Animate Guardian

I've been messing around with this skill for a while now on a fully-dedicated Templar summoner/aura specialist. Currently midway through Act 1 merc and he's still going strong. Got him decked out in yellows, and I've found that while the skill's not amazing, it's not too bad either. His damage is "good enough" with a decent weapon as long as he's not being relied on to stare down entire enemy mobs by himself, and letting him double up on shield bonuses via necromantic Aegis alongside Bone Offering makes him super-tanky. I don't know how viable he'd be as the entire focus of a build, but when used to supplement my zombies and spectres he really does very well.

Quite enjoying the skill so far overall, and I don't think it's nearly as bad as people are saying; rather, I think most of those people are just expecting too much of it. That said, the skill's not perfect. The Guardian's got a ridiculous aggro radius that really needs to be brought in a bit and it would help a lot to be able to see what gear is currently equipped on him (or even better, give the guardian its own PC-style equipment window so players can choose which hand a weapon goes into and whatnot while they're at it). These two things get fixed, though, and AG will be in a good place IMO.




Also...

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Iao wrote:

WHAT'S WITH THE NOSE ITCHING?!

I don't think he's itching his nose; rather, I'm pretty sure he kisses his weapon as he runs into combat. Blackguard soldiers do the same thing when you aggro them.

Since the patch I finally decided to start running the guardian. Feedback is with the gem at level 18. I've done zero snapshotting, nor do I run any summoner uniques.

I outfitted him with an Icetomb, Hrimsorrow, some rare two handed sword with top end damage of 200, random rare energy shield helmet, and a random pair of EV/AR boots with some res and life. I supported him with a level 18 minion damage and life support, and I have all of the minion nodes aside from the block ones behind necromantic aegis. He has the stats of my Prism Guardian as I have the necromantic aegis keystone; basically just means his resistances are maxed. Defensively supporting him is the discipline aura and enfeeble. I have rejuvenation totem but only drop it when I see green health bars dropping or there is chaos damage that threatens me. Offensively he has haste, anger, and hatred.

I've run catacombs and a handful of 66-69 maps so far and the lowest I've seen his health drop has been about 75%. That was when he ran into a blue pack of tentacle multishot 90% extra damage as lightning group. Considering he has, quite frankly, junky items right now, he feels very powerful. His damage I haven't watched too closely but feels on par with the zombies and I know I can raise that significantly more with a stronger weapon. I'm still debating going the route of two hander, or one handed with shield for more defense. This most recent patch has made the minions significantly more durable, and with the ability to create corpses on bad fights via Desecrate, I'm thinking offense is the stronger route to take.

It would still be nice to have a screen where we can see what the guardian is using, and current stats. At this point we know the game snapshots stats so I don't see why this information would be difficult to display for a single guardian. If my guardian is well over capped for resistances for example, I'd like to be able to swap out those pieces.

something i noticed today, the guardian is not completely retarded. however, the mechanic implemented is delicate to say the least.
I use the guardian as a pet to clutter mobs to lightning arrow them away, while I was doing this, something appeared from my back, so i shot it. Somewhere between the lines the guardian decided the big group of mobs was not worth the risk and run to the one mob that was harrasing me. It was strange to say the least, however it also gave me a clue about how to direct the AG. I went to the eternal lab and confirmed that the AG will roam around in a ~90 degree cone pointing towards where the player stands.
needs confirmation, but if this is true, GGG could also make some sort of deployment zone so it wont "randomly" run off.

I'm a L90 Summoner witch with a 20/20 Animate Guardian that lives in secondary on my 37% Chober Chaber. It's 5L, RBRRR.

A month ago, I decided to give mine decent equipment, this is what he has:
helm: Hrimnor's Resolve
chest: Infernal Mantle
weapon: Oro's 2H sword
boots: Blood Dance
gloves: Asenath's (still testing, may keep)

For mobs I use this combination of gems:
AG -> Elemental Proliferation -> Multistrike -> Endurance Charge on Melee Stun -> Inc Burn

Alternatively, such as for bosses, I use this combination of gems:
AG -> Power Charge on Critical -> Life Leech -> L3 Empower -> Fire Penetration

Another alternative I use sometimes:
AG -> Chance To Ignite -> ECoMS -> Stun -> Fire Penetration

The end result is this: my Guardian runs around quickly, setting things on fire. Every mob he hits, he curses it with Temporal Chains. Every mob he ignites (non-proliferated), he gains a Frenzy charge. For every Frenzy charge, he gains 1% life regen and more speed. The Elemental Proliferation quickly spreads and everything that ignites burns for respectable degeneration. The gore footprints help me keep track of him (unless I use Flesh Offering, with which he is ridiculously _fast_ lmao)

With ECoMS he gains Endurance charges quickly, despite not doing any physical damage. The charges boost his damage reduction and resists.

With PCoC he'll occasionally gain Power charges. When he gets 2 or 3, he starts critting a lot more. I call this my "Boss config". My AG can beat Piety on Merciless solo using this combination. I tried Dominus, but that wasn't going well!

I support my AG with the standard "Unholy Trinity" of Summoner auras: Vitality, Purity of all, Discipline. My usual curse is a quality Flammability - which gets overwritten by my AG's curse on hit - but greatly helps his initial hit damage and any proliferation of burn among mobs.

When Animate Guardian first came out, I was quickly disappointed. I have come to realize, however, that good equipment and proper support (as well as smart use of the X button) can keep him alive. However, I still do _not_ recommend taking him to any map boss fights.

Was disappointed to see no changes to this skill in the summoner update. He still has the ridiculous aggro leash as well as being unusable in maps because of permadeath.

At the very least can he get the PvP treatment? To where if he dies, he stays dead until we change instances. Kinda silly that this hasn't already been implemented.

"

Moose65 wrote:

Was disappointed to see no changes to this skill in the summoner update. He still has the ridiculous aggro leash as well as being unusable in maps because of permadeath.

At the very least can he get the PvP treatment? To where if he dies, he stays dead until we change instances. Kinda silly that this hasn't already been implemented.

Yeah, the aggro leash is still a problem. I do NOT think the guardian should have its items stay intact after non-PvP death though. That particular aspect should stay like it is now; the guardian dies, you lose your item investment. There's nothing silly about them not having changed that. Guardians can be made VERY resilient with passives/supporting skills/smart item choice, and in addition it's all too easy to just X-switch him out when he's in danger by slotting the skill in a shield or weapon.

"

Racthoh wrote:

Since the patch I finally decided to start running the guardian. Feedback is with the gem at level 18. I've done zero snapshotting, nor do I run any summoner uniques.

I outfitted him with an Icetomb, Hrimsorrow, some rare two handed sword with top end damage of 200, random rare energy shield helmet, and a random pair of EV/AR boots with some res and life. I supported him with a level 18 minion damage and life support, and I have all of the minion nodes aside from the block ones behind necromantic aegis. He has the stats of my Prism Guardian as I have the necromantic aegis keystone; basically just means his resistances are maxed. Defensively supporting him is the discipline aura and enfeeble. I have rejuvenation totem but only drop it when I see green health bars dropping or there is chaos damage that threatens me. Offensively he has haste, anger, and hatred.

I've run catacombs and a handful of 66-69 maps so far and the lowest I've seen his health drop has been about 75%. That was when he ran into a blue pack of tentacle multishot 90% extra damage as lightning group. Considering he has, quite frankly, junky items right now, he feels very powerful. His damage I haven't watched too closely but feels on par with the zombies and I know I can raise that significantly more with a stronger weapon. I'm still debating going the route of two hander, or one handed with shield for more defense. This most recent patch has made the minions significantly more durable, and with the ability to create corpses on bad fights via Desecrate, I'm thinking offense is the stronger route to take.

It would still be nice to have a screen where we can see what the guardian is using, and current stats. At this point we know the game snapshots stats so I don't see why this information would be difficult to display for a single guardian. If my guardian is well over capped for resistances for example, I'd like to be able to swap out those pieces.

if you give him 2handed weapons and take the minion block passives, can they block? (btw is that block all or only attacks? also if you equip Skullhead AG will get that 10% block regardless of weapon?

if you give him 2handed weapons and take the minion block passives, can they block? (btw is that block all or only attacks? also if you equip Skullhead AG will get that 10% block regardless of weapon?[/quote]

necromatic aegis definitely allows for two hand weapon melee block even without a staff. Tested it last night he didnt animate properly but i knew he was blocking because he was triggering the consecrated ground armor on block. I wasn't able to tell if he was blocking just melee or spells as well.

"

Manfred_von_Wolfstein wrote:

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Moose65 wrote:

Was disappointed to see no changes to this skill in the summoner update. He still has the ridiculous aggro leash as well as being unusable in maps because of permadeath.

At the very least can he get the PvP treatment? To where if he dies, he stays dead until we change instances. Kinda silly that this hasn't already been implemented.

Yeah, the aggro leash is still a problem. I do NOT think the guardian should have its items stay intact after non-PvP death though. That particular aspect should stay like it is now; the guardian dies, you lose your item investment. There's nothing silly about them not having changed that. Guardians can be made VERY resilient with passives/supporting skills/smart item choice, and in addition it's all too easy to just X-switch him out when he's in danger by slotting the skill in a shield or weapon.

Whats fun about that? If I wanted to lose stuff I'd go play Hardcore mode. You already lose the items in a sense since you can't take them back from a guardian, and if you ever decide to upgrade or change his gear his previous gear is still lost.

The fact that there is two different standards for him is an issue. So your saying that its ok for there to be no PvP consequences but its not ok in PvE?

Yeah, thats what I thought. Because of the PvE consequences there is ZERO incentive to use him in End Game Maps because of how easy it is to lose him. As far as saying you can just hit X to save him, that is simply as bad as saying you can hit Alt-F4 to not die in Hardcore.

If he remains as he is he'll simply not be viable ever as an endgame skill.

is there any way to check if the guardian died by checking game log?