SpiritVale Codex Codex
Base class Summon

Summoner

Commands undead summons; advances to Necromancer

Summoner

The Summoner commands an army of undead minions while casting Decay spells from the back line. Where pure caster classes throw raw spells, the Summoner delegates — your skeletons tank, your caster-mobs burn, and you stay safely in the rear.

Overview

Summoners have a unique resource system: every active minion costs mana-per-second to maintain. Lose too many summons and you need to recast — but lose the fight and you lose them all. The base Summoner lets you run up to 4 minions simultaneously, with the option to specialize in melee skeletons (Bone Warriors), ranged skeletons (Bone Archers), or heavy minions (Bone Golem).

In combat, the Summoner opens with Bone Spear (a piercing single-target spell), lets minions engage, then weaves Decay and Bone Nova for AoE. The playstyle rewards positioning — you must keep your minions between you and the enemy.

Summoner advances into the Necromancer at Job Level 50. Necromancer unlocks Death Knight and Bone Dragon summons and replaces mana-cost-per-second with a Flesh shield mechanic.

Stat priority

  1. Intelligence — spell damage and minion scaling.
  2. Spirit — minion health pool scales (mostly) with Spirit.
  3. Vitality — last-line defense.

For first-time summoners, Spirit > Intelligence in the early levels because minion HP keeps them alive.

Skill tree

Raise Skeleton Active 5s

Summons a Bone Warrior; 60s duration, costs 5 mana/s to maintain.

Raise Bone Archer Active 5s

Summons ranged Bone Archer; 80s duration.

Bone Golem Active 30s

Summons a heavy golem; 120s duration, costs 15 mana/s.

Bone Spear Active 1.5s

Piercing single-target spell. Passes through minions.

Decay Active 8s

Apply Decay debuff: -10% damage taken. Stacks 5 times.

Bone Nova Active 25s

AoE damage in 8m, knocks back enemies.

Necrotic Shield Active 60s

For 10s, 30% of damage taken is absorbed by a summoned minion.

For solo play, **2 Bone Archers + 1 Bone Warrior + 1 Bone Golem** is the default template. The golem is your "oh no" button — drop it, kite, and let the mobs burn on it while you nuke with Bone Spear.

Equipment & cards

The Necrotic Apprentice 2-piece (Lv 25 dungeon) is the starter set: +1 max minion. At Lv 50+ switch to Ossuary (4-piece — +20% minion damage). Endgame: Ossuary 4-piece + Marrow 2-piece for +15% minion HP.

Cards to chase:

  • Skeleton’s Pact (Lv 30 dungeon) — Minions deal +10% damage.
  • Soul Siphon (Lv 60 dungeon) — Killing blows refund mana.
  • Master’s Call (Lv 90 dungeon) — Minions gain +1 chain target on AoE attacks.

Leveling (Lv 1–50)

Summoners level slow but safe. Early on, raise 2 skeletons before any pull — even an overpull becomes manageable. Save Bone Golem for elites and named enemies.

The hardest leveling window is Lv 25–35 when your skeletons are still squishy. Pair with a friend or queue Echoing Grotto early to ease the pain.

Endgame

Endgame Summoners (post-Necromancer) can run 8 minions plus a Death Knight pet. Boss fights collapse when you stack Decay 5 times then drop Bone Nova while your Bone Dragon executes.

The current PvE meta favors Summoners for group farming routes (summons tank, you kite) and boss solo strategies (Decay + Necrotic Shield = incredible sustain).

FAQ

Q: Are minions mandatory? A: For optimal damage, yes. But you can clear content with Bone Spear + Decay alone if you kite well.

Q: How do summons scale with my gear? A: Both Intelligence (damage) and Spirit (HP) matter. They don’t scale with weapon damage.

Q: Will summons ever despawn on their own? A: Yes, by their duration timer. They also despawn if you change zones. Necrotic Shield can save dying minions once per cooldown.

References