Dev Diary: February's Summoner Update

[p]Pantheon Community,[/p][p]Today we deep dive into the Summoner class, looking at many of the upcoming changes designed to improve the clarity of the Summoner fantasy and overall feel of this iconic class. Let’s acknowledge first that if you’ve played the Summoner for any length of time, you are probably aware that the class is currently… lacking. Common complaints from the community have centered around the boring and cumbersome swarm mechanic, subpar pet performance, a host of unused abilities in the spell book and a general lack of feeling like a master of summoning. In our upcoming Summoner refresh, slated for February, we aim to tackle all of these issues.[/p][h2]The Vision[/h2][p]Let’s begin with a bit of background on the Summoner and cast a clear vision for its role in Pantheon.[/p][p]The Mana Plane is home to near-sentient entities of pure arcane energy known as Mana Ghosts. Without purpose or form, it is the Summoner who has fashioned a use for them. Through their mastery of arcane summoning and a form of magic-infused engineering known as “arcaneering”, the Summoner can pull a Mana Ghost through time and space while binding its form to a magical or elemental property. Historically, the most stable and effective bindings have been to Mana magic and the elements of Earth, Water, and Wind, though experimentation is ongoing with the more unruly element of Fire. These creations are known as Arcamentals and are the primary way Summoners engage in combat.[/p][p]Arcamentals are categorized into 4 classes based on the property they are bound to.[/p][h3]The Magic Arcamental: Fury[/h3][p]This arcamental is bound to powerful Mana magic and specializes in dealing heavy Magic damage to the Summoner’s enemies from a distance.[/p][h3]The Wind Arcamental: Zephyr[/h3][p]This arcamental is bound to the element of Wind and specializes in dealing rapid, close-ranged Physical damage to the Summoner’s enemies.[/p][h3]The Earth Arcamental: Titan[/h3][p]This arcamental is bound to the element of Earth. It’s heavy, dense frame makes it well-suited for protecting the Summoner and detaining the Summoner’s enemies.[/p][h3]The Water Arcamental: Undine[/h3][p]This arcamental is bound to the element of Water, specializing in healing and supportive abilities that benefit the Summoner, the Summoner’s allies and another active Arcamental. The gentle Undine is the only Arcamental the Summoner can have active at the same time as another Arcamental.[/p][p]As you grow in power, your Arcamental will grow as well, becoming stronger and granting you access to a wider range of their abilities.[/p][p]Arcamentals are capable of using special armor and weapons that can be discovered in the world or conjured by the Summoner themself. Arcamental armor will improve the Arcamental’s defenses (i.e. Health, Armor, Resistances), while Arcamental weapons will improve their offensive power (i.e. Spell and Physical damage).[/p][p]To conclude this overview, it’s important to note that the goal in this class design is to position the Arcamental as the primary actor in combat. While the Summoner will have a selection of their own combat abilities, the majority of their output will flow through their pets.[/p][p]Now let’s get into the details of how we’re refreshing this DPS class to accomplish this vision, starting with the Summoner’s combat abilities.[/p][h2]The Summoner in Combat[/h2][p]The Summoner in Pantheon is intended to be a puppet master of sorts; the primary vehicle of a Summoner’s damage output will be their pet, and most of the abilities Summoners will be using in combat will be abilities they will cast through their pet. However, Summoner’s do have a limited offensive arsenal of their own, aside from their beloved damage shields.[/p][p]The first important change to note is with the much-loved, community-favorite Swarm ability (please note the sarcasm). As much as you will all miss the press-three-buttons-so-you-can-press-one gameplay, we are converting this ability concept into a stacking DoT called Mana Missiles.[/p][p][/p][p]The new Mana Missiles ability; intermittently opens a small portal near an enemy to fire a bolt of mana at them. *Visuals subject to change.[/p][p][/p][p]This DoT can be stacked up to 3 times and will deal Magic damage over time, increasing with stack count. This will allow a more passive approach to damage contribution from the Summoner, while leaving plenty of room to focus on pet abilities.[/p][p]In addition to this change, we will be increasing the arsenal of bomb-type abilities for the Summoner. In addition to Mana Bomb, we will be adding Clash Bomb, which will deal a high amount of Magic damage when it explodes, and a few other bomb types that will be revealed later. As with Mana Missiles, these bombs are designed to be woven into the Summoner’s greater focus on their pet abilities.[/p][p]A very important change to emphasize as we wrap this section: pet’s no longer use their own Mana. Instead, all pet abilities that cost Mana will use the Summoner’s Mana.[/p][p]The difference is that the Summoner’s own abilities will have a much higher Mana cost than the pet abilities. The Summoner’s own spells are designed to be used more sparingly during your typical, sustain focused DPSing. But, Summoners can choose to enter a DPS “burn” phase by leaning heavily into their own abilities alongside their pet’s.[/p][h2]The Fury and the Zephyr[/h2][p]To achieve this puppet master feel for the Summoner in combat, we needed to expand the arsenal of combat abilities the Fury and Zephyr have, improve their flow, and make the majority of them Summoner-activated.[/p][p]With the upcoming Summoner update, we are developing a simple yet satisfying slice of abilities for the Fury and the Zephyr, the two main DPS pets. This blog is not for the purpose of revealing the full arsenals for these pets, but we’ll look at some of the Fury’s abilities to impart an overall sense of things.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Fury staying at range while casting alongside Summoner. *Spell names subject to change.[/p][p][/p][p]A couple of quick notes on pets that are important for the upcoming Summoner update.[/p]

[p]The Fury will now attempt to stay at spell casting range in combat.[/p]
[p]The Fury has a fresh coat of paint! The Fury now deals Magic damage instead of Fire. The Zephyr will lean even further into Physical damage.
The change to the Fury damage type does not rule out the possibility of a Fire Arcamental in the future.[/p]
[p]Both the Fury and Zephyr will be available for Summoners at level 1 after the update. The goal is to allow Summoners to get familiar with the feel and playstyle of a ranged spell damage pet and an up-close Physical damage pet right from the start.[/p]

[p]Now let’s take a small look at some of the new Fury abilities, in addition to their ranged spell auto attack, to give you a sense of their combat loop (*Note these spell names are subject to change):[/p]

[p]Mana Flame: Instant cast Magic DoT[/p]
[p]Mana Bolt: bread and butter. Decent damage magic projectile that can be consistently cast.[/p]
[p]Mana Burst: heavy hitter, longer cooldown. Guaranteed to crit on a target afflicted with Mana Flame.[/p]

[p]Again, this is not a full reveal of all the Fury’s abilities. But it’s an example of the simplified, yet effective combat loop Summoner’s will have with this pet, in addition to weaving in their own abilities, and the eventual Undine.[/p][h2]The Undine and the Titan[/h2][p]Speaking of Undine, what will become of these two non-DPS pets for the Summoner? I’ll give a brief overview of each:[/p][p]For Undine, we are embracing some of the healing utility you all have come to enjoy with Undine, particularly the ability to heal other players instead of the original intention to only heal the other active pet.[/p][p]Additionally, we are going to be reducing the overall damage output of Undine (since Fury and Zephyr damage are ramping way up) and focusing more on passive buffs and passive abilities that can be slotted on Undine’s bar and autocast depending on the need. Overall, we want the class complexity to come from the Summoner weaving their own abilities together with their DPS pet, and not from manually controlling two pets at once.[/p][p]Regarding the Titan, our plans are a bit more… wildly different. With the Summoner update, the Titan will actually be temporarily unavailable. The reason is that once Mastery launches in the Spring, Summoners can gain access to the Titan via Mastery. In addition to unlocking the Titan, there will be several Mastery options to further improve the Titan’s tanking and defensive abilities for Summoners who really want that option for solo and/or group play.[/p][h2]Putting the Summon Back in Summoner[/h2][p]Lastly, our goal with this update is to improve the class fantasy of the Summoner by expanding the types of things they are able to summon.[/p][p]While we want to preserve most of the details for when this update hits, here are some of the categories of summonables you can expect:[/p]

[p]Consumables[/p]
[p]Temporary items (meaning they disappear if you stay logged out of the game for too long). This can include armor, weapons, containers and more.[/p]
[p]Improved versions of food and drink.[/p]
[p]Items that can aid with Climates and Acclimation.[/p]
[p]Light sources[/p]
[p]Perhaps even an item that can help with invisibility…?[/p]

[h2]The Day Approaches[/h2][p]It’s so exciting for us to finally refresh this class that we have been so passionate about from the beginning![/p][p]To those of you who have soldiered through the current state of the unfinished Summoner, providing heaps of feedback, wish lists, and patience, you have our sincere thanks.[/p][p]Looking forward to more? We will be looking closer at the summoner’s mastery options, along with all other classes, in a dev diary leading into a spring Combat & Progression Update.[/p][p]Onward and upward,
Chris “Joppa” Perkins[/p]