Any non-multiclass build for Beckoner?

[Aldath]

Hello there guys, I'm pretty new to the game, been playing many classes in Classic mode and although I understand the basics now and I can make it quite far without struggling, I was wondering if anyone could guide me into making a good Beckoner.

I simply love the Chanter playstyle and the summoner thing. I usually go Moon Godlike, but I get lost on how to distribute my stats (I know Dex and Int are the most important for Beckoner), specially on how low I should get the stats I won't use. I also don't know which chants and summons are good to pick...

I've found guides but they usually multiclass it or ignore the Beckoner subclass altogether.

[Blave]

Turn-Based or Real-Time? Just asking because I don't think Dex is important in turn-based. I could see it's worth on a summoner, admittedly, but it mostly reduces your chance to be interrupted by making your spells go off faster. If you use stealth to approach most enemies (and why wouldn't you?), you can usually get the drop on them and get a spell off before they even get a chance to interrupt you. And there's always abilities like combat focus to make your first spell more reliable. By the time you have enough phrases for the next summon, you should have enough time to use positioning to make mostly sure you're not interrupted.

As far as I understand, turn-based also allows you to directly control your summoned creatures, making them much more effective.

Anyway, Int shoud be your highest priority. Note that a +2 int helm is available to buy very early in the game, so every race besides godlike will actually come out on top when it comes to most Int possible. Godlike are still a good race, just thought I'd mention this.

For chants, pick those that improve your summons. Aefyllath (spelling?) should increase the damage of the ogres if I'm not mistaken and will also give your whole party a decent damage buff. Other than that, I'd prefer cahnts to make my summons a bit more sturdy like ancient memory.

[Tommy1984]

I did three playthroughs as Beckoners but always multiclass, although I tested singleclass at least. The thing is, that animated weapons are more useful than the dragons and having 8 animated weapons instead of 6 is not worth losing your second class. So I would go multiclass - Herald aka Paladin/Beckoner prefered.

For summons: Skeletons are a good start, but I wouldn't put points into them at character creation as you can not respec these points. Next best thing are Wurms - they are ranged, so you can use them as backrow artillery. With their upgrade they do really good damage (most of the time more than the ogres). The next summon tier gives you the ogres. They are really nice blockers and come with some self buffs and AoE attacks. But that needs a lot of micromanagement, so i usally ignore these and let them auto-attack. The final good summon are the Animated Weapons that can hit really hard. They also have special abilities like Flames of Devotion - so if you are willing to do micromanagement they can do even more damage, but auto-attacking is also fine. Summons like Phantoms, Wisps, Drakes and Spores are not worth using as the others are just better.

As you need your phrases to keep your summons up there is no place for many invocations, but Hel-Hyraf (with upgrade) can be really good for harder fights. For chants Aefyllath increases the damage, but I usally run Ancient Memory + Mercy and Kindness as I also use Exalted Endurance from Paladin multiclass to keep my summons alive (they only have 25% health on Beckoner).

For casting having dex is not really needed. I usually build my beckoner as tank with concentration, but taking Rapid Casting and Quick Summoning is still worth it. If you play solo then Acolyte's Frostbite is a must-have weapon as it regenerates concentration for you - in a party its not as useful. Instead of going for concentration you can also use Rekvu's Fractured Casque with an injury for interrupt immunity and completely ignore action speed. Sasha's Singing Scimitar synergizes also really good with Summons. For the pet I would go with Animancy Cat (or Prissy if you are a healer tank). I usally go for the heaviest plate armor I can find and use medium shield with the modal for it.

For stats INT is the most important, as you want your summon duration match the time you need to generate the phrases for casting you next summon. As my beckoners are also healer tanks RES and MIG are also good. With enough healing you can dump CON and with an interrupt stratagy (see above) you can also dump DEX. But because I also don't need PER I usally distribute my remaining points balanced.

[Boeroer]

Having 2 more animated weapons is actually pretty powerful. As SC you will also get more PLs for your invocation which means increased base duration for ypur summons (5% base per PL which multiplies with bonuses from INT).

Also you will get access to the powerful tiers a lot faster as SC. For example Ancient Brittle Bones or The first tier of the animated weapons. Also the last phrase "The Arrow Sings" should boost your summons' PEN as well if I'm not mistaken. If you combine that with Myth Fyr that's some nice dmg boost for your summons. Combine with "The Shield Cracks" which you should be able to uphold with enough allies on the field so that you only have to cast it once (for example empowered with Sasha's Singing Scimitar in order to extend the duration and get back 3 phrases instantly for summons).

And you'll get access to one of the best invocation upgrades there is: Eld Nary's Curse. If you mostly use your invocations for summons then this will not matter much though.

Good pet for a Beckoner: Animancer's Cat (+1 PEN for summons - don't know if it stacks with The Arrow Sings though - would be very nice). If you bring Edér with his Berath's Blessing (Can I pet him anyway?) you can use Animancer's Cat with him and can still use your own favorite pet. It doesn't matter who uses Animancer's Cat: it affects all party summons no matter who summoned them. 

 

[Elric Galad]

Side note : picking the Dragon at PL IX might be useful even if you don't plan to use it because your phrase pool is aligned with your highest costing Invocation. Dragon costs 7+1 phrases as a beckoner which is at least 1 phrase above every other Invocations (Weapons are only 6+1 phrases).

[Aldath]

I'm asking for RTwP btw  

Thanks for the replies guys! I' still quite a noob so I don't understand half of the acronyms you're using XD Besides PL hehehehe

[Boeroer]

15 hours ago, Elric Galad said:

Side note : picking the Dragon at PL IX might be useful even if you don't plan to use it because your phrase pool is aligned with your highest costing Invocation. Dragon costs 7+1 phrases as a beckoner which is at least 1 phrase above every other Invocations (Weapons are only 6+1 phrases).

Very good point! You will have a higher max phrase counter that way. Especially useful for Bellower (gets Power Level Bonus basedon hold phrases) but also important for every other chanter.

[Elric Galad]

7 hours ago, Boeroer said:

Very good point! You will have a higher max phrase counter that way. Especially useful for Bellower (gets Power Level Bonus basedon hold phrases) but also important for every other chanter.

That's true, except that a Bellower can choose to pick "His Heart Did Fill..." instead since it costs the same for them.
As a rule of thumb, the first question to ask oneself when designing a Chanter build is "what is the highest cost invoction I can pick" taking into account the various "penalties".
It's true for Multi or Single Class, whatever your subclass is.

It worth mentionning that a Single Class Skald who picks either Dragon or "His Heart Did Fill..." at PL IX would be able to cast 2 Eld Nary at the beginning of each encounter, or 4 time when using Sasha's Singing Scimitar upgraded with the complete phrase refill (you have to empower the 2nd cast).