ED3 Summoning Spell timelines
Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 6:30 am
Happily as the forums still appear to be active time to start asking some more questions 
Lets talk summoning spells. I recall discussions on the old forums about summoning spirits or elementals and how after summoning you had to successfully talk to them before they would do things (chewing up valuable combat rounds) but what about tasked spirits? (ie from spells).
Lets use the 5th CIrcle Nethermancer spell Astral Horror to illustrate. You spend 3 rounds thread weaving then 1 casting. Tada the creature appears (Rnd 4).
It says in the spell description you do not have to concentrate to direct it but when would it get its first attack? The round it is summoned (round 4) or the next round (round 5)? Same can be said about Fog ghosts who are sentient and immediately attack the nearest living creature.
Just mindful the summoning classes (Elementalist & Nethermancer) seem to have more threads to their spells so trying to figure if these summoning spells are attractive alternatives in combat (given common consensus appears to be a fight is over in 10 rnds or less) or if they need to be cast outside of combat in preperaton for a fight.
Trouble is if you only make these spells to be cast outside of combat the caster can have his/her spellcasting rank of these up at a time which seems a bit too powerful
(depictation of actual Astral Horror - not cheerleader as suggested by the Smilie Legend)

Lets talk summoning spells. I recall discussions on the old forums about summoning spirits or elementals and how after summoning you had to successfully talk to them before they would do things (chewing up valuable combat rounds) but what about tasked spirits? (ie from spells).
Lets use the 5th CIrcle Nethermancer spell Astral Horror to illustrate. You spend 3 rounds thread weaving then 1 casting. Tada the creature appears (Rnd 4).
It says in the spell description you do not have to concentrate to direct it but when would it get its first attack? The round it is summoned (round 4) or the next round (round 5)? Same can be said about Fog ghosts who are sentient and immediately attack the nearest living creature.
Just mindful the summoning classes (Elementalist & Nethermancer) seem to have more threads to their spells so trying to figure if these summoning spells are attractive alternatives in combat (given common consensus appears to be a fight is over in 10 rnds or less) or if they need to be cast outside of combat in preperaton for a fight.
Trouble is if you only make these spells to be cast outside of combat the caster can have his/her spellcasting rank of these up at a time which seems a bit too powerful
