Game Mechanics A simple proposal to diversify summoner gameplay

AfterWind

AfterWind

Terrarian
I always find it fun gearing up for a summoner gameplay. Getting the accesories, the weapons, the armors is always rewarding. The only problem I find is the way the summons are used. Whenever we get access to a better summon we always ditch the previous one and never look back. Almost always, the best option is to fill all your summon slots with the best summon you've got. Plus the additional sentry you occasionally remember to use... but it rarely makes a difference

... What if it did? What if we expand this mechanic of "one free summon" to all the other summon weapons and not just the sentries. What if the first of each summon would be free? That would be broken and overpowered and probably boring. But what if the first summon of any 3 types would be free? I think that would open up many new avenues for others to try as a summoner. So, instead of only using the max Stardust Dragon, you could also use a Tempest Staff and a Stardust Cell. More so, this would help a ton in the beginning of a run, finding/crafting 3 different summon items in pre-hardmode would be very rewarding.

Imho summoner is still a bit underpowered but and could be a nice way to make it a bit more powerful. Regardless, this change could be implemented without affecting the power of the summoner class as a whole (-1 to max summons on armors or lower the damage output of some summons).

This is such a simple idea that, in my mind, could impact positively the gameplay of the summoner class that I had to create a thread at the very least. (also, I know sentries are now their own thing and have their own limit of summons, but that's how I got the idea so thought I would share it this way)
 
No. You dont give a big buff to every single loadout in the game by giving it 2 more minion slots for free, and Summoner is not at all underpowered and not in need of a giant buff like this.

People dont mix minions because there isnt any reason to, all minions serve a purpose of "kill enemies" with little if any differentiation. When minions do have variety, they typically push for specific playstyles (whip stacking for blades, using firecracker with tiger, etc).

I dont think there is a good way to make minion mixes work as a concept, and giving you free slots is definitely not the way to do it
 
I have to agree with J Bame that this idea is too overpowered. 2 free minion slots for every character is a lot of free DPS. I don't share his view that mixing minions is a doomed concept, though.
 
Unfortunately, the summoner's gameplay is rather disappointing compared to other classes.
It always saddened me that the summoner didn't copy opponents' attacks. Summoning a servant for a moment to make him attack (a bit like in Castlevania).
Ex. You summon a Zombie to move in a given direction. These attacks would be similar to magical ones but would not require mana (some essence that falls from enemies and disappears over time).
Such a change would add depth to this class, but this suggestion is more suitable for modification.
 
What could a hypothetical minion mix build do, that a normal build with 1 type of minion couldn't? What new strategies would arise? Are these strategies just "more DPS in this specific case" or something different?
 
J Bame said:
What could a hypothetical minion mix build do, that a normal build with 1 type of minion couldn't? What new strategies would arise? Are these strategies just "more DPS in this specific case" or something different?
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A weaker minion should get greater stats to match the strongest minion. Like speed, attack speed and damage
 
Depressed Fr0g said:
I played a mod that gave you a minor damage boost whenever you had a different minion summoned. Maybe something like that could happen?
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I really like this idea! The first time a minion is summoned, it should gain a considerably boost to its damage, pierce, speed, etc.
If you already summoned a minion, say, the Stardust Dragon, and keep summoning it, it should still get stronger, but the stat increases it gets as a result should gradually decrease.
Example: 10% increase to damage the first time, 9% the second time, 7% the third, 4% the fourth time, and so on.
 
Doughjin said:
I really like this idea! The first time a minion is summoned, it should gain a considerably boost to its damage, pierce, speed, etc.
If you already summoned a minion, say, the Stardust Dragon, and keep summoning it, it should still get stronger, but the stat increases it gets as a result should gradually decrease.
Example: 10% increase to damage the first time, 9% the second time, 7% the third, 4% the fourth time, and so on.
Click to expand...
But maybe require a minor amount of minion switching, so it isnt just free DPS.
 
Doughjin said:
I really like this idea! The first time a minion is summoned, it should gain a considerably boost to its damage, pierce, speed, etc.
If you already summoned a minion, say, the Stardust Dragon, and keep summoning it, it should still get stronger, but the stat increases it gets as a result should gradually decrease.
Example: 10% increase to damage the first time, 9% the second time, 7% the third, 4% the fourth time, and so on.
Click to expand...
It also is similar to how Whips do less damage the more targets, minions deal more damage the less of them there are.
 
J Bame said:
What could a hypothetical minion mix build do, that a normal build with 1 type of minion couldn't? What new strategies would arise? Are these strategies just "more DPS in this specific case" or something different?
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Just some spitballing:
  • if applicable, minions of different types would focus on different enemies, helping non-piercing minions deal better with crowds
  • certain minions could work better in teams (would probably be better in a mod than in the base game but minion synergy could be very fun)
  • static immunity is lessened by having multiple different minions if they all use projectiles
 
Depressed Fr0g said:
I played a mod that gave you a minor damage boost whenever you had a different minion summoned. Maybe something like that could happen?
Click to expand...
This forces minion mixing to every summoner ever by making it the optimal way to play the class

It doesnt add any clever strategy or differences between minions, it just makes you deal less damage if you dont have every summon staff in the tier
Eye-o'-Cthulhy🌳🎃 said:
A weaker minion should get greater stats to match the strongest minion. Like speed, attack speed and damage
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You didnt understand the question. In what way can you make a minion mix build interesting that isnt just "mix minions for slightly more DPS"?
Eye-o'-Cthulhy🌳🎃 said:
It also is similar to how Whips do less damage the more targets, minions deal more damage the less of them there are.
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This doesnt make any sense

Whips have damage falloff so they can have good single target damage without being completely busted against crowds

This is just a lazy and forced way to encourage mixing minions
 
J Bame said:
This forces minion mixing to every summoner ever by making it the optimal way to play the class

It doesnt add any clever strategy or differences between minions, it just makes you deal less damage if you dont have every summon staff in the tier

You didnt understand the question. In what way can you make a minion mix build interesting that isnt just "mix minions for slightly more DPS"?

This doesnt make any sense

Whips have damage falloff so they can have good single target damage without being completely busted against crowds

This is just a lazy and forced way to encourage mixing minions
Click to expand...
Hed literally talking about mixing minions in this thread.
 
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