Independent Magic Attack.
*Fixed + Percent: Damage inflicted is calculated by both Fixed and Percent damage. The numbers are mostly added up.


[SIZE="6"][B]-The Summons-[/B][/SIZE]
These guys are the core of your class and make up for most of your damage. Level them up to increase their stats, damage, visual range, and aggressiveness.

[B][SIZE="5"]Contracts;[/size][/B]
Contract summons have higher stats than Spirit summons and cost more MP to use, but they're generally more powerful and last longer as a result.


[B]-Panzer Hodor-[/B]
[IMG]http://a.imageshack.us/img651/1262/hodor.png[/IMG]

[LIST][B]Grounded summon.
[*]Melee-Ranged hybrid.
[*]Duration: 200 seconds.
[*]Limit per Summoner: 1
[*]Skills;
LV1 - Club attack, Rock Throw, Power Smasher(extremely high stun chance)
LV5 - Multi-Rock Throw, Spread-Rock Throw, Self-Speed Boost
LV10 - Bomb Throw[/B][/LIST]

Ol' Panzer...from the very beginning of the game, to the ends of the Otherverse, Panzer will serve you well throughout your journey. Despite being your first summon, he remains one of the best you'll have, with his wide variety of attacks. He's also got very good AI, so he'll almost always be attacking something. And DAT STUN. Higher level monsters giving you trouble? STUN!

Rebirth Changes
The Rebirth has made Panzer MUCH stronger than before. Before, Panzer only maxed out in the low 40s. Now his Skill Levels have been redone, allowing him to reach Lv64 (Skill Lv30) and beyond. Also, the Panzer Hodor Upgrade allows you to summon Panzer with a chance of increasing his level upon summon. Maxed out, this gives you a 60% to summon a Panzer Hodor with +12 Levels (Skill Level +4), making him stronger than ever.

[B]-Freet-[/B]
[IMG]http://a.imageshack.us/img839/8955/freetstay.gif[/IMG]
[LIST][B]Floating summon.
[*]Ranged attack based.
[*]Duration: 200 seconds.
[*]Limit per Summoner: 1
[*]Skills;
LV1 - Stone Needle(travels very far on x-axis), Bite
LV5 - Fireball
LV10 - Fire Breath[/B][/LIST]

Your 2nd Contract summon, and arguably one of the more powerful summons in your arsenal. Freet is the equivalent of a rabid confused dog. While he doesn't always seem to attack stuff, when he does, IT HURTS. While the little Dragon is spunky and sometimes shy, it grows to be a powerful force. Also a good source of Fire damage. Freet is unique in that all of its attacks are purely Fixed damage, much like Louise and Kasijas.

Rebirth Changes: Basically, Freet got a helluva lot stronger. Is capable of some pretty impressive damage now, and its AI issues are more or less better than before, though it's still spotty sometimes.

[B]-Black Knight Sandor-[/B]
[IMG]http://wiki.dfo-world.com/images/f/f5/Sandor.png[/IMG]
[LIST]
[B]Grounded summon.
[*]Melee attack based.
[*]Duration: 200 seconds.
[*]Limit per Summoner: 1
[*]Skills;
LV1 - Stab attack, Thrust attack, Shield
LV5 - Self-Heal, Protective Aura(damage absorption aura)
LV10 - Taunt Aura
LV15 - Defense Aura[/B][/LIST]

Your 3rd Contract happens to be one of the many annoying Expeller enemies you face in Sky Tower...and now he's yours to command. Sandor's strengths lie in his aggressiveness and defensive capabilities. Sandor will ALWAYS find something to attack and is very good at knocking enemies down, making them fair game to being beat on by your other summons. He'll also absorb damage that you or your allies take and his Defense Aura is pretty awesome at higher levels, significantly increasing everybody's Defense by a percentage. He's like your tank. In short, Sandor won't disappoint.

Rebirth Changes: Other than increased damage and levels, not much has changed for Sandor.

[B]-Hellflower Aukuso-[/B]
[IMG]http://a.imageshack.us/img838/1865/aukuso.gif[/IMG]
[LIST]
[B]Grounded summon.
*Stationary summon(cannot move or be moved by any means once summoned).
[*]Melee-Ranged hybrid.
[*]Duration: 60 seconds.
[*]Limit per Summoner: 2
[*]Skills;
LV1 - Stab attack, Root Attack
LV10 - Confusion Gas w/Poisonous Insects[/B][/LIST]

Aukuso is interesting. Unlike your other summons, Aukuso is rooted to the ground where you summon it and it doesn't travel from room to room with you. Aukuso is basically an immovable wall, meant to wall enemies and keep them occupied. Later on, he gains Poisonous Insects and Confusion Gas to cause chaos among your enemies. They can be used in various formations and positions to mess with your enemies. Also very useful for buying time while you summon, and works great in the Towers.

Rebirth Changes:
While it's gotten the usual damage increase, unfortunately, Aukuso got gimped on cooldowns, making it slightly less useful than before. Still very viable if you choose to have it though.


[B]-Big Sis Louise-[/B]
[IMG]http://a.imageshack.us/img843/3003/louise.gif[/IMG]
[LIST]
[B]Floating summon.
[*]Ranged attack based.
[*]Duration: 200 seconds.
[*]Limit per Summoner: 1
[*]Skills;
LV1 - Staff attack, Ice Needles(small chance of freeze), Fireball, Meteor(upon death/disappearance)
LV10 - Ice Pillar(high chance of freeze), INT Boost Aura(rare)
LV15 - MP/min Aura[/B][/LIST]

The Queen of Contracts, Loiuse is one of your strongest summons, and shouldn't be passed up regardless of build. Attacking with powerful Ice and Fire-based skills, Louise is a powerful damage dealer and often inflicts Freeze with her Ice-based skills. However, for all this power, she has the least HP of your Contracts. But despite that, she's incredibly useful. Louise is unique in that like Freet, all of her Skills are Fixed Damage only.

Rebirth Changes:
Loiuse is now entirely fixed damage, so higher INT won't effect her damage output anymore. However, she got improved damage much like the other Summons, so she's just as strong as before if not better.


[B]-Enraged Black Knight Sandor-[/B]
[IMG]http://wiki.dfo-world.com/images/f/f5/Sandor.png[/IMG]
[LIST]
[B]Grounded summon.
[*]Melee attack based.
[*]Duration: 200 seconds.
[*]Limit per Summoner: 1
[*]Skills;
Spear Swing, Spear Lunge, Charged Spear Lunge
Shield Swing, Provocation Aura, Hostility Aura
Attack Speed Buff, Attack Buff[/LIST]

An "upgraded" Sandor so to speak. However, unlike his brethern, Enraged Sandor is more attack-oriented. But he's very handy as he packs a pretty good punch and his Auras and Buffs enhance his usefulness even further, drawing enemies towards him and making your ally Summons more agressive. That said, Enranged Sandor is a very agressive tank-like summon. Too bad you don't get him until you hit Lv.70...

[B][color=darkred]-Conqueror Kasijas- (Awakening)[/color][/B]
[IMG]http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/9837/kasijas.gif[/IMG]
[LIST]
[B]Grounded summon.
[*]Melee attack based.
[*]Duration: 40 seconds.
[*]Limit per Summoner: 1
[*]Immune to Sleep, Stun, Freeze, Confusion.
Cannot be launched or grabbed.
Extremely high Hit Recovery.
[*]Skills;
LV1 - Foreshock Sword(Single-handed sword draw),
Tornado Sword(Wide single-handed sword draw),
Merciless Sword(Dashing two-handed sword draw),
[color=darkred]Death Bringer Dance(input/hotkey slash)[/color],
Hell Bringer(swords dropping upon its death/disappearance)[/B][/LIST]

The Demon Conqueror himself, Kasijas is the strongest summon in your arsenal. However, this comes at a very drastic cost... Summoning Kasijas not only takes a lot of MP, but also saps the Summoner's HP as well. But in return, you temporarily gain the assistance of an Apostle. That said, he's extremely powerful and is great for burst damage, but at 80 SP a level and the fact he only lasts 40 seconds (plus the 2-3 min cooldown) it makes you wonder if that power is worth the trouble. You may consider investing that SP into other summons. But should you choose to invest in Kasijas, you'll have an extremely solid damage dealer.

Rebirth Changes:
Before, Kasijas wasn't really that great for an Awakening skill. Now, he's capable of some very impressive damage. However, Kasijas truly remains as Burst Damage on cooldown.


[B][SIZE="5"]Spirits;[/SIZE][/B]
Spirit summons are weaker than Contract summons in general, but you can usually summon more at once and tend to be a bit more replacable as a result. They also cost less MP to summon.


[B][SIZE="4"]~*Tier1 Spirits*~[/SIZE][/B]

[B]-T1 Specific Properties-[/B]
[LIST]
[B]Cannot be launched or grabbed.
[*]Base duration: 30 seconds.
[*]Limit of 7 T1 spirits out at any given time per Summoner. Can be increased further through Summon Spirit Upgrade.
[*]More than 1 can be summoned in a single cast if there are multiple elemental "sources" nearby and the skill is at/above the following levels;
*Skill LV4 = 2 at once.
*Skill LV9 = 3 at once.
*Skill LV13 = 4 at once.
*Skill LV18 = 5 at once.
*Skill LV23 = 6 at once.
*Skill LV28 = 7 at once.
[*]A common example of an elemental "source" are the 3 balls of light from Florae Circle - usually used in multi-summoning Wisps.[/B][/LIST]

[B]-Wisp-[/B]
[IMG]http://a.imageshack.us/img704/548/wisp.png[/IMG]
[LIST]
[B]Floating summon.
[*]Melee attack based.
[*]Duplicates certain Light-based attacks that hit, max of once per summon.
[*]Skills;
LV1 - Melee attack(light based, chance of stun)[/B][/LIST]

Wisps are light-based summons. They're perfect for the novice summoner as they're very easy to multi-summon. However, they also possess the weakest attack strength of all the T-1 summons. Luckily, they have a chance to Stun an enemy on hit. They can also duplicate certain Light-based attacks, which can be semi-useful. Wisps are great in numbers, so always keep the max number of Wisps out that you can.

[B]-Naias-[/B]
[IMG]http://a.imageshack.us/img842/3813/naias.png[/IMG]
[LIST]
[B]Floating summon.
[*]Melee-Ranged hybrid.
[*]Heals 2% of a person's HP for each one summoned.
Heals party members in the order of left to right on the party icon, and then APCs, i.e;
*top of your screen*;
1st-----2nd-----3rd-----4th
[*]Skills;
LV1 - Melee attack(ice based, small chance of freeze),
Ranged icicle attack(chance of freeze)[/B][/LIST]

Naias are water-based summons. In addition to a melee attack, they can also attack from long-range with a small icicle. They have a chance to Freeze enemies with both attacks. They're slightly more powerful than Wisps, but slightly harder to multi-summon. Naias can also heal allies upon being summoned which can be very useful if multi-summoning.

[B]-Stalker-[/B]
[IMG]http://a.imageshack.us/img829/964/stalkerw.png[/IMG]
[LIST]
[B]Grounded summon.
[*]Melee attack based.
[*]Skills;
LV1 - Melee attack(dark based, high chance of curse)[/B][/LIST]

Stalkers are Shadow-based summons. While confined to the ground, Stalkers are hard-hitting and agressive, making them the strongest of the T-1 summons. However, they're also the hardest to multi-summon, which normally can't be done without specific Creatures or special attack combinations. Their attacks have a chance of Cursing enemies, lowering their stats. They can also attack OTG (on the ground), letting them hit downed enemies.

[B]-Ador-[/B]
[IMG]http://a.imageshack.us/img826/4733/ador.png[/IMG]
[LIST]
[B]Floating summon.
[*]Melee attack based.
[*]Skills;
LV1 - Melee attack(fire based, chance of double attack; increases with skill level)[/B][/LIST]

Adors are Fire-based summons. Slightly weaker than Stalkers, Adors are fairly powerful and have a chance to double up on attack, dealing even more damage than normal. Fairly tricky to multi-summon, but can be done without the assistance of Creatures.


[B][SIZE="4"]~*Tier2 Spirits*~[/SIZE][/B]
Rebirth Changes: The T2 spirits now get another attack at Skill Lv10.

[B]-T2 Specific Properties-[/B]
[LIST]
[B]Cannot be launched, grabbed, or knocked down.
[*]Base duration: 90 seconds.
[*]Limit per Summoner per T2: 1 (with some exceptions; you normally can't have 2 Glarines out).
[*]Must sacrifice 1 T1 spirit of the same element to summon.
[*]Often gain Super Armor in response to ranged attacks.[/B][/LIST]

[B]-Glarine-[/B]
[IMG]http://a.imageshack.us/img203/3729/glarine.gif[/IMG]
[LIST]
[B]Floating summon.
[*]Ranged attack based.
[*]Limit per Summoner: 1
[*]Skills;
LV1 - Lightning attack
LV5 - 5-Way Lightning attack: Drops 5 Lightning bolts in row.
Lv10 - Lightning Shield: Creates a Lightning Shield that does damage on contact and reflects Light-based attacks.
[/B][/LIST]

Glarine is a Light-based summon. Is very powerful, but possses almost entirely long-range attacks. Very good for enemy groups, airborne, and Shadow-based enemies. Possesses the best overall damage of the T2 Summons.

[B]-Aquarius-[/B]
[IMG]http://a.imageshack.us/img64/9987/aquariusstay.gif[/IMG]
[LIST]
[B]Floating summon.
[*]Ranged attack based.
[*]Limit per Summoner: 1
[*]Skills;
LV1 - 3-Icicle Drop attack(small chance of Freeze)
LV5 - Ice Breath(chance of freeze)[/B][/LIST]
LV 10 - Ice Missiles: Shoots 3 shards of ice at the enemy.

Aquarius is a Water-based summon. Much like Glarine, most of its attacks are long-range. However, its attacks are usually more focused on one enemy, rather than several. Can Freeze enemies. Very good for airborne and Fire-based enemies.

[B]-Dead Murker-[/B]
[IMG]http://a.imageshack.us/img96/9241/murkerstay.gif[/IMG]
(has a scythe ingame)
[LIST]
[B]Floating summon.
[*]Melee attack based.
[*]Limit per Summoner: 1
[*]Skills;
LV1 - Shadow scythe swing(y-axis swing, small chance of blind)
LV5 - Shadow scythe strike(x-axis downswing, small chance of blind; pierces through enemies in its effective range)[/B][/LIST]
Lv10 - Hell Raid (Shadow-based AoE attack; last several seconds)

Dead Murker is a Shadow-based summon. While possessing less power than Glarine and Aquarius, Murker can attack in melee-range and can Blind enemies on hit. Later on, its Hell Raid attack makes for a decent AoE attack.

[B]-Flame Hulk-[/B]
[IMG]http://a.imageshack.us/img829/1894/flamehulkstay.gif[/IMG]
[LIST]
[B]Floating summon.
[*]Melee attack based.
[*]Limit per Summoner: 1
[*]Skills;
LV1 - Fire Dagger swing(y-axis swing)
LV5 - Fire Dagger strike w/explosion(x-axis downswing, chance of explosion is high, pierces through enemies in its effective range)[/B][/LIST]
LV10- Doppelganger (Flame Hulk Clone with about 60~75% of actual power and crappy AI)

Flame Hulk is a Fire-based summon. Much like Dead Murker, Flame Hulk can attack in melee-range and can cause a Fire Explosion on hit. Is particularly useful for multi-summoning Adors. Flame Hulk's Doppelganger can act as another summon with exceptional power, adding to your firepower, but lacks good AI (i.e. Doesn't respond to most of your skills except Lasher) and doesn't last quite as long as the real Flame Hulk.

[B][SIZE="4"]~*Spirit King*~[/SIZE][/B]

[B]-Spirit King Echeverria-[/B]
[IMG]http://a.imageshack.us/img801/6880/spiritkingecheverria.png[/IMG]
[LIST]
[B]Grounded summon.
[*]Constant Superarmor.
[*]Ranged attack based.
[*]Duration: 200 seconds.
[*]Limit per Summoner: 1
[*]Must sacrifice 1 T2 spirit of any element to summon.
[*]Skills;
Spirit Buff Aura - Strengthens spirits in some way, and strengths him for each spirit out as they deal damage to enemies.
Spirit Absorption - When critically low on HP, will absorb a T1 spirit's HP to heal himself.
LV1 - Melee attack (Multi-Element; very short range), Sonic Wave (Multi-Element; travels entire x-axis, pushes enemies away if possible)
LV5 - Triple Lightning (Light Element; large radius)
LV10 - Electric Laser (Multi-Element; travels entire x-axis, pierces)[/B][/LIST][/QUOTE]

The Spirit King is kinda interesting. He combines the damage of a Spirit summon along with the duration and durability of a Contract summon. That said, aside from Kasijas, Eche is likely the strongest summon in your arsenal. All of his attacks are purely percent-based (and they have high percentages), so they can only get better as you get better gear and level up. There's also numerous ways and items to boost him too, making Eche a very solid summon. Most of his attacks are also Multi-Elemental, meaning said attacks are equally imbued with all of the major elements (Fire, Water, Shadow, Light). This allows Eche to hit enemies with the best possible damage, since the damage done to enemies will be the element they're weakest to. Makes sense, as Eche is THE Spirit King, and is the embodiment of all 4 elements. He also powers up your other Spirit summons, allowing for even more damage from your Spirit summons, as well as more damage from Eche (dependent on the number of Spirit summons out).

Rebirth Changes: Multi-Elemental attacks except for the Triple Lightning. Also new is that whenever Eche disappears or dies, the T-2 summon that was sacrificed comes back to battle for its remaining duration with its Lv10 skills.

[B][SIZE="4"]~*Ordinary Spirits*~[/SIZE][/B]
The Ordinary Spirits aren't available until Level 60 and must be bought with TP, as they are Active EX Skills.

[B]-Ordinary Spirit Specific Properties-[/B]
[LIST]
[B]Cannot be launched or grabbed.
[*]Base duration: 40 seconds.
[*]Consumes 2 Clear Cube Fragments upon use.
[*]Limit of 2 Ordinary spirits out at any given time per Summoner and they can't be the same Spirit.
[*]Only one Ordinary Spirit can be summoned at any one time. (Can't be multi-summoned.)
[*]No cooldown on their attacks. (A unintentional bug?)
[/B][/LIST]


[B]-Selist[/B]
[IMG]http://a.imageshack.us/img704/548/wisp.png[/IMG]
[LIST]
[B]Floating summon.
[*]Melee attack based.
[*]Has an Attack Aura and Fire Attack/Resistance Aura.
[*]Skills;
LV1 - Melee attack(Fire-based, chance of 2x hit)[/B][/LIST]

A more powerful Ador basically. SUPER useful due to its Attack Aura which increases the P.Atk and M.Atk of all nearby allies. Also capable of dishing some significant damage should something catch its attention. Good for pretty much any build.


[B]-Ratria[/B]
[IMG]http://a.imageshack.us/img704/548/wisp.png[/IMG]
[LIST]
[B]Floating summon.
[*]Melee/Ranged attack based.
[*]Has an Damage Absorbtion Aura and Water Attack/Resistance Aura.
[*]Skills;
LV1 - Melee attack(Water-based), Ranged Icicle attack (Water-based)[/B][/LIST]

A more powerful Naias basically. Somewhat useful due to its Damage Absorbtion Aura which defers damage of all nearby allies to it. Very handy for absorbing damage in conjunction with Sandor. Best used for Naias-based builds.


[B]-Sheyd[/B]
[IMG]http://a.imageshack.us/img829/964/stalkerw.png[/IMG]
[LIST]
[B]Grounded summon.
[*]Melee attack based.
[*]Has a Blind Aura and Shadow Attack/Resistance Aura.
[*]Skills;
LV1 - Melee attack(Shadow-based)[/B][/LIST]

A more powerful Stalker basically. SUPER useful due to its Blind Aura, which can completely cripple APCs and decrease the Visual Range and Hit Rate of enemies. Very few enemies are truly immune to its effects. Also capable of dishing some significant damage should something catch its attention. Can be useful in other builds besides Stalker-based ones.

[B]-Alicia[/B]
[IMG]http://a.imageshack.us/img704/548/wisp.png[/IMG]
[LIST]
[B]Floating summon.
[*]Melee attack based.
[*]Has an Movement Speed Aura and Light Attack/Resistance Aura.
[*]Skills;
LV1 - Melee attack(light based)[/B][/LIST]

A more powerful Wisp basically. Best used in Wisp builds due to the increased Light attack. Not quite so useful for other builds since the Movement Speed Aura is pretty meh compared to the other Ordinary Spirits' Auras.


EX Passives

Intelligence Growth - Increases INT by 25/50/75. Max it to maximize your damage potential.

Spirit Exaltation - Increases SPI by 25/50/75. Also increases INT and MP Regen as a result.

Good Hit Training - Increases Hit Rate 3/6/10%. Max to make Mark and Lasher hit more accurately.

Evasion Training - Increases Evasion by 3/6/10%.

MP Regeneration Acceleration - Increases natural MP Regeneration rate. Gives bonus MP regen per 500 Spirit. (Bonus +72 MP per Min per skill level for every 500 Spirit)

Elemental Resistance Training - Increases ALL Elemental Resistances. Not necessary in the least.

Florae Circle Upgrade - Increases # of light balls created by Florae Circle, while lowering damage. Consider 1 point if using a Wisp Build only. Not necessary though.

Elemental Burn Upgrade - Gives a chance for an additional Mark to light up when using an elemental attack to light a Mark. Skip it or max. Not totally necessary, but helps if using an EB build.

Lasher Upgrade - Increases buff/damage effects of Lasher. A must Max if you have Lasher.

Hired Summon: Panzer Hodor Upgrade - Gives a chance of summoning a higher-level Hodor when summoned. Max if using Hodor.

Mana Shield Upgrade - Increases Damage Absorbtion of Mana Shield. Possibly useful for PvP purposes. Otherwise, skip it.

Summon Spirit Upgrade - Increases the max limit of T-1 summons to 8/9/10. Useful if you can consistently multi-summon to the T-1 limit.

Mark the Target! Upgrade - Increases the duration of Mark's effects by 10% per level. Not worth getting or maxing since an extra 30% only adds 1.5 seconds of duration.

Big Sis Louise! Upgrade - Gives a chance of summoning a higher-level Louise when summoned. Max if using Louise.

Spirit King Echeverria Upgrade - Gives a chance of summoning a higher-level Eche when summoned. Max if using Eche.



F.A.Q.

Does elemental attack stats affect my summons?
-Nope. Only affects your character's attacks, not your Summons. However, your summons can take advantage of Elemental Attack boosts via the Ordinary Spirits' auras.

Does X buff on my gear affect my Summons?
-Depends. Generally, it has to be an aura effect for it to affect your summons. However, boosts to your INT affect your summons, and an aura effect can stack that. (Bonus from the Summoner and bonus to the Summon itself.)

Will Summons activate "X" proc on my weapon?
-Nope. It'd be utterly broken if that were the case. In general, most procs are activated via your character, not your Summons.

Do Train and Mark work at the same time?
-Nope. Both have different priorties. Train will override Mark's effects so long as it's active. However, enemies hitting you while Train is active will draw your summons to them as if they were affected by Mark.

What's the best equipment for a Summoner?
-Check the Stickies.

What about builds?
-Check the Stickies.

Can I multisummon off of X attack?
-Depends. You'll need to check the attack and see if it has elemental properties. A general rule of thumb is that if an attack is ranged and has an element attached, it counts as a source.

What's the best Creature for a Summoner?
-Depends on playstyle and build. In general, a Marbas works well for boosting your army. For specialized builds, the Belz line and Soulbender Reva work well for multi-summoning Stalkers (and quickly at that), and Inferneas works well for multi-summoning Adors (albeit at a semi-long cooldown of about ~30-40 sec). Other creatures that boost your INT or M.Atk work good as well.

What's the deal with this gear that has +1 Summonable XXXX?
-Some gear allows for additional summons of a Summon that you couldn't normally have more than one out at once.
Some examples:
(Old) Cheshire Rod: +1 Hodor and Sandor
Cheshire Rod: +1 Hodor
(Old) West Witch Becky's Staff: +1 Aukuso
Hellflower Stave: +1 Aukuso
??? (Lv65 Epic Rod?): +1 Freet
Spirit Unison Set (9 Set Piece Bonus): +1 Eche
Infinite Contract Set (9 Set Piece Bonus): +1 Louise

Mind you, the equipment listed is extremely rare, so consider yourself lucky if you have any of the above.


What's the best avatar layout for a Summoner?
-My opinion?

Avatars
Head: Int, Spi
Hat: Int, Spi
Face: Abnormal Status
Torso: Abnormal Status
Top: Summoned Creature Aura, Louise, Eche, etc. (Lots of options can go here, though SCA is good for general use.)
Skin: Physical Reduction
Waist: Evasion, X Resistance (if necessary)
Bottom: MP, HP, X Skill (Some avatars give you the choice of a Class Skill on bottom; Lasher and Hodor are good to get if you need.)
Shoes: Movement Speed

Emblems
Red (Hat/Hair): Int, Spi
Yellow (Face/Torso): Cast Speed, MP per Min.
Green (Top/Bottom): MP Max, Evasion, HP Max
Blue (Waist/Shoes): Movement Speed, Hit Rate
Prism (All Slots): N/A; Not worth using over other slots.
Dual Red/Green: (Hat/Hair/Top/Bottom) Int/MP, Int/Evasion, Int/HP
Dual Blue/Yellow (Face/Torso/Shoes/Waist): Cast Speed/Hit Rate, Cast Speed/Move Speed
Platinum (Top/Bottom; Rare Avatars only):
*Int +8,Spi +8, Cast with a 1% chance of increasing Casting Speed (or Movement Speed; Casting Speed is preferred) by 5% for 20 sec
*All Stats +8, Cast with a 1% chance of recovering 500 MP (or HP; MP is preferred most likely)
*All Stats +8, +1 to corresponding subclass cube skill

**Note: Most of the Platinum Emblems are pretty good. However, they're pretty rare, but most will likely be to your liking.
**Note: Solid Emblems give higher bonuses than Duals, however, Duals increase two stats instead of one.



Multi-Summoning (or "How can I do it?")
To multi-summon T1 Spirits, you'll need multiple elemental sources. More than 1 T1 spirit can be summoned in a single cast if there are multiple elemental sources nearby and the skill is at or above the following levels;
*Skill LV4 = 2 at once.
*Skill LV9 = 3 at once.
*Skill LV13 = 4 at once.
*Skill LV18 = 5 at once.
*Skill LV23 = 6 at once.
*Skill LV28 = 7 at once.

What's a source and What counts as a source?
Many attacks, skills, and items can be used as Sources. You'll need to check the attack and see if it has elemental properties. A general rule of thumb is that if an attack is ranged (or projectile-like) and has an element attached, it counts as a source.

A good example would be Florae Circle. Casting it creates 3 electrical balls that count as 3 Light sources. Casting Wisp (with Skill Lv9 or higher) right after this would create 3 Wisps. Another example of sources are actually the T2 Spirits' attacks, as you can often multi-summon off of their attacks. Another example using that would be Glarine's 5-Way Lightning attack. If you cast Wisp (with Skill Lv13 or higher) at the right time, you can create up to 4 Wisps at once! Experiment and see how many you can summon at once!


Party Play
With the right party members, you can use their Skills as elemental sources, giving yourself a huge advantage.

Some examples:
Soul Bender/Necromancer: SB's Tombstone attack counts as multiple Shadow sources, and many of both Subclasses' attacks are Shadow-based, which make good sources.
Spitfire/Witch/Launcher: Spitfires can enchant their bullets with elemental attacks. A good example of this is Burning Bullets, which cause Fire Explosions on hit. These explosions count as elemental sources. The same goes for a Witch's Raging Flame Furnace, as its flaming coals count as multiple Fire sources. You can use a Launcher's Flamethrowers as Fire sources.
Nen Master/Crusader: A Nen Master's Skillset is almost purely Light-based. As a result, nearly all of their attacks make great Light sources. You can easily summon multiple Wisps off a Nen's Spiral Nen. As for a Crusader, you can summon off its Revenge of Light procs, as its lightning bolts count as Light sources.
Battle Mage: Interestingly enough, you can multi-summon off of their Chasers. Pay attention to the colors!

There's more, but these are merely some good examples to work off of. Study up on the different attacks and learn to make the most of your teammates!


Common Sources:
The following is a list of "common" sources for each element. This isn't meant as a comprehensive list, as there would simply be too much to mention.

Light: Florae Circle, Lightning/Thunderbolt attacks, Spiral Nen. Nen Shot, Glarine's Lightning and 5-Way Lightning, Eche's Thunderbolts, Revenge of Light procs, etc.
Ice: Frosty's Head, Naias' ranged attack, Aquarius' attacks, Louise's Ice Needles and Ice Pillar,
Fire: Lantern Firebomb, Freet's atttacks, Louise's Fireball, Flame Hulk's attacks/death, Flamethrower, Fire Pillar, Fire Explosions, Blazing Bullets, Oil + Bombs/Firebombs, etc.
Shadow: Pluto, Black Hole, Tombstone, Dead Murker's attacks, Necromancer's Skills (numerous),
All/Multi: Battle Mage's Chasers, Multi-Elemental Attacks (Flame Void Volcano, etc.)


Play Tips
Here are some play tips to help you along in the game!

-Try to keep most of your Summons out at all times and Multi-summon whenever you can. The larger your army, the more damage you're capable of.
-Plan your build ahead of time. Luckily, you get an SP reset upon Awakening now, so if you screw up beforehand, you have a chance to fix it. Otherwise, SP resets are very rare and/or expensive.
-Gear Swapping: Summoners can take advantage of Gear Swapping to make their summons even stronger. Example: Summoning Eche? Put on an Avatar Top with Eche, an armor piece (with +1 Eche), and a weapon (with +1 Eche), and your Echeverria just got 3 Skill levels stronger! You can swap back afterwards and Eche will keep his levels. Use this to your advantage!
-Elemental Burn: Aside from the T1 Elementalist Skills, your Spirit Summoning Skills can also light up Marks.
-Stay active! While it's tempting to go AFK while your summons run amok, they'll kill stuff much faster and efficiently if you stay nearby and use Mark and Lasher as needed. Just watch out for enemies!
-Cheap Recovery: With Rebirth's new stat mechanics, you have more HP and MP than ever. Of course, much of this is due to Equipment bonuses. If you strip off all your gear, you'll have considerably less HP/MP, which makes it MUCH easier to restore HP/MP with fixed Potions. Then you can put all your gear back on and have full HP/MP. (This doesn't work with Percentage-Based Pots.) Of course, it goes without saying you should do this only after you've cleared a room and are low on HP/MP.
-Reinforcement: While it's VERY expensive, a reinforced weapon can go a long ways in helping you to deal more damage. However, it's advised to do so only on equipment you know you're bound to use and keep forever. (i.e. Try to save it for your "endgame" equips mostly.) +7 and +10 are good stopping places, since beyond those points, it's likely that the equip will lose it's reinforcement or break! Of course, if you go higher, you'll get much better significant bonuses (especially from +10 onwards). It's all about that risk and reward...




Sacrifice Summoners

"Come forth my sacrificial lambs! Know that your sacrifices are for the better good of the World."

Sacrifice Summoners are a bit different than your normal Summon Build. Unlike a normal build where you'd summon a lot of stuff and let them go to town, a Sacrifice build involves sacrificing your T1 Spirit Summons to inflict powerful Area-Of-Effect (AoE) damage. More so, there's also a steep SP sink in doing this, since you need at least 10 levels of all four T1 Spirit Summons.

Let's look at the Skills that define a Sacrifice Summoner:

Spirit Sacrifice
Casts a pentacle in an area ahead of you, and then sacrifices your low-level summoned spirits in the area to cast buffs on allies within the specified area.

This is your bread-and-butter Skill. Without levels in this skill, your effective range for sacrifice is fairly limited. The buff effect is nice, but rarely comes into play where it would be crucial.


The following skills are passive effects that are added to Spirit Sacrifice. One level will cause the effect to be added to Spirit Sacrifice. Additional levels will increase the damage done by the Sacrifice. They also lower an enemy's Elemental Resistance, so subsequent Elemental attacks can deal more damage.
In general, it's only recommended to max one or two of these Sacrifice Skills due to SP constraints.

Ador Sacrifice
Causes Adors to be sacrificed with Spirit Sacrifice. The Adors create a powerful explosion that deals Fire damage and may Burn enemies.

Naias Sacrifice
Causes Naias to be sacrificed with Spirit Sacrifice. The Naias expode into icicles that spread out in 8 directions dealing Water damage. Very good for hitting multiple enemies and works effectively for multi-summoning Naias. Can also hit large enemies multiple times if hit right.

Wisp Sacrifice
Causes Wisps to be sacrificed with Spirit Sacrifice. The Wisps drop thunderbolts on the enemy. Very effective with multiple Wisps. Can also work for multi-summoning Wisps, but requires fast Cast Speed.

Stalker Sacrifice
Causes Stalkers to be sacrificed with Spirit Sacrifice. The Stalkers create a powerful explosion dealing Shadow damage. Has the best raw damage of the Sacrifice Skills.


How to be effective as a Sacrifice Summoner
Here's some pointers on being an effective Sacrifice Summoner.

-Stack INT and Magic Attack. The Sacrifice Skills are heavily Percent-based attacks, so the more power you've got, the better.

-Multi-Summon! Your sacrifice skills rely entirely on T1 Spirits, so getting as many as you can before you peform a Sacrifice will benefit you greatly.

-Naias and Wisps are probably the easiest Sacrifices to peform, as they can be Multi-Summoned relatively easily. Stalkers and Adors can deal more damage, but this is offset by the fact that they're harder to Multi-Summon.

-Sacrifice Effectively! You can't spam Spirit Sacrifice all day, and it's usually not worth it to use it on just one regular enemy (unless said enemy is a Boss).

-Take duration into consideration; T1 Spirits last about 30 seconds and since you have some levels in them already, they can deal some effective damage. You can make the most of them until right before their duration runs out, then Sacrifice them. For this to be truly effective, consider maxing one or two T1 Spirits.

-Invest in Contracts/T2 Spirit Summons; These guys will help you deal some damage and protect you while you set up for a Sacrifice.

-Consider investing in Disenchant; Since the Sacrifice Skills also inflict Elemental Resist Down, you can Disenchant that off of the enemies and get a nice INT bonus.

-Can be very effective in PvP. Use it to surprise your opponents!