by Savanja on Jun 03, 2007
Summoners are some of the most popular classes in game. Once you play a necromancer or a conjurer it is easy to see why! These classes are fun, useful, easy to play, and sure to delight both the novice gamer and the steadfast veteran.
They both have the basic ability to call forth minions, either a fighter, scout, or mage, to assist them in battle, but other than being able to summon pets, conjurers and necromancers are fairly different. Conjurers call upon the powers of the elementals to aid in their battle against evil. They call down devastating spells of heat and cold to smite their foes.
Necromancers manipulates the dead, calling them forth from the ground, to obey their Master's will. The spells necromancers weave disease and rot their enemies slowly. So while conjurer and necromancers are both summoners, they find their paths very varied.
Is one better than the other? Not particularly. I find necromancers to be very powerful with the right player, and some might think that they are a tab bit overpowered, but conjurers can be quite impressive in end game as well. The choice between the two will basically end up coming down to being good or being evil as summoners are not a neutral class.
Solo:
The greatest thing about the summoners is their ease in soloing. With the pet classes, you basically have a built in duo partner!
The general strategy for soloing is the same for either of the summoners. You'll send your pet in, and call it back with the "back off" order (if there are other mobs in the area that you'd rather not attract the attention of), then send your pet back in to attack once the mob is where you want it. While your pet is attacking, you'll use your own damage spells to add some DPS. During this time, it is a good idea to toggle on the options to have your pet protect you and protect itself, this will keep it attacking multiple target encounters even after the mob it was ordered to attack is dead, and saves you from having to re-target and send the pet back in.
I personally never use my scout or mage pet while I solo with my conjurer, I completely rely upon my fighter pet to protect me. The fighter is able to keep aggro better, giving me the ability to concentrate on damage and keeping my pet healed, and the fighter pet is clearly meant to take more damage than either of its higher DPS counterparts. So you are better off saving the scout and mage pets for grouping.
As a soloer, it will be particularly important that you upgrade your pets and pet heals religiously. You'll also want to keep your pet's stances and your own damage spells upgraded.
Group:
In groups, summoners really need to pay attention to what their pet is doing. The mage pets can cast spells that do damage to the entire encounter which can draw aggro away from the tank on the off targets when attacking multi-target encounters. Any of the pets can draw away aggro of off targets if you do not have your pet assisting the tank, so please make sure that your pet is on the correct target! Pets will also come back to you and stop attacking once the mob it was ordered to attack is dead, but unlike when you solo, you don't want the pet to protect you or itself, so make sure those options are toggled off. You only want it to hit what you tell it to and only to assist the main tank.
Conjurers are great for small groups in that they can fill the need for multiple positions. They always add a good amount of DPS, but when a small group lacks a tank, the conjurer's fighter pet can fill in and act as one. This works really well if you have a healer in group that can heal the pet consistently.
Solo:
Necromancers can be very powerful soloers once the player has gotten the hang of playing this class, and are capable of soloing heroics rather easily. They follow the same sort of basic soloing mechanics as the conjurers do. Simply use your pet to pull and maintain aggro while you help burn down the mob with damage spells. And just as with the conjurers you will need to take special care in keeping your pet, pet heals, and pet stances upgraded. Necros have amazing DoTs, damage spells, and heals so be sure to upgrade those as well as soon as you can.
Group:
Necromancers are so valuable in groups and they admittedly bring more to the table than conjurers do. Along with the typical grouping advice from the above conjurer section, necros have abilities that allow them to act as a back up healer when grouped. I can't even count how many times our resident necro saved our rear ends with a well timed heal! And healing isn't all they can do! At higher levels, necromancers can feign death and rez fallen allies. These are great utility spells that give the group an extra edge in combat.
Having those extra helpful utilities means keeping them upgraded, but you will find it well worth it when you spend much time grouping!
In playing either of these great classes, you will find reward. The name of the game for summoners will always be pet control, learn to use your pet properly both while soloing and in groups, and you will master your class!
Questions or comments? My virtual door is always open via e-mail!