Last Updated: 25-Mar-2015
Welcome back to Master Guides – this time, it’s the Summoner’s turn.
Overview
Introduced as the first heavy in Clan Wave 1, the Summoner has taken a place as the Clan’s heavy poptart, coming with 5 stock jumpjets that severely hinder its ability to be as versatile as mechs like the Timber Wolf. For a while, it has been considered as worse than the Timber Wolf in just about every way, but the Summoner recently got hit with a slew of quirks making it more viable (though only marginally) and more interesting to build for.
All 4 variants (including the $$-only one) have no CT hardpoints, but the quirks recently introduced some unique quirks for each CT that creates a differentiation. This has made the best variant the SMN-D, which gets bonus torso twisting range and speed, some of the most important stats in the game. The second-best is arguably the SMN-Prime which has been quirked to have more responsive acceleration and deceleration, which makes it much more pleasant to play. Third up is, in my opinion, the SMN-C whose turn rate bonus makes it a bit more maneuverable and capable at short-range, with the SMN-B bringing up the rear with its extra reverse speed (which doesn’t strike me as being terribly useful).
Chassis-Wide Information
Strengths
- The best Clan mech at poptarting and making good use of its jumpjets – the TBR doesn’t get as much lift and the Nova doesn’t have enough room for weapons.
- Cooldown quirks are some of the best that you can find on Clan mechs – though I believe they have been nerfed. The rest of its quirks are among the best for Clan mechs (including a 5% bonus to speed), as it is in the first (and so far only) wave of quirks the Clans have received.
- Has 5 clan missile launchers, a trait shared only with the Stormcrow and only exceeded by the Mad Dog.
- Decent shield arms combined with the torso twist bonus means that you can shield decently well.
Weaknesses
- Sub-par hitboxes – worse than the Timber Wolf and with less armor – make it one of the squishier Clan heavies.
- Immense dearth of hardpoints hinder its offensive ability as well.
- Arm mounts are super low and wide, forcing you to expose pretty hard in order to get a full alpha off.
Generic Tips
- Use the high torso mounts (if you have them) to poke without taking much of a risk.
- Shield, shield, shield. It’s one of the few things the Summoner can do well, and you really need to take advantage of it.
Builds
For those of you who are not familiar with the general format, here’s how it goes (and it is different from the IS ones). We’re going to be identifying build archetypes (generally listed from long range to short) and customizing them to fit the variants, often coming up with a few separate versions of the same type of build which function differently in some way. I will italicize the variant(s) that the archetypical build fits best in as well. In general, the builds will be labeled according to their armament, but occasionally I will name a build if it is particularly badass.
Also, the consumables I’ve listed are the ones that are best for normal play, but while leveling the mech you may want to swap the less important one out for a UAV, if you can afford to use consumables at all (they aren’t necessary, just nice).
In the case of the Summoner, I will make each build in Smurfy’s on the variant that fits the build best (in most cases this will be the SMN-D but not all)
Now then, on with it!
ERLL Sniper
The low mounts really don’t make this the best way to play the Summoner, but it is at least the longest range way to play it. I’ve put this on the SMN-B because the extra reverse speed probably helps more than the other quirks at this range – backpedaling isn’t usually useful but might be in the case of cERLL spam.
This plays mostly like your typical cERLL sniper, except it has particularly low mounts and relatively high maneuverability. This means you need you rely on your speed rather than your high mounts to avoid return fire; reposition frequently and try to keep enemies at their maximum range.
Mech Modules (In order of importance): Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor
Weapon Modules (In order of importance): cERLL Range, cERLL Cooldown
Consumables (In order of importance): Cool Shot 9×9, Improved Air Strike
This is the same build, just with a SMN-D Right Arm instead of the currently cash-only SMN-C.
Poptart
This is exactly the right way to play the Summoner. The weaponry may seem a bit puny for a Clan heavy, and that’s because it is. A gauss and a PPC? Get real, we’ve had that on the Shadowhawk for years. But its quirks, jumpjets, armor, speed, and survivability all combine to make this build a quiet badass (though I still say the Timber Wolf does it better).
This is the true poptart of the Clans, and it plays accordingly. Jump, fire, wait for weapons to cool down, repeat. If you can nail your targets reliably, you should be able to get a lot of free damage out without too much of a problem, just make sure that you’re popping as low as you can (while getting your ER PPC over the ridge) and taking advantage of your quirks to shield as soon as your weapons fire.
Mech Modules (In order of importance): Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor
Weapon Modules (In order of importance): Gauss Rifle Cooldown, cERPPC Cooldown
Consumables (In order of importance): Cool Shot 9×9, Improved Artillery Strike
This loses out on the SMN-Prime RT quirks, but on the bright side it gets full asymmetry which makes it better at shielding (though if you get that Gauss crit you’re dead in the water).
LRM Boat
This is just your typical LRM boat. I settled on the SMN-B CT and RT because I felt that the ability to run away suits the playstyle well.
How to play: Lock on, fire LRMs, don’t die.
Mech Modules (In order of importance): Target Decay, Seismic Sensor
Weapon Modules (In order of importance): cLRM10 Cooldown, cLRM10 Range
Consumables (In order of importance): Cool Shot 9×9, Improved Air Strike
This build gets Artemis and some real weapons, so I of course like it better.
Weapon Modules (In order of importance): cLRM10 Cooldown, cERML Range
Gauss Vomit
This functions as a miniature version of the popular Timber Wolf Gauss Vomit, sacrificing some heatsinks and a laser for…well, the ability to mount it on the Summoner. You really don’t get much out of the swap, but it’s still one of the better builds for the Summoner and it excels at mid-range.
One of the trickier builds to play, this combines the highly accurate pinpoint damage of the Gauss Rifle with the high heat and damage of the cERML. The combination has proven successful, and it is probably the second best build you can run on the Summoner. Try to keep the enemy at around 500 meters and shield with your right side whenever possible and you should do well.
Mech Modules (In order of importance): Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor
Weapon Modules (In order of importance): Gauss Rifle Cooldown, cERML Range
Consumables (In order of importance): Cool Shot 9×9, Improved Air Strike
This is the same build, just with a SMN-D Right Arm instead of the currently cash-only SMN-C.
UAC Vomit
This build follows the same idea as the Gauss Vomit but with double UAC/5s instead of the Gauss Rifle. Unfortunately, there just isn’t enough tonnage for this to be a truly effective build, and I only place it slightly ahead of LRM builds. Still, for those that enjoy the playstyle enabled by UAC/5 spam, this is worth a go for sure.
The thing I’ve always hated about UAC spam is that it requires so much facetime to maximize effectiveness. In a mech as squishy as this, though, you can’t really afford to stare the enemy down unless they’re teeny tiny. A good trick is to poke over an edge just up until your UAC nipples show, and then let rip with those until you start getting shot back at. Sure you don’t get the benefit of your lasers, but still.
Mech Modules (In order of importance): Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor
Weapon Modules (In order of importance): UAC Cooldown, cERML Range
Consumables (In order of importance): Cool Shot 9×9, Improved Air Strike
This is the same build, just with a SMN-D Right Arm instead of the currently cash-only SMN-C.
Streak Boat
This is a very straightforward build. Really the only room for alteration is dropping a half ton of armor for ammo, and changing the ammo position. The whole point is to max out on Streaks, and it is a massive threat to any enemy light mechs, as well as other mechs too due to the high effective DPS that you get from a guaranteed-to-hit weapon system (though the inability to aim at components is a huge detriment).
You can’t poke effectively (even within SSRM range, the lock-on time hurts you hard), you can’t really brawl effectively (relatively low brawling DPS and inability to focus components), but you can skirt the edges of a fight and let loose volley after volley of devastating missiles, as well as peel enemy lights off of your team (and peel their charred remains off the ground afterwards).
Mech Modules (In order of importance): Radar Deprivation, Seismic Sensor
Weapon Modules (In order of importance): cSSRM6 Cooldown, cSSRM6 Range
Consumables (In order of importance): Cool Shot 9×9, Improved Artillery Strike
This is the same build, just with a SMN-Prime side torsos instead of ones from the currently cash-only SMN-C.
SRM6 Brawler
It may appear very similar to the Streak Summoner, but it plays very differently. This is the main true brawler you’ll see flitting around in the Summoner chassis. Its main shortcoming is shoddy missile convergence (as well as the iffy hitreg you’ll get from SRMs in general), in addition to the range limitations inherent with SRM6s.
Your objective is to splat. I recommend firing your Left Arm and Torso as one group, and then your Right arm as another for two reasons – first, it avoids ghost heat. Second, splitting them up like this allows you to re-aim and counter the problem of missile convergence. Other than that, it’s just your typical SRM brawler – stay safe until you get the chance to get close, and then let ‘er rip.
Mech Modules (In order of importance): Seismic Sensor, Radar Deprivation
Weapon Modules (In order of importance): cSRM6 Cooldown, cSRM6 Range
Consumables (In order of importance): Cool Shot 9×9, Improved Artillery Strike
This is the same build, just with a SMN-Prime Right Torso instead of one from the currently cash-only SMN-C.
Full Brawler
This is my own pet Summoner build – some people love it, some hate it, I fall into the first camp of course. The heat can be a problem (SRM2s may be effective for DPS, but not for heat), but all in all I think it is about as powerful as you can hope a Summoner to get at short range. You do sort of have to hug them and face tank while your UAC is spewing shells, but I think it’s worth it for the crazy DPS.
This plays more like a brawler than most any other mech. The only time you don’t want to be within 100 meters of your target is when the rest of your team is still poking like a bunch of babbies. At this point of the battle, you can sort of poke with your UAC/20 from up to around 300 meters, just be careful not to take much damage in return (and don’t miss – that ammo is precious). Other than that, just focus on shielding well and hitting your targets.
Mech Modules (In order of importance): Seismic Sensor, Radar Deprivation
Weapon Modules (In order of importance): cSRM2 Cooldown, UAC20 Cooldown
Consumables (In order of importance): Cool Shot 9×9, Improved Artillery Strike
Pilot Skills
I’ve figured that this is the best skill order for pretty much any mech, and so I’m just going to customize it for mechs that have to emphasize unusual pilot skills. The Summoner is not nearly special enough to require such emphasis, though.
Basics: Cool Run – Heat Containment – Hard Brake – Kinetic Burst – Twist Speed – Twist X – Anchor Turn – Arm Reflex
Elites: Speed Tweak – Fast Fire – Quick Ignition – Pinpoint
Then just master it. As I stated in the introduction, the SMN-D is the best, and unless you love the chassis I wouldn’t really recommend holding onto any of the others.
_________
And that’s that. I hope you enjoy your mech, let me know if you have any questions, and as always glhf