Is there such a thing as a decent Summoner build? Or is it that no one has ever bothered to make one on account of the mech being bad?
EDIT: designed a possible long-range build.
Edited by Requiemking, 16 July 2016 - 08:36 PM.
Posted 16 July 2016 - 09:01 PM
I wouldn't say "bad" so much as I'd say "incapable of boating weapons and thus incompatible with the current meta"
Here's a possibly effective brawler build, LB-20X swappable for UAC20 depending on preference SMN-PRIME
Edited by Audacious Aubergine, 16 July 2016 - 09:36 PM.
Posted 16 July 2016 - 09:40 PM
The summoner is not a bad mech if you play to its agility and really shines once its elited. I have the best luck with the SMN-D with two uac-5s in the side torsos and four ER medium lasers in the arms
Posted 16 July 2016 - 11:32 PM
My summoner builds are fun to run. 2 erll, 2 erml, ssrm6. Also erppc, 2erml, lrm15. Also, 2 lrm20, 3 srm6. Your results may vary.
Posted 17 July 2016 - 12:46 AM
I play one of em with UAC20 in the ST and 2MPL, one with 2LPL and 2MPL, one with 4LRM10 (no Artemis) and one with 2LPL 2MPL and Narc.
They run all pretty cool and are great for Brawling and Poking. Got more then 400Games on my 4 Summoners yet.
Posted 17 July 2016 - 12:46 AM
The Summoner is just objectively worse than other choices in the class/role.
That said, you can make it work if you employ a degree of skill; especially piloting skill (as opposed to shooting/targeting), as agility is the Summoner's best attribute.
Here are some build I've made work in order of the success I've had with them
All these builds are based on the Summoner-D CT, as it has slightly better Quirks. They all also have a TC1 to help with crit chances and knowing where to shoot for best effect.
The mixed build in the middle have dual AMS, but that could be dropped for some tonnage savings.
The last build uses SRMs. I've never been able to use SRMs effectively on any 'Mech; it's just not the weapon for me. If you love them, this could be a very effective striker/brawler.
Hope those help you out and work well for you!
Posted 17 July 2016 - 01:39 AM
A popular build at the moment is simply 2 ERPPCs. It doesn't look much, but you have the cooling to shot and shot and shot.
Similar build is the classic ERPPC+gauss.
For brawling you have 5 SRM6 artemis (not exactly sure about the ammo/DHS ratio, tweak it like you want). Personally I prefer stuff like 4 SRM4 and an autocanon, but the full SRM is pretty much the consensus.
Of course you can trade the SRM for streaks if you don't want to aim. And I suppose you can do LRM.
PS: a good resource for "decent" builds.
edit: and this mech is not bad (you actually see lots of very good players piloting it)
Edited by epikt, 17 July 2016 - 01:42 AM.
Posted 17 July 2016 - 03:12 AM
With the right omnipods on a summoner, (and a TCIV+) you can get 2000+ m/s PPCs.Edited by Keshav Murali, 17 July 2016 - 03:12 AM.
Posted 17 July 2016 - 05:35 AM
They're fun mechs and you can build one that works for you if you put a little work into it. The consensus here in this thread is pretty spot on for my experience. Can't agree more with the skill comment; get the mech fully elited and get those double basic bonuses. PPC Summoners are excellent, UACs are fun to brawl with, and there's always the classic 5SRM Troller. The most fun I think I've had in a summoner is a 1ERPPC, 1SRM6, and 1UAC20.
Edited by Karl the Plumber, 30 September 2016 - 07:01 PM.
Posted 16 August 2016 - 12:39 PM
Hit and run summoner that does well for me.
The ammo might be off from what I have in game but that's an easy adjustment.
It's not a brawler so don't stick around in fights but if you use its speed and jump jets to come from a flank it's a holy terror.
My favorite match was in this mech. I used the trenches on Polar Highlands to run all the way around the enemy. A jagermech followed me and set up in some buildings. I charged the enemy assaults from the back firing away, the jagermech started sniping and the whole enemy team turned around, exposing their backs to our friendly gunline. Less the 3 minutes and more than 500 damage later, game over.
Posted 16 August 2016 - 01:24 PM
running a summoner, I`d go for this,
doesn't look like much but its very cool for a Clanner Mech and has a bit of every thing. Consider the setup as a jack of all trades. sure many will write up that the LRM launcher is junk but i find it very useful for targets of opportunity, plus if needed you can use it in close quarters, wont do full damage but any damage inflicted to an opponent is good anyways.
Posted 16 August 2016 - 02:11 PM
2x cLPL (Right arm) + 3x sSRM4 + Bap
PLay it as LPL right corner poker. Also decent for brawling, and light protected, but dont expect much.
Posted 19 August 2016 - 12:11 AM
Unfortunately it's kind of hard to play to the Summoner's hardwired jump jets, which provide substantial lift for a heavy mech, because of the low-slung arms. However the loyalty Summoner release will present a revolution in the Summoner chassis if the omnipods get released (I've noticed that the omnipods for the loyalty Executioner are available in the warehouse even though the EXE-C is not actually available in the store, will it be the same story here?). This is due to the fact that the new Summoner omnipods will have an energy point in the right side torso, allowing for more effective PPC fire—no matter where the new hardpoint is mounted, it will pretty much certainly be higher than the current arm mount. So not only can you put your peep on the same level as your Gauss rifle, but alternatively you could just have 5 energy points instead of 4. Or 6 missile points instead of 5 since one of the new ST pods includes an additional missile point (AND an energy point, wow what a deal!).
Anyway, speculation about the future aside, right now you have to play to its forward and lateral maneuverability more than its vertical. The Summoner has some of the best quirks on a Clan mech (proof enough that it sucks as a chassis). Some structure bonus, good maneuver if you choose the right CT. And that sweet, sweet +5% speed quirk on all variants. So hit and run weapons are what's in. SRMs, ER PPCs, and, my personal favorite, the LB20x autocannon (not the ultra autocannon 20 because pellet stream? Screw that). The Summoner does of course offer a left arm with glorious LBx fire rate and spread quirks which I think give it the best LBx performance of any clan mech (not completely sure on that so don't quote me).
Now the Summoner DOES have high mount ballistics, and the right side torso is especially useful because the gun is right under your face. Perfect for the Gauss rifle. Which is why the most meta build for the Summoner involves a face-mounted Gauss rifle and a PPC in the right arm. UAC5s could also be good (read: decent enough to be playable) but I haven't gotten a chance to try it yet. One thing I wouldn't do, ironically, is take LRMs. Summoner LRM performance just leaves something to be desired. It's just not really worth the tonnage with that (extremely) limited pod space, what with Clan LRMs paling in comparison to their IS counterparts.
My personal favorite build is ER PPC in the right arm and LB20 in the left. I dish out major amounts of damage with it, and even though you're kind of at risk of Swiss Army Knifing it, it does mean you're useful in every phase of the battle and have good heat management to boot. And did I mention the LBx quirks. (Addendum: ER PPC quirks are pretty awesome too, I especially love the velocity.)
Edited by Arianrhod, 19 August 2016 - 12:13 AM.