Larian Studios Forums Divinity: Original Sin 2 Divinity - Original Sin 2 - Help/Tips/Tricks Summoning and You

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.