Game Mechanics Friends On The Other Side - A Summoner Remake Proposal

Hi there hello why is the Wynncraft-themed Adventure Map "The Hidden Side" not here you may ask



I got distracted



Ok so let's do this hi again here we go

Friends On The Other Side
A Summoner Remake Proposal

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Sit Down At My Table
OH HEY LOOK WE ARE BACK AGAIN

I'm writing this in live time here so speaking as I write right now I have no idea how formal or cohesive I'm going to be talking about everything here so I'm just going to let the flow lead myself to what it ends up being ok let's start this thing

First off: Seeing Trapper made me... feel weird. I recently also looked at the archetype's ability nodes in close detail and I'm a little bit confused. Why is the Trapper archetype able to summon animals to help them in battle? It seems a bit far off from the original theme of what Trapper is supposed to be.

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Yeah sure the description does say that they summon beasts, even before the addition of the other non-hound creatures but it still leads to the very glaring question of why there are beasts in the first place.

Now, I would understand if these animals actually help the player in some way that is relevant to what it actually means to be a Trapper archetype, but honestly? They legit just act like generic summons. Hounds are basically melee minions, snakes are sentries and crows are just some stunners. Asides from Hounds actually pushing enemies into traps, do the other minions even relate to Trapper's role at all? Why are they here?

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Put Your Minds At Ease
Anyways, I'm not here to trash on Trapper, that's not the focus here. Although, I would be really eager to hear from the person who reworked Trapper to what it is today. Not to complain about it or trash on them further or whatever, but I really want to learn about their thought process and what went through that led to these design decisions. If you're reading this, feel free to talk about it in the replies below, I would really love to find out!

Now with that out of the way, one of the major reasons that I decided to make this in the first place. The second, arguably equally-but-still-not-really-that-equally-important reason being that the Summoner archetype is a little bit lackluster in gameplay at the moment, and the first reason being something I am pretty sure at least 99% of Wynncraft players have asked at least once:

...Why does Trapper have more summons. THAN SUMMONER

Now, I won't go through theorizing on this question because like I said above, we can't really know anything unless we ask the source themselves. Besides this introduction has been going on for too long, let's cut to the chase.

If You Relax It Will Enable Me...
This thread features what I would like to present my rework proposal on a brand new version of Summoner. Being true to its name and theme, this glow-up of Summoner focuses more on the player's interaction with a different variety of minions that they can create to to aid them in battle, juggling between all of their different roles and abilities so that no aspect of the player's combat arsenal is left unchecked.

This new gameplay loop for Summoner has a strong focus of micromanaging the player's own mini army, with each new summon unlocked being unique in their roles and behavior. The archetype itself requires constant engagement from the player, and forcing them to adapt and perform actions depending on which summon they have to deal with or keep up to standard rather than just following a regular pre-determined chain of spells like most other playstyles.

Constant maintenance and multitasking is the name of the game for Summoner, as they overwhelm enemies with their wide array of minions under their command.

...To Do Anything I Please!
Right, I should actually show the new summons.

Behold!

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Along with improvements and alterations to the summons that you already know, the new Summoner remake proposal also has some brand new additions! I'll be going into detail for each and every one of them, explaining their mechanics, behavior, thematical touchups and other miscellaneous information! This forum thread's suggestion is a little bit smaller than the Raid Instructions and Charon ones in terms of pure content and quality so there's not much else to say except for me to jump into it!

Oh btw if you want to look at the previous proposals here they are:
https://forums.wynncraft.com/threads/raid-instructions-revamp.306198/
https://forums.wynncraft.com/threads/charon-the-ferryman-of-styx.308230/

Ok cool let's go

Spoiler: Totem

"Insert generic quote here (I am uncreative)"

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Totem
Totems don't count as a summon I just decided to add it here for inclusion
Summoner here only has 5 summons

Oh and also asides from some additional upgrades within the Summoner Tree Totem still pretty much operates and functions the same as in-game. That's that done, now let's move on to the actual minions!

Spoiler: Crimson Effigy

Finally, the real summons! Let's start with something a little familiar...

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Crimson Effigy
Crimson Effigies are constructs of ritualistic tree wood, held by an energetic, lively and magical blaze. Effigies are used by the Summoner in battle to overwhelm enemies and bring forth the Shaman's raw might of the aspect of fire itself.

Another angle of Crimson Effigy​

The Effigies are the first summon that Summoners will unlock chronologically, and serve their role in the group of the five as the "Generic Melee Minion". Along with their standard behavior of moving towards enemies and pushing them towards the players' Totems (And also the nearest Voodolls, but I'll get to that later), they also deal fire damage towards enemies, and in further upgrade(s), serve as a bonus AOE attack available to the player.

Crimson Effigy (Node)
Shown below is the unlock node for Crimson Effigies. Effigies periodically spawn from the player's deployed Totems, and unlike their in-game counterpart, have a substantially shorter lifespan than usual.

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Players are incentivized to keep their Totems present at all times in order to maintain their Effigy count on the battlefield, or else they will dwindle and disappear in numbers fairly quickly.

Kindled Torchwood
Shown below is an upgrade node for Crimson Effigies. The ability acts simultaneously as additional damage for Effigies and at the same time supplying them with Area-of-Effect capabilities, a trait prominent in the Shaman class.

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Replacing the "Exploding Puppets" ability, Kindled Torchwood causes Effigies to immediately explode upon their lifespan timer running out, unleashing a fiery burst in a decently large radius that damages enemies around it and leaving an equally wide burning circle of flames that damages those that stand within it. The burning ground effect is not stackable, and enemies will suffer the same effects even if they are within two overlapping circles.

When constantly spawned via the Totems, the Effigies' explosions can occur constantly throughout the battle, creating new circles of fire as old ones fade out.

Misc.
Part of why I shifted Effigies all the way to the top of the Summoner Tree was that I wanted the player's progression of unlocking the different minions to gradually climb up in complexity - with the first minions being relatively simple in mechanics and ending with summons that have more quirks to their mechanics and require a little bit more maintenance and upkeep.

I felt that Effigies served as a good "First Introductory Minion" to the player given their simple melee attack. They're a pretty good starter aid at earlygame for anyone choosing to main the Summoner side of the tree.

One part of Summoner I wanted to change a little is to change the archetype into something that's less "single target-focused" of a playstyle, even with Aura still being usable. Shaman's main selling point is and has always has been its impressively massive Area of Effect capabilities after all, so I decided to settle on Summoner being a "semi-AOE semi-focal target" archetype instead, where enemies or a small group of enemies can be directly targeted while still having somewhat effective AOE abilities at the player's own arsenal.

This led to me giving both Effigies and Puppets their own AOE as part of their upgrades. Sticking with Effigies' Fire aesthetic (Something I'll mention in the following paragraph), I took Puppets' exploding ability and moved it to Effigies, providing the explosion with an additional "lingering" burning floor effect similar to Arcanist's Burning Sigil, giving the effective area size of this ability to be wide in coverage if the player is able to consistently have their Effigies explode at quick intervals.

To fit a general aesthetic of each minion being related to one of the five elements (AESTHETIC, NOT STAT-WISE. CALM DOWN), I wanted Effigies to heavily lean towards the Fire Element. Even their appearance matches the theme. However, in the actual Summoner tree used in-game, Effigies deal Water Damage. For some reason. I wanted to contact XavierEXE in order to find out whether the decision of picking Water Damage specifically is a legit design choice that is coupled with a valid reason for such an option, but so far I haven't been able to get a reply. And given that Xavier is the only person that I know that worked on the ability tree I can't exactly proceed from here.

(@XavierEXE please respond to my messages ;-;)

EDIT: NEVERMIND IT IS DONE I still haven't figured out the actual reason nor who made it Water in the first place but at least I know it most likely isn't intentional ok back to your reading sorry about that

EDIT 2: Goddammit it's Salted someone ping me when he gets on lmao

Spoiler: Animated Puppet

"Look at these adorable little things! Lemme see what you have!"

"A knife!"

"NO!"

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Animated Puppet
Animated Puppets are small cotton-stuffed creations of earthly yet accursed nature. Puppets are used by the Summoner in battle as a secondary means of damage that rain knives onto enemies and imbue them with the Shaman's magical venomous concoctions.

Another angle of Animated Puppet​

The Puppets are the second summon that Summoners will unlock chronologically, and serve their role in the group of the five as the "Generic Ranged Minion". Along with their standard behavior of firing projectiles towards any enemies on sight, they also deal air and earth damage towards enemies, and in further upgrade(s), includes a bonus AOE attack available to the player.

Puppet Master
Shown below is the unlock node for Animated Puppets. Like Crimson Effigies, Puppets periodically spawn from the player's deployed Totems, and just like the Effigies, have a substantially shorter lifespan than usual compared to their in-game counterpart.

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Like Crimson Effigies, players are incentivized to keep their Totems present at all times in order to maintain their Puppet count on the battlefield, or else they will dwindle and disappear in numbers fairly quickly.

Poison Knives
Shown below is an upgrade node for Animated Puppets. The ability acts simultaneously as additional damage for Puppets and at the same time supplying them with Area-of-Effect capabilities, a trait prominent in the Shaman class.

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Poison Knives causes Puppets to throw knives that create a small splash of venom around the region where it strikes an enemy. Enemies that are within this radius will be applied a poison effect for a few seconds, taking constant unavoidable damage. The poison effect is separate from the effect of the same name present in gear and weapons, and behaves independently from it. It is also not stackable, and reapplying the effect via a second knife will only reset its duration on the enemy.

If sufficiently grouped together, groups of enemies in combat can have the Puppets' venom indefinitely applied onto them throughout the entire battle.

Terra Flamma
Shown below is the standard "more minions" node for both Crimson Effigy and Animated Puppet. It increases the maximum number of both Effigies and Puppets that can be present at once, while also slightly reducing the amount of damage that each of them deal.

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Misc.
As said earlier, Effigies' melee nature meant that Puppets being the "ranged" minion made sense for it to come after them rather than before. Other than that, not much else to say about the actual minion, asides from the fact that their numbers have been severely nerfed with the removal of the Shepherd ability (I'll get to that after introducing the five minions). This may seem like a direct opposition against the idea of me wanting Summoner to lead a small army, but you have to remember the fact of how many of these minions the player's going to have out.

Also similar to Effigies, I wanted Puppets to also at least have some for of AOE capabilities that relates to Shaman's general attribute in battle. taking inspiration from Shadestepper's poison blade (Although, admittedly it was merely an idea sparker rather than actual inspiration) along with Puppet's lean towards the Earth element (AGAIN LIKE I SAID ABOVE, AESTHETIC, NOT LITERAL), I decided to add in a poison effect that does splash damage in order to hit multiple enemies at once. While technically AOE like Effigies' Kindled Torchwood, it is still uniquely different in behavior and mechanics.

Also hey look I made a better Poison Blade :saltroll:

EDIT: The joke directly above me would be funnier if I had used the old version of this ability, but I'm pretty sure said statement still holds in the new version. Screw it, I made a better poison ability in the final version above

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Anyways I had to change it because I soon realized that the old ability clashes with the actual poison id so I just did what Paladin's Flaming Uppercut did for custom fire lol

Spoiler: Jinxed Voodoll

"I got Voodoo, I got Hoodoo, I got things I ain't even tried!"

And now here we are, into new territory... this is where the real fun begins!

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Jinxed Voodoll
Jinxed Voodolls are tall lifeless constructs of weary and torn fabric, countless pins all across its surface. Voodolls are used by the Summoner in battle as an unorthodox offensive weapon that retaliate against enemies through dark, unnatural means as their unnerving, snarling faces stare them down.

Another angle of Jinxed Voodoll
(I didn't overdo the pins I swear)​

The Voodolls are the third summon that Summoners will unlock chronologically, and serve their role in the group of the five as the "Trap/ Shield Minion". Quite the gimmicky bunch, they are the only summons created by the player that do not move, and magically retaliate against enemies when they deal damage to them by dealing heavy damage in return. In further upgrade(s), players are given the ability to impale enemies with pins that further amplify the Voodolls' remote magic.

Mystic Karma
Shown below is the unlock node for Voodolls. Unlike previous summons, Voodolls are instead summoned via holding shift while casting Totem, which launches one towards the player's direction.

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The maximum number of Voodolls that can be present at a time is equal to the maximum number of Totems that the player is allowed to deploy at a time. Attempting to summon Voodolls that exceeds this limit will cause the oldest thrown Voodoll to be replaced by the new one, despawning it.

Like all other summons, enemies will never target Voodolls directly, and are instead required for the player to "lead" enemies into indirectly damaging the Voodolls.

Voodoll triggers include all traditional mob spells (spells telegraphed by white rings) and projectiles from Ranged, BurstRanged and RapidRanged enemies. Custom scripted spells such as those performed by The Nameless Anomaly and other bosses are on a case-by-case basis, and could or could not trigger the Voodoll depending on what is chosen for each attack. Arena attacks and any other attacks that do not directly come from/ is not apparent to come from an enemy or boss should not be included as appropriate triggers for the Voodoll, but similar to scripted spells, are also on a case-by-case basis.

Voodolls have an internal cooldown when they retaliate, requiring 0.5 seconds before they can take further damage (and in turn, retaliate again). Ranged enemy projectiles that hit the Voodoll during this cooldown period will still cause them to be successfully blocked, albeit with no effect on the Voodoll or enemy.

Voodolls factor into Haul priority, and a player will haul towards the Voodoll should that be the last object they throw via the Totem spell.

Necroghastic Affliction
Shown below is an upgrade node for Voodolls. Similar in concept to Summoner's "Bullwhip" ability (which has since been removed), it serves as additional damage solely to Voodolls.

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The player's Main Attack now applies the Pinned effect to enemies whenever they are hit by it. Enemies that are Pinned will take more damage whenever they are attacked by a Voodoll's retaliation, immediately removing the Pinned effect from them afterwards.

As Shaman's Main Attack infinitely pierces, all enemies that are damaged from the Main Attack will still be inflicted with Pinned.

Misc.
Voodolls were actually kinda a handful to balance, in its initial state I wanted the damage to be worthwhile to justify using it, and hence ended up giving it like 500%. I quickly figured out that having 500% damage dealt EACH for three Voodolls is... a lot. And Voodolls are meant to be the side damage with Effigies and Puppets as the main damage, not the other way round. So, it was nerfed several times until it is what it is now.

Voodolls also used to be summoned by hitting an existing Totem with Uproot, which transforms it into a Voodoll. While I felt like the idea was pretty creative, I was ultimately convinced to switch it to a simpler alternative as this action was a lot more requirement-heavy than the other four minions.

The Pins was actually taken as inspiration from someone who suggested an ability of similar concept, and I liked the idea of impaling enemies with the same pins used on Voodolls so much that I just had to find a way to include it in. It's a surprise I didn't even think of it in the first place!

However, Necroghastic Affliction might indeed be the only ability which isn't technically in a fully "completed" state yet, as some people who helped with the balancing of this Summoner tree had a few minor issues with the concept. Mostly stuff like how it favors higher attack speeds and how it doesn't really incentivize players to keep constant engagement with the enemy and whatnot, but if anyone here is able to help in figuring out a better alternative for this, please give your suggestions and I'll see what I can do to change up that part of this forum post.

EDIT: Nevermind Necroghastic Affliction is fully developed it was originally an effect that is identical to Riftwalker's "Winded" but after assigning that gimmick to the Cursed Latcher summon instead this one felt better to be a 1 stack similar to Bullwhip

I mean, I liked the visual of players impaling like 10 pins to an enemy but from a game design standpoint this might be a bit better to work with.

Also yes Necroghast and Affliction I know Polterghast reference

Btw I used the Voodoo Panic Zealot model made by @fey as a base for this summon, even if I had changed many of the textures afterward.

Spoiler: Cursed Latcher

"He had the strangest feeling that there was someone standing right behind the veil on the other side of the archway..."

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Cursed Latcher
Cursed Latchers are slimy, mischievous, yet dark and sinister masked spirits, summoned straight from the other side of the veil to unleash unspeakable punishments upon the weakest of minds. Cursed Latchers are used by the Summoner in battle by sending them towards enemies, of which they fly towards at high speeds. Their spiritual bodies dissipate the moment they meet their target, their masks latching onto the enemies' skin like leeches and forcing onto them their otherworldly curses.

Another angle of Cursed Latcher​

The Latchers are the fourth summon that Summoners will unlock chronologically, and serve their role in the group of the five as the "Debuff Support Minion". Different in behavior in many ways to the other summons, the player treats them more like projectiles, constantly summoning small clusters of Latchers that charge towards the nearest mobs to implant their debuff-inflicting masks on. In further upgrade(s), players are given the ability to empower the Latchers with greater latching capabilities.

Spiritual Malediction
Shown below is the unlock node for Latchers. Unlike previous summons, Latchers are instead summoned via hitting an enemy with Uproot, which immediately summons three Latchers around the player that charge towards them. Similar in concept to Riftwalker's "Winded" ability, Latchers apply +1 Cursed to enemies the moment they latch themselves onto them.

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Enemies who have Cursed applied to them have visible Latcher masks attached onto random parts of their body, the number of masks present matching the number of Cursed they have (The mask is purely visual, and simply matches the Cursed count). If the enemy that was hit with Uproot already has the maximum amount of Cursed on them (7) then Latchers will simply pick another target nearest to them to charge towards. Otherwise, if no enemy can be found, Latchers simply just stay around until their short 3-second lifespan expires.

Unlike other summons that the player unlocks, Latchers have virtually no summon limit, and compensating for their extraordinarily tiny lifespan, the player is allowed to summon as many as they want.

Cracking the Veil
Shown below is an upgrade node for Cursed Latchers. The ability acts as a buff for Latchers by supplying them with Area-of-Effect capabilities, a trait prominent in the Shaman class and immensely helpful for the otherwise single target-focused summon.

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Instead of applying +1 Cursed to the enemy that they latch onto, Cursed Latchers instead possess a radial effect that applies +1 Cursed to all enemies within a small radius of the latching. This ability is used to help Latchers apply debuffs to large groups of enemies without having to constantly spend most of the Summoner's effort on spamming Uproot.

Misc.
If you found some similarities between the Cursed Latchers and the Ritualist ability "Haunting Memory", you would be correct! This minion was inspired by that ability in the first place, and essentially serves as a Summoner version of the aforementioned Ritualist move. While similar in concept, I wanted Summoner to have a debuff minion of their own, and the idea of Haunting Memory turning into a minion form fit for the archetype was perfect for the role!

The design itself was evidently inspired by a rough mix of the Masks and Shadow Monsters present in Dr Facilier's group of Loa allies. Although, while I was trying to create some sort of dark, translucent body for the spirits I think the yellow-turned-greenish tint and darker texture than usual just made them look like Slimer from Ghostbusters. In any case I don't actually mind. Slimy spirits are a pretty cool aesthetic!

This one was a bit tougher to make than you might think. Initially the idea seemed great - three Latchers are summoned at once with each enemy only allowed 1 Latcher each. The upgrade would increase both the summon count and the max Latchers per enemy by +2 each. However, the entire concept falls apart when you are forced to consider the scenario where there are more than 1 Summoner attacking the same mob. Yeah, starting to see the problem here? I won't go into detail given that's that a full week of thinking just to rework the entire summon back into the "Winded" format.

Spoiler: Dream Dweller

"The Slumbering Moon welcomes all guests to the World of Dreams...!"

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Dream Dweller
Dream Dwellers are bright cloudlike fairies, their snow-white forms hailing from the distant Dreamworld to provide their heavenly, ethereal magic towards all who need it. Dream Dwellers are used by the Summoner in battle by directing them around the arena in order to aid them or their minions by blessing them with their misty, dreamy influence.

Another angle of Dream Dweller​

The Dwellers are the fifth and final summon that Summoners will unlock chronologically, and serve their role in the group of the five as the "Buff Support Minion". Being the last summon unlocked, Dwellers are naturally the most complex of the five, and their buffs affect every other Summoner minion. In further upgrade(s), players are given the ability to customize the Dwellers with their own behavior depending on what suits their playstyle.

Guider of Dreams
Shown below is the unlock node for Dwellers. Unlike any of the other previous summons, Dwellers require no direct action to summon them, instead being intrinsically tied to the Totems that the player has deployed. Dwellers who are present will buff summons within their reach via a thread of white particles leading from the Dweller to each summon.

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Similar to Voodolls, the maximum number of Dwellers that can be present at a time is equal to the maximum number of Totems that the player is allowed to deploy at a time. Except unlike Voodolls, Dream Dwellers will always appear or disappear into thin air in order to match the current number of Totems that currently exist. Dwellers appear right at the player's position the moment a new Totem is deployed, and the oldest Dweller disappears the moment a Totem's timer runs out. To prevent too much gameplay disruption, no Dwellers will appear or disappear if a player casts a new Totem in order to replace an existing one.

Dream Dwellers move on their own, but unlike the others follow targets of the player's choosing. When a player looks towards the location of their desire while casting Shift-Haul, the haul action is instead replaced with the Dream Whistle, a whistle blow sound emanating that alerts a Dream Dweller to follow the target.

The player can choose to whistle at Effigies and Puppets, for which the Dream Dweller will follow each one accordingly. Choosing to whistle at a Voodoll will cause the Dream Dweller to stay beside it, as Voodolls are static. Choosing to whistle at an unlatched Cursed Latcher or any enemy causes the Dream Dweller to follow enemies with Cursed inflicted on them. Choosing to whistle at a Dream Dweller causes that specific Dweller to follow the player instead.

Priority on which Dream Dweller responds to the Dream Whistle first begins with the oldest existing Dream Dweller, and then cycles through them from there. Unless the previous Dweller picked was chosen to follow the player, in which case the cycle is immediately jumped to the Dweller next in queue after the picked Dweller.

The priority for which entity they follow in the summon group is relatively simple - they simply target the closest summon that matches the summon type they are directed to follow (e.g. Whistling at Effigies causes them to follow the nearest Effigy they initially saw). If the entity they are following no longer exists (Effigies and Puppets' lifespan runs out, Voodolls break, Enemies die or lose all of their Cursed) they will simply pick the nearest available target that matches their assigned summon type. If no eligible targets can be found nearby, they will follow the player until they find one.

While the Dwellers' circle of reach can overlap each other, their buffs cannot be stacked. Summons who already have a white thread connecting them to a Dream Dweller cannot get a second one simultaneously.

Dream Conductor
Shown below is an upgrade node for Dwellers. It focuses on the Dream Dwellers' ability to follow summons of the player's choosing by giving targeted summon types additional buffs when Dwellers follow them.

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The effects given by Dream Conductor are universal and not inhibited by the Dream Dwellers' range. Should a Dream Dweller be directed to follow a specific summon type, every single summon of that type that belongs to the player will receive the respective buff listed in Dream Conductor regardless of distance.

Dream Conductor buffs are also stackable, multiplying doubling or tripling the buff values given to the summon type depending on how many Dream Dwellers are instructed to follow said summon type. This allows the player some level of control by giving them a chance to be creative and decide how many Dream Dwellers they want to delegate to each summon type.

Slumbering Moon
Shown below is an upgrade node for Dwellers. This is a maintenance skill for Summoners that increases the damage bonus of their summons should they choose to. With this ability, casting Shift-Aura will also fire a projectile similar in behavior to Uproot. Upon impacting a Dream Dweller with it, the Dweller will immediately be put to sleep and gain the Sleeping state for 12 seconds.

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In this state, the Dweller's nametag is given a Sleeping timer and they will be seen resting on a moon resembling an enlarged version of their dreamcatcher staff, and continue to follow their target albeit at a slower speed and lower reach. In turn, their abilities are drastically amplified, with the Dwellers giving a damage bonus to any summon that they give buffs to.

Slumbering Moon​

This form of constant maintenance gives Summoners another factor to occasionally tend to, and given Summoner's new playstyle stated earlier in the post, I feel like it's a pretty fitting ability to add.

Misc.
Oh god, this one was a nightmare.

Looking back, the original idea wasn't even that good - Dream Dwellers will stay in place and buff minions in a circular radius around it with the player having to blow the whistle and look at a specific location every time they want a Dweller to move. It made the minion too grounded of a summon and too much of a hassle to constantly transport. With the new behavior of Dwellers automatically following their target, it made them much more convenient to use and way smoother of a gameplay experience.

And that's not all, the upgrades were a handful as well! The two upgrade nodes for the Dream Dweller originally came in a pair, named Slumbering Moon and Sailing Star. Each ability canceled out the other upon choosing, and the player was intended to pick only one of the nodes in order to alter the Dwellers' behavior to what fits best for the player's needs.

Slumbering Moon increased the range of the Dweller while making them slower and limiting the max Dwellers to one, while Sailing Star increased their speed but lowered their AOE. On hindsight this just made it even more annoying with the previously flawed movement and direction system, so I'm glad to see it go.

Also Dream Conductor's a much more fitting name for what I was going for lol

Speaking of which the Dream Whistle was originally called the Spirit Whistle, but I decided to change it both to keep in theme and to also remove any confusion from Cursed Latchers, who are explicitly stated to be spirits.

Spoiler: Other Abilities

Distant Grasp
Distant Grasp remains the same to its original counterpart.

Although I'm taking this chance to question why the Summoner Melee change is a (somewhat) precise, focused tri-beam while the Acolyte Melee change is a spread-out shot with additional beams. Aesthetic-wise it seems like the behaviors should be swapped but there's probably a really good reason for it. Can someone enlighten me? Lol thanks

Earth Mastery and Air Mastery
Earth Mastery and Air Mastery remains the same to its original counterpart.

Nature's Jolt
Nature's Jolt has went through several changes, it's pretty much a completely different ability now.

Firstly, it's a Summoner node as the new ability is somewhat relevant/ connected to the Summoner class (and also Overseer is even less relevant to Summoner in its mechanics). Nature's Jolt is also no longer connected to Haul (Which is really useless in practice anyway who on earth intentionally hauls into a group of enemies), and is instead tied to Totem, and to an extent Voodolls as well.

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Overseer
Overseer remains the same to its original counterpart, except that it is no longer a Summoner node.

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Stagnation
Stagnation has been removed, as Cursed Latcher and its abilities have pretty much replaced it.

Bullwhip
Bullwhip's quite a handful.

First off, as expected, Bullwhip has been removed, given that enemies automatically just target whatever enemy or small group of enemies you strike with your Main Attack now. However, during the conceptualization of this Summoner rework I actually wanted Bullwhip to be completely remade into a replacement for the Aura spell that Summoners are able to use. It'll be similar to Terraria's Whip where casting Aura instead does a wide and far-reaching oval-shaped AOE attack in front of you, similar to how Terraria does theirs'.

It would have been the first red node that Summoners unlocked, but after some thinking I ultimately couldn't figure out any good thematical use for it that links to the rest of the archetype in any meaningful way. Striking Totems with it just to summon the Effigies and Puppets seemed too much of a hassle and too big of an interruption during gameplay, and hitting minions with it just seemed cruel in an aesthetic point of view. And I also didn't want to completely copy Terraria's mechanic of boosting damage or, as an alternative weakening enemies to Summons (Both being debuff and buff mechanics, something I have strictly tied to Latchers and Dwellers respectively) so I eventually just decided to spare all the trouble and just wipe it completely off the tree.

Double Totem and Triple Totem
Double Totem and Triple Totem remain the same to their original counterparts, only with different positions on the ability tree.

Invigorating Wave
Invigorating Wave has gone through several changes.

First off, it is no longer a Summoner node, and is now mostly a general Shaman node that serves both as a speed and mana aid. It gives +5 mana per Aura like it did before, but now also boots player's walkspeed by a significant amount rather than summons' attack speed. I realized that having most buffs favoring Effigies and Puppets too greatly might have left Voodolls and Latchers in the dust when it came to Dweller effects, so I decided to standardize Invigorating Wave into a more neutral ability.

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Shepherd
Shepherd has been removed, we already have enough nodes and summons and the ability can only realistically affect Effigies and Puppets.

Spoiler: Summoner Ability Tree

Non Summoner nodes such as spell cost reductions may have been shifted positions slightly to account for the new tree structure, but otherwise should still be in relatively the same place, if not, the same page. For referencing, use the Shaman ability tree here: https://wynncraft.com/help/classes?class=shaman

Spoiler: Without Names

Spoiler: With Names

Okay
So, what did we learn?

That's right we learned that I'm too lazy to write a conclusion that's it everyone go home

I'm kidding I just can't be bothered to make a coherent one so here's a quick summary

After all has been said I do believe that this new concept for Summoner that involves significant amounts of micromanaging and constant maintenance of different parts is an interesting and pretty fitting idea for the archetype. If there is any minor issues with any of the balancing the numbers can be easily changed so have at that

Unless it's a flaw in the actual design of the abilities in which case I'm probably not going to go back to this trying to balance them for weeks was already a nightmare the next time I make another suggestion it will involve 0 actual numbers good god

If I contradicted any of my text from the intro in the past few paragraphs uh hope I didn't lmao

Hopefully I actually bother to write an actually decent conclusion here in the future through an edit though but don't count too much on it

Btw just a reminder but a poll exists at the top of this post so go check it out thx

QNA
Q: I have some feedback on a certain mechanic or two in this suggestion. ...you won't get mad if I share my opinions, do you?
A: By all means, go ahead! Type all you want! I thrive on feedback, and always welcome constructive critisism! People talking about it down in the replies also encourages discussion from others as well, which leads to more feedback! I may not ever work on this project ever again, but it will be of great help in future projects such as The Hidden Side when storytelling or content of similar design come into play!

Q: What's up with the weird titles at the start? Who are these "friends" you are referring to? Who on earth is Dr. Facilier?
A: For the love of god please watch this (The video is unavailable here click "Watch on YouTube")



and come back here ONLY when you are done

Q: Won't this cause a lot of lag?
A: Doesn't any game content cause lag to an extent? It's not even a lot of summons it's like 5 + 7 + 3 + 3 + however many Latchers you can spam

Ok looking at it now that does seem like a lot but ehhhhh should be fine

Q: Why was Crimson Effigy doing Water Damage before? There has to be an in-game reason for it!
A: I dunno, beats me. I was told that Salted worked on the tree's design before Xavier, if you have any chance of contacting him about this precise matter I would love to hear it.

Q: Is the Voodoll supposed to be a bear?
A: I mainly added the "ears" to fill in the empty space in its design and to hang more cloth from it as part of its decoration but I also intended it to just be some vague unspecified wild animal of indeterminate species which I guess I can just lead people to interpret from there

Q: Why did you avoid directly using the word "Voodoo" in the game?
A: Same reason you don't use something like "Lovecraftian" for an Eldritch/ Cosmic Horror theme. While there's technically nothing wrong with using it and many of them don't have legal-related issues backing them it's still kinda an unspoken rule to not directly use actual names I feel like, at least for my own creations

Also with this restriction I was given an opportunity to be creative and create a really good pun with Voodoo Dolls so it all works out, even better if I do say so myself :D

Q: The Latchers look kinda big for spawning in groups of 5 tbh
A: I'm too lazy to reduce their size despite only taking like 3 minutes

Q: Why the sudden change of theme from Voodoo for Dream Dwellers? What are the names of the abilities supposed to be even referencing? Because they damn well look like references
A: I like the aesthetic. Dream Dwellers are absolutely not inspired by anything

"Dream Conductor (Formerly Sailing Star)" and "Slumbering Moon" are just really cool names and are definitely not meant to come from anywhere in particular



totally

Spoiler: .

Q: Will you ever join CT?
A: I don't want to. Please stop asking.

Q: What's your gender? Are you not actually a guy?
A:

Spoiler: .

​

Spoiler: .

(I'm not giving away shit)

Q: What is The Hidden Side?
A: No need to have that adorable bubbly tiny face of yours too concerned, sugarpuff. You'll see what it is eventually, okay honey?

 

graced once again by the only person to ever put effort into a suggestion thread.

finished reading. the overarching idea that Summoner requires more effort to micromanage summons is excellent!
Currently Summoner is far too boring, and reading that Trapper now has more summons than Summoner is a hilarious realization

some of your ideas may need number tinkering here and there but i would not mind an overpowered Shaman archetype

great suggestion

 

Wow so cool so kawaii :3 (spongy/krytack (gamer god))

 

suggestion go crazy

 

yeah, i mean i guess this suggestion is alright. maybe a bit more detail would be nice though

 

I have time next Thursday to refine and polish up on the writing
What exactly would you like me to elaborate on? I'll try to remember to prioritize those whenever I can

 

TnTTheJester needs to see this he's gonna FLIP

Anyways the amount of effort and detail is crazy! These changes would make Summoner a lot more fun and interactive. There's just that bit with the Dweller that completely changes how Haul and Aura works when cast with shift:
Haul changes from a movement ability that doesn't require aim, to a spell that isn't a movement ability and does require aim. Meanwhile Aura changes from also not requiring aim to a spell that does, though both got huge aoe.
This might feel confusing and overwhelming since it overloads the player's spell arsenal, which is completely understandable seeing you made FIVE summons but it didn't feel that overloaded with the first four summons.
I guess it's just the summon innately being the most complex, I know some players would like that kinda thing. But if you want Summoner to be more welcoming to uhh skill issue players, you should make both Dweller redirection and sleep toggle much simpler.

As for the Distant Grasp/Hand of Shaman comment, I think it's just meant to emphasize Summoner's focus on using Uproot (a thin projectile) and Acolyte's focus on using Aura (large aoe). I'm just deducing tho so don't quote me on that.

Anyways, the suggestion is great! Tons of changes but ct seems to like it. Making this must've taken a lot of time and effort. Congrats on getting it done!

 

Neither move replaces the original spell. Haul only cancels when you hold shift and Aura still emanates from your Totem when you fire the Sleeping Powder.

2/3 of Dweller's complexity are locked behind nodes at the tail end of the ability tree that the player is 100% free to not pick if they can't deal with the extra maintenance.

Also Dwellers are quite literally endgame content

________________________________

Oh but thanks for the compliments

 

what is the veil?????? is this monumenta????????????????????????

what the HELL i put effort into so many of mine albeit not this much but STILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

It's a quote taken directly from Harry Potter

 

cool ideas but im willing to bet there will be like 5 creepypastas based on the jinxed voodoll if this comes out that looks like something straight out of my nightmares.

 

I don’t know who I need to bribe, convince, blackmail, or beg to in having this be added to the game, but we NEED this if we want summoner to truly follow its name and not get accidentally overshadowed by Trapper by summons and how bland summoners playstyle is right now (no offense I love trappers summons to)

Seeing how the use of a whistle is used to control how each puppet works sometimes alongside how each summon requires skill, focus and maintaining to be a Dandori god to support your team and yourself. Each summon plays its role as intended and can be ensured to wipe the floor with enemies like its pikmin 4. Overall, if this were to be added to summoner I don’t think you’d need to add in anything else to the archetype other than the occasional balancing by GM’s (knock on wood)


EDIT: Apparently the Dream Dwellers buff your summons, not Allies. Fair enough tbh “XD

 

I've known about this for a good while. I just REALLLLLY want them to add this to summoner because it allows it to basically require more skill and not be as new player-friendly, making ritualist the " noob friendly " archetype when it comes to directly picking that tree path. (no sac shrine wise) Plus being able to punish enemies going into your direction with the voodoo's, support yourself or allies with the dream caster, debuff with the lachers, and still use effigies and puppets like normal w/o Shepard or bullwhip (reasonable) makes things more interesting since the puppet duration is so much shorter than right now with just throwing down 3 totems, spawning 6 puppets / 2 effigies and spam aura + uproot and pray I do enough DPS to feel proud to use summoner in TNA.

 

I forgot to mention Shephard as another removed node I’ll add that in later thanks

________________________________

Also the Dwellers don’t affect players that was a whole bag of worms I had to close pretty damn quick

 

Ye, that's fair enough to make Dream Dwellers more self-oriented for puppets and summons rather than players since it'd definitely be hectic as heck to keep them in control. Also, I really love how Invrogative waves now acts as a support aura that gives a short, yet intense boost of speed for 3 seconds is a great way to help slower players speed up to point B. I may also ask, does the speed effect also apply to yourself when hit with the aura?

Also, do you think you should make a constructive feedback thing that links into this thing as well so more people can see it and get more attention? Was just curious since I believe a lotta people should see this beauty.

 

This idea looks really cool. The only thing that might be strange in implementation is Guider of Dreams, simply because it might not work to well with hitboxes (especially with a lot of summons) - but it might also be the opposite where it works flawlessly. I for whatever reason also thought this also casted haul at the same time - like a complete idiot when I first saw this. Anyways really good stuff, especially summon design wise - like you really nailed the aesthetic, and also AT design wise. (I didn't take any of the damage numbers into account, because I am not really good with that information).

As for this:

Someone may have already addressed this but anyways I can see the appeal for Summoner to "summon" more beams instead, but I feel like the reason Acolyte has it is because it's designed to be a close quarters playstyle so you can make full use of it (and also Melee is like 10 trillion times better than Uproot on Acolyte). In effect, it synergizes really well with the fact that you must be in Totem range to boost Aura damage, keep Vengeful Spirit up and also be in Aura range to heal.

However, with Summoner, despite Regeneration and Invigorating Wave, you aren't completely forced into playing in Totem range - you can play from afar, so that's why Distant Grasp is on it. I mean you can literally just get those nodes to buff your team (if in a grind/dungeon/raid party etc).
Also, Distant Grasp works far better with the single target nature of Summoner, rather than Hand of the Shaman which goes with the multi-target nature of Acolyte.
Anyways that's my ted talk over.

 

Plus H.O.T.S allows you to tether multiple targets at once, which is probably way there are a crap ton of projectile beams there than the other option.

 

Sure

Ping me about it in about 10 hours from now I'm a bit busy at the moment

________________________________

Doesn't "Allies" just refer to any players in general

 

Sure my G, I'll make sure to once 10+ hours have passed in your DM to remind you.

When it comes to Allies, Invirogative waves rn doesn't give +5 mana to self (I think. It's hard to tell though I feel like it should be given to yourself as well), so you should probably mention that if you want it to grant you the speed / mana, you should put in that it's given to both allies / yourself to make it sound clearer just in case if people are confused. Since I know someone's going to ask that question. XD

 

If it didn't it would sure make the ability pretty damn useless in solo play. Besides I'm just following the format that Wynncraft has given. So if Allies refers to all players there than it will refer to all players here