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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kinneus" data-source="post: 5089514" data-attributes="member: 48215">I want a really heavy-duty Summoning class. A Minion-spawner. The guy who doesn't just summon the occassional beefed-up super-monster to help him win the day... we already have that with the Beastmaster Ranger, the Shaman, and the new Summoning powers for wizards. No, I want to see a guy that can lead a small army. This could potentially work well for a Necromancer character, which I must admit is something I've been salivating about for a long time. But, more generically, this is something that just feels missing from the game. Why is that whenever I summon something, it's always a big hulking monstrosity? Why can't I choose to conjure a bunch of little ankle-biters? Obviously, this would be a very complicated class to play, but I think it's doable. I think they might work like Shaman and their spirit animals, but instead of only one, they can simultaneously summon three at Heroic, four at Paragon, and five at Epic. They don't have to be a huge horde... just a handful would be enough to give the 'commander' vibe I'm looking for. To keep them balanced with the Shaman, they would have to be very weak, or else hard to replace, unlike the Shaman who can just re-summon her dead spirit animal with a minor action. Either gambit would work. Powers would focus on using these Minions to... do things. Not sure what exactly, but one thing that sticks out to me as a potential daily power is letting one of your minions 'self-destruct' for massive damage. For a Necromancer, this could be your skeleton exploding into bony shrapnel. For a Commander this could be an all-out kamikaze-style do-or-die attack.  Maybe a utility power would involve sacrificing a minion to gain a boost of temporary HP. Another utility would involve the minion jumping in front of an ally, taking a bullet for him. A daily might temporarily increase the number of minions you have. At-wills could focus of sliding, shifting or teleporting minions, or letting them inflict CA via flanking. I have to admit, I'm picturing a Necromancer in my head as I come up with all these examples. "Oh, you smashed my skeletons? No matter... I'll just make more, set them on fire, and have them run at you with flasks of oil strapped to their chests." But this could be easily re-skinned to fit other classes or roles. A Divine character that is served by mortals souls that worship his deity? Or, ooh, better yet, somebody who is charged with leading, redeeming, or punishing the souls of the damned (you could call it the Pyschopomp class)? A Primal character who, like the Shaman, manifests primal spirits in a tangible form? An Artificer-like Arcane character who makes little clockwork decoys? A Martial character that makes heavy use of hirelings (these minions would fit the "strong, but harder to replace than the Shaman's spirit companion" design strategy, for the sake of realism if nothing else)? Maybe another character could be focused on capturing or tricking demons, devils, or evil fey into his service, and then using them to further his own ends? Sort of like a hardcore, adventuring Prospero from The Tempest? One of my favorite characters to play in MMORPGs (on the rare occassions when I do deign to play an MMORPG) is the Necromancer, like in Diablo or Guild Wars. They're not always the strongest characters, but I get a primal joy out filling the screen with my undead servants. It's something I've been unable to replicate in D&D... sorry, that one little spirit-wolf I get with my Shaman isn't gonna cut it.</blockquote>

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