Summoner Character?

[jaappleton]

I recently posted the topic of Shepard Druid VS Conjuration Wizard.

And its now come to my attention there's several other contenders for creating a viable Summoner style character, kinds I hadn't necessarily considered before.

What I'm looking for: A character that summons another creature. A creature powerful enough to really mess some things up. I don't want to summon six small creatures. One big entity. Playing it like a Pokemon Trainer, or how summons were treated in the game Final Fantasy X. Large scale minionmancy, in controlling numerous creatures, is something I am personally against. Controlling one additional thing? I'm fine with that. MAYBE two. MAYBE.

Not just the Summon spells from Tasha's. Spells like Summon Greater Demon are also quite in play here.

Drakewarden?
Beast Master?
Conjuration Wizard
Chronurgist Wizard (Control one big one, and a familiar with Arcane Abeyance controls another?)
Warlock (What kind?)
Shepard Druid
Battle Smith? I find the Steel Defender to be incredibly lackluster, but I'll hear it out if someone has an amazing idea
Eloquence Bard abusing Magical Secrets: Infernal Calling to keep a Devil under their control? (Worth it if I can get my DM to expand the spell to include other types? Elemental Calling, Celestial Calling, or get it to include Demons?)

No Shadow Sorc. I find the Hound of Ill Omen, for the Hound itself, scales terribly. The benefits of it are outstanding, but the point is to summon a creature that really messes enemies up. Not something to further empower me.

[RogueJK]

It takes a bit to come online, and it's not the best summoner overall due to a lack of high level spell slots for upcasting and no built-in ability to buff their summons, but this is a good opportunity to point out a unique Summoner subclass: the Fey Wanderer Ranger.

They have the ability, starting at Level 11, to be able to cast the Summon Fey spell without Concentration, and can even cast it 1/day without using a spell slot. This means they can Summon Fey and then also Summon Beast/Fey/Elemental/etc. using their Concentration.

This ability to simultaneously field two Summon X minions is unique amongst casters (unless you get into Simulacrum Shenanigans).

[nickl_2000]

I'm all in for Drakewarden for this style of play. You can bring it back in with a single spell, making it effectively something that is expendable.

You will also get the ranger spell summons to get a second critter out there when it is needed.



Frankly with the way it grows you get a Charmander that grows into a Charmeleon at medium size and then a Charizard at large size.

[Valmark]

I feel like this (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?627953-Ultimate-Summoner-Mini-guide-to-Lyrandar-(Mark-of-Storms)-warlocks-and-padlocks&highlight=Warlock+summoner) could be interesting.

[jaappleton]

I'm all in for Drakewarden for this style of play. You can bring it back in with a single spell, making it effectively something that is expendable.

You will also get the ranger spell summons to get a second critter out there when it is needed.



Frankly with the way it grows you get a Charmander that grows into a Charmeleon at medium size and then a Charizard at large size.

This... may be in part why I asked the question to begin with.....

[nickl_2000]

This... may be in part why I asked the question to begin with.....

I don't see why you need to go anywhere else. You have a pokemon, you can evolve it, and while a robodog may be scary a dragon will always get someone's attention.

[Hael]

The other big class of summoners are undead summoners. So Necromancer and Oathkeeper. Animate dead is a very powerful summon.

Late game, clerics also have amazing options in the summon/conjure celestial line (which are great spells)

[nickl_2000]

I don't think your DM allows homebrew, but I did make a Druid Circle of the Pocket Monster https://docs.google.com/document/d/17-iQbSGbGWsKthMMzVuQZMgS6NAt4PNtsHXezO3Qd4A/edit?usp=sharing

[Psyren]

No Shadow Sorc. I find the Hound of Ill Omen, for the Hound itself, scales terribly. The benefits of it are outstanding, but the point is to summon a creature that really messes enemies up. Not something to further empower me.

Sorcerers so far have been left behind on the summoning front. I don't think they got any of the new summons spells in Tashas but I could have missed something. (Divine Soul can grab Summon Celestial but that's it.)

[RogueJK]

Sorcerers so far have been left behind on the summoning front. I don't think they got any of the new summons spells in Tashas but I could have missed something. (Divine Soul can grab Summon Celestial but that's it.)

Yep. Sorcerers didn't have any Conjure/Summon X spells on their spell list, even after Tasha's. However, that just changed with Fizban's, wherein they now have access to one lone Summoning spell: Summon Draconic Spirit.

But beyond that, all they get is Summoning-adjacent spells like Bigby's Hand or Animate Objects, Or they could duplicate a Summoning spell using Wish.

There are a few Sorcerer subclass exceptions, though. Divine Soul Sorcerers can grab the aforementioned Summon Celestial, as well as Conjure Celestial, Animate Dead, and Create Undead. Aberrant Mind Sorcerers get Summon Aberration. And Clockwork Soul Sorcerers get Summon Construct.

[jaappleton]

I don't think your DM allows homebrew, but I did make a Druid Circle of the Pocket Monster https://docs.google.com/document/d/17-iQbSGbGWsKthMMzVuQZMgS6NAt4PNtsHXezO3Qd4A/edit?usp=sharing

I dig it!

Unfortunately I can't do full homebrew on this one. Maybe some bending of some things, like taking Wildfire Druid and making it cold-oriented, but that's about as far as I can go.

[J-H]

What about getting a Pact of the Chain Warlock and then taking Polymorph? Now your invisible-at-will sprite familiar is an invisible-at-will T-Rex or troll.
I haven't explored Polymorph much to offer more details. You also get the usual Warlock options, plus a very nice "Hold Monster at will" invocation at level 15 that targets all types of Outsiders.

Edit: Never mind, familiars don't have CR so it doesn't work.

[JNAProductions]

What about getting a Pact of the Chain Warlock and then taking Polymorph? Now your invisible-at-will sprite familiar is an invisible-at-will T-Rex or troll.
I haven't explored Polymorph much to offer more details. You also get the usual Warlock options, plus a very nice "Hold Monster at will" invocation at level 15 that targets all types of Outsiders.

How do you turn a Pixie into a T-Rex with Polymorph?

[jaappleton]

How do you turn a Pixie into a T-Rex with Polymorph?

Unfortunately the Familiar lacks the challenge rating necessary for turning it into something awesome with Polynorph

[Brawnspear]

If you want Summoner flavor, there's also the Wildfire Druid or Creation Bard. Creation bard could have a Rock Statue inside a bag of holding and chuck that at the enemy, or reflavor a gained familiar as going through an evolution ala digimon when casting Animating performance. Wildfire Druid can summon a flame elemental using wildshape and even cast spells through it later on, making it look like it's doing all the hard fighting work, use fire breath (burning hands) or a savage claw attack (primal savagery) along with the action it takes by using your bonus.

[jaappleton]

If you want Summoner flavor, there's also the Wildfire Druid or Creation Bard. Creation bard could have a Rock Statue inside a bag of holding and chuck that at the enemy, or reflavor a gained familiar as going through an evolution ala digimon when casting Animating performance. Wildfire Druid can summon a flame elemental using wildshape and even cast spells through it later on, making it look like it's doing all the hard fighting work, use fire breath (burning hands) or a savage claw attack (primal savagery) along with the action it takes by using your bonus.

I had a Wildfire Druid. I enjoyed it, even had Summon Fey going alongside it at times.

Though I never felt the Wildfire Spirit was fearsome. It never felt like a force on the battlefield.

[BerzerkerUnit]

I like a genie warlock but any chain lock works.

Chain pact, Pseudodragon, Investment of chain.

Summon Undead (the wretched stinking one).

The familiar attacks twice, on a hit it poisons the target for an hour on a failed save. If the fail is 5 or more, they go unconscious. Fight over.

If they fail and are poisoned, the wretched undead’s claws have a chance to paralyze. It’s brutal.

[Sigreid]

Sorry to be all boring and everything, but while several classes/subclasses can be played as summoners, the Shepard Druid is the only thing they've ever made that is IMO designed to support summoning. Even the conjuror wizard isn't that great at it.

[f5anor]

What I'm looking for: A character that summons another creature. A creature powerful enough to really mess some things up. I don't want to summon six small creatures. One big entity.

I think a very overlooked spell, with the most potential for this type of Character is "Planar Ally", which is a cleric spell. I guess you could also get is as Magical Secrets, Divine Soul, Genielock.


You beseech an otherworldly entity for aid. The being must be known to you: a god, a primordial, a demon prince, or some other being of cosmic power. That entity sends a celestial, an elemental, or a fiend loyal to it to aid you, making the creature appear in an unoccupied space within range. If you know a specific creature's name, you can speak that name when you cast this spell to request that creature, though you might get a different creature anyway (DM's choice).

This is a spell that gives you maximum latitude in terms of who is the powerful entity that will be summoned, even to the point of specifying a name.

The RP potential is endless of course.

This was one of the key capabilities of the Al Quadim Sha'ir, which is very much a (good) copy of the Sha'ir.

[jaappleton]

I think a very overlooked spell, with the most potential for this type of Character is "Planar Ally", which is a cleric spell. I guess you could also get is as Magical Secrets, Divine Soul, Genielock.



This is a spell that gives you maximum latitude in terms of who is the powerful entity that will be summoned, even to the point of specifying a name.

The RP potential is endless of course.

This was one of the key capabilities of the Al Quadim Sha'ir, which is very much a (good) copy of the Sha'ir.

This is one that is outright shocking to me is NOT on the Warlock list.

[Quietus]

I've toyed with this idea myself, most recently I was thinking about Ranger3/Druid6 as a base - Ranger can go either Beastmaster (use a Primal Beast from Tasha's) or Drakewarden, either will be good. Druid you want to Shepherd most likely. Doing it this way, you get :

- Ranger companion
- Summoned animals (via Summon Beast/Fey/Elemental)
- Familiar (via Tasha's, I think it's called Wild Companion)

Focus on Wisdom, as it powers your Primal Beast, if Beastmaster, as well as your summoned animals and your spells. You've got temp HP to keep your allies alive, you can cast Aid to keep two of them plus yourself, or all three of them, topped up. Anything that increases your spell attack modifier will hit your Primal Beast, as well as your summons.

From this point you can really level up to taste. Ranger 5 gets you extra attack, plus you can load Summon Beast as a permanent spell known. Maybe throw Pass without Trace in there so you are a one man striking crew. Going up to Ranger 7 gets you either magical attacks on your Ranger companion via Primal Beast, or extra damage/size on your dragon pal, depending on what you prefer. And if you're not feeling like mixing it up in melee yourself, just raise Druid, you'll get... well. All the Druid things. They're all great.

At level 9, you've got one attack from your Ranger companion, one or two from your summons, plus your own action. If you take two more Ranger levels, you start Tier 3 with a potential five attacks - two from you, one from your companion, two from your summon.

If you go up to Ranger 11 and lean into fighting alongside your pets, you have a get a 6th level spell slot at level 17, I think? Which means two attacks from you, two from your ranger companion, three from your summon. And a familiar hanging out being cute.

I'd definitely consider Metamagic Adept on this setup, to get Extend Spell, make those high level Summon X spells sing.

[RogueJK]

I've toyed with this idea myself, most recently I was thinking about Ranger3/Druid6 as a base - Ranger can go either Beastmaster (use a Primal Beast from Tasha's) or Drakewarden, either will be good.

Your Primal/Drake Companion will struggle with low HP. While things like their AC, attack bonus, and damage scale with Proficiency and/or spellcasting modifier, their HP is based on Ranger level. They're looking at only 20 HP at Level 9 with a Ranger 3/Druid 6.

The Temp HP from Shepherd Druid's Bear Spirit won't fully bridge the gap, since you'd only be granting them an infusion of up to 11 Temp HP with each Bear Spirit use. That means they'll have 31 total HP at Level 9, which is basically as squishy as a Level 9 Wizard with an 8 CON. (And the sickly wizard would have a better shot at survival, since unlike the Primal/Drake Companion, they wouldn't be constantly trying to mix it up in melee...)

Combined with their middling AC, this means they're going to die. A lot. Often in one hit.


If you're wanting to multiclass while keeping your Ranger's Companion viable in combat, stick to a 1 or 2 level dip at most. Same thing goes for something like a Battle Smith Artificer and their Steel Defender.

[Quietus]

Your Primal/Drake Companion will struggle with low HP. While things like their AC, attack bonus, and damage scale with Proficiency and/or spellcasting modifier, their HP is based on Ranger level. They're looking at only 20 HP at Level 9 with a Ranger 3/Druid 6.

The Temp HP from Shepherd Druid's Bear Spirit won't fully bridge the gap, since you'd only be granting them an infusion of up to 11 Temp HP with each Bear Spirit use. That means they'll have 31 total HP at Level 9, which is basically as squishy as a Level 9 Wizard with an 8 CON. (And the sickly wizard would have a better shot at survival, since unlike the Primal/Drake Companion, they wouldn't be constantly trying to mix it up in melee...)

Combined with their middling AC, this means they're going to die. A lot. Often in one hit.


If you're wanting to multiclass while keeping your Ranger's Companion viable in combat, stick to a 1 or 2 level dip at most. Same thing goes for something like a Battle Smith Artificer and their Steel Defender.

This is why I suggested things like using the Aid spell, on top of sources of temp HP. Or hell, in the case of the drake, let it drop. Spend a level 1 spell slot and it comes right back immediately.

[GentlemanVoodoo]

I recently posted the topic of Shepard Druid VS Conjuration Wizard.

And its now come to my attention there's several other contenders for creating a viable Summoner style character, kinds I hadn't necessarily considered before.

What I'm looking for: A character that summons another creature. A creature powerful enough to really mess some things up. I don't want to summon six small creatures. One big entity. Playing it like a Pokemon Trainer, or how summons were treated in the game Final Fantasy X. Large scale minionmancy, in controlling numerous creatures, is something I am personally against. Controlling one additional thing? I'm fine with that. MAYBE two. MAYBE.

Not just the Summon spells from Tasha's. Spells like Summon Greater Demon are also quite in play here.

Drakewarden?
Beast Master?
Conjuration Wizard
Chronurgist Wizard (Control one big one, and a familiar with Arcane Abeyance controls another?)
Warlock (What kind?)
Shepard Druid
Battle Smith? I find the Steel Defender to be incredibly lackluster, but I'll hear it out if someone has an amazing idea
Eloquence Bard abusing Magical Secrets: Infernal Calling to keep a Devil under their control? (Worth it if I can get my DM to expand the spell to include other types? Elemental Calling, Celestial Calling, or get it to include Demons?)

No Shadow Sorc. I find the Hound of Ill Omen, for the Hound itself, scales terribly. The benefits of it are outstanding, but the point is to summon a creature that really messes enemies up. Not something to further empower me.

On Warlocks, it is kind of a hard trick to pull off being a summoner with them. One cannot deny they have a wide range of things they can summon keeping up with the Wizard in terms of variety. But as a straight summoner not so much. Though as more of a battle summoner, dropping a summoning and fighting it side by side, they do just find particularly with either the Hexblade or Celestial Bladelock.

[Mercurias]

I don’t know if anyone posted this, but there was a great-looking Sorlock build from ftafp: https://forums.giantitp.com/showsinglepost.php?p=25057843&postcount=1135

Alternatively, I might look at an Artificer 1/Abjuration Wizard x who utilizes a summoned helper with their concentration and then acts as a support/control character. Pixies and Golems are solid at lower levels, and in later levels you can use the new Draconic Spirits, Greater Infernal whatever’s, or just true polymorph something.

If your DM lets you cheese the recharge on your abjuration shield with Alarm ritual casts/Eldritch Adept (Armor of Shadows), you can help prevent your pet from dropping pretty frequently. Without the cheese it’s still pretty nice, but less consistent. Having the familiar use Help and dropping non-concentration crowd controls will make your pet fairly effective overall.

…I just really like that Sorlock build, though.

[Thunderous Mojo]

I did make a Druid Circle of the Pocket Monster

Summoning your 'Pocket Monster' in public might be a violation of local norms🃏

[RogueJK]

This is why I suggested things like using the Aid spell, on top of sources of temp HP.

Yes, you mentioned that your Ranger 3/Druid 6 "... can cast Aid to keep two of them plus yourself, or all three of them, topped up."

But that's not accurate, since a Ranger 3/Druid 6 doesn't have the Aid spell. They wouldn't be able to cast Aid until Level 11, at Ranger 5/Druid 6. Druids don't have Aid, and Rangers don't get 2nd level spells until Level 5.

So you'll need to hope that you have another party member able/willing to cast it for you.

[Quietus]

Yes, you mentioned that your Ranger 3/Druid 6 "... can cast Aid to keep two of them plus yourself, or all three of them, topped up."

But that's not accurate, since a Ranger 3/Druid 6 doesn't have the Aid spell. They wouldn't be able to cast Aid until Level 11, at Ranger 5/Druid 6. Druids don't have Aid, and Rangers don't get 2nd level spells until Level 5.

So you'll need to hope that you have another party member able/willing to cast it for you.

Good call. For some reason I was assuming it was on the did list. So in that case, you'll need to go with ranger up to five, which probably means ultimately going to seven for the subclass, and multiclassing did from there. Long term you'll want to decide your ranger/druid split, either 7/13 or 11/9 would be my preferences.

[RogueJK]

It would make sense for Druids to get Aid, but so far they do not. It was originally a Cleric, Paladin, and Artificer exclusive, but then Tasha's added it to the Ranger and Bard lists too. Divine Soul and Clockwork Soul Sorcerers also get Aid too.

[Psyren]

I think Lore Bard with their additional magical secrets, or Creation Bard with their animated pet that doesn't require concentration, can be decent summoners - especially if they proceed to buff their pets with inspiration etc.

[Melphizard]

I find that when it comes to minionmancy, 5e doesn't have many options for those who want single big minions. One of the biggest problems is that necromancers have just basic skeletons and zombies and can only raise humanoid bodies? A damn shame I can't get myself ogre zombies or minotaur skeletons but I suppose that's mainly just due to the complexity involved in making that work for all those creatures.

Onto the main topic of making a summoner with just one or two big summons I'd suggest going with the following setup:

The Fiend Reformation Program

Conjuration Wizard X (minimum level 10; preferred 13)
Spells: Summon Greater Demon + Any Tasha Summon Spell (fiend for thematic flavor)
MANDATORY SPELL: PLANAR BINDING (1000gp cost per cast so be rich for this trick as it makes everything so much more convenient)

How this works is you get your Summon Greater Demon with the spell then Planar Bind it using as high a spell slot as possible for the maximum duration. If this works even once on the demon, force it to give you its true name so now you can continue refreshing this and it's hopeless to ever escape you. Now, as a conjuration wizard, you can also summon a creature with one of the Tasha's spells at a high level for it to do some decent damage. Could go with fiend for maximum fiend "reformation," or do a celestial and pretend to be Issac. As for summon greater demon, Vrock has done wonders for me with this setup and so has the Balgura. In addition, don't forget you're still a wizard who can blast things whilst your two other summons act as tanks to guard you against ever being approached. Bonus points if you get a summon with flight which you use to bombard the enemy from far above.



Alternative Setup:
The Ultimate Robot

This May only work if your DM allows your infusions to shape to your steel defender
Battlesmith X, Peace Cleric 1
Spells: Haste (For your defender) + Whatever else you may want
Infusions (and how I'd rank them in order of best for your defender):
1. Belt of Hill Giant Strength or Gauntlets of Ogre Power
2. Bracer's of Defense (or if your DM allows the defender to wear armor, get the gauntlets first then do Enhanced Defense on Plate for 20 AC!)
3. Winged Boots / Boots of Speed
4. Goggles of the Night (It doesn't have darkvision lol)
5. Boots or Cloak of Elven Kind
6. Cloak of the Manta ray (mainly if the campaign seems to require it_

With this setup, you can make your Steel Defender into a Steel Juggernaut that will demolish all who are unfortunate to cross its path. By casting haste upon your defender you also can grant it an additional attack, some AC, and more speed to further commence the destruction of its foes. In all honesty, this is a build I haven't tried myself but would be really interested in doing if I find a DM who gave me the thumbs up on this. Bonus points if you give the Steel Defender the other magic items you find in the campaign separate from your infusions.

The reasoning for Peace Cleric is simply so you can provide your Steel Defender even more buffs. I don't know how reactions work with the Defender but Order cleric may be worth considering if it can even get anything out of it.



Now the actual best summoner:

Ask a Genie, get a Dragon

Genie Warlock 17+
Spells: Wish (Oh, yeah. It's all coming together) ----> Simulacrum + TRUE POLYMORPH
Simulacrum Chosen: Self

I hope you already see where this is going but let me elaborate. First, your Genie Patron Warlock rubs his vessel and casts wish to summon a Simulacrum of himself. Who is a better ally than yourself? Then you have your Mystic Arcanum be True Polymorph so that your Simulacrum may shift into a Dragon with a certain ability called Shapechange.

So let's say for example your simulacrum becomes an adult gold dragon (Cr 17). Your Simulacrum is now not only a giant frigging dragon but it also gains a few benefits:

1. Your Simulacrum can now heal in this dragon shape
2. Your Simulacrum is an adult gold dragon.... fairly self-explanatory
3. Your Simulacrum can now transform into any CR 17 or lower humanoid in the game and cast their spells probably but I dunno it's kinda funky so DM's may not like that
4. True Polymorph is permanent after a certain duration so try not to bog it up or do this in the middle of a fight.
5. This adult gold dragon is still your simulacrum and thus must obey all your orders as a simi does. Profit.

In short, there is no greater summon in the game aside from Simulacrum and I can say that without any doubt in my mind. A simulacrum can either double your spell slots or transform into an adult gold dragon that then becomes a drow matron mother or Nagpa and begins to assail your enemies with firepower near equal to yours. As for the original, non-simulacrum warlock character you're playing, just go ahead and begin eldritch blasting the hell outa whomever as once you finish transforming your Simi you have literally no downsides for having this summon. Hell, even the Simulacrum spell was free thanks to wish so there is actually nothing to stop this. I've done this build before on a kobold genie warlock before and it was incredibly OP and made doing long rests safe (since I had an adult gold dragon guarding my vessel the whole time).


This was a bit long but I've done a lot of looking into this myself before. Hope this all helps you in considering your summoners but at the end of the day, Conjure Animals to summon 8 cows is still superior to most things at lower levels and good single summons require high-level spell slots to sustain or keep from being turned on you.

[RogueJK]

One of the biggest problems is that necromancers have just basic skeletons and zombies

From levels 5-10, yes. But starting at Level 11, they get Create Undead which allows them to have Ghouls, and eventually Ghasts, Wights, and Mummies.

And starting at Level 14, they can Command Undead to get a single more powerful undead minion, although that requires running across it in the world rather than making their own.

They also now have access to the newer Summon Undead spell.


...and can only raise humanoid bodies?

The Danse Macabre spell is an option to let you (temporarily) raise skeletons/zombies using non-humanoid corpses.

[Sigreid]

I recently posted the topic of Shepard Druid VS Conjuration Wizard.

And its now come to my attention there's several other contenders for creating a viable Summoner style character, kinds I hadn't necessarily considered before.

What I'm looking for: A character that summons another creature. A creature powerful enough to really mess some things up. I don't want to summon six small creatures. One big entity. Playing it like a Pokemon Trainer, or how summons were treated in the game Final Fantasy X. Large scale minionmancy, in controlling numerous creatures, is something I am personally against. Controlling one additional thing? I'm fine with that. MAYBE two. MAYBE.

Not just the Summon spells from Tasha's. Spells like Summon Greater Demon are also quite in play here.

Drakewarden?
Beast Master?
Conjuration Wizard
Chronurgist Wizard (Control one big one, and a familiar with Arcane Abeyance controls another?)
Warlock (What kind?)
Shepard Druid
Battle Smith? I find the Steel Defender to be incredibly lackluster, but I'll hear it out if someone has an amazing idea
Eloquence Bard abusing Magical Secrets: Infernal Calling to keep a Devil under their control? (Worth it if I can get my DM to expand the spell to include other types? Elemental Calling, Celestial Calling, or get it to include Demons?)

No Shadow Sorc. I find the Hound of Ill Omen, for the Hound itself, scales terribly. The benefits of it are outstanding, but the point is to summon a creature that really messes enemies up. Not something to further empower me.

If 3rd party content is on the table, the Masters of Death book has a necromancer type class that at level 3 picks a spirt, zombie or skeleton that levels up with you.

I'd argue the new dragon ranger does a nice job too.

[Master O'Laughs]

Now the actual best summoner:

Ask a Genie, get a Dragon

Genie Warlock 17+
Spells: Wish (Oh, yeah. It's all coming together) ----> Simulacrum + TRUE POLYMORPH
Simulacrum Chosen: Self

I hope you already see where this is going but let me elaborate. First, your Genie Patron Warlock rubs his vessel and casts wish to summon a Simulacrum of himself. Who is a better ally than yourself? Then you have your Mystic Arcanum be True Polymorph so that your Simulacrum may shift into a Dragon with a certain ability called Shapechange.

So let's say for example your simulacrum becomes an adult gold dragon (Cr 17). Your Simulacrum is now not only a giant frigging dragon but it also gains a few benefits:

1. Your Simulacrum can now heal in this dragon shape
2. Your Simulacrum is an adult gold dragon.... fairly self-explanatory
3. Your Simulacrum can now transform into any CR 17 or lower humanoid in the game and cast their spells probably but I dunno it's kinda funky so DM's may not like that
4. True Polymorph is permanent after a certain duration so try not to bog it up or do this in the middle of a fight.
5. This adult gold dragon is still your simulacrum and thus must obey all your orders as a simi does. Profit.

In short, there is no greater summon in the game aside from Simulacrum and I can say that without any doubt in my mind. A simulacrum can either double your spell slots or transform into an adult gold dragon that then becomes a drow matron mother or Nagpa and begins to assail your enemies with firepower near equal to yours. As for the original, non-simulacrum warlock character you're playing, just go ahead and begin eldritch blasting the hell outa whomever as once you finish transforming your Simi you have literally no downsides for having this summon. Hell, even the Simulacrum spell was free thanks to wish so there is actually nothing to stop this. I've done this build before on a kobold genie warlock before and it was incredibly OP and made doing long rests safe (since I had an adult gold dragon guarding my vessel the whole time).


This was a bit long but I've done a lot of looking into this myself before. Hope this all helps you in considering your summoners but at the end of the day, Conjure Animals to summon 8 cows is still superior to most things at lower levels and good single summons require high-level spell slots to sustain or keep from being turned on you.

How are you casting Wish and True Polymorph? Wish would be your 9th level Mystic Arcanum. Unless you use wish and run the risk of losing the ability to cast it afterwards.

[Rentirith]

From levels 5-10, yes. But starting at Level 11, they get Create Undead which allows them to have Ghouls, and eventually Ghasts, Wights, and Mummies.

And starting at Level 14, they can Command Undead to get a single more powerful undead minion, although that requires running across it in the world rather than making their own.

They also now have access to the newer Summon Undead spell.



The Danse Macabre spell is an option to let you (temporarily) raise skeletons/zombies using non-humanoid corpses.

Additionally the True Polymorph spell allows you to make any cr 9 or below creature, as others have stated. Thus you could make a cr 9 undead, concentrate for an hour and use your Command Undead on it, (maybe) ordering the creature to fail on it's saving throw. Just make sure that the undead's intelligence in below a 12.

You can also do this with a simulacrum for most any undead creature. Again, be specific with the ability scores of your intended lieutenant.

[SLOTHRPG95]

I think Lore Bard with their additional magical secrets, or Creation Bard with their animated pet that doesn't require concentration, can be decent summoners - especially if they proceed to buff their pets with inspiration etc.

I mean, Lore Bard get earlier access to summoning (relative to other Bards), but I'm not sure how their inspiration makes them better summoners than basically any (sub)class that's better-known for summoning. IME the Lore Bard is actually less willing to freely give out inspiration anyways since you're always wanting to save some for Cutting Words. Creation Bard would be an interesting choice, though, letting you basically have two bigger "summons" when most (sub)classes can only have one.