Best Summoner Loadout?

Probably as much +minion as possible. The bigger the dragon gets the more powerful it gets (at a greater rate than simple minion damage bonuses it seems). That said, I'd maybe go for a four-point or five-point dragon plus some stardust cells. Dragon can be flaky on what it focuses on - things bearing down on you are ignored while something off-screen is prioritized.
 
Dragon also struggles more for crowd control. On event level spawns anyway. Best accessories would be Pygmy Necklace, Hercules Beetle, Necromatic Scroll, Papyrus Scroll, and Summoner Emblem (plus Celestial Shell or Avengers Emblem if you're in expert/have Demon Heart) At least in my opinion :p

You end with
+3 minions
+15%, +15%, +15%, and +10% (another 10-12% if you have demon heart) damage (can't remember how damage %'s increase in this game)
increased knockback (though this is kind of meh)
 
i pair the stardust dragon staff with the xeno staff.
the xeno staff is very OP. check out that attack rate! the ufo's instantly teleport and hit anything that appears.

papyrus scarab/necro scroll/Hercules beatle + summoner emblem + ? (maneuverability or tankability) either wings, a dashing accessory or something like the worm scarf.
don't forget to throw down your sentry summons.
 
CheetahBing said:
Do those affect how many other minions i can have?
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No, you can have every sentry summon out at once, as well as your full host of standard summons.

Edit: Don't forget that Bewitching Table and Summoning Potions increase your max summons as well.
 
I found the Stardust Dragon to be WAY too unreliable to have anything but a single minion slot. A summoner really does need a horde in order to fight off the hordes coming at you. You've got zero defense that's worth a damn so you need your minions to be able to engage and kill many foes at once while you concentrate on dodging. I had a single Stardust Dragon, and the rest were Cells. Cells are easily the best general purpose summon in the game. They hit like a freight train and practically teleport around, so their operational tempo is as high as the Xeno Staff, but with way more damage.
 
SaintD said:
I found the Stardust Dragon to be WAY too unreliable to have anything but a single minion slot. A summoner really does need a horde in order to fight off the hordes coming at you. You've got zero defense that's worth a damn so you need your minions to be able to engage and kill many foes at once while you concentrate on dodging. I had a single Stardust Dragon, and the rest were Cells. Cells are easily the best general purpose summon in the game. They hit like a freight train and practically teleport around, so their operational tempo is as high as the Xeno Staff, but with way more damage.
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I find that Stardust is great for bosses and exploring, though. Events you definitely need more stardust cells than dragon segments though. Go full Stardust and just watch the Cultist fall apart.
 
Summoner Emblem (+15% damage)
Papyrus Scarab (+15% damage, +1 minion, +knockback)
Hercules Beetle (+15% damage, +knockback)
Necromantic Scroll (+10% damage, +1 minion)

After that I'm still debating about the last slot(s):

Celestial Shell - Obviously an all-purpose accessory that anyone can appreciate. However, in the case of the summoner, only the +10% damage and added knockback are going to affect your minions. The rest of the stats are good for supplementing YOU of course but most of it is melee-friendly and it just seems to me like you should be using either Magic or Ranged in tandem with your minions, considering the defense on your armor is really bad. But then again maybe thats more reason to take the Shell with its increased defenses.

Yo-yo Bag - All that melee boosting from the Shell might make Yo-yos the most viable weapon choice for a summoner. Plus when you consider the Terrarian is the strongest melee weapon in the game and can attack from a safe range or even around walls... this might be worth pairing with the Shell.

Celestial Stone - Only to be considered if the Shell is already equipped. Simply doubles up on all the buffs received by the Shell, minus the nighttime transformation. Still incredibly potent for anyone.

Ankh Shield - Self-explanatory but I'm not familiar with what debuffs you have to really look out for at endgame. Defense is nice, not being knocked back and immunity to fire blocks is relatively negligible when you're speeding around in a UFO though.

Pygmy Necklace (+1 minion) - How valuable is one more minion when you've already got 8 minions not counting the potion or bewitching table plus the 4 turret summons AND the Stardust Guardian? Mind you, with the extreme +damage you're already getting in the first 4 accessories I listed, it could be quite powerful. But things to consider include whether or not 1 more minion is overkill outside of boss fights, and whether or not added minions get less attacks on a boss individually when there are already plenty of attacks being thrown at it. I'm not sure if thats a thing, if someone can elaborate that would be great.

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Now, all this knockback kind of concerns me. Is it going to impact the damage of my minions overall? Will it become inconvenient having enemies tossed around in caves? I don't have too much experience as a summoner yet and I've yet to fully realize my set. If someone can help detail the value of what I've posted here that would be great.
 
Azure30 said:
Summoner Emblem (+15% damage)
Papyrus Scarab (+15% damage, +1 minion, +knockback)
Hercules Beetle (+15% damage, +knockback)
Necromantic Scroll (+10% damage, +1 minion)

After that I'm still debating about the last slot(s):

Celestial Shell - Obviously an all-purpose accessory that anyone can appreciate. However, in the case of the summoner, only the +10% damage and added knockback are going to affect your minions. The rest of the stats are good for supplementing YOU of course but most of it is melee-friendly and it just seems to me like you should be using either Magic or Ranged in tandem with your minions, considering the defense on your armor is really bad. But then again maybe thats more reason to take the Shell with its increased defenses.

Yo-yo Bag - All that melee boosting from the Shell might make Yo-yos the most viable weapon choice for a summoner. Plus when you consider the Terrarian is the strongest melee weapon in the game and can attack from a safe range or even around walls... this might be worth pairing with the Shell.

Celestial Stone - Only to be considered if the Shell is already equipped. Simply doubles up on all the buffs received by the Shell, minus the nighttime transformation. Still incredibly potent for anyone.

Ankh Shield - Self-explanatory but I'm not familiar with what debuffs you have to really look out for at endgame. Defense is nice, not being knocked back and immunity to fire blocks is relatively negligible when you're speeding around in a UFO though.

Pygmy Necklace (+1 minion) - How valuable is one more minion when you've already got 8 minions not counting the potion or bewitching table plus the 4 turret summons AND the Stardust Guardian? Mind you, with the extreme +damage you're already getting in the first 4 accessories I listed, it could be quite powerful. But things to consider include whether or not 1 more minion is overkill outside of boss fights, and whether or not added minions get less attacks on a boss individually when there are already plenty of attacks being thrown at it. I'm not sure if thats a thing, if someone can elaborate that would be great.

=======================

Now, all this knockback kind of concerns me. Is it going to impact the damage of my minions overall? Will it become inconvenient having enemies tossed around in caves? I don't have too much experience as a summoner yet and I've yet to fully realize my set. If someone can help detail the value of what I've posted here that would be great.
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The knockback is negligible, especially if you are using Ruthless summoning staffs.
 
Azure30 said:
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Also remember that damage boosts are applied when minions are summoned. Thus, if You have Summoner Emblem/Hercules Beetle/Pygmy Necklace/Necromantic Scroll/Papyrus Scarab (all Menacing) when summoning, you get +3 summons and they all have +75% damage, plus the bonuses from armor and buffs. You can then switch to Pygmy Necklace/Necromantic Scroll/Papyrus Scarab/other1/other2 (all Warding) and retain the existing summons with their damage boosts, but get 20 Defense and two free accessory slots (I'm fond of the Celestial Shell and Stone for their all-around buffs).
 
Alaron said:
Also remember that damage boosts are applied when minions are summoned. Thus, if You have Summoner Emblem/Hercules Beetle/Pygmy Necklace/Necromantic Scroll/Papyrus Scarab (all Menacing) when summoning, you get +3 summons and they all have +75% damage, plus the bonuses from armor and buffs. You can then switch to Pygmy Necklace/Necromantic Scroll/Papyrus Scarab/other1/other2 (all Warding) and retain the existing summons with their damage boosts, but get 20 Defense and two free accessory slots (I'm fond of the Celestial Shell and Stone for their all-around buffs).
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Whoooaaaaaa I didn't know this. Thats good to know!
 
And since you probably won't have room for wings or boots in your setup if you're going full Minion, make sure you have a good mount.
The UFO and Fishron allow infinite flight, and the Reindeer is the best mount for wing-type flight.
 
Alaron said:
Also remember that damage boosts are applied when minions are summoned. Thus, if You have Summoner Emblem/Hercules Beetle/Pygmy Necklace/Necromantic Scroll/Papyrus Scarab (all Menacing) when summoning, you get +3 summons and they all have +75% damage, plus the bonuses from armor and buffs. You can then switch to Pygmy Necklace/Necromantic Scroll/Papyrus Scarab/other1/other2 (all Warding) and retain the existing summons with their damage boosts, but get 20 Defense and two free accessory slots (I'm fond of the Celestial Shell and Stone for their all-around buffs).
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I was mostly avoiding mentioning that because it is likely not intended and might get patched at some point.
 
Soulstiger said:
I was mostly avoiding mentioning that because it is likely not intended and might get patched at some point.
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To me, this mechanic makes sense. Otherwise, summoners are left without enough accessories to make a big impact on battles. Having some of the lowest defense in the game requires you to switch out some of your scarabs and emblems for a worm scarf or ninja gear, so you have some form of defense and mobility/dodging. You're not left with much to defend yourself besides a few minions, and if they're off fighting and a Corite charges after you, you're out of luck.
 
Zesty_Limez said:
To me, this mechanic makes sense. Otherwise, summoners are left without enough accessories to make a big impact on battles. Having some of the lowest defense in the game requires you to switch out some of your scarabs and emblems for a worm scarf or ninja gear, so you have some form of defense and mobility/dodging. You're not left with much to defend yourself besides a few minions, and if they're off fighting and a Corite charges after you, you're out of luck.
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Yeah, it makes sense to me as well, but it has been discussed as being a bug. The only reason I think it hasn't been fixed is that it would be complicated. If I'm remembering correctly anyway.
 
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