I'm playing a Necromancer/Pyromancer in a Dark Sun game. He's level 10, and I was all excited to take Summon Shadow Servant. A permanent undead servant! My plan was to summon him in the first battle of every combat and try to keep him going for the rest of the day. Played right, it could be like a Daily that is used in every Encounter of the day.
I've only played two sessions with this guy and his little skeletal minion, but every time the Shadow Skeleton has died in the very first combat. Worse, both times he died on the very first round... to a single hit. It left a sour taste in my mouth, because both instances involved the enemy monster using a close burst attack of some type, meaning that my summon didn't even eat up an enemy attack. He just got summoned, walked in to combat, and got shattered like he was nothing.
I was aware that a frontline fighter with Mage defenses and a fraction of the Mage's HP wouldn't last long, but I was hoping that it would survive at least one hit. I haven't quite given up on it yet... it's possible I was just unlucky, or that I deployed the guy wrong. Also, I have to mention that both combats involved what I'm pretty sure were Level+4 or higher Elites that the DM was using as a sort of ghetto-Solo, so we may've been facing higher-than-average damage values. Still, I'm starting to get discouraged when one of my Dailies has literally no effect not once, but twice.
So what are people's experiences with Summons, in general, or Summon Shadow Servant in particular? Are they worth it? Are they gimped? Or is it something you really have to invest in with the right feats and Paragon Paths to make worthwhile?
I've only played two sessions with this guy and his little skeletal minion, but every time the Shadow Skeleton has died in the very first combat. Worse, both times he died on the very first round... to a single hit. It left a sour taste in my mouth, because both instances involved the enemy monster using a close burst attack of some type, meaning that my summon didn't even eat up an enemy attack. He just got summoned, walked in to combat, and got shattered like he was nothing.
I was aware that a frontline fighter with Mage defenses and a fraction of the Mage's HP wouldn't last long, but I was hoping that it would survive at least one hit. I haven't quite given up on it yet... it's possible I was just unlucky, or that I deployed the guy wrong. Also, I have to mention that both combats involved what I'm pretty sure were Level+4 or higher Elites that the DM was using as a sort of ghetto-Solo, so we may've been facing higher-than-average damage values. Still, I'm starting to get discouraged when one of my Dailies has literally no effect not once, but twice.
So what are people's experiences with Summons, in general, or Summon Shadow Servant in particular? Are they worth it? Are they gimped? Or is it something you really have to invest in with the right feats and Paragon Paths to make worthwhile?