Summoner

Summoner is one of the classes that can be selected in Elder Tale. It is one of two classes that have no regional variant on any server, alongside Guardian.

Overview
Summoners have the magic that allows them to summon mystical beasts or spirits. There are over 100 different types of creatures that can be summoned. To prevent the class from being almighty and game-breaking, the maximum number of summoned creatures (which will stay out until called back) that a player can summon at any moment is one, and the maximum number of summoned creatures that can be registered is twelve.

Some high-level beasts can only be summoned at special locations after completing their specific quests. While the number of summoned creatures out at any moment is one, there are limited-time summons of which there can be infinite amounts of, so long as the caster's MP allows for it.

Due to game-balancing issues, summoned creatures only have a third of the strength of a Normal-ranked monster. However, releasing the contract will return the creature to its original strength, as seen with the Garnet Dragon.

Summoners themselves have extremely low HP and defense stats. However, due to the wide variety of creatures that can be summoned and the ways these creatures can interact with other beings and the environment, a Summoner's role within a party can include offense, healing, or support. This inherent flexibility makes it an extremely popular class among players, including solo players.

Sample Builds
Summoners can generally be categorized into four sub-specialties: Elementalists, Necromancers, Alchemics, and Beast Tamers.

Elementalist
Specializes in summoning elemental spirits such as Salamanders and Undines. The summoned spirit uses Elemental Bolt automatically, while powerful magical attacks Elemental Ray and Elemental Blast are available for use at command.

The charm of this build is that it almost matches up to the magical offensive abilities of a Sorcerer. Attacking with elemental advantage against the enemy is a fundamental strategy of magic attacks, so Elementalers can quickly switch to the appropriate elemental spirit.

After the Catastrophe, it has become apparent that they have mundane versatility as well, because spirits can supply things like water and fire (for heat). Demand for Summoners are increasing due to this.

Azalea uses this build.

Necromancer
Summons undead monsters such as skeletons and phantoms. Death Scythe is an aggressive physical attack, and Graveyard Walk allows you to direct the undead to concentrate on one enemy. It is also good at confusing the enemy and for hiding someone.

Although the image of a Necromancer is one of a "villain" that manipulates corpses, this build is popular from the era the act of subduing your enemies and making them your army was cool. While some will acquire the Necromancer subclass for its extra perks, there is no direct relation between the build and the subclass.

After the Catastrophe, there are many Necromancers who can't summon their servants due to their grotesque appearances and difficulty in communicating with them.

Roe2 and Yomi mainly use(d) this build.

Alchemics
Also called Puppet Master.

Summons alchemized constructs such as golems and slimes. They have excellent durability in general, so these servants make good walls to block enemy attacks. Protective skills like Guardian Fist which can protect an ally from damage, and Scapedoll which allows the summon to take some of the damage in your place, are available for use.

When the party's advanced guard is insufficient, or in solo play, Alchemics are the most useful. Golems are high in demand because it has high defense and durability compared to the others. Summoners are often seen hiding behind Golems while casting magic.

Hisako uses this build.

Beast Tamer
Summons magic beasts such as carbuncles and unicorns. Not only do they excel at healing using Phantasmal Heal to help, the high speed movement magic Phantasmal Ride lets you ride on the back of the phantom beast. There are many Summoners who use a whip as their weapon to fit the image of a tamer.

Healers are in high demand and sometimes healers go missing in impromptu parties. At these times the Beast Tamer steps in. Of course, even in a party with a healer, it can be of significant help as a sub-healer.

Sasameyuki uses this build.

Known Skills
For general information about how skills work in Elder Tale, see the Skills page. For a list of entities that can be summoned, see the Summoned Servants section below.

There are several types of summoning spells: Servant Summoning (従者召喚), Combat Skill Summoning (戦技召喚, also known as Summon Attacker), and Magic Summoning (方術召喚).

The distinction between them is not entirely clear, but it seems that servants can be controlled directly as well as summoned for non-combat purposes (which is extremely handy after the Catastrophe), whereas Combat Skill Summons are only used in battle and cannot be controlled. Magic Summoning varies between summons that can only be used for non-combat purposes, and for mounts that can be ridden into battle.

The summon lists are not comprehensive.