Animates are trash, how to make them good

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I consider it pretty useless to compare it with SRS honestly. SRS is on a different level entirely, it outshines ANY and ALL summoner builds atm. It's not exclusive to AW to perform worse.

SRS does outshine other summons. The difference is a can throw skellys on a totem and still use them in SRS or run zombies. I can't do that with AW because it can't be totemed and I always rather cast SRS.

Hence the suggestion, get rid of their duration but have the constraint be mana related.

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Crowcide wrote:

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"Oh, my precious dps goes down i cant use a skill in this game because of that boohoo" <- is all i had to read to know this isnt a thread i could ever take serious. Yeah, duh sometimes dps does go down but guess what, its not always about that.

Logic isn't really your thing is it? If two skills are the same in every respect except one does less damage and has constraints about when you can cast it, why would you other use the second.

For diversity? I never use the same skill set on another char, similar but never the same. Same would be boring. I got like 3 bow chars by now, theyre all different.

"Oh my previous graphics look different, but it's really the same skill only worse"

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Crowcide wrote:

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I consider it pretty useless to compare it with SRS honestly. SRS is on a different level entirely, it outshines ANY and ALL summoner builds atm. It's not exclusive to AW to perform worse.

SRS does outshine other summons. The difference is a can throw skellys on a totem and still use them in SRS or run zombies. I can't do that with AW because it can't be totemed and I always rather cast SRS.

Hence the suggestion, get rid of their duration but have the constraint be mana related.

I don't think you understand what you are suggesting, because a player who used AW would never suggest a mana constraint for them.

Peace,

-Boem-

For me AW makes for a great party character but it is a bit tedious solo. You get really fast at picking out the items and have time to do things like double curse and proc ee. With srs you just stand there spamming.

I also think the solo damage disparity is ok given how much safer AW is since monsters don't target SRS. I find chargers and leapers really scary with an SRS build.

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Shagsbeard wrote:

Do we really want AG to become the Valk from D2... an immortal damage source that outshines the character that summoned it?

Isn't that the whole point of being a summoner? Making your summons "outshine" the summoner?

+1 for making Animated Guardian better. I want to use that skill so much, but it's just a waste of items and the gem slot you would put it in.

Unless their only design goal was to make a portable minion buff, it was a fail right from the gate.

I also find it odd that, when they have buffed the Animated Guardian, they did so in ways that did nothing to address people's actual complaints about the skill.

First it was making him get some life back when you add a new piece of gear, then he was made a bit tankier. He still runs off on his own into every pack, you still can't see his stats, and he still permanently eats items.

Why would anyone want to make something like that a part of their build?

Here is a really good summoner that could compete with SRS.

A flaming ghoul is cast. It starts off burning with with high health, movement speed, and damage. Rather than expiring with duration, its health would decrease at an ever increasing rate. As its health decreases, it turns bluer and becomes more chilled looking and deals % cold damage more and % fire damage less.

There are so many cool interactions that this skill would have with regeneration for minions, minion instability, and quality can alter health degen rate/max health, etc. Would be such a cool skill. Only problem is we already have fire on srs.