Summoner Minions die so fast ...

I am currently lvling a summoner. I can say it gets better. I am at level 71 and can solo quite a few maps now. I was able to do a few 66 maps during the 60-65 range somewhere. Merciless aint to bad. AOE mobs still rip my crew a new Ahole, but most regular mobs, yellows, and bosses are laid to waste easily. Getting some gear helps. There are a few uniques that help alot. I am still on a +1 minion helm and my zombies are at 12403 hp at level 17 in the +1 helm with dmg/hp linked. From 66 to 17 they gained around 2500 HP. I believe 15500 is at level 18. It scales well.

There are some mobs you will just always have a hard time with though. AOE will smoke your guys...especially elemental dmg.
Worst mob is the flaming rolling rock. He will wipe you out with the burning patch of ground. Sounds like popcorn with instability.

I do have on




As far as the skill tree. It aint working for me either. I took all the minion and spectre nodes. Got Instability and dual curses. Picked up life, chaos/resist along the way.

Most builds use Minion Instability, but with some enemies, they can kill long before the zombies get close = no damage from exploding. I'm not only using that, and i went after the all of the + life nodes first for minions (got them all). Think some builds suggest that.

btw, i like your stuff airtech. I only found 2-3 rare items, none for summoners so far.

I try and get close enough to the mob so that I can drop skele's right on top of em, if they are taking out my minions ranged...and well.. sometimes I die. It happens. Usually when I try and hurry though.

As for those 3 items, I traded for em. I think I gave 4 GCP equiv between the 3.

I am lvl 32 now and it is really hard to lvl in my opinion.

I have to find these 3 busts, the area is for lvl 29 but still it is pretty hard. I now got the Resistance aura, it helps quite a lot, but I have still problems.

Any lvling tips?

Thanks

Try to get a +1 or +2 Minion helmet. Something like this one:



Also: One more level on Zombies often works wonders. So: Lvlup, get a +1 Minion Helmet and you should be fine.


You should get a spell totem for skeletons asap, which makes your actions safer and saves Mana in total.

I have a spelltotem and yeah, that helps alot. How can I get such a helmet? Do I ahve to make it on my own or hoping for drop luck ?!

Thanks

You just gotta have some luck. You also may buy one. They ain't that expensive. I am currently selling this one for one alch, for example.

I've been using the tactic to run with some of the farming groups, like the docks in act3. It does make it easier if you are a few levels above the map you are going to quest on.

I believe the issue you are seeing with your minions dieing fast is normal. This is why most builds grab Minion Instability.

I currently have a level 75 witch that I leveled solo from start to finish with very few issues. I also solo maps now with no problems.

The main difference I see between what you are doing and how I leveled is that I raced to Minion Instability and then the extra spectre immediately. I also found the unique necklace while leveling (and bought the boots). This was my first character so all my gear was crap. I did follow a different build than you, one by solarmoon, however I believe the build you are following should be just as good.

Here are a few pointers for leveling that I picked up either from solarmoon's guide or through my own trial and error:

1. Make sure your spectres are ranged. Melee die too fast and are not effective. Spectres should have plus damage and not plus life since they are not suppose to die. I mainly use the flying carpets (they are actually drapes but whatever) from solaris temple that throw fireballs since my off spec is fire based. They also seem to be the best spectre for avoiding trouble thus staying alive the longest. Having one summoner that automatically casts curses can be helpful as well. Otherwise, whatever ranged that dies near you should also work.

2. Once you have Minion Instability, raise your skeleton right next to the target you are trying to kill, trying to make sure its between you and the target if its ranged. If your skelteon dies right away, minion instability will ensure your target takes a good amount of damage right away and you can cast the next skeleton.

3. Make sure you take the life nodes your build asks for even if you are not having problems with dieing. I skipped most of my life nodes and took all the extra minion nodes instead. Once I got into act 2 of merciless I ran into problems staying alive until I looked back at the build guide and decided to respec to what it suggested (basically dropping two minion nodes and taking all the life nodes I was suppose to take). I have since leveled beyond the guide and taken back my extra minion nodes.

4. Keep your skeletons coming. Do not get carried away trying to fight or do other things. This will become much easier once you put your skeletons on a totem. Then you will only have to watch your zombies. If you are like me and forget about keeping them up, run away and raise them - do not try to raise them in a fight because you will likely die.

5. Wear the fastest boots you find regardless of what other stats are on them. Running is what you do when things go bad. You should also consider having some method to teleport across gaps. I use lightning warp for my summoner.

6. Do not be afraid to try other spells while leveling. I found that firestorm was actually better while leveling than fireball. I still use it sometimes. I also played around with Power Siphon a bit once I found it. Also, fire trap or bear trap or whatever trap is likely a very good mix for any build. They do crazy damage and some have other useful effects. I found that for me pierce was better than the fire penetration that some guides I read recommended since I did not mind waiting to kill things that had fire resistance when in general I was killing most things quicker with pierce.

[edit]

7. Oh yes, forgot this one: Do not stop moving when dealing with dangerous situations. Standing still is a very quick way to die if you get focus fired by ranged or other attacks (such as shield slam or flicker strike or AOE poison).

8. Get your resistances maxed ASAP and keep them there. Newer players will find the game much easier if they do. More experienced players can always keep moving around to negate some of the issues of lower resistances (i.e. not getting hit at all).

Wow, that is a lot of information xD

I will try to get to minion instability. My Zombies now ahve 700 life ... which is great. I noticed that now they live so much longer ... and the gem is lvl 9 :P

Thanks for the hint with the HP nodes. I will try to use them.

Thanks