Summoner buffs

[Snarvid]

I feel like Summoners are among the early-iteration classes left a bit behind. Pet classes are usually among my favorite classes to play in a game, but Summoners leave me a bit cold.

Two proposed changes that would make them more fun (for me, anyway).
1. Let them summon with line of sight instead of line of effect. Right now you need an uninterrupted line from you to the target square. This messes with your Grand Arrival placement, and I also find it kind of conceptually frustrating that Cultists of Entropy can summon monoliths and Halo of Ruin Maws without line of effect but summoners can’t. If this was too strong, maybe it could be a side effect of the Pheremone talent - you can summon next to this enemy regardless of range or line of effect (talent level 3?) or sight (talent level 5?).
2. Give them Skirmisher - Slings as an unlockable category. This would give them an alternative to being the melee focused Combat techniques tree (or at least, Rush has to have a target now), and they could go along/shield for defense or sling/mindstar for mindpower and summon-based riders.

[Snarvid]

Also, I noticed I unlocked the Size Matters achievement off the damage one of my summons did. Possibly a bug needing removal, but it also would be nice if some of the damage coming from summons could count for the player in other ways. I’ve got a level 30 Krog summoner who uses Detonate fairly regularly and still has not unlocked his first Drake Infused Blood element change, and if Summons could trigger Elemental Surge on the player this would certainly help the class have more viable Prodigy options.

I don’t know how easy coding that would be, but I also don’t know why Size Matters thinks my summon damage is mine and Drake Infused Blood doesn’t.

[anonymous000]

I feel like Summoners are among the early-iteration classes left a bit behind. Pet classes are usually among my favorite classes to play in a game, but Summoners leave me a bit cold.

Two proposed changes that would make them more fun (for me, anyway).
1. Let them summon with line of sight instead of line of effect. Right now you need an uninterrupted line from you to the target square. This messes with your Grand Arrival placement, and I also find it kind of conceptually frustrating that Cultists of Entropy can summon monoliths and Halo of Ruin Maws without line of effect but summoners can’t. If this was too strong, maybe it could be a side effect of the Pheremone talent - you can summon next to this enemy regardless of range or line of effect (talent level 3?) or sight (talent level 5?).
2. Give them Skirmisher - Slings as an unlockable category. This would give them an alternative to being the melee focused Combat techniques tree (or at least, Rush has to have a target now), and they could go along/shield for defense or sling/mindstar for mindpower and summon-based riders.

On #2, I have always thought Summoner should be able to do more with their Psiblade. They are the only class that have Psiblade tree by default before Oozemancer was introduced. Like, they should be able to extend the Psiblade tree into Psi-whip which allows some short range attacks that synergize with the other Summoning trees, sticking Pheromones with your Psi-whip for example. Make thematical sense as a beastmaster too.

But yes I think giving them Slings for them to fight alongside with the summons is a good idea