Suggestion: Summon/Form Revamp

PlayerSkillFTW

So, while comparing Magery/Necro/SW summons to Mysticism summons, i had several ideas on how to improve summons for the magic skills, along with how to improve a couple Necro Forms.

First off, Magery Summons. Currently, most suck. They should all scale with Magery/Eval skill (they currently don't).

Blade Spirits should go back to 1 slot, have a faster cast time, and have up to GM Wrest/120 Parry (that many whirling blades should have an easy time parrying attacks), along with the Repel ability.

EVs are fairly decent for 2 slots. Only thing i might add is Lightning Force. EVs are currently Magery's "Big Boy Summon", but pale in comparison to the other magic's "Big Boys".

Magery Mastery could interact with summons to empower them by granting access to attunemement quests. For example, you could make a pact with one of the Titans (Lithos, Stratos, Pyros, or Hydros), or a powerful Daemon (Scelestus the Defiler), that would empower the corresponding summon. All Greater Elementals would have better stats (scaling up with Magery/Eval), particular abilities, and grant their summoner corresponding Eater/Resonance properties.

Greater Earth Elementals would have Crushing Blow (this needs to be fixed for pets) and Bodyguard.

Greater Air Elementals would have Conductive Blast and Lightning Force.

Greater Fire Elementals would have Inferno and Searing Wounds.

Greater Water Elementals would have Cold Wind (this needs to debuff Cold Resist) and maybe Psychic Attack.

In Ultima lore, summoning a Daemon is the pinnacle act of Magery, an awe (and terror) inspiring act of immense power and oftentimes desperation. By making a pact with Scelestus the Defiler, he grants you the ability to summon not a Daemon, but a Balron, at great expense to Karma each summon (and perhaps costing Health as well). Making a pact with Scelestus the Defiler should cost you significant Gargoyle Queen reputation.

Summoned Balrons would be a hell of a lot more powerful than Daemons. They'd have their stats greatly improved (to Balron levels), their skills scale with Magery/Eval (up to 120 in all skills), have Mortal Strike, but they'd also go back to being 5 slots, have a longer cast time, as well as rampaging (red). Scelestus' Pact allows you summon and be protected from the Balron, but not command it. A summoned Balron should be able to go toe to toe with a Rising Colossus. This should be Magery Mastery's "Big Boy Summon".

Necromancy's Revenant really sucks, hard. It supposedly scales with Necro/SS skill (can't get a lore window of it due to being classified as human NPC), but even at 120 Necro/120 SS, they're an absolute joke. Revenants should apply Curse with their hit (or Spellbinder debuff casting), and automatically track their target for their summoner (arrow on screen).

Familiars should scale with Necro/SS skill as well (up to 120 skills at 120 Necro/SS). The Horde Minion could perhaps grant +50 Carry capacity to their master, in addition to their current pack ability. The Shadow Wisp is actually decent with it's Negative Energy Flare (periodically restores Mana to nearby low Karma players/pets, the lower the Karma, the more Mana restored). The Dark Wolf should grant it's master 20% Hit Stamina Leech, in addition to it's current "Wolf Mastery" ability. The Death Adder should grant it's master a degree of Poison Resistance (similar to Orange Petals), along with it's current "Snake Charming" ability. The Vampire Bat should grant +10% Life Drain to all attacks/spells cast by it's master (yes, low % Life Drain on spells).

Necro Mastery's "Big Boy", isn't exactly a summon. It's using Command Undead on up to two Skeletal Dragons. While two Skeletal Dragons are pretty nasty, they're still a pain in the ass to acquire and Gate/haul around.

Spellweaving does have some decent summons. The Nature's Furies act as Physical damage tanks (they have up to 90% Phys Res). Pixies make for decent interrupters against enemy spellcasters, but could be better if they also give their summoner a stacking +2% Casting Focus buff, so +10% Casting Focus with 5 Pixies out. Imps are useless right now, and should provide their summoner with a stacking +3% SDI buff, so +15% SDI with 5 Imps out. Dryad Allure can charm some pretty powerful Reponds (which can be bandied with Healing skill), but has the same inconveniences as Necro Mastery's Command Undead.

Spellweaving Mastery's "Big Boy Summon", is the Reaper. These are actually pretty good. They have good stats, can AoE with their Aura and Whirlwind, and can tank with their high HP and pulling in nearby enemies. Here's a maxed out Reaper.

Mysticism's Animated Weapon scales with Mysticism/Focus (or Imbuing)/Tactics/Anatomy, inheriting half of your Tactics/Anatomy skill as it's own. It's not worth the skillpoint investment, way too weak for that many skillpoints and 4 slots. They should buff it's stats and add Armor Pierce to it.

Mysticism's "Big Boy Summon" is the Rising Colossus, the reigning king of summons. These things are incredibly powerful. They're very tanky, deliver high amounts of damage (especially with Armor Ignore), and have some offensive utility with their Purge Magic. Here's a maxed out RC, look at those 120s!

Now onto Forms.

Moloch Form (Horrific Beast) should also grant a significant (30%) SSI bonus and +10% Parry chance. Moloch Form should also have innate Battle Lust (damage increases with damage taken, and with more enemies engaged in combat with). With 4 arms, you're much more capable of handling multiple opponents and attacking more rapidly.

Wraith Form is fine for the most part. Only thing i'd potentially add, is 100% chance to cast Teleport (i'd love to see an Artifact Ring/Talisman introduced with Teleport charges).

Lich Form is in serious need of a revamp. With how easy it is to reach the 30 MR Cap through Legendary Artifacts, the +13 MR from Lich Form is pretty outdated (and out competed by Wraith Form's Mana Drain). Throughout all of UO's history, Liches have been absolutely infamous for their ability to rapidly mana dump and spell combo. I suggest that Lich Form increase the FC Cap for Magery and Necro spells from 2 FC, to 3 FC. While Lich Form doesn't increase your SDI like Reaper Form does, it does allow you to rapidly cast spells faster, therefore burning through Mana faster. To compensate for this, Lich Form should also alter active Spirit Speak use to not only restore Health, but to also restore Mana when channeling from a corpse (throughout all fantasy IPs, Liches are well known for using souls to increase/restore their own power). Lich Form could also have a chance to apply Corpse Skin on melee attack (Juo'nar has a version of this with his "Necrotic Touch" ability, plus the touch of a Lich in D&D has a Paralyzing/Diseasing/Life Draining effect).

@Kyronix So what do you think?

Riner

Thanks well thought out and would make nice changes