You are posting in a thread about how the Summoner could be made better. Either the current Summoner is OK or it should be improved. Saying that you should just like it or lump it is kind of off-topic.
I'm not sure what's up with the
cherry-picking, but it was obviously a post made to address issues that came up beyond the scope of this linear conversation. If we're going to start being intellectually dishonest, there's no point in continuing on, as it's only going to degrade into something useless. I'm not going to entertain this kinda stuff any farther & if it continues, I'll just disengage. Either we have a
real discussion, or none at all.
That's gone now; Water Bolt in 1.4 will not spawn above the Dungeon Guardian levels of the Dungeon. Now, it might spawn right at the point where the DG spawns, so maybe if you suicide-run your way through, you might get one into your inventory before dying.
That sounds a bit more interesting honestly, & I personally like that change. I'm looking forward to trying to bypass a gate like this, thanks for the update.
That's not really luck; web and gems are just stuff you collect while exploring. Yes, it takes time, but exploration is the meat of the game; you're expected to take that time, and part of your reward is being able to craft mage gear. It's an alternative to the ore system for melee and ranged weapons, but one which is gained by doing the same things. That is, everybody gets enough stuff to do this just by playing the game.
I'm only replying to this to give you & everyone else notice, I'm fairly sure no one here thinks that finding Gems & Ores is
random, you may or may not find them depending on your World Gen, meaning, a certain type of Gems may be desirable, but you may just have to settle for another if you don't run into them, only because, by that time, you may just find something better, then there's no point to doing so. I feel like that's fairly obvious & doesn't need to be explained, so the next time someone states the obvious, I'm going to
purposely ignore it. You've been warned.
And even Tim isn't entirely luck based; if you're wearing Gem robes and not wearing the hat, the game will automatically increase Tim's spawn rate.
Cool, I didn't know that. This is a benefit of Meta-gaming so, good on you for knowing spawn-rate numbers, it's valuable information to have. I'm not a numbers guy.
By contrast, it could be hours of tedious grinding during Blood Moons before you get the one drop that lets you do summoning. And even then, how would you know to do that grinding if you didn't know it existed?
Exactly, you get lucky. I must admit though, your position is confusing since you're a numbers person, why exactly are you interjecting grinding in a mystery senario, where we are assuming the player doesn't know to look for a thing? The natural route would be to keep the Summon you have, because it doesn't hurt to have it & move on, you wouldn't grind for a newer one. This is why Meta-gaming & natural progression should never be compared, but I'm seeing a LOT of that here for some reason, which leads me to suspect that people are
microwaving their information instead of developing their own strategies. I'm tempted to say the word
posers at this point, but I'll hold off judgement for now.
No, pre-Queen Bee summoner stuff is a lucky drop, a bonus, not a real part of progression.
I'm not sure if this is directed at me or not, so I'll just drop this link
here if it is & somehow our wires got crossed?
I don't buy your notion of what the developers wanted the Summoner class to be. It's clear that it has evolved since the first summon weapon was added to the game. The progressive addition of more and more Summoner content seems to me clearly intended to make the Summoner class as "in-your-face" as the others.
Summoner Staffs are Class Neutral helpers. Every Class can benefit from having a Minion, even if they don't know that Summoner exists. I'm not sure why I have to explain this to a numbers person, or person who Meta-games but, the evidence is there, clear as day. If you choose
not to see it, then, ok. I'm not gonna keep beating you over the head with proof to try & change your mind.
The issue is why the pre-Queen Bee stuff is so RNG-based that you can't really rely on it without tedious grinding. And the reason is basically everything you've said, just turned around.
I'm just replying to make it clear that I'm
not repeating myself anymore. It's random for a reason & if you're
still not getting it, then hey... I don't know what else to tell you.
If I'm using a sword, and I pick a bow as a secondary weapon, I cannot use the bow while I'm using the sword and vice-versa. I must switch from one to the other. And that cost is usually paid via another of the 10 quick-bar slots. And even though there are 10 of them, some are a lot more convenient to reach than others.
Yep, I think you're about to have a revelation & then squander it... let's see what comes next.
But here's the thing: that's not true for summoners early-game.
Yep...
*facepalm*
If I happen to get a staff, then with a Summoner Potion, I can summon a couple of things and still go back to my regular play. I don't have to spend any quick-bar slots because you don't need to summon things in the middle of combat. So I'm still 100% as effective at their playing melee/ranged/mage build as before. It's just that I'm getting some extra damage in by these summons.
Yep...
I'm not a "summoner"; I'm a melee/ranged/mage with extra DPS.
Yep... you're 100% correct.
Because of that, early-game summons cannot be powerful. This is why they're all terrible or RNG-based. If they were really good, then every class would just use them and the game would have to be re-balanced with the expectation that everyone uses them.
*facepalm*
That's the fundamental problem with early game summons as a concept: it's too easy for other classes to use them, so they have to be nerfed into near-useless lest they unbalance the game.
*Le sigh* You just described the strengths of being a Summoner, in a nut-shell, & somehow turned it into a negative. The point is to power-up your minions & do the exact thing everyone else is, but better. There are Archery Potions too you know, & Wrath & Danger Sense & Hunter & other beneficial items. I don't see the problem, I see a person trying to Meta-game without any real context. You essentially classified Summoner as a
challenge run, & then immediately proceed toward critiquing balance & natural progression. Why would a Meta-gamer care about any of that stuff? I gotta be honest, this is starting to make me dizzy...