hehe, well i know there are posts like this one but havent actually seen one about phantom summoner, i remember reading before that best way to level a PS solo is like a mini spellhowler from 40-52 (2-3 hit nuking stuff, though SH can 1-2 hit) but then also remember reading that past B grade should use light armor and start using the soulless/shadow (maybe the fat guy XD i forgot its name dont have it learned yet my ps is 43 ><)
but well where would you suggest to level and how, or what kind of equipment should i get i'm using atm karmian set, pailaka ring and earring (rest are top C jewels) and right now using Stick of Eternity (shadow items, to get rid of the tickets XD) but can also get a homun to give it acumen
LOL @ using PS Death Spike at level 44-52. What a waste of cash considering the Power on that Death Spike is less than that of Twister. Use Twister until 52 if you want to nuke and have a good weapon. You can start doing catacombs and other things with your Soulless at level 44 when you get Servitor Haste I. I wouldn't personally level with a Servitor until then. I have slow attack speed.
At 44+ Pavel Ruins is a good XP spot.
I wouldn't even bother learning PS Death Spike until level 52 or so, to be honest.
Karmian Robes + Acumen Weapon. Use common C Grade Jewels and upgrade to Blue Wolf or Karmian at 52. You can get Karmian Set and SoV/Acumen from Luxury Shop in Giran.
I don't know about nuking. I didn't level mine that way. But generally your summons hit like trucks with beast SS. So, let them kill the mobs. Once you get your soulless pet, it will speed up dramatically. I don't really any reason to be nuking as a PS in pve.
According to the official skill lists on this site, necro, SH, and PS all have lvl 13 death spike with power 108, so it hasn't been nerfed for PS. Nukers may get passives adding to their matk which PS doesn't get however.
According to the official skill lists on this site, necro, SH, and PS all have lvl 13 death spike with power 108, so it hasn't been nerfed for PS. Nukers may get passives adding to their matk which PS doesn't get however.
That's becuase they have the wrong power on the site.
Me and ashley made a necro and PS respectively on the gracia PTS pt 1, and her death spike was weaker than mine. even the description showed it had lesser power.
the ingame power of PS Death Spike is right and lower than SH's, i have checked it. it's +- 60% of normal nuking power, what makes the nuke ... well no really unusable but unprofitable for sure.
personaly i wouldn't change tatoos to +INT for that. i always keep some bones with me for emergency cases, but mostly i assist my summon with duals (no shots).
as for the question: until lvl 52 the most effective (quickest, cheapest, easiest) way to exp is nuking with your prePS nukes. the reason is simple - you don;t have haste lvl 2 for you summon yet, and it makes a big difference in summons killing speed. you definitely can exp with summon, but it's no the best way. right mobs are any you can 2-3 shot. green ones beeing most profitable.
after 52 you are ready to take out your little dark friends :) if you are not confident take shadow, he has vampiric regenration and can take lot of damage. if you want more damage but also squishier summon take soulless, but you would need to heal it time to time.
definitely best summon is nightshade - he has buffs, hate/debuff, ability to heal, great pdef, decent pattack - i use it almost always.
as for the playstyle - you can take light armor and tank for your summon, after few hits he will take the aggro and you can nicely split damage, or combine with transfer pain. i use robes and let the summon attack first. eventualy i use hate/debuff skill with nightshade. you can assist the summon with some meelee weapon if there is no need to heal it.
the best place after 52 i found in cata/necro because of nice AA income and great xp solo. after 61 i have moved to FOTD, if you have tallum robes (anti bleed) you are invincible there.
with party you can exp anywhere, your party cubic and healing ability makes you wanted party member.
the only thing that comes to my mind is that PS is considered to be "weakest" summoner. i don't think it's true, but it might give a drive to rebalancing and adding skills.
Lots of good advice is on the above posts... let me summarise and advice on my own experience
For C grade nuke your way with the level 35 nukes, Twister or Shadow Spark, until level 52. Initially I suggest in the crater of the Ivory Tower (up to level 48)... Using twister target the flying mobs which are wind-weak... you should get an acumen weapon, which is usually a Homu.... if you cannot afford, get a common ecliptic sword for the MAtt. You could use a demon set, instead of the karmian while you nuke (which I did not), if you have the acumen weapon to compensate.
In B grade, provided you can afford, get avadon robes and a SoValhalla from the Giran luxury shop. Even better armor is the Blue Wolf LA set, but BW is quite expensive... this is the only suitable Light armor set I reckon, with +15% casting speed.
XP spots are Pavel Ruins (nice respawn rate) and then after 53 Frozen Lab (nice quest for materials there)
For A grade, I switched to Tallum robes... remember that a PS has the highest Int and summoners do not need Int much... WIT and in general casting speed is the most important thing. For weapon you can keep a SoV up to S grade, or even a OE homu can do the trick.
XP spots are Valley of Saints (only if you have top Majestic jewels, as mobs nuke VERY HARD there) or FoTD
Actually you can always grind in Catas /Necros in order to raise cash with the AA, but XP is always slower.
AS for Death Spike, it is too weak (60% effect compared Necros version) and too expensive to use (cursed bone cost) for PvE, unless your servitor goes down and you are desperate. I can only see its usefuleness for high-end PvP, where every bit helps.
As for servitors, NightShade is the best for solo XP, consuming less XP and costing less than souless and heals you when in a tough spot. Shadow is the least expensive and good for farming, especially in catas where its passive VR counts. Soulless is good as a party damage dealer... if your party needs the extra DPS.
w/ emp3 and karmain +4 homu... i nuked outside of hunters village on orcs and bugbears till i out lvled that spot then went to ivory tower area and nuked the orcs and bugbears south of there then move to the orcs and bugbears north of there... (i like killin orcs and bugbears) i only go areas where i can 2 shot it was fast but very boring
at 52 buy BW light wich you can use to 75+ if your short on funds its a very nice set...
52+ i would use a acum weapon and have a btb soes buff stick so your summon had a bit more hp... souless has crap for hp and pdef so btb is nice, nightshade has plenty of hp but a % bonus to that makes for a bit easier time aswell...
once you get the nightshade you can go pretty much anywhere your lvl range in a duo w/ a bd/sws and a oop buffer... solo or in a group w/ a tank i use souless
solo type mobs are made short work of.... solo or duo in giants cave, lair, toi is a bit more challenging but still very pissible for a PS and quick xp
According to the official skill lists on this site, necro, SH, and PS all have lvl 13 death spike with power 108, so it hasn't been nerfed for PS. Nukers may get passives adding to their matk which PS doesn't get however.