Items Shadowflame Apparition Staff: An Early Hardmode Summoner Weapon

[sun_dew]

Something that's been really bothering me lately is the fact that an enemy called the Goblin Summoner drops a weapon for every single class except summoner. This issue is compounded by the fact that the weapons dropped by the Goblin Summoner are the only way to apply the shadowflame debuff to enemies, which is incredibly useful in early hardmode. Also, summoner class could use some more options when it comes to early hardmode, with most pre-hardmode staffs falling off quickly, and pirate and spider both being a bit finnicky. The Goblin Summoner's Shadowflame Apparations are pretty obvious candidates for what the new staff would summon. A hardmode pre-boss flying summon would be pretty useful, and shake things up a bit for sure. All in all, this would solve a major issue I have with Goblin Summoners, and provide a bit of variety to the summoner's arsenal.

 

[DeDZahar]

Sounds good. Related question: in what way this summon is supposed to deal damage to enemies? Acting like pirates from staff or like sharkonados but shooting with flying heads? For me pirate AI was always messy a bit...

 

[VantaRose44]

I personally assume it would work somewhat like the Twins minion's "Spazmini", dashing to attack enemies but with shadowflame?

 

[noobsqoou⛏️]

I'm right there with ya. Having the Goblin Summoner drop weapons for every other class except summoner is just an appalling travesty.

While the most simplistic implementation would be to have it summon individual apparitions that ram enemies like many other minions, an unique twist could be to have it summon a single shadowflame portal that remains close to the player (hovering just behind) and "shoots" apparitions at approaching enemies. The apparitions would deal a set amount of damage, inflict shadowflame, penetrate a number of enemies (dealing less damage each time), and then vanish after that number is reached. If they miss, they just bounce off of terrain at the cost of one penetration point per bounce.

For each use of the staff, the single portal increases in power, launching apparitions at an increasing rate (actual firing rate = (base firing rate)/(number of summons)) and velocity (actual velocity = base velocity + (base velocity)x(((number of summons)-1)/10).

Also, the portal would always reposition to the side of the player opposite from the target enemy (if the enemy is above and to the west, the portal would reposition to below and to the east). It would also deal a set amount of contact damage that scales with the power level of the portal.

Description: Summons friends from the other side
Flavor text: Are ya ready?
(inspired by Dr. Facilier from Disney's The Princess and the Frog)