Complete Summoning Analysis ( HoF )

Maple

This serves as a full analysis of all summon spells that can be used to tank in IWD:EE, for the purpose of HoF running from level 1.


Note:
1. In HoF, survivability is much more important, which leads to the spell relative importance:
Disabler > Summon > Buff > Damage
this order may change due to the efficiency of individual spell. This article only investigates summons.

2. From above, summons are not a solution, it just buys you time for disabling, buffing and debuffing.

3. The thing that matters is the health of summons, number of summons, its physical resistance and the duration.

4. Summons don’t take bonus damage from enemies in HoF and are of equal health to their enemy counterpart.

5. In HoF, summons are only used to tank enemies, and that ability should be its only criteria of quality.


Arcane:

Level 3:
Monster Summoning I (2d3, 2+1/L): Goblin 98 Fire Beetle 107

Level 4:
Monster Summoning II (1d6, 3+1/L): Goblin Elite 106 Lizard Man 134 Bombardier Beetle 128
Shadow Monsters (?,1/L): See Below Explanation
Spider Spawn (1 20% 2, 6+1/L): Sword Spider 45 BUG not buffed

Level 5:
Monster Summoning III (1d4, 4+1/L): Huge Spider 128 Boring Beetle 185 Ghoul 122 Tough Lizard Man 179 Neo-Orog 185
Demi-shadow Monsters (?, 1/L): See Below Explanation
Animate Dead (1d6, 4800): Zombie 143 Skeleton Archer 152 Slashing 50 Piercing 50 Skeleton 128 Slashing 50 Piercing 50
Conjure Fire Elemental (1, 10/L): Fire Elemental 248
Conjure Water Elemental (1, 10/L): Water Elemental 248
Conjure Earth Elemental (1, 10/L): Earth Elemental 248
Conjure Air Elemental (1, 10/L): Air Elemental 248
Summon Shadow (3, 1+1/L): Shadow 152

Level 6:
Monster Summoning IV (1d3, 5+1/L): Ghast 164 Yeti 176 Ogre 155
Shades (?, 1/L): See Below Explanation
Summon Nishruu (1, 1/L): Nishruu 296 Missile 70 Crushing 50 Slashing 20 Piercing 50 Immune to Normal Weapon
Carrion Summons (1 35% 2, 7+1/L): Mutated Crawler 100
Invisible Stalker (1, 1200): Invisible Stalker 248
Wyvern Call (1, 1/L): Wyvern 269

Level 7:
Monster Summoning V (1d3, 6+1/L): Minotaur 215 Giant Spider 185 Ju-ju Zombie 179
Summon Djinni (1, 8+1/L): Djinni 257 SHADOWDOOR
Summon Efreeti (1, 8+1/L): Efreeti 320 FIRESHIELD
Summon Hakeashar (1, 8+1/L): Hakeashar 356 Missile 70 Crushing 50 Slashing 20 Piercing 50 Immune to Normal Weapon
Cacofiend (1, 15): Cacofiend 308 Magic 50 Immune to Normal Weapon

Level 8:
Monster Summoning VI (1d3, 7+1/L): Carrion Crawler 146 Phase Spider 212 Salamander 248
Summon Fiend (1, 15): Glabrezu 320 Magic 50 Immune to +1 Weapon and below

Level 9:
Monster Summoning VII (1d2, 8+1/L): Boneguard Skeleton 248 Slashing 50 Piercing 50 Missile 50 Minotaur 272
Gate (1, 33): Pitfiend 320 Magic 100 Immune to +2 Weapon and below


Explanation :
Shadow Monsters,Demi-shadow Monsters, Shades are the only summon spells that scale with level.
Suppose you are level N, the total hit dice ( 1 hit dice = 1d10 <= 10 HP ) of summons are no more than N.
However, in HoF each monster has ( 3* normal + 80 ) HP.
So if the spell summons 2 monsters, total HP will not exceed 30*N+160 ( lvl 10 ~ 460, lvl 20 ~ 760 )
For 3 monsters, total HP will not exceed 30*N + 240 ( lvl 10 ~ 540, lvl 20 ~ 840 )
.......
For X monsters, total HP will not exceed 30*N + 80*X


Divine:

Level 3:
Animate Dead (1d6, 4800): Zombie 143 Skeleton Archer 152 Slashing 50 Piercing 50 Skeleton 128 Slashing 50 Piercing 50

Level 4:
(Druid) Animal Summoning I (1d6, 1200): Wolf 116 Black Bear 152
(Druid) Giant Insect (2-3, 4800): Boring Beetle 185 Bombardier Beetle 128
(Druid) Call Woodland Being (1, 30): Nymph 152

Level 5:
(Druid) Animal Summoning II (1d6, 1200): Dire Wolf 176 Cave Bear 248

Level 6:
(Druid) Animal Summoning III (1d4, 1200): Winter Wolf 206 WINTERBITE Polar Bear 308
(Druid) Conjure Fire Elemental (1, 10/L): Fire Elemental 332 (most time)
Aerial Servant (1,10/L): Aerial Servant 128
Conjure Animals (2, 40): Polar Bear 308

Level 7
(Druid) Conjure Earth Elemental (1, 10/L): Earth Elemental 332 (most time)
(Druid) Stalker (2, 4800): Shambling Mound 290 Slashing 50 Piercing 50 Missile 50 Crushing 90
(Druid) Creeping Doom (5, 10): Creeping Doom 530 Slashing 75 Piercing 75 Missile 100


From above we can conclude that (in HoF):

Best Arcane Summon Spell of Each Level:
3 Monster Summoning I
4 Shadow Monsters
5 Demi-shadow Monsters
6 Shades (Summon Nishruu)
7 Summon Hakeashar (Summon Efreeti, Cacofiend)
8 Summon Fiend
9 Monster Summoning VII (Gate)

Considering spell level and sorcerer limits, my advice is to take 4>5>6>7>8>9>3

Best Druid Summon Spell of Each Level
4 Animal Summoning I
5 Animal Summoning II
6 Animal Summoning III
7 Stalker (Creeping Doom)

Considering spell level, my advice is to take 7>5>4>6

Honorable mention:
1. Better have a multi-class cleric cast Animate Dead as soon as level 5 (or a must).
2. The spirit animals of totemic druid are useless.
3. Beast Master can get Animal Summoning I, II and III but a little late, multi-class druid is better.


You should as well consider the other spell of the same level before making decisions.

Ligg

Thanks for this.
In the original game most enemies didn't use magical weapons. Therefore any summons immune to normal weapons were untouchable. I'd like a list of what enemies wield what.

Maple

Ligg said:

Thanks for this.
In the original game most enemies didn't use magical weapons. Therefore any summons immune to normal weapons were untouchable. I'd like a list of what enemies wield what.

I just update the demon's immunity. As this is a guide for HoF, you shouldn't refer to this if you are playing normal game. In HoF, Monsters start to drop +1 weapon and ammunition as early as the Vale of Shadows. So Immunity is not so helpful.

Ancalagon44

Doesn't mean they have those +1 weapons equipped.

Kenji

I've always wondered which summoning spells I should take at higher level, this list is comprehensive and helpful.

Zyzzogeton

Oops wrong thread

Abel

Useful! I don't like the Summoning spells because of their duration.
What do you mean by (Total 650-750 HP lvl 15, Total 1050-1200 HP lvl 30) for Shad spells?
From what I gather they summon 1 creature per level.

Maple

Abel said:

Useful! I don't like the Summoning spells because of their duration.
What do you mean by (Total 650-750 HP lvl 15, Total 1050-1200 HP lvl 30) for Shad spells?
From what I gather they summon 1 creature per level.

The spell description says the summons' total level cannot exceed the caster's level. But we only care about their health. So I do a few tests and use console command to grab them and make a calculation.

And it appears that their total health do scale with level. And it's worth noticing that at level 10, total health is 400-450. So it needs time to become better.

Fardragon

In PnP, the Shadow Monsters are dispelled by true seeing, dispel illusion, and the like. Do we know if any opponents can do this in IWDEE?

Lord_Tansheron

I doubt it. Casters are a joke in IWD:EE, they're fairly rare to begin with and trivially easy to interrupt. It's the polar opposite of BG2.

Abel

Maple said:

Abel said:

Useful! I don't like the Summoning spells because of their duration.
What do you mean by (Total 650-750 HP lvl 15, Total 1050-1200 HP lvl 30) for Shad spells?
From what I gather they summon 1 creature per level.

The spell description says the summons' total level cannot exceed the caster's level. But we only care about their health. So I do a few tests and use console command to grab them and make a calculation.

And it appears that their total health do scale with level. And it's worth noticing that at level 10, total health is 400-450. So it needs time to become better.

I don't think it's related to caster level and the description seems wrong.
I checked the spell in NI, and the reason why your tests gave you this impression is that it randomly summons three different versions of a creature, each having various amounts of HP.

Maple

Abel said:

Maple said:

Abel said:

Useful! I don't like the Summoning spells because of their duration.
What do you mean by (Total 650-750 HP lvl 15, Total 1050-1200 HP lvl 30) for Shad spells?
From what I gather they summon 1 creature per level.

.........

I just update an explanation. Paste it here.

Shadow Monsters,Demi-shadow Monsters, Shades are the only summon spells that scale with level.
Suppose you are level N, the total hit dice ( 1 hit dice = 1d10 < 10 HP ) of summons are no more than N.
However, in HoF each monster has ( 3* normal + 80 ) HP.

So if the spell summons 2 monsters, total HP will not exceed 3*10*N+160 ( lvl 10 < 460, lvl 20 < 760 )
For 3 monsters, total HP will not exceed 3*10*N + 240 ( lvl 10 < 540, lvl 20 < 840 )
For 4 monsters, total HP will not exceed 3*10*N + 320 ( lvl 10 < 620, lvl 20 < 920 )

Above are the normal scenarios. Just in case you want to know how to compare.

Abel

Maple said:

Shadow Monsters,Demi-shadow Monsters, Shades are the only summon spells that scale with level.
Suppose you are level N, the total hit dice ( 1 hit dice = 1d10 < 10 HP ) of summons are no more than N.
However, in HoF each monster has ( 3* normal + 80 ) HP.

So if the spell summons 2 monsters, total HP will not exceed 3*10*N+160 ( lvl 10 < 460, lvl 20 < 760 )
For 3 monsters, total HP will not exceed 3*10*N + 240 ( lvl 10 < 540, lvl 20 < 840 )
For 4 monsters, total HP will not exceed 3*10*N + 320 ( lvl 10 < 620, lvl 20 < 920 )

Above are the normal scenarios. Just in case you want to know how to compare.

You're right on the fact that each HoF creature has ( 3* normal + 80 ) HP.
But, you're wrong about the Shad spells.
Like, I said, they pick random creatures from lists (2DA files).

W26_SHADOW_MONSTERS      SMONSTE
27_DEMI_SHADOW_MONSTERS DSMONST
28_Shades               SHADES

I am still unsure about the number of creatures summoned, but it looks like it's also random.
If you're still not convinced, see the screenshot I made.
According to your formula and since I'm a level 7 Mage the maximum total HP would be: 3 x 10 x 7 + 240 = 210 + 240 = 450 HP.
The creatures I summoned have 245 + 98 + 143 = 486 HP. So, you see it doesn't make sense.

Maple

Abel said:

Maple said:

.............
I am still unsure about the number of creatures summoned, but it looks like it's also random.
If you're still not convinced, see the screenshot I made.
According to your formula and since I'm a level 7 Mage the maximum total HP would be: 3 x 10 x 7 + 240 = 210 + 240 = 450 HP.
The creatures I summoned have 245 + 98 + 143 = 486 HP. So, you see it doesn't make sense.

Because many creatures has Bonus Class Hit Points / Level and Ability Bonuses Hit Points / Level.
Such bonus will make total HP surpass the estimate of a certain caster level.
As it's too complicated explaining that, I have changed < to a ~ simbol.

Hope this discussion can end here as it won't affect the conclusion that these three spells scale well.

Abel

Maple said:

Because many creatures has Bonus Class Hit Points / Level and Ability Bonuses Hit Points / Level.
Such bonus will make total HP surpass the estimate of a certain caster level.
As it's too complicated explaining that, I have changed < to a ~ simbol.

Hope this discussion can end here as it won't affect the conclusion that these three spells scale well.

No! You said it yourself, the formula is ( 3* normal + 80 ) HP. There is no bonus whatsoever! It's a fixed amount.
So, your formula isn't correct, but yes, the general idea that you get more HD for each level seems correct.