Fruitbat
Terrarian
The summoner class is the class with the hardest start, for melee you start with a Copper Shortsword, and for ranged you can get a bow and arrows pretty much immediately, and while mage could have a slower start than those two, you can still immediately get a Wand of Sparking, or if you got unlucky do a bit of mining and get a gem staff. However, summoners have to either grind for a slime staff, which is the lowest weapon drop chance in the game, or wait a couple tiers till the Hornet Staff in order to get into summoning. You could argue that this gap is intentional, because summoning can be really useful and having it from the beginning could break the simplicity of early game, but I think that a consumable summon item would be perfect to fill the early summoner gap.
And that summon item is the Rusty Sonar :-
8 Summon Damage
Consumable
Summons a friendly bat to fight for you (it summons a bat! who would've thought)
Has enough power for one last emission
Methods of Obtaining: 5% drop chance from any bat (always available)
Chance from crates or fishing in the ocean (before killing any boss only)
Note: Works like any summoning staff, meaning it doesn't go over the max minion limit, it gives a summon buff, and the buff stays until you die or exit.
It can't be used when you have max minions.
It doesn't use mana.
Now to the summon! A very small vampire bat :-
It always fly, but could hang upside down when you're in a tight space.
8 Summon Damage, slow to very slow attack frequency. No knockback.
It latches to the enemy like summoned spiders when it attacks
(brought to you by the power of a texture pack!)
So the main idea of this summon is to be as opposite to the baby slime as possible:-
the baby slime can't attack while flying, the vampire bat can attack anytime.
the slime is extremely inaccurate, the bat is extremely accurate.
the slime has really high attack frequency, the bat has really low attack frequency (which is so unlike its sound waves, heh get it?)
the slime staff isn't consumed but is extremely rare, the rusty sonar is consumed but is relatively uncommon.
The goal from that is to achieve the same level of balance that the slime staff has.
Of course a consumable item can't cover the early gap by itself, so you can upgrade it to a non-consumable version of the same item after the game progresses a little:-
Weak Sonar
8 Summon Damage (exact same summon as the Rusty Radar)
10 Mana
Summons a friendly bat to fight for you
Note: unlike the Rusty Sonar, it can re-summon after having max minions
Crafting (at a Tinkerer's Workshop):- x2
x5 (
or
)
So as I got the sonar idea, I thought: what other animal uses ultrasonic waves for echolocation? Dolphins! Since this is just an unnecessary niche weapon idea for fun, I'm gonna keep it shorter than the above
The Sonar/Sonar Staff:-
42 Summon Damage
10 Mana
Summons dolphins to fight for you
Only summons underwater
Note: You don't have to be in water to summon, it will summon in the closest suitable water body to your cursor
Crafting (at an Orichalcum/Myrthil anvil): x2
x10
(hallowed bars) x20
x20
Dolphins:-
(texture pack strikes again!)
42 Summon Damage, fast attack speed, high knockback.
The way this summon work is a mix between a turret and a normal summon, in that it only stays for a given time and it doesn't follow the player, but it still gives a summon buff and takes one minion slot per dolphin.
The niche in this summon is that it can only attack in water and be summoned in water, if it somehow got out of water it won't be able to attack but will try to return to water.
Its idle movement is the same as a shark, with occasional dolphin shows (jumping out of the water, clapping, etc.)
Its attack pattern is similar to expert Eye of Cthulhu in both speed and pattern, which is ramming repeatedly into the enemies, piercing through them.
Of course it's obvious where this is most useful, the ocean, pirate map farming or fighting Duke Fishron underwater with flipper potion/Neptune Shell. I also think it could be useful for clearing the jungle pools of dangerous Arapaima while doing something else so you don't accidentally fall into a lake of death.
And that's it for this suggestion! I hope you enjoyed reading through it, as it's been a real looong time since I made a suggestion.
And that summon item is the Rusty Sonar :-
8 Summon Damage
Consumable
Summons a friendly bat to fight for you (it summons a bat! who would've thought)
Has enough power for one last emission
Methods of Obtaining: 5% drop chance from any bat (always available)
Chance from crates or fishing in the ocean (before killing any boss only)
Note: Works like any summoning staff, meaning it doesn't go over the max minion limit, it gives a summon buff, and the buff stays until you die or exit.
It can't be used when you have max minions.
It doesn't use mana.
Why a sonar?
As most people know, most bats use ultrasonic sound waves to echo-locate, which is basically their alternative to sight. So I thought a sonar would be the best shape for the item, and it fits the simplicity of early game too. A staff would've been too fancy.
Why the low chance?
Because unlike other consumable weapons, this one gives a permanent buff and is not used constantly, so it being common will make its consumable nature redundant.
Why fishing only before killing a boss?
It's to help get it if the bats get uncooperative, of course once you beat a boss that means you're strong enough to continue without it. It's also to prevent inventory clutter when fishing.
As most people know, most bats use ultrasonic sound waves to echo-locate, which is basically their alternative to sight. So I thought a sonar would be the best shape for the item, and it fits the simplicity of early game too. A staff would've been too fancy.
Why the low chance?
Because unlike other consumable weapons, this one gives a permanent buff and is not used constantly, so it being common will make its consumable nature redundant.
Why fishing only before killing a boss?
It's to help get it if the bats get uncooperative, of course once you beat a boss that means you're strong enough to continue without it. It's also to prevent inventory clutter when fishing.
Now to the summon! A very small vampire bat :-
It always fly, but could hang upside down when you're in a tight space.
8 Summon Damage, slow to very slow attack frequency. No knockback.
It latches to the enemy like summoned spiders when it attacks
So the main idea of this summon is to be as opposite to the baby slime as possible:-
the baby slime can't attack while flying, the vampire bat can attack anytime.
the slime is extremely inaccurate, the bat is extremely accurate.
the slime has really high attack frequency, the bat has really low attack frequency (which is so unlike its sound waves, heh get it?)
the slime staff isn't consumed but is extremely rare, the rusty sonar is consumed but is relatively uncommon.
The goal from that is to achieve the same level of balance that the slime staff has.
Of course a consumable item can't cover the early gap by itself, so you can upgrade it to a non-consumable version of the same item after the game progresses a little:-
Weak Sonar
8 Summon Damage (exact same summon as the Rusty Radar)
10 Mana
Summons a friendly bat to fight for you
Note: unlike the Rusty Sonar, it can re-summon after having max minions
Crafting (at a Tinkerer's Workshop):- x2
So as I got the sonar idea, I thought: what other animal uses ultrasonic waves for echolocation? Dolphins! Since this is just an unnecessary niche weapon idea for fun, I'm gonna keep it shorter than the above
The Sonar/Sonar Staff:-
42 Summon Damage
10 Mana
Summons dolphins to fight for you
Only summons underwater
Note: You don't have to be in water to summon, it will summon in the closest suitable water body to your cursor
Crafting (at an Orichalcum/Myrthil anvil): x2
Dolphins:-
42 Summon Damage, fast attack speed, high knockback.
The way this summon work is a mix between a turret and a normal summon, in that it only stays for a given time and it doesn't follow the player, but it still gives a summon buff and takes one minion slot per dolphin.
The niche in this summon is that it can only attack in water and be summoned in water, if it somehow got out of water it won't be able to attack but will try to return to water.
Its idle movement is the same as a shark, with occasional dolphin shows (jumping out of the water, clapping, etc.)
Its attack pattern is similar to expert Eye of Cthulhu in both speed and pattern, which is ramming repeatedly into the enemies, piercing through them.
Of course it's obvious where this is most useful, the ocean, pirate map farming or fighting Duke Fishron underwater with flipper potion/Neptune Shell. I also think it could be useful for clearing the jungle pools of dangerous Arapaima while doing something else so you don't accidentally fall into a lake of death.
And that's it for this suggestion! I hope you enjoyed reading through it, as it's been a real looong time since I made a suggestion.
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