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#614473 18/09/17 11:09 AM
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Ladies and gentlemen, your confusion has been seen, heard, and noted. I've come to explain not only how summoning works, but also to explain the "Secret" infusions not possible through traditional summoning or through purchasing books. I will not only go into the summoning tree, but also into other summons available through other trees, such as my beloved fire slug of immortality. My name is Foxy, and class, is in session.

First off, we'll start with the totem, a highly underrated spell and summon due to its lack of control methods and lack of mobility. I will explain HOW summoning is done here due to the totem's simplicity. To use the spell, cast the ability on any surface to summon a totem whose stats depend entirely on three factors, your character level, your summoning skill level, and the terrain summoned on. The higher the skill, the more lethal the totem. The list of summonable totems and what they do are as follows, their damage is matched by the element summoned in:

*Water/Ice/Blessed Water/Blessed Ice: Water totem that can freeze enemies who are on a water or ice surface, and who have no magic armor.
*Fire/Blessed/NecroFire: The attacks lights them on fire if they dont have magic armor
*Poison/Cursed Poison: Similar to fire, but it poisons instead
Oil/Cursed/Blessed Oil: Summons an oil totem that deals earth damage. Nothing special
Blood/Cursed/Blessed Blood: Physical damage that inflicts bleed if they have no physical armor.
Literally anywhere else: Wood totem. Does physical damage.

Summon Incarnate. Okay, lets be honest, you all wanted to know about this one the most. I get it. It's badass, looks cool, does insane damage, has insane stats, and can be powered up to do some incredibly stupid and amazing things. I'll go over the basic power ups first, then get into the infusions, including the secret infusions that require source to cast. Totally worth it, FYI.

*Power infusion: Grants phys armor (forever PA now) and the spells whirlwind strike and bull rush, as well as a 25% base damage bonus. Stacks with Farsight infusion.
*Farsight infusion: Grants magic armor (Yep, MA) as well as the incarnate ranged attack ability, as well as an additional 25% base damage increase. Stacks with power infusion.
*Shadow infusion: Grants the chameleon skin spell and the Corrupted blade abilities, as well as one additional movement speed. Stacks with all buffs/auras.
*Warp infusion: Grants the tactical retreat spell and the ability to swap locations with its owner, as well as a 15% bonus dodge chance. Dodge stacks additively with buffs and auras

Now onto infusions. I'll post the elements, the bonus spells they get, if any, and how to unlock this infusion, be it traditional, or casted. Speaking of spells though, incarnate spells do NOT scale with your INT!!! They scale off your Summon skill and elemental skill. All elemental incarnates gain +3 to your elemental skill related to their current element as well as immunity to that specific elements inherent debuff (bleeding, poison, frozen, etc.)

*Wood: Standard incarnate, Physical damage.
*Fire: Deals 100% fire damage, casts fireball. Summon on a patch of fire(cursed or blessed doesnt matter). Infuse book from combining any non-source summon book and fire book. 100% fire immune, 20% water vulnerable
*Necrofire: deals 100% fire damage. Infuse book from combining any summon book and a source fire book. Casts Fireball and Epidemic of Fire. Has 2 source points. 120% immune to fire, 20% vulnerable to water.
*Electric: Deals 100% air damage. Casts electric discharge. Infuse book from any non-source summon and air book. 100% air immune, 20% vulnerable from poison and earth.
*Cursed Electric: Deals 100% air damage and casts Electric Discharge and Closed Circuit. Has two source points. 120% immune to air and 20% vulnerable to poison and earth. infuse from a summon book and a source air book.
*Water: Deals 100% water damage and can cast restoration. Summon on a patch of water(cursed or blessed doesnt matter). Infuse book from combining any non-source summon and water book. 100% immune to water and 20% vulnerable to fire.
*Ice: Deals 100% magic damage and casts Restoration and Steam Lance. Has two source points. Infuse from any summon book and any source water book. 120% immune to water and 20% vulnerable to Fire.
*Poison: Deals 100% poison damage and casts Poison dart. Summon on a patch of Poison (cursed or blessed doesnt matter). Infuse book from any non source summon and geo book. 100% immune to poison and 20% vulnerable to air.
*Oil: Deals 100% earth damage and casts Fossil Strike. Summon on a patch of oil (cursed or blessed doesnt matter). NO INFUSE BOOK. 100% immune to earth and 20% vulnerable to air.
*Acid: Deals 100% poison damage and casts Poison Dart and Acid Spores. Has 2 source points. Infuse book from any summon book and any source geo book. 120% immune to poison and 20% vulnerable to air.
*Blood: Deals phys damage. +1 warfare. +15% PA and MA. Casts Mosquito Swarm. Summon from any patch of blood (cursed or blessed doesnt matter). NO INFUSE BOOK.

Okay, wall of text complete. Strictly speaking, you should summon an Incarnate based on your needs, i.e. water if you need a healer (poison for undead) or Blood if you are against mages with low PA.
Now let's get into buffing. Lets say you are in Arx, level 20, with 22 points into summoning. Your incarnate will have the following stats: 6711 HP and 2378 PA and MA. Lets go ahead and cast fortification on it for 2007. The result is 8800 armor. For those of you who want the math, its (2007x2.20)+2007. Yep. Your summon skill multiplies your damage, armor, and HP values across the board, including buffs that affect ANY of those values, but NOT auras. Sorry, no Firebrand cheesing. Blood incarnates factor in their armor bonuses AFTER the summon skill does, hitting 9213 armor instead.
What this means is that your summons hit harder, tank more, cast harder, and do more ranged damage than you ever will. but they only get 4 AP. I argue that Summoning is the most powerful school in the game simply because of its versatility in providing tank, DPS, and healer support for a party at the same time without sacrificing more than 3 memory slots. All because of the incarnate. Farsight, Power, and Summon Incarnate. But this isnt a debate forum. Lets move onto the other tree's summon spells. If you are doing pure summoner, then only dip enough points in to cast the spell, of course, more points split into pyro means that slug laser is just that much more insane. It is insane by the way.

Fire slug: Has battering ram and Laser Ray. Does 100% fire damage and leaves behind a trail of fire as it moves. Has 120% fire resistance 20% water vulnerability and poor movement. Works well as a tank since with the above mentioned stats has 10k HP. Yes. Really. Alonside its 4k MA, fire resistance, and being able to heal [i]As it moves[/i] because of the fire trails, this guy is a fantastic 1 Source investment.

Bone Widow: Massive Hp and above average PA, but No MA makes this a situational summon. It can burrow move across terrain and consume corpses (loot remains, no worries) for a 30% heal and a [i]Stacking Attack Buff[/i] that can help tank or distract foes. Huge size means it blocks doors really well.

Artillery Plant: Summons a hungry Flower that casts Acid Spores and Poison wave. Shit movement, Good HP, huge range and massive damage puts this monstrosity as my Go To for fire support. combo it with some pyro on the side to decimate foe's MA and stack on the DoT's.

Oil Blob: Its a summon that acts like a really sub-par fossil strike, and unleashes a low HP, low earth damage dealing, no spell casting blob of oil. Sub-Par move speed and stats make up for what it is designed to do, leave behind trails of oil as it walks, runs (with haste), and a massive puddle on death. 1 memory, no source, and free fire combos for anyone who cares to abuse it.

Now for recommended support spells: Fortify and Frost Armor for obvious reasons, Haste, Teleport, and optionally Restoration/Soothing Cold/Mend Metal to sustain. Dimensional Bolt can be finicky, so putting a point or two into each of the caster skills allows for on the spot adjustment and proper summoning. Summoners are encouraged to build into physical or caster based builds alongside their summoning skill to supplement their summons in combat.
If you are doing a Lone Wolf build, I hesitantly say that Summoning is a must due to strength in numbers without sacrificing the talent's benefits. Furthermore, Summoning is one of the few builds that can be used with itself in a party without sacrificing ANYTHING, for example 4 Summoners working side by side. Have one go pyro, one geo, one hydro, and one aero for good variety and a solid support foundation for your incarnates.
Now you know all you need to know to decimate, incinerate, and eliminate The Magisters and The Voidwoken as, The Summoner. Good Luck, and Good Hunting.

Last edited by Foxy of Loxly; 18/09/17 12:32 PM. Reason: Updates!
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If you feel this is, in any way, incomplete, post what you think is missing below. I'd love to what I've missed so I can improve!

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Hi, there has been reports, that stats of 10point summoning incarnate spikes up significantly - can you tell how big a difference is between lvl9 and lvl10?

Also, summoning skills description shows 5 percent increase, while soul-bond description shows 10 percent increase per point? which one is correct? I guess the latter for now, but i fear this will get patched next patch

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Originally Posted by Foxy of Loxly
If you feel this is, in any way, incomplete, post what you think is missing below. I'd love to what I've missed so I can improve!


Thanks for taking the time to do this write up smile Many people seem to be confused about the scaling with summons. Maybe add the fact that if you only dip into a magic school for the summon alone (like 3 geo for plant), any further investment is wasted. From what I've googled many, many people seem confused about this.

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I have a question about the infusion for the Summon incarnate, i have already found the Power/Farsight/Shadow speelbook, the only skill that i need now is the Warp Infusion. Did i miss that book or do i need to level up first? Currently my character is level 13 and summoning is level 10.

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Does it have to be the summoner who casts the fortification or frost armor on the incarnate, or can anyone in the team do it and still receive that huge benefit? Also, is there another mass spike in power at level 20 summon? Will it change into another form?

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Because it seems to be such a mass misconception, I shall take the appropriate means to ensure everyone gets the message:

THE ONLY PHYSICAL CHANGE THE INCARNATE GETS IS FROM THE TENTH LEVEL OF SUMMONING
THERE ARE NO OTHER POWER SPIKES OTHER THAN THE TENTH LEVEL
LEVEL TWENTY SUMMONING ISN'T MAGICAL. Just awesome.

*ahem*

As for finding the warp infusion, I cant recall who I got it from, but it comes from a merchant. Just keep looking around. Worse comes to worse you'll get it in Arx (not a spoiler. Butters from Act 1 mentions you meeting her there.)

Sorry for the mass caps, no offense meant to everyone, but I keep seeing that question pop up despite my repeated answers and image proof.

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[quote=Foxy of Loxly]
As for finding the warp infusion, I cant recall who I got it from, but it comes from a merchant. Just keep looking around. Worse comes to worse you'll get it in Arx (not a spoiler. Butters from Act 1 mentions you meeting her there.)
[/quote]

oh ok, thanks ^^

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So i did read about two spells called Summon Condor and Summon Dragoling. Do you know if they are in the game? Cus they dont show up in the GM mode.

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I can't say I've discovered any condor or dragon summons, only the ones listed, Ifan's wolf, and the NPC only summons like zombies, source hounds, eternal stalkers, and slimes.

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fantastic guide. running a summoner in my 2 man lone wolf and my incarnate is stronger than I am!


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Found summon Condor in the graveyard Act 2 i think? Gonna need spirit vision and petpal

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Interesting. Might be a secret summon then. We'll have to see!

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Hi Foxy,

Really appreciate you putting this together, been a great help for me as I've just rolled summoner!

I only started playing last night with a bunch of friends, we're blasting through Act1.

Question: In your experience, how's best to distribute your attribute points? I.e Between INT, MEM, CON. Did you follow a particular ratio?

At the minute i've just been putting 1 into INT every level and alternating the last point between MEM and CON, not sure if this is a good idea or not so thought i'd ask!

Thanks in advance

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I plan to combine Summoning with close combat Gameplay, done by my main character. Is this playable? Did somebody combine something like this successfully? Or is it much better to combine summoning with ranged casting like pyro/geo?

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I am playing summoning+warfare+poly just fine, it works great, because summoning is amazingly versatile as it doesnt depend on any stat.

@MangoMan

Dont give points into CON... ever smile And just take your main attribute which you want to use to deal damage+memory for skills you want and lot of wits so you go first with your summoner

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Originally Posted by MangoMan
Question: In your experience, how's best to distribute your attribute points? I.e Between INT, MEM, CON. Did you follow a particular ratio?



Well imo:

Int: Only to meet gear requirements
Memory: Most important stat for summoner, as a summoner you want a lot of 1AP support skills /w your summons like all the infusions and such. I'd go for a minimum of 10 skill slots
Wits: Higher initiative is good for summoner as your summon always seem to get their turn after you, you want your summons to get to "do their thing" as early as possible in a fight. Especially if you cycle summons like: Bloated corpse opener into bone widow /w supercharge into incarnate
Con: Any remaining points, also needed as summoner is best with a shield imo. Can grab stench to reduce the need for con

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Nah, you dont really need constitution.

Thing is, when you add all your skills at summoner, atleast around lvl13 you will have summoning maxed, and no where to go next...

So you want something along with it, and to be honest, choice is entirely yours - my warfare works great with more and more CC and blood incarnate, ranger could be great with inc as meatshield and great versatility in damage types + single target damage, mages are fun with fire incarnate more more elemental mayhem, or you can pick a little bit from every school for mass buffs/heals/support spells.

So going for pure summoner is imo quite suboptimal, as you will have more than enough points to do sidespecialization (and constitution is really garbage!)

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If you are an elf and use a shield it is wise to put enough points into Constitution to not be influenced by Flesh Sacrifice. Other than that it is a poorly designed stat. It were great if it would increase shield usability.

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Originally Posted by Sidartah
So i did read about two spells called Summon Condor and Summon Dragoling. Do you know if they are in the game? Cus they dont show up in the GM mode.


The Condor Summon (Click for Spoiler)

You get the Condor summon from persuading a condor in the Stone Garden graveyard outside Driftwood.

Last edited by Nokturnel; 22/09/17 10:54 AM.
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