Anti-magic Thalore Summoner winner + Atamathon and no deaths

[Delmuir]

This isn't my first winner with a Summoner but it is my first Atamathon kill.

The skills to develop are fairly simple and in this order:

Ritch Flamespitter, War Hound, and then Drakes. That's basically it. Ultimately, I maxed Golem next, Rimebark, and then Minotaur. I never invested in the Hydra.

It's a very simple Frantic Summoning was invaluable in tense moments, especially during the entire fight against Atamathon.

I didn't unlock Summoning - augmentation until 36 so I didn't have Phase Summon until fairly late and there were a couple of moments that would have made it nice but ultimately, it was definitely the thing to wait on.

I went Anti-magic as soon as I got Grand Arrival at lvl 14. Killed Urkis at lvl 16 and picked up Fungus.

I spent zero generic points in Cunning/Survival category and Mindstar Master.

Wild Gift/Call of the Wild went 3 (early) 2 1 5.

Harmony was, for once, useful… I want 1 1 2 0. The first skill was excellent for handling poisons, I didn't find an value in the second skill given the equilibrium cost. The third skill was used rarely but when it was, it was a life-saver.

I spent the five points in Thick Skin eventually and it saved my life the only time I was brought near death, against Atamathon, so it was worth it.

Summoning Advanced was an interesting category because I went 5-5-1-5 but really, I didn't use Wild Summon much at all. It was really an afterthought as it's always been for my Summoners. Honestly, it can probably be skipped on normal… on nightmare, it's added situational value makes it pretty useful but on normal, it's not necessary.

I invested all of my stat points in Cunning and Willpower until they were both maxed and only then did I invest in Constitution. My gear focus was anything that gave a category bonus to my summons or had +phsyical damage or armor penetration or fire damage.

My basic strategy was simple, once I had the drakes… Use Wrath of the Woods and throw out the Drakes and then a Ritch Flamespitter to lower flame resistance. Then, if the enemy was still alive, I threw out a War Hound to lower physical resistance. After that, I invested in the Golem and Minotaur.

It's not the most interesting class to play but it's fast to play and a reliable winner sans terrible luck.

As a general rule, a Cornac Summoner is easier to start but I wasn't really in need of the extra category point. Wrath of the Woods proved reasonably valuable but given the added difficulty at the start, I'm not sure Thalore is worth it.

As for Infusions, I used one decent regeneration infusion, a magic/physical wild infusion, and a movement infusion that finished around 900% so good but not great.

This build doesn't require excellent gear nor infusions but that movement proved extremely valuable, especially against Atamathon. Having said that, I did stumble across Spider-Silk Robe of Spider, Grand Caller, Eye of the Forest, and Cloth of Dreams. At the end of the game I still had Bloomsoul on even though I'd found better, I just kind of forgot about it.

My strategy against Atamathon was to find two trees next to one another and just run in circles. Phase Summon, Frantic Summon, and the movement infusion kept me alive. Good times.

Well, that's it. Pretty simple to build and simple to play.

[Faeryan]

That's pretty much what I did on my old summoner winner, the first win I got actually.
One thing you could have improved still (or maybe you did but just didn't mention it) is auto use regen infusion chaining, if not for the heal then at least for equilibrium handling.

[Delmuir]

That's pretty much what I did on my old summoner winner, the first win I got actually.
One thing you could have improved still (or maybe you did but just didn't mention it) is auto use regen infusion chaining, if not for the heal then at least for equilibrium handling.

I only had one regen infusion, if I recall correctly, and so I just manually triggered it… all of that auto-chaining combos and whatnot is for more advanced players than me, ha ha.

Still, good advice if I ever both to legitimately attempt to tackle the higher difficulty settings.

[Red]

Properly chaining abilities is a dificult thing to do. I can't do it for the life of me, and if you really want to know how to do it, talk to cctobias or Mex. They're whizzes at... Well, ToME's entirety, but also that.

I should say, though, proper chaining is dificult usually. Chaining Regen Infusions with Fungus is piss easy, with 5 in Wild Growth. All you need to do is get two Regen Infusions with CD under 20, though the shorter the better in case of Stunning or Brainlocking. With Wild Growth 5, you get 10 turn regen from the Infusion, the second Infusion lasts another 10, so that's 20 turns for the first one to cool down.

The real trick is finding the minimum Wild Growth level for chaining. For this, you have to work with your longer CD Regen Infusion as well as accounting for Infusion Saturation-autocasting won't work if you have any Saturation left, and if you manually chain it, Saturation will make the chain only last so long. (So long is probably going to be long enough for you to win or run away, but it's worth keeping in mind.)