DialgaTheTimeLord
Steampunker
Prehardmode Summoner progression is still terrible. There is no clear sense of progression and not enough variety in tools like every other class has access to. You can easily see this by just going to the official wiki's Class setups guide. There is no summoner armor whatsoever until after Queen Bee, while ranged gets Fossil, mage gets Meteor AND Jungle, and of course melee gets Shadow. That's three bosses later when the rest only take two or less to get. Summoner needs an earlier armor set that grants a single additional minion slot some time before the Bee Armor. It'd be a natural progression from one to two to three in prehardmode.
In addition, there's no reliable summoner weapons until Queen Bee. All the rest are RNG based. Slime Staff is hideously rare, and Vampire Frog has way too many RNG factors involved: first a blood moon, then catching the right enemies, and finally having said enemies actually drop the item, which also involves killing painfully tough enemies with nothing but a basic finch staff, which has poor AI, low damage, and unless you're playing Journey ALSO requires RNG to get in the first place. Specifically, from the outer 2/3 of the map generally, often having to pass several dangerous areas with no access to a summoner weapon. Sure, prehardmode encourages branching out from your class, but all other classes at least have the option to play solely within their own damage types. Prehardmode Summoner doesn't have that option feasibly. You're basically going into fights with the Summoner equivalent of an Amethyst Staff or similar until you beat QB, if you even find the Finch Staff in the first place. Make some craftable Summoner weapons before the Hornet staff. Nobody should have to grind 10,000 slimes for the slime staff, Vampire Frog should be optional like most powerful fishing items, and Finch Staff should just be a craftable starting weapon. 10 wood and a Bird. Easy. Then perhaps make a Shadow summon that's a tiny Corruption enemy. Bam, I just fixed the biggest issue with Prehardmode summon with one new weapon and an added recipe for an existing one.
1.4 introduced whips, which admittedly are an amazing addition, buffing up your single target DPS immensely. The problem they have is... exactly the same problem Staves have. Zero sense of progression. The Snapthorn is a jungle weapon, which while technically can be acquired at any point, keep in mind, chances are you're going into the Jungle with nothing but a Leather Whip and a Finch Staff. Also to get the Leather Whip in the first place, you need to get the Zoologist to spawn and to unlock the whip, which means killing enough enemies with nothing but a Finch Staff. And only one Finch. And nothing else. There should be a weaker whip just before the Leather. Make it out of Wood and have it be a tree branch or something. Branch whips are a thing and probably the simplest a whip could get. Then add another craftable whip between Leather and Snapthorn. Again, Corruption themed seems like a good place for it.
Finally, accessories. Summoner has zero accessories before Hardmode. Ranger also has this issue, but without all the other glaring flaws. Something simple like a slight damage boost and/or a knockback increase would be a nice touch to cap everything off.
In addition, there's no reliable summoner weapons until Queen Bee. All the rest are RNG based. Slime Staff is hideously rare, and Vampire Frog has way too many RNG factors involved: first a blood moon, then catching the right enemies, and finally having said enemies actually drop the item, which also involves killing painfully tough enemies with nothing but a basic finch staff, which has poor AI, low damage, and unless you're playing Journey ALSO requires RNG to get in the first place. Specifically, from the outer 2/3 of the map generally, often having to pass several dangerous areas with no access to a summoner weapon. Sure, prehardmode encourages branching out from your class, but all other classes at least have the option to play solely within their own damage types. Prehardmode Summoner doesn't have that option feasibly. You're basically going into fights with the Summoner equivalent of an Amethyst Staff or similar until you beat QB, if you even find the Finch Staff in the first place. Make some craftable Summoner weapons before the Hornet staff. Nobody should have to grind 10,000 slimes for the slime staff, Vampire Frog should be optional like most powerful fishing items, and Finch Staff should just be a craftable starting weapon. 10 wood and a Bird. Easy. Then perhaps make a Shadow summon that's a tiny Corruption enemy. Bam, I just fixed the biggest issue with Prehardmode summon with one new weapon and an added recipe for an existing one.
1.4 introduced whips, which admittedly are an amazing addition, buffing up your single target DPS immensely. The problem they have is... exactly the same problem Staves have. Zero sense of progression. The Snapthorn is a jungle weapon, which while technically can be acquired at any point, keep in mind, chances are you're going into the Jungle with nothing but a Leather Whip and a Finch Staff. Also to get the Leather Whip in the first place, you need to get the Zoologist to spawn and to unlock the whip, which means killing enough enemies with nothing but a Finch Staff. And only one Finch. And nothing else. There should be a weaker whip just before the Leather. Make it out of Wood and have it be a tree branch or something. Branch whips are a thing and probably the simplest a whip could get. Then add another craftable whip between Leather and Snapthorn. Again, Corruption themed seems like a good place for it.
Finally, accessories. Summoner has zero accessories before Hardmode. Ranger also has this issue, but without all the other glaring flaws. Something simple like a slight damage boost and/or a knockback increase would be a nice touch to cap everything off.
